JP2007197098A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce manufacturing costs of an image forming device by reducing component costs of a size adjusting lever capable of responding to various sizes of recording paper, and also eliminating the necessity of assembling of the size adjusting lever. <P>SOLUTION: A paper feed tray 12 of the image forming device is provided approximately horizontally below a casing 10. In this paper feed tray 12, the size adjusting lever 13 for positioning an end part of recording paper P forward of the casing 10 in accordance with the size of the recording paper P is slidably arranged in the longitudinal direction of the casing 10. In the size adjusting lever 13, a slide part 13a slidably mounted to the paper feed tray 12 and a projection part 13b erected at one end in the slide direction of the slide part 13a are integrally formed. When the size adjusting lever 13 is mounted to the paper feed tray 12, the orientation of the end part having the projection part 13b of the size adjusting lever 13 is switched in accordance with the size of the recording paper P placed on the paper feed tray 12, so as to position the end part of the recording paper P. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that transports a recording sheet placed substantially horizontally on a sheet feeding tray into a housing and forms an image on the recording sheet.

  Among image forming apparatuses having a function of forming an image on recording paper, such as a laser beam printer or an ink jet printer, a relatively small image forming apparatus places the recording paper on a paper feed tray substantially horizontally. The recorded recording paper is conveyed one by one into the housing to form an image.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of such a conventional image forming apparatus. This image forming apparatus 81 has a paper discharge unit 811 for discharging recording paper on which an image is formed at the top of a housing 810, and a paper feed tray 812 at the bottom front of the housing 810. ing. The paper feed tray 812 is disposed substantially horizontally with the shaft support portion 812 a pivotally supported by the housing 810, and the upper surface of the paper feed tray 812 and the opening 810 a below the front surface of the housing 810. A recording sheet is placed on a placement surface composed of a lower surface. When no recording paper is placed, the opening 810a of the housing 810 can be closed by rotating the paper feed tray 812. A size adjusting lever 813 is arranged at the center of the left and right sides of the paper feed tray 812. As shown in the drawing, the size adjustment lever 813 is composed of a slide plate 813a that is slidably disposed with respect to the paper feed tray 812, and a protruding member 813b that is slidably disposed with respect to the slide plate 813a. Has been.

  In the image forming apparatus 81, the recording paper placed on the paper feed tray 812 is conveyed into the housing 810 by a paper feed mechanism (not shown) provided at the rear of the housing 810. Therefore, the recording paper is placed in a state of being moved toward the rear side of the housing 810 on the above-described placement surface so that the recording paper can be conveyed by the paper feeding mechanism. At this time, the recording paper is placed in a state where the recording paper is positioned by the size adjusting lever 813 so that the recording paper does not move forward. As a result, even when a plurality of recording papers are placed on the paper feed tray 812 and the image forming operation is repeatedly performed, the recording papers move forward and the recording papers cannot be properly fed. Is preventing.

  Here, in this image forming apparatus 81, since the size adjusting lever 813 is composed of two parts of the slide plate 813a and the protruding member 813b, it can cope with recording paper of various sizes. For example, when a long recording paper such as A4 size or legal size is placed on the paper feed tray 812, the slide plate 813a is slid to the front side of the housing 810 of the paper feed tray 812, and the protruding member 813b. Is slid to the front side of the housing 810 of the slide plate 813a. On the other hand, for example, when recording paper having a short size such as a postcard size is placed on the paper feed tray 812, the slide plate 813a is slid to the rear surface side of the housing 810 of the paper feed tray 812, and the protruding member 813b is moved. Then, the slide plate 813a is slid to the rear surface side of the casing 810. As described above, by sliding the protruding member 813b with respect to the slide plate 813a, a large movement width of the protruding member 813b in the front-rear direction of the housing 810 is ensured, and various sizes of various sizes placed on the paper feed tray 812 are secured. The end of the recording paper can be positioned.

  However, in this image forming apparatus 81, since the size adjusting lever 813 is composed of two parts, the slide plate 813a and the protruding member 813b, the part cost of the size adjusting lever 813 is compared with the case where it is composed of one part. There is a problem that becomes high. Further, when assembling the image forming apparatus 81, a process of assembling these two parts as the size adjusting lever 813 is necessary, which causes a problem that costs necessary for assembling are generated. When these costs increase, the manufacturing cost of the image forming apparatus 81 increases.

Note that Patent Document 1 describes a printing apparatus using parts having the same shape as left and right slide guide members that are moved and adjusted in accordance with the size of a recording sheet. In this printing apparatus, parts having the same shape on the left and right sides are used as slide guide members, thereby reducing the parts cost. Patent Document 2 describes a paper size detection device in which a guide member in the width direction of a recording paper and a guide member in the paper feed direction are arranged in a paper feed cassette used in the image forming apparatus. In this apparatus, a paper feed cassette capable of detecting the size of the recording paper can be manufactured at low cost by providing a detected portion that represents the size information of the recording paper according to the moving state of the guide member. However, these Patent Documents 1 and 2 do not disclose an effective solution to the above-described problem.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-149346 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-97252

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and can reduce the cost of parts of a size adjusting lever that can handle recording papers of various sizes. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of reducing the above.

  In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention is a housing having an opening in a lower portion of a front surface, and a lower portion of the housing that is pivotally supported by a substantially horizontal axis so as to rotate to a position that is substantially vertical. A paper feed tray on which the recording paper is placed substantially horizontally on the upper surface while covering the opening in a moved state and rotated to a substantially horizontal position, and placed on the paper feed tray A recording paper transport mechanism that transports the recording paper from the rear side to the inside of the housing, and a slide paper that is slidable in the front-rear direction on the paper feed tray. Depending on the size, the recording paper conveyance direction rear end is positioned inside the housing so as not to move in the direction opposite to the recording paper conveyance direction, and the recording paper conveyance mechanism Image formation provided with an image forming unit for forming an image on a conveyed recording paper The size adjusting lever is a projection that is erected on a slide portion that slides with the paper feed tray and an upper surface in the vicinity of an end portion of the slide portion, and that positions a rear end portion in the conveyance direction of the recording paper. And can be attached to the paper feed tray by changing the direction of the projection relative to the slide direction according to the size of the recording paper placed on the paper feed tray. There is something.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a paper feed tray on which the recording paper is placed substantially horizontally, and a slide slidably provided on the paper feed tray, and according to the size of the recording paper placed on the paper feed tray. A size adjusting lever for positioning the end of the recording paper so as not to move from the state where the recording paper is placed, and a recording paper transport mechanism for transporting the recording paper placed on the paper feed tray into the housing And an image forming apparatus that is disposed inside the housing and forms an image on a recording sheet conveyed by the recording sheet conveying mechanism, wherein the size adjustment lever is connected to the sheet feeding tray. A recording sheet placed on the paper feed tray is formed by integrally molding a sliding part that slides and a protrusion that is erected on the upper surface of the sliding part and positions an end of the recording sheet. Depending on the size of the paper feed tray, Those being attachable by changing the orientation of the protrusions with respect to de direction.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the size adjusting lever is formed by integrally forming the slide portion and the protruding portion standing on the upper surface in the vicinity of the end portion of the slide portion, and is placed on the paper feed tray. Since the projections can be attached with the direction of the projection changed depending on the size of the paper, it is possible to position recording paper of various sizes. Since the size adjusting lever is composed of a single member, it is possible to reduce the component cost of the size adjusting lever, and the size adjusting lever is not required to be assembled. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost of the image forming apparatus.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the size adjusting lever is formed by integrally molding the slide portion and the protruding portion standing on the upper surface of the sliding portion. It can be installed with its orientation changed. Therefore, as described above, it is possible to position recording sheets of various sizes using the size adjustment lever. As the size adjustment lever is composed of a single member for the slide part and the projection part, as described above, the parts cost of the size adjustment lever is reduced, so that no assembly work is required and the manufacturing cost of the image forming apparatus is reduced. It becomes possible to make it.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of an image forming apparatus according to this embodiment. The image forming apparatus 1 is a laser beam printer, for example, and is provided with a paper discharge unit 11 provided at the upper part of the housing 10 and a lower part of the housing 10 so as to be rotatable as described later. The paper feed tray 12 is mounted. Inside the housing 10, the image forming unit 2 that forms an image on the recording paper P, and the recording paper P placed on the paper feed tray 12 are conveyed to the image forming unit 2 inside the housing 10, and A recording paper transport mechanism 3 for discharging the recording paper P on which an image is formed by the image forming unit 2 onto the paper discharge unit 11 is disposed. In FIG. 1, an arrow line by a two-dot chain line shows an example of a recording paper conveyance path of the image forming apparatus 1. The image forming apparatus 1 is connected to, for example, an external personal computer, and has a function of forming an image on the recording paper P based on the image data when image data is transmitted from the personal computer. It is what you have.

  The image forming unit 2 forms an image on the recording paper P by, for example, electrophotography. That is, for example, the image forming unit 2 irradiates the photosensitive drum with a laser beam to form a toner image, transfers the toner image onto the recording paper P, and then heats the recording paper P with a hot roller while pinching it. Then, the toner image is fixed on the recording paper P to form an image. The image forming method of the image forming unit 2 is not limited to this. For example, ink is ejected from the carriage onto the recording paper P while the carriage is reciprocated in a direction substantially orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording paper P. Alternatively, the image may be formed on the recording paper P by a so-called inkjet method.

  The recording paper transport mechanism 3 is provided at the upper part of the housing 10 and a paper feed roller 3a provided at the lower rear of the housing 10 and a lift tray 3b for bringing the recording paper into contact with the paper feeding roller 3a. A paper discharge roller 3c for discharging the recording paper P on which the image is formed from the inside of the housing 10 onto the paper discharge unit 11 is provided. The paper feed roller 3a and the paper discharge roller 3c are rotated by a driving force applied by, for example, a motor (not shown). The lift tray 3b is displaced with the rotation of the paper feed roller 3a. That is, the recording paper P placed on the paper feed tray 12 comes into contact with the rotating paper feed roller 3a due to the displacement of the lift tray 3b and enters the housing 10 from the rear of the housing 10. It is conveyed and fed. Note that the method for feeding the recording paper P is not limited to this, and for example, the paper feeding roller disposed above the paper feeding tray 12 is displaced toward the paper feeding tray 12 and hits the upper surface of the recording paper P. A configuration may be adopted in which the recording paper P placed on the paper feed tray 12 is fed by rotating in contact therewith.

  As shown in the figure, the paper feed tray 12 is substantially horizontal in a state where it is pivotally supported by a substantially horizontal axis at a pivotal support portion 12a at both ends at a lower portion of an opening portion 10a opened on the front surface of the housing 10. Is arranged. In the present embodiment, the recording paper P is placed substantially horizontally on the placement surface formed by the upper surface of the paper feed tray 12 and the plane below the opening 10a. When the recording paper P is not loaded, the opening 10a of the housing 10 can be closed by rotating the paper feed tray 12 to a position that is substantially vertical. A size adjusting lever 13 is disposed at a substantially right and left central portion of the sheet feeding tray 12. A recording paper guide 14 is provided on the plane below the opening 10a so as to be arranged on both side surfaces of the recording paper P placed on the placement surface. That is, the recording paper P placed on the placement surface is positioned so as not to move forward or side of the housing 10 by the recording paper guide 14 and the size adjustment lever 13 according to the size. Thus, the recording paper transport mechanism 3 is placed so as to be reliably transported inside the housing 10.

  FIG. 2 shows the size adjusting lever 13. The size adjusting lever 13 is erected in the vicinity of one end in the longitudinal direction of the slide portion 13a and a slide portion 13a having a substantially rectangular plate shape that is slidably arranged in the front-rear direction of the housing 10 with respect to the paper feed tray 12. It is comprised by the projection part 13b. In the present embodiment, the size adjusting lever 13 is composed of a single member in which a slide portion 13a and a protruding portion 13b are formed by integral molding. As will be described later, slide grooves 13c that slide on slide rails 12c of paper feed tray 12 are formed at both ends of slide portion 13a. Engaging claws 13d facing the side of the slide portion 13a for temporarily fixing the slide portion 13a to the paper feed tray 12 are provided near the four corners of the slide portion 13a of the slide groove 13c, as will be described later. It has been. A slit 13e is formed in the slide portion 13a on the inner side of the engagement claw 13d along the longitudinal direction. The engagement claw 13d can be bent toward the center in the width direction of the slide portion 13a. Is formed. On both sides of the upper surface of the slide portion 13a in the width direction, as will be described later, markings 13f are provided so as to be a guide for adjusting the position of the size adjustment lever 13 on the paper feed tray 12 according to the size of the recording paper P. Is imprinted. As the marking 13f, for example, various sizes of the recording paper P that can be placed on the paper feed tray 12, such as legal size, A4 size, letter size, B5 size, A5 size, postcard size, etc., are predetermined. In the position. The marking 13f is not limited to engraving, and may be provided by, for example, printing or attaching a sticker or the like.

  The size adjusting lever 13 is arranged on the paper feed tray 12 such that the longitudinal direction is the front-rear direction of the housing 10. In the present embodiment, the size adjusting lever 13 is configured such that either the end portion of the slide portion 13a where the protruding portion 13b is erected or the end portion where the protruding portion 13b is not erected is the front of the housing 10. Even in a state of being directed to, the paper tray 12 can be attached. The orientation of the size adjusting lever 13 attached to the paper feed tray 12 is determined according to the size of the recording paper P placed on the paper feed tray 12. That is, in this embodiment, for example, if the size of the recording paper P is a letter size or more, the size adjusting lever 13 has the end portion where the protruding portion 13b of the slide portion 13a is erected in front of the housing 10. It is attached to the paper feed tray 12 in such a direction. For example, if the size of the recording paper P is B5 or less, the size adjusting lever 13 is oriented in such a direction that the end on which the protrusion 13b is not erected is in front of the housing 10. Attached to.

  First, the arrangement of the size adjusting lever 13 when the size of the recording paper P is equal to or larger than the letter size will be described. FIGS. 3A and 3B show the paper feed tray 12 and the size adjustment lever 13 when a recording paper Pa having a size of A4, for example, is placed. Since the size of the recording paper Pa is A4 size, as shown in FIG. 3A, the size adjusting lever 13 has an end on which the protruding portion 13b of the sliding portion 13a protrudes at the front of the housing 10. It is arranged on the paper feed tray 12 in such a direction.

  The size adjusting lever 13 is inserted into the recess 12b on the upper surface of the paper feed tray 12 from the front of the paper feed tray 12 so that the slide rail 12c fits and slides into the slide groove 13c, and is attached to the paper feed tray 12. . The depth dimension of the recess 12b is substantially the same as the thickness of the slide portion 13a. When the size adjusting lever 13 is attached, the upper surface of the paper feed tray 12 and the upper surface of the slide portion 13a are substantially flush with each other. Become. For example, when an A4 size recording paper Pa is placed, as shown in FIG. 3B, the size adjusting lever 13 is slid to indicate the position corresponding to the A4 size recording paper Pa. The marking 13f and the reference marking 12e formed on the paper feed tray 12 are set at a position where they coincide. At this time, the engaging claw 13d and the notch 12d provided at a predetermined position of the slide rail 12c are in a loosely engaged state so that the size adjusting lever 13 is not displaced from the position. After the size adjusting lever 13 is previously attached to the paper feed tray 12 as described above, when the recording paper Pa is loaded as shown by a two-dot chain line in the figure, the recording paper Pa is conveyed into the housing 10. Thus, an image can be formed. At this time, since the recording paper Pa is in a state where the front end of the housing 10 is positioned by the protrusion 13b, a plurality of recording papers P are placed on the paper feed tray 12 and the image forming operation is repeated. Even if vibration or the like is caused by the paper feeding operation at such time, the recording paper Pa is not shifted in the opposite direction to the transport direction and the paper feeding operation is surely performed. Note that the position of the size adjustment lever 13 on the paper feed tray 12 may be adjusted after the recording paper Pa is placed.

  Even when the size of the recording paper P is a large size such as a legal size or a letter size, the size adjusting lever 13 is set in the same manner as described above. That is, the size adjusting lever 13 is slid forward or backward with respect to the paper feed tray 12 from the position at the A4 size in the same direction as that at the A4 size, so that the size of the recording paper P is reached. Set according to the position.

  Next, in the present embodiment, the arrangement of the size adjusting lever 13 when the size of the recording paper P is, for example, the B5 size or less will be described. FIG. 4 shows the paper feed tray 12 and the size adjusting lever 13 when the recording paper Pb having a postcard size, for example, is loaded. At this time, as shown in the figure, the size adjusting lever 13 is inserted into the paper feed tray 12 in a state in which both ends in the longitudinal direction of the slide portion 13a are opposite to each other and are in opposite directions. That is, for example, when changing from the state where the A4 size recording paper Pa is placed to the place where the postcard size recording paper Pb is placed, the size adjusting lever 13 is moved from the state shown in FIG. Then, after being slid and pulled out from the paper feed tray 12, it is inserted and attached to the paper feed tray 12 in a state in which the direction of the protrusion 13b with respect to the slide direction is changed by 180 degrees with the longitudinal direction reversed. Similarly to the above, the size adjusting lever 13 is slid to a position where the marking 13f indicating the position corresponding to the postcard-sized recording paper Pb and the reference marking 12e coincide with each other, and the engaging claw 13d is set in a state where the notch 12d is loosely engaged. With the size adjustment lever 13 set in this manner, the recording paper Pb is arranged as shown in FIG. 4 so that the front end of the housing 10 of the recording paper Pb is positioned at the protrusion 13b. The recording paper Pb is prevented from moving in the direction opposite to the transport direction. When the size of the recording paper P is, for example, A5 size or B5 size, the size adjusting lever 13 directs the end portion of the slide portion 13a where the protruding portion 13b is not erected in this manner toward the front of the housing 10. In this state, it is set at a predetermined position in front of the housing 10 from the position corresponding to the postcard-sized recording paper Pb.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the size adjustment lever 13 is provided with the protruding portion 13b so as to face the front of the housing 10 in accordance with the size of the recording paper P placed on the paper feed tray 12. By changing the orientation of the protrusion 13b relative to the slide direction and attaching the end portion on the other side and the end portion on the non-standing side, the recording paper P of various sizes is placed in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction. It is possible to position so as not to move. Since the size adjusting lever 13 is formed by integrally molding the slide portion 13a and the protruding portion 13b with one member, compared with the conventional two members as shown in FIG. The part cost of the size adjusting lever 13 can be reduced, and the assembling work of the size adjusting lever 13 is also unnecessary. Therefore, by using such a size adjusting lever 13, it is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost of the image forming apparatus 1.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the structure of the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible suitably in the range which does not change the meaning of invention. For example, the paper feed tray 12 is not limited to the one that is rotatably provided. That is, the size adjusting lever 13 having the slide portion 13a and the protrusion portion 13b as one member as described above is provided on the paper feed tray 12 on which the recording paper P is placed substantially horizontally, as described above. By changing the orientation of the recording paper P, it is possible to cope with the recording paper P of various sizes and to reduce the manufacturing cost of the image forming apparatus 1.

1 is a perspective view showing an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The perspective view which shows the size adjustment lever of an apparatus same as the above. (A) is a perspective view for explaining the direction of the size adjustment lever attached to the paper feed tray of the same apparatus, and (b) of the size adjustment lever when A4 size recording paper is placed on the paper feed tray of the same apparatus. The perspective view which shows a position. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a position of a size adjustment lever when a postcard-sized recording sheet is placed on a paper feed tray of the apparatus. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a conventional image forming apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Image forming part 3 Recording paper conveyance mechanism 10 Housing | casing 12 Paper feed tray 13 Size adjustment lever 13a Slide part 13b Protrusion part P, Pa, Pb Recording paper

Claims (2)

A housing having an opening at the front lower portion;
In a state where it is pivotally supported by a substantially horizontal axis at the lower part of the casing, covers the opening in a state of being pivoted to a substantially vertical position, and is pivoted to a substantially horizontal position. A paper feed tray on which recording paper is placed substantially horizontally;
A recording paper transport mechanism for transporting the recording paper placed on the paper feed tray from the rear side of the housing upward to the inside of the housing;
The paper feed tray is slidable in the front-rear direction. Depending on the size of the recording paper placed on the paper feed tray, the rear end of the recording paper in the conveyance direction is opposite to the recording paper conveyance direction. A size adjustment lever that positions so as not to move in the direction;
An image forming apparatus including an image forming unit disposed inside a housing and forming an image on a recording sheet conveyed by the recording sheet conveying mechanism;
The size adjusting lever is
A slide portion that slides with the paper feed tray and a protrusion that stands on the upper surface near the end portion of the slide portion and positions the rear end portion in the conveyance direction of the recording paper are integrally molded. ,
An image forming apparatus characterized in that the projection can be attached to the paper feed tray by changing the direction of the projection relative to the slide direction according to the size of the recording paper placed on the paper feed tray. A paper feed tray on which recording paper is placed substantially horizontally;
Positioned so that the end of the recording paper does not move from the state where the recording paper is placed according to the size of the recording paper placed on the paper feeding tray. A size adjustment lever to
A recording paper transport mechanism for transporting the recording paper placed on the paper feed tray into the housing;
An image forming apparatus including an image forming unit disposed inside a housing and forming an image on a recording sheet conveyed by the recording sheet conveying mechanism;
The size adjusting lever is
A slide portion that slides with the paper feed tray, and a protrusion that is erected on the upper surface of the slide portion and positions an end portion of the recording paper are integrally molded,
An image forming apparatus characterized in that the projection can be attached to the paper feed tray by changing the direction of the projection relative to the slide direction according to the size of the recording paper placed on the paper feed tray.

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