JP2004189375A - Stock tray - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a stock tray capable of stocking a large volume of image forming papers by effectively retaining an image forming paper discharged from an image forming apparatus body, even if its tip is curled, while neatly arranging the tip. <P>SOLUTION: This stock tray is provided on a paper discharge stacker externally mounted on the discharge-side side surface of the image forming apparatus body to receive and retain the image forming paper discharged from the image forming apparatus body. This stock tray comprises a first inclined plate for supporting the front end side of the image forming paper discharged from the image forming apparatus body, a second inclined plate for supporting the rear end side of the image forming paper and a vertical plate for receiving the tip of the discharged image forming paper. The angle α of the first inclined plate with the horizontal plane is set within the range of 50-70°. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a stock tray of a discharge stacker applied to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile, a printer, and the like, and more particularly, to a large-sized image forming apparatus capable of forming an image on a sheet of A3 size or more. The present invention relates to a stock tray for a discharge stacker that is useful for the present invention.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the surface of a photoreceptor is uniformly charged to a predetermined polarity, and then image exposure is performed by irradiating light based on predetermined document information to form an electrostatic charge image. Developing to form a toner image, transferring the toner image to a predetermined sheet, and fixing the toner image on the sheet surface by heating and pressing with a fixing roller, image formation is performed. After the transfer of the toner image, the surface of the photoreceptor is cleaned by a cleaning blade or the like to remove the remaining toner, and if necessary, the charge is removed by light irradiation or the like, and the next image forming process is performed.
[0003]
In such an image forming apparatus, the paper (image forming paper) on which the toner image is fixed is discharged to the outside of the image forming apparatus. In particular, in a large-sized machine capable of forming an image on large paper of A3 or larger, A discharge stacker for holding the discharged large image forming paper is externally attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus.
[0004]
As the above-described paper discharge stacker, one having a structure shown in FIG. 3 is known.
That is, the discharge stacker 1 is externally attached to the discharge side surface 2 a of the image forming apparatus main body 2, the toner image is fixed by the fixing device 4, and the image forming paper 6 discharged by the discharge roller 5. Is received and held.
As shown in FIG. 3, the paper discharge stacker 1 has a stock tray indicated by 10 as a whole, and the tray 10 is located at the leading end side of the image forming paper 6 discharged from the image forming apparatus main body 2. A first inclined plate 12 for supporting, a second inclined plate 14 for supporting a rear end side of the image forming paper 6, and a front end of the image forming paper 6 discharged on the first inclined plate 12. It consists of a vertical plate 16. That is, the leading end 6a of the image forming paper 6 discharged from the image forming apparatus main body 2 falls on the first inclined plate 12 and slides down, and abuts on the surface of the vertical plate 16 to be aligned and held. At the same time, the rear end 6b of the image forming paper 6 that has fallen on the first inclined plate 12 is turned over and is held on the second inclined plate 14 (see Patent Document 1).
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-1999-130327
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the discharge stacker 1 as described above, as shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. 4, when the leading end 6a of the discharged image forming paper 6 is curled upward, the leading end 6a is moved to the first position. As a result, the sheet is guided upward without sliding down on the inclined plate 12, and as a result, there is a problem that the curl is tight and the liquid crystal is held in a state where it does not contact the vertical plate 16, that is, the tip is not aligned. Was. If a large number of image forming papers are stocked in such a state, the image forming papers become bulky, so that the capacity of the stocked image forming papers is limited.
[0007]
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to effectively hold the image forming paper discharged from the image forming apparatus main body even when the leading end thereof is curled, and to stock a large volume of image forming paper. It is to provide a possible stock tray.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the present invention, in a stock tray provided on a discharge stacker externally attached to the discharge side of the image forming apparatus main body and receiving and holding the image forming paper discharged from the image forming apparatus main body,
A first inclined plate for supporting a leading end side of the image forming paper discharged from the image forming apparatus main body, a second inclined plate for supporting a rear end side of the image forming paper, and A vertical plate that receives the leading edge of the formed image forming paper,
The tip of the first inclined plate abuts or is joined to the vertical plate,
An angle α formed by the first inclined plate with respect to a horizontal plane is in a range of 50 to 70 degrees.
[0009]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The present invention will be described below based on specific examples shown in the accompanying drawings.
The paper output stacker to which the stock tray of the present invention is attached is the same as that shown in FIG. 3 described above, and the stock tray is constituted by first, second inclined plates and vertical plates. This is basically the same as FIG. Therefore, in FIG. 1 shown below, only the structure of the stock tray is shown, and each member is indicated by the same reference numeral as in FIG.
[0010]
That is, in FIG. 1 for describing the structure of the stock tray of the present invention, this tray is similar to the tray 10 shown in FIG. And a vertical plate 16.
[0011]
That is, the leading end 6a of the image forming paper 6 discharged from the image forming apparatus main body 2 (omitted in FIG. 1) abuts on the first plate 12, slides down on the first inclined play 2 as it is, and The rear end 6b of the image forming paper 6 that has been in contact with the plate 16 and has fallen is inverted. As a result, the leading end 6a of the image forming paper 6 is held on the first inclined plate 12, and the rear end 6b is 2 is held on the side of the inclined plate 14, and the front end 6 a of the image forming paper 6 is held by the vertical plate 16 so that the front end is exactly aligned.
[0012]
However, in the stock tray 10 of the present invention, it is an important feature that the inclination angle α of the first inclined plate 12 is set in the range of 50 to 70 degrees. That is, even if the tip 6a of the image forming paper 6 is curled upward because the inclination angle α is considerably large, the tip 6a is not guided upward, and the surface of the first inclined plate 12 is not guided upward. , And is held by the vertical plate 16 with its tip aligned exactly. If the inclination angle α is smaller than the above range, the leading end 6a of the image forming paper 6 is curled upward, as in the case of the conventionally known stock tray, the leading end is not aligned, and the state as shown in FIG. Inconvenience that the data is held frequently occurs. If the inclination angle α is larger than the above range, the capacity of the stocked image forming paper 6 is limited, or the rear end 6b of the image forming paper 6 is smoothly inverted to the second inclined plate 14 side. Inconveniences such as disappearance occur.
[0013]
In the present invention, the vertical plate 16 may be formed integrally with the first inclined plate 12 as long as it is in contact with the distal end portion of the first inclined plate 12, or may be formed integrally with the first inclined plate 12. May be formed of separate members and joined to the first inclined plate.
[0014]
This vertical plate 16 is preferably upright or slightly inclined in a direction opposite to the first inclined plate. That is, if the image forming paper 6 is inclined toward the first inclined plate 12, the image forming paper 6 ejected from the image forming apparatus main body 2 will not fall, and the image forming paper 6 will be opposite to the first inclined plate 12. This is because, if the image forming paper 6 is greatly inclined, the image forming paper 6 dropped on the first inclined plate 12 may fall on the vertical plate 16 and be held. Therefore, the angle γ between the vertical plate 16 and the vertical line is preferably 10 degrees or less.
[0015]
In the present invention, the second inclined plate 14 is joined to the end of the first inclined plate 12 without a gap in the example of FIG. 1, but the rear end 6b of the image forming paper 6 is connected to the second inclined plate 12. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the first inclined plate 12 may be disposed at an appropriate distance from the first inclined plate 12 as long as the first inclined plate 12 is held upside down.
[0016]
1 and 2, the intersection angle β between the first inclined plate 12 and the second inclined plate 14 is preferably set in the range of 100 to 120 degrees. That is, if the angle β is too large, the rear end 6b of the image forming paper 6 is less likely to be inverted toward the second inclined panel 14, and if the angle β is too small, the image forming paper 6 is This is because it tends to slip down to the side.
[0017]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, even when the leading end of the image forming paper discharged from the image forming apparatus main body is curled, the leading end is effectively aligned and held. Therefore, a large amount of image forming paper can be stocked.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a structure of a stock tray of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a view showing another example of the stock tray of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a view showing the structure of a conventionally known paper discharge stacker.
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of a problem that occurs in a conventionally known stock tray.
[Explanation of symbols]
1: Discharge stacker 2: Image forming apparatus main body 6: Image forming paper 10: Tray 12: First inclined plate 14: Second inclined plate 16: Vertical plate

Claims (5)

In a stock tray provided on a paper discharge stacker externally attached to the paper discharge side of the image forming apparatus main body and receiving and holding the image forming paper discharged from the image forming apparatus main body,
A first inclined plate for supporting a leading end side of the image forming paper discharged from the image forming apparatus main body, a second inclined plate for supporting a rear end side of the image forming paper, and A vertical plate that receives the leading edge of the formed image forming paper,
The tip of the first inclined plate abuts or is joined to the vertical plate,
A stock tray, wherein an angle α between the first inclined plate and a horizontal plane is in a range of 50 to 70 degrees. The stock tray according to claim 1, wherein the vertical plate is upright or slightly inclined in a direction opposite to the first inclined plate. The stock tray according to claim 1, wherein an intersection angle β between the first inclined plate and the second inclined plate is in a range of 100 to 120 degrees. The stock tray according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first inclined plate and the second inclined plate are connected to each other. The stock tray according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first inclined plate and the second inclined plate are arranged at a small interval.

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