U.S. patent application number 12/622903 was filed with the patent office on 2010-06-03 for sheet feeding apparutus and image forming apparatus.
This patent application is currently assigned to CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA. Invention is credited to Ryuji Hamasaki, Yasuhiro Uchida.
Application Number | 20100133743 12/622903 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42222047 |
Filed Date | 2010-06-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100133743 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hamasaki; Ryuji ; et
al. |
June 3, 2010 |
SHEET FEEDING APPARUTUS AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS
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.
Inventors: |
Hamasaki; Ryuji;
(Yokohama-shi, JP) ; Uchida; Yasuhiro;
(Yokohama-shi, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
FITZPATRICK CELLA HARPER & SCINTO
1290 Avenue of the Americas
NEW YORK
NY
10104-3800
US
|
Assignee: |
CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Tokyo
JP
|
Family ID: |
42222047 |
Appl. No.: |
12/622903 |
Filed: |
November 20, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
271/241 ;
271/145 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65H 2511/12 20130101;
B65H 2801/06 20130101; B65H 1/04 20130101; B65H 2405/114 20130101;
B65H 2511/22 20130101; B65H 9/04 20130101; B65H 2511/22 20130101;
B65H 2220/01 20130101; B65H 2220/04 20130101; B65H 2511/12
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
271/241 ;
271/145 |
International
Class: |
B65H 1/00 20060101
B65H001/00; B65H 9/00 20060101 B65H009/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 28, 2008 |
JP |
2008-303390 |
Claims
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.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] 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.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] 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.
[0005] 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).
[0006] 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.
[0007] 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.
[0008] 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.
[0009] 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.
[0010] 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.
[0011] 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.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] 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.
[0013] 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.
[0014] Further features of the present invention will become
apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments
with reference to the attached drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] 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;
[0016] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a sheet cassette arranged at
the sheet feeding apparatus;
[0017] 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;
[0018] FIGS. 4A and 4B are explanatory views which illustrate
movement of an intermediate plate arranged at the sheet
cassette;
[0019] FIG. 5 is an explanatory view which illustrates a
configuration of a sheet pressing member arranged at the side end
regulating member;
[0020] FIG. 6 is an explanatory view which illustrates an angle
adjusting member arranged at the side end reference member;
[0021] FIGS. 7A and 7B are views which illustrate inclining motion
of a side end reference portion by operation of the angle adjusting
member;
[0022] FIG. 8 is a view which illustrates an inclined state of the
side end reference portion by the operation of the angle adjusting
member;
[0023] 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;
[0024] FIGS. 10A and 10B are views which illustrate a mark
indicating a sheet size formed at the sheet cassette;
[0025] 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;
[0026] FIGS. 12A and 12B are explanatory views which illustrate
another configuration to incline the side end reference
portion;
[0027] FIG. 13 is a view which illustrates another configuration of
the side end reference portion; and
[0028] 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.
DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0029] In the following, an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention will be described in detail with reference to the
drawings.
[0030] 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.
[0031] FIG. 1 shows a printer 50, a printer main body 51 as an
apparatus main body, an image forming portion 52 which is arranged
at the printer main body 51 and performs image forming of an
electrophotographic system, and a sheet feeding apparatus 54 which
feeds a sheet S to the image forming portion 52.
[0032] Here, the image forming portion 52 is provided with a
photosensitive drum 53 which forms a toner image and a transfer
roller 65 which transfers the toner image formed at the
photosensitive drum 53 to the sheet S. At the image forming portion
52 having such a configuration, first, light corresponding to an
image signal is irradiated to the photosensitive 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 the
photosensitive drum 53. Consequently, the latent image on the
photosensitive drum 53 is developed with toner supplied by
developing unit and visualized as a toner image.
[0033] The sheet feeding apparatus 54 is detachably attached to the
printer main body 51 and is provided with a sheet cassette 1 as a
sheet piling portion to support a pile of the sheets S and a sheet
feeding roller 54a which constitutes a sheet feeding portion to
feed the sheets S accommodated in the sheet cassette 1. Here, the
sheet cassette 1 is provided with an intermediate plate 4 which is
movable in the vertical direction to support the pile of the sheet
S, a later-mentioned side end regulating member in FIG. 2 to
regulate positions of both ends in the width direction
perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction of the sheets S, and a
rear end regulating member 7 to regulate the rear end of the sheets
S.
[0034] Further, a separation pad 60 which is press-contacted to the
sheet feeding roller 54a is arranged at the downstream side in the
sheet feeding direction of the sheet cassette 1. The separation pad
60 is press-contacted to the sheet feeding roller 54a by a
separation pad spring 61. In the sheet feeding apparatus 54, the
sheets S are carried from the sheet cassette 1 by the sheet feeding
roller 54a at the time of image forming, and then, the sheets S are
separated one by one by the separation pad 60 which is
press-contacted to the sheet feeding roller 54a.
[0035] Next, image forming operation at the printer 50 having the
abovementioned configuration will be described.
[0036] When a print start signal is input, the sheets S piled at
the sheet cassette 1 are carried by friction with the sheet feeding
roller 54a. Then, the sheets S are separated and fed one by one by
the separation pad 60 which is press-contacted to the sheet feeding
roller 54a as being applied a force by the separation pad spring
61.
[0037] Next, the sheet S is conveyed by a conveying roller 63 and
arrives at a pair of registration rollers 64. Then, the front end
of the sheet S is aligned by the pair of registration rollers 64.
Here, when a photo-sensor (not illustrated) detects passing of the
sheet S before arriving at the pair of registration rollers 64, the
laser light exposure device (not illustrated) irradiates laser
light to the photosensitive drum 53.
[0038] 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 the photosensitive drum 53 to the
transfer roller 65 which constitutes a transfer portion, the
visualized toner image on the photosensitive drum 53 is transferred
to the sheet S.
[0039] 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 fixing portion 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 a discharge
cassette 70 by pairs of discharge rollers 67 to 69.
[0040] Here, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the sheet cassette 1 is
provided with a cassette main body 3 having a sheet accommodating
space 2 to accommodate and support the sheets of various sizes and
the intermediate plate 4 arranged at the cassette main 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, the sheet cassette 1 is provided with the rear end
regulating member 7 to regulate the rear end of the sheets.
[0041] In addition, the sheet cassette 1 is provided with a side
end 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
side end regulating portion 6 which is arranged to be opposed to
the side end reference portion 5 and regulates the other side end
position in the width direction of the sheets. The side end
reference portion 5 and the side end regulating portion 6
constitute the side end regulating mechanism which regulates the
side end positions in the width direction of the sheets supported
by the sheet cassette 1.
[0042] The side end reference portion 5, the side end regulating
portion 6 and the rear end regulating member 7 are configured to be
movable corresponding to various sheet sizes. As illustrated in
FIGS. 3A and 3B, the side end reference portion 5 and the side end
regulating portion 6 respectively include racks 11, 12 mated with a
pinion 10 which is arranged at a bottom surface 19 of the cassette
main body 3. Due to the racks 11, 12 and the pinion 10, the side
end reference portion 5 and the side end regulating portion 6 are
moved in the opposite direction to each other by the same distance.
Here, FIG. 3A indicates positions of the side end reference portion
5, the side end regulating portion 6 and the rear end regulating
member 7 for accommodating the sheets of the A3 size. FIG. 3B
indicates positions of the side end reference portion 5, the side
end regulating portion 6 and the rear end regulating member 7 for
accommodating the sheets of the A4 size (smaller than A3 size).
[0043] As illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the intermediate plate 4
which supports the pile of the sheets is arranged to be capable of
being lifted and lowered in parallel with the bottom surface 19 of
the sheet 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, the intermediate plate 4 is lifted as
illustrated in FIG. 4B. In this manner, the position of the top
sheet Sa is maintained within a predetermined height range.
[0044] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the side end 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
side end reference portion 5 as being movable in the width
direction. Further, between the sheet pressing member 8 and a side
wall portion 6a of the side end regulating portion 6, regulation
springs 9 are arranged at the upper and lower sides as biasing
member to apply a force to the sheet pressing member 8 toward the
side end reference member side, as illustrated in FIG. 5.
[0045] Then, when the sheets S are accommodated in the cassette
main body 3, the sheets S are press-contacted by the sheet 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 in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the sheets S are elastically
pressed to a side wall portion 5a of the side end 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 side end reference portion 5.
[0046] 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 side end reference
portion 5 being the reference for the sheet feeding. Thus, by
feeding the sheet as the side end 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.
[0047] Further, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the side end reference
portion 5 is provided with an angle adjusting member 14 capable of
operating sliding to adjust the angle of the side wall portion 5a
against the bottom surface 19 of the sheet cassette 1. The angle
adjusting member 14 is capable of being operated from the upper
side of the bottom plate 5b of the side end reference portion 5
which is parallel to the bottom surface 19 of the sheet cassette
1.
[0048] In the present embodiment, the angle adjusting member 14 is
arranged inside an operation opening portion 5c formed at the
bottom plate 5b of the side end reference portion 5 so as not to
disturb the sheet piling. Further, in the present embodiment, as
illustrated in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the upper surface of the angle
adjusting member 14 is inclined and an inclination surface is
formed at a bottom surface 5d of the bottom plate 5b to be
contacted (i.e., engaged) to the upper surface of the angle
adjusting member 14.
[0049] Accordingly, when the angle adjusting member 14 located as
illustrated in FIG. 7A is operated to move in the arrow direction,
the angle adjusting member 14 proceeds between the bottom surface
5d of the side end reference portion 5 and the bottom surface 19 of
the cassette main body 3 as illustrated in FIG. 7B. As a result,
the side end reference portion 5 is swung having an edge part, on
which the side wall portion 5a is vertically formed, of the bottom
plate 5b of the side end reference portion 5 as a fulcrum. Then, as
illustrated in FIG. 8, the side wall portion 5a of the side end
reference portion 5 is inclined against the bottom surface 19 of
the cassette main body 3.
[0050] In the case that the side wall portion 5a of the side end
reference portion 5 which is capable of inclining is inclined
against the bottom surface 19 of the sheet cassette 1 as described
above, the side end position in the width direction of the top
sheet Sa to be fed is moved by .DELTA.d when a force is applied to
the sheets S in the width direction by the sheet pressing member 8,
as illustrated in FIG. 9A. Due to the movement of the sheets S as
described above, the printing position against the fed sheet Sa is
also moved by .DELTA.d.
[0051] 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 the angle adjusting member 14.
Here, even in the case that the side end reference portion 5 is
inclined, the rack 11 of the side end reference portion 5 of FIG. 3
is not to be apart from the pinion 10. Therefore, even when the
sheets are pressed to the side wall portion 5a of the side end
reference portion 5, the side end reference portion 5 is not moved
in the width direction.
[0052] 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 in FIGS. 9A and 9B as long as the inclined
angle (i.e., the swung angle) of the side end reference portion 5
is constant.
[0053] By the way, as illustrated in FIG. 10, there is a case that
a mark 15 indicating a sheet size is formed at the cassette main
body 3, namely, at the intermediate plate 4 in the present
embodiment. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 11, there is a case
that a positioning mechanism 20A which performs positioning of the
side end reference portion 5 corresponding to the size is arranged
between the cassette main body 3 and the side end reference portion
5. The positioning mechanism 20A is configured with a positioning
member 20 arranged at the side end reference portion 5, a
positioning spring 21 and a groove 22 arranged at the cassette main
body 3.
[0054] 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 side end
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 side end reference portion 5 is not varied even in
the case that the angle adjusting member 14 is inclined.
[0055] Therefore, in the case that the mark 15 is formed at the
intermediate plate 4 or in the case that the positioning mechanism
20A is provided, even if the side end reference portion 5 is
inclined, the mark 15 or the positioning mechanism 20A is not
necessarily moved in accordance with the angle adjustment of the
side end reference portion 5. Thus, since the positioning
adjustment of the positioning mechanism 20A or the mark 15 is
unnecessary, the positioning adjustment in the width direction of
the sheets S can be performed with less influence to others.
[0056] As described above, by inclining the side end reference
portion 5 and adjusting (i.e., changing) the angle of the side wall
portion 5a of the side end reference portion 5, the position
alignment between the sheets supported by the sheet cassette 1 and
the image forming position of the sheet can be performed with a
simple configuration at low cost.
[0057] In the description above, the inclined surface is formed at
the bottom surface 5d of the bottom plate 5b while inclining the
upper surface of the angle adjusting member 14 so that the angle
adjustment of the side end reference portion 5 can be gently
performed, as illustrated in FIG. 7. However, not limited to this,
the angle adjustment of the side end reference portion 5 may be
performed stepwise.
[0058] In the case that the angle adjustment of the side end
reference portion 5 is performed stepwise, a stepped portion is
arranged at the bottom surface 5d of the bottom plate 5b of the
side end reference portion 5 which is engaged with the angle
adjusting member 14 and the angle adjusting member 16 having a flat
upper surface is slid along the stepped portion, as illustrated in
FIG. 12. Thus, the stepwise angle adjustment of the side end
reference portion 5 can be performed.
[0059] In the description above, the side wall portion 5a having
the sheet contact surface is arranged integrally with the side end
reference portion 5. However, the present invention is not limited
to this. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 13, the side wall
portion 5a may be arranged separately from the side end reference
portion 5. In this case, normally, the side wall portion 5a is
projected from a side wall main body 5A of the side end reference
portion 5 toward the sheet side as illustrated in FIG. 13.
[0060] Then, in order to perform the position alignment with the
image forming position of the sheet, the side wall portion 5a is
inclined toward the side wall main body 5A as illustrated in FIG.
14 by operating the angle adjusting member 14. Here, when the side
wall portion 5a is inclined as described above, the side wall
portion 5a may be on the same plane as the side wall main body
5A.
[0061] By arranging the side wall portion 5a separately from the
side end reference portion 5, less force is required for operating
the angle adjusting member 14. Further, the operation becomes
simple since the angle adjusting member 14 can be operated while
holding the side wall main body 5A.
[0062] 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 side end 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 side end reference portion 5 to
incline in the reverse direction to the shape in FIG. 7.
[0063] 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).
[0064] 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.
[0065] 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.
* * * * *