JP2715539B2 - Electrophotographic recording device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an electrophotographic recording apparatus of the type in which information input from the outside, such as a page printer, is written by optical writing means and recorded on recording paper.

(Prior Art) Information sent from a personal computer or the like is written by a laser beam to form a latent image corresponding to input information on a photoreceptor, and this latent image is visualized with toner and transferred onto recording paper. In such a recording apparatus employing the electrophotographic method, the frequency of paper jam is extremely high because static electricity acts on the recording paper fed into the apparatus.

For this reason, in this type of apparatus, for example,
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 54-54, the apparatus is configured so that it can be divided into upper and lower sides by a recording paper transport path as a boundary, so that jam processing can be easily performed.

However, in recent years, it has been demanded that the recording apparatus also have various recording functions, and in order to respond to this request, recording functions on recording paper of various sizes and recording functions on both sides of the recording paper have been demanded. In such a case, the conventional apparatus cannot cope with a jam generated in a supply path from a recording paper supply source of various sizes and a conveyance path of a two-sided recording paper. In this case, there is a problem that it is necessary to take troublesome labor and time such as disassembling a part of the apparatus each time.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to simplify the structure and easily cope with various paper jams. It is to provide a new recording device that can be used.

(Means for Solving the Problems) That is, according to the present invention, as an electrophotographic recording apparatus for achieving the above object, a main body of the apparatus is transported to a first recording paper sheet provided with respective units involved in an electrophotographic process. A recording paper guide member is attached to the second recording paper transport path on the upper unit connected to the reversing path, and divided into upper and lower units with the path as a boundary. Is provided with a paper feed unit having a recording paper supply means, and these upper units, a recording paper guide member,
The paper feed unit is pivotally supported to be openable and closable about a common shaft fixed to the upper end on the paper feed side of the lower unit.

(Operation) With this configuration, the upper unit is opened for jams generated on the first recording paper transport path, and recording is performed for jams generated on the second recording paper transport path. By opening the paper guide member,
Further, when a paper jam occurs on the paper feed path, various paper jams can be easily dealt with by opening and closing the paper feed unit and opening and closing the shafts using a common axis as a fulcrum.

(Embodiment) Therefore, an embodiment illustrated below will be described.

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention. Even if the recording apparatus main body 1 is arranged adjacent to a personal computer or the like so as to minimize the installation space, it is possible to select a recording mode or perform a jam operation. An operation panel is provided on the paper feed side of the recording paper transport path so that all processing operations can be performed from the front.
It is configured as a vertical type device provided with a display 51, a display 52, a support 61 for mounting a recording cassette, and the like.

Next, the structure of the device will be described in detail.
Is divided into a lower unit 2 and an upper unit 4 with a recording paper transport path extending obliquely upward from the paper feeding side, that is, the front side (left side in the figure) to the paper discharging side, that is, the rear side (right side in the figure). Further, on the front side of the lower unit 2, a paper feed unit 6 is attached so as to be divided by a vertical paper feed guide 27.

In the lower unit 2, the photosensitive drum 21, the cleaning unit 22, and the charging charger 23, which are unitized by a support frame (not shown), are detachably attached so that the photosensitive drum 21 faces the transport path. A developing unit 24 is detachably mounted on the upper side of the photosensitive drum 21 such that the opening of the toner hopper 25 faces the transport path. In the lower unit 2, a U-shaped guide plate 28 for reversing the recording paper and a sorting / discharging guide plate 34 are formed on a rear surface of the lower unit 2 via a path switching mechanism 35 in a branched manner. The above-mentioned U-shaped guide plate 28 is attached so that its rear end is connected to a reverse recording paper transport guide plate 45 of the upper unit 4 described later. The U-shaped guide plate 28 further has a path switching mechanism. 29
The discharge guide plate 30 branches upward through the discharge roller 31 provided at the discharge end of the discharge guide plate 30, and discharges the recording paper to the discharge tray 32. On the other hand, the discharge end of the discharge guide plate 34 is provided with a first discharge roller 36 provided here.
A sorting arm 37 capable of setting the angle in a stepwise manner with the axis as a fulcrum is provided, and a plurality of detachably provided on the rear surface of the lower unit 2 by a second discharge roller 38 provided at the end of the sorting arm 37. The recording paper can be discharged to any one of the sorting trays 39.

On the other hand, the upper unit 4 is openably and closably mounted on the lower unit 2 so that the upper unit 4 can be turned around a common shaft 26 fixed to the upper part on the front side of the lower unit 2 as a fulcrum. The upper unit 4 is provided on its lower surface with a guide plate 41 for guiding the recording paper along the transport path. The guide plate 41 includes a pair of registration rollers in order from the upper side in the recording paper transport direction.
42, the transfer charger 43 and the fixing unit 44 are located immediately above the developing unit 24 on the lower unit 2,
The photosensitive drum 21 is disposed at a position opposite to the photosensitive drum 21 and at a lower portion thereof. The upper surface of the upper unit 4 is entirely open, and a guide plate 45 for transporting the inverted recording paper is provided in parallel with the lower guide plate 41. In the closed state, the upper end in the transport direction is connected to the above-described U-shaped guide plate 28 on the lower unit 2, and the lower end is
It is configured to be connected to a guide plate of a recording paper feeding mechanism 63 on the paper feeding unit 6 described later.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a recording paper guide member attached to the upper surface of the above-described upper unit 4. The recording paper guide plate 5 has a common shaft 26 pivotally supporting the upper unit 4 and a paper feed unit 6 described later as a fulcrum. It is mounted on the upper unit 4 so as to be openable and closable so that it can be turned over. On its upper surface, in addition to an operation panel 51 for specifying various printing modes and the like as shown in FIG. A display 52 capable of displaying a print mode is provided. On the lower surface, a guide plate 53 for warming the inverted recording paper in cooperation with the guide plate 45 on the upper unit 4 is provided. A plurality of driven rollers 54, which form a pair with the paper feed roller 46, are pivotally supported.

On the other hand, the paper feeding unit 6 provided on the front side of the lower unit 2 is pivotally supported so as to be able to be lifted upward so that the surface of the paper feeding guide 27 on the lower unit 2 can be opened with the common shaft 26 as a fulcrum. I have. The paper supply unit 6 has a support table for mounting one or a plurality of paper supply cassettes on its front surface.
61 and a paper feed roller for feeding the recording paper in the paper feed cassette 7
62 ... are provided, and the upper unit 4
A switch-back type recording paper feeding mechanism 63 for feeding the reversing recording paper sent out via the reversing recording paper conveyance guide plate 45 on the upper surface to the recording conveyance path again is provided. The paper feed guide plate for guiding the recording paper fed by the paper feed roller 62 in cooperation with the paper feed guide 27 provided on the front surface of the lower unit 2
65 and a large capacity recording paper storage room 8
There is provided a guide plate 66 for guiding the recording paper fed by the paper feed roller 81 from the printer.

In the drawing, reference numeral 33 denotes a laser writing unit provided in the lower unit 2, and reference numeral 64 denotes a paper feed roller provided in the switchback type recording paper feeding mechanism 63.

Next, the recording operation and the jam clearing operation of the above-described apparatus will be described.

In a normal recording operation state, that is, in the state of FIG. 1 in which the obliquely opened upper surface of the lower unit 2 is covered by the upper unit 4 and the open upper surface of the upper unit 4 is covered by the recording paper guide member 5. The operation panel 51 on the recording paper guide plate 5 is inclined with respect to the front surface of the apparatus main body 1 so as to be easily operated by the operator (FIG. 5).

Therefore, in this state, when a desired recording mode is selected by operating a key on the operation panel 51 and the start button is operated, the recording paper in the paper cassette 7 loaded on the front side of the apparatus main body 1 becomes Like a normal electrophotographic recording device, it is sent into the recording transport path in synchronization with the recording and writing operation,
Here, after being transferred and fixed, the inverted U-shaped guide plate 28
When the recording paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 32 above the apparatus main body 1 through the guide plate 30 branched from the printer main body 1 and the recorded recording paper is sorted, the paper is discharged from the sorting guide plate 34 onto the sorting arm 37 whose angle is set in advance. Any one of the selected sorting trays 39 is discharged via the rollers 38. When recording on both sides of the recording paper, the recording paper inverted by the inverted U-shaped guide plate 28 is fed into the switchback type recording paper feeding mechanism 63 from the inverted recording paper transport guide plate 45 on the upper surface of the upper unit 4. Then, the sheet is fed again into the recording / conveying path and printing is performed on the back surface.

By the way, in the case where the recording paper is jammed in a part of the recording conveyance path during such recording processing, the common shaft 26 provided in the lower unit 2 as a fulcrum as shown in FIG. When the upper unit 4 is pulled up and turned upside down to expose the recording / conveying path, the jam generated here is processed, and when a jam occurs on the inverted recording paper conveying guide plate 45 during duplex printing. As shown in FIG. 3, the recording paper guide plate 5 is pulled up with the common shaft 26 as a fulcrum and turned upside down to open the inverted recording paper conveyance surface on the upper unit 4 to perform jam processing. Further, when a jam occurs on the paper feed path, the paper feed unit 6 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 4 around the common shaft 26 as a fulcrum as shown in FIG. It is exposed and the jam generated here is processed.

Also, in this apparatus, the electrophotographic process unit can be exposed at the same time by opening the upper unit 4, so that when replenishing toner, the second unit is used.
As shown in the figure, the toner bottle a can be fitted to the toner hopper 25 with the opening facing the transport path to supply the toner to the developing unit 24, and the photosensitive drum 21 and the cleaning unit 22 can be supplied. Or charged charger
At the time of inspection at 23, as shown in FIG. 2, the integrated unit was removed from the lower unit 2 and inspected. Further, as for the transfer charger 43 and the fixing unit 44, the upper unit 4 was inverted by 180 °. Then, if this is positioned on the paper feed cassette 7, these inspections can be easily performed.

(Effects) As described above, according to the present invention, the upper unit divided by the first recording paper transport path as a boundary, and the recording paper guide member attached to the second recording paper transport path on the upper unit, Since the paper feed unit connected to the paper feed path on the lower unit is pivotally supported on a common axis provided in the lower unit so that it can be opened and closed freely, the upper unit can be used for jams generated during the recording operation. The transport path is opened by rotating the recording paper, and for a jam that occurs during the recording paper transport process during the double-sided recording operation, the recording paper guide member is rotated to open this transport path. ,
Further, with respect to the jam that occurs in the paper feeding path, by rotating the paper feeding unit to open this path, only the rotating operation of the members around the common axis for various paper jams is performed. These can be easily handled.

In addition, since these movable members are all pivotally supported on a common shaft provided in the lower unit, this type of recording apparatus can be significantly simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the internal configuration of an apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 to 4 are views showing each jam processing state in the apparatus, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the entire contents of the apparatus. FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Device main body 2 ... Lower unit 21 ... Photoconductor drum 22 ... Cleaning unit 24 ... Developing unit 26 ... Common shaft 27 ... Feeding guide plate 28 ... Reversing guide plate 4 ... Upper unit 43 Transfer charger 44 Fixing unit 45 Reverse recording paper transport guide plate 5 Recording paper guide member 51 Operation panel 6 Paper supply unit 63 Recording paper delivery mechanism 7 ... Paper cassette

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An apparatus main body is divided into an upper unit and a lower unit with a first recording paper conveyance path provided with each unit involved in an electrophotographic process, and connected to a reversing path. A recording paper guide member is attached to a second recording paper transport path on the unit, and a paper supply unit provided with recording paper supply means is attached to a paper supply path on the lower unit. And the recording paper guide member,
An electrophotographic apparatus, wherein the paper feeding unit is pivotally supported to be openable and closable about a common shaft fixed to a paper feeding side upper end of the lower unit.