Sheet feeding or delivering – Feeding – Pack holders
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-29
2001-07-03
Bollinger, David H. (Department: 3651)
Sheet feeding or delivering
Feeding
Pack holders
Reexamination Certificate
active
06254086
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet accommodating device which is applied to a paper supplying section or a paper exhausting section of an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer, a copier, or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
A sheet accommodating device applied to an image forming apparatus can be broadly classified into a small-sized type in which the sheet capacity is about 250 to 500 sheets, and a large-sized type in which the sheet capacity is about several thousands sheets.
Recently, a sheet accommodating device has been widely used, in which a regulating member for regulating a sheet position is provided so that the regulating member can be moved according to a size of a sheet to be used and so that it can correspond various sizes of sheets.
In case of the large-sized type of the sheet accommodating device, the corresponding depth is required. Therefore, the large-sized type of sheet accommodating device must be equipped with a regulating member having several times as large as a regulating member in the small-sized type of sheet accommodating device has. Since the regulating member of the large-sized type of the sheet accommodating device is generally formed as a sheet metal member or a thin plastic product, it cannot help being made of flexible material.
In case that the position of the regulating member having such the large size is changed according to the size of a sheet, conventionally, the regulating member is detached at every change, then reattached to the size position of the sheet to be used and fixed there. Therefore, the regulating member of the large size is troublesome in that it is inserted into slits provided at each size of the sheets to be fixed and that it is fixed by a fixing member such as a screw, a magnets or the like.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide a sheet accommodating device which is superior in operationality and also can position the regulating member accurately.
In order to achieve the above object, a sheet accommodating device comprises a table on which sheets are stacked; a first pinion rotatably disposed at a center of the table; a second pinion rotatably disposed on one end side of the table; a third pinion rotatably disposed on the other end side of the table; a fourth pinion that is connected to the second pinion and arranged above the second pinion; a fifth pinion that is connected to the third pinion and arranged above the third pinion; a first regulating member which is arranged on one side of the table and has rack portions that can be engaged with the first pinion, second pinion and fourth pinion; a second regulating member which is arranged so as to be opposite to the first regulating member and has rack portions that can be engaged with the first pinion, third pinion and fifth pinion; and lock means for positioning any one of the first and second regulating members.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5215303 (1993-06-01), Yamada et al.
patent: 6089566 (2000-07-01), Xu et al.
patent: 63-258323 (1988-10-01), None
patent: 5-294471 (1993-11-01), None
Muneyasu Takayuki
Shirakawa Junji
Sunou Kazuo
Bollinger David H.
Hitachi Koki Co,. Ltd.
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
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