JP2000327170A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily hold a conveying guide cover of an intermediate conveying means in the releasing position in jamming at a low cost. SOLUTION: An intermediate conveying means 30 is provided with a base 38 and a conveying guide cover 40, and the conveying guide cover 40 is vertically rotatably provided with its innermost end supported. A rib-shaped support member 62 with its projecting amount gradually increasing upward is provided on a discharge means 36 for discharging a sheet by taking the upper surface of the conveying guide cover 40 as a paper discharge tray. When the conveying guide cover 40 is rotated upward, the right side surface of the conveying guide cover 40 is deviated to the left and elevated by backlash or elasticity of a rotational shaft part while being guided by the support member 62. When it reaches the releasing position, the lower end of the right side surface of the conveying guide cover 40 comes cover the upper end of the support member 62 to be held.

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 having relay conveying means for transferring a sheet to a post-processing means integrally formed or attached to the apparatus, and more particularly, to conveying by rotating a conveying guide cover. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having relay conveyance means capable of opening a road.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a transfer sheet (sheet) on which an image has been formed has been discharged to a discharge tray provided so as to protrude from the side of the apparatus.
When attaching a post-processing device (post-processing means) for sorting, stapling, etc. the transfer paper, remove this paper discharge tray and install a post-processing device in that part to transfer the transfer paper from the image forming apparatus to the post-processing device. Was delivered directly to In recent years, so-called in-machine paper discharge (or in-body paper discharge) type copying, in which the transfer paper is discharged to a space below the image reading means without being discharged to the side of the apparatus due to space saving and an increase in image forming speed. Machines are increasing. When a post-processing device is attached to such a type of image forming apparatus, transfer paper cannot be transferred directly from the paper output section to the post-processing apparatus. A transfer means is provided to transfer the transfer paper.

Since the relay conveying means has a function of conveying the transfer paper and transferring it to a post-processing device, the possibility that a jam occurs in the inside cannot be denied. For this reason, a transport guide cover as an upper portion of the transport path of the relay transport means is rotatably provided in an up-down direction with one end pivotally supported to open the transport path so that the jam can be cleared. However, as described above, in the copying machine, the relay conveyance means is installed in a limited space below the image reading means, so that a sufficient opening degree of the conveyance guide cover cannot be obtained. To deal with this problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-301602
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H11-163873 discloses a technique in which a conveyance guide cover is divided into parts so as to partially increase the degree of opening to facilitate jam clearance.

When the transport guide cover has a divided structure,
There are problems in terms of manufacturing cost and parts management. By the way, in the jam clearing operation of the relay conveyance means, it is important to maintain the conveyance guide cover open rather than the degree of opening of the conveyance guide cover. That is,
This is because, in a configuration in which the operator (operator) directly holds the transport guide cover and holds it, the operator can perform the jam clearing operation with only one hand, and the operation is extremely troublesome.

As a configuration for holding the transport guide cover at the open position, for example, a configuration using a damper as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-323727, and a device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
Hinges (shaft supports) as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 1144
Using a friction plate, a device using friction sliding of an elastic member at a hinge portion as disclosed in JP-A-10-252740, and using a link mechanism as disclosed in JP-A-8-143054. Things are known.

[0006]

However, the method using a damper is very costly, and requires a space for arranging those members, resulting in a problem that the apparatus becomes large. In the method using a friction plate or a friction sliding member for the hinge portion, a friction force is required to support the moment due to the weight of the conveyance guide cover, and a large or heavy conveyance guide cover generates a large friction force. Therefore, there is a problem that the circumference of the support shaft becomes large because the strength of the support shaft and the hinge portion itself must be increased. For this reason, it has been difficult to obtain a sufficient effect when the size and shape of the apparatus are limited. The method using the link mechanism is effective for a large-sized conveyance guide cover and the like, but requires a space for allowing the operation of the link mechanism. Further, when applied to a transport guide cover, it cannot be installed in the transport path, and there is a problem that the opening and closing direction of the transport guide cover is restricted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus which can hold an open state of a conveyance guide cover with a simple configuration and can easily clear a jam of a relay conveyance means.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a relay conveying means for transferring a sheet discharged from a paper discharge section to a post-processing means, wherein the relay conveying means has a shaft at one end. An image forming apparatus having a transport guide cover supported and rotatable in a vertical direction and capable of opening a transport path thereof, comprising a support member for holding the transport guide cover at a predetermined opening angle, Is configured to protrude into a rotation area of the transport guide cover and to hold the transport guide cover.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the first aspect, the transport guide cover is provided so as to be pivotally supported at the rear end of the apparatus and pivot upward with the front end of the apparatus. Has been adopted.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the first or second aspect is provided.
In the configuration described above, the support member is a fixing piece that protrudes from one side surface of the transport guide cover in an axial direction of a rotation axis of the transport guide cover, and the amount of projection gradually increases upward. It has a configuration of having

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the first, second or third aspect, the relay transporting means has a discharge means for stacking sheets on the transport guide cover. I am taking it.

[0012] According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the first, second, and third aspects are provided.
The configuration according to 3 or 4, wherein an image reading means is provided in an upper portion of the apparatus, and the relay conveyance means is provided in a space below the image reading means.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the fifth aspect, a discharge tray can be added between the image reading means and the relay conveyance means, and the support member is provided with the discharge tray. The first used when expanded
And a second support member that is used when the discharge tray is not added and holds the transport guide cover at an opening angle larger than that of the first support member.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the sixth aspect, the amount of protrusion of the second support member is smaller than the amount of protrusion of the first support member.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, four paper feed trays 4 are provided at the lower part of the image forming apparatus 2.
The sheets P as sheets stacked on the sheet P are separated one by one from the uppermost sheet by a sheet feed roller 6 and the like, and sent out toward a pair of registration rollers 8. The sheet P in the lower sheet feed tray 4 is sent out by a pair of conveying rollers 10 toward a pair of registration rollers 8. The sheet P is fed out, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoreceptor 18 of the image forming unit 16 by the image writing unit 14 based on the image information read by the image reading unit 12 provided at the top of the apparatus. The electrostatic latent image is visualized as a toner image by a developing device in the image forming unit 16.

After the sheet P is temporarily stopped by the registration roller pair 8 to correct an oblique displacement or the like, the sheet P is fed upward at a predetermined timing toward the nip portion of the photosensitive member 18 and the transfer means 20 opposed thereto. Then, the toner image is transferred by the transfer unit 20. The sheet P to which the toner image has been transferred is further conveyed upward, and the fixing unit 22 fixes the toner image. Therefore, the sheet P exiting from the sheet feed tray 4 is
It is transported almost vertically until it reaches 2.

A paper discharge section 24 is provided above the fixing means 22. The paper exiting the fixing means 22 is guided substantially horizontally by the paper discharge section 24, and as shown in FIG. Is discharged onto a paper discharge tray 26 formed in a space below. FIG. 2 shows a normal sheet discharging / stacking configuration when no post-processing device is provided. As shown in FIG. 1, in the present embodiment, a post-processing device 28 is provided as a post-processing device on the left side of the device, and is used to transfer the sheet P discharged from the paper discharge unit 24 to the post-processing device 28. The relay conveyance means 30 is provided in a space on the paper discharge tray 26,
It is installed in a space below the image reading means 12.

The paper P discharged from the paper discharge section 24 is conveyed through a conveyance path in the relay conveyance means 30 and is transferred to a post-processing device 28. The sheet P entered into the post-processing device 28 is discharged to the discharge tray 32 after post-processing such as binding processing or without performing post-processing. In FIG. 1, staple routes and the like in the post-processing device 28 are omitted. Relay conveyance means 3
No. 0 integrally has a discharge means 36 for discharging the sheet P using the upper surface 34 of the relay conveyance means 30 as a discharge tray.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the relay conveyance means 30 has a base 38 and a conveyance guide cover 40 provided on the base 38 in a superimposed state. On the right side of the relay conveyance means 30, a paper discharge unit 2 of the image forming apparatus 2 is provided.
4 is formed, a downstream side of the paper receiving port 42 is divided into a transport path 44 and a transport path 46, and a guide point of the paper P is provided to any of the transport paths at the branch portion. A switching claw 48 for switching is provided. The transport path 46 is formed in the discharge unit 36,
Is guided diagonally upward, and the paper P
6, the upper surface of the relay conveyance means 30 by the discharge roller pair 50,
That is, the sheet is discharged onto the upper surface 34 of the transport guide cover 40 and stacked. A paper discharge sensor 52 is arranged in the transport path 46.

In FIG. 4, the branch claw 48 transfers the sheet P to the transport path 44.
In this state, the sheet P guided to the transport path 44 goes diagonally downward, and then the pair of transport rollers 54 and 5.
6 and 58, they are conveyed in a substantially horizontal direction while slightly inclined upward and enter the post-processing device 28. The sheet P passing through the transport path 44 is detected by a transport sensor 60 installed in the transport path 44. One side of each of the transport roller pairs 56 and 58 is attached to the transport guide cover 40. That is, the transport guide cover 40 has a configuration in which the upper guide portion of the transport path 44 and the paper discharge tray portion corresponding to the discharge unit 36 are integrally formed. As will be described later, the transport guide cover 40 is rotatably provided in the up-down direction with the end portion on the inner side of the apparatus (opposite side of the apparatus operation surface) being pivotally supported. As shown in FIG. A support member 62 for holding the transport guide cover 40 at a predetermined opening angle is integrally formed on the left side surface of the.

A rear wall surface (vertical wall) 64 is formed integrally with the base 38 of the relay conveying means 30. As shown in FIG.
a. In the vicinity of the upper ends of the left and right side surfaces of the part 64a of the rear side wall surface, a rotating shaft (support shaft) 66 protruding in the paper transport direction is integrally formed. The cross section of each rotation shaft 66 is formed in an oval shape, and the axes of the shafts and the phase of the oval shape match each other. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, a housing recess 64b for housing a part 64a of the rear wall surface of the transport guide cover 40 is formed on the rear wall surface 64 of the base 38, and the left and right sides of the housing recess 64b are formed. Is a circular bearing 6 with which the rotating shaft 66 of the transport guide cover 40 engages.
8, 68 are formed. An opening 68a is formed above the bearing portion 68 to allow the rotating shaft 66 to enter in a vertically long state, and the transport guide cover 40 is rotated substantially 90 ° to make the rotating shaft 66 vertically long. Opening 68a in state
The bearing portion 68 and the rotating shaft 66 are rotatably engaged with each other by dropping the rotating shaft 66 from the upper side.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 5, a portion where the transport guide cover 40 and the base 38 are arranged on the front side of the apparatus is
Concave portions 40a and 38a having a handle shape are formed at substantially the center of the relay conveyance means 30. Relay conveyance means 3
When the jam occurs at 0, the operator places his hand on the concave portion 40a of the transport guide cover 40 and lifts it upward, whereby the transport guide cover 40 is rotated vertically about the rotation shaft 66, whereby the transport guide The cover 40 can be opened and closed. When the transport guide cover 40 is rotated upward, that is, when the transport path 44 is opened, the front side (operation surface side) of the transport path 44 is largely opened.
Jam processing can be easily performed.

As shown in FIG. 7, the support member 62 is formed on a paper discharge cover 70 that covers the transport path 46 of the discharge means 36. The support member 62 is a first support member 72 as a rib-shaped fixing piece formed at a position outside the paper conveyance range.
And a second support member 74 as a rib-like fixing piece formed at a position slightly away from the first support member 72 on the back side. The first support member 72 and the second support member 74 protrude from the right side surface (one side surface) of the transport guide cover 40 in the axial direction of the rotation shaft 66 (paper transport direction), in other words. , Projecting into the rotation area of the transport guide cover 40, and both have a tapered shape in which the amount of projection gradually increases upward. Reference numerals 72a and 74a indicate respective tapered portions. The protrusion amount w2 of the second support member 74 located on the back side of the apparatus is set slightly smaller than the protrusion amount w1 of the first support member 72 located on the front side of the apparatus. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 76 denotes a sheet discharge port.

When the transport guide cover 40 is lifted upward to open the transport path 44, the right side surface of the transport guide cover 40 contacts the first support member 72 as shown in FIG. When the transport guide cover 40 is further lifted, the transport guide cover 40 moves its front portion toward the first support member 7 due to the play of the pivot portion between the transport guide cover 40 and the base 38 and the elasticity of the base 38.
It is rotated while being moved to the left along the second tapered portion 72a. When the right side surface of the transport guide cover 40 passes through the tapered portion 72a and is further lifted, the right side surface of the transport guide cover 40 does not receive the pressing by the first support member 72, so that the displacement in the left-right direction returns to the original state. However, this time, it comes into contact with the tapered portion 74a of the second support member 74, and is rotated while being shifted leftward along the tapered portion 74a. When the right side surface of the conveyance guide cover 40 passes through the tapered portion 74a, the displacement in the left and right direction returns to the original position, and the lower end of the right side surface rides on the upper end of the second support member 74 as shown in FIG. As a result, the transport guide cover 40 is supported at two positions on the inner side of the apparatus supported by the rotating shaft 66 and on the front side of the apparatus on the right side, and is held in a stable state. The open position of the transport guide cover 40 held by the second support member 74 is set at a position where the transport guide cover 40 and the image reading unit 12 do not interfere with each other.

When closing the transport guide cover 40,
Hold the handle-shaped recess 40a and gently swing the transport guide cover 40 to the left. By this operation, the transport guide cover 4
0 second support member 74 and first support member 7
2 is released, and the holding of the transport guide cover 40 in the open state is released. When there is no paper ejection tray on the relay conveyance means 30, the conveyance guide cover 40 can be locked and held by the second support member 74 on the back side in this manner, so that the opening angle is large. be able to. Of course, it may be held on the upper end of the first support member 72.

FIG. 10 shows a state in which a discharge tray 76 is additionally provided between the image reading means 12 and the relay conveyance means 30. In this case, the paper discharge unit 24 is
, And a conveyance path 80 for guiding toward the paper discharge tray 76, and a branch claw 82 is used to switch to any one of the conveyance paths. Conveyance path 80
The paper P guided to is transported by a pair of transport rollers 84 and discharged onto a discharge tray 76 by a pair of discharge rollers 86.
The leading end portion 76a of the sheet discharge tray 76 in the sheet conveying direction is provided to be rotatable upward so that the opening angle can be as large as possible without interfering when the conveying guide cover 40 is opened.

When the paper output tray 76 is additionally provided, as shown in FIG.
Is held on the supporting member 72. The holding and release by riding on the first support member 72
This is the same as the case of the supporting member 74. In this embodiment, the discharge tray 76 and the transport guide cover 40 are set to have dimensions that actually interfere with each other, but the interference can be avoided because the distal end portion 76a of the discharge tray 76 rotates upward.

As described above, since the amount of protrusion of the second support member 74 is set to be smaller than the amount of protrusion of the first support member 72, the operator feels unnatural about the opening / closing operation of the transport guide cover 40. The second support member 7 is prevented from riding on the first support member 72 at the time of opening.
4 can be operated, and conversely, when the release of the open state is released, the transport guide cover 40 can be operated by a natural operation.
Can be operated.

In the above embodiment, the first support member 72 and the second
Is formed as a rib-shaped fixing piece,
The transport guide cover 40 can be held at a predetermined opening angle with a simple configuration. Since the first support member 72 and the second support member 74 are always protruded, the operation of the support member 62 by the operator is not required, so that the jam clearing operation can be easily performed with a simple configuration. First
The support member 72 and the second support member 74 are not fixed pieces,
The horizontal state may be provided as a lower limit position so as to be rotatable, and the operator may rotate and project in the horizontal direction when the transport guide cover 40 is positioned above. Further, the structure may be simply drawn in the horizontal direction. Also, a configuration may be employed in which it can freely appear and disappear in the horizontal direction by elastic force.

[0030]

According to the first or fifth aspect of the present invention, the transport guide cover is mounted on the support member and held at a predetermined angle, so that the jam removal in the relay transport means can be performed with a simple and low-cost configuration. Can be easier.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the transport guide cover is provided so as to rotate upward with the front end of the apparatus, so that the widest jam clearance space is provided in front of the operator. Can be secured, and simplification of the jam processing can be further improved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the support member is formed as a fixed piece having a tapered portion, the configuration is extremely simple and there is no need for the operator to operate the support member. This facilitates the operation of holding the transport guide cover at the open position.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the relay conveying means has the discharging means for stacking the sheets on the conveying guide cover, a space for opening the conveying guide cover is provided. And the space on the transport guide cover can be used effectively.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, a discharge tray can be added between the image reading means and the relay conveyance means, and when the discharge tray is not added, the conveyance guide is provided by the second support member. Since the configuration is such that the opening angle of the cover is increased, the practicality can be improved as compared with the case where the opening angle is constant.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the projecting amount of the second supporting member is made smaller than the projecting amount of the first supporting member. It can be smooth.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of a state where a post-processing device and a relay conveyance unit are removed in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic front view of the relay conveyance means.

FIG. 4 is a schematic front view showing the inside of the relay conveyance means.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a transport guide cover.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a bearing portion of the base.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a support member.

FIG. 8 is a schematic front view showing the opening operation of the transport guide cover.

FIG. 9 is a schematic side view showing a state in which the transport guide cover is held by a second support member.

FIG. 10 is a schematic front view of the image forming apparatus when a paper discharge tray is added between an image reading unit and a relay conveyance unit.

FIG. 11 is a schematic side view showing a state in which a conveyance guide cover is held by a first support member when a paper discharge tray is added.

[Description of Reference Numerals] 24 paper discharge section 30 relay transport means 40 transport guide cover 72 first support member as support member 74 second support member as support member 36 discharge means

Claims (7)

[Claims] A relaying means for transferring a sheet discharged from a paper discharge section to a post-processing means, wherein the relaying means has a transport guide cover which is rotatably supported in a vertical direction at one end thereof; An image forming apparatus having a transport path that can be opened, comprising: a support member that holds the transport guide cover at a predetermined opening angle; the support member protrudes into a rotation area of the transport guide cover to transport the transport guide cover; An image forming apparatus configured to hold a guide cover mounted thereon. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transport guide cover is pivotally supported at a rear end of the apparatus, and is provided so as to rotate upward with a front end of the apparatus. An image forming apparatus comprising: 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the support member is a fixed piece protruding from one side surface of the transport guide cover in an axial direction of a rotation axis of the transport guide cover. An image forming apparatus having a shape in which an amount of protrusion gradually increases upward. 4. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said relay conveyance means has a discharge means for stacking sheets on said conveyance guide cover. . 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an image reading means in an upper part of the apparatus, wherein the relay conveyance means is provided in a space below the image reading means. An image forming apparatus. 6. An image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a discharge tray can be added between said image reading means and said relay conveying means, and said support member is provided with said discharge tray. And a second support member that is used when the paper discharge tray is not added and that holds the transport guide cover at an opening angle larger than that of the first support member. Image forming apparatus. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the amount of protrusion of the second support member is smaller than the amount of protrusion of the first support member.