JP2005298092A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device equipped with a sheet feeding device without influence on a sheet feeding passage in a body device. <P>SOLUTION: On a right side surface 1a of the body device 1 equipped with a sheet cassette 5 and an image forming part 7, the sheet feeding device 2 is mounted in such a manner of capable of being separated and approached, and an opening/closing cover 30 constituting a part of the sheet feeding passage in the body device 1 and capable of opening or closing an inner side around a supporting shaft is provided. The cover 30 releases the sheet feeding passage when the sheet feeding device 2 is separated and opened. A horizontal shaft 33 is fixed on the cover 30 along it, and a hook 44 hooked on the horizontal shaft 33 of the closed cover 30 and holding the sheet feeding device 2 in a state of being abutted to the right side surface 1a of the body device 1 is provided in the sheet feeding device 2. A support member 34 for receiving and supporting the horizontal shaft 33 of the closed cover 30 is fixed on the body device 1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet, such as a copying machine or a printer, and more particularly, as a sheet supply source, a sheet supply device is provided outside the main body device in addition to a sheet cassette in the main body device. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

  Conventional general image forming apparatuses have a sheet cassette containing sheets from the front in a main body device equipped with an image forming unit composed of a photosensitive drum, a charger, an exposure device, a developing device, a transfer device, a fixing device, and the like. The sheet is provided so that it can be taken in and out, and a sheet is supplied from the sheet cassette to the image forming unit, and an image is formed on the sheet by the image forming unit. In the image forming apparatus composed of only the main body unit, the number of sheets stored in the sheet cassette is limited (generally, about 500 at most). Therefore, when forming an image on a large number of sheets at one time, It is inconvenient because a new cassette needs to be replenished to the sheet cassette. In order to cope with such inconvenience, a separate sheet feeding apparatus capable of storing a large number of thousands of sheets is attached to the main body apparatus, and the sheets are fed from the sheet feeding apparatus to the image forming unit in the main body apparatus. What was made into is known (for example, refer patent document 1).

  Specifically, in an image forming apparatus provided with such a sheet supply device, a sheet cassette is disposed at the lower part of the main body apparatus, and an image forming unit is disposed at the upper part thereof, from the sheet cassette to the image forming part. Is provided along the vicinity of the inside of one side surface of the main body apparatus. A sheet feeding device is attached to the side surface of the main body device. Further, since the sheet may be jammed in the sheet supply path, the following measures are taken in consideration of the workability of the jam processing for removing the jammed sheet.

  As will be described later, the sheet supply device attached to the main body device can be brought into contact with and separated from the side surface of the main body device. An opening / closing cover that can be opened and closed from the front is provided on the side surface of the main unit with the back side as a support shaft. The open / close cover constitutes a part of the sheet supply path when closed, and opens the sheet supply path when opened. In the jam processing, first, the sheet supply device is separated from the main body device, and then the opening / closing cover is opened, and the jammed sheet is removed from the sheet supply path.

Here, a metal horizontal shaft is fixed along the opening / closing cover, and a metal hook that is rotated by an operation is provided at a position corresponding to the horizontal shaft in the sheet supply device. The sheet supply device is kept in contact with the side surface of the main body device by hooking the horizontal shaft of the closed opening / closing cover, and in this state, the sheet is supplied from the sheet cassette or the sheet supply device to form an image. Is done. On the other hand, from this state, when the hook is rotated by operation to be removed from the horizontal axis, the movement restriction of the sheet supply device is released, and the sheet supply device is separated from the main body device as it is to perform jam processing.
JP 2001-310829 A

  By the way, the weight of the sheet feeding apparatus inevitably increases because it includes the weight of a large number of sheets in addition to its own weight. Then, since the weight of the sheet feeding device is applied to the fixed horizontal shaft in the closed open / close cover via the hook, the open / close cover supported only by the back-side support shaft is distorted around the support shaft. There is a risk of it. This distortion causes deformation of the sheet supply path constituted by the opening / closing cover, and becomes a factor that impairs smooth conveyance of the sheet in the sheet supply path.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus including a sheet supply device without affecting the sheet supply path in the main body device. .

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a sheet cassette that stores sheets and an image forming unit that forms an image on the supplied sheet in order upward, and a sheet supply path from the sheet cassette to the image forming unit. And a sheet supply device that accommodates a large number of sheets and is attached to the side surface of the main body device and supplies the sheet to an image forming unit in the main body device. In the forming apparatus, a sheet supply device is detachably attached to the side surface of the main body device, and the back side can be opened and closed with a support shaft while forming a part of the sheet supply path. An open / close cover is provided to open the sheet supply path when opened, and a horizontal axis is fixed along the open / close cover, and the open / close cover is closed to the sheet supply device. A hook is provided that is hooked to the horizontal shaft of the open / close cover to hold the sheet supply device in contact with the side surface of the main body device. The main body device receives and supports the horizontal shaft of the closed open / close cover. A supporting member is fixed.

  As a result, the closed opening / closing cover is supported by the support shaft on the back side, and the fixed horizontal shaft is supported by the support member fixed to the main body device. For example, the sheet is supplied to the horizontal shaft via the hook. Even if the weight of the device is loaded, the opening / closing cover is not distorted. Therefore, the form of the sheet supply path constituted by the opening / closing cover is continuously stabilized.

  Here, practically, the support member is preferably a molded product of polyacetal resin.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, even if the main body apparatus includes a separate sheet supply apparatus, the form of the sheet supply path in the main apparatus is continuously stabilized. Smooth conveyance of the sheet can be continued.

  Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 2 to 4 are perspective views showing a situation of the image forming apparatus. FIG. FIG. 3 shows a situation where the sheet supply device is separated during the jam processing, and FIG. 4 shows a situation where the opening / closing cover is opened thereafter. FIGS. 5 to 7 are cross-sectional views of the main part showing the situation of the image forming apparatus, respectively. FIG. 5 shows the situation at the time of image formation, and FIG. 6 shows the separation of the sheet feeding apparatus at the time of jam processing. FIG. 7 shows a state in which the opening / closing cover is opened thereafter. In these drawings, parts having the same names and performing the same functions are denoted by the same reference numerals.

  The image forming apparatus includes a main body device 1 and a sheet supply device 2. In this embodiment, a typical example of a copying machine as an image forming apparatus will be described. The main unit 1 is provided with a document reading unit 3 including a contact glass, a light source lamp, an optical system, a CCD, and the like for exposing and scanning a document to read the document image, and a document pressing function is provided thereon. An automatic document feeder (ADF) 4 is attached.

  Further, the main body device 1 is provided with a plurality of (three in FIG. 1) sheet cassettes 5 at the lower part thereof so that they can be inserted and removed from the front side. In the upper part, a sheet reversing unit 6 for reversing the front and back sides of the sheet during double-sided printing and an image forming unit 7 for forming an image on the sheet are arranged in this order upward. Each sheet cassette 5 contains a sheet. A pickup roller 8 that picks up the sheet, and a sheet feeding / rolling roller 9 that consists of a pair that feeds the sheet one by one while preventing the sheet from being fed from each pickup roller 8. It is arranged. Further, in the vicinity of the inside of one side surface (the right side surface 1a in FIG. 1) of the main body device 1, along the right side surface 1a for guiding the sheet fed from each sheet feeding / rolling roller 9 to the image forming unit 7. A sheet supply path that rises substantially parallel to the sheet supply path is provided, and a pair of feed rollers 10 for feeding the sheet is disposed at an appropriate position of the sheet supply path.

  Further, a registration roller pair 12 that receives a sheet from the most downstream feeding roller pair 10 and feeds the sheet to the image forming unit 7 is disposed. The registration roller pair 12 feeds the sheet to the image forming unit 7 at an appropriate timing while correcting the skew of the sheet in the conveyance direction (skew correction).

  In addition, a retractable manual feed tray 13 is provided on the right side surface 1a of the main body device 1, and sheets from the manual feed tray 13 are fed by a pickup roller 14 and a pair separate from the above-described various rollers. The paper / rolling roller 15 supplies the paper directly to the most downstream feed roller pair 10. A sheet supply device 2, which will be described in detail later, is attached to the right side surface 1 a of the main body device 1 below the manual feed tray 13, and the sheet from the sheet supply device 2 is directly fed to the most downstream feed roller pair 10. To the pair of feed rollers 10 upstream one of the two.

  Subsequently, the image forming unit 7 includes a photosensitive drum 16 that is an image carrier, a charger 17 that uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 16, and a document read by the document reading unit 3 on the charged photosensitive drum 16. From an exposure unit 18 that forms an electrostatic latent image by irradiating light based on the image data, a developing unit 19 that forms a toner image by attaching toner to the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 16, and a registration roller pair 12. A transfer unit 20 that transfers the toner image on the photosensitive drum 16 to the fed sheet, a cleaning unit 21 that removes toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 16 after transfer, and a surface that removes the surface of the photosensitive drum 16 uniformly. The electric device 22 includes a fixing device 23 and the like that pressurizes and heats the toner image transferred to the sheet to fix the toner image.

  The sheet on which the image is formed through the image forming unit 7 is guided toward the discharge roller pair 25 by the branch claw 24 and is discharged onto the discharge sheet tray 26 provided on the left side surface 1 b of the main body device 1. On the other hand, during double-sided printing, the sheet is guided to the sheet reversing unit 6 by the branching claw 24, and the front and the back are reversed, and then supplied again to the middle stage of the sheet supply path, through the image forming unit 7.

  The sheet supply apparatus 2 stores a large amount of sheets, and includes a pickup roller 40 for feeding the sheet to the image forming unit 7 of the main body apparatus 1, a pair of paper feeding / spreading rollers 41, a discharge roller pair 42, and the like. Prepare.

  Next, a mechanism for jam processing in the sheet supply path in the main body device 1 will be described. First, although the sheet supply apparatus 2 is attached to the right side surface 1a of the main body apparatus 1, it is not completely fixed, and is separated while being guided by a rail 43 connected to the lower end of the main body apparatus 1. It is possible. On the other hand, an opening / closing cover 30 that can be opened / closed from the front is provided on the right side surface 1a of the main unit 1 with the back side as a support shaft. The open / close cover 30 includes an inner guide plate 31, an outer guide plate 32, and an outer guide plate 32 and a driven roller 10b of the feed roller pair 10 (the driving roller 10a and the driven roller 10b), which are components of the sheet supply path. The sheet supply path constitutes a part of the sheet supply path when closed, and opens the sheet supply path when opened. At the time of jam processing, first, the sheet supply device 2 is separated from the main body device 1, and a space is secured between the right side surface 1 a (opening / closing cover 30) of the main body device 1 and the sheet supply device 2. Open the opening / closing cover 30 and remove the jammed sheet from the sheet supply path.

  Here, the opening / closing cover 30 has a metal horizontal shaft 33 fixed between the opening / closing cover 30 itself and the outer guide plate 32, and two openings 30 a are provided so that a part of the horizontal shaft 33 appears outward. Is formed. On the other hand, the sheet supply device 2 is provided with a metal hook 44 that is rotated by an operation at a position corresponding to the opening 30a. The sheet supply device 2 is maintained in contact with the right side surface 1a of the main body device 1 by hooking the hook 44 through the opening 30a on the horizontal shaft 33 of the closed opening / closing cover 2, and in this state, the sheet cassette 5 and Sheets are supplied from the sheet supply device 2 and image formation is performed. On the other hand, from this state, the hook 44 is rotated by operation to be disengaged from the horizontal shaft 33, so that the movement restriction of the sheet supply apparatus 2 is released, and the sheet supply apparatus 2 is separated from the main body apparatus 1 as it is to perform jam processing.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the main body device 1 has a support member 34 that receives and supports the front end of the horizontal shaft 33 of the closed opening / closing cover 30, that is, the end away from the opening / closing support shaft. It is fixed. The support member 34 has a U-shaped cross section, and receives the horizontal shaft 33 therebetween to restrict the vertical movement of the horizontal shaft 33, and at the same time restricts the vertical movement of the closed opening / closing cover 30. However, since the support member 34 is required to have high mechanical properties (tensile and bending strength) while having wear resistance with respect to the horizontal shaft 33 and appropriate elasticity, it is easy to manufacture. In view of this, a high-performance engineering plastic, for example, a molded product of polyacetal resin (POM) is suitable.

  With such a configuration, the closed opening / closing cover 30 is supported by the support shaft on the back side, and the fixed horizontal shaft 33 is supported by the support member 34 fixed to the main body device 1. Even when the weight of the sheet feeding device 2 is loaded on the shaft 33 via the hook 44, the opening / closing cover 30 is not distorted. Therefore, since the form of the sheet supply path constituted by the opening / closing cover 30 is continuously stabilized, the sheet can be smoothly conveyed through the sheet supply path.

  Here, an example of a rotation mechanism of the hook 44 provided in the sheet supply apparatus 2 will be described with reference to FIG. The end of the hook 44 opposite to the hooking portion 44a is pivotally supported by a pin 45 fixed to the sheet feeding device 2 itself. In addition, an operation lever 46 operated by a user is provided in the sheet supply apparatus 2 so as to be slidable in the horizontal direction (the direction in which the sheet supply apparatus 2 is in contact with and away from the main body apparatus 1). The operation lever 46 is urged toward a direction in which the sheet supply device 2 comes into contact with the main body device 1 by a tension coil spring 47 whose one end is fixed to the sheet supply device 2 itself. The sliding movement is guided by the engagement of the slide guiding groove 46a and the sliding guide pin 48 fixed to the sheet feeding apparatus 2 itself, and both ends of the movement are defined. A rotation guide pin 49 fixed to the hook 44 is engaged with a rotation guide groove 46 b formed in the operation lever 46.

  Under such a configuration, the operation lever 46 is pushed in the direction in which the sheet feeding device 2 is separated from the main body device 1 by the user's operation, and thus moves against the urging force of the tension coil spring 47. At the same time, the hook 44 rotates about the pin 45 as a support shaft, and the hooking portion 44a rises. As a result, the hooking portion 44a of the hook 44 is removed from the state of being hooked on the horizontal shaft 33 of the opening / closing cover 30. When the pushing operation by the user is released, the operation lever 46 and the hook 44 are automatically returned by the urging force of the tension coil spring 47.

  In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  The present invention is useful for an image forming apparatus provided with a sheet supply device outside a main body apparatus in addition to a sheet cassette in the main body apparatus as a sheet supply source.

1 is a front sectional view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus showing a situation during image formation. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus showing a state where the sheet supply device is separated during the jam processing. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus illustrating a state in which the opening / closing cover is opened after the sheet supply device is separated during the jam processing. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the image forming apparatus as viewed from the front, showing a situation during image formation. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the image forming apparatus as viewed from the front, showing a state in which the sheet supply device is separated during the jam processing. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the image forming apparatus as viewed from the front, showing a state in which the opening / closing cover is opened after separating the sheet supply device during the jam processing.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body apparatus 2 Sheet supply apparatus 5 Sheet cassette 7 Image forming part 10 Feed roller pair 10a Drive roller 10b Driven roller 30 Opening / closing cover 31 Inner guide plate 32 Outer guide plate 33 Horizontal shaft 34 Support member 44 Hook

Claims (2)

A sheet cassette that stores sheets and an image forming unit that forms an image on the supplied sheet in an upward direction in order, and a body that has a sheet supply path from the sheet cassette to the image forming unit along the inside of one side surface In an image forming apparatus comprising: an apparatus; and a sheet supply apparatus that stores a large number of sheets and is attached to the side surface of the main body apparatus and supplies the sheet to an image forming unit in the main body apparatus.
A sheet supply device is detachably attached to the side surface of the main unit, and the back side can be opened and closed with a support shaft while forming a part of the sheet supply path, and the sheet supply device is opened apart. An opening / closing cover that opens the sheet supply path is sometimes provided,
A horizontal shaft is fixed along the opening / closing cover, and the sheet supply device is hooked on the horizontal shaft of the closed opening / closing cover to hold the sheet supply device in contact with the side surface of the main body device. An image forming apparatus, wherein a hook is provided, and a support member that receives and supports the horizontal axis of a closed opening / closing cover is fixed to the main body device.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the support member is a molded product of polyacetal resin.

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