JP2003095451A - Image formation device provided with cassette for recording paper sheet - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image formation device capable of using a part of a lid body of a cassette for recording paper sheet as a document guide body. SOLUTION: This image formation device is provided with a reading function for reading contents of a document paper sheet supplied from a document paper sheet charging port by a document reading means and converting them into reading electric signals and a printing function for performing printing corresponding to image electric signals received by a printing means on a recording paper sheet taken out from the cassette for recording paper sheet and supplied from a recording paper sheet supply port and is provided with the cassette 2 for recording paper sheet in which the document paper sheet charging port is positioned at a higher step than the recording paper sheet supply port on an upper face of a device main body 1. This cassette 2 for recording paper sheet is erected in the recording paper sheet supply port so as to supply recording paper sheets stored in the cassette one by one, and its upper face is covered with the lid body 3. A storage part 4 storing the document guide body 5 is provided on the lid body 3 so as to store and remove it. While the document guide body 5 stored in the storage part 4 is taken out of the storage part 4, a lower end fringe of the document guide body 5 opposes to the document paper sheet charging port on the upper face of the device main body 1 to supply document paper sheets loaded on the document guide body 5 into the document paper sheet charging port.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-function image forming apparatus having a printing function and an image reading function, such as a facsimile apparatus having a copy function, and more particularly to an improvement of its cassette.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a multi-function image forming apparatus having both a printing function and an image reading function, such as a facsimile machine with a copy function, a paper feeding / conveying path and a paper surface for printing or recording. Paper feed and conveyance paths for reading information are provided independently of each other. Therefore, it is desired to reduce the size and cost of the device by sharing both of these functions as much as possible.

A conventional example relating to a common paper feed technique for an image forming apparatus having such a composite function will be described. First, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-102357, in an electronic facsimile machine having a page printer with a facsimile function, a part or all of a path of a transmission document and a path of a transfer sheet are shared, and a paper feed roll and a timing sensor are used. There is proposed a structure in which the cost of the entire device and the increase in size are prevented by sharing the device. However,
In this case, although the apparatus is generally shared, the transmission original document and the transfer sheet supply route are different routes.

Further, in Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 63-30825, one paper feed roller is used both as a reading unit and for recording, and also has a function as a member for pressing a transmission original to the paper feed roller when transmitting to the recording head. By letting
A structure has been proposed that simplifies a mechanism that forms a transport path for a transmission document and a recording sheet. However, in this paper, one paper feed roller is used both as a reading unit and for recording, but the recording paper is a heat-sensitive roll paper, and the feeding drive roller and the driven roller for supplying this roll paper are separately provided. It is provided in.

Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-257755 proposes a structure in which a document feeding means and a recording medium feeding means are used in common to reduce the size of the apparatus and the manufacturing cost. However, in this conventional example,
A recording paper tray for setting recording paper and an original tray for setting originals are separately provided, and a pickup mechanism including a large number of parts such as a pickup motor, a gear, and a shaft is provided above the original tray.

Further, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-267413, two kinds of paper feed trays and one paper feed roller common to them are provided, and one of these trays is selected by a switching means to make one paper feed. Recording rollers or originals can be selectively fed by the paper rollers.

As described above, many conventional apparatuses have proposed to simplify the apparatus, reduce the size, and reduce the cost by sharing the paper feed path. At present, no attention is paid to the point of trying to share a cassette or tray for feeding the.

For example, FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a facsimile apparatus having a composite function, in which a main body 21 is provided with a recording paper cassette 22 and a manuscript paper tray 23 independently of each other. One of the recording sheets (not shown) accommodated in 22 is separated from other sheets by the operation of a sheet separating mechanism (not shown) and taken out, and the recording sheet roller 24 and the recording sheet guide 25 are used to make a printing unit 26. Transport to.

In this printing unit 26, an image signal is printed on a recording sheet by a thermal head or the like. On the other hand, the original paper stored in the original paper tray 23 is taken out by the blocking rubber 28 and the separation / conveyance roller 29 while the meandering is prevented by the hopper guide 27, and is conveyed by the platen roller 30 while being conveyed by the platen roller 30. Is read and converted into an electric signal.

[0010]

As described above, in each of the conventional devices, the various mechanical parts are commonly used and shared to reduce the size and cost of the inside of the device such as the printing part and the image reading part. However, since an original paper tray and a recording paper cassette outside the apparatus are separately required, the apparatus has a disadvantage that the external shape is large and the number of parts is large and the cost is high.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus having a highly efficient composite function by commonly using a part of a supply cassette and a tray for printing paper, original paper and the like having different purposes and purposes. .

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a reading function for converting the original content of an original sheet supplied from an original sheet inlet into an original reading electric signal, and a recording sheet cassette are used. The recording sheet is taken out and supplied from the recording sheet supply port, and a printing function for executing printing according to an image electric signal received by the printing means is provided. In an image forming apparatus provided with a recording paper cassette located at the upper stage, the recording paper cassette is provided upright on the recording paper supply port so that the contained recording papers can be supplied one by one, and the upper surface is provided. The cover is provided with an accommodating portion for accommodating and retracting the document guiding body, and the document guiding body accommodated in the accommodating portion is referred to as the accommodating portion. In the state of being taken out, the lower end edge of the document guide body is opposed to the document sheet input port on the upper surface of the main body of the image forming apparatus, and the document sheet placed on the document guide body is set in the document sheet input port. It is characterized by being able to supply.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. <First Embodiment>

FIG. 1 is a side view of the external appearance of a facsimile machine with a copying function as an image forming apparatus equipped with a recording paper cassette according to the present invention. A recording paper cassette 2 is installed upright on the upper surface so as to correspond to a recording paper supply port (not shown).

The present invention is characterized by this recording paper cassette. As shown in FIG. 3, the recording paper cassette 2 has a front lower half portion covered with a lid body 3. A central portion of the plate surface of the body 3 is cut out in a U shape to form a storage portion 4, and a plate guide 5 is removably provided in the storage portion 4.

The plate guide 5 serves as a document tray, that is, a document guide body, and is made of a plate material having an outer area slightly smaller than that of the storage portion 4. (Not shown) is fitted into a pivot hole (not shown) provided at the upper end of the storage section 4 to rotate in the direction of arrow A with an axis line I-I connecting these pivot projections as a fulcrum. You can do it.

Since these pivotal protrusions are provided at the same height position on both side edges of the upper end of the plate guide 5, the rotation axis of the plate guide 5 is a document (not shown) provided on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 1. Since the upper surface of the plate guide 5 is set parallel to the traveling direction of the original sheet, the original sheet on the plate guide is smoothly fed into the original sheet inlet.

Reference numeral 6 denotes an engaging portion on which a finger is put when the plate guide 5 is taken out from the storage portion 4, and 7 is a stopper provided at one lower side edge of the cutout portion 4, and the plate guide 5 is stored in the storage portion 4. At this time, it is to prevent the plate guide 5 from falling into the recording paper cassette 2 from the storage portion 4 by engaging with the plate guide 5. Reference numeral 5c designates a defective portion formed on the side surface of the lower end portion of the plate guide 5 for the escape of the stopper 7.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a stopper provided on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 1 in front of a hopper guide 10 provided for document sheets, and is composed of, for example, a resin plate spring. The stopper 8 elastically engages with the lower end edge 5a of the plate guide 5 when the plate guide 5 is taken out from the storage portion 4 and rotated around the pivotal projection as a fulcrum to open. The semi-fixed state is maintained in the open state of No. 5.

In the present invention, in the open state in which the plate guide 5 is thus taken out from the storage portion 4 and elastically engaged with the stopper 8, the plate guide 5 cooperates with the lid body 3 to serve as a document tray. When the original is read, when the original is placed on the plate guide 5 and the operation section 9 on the upper surface of the apparatus body 1 is operated to issue a reading instruction, the original is read by the hopper guide 10. While being prevented from meandering, it is taken in by the blocking rubber 11 and the separation / conveyance roller 12, and while being conveyed by the platen roller 13, the original content is read by the line sensor 14 and converted into an electric signal. In the figure, 16 is a recording paper roller, 17 is a recording paper guide, and 18 is a printing unit.

<Second Embodiment> FIG. 4 is a side view of the external appearance of a facsimile machine with a copy function, which is equipped with a recording paper cassette according to the second embodiment. In the recording cassette of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a quadrangular recess is provided in a substantially central portion of the plate surface of the lid body 3 to form a storage portion 15, and the storage tray 15 is provided with an original tray. That is, the plate guide 5 serving as a document guide body is removably fitted and stored. Of course, the storage portion 15 may be formed by cutting out the plate surface of the lid body 3 like the storage portion 4 as in the first embodiment.

The plate guide 5 is made of a plate material having an external area slightly smaller than that of the storage portion 15. The storage portion 15 has pivot support projections (not shown) provided on both side surfaces of its lower end portion.
By fitting into a pivot hole (not shown) provided at the lower end of the shaft, it is possible to rotate in the direction indicated by arrow B with the axis line II-II connecting these pivot projections as the fulcrum.

Also in this embodiment, since the pivotal projections are provided at the same height on both side surfaces of the lower end of the plate guide 5, the rotation axis of the plate guide 5 is the upper surface of the apparatus main body 1. Is parallel to an original paper input port (not shown) provided on the plate guide 5, the upper surface of the plate guide 5 is set to be parallel to the traveling direction of the original paper, and the original paper on the plate guide is smoothly fed into the original paper input port.

The plate guide 5 formed in this way is attached to the lid 3
The hopper guide 10 is taken out from the storage part 15 of the hopper guide 10 and is rotated about the fulcrum.
When brought into contact with the upper surface of the apparatus main body 1 further rearward, the plate guide 5 functions as a document tray.

Also in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the engaging portion 6 is provided at the upper end portion of the plate guide 5 so that it can be taken out from the storage portion 15 more easily. Also, the device body 1
A stopper 8 (not shown in the present embodiment) is provided on the upper surface of the plate guide 5 and is elastically engaged with the upper edge 5b of the plate guide 5 that is taken out from the storage portion 15 and opened, so that the open state of the plate guide 5 can be half. It can be fixedly held.

As a result of the above configuration, also in this embodiment,
The plate guide 5 is taken out from the storage portion 15 and the stopper 8
In the opened state elastically engaged with the plate guide 5, the plate guide 5 functions as a document tray in cooperation with the lid body 3. When reading a document, a document sheet is placed on the plate guide 5, When a reading instruction is executed by operating the operation unit 9 on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 1, the document sheet is prevented from meandering by the hopper guide 10 and the blocking rubber 11 and the separation conveyance roller 1 are provided.
2 is taken in, and while being conveyed by the platen roller 13, the original content of the original is read by the line sensor 14 and converted into an electric signal.

In this second embodiment, the plate guide 5
For the convenience of the user, for example, "Please open this plate guide when sending" should be written on the front side of the page, and "Please put the manuscript paper on this side" on the back side. it can. In addition, the storage section 1
A sticker on which an operation procedure at the time of transmission is printed may be attached to the bottom surface of 5.

In both the first and second embodiments, the document guide body is composed of a plate guide made of a plate material, but the invention is not limited to this, and the metal wire is bent or assembled. May be formed into a flat body, or may be formed by molding a hard synthetic resin into a net-like flat body or the like.

Further, in both the first and second embodiments, the document guide body is provided with a pivot support projection at the upper or lower end of its side surface, and the projection is pivotally supported in a pivot support hole provided in the storage portion. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a hinge mechanism is provided between the upper edge or the lower edge of the document guide body and the upper edge or the lower edge of the storage section so that the document guide body can be removed from the storage section. It may be formed as possible.

Further, pivot support projections are provided at the upper ends of both side edges of the document guide body, and slide grooves extending vertically are provided at both side edges of the storage section, and the pivot support projections of the document guide body can be slid into these slide grooves. When the document guide is stowed, the pivot support projection is located at the upper end of the slide groove, and when the document guide is taken out, the pivot support projection is slid downward along the slide groove to accommodate the document guide body. Alternatively, the lower end may be taken out and the lower end may be engaged with the stopper 8.

[0031]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the document guide body is removably provided in the storage portion provided in the lid of the recording paper cassette, and the document guide body is taken out from the storage portion and the lower end thereof is provided. By making the edge face the document sheet input port, the document sheet placed on the document guide can be supplied to the document sheet input port very smoothly. Therefore, according to the present invention, unlike the conventional image forming apparatus, the original paper tray is not provided separately from the recording paper cassette, but independently.
It is possible to have a structure in which a part of the lid of the recording paper cassette is substantially shared, and the structure is extremely simple, and the size can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the document guide body is pivotally supported in the storage portion provided in the lid of the recording paper cassette so as to be removably provided, and the document guide body is taken out from the storage portion. By allowing the lower end edge to face the document sheet input port, the document sheet placed on the document guide body can be supplied to the document sheet input port very smoothly. Therefore, according to the present invention, unlike the conventional image forming apparatus, the document sheet tray is not provided separately and independently from the recording sheet cassette, and substantially a part of the lid of the recording sheet cassette is provided. The structure can be shared, the structure is extremely simple, and the size can be reduced.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, unlike the conventional image forming apparatus, the original paper tray is not provided separately from the recording paper cassette, but is substantially independent of the recording paper cassette. The structure of the storage part can be shared, and the structure is extremely simple, and the size can be reduced. Moreover, since the storage part is formed by a mere notch provided in the lid, the structure of the storage part is It is extremely simple and can be constructed at a lower cost.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, unlike the conventional image forming apparatus, the original paper tray is not provided separately from the recording paper cassette, but is substantially independent of the recording paper cassette. The structure of the storage part can be shared, and the structure is extremely simple, and the size can be reduced. Moreover, since the storage part is formed by a simple recessed part provided in the lid, the structure of the storage part is It is extremely simple and can be constructed at a lower cost.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, unlike the conventional image forming apparatus, the original paper tray is not provided separately from the recording paper cassette, but is substantially independent of the recording paper cassette. It is possible to use a structure that shares a part of it, and it has an extremely simple structure and can be miniaturized. In addition, since the document guide body taken out from the storage section is positioned by the stopper, At this time, the document guide body can be stabilized, and the document sheet can be supplied to the document sheet inlet without trouble.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, unlike the conventional image forming apparatus, the document sheet tray is not provided separately from the recording sheet cassette, but is substantially independent of the recording sheet cassette. A part of the document can be shared, the structure is extremely simple, and the size can be reduced. In addition, a message can be attached to the front or back of the document guide, making it extremely convenient for the user. A good image forming apparatus can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 illustrates a first embodiment of an image forming apparatus including a recording paper cassette according to the present invention, and is a schematic side view of a state in which a document guide body is stored in a storage portion of a lid body. .

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing a state in which a document guide body is taken out from a storage portion of a lid body in the image forming apparatus and a lower end edge of the document guide body is engaged with a stopper on an upper surface of the apparatus main body.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing an outer shape of a recording paper cassette in the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of a state in which a document guide body is stored in a storage portion of a lid according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of a recording paper cassette in the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of an image forming apparatus including a conventional recording sheet cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 device body 2 Recording paper cassette 3 lid 4 storage 5 Plate guide 8 stopper 15 Storage

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 3F063 AA01 AB07 BA04 BA08 BA09                       CA04 CA06 CB07                 3F343 FA02 FA03 FB03 FC17 FC30                       GA02 HA01 KB02 KB17                 5C062 AA02 AA05 AB30 AD01 AD06                       BA02

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A reading function for converting an original content of an original sheet supplied from an original sheet input port into an original reading electric signal, and a printing means for printing on a recording sheet taken out from a recording sheet cassette and supplied from a recording sheet supply port. And an image forming apparatus having a printing function for executing printing in accordance with the image electric signal received by the recording sheet cassette, and the recording sheet cassette having the document sheet input port located above the recording sheet supply port on the upper surface of the apparatus main body. In the above-mentioned recording paper cassette, the recording paper cassette is provided upright in the recording paper supply port so that the contained recording papers can be supplied one by one, and the upper surface is covered with a lid. A storage section for storing the body is provided, and the lower end edge of the document guide body is located in the state where the document guide body stored in the storage section is taken out from the storage section. A recording sheet characterized in that the original sheet placed on the original guide body is made to face the original sheet inlet on the upper surface of the main body of the image forming apparatus, and the original sheet can be supplied to the original sheet inlet. An image forming apparatus equipped with a cassette. 2. When the document guide body is taken out of the storage section and opened when the document guide body is pivotally supported by the lid body, the lower end edge or the upper end edge of the document guide body is the original sheet. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a document sheet placed on the document guide body is configured to be able to be supplied to the document sheet inlet port as a structure facing the input port. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage portion is formed in the lid body by a cutout portion that is cut out larger than the document guide body. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage portion is formed in the lid body by a recessed portion formed larger than the document guide body. 5. A stopper is provided on the upper surface of the main body of the apparatus in the vicinity of the document sheet inlet, and the stopper is engaged with the upper edge or the lower edge of the document guide body. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a message is attached to the front surface or the back surface of the document guide body.