JPH0445021A - Paper feed device for image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the attachment/detachment of a cassette to/from a device main body by providing a cassette catch at the outer wall cover on the operation surface side of the cassette mounted with record paper sheets. CONSTITUTION:A cassette catch 1-4 for attachment/detachment is provided at the outer wall cover 1-1 on the operation surface side of a cassette 1 which is mounted with record paper sheets, and when pulling out from an image formation device main body by means of the catch 1-4 is made (at the time of resetting), the outer wall cover 1-1 on the cassette operation surface side is rotated with a rotary shaft 1-2 as a support shaft, and the operation surface side D is opened. Also, when insertion into the image formation device main body, is made by means of the catch 1-4 (at the time of setting), the outer wall cover 1-1, on the cassette operation surface side rotates with the shaft 1-2 as a support shaft, and the operation surface is closed. At this time, the inside of the outer wall cover 1-1 is to be used also as a paper transport passage for record paper sheets fed from an option cassette.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a removable paper feeding device that feeds recording paper to the main body of an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine.

(Prior Art) A cassette serving as a paper feeding device that can be attached to and detached from the main body of an image forming apparatus has recording paper placed therein, and the cassette is set into the main body of the apparatus by holding both sides of the cassette.

When a reset is performed and the recording paper is set, the recording paper is separated and conveyed one by one to the image forming section of the apparatus main body by a paper feed roller or the like of the apparatus main body.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration diagram of a laser printer as an example of an image forming apparatus, in which (A) shows the main body of the laser printer;
(B) is a cassette 1 that is attached to and removed from the lower part of the laser printer main body, and (C) is an optional cassette 14 that is attached to and removed from the lower part of the cassette.

To explain the operation outline of this laser printer, recording paper 2 placed in cassette 1 (or optional cassette 14) is separated one by one by paper feed roller 3 (or paper feed roller 15), and then by conveyance roller 4. transported upwards. The image is then conveyed to a latent image carrier made of a belt-shaped photoreceptor 6 at a timing determined by a pair of registration rollers 5 . The photoreceptor 6 is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow, and at this time, the surface is charged by the charger 7 and irradiated with laser light from the laser beam writing system 8 to form an electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor. This latent image is made visible by toner when it passes through the developing roller 9R of the developing device 9, and this visible image is transferred to the recording paper 2 conveyed to the photoreceptor 6 by the charger 1.
0, and the transferred visible image on the recording paper is fixed by the fixing unit 11. The recording paper 2 that has exited the fixing unit is discharged to an upper paper discharge tray 12, a side paper discharge tray 13, etc., depending on the print content of the recording paper, such as single-sided printing or double-sided printing.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) When attaching and detaching the cassette 1 to the laser printer main body (A) and resetting it, it is difficult to attach and detach the cassette because both sides of the cassette are held. It was quite difficult to attach and detach when it was fully loaded and the weight increased.

Further, the laser printer having the configuration shown in FIG. 4 in which the optional cassette 14 is mounted on the lower side of the cassette 1 also has the same problem as above. Further, in this case, in order to convey the recording paper in the optional cassette 14 to the conveyance roller 4 on the laser printer main body (A) side by the paper feed roller 15, it is necessary to form a conveyance path in the cassette 1.

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, the present invention facilitates the operation of attaching and detaching a cassette for placing recording paper, an optional cassette, etc. to the main body of an image forming apparatus. 15
The purpose of this is to configure the transport path for the recording paper that is fed to the laser printer main body, simplifying the overall structure and reducing costs.

(Means for solving problems) The present invention aims to solve the above problems and achieve the objects.

In a removable paper feeding device that feeds recording paper to the main body of an image forming apparatus, a cassette on which recording paper is placed has a cassette handle on an outer wall cover on the operation surface side, and the outer wall cover on the operation surface side is connected to the cassette. When attaching or detaching the image forming device to the main body of the image forming device, the operation surface side is closed using the rotating shaft as the pivot.

When the cassette is opened and closed, the outer wall cover forms a paper conveyance path from below the cassette.

(Function) The outer wall cover on the operation surface side of the cassette on which the recording paper is placed has a cassette handle for attaching and detaching, and when the cassette is pulled out from the image forming apparatus main body by the handle (during reset), the rotating shaft is The outer wall cover on the cassette operation side rotates to open the operation side.

Furthermore, when the cassette is inserted into the main body of the image forming apparatus by the handle (when set), the outer wall cover on the cassette operation surface side rotates around the rotating shaft, and the operation surface is closed. At this time, the inside of the outer wall cover also serves as a paper conveyance path for recording paper fed from the optional cassette.

In this way, it is easy to attach and detach the cassette to the image forming apparatus main body by holding the cassette handle, and the outer wall cover on the cassette operation surface also serves as the paper transport path from the optional cassette, simplifying the overall configuration. This can be achieved at low cost.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a perspective external view of a main part of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 and FIG. Indicates each state at the time.

In the figure, l-1 is an outer wall cover that serves as a cover on the operation surface side (D) of the cassette 1 and forms the paper conveyance path of the optional cassette 14, and is composed of an upper part and a lower part. Also, on both sides of the upper outer wall cover are stoppers 1- for stopping the rotation of the outer wall cover when the cassette 1 is removed (Fig. 1 (1)).
IS is being formed. Reference numeral 1-2 denotes a rotation shaft which is attached to the upper and lower boundary portions of the outer wall cover 1-1 and rotates around the support shaft. It is rotatably attached to a rotary shaft hole 1-IH bored in the inner wall 1-1w of page 1. 1-3 is a spring wound around one end of the rotating shaft 1-2, one end of this spring is locked in a locking hole d1 in the operation surface wall, and the other end is fixed to the outer wall cover (upper part) 11-1. 1-4 is the outer wall cover (lower part), which is engaged with the spring block part d2 which is attached to the outer wall cover 1-1, and functions to automatically close the outer wall cover 1-1 when the cassette 1 is installed (FIG. 1 (2)). A person's hand can be placed here using the cassette handle provided at the center of the upper end of 1-1.

Note that 16 in FIG. 1(2) is a paper conveyance unit pressing member provided on the frame of the main body of the image forming apparatus.

Next, the operation of attaching and detaching the cassette 1 that forms the paper conveyance path when feeding the recording paper of the optional cassette 14 will be described, but since the recording paper 2 of the cassette 1 is fed as usual, no special explanation will be given.

First, insert the cassette 1 into the image forming apparatus main body (A) (Fig. 4).
When loading (setting) the cassette into the cassette, insert it by hand by the cassette handle 1-4.
6 (Figure 1 (2)) is the outer wall cover (upper part) of cassette 1.
The end face 1-IY of 1-1 contacts and rotates in the direction of arrow (A) against the return force of the spring 1-3, with the rotating shaft 1-2 as the central support shaft, as shown in Fig. 1 (2). Operation surface side (D)
is closed with an outer wall cover 1-1.

At this time, the outer wall cover 1-1 rotates and becomes a vertical side wall, as shown in Figure 3, which shows a cross-sectional view of the main parts of the main unit (A), the cassette 1, and the optional cassette 14 on the operation surface side. A paper transport path 17 is formed by the paper guide walls 1-5 of the cassette 1. As a result, option cassette 1
The four recording sheets 2 are separated and conveyed one by one by the paper feed roller 15 and can be passed through the paper conveyance path 17 to the conveyance roller 4 side of the apparatus main body (A).

Next, when removing cassette 1 from the device main body (A),
When the cassette handle 1-4 is pulled out, the paper conveying section support member 16 of the main body of the apparatus comes off from the end surface 1-IY of the outer wall cover (upper part) 1-1, as shown in FIG. 1 (1), and the spring Due to the return force of 1-3, the rotating shaft 1-2 is used as a central support shaft to rotate in the direction of arrow (A). At this time, the stopper 1-IS of the outer wall cover (upper part) 1-1 abuts against the upper surface of the cassette 1 to prevent it from overrunning and is stopped.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, the present invention has a cassette handle on the operation surface side of the cassette, making it easy to attach and detach the cassette to the main body of the device. Furthermore, when an optional cassette is installed, the outer wall cover of the operation surface of the cassette forms a part of the paper conveyance path, so the mechanical configuration of the entire apparatus can be simplified and realized at low cost.

[BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS] Fig. 1 is a perspective external view of the main parts of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the rotating shaft mounting mechanism of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is an optional cassette attached to the device. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a paper conveyance path by a cassette when it is mounted on the main body, and is a schematic configuration diagram of a laser printer as an example in which the present invention is implemented. 1...cassette! -1...Outer wall cover (upper part,
lower part), 1-15...stopper 1-IY...end face of outer wall cover, 1-11...inner wall of outer wall cover, 1-IH...rotation shaft hole, 1-2...rotation axis, 1
-3...Spring, 1-4...Cassette handle, 1
-5...Guide wall, 3.15...Paper feed roller, 4.
...Transport roller, 14...Optional cassette, 16
. . . Conveyance unit pressing member, 17 . . . Paper conveyance path. Diagram size diagram Diagram diagram

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a removable paper feeding device that feeds recording paper to the main body of an image forming apparatus, a cassette on which recording paper is placed has a cassette handle on an outer wall cover on the operation surface side, and the outer wall cover on the operation surface side is connected to the cassette. When the cassette is attached to and detached from the main body of the image forming apparatus, the operation surface side is closed and opened around the rotating shaft, and when the cassette is closed, the outer wall cover forms a paper conveyance path from the bottom of the cassette. A paper feeding device for an image forming apparatus characterized by: