JPH0443887Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine.

(Prior Art) Representative examples of image forming apparatuses include electrophotographic copying machines, laser printers, and the like. FIG. 5 shows a schematic configuration of a general electrophotographic copying machine.

This electrophotographic copying machine 1 has a photosensitive drum 10 in the center of an apparatus main body 2.
An exposure device 11 is arranged above. Main body 2
A document table 12 is disposed above the document plate 12, and the exposure device 11 is movable in the direction shown by arrow B in the drawing. A charging device 14 is provided upstream in the rotational direction of the photoreceptor drum 10 from the exposed position.
is installed.

The photosensitive drum 10 is rotatable in the direction shown by arrow C in the drawing. A developing device 13 is disposed on the downstream side in the rotational direction of the photosensitive drum 10 from the position where the photosensitive drum 10 is exposed. A transfer/separation device 15 is provided below the photosensitive drum 10 on the downstream side of the developing device 13 . A cleaning device 16 is disposed between the transfer/separation device 15 and the charging device 14.

A conveyance path 20 is formed between the photoconductor drum 10 and the transfer/separation device 15 for conveying the transfer paper in the rotational direction of the photoconductor drum 10 and the forward direction. The transport path 20 communicates within the main body from an upstream section 20a upstream of the photoreceptor drum 10 to a downstream section 20b downstream. At the upstream end of the upstream portion 20a of the conveyance path,
Manual paper feed section 21, external paper feed cassettes 22 and 23 attached to the device main body 2 from the outside, and the device main body 2
A built-in paper feed cassette 24 is provided. The built-in paper feed cassette 24 feeds transfer paper in the direction of arrow E in the figure. The upstream portion 20a of the conveyance path is
Those paper feed sections 21 or paper feed cassettes 22~
Transfer paper 27 fed from 24 is guided to transfer/separation device 15.

The built-in paper feed cassette 24 is placed on the drawer 25. The drawer 25 slides on a rail 26 arranged in the depth direction on the bottom surface of the main body 2 of the apparatus. Transfer paper is replenished into the cassette 24 by pulling out the drawer 25 toward the front (towards the front of the copying machine 1).

The copying operation by such an electrophotographic copying machine 1 is as follows. The photoreceptor on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 10 is uniformly charged by the charging device 14, and the image of the document placed on the document table 12 is transferred to the exposure device 11.
The surface of the photoreceptor drum 10 is exposed to light. The electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 10 by this exposure is developed with toner by the developing device 13 as the photoreceptor drum 10 rotates.
This toner image is transferred by the transfer/separation device 15 onto a transfer paper conveyed from the upstream portion 20a of the conveyance path. Residual toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum 10 is removed by a cleaning device 16. The transfer paper on which the toner image has been transferred is transported through the downstream portion 20b of the transport path by the transport device 20, and is supplied to the fixing device 30. Then, while passing between the heating roller 31 and the pressure roller 32 of the fixing device 30, the toner image is heated and melted while being pressurized and fixed onto the transfer paper. The transfer paper on which the toner image has been fixed is delivered to the paper ejection roller 4.
It is discharged from the main body at 0.

As described above, the toner remaining on the photoreceptor drum 10 is removed from the drum surface by the cleaning device 16. The removed toner is conveyed through the cleaning device 16 by a screw conveyor or the like, and is dropped from the discharge port 16a (FIG. 2) of the device into a toner collection container disposed inside the device main body 2, where it is collected. be done.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) As described above, since the toner collection container must be disposed within the main body of the copying machine, a space for the container must be provided within the main body of the copying machine. . Moreover, since the toner transport path of the cleaning device 16 cannot be made very long, the location of the toner collection container is limited to the cleaning device 1.
It is considered to be near the lower side of 6. Furthermore, in the case of a copying machine having a built-in paper feed cassette as mentioned above,
As shown in FIG. 4, the built-in paper feed cassette 24 is located near the bottom of the cleaning device 16.
The cassette 24 is pulled out to the front side of the device.
Therefore, in that case, the toner collection container cannot be disposed on the front side of the cassette 24, and it is more difficult to provide a space for the toner collection container.

The present invention was devised in view of the current situation, and its purpose is to provide a cassette pull-out mechanism for accommodating the transfer material on which the image is to be transferred and for supporting the cassette built into the main body of the apparatus. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus in which a space for a toner collection container can be easily secured.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus equipped with a cassette pull-out mechanism that accommodates a transfer material to which an image is to be transferred and supports a cassette built into the main body of the apparatus. In the drawer mechanism, a part that supports the cassette and a part that supports the toner collection container are juxtaposed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the feeding direction of the transfer material, thereby achieving the above object. .

(Example) The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of essential parts of an embodiment of the present invention. Since this embodiment can be the same as the above-described copying machine 1 except for the parts described below, the same parts will be given the same reference numerals and the explanation will be omitted. FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of this embodiment taken along the - line in FIG. 5. FIG.

In this embodiment, the drawer 31 is the photosensitive drum 1
It is placed below 0. Transfer paper 2 is in drawer 31
Two upright plates 32 and 33 are provided that are parallel to the feeding direction A of the transfer material such as No. 7 or the like. The space between these upright plates 32 and 33 forms a built-in paper feed cassette support section 33, which supports the built-in paper feed cassette 24 containing transfer paper 27. A toner recovery container support section 34 is provided outside the cassette support section 33 in contact with the upright plate 32.

The container support part 34 has a cylindrical shape with a rectangular cross section, and a hood 35 projects upward from its upper surface. A toner collection port 36 is opened at the upper end of the hood 35 . The toner collection port 36 is also open on the cassette support portion 33 side of the hood 35. As a result, as shown in FIG.
can be freely inserted into and removed from the collection port 36. Further, a box-shaped toner collection container 37 can be freely inserted into and removed from the container support portion 34 .

The drawer 31 can slide on a rail 38 provided on the bottom surface of the main body 2 of the apparatus. In a normal state (the state shown in FIG. 2), the drawer 31 is pushed into the rear end of the main body 2 and is fixed there. In this state, the container support section 34 is located below the operation panel and drive system (not shown) of the copying machine 1. Further, the toner discharge port 16a of the cleaning device 16 and the toner recovery port 36 of the container support portion 34 are loosely fitted. In this state,
The transfer paper 27 is transferred from the cassette 24 to the downstream part 2 of the conveyance path.
0b for copying. The toner removed by the cleaning device 16 as described above is transferred to the toner outlet 1 via the toner recovery port 36.
6a into the collection container 37 and collected.
To collect and dispose of toner, open the front cover 3 of the device main body, pull the handle 34a to pull out the drawer 31 to the front side of the device main body 2, and then pull the handle of the collection container 37 as shown in FIG. 3
4a to horizontally pull out the container 37 from the container support 34.

If the amount of toner to be collected is small, a box 39 with a smaller volume can be placed inside the toner collection container 37. In this case, in order to prevent the box 39 from moving within the container 37, it is preferable to provide a stop member 40 on the inner wall of the container 37.

In order to prevent the toner from scattering when disposing of the toner, the roll holding section 41 that holds the sealing tape roll 41a is disposed above the opening of the container support section 34, and when the container 37 or the box 39 is drawn out. At the same time, those openings can also be closed with the tape.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the toner collection container. Two grooves are formed in the inner wall of the toner collection container 41 by two pairs of members 43a and 43b. When the amount of collected toner is small, the partition plate 42 is inserted into the groove formed by the member 43a. When the amount of toner collected is large, the partition plate 42 is inserted into the groove formed by the member 43b.

It is also possible to arrange a bag made of vinyl or the like in the toner collection container 37 and/or 41 and collect the toner in the bag. In this case, the collected toner can be placed in the bag and disposed of.

In the above embodiment, the toner collection containers 37, 41
is horizontally inserted into the container support portion 34 and supported by the support portion 34, but the toner collection container may be attached to and removed from the container support portion in the vertical direction. In this case, the toner collection port may be provided at the top of the toner collection container.

(Effects of the invention) As described above, the image forming apparatus of the present invention allows the toner collection container to be placed in the space that was conventionally a dead space for pulling out the built-in paper feed cassette. The internal space of the device can be used effectively, and the device can be downsized. Furthermore, in the past, two sets of pull-out mechanisms were required, one for the toner collection container and one for pulling out the cassette, but with the present invention, only one set of pull-out mechanisms is required. This simplifies the structure and reduces costs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of essential parts of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view taken along the - line in FIG. 5 of the embodiment, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the drawer mode of the embodiment, and FIG. 4 is another embodiment of the toner collection container. FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an example of an image forming apparatus. 2... Apparatus main body, 10... Photosensitive drum, 16
a...Toner discharge port, 24...Built-in paper feed cassette, 27...Transfer paper, 31...Drawer, 33...
...Cassette support part, 34...Toner collection container support part, 36...Toner collection port, 37, 41...Toner collection container.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] 1. An image forming apparatus equipped with a cassette pull-out mechanism for accommodating a transfer material to which an image is to be transferred and supporting a cassette built into the apparatus main body,
An image forming apparatus in which a part for supporting the cassette and a part for supporting a toner collection container are juxtaposed in the pull-out mechanism in a direction substantially perpendicular to a feeding direction of the transfer material. 2. Utility model registration claim 1, wherein the toner collection container supporting portion has a substantially horizontal cylindrical shape with a toner collection port provided on the top surface and an opening on the side end surface.
The image forming apparatus described in . 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the toner collection container is inserted into and removed from the cylinder of the toner collection container support portion. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the toner collection container is box-shaped. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the toner collection container supporting portion supports the toner collection container in a vertically removable manner. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a toner collection port is provided at the top of the toner collection container.