JP2000181167A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device being excellent in the functionality capable of improving operability by discharging documents in order of pages, and reducing a mounting space. SOLUTION: This image forming device is made possible to prevent document delivery tray 3 from being projected from a main body, to discharge the documents in order of the pages, to reduce the mounting space, and to improve the operability by respectively disposing a document transporting route transporting the document of an image reading part 1 and a recording paper transporting route transporting the recording paper of a printer 100 in a U shape.

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 laser beam printer (hereinafter abbreviated as LBP), an ink jet printer, etc., having at least an image reading section for reading an image of a document. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recent personal computers (hereinafter referred to as P
With the spread of C), image forming apparatuses such as LBPs and ink jet printers, image reading apparatuses for taking photographic images and the like into PCs, or communication systems using telephone lines have been improved in performance and price, Computer environments are becoming more familiar.

[0003] Therefore, when a printer, an image reading device, and a modem are connected to a PC, anyone can easily handle simple copying operation and data document exchange.

However, in the case of simple document transmission, it is more efficient to transmit an image by facsimile (hereinafter abbreviated as FAX) than to transmit an image after reading it into a PC. It is faster to use a copier.

However, PCs, printers, image reading devices,
Providing a FAX or a copier in addition to a modem is costly in a personal office or a general home, even if the price is reduced, and also has a large problem of installation space.

Therefore, an image reading unit,
A modem and operation panel are provided integrally, and a printer, copy,
A small-sized image forming apparatus (hereinafter, abbreviated as a multi-function printer: MFP) as shown in FIG. 5 in which one unit has image reading and facsimile functions has been devised.

In FIG. 1, a printer 100 serving as a base image forming unit is a U-shaped recording paper conveyance path having a vertical paper feed and a vertical face-down discharge (hereinafter abbreviated as F / D discharge). A small LBP with a vertical U-shaped path is used.

In the printer 100, the laser unit 10
In step 2, a laser beam is emitted based on the image information, and the laser beam of the laser unit 102 is guided to a photosensitive drum serving as an image carrier in the process cartridge 101 to form a latent image, and the latent image is developed by a developing device. Form a toner image.

Then, the transfer device 105 transfers the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum to the recording paper fed in the direction A from the paper feed tray 103, and further fixes the toner image on the recording paper by the downstream fixing device 106. And discharge the recording paper.

The discharge direction of the recording paper can be selected from the B direction and the C direction in the drawing by the flapper 107. If the recording paper is discharged face-up (hereinafter abbreviated as F / U discharge), the recording paper is discharged from the discharge port 109, If the paper is to be discharged, the paper is conveyed to a paper discharge roller 108 and discharged to a paper discharge tray 110.

The image reading section 200 is provided on an opening / closing cover 112 that opens the inside of the printer 100. In addition, an operation panel 205 for operating the MFP with an electric board, operation keys, and the like is provided on the front surface of the opening / closing cover 112.

The document feed tray 210 used here is
The paper feed tray 103 for the printer 100 is disposed so as to be substantially parallel to the paper feed tray 103.

In the image reading section 200, a document D is fed one by one from a document feed tray 210 in a direction E by a document feed roller 201 and a separation claw 206.
2 transported.

Then, the image is read by an image reading sensor 203 which is an image reading means for reading the image of the document, and is discharged in the G direction to a document discharge tray 211 by a document discharge roller 204.

The document transport path through which the document is transported is provided with a substantially straight transport path from the document feed tray 210 to the document discharge tray 211.

A document conveying roller 202 in a document conveying path
The roller 207 provided on the side facing the
Urged in the direction of the document conveying roller 202.

Similarly, the image reading sensor 203 in the original conveying path
On the side opposite to the image reading sensor 2,
There is provided a pressing means 209 which presses the pressing member 003.

Here, the plurality of documents D discharged to the document discharge tray 211 are discharged in the same order as the pages stacked on the document feed tray 210 (hereinafter referred to as document page order discharge). As shown in FIG. 6, the document D is stacked on the document feed tray 210 with the image side facing down, and fed from the bottom of the loaded document (hereinafter, referred to as “lower”). The image reading sensor 203 is also arranged below the document conveying path.

[0019]

However, the above prior art has the following problems.

Document ejection tray 211 of image reading section 200
Had to protrude greatly from the main body in order to discharge the pages in order and stack them.

[0021] In this case, not only is the appearance disturbing, but the installation space must be large.
Alternatively, there is a risk that the overhanging document discharge tray 211 may be hooked, dropped, or damaged.

When the cover 112 is opened to the position J in FIG. 5 or the cover 112 is closed in order to attach or detach the process cartridge 101 of the printer 100 or to perform a paper jam process, the document discharge tray 2 is opened each time.
11 had to be attached and detached.

If the MFP is used by removing the document discharge tray 211 as shown in FIG. 7, the above-described problem can be avoided. In this case, the read document falls in the direction of arrow G, The originals had to be re-arranged because they were scattered messy and would not be output in page order.

At this time, if the MFP is used as a copy, if the discharge direction on the printer 100 side is F / U discharge, the original discharged from the image reading unit 200 in the direction of arrow G and the original discharged from the printer 100 in the direction of arrow C There is a possibility that the recording paper may interfere with the discharged recording paper and cause a paper jam in the worst case.

Then, there is a possibility that the detached original discharge tray 211 may be lost.

Further, since the originals are stacked on the original feed tray 210 with the image side facing down and fed from the bottom original, it is not possible to immediately confirm which original is being sent. It was hard to notice even if the document was double fed.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and has as its object to reduce the installation space and improve operability while discharging documents in page order. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus having excellent performance.

[0028]

According to the present invention, there is provided an image reading section for transporting a document and reading an image on the document, and an image reading section for transporting a recording sheet and forming an image on the recording sheet. And an image forming unit for forming, a document conveying path for conveying the document of the image reading unit and a recording paper conveying path for conveying the recording paper of the image forming unit are provided in a U-shape, respectively. It is characterized by having.

It is preferable that a document feed tray and a document discharge tray for loading documents are arranged side by side at substantially parallel angles, and a paper supply tray and a discharge tray for loading recording paper are disposed side by side at substantially parallel angles. .

It is preferable that an opening / closing cover for opening the inside of the image forming section is provided, and the image reading section is provided on the opening / closing cover.

It is preferable that the U-shaped original conveying path and the recording paper conveying path are arranged side by side in parallel.

It is preferable that either one of the U-shaped original transport path and the recording paper transport path is disposed inside the other.

[0033]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (First Embodiment) One embodiment according to the present invention will be specifically described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an MFP as an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, an MFP is an LB using a detachable process cartridge 101 as an image forming unit.
The printer 100 includes a printer 100 (hereinafter, abbreviated as printer 100). The configuration of the printer 100 and the image forming method are known as described in the related art, and the description is omitted here.

In the transport direction of the recording paper P transported by the printer 100, the right side is the upstream side, and the left side is the downstream side.

As the recording paper P, besides ordinary plain paper, special paper such as thick paper and envelopes, and sheet materials such as OHT films other than paper can be used. The case where plain paper is used will be described.

The printer 100 includes a paper feed tray 10 for supporting a recording paper P before image formation in the upstream side in the vertical direction.
3, a discharge tray 110 for F / D discharge that supports the recording paper P after image formation in the longitudinal direction on the downstream side of the main body, and a discharge port 109 for F / U discharge that discharges straight to the downstream side. Having.

The paper feed tray 103 and the paper discharge tray 110
Are arranged substantially in parallel, and each tray is desirably set at an angle of 45 degrees or more and less than 90 degrees from the viewpoint of reducing the installation space.

The lower end of the paper feed tray 103 and the lower end of the paper discharge tray 110 are connected by a conveyance path for conveying the recording paper extending from right to left of the main body. By arranging the apparatus 106 as close as possible, a vertical U-shaped recording paper transport path as shown from the direction of arrow A to the direction of arrow B is formed.

In the case of plain paper, the paper is discharged in the direction of arrow B as F / D discharge, and in the case of special paper such as thick paper, envelopes and OHT sheets, the paper is discharged in the direction of arrow C as F / U discharge. A flapper 107 that can be switched is provided.

Next, the image reading section 1 for reading the image of the document D will be described.

The image reading section 1 is provided on an opening / closing cover 2 that opens the inside of the printer 100.

The document feed tray 3 of the image reading section 1 is disposed so as to be substantially parallel to the paper feed tray 103 of the printer 100, and the transport direction of the document D is such that the right side is the upstream side and the left side is the upstream side as in the printer 100. Is on the downstream side.

A document feed tray 3 that supports a document D in the vertical direction is provided upstream of the image reading unit 1, and the document D is conveyed downward from the document feed tray 3 by a document feed roller 4. The original is sent to the image reading sensor 6 by the original conveying roller 5.

Images such as characters and figures recorded on the document D are converted into electric signals by the image reading sensor 6.

The MFP has an image reading sensor 6
If the image data converted to the electric signal by the is sent to the PC and displayed on the display, an image scanner,
If it is transferred through a telephone line, it functions as a fax, and if it is sent to the printer 100 as it is and printed, it functions as a copy.

The document D having passed through the image reading sensor 6 is transported downstream by a first document discharge roller 7, inverted by a reversing guide 9 and placed on a document discharge tray 12 by a second document discharge roller 10. And loaded.

The document discharge tray 12 is provided in front of the cover 2 and is provided in a space between the operation panel 11 for operating the MFP with an electric board, operation keys, and the like, and the image reading sensor 6.

The document feed tray 3 and the document discharge tray 1
Reference numeral 2 is substantially parallel, and connects the lower end of the document feed tray 3 and the lower end of the document discharge tray 12 by a transport path for transporting the original, and shows the direction from the arrow E to the arrow F through the reverse transport path 9. Such a vertical U-shaped document conveying path is configured.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2, originals D are fed from the uppermost one of the originals D stacked on the original feed tray 3 so that the image surface faces upward, and are provided above the original conveying path. The image is read by the image reading sensor 6.

For this reason, the originals are sequentially stacked on the original discharge tray 12 so that the image surface faces downward, and the pages are sequentially discharged without changing the page order at the time of sheet feeding (original page order discharge). Paper) and can be loaded.

At this time, each of the trays 3 and 12 has an angle of 45 degrees or more from the viewpoint of reducing the installation space.
Less than 90 degrees is desirable.

When the original D is a strongly stiff paper such as a photograph, postcard, envelope, cardboard, etc., it is difficult to convey it through the reversing conveyance path 9 having a tight curvature, so that it can be discharged straight in the direction of arrow G. As described above, the flapper 8 serving as the paper discharge switching means is provided.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the document conveyance path and the recording paper conveyance path are provided in a U-shape, the document discharge tray does not protrude greatly, the installation space can be reduced, and the appearance of the apparatus can be improved. Is improved, and the tray is prevented from being dropped or damaged.

The process cartridge 101 can be attached or detached by opening the openable cover 2 together with the image reading section 1 to the position H in FIG. 1 and pulling out the process cartridge 101 in the direction of arrow I. Further, if the open / close cover 2 is opened and the process cartridge 101 is taken out, it is configured so that a paper jam can be dealt with.

As described above, since the opening / closing cover 2 is not provided with a protruding document discharge tray as in the prior art,
Since it is not necessary to attach and detach the paper discharge tray each time, the open / close operability of the open / close cover 2 is improved.

The recording paper discharge direction of the printer 100 is set to F / U
When the copy function is used as the paper discharge, the discharged document and the recording paper are not discharged in the same direction, so that paper jam due to interference can be prevented.

Further, since the image side of the original D stacked on the original feed tray 3 faces upward and is fed from the uppermost original D stacked, it is easy to confirm which original is being read. However, it is possible to determine immediately when a double feed is performed.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment.

In the figure, the vertical U-shaped recording paper transport path of the printer 100 (from the direction of the arrow A to the arrow B) and the vertical U-shaped document transport path of the image reading section 1 (the direction of the arrow E to the arrow F)
Direction) were arranged substantially in parallel at adjacent positions.

Since other structures and operations are the same as those of the first embodiment, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

Even when the printer 100 and the image reading section 1 are arranged as shown in FIG. 3, the originals D are stacked on the original feed tray 3 with the image side facing up, and the originals are fed from the highest stacked original. Therefore, the discharged documents are stacked on the document discharge tray 12 in page order.

With this configuration, as in the first embodiment, it is possible to reduce the installation space and secure operability while securing the document page sequential discharge.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a third embodiment.

In FIG. 4, inside the vertical U-shaped recording paper transport path (from the direction of arrow A to the direction of arrow B) of the printer 100, the vertical U-shaped document transport path of the image reading unit 1 (from the direction of arrow E). (In the direction of arrow F) was arranged such that the transport surfaces were substantially parallel.

Since other structures and operations are the same as those of the first embodiment, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

Even when the printer 100 and the image reading section 1 are arranged as shown in FIG. 4, the original D is stacked on the original feed tray 3 with the image side facing up, and the original is fed from the uppermost original. Therefore, the originals are stacked on the document discharge tray 12 in the order of pages.

With this configuration, as in the first embodiment, it is possible to reduce the installation space and secure operability while securing the document page sequential discharge.

In the case of such an arrangement, the vertical U-shape of the printer 100 is placed inside the vertical U-shaped original conveyance path of the image reading section 1.
A letter-shaped recording paper transport path may be provided.

[0071]

According to the present invention, the document transport path for transporting the document of the image reading section and the recording paper transport path for transporting the recording paper of the image forming section are provided in U-shape, respectively. It is possible to reduce the installation space and improve operability while ejecting the documents in the order of pages without protruding from the main body.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an MFP according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing a document feeding and reading portion according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an MFP according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing an MFP according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view showing a conventional MFP.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing a document feeding and reading portion in the related art.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional MFP in which a document discharge tray is removed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image reading part 2 Opening / closing cover 3 Document feed tray 4 Document feed roller 5 Document feed roller 6 Image reading sensor 7 First document discharge roller 8 Flapper 9 Document reversal conveyance path 10 Second document discharge roller 11 Operation panel 12 Document output tray 100 Printer 101 Process cartridge 103 Paper feed tray 110 Output tray

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) B65H 5/00 B41J 29/00 A

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus comprising: an image reading unit that conveys a document and reads an image on the document; and an image forming unit that conveys a recording sheet and forms an image on the recording sheet. An image forming apparatus, wherein a document transport path for transporting the originals of a set and a recording paper transport path for transporting the recording paper of the image forming unit are provided in a U shape. 2. A document feed tray and a document discharge tray on which documents are stacked are arranged side by side at substantially parallel angles, and a paper supply tray and discharge tray on which recording sheets are stacked are arranged side by side at substantially parallel angles. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an opening / closing cover for opening the inside of the image forming section, wherein the image reading section is provided on the opening / closing cover. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the U-shaped document conveying path and the recording paper conveying path are arranged side by side and in parallel. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the document transport path and the recording paper transport path provided in the U-shape is arranged inside the other. .