JP2006284804A - Copying apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a new copying apparatus which has improved operability by considering the fact that an operator tends to forget to take an original and which can be installed even in a small space. <P>SOLUTION: The copying apparatus 1 is composed of: a paper feed section 3 which is arranged on the bottom of an apparatus main body 2; a transfer section 4 which is arranged adjacent to the paper feed section 3; a copy paper ejection port 5 which is arranged so as to locate its opening in the front surface 21 of the apparatus main body 2 above the transfer section 4; an original ejection port 6 which is arranged in such a manner that it and the copy paper ejection port 5 are lined up at the same height position and its opening is located in the front surface 21; an original insertion port 7 which is arranged so as to be adjacent to the original ejection port 6 and locate an opening in the front surface 21; a scanner section 8 which is arranged between the original insertion port 7 and the original ejection port 6; and an operating section 9 which is provided in the front surface 21. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a copying apparatus that acquires image data from a document by a scanner and electronically transfers the image data to a copy sheet. In particular, the present invention can handle a document and a sheet that is discharged after completion of copying from the front side of the apparatus. The present invention relates to a copying apparatus.

  Conventionally, for example, a technique disclosed in the following Patent Document 1 (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-93865) has been proposed in order to facilitate handling of originals and paper discharged after completion of copying in a facsimile machine. ing. The facsimile apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a document insertion port for inserting a document, a document discharge port for discharging a document inserted from the insertion port, and a recording sheet discharge for discharging a recording sheet on which information is printed. The outlets are provided on the front surface of the apparatus so as to be concentrated vertically. An operation unit and a display unit are provided on the front surface of the apparatus.

  Further, as a conventional technique considering the arrangement of the document discharge port, the document insertion port, and the like in the facsimile apparatus, for example, a technique disclosed in the following Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-291903) has been proposed. In the facsimile apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2, a recording paper discharge port and a document insertion port are provided vertically on one side of the apparatus main body. Here, the document discharge port is also used as the recording paper discharge port. The operation buttons and the display window are arranged adjacent to each other on the display unit on the side different from one side of the apparatus main body.

  Further, as a conventional technique in consideration of the arrangement of the document discharge port and the document insertion port in the portable printer / facsimile multifunction device, for example, the technology disclosed in the following Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-164298) is proposed. Has been. The portable printer / facsimile multifunction device disclosed in Patent Document 3 has a document discharge port and a document insertion port arranged above and below a print sheet discharge port on the front side of the apparatus. An operation panel is provided on the upper surface of the apparatus.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-93865 (full description, page 4, line 18 to page 5, line 7, FIG. 2) JP-A-6-291903 (FIG. 2, paragraphs [0007] and [0008]) JP-A-10-164298 (FIG. 1, paragraphs [0018], [0019], [0020])

  However, in a copying apparatus in which a large amount of recording paper is discharged in one job and a plurality of originals are used, a large copy paper discharge opening and original discharge opening are required, and are built in. Since the scanner, transfer section, etc. are large, one sheet of paper such as a document or discharged paper that has been copied, like the facsimile apparatus disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3 described above as a conventional technique, is used. In the apparatus handled every time, the discharge ports for discharging these sheets cannot be provided concentrated on the front surface of the apparatus in the vertical direction. That is, in the conventional copying apparatuses such as Patent Document 1 to Patent Document 3, the position of the document discharge port is easily noticeable because of the relationship between the scanner unit that reads the document, the copy unit, and the conveyance path that conveys the paper. However, it is difficult to arrange the document discharge port, and the position of the document discharge port is not sufficiently considered.

  For this reason, the conventional copying apparatus has a problem of forgetting to take a document.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a novel copying apparatus that improves operability in consideration of forgetting to remove a document and can be installed even in a narrow space.

In order to solve the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 of the present application is
A paper feeder disposed below the apparatus body;
A transfer unit disposed adjacent to the paper feed unit;
A copy paper discharge port disposed so that an opening is located on the front surface of the apparatus main body above the transfer unit;
A document discharge port arranged at the same height as the copy paper discharge port and arranged so that an opening is positioned on the front surface;
A document insertion port disposed adjacent to the document discharge port so that an opening is located on the front surface;
A scanner unit disposed between the document insertion port and the document discharge port;
And an operation unit provided on the front surface.

  Further, in the copying apparatus according to claim 2 of the present application, in the copying apparatus according to claim 1, the sheet feeding unit includes a sheet feeding unit that can be mounted from the front surface, and the transfer unit is provided near the front surface. , And having a door that opens on the front surface.

  In the invention according to claim 1 of the present application, since the copy sheet discharge port and the document discharge port are arranged at the same position height on the front surface of the apparatus main body, the copy sheet discharge port is formed when copying is completed. When the copy paper is discharged, the original is discharged to the original discharge port at the same eye level. For this reason, when the user takes out the copy sheet, the user always notices that the document is in the document discharge port, and can reliably prevent the user from forgetting to remove it. In addition, since the operation unit and the document insertion port are arranged on the front surface, the user can perform all operations for copying from the front surface. An excellent copying apparatus can be provided.

  According to the invention of claim 2 of the present application, the paper feeding unit can be handled by the paper feeding unit from the front surface of the apparatus main body, and the transfer unit opens the door provided on the front surface. As a result, the front of the apparatus main body is opened, so that copying paper can be replenished, the transfer section can be inspected and repaired from the front surface. Accordingly, since the apparatus main body can be installed not only on the back surface but also on the side where both sides are blocked, it is possible to provide a copying apparatus that can be installed in a limited narrow space.

  Hereinafter, specific examples of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples and drawings.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a copying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing the inside of the copying apparatus in FIG. In the present invention, the copying apparatus includes a multifunction peripheral having a scanner section and a printing section (copying section) and capable of printing and copying.

  In FIG. 1, a copying apparatus 1 includes a sheet feeding unit 3 disposed on the lower left side of the apparatus body 2, a transfer unit 4 disposed adjacent to the upper side of the sheet feeding unit 3, and a front surface above the transfer unit 4. The copy paper discharge port 5 is disposed so that the opening is located at 21, and the opening is disposed at the front surface 21 on the right side of the copy paper discharge port 5, and is at the same height as the copy paper discharge port 5. The document discharge port 6 disposed, the document insertion port 7 disposed adjacent to the front surface 21 above the document discharge port 6, and the scanner unit 8 disposed between the document insertion port 7 and the document discharge port 6 The operation unit 9 is disposed on the front surface 21. The paper feed unit 3 is formed of a plurality of paper feed units 31 that can be mounted from the front surface 21 of the apparatus main body 2. These paper feed units 31 are provided for each copy paper size.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the transfer unit 4 includes a transfer drum 41 disposed near the front surface 21, a developing unit 42 that develops image data on the transfer drum 41, and a fixing unit 43 provided on the downstream side of the transfer drum 41. The conveyance roller 44 that conveys the copy sheet 10 from the paper feed unit 3 to the transfer drum 41, the conveyance roller 45 that conveys the copy sheet 10 from the fixing unit 43 to the copy sheet discharge port 5, and the copy sheet 10 are selectively reversed. The reversing roller 46 is then transported to the transfer drum 41 again. The transfer unit 4 is always closed by a door 47 provided on the front surface 21, but by opening the door 47, the inside of the transfer unit 4 is opened to the front surface 21 side.

  The copy paper discharge port 5 is connected to a box 51 having a height sufficient to accommodate a large amount of copy paper 10. Further, the copy discharge port 5 is formed in such a size that the user can take out the copy paper 10 in the box 51.

  The document discharge port 6 is connected to a box 61 having a height sufficient to store a large amount of document 11. The document discharge port 6 is formed in a size that allows the user to take out the copy paper 10 in the box 61.

  The document insertion slot 7 has a guide 71 for manually setting the width of the document 11 so that a plurality of documents 11 are automatically sent out.

  The scanner unit 8 includes a pair of scanners 81 for selectively scanning one side or both sides of the document 11 to obtain image data, and a transport roller 82 for transporting the document 11 from the document insertion port 7 to the scanner 81. The transfer roller 83 is configured to transfer the document 11 from the scanner 81 to the document discharge port 6.

  The operation of the copying apparatus 1 according to the above-described embodiment of the present invention will be described. The user inserts the document 11 into the document insertion slot 7. At this time, the guide 71 is adjusted to the width of the document 11 so that the document 11 is sent out stably. Thereafter, the user sets the number of copies, selection of one side / both sides, selection in the case of reduction / enlargement, and the like on the operation unit 9 to start a copy operation. If there is a charge, insert coins.

  By this starting operation, the copying apparatus 1 conveys the document 11 set in the document insertion port 7 to the scanner 81 by the conveyance roller 82 and optically scans to acquire image data. This image data is sent to the transfer unit 4. Further, the document 11 from which the image has been read is transported to the box 61 of the document discharge port 6 by the transport roller 83.

  On the other hand, the transfer unit 4 develops the sent image data on the transfer drum 41 in the developing unit 42. A copy paper 10 having a predetermined size is conveyed from the paper supply unit 3 to the transfer drum 41 by a conveyance roller 44. The transfer drum 41 performs transfer onto the conveyed copy sheet 10. The transferred copy sheet 10 is fixed in the fixing unit 43. Here, in the case of single-sided copying, the copy sheet 10 is transported to the box 51 by the transport roller 45. In the case of duplex copying, the sheet is reversed by the reversing roller 46 and conveyed to the transfer drum 41 again. Then, image data for double-sided copying is transferred, fixed by the fixing unit 43, and conveyed to the box 51 by the conveying roller 45.

  After copying is completed, the user takes out the copy paper 10 in the box 51 from the copy discharge port 5. At the same time, the document 11 in the box 61 is taken out from the document discharge port 6 on the right side.

  In addition, when replenishing the paper in the paper feeding unit 3, the predetermined paper feeding unit 31 is taken out from the front surface 21, the paper is replenished, and is mounted on the apparatus body 2 from the front surface 21 again. In the transfer unit 4, for example, when a jam occurs, the door 47 is opened to open the transfer unit 4 to the front surface 21 to remove the cause. And after the cause of the jam is removed, the door is closed again. The same applies to the inspection of the transfer unit 4.

  According to the above-described embodiment of the present invention, since the copy paper discharge port 5 and the document discharge port 6 are arranged in the same position on the front surface 21 of the apparatus main body 2, the copy paper discharge port 5 is opened at the end of copying. When the copy sheet 10 is discharged, the document 11 is discharged to the document discharge port 6 at the same eye level. For this reason, when the user takes out the copy paper 10, the user always notices that the document 11 is in the front document discharge port 6 and can reliably prevent the user from forgetting to remove it. Further, since the document insertion port 7 and the operation unit 9 are disposed on the same front surface 21 as the copy discharge port 5 and the document insertion port 6, the user can perform all operations for copying from the front surface 21. Become. Moreover, the occupation area of the apparatus main body 2 may be substantially equal to the total occupation area of the box 51 of the copy paper discharge port 5 and the box 61 of the document discharge port 6. Therefore, the copying apparatus 1 can be installed in a relatively small floor area.

  Further, the paper feeding unit 3 is handled by the paper feeding unit 31 from the front surface 21 of the apparatus main body 2, and the transfer unit 4 can be handled by opening the door 47 provided on the front surface 21. The replenishment of the copy paper 10 and the inspection and repair of the transfer unit 4 can be performed from the front surface 21. Therefore, the apparatus main body 2 can be installed even when the both sides of the apparatus main body 2 are closed as well as the back.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the case where the present invention is applied to the copying apparatus 1 in which a pair of scanners 81 and a reverse roller 46 are provided to enable duplex copying has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Needless to say, the present invention can also be applied to a single-sided copying apparatus.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a copying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing an internal configuration of the copying apparatus in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Copying apparatus 2 Apparatus main body 3 Paper feed part 4 Transfer part 5 Copy paper discharge port 6 Document discharge port 7 Document insertion port 8 Scanner part 9 Operation part 10 Copy paper 11 Original 21 Front surface 31 Paper feed unit 41 Transfer drum 42 Development unit 43 Fixing unit 44, 45 Conveying roller 46 Reverse roller 47 Door 51, 61, 71 Box 72 Guide 81 Scanner 82, 83 Conveying roller

Claims (2)

A paper feeder disposed below the apparatus body;
A transfer unit disposed adjacent to the paper feed unit;
A copy paper discharge port disposed so that an opening is located on the front surface of the apparatus main body above the transfer unit;
A document discharge port arranged at the same height as the copy paper discharge port and arranged so that an opening is positioned on the front surface;
A document insertion port disposed adjacent to the document discharge port so that an opening is located on the front surface;
A scanner unit disposed between the document insertion port and the document discharge port;
A copying apparatus comprising: an operation unit provided on the front surface.   2. The sheet feeding unit includes a sheet feeding unit that can be mounted from the front surface, and the transfer unit is provided near the front surface and has a door that opens to the front surface. The copying machine described in 1.

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