Abstract:
A large-capacity paper feeding apparatus comprising a main unit which is to be mounted on one side of an image forming apparatus, is movable on a floor and is configured to feed paper sheets to the image forming apparatus, a caster which is provided at a bottom of the main unit and is to contact the floor to allow the main unit to move smoothly on the floor, and a mounting device which is moved to a first position to make the caster contact the floor and to a second position to retract the caster upward from the first position.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
         [0001]    This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-146176, filed May 21, 2002, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention relates to a large capacity paper feeding apparatus which continuously feeds a large quantity of paper to an electrophotographic copier, for example.  
           [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0005]    A large capacity paper feeding apparatus of this type is removably mounted on the side of a copier, and feeds paper to the copier. This large capacity paper feeding apparatus is moved over the floor and mounted on the side of a copier. Casters are provided at the bottom of the apparatus to smooth the movement.  
           [0006]    However, conventionally, casters are fixed to the bottom of a large capacity paper feeding apparatus, projecting downward from the bottom of the apparatus. This causes inconvenience when the floor inclines upward to the installation place of a copier, that is, the casters contact the floor, and the paper feeding apparatus inclines and smooth mounting fails.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    The present invention has been made to eliminate the above convenience. It is an object of the present invention to provide a large capacity paper feeding apparatus which can be smoothly mounted on an image forming apparatus even if the floor inclines upward to the installation place of the image forming apparatus.  
           [0008]    According to a first embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a large-capacity paper feeding apparatus comprising a main unit which is to be mounted on one side of an image forming apparatus, is movable on a floor and is configured to feed paper sheets to the image forming apparatus; a caster which is provided at a bottom of the main unit and is to contact the floor to allow the main unit to move smoothly on the floor; and a mounting device which is moved to a first position to make the caster contact the floor and to a second position to retract the caster upward from the first position.  
           [0009]    According to a second embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a large-capacity paper feeding apparatus comprising a support rail having one end portion which is to be secured to a bottom of an image forming apparatus, and another end portion which is to project horizontally and outwardly from the bottom of the image forming apparatus; a mounting device which is provided on the support rail; a main unit which is to be mounted on one side of an image forming apparatus, is movable on the mounting table and is configured to feed paper sheets to the image forming apparatus; a caster which is provided at a bottom of the main unit and is to contact the floor to allow the main unit to move smoothly on the mounting table; and a mounting device which is moved to a first position to make the caster contact the floor and to a second position to retract the caster upward from the first position.  
           [0010]    Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING  
       [0011]    The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 is a front view showing an image forming apparatus and a large capacity paper feeding apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the mounting part of the large capacity paper feeding apparatus of the same embodiment;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the large capacity paper feeding apparatus of the same embodiment;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 is a front view showing the mounting structure of the casters of the same embodiment;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 5 is a side view showing the mounting structure of the casters of the same embodiment;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the state when moving the casters of the same embodiment from the safety position to the paper feeding position;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 7 is a front view showing the state where the casters of the same embodiment are moved to the safety position;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the state where the casters of the same embodiment are moved to the bottom of the paper feeding apparatus; and  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 9 is a front view showing the state where the casters of the same embodiment are moved to the bottom of the paper feeding apparatus. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0021]    The present invention will be explained hereinafter with reference to the embodiments shown in the attached drawings.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 1 is a front view showing an electrophotographic copier as an image forming apparatus and a large capacity paper feeding apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0023]    In the drawing, a reference numeral  1  denotes an electrophotographic copier. A large capacity paper feeding apparatus  2  is mounted on one side of the electrophotographic copier  1 . The large capacity paper feeding apparatus  2  is provided with a main unit  2 A. The main unit  2 A contains a stack of about 4000 sheets of paper. A paper feeding mechanism (not shown) is provided in the main unit  2 A, and supplies paper sheet by sheet to the electrophotographic copier  1 .  
         [0024]    A caster  4  is provided at the bottom of the main unit  2 A to move the main unit  2 A smoothly.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the mounting structure of the large capacity paper feeding apparatus  2 .  
         [0026]    A pair of U-shaped support rails  5 / 5  are provided at the bottom of the copier  1 , on which a mounting table  6  is supported on the support rails  5 / 5 . A stand piece  7  is welded to one side of the mounting table  6 . Positioning pins  8 / 8  are provided projecting at both ends of one side of the stand piece  7 . A plurality of through-holes  10  to insert a plurality of fixing screws  9  are made in the stand piece  7 .  
         [0027]    Positioning holes  11 ,  11  to insert the positioning pins  8 / 8  and screw holes  12  opposite to the through-holes  10  are made in the lower part of one side of the copier  1 .  
         [0028]    Bends  13  bending downward are formed at the front and rear ends of the mounting table  6 . The bends  13  have screw holes  14  and positioning pins  15 .  
         [0029]    The mounting table  6  is supported on the support rails  5 / 5 , and positioned by inserting the position pins  8 / 8  of the stand piece  7  into the positioning holes  11 ,  11  in the lower part of one side of the copier  1 . The positioned mounting table  6  is fixed by inserting the fixing screws  9 / 9  into the screw holes  12 ,  12  in the lower part of one side of the copier  1 , through the through-holes  10 / 10  of the stand piece  7 .  
         [0030]    A reference numeral  17  denotes a bottom unit to be fixed to the bottom of the main unit  2 A of the paper feeding apparatus. Bends  18  bending downwardly are formed at the front and rear ends of the bottom unit  17 . The bends  18  have screw holes  20  to pass through fixing screws  19  and concaves  21  to engage with the positioning pins  15 .  
         [0031]    The bottom unit  17  of the main unit  2 A of the paper feeding apparatus is placed and pushed on the mounting table  6 , thereby the recesses  21 / 21  ends are engaged with the positioning pins  15 / 15  of the mounting table  6 . After being positioned, the bottom unit  17  is fixed to the mounting table  6  with the fixing screws  19 ,  18  inserted into the screw holes  14 ,  14  through the through-holes  20 ,  20 .  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the caster  4  fixed to the bottom of the main unit  2 A of the paper feeding apparatus. FIG. 4 is a front view showing the mounting structure of the casters. FIG. 5 is a side view showing the mounting structure of the casters.  
         [0033]    First to third support members  17   a - 17   c  are provided at the bottom of the main unit  2 A of the paper feeding apparatus. The first support member  17   a  comprises a pair of support plates  17   a ′,  17   a ″ provided with a predetermined space therebetween, in the axial direction of the caster  4 . The second support member  17   b  is provided between the support plates  17   a ′ and  17   a ″, along the axial direction of the caster  4 . The third support member  17   c  forms an inclined plane with an inclination angle of about 45 degrees.  
         [0034]    The caster  4  is rotatably fixed to a bracket  24  through a rotary axle  25 . The bracket  24  is revolvably fixed to the pair of support plates  17   a ′,  17   a ″ of the first support member  17   a,  and the upper side of the revolving end is fixed with a fixing screw  28  to the second support member  17   b.    
         [0035]    A horizontal projection  29  is formed in the lower part of the revolving end of the bracket  24 . An insertion port  29   a,  described later, to insert a screw driver or the like, is made in the projection  29 . The caster  4  is made in a spindle shape as shown in FIG. 5.  
         [0036]    Next, a procedure of mounting the large capacity paper feeding apparatus  2  will be explained with reference to FIG. 6 to FIG. 9.  
         [0037]    First, before the caster  4  is fixed to the large capacity paper feeding apparatus  2 , the bracket  24  is turned 45 degrees upward, and the upper side of the revolving end is fixed to the support member  17   c  with the fixing screw  28 , as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7. That is, the caster is retracted to the safety position B (the second position). With the caster  4  retracted upward, the large capacity paper feeding apparatus  2  is placed on the mounting table  6 , moved toward the copier  1  and loaded into one side of the copier  1 .  
         [0038]    After the large capacity paper feeding apparatus  2  is loaded, the fixing screw  28  of the bracket  24  is removed. Then, a screwdriver D is inserted into the insertion port  29   a  of the projection  29  of the bracket  24  of the caster  4 , and moved downwards, as shown in FIG. 8, or the bracket is moved downward by stepping on projection  29 . The upper end of the revolving end of the bracket  24  joins the second support  17   b,  and the caster  4  moves toward the position A (the first position) on the bottom of the large capacity paper feeding apparatus  2 , and contacts the floor S, as shown in FIG. 9. The upper end of the revolving end of the bracket  24  is fixed to the second support member  17   b  with the fixing screw  28 . This completes the mounting.  
         [0039]    As explained above, before the large capacity paper feeding apparatus  2  is mounted, the caster  4  is retracted to the upper safety position B (the second position), and the caster  4  does not contact the inclined plane S 1  even if the floor S is inclined like the inclined surface S 1  in FIG. 7. Thus, the large capacity paper feeding apparatus  2  is not inclined, and can be mounted on one side of the copier by smoothly moving on the mounting table  6 .  
         [0040]    Further, the caster  4  is made in a spindle shape, and only a point of the lower side of the middle of the caster  4  contacts the floor. Therefore, the friction resistance of the caster  4  is small, enabling smooth movement of the large capacity paper feeding apparatus  2  in the axial direction of the caster  4 .  
         [0041]    The present invention is not limited to the above described embodiments, and is modifiable within the gist.  
         [0042]    Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.