Manual recording paper insertion mechanism

A paper cassette adapted to be detachably mounted to a main apparatus for individually supplying stacked papers from said cassette to said main apparatus, said paper cassette comprising:

• a cassette body having a base and side walls;
• a tray member arranged on said cassette body for stacking a plurality of papers thereon, said tray member having one end which is pivotable toward said cassette base and another free end;
• a lift member disposed between said one end and said cassette base for upwardly urging said one end;
• a regulating member for regulating the position of an upper surface of said stacked papers;
• a guide member arranged above said tray member and supported by said cassette body, one end of said guide member corresponding to said one end of said tray member being swingable toward said tray member, said guide member being swingably supported by said side walls of said cassette body;
• and
• means for downwardly swinging said one end of said tray member when said one end of said guide member is swung, to form a space between said stacked papers and said regulating member for allowing other papers, distinct from said stacked papers, to be placed in the space to be fed, a top surface of said guide member comprising means for supporting the other papers to be fed by a feed member of the main apparatus.

A paper feed mechanism comprising:

• a paper cassette;
• a tray member supported within said cassette for holding a stacked plurality of sheets of paper;
• a feed member disposed above one end of said tray member for individually feeding said stacked papers in a predetermined direction, said feed member comprising a contact surface for contacting an upper sheet of said stacked papers;
• a lift member disposed below said one end of said tray member for biasing said one end of said tray member toward said feed member, thereby causing said stacked papers to be pressed between said one end of said tray member and said contact surface of said feed member;
• a guide member supported by said paper cassette, for receiving and guiding one or more additional sheets of paper toward said contact surface of said feed member, said guide member comprising a generally planar support surface upon which said one or more additional sheets of paper may be placed, said guide member being disposed above said tray member and having one end adjacent to said feed member, said one end of said guide member being swingable towards said one end of said tray member;
• and
• means for swinging said one end of said tray member away from said feed member by swinging said one end of said guide member towards said one end of the tray member in such a fashion that a space is provided between said contact surface of said feed member and the stacked papers, to permit the additional papers, distinct from said stacked papers, to be placed in said space and to be fed by said feed member, said generally planar support surface having means for supporting the additional papers to be fed by said feed member.