JP2020183310A - Sheet delivery device, image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

To facilitate operations such as placing a sheet on a sheet tray while shifting a lift plate to a position away from a delivery roller.SOLUTION: A sheet tray 21 can be displaced to a sheet set position where a sheet is placed, from a feeding position protruding to outside of a side surface of a device, in a lower part of the feeding position. A lift plate 23 is supported so as to be able to move up and down between a base end portion 21a of the sheet tray 21 and a delivery roller 22, and an urging member 24 elastically urges the lift plate 23 toward the delivery roller 22. A link mechanism 27 is interlocked with a rotation of the sheet tray 21 from the feed position to the sheet set position, so that the lift plate 23 is displaced downward against an urging force of the urging member 24.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a sheet delivery device having a lift plate that supports the tip of the sheet and an image forming device including the same.

The image forming apparatus includes a sheet sending device for feeding the sheet to a transport path in the main body. Further, the sheet delivery device may include a lift plate that is supported so as to be able to move up and down between the base end portion of the seat tray and the delivery roller and is elastically urged upward.

The lift plate supports the tip end portion of the sheet placed on the seat tray, and brings the upper surface of the tip end portion of the sheet into contact with the delivery roller. As a result, the delivery roller rotates to deliver the sheet from the sheet tray.

Further, in the paper feed device, when the paper feed tray on which the paper is placed is urged to the paper feed roller and the cover that can be opened and closed above the paper feed tray is opened, the pair of arms feed the paper. It is known that the table is separated from the paper feed roller (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-59556

By the way, when the sheet is placed on the sheet tray or when the sheet is taken out from the sheet tray, it is necessary to displace the lift plate downward. As a result, the restraint of the tip portion of the sheet by the delivery roller and the lift plate is released, or a gap is formed between the delivery roller and the lift plate into which the tip portion of the sheet can be inserted.

However, it is difficult for the user to perform an operation of displacementing the lift plate to a lower separation position away from the delivery roller while holding the seat with both hands. Further, when the user lifts the sheet with one hand, the sheet is likely to be damaged, such as the sheet being bent.

Further, when the lock mechanism for holding the lift plate at the separated position is provided, the user may forget to release the holding of the lift plate by the lock mechanism.

An object of the present invention is to place a sheet on a seat tray or to place a sheet on the seat tray while displace the lift plate to the separation position without providing a lock mechanism for holding the lift plate to a separation position away from the delivery roller. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet feeding device that can be easily taken out from above and an image forming device including the same.

The sheet delivery device according to one aspect of the present invention is a device that feeds a sheet to a transport path in the device through a feeding unit opened on the side surface of the device. The sheet delivery device includes a seat tray, a delivery roller, a lift plate, an urging member, and a link mechanism. The seat tray has a storage position along the side surface and covering the feeding portion, and a feeding position extending outside the side surface to open the feeding portion, with the lower side of the feeding portion as a fulcrum. It is possible to displace between the feeding positions, and further, it is possible to displace from the feeding position to the seat set position on which the sheet is placed below the feeding position. The delivery roller is provided in the feeding portion and is arranged above the base end portion of the seat tray at the feeding position. The lift plate is supported so as to be able to move up and down between the base end portion of the seat tray at the feeding position and the delivery roller, and supports the tip end portion of the sheet placed on the seat tray. The urging member elastically urges the lift plate toward the delivery roller. The link mechanism displaces the lift plate downward against the urging force of the urging member in conjunction with the rotation of the seat tray from the feeding position to the seat set position.

The image forming apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention includes the sheet sending device and a printing unit that forms an image on the sheet sent out from the sheet sending device.

According to the present invention, the sheet is placed on the seat tray or the seat tray is placed on the seat tray while the lift plate is displaced to the separation position without providing a lock mechanism for holding the lift plate at a separation position away from the delivery roller. It becomes possible to provide a sheet feeding device that can be easily taken out from above and an image forming device including the sheet feeding device.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a manual feed sheet delivery device when the manual feed tray in the image forming device according to the embodiment is present at the storage position. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a manual feed sheet delivery device when the manual feed tray in the image forming device according to the embodiment is present at the feeding position. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a manual feed sheet delivery device including a manual feed tray when the manual feed tray in the image forming device according to the embodiment is present at a descending position.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments are examples that embody the present invention, and do not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

[Structure of image forming apparatus 10]
The image forming apparatus 10 according to the embodiment includes a main sheet sending device 1, a manual feeding sheet sending device 2, a sheet conveying device 3, and a printing unit 4. The sheet transport device 3 and the print unit 4 are housed in the main body 100, which is a housing.

The main sheet delivery device 1 and the manual feed sheet delivery device 2 are devices for feeding the sheet 9 to the transport path 300 in the main body 100, respectively.

The main sheet delivery device 1 sends the sheet 9 from the main tray 11 arranged in the sheet cassette 1x, which is retractably mounted on the main body 100, to the transport path 300 in the main body 100. The manual feed sheet sending device 2 feeds the image forming device 10 to the transport path 300 in the main body 100 through the feeding unit 102 opened on the side surface of the main body 100.

The main sheet delivery device 1 includes a main tray 11, a lift mechanism 12, and a first delivery roller 13. A plurality of sheets 9 are placed on the main tray 11. The first delivery roller 13 is arranged above the tip of the main tray 11 and is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown).

The lift mechanism 12 lifts the tip of the main tray 11 toward the first delivery roller 13. As a result, the uppermost one of the plurality of sheets 9 placed on the main tray 11 comes into contact with the first delivery roller 13.

The first delivery roller 13 sends the top one of the plurality of sheets 9 placed on the main tray 11 to the transport path 300 in the main body 100.

The manual feed sheet delivery device 2 includes a manual feed tray 21, a second delivery roller 22, a lift plate 23, a first spring 24, a handling member 25, and a second spring 26. The manual feed tray 21 can be displaced between the storage position and the feeding position with the lower side of the feeding section 102 on the side surface of the main body 100 of the image forming apparatus 10 as a fulcrum.

The storage position is a position along the side surface of the main body 10 and covering the feeding portion 102. The feeding position is a position where the feeding portion 102 is opened by projecting to the outside of the side surface of the main body portion 10.

In FIG. 1, the manual feed tray 21 existing at the storage position is shown by a solid line, and the manual feed tray 21 existing at the feeding position is shown by a virtual line (dashed-dotted line).

Further, FIG. 2 shows the manual feed sheet sending device 2 when the manual feed tray 21 is present at the storage position, and FIG. 3 shows the manual feed sheet sending device 2 when the manual feed tray 21 is present at the feeding position. ..

A plurality of sheets 9 are placed on the manual feed tray 21 in a situation where the manual feed tray 21 is present at the feeding position. The manual feed tray 21 is an example of a sheet tray.

The lift plate 23 is supported so as to be able to move up and down between the base end portion 21a of the manual feed tray 21 existing at the feeding position and the second delivery roller 22. The base end portion 21a is an end portion of the bypass tray 21 on the downstream side in the delivery direction of the sheet 9.

The lift plate 23 supports the tip of the sheet 9 placed on the bypass tray 21. That is, in the sheet 9, the tip end portion of the sheet 9 is placed on the lift plate 23, and the remaining part of the sheet 9 is placed on the bypass tray 21.

The second delivery roller 22 is arranged in the feeding unit 102 and is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown). Specifically, the second delivery roller 22 is arranged above the base end portion 21a of the manual feed tray 21 existing at the feeding position.

The lift plate 23 is supported so as to be able to move up and down between the base end portion 21a of the manual feed tray 21 when it is located at the feeding position and the second delivery roller 22. That is, the lift plate 23 is supported so as to be able to approach or separate from the second delivery roller 22.

The first spring 24 is an example of an urging member that elastically urges the lift plate 23 toward the second delivery roller 22. Due to the urging force of the first spring 24, the uppermost one of the plurality of sheets 9 placed on the manual feed tray 21 comes into contact with the second delivery roller 22.

That is, the second delivery roller 22 and the lift plate 23 sandwich the tip portions of the plurality of sheets 9 placed on the manual feed tray 21 in the vertical direction. It is not unthinkable that rubber is used instead of the first spring 24.

The handling member 25 is supported so as to be able to approach or separate from the second delivery roller 22 on the downstream side of the lift plate 23 in the delivery direction of the sheet 9. The second spring 26 elastically biases the handling member 25 toward the second delivery roller 22.

When the second delivery roller 22 conveys a plurality of sheets 9 from between the lift plate 23 to the handling member 25 side, the handling member 25 removes the remaining sheets 9 other than the top one sheet 9. Stop the dam. As a result, the second delivery roller 22 sends the top one of the plurality of sheets 9 placed on the manual feed tray 21 to the transport path 300 in the main body 100.

The sheet transfer device 3 conveys the sheet 9 sent to the transfer path 300 by the main sheet delivery device 1 or the manual feed sheet delivery device 2 along the transfer path 300.

The sheet transfer device 3 includes a plurality of sets of transfer roller pairs 31. The plurality of sets of transfer roller pairs 31 convey the sheet 9 along the transfer path 300, and further discharge the sheet 9 from the transfer path 300 to the paper output tray 101.

The print unit 4 is sent out by the main sheet sending device 1 or the manual feed sheet sending device 2, and further forms an image on the sheet 9 conveyed by the sheet conveying device 3. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the print unit 4 forms an image on the sheet 9 by an electrophotographic method.

Therefore, the printing unit 4 includes an optical scanning unit 40, a photoconductor 41, a charging device 42, a developing device 43, a transfer device 45, a cleaning device 46, a fixing device 47, and the like.

The drum-shaped photoconductor 41 rotates, and the charging device 42 charges the surface of the photoconductor 41. The optical scanning unit 40 scans the beam light on the surface of the charged photoconductor 41 to write an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoconductor 41.

By the action of the charging device 42 and the optical scanning unit 40, the electrostatic latent image based on the image data to be printed is formed on the surface of the photoconductor 41.

The developing device 43 develops the electrostatic latent image into a toner image by supplying the toner 90 to the photoconductor 41 on which the electrostatic latent image is formed. As the electrostatic latent image is developed, the photoconductor 41 carries the toner image and rotates. The photoconductor 41 is an example of an image carrier.

The transfer device 45 transfers the toner image on the photoconductor 41 to the sheet 9 transported along the transport path 300. The fixing device 47 pressurizes the toner image transferred to the sheet 9 while heating it. As a result, the toner image is fixed on the sheet 9.

The printing unit 4 may be a device for forming an image on the sheet 9 by another method such as an inkjet method.

By the way, when the sheet 9 is placed on the bypass tray 21 or when the sheet 9 is taken out from the bypass tray 21, it is necessary to displace the lift plate 23 downward. As a result, the restraint of the tip portion of the sheet 9 by the bypass tray 21 and the lift plate 23 is released, or a gap is formed between the bypass tray 21 and the lift plate 23 into which the tip portion of the sheet 9 can be inserted.

However, it is difficult for the user to perform an operation of displacing the lift plate 23 to a lower separation position away from the second delivery roller 22 while holding the seat 9 with both hands. Further, when the user lifts the seat 9 with one hand, the seat 9 is likely to be damaged, such as the seat 9 being bent.

Further, when the lock mechanism for holding the lift plate 23 at the separated position is provided, the user may forget to release the holding of the lift plate 23 by the lock mechanism.

The manual feed sheet delivery device 2 does not have a lock mechanism for holding the lift plate 23 to the separated position away from the second delivery roller 22.

However, the manual feed sheet delivery device 2 includes a link mechanism 27 that links the manual feed tray 21 and the lift plate 23. As a result, the operation of placing the sheet 9 on the manual feed tray 21 or taking it out from the manual feed tray 21 becomes easy while the lift plate 23 is displaced to the separated position.

[Link mechanism 27]
As shown in FIG. 3, the link mechanism 27 includes a first link portion 271 and a second link portion 272.

The first link portion 271 is integrally formed with the manual feed tray 21. The first link portion 271 is projected from the inner surface of the base end portion 21a of the manual feed tray 21.

The manual feed tray 21 has a tray shaft 21x rotatably supported by the main body 100. The manual feed tray 21 can be displaced between the storage position and the feeding position by rotating around the tray shaft 21x.

Further, the manual feed tray 21 can be displaced from the feeding position to the seat set position below the feeding position. The sheet set position is the position of the manual feed tray 21 when the sheet 9 is placed on the manual feed tray 21.

The link mechanism 27 displaces the lift plate 23 downward against the urging force of the first spring 24 in conjunction with the rotation of the manual feed tray 21 from the feeding position to the seat set position.

The second link portion 272 has a joint shaft 272x rotatably supported by the main body portion 100. The second link portion 272 is rotatable about the joint shaft 272x in the feeding portion 102.

In the following description, the direction along the rotation axis 22x of the second delivery roller 22 is referred to as a width direction. The lift plate 23 is formed so as to extend along the width direction.

The lift plate 23 is integrally formed with a pair of arm portions 231 and a pair of arm shafts 23x located at both ends in the width direction. The pair of arm shafts 23x are formed so as to project from the pair of arm portions 231 along the width direction.

A pair of arm shafts 23x are rotatably supported by the main body 100. As a result, the lift plate 23 can be displaced in the vertical direction along an arc centered on the pair of arm shafts 23x.

The second link portion 272 has a first acting portion 2721 and a second acting portion 2722 extending in two directions at a predetermined angle from the joint shaft 272x. In the second link portion 272, the portion extending from the joint shaft 272x to one side is the first working portion 2721, and the portion extending from the joint shaft 272x to the other side is the second acting portion 2722.

The first acting portion 2721 is in contact with one of the pair of arm portions 231. The second working portion 2722 comes into contact with the first link portion 271 when the manual feed tray 21 is present at the feeding position.

The urging force of the first spring 24 acts on the first acting portion 2721 via one of the lift plate 23 and the pair of arm portions 231. One of the pair of arm portions 231 restricts the rotation of the second link portion 272 in the first rotation direction R1 by coming into contact with the first acting portion 2721. Here, the urging force of the first spring 24 that holds the lift plate 23 at a fixed position acts as a force that limits the rotation of the second link portion 272 in the first rotation direction R1.

The load of the manual feed tray 21 and the sheet 9 on the manual feed tray 21 acts as an urging force on the second acting portion 2722 via the first link portion 271. The second acting unit 2722 restricts the manual feed tray 21 from being displaced downward from the feeding position by coming into contact with the first acting unit 2721.

In other words, the load of the manual feed tray 21 and the sheet 9 on the manual feed tray 21 acts as an urging force against the second action unit 2722 via the first link portion 271, so that the second rotation of the second link portion 272 Limit rotation in direction R2.

Therefore, the link mechanism 27 holds the manual feed tray 21 at a fixed position by transmitting the urging force of the first spring 24 to the manual feed tray 21 via one of the lift plate 23 and the pair of arm portions 231.

The position of the manual feed tray 21 when the link mechanism 27 holds the manual feed tray 21 at a fixed position is the feed position. The feeding position of the bypass tray 21 differs depending on the thickness and the number of sheets 9 sandwiched between the second delivery roller 22 and the lift plate 23.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the manual feed tray 21 is located at the storage position, the first link portion 271 is separated from the second link portion 272. As a result, the link between the manual feed tray 21 and the lift plate 23 by the link mechanism 27 is released.

On the other hand, when the manual feed tray 21 is located at the feeding position, the link mechanism 27 links the manual feed tray 21 and the lift plate 23 (see FIG. 3).

As shown in FIG. 4, when the manual feed tray 21 is further pushed down from the feeding position, the first link portion 271 presses the second acting portion 2722 of the second link portion 272, thereby pressing the second link portion 272. Is rotated in the first rotation direction R1.

When the second link portion 272 rotates in the first rotation direction R1, the first action portion 2721 urges the lift plate 23 away from the second delivery roller 22 via one of the pair of arm portions 231.

The lift plate 23 is displaced downward against the elastic force of the first spring 24 by the force received from the first acting portion 2721 via one of the pair of arm portions 231. That is, the link mechanism 27 displaces the lift plate 23 downward against the urging force of the first spring 24 by transmitting the downward external force F0 applied to the manual feed tray 21 to the lift plate 23 (see FIG. 4). ..

The lift plate 23 is displaced downward by the force received from the link mechanism 27, so that the restraint of the tip portion of the seat 9 by the second delivery roller 22 and the lift plate 23 is released. Alternatively, a gap is formed between the second delivery roller 22 and the lift plate 23 into which the tip end portion of the sheet 9 can be inserted.

It is also conceivable that the two link mechanisms 27 are provided on both sides of the lift plate 23 in the width direction.

As shown above, the link mechanism 27 displaces the lift plate 23 downward in conjunction with the rotation of the manual feed tray 21 from the feed position to the seat set position. At that time, the first link portion 271 acts on the second action portion 2711 to rotate the second link portion 271, and the first action portion 2721 of the rotating second link portion 272 pushes down the lift plate 23 to lift the vehicle. The plate 23 is displaced downward.

When the manual feed sheet delivery device 2 is adopted, it is easy for the user to push down the manual feed tray 21 while holding the sheet 9 with both hands. That is, it is easy for the user to place the sheet 9 on the manual feed tray 21 or take it out from the manual feed tray 21 while displacing the lift plate 23 from a position close to the second delivery roller 22 to the remote position. ..

Further, since the user can displace the lift plate 23 to the separated position while holding the seat 9 with both hands, the seat 9 can be placed on the manual feed tray 21 and the seat 9 from the manual feed tray 21 can be placed. It is unlikely that the sheet 9 will be damaged when the sheet is taken out.

When the user releases the manual feed tray 21, the lift plate 23 automatically returns to a position close to the second delivery roller 22 due to the elastic force of the first spring 24. Therefore, the lift plate 23 is not left in the separated position.

1: Main sheet delivery device 1x: Sheet cassette 2: Manual feed sheet delivery device 3: Sheet transfer device 4: Print unit 9: Sheet 10: Image forming device 11: Main tray 12: Lift mechanism 13: First delivery roller 21: Manual feed Tray 21a: Base end 21x: Tray shaft 22: Second delivery roller 22x: Rotating shaft 23: Lift plate 23x: Arm shaft 24: First spring 25: Handling member 26: Second spring 27: Link mechanism 31: Conveying roller Against 40: Optical scanning unit 41: Photoreceptor 42: Charging device 43: Developing device 45: Transfer device 46: Cleaning device 47: Fixing device 90: Toner 100: Main body 101: Paper ejection tray 231: Arm 271: First Link part 272: Second link part 272x: Joint shaft 300: Transport path 2721: First action part 2722: Second action part F0: External force

Claims (4)

A sheet delivery device that feeds a sheet to a transport path in the device through a feeding section opened on the side surface of the device.
With the lower part of the feeding section as a fulcrum on the side surface, the displacement is possible between the storage position along the side surface and covering the feeding section and the feeding position extending outside the side surface to open the feeding section. There is a seat tray that can be displaced from the feeding position to the seat set position on which the sheet is placed below the feeding position.
A delivery roller provided in the feeding section and arranged above the base end portion of the seat tray at the feeding position,
A lift plate that is supported so as to be able to move up and down between the base end portion of the seat tray at the feeding position and the delivery roller, and supports the tip end portion of the sheet placed on the seat tray.
An urging member that elastically urges the lift plate toward the delivery roller, and
A seat delivery device including a link mechanism that displaces the lift plate downward against the urging force of the urging member in conjunction with the rotation of the seat tray from the feeding position to the seat set position. .. Feeding position When the seat tray is located at the feeding position, the link mechanism links the seat tray and the lift plate, and when the seat tray is located at the storage position, the link mechanism is used. The sheet delivery device according to claim 1, wherein the link between the seat tray and the lift plate is released. The link mechanism
A first link portion projecting from the base end portion of the seat tray,
The feeding portion includes a first working portion that is rotatably provided about the joint shaft and extends in two directions at a predetermined angle from the joint shaft, and a second link portion having a second acting portion. And
The second link portion is rotated and rotated by the first link portion acting on the second acting portion in conjunction with the rotation of the sheet tray from the feeding position to the sheet set position. The sheet delivery device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first acting portion of the second link portion displaces the lift plate downward by pushing down the lift plate. The sheet sending device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An image forming apparatus including a printing unit that forms an image on the sheet sent out from the sheet sending apparatus.

Images