Patent Publication Number: US-8528892-B2

Title: Recording apparatus

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present invention relates to edge guides along which the edge of recording media is aligned. The present invention also relates to recording media cassettes having the edge guide and recording media feeding devices, and further relates to recording apparatuses having the recording media cassette and the recording media feeding device, such as printers or facsimile machines. 
     2. Related Art 
     Sheet cassettes that are detachably mounted in the main body of an apparatus are commonly used. In particular, JP-A-2006-273565 and JP-A-2007-91445 disclose a detachable sheet cassette (tray) having a dual-container configuration composed of upper and lower sheet containers. A sheet container that stores sheets therein in a recording apparatus is generally called various names, including “cassette”, “tray” and so forth. In the following description, an entire unit that is detachably mounted in the main body of the apparatus is referred to as a “cassette”, while each sheet container that is provided in the cassette is referred to as a “tray”. 
     In a sheet cassette having a dual-tray configuration as mentioned above, an upper tray is slidably and rotatably movable relative to a lower tray. The sheet cassette can be switched between a state in which the sheets can be fed from the upper tray and a state in which the sheets can be fed from the lower tray by slidably moving the upper tray. Further, a space for storing sheets in the lower tray is opened by turning the upper tray. 
     With such a dual-tray configuration of a sheet cassette, however, it is not possible to remove the upper tray from the lower tray. Accordingly, it is not always useful for a user who does not frequently use the upper tray, since the upper tray reduces the sheet storing capacity of the lower tray. Further, an additional action to turn the upper tray is necessary when loading sheets into the lower tray. 
     One solution to the above technical problems is to provide an upper tray that is removable from the lower tray. That is, the sheet storing capacity of the lower tray increases when the upper tray is removed from the lower tray. However, this results in a problem in that a guiding height of the edge guide that is provided on the lower tray is not enough to guide and feed the sheets in an appropriate manner. 
     SUMMARY 
     An advantage of an aspect of the invention is that, specifically in a sheet cassette having a multiple-tray configuration composed of upper and lower trays, an edge guide that is capable of guiding the edge of sheets in an appropriate manner even when an increased number of sheets is stored (stacked) in the lower tray is provided. 
     According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a recording apparatus in a first example including a lower tray that stores recording media therein, an upper tray that stores recording media therein and capable of being mounted on the lower tray, and an edge guide which is disposed on the lower tray and has a guide surface along which the sheet edge is guided, wherein the edge guide is configured such that, when the upper tray is not mounted on the lower tray, the guide surface extends to a space for storing recording media in the upper tray. 
     With this configuration, when the upper tray is removed from the lower tray, the recording media storing capacity of the lower tray can be increased without causing a feeding problem such as skew feeding. 
     In a second example, it is preferable that the guide surface is formed by a plate member that is rotatable about a rotation axis which intersects the guide surface, and the guide surface is configured to have a height that varies as the plate member rotates. 
     With this configuration, the guide surface is formed by the plate member that is rotatable about a rotation support, and the guiding height varies as the plate member rotates, thereby achieving a configuration in which the guiding height of the guide surface varies in a simple format low cost. In addition to that, since the plate member is rotatable about the rotation axis which intersects the guide surface, the guide surface can be formed as a single surface regardless of the guiding height, that is, the guide surface can be formed as a smooth, flat or seamless surface regardless of the guiding height, thereby preventing the recording media from getting stuck during setting. 
     In a third example, it is preferable that the plate member is provided with a biasing unit that biases the plate member in a rotation direction in which the height of the guide surface increases, and the edge guide is configured such that, when the upper tray is not mounted on the lower tray, the guide surface extends to a space for storing recording media in the upper tray by means of the biasing unit. 
     With this configuration, since the plate member is in a state of being biased in a rotation direction in which the guiding height increases, an operability to increase the guiding height is improved. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numbers reference like elements. 
         FIG. 1  is a side sectional view which shows a sheet transportation path in a printer according to one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a sheet cassette according to one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a section of an essential part of the sheet cassette according to one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIGS. 4A and 4B  are perspective views of one embodiment of an edge guide according to the invention. 
         FIGS. 5A and 5B  are perspective views of one embodiment of an edge guide according to the invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     An embodiment of the invention will be described below with reference to  FIGS. 1 to 5 .  FIG. 1  is a side sectional view which shows a sheet transportation path in an ink jet printer (hereinafter referred to as a “printer”)  1  which is an example of a “recording apparatus” of the invention.  FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a sheet cassette  100  which is an example of a “recording media cassette” of the invention.  FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a section of an essential part of the sheet cassette  100 . In addition, the rightward direction in  FIG. 1  is a sheet feeding direction, and a direction extending through the drawing of  FIG. 1  between the front side and the back side of the drawing is a sheet width direction. 
       FIGS. 4A and 4B  are perspective views of an edge guide  52  according to one embodiment of the invention, showing a state in which a guide surface of the guide is at a normal position (first state) and a state in which the guide surface of the guide is at an elevated position (second state), respectively. Further,  FIGS. 5A and 5B  are perspective views of an edge guide  52 ′ according to another embodiment of the invention, showing a state in which a guiding height of a guide surface is at a normal position (first state) and a state in which the guiding height of the guide surface is at an elevated position (second state), respectively. 
     1. Overall Configuration of Printer 
     An overall configuration of the printer  1  will be described below with reference to  FIG. 1 . The printer  1  includes a feeding device  2  in the bottom portion of the apparatus. The feeding device  2  is configured to feed sheets (cut sheets in general) as an example of the “recording media” one by one toward an output stacker (not shown in the figure) disposed on the front side of the apparatus (left side in  FIG. 1 ) after a recording unit  4  has performed recording (ink jet recording). 
     Components disposed on the sheet transportation path will now be described in further detail. The feeding device  2  includes a sheet cassette  100 , a pick up roller  16 , guide roller  20  and a separation unit  21 . 
     The sheet cassette  100 , in which a plurality of sheets P can be set in a stacked state, is removably mounted in the main body of the apparatus from the front side with respect to the feeding device  2 . The sheet cassette  100  includes two sheet containers, that is, a lower tray  50  which is disposed on the lower side thereof and constitutes a base of the sheet cassette  100 , and an upper tray  60  which is disposed above the lower tray  50  and is slidably movable between a feedable position and a stand-by area. 
     In  FIG. 1 , the sheets stored in the lower tray  50  and the upper tray  60  are denoted by P 1  and P 2 , respectively (hereinafter collectively referred to as “sheet P” as long as the sheets do not have to be individually identified). 
     The pick-up roller  16  which is rotated by a motor (not shown in the figure) is provided on a pivot member  17  that pivotally moves about a pivot shaft  18 . When the upper tray  60  has been slid to the rear-most position (in a retracting direction of the sheet cassette  100 , which is the leftward direction in  FIG. 1 ), that is, when the upper tray  60  is in a stand-by area, the pick-up roller  16  comes into contact with the uppermost sheet P 1  stored in the lower tray  50  and rotates so as to feed the uppermost sheet P 1  from the lower tray  50 . 
     Moreover, when the upper tray  60  has been slid to the front-most position, which is the abutment position (in a mounting direction of the sheet cassette  100 , which is the rightward direction in  FIG. 1 ), that is, when the upper tray  60  is in a feedable position, the pick-up roller  16  comes into contact with the uppermost sheet P 2  stored in the upper tray  60  and rotates so as to feed the uppermost sheet P 2  from the upper tray  60 . 
     When the upper tray  60  is positioned in the feedable position (as shown in  FIG. 1 ), the separating slope  54  of the lower tray  50  extends toward the leading end of the sheets stored in the upper tray  60  beyond the front inner wall of the upper tray  60  such that the separating slope  54  serves as a separation unit when the sheets are fed from the upper tray  60 . That is, the separating slope  54  of the lower tray  50  is used as a common separation unit for the lower tray  50  and the upper tray  60 . 
     A freely rotatable guide roller  20  is disposed at a position downstream of the separating slope  54 . Further, a separation unit  21  composed of a separation roller  22  and a driving roller  23  is disposed at a position downstream of the guide roller  20 . The separation roller  22  has an outer periphery made of an elastic material and is capable of pressingly contacting the driving roller  23  while being in a state in which a predetermined rotation resistance is applied by a torque limiter mechanism. Accordingly, the subsequent sheets P are not permitted to be fed with the uppermost sheet P passing between the separation roller  22  and the driving roller  23 , thereby preventing double feeding of the sheets P. The driving roller  23  is rotated by a motor, which is not shown in the figure, in the direction by which the sheets P are fed downstream. 
     A first intermediate feeder  25  is disposed at a position downstream of the separation unit  21 . The first intermediate feeder  25  is composed of a driving roller  26  that is rotated by a motor, which is not shown in the figure, and an assisting roller  27  that is driven by the driving roller  26  so as to nip the sheet P therebetween such that the sheet P is fed further downstream. In addition, reference numeral  29  denotes a driven roller that reduces a passing load which is generated when the sheet P (particularly, the trailing edge of the sheet P) passing along a curved turn-around path. 
     Further, a second intermediate feeder  31  is disposed at a position downstream of the driven roller  29 . The second intermediate feeder  31  is composed of a driving roller  32  that is rotated by a motor, which is not shown in the figure, and an assisting roller  33  that is driven by the driving roller  32  so as to nip the sheet P therebetween such that the sheet P is further fed downstream. 
     A recording unit  4  is disposed at a position downstream of the second intermediate feeder  31 . The recording unit  4  includes a transportation unit  5 , a recording head  42 , a lower sheet guide  39  and an output unit  6 . The transportation unit  5  is composed of a transportation driving roller  35  that is rotated by a motor and a transportation driven roller  36  that is supported by the upper sheet guide  37  so as to be in pressing contact with and driven by the transportation driving roller  35 . When the sheet P enters the transportation unit  5 , the transportation driving roller  35  rotates so that the sheet P is fed downstream in an accurate manner while being nipped between the transportation driving roller  35  and the transportation driven roller  36 . 
     The recording head  42  is disposed at the bottom of the carriage  40 . The carriage  40  is actuated by a motor, which is not shown in the figure, so as to reciprocate in a main scanning direction while being guided by a carriage guide shaft  41  that extends in the main scanning direction (the direction extending across the drawing of  FIG. 1  between the front side and the back side of the drawing). In addition, the carriage  40  is of a so-called off carriage type in which ink cartridges are not loaded. The ink cartridges (not shown) are separately provided from the carriage  40 , so that ink is supplied from the ink cartridges to the recording head  42  via ink supply tubes (not shown). 
     A lower sheet guide  39  is disposed at a position opposite the recording head  42  such that a distance between the sheet P and the recording head  42  is defined by the lower sheet guide  39 . Further, an output unit  6  is provided at a position downstream of the lower sheet guide  39  so as to output the sheet P on which recording has been performed. 
     The output unit  6  is composed of an output driving roller  44  that is rotated by a motor, which is not shown in the figure, and an output driven roller  45  that is in contact with and driven by the output driving roller  44  and is configured to output the sheet P on which recording has been performed by the recording unit  4  toward a stacker provided on the front side of the apparatus, which is not shown in the figure.
 
2. Details of Sheet Cassette
 
     While the printer  1  has been briefly described above, the sheet cassette  100  will be further described below in detail with reference to  FIGS. 2 and 3 . The bottom  50   a  of the lower tray  50  is provided with the edge guide  51  ( FIG. 1 ) that is slidably movable in the sheet feeding direction (that is, sheet length direction) such that the position of the trailing edge of the sheet P 1  is aligned with the edge guide  51 . 
     Moreover, the lower tray  50  is further provided with the edge guide  52 , which is slidably movable in a direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction (that is, sheet width direction), such that the position of one side edge of the sheet P 1  is aligned with the edge guide  52 . The other side edge is aligned with a side wall  50   b  ( FIG. 2 ) of the lower tray  50 . In other words, the side wall  50   b  of the lower tray  50  serves as a fixed edge guide. 
     A guide surface  51   a  of the edge guide  51  that defines the position of the trailing edge of the sheet P 1  is formed as a slope that is substantially parallel with the separating slope  54  such that the leading end of a stack of sheets is aligned with the separating slope  54  when the edge guide  51  abuts the trailing edge of the sheet P 1 . The edge guide  52  that defines the position of the side edge of the sheet P 1  will be described later in detail. 
     A high friction member  53  is placed on the bottom  50   a  of the lower tray  50  at a position corresponding to the contact point between the pick-up roller  16  and the sheet P 1 . The high friction member  53  holds the stack of sheet during feeding of a sheet so that the whole stack of sheets is not fed downstream by the pick-up roller  16 . 
     Similarly to the lower tray  50 , the bottom  60   a  of the upper tray  60  is provided with an edge guide  61  that is slidably movable in the sheet length direction and an edge guide  62  that is slidably movable in a sheet width direction. Further, a high friction member  64  is placed at a position corresponding to the contact point between the pick-up roller  16  and the sheet P 2 . 
     A movable mechanism of the upper tray  60  will now be described. The upper tray  60  includes a slide member  65  and a tray base  66  such that the slide member  65  is slidably movable in the sheet feeding direction and the opposite direction with respect to the side walls  50   b  and  50   c  of the lower tray  50 . 
     A tray base  66  is provided to form a space for storing the sheets. The tray base  66  is rotatable about rotation shafts  66   a  on both sides thereof in a direction indicated by the arrow r with respect to the sliding member  65 . In addition, a rotation limit of the upper tray  60  (tray base  66 ) according to this embodiment is greater than 90 degrees and smaller than 180 degrees. That is, when the upper tray  60  has been turned to the maximum extent, a space for storing the sheets in the lower tray  50  is opened so that the sheets can be stored in the lower tray  50 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , a rack  65   a  is formed on the lower side of one side face of the sliding member  65  so that the rack  65   a  meshes with a pinion gear  55  that is provided on the lower tray  50 . That is, the sliding member  65  (the upper tray  60 ) is configured to be slidably displaced as the pinion gear  55  rotates. 
     The pinion gear  55  is capable of meshing with a driving gear (not shown) provided on the main body of the printer  1 , when the sheet cassette  100  is mounted in the main body of the printer  1 . The driving gear is rotated by a motor, which is not shown in the figure, thereby driving the sliding member  65  (the upper tray  60 ). 
     A locking member  65   b  is formed at a position slightly ahead of the rack  65   a . The locking member  65   b  is configured to be put under a restraining rail  50   d  that is formed on the lower tray  50 . When the locking member  65   b  is put under the restraining rail  50   d  (the locking member  65   b  is on the A side with respect to the position L indicated in  FIG. 3 , which is hereinafter referred to as “active area” of the upper tray  60 ), the rack  65   a  meshes with the pinion gear  55  while the locking member  65   b  is put under the restraining rail  50   d , thereby restraining the sliding member  65  (the upper tray  60 ) so as not to be removed from the lower tray  50 . 
     On the other hand, when the locking member  65   b  is ahead of the restraining rail  50   d  without being engaged with the restraining rail  50   d  (the locking member  65   b  is on the B side with respect to the position L indicated in  FIG. 3 , which is hereinafter referred to as “inactive area” of the upper tray  60 ), the rack  65   a  is not meshed with the pinion gear  55  while the locking member  65   b  is disengaged from the restraining rail  50   d , thereby allowing the sliding member  65  (the upper tray  60 ) to be removed from the lower tray  50  (as shown by the virtual line and reference numeral  60 ′ in  FIG. 2 ). The inactive area of the upper tray  60  according to this embodiment is a position at which the upper tray  60  has been slid to the front-most position. 
     As mentioned above, the sheet cassette  100  having a multi-tray configuration composed of the lower tray  50  and the upper tray  60  is configured such that the upper tray  60  is removable from the lower tray  50 . Consequently, the sheet storing capacity of the lower tray  50  increases when the upper tray  60  is removed, thereby further improving usability of the lower tray  50 . Moreover, the space for storing the sheets in the lower tray  50  is fully opened when the upper tray  60  is removed, thereby further improving operability in loading the sheets into the lower tray  50 . 
     In this embodiment, the upper tray  60  is slidably displaceable by means of driving units such as the rack  65   a , the pinion gear  55  and a motor that drives the pinion gear  55  (not shown). In addition to that, the upper tray  60  is in a state of being restrained by the lower tray  50  in the active area of the upper tray  60 , and the upper tray  60  is released from being in the restrained state in the inactive area. As a result, the upper tray  60  can be slidably displaced in a reliable manner without causing disengagement of the rack  65   a  from the pinion gear  55  in the active area. 
     Moreover, although the upper tray  60 , when in the stand-by position, is located above the space for storing the sheets in the lower tray  50  in this embodiment, the upper tray  60  may be configured in other embodiments to be slidably displaceable to a position outside of the space for storing the sheets in the lower tray  50  so that the space for storing the sheets in the lower tray  50  can be fully opened without turning or removing the upper tray  60 . 
     Furthermore, the upper tray  60  may be configured in other embodiments to be detachably mounted in the main body of the printer  1  separately from the lower tray  50 , so that the sheets can be fed from the upper tray  60  without using the lower tray  50 , thereby further improving usability. 
     3. Details of Edge Guide 
     The edge guide  52  that is provided on the lower tray  50  will be further described in detail with reference to  FIGS. 4A to 5B . 
     As described above, the space for storing the sheets in the lower tray  50  increases when the upper tray  60  is removed from the lower tray  50 , which enables an increased number of the sheets to be stored in the lower tray  50 . However, if a guiding height of the edge guide  52  that is provided on the lower tray  50  remains the same, the sheets stored in the lower tray  50  cannot be guided in an appropriate manner after the upper tray  60  is removed. 
     Accordingly, the edge guide  52  that is provided on the lower tray  50  according to this embodiment is configured such that the guiding height of the guide surface is adjustable. More specifically, as shown in  FIGS. 4A and 4B , the edge guide  52  includes a base  52   a  that slides along the bottom of the lower tray  50 , an upright portion  52   b  formed integrally with the base  52   a  so as to be mounted upright on the base  52   a , a plate member  52   c  that is rotatable with respect to the upright portion  52   b  about a rotation shaft  52   e  and a biasing unit, which is not shown in the figure, that biases the plate member  52   c  in a direction indicated by the arrow C 1 . 
     Reference numeral  52   d  denotes the guide surface along which the sheet edge is guided. The guiding height of the guide surface  52   d  is configured to increase as the plate member  52   c  rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow C 1 , from a first state shown in  FIG. 4A  to a second state shown in  FIG. 4B . 
     More specifically, when the upper tray  60  is usually mounted on the lower tray  50 , the plate member  52   c  is engaged with the bottom of the upper tray  60 , that is, the plate member  52   c  is pressed down, thereby retaining the first state as shown in  FIG. 4A . 
     Then, when the upper tray  60  is removed from the lower tray  50  as shown by reference numeral  60 ′ in  FIG. 2 , the plate member  52   c  is disengaged from the upper tray  60 . As a result, the plate member  52   c  is rotated by a biasing force from the biasing unit and switched to the second state as shown in  FIG. 4B , thereby changing (increasing) the guiding height of the guide surface  52   d  from h 0  ( FIG. 4A ) to h 1  ( FIG. 4B ) (h 1 &gt;h 0 ). 
     That is, the guiding height of the guide surface  52   d  is adjustable and the guiding height of the edge guide  52  increases as the sheet capacity of the lower tray  50  increases, thereby enabling an increased number of stacked sheets to be accommodated. As a result, a sheet can be fed in an appropriate manner without causing a feeding problem such as skew feeding. 
     Moreover, in this embodiment, the guide surface  52   d  is formed by the plate member  52   c  that is rotatable about the rotation shaft  52   e  such that the guiding height of the guide surface  52   d  can be adjusted by rotation of the plate member  52   c . Accordingly, a switching mechanism for the guiding height of the guide surface  52   d  can be achieved in a simple configuration at low cost. 
     In addition to that, the rotation shaft  52   e  forms a rotation axis which intersects (in this embodiment, perpendicular to) the guide surface  52   d  such that, when the plate member  52   c  rotates about the rotation shaft  52   e , the edge of the sheets is aligned with a single surface of the guide surface  52   d  in both the first state and the second state. Accordingly, a smooth, flat or seamless guide surface is provided during setting of the sheets without causing a problem, such as a sheet getting stuck, in both the first state and the second state. 
     Further, since the guiding height of the guide surface  52   d  decreases when the edge guide  52  is engaged with the upper tray  60  and the guiding height of the guide surface  52   d  increases when the edge guide  52  is disengaged from the upper tray  60  in this embodiment, the guiding height of the guide surface  52   d  increases without needing a specific operation. Accordingly, a sheet cassette with high usability can be achieved. In addition, the upper tray  60  according to this embodiment remains in engagement with the edge guide  52  (the plate member  52   c ) when the upper tray  60  is mounted on the lower tray  50 , regardless of the position where the upper tray  60  is located in the slidable area. 
     Although in the above-mentioned embodiment it has been described that the guiding height of the guide surface  52   d  is configured to be changed between two states, that is, a lower state ( FIG. 4A ) and a higher state ( FIG. 4B ), the guiding height may be changed in a stepwise manner for example by defining several height positions, or alternatively, the guiding height may be continuously changed. In such cases, it is desirable to provide a holding unit so as to retain the predetermined guiding height. 
     Another embodiment will be described with reference to  FIGS. 5A and 5B . The same configurations as those of  FIGS. 4A and 4B  are referenced by the same reference numerals, while the configurations corresponding to but different from those of  FIGS. 4A and 4B  are referenced by the same reference numerals with a prime mark. 
     In  FIGS. 5A and 5B , the edge guide  52 ′ includes a base  52   a , an upright portion  52   b ′ formed integrally with the base  52   a  so as to be mounted upright on the base  52   a , a plate member  52   c ′ that is rotatable with respect to the upright portion  52   b ′ about rotation shaft bearings  52   f  and a biasing unit, which is not shown in the figure, that biases the plate member  52   c ′ in a direction indicated by the arrow C 2 . The rotation shaft bearing  52   f  is a bearing that supports a shaft (not shown) formed on the upright portion  52   b′.    
     Reference numerals  52   d - 1  and  52   d - 2  denote guide surfaces along which the sheet edge is guided. In a first state shown in  FIG. 5A , the guide surface  52   d - 1  formed by the upright portion  52   b ′ constitutes a guide surface of the edge guide  52 ′. The guiding height in this configuration is h 0 . 
     Then, as the plate member  52   c ′ rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow C 2 , thereby deploying the guide surface  52   d - 2  that is formed by the plate member  52   c ′ on the guide surface  52   d - 1 , the overall guiding height changes (increases) to h 1  (h 1 &gt;h 0 ) from a first state shown in  FIG. 5A  to a second state shown in  FIG. 5B . 
     Accordingly, also in this embodiment, the guiding height of the edge guide  52 ′ increases as the sheet storing capacity of the lower tray  50  increases, thereby enabling the increased number of stacked sheets to be accommodated. As a result, the sheet can be fed in an appropriate manner without causing a feeding problem such as skew feeding. 
     Similar to the edge guide  52 , which has been described with reference to  FIGS. 4A and 4B , the edge guide  52 ′ of this embodiment may be configured to retain the first state, which is achieved by the plate member  52   c ′ engaging with the bottom of the upper tray  60 , that is, being pressed down by the upper tray  60  when the upper tray  60  is mounted on the lower tray  50 . Accordingly, the first state is not limited to a state in which the plate member  52   c ′ has been fully rotated downward and is in close contact with the upright portion  52   b ′ as shown in  FIG. 5A , but also may be a state in which the plate member  52   c ′ has been rotated to a certain extent in a direction indicated by the arrow C 2  from the state shown in  FIG. 5A . 
     In addition, the plate member  52   c ′ in the second state shown in  FIG. 5B  may be inclined to a certain extent toward the first state in order to facilitate downward rotation of the plate member  52   c ′ when the plate member  52   c ′ is pressed down by the upper tray  60  in the state shown in  FIG. 5B . 
     Furthermore, although the first state and the second state have been described to be switched by means of the edge guides  52  and  52 ′ engaging with/disengaging from the upper tray  60 , a holding unit, for example, may be separately provided so that the first state and the second state are retained by the holding unit and such retained state is released by an operation of a user. 
     Although the edge guides  52  and  52 ′ have been described as to guide the side edge of the sheets, it is needless to say that the above edge guide may apply to an edge guide for the trailing edge of the sheets (shown by reference numeral  51  in  FIG. 1 ). 
     The entire disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No: 2011-002751, filed Jan. 11, 2011 is expressly incorporated by reference herein.