JP2011022336A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress heat transmission from a recording medium warmed up in a fixation process to a developer storing means for storing a developer. <P>SOLUTION: An air suction fan 51 and air outlets 52 are formed in an air suction duct 5; an air inlet 61 and an air discharge fan 62 are disposed in an air discharge duct 6; the air flowing out of the air outlets 52 of the air suction duct 5 flows along an air flow path, obliquely crossing above the developer containers 108 in order of the developer containers 108K, 108C, 108M and 108Y, in this order; then, the air is discharged outside the housing 4 through the air discharge duct 6. The air current flowing in the air flow path makes the transmission of the heat of a paper discharge part 35 to the developer containers 108 less likely. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

    The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

  An electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes a heat-pressure type fixing device for fixing a toner image transferred onto a recording medium such as paper. An image forming apparatus including an air flow path for flowing air into a region adjacent to a fixing device that is a heat source or a peripheral member thereof is disclosed (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

JP 2008-310103 A JP 2000-259064 A

  An object of the present invention is to make it difficult for heat to be transmitted from a recording medium warmed by a fixing process to a developer containing means for containing the developer.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 forms a latent image on an image holding body that holds an image, and the latent image is formed by a developer stored in a developer storage unit. An image forming unit that develops, transfers an image obtained by development to a recording medium, heats the transferred image to fix the image on the recording medium, and forms an image, and a casing that forms the outer shape of the apparatus. A housing having at least a housing surface that forms an outer shape of the apparatus in a region vertically above the developer accommodating means and a region where a recording medium on which an image is fixed is discharged or conveyed; Supplying / discharging means for supplying air to the inside, flowing the air between the casing surface and the developer accommodating means, and discharging the air to the outside of the casing is provided.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus, the developer accommodating unit is configured such that a plurality of cylindrical containers having a longitudinal direction are arranged in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction. The supply / discharge unit causes the air to flow between the housing surface and the developer storage unit in a direction intersecting both the longitudinal direction of the plurality of containers and the arrangement direction of the plurality of containers. preferable.

  4. The configuration of the image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the supply / discharge means exhausts air from outside to inside of the housing and exhausts from inside to outside of the housing. It is preferable that the exhaust means is disposed at a position where the height of the suction port of the exhaust means is higher than the height of the air supply port to the inside of the intake means.

  5. The configuration of the image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the supply / discharge unit includes an intake unit having an intake fan that intakes air from the outside to the inside of the case, and an inside of the case. An exhaust unit having an exhaust fan for exhausting to the outside, and when the casing surface is an area where the recording medium is discharged, the exhaust fan has a measured temperature regardless of the state of the image forming unit. Driving is started when the temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature, and the intake fan starts driving when the temperature measured in the operating state of the image forming unit exceeds a predetermined temperature, It is preferable that the drive is stopped when the measured temperature falls below a predetermined temperature while the operation of the image forming unit is stopped.

  6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the supply / discharge unit includes an intake unit having an intake fan for intake air from the outside to the inside of the housing, and an inside of the housing. An exhaust unit having an exhaust fan for exhausting to the outside, and when the casing surface is an area where the recording medium is conveyed, the exhaust fan has a predetermined conveyance speed of the recording medium passing through the area When the speed is exceeded and the measured temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature, the driving is started, and when the temperature measured when the image forming means is operating exceeds the predetermined temperature It is preferable that the driving of each fan is stopped when the measured temperature falls below a predetermined temperature while the operation of the image forming unit is stopped.

  According to a configuration of the image forming apparatus according to claim 6, in the image forming apparatus, a rib is formed on an inner side of the casing on the casing surface, and a flow rate of air flowing by the supply / discharge unit is other than the above. It is preferable that the height of the rib facing the space larger than the space is lower than the height of the rib facing the other space.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus, the supply / discharge unit is preferably housed in the housing.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the first aspect, heat is less likely to be transmitted from the recording medium to the developer accommodating unit as compared with a case where no air is allowed to flow between the housing surface and the developer accommodating unit.

  According to the image forming apparatus according to claim 2, the plurality of developer storage units are configured as compared with the case where air is flowed in either the longitudinal direction of the plurality of containers or the arrangement direction of the plurality of containers. Heat is more difficult to be transmitted to the container.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the third aspect, it is possible to efficiently discharge the air having heat as compared with the supply / discharge unit which is not related to the height.

  According to the image forming apparatus described in claims 4 and 5, waste of power consumption is eliminated.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the sixth aspect, the air flow path can be formed by the height of the rib on the housing surface.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the seventh aspect, it is possible to save the space of the image forming apparatus as compared with the apparatus in which the supply / discharge unit is attached to the outside of the casing.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a relationship between an intake duct / exhaust duct and a developer container. It is a control block diagram for performing control processing. It is a flowchart which shows a fan drive control process. It is a figure which shows the back side of the paper discharge part by a modification. It is sectional drawing seen from the arrow aa * bb * cc direction in FIG.

<Configuration of image forming apparatus>
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. This image forming apparatus 100 is a so-called tandem type color image forming apparatus provided with an intermediate transfer belt, and transfers yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) toner images to a sheet. A color image is formed by forming it on a recording medium. The image forming apparatus 100 includes functions of a scanner, a printer, and a copier. Hereinafter, the image forming apparatus 100 is broadly classified into an image forming unit 1, an image reading unit 2, and a sheet conveying unit 3, and the configuration of each unit will be described.

  The image forming unit 1 serves as an image forming unit according to the present invention. The image forming unit 1 includes toner image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K, an intermediate transfer belt 11, a drive roll 12, and a secondary transfer roll 13. A backup roll 14 and a fixing device 15. The alphabets attached to the end of the reference numerals of the toner image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K merely indicate the color of the toner (hereinafter referred to as “toner color”). Although they are different, there is no significant difference in their composition. Therefore, in the following description, unless otherwise specified, alphabets are omitted as appropriate and collectively referred to as “toner image forming unit 10”. Similarly, each part of the toner image forming unit 10 will be described by omitting the alphabet as appropriate.

  The toner image forming unit 10 includes a photosensitive drum 101, a charger 102, an exposure device 103, a developing device 104, a primary transfer roll 105, a drum cleaner 106, and a charge removal device 107. The photosensitive drum 101 is an image carrier having a photoconductive layer formed on the surface thereof, and is rotated in the direction of arrow A in the figure. The charger 102 generates a predetermined potential difference on the surface of the photosensitive drum 101 and uniformly charges it. The exposure unit 103 serving as a latent image forming unit is provided with a beam emission source such as a laser diode, and the charged light on the surface of the photosensitive drum 101 is irradiated with the beam light so that the charge of the irradiated portion disappears and each input color is input. An electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image data is formed. A developing device 104 serving as a developing unit includes toners of Y, M, C, and K colors, and forms a toner image by applying toner to the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 101. The primary transfer roll 105 faces the photoconductive drum 101 via the intermediate transfer belt 11, and transfers the toner image to the intermediate transfer belt 11 at a position where these faces. The toner used in the developing devices 104Y, 104M, 104C, and 104K is supplied from the developer containers 108Y, 108M, 108C, and 108K, respectively. Developer containers 108 </ b> Y, 108 </ b> M, 108 </ b> C, and 108 </ b> K are disposed on the intermediate transfer belt 11 directly below the sheet discharge portion 35 of the housing 4.

  The drum cleaner 106 collects untransferred toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 101 after the toner image is transferred. The neutralization device 107 neutralizes the surface of the photosensitive drum 101. That is, the drum cleaner 106 and the charge removal device 107 remove unnecessary toner and electric charges from the photosensitive drum 101, and prepare the photosensitive drum 101 for the next image forming process.

  The intermediate transfer belt 11 is an endless belt member. The intermediate transfer belt 11 is rotated in the direction of arrow B in the figure by the driving roll 12, and conveys the toner image formed in the toner image forming unit 10 to the nip area formed by the secondary transfer roll 13. The secondary transfer roll 13 is electrically grounded (grounded) via its shaft, and generates a potential difference with the backup roll 14 connected to a power source (not shown). The toner image on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 11 is moved by this potential difference and adheres to the surface of the paper supplied from the paper transport unit 3.

  Further, the fixing device 15 includes a fixing roll 151 having a heat source therein and a pressure member 152, and heats and pressurizes the sheet onto which the toner image has been transferred, thereby fixing the toner on the sheet.

  The image reading unit 2 includes a full rate carriage 20, a half rate carriage 21, an imaging lens 22, a line sensor 23, a platen 24, and a platen cover 25. The full-rate carriage 20 includes a light source such as a fluorescent lamp and a mirror, and reads a document placed on the upper surface of the platen glass 24 while moving in the sub-scanning direction (arrow D direction in the figure). The half-rate carriage 21 moves in the sub-scanning direction at half the speed of the full-rate carriage 20, and guides reflected light of the original from the full-rate carriage 20 to the imaging lens 22. The imaging lens 22 forms an image so that the reflected light of the document is satisfactorily read on the surface of the line sensor 23. The line sensor 23 includes a large number of image sensors such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) arranged in the main scanning direction (vertical direction in FIG. 1), and represents an original based on reflected light from the received original. Generate data. The platen 24 is a document table on which a document is placed, and the platen cover 25 covers the platen 24 and blocks external light.

The paper transport unit 3 includes paper storage units 30 and 31, a plurality of transport rolls 32, a registration roll 33, and the like. Each of the paper storage units 30 and 31 stores different types of paper as recording media.
The transport roll 32 transports the paper supplied from the paper storage units 30 and 31 to the image forming unit 1. The registration roll 33 controls the timing at which the paper enters the nip area formed by the secondary transfer roll 13 and the backup roll 14. Further, the sheet that has passed through the fixing device 15 is conveyed to a sheet discharge unit 35 by a discharge roll 34. In this way, the transport path 32 transported from the paper storage units 30 and 31 to the paper discharge unit 35 is formed by the transport roll 32, the registration roll 33, and the discharge roll 34.

  Here, the image forming unit 1 and the sheet conveying unit 3 of the image forming apparatus 100 are accommodated in a housing 4 that forms the outer shape of the image forming apparatus 100. Of the housing surface of the housing 4, an area in which a sheet discharged from the fixing device 15 via the conveyance path 36 is stored and an area above the developer container 108 in the vertical direction is a sheet discharge unit 35. The developer container 108 is located immediately below the paper discharge portion 35, and developer containers 108Y, 108M, 108C, and 108K made of a cylindrical body having a longitudinal direction are arranged side by side in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction. . In FIG. 1, in order to describe the configuration of each part, a schematic drawing with a gap is provided, but due to the recent downsizing, the part spacing in the housing 4 is arranged with as little gap as possible. Is done.

<Air channel>
In the image forming apparatus 100 configured as described above, for example, when image formation (printing) is continuously performed on a sheet, the sheet having heat passing through the fixing device 15 is accumulated in the sheet discharge unit 35 and accumulated. The paper discharge unit 35 is warmed by the heat of the paper, and the heat of the paper discharge unit 35 is transmitted to the developer container 108 directly below. When the developer container 108 has heat, the developer stored in the developer container 108 easily forms a lump. In particular, due to the recent trend toward energy saving, a developer having a lowered melting point has been developed. When a developer having a lowered melting point is used, the developer melts and solidifies in the developer container 108. As a result, the developer container 108 or the developing device 104 may be fixed inside.

  Therefore, the present invention intersects both the longitudinal direction of the developer containers 108Y, 108M, 108C, and 108K and the arrangement direction of the containers between the paper discharge portion 35 and the developer containers 108Y, 108M, 108C, and 108K. An air flow path for flowing air in the direction is formed to make it difficult for the heat of the sheet discharge portion 35 to be transmitted to the developer containers 108Y, 108M, 108C, and 108K.

Hereinafter, the air flow path will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
In FIG. 1, an intake duct 5 serving as air supply means is provided on the left side of the paper discharge portion 35 of the housing 4. As shown in FIG. 2, the air intake duct 5 is a rectangular tube whose end face on the back side is closed, and the developer container 108 </ b> K and the fixing device 15 are arranged so that the axis thereof extends in the front-rear direction of the housing 4. Arranged between. An intake fan 51 is provided on the end face of the intake duct 5 on the front end face that opens. On the side surface located on the upper side of the intake duct 5, rectangular air outlets 52, 52 spaced in the length direction are formed.

  On the other hand, an exhaust duct 6 serving as air discharge means is provided on the right rear side of the paper discharge portion 35 of the housing 4. As shown in FIG. 2, the exhaust duct 6 is a rectangular tube, and is disposed on the back side of the developer container 108Y so that the axis thereof extends in the vertical direction. A rectangular air inlet 61 is formed below the front side of the exhaust duct 6, and an exhaust fan 61 is provided above the right side. The air inlet 61 of the exhaust duct 6 is disposed at a position relatively higher than the air outlet 52 of the intake duct 5. The supply / discharge means according to the present invention is constituted by the intake duct 5 and the exhaust duct 6.

<Effect of air flow path>
By driving the intake fan 51, the air that flows out from the air outlet 52 of the intake duct 5 generates a positive pressure between the paper discharge unit 35 and the developer container 108 </ b> K. On the other hand, by driving the exhaust fan 61, the air inlet 61 of the exhaust duct 6 sucks in the surrounding air, thereby generating a negative pressure on the back side of the developer container 108Y. From the relationship between the positive pressure and the negative pressure, as shown by the arrows in FIG. 2, the air that flows out from the air outlet 52 of the intake duct 5 flows in the developer containers 108K, 108C, 108M, and 108Y in this order. An air flow path that obliquely crosses the top is formed and discharged from the exhaust duct 6 to the outside of the housing 4.

  Even when the paper discharge unit 35 is warmed by the heated paper, the heat of the paper discharge unit 35 is discharged outside because the air flowing through the air flow path is discharged to the outside. It is difficult to convey to 108. Then, the developer generated in the developer container 108 is made difficult to adhere.

In addition, since the air outlet 52 of the intake duct 5 is disposed at a relatively higher position than the air inlet 61 of the exhaust duct 6, air having heat rising upward is discharged to the outside.
Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the intake duct 5 and the exhaust duct 6 are arranged so as to be adjacent to the developer containers 108K, 108C, 108M, and 108Y, and an air flow path is forcibly formed. , 2, it is possible to flow an amount of air that makes it difficult to transfer heat compared to cooling using natural convection.

<Fan drive control processing>
Next, drive control of the intake fan 51 and the exhaust fan 62 will be described.
FIG. 3 is a control block diagram, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing fan drive control processing executed in the control unit 7.
The control unit 7 includes a controller 71 including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory), a storage unit 72 in which parameters for controlling the controller 71 are stored, a controller An input / output control unit 73 serving as an interface for connecting 71 to the outside is provided.
The ROM of the controller 71 stores control programs for performing various controls, parameters, and the like. The program is a logic that performs drive control of the intake fan 51 and exhaust fan 62, bias adjustment control of the image forming unit 1, and the like based on a value corresponding to the temperature from the temperature sensor 74. The bias adjustment includes voltage value adjustment supplied to the developing device 104, voltage value adjustment supplied to the transfer rolls 13 and 105, and the description thereof is omitted here.

The parameter is a predetermined temperature T0 that serves as a reference for driving the fans 51 and 62. The predetermined temperature T0 is set to a temperature lower than the temperature at which the toner dissolves, for example.
The RAM is used as a work area when the CPU executes a program.
Further, the temperature sensor 74 detects the temperature in the vicinity of the paper discharge unit 35 and may be a sensor that directly detects or a sensor that indirectly detects the temperature.

  The fans 51 and 62 and the controlled object 76 are connected to the input / output control unit 73 via the motor control circuit 75 on the output side, and the temperature sensor 74 is connected to the input side. The motor control circuit 75 is a control circuit for driving a fan motor in response to a command signal from the control unit 7. The control object 76 is a power supply adjustment device for adjusting the transfer bias and the development bias.

Next, the fan drive control process will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.
This process is started when the main switch of the image forming apparatus 100 is turned on.
The controller 7 determines whether or not printing is in progress (step S1), and when printing is in progress (step S1; YES), measures the temperature T from the temperature sensor 74 (step S2). The control unit 7 determines whether or not the measured temperature T exceeds the predetermined temperature T0. If the measured temperature T exceeds the predetermined temperature T0 (step S3; YES), the intake fan 51 and the exhaust fan 62 are set in a driving state (step S4). ). If the fans 51 and 62 are already in the drive state, the state is maintained.
On the other hand, even if the printing is stopped (step S1; NO), the temperature T is measured again from the temperature sensor 74 (step S5). If the measured temperature T exceeds the predetermined temperature T0 (step S6; YES), the exhaust fan 62 is driven even if the printing is stopped (step S7). Further, when the measured temperature T is lower than the predetermined temperature T0 (step S6; NO), the controller 7 stops the intake fan 51 and the exhaust fan 62 (step S8). Further, when the temperature T measured during printing is lower than the predetermined temperature T0, the control unit 7 proceeds to the process of step S1.

  As described above, the fan drive control process is performed when the exhaust fan 62 starts driving when the measured temperature T exceeds the predetermined temperature T0 regardless of the printing state, and when the intake fan 51 starts driving when the printing state is reached. When the measured temperature T exceeds the predetermined temperature T0, the drive stop of the fans 51 and 62 is when the measured temperature T falls below the predetermined temperature T0 in a state where printing is stopped. Thereby, the fans 51 and 62 are not driven unnecessarily, and power consumption is suppressed.

[Modification]
The above embodiment may be modified as follows.
(1) On the back side (that is, the inside) of the paper discharge unit 35, lattice-like ribs 41A are formed for reinforcement as shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. Therefore, by forming a recess 41B (see FIG. 6) in which the rib 41A is cut from the left front side toward the right back toward the housing 4, an air flow path having a wider cross-sectional area than that of the embodiment is provided. It may be formed. That is, the height of the rib 41A facing the space where the flow rate of the air flowing through the air flow path is larger than that of the other space is formed to be lower than the height of the rib 41A facing the other space.

(2) In the above-described embodiment, the image forming apparatus in which the upper portion of the housing 4 is the paper discharge unit 35 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and a post-processing device such as a finisher or a sorter (not shown). This can also be applied to the case with
In this case, the paper discharge unit 35 serves as a path of a transport path 36 that transports the paper to the post-processing device. Further, in the fan drive control process when the post-processing device is provided, not only the measured temperature T but also the speed of the sheet toward the post-processing device is a parameter.
Specifically, the exhaust fan 62 is driven when the transport speed of the paper passing through the region of the casing 4 transported to the post-processing device exceeds a predetermined speed and the measured temperature T exceeds the predetermined temperature T0. When the temperature T measured in the printing state exceeds the predetermined temperature T0, the intake fan 51 is driven. On the other hand, when printing is stopped and the measured temperature T falls below the predetermined temperature T0, the driving of the fans 51 and 62 is stopped. The intake fan 51 may adjust the amount of air flowing through the air flow path by controlling the rotation speed according to the conveyance speed.
As a result, even in the image forming apparatus equipped with the post-processing apparatus, the air flow formed between the area (passage) in which the sheet is conveyed in the housing 4 and the developer containers 108Y, 108M, 108C, and 108K. The air flowing through the path makes it difficult for the heat on the housing 4 side to be transmitted to the developer containers 108Y, 108M, 108C, and 108K.
In addition, since the amount of air flowing through the air flow path is adjusted according to the conveyance speed, the heat from the housing 4 is more difficult to be transmitted to the developer container 108 than when the amount of air is not adjusted.

(3) In the above embodiment, since the intake fan 51 of the intake duct 5 is disposed so as to open toward the front side of the housing 4, this portion is a portion covered with the front door. For this reason, in order to secure the air sucked into the intake duct 5 by the intake fan 51, a space opening downward is formed between the intake fan 51 and the front door, or an inlet or inflow leading to the intake fan 51 is formed. A passage or the like may be formed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image formation part (image formation means), 3 ... Paper conveyance part, 4 ... Housing | casing, 5 ... Intake duct, 6 ... Exhaust duct, 7 ... Control part, 11 ... Intermediate transfer belt, 13 ... Secondary transfer roll, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 ... Backup roll, 15 ... Fixing device, 35 ... Paper discharge part, 36 ... Conveyance path, 51 ... Intake fan, 52 ... Air outlet, 61 ... Air inlet, 62 ... Exhaust fan, 101 ... Photoconductor drum, 103 ... Exposure unit, 104 ... Developer

Claims (7)

A latent image is formed on an image holding body that holds an image, the latent image is developed with a developer accommodated in a developer accommodating unit, an image obtained by the development is transferred to a recording medium, and the transferred image Image forming means for heating and fixing the image to the recording medium to form an image;
A housing forming the outer shape of the device itself, wherein the housing surface forming the outer shape of the device is at least in a region vertically above the developer storage means and in which a recording medium on which an image is fixed is discharged or conveyed. A housing having,
Supplying / discharging means for supplying air to the inside of the casing, flowing the air between the casing surface and the developer containing means, and then discharging the air to the outside of the casing. Image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
The developer accommodating means is formed by arranging a plurality of cylindrical containers having a longitudinal direction in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction,
The supply / discharge unit causes the air to flow between the housing surface and the developer storage unit in a direction intersecting both the longitudinal direction of the plurality of containers and the arrangement direction of the plurality of containers. An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The supply / discharge means includes an intake means for sucking air from the outside to the inside of the housing, and an exhaust means for exhausting air from the inside of the housing to the outside,
The image forming apparatus, wherein the height of the suction port of the exhaust unit is higher than the height of the air supply port to the inside of the suction unit. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The supply / exhaust means includes an intake means having an intake fan that intakes air from outside to the inside of the housing, and an exhaust means having an exhaust fan exhausting from the inside to the outside of the housing,
When the casing surface is an area where the recording medium is discharged, the exhaust fan starts driving when the measured temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature regardless of the state of the image forming unit, The intake fan starts driving when the temperature measured while the image forming means is in operation exceeds a predetermined temperature, and each fan is measured while the operation of the image forming means is stopped. The image forming apparatus is characterized in that the drive is stopped when the measured temperature falls below a predetermined temperature. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The supply / exhaust means includes an intake means having an intake fan that intakes air from outside to the inside of the housing, and an exhaust means having an exhaust fan exhausting from the inside to the outside of the housing,
When the housing surface is an area where the recording medium is transported, the exhaust fan has a recording medium transport speed passing through the area exceeding a predetermined speed, and the measured temperature is a predetermined temperature. When the temperature exceeds the predetermined value, the intake fan starts driving when the temperature measured in the operating state of the image forming unit exceeds a predetermined temperature. An image forming apparatus, wherein the operation is stopped when the measured temperature falls below a predetermined temperature with the operation stopped. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
Ribs are formed on the inside of the housing on the housing surface,
The height of the rib facing the space where the flow rate of the air flowing by the supply / discharge unit is larger than the other space is lower than the height of the rib facing the other space. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The image forming apparatus, wherein the supply / discharge unit is accommodated in the housing.

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