JP3512032B2 - Image forming 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 in which an opening / closing door for jam processing and an option module for handling paper are arranged on one side of the apparatus body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a laser beam printer, it is possible to integrally arrange a sorter device in a copy discharge portion or a paper conveying device unit for double-sided copying. Has been done. And
Even when the structure of the apparatus main body is simplified, the function of the image forming apparatus can be easily expanded, the application of the image forming apparatus is expanded, and the usability is improved. For example, in the example disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-308354, etc., it has been proposed that an electrophotographic copying machine main body is arbitrarily combined with a device such as a paper reversing / conveying unit and a paper handling unit. In the above-mentioned conventional example, an intermediate tray function is incorporated in the paper handling unit and combined with a paper reversing / conveying unit so as to have a function of making a double-sided copy or a multiple copy.

An example of equipping a laser beam printer with an optional function is, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-250.
A device as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 464 or the like has been proposed. In the conventional example, as shown in FIG. 6, a compact image forming apparatus 1 is provided with an image forming unit using an electrophotographic method. Writing device 1 for drum 10
A means for irradiating a laser from 2 to write an image, a developing device 11, a transfer device and the like are arranged. Further, a paper feed tray 6 provided in the main body and a paper feed tray 6a of an additional paper feed device are arranged below the image forming unit, and paper is fed using the paper feed devices 7 and 7a provided in the respective trays. After the toner image is sent out and the toner image is transferred from the photoconductor drum, the toner image is fixed by the fixing device 14 arranged on the upper portion. Then, the paper discharged as a copy is discharged to the discharge tray 17 arranged at the upper part of the apparatus main body or the paper reversing unit 25.
The discharge tray 29 can be discharged.

In the paper reversing unit 25, a reversing path 28 connected to a paper feeding path in the lower part of the apparatus main body and a path for discharging to a discharge tray 29 via a gate 26 are formed. Then, the sheet is conveyed toward the reverse path, and in order to cope with the copy on the back side, the sheet is sent from the fixing device 14 toward the discharge tray 17, and the rear end portion of the sheet is nipped by the discharge roller device 16. In this state, the discharge roller device is driven in reverse. Therefore, the sheet to be conveyed corresponding to the double-sided copy passes through the gate 15 and is sent out from the apparatus main body, and is guided from the discharge roller device 18 to the inversion path 28 via the gate 26 of the sheet inversion unit 25. be able to. As described above, in the conventional small-sized image forming apparatus, the sheet reversing device is disposed in the main body of the apparatus by connecting the copy ejection path and the sheet feeding path from the sheet feeding tray to the sheet reversing ejection and double-sided ejection. It can be adapted to copy.

[0005]

However, as shown in the above-mentioned conventional example, when a small laser beam printer or the like is equipped with an optional module on the side of the main body of the apparatus, movement of the apparatus, etc. There are many problems involved. For example, the module placed on the side of the main body of the device is placed so as to block the handle part of the main body and other parts on which the hand is put, so that it is an obstacle when trying to move the device. There is. Further, when a small module such as an image forming apparatus is integrally provided with other modules on its side, the center of gravity of the entire apparatus moves to the side, so that careless handling is required. Doing so may cause the device to fall over and toner may scatter inside the device.
Problems such as soiling other members also occur. Further, since the strength of the frame of the option module is not designed to be sufficiently strong, it is difficult to directly handle the module by hand, which may hinder the handling.

In addition to the above-mentioned problems, in a small-sized image forming apparatus, there is a case where the front door of the apparatus main body is opened for maintenance. However, when performing jam processing in the sheet conveying path, etc. , Means for opening the side door to perform the work. However, if an option module is provided on the side of the main body of the apparatus, the option module needs to be removed when performing work such as paper jam processing, which causes a problem that the workability of jam processing is significantly reduced. However, the attachment of the option module has a drawback that a large number of screw members and locking means are used, so that an inexperienced person cannot easily perform the work.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the problem of installing a module such as a sheet reversing / conveying means on one side of the main body of an image forming apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device that can easily cope with the above operation.

[0008]

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and the invention of claim 1 is directed to an image forming apparatus main body and a first support shaft provided on a side portion of the image forming apparatus main body. An opening / closing door that is rotatably supported via the first support shaft and that is used to perform a jam process on a sheet conveying path of the apparatus main body; A projecting member that projects laterally from the main body, an axial direction of the first support shaft that is lower than the first support shaft and lateral to the first support shaft with respect to the center of gravity of the main body. The second member provided on the protruding member so as to extend in the same direction.
And an option module rotatably provided on the second support shaft and attached to cover the opening / closing door, when the option module is rotated in a direction of separating from the main body. The opening / closing door is provided so that it can be opened. The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that the option module includes a conveyance path for reversing a sheet for double-sided operation.

With the above-described structure, the optional module such as the sheet reversing unit is provided on the side of the image forming apparatus main body so as to be rotatable so as to overlap the opening / closing door, so that the space can be saved. Furthermore, when the open / close door is opened and the jam is removed, the option module pivots greatly in the direction away from the open / close door.
Jam disposal by opening the open / close door becomes easy.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The configuration of the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the illustrated example. The example shown in FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the image forming apparatus main body. The image forming apparatus 1 is provided with an opening / closing door 3 on a side portion of the apparatus main body 2 via a hinge 4 as a first supporting shaft. A discharge tray 17 is arranged in the upper part. Further, as in the case of the conventional image forming apparatus, one sheet feeding tray 6 arranged inside the apparatus main body 2 can be pulled out on the front side of the apparatus to easily perform the operation of supplying paper. Configured as one. further,
A paper feeding device including a pickup roller 7 and a paper separating device 8 is arranged with respect to the paper feeding tray 6, and constitutes a mechanism for feeding the paper taken out from the paper feeding tray toward the paper conveying path. The photoconductor drum 10 is provided in the paper transport path.
The registration roller device 9 is arranged immediately in front of the toner image transfer position from, and the leading end of the paper fed from the paper feed tray is pushed into the nip position of the registration roller device 9 to allow the paper feeding device to perform an extra feeding action. It is provided to form a loop on the sheet and constitutes a unit for performing a matching action. The side opening / closing door 3 is used when performing jam processing or the like on the sheet conveying path of the apparatus main body, and also performs maintenance or the like for members that cannot be seen from the front side. Used when.

An image writing device 12 for writing an image is arranged on the photoconductor drum 10, and a mirror 13 for irradiating the photoconductor drum with a laser beam output from the image writing device. Then, the electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum. Further, the developing device 11, a cleaning device (not shown), an image transfer member, and the like are arranged on the photosensitive drum in the same manner as a device using a general electrophotographic method. Then, with respect to the paper fed from the paper feed tray, the registration roller device 9 performs a paper conveyance action at a speed corresponding to the peripheral speed of the photoconductor drum to transfer the toner image, and the toner image is transferred. The transferred sheet is fixed by the fixing device 14 to complete a copy, and is discharged to the discharge tray 17.

In the image forming apparatus 1, a path for discharging the paper is provided on the right and left sides of the fixing device 14 at the downstream side (upper part) of the fixing device 14 through the gate 15. From the discharge path on the right side of FIG. The sheet is ejected toward the ejection tray 17 through the device 16 with the image surface of the sheet facing downward. Further, the sheet is discharged from the discharge path provided on the left side of the gate 15 to the discharge tray 19 with the image surface of the sheet facing upward via the discharge roller device 18. A reference module 30 is attached to the left side portion of the image forming apparatus main body, and the manual feed tray 40 can be opened and closed with respect to the reference module 30 via a hinge member 41 as a second support shaft. The apparatus is arranged so that the sheet can be fed toward the sheet conveying path by using the sheet feeding roller 45. Furthermore, with respect to the sheet conveyance path of the image forming apparatus,
A paper feed path that joins the paper feed path from the manual feed tray is arranged, but the paper feed path is an optional module that is provided with a conveyance unit that supports double-sided operations such as double-sided copying, as will be described later. The connection is made so that it is possible to cope with the operation of conveying the one-sided copy sheet while reversing it and copying it to the back side.

In the device constructed as described above,
Similar to a general small-sized image forming apparatus, handles are formed at the four corners of the bottom of the main body, which are formed by recesses or the like for holding a hand when carrying. When the option module is not attached, the respective handle portions can be used to correspond to the movement operation of the device. Further, in the present embodiment, the reference module 30 is detachably arranged on the side portion of the main body of the apparatus, but the reference module 30 is provided with the handle portions 31 on the lower surfaces of the front and rear sides, respectively. It is designed to be used as an aid in the case. Further, as shown in the figure, the second support shaft 3 provided in the reference module 30.
4 is positioned laterally below the first support shaft 4, and in each member supported by the two support shafts 4 and 34, the outer member is opened, It is in a state where it does not interfere with the opening of the inner member.

As shown in the front view of FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 is provided with a paper feed tray 6 that can be pulled out on the front side, and a front door is provided above the paper feed tray. 5 is provided so as to be openable and closable, and the door can be opened to perform work when performing maintenance on the internal device. In addition, the device body 2
A reference module 30 is attached to the side of the reference module 30, a manual feed tray 40 is provided to the reference module 30 via a hinge member 41, and a manual feed tray is swingably provided via a support shaft 34. When the manual feed tray function is not used, the manual feed tray function is folded up and leans parallel to the side of the main body.

As described above, the reference module 30 arranged on the side of the main body of the image forming apparatus can be constructed as shown in FIG. 3, and the frame 32 is attached to the side of the main body 2 of the apparatus. The fixing means (not shown) is used for attachment. Also, inside the frame,
The reinforcing member 33 is arranged to perform the reinforcement corresponding to the handle portion 31 as shown in FIG. 2, and the reinforcing member 33 is configured to correspond to the weight of the option module. Since the main body of the apparatus is moved through the frame 32, the frame 32 is configured to be strong.

In this embodiment, the manual feed tray 40 is attached to the frame of the reference module 30 by the support shaft 34.
The hinge member 41 of the tray is attached to the support shaft 34 so as to be swingable.
In the manual feed tray 40, with respect to the tray body 42,
The auxiliary plate 44 is slidably provided so that a large size sheet can be supported with the auxiliary plate 44 pulled out. Further, with respect to the tray main body 42, side guides 43, 43a for restricting both side surfaces of the sheet are provided.
Although the two side guides are provided so that each of the two side guides is movable in the width direction of the sheet in the image forming apparatus in which the sheet conveying method in the sheet conveying path of the image forming apparatus is the center registration method, In the side register type device, only one is movable.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in addition to the case where only the manual feed tray is provided for the reference module 30, as for the reference module 30, as shown in FIG. Optional module 35
Can be placed. Option module 3
The reference numeral 5 designates a sheet reversing unit or the like as shown in FIG. 6, and the spindle of the reference module 30 is supported by a hinge member 36 provided so as to project below the frame of the option module. 34 to support. Then, the option module 3 via the support shaft 34
When the manual feed tray 4 is swung, the manual feed tray 40 can be regulated so as not to contact the manual feed tray 40.
0 and the option module 35 are allowed to open the opening / closing door 3 on the side of the apparatus main body in a state of being swung in the direction in which they are separated from the side surface of the image forming apparatus main body 2.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the manual feed tray 40 and the option module 35 are provided for the reference module 30, the reference module 30 is integrally provided with a paper feed roller or the like corresponding to the manual feed tray. Then, the sheet feeding means from the manual feed tray is configured. Further, by arranging a paper reversing mechanism in the option module 35, it is possible to cope with double-sided copying and multiple copying operations. Since the optional module 35 can be incorporated with an arbitrary sheet conveying mechanism, it is not necessary to incorporate a mechanism for inverting the sheet by using the gate of the discharge section as shown in FIG. It is also possible to add a reversing function to the paper transport path inside the option module.

In the apparatus of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, it is possible to mount only the option module 35 on the reference module 30 without disposing the manual feed tray. In the device shown in FIG. 5,
Since the hinge member 36 is attached to the frame of the reference module 30 via the support shaft 34 and the option module 35 is swingably mounted, the option module 35 can be easily swung. .
Further, in the option module 35 shown in each of FIGS. 4 and 5, the discharge path of the apparatus main body of FIG. 1 and the conveyance path that joins the paper feed path from the manual feed tray are connected to each other, and the reverse conveyance path of the paper is set. Since it is configured, it is not necessary to change the configuration of the paper transport path of the apparatus main body even when mounting any optional module.

[0020]

Since the apparatus of the present invention is configured as described above, an optional module such as a sheet reversing unit can be rotated at the side of the image forming apparatus main body so as to overlap the opening / closing door. Since it is provided, space can be saved. Further, when the open / close door is opened and the jam is removed, the option module pivots largely in the direction away from the open / close door, which facilitates the jam removal by opening the open / close door.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of sheet conveyance of an image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a manual feed tray is mounted on a side portion of an image forming apparatus main body via a reference module.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a reference module.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which an option module is swung with respect to a reference module via a support shaft.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which only the option module is attached to the reference module.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a conventional image forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 image forming apparatus, 3 opening / closing door, 5 front door, 10 photosensitive drum, 17 discharge tray, 25 paper reversing unit, 30 reference module, 31 handle part, 32 frame,
34 spindle, 35 option module, 36
Hinge member, 40 manual feed tray, 41 hinge member, 42 tray body.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-6-16279 (JP, A) JP-A-5-88422 (JP, A) JP-A-4-28677 (JP, A) JP-A-2- 234170 (JP, A) JP 1-92135 (JP, A) JP 6-3892 (JP, A) JP 3-253269 (JP, A) JP 62-31640 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 15/00 550 G03G 21/16-21/18 G03G 15/00 510-534 B41J 29/00-29/70

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sheet of an image forming apparatus main body, a first support shaft provided at a side portion of the image forming apparatus main body, and a sheet of the apparatus main body supported rotatably via the first support shaft. An opening / closing door for performing a jam treatment on the transport path, a projecting member that is attached to the device body using a fixing means, and projects laterally from the device body, and a body that is lower than the first support shaft and is the body. A second support shaft provided on the projecting member so as to extend laterally with respect to the center of gravity of the first support shaft in the same direction as the axial direction of the first support shaft; An option module rotatably provided on the second support shaft and attached so as to cover the opening / closing door, and the opening / closing door is opened when the option module is rotated in a direction separating from the main body. Specially set up so that it is possible Image forming apparatus to be used. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the option module includes a conveyance path that reverses a sheet for double-sided operation.