1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus, and more particularly, it relates to a recording apparatus such as a copying machine, printer and the like, in which one of, for example, at least two sheet feeding systems can be selected.
2. Related Background Art
An example of conventional recording apparatus having two or more sheet feeding systems is shown in FIG. 1.
In FIG. 1, sheets 3 stacked in a cassette 2 are fed toward feed rollers 6 arranged in sheet guides 5 by means of a sheet supply roller 1 which constitutes a first sheet supply means. Meanwhile, the sheets are separated one by one by means of a separating claw 4. By means of the feed rollers 6, the sheet is further fed to auxiliary scanning rollers 7, by which the sheet is fed to a printing portion 8 by one printing width. A printing head 9 is shifted in a transverse direction along guide rails 19a and 19b and can record an image on the sheet at the printing portion 8 by injecting ink droplets onto the sheet. The sheet on which the image has been recorded is then ejected from an ejection outlet 11 onto an ejector tray 12 by means of ejector rollers 10.
On the other hand, a second sheet supply means is used for performing a so-called manual sheet supply wherein a single sheet is set on a manual sheet supply tray 13 and is inserted from a sheet supply inlet 14, and the sheet is then fed to the auxiliary scanning rollers 7 through guide plates 14 by means of manual sheet supply rollers 15. The sheet outcoming from the auxiliary scanning rollers 7 is printed in the same manner as the printing process effected on the sheet fed from the cassette 2, and thereafter, the sheet is ejected from the ejection outlet 11 onto the ejector tray 12 by means of the ejector rollers 10.
Further, the afore-mentioned cassette 2 can be withdrawn in a direction shown by the arrow A in FIG. 1 for replenishing the sheets 3.
In the above conventional recording apparatus, as shown in FIG. 1, the insertion and withdrawal of the cassette 2 and/or the treatment of the printed sheets are performed at the left side of the recording apparatus, whereas the manual sheet supply is performed at the right side of the recording apparatus. Accordingly, the conventional recording apparatus requires not only the space for installing the apparatus itself, but also the spaces, at the left and right sides of the apparatus, for performing the treatment of the cassette and of the printed sheets and the manual sheet supply, which results in a drawback that a large total space is required for manipulating the recording apparatus.
Further, in such a recording apparatus, it is practical that an operating portion or station for handling the apparatus is positioned at a front side which is usually the left side of the apparatus to which the printed sheets are ejected. However, when the recording apparatus is used in a condition such that the whole apparatus is installed on a shelf and the like, the manual sheet supply tray 13 and the manual sheet supply inlet 14 are obstructed by the shelf wall, thus making the use of the manual sheet supply impossible.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds