JP2001063902A - Sheet tray, and image forming device equipped with the tray - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet tray improved in visibility, easy extraction, an jam processing for a sheet supported by the tray, and an image forming device equipped with the sheet tray; in the device wherein plural sheet trays for supporting sheets to be fed or discharged are laminated and arranged. SOLUTION: At least two adjoining sheet tray, namely, a document feeding tray 102 and a document discharging tray 106 each has a turn fulcrum 102d (106d) so as to turn a feeding part for feeding a document, or the end part on the opposite side to a discharging part side for discharging the document respectively, to provide the fulcrum (106d) for the tray 106 on the end part side for turning the tray 106 than a position wherein a perpendicular line, passing through the fulcrum 102d of the tray 102 arranged in the upper part of the tray 106, crosses the tray 106.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet tray provided for supporting sheets. More specifically, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus provided with the sheet tray.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a sheet tray is provided in an image forming apparatus, an image reading apparatus, a sheet post-processing apparatus, and the like. For example, in a sheet tray provided in an image forming apparatus,
It is used to support a sheet on which an image is formed, or to support a sheet on which an image is formed and discharged.

[0003] In recent years, many apparatuses have increased the stacking capacity by stacking such sheet trays with a gap therebetween, and improving usability by sorting a plurality of jobs.

[0004] In addition, demands for downsizing and space saving of the apparatus have been increased, and thus many sheet trays have been arranged above an image forming apparatus or the like. Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus having a plurality of sheet trays will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an image forming apparatus in which a plurality of sheet trays are arranged above the apparatus. The image forming apparatus is exemplified by a facsimile apparatus having an image reading unit.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the facsimile apparatus. Reference numeral 1 denotes an apparatus main body, and an arrow A direction is a front side of the apparatus. The user accesses the apparatus main body 1 from the direction of arrow A. Reference numeral 2 denotes an image reading unit for reading an image of a document for facsimile transmission, etc., 3 an image forming unit comprising a laser printer, 4 a document feed tray for supporting the document to be read, and 5 a document read by the image reading unit 2 for discharge. A document discharge tray for supporting a formed document, a sheet discharge tray 6 for supporting a sheet on which an image has been formed by the image forming unit 3, and a reference numeral 7 provided on the upper surface of the image forming unit 3 for discharging the image-formed sheet The cover is formed integrally with the sheet discharge tray 6 to be formed.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a document feeding unit for feeding a document, and reference numeral 9 denotes a document discharge unit that discharges the document read by the image reading unit 2 to the document discharge tray 5. Reference numeral 10 denotes a sheet discharge unit that discharges a sheet on which an image has been formed by the image forming unit 3.

In the facsimile apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration, the user places a document to be read in the direction of arrow A on the document feed tray 4 and holds the document in the width direction held movably in a direction orthogonal to the direction of document insertion. The width direction of the document is regulated by moving the regulating member 18.

The placed document passes through the path indicated by arrow D, whereby the image information of the document is read by the image reading unit 2, then discharged from the document discharge unit 9, and supported by the document discharge tray 5. You.

On the other hand, the image information of the document transmitted to the facsimile apparatus 1 by a communication means (not shown) is formed as a visible image on a sheet by the image forming section 3, and is conveyed through the apparatus along the path indicated by arrow R to form the sheet. The sheet is discharged from the discharge unit 10 to the sheet discharge tray 6 and is supported.

Next, the operation of taking out the sheet supported by each sheet tray and the jam clearing operation will be described.

For a document read by the image reading section 2 and discharged to the document discharge tray 5, the user inserts his hand between the document feed tray 4 and the document discharge tray 5 to take out the discharged document. In addition, the user inserts his hand between the document discharge tray 5 and the sheet discharge tray 6 to take out the sheet on the sheet on which the image is discharged to the sheet discharge tray 6.

[0013]

However, the following problems have occurred in the apparatus having a plurality of trays for supporting the sheets as described above.

When a plurality of sheet trays are stacked to improve the size of the apparatus and improve the usability, many sheet trays are installed at a limited height while suppressing the height of the apparatus itself. Will be.

As described above, in the case where a large number of sheet trays are vertically stacked, the space between the sheet trays is naturally reduced, and the originals and sheets discharged to the original discharge tray 5 and the sheet discharge tray 6 are reduced in size. In the case of these, the user has to insert his / her hand in the depth direction of the narrow space between the upper and lower trays in order to take them out, and the take-out property is poor. In addition, the visibility of originals and sheets has deteriorated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in an image forming apparatus having a plurality of sheet trays for supporting sheets, a user can easily take out the sheets supported by the sheet trays with a simple configuration. And an image forming apparatus having the same.

[0017]

According to the present invention, there is provided a sheet tray comprising a plurality of sheet trays which support a sheet fed from a sheet feeding section or a sheet discharged from a sheet discharging section and are vertically stacked. Has a rotation fulcrum capable of rotating an end opposite to the paper supply unit or the paper ejection unit, and the rotation fulcrum of the lower sheet tray is a rotation fulcrum of the upper sheet tray. It is further characterized in that it is located on the rotating end of the sheet tray.

Further, the plurality of sheet trays are rotatable in order from the uppermost sheet tray around the rotation fulcrum of the sheet tray.

Further, the sheet tray is characterized in that it can be stopped within a rotation range. In addition, the plurality of sheet trays are capable of supporting a sheet.
In both the state of 1 and the second state of rotation about the rotation fulcrum, the apparatus can stand still.

Further, the plurality of sheet trays may be
In the state (2), the sheet tray is stopped by a stationary member that stops the sheet tray.

Further, when the lower sheet tray is turned around the turning fulcrum, the lower sheet tray comes into contact with the already turned upper sheet tray to be stopped.

Each of the sheet trays rotates from a position supporting the sheets to a position beyond a vertical line passing through a rotation fulcrum.

[0023] At least one of the sheet trays has a dividing portion configured to divide the sheet tray, and the dividing portion is used as a fulcrum to rotate the sheet tray on the side opposite to the sheet feeding section or the sheet discharging section. The end portion of the sheet tray is divided and rotated.

[0024]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An image forming apparatus embodying the present invention will be described below. In the present embodiment, a description will be given using a facsimile machine as an example of an image forming apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of sheet trays for supporting sheets are stacked and arranged. Any object can be used.

(Configuration of Facsimile Machine) First, FIG.
A schematic configuration of a facsimile apparatus using the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a facsimile machine, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 101 denotes an apparatus main body, in which the direction A is the front side of the apparatus, and the user normally operates the apparatus from the direction A side. Reference numeral 102 denotes a document feed tray capable of stacking and supporting the documents D, and the documents D supported by the tray 102 are sent one by one to an image reading unit 103 which reads image information of the documents D one by one. 104, an image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet S as a recording medium for recording an image; 105, a display unit for displaying the status of the apparatus; an operation unit including input keys for inputting operations; and 106, an image reading unit A document discharge tray for discharging and supporting a document D whose image information has been read by 103, a sheet cassette 112 for supporting a sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming unit 104, and a sheet cassette 120 for forming an image by the image forming unit 104 The upper discharge section 125 discharges the sheet to the upper discharge tray 121, and the lower discharge section 125 discharges the sheet to the lower discharge tray 126 similarly to the upper discharge section 120. Reference numeral 115 denotes a paper discharge flapper that switches a conveyance path so as to convey a sheet on which an image is formed to either the upper discharge unit 120 or the lower discharge unit 125.

Next, the image reading unit 103 will be described in detail. The image reading unit 103 includes a pair of separation rollers 103 that separates and feeds the document D supported on the document feed tray 102 into one sheet.
a, a pair of conveying rollers 103b for conveying the fed document D further downstream, a contact-type reading sensor 103c for reading image information of the conveyed document D, and a document pressing unit for bringing the document D into close contact with the reading sensor 103c. With 103d. The document D read by the reading sensor 103c is discharged onto the document discharge tray 106 by the document discharge roller pair 103e.

The document feed tray 102 is provided with a document regulating plate 102a which is movable in a direction (width direction of the document) perpendicular to the direction in which the document D is fed. The width direction of the document D stacked and supported on the tray 102 can be regulated. If the length of the document D in the feeding direction is large, the extension document tray 10
By opening 2b, the rear end of the document D
Hanging from 102 can be prevented.

The reading sensor 103c irradiates the image information surface of the document D with light from an LED array as a light source, forms an image of the reflected light reflected on the image information surface on a sensor element by a lens, and reads the image information. is there.

Next, the image forming unit 104 will be described in detail. The basis of the image forming unit 104 is a laser beam printer, and the configuration and operation related to image formation are substantially the same. A photosensitive drum 111a; a charger 111b for uniformly charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 111a; and a charger 111b.
A laser scanner that irradiates image information as light onto the surface of the photosensitive drum 111a charged by
110, a developing device 111c for developing the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image to be transferred to a sheet, and a transfer charger for transferring the toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 111a to the sheet 111f, a separation charger (not shown) for separating the sheet on which the toner image has been transferred from the photosensitive drum 111a, and a cleaner 111d for removing the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 111a after transferring the toner image to the sheet. And

Downstream of the image forming unit 104, a conveying unit for conveying the sheet on which the toner image has been transferred, and a fixing unit 114 for fixing the image on the sheet conveyed by the conveying unit as a permanent image. Is provided.

(Operation of Facsimile Apparatus) Next, the operation of the facsimile apparatus having the above configuration will be described. In this apparatus, a normal facsimile function of transmitting an original image read by the original reading unit 103 using a communication line and forming image information transmitted using a communication line on a sheet S is used. In addition, the image reading unit 10
It has a so-called copy function of forming the image information read in step 3 by the image forming unit 104, and a printer function of connecting to a computer terminal and printing out image data. Here, a description will be given of an example of transmission / reception of a normal facsimile operation.

First, the operation at the time of transmission will be briefly described. As described above, after the document D to be transmitted is stacked and supported on the document feed tray 102 and the movement in the width direction is regulated by the document regulating plate 102a, the user inputs or selects the transmission destination of the document D using the operation unit 105. , Press the start button. As a result, the document D is separated one by one by the separation roller pair 103a, and is conveyed to the reading sensor 103c by the conveyance roller pair 103b to read the image information. Document D after image reading
The document discharge tray 106 is driven by the document discharge roller pair 103e.
Is discharged on top. Also, the next original D is similarly read by the reading sensor.
Read at 103c and ejected. The image information read by the reading sensor 103c is converted into an electric signal, and then modulated and transmitted.

Next, the operation at the time of facsimile reception will be briefly described. The signal transmitted through the telephone line is demodulated by a receiving-side facsimile and converted again into an electric signal. The converted image information is irradiated as an optical signal by the laser scanner 110 onto the charged photosensitive drum 111a. As a result, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 111a. The developing device 111c attaches toner to the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image.

In synchronization with the image forming operation, the sheet S for image formation supported by the sheet cassette 112 is fed by the sheet feeding means and conveyed to the image forming unit 104.
The conveyed sheet S is sent between the photosensitive drum 111a and the transfer charger 111f at the same time as the image forming operation described above, and the image is transferred onto the sheet S. The sheet on which the toner image has been transferred is sent to the fixing device 114, where the image is fixed semipermanently.

The sheet S on which the image has been fixed is selected and conveyed by the paper discharge flapper 115 installed in the conveyance path in either the upper discharge section 120 or the lower discharge section 125, and discharged and supported on a discharge tray. Is done.

In the facsimile apparatus, the tray for discharging the sheet S can be selected by the upper discharge tray 121 or the lower discharge tray 126 according to different jobs such as the facsimile function, the copy function, and the printer function. The sheet S can be discharged by switching the discharge flapper 115 for each job based on the control of the controller 116 provided in the apparatus main body.

Next, based on the apparatus having the above configuration, a characteristic portion of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the facsimile apparatus having this configuration, the document feed tray 102, the document discharge tray 106, the upper discharge tray
A plurality of sheet trays 121 and a lower discharge tray 126 are arranged in a stacked state each having a space. The document feed tray 102 and the document discharge tray 106 are
The upper discharge tray 121 is engaged with and held by the upper discharge unit 120. The lower discharge tray 126 also serves as a cover that covers the upper part of the image forming unit 104. Each of these trays has a supporting portion for supporting the document D or the sheet S, and a rotating portion for rotating an end of the sheet tray opposite to the sheet feeding portion or the sheet discharging portion. .

The document feed tray 102 provided at the uppermost portion of each tray is rotatable about a holding portion 102d, which is engaged with and held on the feed portion side of the image reading portion 103, as a rotation fulcrum. It is configured. The holding portion 102d has a rotation shaft, and is rotatable in a K direction in FIG. Since the document feed tray 102 rotated in the K direction is configured to be rotatable to a position where the center of gravity of the document feed tray 102 exceeds a vertical line passing through the holding portion 102d, the document feed tray 102 can be stopped at that position. . The vertical line is a line in a direction orthogonal to the horizontal line, that is, a line in the moving direction.

As described above, the document D discharged to the document discharge tray 106 can be taken out after the document feed tray 102 is rotated and stopped as described above, so that it is very easy for the user. In addition, the visibility of the discharged document D can be improved.

Next, the document discharge tray 106 provided below the document feed tray 102 will be described. The document discharge tray 106 is rotatably held about a holding portion 106d that engages with the paper discharge portion of the image reading portion 103 as a rotation fulcrum.

The document discharge tray 106 is not rotated by the rotation of the holding portion 106d as a rotation fulcrum.
f and a rotating portion 106e that rotates while being separated from the fixed portion 106f. The holding portion 106d as the pivot point is
Document feed tray 1 provided above document discharge tray 106
The document ejection tray 1
It is located on the end side opposite to the sheet discharge unit that discharges the sheet at 06. In other words, the holding portion 106d, which is the rotation fulcrum of the document discharge tray 106, is positioned so that the vertical line passing through the holding portion 102d as the rotation fulcrum of the document feed tray 102 intersects with the document discharge tray 106. This means that they are arranged so as to be located on the rotating end side.

As described above, by arranging the holding portion 106d, which is the fulcrum of rotation of the document discharge tray 106, with respect to the holding portion 102d, which is the fulcrum of rotation of the document feed tray 102, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, after the document discharge tray 106 rotates the upper document feed tray 102, the holding portion 106 serving as a pivot point is rotated.
It is possible to rotate in the direction K in the figure without interfering with the document feed tray 102 about d.

At this time, by rotating the center of gravity of the rotating portion of the document discharge tray 106 to a position beyond the vertical line passing through the holding portion 106d, the document discharge tray 106 can be stopped at the rotated position. Is possible. In the present embodiment, in order to more securely stop the document discharge tray 106, the document discharge tray 106 is brought into contact with the previously rotated document feed tray 102 and stopped.

As described above, the document feed tray 102
In addition, since the document discharge tray 106 can be rotated and stopped in the direction K in FIG. 4, the user can easily put his hand between the sheet trays, and the image-formed sheets S discharged to the upper discharge tray 121 can be used. Can be easily taken out.
It is also effective in improving visibility such as preventing forgetting to take. Further, it is also possible to easily take out the jammed sheet at the discharge port or the like.

The document discharge tray 106 is divided into a rotating portion 106e that rotates around a holding portion 106d, which is a rotating fulcrum, and a fixed portion 106f that does not rotate. Document output tray 106 with respect to the position of the paper feed unit
Can be freely arranged. This makes it possible to downsize the apparatus while maintaining the length of the sheet tray.

Next, the upper discharge tray 121 which is provided below the document discharge tray 106 and supports the sheet S formed and discharged by the image forming unit 104 will be described.

The upper discharge tray 121 has a dividing portion so that it can be divided into two substantially at the center of the supporting surface for supporting the sheet. As shown in FIG. 5, reference numeral 121f denotes a fixed portion located on the side of the upper discharge port 120 for discharging sheets to the upper discharge tray 121, and 121e denotes a rotating shaft 121d which is a division of the upper discharge tray 121 and a rotation fulcrum. The rotation unit is rotatably supported by the support surface 121f.

The rotation shaft 121d of the upper discharge tray 121 is positioned on the upper discharge tray 121 more vertically than a vertical line passing through a holding portion 106d which is a rotation fulcrum of the document discharge tray 106 provided above the upper discharge tray 121. Is provided on the end side opposite to the upper discharge port 120 for discharging the water. In other words, the upper discharge tray
A rotation shaft 121d, which is a rotation fulcrum of 121, is connected to the document discharge tray 106.
It is arranged such that the vertical line passing through the holding portion 106d as a rotation fulcrum is located closer to the end of the rotating portion 121e of the upper discharge tray 121 than the position where it intersects the upper discharge tray 121. Will be.

As described above, by disposing the rotation shaft 121d, which is the rotation fulcrum of the upper discharge tray 121, with respect to the holding portion 106d, which is the rotation fulcrum of the document ejection tray 106, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, after the upper document discharge tray 121 is rotated, the upper document discharge tray 121 is rotated.
Without interfering with the document discharge tray 106 with d as a fulcrum,
It is possible to rotate in the direction K in the figure.

As shown in FIG. 5, the upper discharge tray 1
By rotating the center of gravity of the rotating portion 121e, which is the sheet supporting surface on the rotating side of 21, to a position beyond a vertical line passing through the rotating shaft 121d, the rotating portion 121e is stopped in a rotated state. It is possible. Of course, it is rotated to a position where it comes into contact with the rotating portion 106e of the document discharge tray 106 to abut it.
There is no problem even if the rotating part 121e is configured to be stationary.

Next, the lower discharge tray 126 provided below the upper discharge tray 121 and also serving as a cover for covering the image forming unit 104 will be described.

The lower discharge tray 126 also serves as a cover for covering the image forming section 104 as a sheet tray for supporting the sheet S on which an image has been formed and discharged from the lower discharge port 125. The lower discharge tray 126 is rotatably supported on the housing of the image forming unit 104 by a rotation shaft 126d as a rotation fulcrum, and can be rotated in the direction K in FIG.

The rotation shaft 126d of the lower discharge tray 126 is located at a position where a vertical line passing through the rotation shaft 121d, which is a rotation fulcrum of the upper discharge tray 121 provided above the lower discharge tray 126, intersects the lower discharge tray 126. The lower discharge tray 126 is provided at an end opposite to the lower discharge port 125 for discharging sheets to the lower discharge tray 126. That is, the vertical line passing through the rotation axis 126d, which is the rotation fulcrum of the lower discharge tray 126, rotates the lower discharge tray 126 more than the vertical line passing through the rotation axis 121d as the rotation fulcrum of the upper discharge tray 121. That is, they are arranged so as to be located on the end side.

As described above, by disposing the rotation shaft 126d, which is the rotation fulcrum of the lower discharge tray 126, with respect to the rotation shaft 121d, which is the rotation fulcrum of the upper discharge tray 121, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, after the lower discharge tray 126 rotates the upper discharge tray 121 provided above, the lower discharge tray 126 does not interfere with the upper discharge tray 106 with the rotation shaft 126d serving as a rotation fulcrum as a fulcrum. It is possible to rotate in the direction K in the figure.

As shown in FIG. 6, the lower discharge tray 1
By rotating the rotation-side end of 26 to a position beyond a vertical line passing through the rotation shaft 126d, the rotation portion of the lower discharge tray 126 can be held in a stationary state.

As described above, since the lower discharge tray 126 is configured to be rotatable, the user can lower the lower discharge tray 126.
In a state in which the image forming unit 104 is rotated and stopped, maintenance of the image forming unit 104, removal and replacement of cartridge components, and jam clearance of the image forming sheet can be easily performed.

The operation direction of the facsimile apparatus in the present embodiment is the direction A in FIG. The user feeds and takes out sheets from the A direction side and operates the operation unit 105. Therefore, the image reading unit 103, the upper discharge port 120, and the lower discharge port 125 are located on the back side of the apparatus with respect to the operation direction.

That is, the pivot points of the above-described sheet trays are arranged in front of the apparatus from the upper sheet tray to the lower sheet tray. By arranging the rotation fulcrum of each sheet tray in this way, the sheet tray can be rotatably provided.

Further, the sheet tray can be stopped at the rotation position by rotating the rotation-side end of each sheet tray to a position beyond a vertical line passing through the rotation fulcrum. Of course, the same effect as the present invention can be obtained even if a member for hitting the sheet tray is provided to stop the sheet tray.

In the present embodiment, each tray located below the uppermost document feed tray 102 is divided into a rotating part that rotates and a fixed part that does not rotate. By displacing the position of the holding portion or the rotation axis, which is the rotation fulcrum, toward the front of the apparatus, the paper supply portion and the paper discharge portion of the document and the sheet are provided substantially on the same line.
The apparatus could be reduced in size without sacrificing the length of the sheet tray.

Of course, in the sheet tray of the present invention, it is not necessary to provide a paper feed unit or a paper discharge unit on the same line.
The position of the sheet discharge section of the lower sheet tray may be arranged on the back side of the apparatus. In this configuration, the sheet tray is divided into a rotating part that rotates and a fixed part that does not rotate, and the rotating part is rotated with the divided part as a rotation fulcrum. This is because it may be provided in front of the apparatus with respect to the position of the rotation fulcrum of the upper sheet tray.

In the present embodiment, the number of sheet trays is four. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the sheet tray for supporting the sheets formed and discharged after image formation is replaced with an image reading unit. It is possible to increase the number of documents 103 below the document discharge tray 106.

Further, in this embodiment, the apparatus has been described in which all the sheet trays provided are provided with pivot points so as to be rotatable.
One sheet tray may be simply provided with a pivot point so as to be rotatable, and the other sheet trays may be fixed.

More specifically, in the case of a facsimile apparatus having three sheet trays in which the upper discharge tray 121 is omitted from the apparatus according to the present embodiment, the document feed tray 102 of the image reading unit 103 is adjacent to the document feed tray 102. A document discharge tray 106 is rotatably provided, and a discharge tray 126 provided below the document discharge tray 106 and also serving as a cover for covering the image forming unit 104.
Is a fixed tray.

Even with such a configuration, the present invention can be implemented as long as at least two adjacent sheet trays (document feed tray and document discharge tray) have the same positions of the pivot points as in the above-described embodiment. Can have the effect described above. Of course, in this configuration, the image forming unit 104
It is necessary to configure the apparatus in consideration of the maintenance of the apparatus and taking out the sheet from the discharge tray 126.

In the facsimile apparatus described in the present embodiment, the sheet tray has been described based on the respective purposes of document feeding, document discharging, and image forming sheet discharging, but the present invention is not limited thereto. There is no limitation, and any tray may be used as long as it supports sheets. The order of the stacking arrangement is not limited to the description of the present embodiment.

[0069]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, a plurality of sheet trays which support a sheet fed from a sheet feeding unit or a sheet discharged from a sheet discharging unit and are vertically stacked are provided. , The sheet tray has a rotation fulcrum capable of rotating an end opposite to the sheet feeding unit or the paper ejection unit, and the rotation fulcrum of a lower sheet tray is an upper sheet. Since the sheet trays are provided so as to be located at the rotation end of the sheet tray from the pivot point of the tray, each sheet tray can be rotated. Can be easily visually recognized, and it is easy to put in and take out the hand.

Further, since the rotated sheet tray can be stopped, the operability of the user can be improved.

Further, the processing of the jammed sheet and the maintenance of the image forming section can be easily performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a facsimile apparatus embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a facsimile apparatus embodying the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a rotating state of a document feed tray according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a rotation state of a document discharge tray according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a rotation state of an upper discharge tray according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a rotation state of a lower discharge tray according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a facsimile apparatus using a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 102 Document feed tray (sheet tray) 103 Image reading unit 104 Image forming unit 106 Document discharge tray (sheet tray) 121 Upper discharge tray (sheet tray) 126 Lower discharge tray (sheet tray)

Claims (14)

[Claims] A plurality of sheet trays that support a sheet fed from a sheet feeding unit or a sheet discharged from a sheet discharging unit and that are stacked one above another in the vertical direction; It has a rotation fulcrum that can rotate the end opposite to the paper unit side, and the rotation fulcrum of the lower sheet tray is more than the rotation fulcrum of the upper sheet tray,
A sheet tray, which is located at a rotating end of the sheet tray. 2. The sheet tray according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of sheet trays are rotatable in order from the uppermost sheet tray around the pivot point of the sheet tray.
The sheet tray described in. 3. The sheet tray according to claim 1, wherein the sheet tray is configured to be able to stand still within a rotation range.
Or the sheet tray according to 2. 4. The sheet tray according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of sheet trays can be stopped in a first state in which sheets can be supported and in a second state in which the plurality of sheet trays are rotated about the rotation fulcrum. The sheet tray according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: 5. The sheet tray according to claim 4, wherein in the second state, the plurality of sheet trays are stopped by a stationary member that stops the sheet tray. 6. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein when the lower sheet tray is rotated about the pivot point, the lower sheet tray comes into contact with the already rotated upper sheet tray to stop.
The sheet tray described in. 7. The sheet tray according to claim 1, wherein the sheet tray rotates from a position supporting the sheets to a position beyond a vertical line passing through a rotation fulcrum. 8. At least one of the sheet trays,
The sheet tray has a dividing portion configured to be divided,
2. The sheet tray according to claim 1, wherein an end of the sheet tray opposite to the sheet feeding unit or the sheet discharging unit is divided and rotated around the division unit as a pivot point. 3. 9. An image forming apparatus comprising: the sheet tray according to claim 1; and an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet, wherein the sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming unit is provided. An image forming apparatus, wherein the image is discharged onto a sheet tray. 10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the sheet tray is disposed above the image forming unit. 11. An image reading means for reading an image above the image forming apparatus and above the sheet tray for discharging a sheet on which an image has been formed by the image forming means, wherein the sheet tray comprises: The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the image reading device supports an original to be read. 12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein at least one of the plurality of sheet trays supports a document read and discharged by the image reading unit. 13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a lowermost sheet tray of the plurality of sheet trays is a cover that covers an upper surface of the image forming apparatus. 14. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising a fixed sheet tray below the plurality of sheet trays.