JPH05188672A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To make it easier to handle recording sheets after recording discharge and to reduce the installation space of the device. [Structure] The recording sheet 18 after recording is guided in the X direction or the Y direction by a swinging member 33 according to the width size, and the image surface is turned to the back side by a discharge roller pair 34a, 34b or a discharge roller pair 35a, 35b. The sheets are discharged to the discharge trays 35 and 36 in page order. Further, a cassette for accommodating the recording sheet 18
Since 20 is attached to the document discharge tray 10 side so as to be drawn out, it is not necessary to provide a unique installation space.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile machine or a copying machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile machine, as shown in FIG. 7, a reading means A'for reading an image while conveying an original and an image is formed on a recording sheet according to image information. It has a recording means B '.

To explain the recording operation of the above-mentioned facsimile machine, cassettes 52a and 52b in which general-purpose size recording sheets 51a and 51b are stacked and stored are mounted on the main body of the apparatus, and the recording sheets 51a and 51b are fed by feeding rollers 53a and 53b. The sheets are separated and conveyed one by one, the skew feeding is corrected by the registration roller pair 54, and the recording sheets 51a and 51b are recorded by the recording unit B '.
The image was transferred to the recording sheet, the transferred image was fixed by the fixing means C ', and the image was discharged to the recording sheet discharge tray 55 with the image side facing up and the page order reversed.

The cassettes 52a and 52b are arranged on the opposite side of the original discharge tray 56 and the recording sheet discharge tray 55 in order to arrange the original discharge tray 56 and the recording sheet discharge tray 55 on the same side. It is configured to be pulled out in a direction opposite to the conveying direction of 51a and 51b.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, when the sizes of the recording sheets 51a and 51b stacked and stored in the cassettes 52a and 52b are different,
The recording sheets 51a and 51b are respectively conveyed from the cassettes 52a and 52b, and recording is performed on the front sides of the recording sheets 51a and 51b by the recording means B ', and the same recording sheet discharge tray is provided.
Discharged to 55. Therefore, for example, in a facsimile machine, when the number of received sheets in one communication is very large or a large number of received sheets are received, it is necessary for the user to rearrange the recording sheets 51a and 51b in order of size and page. Further, if the ejected recording sheets 51a and 51b are ejected with their recording surfaces facing up, there is a problem that the received recording information is easily seen by others.

Further, a document discharge tray 56 and a recording sheet discharge tray 55 are provided on one side surface of the main body of the apparatus, and a space for pulling out the cassettes 52a and 52b is required on the other side surface, respectively. It could not be used effectively.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and to improve the handleability of the recording sheet discharged after image formation. Another object is to effectively use the installation space of the device to improve operability.

[0008]

A typical means according to the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is a reading means for feeding a document and reading an image, and an image on a recording sheet according to image information. An image forming unit for forming, a conveying unit for conveying a recording sheet to the image forming unit, and a stacking and storing member detachable from an apparatus main body for stacking and storing a recording sheet conveyed by the conveying unit. And a discharge unit for discharging the recording sheet after image formation,
The document discharging direction by the reading unit and the mounting / removing direction of the stacking / accommodating member are the same.

Image forming means for forming an image on a recording sheet in accordance with image information, conveying means for conveying the recording sheet to the image forming means, and recording sheets conveyed by the conveying means are stacked and stored. The present invention is characterized in that it has a stacking and storing member for carrying out printing, and a discharging means for discharging the recording sheet after image formation for each width size.

[0010]

According to the above means, the original discharging direction by the reading means and the mounting / removing direction of the stacking / accommodating member are the same, so that the installation area of the entire apparatus can be reduced and the space can be effectively used. Further, the discharged recording sheets can be easily handled by discharging the recording sheets in the page order with the image surface facing down for each width size by the discharging unit.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of an image forming apparatus to which the above means is applied will be described with reference to the drawings. This embodiment will be described using a facsimile apparatus to which the above means is applied. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a facsimile apparatus, FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the facsimile apparatus, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a manual feed tray, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of taking out a recording cartridge, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory drawing of a cassette. 6 is an explanatory view of the cassette housing portion.

[Overall Configuration] First, the overall configuration of the facsimile apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIG. 1, A is a document reading unit, which reads information written on a document, converts it into an electric signal, and transmits it to a predetermined recording system. Further, B is an image forming means for recording an image on a recording sheet conveyed according to image information. Further, C is a recording sheet conveying means, which is a recording sheet 18 stacked and stored in a cassette 20 which is a stacking and storing member.
Is conveyed to the image forming means B, and the recording sheet 18 after recording is discharged to the discharge trays 36 and 37, respectively.

Further, in FIG. 2, D is an operation panel provided with the number of recorded sheets, recording density, a transmission switch, and the like,
E is a handset. The above-mentioned facsimile apparatus has a plurality of storage shelves inside and is mounted on a device mounting base G capable of storing a spare recording sheet and the like by opening and closing a door F. Hereinafter, the configuration of each part of the facsimile device will be described in order.

[Document Reading Unit] The structure of the document reading unit A will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, a document placing table 1 is formed on the upper surface of the apparatus, and the document 2 is placed on the document placing table 1. They are stacked and placed face down. The original 2 is guided by the side guide 3,
Further, the lowermost original is preliminarily conveyed by the preliminary conveying roller 4a and the pressure contact member 4b which is in pressure contact with the original, and is separated one by one by the separating roller 5a and the pressure contact member 5b which is in pressure contact with the roller, and the direction indicated by the arrow a in FIG. It is configured to be fed to the left side of the apparatus main body).

The separated and fed original 3 is made of a white polyester film which is conveyed by a conveying roller 6a and a pinch roller 6b which is urged against the conveying roller 6a by a spring 7 and pressed against it by a weight shaft 8a. The original surface is pressed against the platen glass 8c by the pressing member 8b, and when passing through the platen glass 8c, light is emitted from the light emitting member 8d such as an LED, and the light reflected from the original surface is reflected by the CCD through the lens 8e. The original image is converted into an electric signal by forming an image on the photoelectric conversion element 8f. In the present embodiment, the front lens 8e
As the above, a contact type reading sensor using a short focus image forming lens is used.

The original 2 whose image has been read by the optical means is conveyed by a discharge roller 9a and a pinch roller 9b which is pressed against the discharge roller 9a by a spring 7 and is attached to a document discharge tray 10 attached to the left side surface of the main body of the apparatus. It is configured to be discharged to.

[Image Forming Means] The image forming means B is configured as a laser beam printer in this embodiment.
The structure will be described below. As shown in FIG. 1, a charger 1 for charging the drum surface is provided around the photosensitive drum 11.
2, a developing unit 13 that allows a visible image by attaching toner to the latent image,
Cleaning member 14 for removing toner after toner image transfer
Are arranged.

The polygon mirror reflects the laser light from the laser oscillator 15 which emits a laser beam according to image information.
The photosensitive drum 11 which is reflected by 16 and is charged in advance by the charger 12 and rotates in the direction of arrow b is exposed to form an electrostatic latent image. Toner is attached to the latent image in the developing unit 13 to form a visible image, and the toner image is conveyed between the photosensitive drum 11 and the transfer roller 17 pressed against the recording sheet 18
Will be transcribed and recorded. Further, the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 11 after the toner transfer is configured to be removed by the cleaning member 14.

The photosensitive drum 11, the charger 12, the developing section 13,
The cleaning member 14 is housed in a recording cartridge 19, and this recording cartridge 19 is detachably attached to the apparatus main body as described later.

[Recording Sheet Conveying Means] Next, the recording sheet conveying means C will be described. A cassette 20 for accommodating recording sheets 18 is removably mounted in the lower part of the apparatus main body. The recording sheets 18 made of cut sheets are stacked and accommodated in the cassette 20.
Recording sheets of various sizes such as B5 can be stored.
As shown by the arrow c in FIG. 1, the recording sheet 18 accommodated in the upper cassette 20 is a pair of cassette conveying rollers 22a in which the uppermost one sheet is fed by the half-moon-shaped feeding roller 21a and pressed against each other. , 22b to carry the resist. On the other hand, the recording sheets 18 stored in the lower cassette 20
Similarly, the uppermost one sheet is fed by the half-moon shaped feeding roller 21b, and the pair of feeding rollers 23a and 23b are pressed against each other.
Is guided by the guide members 24a, 24b to be conveyed to the downstream side, and is registered and conveyed by the cassette conveying roller pair 22a, 22b.

Further, the recording sheet 18 has a driving roller 25a.
And a pinch roller 25b are conveyed in synchronization with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 11, a toner image is transferred when passing between the photosensitive drum 11 and the transfer roller 17, and the recording sheet 18 after the image transfer is heated by a heater. Fusing roller with 26 built-in
When passing between 27a and the pressure roller 27b that is in pressure contact with it, heat and pressure are applied to fix the toner image. Next, the recording sheet 18 is reversely conveyed along the conveying guide 28, and the curl of the recording sheet 18 is removed by the curl removing roller 29a and the curl removing roller 29b to guide the recording sheet 30.
It is conveyed along a and 30b and is conveyed along guide members 32a and 32b by a pair of conveying rollers 31a and 31b.

The recording sheet 18 has guide members 32a, 32
When the recording sheet 18 is conveyed to b, the swinging member 33 swings around the fulcrum 33a by the detection means (not shown) for detecting the width of the recording sheet, and the recording sheet 18 is conveyed in the X direction or the Y direction. , A pair of discharge rollers 34 provided on the respective conveying paths
The images are discharged to the discharge trays 36 and 37 in order of pages with the image surface as the back side by the a and 34b and the discharge roller pairs 35a and 35b. For example, the upper cassette 20 is A4 size, the lower cassette is
When the B4 size recording sheet 18 is accommodated in 20, the A4 size recording sheet 18 is arranged in the X direction (upper discharge tray 36) and the B4 size recording sheet 18 is arranged in the Y direction (lower discharge tray 37).
The recording sheets 18 of different sizes are ejected.

If the width sizes of the recording sheets 18 accommodated in the upper and lower cassettes 20 are the same, the rocking member is similarly detected by the detecting means (not shown) for detecting the length of the recording sheets. 33 swings around the fulcrum 33a,
The recording sheet 18 is conveyed in the X direction or the Y direction, and is ejected to the ejection trays 36, 37 by the ejection roller pair 34a, 34b and the ejection roller pair 35a, 35b provided on the conveyance path, respectively.

When the recording sheets 18 accommodated in the upper and lower cassettes 20 have the same width and length, that is, the recording sheets of the same size, the swinging member 33 is adjusted first in the X direction. The sheet is conveyed and discharged to the upper discharge tray 36, and the number of discharged recording sheets 18 is detected by the recording sheet detection sensor.
38a, the swinging member 33 is swung when the number of discharged sheets exceeds a certain number, the recording sheet 18 is conveyed in the Y direction, and the recording sheet 18 is discharged to the lower discharge tray 37. There is. The number of discharged sheets to the discharge tray 37 is counted by the recording sheet detection sensor 38b. At this time, the recording sheet 18 for the upper discharge tray 36
The number of ejected sheets can be set by the user's operation, and when the set number of sheets is exceeded, the count of the recording sheet detection sensor 38a is reset.

Therefore, by ejecting the recording sheet 18 after recording in the page order with the image side facing down according to the width size, the handling of the recording sheet 18 by the user can be improved.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a manual feed port is formed on the right side surface of the apparatus main body, and a manual feed tray 39 is attached to the manual feed port. This manual feed tray 39 is attached so as to be rotatable around a shaft 40,
At the time of use, as shown in FIG. 1, the manual feed tray 39 is tilted in the direction of the arrow, and the recording sheet 18 is placed on the manual feed tray and inserted from the manual feed opening. The separating member 41 presses the drive roller 25a and separates the sheets one by one. It is configured to be conveyed to the recording position by the driving roller 25a and the pinch roller 25.

[Manual Feed Tray and Auxiliary Tray] The manual feed tray 39 will be described in detail below. As shown in FIG. 3, a fixed guide 39a and an arrow d are provided on the upper surface of the tray.
A slide guide 39b movable in the direction is provided, and is configured to guide the side edge of the recording sheet 18 placed on the tray 39. Further, a fitting concave portion 39c is provided at the turning front end of the manual feeding tray 39, and the fitting convex portion 42a of the auxiliary tray 42 is fitted into the fitting concave portion 39c. That is, the fitting recess of the manual feed tray 39
By fitting the fitting convex portion 42a of the auxiliary tray 42 to the 39c, the auxiliary tray 42 can be connected to the manual feed tray 39, and the fitting convex portion 42a is pulled out from the fitting concave portion 39c to remove the auxiliary tray 42. It can be removed from the bypass tray 39.

Therefore, when the size of the recording sheet 18 placed on the manual feed tray 39 is long, the auxiliary tray 42 is connected to the manual feed tray 39 so that the recording sheet 18 is surely placed on the tray and manually fed. Can be delivered. If the size of the recording sheet 18 is short, the auxiliary tray 42
By removing, the useless space for stacking the recording sheets 18 can be eliminated. Further, the manual feed tray 39 can be housed compactly on the side surface of the main body of the apparatus by rotating the shaft 40 around the auxiliary tray 42 after removing the auxiliary tray 42, thereby making useless installation space in the main body of the apparatus and enlarging the apparatus. There is nothing to do.

On the lower surface of the upper discharge tray 36, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, a hook-shaped locking member 43 having a space slightly wider than the width of the auxiliary tray 42 is projected. The locking member 43 constitutes a housing portion for the auxiliary tray 42. By inserting the auxiliary tray 42 removed from the manual tray 39 from the tapered side (right side in FIG. 3) between the locking members 43 and locking the auxiliary tray 42, the auxiliary tray 42 is discharged.
It is configured to be accommodated on the lower surface of 36.

As described above, by providing the accommodating portion for the auxiliary tray 42, the auxiliary tray 42 removed from the manual feed tray 39 does not get in the way and can be prevented from being lost. Generally, the width and length of the discharge tray 36 are
Since the recording sheets 18 loaded on the manual feed tray 39 are reloaded, the width and length of the manual feed tray 39 are substantially the same or slightly larger, and the accommodating portion of the auxiliary tray 42 is placed on the lower surface of the discharge tray 36. By providing them so as to overlap each other, they can be compactly accommodated in a space. In addition, it is not necessary to add a special space to the apparatus body as an auxiliary tray housing portion.

[Recording Size Switch] As shown in FIG. 3, the sheet is manually fed to the inside wall surface side of the manual feed tray 39 outside the fixed guide 39a, that is, outside the mounting area of the recording sheet 18. A size switch 44 for inputting the size of the recording sheet 18 is provided. In this embodiment, the size switch 44 has three sizes of A4 size, letter size (LTR) and legal size (LGL).
It is configured so that you can enter the type.

As a result, the user inputs the size of the recording sheet 18 placed on the manual feed tray 39 with the size switch 44, and when the recording operation is started, the image forming means B is started.
Records according to the recording sheet size. Therefore, a sensor for detecting the size of the recording sheet 17, and an extra space and a display device for indicating the recording sheet size in the operation unit are not necessary, and the number of parts is reduced to reduce the size of the device and lower the cost. It can be planned.

The size switch 44 is provided on the manual feed tray 39 on the inner wall surface side of the apparatus and on the back side of the tray opening / closing handle, and holds the open / close handle when manually feeding the manual feed tray 39. When the handset is tilted down from the wall surface of the device to open the manual feed port, the size switch 44 is in the visual position near the operation position, so that the user can be prevented from forgetting to input the size.

[Replacing the Open / Close Cover and Recording Cartridge] As described above, the recording cartridge 19 is configured to be replaceable, and as shown in FIG. Stand 1, curl removing roller 29a, curl removing roller 29b, and conveying roller pair 31
By opening and closing lever (not shown), a and 31b are integrated
It is configured such that it can be opened and closed upward about a rotation center 45.
Recording cartridge 19 with the upper part of the device main body open
The cartridge 19 can be replaced by exposing it and pulling out the cartridge handle portion 19a.

Further, the recording cartridge 19 is provided with a light-shielding shutter 19b for protecting the photosensitive drum 11 so as to be openable and closable around a shaft 19c. This shading shutter
When the recording cartridge 19 is attached to the apparatus main body, the reference numeral 19b automatically opens to bring the photosensitive drum 11 and the transfer roller 17 into pressure contact with each other, and when the recording cartridge 19 is pulled out upward, the photosensitive drum 11 is automatically shielded from light. It is configured.

As described above, since the recording cartridge 19 can be opened and closed integrally with the document reading section A disposed on the upper portion of the apparatus and the document placing table 1 as shown in FIG. 4, the recording cartridge 19 can be taken out. It is possible to reduce the installation area of the device without requiring a unique projection space.

[Cassette Drawout Space] Next, the drawer space of the cassette 20 accommodating the recording sheet 18 will be described. The cassette 20 is the original discharge tray.
It is housed in the lower part of the apparatus main body on the same side as the 10 and the discharge trays 36, 37 so that it can be pulled out. As shown in FIG. 1, the structure is such that slide protrusions 20a are provided on both outer side surfaces of the cassette container, and the discharge tray 3 at the bottom of the apparatus is provided.
A cassette housing portion 46 having an opening is formed on the side surface on the 6 and 37 side. A guide groove is slidable by fitting the slide protrusion 20a on the inner wall of the cassette housing portion 46.
46a is formed.

Therefore, the cassette 20 can be set by inserting the slide protrusion 20a into the guide groove 46a from the left side of the apparatus main body shown in FIG.
When removing this, the handle formed on the cassette 20
It can be taken out by holding 20b and pulling it out to the left side in FIG.

Since the cassette 20 is attached / detached on the same side of the original discharge tray 10 and the discharge trays 36 and 37 as shown in FIG.
As in the case of removing the cassette, it is not necessary to provide a unique space for removing the cassette 20, and the installation area of the device can be reduced.

The cassette housing portion 46 is covered with an upper portion of the door F of the apparatus mounting base G, as shown in FIG. That is, the apparatus mounting base G is attached to the case portion 47 having a plurality of storage shelves 47a therein so that the door F can be opened and closed by the hinge 48, and the door F is accommodated in the cassette more than the height of the case portion 47. It is configured to project upward by the amount of the portion 46. Therefore, when the above-mentioned image forming apparatus is placed on the case portion 47 and the door F is closed by the lock portion 49 made of a magnet or the like, the cassette housing portion 46 is covered by the upper portion of the door F as shown in FIG. Is configured to be.

[Arrangement of Fixing Means and Document Reading Means] Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the document reading means A and the image forming means B are arranged at the end portions of the main body of the apparatus. As compared with the case where the document reading unit A is arranged above the image forming unit B, the fixing heat generated in the image forming unit B does not have a bad influence on the optical parts of the reading unit A, and at the same time, the parts such as the heat insulating member. Can also be omitted.

In this embodiment, the facsimile apparatus is exemplified as the image forming apparatus, but it can be applied to other image forming apparatuses such as a copying machine. Further, the conveyance path of the recording sheet 18 is switched by the swing member so that the discharge tray 36,
Although the recording sheets 18 are discharged to the respective 37, it is also possible to discharge the recording sheets 18 by the width size by moving the discharge trays 36 and 37 up and down with a single conveyance path. ..

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, the original discharging direction by the reading means and the mounting / removing direction of the stacking / accommodating member are the same, so that the installation area of the entire apparatus is reduced and the space is effectively used. You can Further, when the recording sheets are discharged to the discharging unit by the width size, the recording surface can be discharged in the order of pages so that the user can easily handle the discharged recording sheets.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a facsimile device.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a facsimile device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a manual feed tray.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of taking out a recording cartridge.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the drawer of the cassette.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a cassette housing portion.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional image forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

A ... Original reading means, B ... Image forming means, C ... Recording sheet conveying means, D ... Operation panel, E ... Handset, F ... Door, G ... Device placing table, 1 ... Original placing table, 2 ... Original document, 3 ...
Side guides 4a ... Preliminary transport rollers, 4b, 5b ... Pressure contact members, 5a ... Separation rollers, 6a ... Transport rollers, 6b,
9b ... Pinch roller, 7 ... Spring, 8a ... Weight axis, 8b
... pressing member, 8c ... platen glass, 8d ... light emitting member,
Reference numeral 8e ... Lens, 9a ... Ejection roller, 10 ... Original ejection tray, 11 ... Photosensitive drum, 12 ... Charger, 13 ... Developing section, 14 ... Cleaning member, 15 ... Laser transmitter, 16 ... Polygon mirror, 17 ... Transfer roller , 18 ... Recording sheet, 19 ... Recording cartridge, 19a ... Cartridge grip portion, 19b ... Shading shutter, 20 ... Cassette, 20a ... Slide protrusion, 21 ... Feed roller, 22a, 22b ... Cassette transport roller pair, 24a, 24
b, 30a, 30b, 32a, 32b ... Guide member, 25a ... Drive roller, 25b ... Pinch roller, 26 ... Heater, 27a ... Fixing roller, 27b ... Pressure roller, 28 ... Conveying guide, 29a ... Curling roller, 29b … Curl removing rollers, 31a, 31b…
Conveying roller pair, 33 ... rocking member, 33a ... fulcrum, 34a, 34
b, 35a, 35b ... discharge roller pair, 36, 37 ... discharge tray,
38a and 38b are recording sheet detection sensors, 39 ... Manual feed tray, 39a ... Fixed guide, 39b ... Slide guide, 39c ...
Fitting recess, 40 ... Shaft, 41 ... Separation member, 42 ... Auxiliary tray, 42
a: fitting protrusion, 43: locking member, 44: size switch, 46
... cassette housing, 46a ... guide groove.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A reading unit for feeding an original to read an image, an image forming unit for forming an image on a recording sheet according to image information, and a feeding unit for feeding the recording sheet to the image forming unit. A transporting unit, a stacking / retaining member detachably attached to the apparatus body for stacking and storing the recording sheets transported by the transporting unit, and a discharging unit for discharging the recording sheets after image formation, An image forming apparatus characterized in that a document discharging direction by a reading unit and a mounting / removing direction of a stacking / accommodating member are the same. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharging unit discharges the recording sheet in page order with the recording surface being the back surface side. 3. An image forming unit for forming an image on a recording sheet according to image information, a conveying unit for conveying the recording sheet to the image forming unit, and a stack of recording sheets conveyed by the conveying unit. An image forming apparatus comprising: a stacking and accommodating member for accommodating and an ejecting unit for ejecting a recording sheet after image formation for each width size. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the discharging unit discharges the recording sheet in a page order with the recording surface of the recording sheet being the back surface side.