US20100133743A1 - Sheet feeding apparutus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents
Sheet feeding apparutus and image forming apparatus Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20100133743A1 US20100133743A1 US12/622,903 US62290309A US2010133743A1 US 20100133743 A1 US20100133743 A1 US 20100133743A1 US 62290309 A US62290309 A US 62290309A US 2010133743 A1 US2010133743 A1 US 2010133743A1
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- United States
- Prior art keywords
- sheet
- side end
- sheets
- sheet feeding
- width direction
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
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- 230000001105 regulatory effect Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 73
- 238000000926 separation method Methods 0.000 description 6
- 230000033001 locomotion Effects 0.000 description 4
- 238000003754 machining Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 1
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Classifications
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H1/00—Supports or magazines for piles from which articles are to be separated
- B65H1/04—Supports or magazines for piles from which articles are to be separated adapted to support articles substantially horizontally, e.g. for separation from top of pile
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H9/00—Registering, e.g. orientating, articles; Devices therefor
- B65H9/04—Fixed or adjustable stops or gauges
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2405/00—Parts for holding the handled material
- B65H2405/10—Cassettes, holders, bins, decks, trays, supports or magazines for sheets stacked substantially horizontally
- B65H2405/11—Parts and details thereof
- B65H2405/114—Side, i.e. portion parallel to the feeding / delivering direction
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2511/00—Dimensions; Position; Numbers; Identification; Occurrences
- B65H2511/10—Size; Dimensions
- B65H2511/12—Width
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2511/00—Dimensions; Position; Numbers; Identification; Occurrences
- B65H2511/20—Location in space
- B65H2511/22—Distance
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
- B65H2801/00—Application field
- B65H2801/03—Image reproduction devices
- B65H2801/06—Office-type machines, e.g. photocopiers
Abstract
The present invention complies a side end regulating mechanism to regulate a side end position in the width direction of sheets supported by a cassette main body 3 is configured with a side end reference portion 5 which is to be a reference in the width direction for sheet feeding and side end regulating portion 6 which is arranged to be opposed to the side end reference portion 5 with a sheet pressing member 8 to which a force is applied so as to press the sheet elastically toward the side end reference portion 5. Then, an angle adjusting member 14 arranged at the side end reference portion 5 changes an incline angle of a reference surface which is to be a reference in the sheet width direction for sheet feeding by inclining the side end reference portion 5 in the width direction.
Description
- 1. Field of the Invention
- The present invention relates to a sheet feeding apparatus and an image forming apparatus, and in particular, relates to a configuration of a side end regulating mechanism to regulate a side end position in the width direction of sheets supported by a sheet supporting portion.
- 2. Description of the Related Art
- Recently, an image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine, a printer and a facsimile machine, which forms an image while feeding a sheet to an image forming portion from a sheet feeding apparatus is widely used. Then, it is common for such a sheet feeding apparatus that a sheet cassette as a sheet supporting portion is detachably attached to an apparatus main body and the sheet accommodated and supported by the sheet cassette is automatically fed to the image forming portion.
- For example, the sheet cassette provided with an intermediate plate capable of being lifted and lowered so that the sheets are piled thereon and pressed to a sheet feeding roller is utilized for such a sheet feeding apparatus. Then, the sheet cassette having the intermediate plate is provided with a rear end regulating member to regulate a rear end position in the sheet feeding direction (hereinafter, referred to as the rear end) of the sheets which are piled and accommodated on the intermediate plate so that the sheets of various sizes can be accommodated. Further, the sheet cassette is provided with a side end regulating member to regulate a side end position of the sheet in the direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction (hereinafter, referred to as the width direction).
- With the sheet cassette, the sheet side end is regulated by the side end regulating member and the sheet rear end is regulated by the rear end regulating member so that the front end of the sheet is always maintained at a predetermined position. In this manner, stable feeding of the sheets can be performed regardless of the sheet sizes when the sheet cassette is attached to the apparatus main body.
- Recently, there has been an image forming apparatus such as a laser beam printer which aligns positions in the width direction between the sheets in the sheet cassette and an image forming position of the image forming apparatus in order to equalize margins in the sheet width direction. Here, since the position alignment in the width direction is affected by machining accuracy and assembling accuracy of parts, it is difficult to perfectly align the both positions in the width direction.
- In order to align the sheets in the sheet cassette and the image forming position, for example, there has been a sheet feeding apparatus which performs the alignment by moving, in the width direction, an entire side end regulating member arranged in an opposed manner and movable in the width direction (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-323126). Here, in order to enable to adjust the side end regulating member, there is provided space at the opposite side (hereinafter, the outer side) of a surface of the side end regulating member which performs the sheet regulation.
- With such a sheet feeding apparatus and an image forming apparatus provided with such a sheet feeding apparatus in the related art, when the entire side end regulating member is configured to be movable in the width direction, a movement mechanism is required for shifting the entire side end regulating member to the outer side and the configuration becomes complicated. Further, since space is required to be arranged at the outer side of the entire side end regulating member as an adjustment margin, the entire apparatus becomes large and the cost is increased.
- Further, for moving the side end regulating member in the width direction corresponding to the sheet size, there is a case that mark is formed at or around the sheet cassette as a guide of the position of the side end regulating member corresponding to the sheet size. In this case, when only the side end regulating member is adjusted in the sheet width direction, there arises position deviation between the mark as the guide and the side end regulating member. Consequently, the side end regulating member may not be set at the position corresponding to the sheet size. Accordingly, the configuration becomes complicated since the mark as the guide is also required to be moved for adjustment when the side end regulating member is moved in the width direction.
- To address this issue, the present invention provides a sheet feeding apparatus and an image forming apparatus capable of performing position alignment between sheets supported by a sheet supporting portion and an image forming position of the sheet with a simple configuration and at low cost.
- The present invention provides a sheet feeding apparatus including a sheet supporting portion which supports a plurality of sheets, a side end regulating mechanism which is arranged in a width direction perpendicular to a sheet feeding direction and regulates a position of the sheets supported by the sheet supporting portion by contacting an end part of the sheets in the width direction, and a sheet feeding portion which feeds the top sheet of the sheets supported by the sheet supporting portion and regulated by the side end regulating mechanism. The side end regulating mechanism includes a reference side regulating portion having a reference surface to be a reference in the sheet width direction for sheet feeding, a side end regulating portion which is arranged to be opposed to the reference side regulating portion with a sheet pressing member to apply a force to the sheets toward the reference surface, and an adjusting portion which changes an incline angle of the reference surface which is supported to be capable of inclining having the lower side of the reference surface as a fulcrum.
- With the present invention, by changing the incline angle of the reference surface which is to be the reference in the sheet width direction for sheet feeding with the adjusting portion, position alignment between the sheets supported by the sheet supporting portion and an image forming position of the sheet can be performed with a simple configuration and at low cost.
- Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
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FIG. 1 is a view which schematically illustrates a printer as an example of an image forming apparatus including a sheet feeding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a sheet cassette arranged at the sheet feeding apparatus; -
FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory views which illustrate a configuration for moving a side end reference member and a side end regulating member arranged at the sheet cassette in the width direction; -
FIGS. 4A and 4B are explanatory views which illustrate movement of an intermediate plate arranged at the sheet cassette; -
FIG. 5 is an explanatory view which illustrates a configuration of a sheet pressing member arranged at the side end regulating member; -
FIG. 6 is an explanatory view which illustrates an angle adjusting member arranged at the side end reference member; -
FIGS. 7A and 7B are views which illustrate inclining motion of a side end reference portion by operation of the angle adjusting member; -
FIG. 8 is a view which illustrates an inclined state of the side end reference portion by the operation of the angle adjusting member; -
FIGS. 9A and 9B are enlarged views of a main part of the side end reference portion inclined by the operation of the angle adjusting member; -
FIGS. 10A and 10B are views which illustrate a mark indicating a sheet size formed at the sheet cassette; -
FIG. 11 is an explanatory view which illustrates a configuration of a positioning mechanism to perform positioning of the side end reference member arranged at the sheet cassette; -
FIGS. 12A and 12B are explanatory views which illustrate another configuration to incline the side end reference portion; -
FIG. 13 is a view which illustrates another configuration of the side end reference portion; and -
FIG. 14 is a view which illustrates an inclined state of a side wall portion of the side end reference portion arranged separately from the side end reference portion by the operation of the angle adjusting member. - In the following, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
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FIG. 1 is a view which schematically illustrates a printer as an example of an image forming apparatus including a sheet feeding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 1 shows aprinter 50, a printermain body 51 as an apparatus main body, animage forming portion 52 which is arranged at the printermain body 51 and performs image forming of an electrophotographic system, and asheet feeding apparatus 54 which feeds a sheet S to theimage forming portion 52. - Here, the
image forming portion 52 is provided with aphotosensitive drum 53 which forms a toner image and atransfer roller 65 which transfers the toner image formed at thephotosensitive drum 53 to the sheet S. At theimage forming portion 52 having such a configuration, first, light corresponding to an image signal is irradiated to thephotosensitive drum 53 from a laser light exposure device (not illustrated) when image forming operation is started. Then, due to the irradiation of light corresponding to the image signal, a latent image is formed on thephotosensitive drum 53. Consequently, the latent image on thephotosensitive drum 53 is developed with toner supplied by developing unit and visualized as a toner image. - The
sheet feeding apparatus 54 is detachably attached to the printermain body 51 and is provided with asheet cassette 1 as a sheet piling portion to support a pile of the sheets S and asheet feeding roller 54 a which constitutes a sheet feeding portion to feed the sheets S accommodated in thesheet cassette 1. Here, thesheet cassette 1 is provided with anintermediate plate 4 which is movable in the vertical direction to support the pile of the sheet S, a later-mentioned side end regulating member inFIG. 2 to regulate positions of both ends in the width direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction of the sheets S, and a rearend regulating member 7 to regulate the rear end of the sheets S. - Further, a
separation pad 60 which is press-contacted to thesheet feeding roller 54 a is arranged at the downstream side in the sheet feeding direction of thesheet cassette 1. Theseparation pad 60 is press-contacted to thesheet feeding roller 54 a by aseparation pad spring 61. In thesheet feeding apparatus 54, the sheets S are carried from thesheet cassette 1 by thesheet feeding roller 54 a at the time of image forming, and then, the sheets S are separated one by one by theseparation pad 60 which is press-contacted to thesheet feeding roller 54 a. - Next, image forming operation at the
printer 50 having the abovementioned configuration will be described. - When a print start signal is input, the sheets S piled at the
sheet cassette 1 are carried by friction with thesheet feeding roller 54 a. Then, the sheets S are separated and fed one by one by theseparation pad 60 which is press-contacted to thesheet feeding roller 54 a as being applied a force by theseparation pad spring 61. - Next, the sheet S is conveyed by a conveying
roller 63 and arrives at a pair ofregistration rollers 64. Then, the front end of the sheet S is aligned by the pair ofregistration rollers 64. Here, when a photo-sensor (not illustrated) detects passing of the sheet S before arriving at the pair ofregistration rollers 64, the laser light exposure device (not illustrated) irradiates laser light to thephotosensitive drum 53. - Thus, the electrostatic latent image is formed on the
photosensitive drum 53. By developing the electrostatic latent image with toner, the electrostatic latent image is visualized. Subsequently, by applying a voltage of the opposite polarity against the toner image formed on thephotosensitive drum 53 to thetransfer roller 65 which constitutes a transfer portion, the visualized toner image on thephotosensitive drum 53 is transferred to the sheet S. - Next, the sheet S on which the toner image is transferred is conveyed to a fixing
portion 66. The sheet S is pressurized and heated when passing through the fixingportion 66 and the toner image is permanently fixed on the sheet S. Then, the sheet S on which the toner image has been fixed is piled on adischarge cassette 70 by pairs ofdischarge rollers 67 to 69. - Here, as illustrated in
FIG. 2 , thesheet cassette 1 is provided with a cassettemain body 3 having a sheetaccommodating space 2 to accommodate and support the sheets of various sizes and theintermediate plate 4 arranged at the cassettemain body 3 which is a sheet supporting portion to support sheets to be capable of being lifted and lowered to support the pile of the sheets. Further, thesheet cassette 1 is provided with the rearend regulating member 7 to regulate the rear end of the sheets. - In addition, the
sheet cassette 1 is provided with a sideend reference portion 5 as a reference side regulating portion which regulates one side end position in the width direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction of the sheets and a sideend regulating portion 6 which is arranged to be opposed to the sideend reference portion 5 and regulates the other side end position in the width direction of the sheets. The sideend reference portion 5 and the sideend regulating portion 6 constitute the side end regulating mechanism which regulates the side end positions in the width direction of the sheets supported by thesheet cassette 1. - The side
end reference portion 5, the sideend regulating portion 6 and the rearend regulating member 7 are configured to be movable corresponding to various sheet sizes. As illustrated inFIGS. 3A and 3B , the sideend reference portion 5 and the sideend regulating portion 6 respectively includeracks pinion 10 which is arranged at abottom surface 19 of the cassettemain body 3. Due to theracks pinion 10, the sideend reference portion 5 and the sideend regulating portion 6 are moved in the opposite direction to each other by the same distance. Here,FIG. 3A indicates positions of the sideend reference portion 5, the sideend regulating portion 6 and the rearend regulating member 7 for accommodating the sheets of the A3 size.FIG. 3B indicates positions of the sideend reference portion 5, the sideend regulating portion 6 and the rearend regulating member 7 for accommodating the sheets of the A4 size (smaller than A3 size). - As illustrated in
FIGS. 4A and 4B , theintermediate plate 4 which supports the pile of the sheets is arranged to be capable of being lifted and lowered in parallel with thebottom surface 19 of thesheet cassette 1 with a lifting and lowing mechanism (not illustrated). Then, the sheets are fed sequentially. When a sheet upper surface sensor (not illustrated) detects that the position of the top sheet Sa of the sheets S is equal to or lower than a predetermined height, theintermediate plate 4 is lifted as illustrated inFIG. 4B . In this manner, the position of the top sheet Sa is maintained within a predetermined height range. - As illustrated in
FIG. 2 , the sideend regulating portion 6 is provided with two (i.e., a plurality of)sheet pressing members 8 along the sheet feeding direction as pressing members which are press-contacted to the side end (i.e., the end part) of the sheets and applies a force and presses the sheets to be contacted to the sideend reference portion 5 as being movable in the width direction. Further, between thesheet pressing member 8 and aside wall portion 6 a of the sideend regulating portion 6, regulation springs 9 are arranged at the upper and lower sides as biasing member to apply a force to thesheet pressing member 8 toward the side end reference member side, as illustrated inFIG. 5 . - Then, when the sheets S are accommodated in the cassette
main body 3, the sheets S are press-contacted by thesheet pressing member 8 to which a force is applied by the regulation springs 9 which are arranged at the upper and lower sides. Accordingly, as illustrated inFIGS. 4A and 4B , the sheets S are elastically pressed to aside wall portion 5 a of the sideend reference portion 5 having a sheet contact surface as a reference surface which is the reference of the sheet width direction for the sheet feeding while being contacted with the sheets S. As a result, one side end position in the width direction of the sheets S, namely, one side end position of the sheets S to be the reference for the position alignment with the image forming position of the sheet, follows to the position of the sideend reference portion 5. - Since the side end position in the width direction of the sheets S follows to the position of the side
end reference portion 5, the sheet is fed on a side end basis as the sideend reference portion 5 being the reference for the sheet feeding. Thus, by feeding the sheet as the sideend reference portion 5 being the reference, the position alignment between the sheets and the position of image forming (i.e., image transferring) at the transfer portion in the printer can be performed. - Further, as illustrated in
FIG. 6 , the sideend reference portion 5 is provided with anangle adjusting member 14 capable of operating sliding to adjust the angle of theside wall portion 5 a against thebottom surface 19 of thesheet cassette 1. Theangle adjusting member 14 is capable of being operated from the upper side of thebottom plate 5 b of the sideend reference portion 5 which is parallel to thebottom surface 19 of thesheet cassette 1. - In the present embodiment, the
angle adjusting member 14 is arranged inside an operation opening portion 5 c formed at thebottom plate 5 b of the sideend reference portion 5 so as not to disturb the sheet piling. Further, in the present embodiment, as illustrated inFIGS. 7A and 7B , the upper surface of theangle adjusting member 14 is inclined and an inclination surface is formed at abottom surface 5 d of thebottom plate 5 b to be contacted (i.e., engaged) to the upper surface of theangle adjusting member 14. - Accordingly, when the
angle adjusting member 14 located as illustrated inFIG. 7A is operated to move in the arrow direction, theangle adjusting member 14 proceeds between thebottom surface 5 d of the sideend reference portion 5 and thebottom surface 19 of the cassettemain body 3 as illustrated inFIG. 7B . As a result, the sideend reference portion 5 is swung having an edge part, on which theside wall portion 5 a is vertically formed, of thebottom plate 5 b of the sideend reference portion 5 as a fulcrum. Then, as illustrated inFIG. 8 , theside wall portion 5 a of the sideend reference portion 5 is inclined against thebottom surface 19 of the cassettemain body 3. - In the case that the
side wall portion 5 a of the sideend reference portion 5 which is capable of inclining is inclined against thebottom surface 19 of thesheet cassette 1 as described above, the side end position in the width direction of the top sheet Sa to be fed is moved by Δd when a force is applied to the sheets S in the width direction by thesheet pressing member 8, as illustrated inFIG. 9A . Due to the movement of the sheets S as described above, the printing position against the fed sheet Sa is also moved by Δd. - Namely, the reference position in the sheet width direction can be adjusted (i.e., changed) by inclining the side
end reference portion 5 with the operation of theangle adjusting member 14. Here, even in the case that the sideend reference portion 5 is inclined, therack 11 of the sideend reference portion 5 ofFIG. 3 is not to be apart from thepinion 10. Therefore, even when the sheets are pressed to theside wall portion 5 a of the sideend reference portion 5, the sideend reference portion 5 is not moved in the width direction. - Further, since the position of the top sheet Sa is maintained invariable due to the lifting of the
intermediate plate 4, the side end position in the width direction of the sheets S are maintained invariable as well despite of the number of the piled sheets as illustrated inFIGS. 9A and 9B as long as the inclined angle (i.e., the swung angle) of the sideend reference portion 5 is constant. - By the way, as illustrated in
FIG. 10 , there is a case that amark 15 indicating a sheet size is formed at the cassettemain body 3, namely, at theintermediate plate 4 in the present embodiment. Further, as illustrated inFIG. 11 , there is a case that apositioning mechanism 20A which performs positioning of the sideend reference portion 5 corresponding to the size is arranged between the cassettemain body 3 and the sideend reference portion 5. Thepositioning mechanism 20A is configured with a positioningmember 20 arranged at the sideend reference portion 5, apositioning spring 21 and agroove 22 arranged at the cassettemain body 3. - Meanwhile, in the present embodiment, the reference position in the sheet width direction is adjusted by inclining the side
end reference portion 5. Here, as described above, since the sideend reference portion 5 supported to be capable of inclining at the lower side (i.e., the edge part) being the fulcrum is inclined, the position of the sideend reference portion 5 is not varied even in the case that theangle adjusting member 14 is inclined. - Therefore, in the case that the
mark 15 is formed at theintermediate plate 4 or in the case that thepositioning mechanism 20A is provided, even if the sideend reference portion 5 is inclined, themark 15 or thepositioning mechanism 20A is not necessarily moved in accordance with the angle adjustment of the sideend reference portion 5. Thus, since the positioning adjustment of thepositioning mechanism 20A or themark 15 is unnecessary, the positioning adjustment in the width direction of the sheets S can be performed with less influence to others. - As described above, by inclining the side
end reference portion 5 and adjusting (i.e., changing) the angle of theside wall portion 5 a of the sideend reference portion 5, the position alignment between the sheets supported by thesheet cassette 1 and the image forming position of the sheet can be performed with a simple configuration at low cost. - In the description above, the inclined surface is formed at the
bottom surface 5 d of thebottom plate 5 b while inclining the upper surface of theangle adjusting member 14 so that the angle adjustment of the sideend reference portion 5 can be gently performed, as illustrated inFIG. 7 . However, not limited to this, the angle adjustment of the sideend reference portion 5 may be performed stepwise. - In the case that the angle adjustment of the side
end reference portion 5 is performed stepwise, a stepped portion is arranged at thebottom surface 5 d of thebottom plate 5 b of the sideend reference portion 5 which is engaged with theangle adjusting member 14 and theangle adjusting member 16 having a flat upper surface is slid along the stepped portion, as illustrated inFIG. 12 . Thus, the stepwise angle adjustment of the sideend reference portion 5 can be performed. - In the description above, the
side wall portion 5 a having the sheet contact surface is arranged integrally with the sideend reference portion 5. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as illustrated inFIG. 13 , theside wall portion 5 a may be arranged separately from the sideend reference portion 5. In this case, normally, theside wall portion 5 a is projected from a side wallmain body 5A of the sideend reference portion 5 toward the sheet side as illustrated inFIG. 13 . - Then, in order to perform the position alignment with the image forming position of the sheet, the
side wall portion 5 a is inclined toward the side wallmain body 5A as illustrated inFIG. 14 by operating theangle adjusting member 14. Here, when theside wall portion 5 a is inclined as described above, theside wall portion 5 a may be on the same plane as the side wallmain body 5A. - By arranging the
side wall portion 5 a separately from the sideend reference portion 5, less force is required for operating theangle adjusting member 14. Further, the operation becomes simple since theangle adjusting member 14 can be operated while holding the side wallmain body 5A. - Further, in the description above, the side
end reference portion 5 is inclined by the angle adjusting member in the width widening direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the sideend reference portion 5 may be inclined corresponding to the operation of the angle adjusting member in the width narrowing direction by arranging the bottom surface of the bottom plate of the sideend reference portion 5 to incline in the reverse direction to the shape inFIG. 7 . - Furthermore, in the embodiment, the side end regulating mechanism of the present invention is adopted to a sheet cassette. However, the side end regulating mechanism of the present invention may be adopted to a manual sheet feeding portion (i.e., a multipurpose sheet feeding mechanism).
- While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
- This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-303390, filed Nov. 28, 2008, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Claims (8)
1. A sheet feeding apparatus, comprising:
a sheet supporting portion which supports a plurality of sheets;
a side end regulating mechanism which is arranged in a width direction perpendicular to a sheet feeding direction and regulates a position of the sheets supported by the sheet supporting portion by contacting an end part of the sheets in the width direction; and
a sheet feeding portion which feeds the top sheet of the sheets supported by the sheet supporting portion and regulated by the side end regulating mechanism,
wherein the side end regulating mechanism includes a reference side regulating portion having a reference surface to be a reference in the sheet width direction for sheet feeding, a side end regulating portion which is arranged to be opposed to the reference side regulating portion with a sheet pressing member to apply a force to the sheets toward the reference surface, and
an adjusting portion which changes an incline angle of the reference surface which is supported to be capable of inclining at the lower side of the reference surface as a fulcrum.
2. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the reference surface and the reference side regulating portion are integrally arranged; and
the adjusting portion changes the angle of the reference surface by inclining the reference side regulating portion while an angle adjusting member proceeds between the reference side regulating portion and the sheet supporting portion.
3. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein a stepped portion which changes the angle of the reference surface by inclining the reference side regulating portion stepwise is provided at the reference side regulating portion engaged with the angle adjusting member.
4. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the reference surface is arranged to be projected toward the sheets which are supported by the sheet supporting portion.
5. An image forming apparatus, comprising:
a sheet supporting portion which supports a plurality of sheets;
a side end regulating mechanism which is arranged in a width direction perpendicular to a sheet feeding direction and regulates a position of the sheets supported by the sheet supporting portion by contacting an end part of the sheets in the width direction;
a sheet feeding portion which feeds the top sheet of the sheets supported by the sheet supporting portion and regulated by the side end regulating mechanism,
wherein the side end regulating mechanism includes a reference side regulating portion having a reference surface to be a reference in the sheet width direction for sheet feeding, a side end regulating portion which is arranged to be opposed to the reference side regulating portion with a sheet pressing member to apply a force to the sheets toward the reference surface,
an image forming portion which forms an image on the sheet fed from the sheet feeding portion; and
an adjusting portion which changes an incline angle of the reference surface which is supported to be capable of inclining at the lower side of the reference surface as a fulcrum.
6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5 ,
wherein the reference surface and the reference side regulating portion are integrally arranged; and
the adjusting portion changes the angle of the reference surface by inclining the reference side regulating portion while an angle adjusting member proceeds between the reference side regulating portion and the sheet supporting portion.
7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6 ,
wherein a stepped portion which changes the angle of the reference surface by inclining the reference side regulating portion stepwise is provided at the reference side regulating portion engaged with the angle adjusting member.
8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5 ,
wherein the reference surface is arranged to be projected toward the sheets which are supported by the sheet supporting portion.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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JP2008-303390 | 2008-11-28 | ||
JP2008303390A JP5178478B2 (en) | 2008-11-28 | 2008-11-28 | Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
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US20100133743A1 true US20100133743A1 (en) | 2010-06-03 |
Family
ID=42222047
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US12/622,903 Abandoned US20100133743A1 (en) | 2008-11-28 | 2009-11-20 | Sheet feeding apparutus and image forming apparatus |
Country Status (3)
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US (1) | US20100133743A1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP5178478B2 (en) |
CN (1) | CN101750926B (en) |
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US20070290434A1 (en) * | 2006-06-19 | 2007-12-20 | Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc. | Sheet storing device and image forming apparatus provided therewith |
US20110024969A1 (en) * | 2009-08-03 | 2011-02-03 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus |
US20120119434A1 (en) * | 2010-11-15 | 2012-05-17 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus |
EP2487125A1 (en) * | 2011-02-14 | 2012-08-15 | Kyocera Document Solutions Inc. | Sheet width regulating device and image forming apparatus with sheet width regulating device |
CN102862837A (en) * | 2011-07-08 | 2013-01-09 | 致伸科技股份有限公司 | File limit mechanism |
CN102992059A (en) * | 2011-09-09 | 2013-03-27 | 致伸科技股份有限公司 | File limiting mechanism |
US8500117B2 (en) | 2011-03-30 | 2013-08-06 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus with locking portion provided in the cassette body |
EP2631205A3 (en) * | 2012-02-22 | 2015-03-25 | Kyocera Document Solutions Inc. | Sheet loading device, and image forming apparatus having same |
US9010748B2 (en) | 2012-07-18 | 2015-04-21 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus |
US20170185025A1 (en) * | 2015-12-24 | 2017-06-29 | Ricoh Company, Ltd. | Sheet feeding device and image forming apparatus incorporating the sheet feeding device |
US9868599B2 (en) | 2014-10-10 | 2018-01-16 | Pfu Limited | Sheet feeding device |
US10543997B2 (en) | 2017-08-22 | 2020-01-28 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus |
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Cited By (18)
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US20070290434A1 (en) * | 2006-06-19 | 2007-12-20 | Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc. | Sheet storing device and image forming apparatus provided therewith |
US7866660B2 (en) * | 2006-06-19 | 2011-01-11 | Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc. | Sheet storing device and image forming apparatus provided therewith |
US20110024969A1 (en) * | 2009-08-03 | 2011-02-03 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus |
US8302956B2 (en) | 2009-08-03 | 2012-11-06 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus with separation claw and intermittent drive |
US20120119434A1 (en) * | 2010-11-15 | 2012-05-17 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus |
DE102011086305B4 (en) | 2010-11-15 | 2019-10-17 | Canon K.K. | SHEETING DEVICE AND IMAGE GENERATING DEVICE |
US8985571B2 (en) * | 2010-11-15 | 2015-03-24 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus |
US8496243B2 (en) | 2011-02-14 | 2013-07-30 | Kyocera Mita Corporation | Sheet width regulating device and image forming apparatus with sheet width regulating device |
EP2487125A1 (en) * | 2011-02-14 | 2012-08-15 | Kyocera Document Solutions Inc. | Sheet width regulating device and image forming apparatus with sheet width regulating device |
US8500117B2 (en) | 2011-03-30 | 2013-08-06 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus with locking portion provided in the cassette body |
CN102862837A (en) * | 2011-07-08 | 2013-01-09 | 致伸科技股份有限公司 | File limit mechanism |
CN102992059A (en) * | 2011-09-09 | 2013-03-27 | 致伸科技股份有限公司 | File limiting mechanism |
EP2631205A3 (en) * | 2012-02-22 | 2015-03-25 | Kyocera Document Solutions Inc. | Sheet loading device, and image forming apparatus having same |
US9010748B2 (en) | 2012-07-18 | 2015-04-21 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus |
US9868599B2 (en) | 2014-10-10 | 2018-01-16 | Pfu Limited | Sheet feeding device |
US20170185025A1 (en) * | 2015-12-24 | 2017-06-29 | Ricoh Company, Ltd. | Sheet feeding device and image forming apparatus incorporating the sheet feeding device |
US10144599B2 (en) * | 2015-12-24 | 2018-12-04 | Ricoh Company, Ltd. | Sheet feeding device and image forming apparatus incorporating the sheet feeding device |
US10543997B2 (en) | 2017-08-22 | 2020-01-28 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Sheet feeding apparatus and image forming apparatus |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
JP2010126315A (en) | 2010-06-10 |
JP5178478B2 (en) | 2013-04-10 |
CN101750926B (en) | 2013-08-21 |
CN101750926A (en) | 2010-06-23 |
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Owner name: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA,JAPAN Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:HAMASAKI, RYUJI;UCHIDA, YASUHIRO;SIGNING DATES FROM 20091113 TO 20091116;REEL/FRAME:023966/0449 |
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Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION |