JP2002348024A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer with a tray supporting member not protruded from an outer frame of the printer when a tray is accommodated in the printer in which the tray can be placed at the accommodation position and the loading position. SOLUTION: A paper discharge tray 5 is turnably supported by the outer frame 2 of the printer by a supporting part 6 having a tray gear 10, and can be placed at the accommodation position with the tray accommodated in the outer frame 2 of the printer and the loading position with the paper sheet loaded. A projection part 7 can be accommodated in an accommodation part 8 of the outer frame 2 of the printer, and protruded from the accommodation part 8 so as to regulate the paper discharge tray 5 at the loading position when the paper discharge tray 5 is turned from the accommodation position to the loading position. A shaft 9 of the projection part has a gear 11 of the projection part engaged with the tray gear 10, and rotatably provided inside the outer frame 2 of the printer to support the projection part 7.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer, and more particularly to a printer capable of storing a tray.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-1806 discloses a tray on which a paper discharge or paper feed from an image forming apparatus such as a printer is placed.
No. 14, JP-A-10-59589, etc., show movable trays.

[0003] These conventional trays are trays used for paper supply and paper discharge, and are easily transported by moving the tray position, and the number of usable papers is increased.

Further, a configuration has been provided in which the tray is rotatable between a storage position where the tray is stored in the printer main body and a mounting position where the paper is mounted. In such a device,
In order to fix the tray at the mounting position, a mechanism for supporting and fixing the tray at the end of the tray is required. However, supporting only at the end of the tray is weak in strength, so that the loadable weight of the tray is limited. Therefore, by providing a supporting member for supporting the tray on the outer frame of the printer other than the end of the tray, the supporting method is stabilized, and the loadable weight of the tray can be increased.

[0005]

However, since the support member is provided on the outer frame of the printer, the support member protrudes from the outer frame of the printer when the tray is not at the mounting position. For this reason, the appearance is not preferable. Further, if the shape of the support member is a protrusion, the support member may be damaged when the printer is carried.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer in which a tray can take a storage position and a mounting position, in which a tray support member does not protrude from an outer frame of the printer when the tray is stored. is there.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer, wherein one end of the printer is supported on the printer outer frame so as to take a storage position where the printer is stored in the printer outer frame and a placement position where sheets can be placed. In a printer having a paper discharge tray whose section is rotatably supported, when the paper discharge tray is rotated from the storage position to the mounting position, the paper tray protrudes from the printer outer frame so as to regulate the paper discharge tray to the mounting position. ing. In addition, a projection having an elastic body at a portion in contact with the paper discharge tray is provided so as to be housed in the outer frame of the printer. Further, a tray gear is provided on the supporting portion of the paper discharge tray, has a projection gear that meshes with the tray gear, and a projection shaft that supports the projection is rotatably provided inside the printer outer frame.

[0008] The paper discharge tray is rotatable, and the paper discharge tray at the mounting position is capable of mounting paper discharged from the printer. The protruding portion is rotatable and supports the discharge tray when the discharge tray is at the mounting position.

When the discharge tray is in the storage position, the protrusion is stored without protruding from the outer frame of the printer. By rotating the discharge tray from the storage position to the loading position,
A tray gear provided on a support portion of the discharge tray rotates. Then, since the tray gear and the projection gear mesh with each other, the projection shaft rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the sheet discharge tray, and the projection supported by the projection shaft rotates and projects, and the sheet is discharged. Support the tray. Here, when the paper discharge tray is at the storage position, the projections are stored, so that the projections can be prevented from colliding with other members and being damaged during carrying or the like.

Further, an elastic body is provided on the projection. Accordingly, it is possible to avoid damage to the protrusion and the discharge tray when the discharge tray is rotated to the mounting position. Further, it is possible to suppress a contact noise generated when the sheet discharge tray is rotated to the mounting position and the protrusion is generated.

A printer according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a printer outer frame, a printer main body, a tray, and a projection. The printer outer frame forms the outer shape of the printer. The printer body is housed in a printer outer frame and performs printing. The tray is rotatably supported by the outer frame of the printer by a support portion at one end thereof, and can have a storage position where the tray is stored in the printer outer frame and a mounting position where sheets can be placed. The protrusion can be stored in the printer outer frame, and projects from the printer outer frame so as to regulate the tray to the mounting position when the tray rotates from the storage position to the mounting position.

The tray is rotatable, and the tray at the mounting position can mount paper used in a printer. The protrusion is rotatable and supports the tray when the tray is at the mounting position.

When the tray is in the storage position, the protrusion is stored without protruding from the outer frame of the printer. When the tray is rotated from the storage position to the placement position in order to use the tray, the protrusion stored in the outer frame of the printer projects. As a result, the protrusion restricts (supports) the rotation of the tray to the mounting position.
I do. That is, since the projection is stored when the discharge tray is at the storage position, it is possible to prevent the projection from colliding with other members and being damaged when carrying the device.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printer according to the second aspect, wherein the projection is supported by a projection shaft rotatably provided inside the printer outer frame. The projection shaft has a projection gear. The tray support has a tray gear that meshes with the projection gear.

Since the tray gear and the projection gear mesh with each other, the rotation of the tray and the projection is linked. For this reason, when the tray is rotated from the storage position to the placement position,
In conjunction with this, the projection rotates and moves from the position stored in the outer frame of the printer to a position for regulating (supporting) the tray.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printer according to the second or third aspect, wherein the protrusion has an elastic body at a portion in contact with the tray. Since the elastic member is provided on the protrusion, the possibility that the protrusion damages the tray when the tray is vigorously rotated to the mounting position can be suppressed. Further, it is possible to suppress the contact noise between the tray and the protrusion generated when the tray is rotated to the mounting position.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printer according to any one of the second to fourth aspects, wherein the tray is a paper discharge tray on which paper discharged from the printer main body is placed. Since the tray is a paper discharge tray, the printer can be made compact by keeping the tray in the storage position when paper is not output from the printer.

[0018]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a printer 1 according to the present invention. The printer 1 performs printing by a printer body (not shown) housed in a printer outer frame 2.

<Overall Configuration> The printer 1 has a paper feed tray 3 on a side surface and a paper discharge port 4 and a paper discharge tray 5 on an upper surface.

The paper feed tray 3 is for placing printing paper of the printer 1. The paper discharge port 4 is an opening for discharging printed paper. A paper discharge tray is provided so that the paper discharged from the paper discharge port 4 is guided to the paper discharge tray 5.

The paper discharge tray 5 is rotatably supported on the outer frame 2 of the printer by a support portion 6 at one end thereof. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the paper discharge tray 5 has a storage position which is located substantially parallel to the upper surface of the printer outer frame 2 so as to cover the paper discharge port 4, and as shown in FIG. A placement position where the sheet discharged from the opening 4 can be placed can be taken. When the discharge tray 5 is stationary at the loading position, it is supported by two protrusions 7 provided below the discharge tray 5.

The protruding portion 7 is disposed in the storage portion 8 on the upper surface of the printer outer frame 2, and is provided on a protruding shaft 9 rotatably provided with respect to the printer outer frame 2. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the discharge tray 5 and the protrusion 7.
FIG. 3 is a view of the paper discharge tray 5 as viewed from the side.

A tray gear 10 is fixed to a support portion 6 where the discharge tray 5 is supported by the printer outer frame 2, and the discharge tray 5 and the tray gear 10 rotate integrally.
On the other hand, a projection gear 11 is fixed to the projection shaft 9 in which the projection 7 is supported by the printer outer frame 2, and the projection 7, the projection shaft 9, and the projection gear 11 are integrally rotated. Move. Here, the tray gear 10 and the projection gear 11
And rotate in conjunction with each other. Therefore, the paper discharge tray 5 and the protrusion 7 can rotate in conjunction with each other. As a result, when the paper discharge tray 5 is at the mounting position, the protrusion 7 is substantially perpendicular to the upper surface of the printer outer frame 2 and supports the paper discharge tray 5 (see the chain line in FIGS. 1 and 3). . Further, the protrusion 7 rotates in conjunction with the paper discharge tray 5, and when the paper discharge tray 5 is at the storage position, the protrusion 7
Rotates so as to be stored in the storage section 8 (FIGS. 2 and 3).
Solid line).

<Operation of Printer> In the printer 1, the paper is placed on the paper feed tray 3, and is drawn into the printer main body to perform printing. Printed paper is in paper exit 4
Is discharged to the paper discharge tray 5 through

On the other hand, when the discharge tray 5 is at the storage position without performing printing, the protrusion 7 is stored in the storage portion 8.
Here, when the paper discharge tray 5 is rotated to the mounting position for performing printing, the tray gear 10 rotates accordingly, and the meshing projection gear 11 reversely rotates. As a result, the protrusion 7 rotates in the direction opposite to the paper discharge tray 5. Since the gear ratio between the tray gear 10 and the projection gear 11 is appropriately set, the discharge tray 5 and the projection 7 come into contact with each other when the discharge tray 5 rotates to the mounting position. Therefore, the rotation of the discharge tray 5 is restricted at the mounting position by the protrusion 7.

Here, when the discharge tray 5 is at the storage position, the protrusion 7 is stored in the storage portion 8. Thus, when the discharge tray 5 is not at the loading position, the protrusion 7
Does not protrude from the printer outer frame 2, so that damage to the protruding portion 7 can be suppressed.

<Other Embodiments> As shown in FIG. 4, the projection 7 and the discharge tray 5 of the printer according to the above-described embodiment are used.
When the rubber 12 is provided in a portion where the paper tray 5 contacts, the protrusion 7 can be prevented from damaging the paper discharge tray when the paper discharge tray 5 is vigorously rotated to the mounting position. Also,
The contact noise between the discharge tray 5 and the projection 7 can be suppressed to a low level.

In the above-described embodiment, the tray supported by the projection 7 is the paper discharge tray 5 on which the paper discharge is placed. May be used.

[0029]

In the printer according to the present invention, the projection is stored in the outer frame of the printer when the tray is at the storage position. When the tray rotates from the storage position to the mounting position, the protrusion projects from the outer frame of the printer and supports the tray. Thus, when the paper discharge tray is in the storage position, the projections are stored, so that the projections can be prevented from colliding with other members and being damaged when carrying around.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a printer according to the present invention. The discharge tray is at the loading position.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a printer according to the invention. The discharge tray is at the storage position.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing the relationship between a paper discharge tray and a protrusion.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing the relationship between a paper ejection tray and a protrusion of a printer according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 2 Printer outer frame 5 Paper discharge tray 6 Support part 7 Projection part 8 Storage part 9 Projection part shaft 10 Tray gear 11 Projection part gear 12 Rubber

Claims (5)

[Claims] An output tray in which a support portion at one end is rotatably supported by the printer outer frame so as to be able to take a storage position where the paper is stored in the printer outer frame and a mounting position where paper can be mounted. In the printer having the discharge tray, when the discharge tray rotates from the storage position to the placement position, the discharge tray projects from the printer outer frame so as to regulate the discharge tray to the placement position, and A protrusion having an elastic body at a contacting portion is provided so as to be housed in the outer frame of the printer, a tray gear is provided at a support of the discharge tray, and a protrusion gear meshing with the tray gear is provided. A printer, wherein a supporting projection shaft is rotatably provided inside the printer outer frame. 2. A printer outer frame, a printer main body that is housed in the printer outer frame and performs printing, and is rotatably supported by the printer outer frame by a support portion at one end, and is housed in the printer outer frame. A tray that can take a storage position and a placement position where paper can be placed; a tray that can be stored in the printer outer frame; and when the tray rotates from the storage position to the placement position, the tray is moved forward. A projection protruding from the outer frame of the printer so as to be restricted to the described position. 3. The projection portion is supported by a projection shaft rotatably provided inside the outer frame of the printer, the projection shaft has a projection gear, and the projection portion is provided on the support portion of the tray. The printer according to claim 2, further comprising a tray gear that meshes with the external gear. 4. The printer according to claim 2, wherein said projection has an elastic body at a portion in contact with said tray. 5. The printer according to claim 2, wherein said tray is a paper discharge tray on which paper discharged from said printer main body is placed.