JPH082794A - Sheet storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a sheet receiving device capable of holding confidentiality of a user, even in the case that the device is placed in a condition of power supply off due to the device after use and power interruption or the like. CONSTITUTION:In a sheet receiving device receiving a sheet discharged from a laser printer to an individual use bin of a mail box, a door 103 is provided capable of opening/closing corresponding to each bin, and this door is locked so as to disable the door from opening at the time of power supply off. Consequently, a solenoid 101, protruding a plunger 102 at the time of power supply off, is provided to engage the plunger 102 with an engaging hole 103b of the door 103 at the time of power supply off, so as to apply a lock to the door 103.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to locking of a so-called mail box sheet storage stage used in an image forming system including various networks using a plurality of host computers, workstations, and personal computer systems.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image forming system constructed to connect an individual management sheet discharge device, a so-called mail box, to an image forming apparatus and to send and receive various information by separating an individual and a common sheet storage stage. It is becoming used. As examples of this, for example, the techniques described in JP-A Nos. 2-186429 and 4-48323 are known.

The former known technique is a network type printing system in which a plurality of hosts are used, and in order to maintain confidentiality of printed documents, the network type is shared by a plurality of hosts and has a plurality of discharge trays. In the printing system, some output trays are key-locked,
It is configured to be unlocked by the ID code transmitted from the host.

The latter known technique is for a specific person whose print data is predetermined in order to prevent the print data printed out by the printing apparatus from being seen by anyone other than a specific user. A means for determining whether or not, and a sheet discharging means for sorting the printed sheets according to the determination result of this determining means into those of a specific person and those not, and discharging the sheets.
A stacker that can take out the paper only when the paper on which the print data of the specific person is printed is stored, the password is input, and the password is determined to belong to the specific person is provided.

In any case, in these conventional examples, consideration was given so that confidentiality could be sufficiently maintained.

[0006]

By the way, even if it is intended that the confidentiality can be sufficiently guaranteed as described above,
In the former known technology, since the unlocking is performed when the user is in front of the host computer, if the mailbox is located far away from the host computer, it will be taken by another user while the user goes to pick it up. There is a fear.

Further, in the latter known technique, since a password is set in advance, a user who does not have this password cannot use the confidentiality function, and as a result, it is convenient for many users. Deficiency occurs.

That is, in both of the conventional examples, consideration is given to the security protection while using the printer even if the security is not completely maintained, but no consideration is given to the security protection after the power is turned off. There wasn't.

The present invention has been made in view of the actual situation of the prior art as described above, and an object thereof is to maintain the confidentiality of a user even when the power is turned off after use or due to a power failure or the like. The present invention is to provide a sheet accommodating device.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a sheet storage device for storing a sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus in a personal sheet storage stage, which corresponds to the sheet storage stage. A door that can be opened and closed, and a locking unit that locks the door so that the sheets output from the image forming apparatus to the individual sheet storage stage cannot be taken out, and the locking unit is driven when the power is turned off. And a driving means for locking the door.

In this case, the locking means may be an engaging member that engages with the door, and the driving means may be a solenoid that operates the engaging member when the power is off to maintain the engaged state with the door. At that time, the engagement member may be formed by a plunger of the solenoid.

Further, the engagement member is rotatably supported at one end by a rotation fulcrum, and the other end has a lock claw formed with an engagement part with a door, and an intermediate part of the lock claw. It is composed of a vertically extending support member that rotatably supports.When the solenoid power is turned on, the support member operates in the direction in which the engagement of the lock claw with the door is released, and when the solenoid is on, the support member engages. It is also possible to maintain the released state, and when the power is off, the support member is driven in the direction in which the lock claw engages with the door, and the engagement state between the lock claw and the door can be retained.

[0013]

With this structure, when the power is turned off after the seat accommodating device is used, or when the power is turned off due to a power failure or the like, the locking means automatically operates to lock the door, and the door cannot be opened. become unable. Therefore, the confidentiality can be maintained even when the power is turned off.

At this time, if a solenoid is used and the plunger or a driving member driven by the plunger is set to drive in the door locking direction when the power is turned off, the door is reliably locked by turning off the power, and the power is turned off. You cannot unlock it until you turn on.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention in which a mail box (sheet discharge device for personal management) having a sheet accommodating device is attached to the image forming device, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a mechanical configuration of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a system block diagram showing a connection relationship of the image forming apparatus.

[Schematic Configuration] First, the mechanical configuration of the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG.
The image forming apparatus includes a laser printer main body (LP main body) 1 as an image forming unit, an upper paper feed cassette 2 and a lower paper feed cassette 3, and a large-volume paper discharge unit (LCOT) 8 having upper and lower paper discharge units. And a rear paper ejection tray 5 for ejecting a strong paper such as an envelope. Also,
At the bottom, double-sided unit 6 for screen printing
And a large-scale sheet feeding unit (LCIT) 7 is attached. In FIG. 2, a mail box (hereinafter, also referred to as “MB”) 9 having 10 bins (# 1 to # 10) is mounted instead of the large-volume sheet discharging unit 8 of FIG. The system incorporating the laser printer can obtain various system configurations by selecting the optional double-sided unit 6, mass paper feeding unit 7, mass paper discharging unit 8, and mail box 9.
An operation display panel 11 described later is provided on the upper portion of the laser printer main body 1, and similarly, on the upper portion of the laser printer main body 1, a font cartridge having a built-in RAM or ROM storing font data of different character types. 12 and 13 are provided.

[Laser Printer (Image Forming Means)] Inside the laser printer body 1, two upper and lower paper feed rollers 19 and 2 are provided.
0, 2 pairs of paper feed rollers 21, 22, a pair of registration rollers 23, a conveyor belt 24, a delivery roller 25, a rear paper discharge roller 26, an upper conveyor roller 27, a lower conveyor roller 28, and a number of guide plates. A paper transport path is formed and constitutes a transport system.

An OPC photosensitive drum 29 is rotatably provided on the upper side of the conveying path between the registration roller 23 and the conveying belt 24, a transfer charger 30 is arranged on the lower side, and the conveying belt 24 and the sending roller 25 are arranged on the lower side. A fixing device 31 is provided between the fixing device 31 and a pair of paper path changing claws 32 and 33 provided between the delivery roller 25 and the rear paper discharge roller 26 downstream of the fixing device 31. Around the photosensitive drum 29, a charging charger (main charger) 3 is further provided.
4, a developing unit 35, a cleaning unit 36, and a charge eliminating LED 37 are provided. The developing unit 35 is attached to the drawer 18 together with the developing motor 38, the toner cartridge 39, and the cleaning unit 36, and these units configure an image forming system.

Each part of the writing system is arranged above the image forming system. The writing system includes a polygon mirror (rotating polygon mirror) 44 that reflects and scans laser light from a semiconductor laser (not shown), an fθ lens 45, a first mirror 47, a second mirror 46, and a dustproof glass 48. And a laser writing unit 40 including the above. The laser writing unit 40 itself is known and will not be described here.

A printed circuit board (hereinafter referred to as "PCB") rack 5 containing a print engine board 51 and two controller boards 52 is provided on the upper part of the writing system.
3, a PCB pack fan 54 for cooling the PCB, and a main fan 55 for cooling the inside of the laser printer body 1 are further provided. A main motor 57 for rotating and driving the photosensitive drum 29, each roller, and the like, and a power supply unit 58 are provided below the sheet conveyance path.
Also, a high voltage power supply unit 59 for applying a high voltage to each charger is arranged.

Upper paper feed cassette 2 and lower paper feed cassette 3
Are detachably attached to the laser printer main body 1, respectively, and the rear paper ejection tray 5 is stored as shown in the drawing when not in use, and when in use, the rear paper ejection tray 5 is rotated in the direction of the arrow with the shaft 5a as a fulcrum to move backward. It can be extended. A registration sensor 60 is arranged in front of the registration roller 23 in the sheet conveying direction, and a fixing outlet sensor 61 is arranged at the sheet exit of the fixing device 31.

In the table 10, a reversing conveyance path 65,
Standby transport path 66, paper path changing claw 67, three sets of transport rollers with clutch 68, 69, 70, double-sided entrance sensor 7
1, a double-sided exit sensor 72, a double-sided unit (DPX) 6 including a double-sided drive motor 73, and the like, and a paper feed roller 74 for feeding paper from a large-volume paper feed unit (LCIT) 7; A roller 75, a paper feed roller 76 shared with the duplex unit 6, an LCIT drive motor 77, etc. are also incorporated. In addition, the large-volume paper feeding unit 7
Although not shown in the drawing, a mechanism for raising and lowering the stored sheets, a drive motor for driving the mechanism, and the like are incorporated.

The large-volume sheet discharging unit (LCOT) 8 includes a conveying roller 80, a sheet path changing claw 81, and an upper sheet discharging roller 8.
2, lower-stage discharge roller 83, upper-stage discharge tray 84, lower-stage discharge tray 85, and two-stage discharge tray 8 (not shown)
A mechanism for moving each of the rollers 4, 85 in the width direction to shift the sheet discharge position, a drive motor (job separation motor) for the same, and various sensors and switches are provided.

The control system of this laser printer system will be described in detail later, but image data and the like from a host such as a computer, a workstation, and a word processor (not shown) are input to the print engine PCB 51 via the controller PCB 52 and processed. After selecting the paper feed path and the paper discharge path, the print operation is started by the print start request signal. When the print sequence is started, one of the paper feed rollers 19, 20, and 74 is driven at a predetermined timing, and the upper paper feed cassette 2, the lower paper feed cassette 3, or the LCIT 7 is selected. Start feeding the paper and feed roller 2
The sheet is fed by any one of 1, 22, and 75, and is temporarily stopped while being abutted against the registration roller 23. When the print sequence is started, one of the paper feed rollers 19, 20, and 74 is driven at a predetermined timing to start paper feeding from a tray selected from the paper feed trays 2, 3, and 7, and the registration roller is started. It is stopped in the state of hitting 23.

On the other hand, the photosensitive drum 29 rotates in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 1, and the surface charged by the charger 34, the surface charged by the laser writing unit 40, and the image data by the laser writing unit 40 are converted into image data. A correspondingly modulated laser beam is irradiated while performing main scanning in the drum axis direction to be exposed to form a latent image. The latent image is developed by toner in the developing unit 35, and is transferred by operating the transfer charger 30 to the sheet fed by the registration roller 23 at a predetermined timing.

The transferred sheet is peeled off from the photosensitive drum 29, conveyed to the fixing device 31 by the conveying belt 24, heated and fixed by the fixing device 31, and then sent out by the sending roller 25 to the paper discharging portion. At that time, the paper path changing claw 32,
Select the paper path according to the rotation position of 33, 81,
The large-volume sheet discharge unit 8 discharges the sheets to either the upper sheet discharge tray 84, the lower sheet discharge tray 85, or the rear sheet discharge tray 5. Normally, one of the trays of the large-volume paper discharge unit 8 is selected and the printed paper is discharged face down, but in special cases such as when using strong paper such as envelopes and postcards. Then, the rear discharge tray 5 is selected. However, when the rear paper ejection tray 5 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1 and the rear paper ejection roller 26 is not ready to eject paper, the rear paper ejection tray 5 cannot be selected.

When double-sided printing is selected, the sheet printed on one side is sent to the double-sided unit 6 in the table 10 by the lower conveying roller 28. Then, after being first fed to the reversing conveyance path 65, the conveyance direction is reversed and conveyed to the waiting conveyance path 66 to stand by, and is fed to the main body 1 by the paper feed roller 76 at a predetermined timing, Similarly, the other side is printed, and then discharged to one of the discharge trays.

[System Configuration of Control System] The connection relationship of the control system of this embodiment is as shown in the system block diagram of FIG. In FIG. 1, a power supply unit 58 in the laser printer main body 1, a print engine PCB 51, a controller PCB 52, heaters and fans 54 and 55 of the fixing device 31, a double-sided unit 6 and a large-volume sheet feeding unit 7 in the table 10 are shown. DPX & LC to control
The IT / PCB 91 and the MB / PCB 93 for controlling the mail box (MB) unit 92 when the mail box 9 is attached are respectively connected to power lines 94A and 9A.
It is directly connected by 4B, 94C, 94D and 94E.

Further, connection lines 95A and 95B including a power supply line and a signal line are provided between the print engine PCB 51 and the print engine (PE) unit (including each mechanical portion of FIG. 1) 90 and between the controller PCB 52. The connection lines 95C and 95D including the power supply line and the signal line are connected between the standard discharge unit 4 and the standard discharge unit 4 and the large-size discharge unit (LCOT) 8 when connected. Connect by.

The print engine PCB 51 and DP
Two optical fiber cables 96A, 96B, 96C for transmission and reception are respectively provided between the X & LCIT PCB91, MB PCB93, and the operation display panel PCB94.
Signals are exchanged by optical communication between them. And the controller PCB52
Is connected to a host system such as a computer or a word processor by a connection cable 97, and data such as image data is input from the connection cable 97.

Power is also supplied to the operation display panel PCB94 from the power supply unit 58, the print engine PCB51, or the controller PCB52 via a power supply line (not shown). Print engine PCB51, controller PCB52, LCOT8, DPX & LCIT / PC
B91, MB / PCB93, and operation display panel / PC
Each of the B94s includes a micro computer that controls the control of each unit.

[Connection State of Loads, Sensors, etc. to Each PCB] Next, the print engine PCB in this embodiment
The connection between 51 and the other PCBs 52, 91, 93, 24 and the connection state of each PCB and its various loads and sensors will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the power supply unit 58 rectifies and steps down the voltage supplied from the commercial AC power supply 174,
The voltages of V _CC , V _LG1 , V _LG2, and V _DRV are output, and these output voltages are output to the print engine PCB 51, respectively.
Controller PCB52, DPX & LCIT PCB9
1 and MB / PCB 93 are powered. The output voltage of V _DRV is supplied to the print engine PCB 51 via an interlock switch (not shown). Further, a voltage switching circuit is provided in the power supply unit 58, and the main fan 55 and the PCB pack fan 5 are connected through this circuit.
4, during the print V _DRY, V _DRY in standby
It supplies a lower V _LG1 voltage to change the fan speed during printing and during standby.

The print engine PCB 51 and DP
The optical fiber cables 96A, 96B, 96 are connected between the X & LCIT.PCB 91, the MB.PCB 93, and the operation display panel PCB 94, respectively, as described above.
They are connected by C respectively. This connection is shown in Figure 4.
, Each serial interface port SIF of the communication control interface circuit (CCI) 150 in the print engine PCB 51, and the CPU in the PCB 91.
152, a CPU 157 in the PCB 93 and each serial interface port SIF of a CPU (not shown) in the operation display panel PCB 94 are connected to each other through an optical fiber.
This is done by connecting by an optical communication line via a cable.

A drum counter (nonvolatile memory NVRAM or E ² PRO) controlled by the CPU 142 is provided in the print engine PCB 51.
M) and a power control circuit for controlling the light emission power of the semiconductor laser 41, and the drive circuit of the semiconductor laser 41 having the laser diode LD and the monitoring photodiode PD performs video control directly and via the power control circuit. It is connected to the circuit 149. The video control circuit 149 controls the laser diode LD by the modulation signal VIDEO corresponding to the image data while controlling the emission brightness of the laser diode LD by the semiconductor laser drive circuit by the power control circuit to be constant using the feedback signal from the photodiode PD. Flashing is performed to control writing of print data to the photosensitive drum 29 by the laser writing unit 40 shown in FIG. The sync detection signal DETP obtained by waveform-shaping the detection signal of the photodetector that receives the reflected light from the polygon mirror 44 before writing is also input to the video control circuit 149 to regulate the write start magnetism.

Further, this print engine PCB51
Includes a job separation motor for moving each component in the large-volume discharge unit (LCOT) 8, that is, each discharge tray to the left and right, a sensor for detecting the left and right position of each discharge tray, and a paper path changing claw 81. A plunger for driving to select the upper and lower discharge trays, a lower exit switch, an upper exit switch, overflow sensors of upper and lower and lower discharge trays, etc. are connected.

The DPX & LCIT PCB 91 includes a double-sided conveying clutch 219, a double-sided drive motor 73, a double-sided entrance sensor 71, a double-sided exit sensor 72, and a plunger 67P for driving the paper path changing claw 67, which will be hereinafter referred to as LCI.
T paper feed clutch 220, drive motor 77, paper size sensor 221, paper stack vertical drive motor 222, cover open switch 223, upper limit switch 224, lower limit switch 225, paper end sensor 226, tray lowering switch 227. , And a double-sided cover open switch 228 are connected.

Further, the mail box PCB 93 includes a carrying motor 230, a bin paper sensor 231, a bin overflow sensor 232, a mail box inlet sensor (feed-in sensor) 233, and plungers 235 # 1 to # 9 for selecting each bin. A job separation motor 240 for moving each bin to the left and right, and a left end switch 241 and a right end switch 242 for detecting the left and right positions of each bin are connected.

The controller PCB 52 is connected to the CPU 142 and the video control circuit 149 in the print engine PCB 51 by a large number of signal lines, and is also connected to the font cartridges 12 and 13 and the emulation card 14. Further, the voltage of V _CC is supplied to the operation display panel PCB94.

[Mail Box (MB) PCB] FIG. 5 is a system block diagram showing details of the MB / PCB 93. The MB / PCB 93 includes a CPU 157, an address latch circuit 161, a ROM 162 which is a program memory,
RAM163 which is a data memory, expansion I / O164,
A driver / receiver 165 and a communication control interface circuit 166 are provided.

The mail box 9 according to this embodiment has one
Approximately 9 bins, and the 10th bin is a general (common) paper ejection unit. Each of the 9 bins # 1 to # 9 has a lock plunger and a branch claw plunger as a bin selection plunger, and overflow sensors 232 # 1 to # 9.
9 and bin paper sensor 231 # 1 to # 9 are provided. The MB / PCB 93 is also provided with a door switch 234 and a card reader 235 for detecting the opening of a door provided for removal during paper jam, in addition to the above-described transport motor 230 and feed-in sensor 233. In addition, an operation display unit 200 including a display unit 200a for displaying jams, overflow of each bin, and the like, and an operation unit 200b for releasing a bin lock, inputting an ID code, and performing other input operations is also connected. There is. Note that the bin-free sensor 231 and the bin overflow sensor 232 in FIG. 4 include a shared tenth bin (# 10) in addition to the first to ninth bins (# 1 to # 9 bin).
It includes a paper empty sensor and a bin overflow sensor.

The interface circuit 166 of the MB / PCB 93 may be connected to the controller PCB 52 and the host computer, but considering the system configuration, it interfaces with the print engine and configures the mailbox 9 as a part of the laser printer 1. It is generally preferable to use the print engine because the print engine can cover everything from the input of the print paper to the discharge.

[Locking Structure of Mailbox] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an essential part showing an example of a locking mechanism of the mailbox. In this example, the locking mechanism 100 includes a solenoid 101.
And a plunger 102 of a solenoid 101, which are provided at all stages corresponding to a door (cover) 103 that is openably and closably provided on the front surface of each bin # 1-9.
The door 103 has an engagement hole 103b formed at its end 103a. When the plunger 102 is fitted into and engaged with the engagement hole 103b, the door 103 cannot be opened in the direction of the arrow. That is, the solenoid 101
Is a type in which the plunger 102 projects in the power-off state, and FIG. 6A shows the power-off state.
(B) shows a power-on state.

Therefore, when the power is turned on to use the mail box 9, all the solenoids 101 are turned on and the plunger 102 is retracted as shown in FIG. 6 (b) and disengaged from the engagement hole 103b. In this case, the arbitrary solenoid 101 can be locked by the host computer so that the solenoid 101 is not driven when the power is turned on. In this way, the unlockable solenoid 1
Only 01 retracts the plunger 102 and the lock is released. Locking and unlocking of the lock are appropriately performed for each stage according to an instruction from the host computer while the mailbox 9 is being used.

When the use of the mail box 9 is finished and the power is turned off, the solenoids 101 are turned off, the plungers 102 of all the solenoids 101 are projected by the elastic force of the springs inside the solenoids 101, and all the doors 103 are all closed. Locked. This state is maintained until the power is turned on. Therefore, confidentiality can be surely maintained when the power is turned off.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a locking mechanism according to another embodiment. FIG. 7A shows a state where the door is locked, and FIG. 7B shows a state where the door is unlocked. In these figures, the lock claws 10 corresponding to the doors 103 are shown.
6 is rotatably supported by the rotation fulcrum 107, and the support member 1
The central portion of each lock claw 106 is rotatably supported by the support portion 109 of 08. The support member 108 is provided so as to be reciprocally movable in the vertical direction, and is connected to the plunger 112 of the solenoid 111 via the spring 110 at the upper end portion. The lock pawl 106 is located on the front surface of the door 103 when locked as shown in FIG. 7A to prevent the door 103 from opening, and retracts from the front surface of the door 103 when unlocked as shown in FIG. 7B. The door 103 is set to such a length that it can be opened, and the rocking angle of the lock claw 106 is also set.

With this configuration, the mail box 9
When the power is turned on, the solenoid 111 is driven to pull in the plunger 112, the support member 108 moves upward, and the locking pawl 106 is rotated clockwise in the drawing to lock the locking pawl 1
The front end of 06 is retracted from the front surface of the door 103. As a result, all bottles # 1 to 9 for personal use of the mail box 9
The lock is released, and the paper can be taken out from any bin #N.

When the mail box 9 is powered off after being used in this manner, the solenoid 111 is turned off and the support member 108 descends downward, whereby the lock pawl 106 rotates counterclockwise, The front end of the lock claw 106 is located on the front surface of the door 103 and locked to the door 103, so that the front bins of the individual use bins # 1 to 9 cannot be opened. This ensures that bin # 1 will not be turned on unless it is turned on.
It is not possible to take out the paper from 9 to 9, and the confidentiality can be surely maintained. A door 103 may be provided on the front of the shared bin # 10 so that the sheets cannot be taken out from all the bins # 1 to # 10.

[0050]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention has the following effects.

That is, a door which is provided so as to be openable and closable corresponding to the sheet storage stage, and a locking means for locking the door so that the sheet output from the image forming apparatus to the personal sheet storage stage cannot be taken out. And drive means for driving and locking the locking means in a power-off state.
According to the invention described above, when the power of the sheet storage device is turned off, the locking means is driven by the drive means, and this state is maintained while the power is off by locking the door provided in the sheet storage stage. The confidentiality can be surely maintained.

The invention according to claim 2, wherein the locking means comprises an engaging member which engages with the door, and the driving means comprises a solenoid which operates the engaging member when the power is turned off to maintain the engaged state with the door. In this case, the locking means can be operated by turning the solenoid on and off, and the effect of claim 1 can be achieved with a simple configuration.

According to the invention of claim 3 in which the engaging member is a solenoid plunger, it is not necessary to use another member for the engaging member, and the effect of the invention of claim 1 can be obtained with the simplest construction. Can be demonstrated.

An engaging member is rotatably supported at one end by a fulcrum of rotation, and a lock pawl having an engaging portion with a door is formed at the other end, and an intermediate portion of the lock pawl is rotatable. A supporting member extending in the vertical direction for supporting is operated in a direction in which the engagement of the lock pawl with the door is released when the power of the solenoid is turned on, and the engagement release state is maintained in the on state. According to the invention of claim 4, when the power is turned off, the support member is driven in a direction in which the lock claw engages with the door to keep the engagement state. Can be locked every time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an internal structure of an image forming unit in an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus in which a sheet for personal management is attached to the image forming unit in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a system block diagram showing a connection relationship of a control system of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a print engine PCB according to the embodiment and another P.
It is a block diagram which shows the connection state between CB.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a connection state of each unit to the mailbox PCB according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a lock mechanism of a mail box door according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a lock mechanism of a mail box door according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Laser Printer Main Body 9 Mail Box 11 Operation Display Panel 51 Print Engine PCB 52 Controller PCB 58 Power Supply Unit 90 Print Engine (PE) Unit 91 DPX $ LCIT / PCB 92 Mail Box (MB) Unit 93 Mail Box (MB) PCB 94 Operation Display panel PCB 101,111 Solenoid 102,112 Plunger 103 Door 103a End 103b Engagement hole 106 Lock claw 107 Rotation fulcrum 108 Support member 109 Support 110 Spring 142,152,157 CPU

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Katsuko Kaneko 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stock company Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroshi Komai 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Shares Company Ricoh

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A sheet accommodating device for accommodating a sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus in a personal sheet accommodating stage, wherein a door is provided that can be opened and closed corresponding to the sheet accommodating stage, and the door is locked. However, it is provided with a locking means for preventing the sheet output from the image forming apparatus to the individual sheet storage stage from being taken out, and a driving means for driving and locking the locking means when the power is off. Characterizing sheet accommodation device. 2. The locking means comprises an engaging member which engages with the door, and the driving means comprises a solenoid which operates the engaging member when the power is turned off to maintain the engaged state with the door. The sheet storage device according to claim 1. 3. The sheet storage device according to claim 2, wherein the engagement member is a plunger of the solenoid. 4. The lock member, wherein the engagement member is rotatably supported at one end by a rotation fulcrum, and the other end is formed with a lock claw having an engagement part with a door, and an intermediate part of the lock claw. It consists of a vertically extending support member that rotatably supports, and the support member operates in a direction to release the engagement of the lock pawl with the door when the solenoid is powered on, and releases the engagement when the solenoid is on. 3. The sheet storage device according to claim 2, wherein the state is maintained, and when the power is off, the support member is driven in a direction in which the lock claw engages with the door to maintain the engaged state.