Sheet storage device and image forming apparatus

Abstract

To provide a sheet storage device in which a position of a cover can be easily adjusted.SOLUTION: A sheet storage device has: a housing; a storage part that is arranged inside the housing and can store a sheet; a cover that is attached to the storage part and forms a part of an exterior surface of the housing; and an adjustment member that engages with the storage part and the cover and performs positioning by adjusting a relative position of the storage part and the cover in a direction that intersects the exterior surface formed by the cover. The adjustment member adjusts the relative position of the storage part and the cover by changing a state of engagement with the storage part and the cover.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a sheet storage device and an image forming apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] In conventional image forming apparatuses such as printers, copiers, and facsimiles, there are some that are provided with a feeding device for feeding a sheet to an image forming unit. Such a feeding device is provided with a cassette that is attached to the apparatus main body and is used for storing sheets. When the sheets stored in the cassette are used up or the sheets to be stored are changed, the cassette is pulled out from the apparatus, and after storing new sheets, the cassette can be inserted into the apparatus main body again.

[0003] In such a configuration, the outer surface of the image forming apparatus is generally divided into a cover that covers the main body and a cover that covers the cassette, and the outer surface is configured. In cover parts that form the outer surface of the same surface with two or more different parts, in particular, cover parts attached to a pull-out part such as a cassette may have the distance to each outer surface deviate from the design value due to variations in the attached parts. As a result, there is a problem that an appearance step is formed between the parts and the appearance becomes poor.

[0004] Further, in the above-described cassette, there may be a case where the mounting position in the insertion direction of the cassette with respect to the image forming apparatus main body can be adjusted. This is for the purpose of making the end position of the sheet fed out from the cassette coincide with the position of the image formed in the image forming unit, and it becomes possible to feed out the stored sheet to an appropriate position with respect to the image of the image forming unit. In such a configuration, depending on the adjustment position, there is a problem that the insertion direction positions of the cover that covers the main body and the cover of the cassette are displaced.

[0005] In response to such problems, there are some that address the issue by making the position where the cover of the cassette is attached to the cassette adjustable using adjustment screws. However, in the case where the cover of the cassette is made adjustable with adjustment screws, when the image forming apparatus is transported, if an impact is applied to the cassette and that impact exceeds the fastening force of the adjustment screws, there has been a problem that the position of the cassette cover with respect to the cassette shifts.

[0006] Therefore, in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-214404), a configuration is proposed in which a buffer member that maintains a state where the positioning portion between the cassette and the apparatus main body is separated is provided between the cover and the apparatus main body. Thereby, in Patent Document 1, even when an impact is applied to the cassette, it is attempted to prevent the positions of the cassette and the cover from shifting.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0007]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0008] However, as described above, in the configuration where the position of the cover is adjusted with adjustment screws, the position of the cover with respect to the cassette is adjusted by directly moving the position of the cover with respect to the cassette in a state where the adjustment screws are loosened and then re-fastening the adjustment screws in the moved state. Therefore, fine adjustment is difficult, and there has been a problem that the cover easily shifts with respect to the position to be adjusted when fastening the adjustment screws. This leads to an increase in the working time for adjusting the cover position.

[0009] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a sheet storage device in which the position of the cover can be easily adjusted.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0010] The present invention adopts the following configuration. That is, a housing, a storage part disposed inside the housing and capable of storing a sheet, a cover attached to the storage part and forming a part of the outer surface of the housing, an adjustment member that engages with the storage part and the cover and adjusts and positions the relative positions of the storage part and the cover in a direction intersecting the outer surface formed by the cover, and having the adjustment member adjusts the relative positions of the storage part and the cover by changing the engagement state with respect to the storage part and the cover and by changing the posture when the adjustment member engages with the storage portion and the cover, the relative position between the storage portion and the cover is adjusted, the adjustment member has a rotation axis that rotatably engages with one of the storage portion and the cover, and an eccentric axis that engages with the other of the storage portion and the cover, and is an eccentric cam having different center lines for the rotation axis and the eccentric axis The sheet storage device is characterized in that. The present invention also adopts the following configuration. That is, a housing, a storage portion disposed inside the housing and capable of storing a seat, a cover attached to the storage portion and forming a part of the exterior surface of the housing, an adjustment member that engages with the storage portion and the cover and adjusts and positions the relative position between the storage portion and the cover in a direction intersecting the exterior surface formed by the cover, having by changing the engagement state of the adjustment member with respect to the storage portion and the cover, the relative position between the storage portion and the cover is adjusted, by changing the position when the adjustment member engages with the storage portion and the cover, the relative position between the storage portion and the cover is adjusted, the adjustment member is a screw having a screw portion and a positioning portion, one of the storage portion and the cover has a plurality of holes fastened by the screw portion provided at a plurality of positions in a direction intersecting the exterior surface formed by the cover, the other of the storage portion and the cover has a hole that fits with the positioning portion of the screw in a direction intersecting the exterior surface formed by the cover A seat storage device characterized by the above.

Advantages of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a sheet storage device in which the position of the cover can be easily adjusted.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012]

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Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0013] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be exemplarily and detailedly described based on examples. However, dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, etc. of the components described in this embodiment should be appropriately changed according to the configuration of the apparatus to which the invention is applied and various conditions. That is, the scope of the present invention is not intended to be limited to the following embodiments.

[0014] The present invention can be regarded as a sheet storage device for storing sheets such as paper. The present invention can also be regarded as a sheet feeding device for feeding the stored sheets. Such a sheet storage device or sheet feeding device may be connected to an image forming apparatus or integrated with an image forming apparatus. The present invention can also be regarded as an image forming apparatus including the above sheet storage device or sheet feeding device and an image forming unit for forming an image on the fed sheet.

[0015] [Embodiment 1] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0016] (Schematic Configuration of the Apparatus) FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus 100 including a feeder and a deck-type feeding device which are examples of a feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] The image forming apparatus 100 includes an image forming apparatus main body 1. The image forming apparatus main body 1 is a laser beam printer (LBP) as an image forming apparatus, and a well-known configuration can be used.

[0018] The image forming apparatus main body 1 includes an image forming unit 10 that forms an image on a sheet S. As an example, a four-color image forming unit 10 including a process cartridge 11 will be described, but the image forming method and the number of colors are not limited to this. When it is necessary to distinguish the four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, black), any one of C, M, Y, and K is described as a subscript after the symbol.

[0019] The process cartridge 11 includes a photosensitive drum 12. The photosensitive drum 12 charged by a charging roller (not shown) is exposed with laser light corresponding to the image data of the image formed by the laser scanner 13, thereby forming an electrostatic latent image. Then, the electrostatic latent image is developed by supplying toner by a developing roller (not shown).

[0020] The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 12 is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 16 by the primary transfer roller 19. Toner images are sequentially superimposed and transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 16 from the four process cartridges 11C to 11K. Then, the toner image is transferred to the sheet S by a secondary transfer unit including the secondary transfer roller 17. Then, the toner image is heated by the fixing unit 14 and fixed to the sheet S. Then, the sheet is conveyed to the paper discharge tray 15.

[0021] Next, the sheet storage device will be described. The feeder 51 as the sheet storage device also serves as the mounting table of the image forming apparatus main body 1 and is disposed below the image forming apparatus main body 1.

[0022] Below the feeder 51, a deck-type sheet storage device (second feeder 101) capable of storing a larger volume of sheets is arranged. Considering the movement with the image forming apparatus main body 1 placed thereon, casters 130 are attached to four locations on the lower surface of the second feeder 101. The exterior surface of the feeder 51 in a state where the sheet storage cassette 52 as a storage unit is inserted is configured such that at least a part of the front side is constituted by the cassette cover 72, and the remaining part is constituted by the outer wall of the housing of the feeder 51. Similarly, the exterior surface of the second feeder 101 in a state where the sheet stacking table 102 as a storage unit is inserted is also constituted such that a part is by the cover 107 and the rest is by the outer wall of the housing.

[0023] Also, the above sheet storage devices (feeder 51 and second feeder 101) each have a feeding means and a cassette, and the cassette is configured to be able to stack and feed sheets of various sizes and basis weights. Therefore, these sheet storage devices can also be called sheet feeding devices that supply sheets to the image forming apparatus main body 1.

[0024] When the sheet storage device receives a feeding signal from the image forming apparatus main body 1, it selects a cassette loaded with a sheet suitable for the feeding signal, and feeds the sheets S one by one from the cassette to the image forming apparatus main body 1.

[0025] For example, the case where the sheet storage cassette 52 of the feeder 51 is selected as the sheet feeding source will be described. The pickup roller 53 sends out the sheet S stored in the sheet storage cassette 52. The sheet S is separated by the feed roller 54 and the retard roller 55, the skew is corrected by the registration roller pair 56, and is conveyed to the above-described secondary transfer unit.

[0026] Similarly, when the main body side sheet storage cassette 2 of the image forming apparatus main body 1 is selected, the sheet S is fed by the pickup roller 23, the feed roller 24, and the retard roller 25. Similarly, when the sheet stacking table 102 of the second feeder 101 is selected, the sheet S is fed by the pickup roller 303, the feed roller 304, and the retard roller 305. Note that the feeding means is not limited to the above as long as the sheet S can be picked up and conveyed to the image forming unit 10.

[0027] (Configuration and Operation of Cassette) Here, the cassette provided in the feeder as the sheet storage device will be described. FIGS. 5 and 6 are perspective views of the sheet storage cassette 52 provided in the feeder 51 as viewed from different angles. Note that the main body side sheet storage cassette 2 in the image forming apparatus main body 1 has the same configuration. Such a sheet storage cassette may be simply referred to as a cassette. On the back surface of the sheet storage cassette 52, a pin 58 for the pulling means to grip the sheet storage cassette 52 when the sheet storage cassette 52 is pulled in and a pin holding arm 59 for holding the pin are arranged.

[0028] Note that the "front surface" and "front side" of the image forming apparatus 100, the image forming apparatus main body 1, the feeder 51, and the second feeder 101 refer to the side where the cover 107 and the cassette cover 72 shown in FIG. 4 are located, which is the side where the user is when inserting or pulling out the main body side sheet storage cassette 2 or the sheet storage cassette 52. Also, the "back surface" and "rear side" refer to the opposite side of the "front surface". The same applies to the "front surface" and "back surface" of the sheet storage cassette 52. Each cassette is inserted in the + direction of the Y axis in the figure and pulled out in the - direction of the Y axis. The insertion direction of each cassette intersects, preferably substantially orthogonally, with the outer surface of the apparatus formed by the cover.

[0029]

[0030] ​The feeder 51 is provided with a space as a sheet storage cassette accommodating portion. And, as shown in FIG. 2, the sheet storage cassette 52 is stored in the sheet storage cassette accommodating portion within the feeder 51. The sheet storage cassette 52 is detachable from the apparatus main body of the feeder 51 along rails 60 and 61 as shown in FIG. 4. Similarly, the main body side sheet storage cassette 2 of the image forming apparatus main body 1 is stored in the space as the sheet storage cassette accommodating portion within the LBP.

[0031] The insertion operation of the sheet storage cassette 52 is performed by the user. Here, as shown in FIG. 4, a pulling means 62 is attached to the rear side plate on the back side inside the apparatus main body of the feeder 51. When the sheet storage cassette 52 inserted by the user enters the internal space of the feeder 51 and the pin 58 and the pin holding arm 59 attached to the back surface of the sheet storage cassette 52 reach the position of the above pulling means 62, the pulling means 62 engages with the pin 58, the pin 58 is pulled in by the pulling means, and the sheet storage cassette 52 is pulled to the paper feeding position.

[0032] As shown in FIG. 7, the pulling means 62 is composed of an arm 63 that grabs and pulls the pin 58 on the back surface of the sheet storage cassette, a rotation fulcrum 64 of the arm, a toggle spring 65 that is connected to the arm 63 and generates a rotational moment on the arm 63 by its contraction force to draw out the force for pulling the sheet storage cassette, a shaft 66 that connects the arm 63 and the toggle spring 65, a shaft 67 that is the rotation center of the toggle spring, and a guide groove 68 that guides the movement path of the pin 58 on the back surface of the cassette.

[0033] FIG. 8 is a top view showing the process of pulling in the sheet storage cassette 52, and shows the movement of the pin 58 on the back surface of the sheet storage cassette and the pulling means 62.

[0034] When the sheet storage cassette 52 is inserted into the feeder 51 by the user's operation and the pin 58 reaches the position in Fig. 8(a), the pin 58 is guided into the guide groove 68 and moves to the position in Fig. 8(b), and the arm 63 grabs the pin 58.

[0035] When the sheet storage cassette 52 is further inserted from this state, the pin 58 moves to the position in Fig. 8(c), and the arm 63 rotates around the rotation fulcrum 64. When the shaft 66, the rotation fulcrum 64, and the shaft 67 are aligned in a straight line, it becomes the position of the neutral point of the toggle mechanism where no rotational moment is applied to the arm 63. When the sheet storage cassette 52 is further inserted from this state, the neutral positional relationship of the toggle mechanism is disrupted, and the arm 63 starts to rotate around the rotation fulcrum 64 due to the contraction force of the toggle spring 65. The pin 58, which receives the acting force due to the rotational moment, is pulled along the guide groove 68 and moves to the position in Fig. 8(d) by the contraction force of the toggle spring, so that the sheet storage cassette 52 can be smoothly mounted on the feeding device.

[0036] By the way, the cassette is provided with positioning means 69 for positioning the cassette in the insertion direction when the cassette is mounted on the feeding device (see Figs. 5 and 9). When the cassette is inserted and the cassette is pulled in by the above-described pulling means 62, the contact portion 69a of the positioning means 69 contacts the device main body frame, thereby positioning the cassette in the insertion direction. By using the positioning means 69 to move the cassette in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the sheet is fed, the sheet can be fed to the image forming area where the image is formed by the image forming unit.

[0037] Furthermore, the positioning means 69 has a latch-shaped portion 69b that engages with a latch shape 70 provided obliquely on the cassette. By changing the place where the latch shapes of the cassette and the positioning means 69 engage, the protruding amount of the contact portion 69a with respect to the cassette can be changed with respect to the cassette insertion direction. In the present embodiment, the latch-shaped portion 69b is designed so that the contact portion 69a can be changed in position at a pitch of 0.5 mm with respect to the cassette insertion direction.

[0038] Also, as shown in FIG. 9(b), when the positioning means 69 (storage unit positioning means) is attached in a state where it is maximally displaced in the direction of arrow A, the amount of protrusion from the cassette increases by 2 mm from FIG. 9(a). Conversely, as shown in FIG. 9(c), when the positioning means 69 is attached in a state where it is maximally displaced in the direction of arrow B, the amount of protrusion of the positioning means 69 from the cassette decreases by 2 mm from FIG. 9(a). Due to this action, when the cassette is stored in the state of FIG. 9(b), the cassette is positioned 2 mm forward in the cassette insertion direction compared to the state of FIG. 9(a). On the other hand, when the cassette is stored in the state of FIG. 9(c), the cassette is positioned 2 mm deeper in the cassette insertion direction compared to the state of FIG. 9(a). Thereby, the position of the sheet fed from the cassette to the image forming unit can be adjusted in a pitch of 0.5 mm up to ±2 mm.

[0039] (Cover adjustment mechanism) Hereinafter, the cover adjustment mechanism according to the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, the cassette cover 72 is attached to the cassette via two cover adjustment members 71. These two cover adjustment members 71 are the same member and have the same configuration in terms of function.

[0040] FIG. 1 is a main part perspective view showing the cover adjustment member 71 attached to the sheet storage cassette 52. The cover adjustment member 71 in the illustrated example includes a rotation shaft 92 extending in the Z direction and a fan-shaped member to be adjusted 90 extending in a direction intersecting the rotation shaft 92. As will be described later, at one end of the rotation shaft, there are provided a fitting shaft portion 89 that fits into the fitting hole 75 of the sheet storage cassette 52 and a shaft portion 76 that fits into the oblong fitting hole 78 provided in the cassette cover 72. Also, at the other end of the shaft, there are provided a fitting shaft portion 88 that fits into the fitting hole 74 of the sheet storage cassette 52 and a shaft portion 77 that fits into the oblong fitting hole 79 provided in the cassette cover 72. The oblong fitting holes 78 and 79 are formed such that the direction orthogonal to the insertion direction of the cassette is longer.

[0041] The shaft of the cover adjustment member 71 is rotatably inserted into the fitting holes 74 and 75 provided in the cassette. Then, by tightening the screw 73, which is a fixing means, through the screw hole 91 provided in the member to be adjusted 90, the cover adjustment member 71 is fastened to the cassette. The screw hole 91 is provided as an elongated hole along the rotational direction of the shaft so that the fastening position can be changed without removing the screw 73. Then, by fitting the oblong fitting holes 78 and 79 provided in the cassette cover 72 to the shaft portions 76 and 77 provided in the cover adjustment member 71, the relative position of the cassette cover 72 in the cassette insertion direction (Y direction) is positioned. Here, by tightening the screw 73 with the rotating shaft 92 rotated at various angles, the posture of the cover adjustment member 71 at the time of engagement can be changed.

[0042] In addition, as shown in FIG. 11, the relative position of the cassette cover 72 with respect to the cassette in a direction other than the cassette insertion direction is directly positioned between the cassette and the cassette cover by fitting the shaft portions 80, 81, 82 provided in the cassette cover 72 and the oblong holes 83, 84, 85 provided in the cassette.

[0043] Next, a method for adjusting the position of the cassette cover 72 with respect to the cassette in the cassette insertion direction using the cover adjustment member 71 will be described. For the cover adjustment member 71, the center line of the fitting shaft portions 88 and 89 with the fitting holes 74 and 75 provided in the cassette is different from the center line of the shaft portion 76 around which the cassette cover is attached, and as shown in FIG. 10(a), they are displaced by X = 3.25 mm. Note that the shaft portion 77 located on the opposite side of the cover adjustment member 71 is concentric with the shaft portion 76.

[0044] As shown in FIG. 10(b), when the cover adjustment member 71 is rotated by θ = 38° in the R1 direction with respect to the cassette, the shaft portion 76 moves approximately 2 mm (≈3.25×sin(38°)) in the back side (the + direction of the Y axis) in the cassette insertion direction. Here, the shaft portion 76 and the oblong fitting hole 78 are in contact with a margin that allows the shaft to rotate. Therefore, as the shaft portion 76 moves in the insertion direction, the cassette cover 72 that is hooked on the shaft portion 76 via the oblong fitting hole 78 also moves in the insertion direction. As a result, the relative position in the insertion direction between the sheet storage cassette 52 and the cassette cover 72 changes.

[0045] Conversely, as shown in FIG. 10(c), when the cover adjustment member 71 is rotated by θ = 38° in the R2 direction with respect to the cassette, the shaft portion 76 moves approximately 2 mm (≈3.25×sin(38°)) in the front side (the - direction of the Y axis) in the cassette insertion direction. In the present embodiment, it is possible to adjust stepwise up to ±2 mm at a pitch of 0.5 mm in accordance with the adjustment pitch of the positioning means described above. When it is desired to make the adjustment of the cover position finer at this time, it may be possible to adjust steplessly without providing a stepwise pitch.

[0046] By rotating the cover adjustment member 71 to change the posture, it becomes possible to change the relative position of the cassette cover 72 with respect to the cassette in the cassette insertion direction. As a result, the position of the cassette cover 72 can be adjusted arbitrarily. Therefore, it is possible to adjust the cover so that there is no step according to the surrounding cover. In particular, even when the positioning member in the cassette insertion direction is shifted and adjusted in order to align the position where the sheet is fed to the image formed in the image forming unit, the position of the cassette cover 72 in the cassette insertion direction can be adjusted.

[0047] Also, in the present embodiment, the distance L between the center line of the rotation axis of the cover adjustment member 71 and the screw fastening portion that is the fixing position by the screw is 17.25 mm. Therefore, the screw When the tolerable force without displacement is 16 kgf, in this embodiment, due to the moment relationship, even if a force of up to 16×17.25 / 3.25 = 84.9 kgf is applied to the cassette cover, the screws will not become loose. Therefore, even when an impact is applied to the cassette cover during transportation or the like, the possibility of misalignment between the cassette and the cover can be reduced. In order to increase the upper limit of the force at which screw loosening does not occur, it is preferable that at least the distance between the screw fastening part and the center line of the rotating shaft 92 is longer than the distance between the center line of the rotating shaft 92 and the center line of the eccentric shaft including the shaft parts 76 and 77.

[0048] In addition, when the impact assumed during transportation is greater than the above-described force (84.9 kgf), as shown in FIG. 12, a protrusion 86 may be provided on the cassette case, and a plurality of holes 87 that can be engaged with the protrusion 86 at each adjustment position may be provided in the cover adjustment member 71. By configuring to perform fastening with the screw 73 in a state where the protrusion 86 and the hole 87 are engaged, the occurrence of screw loosening can be completely prevented. Note that a configuration in which a protrusion is provided on the adjustment member and a hole is provided on the cassette side may also be used.

[0049] Also, in this embodiment, the cover adjustment member has an eccentric cam configuration that is rotatably provided with respect to the cassette. However, for example, a slide-type configuration that can be adjusted by changing the meshing location of the latch shape provided in an inclined manner as used in the positioning means of this embodiment may also be used.

[0050] Also, in this embodiment, the fitting shaft parts 89 and 88 at the ends of the rotating shaft 92 are fitted into the fitting holes 75 and 74 of the sheet storage cassette 52, and the shaft parts 76 and 77 that constitute the eccentric shaft are fitted into the oval fitting holes 78 and 79 of the cassette cover 72. However, either one of the rotating shaft and the eccentric shaft may be fitted to one member of the sheet storage cassette 52 and the cassette cover 72, and the other of the rotating shaft and the eccentric shaft may be fitted to the other member of the sheet storage cassette 52 and the cassette cover 72.

[0051] As described above, according to the present embodiment, the position adjustment work of the printer exterior cover can be greatly simplified. In addition, since the positional deviation strength of the exterior cover due to external force is also greatly improved, there is no need to prepare a dedicated cushioning material during transportation and packaging. As described above, high service workability and environmental compatibility performance can be realized.

[0052] [Embodiment 2] Hereinafter, Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, a form example in which the present invention is applied to a deck-type sheet storage device (second feeder 101) disposed below the feeder will be described. Note that in the deck-type sheet storage device as well, since the rail configuration and the retracting configuration of the sheet loading table 102 are basically the same as those of the cassette of the feeder in Embodiment 1, illustration and description thereof are omitted.

[0053] As shown in FIG. 13, the sheet loading table 102 is inserted from the front side of the second feeder 101, and a cover 107 is disposed on the front side of the sheet loading table 102. Hereinafter, a method for adjusting the position of the cover 107 with respect to the sheet loading table 102 in the direction in which the sheet loading table 102 is inserted into the second feeder 101 will be described. As shown in FIG. 13, the sheet loading table 102 is inserted from the front side of the second feeder 101, and a cover 107 is disposed on the front side of the sheet loading table 102. Hereinafter, a method for adjusting the position of the cover 107 with respect to the sheet loading table 102 in the direction in which the sheet loading table 102 is inserted into the second feeder 101 will be described.

[0054] FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing the structure of the sheet loading table 102 with the cover removed. FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing a state in which the cover is attached to the sheet loading table 102. In this embodiment, since the cover 107 is large, four independent cover adjustment members 103 are provided in the vicinity of the four corners on the front surface of the sheet loading table 102.

[0055] As shown in the top view of FIG. 16 and the perspective view of FIG. 17, each cover adjustment member 103 has a rotating shaft portion 105. The rotating shaft portion 105 is fitted into a fitting hole (not shown) provided in the sheet loading table 102, and is rotatable about the rotating shaft portion 105. The eccentric shaft portion 104 that fits into the oblong hole 108 provided in the cover 107 is arranged with a shifted central position from the rotating shaft portion 105 that fits into the sheet loading table in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Therefore, by rotating the cover adjustment member 103, the position of the shaft in the cassette insertion direction changes, and the cover 107 caught on the shaft via the oblong hole 108 also moves. As a result, it becomes possible to change the relative position of the cover 107 with respect to the sheet loading table 102.

[0056] Further, in the present embodiment, a configuration is adopted in which the cover 107 is overlapped with a fixing portion for fixing the cover adjustment member 103 with screws 106, and the cover adjustment member 103 and the cover 107 are fixed to the sheet loading table with common screws. By adopting this configuration, due to the effect of increasing the contact area between the cover adjustment member 103 and the cover 107, it is possible to suppress the rattling of the cover while ensuring the positional deviation strength of the cover.

[0057] [Embodiment 3] Hereinafter, Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, another exemplary form when applying the present invention to a cassette stored in a feeder will be described.

[0058] FIG. 18 is a schematic perspective view showing a cassette including the cover adjustment mechanism of the present embodiment. A cassette cover 72 is attached to the sheet storage cassette 52 via a step screw 201 as a cover adjustment member.

[0059] At this time, the sheet storage cassette 52 is provided with a plurality of holes 204 (four in the illustrated example) into which the step screw 201 can be fastened as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20. Here, the respective holes are arranged at five positions at regular intervals of a certain distance t = 1 mm in the cover insertion direction.

[0060] Also, as shown in FIG. 21, the step screw 201 of the present embodiment has a head 207, a washer portion 208, a positioning portion 205, and a screw portion 206. The head 207, the washer portion 208, and the screw portion 205 are used for screwing and fixing to the holes of the screw cassette. The positioning portion 205 is used for positioning the cassette cover 72 and the sheet storage cassette 52 in the cassette insertion direction. That is, by making the diameter of the positioning portion 205 thicker than the diameter of the screw portion 206 and substantially matching the width of the oblong hole 203 in the insertion direction, positioning and fixing in the cassette insertion direction becomes possible.

[0061] Accordingly, by selecting one of a plurality of holes 204 provided in the cassette, fastening the step screw 201, and positioning the oblong hole 203 provided in the cassette cover 72 by the positioning portion 205 provided in the step screw 201, it becomes possible to adjust the position of the cassette cover 72 with respect to the sheet storage cassette 52 at a 1 mm pitch up to a maximum of ±2 mm. In the case of this configuration, since the cover is positioned by the positioning portion of the step screw, even when an impact is applied to the cassette cover during transportation or the like, it is possible to prevent the positions of the cassette and the cover from shifting.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0062] 51: Feeder, 52: Sheet storage cassette, 71: Cover adjustment member

Claims

1. A housing, A storage portion disposed inside the housing and capable of storing a sheet, A cover attached to the storage portion and forming a part of the exterior surface of the housing, An adjustment member that engages with the storage portion and the cover and adjusts and positions the relative position of the storage portion and the cover in a direction intersecting the exterior surface formed by the cover, having By changing the engagement state of the adjustment member with respect to the storage portion and the cover, the relative position of the storage portion and the cover is adjusted, By changing the posture when the adjustment member engages with the storage portion and the cover, the relative position of the storage portion and the cover is adjusted, The adjustment member has a rotation axis that rotatably engages with one of the storage portion and the cover, and an eccentric axis that engages with the other of the storage portion and the cover, and is an eccentric cam having different center lines for the rotation axis and the eccentric axis A sheet storage device characterized by the above.

2. The storage portion is a member that can be inserted into and pulled out from the housing The sheet storage device according to claim 1, characterized by the above.

3. When the storage portion is inserted into the housing, the cover forms the exterior surface of the housing on the front side in the insertion direction of the storage portion The sheet storage device according to claim 2, characterized by the above.

4. By adjusting the relative position of the storage portion and the cover by the adjustment member, the position of the cover in the housing is adjusted The sheet storage device according to claim 3, characterized by the above.

5. Having a plurality of the adjustment members that independently adjust the relative position of the storage portion and the cover The seat storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that...

6. The rotating shaft of the adjusting member is fitted into a hole provided in the one member, and the eccentric shaft of the adjusting member is fitted into a hole provided in the other member. When the rotating shaft rotates, the position of the other member engaged with the eccentric shaft changes relatively with respect to the one member. The seat storage device according to claim 1, characterized in that...

7. The seat storage device further comprises fixing means for fixing the eccentric cam to the housing or the cover. The distance between the center line of the rotating shaft and the fixing position by the fixing means is longer than the distance between the center line of the rotating shaft and the center line of the eccentric shaft. The seat storage device according to claim 1 or 6, characterized in that...

8. The fixing means fixes the adjusting member, the storage portion and the cover. The seat storage device according to claim 7, characterized in that...

9. Either the one member or the adjusting member is provided with a protrusion, and the other is provided with a hole engaged with the protrusion. The seat storage device according to any one of claims 1, 6, 7 and 8, characterized in that...

10. A plurality of the holes are provided in the adjusting member, the protrusion is provided in the one member, and when the posture of the adjusting member changes when it engages with the one member, the protrusion can engage with at least one of the plurality of holes. The seat storage device according to claim 9, characterized in that...

11. A housing, A storage portion disposed inside the housing and capable of storing a seat, A cover attached to the storage portion and forming a part of the outer surface of the housing, An adjustment member that engages with the storage portion and the cover and adjusts and positions the relative position of the storage portion and the cover in a direction intersecting the outer surface formed by the cover. It has By changing the engagement state of the adjustment member with respect to the storage portion and the cover, the relative position of the storage portion and the cover is adjusted. By changing the position when the adjustment member engages with the storage portion and the cover, the relative position of the storage portion and the cover is adjusted. The adjustment member is a screw with a threaded portion and a positioning portion. One of the storage portion and the cover has a plurality of holes provided at a plurality of positions in a direction intersecting the outer surface formed by the cover and fastened by the threaded portion. The other of the storage portion and the cover has a hole that fits with the positioning portion of the screw in a direction intersecting the outer surface formed by the cover. A sheet storage device characterized by the above.

12. The sheet storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, An image forming apparatus main body having an image forming portion, An image forming apparatus comprising: The sheet storage device further has a feeding means for feeding the sheet stored in the storage portion to the image forming portion. The image forming portion forms an image on the fed sheet. An image forming apparatus characterized by the above.

13. The sheet storage device further has a storage portion positioning means for positioning the storage portion inside the sheet storage device in a direction intersecting the outer surface formed by the cover. The storage portion positioning means can perform positioning so that the sheet is fed to the image forming area of the image forming portion. The image forming apparatus according to claim 12, characterized by the above.

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