JPH0455260A - Recording material storage container - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the falling down of recording papers by forming an inside plate of a housing container vertical, and providing a projection facing the inner side near the central upper side of an outside plate while forming the outside plate inclining to the outer side. CONSTITUTION:A recorded paper housing container 10 provided at the lower side of a paper exhaust roller 11 is formed of an inside plate 12 formed vertical, a bottom 15, and an outside plate 13 inclined to the outer side. Near the upper end at the center of the outside plate 13, a projection 14 is provided toward the inner side. As a result, the center of the exhausted recording paper P hits the projection 14 as soon as its top end reaches the bottom plate 15, making the condition to swell the center to the inner side, and the recording paper P is prevented from falling down by its firmness. And the recording paper P is bent from the upper end of the outside plate 13 by its dead load along the outer slope of the outside plate 13, and housed being made in a reverse U-shape.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (A) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a recording material storage container for an image recording apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, and more particularly to an improvement of the recording material storage container.

(B) Prior Art Conventionally, a recording material P discharged from the main body of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer is stored in a recording material storage container as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8.

In Fig. 6, a tray C is placed outside the paper ejection opening of main body a.
, about 50 to 200 small-sized recording materials P are stacked, which are discharged by the paper discharge roller d.

In FIG. 7, it is used to store large-sized recording materials P such as A□ and A2 sizes, and has a configuration in which a basket e is simply placed outside and below the paper discharge slot. Since the recording material P is simply placed, recording materials P of a wide range of sizes can be placed.

In addition, in FIG. 8, a storage container f is attached to the outside of the outlet and is used to store large-sized recording materials P such as A□ size. It is stored by folding it outward in a letter shape.

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the conventional example described above with reference to FIG. Due to the frictional resistance between the second and subsequent recording materials P, it is very difficult to place them one on top of the other without slipping first.

Furthermore, in the conventional example described with reference to FIG. 7, since the recording materials P are simply dropped, there is a drawback that not only the page order is thrown out of order, but also the recording materials P are damaged one another.

Furthermore, in the conventional example described with reference to FIG.
After the leading edge of the recording material P reaches the bottom of the recording material P, the discharging force pushes out the rear end of the recording material P and inverts it. Therefore, unless the depth L of the storage container f is appropriately selected for each size of the recording material P, it will not be possible to invert the recording material P properly. However, there are disadvantages in that the pages may be out of order or may fall out of the storage container f. Therefore, this type of storage container f has a loading capacity of only about 1 to 3 sheets and is very difficult to use when used for recording materials of a specific size or for various sizes.

Furthermore, the conventional example shown in FIG. 8 will be explained in detail.
A. When discharging a recording material P of size (594 mm x 841 mm), even if its leading edge reaches the bottom of the storage container f, its trailing edge is held by the paper discharging roller d, and this trailing edge is not discharged. Since the paper is pushed out by the paper roller d, it is easy to eject the paper in an inverted U shape as shown by the solid line.
When discharging a recording material P measuring 20 mm x 594 mm), when the leading edge reaches the bottom of the storage container f, the trailing edge has left the paper discharging roller d and is not pushed outward, and the - dot-dashed line is displayed. This makes it difficult to store the paper in an inverted U-shape, and there is a risk that the state of paper ejection may be disrupted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a recording material storage container that can store recording materials of various sizes by providing an inwardly directed protrusion near the upper end of the center portion of the outer plate of the recording material storage container. It is.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and as shown in FIGS. ), and includes an inner plate (12), a bottom plate (15), and an outer plate (13). 12) is formed substantially vertically, the outer plate (13) is formed to be inclined outwardly, and a protrusion (1
4). Also, the outer plate (
13) is characterized in that it is provided with a flexible member (17) that bends in accordance with the number of recording materials (P) stored inside the recording material (P).

(E) Function Based on the above configuration, the recording material (P) on which an image has been recorded in the image recording apparatus main body (1a) is discharged from the recording material outlet (1).
0) and is discharged into a recording material storage container (16) attached to the lower outside of the main body (1a). At this time, the leading edge of the recording material (P) discharged from the recording material outlet (10) reaches the bottom plate (15) of the storage container (16), and at the same time, the center part hits the protrusion (14), causing the recording material The central part of (P) bulges inward, and the stiffness of the recording material (P) prevents it from falling down.
The recording material (P) is tilted outward along the slope of the outer plate (13) and is stored outward in an inverted U-shape with the upper end of the outer plate (13) as a bending point due to the weight of the upper part of the recording material (P). .

Furthermore, when a flexible member (17) is provided that bends according to the number of recording materials stored inside the outer plate (13) of the storage container (16), this flexible member (17) It is stored by folding it into an inverted U-shape starting from the upper end member.

Note that the symbols in parentheses are just examples and do not limit the configuration in any way.

(F) Examples Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a recording device 1. As shown in FIG. In the figure, a roll paper 2 having a length of about 100 to 200 m is supported at the lower right end of the main body 1a so as to be rotatable about its shaft 2a. A pair of transport rollers 3.4 is provided above the roll paper 2, and a cutter 5 is interposed between the pair of rollers 3,4. A registration roller pair 6 is provided on the right side of the transport roller pair 4, a photosensitive drum 7 is provided on the left side thereof, and a transport section 8,
A fixing section 9 is provided, and a pair of paper discharge rollers 11 is attached inside a paper discharge port 10.

Further, an inner plate 12 is provided substantially vertically below the outer side of the paper discharge port 10, and an outer plate 13 is provided inclined outward.
A protrusion 14 that protrudes inward is provided near the upper end of the inner center portion of the outer plate 13. In addition, 15 is a bottom plate. Further, the upper end portion of the outer plate 13 is bent outwardly and obliquely downward to form an upper end surface 13a. And the inner plate 12,
A recording material storage container 16 is formed by the outer plate 13, the protrusion 14, and the bottom plate 15.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

The recording material P is conveyed one time from the roll paper 2 by the pair of conveyance rollers 3 and 4, and the leading edge of the recording material P hits the nip portion of the pair of registration rollers 6, forming a loop and waiting. When the photosensitive drum 7 starts rotating in response to a recording signal, the registration roller pair 6 transports the recording material P in synchronization with this rotation.

Then, the toner image on the photosensitive drum 7 is transferred onto the recording material P by the transfer charger 7a, separated from the photosensitive drum 7 by the separation charger 7b, and transported to the fixing unit 9 by the conveyance unit 8, where the toner image is recorded. It is fixed on the material P.

On the other hand, it is cut into a predetermined length by the cutter 5 with the support of a control section (not shown).

The fixed recording material P passes through a paper ejection port 10 for various sizes such as A1 size and A2 size, and is delivered by a paper ejection roller 11.
The recording material is discharged into the recording material storage container 16.

Here, the storage state of the recording material P will be explained in detail.

For example, when a long recording material P of size A (594 mm x 841 mm) is stored, as shown in FIG. Since it is held between the paper rollers 11, the
), the rear end portion is easily pushed out by the paper discharge roller 11 into the state shown in FIG. As shown in Figure 3, A2
When the recording material P is short in size (420 mm x 594 mm), it is suspended in the state shown in FIG. 3(a). In the state shown in FIG. 3(b), when the leading edge of the recording material P reaches the bottom plate 15, the trailing end has left the paper discharge roller 1 and no force is applied to push it out.

However, since the recording material P was wound into a roll, it had a shape that protruded outward, and the center part of the recording material P abutted against the protrusion 14, causing the recording material P to move in the opposite direction to that shown in FIG. 2(b). The central part of the recording material P is pushed by the inside), and the strength of the strain of the recording material P causes it to stand up from falling down in an S-shape as shown in Figure 4, and the weight of the upper part of the recording material P causes it to stand up. The upper part is bent outward in an inverted U shape along the outwardly inclined outer plate 13, and as shown in FIG. 2(C), an upper end surface 13a is formed.
It is stored at the top in an inverted U shape.

Therefore, in order not to reduce the storage capacity of the recording material P, the protrusion 14 shown in FIG.
The recording material P
It is best to make it stick out so it doesn't get caught.

If the first recording material P can be stored normally as described above,
The second and subsequent recording materials P are the first recording material P and the inner plate 12.
This prevents it from collapsing into an S-shape and facilitates inversion into an inverted U-shape.

Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

In this embodiment, a flexible member 17 having a narrower width than the outer plate 13 is attached to the inner side of the outer plate 13 so as to open slightly upward relative to the inner plate 12. The flexible member 17 is bent outward each time the number of recording materials P stored increases by one.

In this manner, the recording material P accommodates the first recording material P by the same effect as the protrusion 14 .

Note that as the number of stored recording materials P increases, the distance between the flexible member 17 and the inner plate 12 increases, and the number of stored recording materials P can be increased.

Note that the outer plate 13 may be formed of a flexible member and further provided with a protruding portion near the upper end of the central portion. The outer plate of the container is tilted diagonally outward, and a protrusion protruding inward is provided near the upper end of the center portion of the outer plate, so that recording materials falling into the recording material storage container are prevented by the protrusion. The central part bulges inward to prevent the recording material from collapsing due to the straining force, and also to prevent the recording material from collapsing due to the straining force of the recording material. Since it is stored in a U-shape, recording materials of various sizes can be safely stored.

Furthermore, even if recording materials of various sizes are ejected randomly, they can be stored without disrupting the order of the pages.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a cross section 16 of an image recording apparatus embodying the present invention.
・Recording material storage container P...Recording material side view, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional side view showing a state in which a long recording material is stored in the recording material storage container, and Fig. 2 (a) shows that the tip of the recording material is on the bottom plate. Figure 2(b) shows the state where the recording material is about to bend due to the protrusion, Figure 2(c) shows the state where it is stored in an inverted U shape, and Figure 3 shows the state where short recording materials are stored. Figure 3 (a) is a cross-sectional side view showing a state in which the recording material is not touching the bottom plate even when the recording material is about to leave the paper ejection roller, and Figure 3 (b)
) shows the state in which the rear end has already left the paper ejection roller when the leading edge touches the bottom plate, Figure 3 (C) shows the state in which the recording material is stored in an inverted U shape, and Figure 4 shows the state in which the recording material or the protruding part A cross-sectional side view showing a state in which the abutment is bent in an S-shape, FIG. 5(a)
, (b) is a cross-sectional side view of the recording material storage state of another embodiment, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view of the conventional example, FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional side view of another conventional example, and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional side view of another conventional example. It is a sectional view of a conventional example.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A recording material storage container that is attached to a lower side outside of a recording material outlet of an image forming apparatus main body and has an inner plate, a bottom plate, and an outer plate, wherein the inner plate is formed substantially vertically. 2. A recording material storage container, characterized in that the outer plate is formed to be inclined outward, and a protrusion facing inward is provided near an upper end of a central portion of the outer plate. 2. The recording material storage container according to claim 1, further comprising a flexible member that is bent in accordance with the number of recording materials stored inside the outer plate in place of the protrusion.