JP2018167993A - Sheet carrier and image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a compact device having a state changing-housing and a cover for opening and closing an opening of a sheet supporting section.SOLUTION: A compound machine 10 includes: a housing 16 of a scanner unit 12, a document cover 17, a bypass tray 70, a tray cover 81 covering a sheet insertion port of the bypass tray 70, and an interlock mechanism 90 for moving a contact portion 98 of a contact member 91 to move the tray cover 81 from a first state to a second state in conjunction with a movement of the document cover 17 being rotated from a first rotational position to a second rotational position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus that conveys a sheet along a conveying path, and an image recording apparatus including the sheet conveying apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art There is known an image recording apparatus in which a conveyance path is formed inside an apparatus housing and an image is recorded on a sheet that is guided and conveyed by the conveyance path. Some image recording apparatuses have a paper feed cassette that supports a plurality of sheets. In addition to the paper feed cassette, there is an image recording apparatus having a manual feed tray for guiding a sheet to a conveyance path (Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  A configuration in which a part of the housing of the image recording device is opened and closed is used for maintenance of the image recording device and paper jams are eliminated, or the image recording device is realized as a multifunction device having a scanner function. In the aspect, a configuration in which the document cover of the flat bed scanner is opened and closed can be employed (Patent Document 1).

  Further, an openable / closable cover or the like is provided at a paper feed port, which is an opening into which a sheet is inserted into the image recording apparatus, in order to prevent foreign matter and dust from entering (Patent Document 3).

JP 2012-1329 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-224463 JP 2011-219201 A

  Arrange the cover away from the rotation range of the housing and document cover so that the housing and document cover that are opened and closed in the image recording device do not collide with the cover that opens and closes the opening such as the paper feed port. Then, there is a problem that the image recording apparatus is increased in size.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a small apparatus having a casing whose state changes and a cover which opens and closes an opening of a sheet support portion.

  (1) A sheet conveying apparatus according to the present invention is capable of rotating above a first casing having a sheet conveying path, a conveying section that conveys a sheet along the conveying path, and the first casing. A second casing that is provided and capable of rotating to a first rotation position and a second rotation position farther from the first casing than the first rotation position; and a rotation base end of the second casing A sheet support opening that is provided in the first housing and opens upward, and that is provided in the sheet support section; and a sheet support section that supports a sheet fed to the conveyance path. A first state in which the first housing side is turned around the rotation axis parallel to the rotation axis of the second housing with the first housing side as the rotation tip side, and the sheet insertion port is closed; and the sheet A cover that changes to a second state in which the insertion port is opened, and a cover that is movable toward and away from the cover, the first state It has an abutting portion that changes to the second state by moving while abutting on the cover, and the second casing moves in the movement from the first rotating position to the second rotating position. The contact portion is moved in a direction to contact the cover, and the second housing is moved in conjunction with the movement of the second rotation position to the first rotation position. An interlocking mechanism for moving the contact portion in a direction away from the cover.

  When the second housing changes from the first rotation position to the second rotation position, the contact portion of the interlocking mechanism moves in a direction to contact the cover. The cover rotates from the first state to the second state when the contact portion contacts. Thereby, even if the layout in which the range in which the second housing rotates and the range in which the cover rotates is adopted is adopted, contact between the second housing and the cover that changes to the second rotation position can be prevented. . When the second housing changes from the second rotation position to the first rotation position, the contact portion of the interlocking mechanism moves in a direction away from the cover. Thereby, the cover in the second state can be changed to the first state.

  (2) The sheet support portion is disposed behind the first housing in the front-rear direction orthogonal to the up-down direction, and the transport unit transfers the sheet supported by the sheet support portion in the front-rear direction. You may convey toward the front.

  Since the seat support portion is disposed behind the second housing, and the pivot axis of the second housing is also on the seat support portion side, that is, behind the second housing, the second housing is rotated second. When in the position, the first housing can be accessed from the front of the second housing. Further, the cover that rotates in conjunction with the second housing does not rotate from the front to the user side who operates the second housing. Further, since the sheet is conveyed from the sheet support portion toward the front of the first casing, the user can access the sheet after conveyance from the front of the first casing.

  (3) The first casing may be provided with a flatbed scanner having a platen, and the second casing may be a document cover that covers the platen.

  As a result, in a configuration including a flatbed scanner that is used relatively frequently, the cover can be disposed within the rotation range of the document cover.

  (4) The contact portion protrudes and protrudes from the seat support portion in the vertical direction, and is perpendicular to the vertical direction and parallel to the rotation axis of the second housing. The document cover has an automatic document conveyance mechanism that conveys a document to the platen, and the automatic document conveyance mechanism extends along the up-down direction and the front-rear direction orthogonal to the left-right direction. A document tray which is rotatable about a rotation axis and which changes to a lying posture lying on the top surface of the document cover and a projecting posture projecting obliquely upward from the top surface of the document cover; The tray may protrude from the upper surface of the document cover toward the other in the left-right direction where the contact portion is not provided in the protruding posture.

  Thereby, the movement range of the contact portion and the movement range of the document tray do not overlap.

  (5) The seat support portion includes a support plate for supporting the seat, and the support plate stands up close to a side surface of the first housing in the first state, and the support in the second state. The plate may be inclined and inclined from the first state in a direction away from the side surface of the first housing, and the cover may be connected to the support plate.

  Thereby, the sheet | seat support part of a 1st state can be reduced in size efficiently.

  (6) The rotating tip of the cover in the first state may be disposed below the upper surface of the second casing.

  As a result, the sheet conveying apparatus can be reduced in thickness.

  (7) As the interlocking mechanism, the second mechanism is capable of rotating around a rotation axis parallel to the rotation axis of the second casing and changes from the first rotation position to the second rotation position. A rotation member that rotates in contact with the housing; a contact member that includes the contact portion; and a rack and pinion mechanism that transmits the rotation of the rotation member to the sliding movement of the contact member. Things.

  (8) As the interlocking mechanism, the second mechanism is capable of rotating around a rotation axis parallel to the rotation axis of the second housing and changes from the first rotation position to the second rotation position. There is a rotating member that rotates in contact with the housing, and the abutting part is a part of the rotating member.

  (9) The present invention may be regarded as an image recording apparatus including the sheet conveying apparatus and a recording unit that records an image on a sheet in the conveying path.

  According to the present invention, a small-sized apparatus having a housing whose state changes and a cover for a sheet insertion opening is realized.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the multifunction machine 10 with the document cover 17 in the first rotation position. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the multifunction machine 10 with the document cover 17 in the second rotation position. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the multifunction machine 10 in a state where the bypass tray 70 is used. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the multifunction machine 10 with the document cover 17 in the first rotation position. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a VV cross section of FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the printer unit 11. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the interlocking mechanism 90. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the multifunction machine 10 in which the document tray 37 is in the protruding state and the document cover 17 is in the second rotation position. FIG. 9 is a side view showing the interlocking mechanism 90 in which the document cover 17 is in the first rotation position. FIG. 10 is a side view showing the interlocking mechanism 90 in which the document cover 17 is in the second rotation position. FIG. 11 is a side view of the multifunction device 10 in which the document cover 17 is in the first rotational position, and shows a rotational member 100 according to a modification. FIG. 12 is a side view showing the rotating member 100 according to the modification, in which the document cover 17 is the multifunction device 10 in the second rotating position.

  Hereinafter, the multifunction peripheral 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. The embodiment described below is merely an example of the present invention, and it is needless to say that the embodiment can be appropriately changed without departing from the gist of the present invention. In the following description, the vertical direction 7 is defined with reference to a state where the multifunction device 10 (an example of the image recording apparatus of the present invention) is installed in a usable state (the state shown in FIG. 1), and an opening 13 is provided. The front-rear direction 8 is defined with the front side as the front side (front side), and the left-right direction 9 is defined when the multifunction machine 10 is viewed from the front side (front side).

[Overall configuration of MFP 10]
As shown in FIG. 1, the multifunction machine 10 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and includes a printer unit 11 that records an image on a sheet such as a recording sheet by an inkjet recording method. The multifunction machine 10 has various functions such as a facsimile function and a print function. The printer unit 11 corresponds to an image recording apparatus.

  The printer unit 11 includes a housing 14 having an opening 13 formed on the front surface. Further, a feeding tray 20 and a discharge tray 21 on which recording papers of various sizes can be placed can be inserted and removed in the front-rear direction 8 from the opening 13. 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 show a state in which the feeding tray 20 and the discharge tray 21 are removed from the casing 14.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the printer unit 11 includes a feeding unit 15 that feeds recording paper from the feeding tray 20, a recording unit 24 that records an image on the recording paper, a first transport roller pair 54, and a second pair. A conveyance roller pair 55 and the like are provided. The sheet conveying device is configured by the feeding unit 15 other than the recording unit 24, the first conveying roller pair 54, the second conveying roller pair 55, the feeding tray 20, the bypass tray 70, and the scanner unit 12.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a scanner unit 12 is provided above the printer unit 11. The dimensions of the casing 16 of the scanner unit 12 in the front-rear direction 8 and the left-right direction 9 are the same as those of the casing 14 of the printer unit 11. Therefore, with the scanner unit 12 facing upward, the housing 14 of the printer unit 11 and the housing 16 of the scanner unit 12 form a substantially rectangular parallelepiped outer shape of the multifunction machine 10. The housing 16 is connected to the housing 14 so as to be rotatable around a rotation axis along the left-right direction 9 on the rear surface side of the housing 14. The housing 14 and the housing 16 correspond to a first housing.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the scanner unit 12 is a flat bed scanner. An image sensor 34 capable of optically reading a document image is provided inside the housing 16. A platen glass 30 on which a document is placed is provided on the upper surface of the housing 16. The platen glass 30 is covered with a document cover 17. 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9 show a state in which the platen glass 30 is covered with the document cover 17, and FIGS. The state where is exposed is shown.

  The document cover 17 is connected to the rear surface side of the housing 16 and can be rotated around a rotation axis along the left-right direction 9. As shown in FIG. 1, the document cover 17 is maintained in a state of covering the platen glass 30 by contacting the upper surface of the housing 16 (first rotation position). When the front side of the document cover 17 is lifted upward from the state shown in FIG. 1, the document cover 17 is rotated and the platen glass 30 is exposed as shown in FIG. 2 (second rotation position). ). That is, the document cover 17 is closest to the housing 16 at the first rotation position, and the document cover 17 is furthest away from the housing 16 at the second rotation position. The document cover 17 corresponds to the second housing.

  The document cover 17 is provided with an automatic document feeder (ADF) 36 that picks up and conveys a plurality of documents for image reading one by one. The ADF 36 has a known structure, and a detailed description thereof is omitted. However, a sheet-like document placed on the document tray 37 is conveyed onto the platen glass 30 by a pickup roller or a feeding roller. It is discharged to the discharge tray 38.

  The document tray 37 is rotatably provided on the upper surface side of the document cover 17. The axis of rotation of the document cover 17 is along the front-rear direction 8. As shown in FIG. 1, when the ADF 36 is not used, the document tray 37 is in a lying posture lying on the upper surface of the document cover 17. As shown in FIG. 8, when the ADF 36 is used, the document tray 37 is rotated to a projecting posture that projects obliquely upward from the upper surface of the document cover 17. The document tray 37 in the protruding posture protrudes to the upper right as viewed from the front surface of the multifunction machine 10. When the document tray 37 is brought into the protruding posture, the discharge tray 38 appears below the document tray 37. 8 shows a state in which the document cover 17 is opened. However, when the ADF 36 is used, the document cover 17 is in a closed state, that is, in the first time, as shown in FIG. Moved to the moving position.

[Printer 11]
Hereinafter, the detailed structure of the printer unit 11 will be described.

[Feeding tray 20]
As shown in FIG. 6, the feeding tray 20 has an outer shape in which the length in the front-rear direction 8 and the left-right direction 9 is longer than the length in the vertical direction 7, and has a box shape with the top opened. A discharge tray 21 is placed above the feeding tray 20. The feeding tray 20 can be loaded with recording papers of various sizes, such as A4 size according to Japanese Industrial Standards and L size used for photographic recording. The feeding tray 20 is accommodated in an internal space that communicates with the opening 13 of the housing 14. The feeding tray 20 can advance and retreat along the front-rear direction 8 with respect to the housing 14 through the opening 13.

[Feeding unit 15]
As shown in FIG. 6, the feeding unit 15 includes a feeding roller 25, a feeding arm 26, a drive transmission mechanism 27, and a separation pad 23. The feeding unit 15 is provided above the feeding tray 20 and below the recording unit 24. The feed roller 25 is pivotally supported at the tip of the feed arm 26. The feeding arm 26 rotates in the direction of an arrow 29 about a shaft 28 provided at the base end. Thereby, the feeding roller 25 can be brought into contact with and separated from the bottom surface of the feeding tray 20. The feeding roller 25 can abut on a recording sheet placed on the feeding tray 20. A separation pad 23 is provided on the bottom surface of the feeding tray 20 at a position facing the feeding roller 25. The separation pad 23 is a member having a larger coefficient of friction than the bottom surface of the feeding tray 20 with respect to the recording paper.

  A driving force of a motor (not shown) is transmitted to the feeding roller 25 through a drive transmission mechanism 27. The drive transmission mechanism 27 transmits the rotation transmitted to the shaft 28 to the shaft of the feeding roller 25 by an endless belt. When the feeding roller 25 rotates while being in contact with the uppermost recording sheet among the recording sheets stacked on the bottom surface of the feeding tray 20, the recording sheet is fed to the conveyance path 65. The When the recording paper is fed to the transport path 65, the leading edge of the recording paper comes into contact with the separation member 35 provided on the rear side of the feed tray 20 in the front-rear direction 8, so that the lower recording paper is unified. The paper is held on the feeding tray 20 without being dragged by the uppermost recording paper. The lowermost recording sheet is not dragged when the recording sheet immediately above is fed due to the frictional force generated between the recording sheet and the separation pad 23.

[Conveyance path 65]
As shown in FIG. 6, the conveyance path 65 provided in the internal space of the casing 14 extends so as to make a U-turn upward from the rear side of the feed tray 20, and further on the rear side of the printer unit 11. It bends to the front side and extends almost straight to the discharge tray 21. The conveyance path 65 is roughly divided into a curved path 65A that makes a U-turn and a straight path 65B that is straight.

  The curved path 65 </ b> A is formed by the outer guide member 18, the inner guide member 19, and the guide member 31 that face each other with a space through which the recording paper can pass. The straight path 65 </ b> B is formed by the recording unit 24 and the platen 42 that face each other with a space through which the recording paper can pass, and the guide member 32 and the guide member 33.

  The recording sheet fed to the transport path 65 by the feed roller 25 of the feed tray 20 is guided by the curved path 65A and reversed in the transport direction from below to above, and is guided by the straight path 65B to the transport direction. Is conveyed from the rear to the front without being inverted.

  The outer guide member 18 is a member constituting an outer guide surface in the curved path 65A. The inner guide member 19 is a member constituting an inner guide surface in the curved path 65A. In addition, each guide surface may be comprised by one surface, and may be comprised as a group of the front end surface of a some rib.

  The guide member 31 is disposed above the inner guide member 19 immediately upstream (rear side) of the first conveying roller pair 54. The outer guide member 18 and the guide member 31 are also members that divide a bypass path 66 described later.

[First Conveying Roller Pair 54 and Second Conveying Roller Pair 55]
As shown in FIG. 6, a first transport roller pair 54 is provided on the upstream side of the transport path 65 upstream of the recording unit 24 in the transport direction (frontward in the front-rear direction 8). The first transport roller pair 54 includes a first transport roller 60 and a pinch roller 61. In the conveyance path 65, a second conveyance roller pair 55 is provided on the downstream side of the recording unit 24 in the conveyance direction. The second transport roller pair 55 includes a second transport roller 62 and a spur 63. The first transport roller 60 and the second transport roller 62 are rotated by the rotation of a motor (not shown). The first conveyance roller pair 54 and the second conveyance roller pair 55 perform recording by rotating the first conveyance roller 60 and the second conveyance roller 62 in a state where the recording paper is sandwiched between the respective rollers constituting the first conveyance roller pair 54 and the second conveyance roller pair 55. Transport the paper. The first conveyance roller pair 54 and the second conveyance roller pair 55 correspond to a conveyance unit.

[Recording unit 24]
As shown in FIG. 6, the recording unit 24 is provided on the upper side of the straight path 65 </ b> B so as to face the platen 42 between the first conveyance roller pair 54 and the second conveyance roller pair 55. The recording unit 24 includes a carriage 41 and a recording head 39. The carriage 41 is supported by guide rails 43 and 44 provided on the rear side and the front side of the platen 42. The guide rail 44 is provided with a known belt mechanism. The carriage 41 is connected to an endless belt of the belt mechanism, and moves in the left-right direction 9 along the guide rails 43 and 44 by the rotation of the endless belt.

  The recording head 39 is mounted on the carriage 41. A plurality of nozzles (not shown) are formed on the lower surface of the recording head 39. Ink is supplied to the recording head 39 from an ink cartridge (not shown). The recording head 39 selectively ejects ink from a plurality of nozzles as fine ink droplets. When the carriage 41 moves in the left-right direction 9, ink droplets are ejected from the nozzles onto the recording paper supported on the platen 42. The ejected ink droplets adhere to the recording paper on the platen 42, whereby an image is recorded on the recording paper.

[Bypass path 66]
As shown in FIG. 6, an opening 64 is provided on the rear surface of the housing 14, and a bypass path 66 extending from the opening 64 to the first conveying roller pair 54 is formed inside the housing 14. The bypass path 66 is a path extending obliquely downward from the rear in the front-rear direction 8 to the front. The upper guide surface of the bypass path 66 is formed by the guide member 31, and the lower guide surface is formed by the outer guide member 18 and the guide member 32. Both the curved path 65 </ b> A and the straight path 65 </ b> B of the transport path 65 are disposed below the bypass path 66.

  A recording sheet placed on a bypass tray 70, which will be described later, is guided obliquely downward through the bypass path 66 and enters the straight path 65B of the transport path 65, and is transported by the first transport roller pair 54 by the recording unit 24. Image recording is performed and the sheet is discharged to the discharge tray 21. As described above, the recording paper placed on the bypass tray 70 is conveyed along a substantially linear path.

[Bypass tray 70]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, a bypass tray 70 is provided on the rear surface side of the multifunction machine 10. The bypass tray 70 supports the recording paper independently of the feeding tray 20. The bypass tray 70 corresponds to the sheet support portion.

  A fixing unit 68 is provided on the rear surface side of the housing 16 of the scanner unit 12 so as to cover the opening 64 (see FIG. 6). The fixing portion 68 constitutes a part of the bypass tray 70 on the downstream side in the conveyance direction. On the rear side of the fixed portion 68, a support plate 73 is rotatably provided. A bypass tray 70 is configured by the fixing portion 68 and the support plate 73.

  The support plate 73 is rotatably supported by the fixed portion 68 on the lower end side. As shown in FIG. 1, when the bypass tray 70 is not used, the support plate 73 stands up close to the rear surface of the housing 14 (first state). When the bypass tray 70 is used, the support plate 73 is separated from the rear surface of the housing 14 so that the upper end side of the support plate 73 is tilted backward. As a result, the support plate 73 tilts backward from the first state.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a side guide 80 is provided on the support surface 74 that is the front surface of the support plate 73. The side guide 80 has a guide surface extending along the conveyance direction of the bypass tray 70, and guides the edge of the recording paper supported on the support surface 74 in the conveyance direction by the guide surface. The distance at which the pair of side guides 80 are separated along the left-right direction 9 is variable. Thereby, the side guide 80 can guide the edge of the recording paper of various sizes supported by the support surface 74.

  A feeding roller 76 is provided on the fixed portion 68 so as to face the support surface 74. The feed roller 76 is driven by a motor (not shown) and rotates. Although not shown in each figure, the feeding roller 76 is supported by an arm that can be rotated in a direction to come in contact with and away from the support surface 74, and according to the number and thickness of the sheets supported on the support surface 74. Then, the feeding roller 76 moves in a direction in which the feeding roller 76 comes in contact with and separates from the support surface 74. The feeding roller 76 rotates while being in contact with the uppermost recording sheet among the recording sheets supported by the support surface 74 of the bypass tray 70, so that the recording sheet is fed to the bypass path 66. The

  A tray cover 81 is provided at the upper end of the support plate 73. The tray cover 81 is provided so as to be rotatable with respect to the support plate 73. The tray cover 81 is a flat plate-like member that can seal the sheet insertion opening 75 on the upper end side of the bypass tray 70. The rotation axis of the tray cover 81 is parallel to the rotation axis of the document cover 17. That is, the rotation axis of the tray cover 81 is along the left-right direction 9.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 9, the tray cover 81 can be rotated to a position where the support plate 73 in the standing state covers the sheet insertion port 75 of the bypass tray 70 (first state). In this state, the front end side of the tray cover 81 is directed from the rotation axis toward the document cover 17 and is located below the upper surface of the document cover 17. The tray cover 81 may completely cover the sheet insertion opening 75 or may cover only a part thereof. When the tray cover 81 completely covers the sheet insertion opening 75, the tray cover 81 in the first state prevents dust and foreign matter from entering from the sheet insertion opening 75. If the tray cover 81 covers only a part of the sheet insertion opening 75, the tray cover 81 in the first state prevents a sheet from being erroneously inserted into the sheet insertion opening 75 when the bypass tray 70 is not used. .

  As shown in FIG. 3, the tray cover 81 can be rotated to a position (second state) where the sheet insertion port 75 of the bypass tray 70 is opened in the support plate 73 in the lying state. In this state, the tray cover 81 extends obliquely upward so as to extend the support surface 74 of the support plate 73. The range in which the tray cover 81 rotates between the first state and the second state partially overlaps the range in which the document cover 17 rotates between the first rotation position and the second rotation position. . In the process in which the document cover 17 is rotated from the first rotation position to the second rotation position, the rear surface 22 of the document cover 17 contacts the tray cover 81 in the first state.

  An extension support portion 82 is rotatably provided on the rotation tip side of the tray cover 81. As shown in FIG. 3, when the extension support portion 82 is rotated in a posture protruding from the rotation tip of the tray cover 81, the extension support portion 82 moves the upper end side of the recording sheet protruding from the support surface 74. It can be supported. The tray cover 81 can be arbitrarily rotated by a user operation. Accordingly, the support plate 73 can be rotated to the first state or the second state regardless of whether the support plate 73 is in the standing state or the lying state.

[Interlocking mechanism 90]
The bypass tray 70 is provided with an interlocking mechanism 90. The interlocking mechanism 90 moves the contact member 91 in a direction to contact the tray cover 81 in conjunction with the movement of the document cover 17 from the first rotation position to the second rotation position, and the document cover 17 The contact member 91 is moved in a direction away from the tray cover 81 in conjunction with the movement that changes from the second rotation position to the first rotation position.

  The interlocking mechanism 90 is disposed on the left side in the left-right direction 9 in the fixing portion 68 of the bypass tray 70. In other words, the interlocking mechanism 90 or at least the abutting member 91 is not disposed on the right side of the fixing portion 68 in the left-right direction 9, and as shown in FIG. The member 91 does not interfere. In the present embodiment, a rotating member 95 similar to a rotating member 92 described later is also provided on the right side of the fixing portion 68 in the left-right direction 9. It is provided to maintain the balance, and does not function as the interlocking mechanism 90.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the interlocking mechanism 90 includes a contact member 91, a rotation member 92, a two-stage gear 93, and a pinion gear 94.

  The rotation member 92 has a partial disk shape that expands from the rotation base end side toward the rotation tip end side. A relatively narrow rotation base end side is rotatably supported on the rotation shaft 71 so as to protrude from the fixed portion 68 along the left-right direction 9. The rotation shaft 71 is disposed below the rotation axis 7 of the tray cover 81 in the vertical direction 7. Although not shown in each figure, the rotating shaft 71 is provided with a torsion coil spring, and urges the rotating member 92 toward the document cover 17 side. Therefore, when no external force is applied to the rotating member 92, the rotating member 92 is held at a position close to the housing 16. When an external force is applied to rotate the rotating member 92 backward against the urging force of the torsion coil spring, the rotating member 92 is rotated backward away from the housing 16.

  A contacted portion 96 is provided at a position on the rotation tip side of the rotation member 92 and facing the document cover 17. The contacted portion 96 is disposed so as to be able to contact the rear surface 22 and the upper surface 40 of the document cover 17. A segment gear 97 that protrudes toward the rotation proximal end side is provided on the rotation distal end side of the rotation member 92. The segment gear 97 is a gear having the rotation shaft 71 as the rotation center.

  The fixed portion 68 is provided with a two-stage gear 93 and a pinion gear 94. Each of the two-stage gear 93 and the pinion gear 94 is supported so as to be rotatable about each axis along the left-right direction 9. The two-stage gear 93 includes a gear meshing with the segment gear 97 and a gear meshing with the pinion gear 94 arranged in parallel on the same axis. Drive transmission is performed from the segment gear 97 to the pinion gear 94 by the two-stage gear 93.

  A contact member 91 is provided on the fixed portion 68. The contact member 91 is an elongated rod-shaped member. The contact member 91 is provided on the upper surface of the fixed portion 68 so as to be slidable in the vertical direction 7 from a position covered by the tray cover 81 in the second state. As the contact member 91 slides, the contact portion 98 that is the upper surface of the contact member 91 appears and disappears from the upper surface of the fixed portion 68. A rack gear 99 is provided on the lower portion of the contact member 91 and on the surface facing the pinion gear 94. The rack gear 99 meshes with the pinion gear 94 to constitute a rack and pinion mechanism. The rotation of the pinion gear 94 is transmitted by the rack gear 99 as the sliding movement of the contact member 91. In a state where no external force is applied to the rotating member 92, the contact portion 98 of the contact member 91 is in a state of being immersed in the upper surface of the fixed portion 68.

[Interlocking of Document Cover 17 and Tray Cover 81]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 9, the rotating member 92 of the interlocking mechanism 90 is attached to the torsion coil spring from the state in which the document cover 17 is closed in the scanner unit 12, that is, in the first rotating position. As a result, the contacted portion 96 is in contact with the rear surface 22 of the document cover 17. Further, the contact portion 98 of the contact member 91 is in a state of being immersed in the upper surface of the fixed portion 68. The bypass tray 70 is not used, that is, the support plate 73 is erected, and the tray cover 81 covers the sheet insertion opening 75.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 10, when the document cover 17 is opened, that is, when the document cover 17 is rotated to the second rotation position, the rear surface 22 of the document cover 17 moves backward and is pushed by the rear surface 22. Thus, the abutted portion 96 of the rotating member 92 moves backward. Thereby, the rotating member 92 rotates backward against the biasing force of the torsion coil spring. The rotation of the rotating member 92 is transmitted as the sliding movement of the contact member 91 through the segment gear 97, the two-stage gear 93, the pinion gear 94, and the rack gear 99. By this transmission, the contact member 91 is slid upward, and the contact portion 98 protrudes from the upper surface of the fixed portion 68. Note that after the abutted portion 96 of the rotating member 92 reaches the upper end of the rear surface 22 of the document cover 17, the abutted portion 96 moves backward so as to be pushed by the upper surface 40 of the document cover 17.

  The contact portion 98 protruding from the upper surface of the fixed portion 68 contacts the tray cover 81 and opens the sheet insertion port 75 when the tray cover 81 is in a state of covering the sheet insertion port 75 (first state) ( Turn toward the second state. The contact member 91 rotates the tray cover 81 backward from the rotation range of the document cover 17, that is, toward the second state, before the rear surface 22 of the document cover 17 enters the rotation range of the tray cover 81. Let Accordingly, the rear surface 22 of the document cover 17 does not contact the tray cover 81 in the process of rotating the document cover 17 to the second rotation position.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 10, when the document cover 17 in the second rotation position is rotated toward the first rotation position, the upper surface 40 and the rear surface 22 of the document cover 17 are moved forward. As it moves, the rotating member 92 biased by the torsion coil spring rotates forward while the contacted portion 96 is in contact with the upper surface 40 or the rear surface 22. The rotation of the rotating member 92 is transmitted as the sliding movement of the contact member 91 through the segment gear 97, the two-stage gear 93, the pinion gear 94, and the rack gear 99. By this transmission, the contact member 91 is slid downward.

  When the contact portion 98 of the contact member 91 moves downward, the tray cover 81 rotates from the second state to the first state by its own weight. The contact member 91 rotates the tray cover 81 forward from the rotation range of the document cover 17, that is, toward the first state after the rear surface 22 of the document cover 17 leaves the rotation range of the tray cover 81. . When the contact portion 98 of the contact member 91 is immersed in the upper surface of the fixed portion 68, the tray cover 81 is in the first state. As a result, the document cover 17 is rotated to the first rotation position, so that the tray cover 81 is brought into the first state without contacting the document cover 17.

  Note that, as shown in FIG. 12 according to a modified example described later, the document cover 17 is moved to the first position by rotating the housing 16 with respect to the housing 14 for the purpose of maintenance of the printer unit 11 or the like. Even when the rear surface 22 of the document cover 17 is in contact with the contacted portion 96 of the rotating member 92 while maintaining the rotation position, the tray cover 81 in the first state is moved to the first state by the interlocking mechanism 90 as described above. The rear surface 22 of the document cover 17 and the tray cover 81 are not brought into contact with each other.

[Operation of Printer Unit 11]
Hereinafter, the operation of the printer unit 11 when the feeding tray 20 and the bypass tray 70 are used will be described.

  When the bypass tray 70 is not used, the support plate 73 is raised as shown in FIG. As a result, the projected area of the support plate 73 is reduced, so that the space on the rear surface side of the multifunction machine 10 can be reduced. Further, the tray cover 81 is in the first state that covers the sheet insertion opening 75 of the bypass tray 70. As long as there is sufficient space on the rear side of the multifunction machine 10, the support plate 73 may be in a lying state and the tray cover 81 may be in the second state even when the bypass tray 70 is not used.

  When the feeding tray 20 is used, a recording sheet having a desired size is set on the feeding tray 20. Specifically, a plurality of recording sheets are stacked and supported on the feeding tray 20. The feeding tray 20 that supports the recording paper is inserted into the housing 14 through the opening 13. In this state, the feeding roller 25 contacts the uppermost recording sheet among the plurality of recording sheets placed on the feeding tray 20. The printer unit 11 determines to feed the recording paper from the feed tray 20 based on user input, print data, and the like.

  When receiving an instruction to start printing, the printer unit 11 drives a motor (not shown) to rotate the feeding roller 25, the first transport roller pair 54, and the second transport roller pair 55 at a predetermined timing. In response to the rotation of the feed roller 25, the uppermost recording sheet is fed from the feed tray 20 to the transport path 65. The recording sheet reaches the first conveyance roller pair 54 while being guided by the curved path 65 </ b> A of the conveyance path 65. Ink droplets are ejected from the recording head 39 onto the recording paper that is sandwiched between the first conveying roller pair 54 and conveyed to the recording unit 24, and a desired image is recorded. The recording paper on which image recording has been completed is discharged to the discharge tray 21 by the second conveying roller pair 55.

  When the bypass tray 70 is used, as shown in FIG. 3, the support plate 73 is placed in a lying state, and the tray cover 81 is rotated to a second state in which the sheet insertion port 75 of the bypass tray 70 is opened. .

  A recording sheet of a desired size is set on the bypass tray 70. Specifically, a plurality of recording sheets are stacked and supported on the support surface 74 of the bypass tray 70. In this state, the feeding roller 76 of the bypass tray 70 contacts the uppermost recording sheet among the plurality of recording sheets supported by the support surface 74.

  When an instruction to start printing is received, the printer unit 11 drives a motor (not shown) to rotate the feeding roller 76, the first transport roller pair 54, and the second transport roller pair 55 at a predetermined timing. In response to the rotation of the feed roller 76, the uppermost recording sheet is fed from the bypass tray 70 to the bypass path 66. The recording sheet enters the straight path 65 </ b> B of the transport path 65 from the bypass path 66 and reaches the first transport roller pair 54. During this time, the outer guide member 18, the guide member 32, and the guide member 31 that form the bypass path 66 and the straight path 65 </ b> B guide the recording sheet toward the first conveying roller pair 54. Ink droplets are ejected from the recording head 39 onto the recording paper that is sandwiched between the first conveying roller pair 54 and conveyed to the recording unit 24, and a desired image is recorded. The recording paper on which image recording has been completed is discharged to the discharge tray 21 by the second conveying roller pair 55.

[Effect of this embodiment]
According to the present embodiment, when the document cover 17 is rotated from the first rotation position to the second rotation position, the contact mechanism 98 of the contact member 91 is in contact with the tray cover 81 by the interlocking mechanism 90. Move to. The tray cover 81 rotates from the first state that covers the sheet insertion port 75 to the second state that opens the sheet insertion port 75 when the contact part 98 contacts. Thereby, even if the layout in which the range in which the document cover 17 rotates and the range in which the cover rotates is adopted is adopted, the contact between the document cover 17 rotated to the second rotation position and the tray cover 81 is prevented. Can be prevented. When the document cover 17 is changed from the second rotation position to the first rotation position, the contact portion 98 of the contact member 91 is moved away from the tray cover 81 by the interlocking mechanism 90. As a result, the tray cover 81 in the second state that opens the sheet insertion port 75 rotates to the first state that covers the sheet insertion port 75, so that the document cover 17 that changes state and the tray cover 81 of the sheet insertion port 75 A small-sized multifunction machine 10 having the above is realized.

  Since the bypass tray 70 is disposed behind the document cover 17 and the rotation axis of the document cover 17 is also on the bypass tray 70 side, that is, behind the document cover 17, the document cover 17 is set to the second rotation position. Then, the platen glass 30 of the housing 16 can be accessed from the front of the document cover 17. Further, the tray cover 81 that rotates in conjunction with the document cover 17 does not rotate from the front to the user side who operates the document cover 17. Further, since the sheet is conveyed from the bypass tray 70 toward the front of the housing 14, the user can access the sheet after conveyance from the front of the housing 14.

  Further, in the multifunction machine 10 including the flat bed scanner that is used relatively frequently, the tray cover 81 of the bypass tray 70 can be disposed in the rotation range of the document cover 17.

  Further, since the contact member 91 of the interlocking mechanism 90 is provided only on the left side opposite to the right side in which the document tray 37 of the ADF 36 provided on the document cover 17 protrudes, the contact member The range in which 91 slides does not overlap the range in which the document tray 37 moves as the document cover 17 is opened and closed.

  Further, since the bypass tray 70 includes the support plate 73 that rotates between the standing state and the lying state, the bypass tray 70 when not in use can be efficiently downsized.

  Further, since the turning tip of the tray cover 81 in a state of covering the sheet insertion opening 75 is disposed below the upper surface of the document cover 17 at the first turning position, the multifunction device 10 can be thinned.

[Modification]
In the embodiment described above, the interlocking mechanism 90 includes the contact member 91, the rotating member 92, the two-stage gear 93, and the pinion gear 94. However, the interlocking mechanism may be realized by another configuration. Good.

  Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a rotating member 100 that can be rotated around a rotation axis parallel to the rotation axis of the document cover 17 is an interlocking mechanism. May be provided. The rotating member 100 is divided into the left-right direction 9 of the bypass tray 70 and a pair is provided. On the rotation tip side of the rotation member 100, a contacted portion 101 with which the rear surface 22 of the document cover 17 contacts and a contact portion 102 with which the tray cover 81 contacts are provided.

  The rotating member 100 is a flat plate-like member, and the front and back surfaces having the maximum area are arranged in the left and right directions 9. The abutted portion 101 and the abutting portion 102 are a part of the circumferential surface in the thickness direction extending along the left-right direction 9 in the rotating member 100, and the abutted portion 101 faces the rear surface 22 of the document cover 17. The contact portion 102 is provided at a position facing the lower surface of the tray cover 81 on the rotating front end side. Although not shown in the drawing, the rotating member 100 is urged toward the rear surface 22 side of the document cover 17, that is, forward by a torsion coil spring.

  As shown in FIG. 11, when the document cover 17 is closed in the scanner unit 12, that is, when the scanner unit 12 is in the first rotation position, the rotating member 100 is urged by the torsion coil spring to be contacted. The portion 101 is in contact with or close to the rear surface 22 of the document cover 17. Further, the contact portion 102 of the rotation member 100 is located on the rotation tip side of the tray cover 81, and the tray cover 81 opens the sheet insertion opening 75 in a state where the contact portion 102 contacts the position. Covering.

  As shown in FIG. 12, when the document cover 17 is rotated by rotating the housing 16 with respect to the housing 14, that is, when the document cover 17 is rotated to the second rotation position, the document cover 17. The rear surface 22 moves rearward and is pushed by the rear surface 22 or the upper surface 40, so that the contacted portion 101 of the rotating member 100 moves rearward. As a result, the rotating member 100 rotates backwardly against the biasing force of the torsion coil spring. As the rotation member 100 rotates, the contact portion 102 moves around the rotation axis of the rotation member 100 and slides from the rotation front end side of the tray cover 81 to the rotation base end side. Accordingly, the tray cover 81 in a state (first state) covering the sheet insertion port 75 is rotated toward a state (second state) in which the sheet insertion port 75 is opened. The rotating member 100 configured in this way also achieves the same operational effects as the above-described embodiment. 12 shows a state in which the document cover 17 is rotated with respect to the case 14 together with the case 16, but the case 16 is not rotated, and only the document cover 17 is provided. Even when it is rotated relative to the above, the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

  In the embodiment and the modification described above, the document cover 17 rotates with respect to the housing 16 and the housing 16 rotates with respect to the housing 14. The body 16 may not be configured to be rotated with respect to the housing 14.

  In the embodiment and the modification described above, the multifunction machine 10 including the scanner unit 12 is shown as an example of the image recording apparatus. However, the image recording apparatus may be implemented as a configuration not including the scanner unit 12. . In such an image recording apparatus, the document cover 17 as the second casing does not exist. For example, a cover that can be rotated with respect to the casing 14 like the casing 16 described above is provided in the second casing. In the configuration in which the cover is rotated with respect to the casing 14 as the first casing for maintenance of the printer unit 11 and replacement of the ink cartridge, the same as in the above-described embodiment. The effect of is produced.

10 Multifunction machine (image recording device)
14,16 housing (first housing)
17 Document cover (second housing)
24 recording unit 36 ADF (automatic document feeder)
37 Document tray 54 First transport roller pair (transport section)
55 Second transport roller pair (transport section)
70 Bypass tray (sheet support)
73 Support plate 75 Sheet insertion slot 81 Tray cover (cover)
90 Interlocking mechanism 91 Contact member 92, 100 Rotating member 94 Pinion gear (rack and pinion mechanism)
98,102 Contact part 99 Rack gear (rack and pinion mechanism)

Claims (8)

A transport unit that transports the sheet along the transport path;
A recording unit for recording an image on a sheet conveyed along the conveyance path;
An image reading unit having an original placement surface and reading an image of the original placed on the original placement surface;
A document cover capable of covering the document placement surface, wherein the document cover is rotatable to a first position and a second position where the rotation tip side from the first position is far from the document placement surface;
A sheet insertion opening that opens upward and communicates with the conveyance path on the rotation base end side of the document cover;
A third position that closes the sheet insertion port, and an insertion port cover that can be rotated to a fourth position that is farther from the sheet insertion port than the third position.
It has a contact portion that is movable in a direction to come in contact with and away from the insertion port cover, and rotates to the fourth position side by moving while contacting the insertion port cover in the third position. An image recording apparatus comprising: an interlocking mechanism that moves the contact portion in a direction to contact the insertion port cover in conjunction with a movement of the document cover rotating from the first position to the second position. . The sheet insertion opening is provided behind the image recording apparatus in the front-rear direction orthogonal to the up-down direction,
The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyance unit conveys the sheet forward in the front-rear direction.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the contact portion is provided only on one side outside the sheet insertion port in a direction parallel to a rotation axis of the insertion port cover. The interlocking mechanism includes a rotating member that rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the document cover from the first position to the second position side,
The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the contact portion is provided on the rotating member.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the rotating member has a contacted portion that contacts the document cover that rotates from the first position to the second position.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the interlocking mechanism includes a spring that biases the rotating member in a direction in which the abutting portion is separated from the insertion port cover.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet insertion port communicates with the conveyance path via a bypass path extending obliquely downward.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a feeding roller that feeds the sheet inserted from the sheet insertion port to the conveyance path.

Images