Recording Media Cassette, Recording Apparatus

Abstract

A recording media cassette includes a lower tray that stores recording media therein, and an upper tray that stores recording media therein and is mounted on the lower tray so as to be detachable from the lower tray.

Description

BACKGROUND[0001]1. Technical Field[0002]The present invention relates to recording media cassettes that are detachably mounted in the main body of an apparatus. Further, the present invention relates to recording apparatuses, such as facsimile machines or printers, having a recording media feeding device that feeds recording media from the recording media cassette.[0003]2. Related Art[0004]Sheet cassettes that are detachably mounted in the main body of an apparatus are commonly used. In particular, JP-A-2006-273565 and JP-A-2007-91445 disclose a detachable sheet cassette (tray) having a dual-container configuration composed of upper and lower sheet containers. A sheet container that stores sheets therein in a recording apparatus is generally called various names, including “cassette”, “tray” and so forth. In the following description, an entire unit that is detachably mounded in the main body of the apparatus is referred to as a “cassette”, while each sheet container that is provide...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007]An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that the usability of a sheet cassette having a multiple-tray configuration composed of upper and lower trays is further improved.

[0009]With this configuration, the recording media cassette having a multi-tray configuration is composed of a lower tray and an upper tray. Since the upper tray is detachable from the lower tray, the capacity for storing the recording media in the lower tray increases when the upper tray is removed, thereby further improving usability in using the lower tray. Moreover, a space for storing the recording media in the lower tray is fully opened when the upper tray is removed, thereby further improving operability in loading the recording media into the lower tray.

[0011]With this configuration, the upper tray is slidably displaceable by means of a driving unit, the upper tray is in a state of being restrained by the lower tray when the upper tray is located in an active area of the upper tray, and the upper tray is released from being in the restrained state when the upper tray is located in an inactive area, thereby ensuring the upper tray to be slidably displaced in the active area by means of the driving unit.

[0013]With this configuration, the upper tray is provided to be slidably displaceable to a position outside of an area for storing the recording media in the lower tray. Accordingly, the area for storing the recording media in the lower tray can be fully opened, thereby facilitating an operation in loading the recording media into the lower tray to a great extent.

[0015]With this configuration, the upper tray is configured to be independently detachably mounted in the main body of a recording apparatus that performs recording on the recording media in a state in which the upper tray is removed from the lower tray. Accordingly, the recording media can be fed from the upper tray without using the lower tray, thereby further improving usability.

[0016]There is provided a recording media feeding device that feeds the recording media in a fifth example, in which it is preferable the recording media feeding device includes the recording media cassette according to any one of the first to fourth examples. According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a recording apparatus including a recording unit that performs recording on the recording media, and the recording media feeding device according to the fifth example. With those configurations, the same effect can be achieved as that according to any one of the first to fourth examples.

Problems solved by technology

With such a dual-tray configuration of a sheet cassette, however, it is not possible to remove the upper tray from the lower tray.

Accordingly, it is not always useful for a user who does not frequently use the upper tray, since the upper tray reduces the capacity for storing sheets in the lower tray.

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