JP2001335177A - Paper carrying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify a structure of a device by supporting an upper guide of an upper part of a document carrying passage, reinforcing an upper frame arranged so as to be openable and closable by a support shaft part, and constituting the device as a member having the function of a discharge guide of paper and a static eliminating member. SOLUTION: In a reader for arranging a reading part 24 provided with a light source part 25 in a prescribed position of the document carrying passage 10, a reinforcing stay 20 is arranged in a hinge part of the upper frame 3 for supporting the upper guide 11 of the document carrying passage 10, a tip part 21 of the reinforcing stay 20 is protrusively arranged in a discharge port, and a discharging document is guided while sliding the document. The reinforcing stay 20 is grounded via an earthed metallic part of a body frame 2, and performs static elimination and a guide of the document.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a reinforcing stay which is disposed in a sheet conveying path of an image forming apparatus and reinforces a frame, and relates to a sheet conveying apparatus which can also remove electricity from sheets sliding on the stay.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile machine, an electrophotographic copying machine, or the like, which is smaller than a conventional facsimile machine, an image is formed on a sheet fed from a sheet feeder, and a sheet formed as a recording sheet is transferred to a discharge tray. The paper transport path for sending the paper toward the printer is provided. In the paper transport path of the image forming apparatus, a transport unit including a plurality of transport roller devices is disposed to transport the paper, but transport of a guide plate or the like for guiding the paper in the paper transport path. The guide is located at an important part of the passage. By using a guide plate made of a resin material as the conveyance guide, it is possible to cope with demands such as a reduction in the number of components constituting the paper conveyance path, a reduction in the weight and cost of the apparatus, and a complicated shape. I am able to respond to things.

[0003]

However, when the transport guide is made of a resin material, there is a property that static electricity is easily generated due to sliding of the paper.
Since the resin material does not have conductivity, there is a problem that the paper is conveyed while charged with static electricity, thereby causing a conveyance failure or the like due to the static electricity. Also, if the document discharged from the discharge port is charged in the document feeder, the leading edge of the next discharged document will stick to the previously discharged document and stop, causing a jam. Also. Therefore, in the conventional paper conveyance path, a means for discharging static electricity of the paper is provided by disposing a discharging brush at a predetermined position of the discharge port and sliding the paper discharged to the discharging brush. But
The arrangement of the member such as the neutralizing brush complicates the configuration of the transport guide, which is contrary to the purpose of simplifying the configuration of the apparatus. Further, in the case of using the resin-made conveyance guide, there is a disadvantage that the strength is apt to be insufficient. Therefore, a means such as forming a high-strength portion at a predetermined position of the conveyance guide is used to guide the paper. In some cases, means for improving the performance is used, but when such means is used, the configuration of the guide plate becomes more complicated.

The present invention addresses the problems of the strength of the transport guide and the static elimination as described above, and is provided so as to slide the paper on a reinforcing stay to be additionally arranged.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus capable of performing static elimination of recording paper and reinforcement of a conveyance guide and a frame.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a paper transport apparatus provided in a paper transport path and provided with a member for reinforcing a frame of the paper transport path. The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is characterized in that a metal reinforcing stay provided on a frame of the paper transport path is provided so as to be grounded, and the recording paper discharged to the reinforcing stay is discharged while sliding. And Therefore, since the reinforcement of the apparatus and the static elimination of the recording paper can be performed by the reinforcement stay, it is not necessary to newly provide a static elimination brush, and the number of parts of the transport guide can be reduced.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the metal reinforcing stay is provided in a recording paper discharge section of a paper transport path. Then, the static electricity of the discharged recording paper can be easily eliminated, and the occurrence of paper jam near the discharge unit can be prevented. The invention according to a third aspect is characterized in that the metal reinforcing stay is disposed at an acute angle with respect to the moving path of the recording paper. Therefore, the guideability for the sheet discharged while being in contact with the reinforcing stay can be improved, and the discharge of the discharged recording paper does not cause a jam.

[0007]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sheet conveying device according to the present invention. The example shown in FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration of a reading unit of an image forming apparatus and an upper part of the apparatus. A document conveying path 10 for conveying a document includes a lower guide 12 provided on a main body frame 2 side, and an upper part. Two transport guides, with the upper guide 11 provided on the frame 3 side, are arranged at a predetermined interval. Then, a document to be inserted from the insertion port 14 following the discharge tray is configured to be conveyed to the discharge port 19 via the reading unit 24. An upper cover 4 is provided on the upper frame 3 of the image forming apparatus 1, and a control panel 5 on which a number of buttons 6 are arranged is provided at a predetermined position of the upper cover 4. Enter the operation information in. Note that members such as the main body frame 2, the upper frame 3, the upper cover 4, and the guide plate of the document conveying path of the image forming apparatus are formed using a resin material as in the case of a conventional small-sized apparatus. I have.

A pickup roller 15 is disposed at a position corresponding to the insertion port 14 in the document conveying path 10, and a feed roller 16 and a separation pad 17 are disposed in a downstream portion thereof so as to face each other. The separated document is conveyed through the reading unit 24 and discharged from the discharge port 19 by the discharge roller device 18. The upper frame 3
The discharge roller device 18 is provided so as to be openable in the counterclockwise direction around the axis of the pinch roller 18b, and a reinforcing stay 2 is provided near the axis of the pinch roller 18b.
0 is arranged. The reinforcing stay 20 is formed integrally with the upper frame 3 by using a metal plate member such as an iron plate processed into a predetermined shape, and reinforces the shaft support of the upper frame 3. In addition, the distal end portion 21 of the reinforcing stay 20 is formed to be curved in a state of warping upward,
It is grounded via the main body frame 2.

The reinforcing stay 20 is disposed at the end of the upper guide plate 11 on the paper discharge side as shown in FIG.
In the downstream portion of the discharge roller device 18, the front end portion 21 is disposed so as to be exposed at an upper portion of the discharge port 19. The leading end 21 of the reinforcing stay 20 exposed above the discharge port 19 slides static electricity charged on the original to the leading end 21 when the original is discharged while sliding on the leading end 21. By discharging while moving, discharge can be performed toward the ground via the reinforcing stay 20. Further, since the reinforcing stays 20 are arranged at an acute angle with respect to the document discharge path, the function of guiding the discharged document can be sufficiently exhibited.

The document transport path 10 configured as described above
Can be configured as a facsimile apparatus as shown in FIG. 2, for example. The main body frame 2 of the image forming apparatus 1 is provided with a reading unit 24 in which a light source unit 25 such as a lamp is arranged at a predetermined position of a lower guide, and light emitted from the light source unit 25 toward a document is provided. The light is reflected using a plurality of mirrors constituting the optical system device 26, and is imaged on a photoelectric conversion member 28 such as a CCD through a lens 27. Then, the photoelectric conversion member 28
Then, the optical signal can be converted into an electric signal and output as a recording signal to the image recording apparatus, or transmitted using a facsimile transmission function.

The main body frame 2 is provided with a recording section together with a reading section 24. In the illustrated example, a roll paper 30 such as thermal paper is fed out toward the recording section, and writing is performed by a writing head 32. It is configured as follows. In the recording section, the platen roller 3
The recording paper is recorded while driving the platen roller 33 at a constant speed, and is sent to a discharge roller device 35 via a curved guide path 34, and a position close to the discharge roller device 35. Is discharged to the discharge tray 36 while removing static electricity by a static elimination brush (not shown). Further, since the recording section uses the roll paper 30 for recording on the recording paper, a cutter unit may be provided at an arbitrary position in the discharge section from the discharge roller device 35 or in a downstream portion of the write head 32. it can. If the recording paper is discharged while being cut by the cutter, the recording paper discharged to the discharge tray can be easily handled.

When the image forming apparatus 1 is used as a copying machine, a large number of documents are set on a document tray 13 and
In response to a recording command input to the control panel 5, a pickup roller 15 provided in the insertion port 14, and a feed roller 16 and a discharge roller device 18 of a sheet separating device arranged in the document conveying path 10 are driven to drive the document. Is transported at a constant speed. Then, the conveyed document is read by the reading unit 2.
4, the digital signal output from the photoelectric conversion member 28 is transmitted to the write head 32 of the recording unit, and is recorded on the paper fed from the roll paper 30. When the image forming apparatus is used as a facsimile apparatus, image information of a document read through a document conveying path can be transmitted to another facsimile apparatus through a telephone line. When image information is received via a telephone line, it is natural that the recording unit 31 is operated and recorded on recording paper based on the image information.

In the image forming apparatus constructed as described above, as described with reference to FIG.
The upper frame 3 is provided so as to be able to open and close by providing a reinforcing stay 20 to a portion which pivotally supports the upper frame 3.
Of the supporting bracket 7 with respect to the lower frame 2
It is supported by. And the upper frame 3
Is made of resin, and even if the strength of the pivot portion is relatively weak, the swing support portion can be firmly formed by providing the reinforcing stay 20 near the bracket 7. . Further, since the paper is configured to slide on the front end portion 21 of the reinforcing stay 20, there is no need to separately provide a static elimination brush, and the static elimination action is performed using the reinforcing stay 20 connected to the ground. It becomes possible.

In the illustrated image forming apparatus, the function of the reading section 24 may be configured as a single apparatus separately from the recording section, and may be configured as an apparatus having independent functions. When the reading function is configured as one independent device, the reading unit can be arranged as an input member of a device such as a personal computer. In the case where the reinforcing stay 20 is arranged on a pivot portion and a means for reinforcing is used, the swinging supporting portion can be stably provided without making the upper frame 3 of the reading mechanism very strong. It can be formed as a mechanism having high performance.

[0015]

Since the apparatus of the present invention is constructed as described above, a metal reinforcing stay provided on the frame of the paper transport path is provided to be grounded, and the recording paper is discharged while sliding. Thereby, reinforcement of the apparatus and static elimination of the recording paper can be achieved by the reinforcement stay, and it is not necessary to newly provide a static elimination brush, and the number of parts of the transport guide can be reduced.
In addition, since the reinforcing stay made of metal is provided in the recording paper discharge section of the paper transport path, static electricity of the discharged recording paper can be easily eliminated, and the occurrence of paper jam near the discharge section can be prevented. Further, since the metal reinforcing stay is disposed at an acute angle to the moving path of the recording paper, the guideability for the sheet discharged while contacting the reinforcing stay can be improved, and the discharged recording paper can be neutralized. By doing so, no jam is generated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a main part of an apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an image forming apparatus to which a reading unit of the present invention can be applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus, 2 Main body frame, 3
Upper frame, 4 upper cover, 5 control panel, 7 support bracket, 8 support shaft, 10
Document feeder, 11 upper guide, 12 lower guide, 13 document tray, 14 insertion slot,
15 pickup roller, 16 feed roller, 18 discharge roller device, 19 discharge port, 2
0 Reinforcement stay, 21 tip part, 24 reading part, 25 light source part, 27 lens, 28 photoelectric conversion member, 31 recording part, 32 writing head, 34 curved guide path, 36 discharge tray.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A paper transport device provided in a paper transport path and provided with a member for reinforcing a frame of the paper transport path, wherein a metal reinforcing stay provided on the frame of the paper transport path is provided so as to be grounded. A sheet transport device, wherein a recording sheet discharged to the reinforcing stay is discharged while sliding. 2. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the metal reinforcing stay is provided in a recording sheet discharge section of a sheet conveying path. 3. The sheet conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the metal reinforcing stay is disposed at an acute angle with respect to a moving path of the recording sheet.