JP2556385Y2 - Feeding device for expansion - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an additional paper feeder which can be used in connection with various image forming apparatuses such as an electrophotographic copying machine, a liquid crystal printer, and a laser printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an image forming apparatus is provided with various mechanisms such as a paper feeding unit, a sheet conveying unit, an image forming unit, and a fixing unit. Particularly, a fixing unit generates a large amount of heat. Since heat is also generated from the circuit board, the electronic components, the electric components, and the like, it is necessary to efficiently cool the inside of the apparatus in order to protect these mechanisms and components from the heat and to prevent the adverse effect of the heat on the image quality. Therefore, a large-sized device having a large amount of heat is usually provided with a forced cooling mechanism for forcibly discharging hot air in the device to the outside of the device by a fan or the like as a blowing means. Also, some small and medium-sized devices are provided with a forced cooling mechanism similar to large machines, but since the amount of heat generated is relatively small, instead of providing a forced cooling mechanism,
Some have adopted a natural cooling system in which cooling is promoted by natural ventilation.

[0003] By the way, the miniaturization and the price reduction of the image forming apparatus are desired by the market, and developments are being carried out day and night to meet such demands. Under such circumstances, a very small machine such as a page printer which has a maximum printable paper size of about A4 size has been developed. An example of such a very small printer is shown in FIG.

The printer shown in FIG. 1 mainly includes a paper supply unit 1 for stacking and storing sheets and sequentially feeding the sheets, and transporting the fed sheets along a predetermined path to the outside of the apparatus. A paper transport unit 2 for discharging, an image forming unit 3 for forming a toner image based on image data on the surface of the photoreceptor, and transferring the toner image onto the transported paper; And a fixing unit 4 for thermally fixing on paper. Since each of these parts is known, here,
Detailed description is omitted.

The printer employs a natural cooling system, in which a plurality of intake openings 5 are provided on the bottom of the device and a plurality of exhaust openings 6 are also provided on the top of the device. According to this natural cooling method, when the temperature of the air inside the apparatus rises due to the heat generated from the fixing unit 4 and the like, the high-temperature air moves upward and is discharged from the upper opening 6, and the temperature increases accordingly. Low ambient air is sucked through the lower opening 5. Due to such air circulation, if the number of continuous prints is within the range of a predetermined number (several sheets), the rise in the temperature inside the apparatus can be suppressed. It is configured to temporarily stop the device).

Further, since the small-sized machine is intended for a user who does not use a large amount of paper at a time, the paper supply unit 1 can accommodate only about 50 sheets. In addition, a small paper feed mechanism (paper feed tray 11, paper feed roller 12) that can feed only one type of paper
Etc.) are permanently installed. However, there is a demand from users that they want to be able to continuously feed a large amount of paper even with such a small machine as large as a large machine. An extremely large paper feeding device can be used by being connected to a printer main body for additional use. Such an additional feeding device usually includes a tray portion for stacking and storing sheets, a sheet feeding roller for sequentially feeding the stacked sheets, and a motor for driving the sheet feeding roller. It is configured to be removable from the lower part or the side part of the main body. The printer device shown in FIG. 2 is configured such that an additional feeding device can be attached to a lower portion thereof, and a paper inlet 7 for enabling paper feeding from the additional feeding device is provided in the main body of the device. A guide plate 8 for sheet conveyance is provided on the bottom surface portion, and extends from here to an intermediate position of the sheet conveyance unit 2 (the entrance of the standby roll 21). The paper fed from the additional feeding device is carried into the main body through the paper inlet 7 and the guide plate 8 on the main body side.

When an additional feeding device is provided for the apparatus main body as described above, the amount of paper fed, that is, the printing time, inevitably increases, and accordingly, the amount of heat generated in the device also increases. Therefore, the cooling capacity is insufficient only by natural cooling. Therefore, conventionally, a forced cooling mechanism is provided in the main body of the apparatus as in the case of a large-sized machine, thereby compensating for a shortage of cooling capacity when the additional feeding device is used. As such a forced cooling mechanism, for example, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 2, a fan 9 is provided inside the apparatus main body, and the fan 9 can forcibly discharge hot air in the apparatus to the outside of the apparatus. There is something that I did.

[0008]

2. Description of the Related Art In a small-size image forming apparatus as shown in FIG. A forced cooling mechanism such as a fan 9 has to be provided in the main body of the apparatus, assuming insufficient cooling capacity when the apparatus is mounted. Therefore, even in the case where the additional feeding device is not attached, in this case, an unnecessary forced cooling mechanism is permanently installed in the device main body, which not only leads to an increase in the size of the entire device, but also increases the size of the device. There was a problem that it also led to higher prices.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has been made in view of the above problems. It is an object to provide a feeding device.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an additional feeding device which can be connected to an image forming apparatus main body.
Sheet loading means for loading and storing sheets, sheet feeding means for sequentially feeding the sheets loaded on the sheet loading means to a predetermined portion of the main body, blowing means for blowing cooling air into the main body, Operating means for operating the means.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a small-sized printer device to which an additional feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached.

The printer shown in FIG.
And an additional feeding device B according to the present embodiment, which is configured to be detachable therefrom. The device main body A has the same configuration as the printer device shown in FIG. That is, a sheet feeding unit 1 (sheet feeding tray 11, sheet feeding roller 12, and the like) that stacks and stores sheets and sequentially feeds the sheets, and conveys the fed sheets along a predetermined path to the outside of the apparatus. The paper transport unit 2 to be discharged (standby roll 21, guide plate 22, discharge roll 23)
And the like, and an image forming unit 3 (photosensitive drum 31, charging device 32, and so on) that forms a toner image based on image data on the photoconductor surface and transfers the toner image onto the conveyed paper.
Print head 33, developing device 34, transfer device 35, cleaner 3
6), and a fixing unit 4 (fixing roll 41, etc.) for thermally fixing the transferred toner image on paper. Since these components are known, their detailed description is omitted.

The apparatus main body A employs a natural cooling system as shown in FIG. That is, a plurality of intake openings 5 are provided on the bottom surface of the device, and a plurality of exhaust openings 6 are provided on the top surface of the device.
High-temperature air inside the apparatus is discharged from the opening 6, and accordingly, low-temperature outside air is sucked from the lower opening 5, and the inside of the apparatus is naturally cooled.

Further, an additional feeding device B can be connected to a lower portion of the apparatus main body A, and a paper introduction port 7 for enabling paper feeding from the additional feeding device B is provided. The paper transport guide plate 8 is provided on the bottom surface of the apparatus main body A and extends from here to the middle of the paper transport unit 2 (the entrance of the standby roll 21).

On the other hand, the additional feeding device B connected to the lower portion of the apparatus main body A has a tray section 101 as a sheet stacking means capable of stacking and storing a larger amount of sheets than the paper feed tray 11 on the apparatus main body side. A paper feed roller 102 which is a paper feed means capable of continuously feeding the loaded paper, a motor 103 for driving the paper feed roller 102, and a paper fed by the paper feed roller 102 on the main body side. And a guide plate 104 for guiding to the inlet 7. Further, a fan 105 serving as a blower is provided at a position facing the bottom surface of the apparatus main body A at an upper portion of the additional feeding apparatus B, and the rotation of the motor 103 for driving the sheet feed roller is transmitted by the belt 106 and the like. This is transmitted to the fan 105 via the means.

In the printer having the above configuration, when only the apparatus main body A is used, at most several sheets are continuously fed from the paper feeding section 1 of the apparatus main body A side (intermittent in units of several sheets). Is fed), sequentially conveyed through a predetermined path by the sheet conveying unit 2, a toner image is transferred to the conveyed sheet by the image forming unit 3, and subsequently, is fixed onto the sheet by the fixing unit 4. After the toner image is fixed,
It is sequentially discharged out of the device. At this time, no air is blown by the fan 105, and only natural cooling is performed through the openings 5 and 6 at the top and bottom of the apparatus. When only the apparatus main body A is used as described above, since the paper feed amount is small and the printing time is relatively short, the amount of heat generated from the fixing unit 4 is also small, so that sufficient cooling capacity can be obtained only by natural cooling. .

On the other hand, when the additional feeding device B is used, the sheets loaded and stored in the tray 101 are
02, and is sequentially carried into the apparatus main body A via the guide plate 104, the paper introduction port 7 and the guide plate 8, and thereafter image formation and fixing are performed in the same manner as when only the apparatus main body A is used. After such treatments are carried out, they are successively discharged out of the apparatus. At this time, the fan 105 rotates via the belt 106 with the rotation of the motor 103 for driving the feed roller. As a result, a wind flow is generated from the side of the additional feeding device B toward the inside of the apparatus main body A through the opening 5, air outside the apparatus flows into the apparatus, and high-temperature air inside the apparatus opens. The air is discharged to the outside of the apparatus through the apparatus 6, and the inside of the apparatus main body A is forcibly cooled. When the additional feeding device B is used in this way, the amount of paper supply increases and the printing time considerably increases, so that the amount of heat generated from the fixing unit 4 also increases considerably.
Although the cooling capacity is insufficient only by natural cooling, the shortage can be sufficiently compensated for by the air blow by the fan 105.

As described above, in the additional feeding device B according to the present embodiment, when the feeding device B is connected to the device main body A and used, that is, in order to meet the increase in the sheet feeding amount, that is, the heat generation amount, A fan 105 for forcibly cooling the main body A is provided. Thereby, when the additional feeding device B is not used, the apparatus main body A side can be of a natural cooling type, and as shown in FIG. As compared with the conventional apparatus having a forced cooling fan on the side, the size and cost of the apparatus main body A can be reduced.

It should be noted that the fact that the additional feeding device of the present invention has its own blowing means such as a fan does not necessarily mean that the device main body must employ a natural cooling system. The purpose of the present invention is to provide the additional feeder itself with a cooling capacity corresponding to the amount of heat generated when the additional feeder is connected to the apparatus main body and used, and the apparatus main body side is naturally Whether the cooling method or the forced cooling method is used is determined according to the amount of heat generated when the apparatus body is used alone. Therefore, when the amount of heat generated when the apparatus body is used alone is small, it is appropriate to adopt the natural cooling system as shown in FIG. It is preferable to employ forced cooling means such as a fan.

When a blower such as a fan is provided in the additional feeding device, the driving source thereof may be on the additional feeding device side or on the device main body side. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, in addition to using the motor 103 for driving the paper feed roller as the drive source of the fan 105,
It is also possible that the fan 105 itself has its own motor, and the additional feeding device is provided with only a driving force transmission mechanism such as a coupling gear or a clutch, and the device main body is connected via this transmission mechanism. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the driving force on the side is appropriately transmitted to the fan 105.

Even when the drive source of the blowing means is provided on the side of the additional feeding device, as shown in FIG.
Various methods can be adopted in addition to completely operating the operation in step 2. For example, in the configuration of FIG.
A one-way bearing and a flywheel are provided on the axis of the fan 105, and the driving of the belt 106 is transmitted to the axis of the fan 105 via the one-way bearing, so that the sheet feeding drive stops for each sheet feeding. This eliminates the inconvenience of stopping the rotation of the fan 105 in conjunction with the operation, and the rotation of the fan 105 can be continuously extended by the inertia of the flywheel even after the paper feeding operation is stopped. Also, a one-way bearing is provided on the axis of the fan 105 so that the drive of the belt 106 is transmitted to the axis of the fan 105 via the one-way bearing.
It is also possible to provide a drive force on the apparatus main body side to the fan 105 via this one-way bearing. With such a configuration, the fan 105 is rotated in conjunction with the sheet feeding operation on the additional feeding device side, and the fan 1 is stopped simultaneously with the stop of the sheet feeding operation.
When it is attempted to stop the fan 05, the driving force from the apparatus main body is transmitted to the fan 105, so that the rotation of the fan 105 can be maintained.

Further, the arrangement position of the additional feeding device is shown in FIG.
It is not limited to the lower part of the apparatus main body as shown in the above, if it is possible to feed paper from the additional feeding device to the apparatus main body, and if it is a position where effective air can be blown into the apparatus main body,
Other positions such as a side portion of the apparatus main body may be used.

In addition, the present invention is applicable not only to the printer device shown in FIG. 1, but also to other image forming apparatuses such as an electrophotographic copying machine.

[0024]

According to the additional feeding device of the present invention, the apparatus itself is connected to the main body of the image forming apparatus in accordance with the increase in the amount of paper fed when the apparatus is used in connection with the main body of the image forming apparatus. Is provided, it is not necessary to particularly provide a forced cooling means such as a fan in the device main body, so that the size and cost of the device main body can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a small printer device to which an additional feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a conventional small printer device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Tray part 102 Feed roller 103 Motor 104 Guide plate 105 Fan 106 Belt A main body B Additional feeding device

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Agency reference number FI Technical indication location G03G 21/20 G03G 21/00 534 (56) References JP-A-59-136749 (JP, A) JP-A-3-220570 (JP, A) JP-A-3-33762 (JP, A) JP-A-3-88643 (JP, A) JP-A-2-132245 (JP, U) JP-A 62-146150 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 60-47753 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Application Hei 2-67340 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. An additional feeding device connectable to a main body of an image forming apparatus, comprising: a paper stacking means for stacking and storing sheets; and sequentially feeding the paper stacked on the paper stacking means to a predetermined portion of the main body. An additional feeding device comprising: a sheet feeding unit; a blowing unit that blows cooling air into the main body; and an operating unit that operates the blowing unit.