JP2707856B2 - Output tray support device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, wherein an open / close frame is provided at a copy discharge section, and a discharge tray is supported by the open / close frame via a fall prevention mechanism. In particular, the present invention relates to a device provided with a means for preventing a finger or the like from being caught in a gap between the opening tray and the discharge tray when the opening / closing frame is opened.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus such as an electronic copying machine or the like, a discharge tray is arranged on a side portion of a main body frame corresponding to a copy discharge section, and copies are sent out toward the discharge tray and deposited. Means are used. The discharge tray supporting the copy is attached to the side of the main body frame of the image forming apparatus via a locking means. However, depending on the type of the image forming apparatus, the discharge tray is connected to the discharge tray via a hinge means. One that is supported and supported in a folded state when not in use, one that is configured to be removable, and the like are used. In addition, a discharge roller device is disposed at a discharge port portion of the image forming apparatus main body with respect to the discharge tray, and the fixed copy is deposited on the discharge tray by sending out at a high speed by the discharge roller device. .

As described above, in addition to being directly attached to the main body frame, the copy discharge section is constituted as a frame that can be opened and closed with respect to the main body frame, and the discharge tray is supported by the open / close frame. May be used. As described above, when the opening / closing frame is configured to be openable and closable, when a jam occurs in a portion of the fixing device and the discharge roller and a paper path therebetween, an operation of removing the jammed paper can be easily performed. And so on. However, when the opening / closing frame is configured to support the ejection tray, the ejection tray is swung largely following the opening of the opening / closing frame. The problem that the copy which is dropped falls.

In order to solve the problem of dropping the copy, for example, as shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 62-47777, the discharge tray is supported by a parallel link mechanism and the open / close frame is opened. Means for preventing the inclination state of the discharge tray from changing are proposed. Then, by using the support mechanism for the discharge tray as described above, when performing jam processing in the copy discharge section, the open / close frame can be opened without taking out the copy already stacked on the discharge tray. Therefore, the burden on the operator can be reduced.

[0005]

However, as described above, when the opening and closing frame is provided to be openable and closable with respect to the main body frame and the discharge tray is supported by the parallel link mechanism, when the opening and closing frame is opened, A large gap is generated between the base of the discharge tray and the opening / closing frame. When closing the opening / closing frame, in addition to the problem of pinching a finger in the gap, there is a problem in that the operation of closing another member is hindered by pinching another object.

In order to hold the opening / closing frame in a fixed state with respect to the main body frame, a locking device is provided, and the locking state with respect to the opening / closing frame is released by swinging the locking device. However, when the locking device is constituted by a short lever member, there is a problem that the operability is not good. On the other hand, when the locking device is constituted by a long lever member, the lever member protrudes out of the machine, which causes a problem in the design of the device. There is also a problem that the part interferes with the operation of other members.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problem of the conventional discharge tray support mechanism, and to prevent a gap from being generated between the open / close frame and the discharge tray when the open / close frame is opened. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device that can prevent and improve the structure of a locking device for locking an opening / closing frame to improve operability when a sheet path is opened and closed.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a frame of a copy discharge section of an image forming apparatus is provided so as to be openable and closable with respect to a main body frame via a fulcrum provided at a lower portion. The present invention relates to an apparatus provided with a mechanism for supporting a discharge tray and supporting the paper with respect to the discharge tray. In the present invention, a member that closes a gap between the opening / closing frame and the side of the discharge tray is arranged, and a guard plate member is protruded from the side of the opening / closing frame toward the side of the discharge tray. It can be configured to enter the formed space. Further, in the present invention, an opening / closing lever member is disposed with respect to the member for holding the opening / closing frame at a fixed position, and an end of the lever member protruding to the side from the opening / closing frame is foldable. .

With the above-described structure, in the present invention, when the opening / closing frame is opened, no gap is formed between the discharge tray and the opening / closing frame, so that the operator can use the finger. Accidents such as pinching can be prevented. Further, by forming the opening / closing lever member so as to be foldable, a member projecting when the locking device is not used can be eliminated, and the operability of the device can be improved.

[0010]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a discharge tray supporting apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, an opening / closing frame 10 is swingably arranged with respect to the main body frame 1, and a discharge tray 20 is arranged with respect to the opening / closing frame 10. ing. The opening / closing frame 10 is supported with respect to the main body frame 1 via a support shaft 11, and as described later,
The main body frame 1 is provided so as to be openable and closable. Also,
The discharge tray 20, which is disposed so as to protrude outwardly from the opening / closing frame 10 in correspondence with the sheet discharging section, has a hook 22 provided at an upper portion of the end on the opening / closing frame side, and supports the support pin 12 of the opening / closing frame 10. And the lower portion is held by the main body frame 1 via the link member 30. The link member 30 is arranged on the discharge tray side of the main body frame 1 as shown in FIG.

In the present invention, the opening / closing frame 1 is provided.
As a member for closing the gap, in order to prevent a gap from being formed between the opening and closing frame 10 and the discharge tray 20 which is swung at an angle larger than that of the opening / closing frame 10,
A guard plate member 15 is provided. The guard plate member 15
Is formed in a substantially fan shape by a plate member, one end of which is fixed to the opening and closing frame 10, and the other end of which is
The guard plate is accommodated in a guard plate accommodating portion 25 provided on the side of the “0”. As shown in FIG. 2, the guard plate accommodating portion 25 includes an inner plate 26 and an outer plate 27 of side plates of the discharge tray 20.
Are formed in a substantially U-shape, an opening is provided below the side plate, and the guard plate member 15 is inserted into the guard plate accommodating portion 25 therein.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention constructed as described above, the opening / closing frame 10 is swung from the main body frame 1 to perform an operation such as a jam removal operation, as shown in FIG. Then, the operation of the jam paper processing is performed from the opening. When the opening / closing frame 10 is opened, the discharge tray 20 supported by the opening / closing frame 10 is swung with respect to the opening / closing frame 10 while maintaining the angle shown in FIG. Is moved to a position where

The member supporting the discharge tray 20 constitutes a quadrilateral link mechanism as shown. In other words, the support shaft 11 and the support pin 18 of the opening / closing frame 10 and the link 130 supported by the shafts 21 and 31 are parallel links of the same length, and the support shaft 11 and the link support shaft 31 of the main body frame 1 and the discharge The portions between the tray-side shafts 18 and 21 are set as parallel portions at the same intervals. Therefore, via the support pin 18 and the fulcrum 21,
The discharge tray 20 supported by the opening / closing frame and the main body frame maintains a state in which the angle of the paper support portion of the tray is kept constant even when the opening / closing frame 10 is swung to an arbitrary angle. The tray 20 will be swung.

When the opening / closing frame 10 is opened, the arm 1 is used to fix and hold the opening / closing frame.
3 is provided. As shown in FIG. 3, one end of the arm 13
4 to allow the pin of the opening and closing frame 10 to slide with respect to the long hole 13a. And
When the opening / closing frame 10 is opened, the opening / closing frame 10 is held in a state where the pin 12 is locked at the end of the elongated hole 13a. Note that the locking and holding means may be configured as a member as shown in the drawing, or other arbitrary means may be used.

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, as shown in FIG.
When the ejection tray 20 is swung in the opening direction with respect to the main body frame 1 and the ejection tray 20 is greatly opened with respect to the opening / closing frame 10, a large gap is formed between the opening / closing frame 10 and the ejection tray 20. . Therefore, by closing the gap with the guard plate member 15, it is possible to prevent a finger from being caught in the gap when the opening / closing frame 10 is returned to the original position. That is, when the operator puts his hand in the gap between the opening / closing frame and the discharge tray when returning the opening / closing frame 10 in the opened position to the position where the opening / closing frame 10 is locked with respect to the main body frame 1, the finger is erroneously put. There is a case where they are pinched.

Therefore, in the present invention, a guard plate member 15 is arranged so as to block the gap from the lateral direction, so that a finger is not inserted by the guard plate member 15. Further, the guard plate member 15
As shown in the figure, the recess is configured to be stored in the side plate of the discharge tray 20 so that a large step is not formed between the members, and a finger is sandwiched between the members. Is not formed. Further, as mentioned above,
By using a method in which the guard plate member 15 is accommodated in the guard plate accommodating portion 25 formed on the tray side plate, a sense of incongruity is not given even on the design of the discharge tray.

(Structure of Locking Member of Opening / Closing Frame) As described above, the opening / closing frame 10 provided to be swingable with respect to the main body frame 1 is provided on the opening / closing frame 10 as shown in FIG. A locking device 40 is swingably provided via a support shaft 44, and means for locking the hook 42 formed at the distal end of the locking device 40 to a locking pin 49 formed on the main body frame 1 is provided. Used. The opening and closing frame 10
When the arm member 41 is held at a fixed position with respect to the main body frame 1, the arm member 41 is brought into a state where the hook 42 is pressed by the locking pin 49 by the spring 43 disposed between the arm member 41 and the side frame of the opening / closing frame. Is set. Further, when the opening / closing frame 10 is swung in the closing direction from the open state, the hook 42 is urged in the direction of swinging with respect to the locking pin 49 by the action of the spring 43. When the opening / closing frame 10 is closed, the locking and fixing state is automatically set.

At the other end of the arm member of the locking device 40, a knob 45 is disposed via a shaft 47 provided with a torsion spring 46, and the knob 45 is connected as shown by a solid line in the drawing. In a folded state. Further, with the knob bent, the support pin 48
When the locking device is operated, the knob 45 can be easily taken out. Only when the opening and closing frame 10 is opened, the knob 45
Is pivoted to the state shown by the imaginary line in the figure to protrude from the side of the opening / closing frame 10, and the hook 42 is separated from the pin 49 with the arm extending from the support shaft 44 being long. . In addition, as the means for swingably supporting the knob on the arm member, other arbitrary means can be applied in addition to using the illustrated configuration.

As described above, the distal end of the arm member of the locking device 40 is configured to be bendable so that the knob 45 can be housed in the housing portion of the opening / closing frame. There is no need to provide an extra protruding member, so that there is no problem in appearance. Further, when releasing the locking of the opening / closing frame by the locking device, the arm member can be lengthened, so that the operation of releasing the opening / closing frame can be easily performed.

(Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus to which the Present Invention is Applied) The open / close frame of the present invention configured as described above can be applied to an image forming apparatus as shown in FIG. In the image forming apparatus shown in FIG.
A fixing device 2 and a roller device 3 are provided in a portion corresponding to the opening / closing frame 10 of the main body frame 1 so that the sheet on which fixing has been completed is sent out toward the opening / closing frame 10. In addition, a gate member 4 that branches into a discharge path 5 and a lower paper path 7 is disposed in a portion of the opening / closing frame 10. When discharging a fixed copy, the gate member 4 passes through the upper part of the gate 4. Discharge to the output tray.

On the other hand, when the image is again transferred to the back side of the copy to make a double-sided copy, the gate is swung so that the sheet is transferred to the lower sheet path 7 through the lower surface of the gate. The sheet is guided toward and transported using the roller device 8. Then, as in the case of a general double-sided copying machine, the sheet is stored in a single-sided copy sheet storage unit such as an intermediate tray, and sent out again for copying on the back side.

In the device configured as described above,
The opening / closing frame 10 includes an upper member including the gate 4,
A roller member outside the lower sheet path 8 and an outer guide plate are integrally provided. Then, by opening the opening / closing frame 10 through the portion of the paper path 8, the discharge section from the fixing device 2 and the paper path 8 are released.
If a paper jam occurs in that portion, the operation of processing the jammed paper can be easily performed.

In the opening / closing frame 10 provided with the above-described mechanism, the discharging tray 20 provided in the copy discharging section follows the swing of the opening / closing frame as shown in FIG. It is configured so that it swings greatly while keeping the angle maintained. Therefore, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention,
Even if paper is jammed near the paper output section of the image forming apparatus, without removing the paper from the output tray,
The opening / closing frame can be easily released, thereby preventing a problem in opening / closing the opening / closing frame and improving operability.

[0024]

According to the present invention, when the opening / closing frame is opened / closed with respect to the main body frame, the position of the discharge tray is swung while the sheet is stored, and the angle is changed. Since the copy is not performed, it is possible to prevent the copy accommodated in the discharge tray from falling. Further, in the present invention, when the opening / closing frame is opened, a gap at a side portion is not formed between the discharge tray and the opening / closing frame, so that an accident that an operator pinches a finger can be prevented. Further, by forming the knob at the distal end of the locking device so as to be foldable, a member projecting when the locking device is not used can be eliminated, and the operability of the device can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a relationship between an opening / closing frame and a discharge tray according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which a discharge tray is supported in a state where an opening / closing frame is opened.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the configuration of the locking device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a main part of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

[Signs in the figure]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body frame 2 Fixing device 10 Opening / closing frame 15 Guard plate member 20 Discharge tray 25 Guard plate storage part 30 Link plate 40 Locking device 41 Arm member 45 Knob

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A frame for a copy discharge section of the image forming apparatus is provided so as to be openable and closable with respect to a main body frame via a fulcrum provided at a lower portion, and a discharge tray is supported by the openable and closable frame; A discharge tray support device, wherein a guard plate member for closing a gap between the opening / closing frame and a side portion of the discharge tray is disposed in a device provided with a mechanism for holding a posture for supporting a sheet. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein an opening / closing lever member is disposed with respect to a member that holds the opening / closing frame at a fixed position, and a protruding end of the lever member is configured to be foldable. Discharge tray support device.