JPH0349859B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a feeding attachment that has a sheet stacking section and a sheet feeding means for feeding sheets from the sheet stacking section, and is detachably attached to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a recording machine. and an image forming apparatus equipped with the feeding attachment. More specifically,
The present invention relates to a feeding attachment for feeding a sheet to an image forming apparatus main body by a sheet feeding means in order to form an image on a sheet, and an image forming apparatus equipped with the attachment.

Hereinafter, an example will be described in which a copying machine is used as an image forming apparatus and a cassette is detachably provided as a feeding attachment.

Conventionally, in a copying machine, a manual feeding device and a continuous feeding device have been used as devices for feeding a transfer machine, depending on the amount of copies to be made. A manual feeding device is a feeding device in which the operator manually feeds the transfer paper one sheet at a time. Each time the operator makes a copy, the transfer material is placed on the feeding stand provided in the main body of the copying machine and fed one sheet at a time. This is what you send. In contrast, continuous feeding devices are equipped with a transfer paper loading table in the main body of the copying machine, and when in use, the desired number of transfer papers are placed on this table, and the sheets are automatically separated and fed one by one. A paper loading table feeding device or a cassette in which transfer paper of a predetermined size is loaded and stored in a cassette in advance, and when used, the cassette containing the transfer paper of the required size is attached to the main body of the copying machine and fed one by one. There are feeding devices, and furthermore, there are deck feeding devices that load and store a large amount of transfer paper directly into the main body of a copying machine and feed it one by one. Furthermore, there is also a roll feeding device that stores a long transfer paper in a roll, and feeds out the transfer paper of the required size for each copy, cuts it, and then feeds it.

Conventional copying machines have been provided with one of these transfer material feeding devices, a plurality of them, or a combination of a plurality of types. In other words, there are copying machines that can only use manual feeding as a transfer paper feeding method, those that can feed both manual and one size cassette, those that can feed two sizes of cassettes, or those that can feed both manual and two sizes. There were various types depending on the user's copy volume, such as those that could feed cassettes of different sizes, and those that could feed cassettes of two sizes and decks of one size.

However, in conventional copying machines, these transfer paper feeding devices can only be used as devices that are originally installed in the copying machine main body. For this reason, with low-end machines, for example, users who are using a copying machine that can only be fed by manual feeding may find that if the number of copies increases and it is no longer possible to handle it with manual feeding, even if the copying machine can be used. , which had to be replaced with a copying machine equipped with a continuous feeding device. In other words, a different copying machine is required even if the amount of copies changes. On the other hand, high-end copying machines have problems such as the size of the copying machine itself becoming larger and heavier as it is equipped with various feeding devices.

Further, when the feeding attachment is driven by the main body of the image forming apparatus, the drive gear of the main body and the driven gear of the attachment are configured to mesh with each other when the attachment is attached. However, if the drive gear is misaligned relative to the image forming apparatus body or the driven gear is misaligned relative to the attachment, the gears will not mesh correctly and the bump will become too large or too small. or Such a back crush error increases the drive transmission resistance or deprives the smoothness of the drive transmission.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional apparatus, and provides a feeding attachment having a sheet feeding means separate from the main body, which is removably attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus. The feeding function can be upgraded to accommodate various copy volumes, and as a result, the image forming apparatus can be made smaller in space and lighter in weight.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a feeding attachment such that when the feeding attachment is attached to the main body of an image forming apparatus, the drive gear of the main body and the gear of the attachment are in a proper meshing state.

The configuration of the present invention that can achieve the above object is as follows: A feeding attachment 20 that is detachably attached to the image forming apparatus main body 1 includes a sheet stacking section 21 that stacks sheets, and a feeding means 36 that feeds out sheets from the sheet stacking section 21. , a gear 47 that meshes with the drive gear 51 of the image forming apparatus main body 1 when attached to the image forming apparatus main body 1 and receives a driving force for driving the feeding means 36; and a gear 47 that supports the gear 47. Support means 4 that allows for free singing
6; and a biasing means 50 for biasing the gear 47 against the drive gear 51.

Further, in an image forming apparatus including a removable feeding attachment 20 on the image forming apparatus main body 1, the image forming apparatus main body 1 includes: a main body side loading section 8 for placing a sheet; Main body side feeding means 11 that feeds the placed sheets; Image forming means 5, 6, 7 that forms images on the sheets fed by the main body side feeding means 11.
a first passage 56 for guiding the sheet to the image forming means from the bottom of the image forming apparatus main body 1; and a drive gear 51 disposed at the bottom of the image forming apparatus main body 1; , a sheet stacking section 21 that stacks sheets; a feeding section 36 that sends out sheets from the sheet stacking section 21; and a second section that guides the sheets sent out by the feeding section 36 to the first path 56. a gear 47 that meshes with the drive gear 51 of the image forming apparatus main body 1 when mounted on the image forming apparatus main body 1 and receives a driving force for driving the feeding means 36; Singable supporting means 4 supporting gear 47
6; and a biasing means 50 for biasing the gear 47 against the drive gear 51.

Next, an example of a copying machine to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described.

Fig. 1a is an external view of the copying machine main body 1, Fig. 1b
2 shows a perspective view as seen from below, and FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of the copying machine main body 1. In the figure, reference numeral 2 denotes a document mounting table made of a transparent member such as glass, which reciprocates in the direction of arrow a. 3 is a short focus small diameter imaging element array. The original image reflected by the light source 4 of the original 0 placed on the original placing table 2 is slit-exposed onto the photosensitive drum 5 by the array 3. That is, the drum 5, which has been uniformly charged in advance by the charger 6, is subjected to image exposure by the element array 3, and an electrostatic image corresponding to the original image is formed. Next, this electrostatic image is visualized by the developing device 7. On the other hand, the transfer paper 9 manually fed from the manual feed table 8 is transferred between the feed roller 11, which rotates in response to a detection signal from the detection means 10 that detects that the transfer paper 9 has been manually fed, and the photosensitive drum 5. The image is sent onto the drum 5 by a registration shutter 12 that opens and closes at the appropriate timing so that the image is placed at a proper position on the transfer paper 9. Then, the toner image on the photosensitive drum 5 is transferred onto the transfer paper 9 by the transfer discharger 13. After that, when transferring the toner image onto the transfer paper 9, the photosensitive drum 5 and the transfer paper 9 are located at one side edge, and the drum 5 and the transfer paper 9 are separated from each other, and the transfer paper 9 is moved after the transfer. Separation belt 14 is placed in contact with or close to one end of the drum 5 to guide it away from the surface of the drum 5, and the transfer paper 9 is guided away from the circumferential surface of the drum 5 by the belt 14. The transfer paper 9 is separated from the drum 5 by a separating roller 14a that is driven to rotate and a pressure roller 14b that is driven to rotate to peel off the toner. After the image is fixed, it is discharged onto a tray 18 by a paper discharge roller 17.

Note that the toner remaining after transfer on the photosensitive drum 5 is
It is removed by the cleaning means 19 in the next step. Further, 60 is a pressure bonding plate, and the document 0 is placed on the mounting table 2.
It is used for crimping.

The copying machine of this embodiment has a built-in manual feeding device that allows the operator to manually insert and feed a single sheet of transfer paper. When making copies, continuous feeding by the cassette 21 becomes possible by connecting the feeding attachment 20 to the lower part of the copying machine main body 1. A perspective view of the attachment 20 attached to the main body 1 is shown in FIG. 3a, and a sectional view thereof is shown in FIG. 3b.
Shown below. Further, FIG. 4a is a perspective view showing the structure of the attachment 20, and FIG. 4b is a plan view thereof.

First, a method for detachably connecting the feeding attachment 20 and the main body 1 will be described below.

In the main body 1, after the toner image is transferred, the photosensitive drum 5
Separation of the transfer paper 9 from the photoreceptor drum 5 is carried out by a separation belt 14, a separation roller 14a, and a pressure roller 14b disposed at one end of the photosensitive drum 5, so that the transferred transfer paper is separated by its size. Regardless of the location, the separation belt 14 must be aligned with a predetermined transport path as a reference position on one side (in this embodiment, the separation belt 14 is located on the back side). Cage, attachment 20
For convenience, the position of the separation belt 14 when it is attached to the main body 1 is shown by a dashed line in FIG. 4b). Therefore, the attachment 20 that houses the cassette 21 must be connected to the main body 1 with high accuracy.
At least the side on which the separation belt 14 is provided must be accurately positioned and mounted. That is, the transfer paper sent out from the cassette 21 must be positioned and connected so that one end thereof is reliably hooked onto the separation belt 14.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the positioning of the main body 1 and the attachment 20 is performed as follows.

First, on the back side of the bottom box 22 on the main body 1 side, four legs 23a, b, c, and d are provided at the corners for placing the main body 1 on a stand when the main body 1 is used alone. ing. In particular, at least two of the legs 23a to 23d, in this embodiment, the rear leg 23b and the front leg 23a where the separation belt 14 is located when both 1 and 20 are attached. The position is bottom box 2 above.
It is made with high precision from two predetermined reference positions.

Further, on the attachment 20 side, there are recesses 45a, b into which the legs 23a to d of the main body 1 fit into four corners of the casing 20a molded from resin.
c and d are provided.

Therefore, in order to attach both, when the main body 1 is placed on the attachment 20, the legs 23a to 23d fit into the recesses 45a to 45d, respectively, so that the upper wall surface b around the recesses is It will hit the surface c around the root. More specifically, the rear leg portion 23 provided on the side where the separation belt 14 is arranged.
The inner diameter X of the recessed portion 45a that fits into the leg portion 2
It is formed in a size that almost matches the outer diameter Y of 3a. In other words, both have matching shapes and can be fitted into each other. Therefore, the leg portion 23a and the recessed portion 45a
There is no play between the two when they are fitted. Further, the width of the recess 45b that fits into the right front leg 23b facing the leg 23a is
Za almost matches the outer diameter Zb of the leg portion 23b, and the width in the vertical direction is larger than the width Za, forming a so-called elongated hole. In addition, the inner diameters of the other two recesses 45c and d are larger than the outer diameters of the legs 23c and d into which they are fitted, so that they can be fitted with some margin.

Therefore, when attaching the attachment 20 to the main body 1, the rear leg 23a is first fitted into the recess 45a. As described above, the legs 23a are precisely positioned in the bottom box 22 with respect to a predetermined reference position, so by fitting the legs 23a and the recess 45a, the main body 1 and the attachment 20 are This means that the side on which the separation belt 14 is placed is precisely positioned.

Next, the leg portion 23b is fitted into the elongated hole recess 45b.
At this time, since the recess 45b is elongated, even if the leg 2
Even if the installation position of the leg 3b or the recess 45b is shifted, the leg 23b can be smoothly inserted into the recess 45b. Moreover, since the width size Za of the recess 45b and the outer diameter Zb of the leg 23b are almost the same, the attachment 20 and the main body 1
Once installed, they will not come apart and cause looseness.

Furthermore, the leg portions 23c, d are inserted into and engaged with the recesses 45c, d. At this time, the inner diameters of the recesses 45c, d are larger than the outer diameters of the legs 23c, d, so the legs 23c, d can be inserted into the recesses 45c, d with plenty of room, so that these installation positions are Even if there is an error, the main body 1 and the attachment 20 can be smoothly attached.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the legs 23a, b, c, d
are inserted into and supported by the recesses 45a, b, c, and d, respectively, and in particular, the main body 1 is attached to the attachment 20 with high accuracy on the side where the separation belt 14 is installed.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the main body 1 and the attachment 20 are smoothly and accurately positioned and attached. Moreover, the positioning of the side where the separation belt is provided can be performed particularly accurately.

Note that the accuracy of the distance between the right side recess 45a of the attachment 20 and the loading positioning portion (described later) of the cassette 21 is determined on the housing of the attachment 20.

By the above method, main body 1 and attachment 2 are
0 can be connected with high accuracy, and the cassette 2 loaded in the attachment 20 can be connected to the main body 1.
The transfer paper stored in the transfer paper 1 is sent out from the cassette 21 on the correct conveyance path, and when separated, one end of the paper is reliably caught on the separation belt 14, and separation is performed without mistakes.

Note that, without being limited to the above example, for example, positioning can be performed by providing a convex part or a concave part using a place other than the leg part on the main body side, and providing an opposite concave part or convex part on the attachment side, and making them fit together. You can also do

Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, incorrect attachment of the main body 1 and the attachment 20 can be prevented. This will be explained below.

First, in the above embodiment, the outer diameters Y and Zb of the leg portions 23a and b provided at two locations on the right side are different from the outer diameter l1 of the leg portions 23c and d provided at two locations on the left side. This prevents the main body 1 and the attachment 20 from being connected in the opposite direction by mistake. Furthermore, when attempting to connect both left and right in the opposite direction, the front wall 24 of the attachment 20 is installed higher than the other surrounding walls, that is, it protrudes, so if you try to connect them in the wrong direction, the main body 1 will It abuts against this front wall 24 and becomes a hindrance so that it cannot be attached.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, consideration has been given to the weight at the time of installation.

That is, when the main body 1 is placed on the attachment 20, the casing 20a of the attachment 20 may be deformed due to the weight of the main body 1. Therefore, in order to prevent this, in this embodiment, as schematically shown in FIG. The receiving portions, that is, the leg portions 23a, b of the main body 1,
Four recesses 45a that receive and support c and d,
It is arranged so as to be almost directly under b, c, and d.
That is, the legs 23a, b, c, d and the recesses 45a, b,
c, d and the legs 60a, b, c, d are each arranged in alignment with each other in the vertical direction. Therefore, when both are attached, even if the weight of the main body 1 is received and held by the legs 60a, b, c, and d of the attachment 20, the casing 20a of the attachment 20 will not be deformed.

The mechanical connection between the copying machine main body 1 and the attachment 20 has been described above, and now the electrical connection will be described.

The attachment side 20 has a copy button 25 for starting copying, a number addition button 26 and a number subtraction button 27 for setting the desired number of copies, and also for clearing the set desired number of copies and for continuous copying. A clear stop button 28 that has two functions for stopping the copying machine is provided on the front operation section 62 (Fig. 3a and Fig. 4b), and each signal is sent to the copying machine main body 1 and the attachment when installed. It will be delivered within 20 minutes. In the figure, a connector 29 is provided on the attachment 20 side, and is provided facing upward on the back side where the recess 45a is provided and slightly below the upper surface b of the recess 45a. Reference numeral 30 denotes a connector provided in the bottom box 22 on the side of the main body 1 of the copying machine so as to protrude downward. In addition, the bottom box 2 of the connector 30
The distance protruding downward from the leg portions 23a,
It is smaller than the protruding distance of b, c, d,
This protects the connector 30 from impacts and the like. Further, these connectors 29 and 30 are precisely provided at equal distances from the positioning leg portion 23a and the fitting recess 45a, respectively. Therefore,
When the main body 1 is attached to the attachment 20, the connectors 29 and 30 are also reliably connected.

As described above, in this embodiment, the main body 1 and the attachment 20 can be connected both mechanically and electrically.

Next, regarding the attachment 20 of this embodiment, Fig. 3 a, b, Fig. 4 a, b, Fig. 6 a, b
This will be explained in detail using FIG.

FIG. 4a is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the attachment 20, and FIG. 4b is a plan view thereof. Further, FIGS. 5a and 5b are cross-sectional rear views showing the driving portion of one embodiment of the attachment 20. FIG. FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the positioning portion of the cassette.

In the figure, 21 is a cassette for loading transfer paper, which can be inserted and removed through an opening 31 formed when the attachment 20 and main body 1 are attached. The transfer paper P is set between a swingable middle plate 32 provided in the cassette 21 and separation claws 33 provided at both corners of the feeding tip, and is pushed upward by a cassette spring 34. When the half-moon-shaped paper feed roller 36 fixed to the paper feed roller shaft 35 rotates in the direction of arrow A in the figure, the uppermost transfer paper stacked on the transfer paper P and the paper feed roller 36 are separated by the pressure of the cassette spring 34. Due to frictional force,
The uppermost transfer paper is sent out one by one from the cassette 21 by the cooperation of the separation claw 33. Further, 37 is a conveyance roller shaft, 38 is a conveyance roller fixed to the conveyance roller shaft, and the paper feed roller 36 feeds the cassette 21.
The transfer paper fed out is further sent out from the attachment 20 side to the main body 1 side. Reference numeral 39 denotes a conveyance guide, which is integrated with a guide plate section 40 that guides the transfer paper toward the main body 1 side. Furthermore, 41 is a rotatable presser roller, and the conveyance guide 3
It is attached to the guide 39 so that it can be freely sung.
It is pressed against the conveyance roller 38 by a presser roller spring 42 provided in the. Note that this conveyance guide 39 is rotatable around a guide shaft 44 (in the directions of arrows B and C), and is pressed in the direction of arrow B in the figure by a guide spring 43. Therefore, the guide 39 is positioned and fixed by the elastic force of the spring 43 at the position where the roller 41 contacts the roller 38. If the transfer paper sent out from the cassette 21 has a conveyance failure on the guide 39,
This is done by opening the conveyance guide 39 by rotating it in the direction of arrow C in the figure using the handle 39a. On this occasion,
Since the presser roller 41 is displaced together with the conveyance guide 39, the transfer paper can be more easily removed. This state is shown in FIG. The spring 43 has one end 43a attached to the attachment 20 body side and the other end 43b attached to the guide 39 side.

Next, we will discuss the attachment drive system in the sixth section.
This will be explained using Figure a and Figure 6b.

First, on a swing plate 46 that is provided on the attachment 20 and that can swing around the paper feed roller shaft 35, there are
A coupler gear 47, an idler gear 48, and a solenoid 49 are fixedly installed. This swing plate 46 also has a swing plate spring 5 on the back side where the recess 45a is provided.
0, it is always pressed in the direction of arrow D in the figure. Further, 51 is a gear fixedly installed on the main body 1 side, and is integrated with a positioning flange 51a.
Also, the coupler gear 47 has a flange 47 for positioning.
a is integrally attached, and the collision between the gear 51 on the main body 1 side and the coupler gear 47 is 47a and 51a.
Guaranteed by Further, 52 is the conveyance roller shaft 37
Idler gear 4 is a conveyor roller gear fixed to
It meshes with 8. Further, a paper feed roller gear 53 attached to the paper feed roller shaft 35 also meshes with the idler gear 48, and transmits drive to the paper feed roller shaft 35 via a one-turn clutch 54. This one-turn clutch 54 turns on and off the solenoid 49.
When turned OFF, the clutch pawl 55 operates in the direction of arrow E in the figure, thereby functioning. Therefore, coupler gear 4
7. The idler gear 48, the paper feed roller gear 53, the solenoid 49, and the one-turn clutch 54 all swing together on the swing plate 46 about the paper feed roller shaft 35. The bottom box 22 on the main body 1 side is provided with an opening 22a on the back side where the legs 23a are provided, through which the gear 51 is connected to the coupler gear 47 on the attachment 20 side.

Therefore, the gear 51 starts rotating due to drive from a motor (not shown) on the main body 1 side, which starts rotating in response to a copy start signal issued when the copy button 25 is pressed. The drive from this gear 51 is transmitted to the coupler gear 47 and the idler gear 48, and further transmitted from the idler gear 48 to the conveyance roller gear 52 and the paper feed roller gear 53. Therefore, the conveyance roller 38 constantly rotates while a motor (not shown) is driven. Further, the paper feed roller 36 is turned on and off in response to a copy signal in the case of single-sheet copying, and a synchronization signal issued in synchronization with the movement of the document table in the case of continuous copying.
The one-turn clutch 54, which functions by the operation of the solenoid 49 that repeats OFF, receives the drive from the constantly rotating paper feed roller gear 53, rotates once each time it is fed, and unloads the transfer paper from the cassette 21. Send out each sheet.

As described above, in this embodiment, by attaching the main body 1 and the attachment 20, the gear 51 on the main body 1 side and the coupler gear 47 on the attachment 20 side
are automatically engaged, and drive is transmitted from the main body 1 side. Moreover, the gear 47 on the attachment 20 side,
Since 48, 52, and 53 are integrally held by the swing plate, they swing together, preventing problems such as uneven meshing between the gears, and ensuring reliable drive transmission. can.

Next, the operation of the attachment section will be explained. First, by pressing the copy button 25, a copying operation is started. That is, when a copy start signal is issued, the main motor (not shown) of the main body starts rotating, and all the gears rotate accordingly. At the same time, the solenoid 49 is turned on, and the one-turn clutch 54 causes the paper feed roller 36 to rotate once. As a result, the uppermost transfer paper in the cassette 21 is fed out from the cassette 21 by the circumferential length of the paper feed roller 36. Since the distance from the separation claw 33 to the conveyance roller 37 is set shorter than the circumferential length of the paper feed roller 36, the leading edge of the transfer paper sent out from the cassette 21 is held by the conveyance roller 37 and the presser roller 41. . Thereafter, the transfer paper is conveyed according to the conveyance roller 37, guided by the guide plate section 40, passes through the guide 56 that extends from the opening 56a on the main body 1 side to the shutter 12, and the leading end abuts against the shutter 12. At this time, the transfer paper slips between the conveying roller 38 and the presser roller 41 until the shutter 12 is opened. After the shutter 12 opens in synchronization with the toner image on the drum 5, copies are made in the same manner as the manual feeding operation described above.

Next, loading the cassette 21 into the attachment 20 will be explained.

In FIG. 3b, the cassette 21 is positioned in the left-right direction by engagement between a convex portion 21a fixed to the bottom of the cassette 21 and a recess 20a provided in the frame 20a of the attachment 20. . Therefore, when the cassette 21 is inserted from the left to the right in the figure, the convex portion 21a of the cassette 21 falls into the concave portion of the attachment 20 and is positioned. Next, positioning in the front-rear direction will be explained using FIG. 7. Attachment 20
The frame 20a includes the main body 1 and the attachment 20.
A rail 20b is integrally formed with a precise distance from the recess 45a for positioning with the rail 20b.
A convex portion 21b formed integrally with the cassette 21 fits into the rail portion. Therefore, cassette 2
1 and the attachment 20 are positioned in the front-rear direction. Therefore, the cassette 21 is correctly positioned and loaded at the predetermined loading position of the attachment 20. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the main body 1 and the attachment 20 are positioned with high precision, and the cassette 21 is positioned with high precision with respect to the attachment 20, so that the cassette 21 is loaded in the correct position with respect to the main body 1. It turns out. Therefore, the transfer paper sent out from the cassette 21 passes through a predetermined conveyance path, and one end of the transfer paper passes through the separation belt 1.
Since the main body 1 and the attachment 20 are made removable, it is possible to prevent a separation error from occurring.

In this embodiment, the attachment is described with an example in which a cassette is removably loaded.
The present invention is not limited to this, and may be a deck, a manual feeding table, a long sheet attached, or a deck and a cassette, or a combination of a plurality of cassettes. That is, in the present invention, the sheet stacking section may be any means that can load or hold sheets in a feedable manner, such as a manual feed table, a cassette, or a deck.
Of course, these may also be used in combination. Further, the sheet is not limited to transfer paper, and may be any thin plate that can be fed, such as copy paper, photosensitive paper, or plastic sheet. Further, the sheet feeding means is not limited to the feeding roller, but may be an air suction type, a rotating endless belt type, or the like. Further, the separating member is not limited to a separating belt, but may be a separating claw or a type in which air is blown out from a nozzle.

As described above, the present invention provides a feeding attachment having a sheet stacking section and a sheet feeding means for feeding sheets from the sheet stacking section, and an image forming apparatus including the feeding attachment in a detachable manner.

Further, according to the present invention, even if the mounting positions of the drive gear of the image forming apparatus and the gear of the feeding attachment are slightly out of alignment, when the feeding attachment is attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus, both gears will mesh properly. This allows the drive transmission resistance to be kept low and drive transmission to be smooth.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1a is an external perspective view of a copying machine body to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied, Fig. 1b is a perspective view seen from below, Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the copying machine main body, and Fig. 3a
3 is a sectional view of the attachment, FIG. 4 a is a perspective view showing the structure of the attachment, FIG. 4 b is a plan view of the attachment, and FIG. FIGS. 6a and 6b are side views showing the drive section of the attachment; FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing how to position the cassette and the attachment; FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the feeding section. In the figure, 1... Copying machine main body, 14... Separation belt, 20... Feeding attachment, 21...
Cassette, 23a, b, c, d...Legs, 29, 3
0...Connector, 36...Paper feed roller, 45a,
b, c, d... recess, 46... rocking plate, 60a,
b, c, d...legs.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A feeding attachment 20 that is detachably attached to the image forming apparatus main body 1 includes: a sheet stacking section 21 for stacking sheets; a feeding means 36 for feeding sheets from the sheet stacking section 21; and an image forming apparatus. a gear 47 that meshes with the drive gear 51 of the image forming apparatus main body 1 when attached to the main body 1 and receives the transmission of driving force for driving the feeding means 36; Support means 4
6; and biasing means 50 for biasing the gear 47 against the drive gear 51. 2. In an image forming apparatus including a removable feeding attachment 20 on an image forming apparatus main body 1, the image forming apparatus main body 1 includes: a main body side loading section 8 for placing a sheet; Main body side feeding means 11 that feeds the placed sheets; Image forming means 5, 6, 7 that forms images on the sheets fed by the main body side feeding means 11.
a first passage 56 for guiding the sheet to the image forming means from the bottom of the image forming apparatus main body 1; and a drive gear 51 disposed at the bottom of the image forming apparatus main body 1; , a sheet stacking section 21 that stacks sheets; a feeding section 36 that sends out sheets from the sheet stacking section 21; and a second section that guides the sheets sent out by the feeding section 36 to the first path 56. a gear 47 that meshes with the drive gear 51 of the image forming apparatus main body 1 when mounted on the image forming apparatus main body 1 and receives a driving force for driving the feeding means 36; Singable supporting means 4 supporting gear 47
6; and biasing means 50 for biasing the gear 47 against the drive gear 51. 3 a first gear provided integrally with the drive gear 51;
The positioning flange 51a and the second positioning flange 47a that rotate integrally with the gear 47 contact each other, so that the gear 47 is connected to the drive gear 51.
An image forming apparatus equipped with a feeding attachment according to claim 2, wherein the image forming apparatus is configured to be held at a predetermined position relative to the image forming apparatus.