JP2598325B2 - Image forming apparatus provided with document reading device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus which can be used in a facsimile machine, a copying machine, and the like. To an image forming apparatus to be performed on the side.

<Prior Art> Today, image forming apparatuses such as facsimile machines and copiers are widely used. In these image forming apparatuses, reading means for reading information while transporting a document and a general-purpose recording sheet are used. It has a recording means for loading the stacked cassettes into the apparatus main body and separating and feeding the recording sheets one by one from the cassette to perform recording.

In the supply of recording sheets in the apparatus, it is general to load a cassette in which sheets of general-purpose size are loaded and stored in the apparatus main body and separate and feed the sheets one by one from the cassette to recording means. In order to be able to print on sheets other than the size, a recording sheet manual feed slot is provided on the side opposite to the side of the apparatus where the recording sheet discharge unit is formed, and recording sheets of various sizes are supplied from the manual feed slot. Many are sent to be recorded.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> In the above-described apparatus, a space for attaching a document discharge tray and a recording sheet discharge tray is required at one end of the apparatus main body, and manual feeding of a recording sheet is required at the other end. In order to facilitate the supply, a space for attaching a manual feed tray is required, and it is necessary to increase the installation area of the apparatus.

Also, the manual feed tray is not always used like the document discharge tray and recording sheet discharge tray, and it is important to secure the space for installing the manual feed tray from the viewpoint of effective use of the space around the main unit. Is not preferable, and no matter how small the apparatus body itself is, the effect cannot be improved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to provide an image forming apparatus capable of reducing an installation area.

<Means for Solving the Problems> A representative means of the present invention for solving the above problems is:
Reading means provided at the upper part of the apparatus for conveying and reading an original; and recording sheets provided at the lower part of the apparatus and capable of feeding a recording sheet in the conveying direction of the original and capable of being taken out in the feeding direction. A storage unit, provided between the reading unit and the recording sheet storage unit, a recording cartridge for forming an image on a recording sheet, and one end of an apparatus main body for attaching and detaching the recording cartridge; An opening / closing cover formed on the takeout side of the recording sheet storage means and opening downward, and the recording sheet fed from the recording sheet storage means is guided to the outside via the recording cartridge and is exposed by opening the opening / closing cover. A transport path,
A document discharge tray means provided above the recording cartridge take-out path formed when the opening / closing cover is opened, and for loading a document read and discharged by the reading means, and on the same side as the document discharge tray means. And a recording sheet discharge tray means provided below the document discharge tray means for stacking recording sheets recorded and discharged by the recording cartridge.
The reading means has a reading unit and a document placing table, the document placing table forms an upper surface of an apparatus main body, and the reading unit is disposed above and facing the recording cartridge, and the document placing table, The reading section and the document discharge tray means are arranged substantially straight.

<Operation> In the above means, the supply and discharge of the recording sheet and the discharge of the read document are performed on the same side of the apparatus main body, so that the operability is improved. Furthermore, since the recording sheet is supplied and discharged in the projection area of the document discharge space, the document discharge space can be effectively used as the recording sheet supply and discharge space when the apparatus is installed. In addition, the installation space for the device can be reduced.

In addition, the document mounting table of the reading means forms the upper surface of the apparatus main body, and the reading section of the reading means is arranged above the recording cartridge so as to be opposed, so that the apparatus is simplified and the size is reduced. It is possible. In addition, since the document device table, the reading section, and the document discharge tray means are arranged substantially straight, the occurrence of document jams is reduced.

<Embodiment> Next, an embodiment according to the present invention in which the above means is applied to a facsimile machine will be described.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of the entire apparatus, FIG. 2 is an overall perspective explanatory view, and FIG. 3 is a structural explanatory view of a supply and discharge portion of a recording sheet.

First, the overall configuration of the apparatus will be described. A is a document reading unit that reads information written on a document, converts the information into an electric signal, and transmits the signal to a predetermined recording system.
A recording unit B records an image on a recording sheet conveyed according to an image signal. Reference numeral C denotes a recording sheet transporting unit, which stores recording sheets stored in a cassette or recording sheets supplied from a manual insertion slot.
And discharges the printed sheet.

In FIG. 2, D is an operation panel provided with the number of recordings, recording density, or a transmission switch, and E is a telephone. In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus has several storage shelves inside, and is mounted on an apparatus mounting table G capable of storing a spare recording sheet or the like by opening and closing a door F.

Hereinafter, the configuration of each unit of the image forming apparatus will be sequentially described.

(Document reading means)

As shown in FIG. 1, the configuration of the document reading means A is such that a document table 1 is formed on the upper surface of the apparatus.
The lowermost original 3 of the originals 3 stacked and placed with the original surface facing down and guided by the side guide 2 is preliminarily conveyed by a preliminary conveying roller 4a and a pressing member 4b pressed against the original, and a separation roller The sheet is separated one by one by a pressing member 5b and a pressing member 5b which presses the pressing member 5a, and is fed in the direction of arrow a in FIG. 1 (the left side of the apparatus main body). The separated and fed original 3 is conveyed by a conveying roller 6a and a pinch roller 6b pressed against the conveying roller 6a by a spring 7, and is pressed downward by a weight shaft 8a.
The original surface is pressed against the reading glass 8c by the
When passing through 8c, light from a light emitting member 8d such as an LED is irradiated, and reflected light from the original surface forms an image on a photoelectric conversion element 8f such as a CCD via a lens 8e, thereby forming an image described on the original. Is converted into an electric signal. In this embodiment, a contact type reading sensor using a short focus imaging lens is used as the lens 8e.

The original 3 from which the image is read by the optical means is a discharge roller 9a and a pinch roller pressed against the discharge roller 9a by a spring 7.
9b, the document is discharged to the document discharge tray 10 attached to the left side of the apparatus main body.

(Recording means)

The recording unit B is configured as a laser beam printer in this embodiment. To explain the configuration, a charger 12 disposed around a photosensitive drum 11 rotating in the direction of arrow b.
The polygon mirror mirrors the light from a laser oscillator 13 that charges the drum surface with a laser beam and oscillates a laser beam according to the image signal.
The latent image is reflected at 14 and is exposed to the rotating drum 11 to form an electrostatic latent image, and the latent image is visualized by a developing unit 15 with toner. Further, the toner image is transferred and recorded on the recording sheet 17 conveyed between the photosensitive drum 11 and the transfer roller 16 pressed against the photosensitive drum 11. Further, the photosensitive drum 11 after the toner transfer is configured to be cleaned by the cleaning member 18.

The photosensitive drum 11, the charger 12, the developing unit 15, and the cleaning member 18 are housed in a recording cartridge 19, and the cartridge 19 is housed in a detachable manner from the apparatus main body as described later.

[Recording sheet conveying means]

Next, the recording sheet conveying means C will be described. A cassette for accommodating the recording sheets 17 is provided at a lower portion of the apparatus main body.
A cassette 20 is detachably mounted as described later.
Are stacked and accommodated. One of the uppermost layers of the recording sheet 17 is fed by a half-moon-shaped feeding roller 21 as shown by an arrow c in FIG.
The resist is conveyed at 22b and is conveyed, and further conveyed in synchronization with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 11 by a conveying roller pair including a driving roller 23a and a pinch roller 23b, and an image is recorded when passing between the photosensitive drum 11 and the transfer roller 16. When the sheet 17 after recording passes between a fixing roller 25a having a built-in heater 24 and a pressing roller 25b pressed against the fixing roller 25a, heat and pressure are applied to fix the toner image, and the discharge roller pair 26a, 26b fixes the toner image. It is configured to be discharged to the recording sheet discharge tray 27.

In Fig. 1, there is a manual outlet on the left side of the main unit.
The manual feed slot 28 is provided with a manual feed tray 29 serving as a recording sheet supply tray. The manual feed tray 29 is rotatably mounted about a shaft 30. When the manual feed tray 29 is used, the tray 29 is tilted down as shown in FIG. The sheet is separated one by one by a separation member 31 pressed against the sheet and is conveyed to a recording position by a pair of conveying rollers 23a and 23b.

[Manual tray and auxiliary tray]

Here, the manual tray 29 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG.
29a and slide guide 29b slidable in the direction of arrow d
And is configured to guide the side end of the recording sheet 17 placed on the tray 29. A fitting recess 29c is provided at the rotating tip of the tray 29.
9c is configured so that the fitting projection 32a of the auxiliary tray 32 can be fitted. That is, the auxiliary tray 32 can be connected to the manual feed tray 29 by fitting the fitting convex portion 32a of the auxiliary tray 32 to the fitting concave portion 29c of the manual tray 29, and the manual tray 29 is extracted by extracting the auxiliary tray 32. It is configured so that it can be detached from.

Therefore, when the size of the recording sheet 17 placed on the manual feed tray 29 is long, the recording sheet 17 can be securely placed on the tray by connecting the auxiliary tray 32 to the manual feed tray 29, and can be manually fed. It is. In addition, when the size of the recording sheet 17 is short, by removing the manual feed tray 29, useless space for loading the recording sheet can be eliminated, and when the manual tray 29 is not used, the auxiliary tray 32 can be removed. Can be stored compactly,
There is no need to make useless space in the apparatus main body or increase the size of the entire apparatus.

On the lower surface of the recording sheet discharge tray 27 located above the manual feed tray 29, as shown in FIG. 3, a key-shaped locking member 33 is projected from the auxiliary tray 32 at an interval slightly wider than the width of the auxiliary tray 32. I have. This locking member 33 is used for the auxiliary tray 32
The auxiliary tray 32 removed from the manual feed tray 29 is tapered (left end in FIG. 3).
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the auxiliary tray 32 can be stored under the recording sheet discharge tray 27 by being inserted and locked between the key-shaped locking members 33.

By providing the accommodating portion for the auxiliary tray 32 as described above, the auxiliary tray 32 removed from the manual feed tray 29 does not become a hindrance and can be prevented from being lost.
In general, the width and length of the discharge tray 27 are substantially the same as or slightly larger than the width and length of the manual feed tray 29, since the discharge tray 27 reloads the recording sheets 17 stacked on the manual feed tray 29. By providing the storage portion on the lower surface of the recording sheet discharge tray 27 located above the manual feed tray 29, both are stored so as to overlap each other and can be stored compactly in space. In addition, there is no need to add a special space to the apparatus main body as an auxiliary tray accommodating section. Further, since the auxiliary tray accommodating section is accommodated in the vicinity of the manual feed tray 29, the accommodating place can be easily understood and handling can be facilitated.

[Recording size switch]

As shown in FIG. 3, the manual feed tray 29 is provided on the inner surface side of the tray 29 and outside the fixed guide 29a.
That is, a size switch 34 for inputting the size of the recording sheet 17 to be manually fed is provided outside the area where the recording sheet 17 is placed. In this embodiment, the switch 34 has an A4 size, a letter size (LTR), and a legal size (LG).
L) can be input.

Thus, when the operator inputs the size of the recording sheet 17 placed on the manual feed tray 29 with the size switch 34 and executes the recording, the recording means B performs the recording according to the recording sheet size. This eliminates the need for a sensor for detecting the size of the recording sheet 17 and an extra space for indicating the recording sheet size on the operation unit and a display device, thereby reducing the number of parts, reducing the size of the device and reducing costs. I can plan.

The size switch 34 is provided on the inner side of the manual feed tray 29 and on the back side of the tray opening / closing handle, and when the manual feed is performed, the open / close handle is found, and the switch is operated when the manual feeding tray 29 is lowered. Since 34 is located at the visual position near the operation position, the operator does not forget to input the size.

[Opening / closing cover]

Further, the apparatus is configured so that the recording cartridge 19 can be replaced. For this reason, in FIG. 1, the left side portion of the apparatus main body is formed as an opening / closing cover 35.

This will be described in detail.
A release lever 38 is mounted at a predetermined position of the cover 35 so as to be rotatable about a shaft 36 as shown in FIG. The release lever 38 constitutes a release member for releasing the closed state of the opening / closing cover 35, and a hook portion 38a for locking with a chassis 39 of the apparatus main body is formed at one end, and a release portion is formed at the other end. A button portion 38b is formed. When the hook 38a is locked to the chassis 39 by the bias of the torsion coil spring 40 attached to the rotating shaft 37, the open / close cover 35 is held in a closed state, and the release button 38b is released. When pulled up in the direction of arrow e in FIG. 3, the locked state of the hook portion 38a is released and the opening / closing cover 35 can be opened. The release button 38b is configured to be exposed from the through-hole 35a of the cover 35 so that the operator can operate the release button 38b.

The opening / closing cover 35 has a manual feed tray 29 and a drive roller 23.
a, the transfer roller 16, the fixing roller 25a, the pressure roller 25b, and the discharge rollers 26a, 26b are attached. As shown in FIG. 4, when the open / close cover 35 is opened, the respective members attached to the cover 35 are attached. It is configured so as to be separated from the apparatus main body. Therefore, when the cover 35 is opened, the recording cartridge 19 is exposed and the cartridge 19 can be replaced.

Since the document reading means A is not provided on the opening / closing cover 35, the opening / closing cover 35 and the document reading means A are configured independently. Therefore, the recording cartridge 19 can be taken out without complicating the device configuration as in the related art.

[Relationship between openable cover and recording cartridge]

Here, the relationship between the recording cartridge 19 and the opening / closing cover 35 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, locking projections 19a are provided on both sides of the recording cartridge 19,
A locking groove 41a into which the protrusion 19a can be slidably fitted is formed in the cassette accommodating portion 41 of the apparatus main body. Therefore,
Open the open / close cover 35 and expose the exposed recording cartridge 19
The user can exchange the recording cartridge 19 with respect to the apparatus main body by holding and holding the handle 19b.

Also the the recording cartridge 19 is light shutter 19c for protecting the photosensitive drum 11 is provided so as to be opened and closed around a shaft 19c _1. This light-blocking shutter 19c is
When 5 is closed, it automatically opens to open the photosensitive drum 11 and transfer roller 1
When the opening / closing cover 35 is opened, the photosensitive drum 11 is shielded from light by automatically closing it.

The interlocking structure between the light-shielding shutter 19c and the opening / closing cover 35 is configured as shown in FIG. Open this cover 35
When the cover is closed, a rod 43 is pivotally supported by a shaft 42 on the opening / closing cover 35, and a rack 45 urged by a tension spring 44 is in contact with the tip of the rod 43. The rack 45 is supported by the apparatus main body by pins 46a and 46b.
Slides in the direction of arrow f, the rack 45 slides in the direction of arrow g, and the pinion 47 meshed with the rack 45 rotates in the direction of arrow h, so that the pin 19c _{2 of the} light-shielding shutter 19c mounted on the pinion arm 47a moves in the direction of arrow. The shutter 19c is configured to be lifted in the i direction and open. Also it by the reverse movement and opening the opening and closing cover 35 pins 19c ₂ is down by the urging of the light shielding shutter 19c rotational axis 19c ₃ the coil spring 19c ₄ torsion provided on the shutter
19c is the one that closes.

[Relationship between the open / close cover and the recording sheet discharge tray] As described above, the opening / closing of the light shielding shutter 19c is interlocked with the opening / closing of the opening / closing cover 35.
Is preferably taken out in a completely closed state. Therefore, in this embodiment, the release lever of the opening / closing cover 35 must be removed without removing the recording sheet discharge tray 27 attached to the opening / closing cover 35.
It is configured so that 38 cannot be operated.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the recording sheet discharge tray 27 locks the locking projections 27a provided at both ends in the sheet width direction with the locking grooves 48 near the recording sheet discharge port, and attaches it to the apparatus main body. It is configured to be detachable by attaching and releasing the lock, and further, a button portion 38b of a release lever 38 is exposed on one side of the discharge tray 27 when the tray 27 is attached. Release prevention plate 27 that covers hole 35a
b is provided integrally. Therefore, unless the recording sheet discharge tray 27 is removed, the release lever 38 cannot be operated, and the opening / closing cover 35 cannot be opened.

If the open / close cover 35 is opened with the recording sheet discharge tray 27 attached, the discharge tray 27 may be damaged by contact with the installation floor surface, or the tray 27 may be in the way to completely open the open / close cover 35. At this time, the photosensitive drum 11 may be exposed because the light-shielding shutter 19c is not completely closed, but in this embodiment, the recording sheet discharge tray 27 is not used.
The inconvenience does not occur because the opening / closing cover 38 cannot be opened unless it is removed. Further, since the recording cartridge 19 is not forcibly taken out with the opening / closing cover 35 being half-open, there is no inconvenience such as breakage of the recording cartridge 19.

[Space for taking out recording cartridge]

Next, a space for taking out the recording cartridge 19 in the apparatus will be described. In this apparatus, the opening / closing cover 35 is opened and the recording cartridge 19 is taken out as described above. The document 3 read by the reading unit A is discharged to the side of the apparatus main body.

Accordingly, the document discharge tray 10 is disposed above the opening / closing cover 35, and the recording cartridge 19 is taken out using the space below the document discharge tray 10 as shown in FIG. Therefore, when installing the device, the recording cartridge
No need for your own projection space to take out 19,
The device installation area can be reduced.

[Drawer drawer space]

Next, a drawer space of the cassette 20 storing the recording sheets 17 will be described.

The cassette 20 is housed in the lower part of the apparatus main body so as to be removable as described above. As shown in FIG. 1, the cassette container has sliding projections 20a protruding from both outer surfaces of the cassette container, and a cassette accommodating portion 49 having an opening on the side where the document discharge tray 10 is mounted is formed at the lower portion of the apparatus. ,
A guide groove 49a into which the slide protrusion 20a can be fitted and slidable is formed on the inner wall of the housing portion 49.

Therefore, the cassette 20 can be set by inserting the slide projection 20a into the guide groove 49a and pushing it in from the left side of FIG. 1. When removing the cassette 20, the user holds the handle 20b formed on the cassette 20, and holds the handle 20b of FIG. You can remove it by pulling it out to the left.

As described above, the removal of the cassette 20 is performed below the document discharge tray 10 provided as shown in FIG. There is no need to provide a space, and the installation area of the device can be reduced.

Incidentally, the cassette accommodating portion 49 is covered by an upper portion of the door F of the apparatus mounting table G. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the mounting table G is hinged to a case section 52 having several levels of storage shelves 51 inside.
The door F is attached so as to be openable and closable.
Is configured to protrude by the height of the cassette accommodating portion 49 from the height of the case portion 52. Accordingly, when the above-described image forming apparatus is placed on the case 52 and the door F is closed by the lock 54 made of a magnet or the like, the cassette housing 49 is covered by the upper part of the door F as shown in FIG. It is something to be done.

[Manual feed and discharge space for recording sheets]

Further, in the apparatus of this embodiment, the projection space for discharging the document is also effectively used as a manual feed and discharge space for the recording sheet 17.

For this purpose, the manual sheet feeding section 28 of the recording sheet 17, the recording sheet discharge section, and the discharge section of the document 3 are arranged on the same side of the apparatus main body. As a result, a recording sheet discharge tray 27 is attached above the manual feed tray 29 as shown in FIG.
10, the trays 29, 27, and 10 are arranged so as to protrude from the same side surface of the apparatus main body.

Therefore, the manual feed tray 29 and the recording sheet discharge tray 27
Are in the projection space of the document discharge tray 10, and the space below the document discharge tray 10 is effectively used.
For this reason, as in the above case, there is no waste in space, and the installation area of the apparatus can be reduced.

[Arrangement of fixing means and original reading means]

Further, in the apparatus of this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The recording unit B is configured to perform recording while conveying the recording sheet 17 from below to above, and the document reading unit A is disposed above the fixing unit. At this time, the fixing roller 25
A heat insulating means is provided so that the optical components such as the light emitting member 8d, the lens 8e, and the photoelectric conversion element 8f of the reading means A are not damaged by the heat of the heater 24 built in a.

In the present embodiment, as the heat insulating means, a fixing roller 25a,
A heat insulating member 50 such as felt is provided between the reading means A and the reading means A located above the heat insulating member 50, thereby insulating the heat of the heater 24 with respect to the reading means A so that the heat does not adversely affect the optical components. doing.

By providing the heat insulating means as described above, the reading means A having an optical component can be arranged above the fixing means, so that the lateral dimension of the apparatus can be reduced and the installation area can be reduced. Further, by this, the recording sheet discharge tray 27 provided near the fixing unit is moved upward.
The document discharge tray 10 provided near the optical component for reading can be arranged in close proximity.

[Other embodiments]

In the above-described embodiment, the facsimile apparatus has been exemplified.
Of course, this can be applied to other recording devices such as a copying machine.

<Effect of the Invention> As described above, according to the present invention, supply and discharge of a recording sheet,
Further, since the reading original is discharged on the same side of the apparatus main body, the operability is improved. Furthermore, since the recording sheet is supplied and discharged in the projection area of the document discharge space, the document discharge space can be effectively used as the recording sheet supply and discharge space when the apparatus is installed. In addition, the installation space for the device can be reduced.

In addition, the document mounting table of the reading means forms the upper surface of the apparatus main body, and the reading section of the reading means is arranged above the recording cartridge so as to be opposed, so that the apparatus is simplified and the size is reduced. It is possible. In addition, since the document mounting table, the reading section, and the document discharge tray are arranged substantially straight, the occurrence of document jams is reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is an explanatory diagram of a cross-sectional configuration of the entire apparatus, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the entire external appearance, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a manual feed and discharge portion of a recording sheet, FIG. Fifth
The figure is an explanatory diagram of the interlocking mechanism of the opening / closing cover and the light shielding shutter,
FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a state where the cassette is pulled out, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a state where a door of the mounting table is opened. A is a document reading unit, B is a recording unit, C is a recording sheet conveying unit, D is an operation panel, E is a telephone, F is a door, G
Is a mounting table, 1 is a document mounting table, 2 is a side guide, 3 is a document, 4a is a preliminary conveying roller, 4b is a pressing member, 5a is a separating roller, 5b is a pressing member, 6a is a conveying roller, 6a is a conveying roller, 6b is a pinch roller, 7 is a spring, 8a is a weight shaft, 8b is a pressing member, 8c is a reading glass, 8d is a light emitting member, 8e is a lens, 8f is a photoelectric conversion element, 9a is a transport roller, 9b is a pinch roller, and 10 is a document discharge tray. , 11 is a photosensitive drum, 12 is a charger, 13 is a laser oscillator, 14 is a polygon mirror, 15 is a developing unit, 16 is a transfer roller, 17 is a recording sheet, 18 is a cleaning member, 19 is a recording cartridge, and 19a is a lock. Projection, 19b is handle, 19c is light shielding shutter, 19c ₁ is shaft, 19c ₂ is pin, 19c ₃ is shaft, 19c ₄ is torsion coil spring, 20 is cassette, 20a is slide protrusion, 20b is handle, 21 is handle Feed rollers, 22a and 22b are cassette transport rollers, 23a and 23b are transport rollers, 24 is a heater, and 25a is a fixing roller. Roller, 25b is a pressure roller, 26a and 26b are discharge rollers, 27
Is a recording sheet discharge tray, 27a is a locking projection, 27b is a release prevention plate, 28 is a manual feed slot, 29 is a manual feed tray, 29a is a fixed guide, 29b is a slide guide, 29c is a fitting recess, 30 is a shaft,
31 is a separating member, 32 is an auxiliary tray, 32a is a fitting convex portion, 33 is a key-shaped locking member, 34 is a size switch, 35 is an opening / closing cover, 35a is a through hole, 36 is a rotating pin, 37 is a shaft, 38 is a release lever, 38a is a hook part, 38b is a release button part, 39 is a chassis, 40 is a torsion coil spring, 41 is a cassette housing part, 41a
Is a locking groove, 42 is a shaft, 43 is a rod, 44 is a tension spring,
45 is a rack, 46a and 46b are pins, 47 is a pinion, 47a is a pinion arm, 48 is a locking groove, 49 is a cassette housing, 49a
Is a guide groove, 50 is a heat insulating member, 51 is a storage shelf, 52 is a case, 53 is a hinge, and 54 is a lock.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Junichi Suzuki 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (56) References JP-A-64-48739 (JP, A) JP-A-57 JP-A-158854 (JP, A) JP-A-1-172132 (JP, A) JP-A-63-12548 (JP, A) JP-A-56-19065 (JP, A) JP-A-57-82347 (JP, U) )

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A reading means provided above the apparatus for conveying and reading a document; and a reading means provided below the apparatus for feeding a recording sheet in a direction in which the document is conveyed. A removable recording sheet storage means, provided between the reading means and the recording sheet storage means,
A recording cartridge for forming an image on a recording sheet, an opening / closing cover formed on one end side of the apparatus main body for attaching and detaching the recording cartridge on the take-out side of the recording sheet storage means and opening downward; The recording sheet fed from the recording sheet storage means is guided to the outside via the recording cartridge, and a transport path exposed by opening the opening / closing cover, and a path for taking out the recording cartridge formed when the opening / closing cover is opened. A document discharge tray means for loading a document read and discharged by the reading means, and provided on the same side as the document discharge tray means and below the document discharge tray means; Recording sheet discharge tray means for stacking recording sheets recorded and discharged by the recording cartridge, The reading means has a reading section and a document table, the document table forms an upper surface of the apparatus main body, and the reading section is arranged above the recording cartridge so as to face the document cartridge. An image forming apparatus comprising a document reading device, wherein a table, the reading section, and the document discharge tray are arranged substantially straight.