JP2846435B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copier, a facsimile, and the like.

(Prior art)

In a conventional copying machine, a scanner section is arranged above the apparatus main body, and an image forming section is arranged inside the main body. The original is read by the scanner section, and the read image information is transferred to paper by the image forming section. After fixing, the sheet is discharged out of the apparatus main body. In order to scan a document on the upper side of the main unit,
The fixed paper is ejected onto a paper ejection tray (externally attached paper ejection tray) attached to the side of the apparatus body.

However, in such a copying machine, there is a problem that the installation space becomes considerably larger than the projection area of the apparatus main body because the external paper discharge tray protrudes to the side of the apparatus. Further, depending on the installation location, there is a problem that a person hits the paper discharge tray and breaks the tray.

In order to reduce the installation space, for example, see JP-A-63-1721.
No. 72 discloses a configuration in which an apparatus housing is opened below an image forming unit, and a paper discharge tray is incorporated in the opening. According to these copying machines, the paper discharge tray does not protrude from the apparatus main body, and the installation space can be reduced.
However, in these copiers, since the paper discharge tray is located below the scanner unit and the image forming unit, it is inconvenient to take out the discharged paper or check the copy quality.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described problems of the related art, and an image forming apparatus capable of easily taking out discharged paper and checking copy quality and reducing the installation space of the apparatus. The task is to provide.

[Means for solving the problem]

The present invention solves the above problems by providing a reading unit having an optical system that forms an image of reflected light from a document on an image sensor, an image forming unit that forms an image based on an image signal from the reading unit, and a recording sheet. And paper means constituting a sheet feeding device for storing the image data and feeding the image data to the image forming means, and the reading means forms a space above the image forming means with the image forming means. The image forming apparatus is supported by a support frame and a recording paper discharge tray is provided so as to be located in the space.

Embodiment Details of the present invention will be described based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

In FIG. 1, a reading unit 1 is attached to a first support frame 2 so as to be integrally fixed or detachable. The first support frame 2 is formed substantially in an L-shape, and forms a U-shaped unit as a whole by attaching the reading unit 1, and is formed to be movable by casters.

The first support frame 2 is formed in an L-shape by the flat plate support portion 2a and the vertical support portion 2b, but it is necessary to form the flat plate support portion 2a and the vertical support portion 2b in separate units and to assemble them together. Can be made possible.

In the illustrated example, the second support frame 3 is fixed to the first support frame 2 on the flat plate support portion 2a of the first support frame 2 in the illustrated example. An image forming apparatus excluding the reading unit 1 can be incorporated in the second support frame 3 as one apparatus. That is, an image forming unit 4, for example, three image forming units 4 is detachably mounted on a second support frame 3 fixed to a flat plate supporting portion 2a acting as a base unit, and a sheet unit is provided below the image forming unit. The printer 5 is mounted with, for example, a plurality of paper cassettes in a detachable structure to form a device as a printer.

The second support frame 3 can be configured as a transport unit that transports the recording paper from the paper feed cassette 5 through the image forming unit 4, for example, a transport unit that incorporates a transport conveyor.

The electric control device for image processing, the electric control device for controlling the driving type of each unit, the electric connector, etc. are provided on the flat plate supporting portion 2a of the first support frame 2 or on the vertical portion other than the flat plate supporting portion 2a.
It is also stored in 2b. If necessary, a mechanical drive is stored in the vertical section 2b. Thus, the first support frame 2 can be configured as a base unit that controls the operation of various image forming units, paper units, and other units of the image forming apparatus.

A fixing device is incorporated in the image forming unit 4 if necessary.
One unit, that is, the fixing unit 6, can be detachably or integrally formed with the transport unit 3 (the case where the unit is also used as the second support frame or not).
Note that the paper discharge tray 7 can also be formed integrally with the second support frame 3 or the transport unit, or can be detachably attached.

As a modification, as shown in FIG. 2A, a second support frame 3 'is formed as a mounting support for the image forming unit 4 and the paper feed cassette 5 of the paper unit, and the paper discharge tray 7 is mounted thereon. Therefore, the conveyor belt 8 may not be built in, and the conveyor belt may be built in the vertical portion 2 b of the first support frame 2. In FIG. 2A, a recording sheet is formed at a recording position of each image forming unit 4 so as to be able to be conveyed from a sheet feeding cassette 5 by a conveying belt 8. Second
As shown in FIG. B, when the second support frame 3 ′ is pivoted, the leading end which becomes the recording position of the image forming unit 4 and the paper feeding end of the paper feeding cassette 5 are separated from the conveyor belt 8, and jam clearance, maintenance and inspection work are performed. In addition, the work of attaching and detaching replacement parts for the image forming unit 4 and the recording paper cassette 5 becomes easy. In this case, if a drive unit having a mechanical drive device including a drive motor is provided in the second support frame 3 and can be moved together with the second support frame 3, the design becomes easy.

It is convenient to provide the first support frame 2 with a connector for connecting the image forming unit 4 to electric wiring or the like.

The structure in which the second support frame 3 is guided by the rail on the flat plate support portion 2a together with the image forming unit 4 and the paper unit 5 so as to be able to be pulled out linearly without being rotated is also possible.

In FIG. 1, the transport unit (second support frame) 3, the image forming unit 4, and the paper unit 5 are separated from the first support frame.
By replacing the paper cassette and the base unit on which the reading unit is not attached to the separated unit, it is possible to switch from the digital copier or facsimile mode of FIG. 1 to a printer mode. In this case, the base unit can be structured not to be in the shape of the L-shaped support frame 2 but to be stored in a square case similar to other units. If the flat plate support portion 2a is configured as a single base unit, it is possible to switch from the digital copier or facsimile mode to the printer mode simply by removing the reading unit and the vertical section 2b from the state shown in FIG. Become.

The reading unit 1 has a case 11 in FIG.
A contact glass 12 for placing an original on the case 11, a thick plate 13 for holding the original, a light source 14 for illuminating the original, and a mirror for forming reflected light from the original on an image sensor (CCD or the like) 15 An optical system 18 including a lens 16 and a lens 17 and a circuit board 19 relating to the image sensor 15 are stored.

In the reading unit 1, a thick original such as a book can be placed on the contact glass 12 and pressed by the thick plate 13 for reading.

A signal from the reading unit 1 is sent to each image forming unit as a signal obtained by color separation and processing of a document, and writing is performed in accordance with a sheet feeding timing from the sheet feeding cassette 5.

The first support frame 2 includes, for example, an electric control device such as a CPU, an interface, and a signal memory, for example, as shown in FIG. And a mechanical driving device 23 for transmitting the driving force of the driving motor 22 to the image forming unit 4.

The transmission shaft 24a of the mechanical driving device 23 is provided with, for example, a first bevel gear 25a, and the first bevel gear 25a meshes with, for example, a bevel gear 26 provided in the image forming unit 4. Second bevel gear
25b meshes with the bevel gear provided in the image forming unit 4 above.

In the image forming unit 4, a bevel gear 26 is supported by a transmission shaft 27, and a transmission O such as a combination of a worm 28, a worm gear 29 and other mechanisms and a clutch or a solenoid is transmitted from the transmission shaft 27.
N, and transmitted to each rotating body such as a roller via an acceleration / deceleration mechanism 31 including an OFF mechanism 30 and the like.

Similarly to the first support frame 2, each of the image forming units 4 is provided with a transmission shaft 24 b which can be connected to a transmission shaft 24 a for transmitting the drive to the image forming unit arranged above.
Is provided with a bevel gear 25b and the like.

The above example is an example, and any structure can be used as long as the drive can be transmitted from one unit to another unit.

The image forming unit 4 includes, as an example of a powder developing system, a fifth type.
An image forming unit 4A shown in the figure is used. Imaging unit 4A
Has one case 41, in which a paper feed port 42 and a paper discharge port 43 are formed.

In the case of the thermo-magnetic writing method, the paper exit port 43
A printing position (recording position) by a heating roller 44 and a pressure roller 45 pressed against the heating roller is provided in the middle of a substantially straight sheet passing path exiting the printer.

Latent image belt 47 on heating roller 44 and tension roller 46
Is wound. As the latent image belt, for example, a magnetic belt (for example, made of a magnetic material containing CoO ₂ ) is used. The latent image belt 47 is driven in the direction of the arrow, and the latent image belt 47 is driven.
Head 48 and developing device arranged along the traveling path of
An image forming process is performed by 49, a cleaner 50, and an eraser 51. That is, the writing head 48 records an image latent image on the latent image belt 47 in response to a writing signal from the base unit (first support frame) 2, and develops the latent image with a developing roller 49 a of a developing device 49 to visualize the latent image. The developed image is transferred and fixed on the recording paper 9 passing between the heating roller 44 and the pressure roller 45 at the same time. The residual developer is removed from the latent image belt 47 after transfer by the cleaner 50, and the latent image is erased by the eraser 51. In order to prevent the latent image belt 47 and other components from being unnecessarily heated by the heat from the heating roller 44, a heat insulating member 53 is provided beside the heating roller 44, and further, for cooling the latent image belt 47. A heat radiating member 54 is provided.

In the example of FIG. 5, the heating roller 44, the pressure roller 45, the tension roller 46, and the developing roller 49a can form a flat unit by arranging their respective central axes substantially in the same plane. In this case, it is convenient to form the container of the developing device 49 as a thin container extending along the plane on which the rollers are arranged.

A recess used as a paper output tray on the upper surface of the case 41
41a is formed.

When it is desired to use a black image and a monochrome color image by appropriately switching between them, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of image forming apparatuses 4 having the same structure are stacked, one is provided with a black developer, and the other is provided with a black developer. It is possible to meet the demand by containing the color developer.

In FIG. 5, at the time of image formation, the recording paper 9 fed by the paper feed roller 5a from the paper feed cassette 5 disposed below the image forming unit 4 is fed to the paper feed inlet 42 of the first image forming unit 4.
And is transferred and fixed by the heating roller 44, and is discharged from the discharge port 43. In the case of one image forming unit 4, the recording sheet to be discharged is immediately stored in the concave portion 41a, and when two or more image forming units 4 are overlapped, the recording sheet is passed to the uppermost image forming unit and discharged. Is done. When a plurality of image forming units 4 are used in an overlapping manner, it is necessary to operate one desired image forming unit 4 to form an image so as not to form an image in another image forming unit 4. For this reason, it is preferable that one or both of the pressure roller 45 and the heating roller 44 move to release the pressure contact state, so that transfer is not performed.

The image forming unit 4 can be configured even when the image forming method is a thermal transfer method, an ink jet method, an electrophotographic method, a thermal method, or a wire dot method.

The image forming unit 4 can store a cooling fan, a detecting device or a circuit for improving image forming, a solenoid, a small motor, and the like, as necessary, in addition to the above-described components.

A circuit constituting a control device as shown in FIG. 6 is formed on a substrate 21 in the first support frame 2. In FIG. 6, an AC power input section supplies an AC input from a power cord to the inside of the base. The low-voltage DC power supply supplies DC to each electric circuit board and motor. The control unit drives the entire apparatus and controls image signals and the like to the image forming unit.

The display device is a device for displaying the operating state of the base unit and the image forming unit to the operator.

The operation switch is set in accordance with the image forming unit to perform manual operation or feature detection (reading) of the image forming unit.

For image processing and memory control, an image signal is transmitted to a driving circuit such as a thermal head and an ink jet in the image forming unit.

The motor and the solenoid control the operation drive of the image forming unit.

a to e indicate input / output of electric signals. a supplies a DC voltage to an electrical circuit in the imaging unit. b sends operation signals of solenoids in the same unit. c receives signals from sensors and the like from within the imaging unit. d transmits an image signal. "e" is a connector connected to a facsimile scanner or word processor.

a to d are composed of Centronics. e is RS-232C
It consists of. A indicates a rotating shaft that transmits the rotational drive of the motor to the image forming unit.

Each image forming unit is not provided with a drive source and a control device in principle, but a cooling fan,
Detectors and circuits, solenoids, small motors, and the like for good image formation may be incorporated.

As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of image forming units 4 of the same type of image forming method are stacked for color image forming. The number to be stacked is determined by the number of colors to be imaged. On the recording paper fed from the paper feed cassette 5, an image of one color is formed by the first image forming unit 4, and an image of another color can be formed on the next image forming unit 4 in an overlapping manner. .

In forming a full-color image, it is necessary to overlap three or four image forming units.

Paper can be fed not only from a cassette but also from outside.

When forming a color image by arranging a plurality of image forming units 4 in an overlapping manner, when recording paper is conveyed by conveying means such as conveying rollers 55 and 56 arranged in each image forming unit 4 as described above. If the recording paper sags or bends,
In some cases, image quality is degraded due to color shift of the image.

In order to solve this problem, it is convenient to convey the recording paper by a common conveying means for a plurality of image forming units.

In order to enable transport by such a common transport unit, the transport rollers 55 and 56 and the pressure roller 45 of the image forming unit 4 are separated and stored in one case together with the transport belt to constitute a transport unit. . The transport unit can also serve as the second support frame 3 as shown in FIG. The first support frame 2 can also constitute a transport unit.

When using a transport unit, as shown in FIG.
The transport unit 3 'is connected to the opening 57 of the case 41 of the image forming unit 4B.
Are arranged in a closed form. That is, the transport unit 3 'is mounted so as to bridge between the sheet feeding cassette 5 and the image forming units 4 and between the image forming units.

In the case of an electrophotographic image forming unit 4B as a modified example of the image forming unit 4A shown in FIG. 5, as shown in FIG.
A latent image belt 47 wound around 6 'is provided. A photosensitive belt is used as a latent image belt. The latent image belt 47 is driven in the direction of the arrow, and a primary charging roller 58, a writing optical system 48, and a developing device are disposed along the traveling path of the latent image belt 47.
An image forming process is performed by 49, a cleaner 50, and an eraser 51. That is, the image is charged uniformly by the primary charging roller 58, the writing optical system 48, for example, an LED array is driven by a writing signal from the base unit 2, an image latent image is recorded on the latent image belt 47, and the latent image is developed by the developing device. The image is developed and developed by a developing roller (or sleeve) 49a of 49, and the developed image is transferred to the recording paper 9 passing between the first roller 44 'and the transfer roller 45' arranged opposite thereto. The recording paper 9 is sent out from the paper supply cassette 5 by a paper supply roller 5a, and is conveyed by a conveyance unit 3 '. The residual developer is removed from the latent image belt 47 after the transfer by the cleaner 50, and the residual charge is erased by the eraser 51. The latent image belt 47 may be a dielectric belt on which a latent image can be formed with a stylus or a thermal head, or a ferroelectric material.

The transfer roller 45 'can be connected to an independent power source for generating an electric field necessary for transferring the visualized particles. If necessary, a common power supply may be used.

In the example of FIG. 7, the first roller 44 'and the tension roller 4
6 'and the developing roller 49a can form a flat unit because their respective central axes are arranged substantially in the same plane. In this case, it is convenient that the container of the developing device 49 is also configured as a thin container extending along the plane where the rollers are arranged.

When it is desired to switch and use a black image and a monochromatic color image as appropriate or to form a multicolor image, one image forming unit is provided with a black developer, and the other color developer is provided with a multicolor. It is possible to meet the demand by containing a developer of a color corresponding to the separated color, for example, a developer of three colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan, or four colors including black as needed.

The transport unit 3 'has a case 61, a driving roller 62 and a driven roller 63 arranged in the case 61 as shown in FIG. A transport belt 64 is wound around the driving roller 62 and the driven roller 63. Although not shown, a drive motor for driving the drive roller 62 can be disposed in the case 61.

A potential forming roller 65 is rotatably supported opposite the driven roller 63 with the transport belt 64 therebetween. The potential forming roller 65 is connected to a potential forming power source 66. The driven roller 63 is grounded.

The transport belt 64 is formed as a dielectric sheet, and a voltage is applied by a potential forming roller 65 to form a pattern convenient for adsorbing and transporting the recording paper, for example, a positive potential and a negative potential in a striped or checkered pattern. Is done.

The transport belt 64 is guided by a guide roller 67 between the drive roller 62 and the driven roller 63. Each guide roller
67 is a pressing roller 45 and a first roller in the image forming unit 4.
The structure can also be used as 45 '. In an image forming unit of another system, a platen, an ink absorber, and the like may be arranged in the case 61 of the transport unit 3 'so as to be opposed to the recording head of each image forming unit.

7 and 8, the recording paper 9 sent out from the paper supply cassette 5 by the paper supply roller 5a is a potential forming roller.
The sheet is conveyed by being attracted to the conveyance belt 64 formed with the potential by 65, and an image is sequentially formed on the recording paper 9 at the recording position of each image forming unit 4. Guide roller 67 is pressure roller 45
When the recording paper 9 is pressed against each guide roller 67, an image is formed.

The recording paper is sucked and conveyed into the conveyance belt and passes through a plurality of image forming units to sequentially form an image. Therefore, positional deviation of the recording paper is prevented and color deviation is prevented.

The recording paper on which the image formation by all the image forming units is completed is separated from the transport belt 64 by the separation claw 68, and the switching claw 71
By the switching, the sheet can be discharged to the upper discharge tray 69 or discharged to the horizontal discharge tray 70. The upper discharge tray 69 and the horizontal discharge tray 70 can be fixed to the case 61 or can be integrally formed. The upper end of the case 61 is covered by a cover 72.

When the image forming unit 4 uses a powder developer as shown in FIG. 5 or 7, fixing is required. Although a fixing device can be provided for each image forming unit, it is often the case that all image forming units 4 have been transferred and fixed. In this case, as shown in FIG. 9, it is possible to use a transport fixing unit 3 ″ in which the transport unit 3 ′ and the fixing unit 6 are integrated.

The transport fixing unit 3 ″ has a fixing device 75 integrally provided on the transport unit 3 ′ shown in FIG.
The same or corresponding parts of the transport unit 3 'as those shown in FIG.

The transport belt 64 is guided by a guide roller 67 between the driving roller 62 and the driven roller 63. Guide rollers 67
May have a structure that is also used as the transfer roller 45 'in the image forming unit 4B.

A power supply for applying a voltage to the transfer roller can also be built in the case 61. The drive motor and various power supplies are controlled by a CPU in the base unit 2.

The recording paper 9 conveyed by the conveyance belt 64 and transferred by all the image forming units 4 is separated from the conveyance belt 64 by the curvature of the driving roller 42 and the separation claw 68, and is fixed by the fixing device 75 provided in the case 61. And is discharged from the discharge port 76. Although the example shown in FIG. 9 is a transport fixing unit in which the fixing device 75 is integrated into the transport unit 3 ', the fixing device may be configured as a separate unit to be mounted in the transport unit 3'. it can.

After the separation of the recording paper, the conveyor belt 64 is cleaned by a cleaner 77 having a cleaning blade 76, is discharged by a discharging roller 78 or a discharging brush, is uniformed electrostatically, and again has a potential shape by a potential forming roller 65. Repeat the process.

The cleaner 77 can be provided with a container 79 for storing toner, paper powder, and the like removed by the cleaning blade.

A switching claw 80 is provided at the discharge port 76 of the fixing device 75, and an upper discharge tray 69 and a horizontal discharge tray 70 are provided in the case 61 as shown in FIG.
When the recording paper 9 is formed integrally or removably, switching between discharging the recording paper 9 to the upper discharge tray 69 and discharging to the horizontal discharge tray 70 is performed.

The fixing device 75 is provided with, for example, a heat fixing roller 81 and a pressure roller 82 as shown in the drawing.

The conveying belt 64 is set to an appropriate length in advance so that it can be applied to a case where a large number of image forming units such as three or four stages are stacked. Some of them can be used only for conveying the recording paper without facing the image forming unit. In order to avoid unnecessary transport of the recording paper, the state of attachment of the transport unit 3 'to the base unit 2 can be changed according to the number of image forming units 4. For this reason
As shown in FIG. 10, a guide rod 83 is attached to the case of the base unit 2 (the flat plate portion 2a), and a guide member, for example, a slide ball bearing 84 provided in the case 61 of the transport units 3 'and 3 "is attached to the guide rod 83. Engage and transport units 3 ', 3 "
Is slid up and down. A plurality of image forming units, for example, two
When three or three units are stacked, the transport units 3 'and 3 "
When the upper discharge tray 69 fixed to or integrally formed with the case 61 is placed on the uppermost image forming unit 4 and only one image forming unit is stacked, Positioned by a stopper (not shown) provided on the case of the base unit 2 (flat plate portion 2a), the case 61 of the transport units 3 'and 3 "is positioned by the base unit 2 (flat plate portion 2a).
Consider keeping the case without protruding below the case of a).

In the transport units 3 'and 3 ", as shown in FIG. 10, a guide member 84, such as a slide ball bearing, in which a case 61 is slidably mounted on a guide rod 83 provided in the base unit 2, is fixed. It can be modified to a structure having a stationary case 61a and a movable case 61b whose lower part is rotatably supported by the stationary case 61a.
b is rotatably supported around the axis of the driven roller 63, a driving roller 62, a motor for driving the driving roller 62,
Conveyor belt 64, guide roller 67, cleaning blade
76, cleaner 77, static elimination roller 78, container 79 are movable case 61
b and tilts with the movable case 61b.

The fixing device 75 and the switching claw 68 are provided on the stationary case 61a.

When the movable case 61b is set to the operation position as shown by the broken line, the guide roller 67 is moved to the first roller 44 'used as a transfer roller of each image forming unit 4 by a latent image belt.
Abut through 47.

When a jam occurs on the recording paper being conveyed or when the recording paper is inspected, the movable case 61b is tilted and opened in a state shown by a solid line.

It is convenient if a handle is provided to easily open and close the movable case 61b.

Contrary to the example shown in the figure, it is also possible to form the movable case 62b so as to be rotatable around the axis of the drive roller 62 so that the lower part of the transport unit 3 "is opened.

The movable case 62b of the transport unit 3 ″ is configured to be able to open and close, so that the transport belt 64 is being transported (arrow 1), the exit of the sheet cassette 2 (arrow 2), the fixing roller
The work of removing jammed paper in a state where only the leading end is stuck at 81 (arrow 3) becomes easy.

〔effect〕

According to the present invention, the reading unit is supported above the recording paper discharge tray with a space therebetween, so that it is possible to take out the paper and check the copy quality without any troublesome work while reducing the installation space. Operability is improved.

By forming the paper discharge tray on the upper surface of the case that stores the image forming means, it is not necessary to separately provide a member for stacking the discharged recording paper. Since the image forming means can be pulled out from the support frame, it is easy to take out the sheet discharged above the image forming means. For this purpose, it is preferable that the U-shaped unit is formed by the support frame supporting the reading unit, and the discharge tray, the image forming unit, and the sheet unit are accommodated in the space area.

Further, the image forming means has a transfer device for feeding the recording paper upward along one side surface of the paper means and transferring the image formed on the image carrier as a constituent member to the same side surface as the side surface. In this case, the length of the paper transport path can be shortened, and the copy speed is improved. Further, the image forming means
If the fixing device as a constituent member is provided above the transfer device along the side surface, the effect is further enhanced.

If the apparatus operation side of the space is open so that the recording paper on the paper discharge tray can be easily taken out, the paper can be more easily taken out.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic perspective view of an apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an overall schematic perspective view of another example, in which A is in operation, B is a state of maintenance and inspection such as jam clearance, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a reading unit, FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a base unit, FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an example of an image forming unit, FIG. 6 is a block diagram of components of a substrate of the base unit, and FIG. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a transport unit, FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a transport fixing unit, and FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a modified example of the transport fixing unit. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Reading unit 2 ... 1st support frame (base unit) 3 ... 2nd support frame 4 ... Image forming unit 5 ... Paper unit (paper feed cassette) 6 ... Fixing unit 7 ... Discharge tray

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification symbol FI B65H 31/00 G03G 15/00 550 G03G 15/00 550 B41J 29/00 B (72) Inventor Koichi Noguchi 1-3-3 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo No. 6 Inside Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Takashi Mori, Inventor 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Tokyo (72) Koichiro Jinnai, Inventor Koichiro Jinnai 1-3-6, Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo No. Ricoh Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-2-189069 (JP, A) JP-A-62-270968 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H04N 1/00 B65H 31/00 G03G 15/00

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] A reading unit having an optical system for forming an image of reflected light from an original on an image sensor; an image forming unit for forming an image based on an image signal from the reading unit;
Paper means constituting a sheet feeding device for feeding the image data to the sheet image forming means, wherein the reading means is provided above the image forming means by a support frame so as to form a space between the sheet forming means and the image forming means. An image forming apparatus which is supported and provided so that a recording paper discharge tray is located in the space. 2. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said sheet means is arranged below said image forming means. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said recording paper discharge tray is formed on an upper surface of a case for storing image forming means. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image forming means is configured to be able to be pulled out from said support frame. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said support frame forms a U-shaped unit by supporting said reading means, and a recording paper discharge tray, an image forming means, and a paper means are accommodated in a space area thereof. Item 4. The image forming apparatus according to any one of Items 1 to 3. 6. A recording sheet is fed upward along one side of said sheet means, and said image forming means is provided on the same side as said side.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a transfer device that transfers an image formed on an image carrier serving as a constituent member. 7. An image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said image forming means has a fixing device as a constituent member above said transfer device along said side surface. 8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an apparatus operation side of the space is opened so that the recording paper on the paper discharge tray can be easily taken out. Image forming device.