JP2008133112A - Composite type image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a composite type image forming device functioning as a digital copying machine and a laser printer, for avoiding trouble in opening an open/closed cover due to a paper discharge tray during recording paper jamming or toner replacement. <P>SOLUTION: The paper discharge tray 8 consists of a fixed tray portion 8a, and a drawable tray portion 8b supported by the fixed tray portion 8a and provided to be drawable frontward and storable. The drawable tray portion 8b is turnable in the drawn condition. When the open/closed cover 4 is opened upward, the open/closed cover 4 interferes with the drawable tray portion 8b and the open/closed cover 4 is rotated followed by the drawable tray portion 8b to be rotated in the same direction. As a result, the open/closed cover 4 can be opened without previously storing the drawable tray portion 8b in a printer casing part 21, to allow easy access inside a casing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a composite image forming apparatus having a function of a laser printer for forming an image on recording paper by a digital copying machine and an electrophotographic system, and more particularly to a paper discharge tray thereof.

  Generally, in a so-called composite type image forming apparatus having a function of a laser printer that forms an image on recording paper by a digital copying machine and an electrophotographic system, the casing is a printer casing that houses a printer mechanism. And a scanner housing that houses the scanner mechanism. The scanner casing is provided on the upper part of the printer casing and is supported so as to be rotatable with respect to the printer casing. On the other hand, in an electrophotographic laser printer, due to problems such as heat dissipation, a paper feed tray on which recording paper is loaded is provided on the bottom side of the printer housing, and the recording paper on which an image is formed is discharged. The tray is provided on the upper surface side of the printer casing. In addition, an opening / closing cover is provided on the front surface of the printer casing so that the inside of the casing can be accessed when a recording paper is jammed or toner is replaced.

  By the way, as the image forming apparatus is miniaturized, it is required that the height and depth dimensions of the housing be smaller than those of the conventional one. For this reason, the paper feed tray and the paper discharge tray are configured to be attachable to and detachable from the printer casing and protrude forward from the printer casing when in use. On the other hand, the opening area of the opening / closing cover cannot be made very small in order to facilitate access to the inside of the housing when recording paper is jammed or toner is replaced. Under such circumstances, if the rotation shaft of the opening / closing cover is arranged on the lower side in the height direction and is configured to open downward, the opening / closing cover interferes with the paper feed tray. On the other hand, when the rotation shaft of the opening / closing cover is arranged on the upper side in the height direction and the opening / closing cover is opened upward, the opening / closing cover interferes with the paper discharge tray. Therefore, if the paper feed tray or paper discharge tray must be removed or stored in order to open the open / close cover when the recording paper is jammed or the toner is replaced, the work becomes very complicated and the workability deteriorates. At the same time, the value as a product decreases.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an image forming apparatus in which a part (drawer) of a paper discharge tray can be pulled out from a housing and the drawer can be rotated. When the installation space is small, this device rotates the paper drawer tray by a predetermined angle so that it is almost vertical at the maximum, and the paper tray is bent halfway, and the discharged recording paper Is held in an arcuate shape. Therefore, an arcuate intermediate guide is provided between the drawer part and the fixed part in order to link the drawer part and the fixed part of the paper discharge tray and to smoothly bend the recording paper in an arc shape. In addition, a friction mechanism is required for maintaining the drawer portion of the paper discharge tray at a predetermined angle with respect to the fixed portion. Therefore, the structure of the paper discharge tray is complicated, the manufacturing cost increases, and a certain amount of force is required to rotate the drawer.

Patent Document 2 discloses an image forming apparatus in which a part (rotating unit) of a paper feed tray is provided so as to be rotatable with respect to a casing, and the remaining part (drawer unit) of the paper feed tray can be pulled out from the rotating unit. is doing. Furthermore, this apparatus is configured such that when the rotating part is rotated and opened and closed, the drawer part is automatically drawn or stored with respect to the rotating part. For this reason, the structure of the rotating portion of the paper feed tray is complicated, and there is a problem that the manufacturing cost is increased.
JP-A-9-194107 JP 2002-347996

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. The scanner unit can be arranged as low as possible, the opening operation of the opening / closing cover can be prevented from being disturbed, and the drawer tray unit can be smoothly pulled out. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus including a paper discharge tray that can be stored.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 includes a printer casing and a scanner casing provided on an upper portion of the printer casing and rotatably supported with respect to the printer casing. A case, a paper feed tray provided at a lower portion on the front side of the printer housing portion, on which recording paper is placed, and a top sheet of recording paper placed on the paper feed tray one by one A recording paper transport mechanism that picks up and transports along a predetermined path provided inside the printer casing, and forms an image by electrophotography on the recording paper transported by the recording paper transport mechanism An image forming mechanism; a printer unit provided at an upper portion on the front side of the printer casing unit; and a discharge unit for discharging recording paper on which an image is formed; and an upper surface of the scanner casing unit. Made of translucent material In the composite image forming apparatus, the printer casing unit includes: a document table; and a scanner unit including an image reading unit that reads a document placed on the document table, converts the document into image data, and outputs the image data. And an opening / closing cover that opens while rotating upward, with the upper side in the height direction as the rotation axis, and above the paper feed tray.
The paper discharge tray can be stored in a fixed tray portion that forms a part of the upper surface of the scanner housing and the scanner housing, and is pulled out from the scanner housing. A drawer tray portion located in front of the portion, and the drawer tray portion is formed with a cylindrical protrusion formed so as to protrude outward from both side portions on the rear end side, and on both side portions along the pull-out direction. It has a rectangular rib formed so as to protrude outward, and engages with the cylindrical protrusion below the fixed tray portion of the printer casing, and both ends thereof are closed in a semicircular shape. A peeled first guide groove and a second guide groove that is parallel to the first guide groove and that engages with the rectangular rib whose front end is open are formed. The front side upper end is an extension line of the second guide groove With the drawer tray portion being pulled out, the drawer tray portion is in contact with the bottom surface of the rectangular rib so that the upper surface of the drawer tray portion is substantially flush with the upper surface of the fixed tray portion. Even if the opening / closing cover and the drawer tray portion of the paper discharge tray interfere with each other when the opening / closing cover is opened upward, the drawer tray portion is formed in the cylindrical shape as the opening / closing cover rotates. Rotating upward with a protrusion as a rotation axis, so that the opening area of the opening / closing cover is secured to a certain level or more without storing the drawer tray portion of the paper discharge tray in the printer housing portion in advance, and the recording paper is jammed. In addition, it is easy to access the inside of the printer casing when replacing toner.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer housing portion that houses a printer unit, and a scanner housing that is provided on an upper portion of the printer housing portion and is rotatably supported with respect to the printer housing and houses a scanner unit. Provided in the lower part on the front side of the printer casing part, and provided on the upper part on the front side of the printer casing part. A paper discharge tray for discharging the recording paper, and an opening / closing cover that is provided in front of the printer casing and above the paper feed tray and that pivots upward with the upper side in the height direction as a rotation axis In the composite image forming apparatus, the paper discharge tray can be stored in a fixed tray portion that forms a part of the upper surface of the scanner housing, and in the scanner housing. In the state pulled out from the inside Even if the open / close cover and the drawer tray portion of the paper discharge tray interfere with each other when the open / close cover is opened upward, the open / close cover of the open / close cover With the rotation, the drawer tray portion rotates upward about the columnar protrusion as a rotation axis, thereby jamming the recording paper without previously storing the drawer tray portion of the paper discharge tray in the printer housing portion. In addition, it is easy to access the inside of the printer casing when replacing toner.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the printer unit is a laser printer that forms an image on a recording sheet by an electrophotographic method.

According to the present invention, the drawer tray portion supported by the fixed tray portion is provided in the front of the fixed tray portion so that it can be pulled out and stored. It is not necessary to secure the scanner, and the scanner unit can be arranged as low as possible, so that the height of the image forming apparatus can be reduced.
Further, since the drawer tray portion is rotatable upward in the pulled-out state, even when the opening / closing cover interferes with the drawer tray portion when the opening / closing cover is opened upward, the drawer tray portion is accompanied by the rotation of the opening / closing cover. The drawer tray also rotates in the same direction. Therefore, it is not necessary to remove the recording paper previously placed on the drawer tray portion and store the drawer tray portion, and the opening / closing cover can be opened.
Further, when the drawer tray portion is stored and pulled out, the cylindrical protrusion and the rectangular rib are held in the first guide groove and the second guide groove, respectively, and the first guide groove and the second guide groove Since sliding along the guide groove does not cause any trouble in the storing and pulling-out operation due to the backlash compared to the case where it is held in one guide groove and slides along it, a smooth operation can be ensured. .

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus 1 is a so-called multi-function machine having a function of a laser printer that forms an image on a recording paper 9 by a digital copying machine and an electrophotographic system. The image forming apparatus 1 is attached to the housing 2, the front surface side of the housing 2, is loaded with a recording paper 9, and is pivotally supported on the front surface side of the housing 2 so that it can be opened and closed upward. Open / close cover 4, recording paper transport mechanism 5 for transporting recording paper 9 loaded in the paper feed tray 3 into the housing 2, and recording paper disposed inside the housing 2 and transported by the recording paper transport mechanism 5 An image forming unit 6 that forms an image on paper 9, a scanner unit 7 that is disposed above image forming unit 6 and reads document 10 as image data, recording paper transport mechanism 5 and image formation of housing 2 A paper discharge tray 8 that is disposed below a paper discharge port 23 provided in an upper portion of the printer housing unit 21 that accommodates the unit 6 and receives the recording paper 9 discharged from the paper discharge port 23 to the front of the housing 2; It has. The casing 2 includes the printer casing section 21 and a scanner section 22 that is provided above the printer casing section 21 and is rotatably supported with respect to the printer casing section 21 and accommodates the scanner section 7. ing. If this apparatus is equipped with a communication function such as a modem, it can be used as a facsimile.

  The paper feed tray 3 is pivotally supported at the lower portion on the front side of the printer casing 21 and can be opened and closed downward, and the recording paper 9 is placed in a state where the paper feed tray 3 is opened substantially horizontally. On the downstream side of the paper feed tray 3 in the paper feed direction, when the recording paper 9 is transported from the recording paper transport mechanism 5 to the inside of the housing 2, an inclined base 31 that tilts to lift the leading end of the recording paper 9. Is attached. The paper feed tray 3 is not limited to such an openable and closable type. For example, the paper feed tray 3 is supported on the front side of the printer casing 21 and can be pulled out and stored in front of the casing 2. Or may be removable.

  The opening / closing cover 4 is pivotally supported at a position above the position where the sheet feed tray 3 on the front side of the printer casing 21 is pivotally supported. For example, when the recording sheet is jammed or toner is replaced, the printer casing 21 It is provided so that it can be accessed inside, and has a mechanism that can stand still in a state where it is fully opened upward.

  The recording paper transport mechanism 5 includes a pickup roller 51 disposed above the inclined table 31, a transport roller 52 that transports the recording paper 9 inside the housing 2, and a motor (not shown) that drives these rollers. Etc. The pickup roller 51 rotates in contact with the uppermost recording paper 9 placed on the paper feed tray 3, thereby causing the recording paper 9 to move along the recording paper guide 53 behind the housing 2. Paper is fed toward the inside of the housing 2. The fed recording paper 9 is conveyed to the image forming unit 6 by the conveying roller 52, and an image is formed by the image forming unit 6, and then discharged onto the paper discharge tray 8.

  The image forming unit 6 includes a photosensitive drum 61 having a photosensitive layer formed on the surface thereof, a charger 62 that uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 61, and scanning the surface of the photosensitive drum 61 with laser light. The exposure device 63 that forms a latent image by irradiation, the developing device 64 that forms a toner image by attaching toner to the portion of the surface of the photosensitive drum 61 where the latent image is formed, and the rotation of the photosensitive drum 61 The toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 61 is transferred onto the recording paper 9 so as to face the surface of the photosensitive drum 61 at a predetermined transfer position downstream of the developing device 64 in the direction. The image forming apparatus includes a transfer roller 65, a cleaner 66 for removing toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 61, a fixing device 67 disposed on the downstream side of the transfer position in the conveyance direction of the recording paper 9, and the like.

  The scanner unit 7 is mounted on a rectangular opening provided on the upper surface of the scanner housing unit 22, and is opposed to a flat plate-like document table 71 made of a translucent material such as glass and the inner surface of the document table 71. The scanning unit 72 is moved in the sub-scanning direction, and the drive mechanism 73 is configured to reciprocate the scan unit 72 in the sub-scanning direction. The drive mechanism 73 is configured to move the scan unit 72 by rotating a belt and a pulley by a motor or the like, for example. Note that the configuration of the drive mechanism 73 is not limited to this, and a linear motor or other mechanism may be used.

  The scan unit 72 is a so-called CIS (Contact Image Sensor), a linear light source (not shown) provided along the main scanning direction, and an imaging device (not shown) provided parallel to the linear light source. And have. The linear light source is, for example, a plurality of LEDs arranged in the main scanning direction, and illuminates the entire area of the document table 71 in the main scanning direction with substantially uniform brightness. The imaging device includes a lens array in which micro lenses are arranged in the main scanning direction, and a light receiving element array in which light receiving elements are arranged in the main scanning direction corresponding to each lens. Each lens is focused on the outer surface of the document table 71. Among the documents 10 placed so as to be in close contact with the outer surface of the document table 71, each lens receives each image in a predetermined range illuminated by a linear light source. An image is formed on the light receiving surface of the element, and an image in a predetermined range is picked up by each light receiving element.

  The paper discharge tray 8 is supported by the fixed tray portion 8a and the fixed tray portion 8a formed on the front side of the printer housing portion 21 and below the scanner housing portion 22 and above the inclined base 31. It is composed of a drawer tray portion 8b provided so as to be freely drawn out and stored in front of the portion 8a. Accordingly, it is not necessary to secure a space for storing and pulling out the drawer tray portion 8b above the paper discharge tray 8, and the scanner portion 7 is removed when the scanner portion 7 is disposed above the paper discharge tray 8. It can be installed close to the paper tray 8 and the height of the image forming apparatus 1 can be reduced.

  The drawer tray portion 8b is rotatable in a state where the drawer tray portion 8b is pulled out. Thus, when the opening / closing cover 4 is opened upward, the drawer tray portion 8b can be prevented from contacting the opening / closing cover 4. Therefore, it is not necessary to remove the recording paper placed on the drawer tray portion 8b and store the drawer tray portion 8b, so that the operation of the open / close cover 4 is not hindered.

  As shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C, on both side surfaces of the drawer tray portion 8b, a cylindrical protrusion 81 on the upstream side in the drawer direction, and substantially parallel to the lower surfaces of both side portions of the drawer tray portion 8b. A rectangular rib 82 extending in the direction is formed. As shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (c), the fixed tray portion 8 a has a first guide groove 24 having a long hole shape with which the cylindrical protrusion 81 engages, and a first guide groove 24 below the first guide groove 24. A second guide groove 25 is formed which extends substantially parallel to both sides of one guide groove 24 and engages with a rectangular rib 82. The second guide groove 25 is extended from the first guide groove 24 in the pulling direction, and the extended portion is opened upward and penetrates downstream in the pulling direction. The rectangular rib 82 extends upward at the position where the drawer tray portion 8b is pulled out and the columnar protrusion 81 is in contact with the end portion of the first guide groove 24 from the downstream end surface of the drawer tray portion 8b. The second guide groove 25 is formed to the position without being supported.

  The operation of the drawer tray portion 8b of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. As shown in FIG. 4A, in the state where the drawer tray portion 8b is fully inserted into the fixed tray portion 8a, that is, in the state where the drawer tray portion 8b is stored below the fixed tray portion 8a, the cylindrical protrusion 81 and The rectangular ribs 82 are held in the first guide groove 24 and the second guide groove 25, respectively. When the drawer tray portion 8b is pulled out from this state, the cylindrical protrusion 81 and the rectangular rib 82 slide along the first guide groove 24 and the second guide groove 25, respectively. From this state, as shown in FIG. 4B, in a state where the drawer tray portion 8b is most pulled out, that is, in a state where the columnar protrusion 81 is in contact with the end portion of the first guide groove 24, the rectangular rib 82 is no longer supported by the second guide groove 25, and the drawer tray portion 8 b is rotatable upward about the cylindrical protrusion 81. If the open / close cover 4 is opened upward from this state as shown in FIG. 4C, the open / close cover 4 interferes with the drawer tray portion 8b. As the opening / closing cover 4 rotates, the drawer tray portion 8b also rotates upward. Therefore, the opening / closing cover 4 can be opened smoothly without the user storing or rotating the drawer tray portion 8b in advance when recording paper is jammed or toner is replaced. As a result, even if the height of the image forming apparatus is lowered, the opening area of the opening / closing cover 4 can be secured to a certain level or more, and access to the inside of the printer casing 21 can be facilitated.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the structure of the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible in the range which does not change the meaning of invention. For example, the rectangular rib 82 is disposed above the cylindrical protrusion 81, and the second guide groove 25 that engages with the rectangular rib 82 is disposed above the first guide groove 24 correspondingly. There may be.

1 is a perspective view illustrating an example of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. (A) is a perspective view showing a paper discharge tray of the image forming apparatus, (b) is a perspective view showing a drawer tray portion of the paper discharge tray, and (c) is an AA in the state shown in FIG. Sectional drawing of a line. (a) is a sectional side view in a state where the drawer tray portion is stored below the fixed tray portion of the paper discharge tray, and (b) is a state in which the drawer tray portion is pulled out from the fixed tray portion. Side sectional view, (c) is a side sectional view in a state where the drawer tray portion is pulled out from the fixed tray portion and rotated upward.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Housing | casing 3 Paper feed tray 4 Opening / closing cover 5 Recording paper conveyance mechanism 6 Image forming part 7 Scanner part 8 Paper discharge tray 8a Fixed tray part 8b Drawer tray part 9 Recording paper 10 Document 21 Printer housing part 22 Scanner Housing portion 23 Paper discharge port 24 First guide groove 25 Second guide groove 31 Inclined base 51 Pickup roller 52 Transport roller 53 Recording paper guide 61 Photoconductor drum 62 Charger 63 Exposure device 64 Development device 65 Transfer roller 66 Cleaner 67 Fixing device 71 Document table 72 Scan unit 73 Drive mechanism 81 Cylindrical protrusion 82 Rectangular rib

Claims (3)

A housing having a printer housing and a scanner housing provided on an upper portion of the printer housing and supported rotatably with respect to the printer housing;
A paper feed tray provided at a lower portion on the front side of the printer casing and on which recording paper is placed;
A recording paper transport mechanism that picks up the top one of the recording papers placed on the paper feed tray one by one, and transports the recording paper along a predetermined path provided in the printer casing;
An image forming mechanism for forming an image by electrophotography on a recording sheet conveyed by the recording sheet conveying mechanism;
A printer unit provided at a top portion on the front side of the printer housing unit and provided with a paper discharge tray for discharging recording paper on which an image is formed;
An original table provided on the upper surface of the scanner casing and formed of a light-transmitting material;
In a composite image forming apparatus including a scanner unit including an image reading unit that reads a document placed on the document table, converts the document into image data, and outputs the image data.
On the front surface of the printer casing and above the paper feed tray, there is provided an open / close cover that pivots upward with the upper side in the height direction as the rotation axis,
The paper discharge tray can be stored in a fixed tray portion that forms a part of the upper surface of the scanner housing and the scanner housing, and is pulled out from the scanner housing. And a drawer tray part located in front of the part,
The drawer tray part includes a columnar protrusion formed so as to protrude outward from both sides on the rear end side, and a rectangular rib formed so as to protrude outward on both sides along the pulling direction. Have
Below the fixed tray portion of the printer housing portion, a first guide groove that engages with the columnar protrusion and whose both end portions are closed in a semicircular shape, and the first guide groove, A second guide groove is formed which is parallel and engages the rectangular rib whose front end is open;
An upper end on the front side of the printer casing is positioned on an extension line of the second guide groove, and in contact with the bottom surface of the rectangular rib in a state where the drawer tray is pulled out, Holding the drawer tray portion so that the upper surface of the portion is substantially flush with the upper surface of the fixed tray portion,
Even if the opening / closing cover and the drawer tray portion of the paper discharge tray interfere with each other when the opening / closing cover is opened upward, the drawer tray portion rotates the columnar protrusion with the rotation axis as the opening / closing cover rotates. As a result, the opening area of the opening / closing cover is secured to a certain level or more without the drawer tray portion of the paper discharge tray being stored in the printer housing portion in advance, so that the recording paper is jammed or the toner is replaced. A composite image forming apparatus characterized in that access to the inside of the printer casing is facilitated. A housing having a printer housing portion that houses a printer portion, and a scanner housing portion that is provided on an upper portion of the printer housing portion and is rotatably supported with respect to the printer housing, and houses a scanner portion; ,
A paper feed tray provided at a lower portion on the front side of the printer casing and on which recording paper is placed;
A paper discharge tray provided at an upper portion on the front side of the printer casing, and on which recording paper on which an image is formed is discharged;
In the composite type image forming apparatus provided with an opening / closing cover provided on the front surface of the printer casing and above the paper feed tray, with the upper side in the height direction as a rotation axis and opening upward while rotating.
The paper discharge tray can be stored in a fixed tray portion that forms a part of the upper surface of the scanner housing and the scanner housing, and is pulled out from the scanner housing. And a drawer tray part located in front of the part,
Even if the opening / closing cover and the drawer tray portion of the paper discharge tray interfere with each other when the opening / closing cover is opened upward, the drawer tray portion rotates the columnar protrusion with the rotation axis as the opening / closing cover rotates. As a result, it is possible to access the inside of the printer casing when recording paper is jammed or toner is replaced without storing the drawer tray section of the discharge tray in the printer casing in advance. A composite image forming apparatus characterized by being made easy.   The composite image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the printer unit is a laser printer that forms an image on a recording sheet by an electrophotographic method.

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