Patent ID: 7147219

Claim:
A paper tray that is insertable into a printer, said paper tray comprising: a front wall and two side walls on either side of the front wall, each side wall including a retaining stopper extending laterally from an internal surface; a movable supporting plate for supporting a stack of papers; and an actuator pivotally mounted to the internal surface of each side wall at a location adjacent to the front wall such that said actuator is pivotable about a connection point between the actuator and the side wall, said actuator comprising: (i) a projection extending laterally toward the supporting plate; (ii) a torsion spring having a spiral section wound around said projection, a first end whose movement is restrained by said retaining stopper, and a second end that is configured to support a front end of the supporting tray while freely slides underneath the supporting tray, said torsion spring being pivotable about said projection; and (iii) a tab that is movable between a default position, in which said tab protrudes through the front wall and extends outside of the tray, and a retracted position, in which said tab is pushed into the tray, wherein said actuator is configured such that, when the tray is not fully inserted into the printer, the tab is in the default position, when the tray is fully inserted into the printer, the tab abuts against a part of the printer and is pushed into the tray causing the projection to pivot about the connection point in one rotational direction and causing the second end of the torsion spring to pivot about the projection in the opposite rotational direction, and when the tray is pulled out of the printer, the rotational movements of the projection and the torsion spring are reversed.