JP7512059B2 - Sheet feeding device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device that feeds sheets and an image forming device that forms images on sheets.

In image forming devices such as electrophotographic printers, long sheets whose length in the sheet transport direction is longer than a typical standard size may be used as recording materials. Patent Document 1 describes how, when setting a long sheet in a paper feed tray, the sheet is curved so that the rear end of the sheet is folded back into the space above the paper feed tray, and the rear end of the sheet is held by a rear end holding member provided above the paper feed tray. In addition, the paper feed tray is provided with side guides that regulate the side end positions of the sheet.

JP 2012-56737 A

However, in the configuration described in the above document, after the start of feeding a long sheet, tension is generated in the sheet between the feed roller and the rear end holding member due to the conveying resistance of the rear end holding member, which may cause the sheet to lift up from the manual feed tray. If the sheet deviates from the side guide due to the sheet lifting in this way, there is a possibility that the sheet may become skewed, which may lead to poor conveyance or a skewed output image.

The present invention aims to provide a sheet feeding device and an image forming device that can reduce the possibility of sheet skewing.

One aspect of the present invention is a sheet feeding device comprising: a first support member having a first support surface that supports a first surface of a sheet; a feed roller that abuts against the sheet supported on the first support surface and feeds the sheet in a sheet feeding direction; a side end regulating member that protrudes upward from the first support surface and regulates an end position of the sheet in a sheet width direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction; and a second support member disposed above the first support member, wherein a first portion of the sheet is supported by the first support surface , and the sheet is curved such that a second portion of the sheet is located on the rear end side of the first portion and includes the rear end of the sheet and is positioned above the first portion. and a second support member having a second support surface that supports a second surface opposite to the first surface of the second portion of the sheet in a state in which the angle between the first support surface and the horizontal direction is greater than the angle between the second support surface and the horizontal direction, and when viewed in the sheet width direction, an upper end portion of the side end regulating member on the upstream side in the movement direction in which the sheet moves along the first support surface when the sheet is fed protrudes upward with respect to a line connecting a tip portion of the second support member on the upstream side in the sheet feeding direction and a position where the feed roller contacts the sheet.

Another aspect of the present invention is a sheet feeding device including a first support member having a first support surface that supports a first surface of a sheet, a feeding means that abuts against the sheet supported on the first support surface to feed the sheet in a sheet feeding direction, a side end regulating member that is provided to protrude upward from the first support surface and regulates an end position of the sheet in a sheet width direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction, and a second support member disposed above the first support member, wherein a first portion of the sheet is supported on the first support surface , and a second portion of the sheet that is on the rear end side of the first portion and includes the rear end of the sheet is positioned above the first portion. and a second support member having a second support surface that supports a second surface opposite the first surface of the second portion of the sheet when the sheet is curved so as to be placed on the sheet, wherein an angle between the first support surface and a horizontal direction is greater than an angle between the second support surface and the horizontal direction, and when viewed in the sheet width direction, an upstream tip portion of the second support member in the sheet feeding direction is located lower than an upstream upper end portion of the side end regulating member in a movement direction in which the sheet moves along the first support surface when the sheet is fed.

The present invention provides a sheet feeding device and an image forming device that can reduce the possibility of sheet skewing.

1 is a schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a manual feed unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a manual feed unit according to a second embodiment.

First, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the image forming apparatus 1. The image forming apparatus 1 is a printer that includes an electrophotographic image forming unit 10 as an image forming means, and an apparatus main body 1A as a housing that houses the image forming unit 10. Note that the term "image forming apparatus" includes not only printers, but also copiers and multifunction machines, for example.

The image forming section 10 includes image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K that form toner images of the colors Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and K (black), and a transfer unit 30 as a transfer means. The image forming section 10 forms an image on the sheet P by transferring the toner images created by the image forming units 10Y to 10K to the sheet P via the transfer unit 30 based on image information input from an external information device via a network. The sheets P that can be used as recording materials include a variety of sheet materials with different attributes such as size, material, and surface treatment, such as paper such as plain paper and cardboard, plastic film such as sheets for overhead projectors, sheets of special shapes such as envelopes and index paper, and cloth.

The configuration of each image forming unit 10Y to 10K is the same except for the color of the toner used for development, so the yellow image forming unit 10Y will be described as an example. The image forming unit 10Y includes a photosensitive drum 11, which is a drum-shaped electrophotographic photosensitive body, a charger 12 as a charging means, a developer 14 as a developing means, and a drum cleaner 15 as a cleaning means. When the image forming unit 10 is instructed to start image formation, the photosensitive drum 11 rotates, and the charger 12 uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 11. A laser scanner 13 as an exposure means arranged below the image forming unit 10 irradiates the photosensitive drum 11 with laser light modulated based on image information, and writes an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11. This electrostatic latent image is developed with yellow toner supplied from the developer 14, and a yellow toner image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11. The above process is performed in parallel in each image forming unit 10Y-10K, and a toner image of each color is formed on the surface of each photosensitive drum 11.

The toner images carried on each photosensitive drum 11 are primarily transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 31 by the primary transfer roller 17. At this time, the toner images of each color are transferred so as to overlap each other, forming a full-color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 31. Any deposits on the photosensitive drum 11, such as residual toner that has not been transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 31 and remains on the photosensitive drum 11, are removed by the drum cleaner 15. The intermediate transfer belt 31 is stretched around multiple rollers including the secondary transfer inner roller 34, and transports the toner images by rotating in a predetermined direction along the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 11.

In parallel with the electrophotographic process described above, the image forming apparatus 1 executes a feeding operation to feed sheets P one by one from either the feeding cassettes 20, 21 or the manual feeding section 100. The feeding cassettes 20, 21 are attached to the apparatus main body 1A so as to be removable, and are mainly used to store sheets P of standard sizes such as A3 size. The manual feeding section 100 is used for multiple purposes, such as when using not only standard sizes, but also sheets P that are longer in the sheet transport direction than the standard sizes. The manual feeding section 100 will be described later.

The device main body 1A is provided with feeding units 22, 22 corresponding to the respective feeding cassettes 20, 21. The feeding unit 22 includes a pickup roller that feeds the sheet P from the feeding cassette 20 or 21, and a pair of separation rollers that receive and transport the sheet P from the pickup roller. The pair of separation rollers includes a transport roller that transports the sheet P in the same direction as the pickup roller, and a separation roller that is disposed in contact with the transport roller and separates the sheets by friction at the nip between the transport roller and the separation roller. The sheets P that are fed one by one from the pair of separation rollers are transported toward the pair of registration rollers 23 via a transport path in the device main body 1A.

When the leading edge of the sheet P hits the stationary registration roller pair 23, the skew of the sheet P is corrected by following the nip of the registration roller pair 23. The registration roller pair 23 then sends the sheet P to the secondary transfer section in synchronization with the image forming operation in the image forming section 10.

The secondary transfer portion is a nip portion formed between the intermediate transfer belt 31 and a secondary transfer roller 35 that faces the secondary transfer inner roller 34 with the intermediate transfer belt 31 sandwiched therebetween. The toner image carried on the intermediate transfer belt 31 is secondarily transferred to the sheet P at the secondary transfer portion by a bias electric field formed by the secondary transfer roller 35. Any deposits on the intermediate transfer belt 31, such as residual toner that has not been transferred to the sheet P and remains on the intermediate transfer belt 31, are removed by the drum cleaner 15 and collected in a collection container 37.

The sheet P that has passed through the secondary transfer section is sent to the fixing device 40 as a fixing means. The fixing device 40 has a pair of fixing rollers that clamp and pressurize the sheet P while transporting it, and a heating means such as a halogen lamp or ceramic heater that heats the toner image on the sheet P, and heats and pressurizes the toner image. This melts the toner, which then adheres to the sheet P, resulting in a fixed image fixed to the sheet P. The sheet P that has passed through the fixing device 40 is discharged from the device main body 1A by a pair of discharge rollers 41 and loaded onto the discharge tray 50.

Note that the image forming unit 10 described above is an example of an image forming means, and for example, an inkjet printing unit or an offset printing printing mechanism may also be used as the image forming means.

[Manual feed section]
A manual feed section 100, which is a sheet feeding device according to this embodiment, is provided on a side portion of the apparatus main body 1A (one side portion of the apparatus main body 1A in the horizontal direction when viewed in the main scanning direction during image formation shown in FIG. 1). The manual feed section 100 includes a feed unit 105, a manual feed tray 101, and a rear end support tray 103. The feed unit 105 is a feed means in this embodiment, the manual feed tray 101 is a first support member in this embodiment, and the rear end support tray 103 is a second support member in this embodiment. Hereinafter, the conveying direction (left direction in FIG. 1) when the feed unit 105 feeds the sheet P to the apparatus main body 1A is referred to as a "sheet feed direction Fd". Unless otherwise specified, the sheet feed direction Fd refers to a horizontal direction perpendicular to the vertical direction and the sheet width direction.

2, the manual feed tray 101 protrudes from the side surface 1f of the device main body 1A toward the upstream side of the sheet feed direction Fd (the right side in the figure). The upper surface 101a of the manual feed tray 101 is a support surface that supports the sheet P and is inclined vertically upward toward the upstream side of the sheet feed direction Fd. The manual feed tray 101 is provided with a pair of side regulation plates 102 that face each other in the sheet width direction as side end regulation members that regulate the end position (side end position) of the sheet in the sheet width direction (depth direction in FIG. 2) perpendicular to the sheet feed direction Fd. The side regulation plates 102 have a regulation surface that protrudes upward from the upper surface 101a of the manual feed tray 101 and extends in the sheet feed direction Fd, and the regulation surface abuts against the side end of the sheet P to suppress skewing of the sheet P when it is set in the manual feed tray 101 and during feeding.

The feeding unit 105 includes a pickup roller 105a that feeds the sheet P from the manual feed tray 101, and a pair of separation rollers 105b that receive and convey the sheet P from the pickup roller 105a. The pickup roller 105a functions as a feeding roller that feeds the sheet P in the sheet feeding direction Fd by rotating while contacting the upper surface of the sheet P on the manual feed tray 101. The pair of separation rollers 105b includes a conveying roller that conveys the sheet P in the same direction as the pickup roller 105a, and a separation roller that is arranged in contact with the conveying roller and separates the sheet by friction at the nip between the conveying roller and the separation roller. The feeding unit 105 is an example of a feeding means that feeds the sheet P, and for example, the pickup roller may be omitted, and the conveying roller may function as a feeding roller that contacts the sheet on the manual feed tray 101 and conveys it. The separation roller is an example of a separating member that separates the sheet, and may be, for example, a pad-shaped elastic member.

The sheets P sent out one by one from the separation roller pair 105b are transported to the pull-off roller pair 106 in the device body 1A through the opening 108 of the device body 1A. Here, the transport path of the sheets P from the feeding cassettes 20, 21 and the transport path of the sheets P from the manual feed tray 101 join at a junction 107 downstream of the pull-off roller pair 106 in the sheet feeding direction Fd. Therefore, the sheets P fed from the manual feed unit 100 and sent out from the pull-off roller pair 106 are transported toward the registration roller pair 23 via the junction 107.

The rear end support tray 103 is disposed on the side of the device body 1A, and is provided above the manual feed tray 101 and the side regulating plate 102. The rear end support tray 103 is rotatably supported by the device body 1A via a hinge 104. The following describes the configuration of the rear end support tray 103, assuming that the rear end support tray 103 is held in the position shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rear end support tray 103 is provided so as to protrude toward the upstream side in the sheet feeding direction Fd from the side surface 1f of the device main body 1A. In other words, the rear end support tray 103 protrudes into the space above the manual feed tray 101 so as to overlap with the manual feed tray 101 when viewed from above. The upper surface of the rear end support tray 103 (or the upper ridge portion in the case of a non-planar member) functions as a second support portion when the upper surface 101a of the manual feed tray 101 is the first support portion.

In addition, the rear end support tray 103 is provided with an inclined portion 1032 inclined toward the manual feed tray 101 at the tip end far from the device main body 1A. The inclined portion 1032, which is the second region when the main body portion 1031 is the first region, is adjacent to the upstream side of the main body portion 1031, which is the main support surface of the rear end support tray 103, in the sheet feed direction Fd. The inclined portion 1032 is a portion formed by bending with respect to the main body portion 1031 so as to face downward from an extension line drawn from the main body portion 1031 to the upstream side in the sheet feed direction Fd when viewed in the sheet width direction. In other words, the inclined portion 1032 is inclined with respect to the main body portion 1031 of the rear end support tray 103 so as to approach the manual feed tray 101 as it moves upstream in the sheet feed direction Fd when viewed from the sheet width direction in the state of FIG. 2. In addition, in this embodiment, the rear end support tray 103 extends in a direction inclined with respect to the upper surface 101a of the manual feed tray 101 so that the main body 1031 itself approaches the manual feed tray 101 the further upstream in the sheet feed direction Fd.

The inclined portion 1032 has the effect of suppressing the occurrence of contact marks caused by the sheet P rubbing against the leading end 103a of the rear end support tray 103 when the sheet P is fed. That is, as the feeding unit 105 feeds the sheet P, the margin of the folded portion (the portion where the sheet P is curved in an approximately U-shape between the leading portion PL and the trailing portion PT) becomes smaller, and the sheet P moves while contacting the leading end 103a of the rear end support tray 103. At this time, if a sheet with low rigidity such as thin paper is used as the sheet P, it is possible that the sheet P will come into strong contact with the leading end 103a and a contact mark will remain on the sheet P. In contrast, in this embodiment, the friction load is distributed not only to the leading end 103a but also to the bent portion 103b, which is the connection portion between the main body portion 1031 and the inclined portion 1032, so that the occurrence of contact marks is suppressed.

When setting a long sheet that is longer than the standard size, the manual feed unit 100 of this embodiment is designed so that the sheet P is supported by the manual feed tray 101 and the rear end support tray 103 in a folded state as shown in FIG. 1. In other words, when a long sheet is set, the leading portion PL, which is the portion (first portion) on the leading edge side of the sheet P, is supported by the manual feed tray 101, and the trailing portion PT, which is the portion (second portion) on the trailing edge side of the sheet P, is supported by the rear end support tray 103.

Here, the leading edge Pa of the sheet P refers to the edge of the sheet P that is the leading edge when it is fed by the feeding unit 105, and the trailing edge Pb of the sheet P refers to the edge opposite the leading edge Pa. In other words, when the sheet P is fed from the manual feed section 100, the leading portion PL is sent into the transport path inside the device main body 1A ahead of the trailing portion PT. Note that the positional relationship between the leading portion PL and the trailing portion PT is relative, and the area ratio between the leading portion PL and the trailing portion PT is not particularly defined.

In this embodiment, the long sheet is supported by the manual feed tray 101 and the rear end support tray 103 in a state where it is folded back in a roughly U-shape between the leading portion PL and the trailing portion PT. Therefore, when the surface of the sheet P supported by the manual feed tray 101 (the lower surface of the sheet P on the manual feed tray 101) is the first surface, the rear end support tray 103 supports the second surface of the sheet P, which is opposite to the first surface.

By supporting the trailing portion PT of the long sheet on the trailing end support tray 103, the manual feed unit 100 can perform stable sheet feeding operations. That is, for example, if the trailing portion PT of the long sheet hangs down from the manual feed tray 101 to the right side in the figure, the sheet P may fall or skew due to gravity, or the sheet P may rub against the edge of the manual feed tray 101 during feeding, causing a transport failure such as a jam. By supporting the trailing portion PT of the long sheet on the trailing end support tray 103, the posture of the long sheet is stabilized when it is set and fed, and the occurrence of the above-mentioned inconveniences is suppressed.

[Seat middle part rising]
Here, a phenomenon in which the middle part of a sheet floats up from the manual feed tray 101 during sheet feeding will be described. In the state shown in Fig. 2, a sheet stack Pn consisting of a plurality of sheets P1, P2, ... is set in the manual feed section 100, and the state shown is one in which the top sheet P1 on the manual feed tray 101 is in the middle of being fed.

In this embodiment, the long sheet is supported by the manual feed tray 101 and the rear end support tray 103 in a state where it is folded back in an approximately U-shape between the manual feed tray 101 and the rear end support tray 103. Therefore, the topmost sheet P1 on the manual feed tray 101 becomes the bottommost sheet on the rear end support tray 103 and is pressed against the rear end support tray 103 by the weight of the other sheets.

Therefore, when sheet P1 is sent out from manual feed tray 101 in sheet feed direction Fd by feeding unit 105, the rear end Pb of sheet P1 may not start moving immediately due to frictional force from rear end support tray 103. Instead, the shape of sheet P1 changes so that the radius of the folded portion of sheet P1 between manual feed tray 101 and rear end support tray 103 becomes smaller (arrow B). Accordingly, sheet P1 floats up in manual feed tray 101 so as to separate from upper surface 101a of manual feed tray 101.

After that, when the stiffness of the sheet P1 causes the folded portion to stretch, the force that moves the rear end Pb of the sheet P1 to the right in the figure overcomes the frictional force from the rear end support tray 103, and the rear end Pb starts to move in the direction of arrow C. Or, the radius of the folded portion becomes smaller and the sheet P1 comes into contact with the tip 103a of the rear end support tray 103, and the conveying force of the feeding unit 105 is transmitted to the rear end side via the folded portion, causing the rear end Pb to start to move in the direction of arrow C. When the rear end Pb of the sheet P1 passes the tip 103a of the rear end support tray 103, the rear end Pb drops to the manual feed tray 101 and moves downstream in the sheet feeding direction Fd along the manual feed tray 101.

As described above, when feeding a long sheet from the manual feed tray 101, if the middle part of the sheet P1 rises up during the feeding operation, the side edge of the sheet P1 may deviate from the regulating surface of the side regulating plate 102, causing the sheet P1 to skew.

The more sheets in the sheet stack Pn there are and the longer the sheets are, the greater the frictional force generated between the sheets P1 and the rear end support tray 103, making it easier for the middle part of the sheets P1 to lift up. In such a case, it is conceivable that the sheets P1 will lift up until they are stretched in a straight line between the contact position 105aP of the pickup roller 105a with the sheets P1 and the leading edge 103a of the rear end support tray 103.

In this embodiment, the leading end 103a of the rear end support tray 103 and the side regulating plate 102 are arranged in a predetermined positional relationship to prevent the sheet P1 from skewing even if it is lifted. The positional relationship of the members of the manual feed section 100 as viewed from the sheet width direction is described below.

2, the area above the imaginary line connecting the tip 103a of the rear end support tray 103 and the contact position 105aP of the pickup roller 105a with the sheet P1 is the E area. The side regulation plate 102 of this embodiment is arranged so that the upper end of the regulation surface protrudes into the E area. In other words, the upper end 102a of the regulation surface of the side regulation plate 102 on the upstream side in the movement direction (arrow X) of the sheet P1 on the manual feed tray 101 is located in the E area. The movement direction of the sheet P1 on the manual feed tray 101 refers to the direction in which the sheet P1 moves toward the feeding unit 105 along the upper surface 101a of the manual feed tray 101. With this configuration, even if the sheet P1 is in a taut state between the contact position 105aP of the pickup roller 105a and the tip 103a of the rear end support tray 103, the part of the side regulation plate 102 protruding into the E area can regulate the side end position of the sheet P1. This makes it possible to prevent the sheet P1 from floating up and becoming skewed.

In addition, in FIG. 2, in relation to the movement direction (arrow X) of sheet P1 on the manual feed tray 101, the area downstream of the tip 103a of the rear end support tray 103 is designated as area D. In this embodiment, the side regulating plate 102 is arranged so that the upper end 102a of the regulating surface is located in area D. With this configuration, the sheet P1 is conveyed while being held down by the tip 103a of the rear end support tray 103 upstream of the upper end 102a of the side regulating plate 102, so that skew suppression can be achieved without any problems. In addition, since it is not necessary to make the side regulating plate 102 longer than necessary to suppress skew, the configuration of the manual feed tray 101 can be simplified.

In this embodiment, the rear end support tray 103 is provided with a main body portion 1031 and an inclined portion 1032, and the tip of the inclined portion 1032, which is inclined so as to approach the manual feed tray 101, is the tip portion 103a. In addition to suppressing contact marks on the sheet P1, this inclined portion 1032 contributes to suppressing skewing of the sheet P1.

When using a pair of side regulating plates 102 that face each other in the sheet width direction as in this embodiment, it is preferable that the upper end portion 102a of each side regulating plate 102 satisfy the positional relationship described above.

The side regulating plate 102 may be extended upstream in the movement direction of the sheet P1 on the manual feed tray 101, so that the upper end 102a of the side regulating plate 102 is located upstream of the tip 103a of the rear end support tray 103 (the area opposite the D area). In other words, when viewed from the sheet width direction, the tip 103a of the rear end support tray 103 overlaps the regulating surface of the side regulating plate 102. In this case, if the upper end 102a of the side regulating plate 102 is located in the E area, skewing of the sheet P1 can be suppressed even if the sheet P1 floats up.

The rear end support tray 103 may not have the inclined portion 1032 and may be a member that is substantially linear when viewed in the sheet width direction. Even in this case, it is possible to prevent the sheet from skewing by positioning the tip of the rear end support tray 103 so that it satisfies a predetermined positional relationship with the upper end 102a of the side regulating plate 102.

Next, the configuration of the manual feed unit 100 according to the second embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, the positional relationship that must be satisfied between the leading end 103a of the rear end support tray 103 and the upper end 102a of the side regulating plate 102 is different. Below, elements that are given the same reference numerals as in the first embodiment will be described as having substantially the same configuration and function as in the first embodiment.

In FIG. 3, the area above the tip 103a of the rear end support tray 103 in the vertical direction is the F area. The side regulating plate 102 in this embodiment is arranged so that the upper end of the regulating surface protrudes into the F area. In other words, the upper end 102a of the regulating surface of the side regulating plate 102, which is upstream in the movement direction (arrow X) of the sheet P1 on the manual feed tray 101, is located in the F area. With this configuration, even if the sheet P1 is in a taut state between the contact position 105aP of the pickup roller 105a and the tip 103a of the rear end support tray 103, the part of the side regulating plate 102 protruding into the F area can regulate the side end position of the sheet P1. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of skew due to the lifting of the sheet P1.

In addition, in FIG. 3, in relation to the movement direction (arrow X) of sheet P1 on the manual feed tray 101, the area downstream of the tip 103a of the rear end support tray 103 is area D. In this embodiment, the side regulating plate 102 is disposed so that the upper end 102a of the regulating surface is located in area D. With this configuration, upstream of the upper end 102a of the side regulating plate 102, sheet P1 is conveyed while being held down by the tip 103a of the rear end support tray 103 toward the manual feed tray 101.

As in the first embodiment, the side regulating plate 102 may be extended upstream in the direction of movement of the sheet P1 on the manual feed tray 101, so that the upper end 102a of the side regulating plate 102 is positioned upstream of the tip 103a of the rear end support tray 103.

Other Embodiments
Although the positional relationship that the side regulating plate 102 and the rear end support tray 103 must satisfy is different between the first and second embodiments, one manual feed section 100 can simultaneously satisfy the positional relationships of the first and second embodiments.

In the above first and second embodiments and their modified examples, a sheet feeding device disposed on the side of the device body 1A of the image forming device 1 has been described, but the present technology can also be applied to other sheet feeding devices. For example, the sheet feeding device of the above-mentioned embodiment may be disposed on the side of the housing of an optional feeder that is connected to the device body 1A that houses the image forming unit and feeds sheets toward the device body 1A. In this case, the sheets fed from the sheet feeding device are received by the housing of the optional feeder and fed to the device body 1A via a sheet transport path inside the housing.

1...Image forming apparatus/1A...Housing (apparatus main body)/100...Sheet feeding device (manual feeding section)/101...First support member (manual tray)/102...Side edge regulating member (side regulating plate)/103...Second support member (rear end support tray)/103a...Front end/1031...First region (main body)/1032...Second region (inclined section)/105...Feeding means (feeding unit)/105a...Feeding roller (pickup roller)/Fd...Sheet feeding direction/PL...First part of sheet/PT...Second part of sheet/Pa...Front end of sheet/Pb...Rear end of sheet/X...Movement direction

Claims (8)

a first support member having a first support surface that supports a first surface of the seat;
a feed roller that contacts the sheet supported on the first support surface and feeds the sheet in a sheet feeding direction;
a side end regulating member provided to protrude upward from the first support surface and configured to regulate an end position of the sheet in a sheet width direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction;
a second support member disposed above the first support member, the second support member having a second support surface that supports a second surface opposite to the first surface of the second portion of the sheet when the first portion of the sheet is supported on the first support surface and the sheet is curved such that a second portion of the sheet is located above the first portion and is on the rear end side of the first portion and includes the rear end of the sheet,
an angle between the first support surface and a horizontal direction is larger than an angle between the second support surface and the horizontal direction;
When viewed in the sheet width direction, an upper end portion of the side end regulating member on the upstream side in a moving direction in which the sheet moves along the first support surface when the sheet is fed protrudes upward with respect to a line connecting a leading end portion on the upstream side in the sheet feeding direction of the second support member and a position where the feed roller contacts the sheet.
A sheet feeding device comprising: a first support member having a first support surface that supports a first surface of the seat;
a feeding means for contacting the sheet supported on the first support surface and feeding the sheet in a sheet feeding direction;
a side end regulating member provided to protrude upward from the first support surface and configured to regulate an end position of the sheet in a sheet width direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction;
a second support member disposed above the first support member, the second support member having a second support surface that supports a second surface opposite to the first surface of the second portion of the sheet when the first portion of the sheet is supported on the first support surface and the sheet is curved such that a second portion of the sheet is located above the first portion and is on the rear end side of the first portion and includes the rear end of the sheet,
an angle between the first support surface and a horizontal direction is larger than an angle between the second support surface and the horizontal direction;
When viewed in the sheet width direction, a leading end portion of the second support member on an upstream side in the sheet feeding direction is positioned below an upper end portion of the side end regulating member on an upstream side in a movement direction in which the sheet moves along the first support surface when the sheet is fed.
A sheet feeding device comprising: the tip end of the second support member is located upstream of the upper end of the side end regulating member in the movement direction;
3. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet feeding device is a sheet conveying device. the second support surface extends toward the upstream side in the sheet feeding direction,
the second support member is adjacent to the second support surface on an upstream side in the sheet feeding direction and has an inclined portion inclined with respect to the second support surface so as to approach the first support surface of the first support member toward the upstream side in the sheet feeding direction;
4. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet feeding device is a sheet conveying device. each of the first support member and the second support member protrudes toward an upstream side in the sheet feeding direction with respect to a housing that receives the sheet fed from the first support member in the sheet feeding direction;
5. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet feeding device is a sheet conveying device. the first support member supports the first surface of the first portion of the sheet extending from a leading end side toward a trailing end side of the sheet toward an upstream side in the sheet feeding direction,
the second support member supports the second surface of the second portion of the sheet that is folded back with respect to the first portion so as to extend from a leading end side of the sheet toward a trailing end side of the sheet downstream in the sheet feeding direction.
6. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet feeding device is a sheet conveying device. When viewed in the sheet width direction, the upper end of the side end regulating member is located below the second support surface.
7. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet feeding device is a sheet conveying device. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1 ,
an image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet fed from the sheet feeding device;
Equipped with
1. An image forming apparatus comprising:

Images