JPH04128077A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To smoothly perform maintenance work without damaging a printing unit by mounting an image forming apparatus main body, the printing unit, a support part and a contact part. CONSTITUTION:When an ink ribbon cassete 36 is replaced, a worker draws up a support rod 42 within a slot 41 to detach the same from a pawl member 49. Next, a printing apparatus 18 is revolved around a support shaft 40 through the support rod 42 to be moved in the direction on this side. Whereupon, both end parts of the support rod 42 come into contact with the bent part 80a of the side surface cover 80 of a copier main body. By this method, the printing apparatus 18 is supported and the ink ribbon cassette 36 is drawn out. In this state, work such as the replacement of the ink ribbon cassette is performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and particularly to an image forming apparatus equipped with a printing unit that prints on paper after image formation.

[Conventional technology and its problems]

2. Description of the Related Art Image forming apparatuses are already known that include a printing unit for printing, for example, the date of copying, the company name, and other notes on paper after image formation. This printing unit is generally arranged behind the fixing device (backward in the paper conveyance direction) in the image forming apparatus.

When performing work such as replacing a printing unit during maintenance, a worker inserts his hand through an opening provided in a side wall of the image forming apparatus and replaces the unit. However, as described above, since the printing unit is disposed inside the image forming apparatus, maintenance work within the apparatus is not easy.

Therefore, the printing unit is supported movably within the device, and the printing unit can be placed in a printing position housed in the device or in a unit replacement position located on the side of a door member that can be opened and closed on the side wall of the device. It is conceivable to open the door member during maintenance.

However, if the door member is closed with the printing unit placed at the unit replacement position after the maintenance work is completed, the door member may collide with the printing unit, and as a result, the printing unit may be damaged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus in which maintenance work can be smoothly performed without damaging the printing unit.

[Means to solve the problem]

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes an image forming apparatus main body, a printing unit, a support section, and a contact section.

The image forming apparatus main body includes an image forming section and a wall section that includes a door member that can be opened and closed and that surrounds the image forming apparatus. The printing unit is for printing on paper processed by the image forming section.

The support section supports the printing unit in a movable manner relative to the apparatus main body so that the printing unit can take a printing position housed within the apparatus main body and a unit replacement position disposed on the wall side. The contact portion is provided on the door member and moves the printing unit to the printing position by contacting the support portion in conjunction with the closing operation of the door member.

[Effect]

In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, when printing on paper after image formation, the printing unit is placed at a printing position housed within the apparatus main body. Then, the printing unit performs printing on the paper processed by the image forming section.

When performing maintenance work, first open the door member on the wall of the main body of the device. Next, the printing unit is moved and placed at the unit replacement position. Then, maintenance work such as unit replacement is performed.

When the maintenance work is completed, the door member is closed.

Then, in conjunction with the closing operation of the door member, the abutting portion abuts the support portion, and the printing unit placed at the unit replacement position is moved to the printing position within the main body of the apparatus.

In this case, maintenance work is easy because the printing unit can be moved to the unit replacement position on the wall side of the main body of the apparatus. In addition, as the door member closes after maintenance work is completed, the contact part contacts the support part and returns the printing unit to the printing position within the device body, so there is no chance of damage to the printing unit due to a collision with the door member. There isn't.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 shows a copying machine as an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a document table 2 is fixed to the upper surface of a copying machine main body 1, and a document holder 3 is attached to the upper part of the document table 2 so as to be openable and closable. On the right side of the copying machine main body,
Paper feed force cellars 1-4, 5, and 6 are removably attached. A paper discharge tray 7 from which copied sheets are discharged is mounted on the left side of the copying machine main body l.

Inside the copying machine main body 1, an exposure device 8 for reading a document is provided on the upper side thereof.

This exposure device 8 is composed of a light source, a mirror, and the like. Further, a photosensitive drum 9 on which an electrostatic latent image is formed is arranged in the center of the copying machine main body l. Photosensitive drum 9
Around the charging device lO1, the developing device 11, and the transfer device 1.
2, a paper separation device 13, and a cleaning device 14 are arranged. A paper feed conveyance path 15 for feeding paper is provided between the paper feed cassettes 4, 5.6 and the image forming section constituted by the photosensitive drum 9 and the like. Further, between the image forming section and the paper ejection tray 7, a paper ejection transport path 16, a fixing device 17, a printing device 18, and a punching device 19 are arranged in order from the image forming section side.

Further, below the fixing device 17, a reversing device 20 for reversing the front and back of the paper is provided.

Next, details of the printing device 18 and punching device 19 will be explained.

In FIG. 2, a discharge roller 25 is arranged at the exit portion of the fixing device F17 on the right side of the figure. A detection switch 27 and a conveyance roller 28 are provided in the paper conveyance path 26 behind the discharge roller 25 (on the left side in the figure). A switching pawl 2 is provided on the paper conveyance path 26 behind the conveyance roller 28.
9 is provided. The switching pawl 29 can take a paper ejecting state (double-dashed line state) in which the paper is guided to the ejection roller 21 side, and a paper refeeding state (solid line state) in which the paper is guided to the paper refeeding path 30 side.

A printing device 18 and a punching device 19 are provided on a path along which the paper is guided from the conveyance roller 28 to the discharge roller 21 .

The printing device 18 is used to further print predetermined additional information at a predetermined position on the paper onto which the image has been fixed by the fixing device 17. The printing device 18 mainly includes a casing (holding section) 35, an ink ribbon cassette (printing unit) 36 that is detachably held in the casing 35, and a thermal head 38 that can come into contact with the ink ribbon 37 of the ink ribbon cassette 36. It mainly consists of

At both ends of the casing 35 in the left-right direction (direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper in FIG. 2), triangular flange portions 39 that protrude downward are provided, respectively. A pin 40 is inserted through the lower part of the flange portion 39, and the flange portion 39 is rotatable around this pin 40. Elongated holes 41 are formed in the upper part of each flange portion 39 at opposing positions.

As shown in FIG. 4, a support rod 42 extending perpendicular to the plane of the paper is inserted into each elongated hole 41. As shown in FIG.

Further, a claw member 49 that is rotatable in the vertical direction is provided within the copying machine main body l. This claw member 49 is always urged upward by a biasing mechanism (not shown), and the support rod 42 can be locked in the locking portion 49a at the printing position shown by the solid line in FIG.

In FIG. 2, the ink ribbon cassette 36 includes an ink ribbon 37, a take-up reel 44 around which the ink ribbon 37 is wound, and a feed reel 45. The ink ribbon 37 and each reel 44, 45 are housed within the body 43. Body 43 and casing 3
Openings 43a and 35a are formed in the center of the bottom wall of 5, respectively. The thermal head 38 is inserted into this opening 43.
a and 35a and can abut on the lower platen roller 46.

The drive mechanism 50 of the thermal head 38 mainly includes a cam 51.
, a leaf spring 52 that can come into contact with the cam 51, and a return spring 5 that lifts the thermal head 38 upward.
It is composed of 3. A rotary shaft 55 is eccentrically mounted in a long hole formed in the cam 51 via a coil spring 54 .

The rotation shaft 55 is connected to a rotation drive mechanism (not shown). On the other hand, the casing 35 of the printing device 18 is rotatably provided with a support shaft 56 extending in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper in FIG. A base portion of a plate 57 to which the thermal head 38 is fixed is fixed to this support shaft 56 . Furthermore, one end of the leaf spring 52 is fixed to the support shaft 56 .

The punching device 19 includes a punch 61 supported so as to be vertically movable within a guide member 60.

The punch 61 is always urged upward by a coil spring 61a mounted within the guide member 60. A cam 62 for driving the punch 61 up and down is arranged above the punch 61. A rotation shaft 63 of the cam 62 is connected to a rotation drive mechanism (not shown). Further, a plurality of punches 61 (
For example, 2 pieces) are placed. A guide plate 64 for guiding the paper is arranged below the punch 61. The guide plate 64 has a die hole 65 in a portion facing the punch 61, into which the punch 61 is inserted.

A collection bottle 70 is disposed below the die hole 65 for collecting scraps extracted from the paper by the punch 61 and the die hole 65. As shown in FIG. 3, the collection bottle 70 has a storage section 71 for storing scraps. At the top of the storage section 71, there are a plurality of (
There are 5 openings in the diagram? An opening 72 having 2a is provided. The opening lower portion 2a is formed at a location corresponding to the mounting position of each punch 61 and die hole 65, respectively. At the end of the storage section 71, a discharge section 73 having a discharge phase opening lower 3a for discharging the scraps stored in the storage section 71 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the punching device 19, the collection bottle 0, and the discharge roller 21 constitute one unit 75. The unit 75 is rotatable around a shaft 76 provided at its lower part.

The lower end of the abutment Fi 77 is attached to the lower part of the unit 75. The contact portion 77a at the upper end of the contact plate 77 is in contact with the flange portion 39 of the casing 35. here,
The contact portion 77a is elastically pressed against the casing 35, thereby urging the casing 35 in the left-right direction in FIG. Further, the center portion 77b of the contact plate 77 is formed along the lower side wall of the collection bottle 72. Thereby, the collection bottle 70 is positioned.

During maintenance, for example, when replacing the ink ribbon 37 in the ink ribbon cassette 36 or discharging paper scraps from the collection bottle 70, first rotate the unit 75 around the support shaft 76, and then rotate the unit 75 as shown in FIG. As shown, pull out the unit 75 to the outside of the copying machine main body l.

When replacing the ink ribbon cassette 36, as shown in FIG.
(see figure) and remove the support rod 42 from the claw member 49.Next, rotate the printing device 18 around the support shaft 40 via the support rod 42 and move it to the front side (see the figure). Placement plate (dot-dashed line). Then, as shown in FIG. 7, both ends of the support rod 42 (only the left end side is shown in FIG. 7) are connected to the bent portion 80 of the side cover 80 of the copying machine main body.
It comes into contact with the a end face. As a result, the printing device 18 is supported, and the ink ribbon cassette 36 is pulled out as shown in FIG. In this state, work such as replacing the ink ribbon cassette 36 is performed.

In this way, during maintenance, the printing device 18 moves toward the side wall of the copying machine main body, so maintenance work such as unit replacement can be easily performed.

After the replacement work is completed, the unit 75 is rotated from the state shown in FIG. 6 toward the copying machine main body l side. At this time, as shown in FIG. 8, the flat plate member 77 moves in conjunction with the movement of the unit 75, and its contact portion 77a contacts the flange portion of the casing 35.
Contact with 9. When the unit 75 is further rotated, the abutting portion 77a moves on the flange portion 39 and gradually pushes the casing 35 upward. As a result, the casing 35
The printing device 18 rotates around the bottle 40 and returns to the printing position (the position shown by the dotted chain line in the eighth tray). The support rod 42 in the elongated hole 41 then automatically engages with the claw member 49.

In this way, after completing work such as unit replacement, the printing device 18 easily returns to the printing position via the flat plate member 77 by rotating the unit 75 toward the device main body l side. Therefore, even if the unit 75 is rotated carelessly, the unit 75 will collide with the printing device 18 and the printing device 1
8 will not be damaged. Further, since the printing device 18 returns to the printing position simply by rotating the unit 75 toward the device main body 1, maintenance work is simplified.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the printing unit is movably supported with respect to the main body of the apparatus by the above-mentioned support section, so that maintenance work is facilitated. Moreover, since the printing unit returns to the printing position in conjunction with the closing operation of the door member due to the above-described abutting portion, maintenance work can be performed smoothly without damaging the printing unit.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of a copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial view thereof, FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a collection bottle, and FIG. 5 and 6 are perspective partial views for explaining maintenance work, FIG. 7 is a sectional partial view of FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2 showing the drilling mechanism. 2 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2 showing a state in the middle of being accommodated inside the main body of the copying machine. l...Copying machine main body, 11...Developing device, 17...
Fixing device, 18... Printing device, 35... Casing, 36... Ink ribbon cassette, 40... Pin,
75... Unit, 77... Flat plate member, 77a...
・Abutment part, 80...side wall cover

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) An image forming apparatus main body having an image forming section, a wall section including a door member that can be opened and closed and surrounding the image forming section, and a printing unit for printing on paper processed by the image forming section. , a support part that supports the printing unit movably with respect to the apparatus main body so that the printing unit can take a printing position accommodated in the apparatus main body and a unit replacement position disposed on the wall side; , a contact part provided on the door member, which moves the printing unit to the printing position by contacting the support part in conjunction with the closing operation of the door member;
An image forming apparatus equipped with