JP2005104607A - Image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image formation device capable of storing a record paper while aligning a rear end edge of the record paper discharged after an image formation is completed. <P>SOLUTION: The image formation device for forming the image on the record medium is provided with a discharge port for discharging the record medium formed with the image to the outside; a discharge tray for placing the record medium discharged from the discharge port in the state where a rear end in a discharge direction is descended; and a tapping plate for aligning the rear end edge of the superposed record medium by tapping the rear end edge in the discharge direction of the record medium discharged on the discharge tray. Thereby, the record paper discharged after the image formation is completed is stored while aligning the rear end edge of the record paper. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium.

  Conventionally, as an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium, a copying machine, a printer, and the like are known.

  In these copying machines and printers, an image is formed on a recording sheet with toner or the like, and then the recording sheet is discharged through a discharge port to a discharge tray provided on the upper part of the apparatus.

For example, when a small size and a large size of recording paper are discharged together in the paper output tray, for the purpose of making it easier to check the recording paper of the small size, the trailing edge of these recording papers is used. The edges are aligned (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Therefore, the sheet discharge tray is configured to place the recording sheet discharged from the discharge port in a state where the rear end side in the recording sheet discharge direction is lowered. In other words, the recording paper discharged from the discharge port temporarily lands at a position away from the discharge port with the discharged force, but the trailing edge of the recording paper is positioned below the discharge port by the function of the discharge tray. Since the standing wall portion gradually approaches, the trailing edge of the recording paper is aligned at the standing wall portion.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-306061

  However, if the discharge tray is simply placed with the recording medium placed in a state where the rear end of the discharge direction is lowered, the trailing edge of the recording paper is used when the frictional force between the recording sheets is large. There are cases where the edges cannot approach the standing wall and the trailing edges of the recording sheets are not aligned.

  In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can accommodate the trailing edges of recording sheets that are discharged after image formation is completed.

In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus of the present invention comprises:
In an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium,
A discharge port for discharging the recording medium on which the image is formed to the outside;
A discharge tray for placing the recording medium discharged from the discharge port in a state where the rear end portion in the discharge direction is lowered;
A tapping plate is provided for hitting the trailing edge of the recording medium discharged in the discharging tray on the discharge tray so as to align the trailing edge of the stacked recording medium.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the discharge tray is placed on the discharge tray in addition to the recording medium discharged from the discharge port being placed with the rear end in the discharge direction lowered. The trailing edge of the recording medium in the discharge direction is hit with a tapping plate. Therefore, the vibration by the tapping plate is applied to the trailing edge of the recording paper that can be tapped by the tapping plate, so that the recording paper positioned at a remote location where the trailing edge cannot be tapped by the tapping plate is relatively Can be moved to the tapping plate side. As a result, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to align the trailing edges of the recording medium discharged on the discharge tray.

  Here, it has a pair of standing wall fixing portions that support both sides of the trailing edge of the recording medium discharged onto the discharging tray, and the tapping plate has a trailing edge of the recording medium discharged onto the discharging tray. It is preferable that the center portion sandwiched between the pair of standing wall fixing portions is hit.

  Thus, when the center part of the rear end edge is hit, the rear end edges can be aligned efficiently.

  A discharge roller for discharging the recording medium onto the discharge tray, and the tapping plate receives a driving force from a rotation shaft of the discharge roller and receives a trailing edge of the recording medium discharged onto the discharge tray. It is also a preferred embodiment that the player is hit.

  In this way, a mechanism for hitting the trailing edge of the discharged recording medium can be easily realized.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to align the trailing edges of the recording paper discharged after the image formation.

  Embodiments of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described below.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention.

  A printer 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a laser printer that forms an image by an electrophotographic method, and mainly includes a paper storage unit 11, an image forming unit 12, a fixing device 13, and a discharge unit 14.

  The paper storage unit 11 shown in FIG. 1 representatively shows a state in which a drawing roller 111 for pulling out the recording paper 20 and a paper storage tray 112 are provided.

  The image forming unit 12 shown in FIG. 1 representatively shows a state in which a photoreceptor roll 121, a developing device 122, and a transfer roll 123 are provided. Here, an electrostatic latent image is formed by exposure with a laser beam on a photoreceptor roll 121 to which a predetermined charge is applied by a charger (not shown), and this electrostatic latent image is developed with toner by a developing device 122. Thereafter, the toner image made visible on the photoreceptor is transferred onto a recording sheet by a transfer roll 123. The recording paper to which the toner image has been transferred is fixed by the fixing device 13.

  1 includes a discharge tray 144 on which a recording sheet on which a toner image is fixed is placed, a discharge roller 141 for discharging the recording sheet to the discharge tray 14, and a rear end portion in the discharge direction of the recording sheet. A state is shown in which a fixed wall 143 for supporting and a movable wall 142 for tapping a rear end portion in the discharge direction of the recording paper are provided.

  The discharge tray 144 has an inclined surface 144 a that is inclined toward the fixed wall 143 and the movable wall 142.

  The movable wall 142 rotates an angle α between the position X and the position Y shown in FIG. FIG. 1 also shows a conveyance roller 15 and a casing unit 10 that convey recording paper.

  FIG. 2 is a front view of the discharge portion shown in FIG.

  FIG. 2 shows the discharge roller 141, the cam 141a, the rotating shaft 141b, the receiving gear 141c, the movable wall 142, the fixed wall 143, and the housing 10.

  In this printer 1, as will be described in detail later, the rotational driving force of a motor provided inside the apparatus is transmitted to a receiving gear 141c shown in FIG. 2 through a gear series composed of a plurality of transmission gears. The receiving gear 141c, the cam 141a, and the upper discharge roller 141 of the upper and lower two stages are also fixed to the upper rotation shaft 141b of the upper and lower two stages. Since both ends of the upper rotation shaft 141b are pivotally supported by the housing 10, when the rotational driving force is transmitted to the receiving gear 141c, the upper rotation shaft 141b is fixed to the upper rotation shaft 141b. Rotate together.

  A discharge roller 141 shown on the lower side of the upper and lower stages is fixed to the rotary shaft 141b shown on the lower stage side, and both ends of the rotary shaft 141b shown on the lower stage side are also rotatable to the housing 10. It is pivotally supported. The movable wall 142 is pivotally supported by the lower rotation shaft 141 b and the fixed wall 143 is fixed to the housing 10.

  The upper discharge roller 141 and the lower discharge roller 141 are always in contact with each other. For the cam 141a and the movable wall 142, a portion 1411a of the cam 141a (see FIG. 4) and the end 142a of the movable wall 142 are connected. The contact and non-contact are repeated by the rotation of the cam 141a.

  In the discharge unit 14, when the rotational driving force is transmitted to the receiving gear 141c, the upper discharge roller 141 rotates, and the lower discharge roller 141 rotates accordingly. Further, since the cam 141a also rotates, when the portion 1411a of the cam 141a and the end 142a of the movable wall 142 come into contact with each other, the movable wall 142 moves to the position X shown in FIG. Thus, the movable wall 142 returns to the position Y shown in FIG. In the printer 1, this operation by the movable wall 142 is an operation of hitting the trailing edge of the discharged recording paper.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a gear series for transmitting a rotational driving force to the discharge roller.

  In FIG. 3, in addition to the paper storage unit 11 including the drawing roller 111, the discharge roller 141, the transport roller 15, the motor 30 that generates a rotational driving force, and the rotational driving force generated by the motor 30 are A transmission gear 16 for transmitting to the discharge roller 141 and the feeding roller 111 is shown. That is, the rotational driving force from the motor 30 is transmitted to the discharge roller 141 via the transmission gear 16 and the receiving gear 141c shown in FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic view when a part of the discharge unit is viewed from the right side of FIG. 2.

  FIG. 4 shows a cam 141a fixed to the upper rotary shaft 141b and a movable wall 142 pivotally supported by the lower rotary shaft 141b. As described above, the portion 1411a of the cam 141b and the upper end portion 142a of the movable wall 142 repeat contact and non-contact due to the rotation of the cam 141a. Therefore, the rotation of the cam 141a causes the movable wall 142 to rotate. Is bi-directionally rotated from a position Y vertically lowered from the rotation shaft 141b to a position X advanced clockwise from the position Y by an angle α. The position X is a position protruding slightly toward the paper discharge tray side from the surface of the fixed wall 143 with which the recording paper abuts.

  In this printer 1, when a print instruction for image data transmitted from the outside is issued from an operation panel (not shown), the motor 30 rotates in accordance with the image formation timing in the image forming unit 12, and the rotational driving force is drawn out. By being transmitted to the roller 111, the recording paper 20 is pulled out from the paper storage tray 112. The recording paper 20 to which the toner image is finally fixed is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 144 by a discharge roller 141 that is rotated by the rotation driving force transmitted from the motor 30. At this time, as described above, since the cam 141a is also rotated while the discharge roller 141 is rotating, the movable wall 142 is also bi-directionally rotated between the position X and the position Y. Thus, the central portion of the trailing edge of the recording paper on the paper discharge tray, except for both end portions supported by the fixed wall 143, is hit. Thereby, among the recording sheets discharged onto the discharge tray, the recording sheet whose rear end edge is not in contact with the fixed wall 143 can be relatively advanced to the fixed wall side. Therefore, in the printer 1, the trailing edges of the recording sheets discharged onto the discharge tray can be aligned.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the trailing edge of the recording paper on the paper discharge tray is hit using the cam mechanism attached to the rotating shaft 141b is described as an example. Any mechanism other than the cam mechanism may be used as long as the mechanism can hit the trailing edge of the recording paper on the paper discharge tray.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. It is a front view of the discharge part shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the gear series which transmits rotational driving force to the said discharge roller. It is the schematic at the time of seeing a part of discharge part from the right side of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 10 Housing | casing 11 Paper storage part 111 Pull-out roller 112 Paper storage tray 12 Image formation part 121 Photoconductor roll 122 Developer 123 Transfer roll 13 Fixing device 14 Discharge part 141 Discharge roller 141a Cam 1411a Part 141b Rotating shaft 141c Receiving gear 142 Movable wall 142a End 143 Fixed wall 144 Discharge tray 144a Inclined surface 15 Conveying roller 16 Transmission gear 20 Recording paper 30 Motor

Claims (3)

In an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium,
A discharge port for discharging the recording medium on which the image is formed to the outside;
A discharge tray for placing the recording medium discharged from the discharge port in a state where the rear end portion in the discharge direction is lowered;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a tapping plate for hitting a rear end edge of a recording medium discharged on the discharge tray to align a rear end edge of the stacked recording medium. A pair of standing wall fixing portions that support both side portions of the rear edge of the recording medium discharged onto the discharge tray;
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tapping plate hits a central portion sandwiched between the pair of standing wall fixing portions at a rear end edge of the recording medium discharged onto the discharge tray. apparatus. A discharge roller for discharging the recording medium onto the discharge tray;
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tapping plate receives a driving force from a rotation shaft of the discharge roller and strikes a trailing edge of the recording medium discharged onto the discharge tray. .

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