JP2003146522A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device having an image reading part at an upper part and a paper delivering part provided between the same and an image forming part provided below the same, reducing the height of the device and improving visibility and taking-out workability of sheets delivered to a delivered paper tray part. SOLUTION: In the image forming device provided with the image forming part 100 forming an image on a sheet to complete the sheet, a sheet delivering means 121 delivering the sheet on which the image is formed, the paper delivering tray part 117 provided above the image forming part 100, and the image reading part 1 provided above the paper delivering tray part 117 with an interval and supplying image information to the image forming part 100, a space having an opening on one side is composed between an upper surface of the paper delivering tray part 117 and a casing of the image reading part 1 and the space has a descent from the opening toward an inner part.

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 such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, a scanner, or a multi-function machine having these functions together, and more particularly to reading the contents of an original document on the upper stage of the device. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a structure in which contents are recorded on a sheet in a lower stage of the apparatus and the recorded sheet is discharged to a middle stage.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the importance of a single image forming apparatus having multiple functions has increased. For example, a device having a copy function, a fax function, a printer function, a scanner function, etc. is provided. With the image forming apparatus having such a composite function, it is not necessary to dispose an individual apparatus corresponding to each function, and the area occupied by the OA device in the office can be significantly reduced, so that the image forming apparatus can be used in a small office. It can also be used.

On the other hand, in recent digital image forming apparatuses, in order to reduce the installation area of the image forming apparatus itself, there is provided a sheet discharging section for discharging a sheet after image formation in an intermediate portion of the apparatus. Has been done. That is, the paper discharge unit is arranged between the upper image reading unit and the image forming unit provided below the image reading unit. As a result, the installation area of the device can be reduced compared to the configuration in which the paper discharge tray portion is provided outside the device.

FIG. 6 is an electrophotographic copying machine, which is an example of an image forming apparatus in which a sheet discharging section is arranged between the image reading section on the upper side of the apparatus and the image forming section provided below the apparatus. It is a figure which shows the structure of.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a general flat-bed type image reading section as an image reading section arranged on the upper portion of the image forming apparatus.

In FIG. 3, 1 is an image reading unit, and 1b is a document reading table (hereinafter referred to as a document table) provided with a document table glass 1a. Reference numeral 20 denotes a scanner unit as a reading unit, which includes a first mirror base 3, a second mirror base 4, a lens 5 and a CCD 6 which is one of photoelectric conversion elements for converting an image formed on a light receiving element into an electric signal. Become. 9 is C
The optical drive motor 9 is an optical drive motor that is rotated by a drive signal from the PU board 7.
0, the first mirror base 3 and the second mirror base 4 are driven via the optical system drive wire 11. In addition, 8 is a power supply board.

The first mirror base 3 is directly fixed to the optical system drive wire 11, and the second mirror base 4 is connected to the optical system drive wire 11 via an optical pulley 10.
Therefore, the moving speed of the second mirror base 4 is half the moving speed of the first mirror base 3, and the optical path length from the document to the CCD 6 is always constant.

In the image reading section 1 thus constructed,
When scanning a document placed on the platen glass 1a,
The document is illuminated with light from a document illumination lamp 2 provided on the first mirror stand 3, and the first and second mirror stands 3 and 4 are provided.
Is moved along the platen glass 1a. As a result, the original illumination lamp 2 and the mirror 3 arranged on the first and second mirror stands 3 and 4 shown in FIG.
a, 4a, 4b move along the platen glass 1a, and the reflected light from the document is reflected by the mirror 3 of the first mirror table 3 along with this.
a, an image is formed on the CCD 6 via the mirrors 4a and 4b of the second mirror stand 4 and the lens 5, and the CCD 6 is configured to sequentially read images. In addition, here CCD
The direction in which the document 6 is read is called the main scanning direction, and the direction in which the first mirror base 3 and the second mirror base 4 move is called the sub-scanning direction. The length in the sub-scanning direction corresponds to the longitudinal dimension of the normal image reading unit 1, that is, the vertical direction of the maximum size original that can be placed on the original glass 1a.

The image signal read by the CCD 6 is sent to the CPU.
It is input to the substrate 7 and converted into image data by an A / D converter (not shown) provided on the CPU substrate 7. After that, the CPU board 7 performs various image processing on the image data according to an instruction command from the image forming unit side of the external device or the image forming apparatus, and the image data is displayed on the image forming unit side of the external device or the image forming apparatus. To send.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as an ADF unit) provided in the image reading section 1. In the figure, 50 is an ADF unit, and 5
Reference numeral 0a is a document stacking table. Note that 50e is the document stacking table 5
0a is a side regulating plate, and the side regulating plate 50e serves to position the document in the width direction and at the same time prevent the document from being skewed during conveyance.

When the ADF unit 50 is used, the original S placed on the original tray 50a as shown in FIG.
First, after being fed by the paper feed roller 51, the separation pad 52a and the separation roller 5 for preventing the double feeding of the document S.
The sheets are separated one by one by 2b, and then reach the reading point R via the feed roller 54. Here, when the ADF unit 50 is used, the first mirror base 3 and the second mirror base 4 do not move in the sub scanning direction from the standby position shown in FIG.
The document S conveyed to the reading point R is read at this standby position. Then, after the image is read, the document S is discharged by the discharge roller 53 to the discharge tray unit 50.
It is designed to be discharged to b. The ADF unit 50 is attached to the upper surface of the image reading unit 1 via a hinge (not shown) so that it can be opened and closed.
It is also possible to open 0 and directly place the originals S one by one directly on the original glass 1a to input an image. Then, in such a case, the first and second mirror bases 3 and 4 operate in the sub-scanning direction to read an image. 1
Reference numeral c is a pressure plate provided on the lower surface of the ADF unit 50 and for pressing the document S placed on the document table glass 1a when the ADF unit 50 is closed.

In the image forming apparatus having the image reading section 1 and the ADF unit 50 as shown in FIG.
The image signal of the original document S read in is converted into image data by the CPU substrate 7 and sent to the laser scanner 110 of the image forming unit 100. Then, the laser scanner 110 emits a laser beam L based on the image data, reflects the laser beam L by a mirror 111, and directs it toward a photosensitive drum 105a as an image carrier integrally provided in the process cartridge 105b. By irradiating, a latent image based on image data is formed on the photosensitive drum 105a. Further, after this, the photosensitive drum 105
The latent image formed on a is processed by the process cartridge 105b.
The image is developed by developing means (not shown) provided in the. In addition,
Reference numeral 105c is a transfer unit that presses against the photosensitive drum 105a to form a transfer unit.

Transfer sheet P on which an image is formed (copied)
Is placed on the intermediate plate 103 provided in the paper feed cassette 120, and is fed to the downstream side by the paper feed roller 106 that starts to rotate in response to a signal from the CPU board 7, and then the conveyance rollers of an appropriate number of stages. The transfer portion is reached via 107. Reference numeral 101 denotes a paper feed spring that biases the intermediate plate 103 toward the paper feed roller. Reference numeral 104 denotes a separation pad for preventing the double feeding of the transfer sheets P. By pressing the separation pad 104 against the sheet feeding roller 106 by the separation spring 102, the transfer sheet P fed by the sheet feeding roller 106 is moved to 1 It can be separated into pieces. Then, by applying a transfer voltage to the transfer sheet P thus reaching the transfer portion by the transfer unit 105c, the toner image attached on the photosensitive drum 105a is transferred to the transfer sheet P. The toner image transferred to the transfer sheet P is fixed to the fixing device 112 arranged downstream.
The transfer sheet P is completely fixed by being heated and pressed by.

The transfer sheet P on which the toner image is fixed is
After passing the appropriate number of stages of the discharge rollers 113, the discharge tray unit 11 having an inclined surface with respect to the horizontal reference in order to maintain the alignment of the discharged sheets.
It is discharged to 7. In addition, the image input unit 1 arranged above the image forming unit 100 with a space is provided with a paper discharge tray unit 11
The sheet P to be discharged to the sheet 7 is arranged at a height sufficient to secure the height h of the sheet discharge outlet at which the user can take out the sheet P by hand.

[0015]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, when the operator normally confirms the sheet of the discharge tray unit 117 and takes out the sheet, the operation is performed from the direction of looking down from above. In the image forming apparatus in which the paper discharge unit 122 is installed between the image reading unit 1 and the image forming unit 100, the visibility of the sheets discharged to the paper discharge tray unit 117 is poor, and the paper discharged on the paper discharge tray unit 117 is not visible. There is a problem that it becomes difficult to take out the sheets stacked on the sheet.

In order to solve the above problems, FIG. 7 expands the sheet discharge section between the image reading section 1 and the image forming section 100, and the discharged sheets are visually recognized and stacked on the sheet discharge tray section 117. It is a figure which shows the image forming apparatus which aimed at the improvement of the workability | operativity of the taken out sheet | seat, (a) is a left side sectional drawing, (b) is a front view.

In the image forming apparatus shown in FIG.
2 By increasing the height h of the discharge take-out port, there is an advantage that the visibility and take-out workability of the sheets stacked on the discharge tray 117 are improved, but the height H of the entire apparatus is increased. The operability of the image reading unit 1 such as setting a document on the image reading unit 1 arranged on the upper part of the device is impaired, and it is not suitable to install and use the device on an office desk of a general height.

The present invention solves the problems in the prior art as described above, and has a structure in which a paper discharge unit is provided between an image reading unit at the upper portion and an image forming unit provided below the image reading unit. Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus in which the height of the apparatus is reduced and the visibility and take-out workability of a sheet discharged to a sheet discharge tray section are improved.

[0019]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image forming portion for forming an image on a sheet to form a sheet, and a sheet discharging means for discharging the sheet on which the image is formed. An image including a paper discharge tray part provided above the image forming part and an image reading part provided above the paper discharge tray part with a space therebetween to supply image information to the image forming part In the forming device, the space having an opening is formed between the upper surface of the paper discharge tray portion and the bottom surface of the housing of the image reading portion, and the space is inclined downward from the opening toward the inner side. It is characterized by being configured.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the inclined portion is inclined to the bottom surface of the image reading portion housing substantially in parallel with the paper discharge tray portion.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the electric system components of the image reading section are arranged on the inner side of the housing in the depth direction with respect to substantially the middle in the depth direction.

[0022]

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 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
2A and 2B are diagrams showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. In the figure, the same members or functions as those of FIG. 6 are designated by the same reference numerals.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment includes an image reading section 1 and an image forming section 100.
It is configured as a device in which the and are overlapped with each other, and a discharge portion (space portion) 122 is formed between both devices to discharge the sheet. It should be noted that description of the configurations and operations of the image reading unit 1, the image forming unit 100, and the paper feed cassette 120 according to the present embodiment, which are equivalent to those of the related art, is omitted, and the configurations and operations unique to the present invention will be described.

In the image forming apparatus 300 of the present embodiment, the sheet discharging means 121 is installed on the back side with respect to the front side of the apparatus, and the sheet is fed from the back side of the apparatus to the front side of the apparatus (see FIG. 1).
The sheet is ejected toward the right side of (a). On the contrary,
The image reading unit 1 is installed above the image forming unit 100 such that the sheet discharge direction and the sub-scanning direction of the image reading unit 1 are the same direction.

In the present embodiment, an inclined portion 123 is provided on the bottom surface of the housing of the image reading unit 1 so as to incline upward in the sheet ejection direction from the sheet ejection unit 121 side toward the front side. There is. Furthermore, the inclined portion 123 is
The sheet discharging means 121 side is configured to be substantially parallel to the inclined surface of the sheet discharge tray portion 117 having a downwardly inclined surface.

As a result, the height h of the sheet ejection opening (opening) 122a is secured without increasing the height H of the entire apparatus, as compared with the conventional image reading unit 1 having a flat bottom surface. This makes it possible to improve the visibility and the workability of taking out the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking unit.

Further, since the bottom surface (inclined portion) 123 of the housing of the image reading section 1 surrounding the sheet discharge section 122 and the sheet discharge tray section 117 are inclined substantially parallel toward the rear side of the apparatus, the sheet discharge is taken out. Even if the height h of the mouth 122a is not significantly widened, the visibility of the discharged paper from above the apparatus and the workability of taking out the paper can be improved when the operator confirms and takes out the paper output portion.

Further, in order to provide the inclined portion 123 on the bottom surface of the casing of the image forming section 1 as described above, in the present embodiment,
The electrical components including the CPU board 7 and the power supply board 8 arranged in the image reading unit housing are arranged in a region on the inner side of the image reading unit 1 in the sub-scanning direction. That is, by arranging the electrical component parts on the back side of the device approximately in the depth direction, the thickness of the image reading part 1 on the front side of the device is suppressed, and the image reading part housing is inclined downward toward the back side. It is possible to form a sloped portion on the bottom surface.

<Second Embodiment> FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
1A is a left side sectional view and FIG. 1B is a front view. Similar to the first embodiment, the image forming apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment is configured as a device in which the image reading unit 1 and the image forming unit 100 are overlapped with each other, and the paper discharge unit 122 is provided between both devices. Is formed to eject the sheet.

In the image forming apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the sheet discharging means 121 is installed on the back side with respect to the front side of the apparatus, and the discharged sheets are directed from the back side of the apparatus toward the front side of the front side of the apparatus. Will be ejected. On the other hand, the image reading unit 1 is installed above the image forming unit 100 so that the sheet discharge direction and the sub-scanning direction of the image reading unit 1 are orthogonal to each other.

Similar to the first embodiment, the bottom surface of the housing of the image reading unit 1 has an inclined portion 123 which is inclined upward from the sheet discharging means side toward the front side. The section 123 is configured so as to be substantially parallel to the inclined surface of the sheet discharge tray section 117 that is lowered on the sheet discharge section 121 side.

Further, electric system components including the CPU board 7 and the power supply board 8 arranged in the housing of the image reading unit 1 are arranged in a region on the inner side of substantially half of the image reading unit 1 in the main scanning direction. . As a result, even in an image forming apparatus in which the sub-scanning direction of the image reading unit 1 is arranged laterally with respect to the front side of the device operated by the operator, the thickness of the image reading unit 1 on the front side of the device is suppressed and the depth side is reduced. Image reading unit 1 that inclines downward toward the camera
It is possible to form the inclined portion 123 on the bottom surface of the housing.

As a result, even when the sub-scanning direction of the image reading unit 1 is arranged laterally with respect to the front of the apparatus,
Similar to the first embodiment, since the housing bottom surface (tilted portion) 123 of the image reading unit 1 that surrounds the paper discharge unit 122 and the sheet stacking unit 117 are inclined substantially parallel to the back side of the apparatus,
It is possible to improve the visibility of the discharged paper from above the device and the workability of the discharged paper without significantly increasing the height h of the discharged paper discharge port.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since an inclined portion is formed on the bottom surface of the housing of the image reading unit so as to incline downward from the front side of the apparatus main body to the back side, the operator can confirm and take out the sheet discharge section from the upper side of the apparatus. The visibility of the sheet is improved, and the visibility of the discharged sheet and the workability of taking out the sheet are improved without increasing the height of the entire apparatus.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a side sectional view and (b) is a front view.

FIG. 2 is an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a side sectional view and (b) is a front view thereof.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional image reading device.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an ADF unit provided in a conventional image reading apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing internal details of a conventional image reading apparatus and an ADF unit.

FIG. 6 is an example of a conventional image forming apparatus, in which (a) is a side sectional view and (b) is a front view.

FIG. 7 is another example of a conventional image forming apparatus, in which (a) is a side sectional view and (b) is a front view.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Image reading section 100 Image forming unit 121 sheet discharging means 122 paper output section 123 Inclined part 120 paper cassettes 300 image forming apparatus P transfer sheet S manuscript

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2C061 AP03 AP04 AP07 AQ06 AS02                       BB02 BB35                 2H071 DA01 DA05 DA18 DA24 EA04                 2H072 FB01                 3F054 AA01 AC02 AC03 AC05 BA04                       DA12 DA16

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet,
Sheet discharging means for discharging the sheet on which the image is formed,
Image formation including a sheet discharge tray section provided above the image forming section, and an image reading section provided above the sheet discharge tray section with a space therebetween to supply image information to the image forming section. In the apparatus, the space having an opening on one side is formed between the upper surface of the paper discharge tray section and the bottom surface of the housing of the image reading section, and the space is configured to be inclined downward from the opening toward the inner side. An image forming apparatus characterized by being provided. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inclined portion is inclined with respect to the bottom surface of the image reading unit casing substantially in parallel with the paper discharge tray portion. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electrical component of the image reading unit is arranged on the back side of the housing with respect to a substantially middle position in the depth direction.