Image forming apparatus

Abstract

An image forming apparatus includes a housing, a sheet feeding cassette, and a pickup roller positioned above and on a sheet feeding side of the sheet feeding cassette and rotatable to pick up a sheet that is in contact therewith from the sheet feeding cassette. The sheet feeding cassette includes a sheet tray on which a sheet bundle and a packaging member for the sheet bundle are to be accommodated, first and second guides for supporting lateral sides of the sheet bundle and the packaging member, and a first wall on the sheet feeding side of the sheet feeding cassette and a third guide spaced apart from the first wall to support the sheet bundle and the packaging member from a trailing edge side thereof. The height of the first wall is lower than a height of each of the first, second, and third guides.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An image forming apparatus comprising:
 a housing;   a sheet feeding cassette inserted into the housing along a first direction so as to be removable from the housing in a second direction opposite to the first direction; and   a pickup roller that is positioned above and on a sheet feeding side of the sheet feeding cassette and rotatable to pick up a sheet that is in contact therewith from the sheet feeding cassette and convey the sheet in a third direction that crosses the first and second directions,   wherein the sheet feeding cassette includes
 a sheet tray on which a sheet bundle and a packaging member for the sheet bundle are to be accommodated, 
 first and second guides spaced apart in the first and second directions and between which the sheet bundle and the packaging member are to be accommodated, the first and second guides extending in the third direction to support lateral sides of the sheet bundle and the packaging member, and 
 a first wall on the sheet feeding side of the sheet feeding cassette and a third guide spaced apart from the first wall in the third direction to support the sheet bundle and the packaging member from a trailing edge side thereof, wherein a height of the first wall is lower than a height of each of the first, second, and third guides. 
   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the sheet feeding cassette further includes:
 a sheet lifting mechanism configured to raise the sheet tray so that a leading edge side of the sheet bundle and the packaging member is lifted higher than the trailing edge side thereof.   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 an upper part of the first wall includes a notch portion, and   a height of the first wall at the notch portion is lower than a height of the first wall at other portions of the first wall.   
     
     
         4 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the first wall includes a movable member which can change a height of the first wall by being moved. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a display unit controlled to display a guidance to take out sheets from the sheet bundle that is contained within the packaging member and place the sheets on top of the packaging member.   
     
     
         6 . The apparatus according to  claim 5 , further comprising:
 a control unit configured to detect that the sheet feeding cassette has been drawn out from the housing, and upon detecting that the sheet feeding cassette has been drawn out from the housing control the display unit to display the guidance.   
     
     
         7 . The apparatus according to  claim 6 , wherein
 the control unit, upon detecting that the sheet feeding cassette is back in the housing and that the sheet bundle and the packaging member are accommodated in the sheet feeding cassette, activates the pickup roller to rotate to pickup the sheet that is in contact therewith.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus according to  claim 7 , further comprising:
 a sheet passage detector positioned downstream of the pickup roller in the third direction,   wherein the controller displays the guidance on the display unit again if the sheet passage detector does not detect any sheet being picked up by the pickup roller upon activation of the pickup roller.   
     
     
         9 . An image forming apparatus comprising:
 a housing;   a sheet feeding cassette inserted into the housing along a first direction so as to be removable from the housing in a second direction opposite to the first direction,   wherein the sheet feeding cassette includes
 a sheet tray on which a sheet bundle and a packaging member for the sheet bundle are accommodated, 
 first and second guides spaced apart in the first and second directions and between which the sheet bundle and the packaging member are to be accommodated, the first and second guides extending in the third direction to support lateral sides of the sheet bundle and the packaging member, and 
 a first wall on the sheet feeding side of the sheet feeding cassette and a third guide spaced apart from the first wall in the third direction to support the sheet bundle and the packaging member from a trailing edge side thereof, wherein a height of the first wall is lower than a height of each of the first, second, and third guides and is lower than a height of the packaging member. 
   
     
     
         10 . The image forming apparatus according to  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a pickup roller that is positioned above and on a sheet feeding side of the sheet feeding cassette and rotatable to pick up a sheet that is in contact therewith from the sheet feeding cassette and convey the sheet in a third direction that crosses the first and second directions.   
     
     
         11 . The image forming apparatus according to  claim 10 , wherein the sheet bundle is exposed through an opening in the packaging member at a location above the first wall. 
     
     
         12 . The image forming apparatus according to  claim 11 , wherein sheets are stacked on an upper surface of the packaging member. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus according to  claim 12 , wherein the sheet feeding cassette further includes:
 a sheet lifting mechanism configured to raise the sheet tray so that a leading edge side of the sheets that are stacked on the upper surface of the packaging member is lifted higher than a trailing edge side thereof.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus according to  claim 13 , wherein the pickup roller rotates to pick up an uppermost sheet from the sheets that are stacked on the upper surface of the packaging member. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus according to  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a display unit controlled to display a guidance to take out sheets from the sheet bundle that is contained within the packaging member and place the sheets on top of the packaging member.   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus according to  claim 15 , further comprising:
 a control unit configured to detect that the sheet feeding cassette has been drawn out from the housing, and upon detecting that the sheet feeding cassette has been drawn out from the housing control the display unit to display the guidance.   
     
     
         17 . A method of accommodating sheets in a sheet feeding cassette inserted into a housing of an image forming apparatus, wherein the sheet feeding cassette includes a sheet tray on which a sheet bundle and a packaging member for the sheet bundle are to be accommodated, a first wall on a front side of the packaging member, first and second guides for supporting lateral sides of the packaging member, and a third guide for supporting a rear side of the packaging member, and the first wall has a low height portion above which a part of the front side of the packaging member is exposed, said method comprising:
 placing the sheet bundle contained within the packaging member on the sheet tray, the packaging member having an opening through which a front side of the sheet bundle is exposed;   removing sheets from the sheet bundle that are exposed through the opening of the packaging member and above the low height portion of the first wall; and   placing the removed sheets on an upper surface of the packaging member.   
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 17 , further comprising:
 detecting that the sheet feeding cassette has been drawn out from the housing; and   displaying a guidance on a display unit to remove sheets from the sheet bundle and place the sheets on the upper surface of the packaging member.   
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 17 , further comprising:
 detecting that there are no sheets on the upper surface of the packaging member; and   displaying a guidance on a display unit to remove sheets from the sheet bundle and place the sheets on the upper surface of the packaging member.   
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 17 , wherein a height of the first wall is lower than a height of each of the first, second, and third guides.