Paper feeding device

Abstract

According to one embodiment, a paper feeding apparatus arranged along the left-right direction on one side of an image forming apparatus and configured to feed stacked sheets one by one in order from a top sheet to the image forming apparatus from a paper feeding side adjacent to the image forming apparatus includes: a base plate; a tray on which plural sheets are stacked; a front-side guide member; a rear-side guide member; a paper-feeding-side guide member; an opened section formed by opening one side opposite to the paper-feeding-side guide member; and an auxiliary front guide member configured to regulate a position on the front end side of the sheets. The auxiliary front guide member has a sheet guiding section configured to come into contact with a corner on the front side of the sheets placed deviating from a proper placing state and guide the corner to the auxiliary guide section.

1 . A paper feeding apparatus arranged along a left-right direction on one side of an image forming apparatus and configured to feed stacked sheets one by one in order from a top sheet to the image forming apparatus from a paper feeding side adjacent to the image forming apparatus, the paper feeding apparatus comprising:
 a base plate;   a tray on which plural sheets are stacked, the tray being capable of moving up and down with respect to the base plate;   a front-side guide member arranged on a front side in a front-rear direction orthogonal to a paper feeding direction from the paper feeding side to the image forming apparatus, attached to a front end of the base plate, and extending upward;   a rear-side guide member arranged on a rear side in the front-rear direction orthogonal to the paper feeding direction, attached to a rear end of the base plate, and extending upward;   a paper-feeding-side guide member forming an aligning member on the paper feeding side for the stacked sheets, attached to the base plate, and extending upward;   an opened section formed by opening one side opposite to the paper-feeding-side guide member; and   an auxiliary front guide member arranged between the front-side guide member and the paper-feeding-side guide member and configured to regulate, with an auxiliary guide section, a position on a front end side of the sheets stacked on the tray, the auxiliary front guide member having a sheet guiding section configured to come into contact with a corner on a front side of the paper feeding side of the sheets placed deviating from a proper placing state, and configured to guide the corner to the auxiliary guide section with external force in the paper feeding direction applied to the sheets.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the sheet guiding section of the auxiliary front guide member is a tilting section that tilts from a distal end of the auxiliary guide section to the front side. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein a maximum tilt angle of the sheet guiding section is 45 degrees and minimum length of the sheet guiding section is 2 mm. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the auxiliary front guide member is supported from the paper-feeding-side guide member to the front-side guide member. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein attaching positions in the front-rear direction of the front-side guide member and the auxiliary front guide member are changed according to a size of the stacked sheets. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein a cutout section that does not interfere with the auxiliary front guide member is provided in the tray to correspond to an attaching position of the auxiliary front guide member.