JP2008185972A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus in which it can be easily visually recognized whether a sheet is placed in a sheet placing section, without adhering to the installation height of the apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus is provided with: a scanner 30 reading the image of a document; an image recording section 2 recording the image read by the scanner 30 on the sheet; a sheet discharge section 25 discharging the sheet on which the image is recorded by the image recording section 2; the sheet placing section 40 in which the sheet discharged from the sheet discharge section 25 is placed, between the scanner 30 and the image recording section 2; and a reflection section 70 which is provided in the front surface of the scanner 30 and reflects the sheet placed in the sheet placing section 40. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, and a multifunction machine having at least two of these functions.

  An image forming apparatus is well known as an image forming apparatus which is set as a sheet placing section for placing a sheet on which an upper surface of an apparatus main body having an image recording section is placed, and has a scanner as an image reading section above the apparatus main body. It is disclosed in Documents 1 to 3 and the like.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-197225 JP 2005-99852 A Japanese Patent No. 3830091

  Patent Document 1 is an image forming apparatus in which a sheet discharge space is formed between an image forming unit and a scanner, and a sheet is discharged into the sheet discharge space from the front of the apparatus toward the back side. The lower front end of the scanner is inclined from the front of the apparatus toward the back side in order to improve visibility from above the apparatus.

  Patent Document 2 is an image forming apparatus in which a sheet discharge space is formed between an image forming unit and a scanner, and a sheet is discharged into the sheet discharge space in the left-right direction of the apparatus. It is described that the visibility of whether or not a sheet can be placed on the paper discharge tray is improved by darkening the color of the front surface of the supporting unit or the paper discharge tray from the front of the scanner. Further, the column supporting the scanner and the color of the paper discharge tray are dark, and the visibility of the paper discharge is good.

  Patent Document 3 is an image forming apparatus in which a reflection surface forms a paper discharge space between an image forming unit and a scanner, and a sheet is discharged into the paper discharge space in the left-right direction of the apparatus. The lower front end of the scanner is inclined from the front of the apparatus toward the back.

  Also, there are image forming apparatuses that are installed on the floor or small that are installed on a table or the like. For example, in the case of an image forming apparatus of the type installed on the floor, the operator stands in front of the apparatus, looks down at the discharge space from above the apparatus, checks whether or not the sheet is discharged, and extends the hand to take it out. Yes. On the other hand, in the case of an image forming apparatus of a type installed on a table or the like, depending on the installation height, when looking down from above as in the type installed on the floor, the line of sight may come to the height position of the paper discharge space In some cases, the discharge space is looked up from the lower side of the apparatus. In consideration of the case where the line of sight of the operator comes to the height position of the paper discharge space and the case where the image forming apparatus is installed when looking up the paper discharge space from the lower side of the apparatus, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-133620, Since the upper surface of the housing on the front side of the device is located above the lower surface of the scanner, whether or not a sheet is placed in the discharge space when looking up at the discharge space from the front of the device and from below the device Is difficult to see.

  In Patent Documents 2 and 3, since the upper surface of the housing on the front side of the apparatus is not located above the lower surface of the scanner, it is visually confirmed whether or not a sheet is placed in the paper discharge space from the front of the apparatus. Can do. However, when looking up at the paper discharge space from the lower side of the apparatus, the field of view is blocked by the front surface of the housing below the paper discharge space, so it is impossible to visually recognize whether or not a sheet is placed in the paper discharge space.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can easily visually check whether a sheet is placed on a sheet placing portion without being particular about the height at which the apparatus is installed. And

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an image reading unit that reads an image of a document, an image recording unit that records an image read by the image reading unit on a sheet, and a sheet recorded by the image recording unit. A sheet discharge section for discharging, a sheet placement section for placing a sheet discharged from the sheet discharge section between the document reading section and the image recording section, and a front surface of the image reading section. An image forming apparatus is provided, comprising: a reflection unit that is provided, and that reflects a sheet placed on the sheet placement unit.

In addition, this invention is effective in the said reflection part being glossiness 20 (60 degree measurement) or more.
Furthermore, the present invention is effective when the portion other than the reflection portion has a gloss of 20 (measured at 60 °) or less.

Furthermore, the present invention is effective when the sheet placement portion is dark.
Furthermore, the present invention is effective when the color difference ΔE * ab between the sheet placing portion and the placed sheet is 40 or more.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, the lower part of the front end of the image reading unit has an inclined part inclined downward from the upstream side to the downstream side in the sheet discharge direction, and the reflecting part is provided in the inclined part. And effective.

Furthermore, the present invention is effective when the reflecting portion has a curvature.
Furthermore, the present invention includes a support portion that is provided along the sheet discharge direction on both outer sides of the sheet placement portion, and that forms a space between the sheet placement portion and the reading portion,

It is effective if the front end of the support part does not protrude from the reflection part.
Furthermore, the present invention is effective when the sheet discharge section discharges the sheet recorded by the image recording section from the front side of the apparatus main body to the back side.

  According to the present invention, since the reflection unit for projecting the sheet placed on the sheet placement unit is provided on the front surface of the image reading unit, the sheet placement is performed via the reflection unit regardless of the installation height of the apparatus. It can be easily recognized whether the sheet is placed on the part.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical sectional view showing an example of the image forming apparatus.

  1 and 2, the image forming apparatus shown here includes an image recording unit 2 substantially at the center of the apparatus main body 1, and a sheet feeding unit 20 that feeds a sheet on which an image is formed by the image recording unit 2 below. 1 is a tandem type color image forming apparatus with a scanner in which a scanner 30 as a document reading unit is disposed above the image recording unit 2.

  The image recording unit 2 includes a plurality of drum-shaped photoconductors 3a, 3b, 3c, and 3d configured as image carriers, and toner images of different colors are formed on the respective photoconductors. The In the illustrated example, a yellow toner image, a cyan toner image, a magenta toner image, and a black toner image are formed on the surfaces of the photoreceptors 3a to 3d, respectively. The photoconductors 3a to 3d are arranged in parallel with each other at a predetermined interval, and an intermediate transfer belt 4 configured as an intermediate transfer body is arranged facing the lower part of the photoconductors 3a to 3d. A drum may be used as the intermediate transfer member, but in the illustrated example, an endless belt that is wound around a plurality of support rollers 5 and 6 and driven in the direction of the arrow is used.

  Around the photosensitive member 3, a charging device 7 for charging the surface of the photosensitive member, an optical scanning device (LSU) 8 for irradiating image information to the surface of the photosensitive member with a laser beam, and formed on the surface of the photosensitive member 3 by exposure. The developing device 9 that visualizes the electrostatic latent image, the transfer device 10 that is disposed opposite to the photoconductor 3 via the intermediate transfer belt 4, and the toner that remains on the surface of the photoconductor 3 after being transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 4 A cleaning device 11 that removes and collects water is provided.

  When image formation is started in such an image forming apparatus, the photoreceptor 3 is rotated in the clockwise direction in FIG. 2, and at this time, the surface of the photoreceptor 3 is charged to a predetermined polarity by the charging device 7. Next, the charged surface is irradiated with laser light based on image information from the optical scanning device 8, whereby an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoreceptor 3. The electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor 3 is visualized as a toner image by the developing device 9, and the toner image is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 4 by the transfer device 10.

  At the time of color image formation, the above-described image forming operation is performed on all the photoreceptors 3, whereby the yellow toner image, cyan toner image, magenta toner image, and black toner image respectively formed on the photoreceptors 3 a to 3 d are intermediate. The images are sequentially transferred onto the transfer belt 4 in a superimposed manner. Further, the image forming apparatus is provided with a secondary transfer roller 12 facing the support roller 6 with the intermediate transfer belt 4 interposed therebetween.

  On the other hand, a sheet feeding unit 20 disposed below the image recording unit 2 is loaded on a sheet feeding tray 21 serving as a sheet storage unit for stacking sheets S made of transfer paper, resin film, or the like. A sheet feeding roller 22 that feeds out the sheet S, a friction pad 23 as a separating unit that separates the multi-fed sheets into one sheet, a re-transporting path 24 that is used when double-sided images are formed, and the like are provided.

  The sheet S fed from the sheet feeding unit 20 is sent out toward the registration roller 13 and is abutted against the registration roller 3 whose leading end is stopped. Thus, after the sheet S is aligned, the registration roller 13 causes the color toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 4 to coincide with the leading end of the sheet S at the secondary transfer portion provided with the secondary transfer roller 12. The rotation is resumed at a proper timing, and the sheet S is sent out toward the secondary transfer portion.

  The sheet S on which the unfixed toner image is transferred in the secondary transfer unit is sent to the fixing unit 14, and after the unfixed toner image is fixed on the sheet S, the upper surface of the apparatus main body 1 is passed through the sheet discharge unit 25. The sheet is discharged to a sheet stacking unit 40 provided in the printer. The transfer residual toner adhering to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 4 after the toner image transfer is removed by a belt cleaner 15.

  As in the case of a general image reading apparatus, the scanner 30 is provided with a mechanism for setting an original on the upper part of the apparatus body and scanning an image of the original, and an original for pressing and holding the original. A platen cover 31 as a pressing member is provided. As shown in FIG. 1, the platen cover 31 includes an automatic document feeder 32, and the scanner 30 reads a document set manually and a document fed by the automatic document feeder 32. Can do. In addition, the scanner 30 is supported via a support unit 50 which will be described in detail later with respect to the apparatus main body 1 arranged at the lower part.

  Reference numeral 16 denotes a control panel for controlling operations of the scanner 30 and the image recording unit 2, and the side on which the control panel 16 is disposed is the front of the image forming apparatus. Therefore, in this apparatus, the sheet discharge unit 25 is provided on the front side of the apparatus main body 1, and the sheet discharged to the sheet stacking unit 40 is discharged from the front side of the apparatus toward the rear side.

  An upper frame 18 as an upper frame member is provided on the upper portion of the apparatus main body 1, and an upper surface portion of the upper frame 18 is used as a sheet stacking surface 41 of the sheet stacking unit 40. A support unit 50 for supporting the scanner 30 is provided. The support portion 50 of the present embodiment includes two support members 51 and 52 provided along the left and right side edges of the upper frame 18, but no support member is provided on the rear end side of the upper frame 18. With this configuration, even a long sheet longer than the width in the front-rear direction of the sheet stacking surface 41 of the upper frame 18 can be stocked without hindrance by hanging a part of the sheet over the sheet stacking surface 41 to the rear side. Furthermore, the daylighting property is also improved.

  By the way, in the image forming apparatus in which the scanner 30 is provided on the upper part of the sheet placement unit 40, it is unavoidable that the visibility of the stocked sheet and the sheet take-out property are deteriorated as compared with the image forming apparatus without the scanner 30. Therefore, in the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment, the scanner 30 is slidably supported in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 2 in order to improve the deteriorated sheet visibility and sheet pick-up performance, and the scanner 30 is the same as the sheet discharge direction. By sliding to the back side, the work space that is the distance between the sheet discharge unit 25 and the scanner 30 can be widened.

  The upper frame 18 supports the optical scanning device 8 which is a part of the image forming means at the lower portion thereof, and is configured to be able to open upward around a support shaft 17 provided on the rear end side of the device. . The upper frame 18 is locked to the apparatus main body 1 by a cover lock member 60 as a cover lock means. When the lock lever 61 is operated to release the cover lock member 60, the upper frame 18 is pivoted as shown in FIG. It can be rotated around 17. When the upper frame 18 is rotated, the scanner 30 and the lower optical scanning device 8 are rotated together via the upper support members 51 and 52, and each unit for image formation can be accessed from the front. Thus, maintenance and the like can be easily performed. 3 shows a state in which each main unit such as the photosensitive member 3, the charging device 7, the developing device 9, and the cleaning device 11 of the image recording unit 2 can be taken out from a portion where the upper frame 18 is opened. In this embodiment, the photoreceptor 3, the charging device 7, the developing device 9, and the cleaning device 11 are configured as process cartridges for each color, and the process cartridges can be replaced or inspected by opening the upper frame 18. it can.

  When the upper frame 18 is rotated, the sheet placement surface 41 of the sheet stacking unit 40 is also rotated so that the rear end side is down. Therefore, sheets are stocked on the sheet placement surface 41. If it rotates accidentally, there is a problem that the stocked sheet falls to the rear side of the apparatus. That is, if the forgotten sheet S is forgotten and the upper frame 18 is rotated, the problem is that the sheet S stocked on the sheet placement surface 41 falls to the back side of the apparatus main body. This problem can be solved by providing the support portion 50 also on the rear end side of the upper frame 18, but in the case of a long sheet, the rear end support portion is hit and the stock is disturbed.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, an operation unit 61 that releases the lock of the lock lever 60 and makes the upper frame 18 rotatable is provided on the sheet placement surface 41 and at a position hidden by the stocked sheets S. . The lock lever 60 is provided with an operation portion 61 on one end side, and a lock claw 62 that engages with a protrusion 64 of the apparatus main body 1 on the other end side. Yes. The operation unit 61 of the lock lever 60 is a plate material that is on the same plane as the sheet placement surface 41, and the sheet placement surface 41 has a fan-like shape so that the operation unit 61 can be caught. A recess 44 is formed. As a result, when opening the upper frame 18, a hand is inserted from the recess 44, and the operating portion 61 of the lock lever 60 is lifted upward so that the lock lever 60 rotates clockwise around the pin 63 and the lock claw 62 projects. 64. Then, the upper frame 18 is rotated about the hinge 17 in the same direction as the rotation direction of the automatic document feeder 32 by lifting the operation unit 61 as it is.

  As described above, since the operation unit 61 of the lock lever 60 that enables the upper frame 18 to rotate is disposed on the sheet placement surface 41 on which the sheets S are stocked, the sheet S is on the sheet stacking surface 41. Thus, the upper frame 18 is reliably prevented from rotating.

  By the way, when it is assumed that the user is used in a sitting state like a desktop machine, when the paper discharge port is arranged on the front side of the device as in the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment, Size paper is particularly hard to see. Therefore, in the case of a desktop machine type image forming apparatus, taking into account the sitting posture, such as sitting on a chair and leaning on a backrest, it is required that paper discharge can be confirmed even from the front lower side.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the front corner of the scanner 30 is formed into a curved surface, and the curved surface is configured as the reflecting unit 70 that projects the sheet S placed on the sheet placing unit 40. In other words, since the front end of the scanner 30 is located behind the sheet discharge port 25a, the discharge state is displayed on the reflection unit 70 even when viewed from the lower side than the horizontal on the front side. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, even when the user is sitting on the chair 80, it is possible to check the paper discharge status displayed on the reflection unit 70 and improve the visibility of the user. Furthermore, since the reflecting portion 70 has a sufficient length in the lateral direction and the lower side surface of the reflecting portion 70 is opened, it is possible to check the discharge state even from the side surface direction. At this time, not only the sheet placement surface 41 but also the sheet discharge roller that can be reflected on the reflection unit 70 and the sheet sheet discharge unit 25 are darkened, so that the visibility of the discharged sheet is improved. From the inventors' experiment, when the chromaticity difference ΔE * ab between the sheet placing portion 40 and the white color of the sheet is 40 or more, the visual recognition is good. Further, it is preferable that the reflection portion 70 has a glossiness of 20 (60 ° measurement) or more, and the portion other than the reflection portion 70 has a glossiness of 20 (60 ° measurement) or less.

  Further, since the front end of the scanner 30 is located behind the sheet discharge port 25a, it is possible to secure lighting from the sheet discharge unit 25. Therefore, the amount of light reflected on the reflection unit 70 is increased, and the mapping of the reflection unit 70 is performed. Increases the clarity of the image. Further, since the reflecting portion 70 is a reflecting member 71 that is a separate component from the housing of the scanner 30, it is easy to freely set the glossiness, and it is suitable for making a difference in glossiness from other portions.

  The reflecting member 71 is a resin component, and the reflecting surface 71a can be given a high glossiness by applying a gloss coating. The deflection of the member itself can be used for the housing of the scanner 30. By having the snap-fit portion to be fitted, the attachment can be simplified, and an example thereof is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

  FIG. 5 shows the lower housing 30a of the scanner 30 which is fastened to the upper housing (not shown) with screws. Four downward grooves 81 are provided in the vicinity of the left and right end portions in the upper portion of the front surface of the lower housing 30a, and three upward grooves 82 are provided in the vicinity of the left and right end portions and in the vicinity of the lower portion of the front surface. As shown in FIG. 6, the reflecting member 71 attached to the front surface of the scanner 30 is provided with the same number of protrusions 72 and 73 that engage with the downward groove 81 and the upward groove 82 as the grooves. Is engaged with these grooves 81 and 82 by bending in the short direction. Since there are three or more fitting portions, the reflection surface 71a of the reflection member 71 is fitted at a predetermined angle as shown in FIG.

  Here, reference numeral 83 in FIG. 7 is one paragraph from the reflecting member 71 which is a component in the upstream direction of the discharge in consideration of the case where the discharge discharged from the front of the machine hits the front lower surface of the scanner. It can be prevented from jamming.

  Since the gloss greatly depends on the surface properties, it is possible to prevent deterioration in performance for a long period of time by applying scratch prevention and antifouling coating to the reflective surface. Further, consider a case in which the scanner unit is moved in a substantially horizontal direction in order to improve the discharge property. When the scanner unit moves in a substantially horizontal direction, the take-out property of the paper discharge is remarkably improved. When the sheet is slid rearward, the projection position of the paper discharge unit on the reflective surface changes. Therefore, the upper part of the reflecting member 71 in FIG. 7 is set to an angle at which the paper discharge is easily projected forward at the position after the slide. It is better to set the angle so that the discharged paper is easily projected at the position where it does not slide.

1 is an external perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention as viewed from the upper left side. 2 is a schematic vertical sectional view showing an example of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical sectional view showing a state in which an upper frame of the image forming apparatus is opened. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the aspect at the time of confirmation of a user's sheet discharge condition. It is a perspective view which shows the attaching part which attaches the reflective member of a scanner. It is a perspective view which shows the attachment surface side of the reflection member attached to the attachment part of a scanner. It is a section explanatory view showing the state where the reflective member was attached to the scanner.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus main body 2 Image recording part 30 Image reading part (scanner)
40 Sheet placing portion 50 Support portion 70 Reflecting portion 71 Reflecting member

Claims (9)

An image reading unit for reading an image of a document;
An image recording unit for recording an image read by the image reading unit on a sheet;
A sheet discharge section for discharging the sheet recorded by the image recording section;
A sheet placement section for placing a sheet discharged from the sheet discharge section between the document reading section and the image recording section;
A reflection unit that is provided on a front surface of the image reading unit and projects a sheet placed on the sheet placement unit;
An image forming apparatus comprising:   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reflection portion has a glossiness of 20 (60 ° measurement) or more.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a portion other than the reflection portion has a glossiness of 20 (60 ° measurement) or less.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the sheet placement unit is dark in color.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a chromaticity difference ΔE * ab between the sheet placement unit and the placed sheet is 40 or more.   The lower part of the front end of the image reading unit has an inclined part inclined downward from the upstream to the downstream side in the sheet discharge direction, and the reflecting part is provided in the inclined part. The image forming apparatus according to 1.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reflection portion has a curvature.   Provided on both outer sides of the sheet placement portion along a sheet discharge direction, and having a support portion that forms a space between the sheet placement portion and the reading portion, and the front end of the support portion is The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus does not protrude from the reflecting portion.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet discharge unit discharges the sheet recorded by the image recording unit from the front side of the apparatus main body to the back side.

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