JP2005167801A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the replaceability of consumables such as a toner cartridge with a process cartridge or a transfer unit. <P>SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming section and an image reading means for reading a document above the image forming section. The image reading part is mounted to be capable of opening with the center of rotation having at least two axes for the image forming section. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which an image reading unit including an image reading unit is disposed on an upper surface of an image forming unit including an image forming unit.

  Conventionally, an image reading unit has been arranged on the upper surface of a small image forming unit, and an image having a multifunction (hereinafter referred to as MFP) function capable of performing a plurality of functions such as a printer function, a copy function, and a facsimile function with one apparatus. Forming devices have become popular in recent years.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the printer unit (image forming unit) 30 having such a small MFP function conveys a sheet P from a cassette 17 loaded with sheets, and displays an image using yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toners. Each process kit of 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1Bk is formed on the photosensitive drums 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d, and the toner image is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 8 so that the full-color toner image is transferred to the paper by the secondary transfer roller 12. The toner is pressed and heated by the fixing device 16 to record an image on a sheet, and the sheet is stacked on the sheet discharge tray 22.

  A reader unit (image reading unit) 40 that reads an original is disposed at a position where the space S necessary for taking out the sheet material stacked on the paper discharge tray 22 is maintained above the printer unit 30, and the recorded paper is taken out. And the stackability of the original to be read are compatible (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Further, the removable toner containers 50Y, 50M, 50C, and 50Bk containing the toner supplied to each process kit are intermediate transfer portions on the upper side of the intermediate transfer belt 8 with respect to the conveyance direction as shown in FIG. By arranging it side by side with the belt 8, both space saving and securing of capacity are achieved.
JP 2003-146528 A

  However, in such a configuration, when replenishing the toner consumed in the image forming unit or replacing or maintaining the image forming unit, there are the following drawbacks.

  Maintenance parts that need to be removed from the machine to replace or maintain each process kit, including the intermediate transfer belt and photoconductor drum, remain fixed because the leader part (image reading part) is at the top. In order to remove, it is necessary to pull out each maintenance part from the side surface (or front surface) of the apparatus. However, there are many parts that need to be removed, and it is necessary to make the photosensitive drum, the intermediate transfer belt, etc. not damaged when pulled out. Since it is difficult to arrange other parts on the drawing side, there is a drawback that the apparatus becomes large.

  Furthermore, since the toner container must also be attached / detached from the side (or front), in order to improve the operability by pulling it out in the same direction as the maintenance parts, the toner container and each maintenance part do not overlap. It is necessary to arrange in, and the main body has become larger.

  Further, in the method of rotating the leader part to open the upper part and then opening the paper discharge tray part to replace the maintenance parts, the intermediate transfer belt unit is also connected to the paper discharge tray part in order to remove each process kit. At the same time, it will be opened and each process kit will be removed. In order to prevent the process kits from coming into contact with the intermediate transfer bell in the opened state and being damaged, the front of the apparatus main body is on the right side in FIG. 10 and the back side (left side in FIG. 10) is turned. The leader part is rotated as the moving center, and then the sheet discharge tray and the intermediate transfer belt unit are opened as the back side and the rotating center, and the respective process kits are lifted upward.

  However, in such a configuration, in order to attach or detach a toner container that is a consumable item and is frequently replaced, the toner container that is arranged at the very back in the front-rear direction of the main body is attached and detached upward in order to increase the capacity as much as possible. For this purpose, the opening angle of the leader section must be close to 90 degrees, but a large load is applied to the center of rotation for holding the leader section, and expensive parts are required to ensure strength. In order to close the opened leader part, it is necessary to hold the tip of the leader part and pull it toward you, but the leader part of the opened leader part is far away from the front of the main body of the device, and the operability is bad. There was a disadvantage that the installation area was increased that a space was required on the back side during installation.

  The present invention solves the above problems, and provides an image recording apparatus that can easily perform maintenance part replacement and replacement of a toner container as a consumable material, and has a small apparatus main body and a small installation area.

  An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit that includes an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet; and an image reading unit that includes an image reading unit that reads a document above the image forming unit. The reading unit is provided with at least two biaxial rotation centers with respect to the image forming unit and is releasably attached.

  As described above, the image reading unit is attached to the image forming unit so as to be openable with at least two biaxial rotation centers, thereby reducing the size of the main body, the small installation area, and the operability. An excellent image recording apparatus could be provided.

  In addition, an image forming unit for forming an image is detachably disposed in the center of the image forming unit so as to be detachable upward or obliquely, and a consumable material replenishing unit used for image recording is disposed on one side of the upper surface of the image forming unit. By providing one axis of rotation center on the opposite side of the upper surface side where the replenishing means is arranged, the image forming means and the consumable material replenishing means are excellently exchangeable, and the main body size and installation area are small. An image forming apparatus could be provided.

  Further, by attaching the image reading unit to the auxiliary support base that is rotatably attached to the image forming unit about the first rotation axis, the image reading unit is rotatable about the second rotation center, An image forming apparatus with low cost and excellent operability could be provided.

  In addition, the image reading unit has a rotation center with respect to the image forming unit and is detachably mounted, and is slidable in the horizontal direction, thereby reducing the size of the main body, a small installation area, and operation. It was possible to provide an excellent image recording apparatus.

  In addition, an image forming unit for forming an image is disposed at the center of the image forming unit so as to be detachable upward or obliquely, and a replenishing unit for consumables used for image recording is disposed on one side of the upper surface of the image forming unit. By moving the slide movement in a direction that opens the upper surface of one side of the upper surface where the replenishing means is disposed, the image forming means and the consumable material replenishing means are excellently interchangeable, and the image with a small main body size and installation area. A forming device could be provided.

  Further, the image reading unit is slidably attached to the auxiliary support base that is attached to the image forming unit so as to be rotatable about the first rotation axis, through the sliding means, thereby reducing the cost. An image forming apparatus with excellent operability can be provided.

  Also, a paper discharge tray for stacking image-formed paper is provided between the image forming unit and the image reading unit, and the paper discharge tray unit can be rotated independently of the image reading unit. An image forming apparatus having a small size and excellent operability could be provided.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part of an image forming apparatus embodying the present invention. 2 is a front view of the image forming apparatus embodying the present invention, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus embodying the present invention (a leader portion is indicated by a two-dot chain line), and FIGS. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of an image forming apparatus embodying the invention.

  The printer section, which is an image forming section of the present invention, is a full-color image forming apparatus having an intermediate transfer member in electrophotography, and the reader section, which is a document reading section, moves a line sensor type reading means along the document. An image reading apparatus that reads an original, and by combining these two, is a multi-function apparatus that can perform a plurality of functions such as a printer function, a copy function, and a facsimile function.

  The image forming apparatus is configured with the right side in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the printer unit 30 includes a process kit 1Y that forms a yellow image, a process kit 1M that forms a magenta image, and a process kit 1C that forms a cyan image. Four process kits (image forming units) of the process kit 1Bk for forming a black image are provided, and these four process kits 1Y, 1M, 1C, 1Bk can be attached and detached in a line in the front-rear direction of the apparatus at regular intervals. Placed in.

  In each of the process kits 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1Bk, drum-type electrophotographic photosensitive members (hereinafter referred to as photosensitive drums) 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d are installed as image carriers. Around each photosensitive drum 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, there are primary chargers 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, developing devices 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, transfer rollers 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d as transfer means, Drum cleaner devices 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d are arranged, respectively, and a laser exposure device 7 is installed below the primary chargers 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d and the developing devices 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d. Yes.

  The developing devices 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d store yellow toner, cyan toner, magenta toner, and black toner, respectively.

  Each of the photosensitive drums 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d is a negatively charged OPC photosensitive member having a photoconductive layer on an aluminum drum base, and is driven in a direction indicated by an arrow (clockwise in FIG. 1) by a driving device (not shown). Direction) at a predetermined process speed.

  Primary chargers 3a, 3b, 3c, and 3d as primary charging means uniformly apply the surface of each photosensitive drum 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d to a predetermined negative potential by a charging bias applied from a charging bias power source (not shown). Is charged.

  The developing devices 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d contain toner, and each color latent image formed on the photosensitive drums 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d is attached to the toner of each color and developed as a toner image ( Visualization).

  Transfer rollers 5a, 5b, 5c, and 5d as transfer means are in contact with the photosensitive drums 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d via the intermediate transfer belt 8 at each primary transfer nip portion.

  The drum cleaners 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d are configured with a cleaning blade or the like for removing residual toner remaining on the photosensitive drum during the primary transfer from the photosensitive member.

  The intermediate transfer belt 8 is stretched between a drive roller 9, a secondary transfer counter roller 10, and a tension roller 11 provided on the transfer frame 36 to form an intermediate transfer unit 31, and an arrow A is driven by the drive roller 9. It is rotated (moved) in the direction (counterclockwise direction in FIG. 6). The intermediate transfer belt 8 is made of a dielectric resin such as a polycarbonate, a polyethylene terephthalate resin film, a polyvinylidene fluoride resin film, or the like.

  The secondary transfer counter roller 10 is in contact with the secondary transfer roller 12 via the intermediate transfer belt 8 to form a secondary transfer portion. A belt cleaning device 13 that removes and collects transfer residual toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 8 is installed outside the intermediate transfer belt 8 and in the vicinity of the tension roller 11.

  The transfer frame 36 is detachably attached to the paper discharge tray 22 by a lock mechanism shown in the drawings.

  A fixing device 16 having a fixing roller 16a and a pressure roller 16b is installed on the downstream side of the secondary transfer portion in the transport direction of the transfer material P.

  One of the fixing device 16, the secondary transfer roller 12, the registration roller pair 19, and a part of the conveyance path 18 are held by the front door unit 32 during JAM processing of recording paper, the process kit 1, and the intermediate transfer belt unit 31. At the time of detachment, it is configured to be integrally openable.

  The exposure device 7 includes laser light emitting means for emitting light corresponding to time-series electric digital pixel signals of given image information, a polygon lens, a reflection mirror, and the like, and exposes each photosensitive drum 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d. As a result, an electrostatic latent image of each color corresponding to the image information is formed on the surface of each photosensitive drum 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d charged by each primary charger 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d.

  Next, an image forming operation by the above-described image forming unit will be described.

  When an image formation start signal is issued, the photosensitive drums 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d of the process kits 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1Bk that are rotationally driven at a predetermined process speed are respectively primary chargers 3a, 3b, and 3c. , 3d is uniformly negatively charged. The exposure apparatus irradiates an externally input color-separated image signal from the laser light-emitting element, passes through a polygon lens, a reflection mirror, and the like, and electrostatically charges each color in the shape of each photosensitive drum 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d. A latent image is formed.

  First, yellow toner is adhered to the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 2a by the developing device 4a to which a developing bias having the same polarity as the charging polarity (negative polarity) of the photosensitive drum 2a is applied. Visualize as an image. This yellow toner image is rotated (moved) by a transfer roller 5a to which a primary transfer bias (a reverse polarity (positive polarity) to toner) is applied at a primary transfer portion between the photosensitive drum 2a and the transfer roller 5a. Primary transfer is performed on the intermediate transfer belt 8.

  The intermediate transfer belt 8 onto which the yellow toner image has been transferred is rotated (moved) toward the image forming unit 1M. Also in the process kit 1M, the magenta toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 2b in the same manner as described above is superimposed on the yellow toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 8 and transferred at the primary transfer portion.

  At this time, the transfer residual toner remaining on each photosensitive drum 2 is scraped off and collected by a cleaner blade or the like provided in the drum cleaner devices 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d.

  Similarly, cyan and black toner images formed by the photosensitive drums 2c and 2d of the process kits 1C and 1Bk on the yellow and magenta toner images superimposed and transferred on the intermediate transfer belt 8 are respectively transferred to the primary transfer portions. Are sequentially superposed to form a full-color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 8.

  The paper feed cassette 17 is moved from the manual feed tray 20 in accordance with the timing at which the front end of the full color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 8 is moved to the secondary transfer portion between the secondary transfer counter roller 10 and the secondary transfer roller 12. The transfer material (paper) P that is selected and fed through the transport path 18 is transported to the secondary transfer section by the registration roller 19. A full-color toner image is collectively transferred to the transfer material P conveyed to the secondary transfer portion by the secondary transfer roller 12 to which a secondary transfer bias (polarity opposite to the toner (positive polarity)) is applied. The

  The transfer material P on which the full-color toner image is formed is conveyed to the fixing device 16 and heated and pressed at the fixing nip portion between the fixing roller 16a and the pressure roller 16b to transfer the transfer material P. After heat fixing on the surface, the paper is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 22 on the upper surface of the printer unit by the paper discharge roller 21, and a series of image forming operations is completed.

  Secondary transfer toner and the like remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 8 are removed and collected by the belt cleaning device 13 attached to the transfer frame 36.

  The reader unit 40 is disposed above the printer unit 30 in a state where a space S for taking out paper is secured on the paper discharge tray 22.

  The reader unit 40 scans a document G placed on a document table glass 45 by a driving unit (not shown) along a guide rail 44 with a full-line type CCD reading unit 41, an illumination unit 42, and a lens 43. After the image is read and converted into a digital signal, the printer unit 30 performs image recording or performs operations such as transferring data as a facsimile.

  The printer unit 30 is configured such that the intermediate transfer belt unit 31 is integrated with the sheet discharge tray 22 unit and can be opened and closed around a rotation center 34 on the back side of the main body.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, toner containers 33Y, 33M, 33C, and 33Bk that contain and replace toner supplied to the developing device 4 are arranged in the front-rear direction in the upper right part of the printer unit. Has been.

  The toner containers 33Y, 33M, 33C, and 33Bk can be attached and detached by opening the lid 35 and pulling it upward.

  By disposing the toner container 33Y as far as the back side of the main body, the capacity of each toner container is increased without increasing the volume of the printer unit, thereby reducing the running cost and space.

  The reader unit 40 is provided on the left side of the apparatus with respect to the auxiliary support base 52 that is provided on the back side of the printer unit 30 and rotates about a first hinge 51 provided on the back of the main body. The second hinge 53 is attached so as to be openable about the rotation center.

  The second hinge 53 is provided on the side opposite to the side where the toner container 33 is disposed.

  Further, the first hinge 51 and the second hinge 53 are provided with damper means (illustrated) to maintain the state at the time of opening or reduce the opening load.

  The power supply and signal exchange between the reader unit 40 and the printer unit 30 is the shortest cable by being arranged at the left back corner, which is the biaxial intersection of the first hinge 51 and the second hinge 53. This is done by group 59.

  With such a configuration, when the process kits 1Y, 1M, 1C, 1Bk, which are maintenance parts, and the intermediate transfer belt unit 31 are replaced or removed for maintenance, first, the front door 32 is indicated by an arrow B in FIG. Open the front, then open the leader section 40 together with the auxiliary support base 52 in the direction of arrow C with the first hinge 51 as the center of rotation, and make the state shown in FIG. The entire belt unit 31 is opened to the state shown in FIG.

  In the state of FIG. 5, each process kit 1Y, 1M, 1C, 1Bk is pulled out forward (in the direction of arrow G in FIG. 5), or the intermediate transfer belt unit 31 is removed from the back surface of the discharge tray 22 to maintain the maintenance parts. Can be replaced or adjusted.

  In this state, when the yellow process kit 1Y located at the innermost position is taken out, it is only necessary to have a space that does not collide with the intermediate transfer belt 8. Therefore, the opening angle may be about 60 degrees as shown in FIG. .

  If the process kits 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1Bk are exchanged with the leader portion 40 opened sideways, the operator may be disturbed when trying to pull out the wide and heavy process kits from the apparatus. However, the reader unit 40 and the intermediate transfer belt unit 31 are opened to the back side, so that there is no hindrance during replacement.

  When exchanging the toner containers 33Y, 33M, 33C, and 33Bk, as shown in FIG. 6, only the leader section 40 is opened in the direction of arrow E with the second hinge 53 as the rotation center, and the toner containers 33Y, In the state shown in FIG. 6 in which the leader unit 40 is retracted from above 33M, 33C, and 33Bk, the lid 35 is then opened (in the direction of arrow D), and the toner containers 33Y, 33M, 33C, and 33Bk are removed and attached in the direction of arrow F.

  In this way, during the attaching / detaching operation that requires a space above, by opening the leader part 40 located at the upper part with the second hinge part 53, which is a hinge provided on the opposite side, as the rotation center, the opening angle is set. The toner containers 33Y, 33M, 33C, and 33Bk can be replaced without impairing operability with a small installation area.

  Further, since the leader unit 40 and the paper discharge tray 22 can be opened and closed independently, when the recorded paper is taken out from the paper discharge tray 22, the reader unit 40 is pivoted about the second hinge 53. It can be opened and taken out from the lateral direction, and the space S between the printer unit 30 and the reader unit 40 can be narrowed to reduce the height of the apparatus.

  In this embodiment, the closed state of the leader unit 40 is ensured by the weight of the leader unit. However, a lock mechanism (including a release button) or the like may be provided as necessary.

  As described above, since all the maintenance parts and consumables can be attached / detached / replaced from above, there is an advantage that the installation area of the apparatus is small and the user's operation direction can be concentrated from the front to the top.

(Second embodiment)
The second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an image recording apparatus embodying the present invention. 8 and 9 are front views of the image forming apparatus embodying the present invention.

  In the image recording apparatus described in the present embodiment, the reader unit 40 is provided on the back side of the printer unit 30 and is rotated with respect to an auxiliary support base 52 that rotates around a first hinge 51 provided on the back of the main body. It is attached via a slide rail 61 slidable in the left direction.

  The front side of the leader unit 40 is supported by a slide roller 62 provided on the auxiliary support base 52.

  Since the configuration, operation, and the like related to image formation are the same as those in the first embodiment, the same numbers are assigned to the same operations and actions, and the description thereof is omitted.

  The leader portion 40 is attached to the auxiliary support base 52 via the slide rail 61, and in normal use, the engagement portion 63a of the lock lever 63 that is urged upward by a spring shown in the figure is an engagement hole of the leader portion 40. By engaging with 40a, it is fixed to the auxiliary support base 52 so as not to slide leftward.

  The power supply and signal exchange between the leader unit 40 and the printer unit 30 is set to a length that allows the leader unit 40 to have a margin according to the amount of slide movement in a state along the rear end of the first hinge 51. The cable group 59 is arranged.

  In such a configuration, when the process kits 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1Bk and the intermediate transfer belt unit 31 are replaced or removed for maintenance, the leader portion is moved along with the auxiliary support base 52, as in the first embodiment. One hinge 51 is opened around the center of rotation, and then the paper discharge tray 22 is opened together with the intermediate transfer belt unit 31, and replacement, maintenance, and the like are performed as in the first embodiment.

  When the toner containers 33Y, 33M, 33C, and 33Bk are exchanged / removed, the tip of the lock lever 63 is pushed down so that the two-dot chain line shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 40 is released, and the leader 40 is slid leftward by the action of the slide rail 61.

  The reader unit 40 is slid in the direction of arrow E to bring it into the state shown in FIG. 9, the leader unit 40 is retracted from the upper surface of each toner container 33, the lid 35 is rotated and opened in the direction of arrow D, and the toner container 33 is moved in the direction of arrow F Put on and take off.

  This embodiment is particularly effective because the operation of lifting the leader upward is not necessary when replacing a toner container that is frequently exchanged, particularly when the leader portion is heavy.

  Further, similarly to the first embodiment, it is possible to take out the recorded paper discharged onto the paper discharge tray 22 by sliding only the leader portion 40 in the lateral direction or opening the leader portion. The size of the main body can be reduced by narrowing the space S between the reader unit and the printer unit.

  In the first and second embodiments, the image recording process kit and the intermediate transfer belt unit have been described with respect to the apparatus for attaching / detaching the maintenance parts and replacing the toner container, but other maintenance parts such as a waste toner container, It is also possible to apply in replacement parts.

  Although the first and second embodiments have been described using electrophotography, other image recording means such as an ink jet of a type that takes out maintenance parts and replacement parts from above the main body may be used.

  In the first and second embodiments, the toner container is disposed at the upper right portion with respect to the front surface. However, the toner container is not limited to this position, and the same effect can be obtained with the image forming apparatus disposed on the left, near side, or the like. Can be obtained.

Sectional drawing of the principal part of the image forming apparatus in 1st embodiment. , Front schematic view of the image forming apparatus in the first embodiment 1 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a detailed cross-sectional view of a main part of the image forming apparatus for explaining a state of the main body apparatus when replacing maintenance parts in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a detailed cross-sectional view of a main part of the image forming apparatus for explaining a state of the main body apparatus when replacing maintenance parts in the first embodiment. Schematic front view of the image forming apparatus for explaining the state at the time of replacement of the container in the first embodiment Sectional drawing of the principal part of the image forming apparatus in 2nd embodiment Schematic front view of an image recording apparatus according to the second embodiment Schematic front view of an image forming apparatus for explaining a state when a toner container is replaced in the second embodiment Sectional view of the main part of a conventional device

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Process kit 30 Printer part 31 Intermediate transfer unit 33 Toner container 40 Leader part 51 First hinge 52 Auxiliary support base 53 Second hinge 61 Slide rail

Claims (7)

An image forming unit including an image forming unit that forms an image on paper;
An image forming apparatus comprising: an image reading unit including an image reading unit that reads an original document above the image forming unit;
The image forming apparatus, wherein the image reading unit is attached to the image forming unit so as to be openable with at least two rotational centers.   An image forming unit for forming an image is disposed in the center of the image forming unit so as to be detachable upward or obliquely upward, and a replenishing unit for a consumable material used for image recording is disposed on one side of the upper surface of the image forming unit. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one axis of the pivot center is provided on a side opposite to one side of the upper surface where the replenishing means is disposed.   The image reading unit is attached to an auxiliary support base that is attached to the image forming unit so as to be rotatable about a first rotation axis so as to be rotatable about a second rotation center. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is characterized. An image forming unit including an image forming unit that forms an image on paper;
An image forming apparatus comprising: an image reading unit including an image reading unit that reads an original document above the image forming unit;
The image forming apparatus is characterized in that the image reading unit has a rotation center with respect to the image forming unit and is detachably mounted and is slidable in the horizontal direction.   An image forming unit for forming an image is detachably disposed at the center of the image forming unit so as to be detachable upward or obliquely, and a replenishing unit for consumable materials used for image recording is disposed on one side of the upper surface of the image forming unit, and is slid 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the moving direction is such that the upper surface of one side of the upper surface where the replenishing means is disposed is opened.   The image reading unit is slidably attached to an auxiliary support base attached to the image forming unit so as to be rotatable about a first rotation axis via a slide unit. Item 6. The image forming apparatus according to Item 4 or 5. A paper discharge tray for stacking image-formed sheets is provided between the image forming unit and the image reading unit, and the paper discharge tray unit is rotatable independently of the image reading unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus.

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