JP2003137470A - Image forming device, sheet processor, and its mounting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device capable of extending a sheet ejecting space in the device to install a sheet processor in the limited ejecting space, and to provide the sheet processor and its mounting method. SOLUTION: The image forming device 100 is constituted by providing a sheet delivery space part 4 capable of placing ejected sheets between an image forming part 1 for forming an image in a sheet and a scanner part 3 for reading the image in a document. A sheet ejecting tray 41 that makes the bottom face part of the space part 4 is attachable/detachable. After the tray 41 is detached, the sheet processor consisting of an option sheet ejecting unit 160 and a finisher body 200 for performing a prescribed process to the sheet can be attached/ detached in the space part 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus,
In particular, the present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus and a mounting method thereof, and in particular, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile, a sheet is discharged into a space provided between an image forming section and an image reading section, and an in-machine discharge type image forming The present invention is suitable for application to an apparatus and a sheet processing apparatus attachable thereto.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile, which is equipped with an image reading unit (hereinafter referred to as a scanner) for reading a document, a scanner is arranged at the upper position of the apparatus. . In particular, most of the models that form an image by the electrophotographic method widely used in the office use this format.

Further, in recent years, for the purpose of cost reduction and device installation space reduction, so-called multi-function peripherals having both a printer function and a copier function or a facsimile function have been increasing.

Further, by disposing the scanner and the image forming section separately and forming a sheet discharge space between them, the discharge tray is prevented from protruding to the side surface of the apparatus, so-called in-machine discharge type. An image forming apparatus is realized.

Even in the space-saving image forming apparatus as described above, so-called sheet processing such as a sorter for sorting and aligning sheets and a finisher for performing processing such as staple binding while maintaining the space-saving property. It is desired to have a configuration in which a device can be added as an option.

In response to such a demand, an image forming apparatus of the type in which the sheet processing apparatus is provided in the sheet discharge space inside the apparatus has already been proposed.

[0007]

However, if an attempt is made to provide a sheet processing apparatus in this sheet discharge space, the size of the sheet processing apparatus will be limited due to the limited space. Further, it is difficult to mount the sheet processing apparatus.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to expand the sheet discharge space inside the image forming apparatus and to install the sheet processing apparatus in the sheet discharge space where the space is limited. A processing apparatus and a mounting method thereof are provided.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the first invention of the present invention is directed to an image forming section for forming an image on a sheet, an image reading section for reading an image of an original, and an image forming section. Between the image reading unit and the image reading unit, the bottom portion of the space is detachable, and the bottom portion of the space is removed.
And a sheet processing means for performing a predetermined process on the sheet.

In the first aspect of the invention, typically, the sheet processing means performs a predetermined process on the connection unit connected to the sheet discharging portion of the image forming unit and the sheet sent from the connection unit. An executable sheet processing unit.

In the first invention, typically, the image reading section is arranged above the image forming section. Similarly, the bottom of the space is arranged above the image forming unit.

A second aspect of the present invention is provided between an image forming section for forming an image on a sheet, an image reading section for reading an image on a document, and the image forming section and the image reading section. A sheet processing apparatus characterized in that a bottom surface portion is detachable, and a sheet is mounted in a state where the bottom surface portion of the space is removed to perform a predetermined process on a sheet.

In the second aspect of the invention, typically, a connecting unit for connecting to a sheet discharging portion of the image forming unit, and a sheet processing unit for performing a predetermined process on the sheet sent from the connecting unit. Have.

In the second aspect of the invention, the image reading section is typically arranged above the image forming section. Similarly, the bottom of the space is arranged above the image forming unit.

In the second aspect of the invention, typically, a connecting unit connectable to a sheet discharging portion of the image forming unit and a structure capable of executing a predetermined process on the sheet sent from the connecting unit. And a sheet processing unit that has been processed.

In the second invention, typically, the image reading section is arranged above the image forming section. In the second aspect of the invention, typically, the bottom part of the space is
It is arranged above the image forming unit.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a bottom portion of a space provided between an image forming portion for forming an image on a sheet and an image reading portion for reading an image on a document is removed so that the bottom portion is A sheet processing means for performing a predetermined process on the sheet is mounted in the removed space.

In the third aspect of the invention, typically, the sheet processing means performs a predetermined process on the connection unit connected to the sheet discharging portion of the image forming unit and the sheet sent from the connection unit. And a sheet processing unit for performing the processing.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In all the drawings of the following embodiments, the same or corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals.

First, the structure of the image forming apparatus before mounting the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 shows the state of the image forming apparatus before the sheet processing apparatus according to this embodiment is mounted, and FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the image forming unit.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, an image forming apparatus 100 according to this embodiment includes a main body 101, an automatic document feeder (ADF) 102 optionally mounted on the upper surface of the main body, and an main body of the main body 101. At the bottom, the paper feed table 103 is similarly installed as an option.

The image forming apparatus 100 according to this embodiment.
Is configured to have both a copying machine function and a facsimile function. Further, it is a so-called digital multi-function peripheral that converts image information (optical signal) of the read document into an electric signal to form an image.

As shown in FIG. 3, the main body 101 has an image forming section 1 arranged substantially in the center thereof, and a main body sheet feeding section 2 arranged below the image forming section 1. Further, the scanner unit 3 as an image reading unit is arranged at the top of the main body 101. Also,
A space is provided between the scanner unit 3 and the image forming unit 1, and a discharge space unit 4 is formed by this space.

Further, the main body 101 according to this embodiment
Winglessness is achieved by separating the image forming unit 1 and the scanner unit 3 by utilizing the characteristics of the digital machine and providing a paper discharge space between them. As a result, it is possible to realize the space-saving image forming apparatus 100 having no protrusion on the side surface of the apparatus.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, in the main body 101, the image forming unit 1 is composed of a conventionally known print engine of an electrophotographic system. The image forming unit 1 also includes a laser writing device (not shown), an electrophotographic process unit 150, a fixing device 151, and the like.

Further, the main body paper feed section 2 is constructed to have a two-stage paper feed cassette 21.
A sheet is supplied to the image forming unit 1 from. Each of the paper feed cassettes 21 is a front loading type that is pulled out toward the front side of the apparatus to supply sheets. Therefore, a pull-out handle is provided at the center of the front surface of the cassette.

Further, in the scanner section 3, a contact glass (not shown) is arranged on the upper surface and a scanner unit (not shown) is arranged below.

Further, the paper discharge space portion 4 formed by the space between the scanner portion 3 and the image forming portion 1 has two side surfaces except the front surface, that is, the left side and the back side of the apparatus in FIG. Not only is it surrounded, but the top and bottom are surrounded by the scanner unit 3 and the image forming unit 1.

The paper discharge tray 41 is provided at the bottom of the paper discharge space 4 and on the upper surface of the image forming unit 1. In FIG. 4, a sheet discharge path is provided inside the in-machine sheet discharge cover 45 forming the left side wall.
Then, the sheet on which the image is formed in the image forming unit 1 is
The sheet is discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 41 from a position below the height direction of the in-machine sheet discharge cover 45.

The ADF 102 is attached to the upper part of the main body 101 by a hinge (not shown) provided on the rear side of the apparatus. Further, the ADF 102 is installed so as to cover the contact glass on the upper surface of the scanner unit 3 so that the contact glass can be opened and closed and closed. Note that the configuration and operation of the ADF 102 are the same as those known in the related art, so description thereof will be omitted.

Then, in this ADF 102, a document bundle (not shown) set on the document table 71 is conveyed one by one from the lower side onto the contact glass. After that, the document that has been read and scanned by the scanner unit 3 is discharged onto the document discharge tray 72.

In addition, when copying without using automatic paper feeding, or when copying books or notebooks, the ADF
102 can be used as a pressure plate. When the optional ADF 102 is not mounted, a pressure plate for pressing the document on the contact glass is mounted on the upper surface of the scanner unit 3.

The paper feed table 103 is composed of the main body 101.
Like the main body paper feed unit 2, the main body paper feed unit 2 is composed of two paper feed cassettes. Therefore, in the image forming apparatus 100 according to this embodiment, there are a total of four sheet feeding cassettes 21.
The paper feeding unit is configured by. Note that the upper side cassette of the main body paper feeding unit 2 can be changed to an automatic double-sided unit (double-sided tray) to enable double-sided copying.

Next, the structure of the finisher, that is, the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 shows an optional sheet discharge unit 160 in this sheet processing apparatus, and FIG. 6 shows a finisher main body 200 of the sheet processing apparatus. The optional sheet discharge unit 160 shown in FIG. 5 and the finisher main body 200 shown in FIG. 6 constitute a sheet processing apparatus according to this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 5, the optional paper discharge unit 16 in the sheet processing apparatus as the sheet processing means.
Reference numeral 0 denotes a connection path unit that is configured to be connectable to the sheet discharge path provided on the upper surface of the image forming unit 1 of the image forming apparatus 100. Also, this optional paper discharge unit 160
Is composed of two parts 160a and 160b.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the finisher main body 200 aligns a plurality of sheets sent from the optional sheet discharge unit 160, staples them, and binds the bound sheet bundle to the stack tray 202. This is a sheet processing unit that performs a series of sheet staple binding processing of ejecting the sheets. The details of the structure of the finisher are described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-44916.

The finisher main body 200 shown in FIG.
It is an optional equipment of the above-mentioned in-machine sheet discharge type image forming apparatus 100, and is configured to be mountable in the sheet discharge space section 4.

FIG. 1 shows a front view of the image forming apparatus in which the sheet processing apparatus according to this embodiment is mounted, and FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of the sheet path configuration in this case. A copying operation in the image forming apparatus 100 equipped with a finisher will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 by using an example in which the ADF 102 is used as a pressure plate.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, after the sheet processing apparatus is attached, an original (not shown) is placed on the contact glass on the upper surface of the scanner unit 3 as shown in FIG. .

Next, after closing the ADF 102, the operation unit 6
Specify the number of copies with 0 and press the start button.
As a result, the reading of the document by the scanner unit is started. Further, the image information of the read document is digitized by photoelectric conversion and image processing is performed.

Based on the image-processed signal,
The laser writing device of the image forming unit 1 is driven to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum (neither is shown). This electrostatic latent image is visualized as a toner image.

After that, the toner image is transferred to a sheet (not shown) fed from the sheet feeding cassette 21 of the sheet feeding unit 2 of the main body or the sheet feeding table 103. The toner image transferred onto this sheet is fixed by the fixing device 151 and then sent to the optional paper discharge unit 160.

The sheet on which the image has been formed is sent to the processing tray 208 of the finisher main body 200 after passing through the sheet path of the option paper discharge unit 160. Therefore, after the sheets are subjected to predetermined processing such as alignment and staple binding, they are discharged onto the stack tray 202.

Next, a method of mounting the finisher on the in-machine sheet discharging type image forming apparatus will be described in order. 7 and 8 are perspective views of the in-machine sheet discharge type image forming apparatus before the finisher is attached.

First, the preparatory operation of the in-machine sheet discharge type image forming apparatus for mounting the finisher will be described.

That is, first, as shown in FIG. 9, the front door 86 is opened to the front side of the apparatus main body. Next, the in-machine discharge cover 45
(Not shown in FIG. 9) is removed.

After that, as shown in FIG.
The paper discharge tray 41 fixed at two points on the front plate 82 of the main body is removed (in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 10). At the same time, the upper left cover 80 fixed to the main body stay 84 (not shown in FIG. 9) by the screw 167 shown in FIG. 9 is removed from the main body 101.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a state where all of the paper discharge tray 41 and the upper left cover 80 are removed. In this state, the finisher is ready for mounting.

As described above, by removing the paper discharge tray 41 for mounting the finisher, the space width of the paper discharge space portion 4, in particular, the space height can be secured, so that the paper discharge space is limited. It becomes possible to effectively use the space.

Next, the operation of mounting the finisher as the sheet processing apparatus will be described.

The finisher is composed of a finisher main body 200 as a sheet processing unit and an optional paper discharge unit 160 as a connection unit, which are separately mounted on the image forming apparatus 100.
Therefore, first, as shown in FIG. 12, as the mounting operation, one part 160 of the option paper discharge unit 160 is used.
A is attached from one side (left side in FIG. 12) of the main body 101.

Next, as shown in FIG. 13, the other portion 106b of the option paper discharge unit 160 is replaced by the other portion 1
The image forming apparatus 100 is mounted from the same direction as in 60a. The optional paper discharge unit 160 is mounted by this two-stage mounting.

With respect to the mounting direction of the finisher main body 200, as shown in FIG. 14, the paper discharge space portion 4 from the insertion side (front side in FIG. 14) of the main body 101 in the arrow B direction.
Insert straight toward.

As described above, the finisher is attached and fixed to the paper discharge space portion 4 in the machine of the paper discharge type image forming apparatus 100.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been specifically described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention. is there.

For example, in the above-described one embodiment, a digital copying machine is cited as an example of the configuration of the image forming apparatus, but the invention is not limited to this, and a printer having a sheet processing apparatus (finisher) is provided. It can be applied to an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile, a monochrome copying machine, or the like.

[0057]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the sheet processing apparatus is mounted in the in-machine discharge space of the in-machine discharge type image forming apparatus, the discharge section of the image forming apparatus is configured. By removing the bottom part of the space to be used, it is possible to expand the space of the limited in-machine sheet ejection space part, so that it is possible to ease the size limitation of the sheet processing apparatus, Not only is it possible to mount the sheet processing apparatus in the paper discharge space in the machine, but it is also possible to facilitate the mounting operation of the sheet processing apparatus in the image forming apparatus.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an image forming apparatus equipped with a sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a sheet path when the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is mounted.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing the image forming apparatus before mounting the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a configuration of an image forming unit of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an optional sheet discharge unit of the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a finisher main body of the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the image forming apparatus before mounting the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the image forming apparatus before mounting the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a state in which a front door is opened in a mounting preparation process of the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a front view showing a state in which the discharge tray is removed in the mounting preparation process of the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a state after removing the tray and the cover in the mounting preparation process of the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a front view showing a method of mounting the option paper discharge unit from the left side of the main body.

FIG. 13 is a front view for explaining a method of mounting the finisher main body on the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing a mounting direction of the finisher body.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Imaging department 2 Main body paper feed section 3 Scanner section 4 Paper ejection space 21 Paper feed cassette 41 Output tray 45 In-machine paper ejection cover 60 Control 71 Platen 72 Document ejection tray 80 Upper left cover 82 Front plate 84 body stay 86 front door 100 image forming apparatus 101 main body 102 automatic document feeder 103 paper feed table 150 Electrophotographic process means 151 Fixing device 160 Optional paper ejection unit 162,167 screws 200 Finisher body 202 stack tray 208 processing tray

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet, an image reading unit for reading an image of a document, a space provided between the image forming unit and the image reading unit, and a bottom portion of which is detachable. An image forming apparatus comprising: a sheet processing unit that is mounted in a state where a bottom portion of the space is removed and performs a predetermined process on the sheet. 2. The sheet processing means, wherein the sheet processing means is capable of executing the predetermined processing on the connection unit connected to a sheet discharging portion of the image forming section, and the sheet sent from the connection unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a unit. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image reading unit is arranged above the image forming unit. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a bottom surface portion of the space is disposed above the image forming portion. 5. An image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet, an image reading unit for reading an image of a document, a space provided between the image forming unit and the image reading unit, and having a bottom surface thereof detachable. And a sheet processing apparatus that is mounted in a state where a bottom surface portion of the space is removed and performs a predetermined process on the sheet. 6. The sheet processing unit according to claim 5, further comprising a connection unit connected to a sheet discharging portion of the image forming unit, and a sheet processing unit configured to perform the predetermined process on the sheet delivered from the connection unit. Sheet processing equipment. 7. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the image reading unit is arranged above the image forming unit. 8. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the bottom surface of the space is arranged above the image forming unit. 9. A bottom portion of a space provided between an image forming portion for forming an image on a sheet and an image reading portion for reading an image of a document is removed, and the sheet is placed in the space where the bottom portion is removed. A method for mounting a sheet processing apparatus in an image forming apparatus, which mounts a sheet processing unit that performs a predetermined process on a sheet. 10. A connection unit for connecting the sheet processing means to a sheet discharging portion of the image forming unit, and a sheet processing unit for performing the predetermined processing on the sheet delivered from the connection unit. The method for mounting the sheet processing apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising: