JP2009120312A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device suppressing noise in feeding of a recording medium, without impairing a recording medium feeding function. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming device has a delivery part 50 and a guide member 60. The delivery part 50 comprises: an image forming part forming a toner image on a paper sheet; a fixing device heating and fixing the toner image; a paper delivery roller 51 constituted of a plurality of independent rollers 51a arranged at intervals in a width direction of the paper sheet; and a corrugation roller 52 constituted of a plurality of independent rollers 52a disposed at different positions in a rotational axis direction and at intervals. The delivery part 50 delivers the paper sheet P after fixing while deforming a cross-sectional face in a paper width direction to be corrugated. The guide member 60 guides the paper sheet P along a guide path extended from the fixing device to the delivery part 50 and curved in a thickness direction of the paper sheet, and is divided into a plurality of strip-like parts 60b having a width narrower than an interval between a recess part and a projection part of the corrugated shape, at a terminal end side of the guide path. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a printer.

  In an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a printer, a toner image formed on a sheet-like recording medium (hereinafter referred to as paper) such as paper or plastic is usually heated and fixed on the paper. A fixing unit and a sending unit for sending out a sheet subjected to fixing processing by the fixing unit to the outside of the apparatus are used.

  In such an image forming apparatus, the sheet curls due to the heat of the fixing device, and the sheet discharged to the sheet discharge tray may not be accommodated in a properly aligned state. In particular, when curl that curves in the paper transport direction occurs, the paper is not stored in the paper discharge tray in a regular manner. When the degree of curl is large, the front paper and the back paper collide and the paper is folded. The paper may be bent or the paper may fall from the paper output tray.

  In order to remedy such problems, one of the rolls of the feeding section made up of a pair of opposed rollers provided near the paper discharge port of the image forming apparatus is a corrugation roller having a large diameter, and the cross section in the width direction of the paper There is a known method of suppressing the curling at the time of paper discharge by increasing the bending stiffness (stiffness) of the paper in the conveyance direction by deforming into a waveform.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a sending unit in a conventional image forming apparatus.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the delivery unit 5 includes a paper discharge roller 5_1 including a plurality of individual rollers 5_1a arranged at intervals in the paper width direction and a plurality of individual rollers constituting the paper discharge roller. It is comprised from a pair of roller comprised from the corrugation roller 5_2 which consists of the several separate roller 5_2a arrange | positioned in the position where a rotating shaft direction differs at intervals.

  The sheet passes through the nip portion N formed by the discharge roller 5_1 and the corrugation roller 5_2 coming into contact with each other, and is sent out while deforming the sheet width direction cross section into a waveform.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing paper discharged from the sending unit 5 shown in FIG.

  The paper P conveyed in the direction of the arrow from the upstream side is sent to the sending section 5 by a paper guide (not shown), and a cross section in the width direction of the paper intersecting with the paper traveling direction by the paper discharge roller 5_1 and the corrugation roller 5_2 is a waveform. It is sent out while deforming.

  However, when the sending section shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is used, the following problems may occur because the bending stiffness in the paper transport direction increases. In other words, the sending section needs to be arranged downstream of the fixing device and in the vicinity of the paper discharge outlet at the top of the image forming apparatus. Therefore, an attempt is made to design a compact size image forming apparatus based on such arrangement. As a result, the sheet conveyance path from the fixing device to the delivery unit may have to be a curved shape.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sheet delivery unit of a conventional image forming apparatus.

  In FIG. 10, a sheet guide 6 that guides the sheet P that has traveled via the fixing unit 4 along a curved sheet guide path 8 from the fixing unit 4 to the delivery unit 5, and guidance by the sheet guide 6. It has an auxiliary guide 7 for assisting the function, a delivery section 5 that sends out the paper P guided by the paper guide 6 toward the paper discharge tray 9, and a paper discharge tray 9 that accommodates the paper sent out from the delivery section 5. An image forming apparatus 1 is shown.

  In the image forming apparatus 1, when the paper P passes through the curved paper guide 6, the rear end of the paper P is strongly pressed against the paper guide 6, and a noise called a rubbing sound is generated.

  Further, when a feeding unit provided with a corrugation roller 5_2 (see FIGS. 8 and 10) is used as the feeding unit 5, the paper is deformed in a wavy shape in the paper width direction by the corrugation roller, and the bending stiffness in the transport direction is reduced. Since it is large, an extremely large pressing force acts on the paper as compared with a normal sending section, and a very large scratching sound is generated.

  Further, since the rear end of the paper that is strongly pressed against the paper guide 6 is suddenly repelled by the end portion 6a of the paper guide 6, impact noise called rear end splashing noise is generated.

  Since these rubbing noises and rear edge splashing sounds are impact noises that are unpleasant for the user, it is strongly desired to reduce them.

  Accordingly, in order to reduce these noises, the following paper transport device is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a conventional sheet conveying apparatus with reduced trailing edge splashing noise.

  FIG. 11 shows a sheet conveying apparatus in which a curved guide portion in which an upper guide plate 92 and two swing guide plates 93 and 94 are combined is provided in the sheet conveying path 91 of the apparatus main body. The feed roller device 95 on the upstream side of the paper transport path 91 transports the paper at a high speed, and the transport roller device 96 on the downstream side performs a paper transport action at a relatively low speed.

  In the paper conveyance path 91, the paper is conveyed in a curved shape by the upstream and downstream roller devices. The swing guide plate 93 is supported by a support shaft 93 a and is urged clockwise by a spring 97. The swing guide plate 94 is supported by a support shaft 94 a and is urged counterclockwise by a spring 97.

The two swing guide plates 93 and 94 are supported so as to be swingable via the respective support shafts 93a and 94a, and guide the paper while curving it. A plastic sheet 98 is adhered to the surface of the spring 97 so as to guide the paper smoothly. The sheet 98 guides the sheet while sliding on the sheet when the sheet passes through the curved guide portion, and when the sheet is deformed into a curved shape, the sheet 98 is pressed by the two swing guide plates 93. , 94 is received. Therefore, as the deformation of the sheet increases, the swing guide plates 93 and 94 swing to act so as to release the pressure of the sheet. As described above, the swing guide plates 93 and 94 swing according to the deformation of the paper, so that the paper does not hit the swing guide plates 93 and 94 suddenly and the trailing edge splashing sound is reduced. Is done.
JP 07-315622 A

  However, although the method disclosed in Patent Document 1 can reduce the trailing edge splash sound of the paper, the angle of the swing guide plate is not constant depending on the layout of the apparatus. This may interfere with the paper guidance function that guides to this part. That is, when trying to apply to the paper discharge section of the image forming apparatus, there is a risk of inducing a paper jam because the accuracy of guiding the leading edge of the paper discharged from the fixing device to the nip portion of the sending section is low. It is difficult to apply to a paper discharge unit.

  In addition, in the paper discharge unit of the image forming apparatus, it is necessary to properly stack the paper discharged from the sending unit on the discharge tray. For this purpose, the paper is discharged straight without being curled or drooped. It needs to be pushed out to the paper tray, but if the paper guide path from the fuser to the delivery section has a curved shape, the paper will be curved and easy to be ejected, and it will stack properly on the paper output tray. It ’s difficult.

  In addition, the method disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a large number of parts constituting the swing mechanism, and the structure is complicated, so that the cost is likely to increase.

  Further, in the above method, it is not possible to sufficiently suppress the scratching sound generated by the friction between the guide member and the paper in the paper discharge section.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus in which the generation of noise during recording medium transmission is suppressed without impairing the recording medium transmission function.

  An image forming apparatus of the present invention includes an image forming unit that forms a toner image on a recording medium, a fixing device that fixes the toner image on the recording medium by heating the toner image on the recording medium, and a recording The paper discharge roller composed of a plurality of individual rollers arranged at intervals in the width direction of the medium and the plurality of individual rollers constituting the paper discharge roller are arranged at different positions in the rotation axis direction. A recording medium having a pair of rollers composed of a plurality of corrugation rollers, each having a toner image fixed by the fixing device, is deformed to a waveform in a cross section in the width direction of the recording medium. A guide that feeds the recording medium that has traveled through the fixing device and the feeding device along the guide path curved in the thickness direction of the recording medium from the fixing device to the sending portion. At the end of the road Characterized by comprising a guide member which is divided into a plurality of strip-like portion of the width smaller than the distance between the concave portion and the convex portion of the waveform.

  The recording medium referred to in the present invention refers to a sheet-like medium such as paper or plastic used in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer.

  Here, the guide member of the present invention is preferably formed of a flexible material.

  In the guide member of the present invention, it is preferable that an end portion of a part of the plurality of strip-shaped portions is curved in a direction away from the recording medium.

  In addition, the guide member of the present invention includes a position changing mechanism that changes the position at which the recording medium is sent out from the sending unit by moving the pair of rollers in the rotation axis direction, and the guide member has the strip shape. The edge on the long side of the part is preferably chamfered.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that the guide member of the present invention has a chamfered edge on the short side of the strip-shaped portion.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the plurality of strip-like portions are corrugated in accordance with the shape of the recording medium deformed into a waveform, the pressing force of the recording medium against the guide member is reduced, and the noise when the recording medium is sent out Is suppressed.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the individual strip-shaped portions of the guide member are easily deformed into a shape that follows the recording medium that has been deformed into a corrugated shape. Can be increased.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to further reduce the pressing force of the recording medium that has been deformed into a waveform, and therefore, it is possible to further enhance the noise suppression effect when sending the recording medium.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, even when the position changing mechanism operates and the pair of rollers move in the rotation axis direction, the recording medium is caught on the long side edge of the strip-shaped portion. Can be prevented.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the friction between the recording medium and the short side edge of the strip-shaped portion is reduced, and the generation of noise during the recording medium feeding, particularly the fraying noise, can be suppressed. .

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 10 includes a paper feeding unit 20 that stores and supplies paper P (recording medium), a charger 30a, an image forming unit 30b, a developing unit 30c, and a transfer unit 30d. An image forming unit 30 that forms a toner image on the paper P, a fixing device 40 that fixes the toner image on the paper P by heating the toner image on the paper P, and an interval in the width direction of the paper are arranged. A plurality of individual rollers, and a plurality of individual rollers constituting the paper discharge roller are composed of corrugation rollers composed of a plurality of individual rollers disposed at different positions in the rotation axis direction. The paper P having a pair of rollers and having the toner image fixed by the fixing device 40 is sent out to the outside of the machine while the cross section in the width direction of the paper P is deformed into a waveform, and via the fixing device 40. Advance Guide member 60 that guides the sheet P along the guide path 80 curved in the thickness direction of the sheet P from the fixing device 40 to the delivery unit 50, and an auxiliary guide 70 that assists the guide function of the guide member 60. And a paper discharge tray 90 for storing the paper P sent out from the sending section 50.

  The guide member 60 is divided into a plurality of strip-shaped portions having a width narrower than the interval between the corrugated concave and convex portions on the terminal side of the guide path 80.

  The image forming apparatus 10 includes a position changing mechanism that changes the position at which the paper P is sent out from the sending unit 50 by moving the pair of rollers in the rotation axis direction. Is operated as a sort mechanism for discharging the discharged paper to a plurality of different positions on the paper discharge tray 90.

  Details of the delivery unit 50, the guide member 60, and the position changing mechanism will be described later.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a guide member and a sending part in the first embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a view showing a state in which a sheet is discharged by the guide member and the sending part shown in FIG.

  FIG. 2 shows a guide member 60 that guides the sheet conveyed from the fixing device 40 (see FIG. 1), an auxiliary guide 70 that assists the guide function of the guide member 60, and an interval in the width direction of the sheet. The paper discharge roller 51 composed of a plurality of individual rollers 51a and the plurality of individual rollers 51a constituting the paper discharge roller 51 are separated from each other by a plurality of individual rollers 52a arranged at different positions in the rotation axis direction. And a sending unit 50 that includes a pair of rollers composed of a corrugation roller 52 and sends out the paper on which the toner image is fixed by the fixing device 40 while deforming the cross section in the width direction of the paper into a waveform. Has been.

  The guide member 60 guides the paper that has traveled via the fixing device 40 along a guide path 80 (see FIG. 1) that is curved in the thickness direction of the paper from the fixing device 40 to the delivery unit 50. On the terminal end side of the guide path 80, it is divided into a plurality of strip portions 60b having a width narrower than the interval between the corrugated concave portion P ′ and the convex portion P ″ formed on the paper.

  In the present embodiment, the guide member 60 is made of a flexible material such as plastic, resin, rubber, and thin sheet metal.

  In order to suppress the emission of secondary noise from the guide member 60, it is desirable to use a material having a large vibration damping coefficient. Generally, among the flexible materials, rubber has the largest vibration damping coefficient, plastic is second only, and metal has the smallest vibration damping coefficient. Therefore, it is desirable to use rubber or plastic. Further, a damping plate obtained by bonding or laminating thin plate materials having a large vibration damping coefficient, or a liquid crystal polymer having a high vibration damping characteristic may be used.

  The width of the strip-shaped portion 60b needs to be narrower than the interval between the corrugated concave portion P ′ and the convex portion P ″ formed on the paper. Any width can be used as long as it is narrower than the interval with P ″, but the bending reaction force generated in the strip-shaped portion 60b becomes smaller in proportion to the width of the strip-shaped portion 60b. Since the portion 60b easily deforms, it is desirable that the portion 60b be as narrow as possible within a range where there is no fear of breakage due to breakage or the like. Specifically, in an image forming apparatus using A4 paper or A3 paper which is a general paper size, it is desirable to set the width from 1 mm to several tens of mm.

  When the width of the strip-shaped portion 60b is wider than the interval between the corrugated concave portion P ′ and the convex portion P ″ formed on the paper P, the strip-shaped portion 60b has the shape of the convex portion P ″ of the paper P. Therefore, the phenomenon of bending upwards does not occur, so that it is not possible to obtain a noise suppression effect.

  Next, operations of the delivery unit and the guide member according to the present embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the paper P is discharged by the paper discharge roller 51 and the corrugation roller 52 while changing the cross section in the width direction of the paper into a waveform. At this time, the entire sheet P including the rear end is deformed into a waveform. When the sheet P is deformed into a waveform, the bending stiffness in the sheet conveyance direction is increased, and the convex portion P ″ at the rear end of the sheet P is strongly pressed against the guide member 60, but the end 60 a of the guide member 60 has a plurality of narrow widths. Therefore, the contact area between the paper P and the guide member 60 is reduced to about one-tenth to one-tenth compared with the case where the paper is in contact with the guide member 60 in a flat state. A large pressing force inversely proportional to the contact area is generated at the contact portion, and the strip-shaped portion 60c of the strip-shaped portion 60b of the guide member 60 that is in contact with the convex portion P ″ at the rear end of the sheet P is brought about by this pressing force. Is bent upward.

  As a result of some of the strip-like portions 60c being bent upward in this way, the guide member 60 follows the waveform of the paper P, the contact area increases, and the pressing force of the paper P against the guide member 60 decreases. As a result, generation of scratching sound due to contact between the guide member 60 and the paper P is suppressed.

  As described above, the trailing edge splashing sound generated when the trailing edge of the sheet P deformed into a waveform passes through the guide member 60 also includes the sheet P of the plurality of strip-shaped portions 60b of the guide member 60 as described above. As a result of the strip-shaped portion 60c that is in contact with the sheet P being bent upward by the sheet P, the pressing force is reduced, so that the occurrence of a trailing edge splashing sound is also suppressed.

  Next, the position changing mechanism provided in the image forming apparatus of this embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the feeding unit and the sheet by the position changing mechanism in the first embodiment.

  The sending section 50 is provided with a position changing mechanism (not shown) for changing the paper sending position. The paper discharge roller 51 and the corrugation roller 52 are arranged on the front side (left direction in the drawing) of the apparatus and the apparatus. By alternately moving between the rear side (right direction in the drawing), the paper P sandwiched between the paper discharge roller 51 and the corrugation roller 52 moves to the left and right along with the pair of rolls. The sheets are discharged in a sorted state on a discharge tray 90 (see FIG. 1).

  In this embodiment, since such a position changing mechanism is provided, the uneven portion in the waveform of the paper P changes during sorting, but the guide member 60 having a plurality of strip-shaped portions 60b Even if the corrugation of the corrugation comes in any place, the effect that follows the corrugation is exhibited, so the noise suppression effect is not hindered by sorting.

  Here, as described above, the paper guiding function by the guide member provided with a plurality of strip-shaped portions will be described. The paper P guided by the guide member 60 is still in the state before being fed into the feeding unit 50. Since the sheet is not deformed by the delivery unit 50, the bending stiffness in the sheet conveyance direction remains the same, and is not particularly strong, and the sheet P contacts the guide member 60 in a flat state. The contact area between the paper P and the guide member 60 is large, and the pressing force of the paper is orders of magnitude smaller than when the rear end of the paper P is in contact with the guide member 60. For this reason, all the strip-shaped portions 60 b of the guide member 60 are not deformed and remain unchanged, so that the leading edge of the sheet is correctly guided to a predetermined position of the feeding unit 50. In addition, the paper sent out from the sending unit 50 onto the paper discharge tray 90 may have a slight waveform, but the paper is firmly aligned on the paper discharge tray 90 because it holds the bending stiffness in the transport direction. Housed in state. In this way, the sheet is appropriately guided by the guide member provided with a plurality of strip-shaped portions.

  By the way, as for the guide member in this embodiment, the edge of the long side of a strip-shaped part is chamfered.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which the edge on the long side of the strip-shaped portion of the guide member in the first embodiment is chamfered.

  As shown in FIG. 5, since the edge 62c on the long side of each strip-shaped portion 62b of the guide member 62 is chamfered, the paper discharge roller 51 and the corrugation roller 52 are connected to the front side and rear side as shown in FIG. To the front side or rear side of the paper discharge roller 51 and the corrugation roller 52 when the paper is discharged in a state of being sorted on the paper discharge tray 90 (see FIG. 1). The paper that moves to the left and right with the movement of the paper is prevented from being caught by the edge of the long side of the strip-shaped portion 62b and generating noise. Also, paper breaks, wrinkles, and paper jams that accompany it The occurrence of trouble is avoided.

  Further, in the guide member in the present embodiment, the short side edge 63d of the plurality of strip-shaped portions is also chamfered.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the edge on the short side of the strip-shaped portion of the guide member in the first embodiment is chamfered.

  As shown in FIG. 6, since the edge 63d on the short side of each strip portion 63b of the guide member 63 is chamfered, the friction between the paper and the edge on the short side of each strip portion 62b is reduced, Mainly the generation of scratching noise is suppressed.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  The image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment has a configuration similar to that of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment described above, but the shape of the strip portion of the guide member is different from that of the first embodiment. Is different. Since the other configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, the shape of the strip-shaped portion of the guide member will be described below.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a guide member and a delivery unit according to the second embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in the second embodiment, some of the strip-shaped portions 61 b out of the plurality of strip-shaped portions 61 b located at the positions corresponding to the corrugated convex portions P ″ (see FIG. 3) of the paper P. The end portion of 61c is curved in a direction away from the paper P. If all the strip-like portions 61b are bent in a direction away from the paper, the function of guiding the leading edge of the paper P to the sending section 50 is provided. Since it will be damaged, only the edge part of some strip-shaped parts 61c is curving.

  In this way, the end of the strip-shaped portion 61c located at a position corresponding to the corrugated convex portion P ″ (see FIG. 3) of the paper P is curved in a direction away from the paper P, whereby the guide member 61 is The effect of following the waveform of P is increased and the pressing force against the guide member 61 is reduced, so that when the rear end of the paper P passes through the guide member 61, the rear end of the paper P is gently separated from the guide member 61. The guide member 61 is not strongly struck at the rear end of the paper P, and therefore the occurrence of a trailing end splash is suppressed.

  Further, since the end portions of the strip-like portions 61b other than the strip-like portion 61c remain flat without being curved, the function of guiding the leading edge of the paper to the feeding portion 50 is not impaired.

  The image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment incorporates a position changing mechanism similar to that in the first embodiment. The arrangement position of the strip portion 61c in the paper width direction needs to be set in association with the movement width of the paper discharge roller 51 and the corrugation roller 52 by the position changing mechanism. What is necessary is just to set the arrangement position of the strip-shaped part 61c.

  First, the movement width of the paper discharge roller 51 and the corrugation roller 52 is set to be narrower than the pitch of the waveform formed on the paper. When the sending unit 50 shown in FIG. 3 is used, a waveform having three convex portions P ″ is formed on the paper P. Considering this as a three-cycle waveform, the paper width is about A4 paper. Since it is 300 mm, the pitch is about 100 mm, while the movement width of the paper discharge roller and the corrugation roller is generally about 10 mm to 50 mm, and in this embodiment is set to 20 mm as an example, which corresponds to this movement width of 20 mm. A strip-shaped portion 61c having a curved end is disposed in the region Z (see FIG. 4), that is, the paper discharge roller 51 and the corrugation roller 52 have moved to the front side as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4B, the corrugated convex portion P ″ of the paper P when the paper discharge roller 51 and the corrugation roller 52 are moved to the rear side. End of the strip-shaped portion in a position corresponding to the region Z where bets overlap each other, as the strip-like portion 61c in FIG. 7, are curved in a direction away from the sheet P.

  With this configuration, when the paper discharge roller 51 and the corrugation roller 52 are moved to either the front side or the rear side by the position changing mechanism, the strip-shaped portion 61c whose end is curved upward is Since the sheet P is located at a position corresponding to the corrugated convex portion P ″ (see FIG. 3), the contact area of the guide member 61 increases following the waveform of the sheet P, and the rear end of the sheet P passes through the guide member 61. The occurrence of splashing at the rear end of the sheet is suppressed, and the movement of the sheet accompanying the movement of the roller by the position changing mechanism is prevented from being hindered by the guide member.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the guide member and delivery part in 1st Embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a sheet is discharged by a guide member and a sending unit illustrated in FIG. 2. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of the sending part and paper by the position change mechanism in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows a mode that the edge of the long side of the strip-shaped part of the guide member in 1st Embodiment is chamfered. It is a figure which shows a mode that the edge by the side of the short side of the strip-shaped part of the guide member in 1st Embodiment is chamfered. It is a figure which shows the guide member and sending part in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the sending part in the conventional image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows the paper discharged from the sending part 5 shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a paper delivery unit of a conventional image forming apparatus. It is the schematic of the conventional paper conveying apparatus with which the rear end splash sound was reduced.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 4 Fixing device 5 Sending part 5_1 Paper discharge roller 5_1a, 5_2a Individual roller 5_2 Corrugation roller 6 Paper guide 6a End part 7 Auxiliary guide 8 Paper guide path 9 Paper discharge tray 10 Image forming apparatus 20 Paper feed means 30 Image formation Unit 30a charger 30b image forming unit 30c developing unit 30d transfer unit 40 fixing unit 50 delivery unit 51 paper discharge roller 51a, 52a individual roller 52 corrugation roller 60, 61, 62, 63 guide member 60a end 60b, 60c, 61b, 62b, 63b Strip portion 62c, 63c Edge 70 Auxiliary guide 80 Guide path 90 Discharge tray 91 Paper transport path 92 Upper guide plate 93, 94 Swing guide plate 93a, 94a Support shaft 95 Feed roller device 96 Transport roller device 97 Spring 98 seat

Claims (5)

An image forming unit for forming a toner image on a recording medium;
A fixing device for fixing the toner image on the recording medium by heating the toner image on the recording medium;
The paper discharge roller composed of a plurality of individual rollers arranged at intervals in the width direction of the recording medium and the plurality of individual rollers constituting the paper discharge roller are arranged at different positions in the rotation axis direction. A pair of rollers composed of a plurality of individual rollers and a recording medium on which a toner image is fixed by the fixing device is transformed outside the machine and the cross section in the width direction of the recording medium is transformed into a waveform. A sending section that sends out while
On the terminal side of the guide path, the recording medium that has traveled via the fixing unit is guided along a guide path that is curved in the thickness direction of the recording medium from the fixing unit to the delivery unit. An image forming apparatus comprising: a guide member divided into a plurality of strip-like portions having a width narrower than the interval between the corrugated concave and convex portions.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guide member is formed of a flexible material.   3. The image formation according to claim 1, wherein the guide member is formed by bending an end portion of a part of the plurality of strip-shaped portions in a direction away from the recording medium. apparatus. A position changing mechanism for changing the position at which the recording medium is sent out from the sending section by moving the pair of rollers in the rotation axis direction;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guide member has a chamfered edge on a long side of the strip-shaped portion.   5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guide member has a chamfered edge on a short side of the strip-shaped portion. 6.

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