JP2011201635A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device which improved in durability, by reducing damage and abrasion of a member abutting when a second carrying unit performs closing operation to a first carrying unit.SOLUTION: This image forming device includes elastic carrier roller pairs arranged in a second carrying wall member and a wall member where the second carrying wall member is opposed across a sheet carrying passage, and carrying a sheet by rotating in a mutually elastically abutting state. When closing the second carrying wall member, the second carrying wall member is rotatingly driven in the closing direction by abutting on the carrier roller pairs.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that can open a sheet conveyance path and facilitate paper jam processing and the like. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of preventing damage.

  In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a complex machine of these, clogging of sheets in the apparatus significantly reduces the efficiency of printing processing.

In particular, in a junction where a plurality of conveyance paths merge, the conveyance path is curved with a relatively small radius of curvature, or the conveyance path is complicated and the conveyance path width is limited, so the possibility of sheet jamming is high. Assuming that such a sheet jam occurs, in the conventional image forming apparatus, it is possible to open the conveyance path by rotating the wall portion constituting the conveyance path. By opening the conveyance path, the jammed sheet can be removed as easily as possible.
For example, in Patent Document 1, a plurality of rotating members rotatably attached to a housing of an image forming apparatus are used to form a conveyance path in the image forming apparatus, and the rotating member is opened. Discloses an image forming apparatus configured to efficiently remove a sheet jammed in the middle of a conveyance path.

JP 2005-82307 A

  The layout of the conveyance path for guiding the conveyance of the sheet is determined according to the performance and function required for the image forming apparatus. In particular, when the layout of the conveyance path is determined so that a plurality of conveyance paths merge, for example, even if the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is used, the image forming apparatus is located upstream from the merge section. The sheet clogging that occurs in the conveyance path extending inward of the casing cannot be easily eliminated.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the image forming apparatus Y that includes the junction 50 where the plurality of sheet conveyance paths merge as described above and enables duplex copying, particularly focusing on the sheet conveyance path.
In the case of this image forming apparatus Y, the sheet supplied from the manual feed tray 32 passes through the transport path 43 as indicated by the arrow X2, and then joins through the upstream sheet transport path 51 provided upstream of the merge section 50. Part 50 is reached. Further, an image is formed by the transfer roller pair 52 and 52 on the sheet passing through the downstream sheet conveyance path 55 provided on the downstream side of the merging portion 50, and reaches the fixing roller pair 53 and 53.
Here, when the image formation on only one side is instructed, the sheet after fixing is discharged to the paper discharge tray 54 through the paper discharge roller pair 54a and 54a.
Further, when the image formation on both sides is instructed, the sheet after fixing that has come out of the fixing roller pair 53, 53 passes from the branch portion 58 through the bypass paths 59a, 59b, 59c, etc., and the conveying roller pair 48. , 48, the image is transferred to the back surface by the transfer roller pair 52, 52 again through the junction 50. When the images on both sides are transferred in this way, the sheet is subsequently discharged to the discharge tray 54 by the discharge roller pairs 54a and 54a through the fixing roller pairs 53 and 53 and the branch portion 58.

  Further, the sheet supplied from the sheet feeding cassette 31 passes through the pair of conveying rollers 60 and 60 and the 48 and 48 to the merging unit 50, and thereafter the same as the sheet supplied from the manual feed tray 32. An image is formed on one side or both sides via the path.

In such an image forming apparatus, a complicated sheet conveyance path is used as described above, but there is a risk of a paper jam in particular because the conveyance path is abruptly curved at the junction 50.
The paper at the junction 50 is generated in both the upstream conveyance path 51a through which the sheet from the manual feed tray 32 passes and the upstream conveyance path 51b through which the sheet from the paper feed cassette 31 passes. The sheet jammed in this way is difficult to take out unless the sheet conveying paths 51a and 51b are opened. Therefore, in the image forming apparatus Y capable of double-sided copying as described above, the right cover 22 shown in FIG. 1 is configured to be rotatable about the fulcrum 22a, and when the right cover 22 is opened as indicated by the arrow X1, The bypass paths 59a, 59b, 59c are opened, and the sheets jammed in the bypass paths 59a, 59b, 59c can be easily taken out.

  Also, the transport unit 20 sandwiched between the bypass paths 59a, 59b, 59c, the upstream transport path 51b, and the downstream transport path 55 on the downstream side of the joining portion with the right cover 22 closed is illustrated. The sheet jamming in the upstream conveyance path 51b and the downstream conveyance path 55 can be easily eliminated by rotating clockwise around the lower fulcrum.

Further, with the conveying unit 20 open, the upstream unit 50c is sandwiched between upstream sheet conveying paths 51a and 51b constituting a part of the plurality of upstream sheet conveying paths 51 that merge at the merging unit 50, and the leading end 50c is the merging point. The drawer unit 10 which is an example of the first conveying wall member constituting the branch wall of the section 50 is rotated in the clockwise direction in the drawing around a lower fulcrum (not shown), whereby the upstream sheet conveying path 51a. The sheet jammed in can be easily removed.
When the right cover 22, the transport unit 20, and the drawer unit 10 are closed (closed) as shown in FIG. 1, contact members (not shown) provided between the members that open and close contact each other. It is fixed by positioning.
Further, when the transport unit 20 is closed, the abutting members provided on the transport unit 20 and the drawer unit 10 come into contact with each other, and the drawer unit 10 is closed by being pressed by the abutting member. The transport unit 20 and the right cover 22 are all closed.

  In the conventional image forming apparatus Y, as described above, when the drawer unit 10 and the transport unit 20 perform the closing operation, the abutting members interposed between the abutting members abut on each other to push each member. Since such an abutting member has a simple abutting structure, the abutting surface of the abutting member is worn at an early stage or is damaged by an impact at the time of abutting.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and can reduce damage and wear of members that come into contact when the drawer unit 10 and the transport unit 20 perform a closing operation, and image formation with improved durability. It is an object to provide an apparatus.

In order to solve the above problems, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes:
An image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet;
A plurality of sheet storage sections for storing sheets to be supplied to the image forming section;
A plurality of upstream sheet conveying paths having a merging portion at a leading end thereof, and a single downstream conveying a sheet from the merging portion to the image forming portion, in order to convey the sheet from the plurality of sheet accumulating portions to the image forming portion; A sheet conveying path with a side sheet conveying path;
A first conveying wall member sandwiched between a plurality of upstream sheet conveying paths that merge at the merging portion, and a tip that constitutes a wall surface of the merging portion;
Among the upstream sheet conveyance paths, one wall surface of the upstream sheet conveyance path provided on the outermost side of the machine base is configured, and the single downstream sheet conveyance path from the junction to the image forming unit A second conveying wall member configured to open one side of the downstream sheet conveying path and the upstream sheet conveying path by rotating toward the outside of the machine base,
In an image forming apparatus comprising:
The second conveyance wall member and the second conveyance wall member are provided on the wall member facing each other across the sheet conveyance path, and rotate and convey the sheet while being in elastic contact with each other. Equipped with a pair of elastic transport rollers,
When the second conveying wall member is closed, the second conveying wall member is configured to be driven to rotate in the closing direction by contacting the pair of conveying rollers.
In this case, in order to further alleviate the impact when the second transfer wall member is closed, an elastic contact member that elastically contacts when the second transfer wall member is closed is further provided. The mounting position of the elastic contact member and the transport roller pair is set so that when the transport wall member is closed, the transport roller pair comes into contact prior to the contact of the elastic contact member. Is desirable.
Further, at this time, since the elastic force of the elastic contact member is set to be stronger than the elastic force of the transport roller pair, the elastic contact member comes into contact before the transport roller pair comes into contact. The impact applied to the conveying roller pair is further alleviated.
If the first transfer wall member is configured to automatically rotate toward the outside of the machine base when the second transfer wall member is turned toward the outside of the machine base, There is no waste in operation, and user effort is reduced.
As an example of the conveyance roller pair, a conveyance roller pair provided immediately before the sheet conveyance direction of the merging portion of the upstream sheet conveyance path provided outside the machine base can be considered. Such a pair of transport rollers has been provided in the past, and by simply adjusting the mounting position of those conventional parts, it is possible to exert the great effect of shock relaxation as described above. Economical.

  As described above, the present invention provides an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet, a plurality of sheet storage units that store sheets to be supplied to the image forming unit, and a sheet from the plurality of sheet storage units to the image forming unit. A plurality of upstream sheet conveying paths having a merging portion at the leading end, and a single downstream sheet conveying path for conveying a sheet from the merging portion to the image forming unit, A first conveying wall member sandwiched between a plurality of upstream sheet conveying paths that merge at the merging portion, the tip of which forms the wall surface of the merging portion, and the outermost side of the machine base in the upstream sheet conveying path One wall surface of the provided upstream sheet conveying path is configured, and one wall surface of the single downstream sheet conveying path is configured from the merging portion to the image forming unit, and is rotated toward the outside of the machine base. Moving the downstream side A second conveying wall member that opens a part of the sheet conveying path and the upstream sheet conveying path to the outside, wherein the second conveying wall member and the second conveying wall A member is provided on a wall member facing the sheet conveying path, and includes a pair of elastic conveying rollers that rotate and convey the sheet in a state of elastic contact with each other, and the second conveying wall member includes Since the second conveying wall member is configured to be driven to rotate in the closing direction when the conveying roller pair abuts when being closed, the second conveying member is closed. It is possible to reduce the damage and wear of the member that comes into contact with the image forming apparatus, and to provide an image forming apparatus with improved durability.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a structure of a conveyance path mainly of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a drawer unit of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1. It is a perspective view which shows the drawer | drawing-out unit and conveyance unit in an open position. It is a figure which shows schematically the rail part which supports a drawer unit. It is a perspective view which shows the drawer unit when it exists in a closed position. It is a perspective view which shows the drawer | drawing unit which moves between a closed position and an open position. It is a perspective view which shows the drawer unit in an open position.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention that embodies the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings for understanding of the present invention. It should be noted that the terms indicating directions such as “upper”, “lower”, “left”, and “right” used in the following description refer to those in the drawings referred to in the respective scenes, and as such, the present invention is nothing but the invention. It is not intended to limit. Furthermore, the term “sheet” used in the following description means copy paper, tracing paper, cardboard, OHP sheet, and other sheets capable of forming an image.

  FIG. 1 schematically shows the structure of a sheet conveyance system of an image forming apparatus Y according to an embodiment of the present invention. Although the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is a color printer, it may be a monochrome printer, a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a complex machine thereof, or another apparatus capable of forming an image on a sheet.

  An image forming apparatus Y shown in FIG. 1 includes a pair of transfer rollers 52 and 52 as an example of an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet, and a plurality of sheet accumulating units 3 that accumulate sheets supplied to the image forming unit ( In this case, a manual feed tray 32 and a paper feed cassette 31 are provided), a sheet conveyance path from the plurality of sheet accumulating units 3 to the pair of transfer rollers 52, 52, and a merge unit 50 at the tip. In addition, upstream sheet conveying paths 51a and 51b constituting a plurality of upstream sheet conveying paths 51 and a single downstream sheet conveying path 55 for conveying a sheet from the merging portion 50 to the transfer roller pair 52 and 52 are provided. A first conveyance wall member that is sandwiched between the sheet conveyance path 56 and a plurality of the upstream sheet conveyance paths 51 a and 51 b that merge at the merging portion 50, and the leading end 50 c forms a branch wall of the merging portion 50. The drawer unit 10 as an example and one wall surface of the upstream sheet conveying path 51b provided on the outermost side of the machine base among the upstream sheet conveying paths 51a and 51b are configured, and from the junction 50 The pair of transfer rollers 52, 52 constitutes one wall surface of the single downstream sheet conveyance path 55, and the downstream sheet conveyance path 55 and the upstream sheet conveyance path are rotated by rotating toward the outside of the machine base. A conveying unit 20 that opens a part 51b of the outer side 51 to the outside, a side wall member 20a of the conveying unit 20, a wall member 10a on the side of the drawer unit 10 facing the conveying unit 20 across the upstream sheet conveying path 51b, And is provided with a pair of elastic conveying rollers (47 and 48 to be described later) that rotate while being in elastic contact with each other and convey a sheet.

Regarding the image forming apparatus as described above, the operation of conveying a sheet has already been described.
Next, the drawer unit 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 in conjunction with FIG. 2, which is a perspective view of the drawer unit 10.
As shown in FIG. 2, the drawer unit 10 includes a substantially triangular prism-shaped housing 101 in a side view, and a first transport roller 47 is disposed along the top of the housing 101. The first conveying roller 47 is made of a material having elastic properties such as synthetic rubber.
The first conveying roller 47 contacts the second conveying roller 48 made of a resin roller or the like when the drawer unit 10 is closed, and conveys the gripped sheet S by the positive rotation of the first conveying roller 47. The pair of the first transport roller 47 and the second transport roller 48 constitutes an elastic transport roller pair in the present invention.
Further, in this embodiment, when the transport unit 20 is closed from the open position, the second transport roller 48 first comes into contact with the first transport roller 47 and pushes against the second transport roller 48. Thus, the drawer unit 10 is elastically urged in the closing direction by the elastic force of the first conveying roller 27.
The adjustment of the contact timing of the first and second transport rollers 47 and 48 when the transport unit 20 is closed will be described later.
A second transport wall 435 is formed on the opposite side of the drawer unit 10 with respect to the first transport roller 47. The second conveyance wall 435 constitutes a guide surface of the upstream sheet conveyance path 51a.
A gear 471 is fixed to the end of the drive shaft of the first transport roller 47. When the drawer unit 10 is housed in the housing 2 of the image forming apparatus Y, the gear 471 meshes with a gear connected to a drive source (not shown) disposed in the housing 2 of the image forming apparatus Y. , The driving force is transmitted. The second transport roller 48 attached to the transport unit 20 is pressed against the first transport roller 47 and rotates with the first transport roller 47 in a driven manner.
The pair of rollers of the first conveyance roller 47 and the second conveyance roller 48 is a conveyance roller pair provided immediately before the sheet conveyance direction of the merging portion of the upstream sheet conveyance path provided outside the machine base. desirable.

  A total of four connection pieces 102 protrude from the side surfaces of the housing 101 of the drawer unit 10. The connection piece 102 plays a role of supporting the drawer unit 10 in the housing 2 of the image forming apparatus Y, and is pulled out while pushing the drawer unit 10 into the housing 2 and while pulling out the drawer unit 10 from the housing 2. It plays the role which guides the unit 10 along the rail part mentioned later. Therefore, it is preferable that the connection piece 102 is rotatably attached to the housing 101. In FIG. 2, the connection piece 102 located on the upper side is referred to as the first connection piece 102a for convenience, and the connection piece 102 located on the lower side is referred to for convenience as the second connection piece 102b. The

  The drawer unit 10 further includes projecting pieces 103 disposed on the left and right sides of the housing 101. While the drawer unit 10 is housed in the housing 2 of the image forming apparatus Y, the protruding piece 103 protrudes toward the transport unit 20.

  The right cover 22 forming the right surface of the housing 2 of the image forming apparatus Y shown in FIG. 1 has a rotation shaft 22a along the lower end edge and can be rotated up and down as indicated by an arrow X1. When the right cover 22 is rotated downward (clockwise in FIG. 1), the transport unit 20 is exposed. At this time, the sheet S present in the third transport path 55 is removed relatively easily.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the transport unit 20 and the drawer unit 10 pulled out from the housing 2 of the image forming apparatus Y. The transport unit 20 and the drawer unit 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 in conjunction with FIG. The positions of the transport unit 20 and the drawer unit 10 shown in FIG. 1 are called a closed position for convenience, and the positions of the transport unit 20 and the drawer unit 10 shown in FIG. 3 are called an open position for convenience. .

  The drawer unit 10 and the transport unit 20 are supported in the housing 2 by a front wall (not shown) and a back wall 23 of the housing 2. In the present embodiment, the front wall and the rear wall 23 of the housing 2 are used as support walls for supporting the drawer unit 10 and the transport unit 20, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the housing 2 The left and right walls may be used as support walls. Although the front wall is not shown in FIG. 3, the structure, shape, and elements of the back wall 23 for supporting the drawer unit 10 and the transport unit 20 are symmetrical to the front wall unless otherwise specified. Is provided.

  As described above, when the right cover 22 is rotated downward from the housing 2 of the image forming apparatus Y, the transport unit 20 is exposed as shown in FIG. The transport unit 20 includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped housing 201, and a rotation shaft 202 is formed at the lower end of the side surface of the housing 201. The rotation shaft 202 supports the conveyance unit 20 on the rear wall 23 and the front wall so as to be rotatable. After the right cover 22 is pivoted downward, the transport unit 20 can pivot downward about the pivot shaft 202. When the transport unit 20 is rotated downward and moved toward the open position, the second transport roller 48 of the transport unit 20 is separated from the first transport roller 47 of the drawer unit 10. When the transport unit 20 is rotated toward the open position, the second transport wall 435 constituting the upstream sheet transport path 51a of the drawer unit 10 is a surface opposite to the upstream sheet transport path 51a. It moves so as to be automatically separated from one transport wall 434.

When the drawer unit 10 is completely pulled out, the protruding piece 103 of the drawer unit 10 comes into contact with the side edge of the conveyance surface 203 of the conveyance unit 20 that forms the upstream sheet conveyance path 51b and the merging portion 50. Due to the contact between the conveyance surface 203 and the protruding piece 103, the first conveyance roller 47 is kept away from the conveyance surface 203, and damage to the first conveyance roller 47 is prevented.
Further, on the side surface of the transport unit 20, there is provided a contact portion 20 c that contacts the opposing surface of the drawer unit 10 when the transport unit 20 is closed. The abutting portion 20c is accommodated in the abutting portion accommodating case 20d so as to be able to advance and retreat, and is always pushed in a direction to elastically protrude by the spring member 20e accommodated in the abutting portion accommodating case 20d. When closed, the contact portion 20 c is configured to elastically contact the opposing surface of the drawer unit 10. However, the contact portion housing case 20d is formed with an engaging portion so that the contact portion 20c does not protrude more than a predetermined amount, and the contact portion 20c is pushed by the spring member 20e so that it protrudes indefinitely or protrudes. It has a structure that does not.
The elastic force of the spring member 20e is set to be stronger than the elastic pressing force of the first and second transport rollers 47 and 48. As a result, when the transport unit 20 and the drawer unit 10 are closed, the contact portion 20c first receives an impact force more strongly, and the first and second transport rollers 47 and 48 are subjected to a large impact. Is configured to not. This prevents the transport rollers 47 and 48 from being damaged.
Further, when the transport unit 20 is closed, the mounting position of the contact member 20c is set so that the transport roller pairs 47 and 48 come into contact with each other prior to contact with the facing surface of the contact member 20c. The mounting positions of the conveying roller pairs 47 and 48 are adjusted. The adjustment of the mounting position will be described in detail later.

  Rail portions 231 are attached to the inner surfaces of the back wall 23 and the front wall. The rail portion 231 defines the drawing path of the drawing unit 10. The rail portion 231 supports the first connection piece 102a and guides the movement of the first connection piece 102a. The rail portion 231 supports the second connection piece 102b and guides the movement of the second connection piece 102b. Second rail portion 231b.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the first rail portion 231a. The first rail portion 231a will be described with reference to FIG. 3 in conjunction with FIG.

  The first rail portion 231a includes a first section that is inclined upward toward the right. The first section is a guide that connects between a first end located inside the housing 2 of the image forming apparatus Y and a second end located above the first end and outside the housing 2. It is. The first rail portion 231a further includes a second section extending downward from the second end as a base point. The second section is a guide that connects between the second end and a third end located below the second end and located outside the housing 2.

The first rail portion 231a is continuous from the first end to the third end, and is a dead end at both the first end and the third end. Therefore, the movement of the first connection piece 102a inside the first rail portion 231a is stopped at the first end and the third end. As a result, the drawer unit 10 in the closed position and the drawer unit 10 in the open position are each stably supported by the first end and the third end of the first rail portion 231a. The second rail portion 231b is formed so as to be adapted to the movement of the second connection piece 102b according to the movement of the first connection piece 102a in the first rail portion 231a.
In particular, the position and timing of contact between the first conveyance roller 47 and the second conveyance roller 48 are adjusted by the position of the third end, which is important.
That is, at the time of designing, the position of the third end is adjusted, and immediately before the transport unit 20 reaches the fully closed position, the first transport roller 47 and the second transport roller 48 come into contact with each other. These contact positions and timings are adjusted so that the contact member 20 c contacts the end surface of the drawer unit 10.

  5 to 7 are perspective views showing the drawer unit 10 housed in the housing 2 of the image forming apparatus Y. FIG. FIG. 5 shows the drawer unit 10 in the closed position, and FIG. 7 shows the drawer unit 10 in the open position. FIG. 6 shows the drawer unit 10 during the movement from the closed position to the open position or during the movement from the open position to the closed position. The movement of the drawer unit 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 3, and 4 in conjunction with FIGS.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the user can expose the drawer unit 10 by rotating the transport unit 20 downward. As a result, the sheet S existing in the upstream sheet conveyance path 51b on the upstream side of the merging unit 50 can be easily taken out. When the user pulls the drawer unit 10 outward of the housing 2, the drawer unit 10 is guided by the rail portion 231 and moves toward the outside of the housing 2. While the 1st connection piece 102a exists in the 1st area of the 1st rail part 231a, the drawer | drawing-out unit 10 moves diagonally upward toward a user. When the first connection piece 102a reaches the second end of the first rail portion 231a, the user can loosen the force applied to the drawer unit 10. As a result, the drawer unit 10 is stably supported in the open position. Since the first transfer wall 434 and the second transfer wall 435 are sufficiently separated while the drawer unit 10 is in the open position, the first transfer wall 434 formed between the first transfer wall 434 and the second transfer wall 435 is formed. The removal of the sheet S in the one conveyance path 43 is facilitated.

As described above, when the transport unit 20 is rotated upward (in the closing direction) in the opened state of the drawer unit 10 where the first connection piece 102a is stopped at the third end of the first rail portion 231a, As described above, the second conveyance roller 48 comes into contact with the first conveyance roller 47 and elastically biases the drawer unit 10. Due to such elastic and gentle contact, a large impact force does not act on the contact portion, and damage is prevented.
For this purpose, when the transport unit 20 is rotated upward (in the closing direction), it is necessary that the second transport roller 48 contacts the first transport roller 47 before other portions contact. . The timing of the contact between the second transport roller 48 and the first transport roller 47 is ultimately determined by the positioning of the first transport roller 47, which is the first that determines the position of the drawer unit 10 in the open state. It is determined by the stop position of the one connection piece 102a in the first rail portion 231a, and finally determined by the design position of the third end. Therefore, it is desirable to set the third end at a position where the first transport roller 47 and the second transport roller 48 first come into contact with each other before the other members contact as described above.

The user pulls the drawer unit 10 upward so that the first connection piece 102a moves from the third end to the second end of the second section of the first rail portion 231a, and then applies a force to the drawer unit 10. By loosening, the drawer unit 10 is drawn into the housing 2 by its own weight and reaches the closed position. Thus, the drawer unit 10 can be easily accommodated in the housing 2.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the first rail portion 231 a is inclined downward toward the inside of the housing 2 of the image forming apparatus Y. Therefore, when the transport unit 20 in the open position shown in FIG. 3 is rotated upward, the first connection piece 102a moves along the second section of the first rail portion 231a, and then the first rail portion. It moves from the 2nd end of the 1st section of 231a toward the 1st end. As a result, the drawer unit 10 reaches the closed position. Thus, the drawer unit 10 can be accommodated in the housing 2 by rotating the transport unit 20 upward. Thereafter, by rotating the right cover 22 upward, bypass conveyance paths 59a, 59b, and 59c are formed between the conveyance unit 20 and the right cover 22, and preparation for image forming processing is completed.

  This embodiment can be suitably applied to an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet.

Image forming apparatus 10 Drawing unit 22 Right cover 102 Connection piece 103 Projection piece 2 Housing 20 ... transport unit 20c ... contact member 23 ... back wall 231 ... rail part 231a ... first rail part 20 ... transport unit 47 ... ..First transport roller 48 ... Second transport roller

Claims (4)

An image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet;
A plurality of sheet storage sections for storing sheets to be supplied to the image forming section;
A plurality of upstream sheet conveying paths having a merging portion at a leading end thereof, and a single downstream conveying a sheet from the merging portion to the image forming portion, in order to convey the sheet from the plurality of sheet accumulating portions to the image forming portion; A sheet conveying path with a side sheet conveying path;
A first conveying wall member sandwiched between a plurality of upstream sheet conveying paths that merge at the merging portion, and a tip that constitutes a wall surface of the merging portion;
Among the upstream sheet conveyance paths, one wall surface of the upstream sheet conveyance path provided on the outermost side of the machine base is configured, and the single downstream sheet conveyance path from the junction to the image forming unit A second conveying wall member configured to open one side of the downstream sheet conveying path and the upstream sheet conveying path by rotating toward the outside of the machine base,
In an image forming apparatus comprising:
The second conveyance wall member and the second conveyance wall member are provided on the wall member facing each other across the sheet conveyance path, and rotate and convey the sheet while being in elastic contact with each other. Equipped with a pair of elastic transport rollers,
The image forming apparatus, wherein when the second transport wall member is closed, the second transport wall member is rotationally driven in the closing direction by the contact of the transport roller pair. An elastic contact member that elastically contacts when the second transport wall member is closed;
The elastic contact member and the transport roller pair are configured such that when the second transport wall member is closed, the transport roller pair comes into contact prior to the contact of the elastic contact member. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an elastic force of the elastic contact member is set to be stronger than an elastic force of the pair of conveying rollers.   The first transfer wall member is configured to automatically rotate toward the outside of the machine base when the second transfer wall member rotates toward the outside of the machine base. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3.

Images