JP2011093696A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a means preventing any breakage of a paper sheet cassette or of an access cover during a removing work of a jammed paper sheet. <P>SOLUTION: An image forming device is equipped with: a medium cassette which is attachably and detachably mounted on a device body, and stores a medium, a casing cover to be opened and closed during a maintenance work, and a regulating mechanism for regulating the open condition of the casing cover when the medium cassette is at an intermediate position in the attachable and detachable direction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrophotographic system equipped with a casing cover such as a rotatable access cover for detachably mounting a medium cassette that accommodates a medium such as printing paper and removing a jammed medium. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer.

  2. Description of the Related Art A conventional electrophotographic printer as an image forming apparatus includes a paper cassette that is detachably attached to the lower part of the apparatus main body, and an optional unit having an additional paper cassette that is disposed below the paper cassette. The front of the option unit is formed with an additional conveyance path for guiding the paper fed from the additional paper cassette by the paper feed roller to the paper feed conveyance path for conveying the paper fed from the paper cassette by the paper feed roller. A guide member that opens and closes the insertion slot of the paper cassette and the vicinity of the additional conveyance path is provided by rotating around the pivot point provided on the upper side of the paper cassette. If a jam occurs, the device automatically stops and then the user opens the guide member to remove the jammed paper ( In example, see Patent Document 1.).

  In general, a paper jam that occurs in the vicinity of the paper cassette often occurs during the feeding of the paper by the paper feed roller. If it is difficult to pull out the jammed paper from the paper feed path, pull out the paper cassette. It is necessary to remove the jammed paper, and it is desirable that a wide space be opened for the removing operation.

  However, in the printer of Patent Document 1, since only the vicinity of the insertion slot of the paper cassette is opened, the open range of the paper feed conveyance path is narrow and it may be difficult to remove jammed paper.

  Therefore, in general, from the viewpoint of improving the convenience for the user, as shown in FIG. 9, the paper cassette 101 is arranged at the lower part of the apparatus main body 102 so that it can be inserted and removed in the front direction of the apparatus main body 102. The access cover 103 is disposed in front of the apparatus main body 102, the engaging portion 104 is provided at the upper end portion of the access cover 103, the insertion / extraction port 105 of the paper cassette 101 and the rotation fulcrum of the access cover 103 are provided at the lower portion, The engaging portion 104 is disengaged by the handle 106 provided at the upper portion, and the access cover 103 is rotated to the front side of the apparatus main body 102 to widen the open range of the paper feed conveyance path and remove jammed paper. Making it easy.

JP 2004-137068 (paragraphs 000008, 0016, 0020, 0032, FIGS. 1 and 3)

  However, in the general technique described above, a paper cassette that can be inserted and removed in the front direction is disposed at the lower part of the apparatus main body, and the access cover is rotated to the front side by a rotation fulcrum provided at the lower part of the apparatus main body. Since the paper feed path is wide open, there is a problem that the paper cassette and the access cover may be damaged if the user makes a mistake in the procedure for opening the access cover during the removal of jammed paper.

  In other words, in the case of a general printer with a large opening amount of the access cover described above, it is normal to remove the jammed paper in the paper feed conveyance path with the access cover open, but it is not possible to remove the jam only by opening the access cover. If it is difficult to remove the paper, it is necessary to open the access cover to the front side after the paper cassette is pulled out from the apparatus main body.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 10, when the access cover is opened with the paper cassette pulled out to the intermediate position in the insertion / extraction direction, the access cover insertion / extraction opening presses the upper portion of the paper cassette and presses the paper cassette or access cover. If you try to remove the paper cassette with the access cover open, as shown in FIG. 9, the paper cassette interferes with the access cover and the paper cassette or access cover is removed. There is a risk of damage.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide means for preventing the paper cassette and the access cover from being damaged at the time of removing jammed paper.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a medium cassette that is detachably attached to the apparatus main body, accommodates a medium, a housing cover that opens and closes during maintenance work, and the medium cassette is positioned at an intermediate position in the insertion / extraction direction. And a restricting mechanism for restricting the opening of the casing cover.

  As a result, the present invention has the effect of preventing the paper cassette and the access cover from being damaged during the jam paper removal operation, and performing the jam paper removal operation smoothly.

Explanatory drawing which shows the side of the printer of an Example Explanatory drawing which shows the external appearance of the access cover of an Example Explanatory drawing which shows the external appearance of the paper cassette of an Example Explanatory drawing which shows the closed position of the access cover of an Example Explanatory drawing which shows opening operation | movement of the access cover of an Example Explanatory drawing which shows the drawing operation of the paper cassette of the embodiment Explanatory drawing which shows the external appearance of the modification of the paper cassette of an Example Explanatory drawing which shows the external appearance of the other modification of the paper cassette of an Example. Explanatory drawing which shows the open state of the access cover of a general printer. Explanatory drawing which shows the subject of a general printer.

  Embodiments of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an electrophotographic printer as an image forming apparatus.

  A paper cassette 3 for storing paper P as a printing medium is disposed at the lower part of the apparatus main body 2 comprising the casing of the printer 1, and a stacker for stacking the printed paper P at the upper part of the printer 1. 4 is provided, and the paper cassette 3 and the stacker 4 are connected by a paper transport path 5 indicated by a thick solid line in FIG. 1, which includes a paper feed transport path 5a, a print transport path 5b, and a discharge transport path 5c. ing.

  A connecting portion between the paper transport path 5 and the paper cassette 3 is disposed opposite to the paper feed sub-roller 7 and the paper feed roller 8 for feeding the paper P from the paper cassette 3 to the paper feed transport path 5a one by one. A retard roller (not shown) is provided, and the paper P fed by the paper feed roller 8 is a pair of transport rollers 9 for transporting the paper P provided in the paper feed transport path 5a, and a resist for correcting the skew of the paper P. A developer image is transferred onto the paper P by a plurality of developing units 13 and transfer rollers 14 that are conveyed to the conveying belt 12 of the printing conveying path 5b via the roller 10 and arranged opposite to each other across one side of the conveying belt 12. After the toner image is transferred, and the toner image is transferred to the paper P, the toner image is fixed on the paper P by the fixing device 16, and then conveyed to the discharge roller 18 by the conveyance roller pair 17 in the discharge conveyance path 5c. Discharge low Sheet P sandwiched 18 is discharged in the direction of arrow A shown in FIG. 1 is integrated onto the stacker 4.

  The plurality of developing units 13 are arranged in the K (black), Y (yellow), M (magenta), and C (cyan) colors from the upstream side in the transport direction of the paper P (referred to as the paper transport direction). Developing units 13k, 13y, 13m, and 13c, each equipped with a toner cartridge that contains toner as a developer, are sequentially disposed along the paper transport direction, and each developing unit 13 has an image carrier that forms a toner image. A photosensitive drum 19 and the like are provided. Above the photosensitive drum 19, an exposure head (not shown) as an exposure unit is disposed oppositely.

  Reference numeral 21 denotes an access cover as a housing cover, which is disposed on the front side (right side in FIG. 1) of the apparatus body 2 and opens and closes during maintenance work such as removal of jammed paper. A "<"-shaped handle 22 supported so as to be rotatable about a fulcrum shaft 22a provided at the upper end is provided, and an engagement provided at the end on the back side opposite to the front of the handle 22. The mating protrusion 23 engages with an engagement hole 23a (see FIG. 4) provided in the apparatus main body 2 by a biasing force by a spring member such as a torsion spring (not shown), and the closed state of the access cover 21 is maintained.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a gate-shaped insertion / extraction port 25 for insertion and extraction of the paper cassette 3 is provided at the lower portion of the access cover 21, and fitting holes provided on the side surfaces 25 a on both sides of the insertion / extraction port 25. 26a are respectively fitted to the rotation fulcrum 26 provided on the side of the insertion / extraction opening 25 of the apparatus main body 2, and are attached so as to be rotatable around the rotation fulcrum 26. The paper feed conveyance path 5a is opened by rotating in the shown opening direction, that is, in the front side.

  Further, when the engaging projection 23 of the access cover 21 is in the closed position (the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 4) where the engaging projection 23 of the access cover 21 is formed in the side surface 25a of the insertion / extraction opening 25, the rotation fulcrum is provided. A locking pin 27 is formed which is positioned below the vertical direction 26 and protrudes from the side surface 25a of the insertion / extraction opening 25.

  The paper cassette 3 of the present embodiment is mounted on the apparatus main body 2 so as to be insertable / removable in the pulling direction indicated by an arrow C in FIG. 1, and on the front side thereof is a handle for pulling out the paper cassette 3 as shown in FIG. 31 is provided on each of the side surfaces 3a on both sides along the drawing direction, and the rotation center of the rotation fulcrum 26 of the locking pin 27 when the access cover 21 is rotated about the rotation fulcrum 26, respectively. A locking portion 32 having an arcuate locking surface 32a along a rotation locus D shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 4 on the radially outermost surface with respect to the center, and a lower end of the locking surface 32a of the locking portion 32 , Extending in the insertion direction of the paper cassette 3 (opposite to the pulling direction C shown in FIG. 1), and when the paper cassette 3 is pulled out when the access cover 21 is in the closed position, the rotation fulcrum of the locking pin 27 The lower surface 34 that moves in close proximity to the outer peripheral surface on the 26 side. It is formed holding flange 34 having a.

  The above-described locking pin 27 of the access cover 21 and the locking portion 32 and the locking collar portion 34 provided in the paper cassette 3 form the regulation mechanism of this embodiment.

  A printing operation by the printer 1 having the above configuration will be described.

  When the user inputs information on the printed matter to the printer 1, the paper P accommodated in the paper cassette 3 is separated into one sheet by the paper feed roller 8 and fed to the paper feed conveyance path 5a, and the paper P is conveyed. The paper is sandwiched and conveyed by the pair of rollers 9 and is abutted against the registration roller 10 to correct the skew of the paper P. Then, the paper is sandwiched by the registration roller 10 and conveyed to the conveyance belt 12 of the printing conveyance path 5b. The toner images of the respective colors formed on the photosensitive drums 19 of the arranged developing units 13k, 13y, 13m, and 13c are sequentially transferred onto the paper P by the transfer roller 14.

  The paper P on which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed to the fixing device 16, and after the toner image is fixed on the paper P by the fixing device 16, the paper P is conveyed to the discharge roller 18 by the conveyance roller pair 17 in the discharge conveyance path 5 c. The paper is discharged onto the stacker 4 by the discharge roller 18.

  If a jam occurs in the paper feeding / conveying path 5a during the printing operation, a control unit (not shown) of the printer 1 detects the jam and automatically stops the printer 1 and emits an alarm sound to the user. Announce the occurrence.

  The user who recognizes the occurrence of the jam by the alarm sound puts his hand on the handle 22 of the access cover 21 in the closed position shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 5 and resists the biasing force of the spring member (not shown). 5, the engagement projection 23 of the access cover 21 and the engagement hole 23 a of the apparatus main body 2 are released from engagement with each other by the handle 22. The access cover 21 is rotated to the open position shown by the solid line in FIG. 5 to open the paper feed conveyance path 5a (see FIG. 1), and the jammed paper in the paper feed conveyance path 5a is removed.

  Thereafter, the access cover 21 is rotated in the direction opposite to the opening direction B, the engagement protrusion 23 is engaged with the engagement hole 23a of the apparatus main body 2, the access cover 21 is closed, and the printing operation described above is performed. To resume.

  At this time, when the paper cassette 3 is in the mounting position of the apparatus main body 2, when the access cover 21 is rotated to the open position, the locking pin 27 is moved along the rotation locus D (see FIG. 4) in FIG. As shown in the arrow F direction, there is nothing to prevent the movement of the locking pin 27 even if the access cover 21 is rotated from the closed position to the open position or vice versa, and the access cover 21 can be opened and closed smoothly. can do.

  In this case, when the paper cassette 3 is to be removed while the access cover 21 is left open, the locking pin 27 of the access cover 21 is connected to the locking surface 32a of the locking portion 32 of the paper cassette 3. Since the paper cassette 3 is moved to the front side, the locking surface 32a of the locking portion 32 is locked by the locking pin 27 and the pulling out of the paper cassette 3 is restricted. Damage to the paper cassette 3 and the access cover 21 due to interference between the paper cassette 3 and the access cover 21 during the removal operation is prevented.

  If it is difficult to remove jammed paper only by opening the access cover 21, as shown in FIG. 6, the access cover 21 is closed and the paper cassette 3 is completely pulled out in the pulling direction C by the puller 31. After that, the access cover 21 is rotated in the opening direction B, and the side of the paper cassette 3 in which the jammed paper that has jammed in a state of being sandwiched between the paper feed roller 8 and the retard roller becomes a space is installed. Pull out and remove.

  Then, the access cover 21 is rotated in the direction opposite to the opening direction B, the engagement protrusion 23 is engaged with the engagement hole 23a of the apparatus body 2, and the access cover 21 is closed. Is inserted into the apparatus main body 2 from the insertion / extraction opening 25 and positioned at the mounting position, and the above-described printing operation is resumed.

  At this time, when the access cover 21 is in the closed position, even if the paper cassette 3 is moved in the insertion direction C in the pulling direction C or the opposite direction, the lower surface 34a of the locking collar portion 34 of the paper cassette 3 remains in the insertion / extraction direction. And is close to the outer peripheral surface of the locking pin 27 of the access cover 21 on the rotation fulcrum 26 side in a non-contact manner, there is nothing to prevent the movement of the paper cassette 3 in the insertion / extraction direction. 3 can be smoothly inserted and removed.

  In this case, when the paper cassette 3 is pulled out to an intermediate position in the insertion / extraction direction and the access cover 21 is to be rotated from the closed position to the open position, the locking pin 27 of the access cover 21 engages with the paper cassette 3. Since it is located at the position facing the lower surface 34 a of the locking bar 34, even if the access cover 21 is to be rotated in the opening direction B, the locking pin 27 is locked to the lower surface 34 a of the locking bar 34 and the access cover 21 is restricted, and the access cover 21 cannot be rotated in the opening direction B unless the paper cassette 3 is completely pulled out from the insertion / extraction opening 25 of the access cover 21. The paper cassette 3 and the access cover 21 are prevented from being damaged by pressing the insertion / extraction opening 25 of the access cover 21 onto the upper portion of the paper cassette 3.

  Thus, in this embodiment, even if the user makes a mistake in the procedure for opening the access cover 21 in the jam paper removal operation, the locking pin 27 provided on the access cover 21 and the paper cassette 3 are provided. The locking part 32 and the locking hook part 34 can make the user aware of an error in the procedure for removing the jammed paper, and can smoothly perform the removing work without damaging the paper cassette 3 and the access cover 21. be able to.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the paper cassette disposed in the lower part of the apparatus main body so as to be insertable / removable, and the paper cassette insertion / extraction port, and the pivot point provided on the side of the apparatus main body insertion / extraction port. In a printer provided with an access cover that rotates around the center, a locking pin that protrudes from the side surface located below the rotation fulcrum when the access cover is in the closed position on the side surface of the access cover insertion / extraction port Are formed on the side surface of the paper cassette along the rotation locus D of the locking pin in rotation around the rotation fulcrum of the access cover, and the insertion direction from the lower end of the locking portion. When the access cassette is pulled out when the access cover is in the closed position, the access cover is opened by forming a locking collar that moves close to the rotation fulcrum side of the locking pin when the paper cassette is pulled out. In case of paper cassette When the paper cover is pulled out to the middle position in the paper cassette insertion / removal direction, the access cover can be opened to prevent the paper cassette and access cover from being damaged during jammed paper removal. It is possible to smoothly remove jammed paper.

  In the above embodiment, it has been described that both the locking portion 32 and the locking hook portion 34 are formed on the side surface of the paper cassette 3, but as shown in FIG. Only the stop 32 may be provided. In this way, it is possible to regulate the withdrawal of the paper cassette 3 when the access cover 21 is open, and to prevent the paper cassette 3 and the access cover 21 from being damaged due to the interference between the paper cassette 3 and the access cover 21. be able to. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, if a part of the leading end side in the pulling direction C of the locking hook portion 34 is left, opening of the access cover at the initial drawing of the paper cassette can be restricted. It is possible to prevent the paper cassette 3 and the access cover 21 from being damaged due to the pressing of the insertion / extraction port 25 of 21 to the top of the paper cassette 3.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 8, only the locking collar portion 34 may be provided on the side surface of the paper cassette 3. In this way, it is possible to restrict the opening of the access cover in the pulled-out state to the middle position in the insertion / extraction direction of the paper cassette, and the paper cassette 3 by pressing the insertion / extraction port 25 of the access cover 21 onto the upper portion of the paper cassette 3. And damage to the access cover 21 can be prevented. In this case, the locking collar portion 34 of the paper cassette 3 excluding the inside of the rotation locus D of the outermost surface in the radial direction of the locking pin 27 in the rotation about the rotation fulcrum 26 of the access cover 21. It is good to form over the full length of the insertion / extraction direction.

  In the above embodiment, the image forming apparatus is described as an electrophotographic printer. However, the image forming apparatus is not limited to the above, and may be an MFP (Multi-Function Printer), a facsimile, a copying machine, or the like. Good.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 2 Apparatus main body 3 Paper cassette 3a, 25a Side surface 4 Stacker 5 Paper conveyance path 5a Paper feed conveyance path 5b Printing conveyance path 5c Discharge conveyance path 7 Paper feed sub roller 8 Paper feed roller 9, 17 Carrying roller pair 10 Registration roller 12 Carriage Belt 13, 13, k, 13y, 13m, 13c Developing unit 14 Transfer roller 16 Fixing device 18 Discharge roller 19 Photosensitive drum 21 Access cover 22 Handle 22a Support shaft 23 Engagement protrusion 23a Engagement hole 25 Insertion / extraction port 26 Rotation support 26a Fit Joint hole 27 Locking pin 31 Pull handle 32 Locking part 32a Locking surface 34 Locking hook part 34a Bottom surface

Claims (8)

A medium cassette for accommodating a medium, which is detachably mounted on the apparatus main body;
A housing cover that opens and closes during maintenance work;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a restriction mechanism for restricting opening of the housing cover when the medium cassette is at an intermediate position in the insertion / extraction direction. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the restricting mechanism restricts pulling out of the medium cassette when the housing cover is in an open state. A medium cassette for accommodating a medium, which is detachably mounted on the apparatus main body;
A housing cover that opens and closes during maintenance work;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a restriction mechanism for restricting pulling of the medium cassette when the housing cover is in an open state. The device body;
A medium cassette that is detachably disposed in a lower portion of the apparatus main body and that accommodates the medium;
In an image forming apparatus comprising a housing cover that has an insertion / extraction opening for the medium cassette and is supported rotatably about a rotation fulcrum provided at a side of the insertion / extraction opening of the apparatus main body.
When the housing cover is in the closed position on the side surface of the insertion / extraction opening of the housing cover, the locking pin is located below the pivot fulcrum and protrudes from the side surface,
The side of the medium cassette extends in the insertion / extraction direction of the medium cassette, and closes to the rotation fulcrum side of the locking pin when the medium cassette is pulled out when the housing cover is in the closed position. An image forming apparatus characterized in that a movable locking collar portion is formed. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4.
The locking collar is formed over the entire length of the medium cassette insertion / extraction direction except for the inside of the rotation locus of the locking pin in the rotation about the rotation fulcrum of the housing cover. An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, wherein:
An image forming unit characterized in that an arcuate locking portion is formed on a side surface of the medium cassette along a rotation locus of the locking pin in rotation about the rotation fulcrum of the housing cover. apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6.
An image forming apparatus comprising: a lower end of the locking portion connected to a leading end of the locking hook portion of the medium cassette in a pulling direction. The device body;
A medium cassette that is detachably disposed in a lower portion of the apparatus main body and that accommodates the medium;
In an image forming apparatus comprising a housing cover that has an insertion / extraction opening for the medium cassette and is supported rotatably about a rotation fulcrum provided at a side of the insertion / extraction opening of the apparatus main body.
When the housing cover is in the closed position on the side surface of the insertion / extraction opening of the housing cover, the locking pin is located below the pivot fulcrum and protrudes from the side surface,
An image forming unit characterized in that an arcuate locking portion is formed on a side surface of the medium cassette along a rotation locus of the locking pin in rotation about the rotation fulcrum of the housing cover. apparatus.

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