JP3529864B2 - Staple remover and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a staple remover,
And an image forming apparatus using the staple remover.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a document feeder for automatically conveying a document is used in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile, it is necessary to remove the staples from the document previously stapled. 2. Description of the Related Art A staple remover is provided as a device for removing staples stuck on a document.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-50455 discloses a staple remover provided on the upper surface of a copying machine. The staple remover is mounted in a recess formed in the upper wall of the copying machine, and the tip of the strip portion projects further upward from the upper wall of the copying machine. When removing the staples, the tip of the strip portion is inserted between the sheet and the staples, and the sheet is moved. Then, the staples are removed from the sheet. Here, since the staple remover is provided in the copying machine in this state, the operator who uses the copying machine does not need to carry the staple remover, and the loss of the staple remover can be prevented.

[0004]

Problems to be Solved by the Invention JP-A-59-5045
In the staple remover disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5 publication, since the tip of the strip portion projects upward from the upper wall of the copying machine, there is a possibility that the worker's clothes may be caught on the tip of the strip portion during copying. It is a danger. An object of the present invention is to improve the safety of the staple remover provided in the image forming apparatus.

[0005]

A staple remover according to one aspect of the present invention is provided on an upper wall of an image forming apparatus,
The stapler is for removing staples stopped on the sheet, and includes a remover body and an operating mechanism. The remover main body has a strip portion and is arranged above the upper wall at a predetermined distance. The operation mechanism includes an operation plate having a remover main body fixed to a lower portion, and an elastic member that supports the operation plate so as to be vertically movable and rotatable with respect to an upper wall.

The remover body preferably has a pair of left and right strip portions. It is preferable that the upper wall further includes a pair of collection boxes provided outside the pair of strip portions in the rotational direction. An image forming apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention includes an image forming apparatus main body and a staple remover. The image forming apparatus main body has an upper wall and is for reading and processing an image of a document. The staple remover is for removing the staples fixed to the sheet, and includes a remover main body and an operating mechanism. The remover main body has a strip portion and is arranged apart from the upper wall by a predetermined distance. The operating mechanism is
The remover body has an operation plate fixed to the lower portion, and an elastic member that supports the operation plate so as to be vertically movable and rotatable with respect to the upper wall.

[0007]

In the present invention, since the remover body of the staple remover is fixed to the lower portion of the operation plate, the operator is not injured by the strip portion of the remover body. When the staple remover is used, the stapled portion of the sheet is arranged between the staple remover and the upper wall of the image forming apparatus, and then the operator presses the operation plate against the upper wall. When the operator rotates the operation plate in that state, the strip portion of the remover body enters between the staples fixed to the sheet and removes the staple from the sheet. The rotated operation plate and remover body return to the initial position by the restoring force of the elastic member or the operator's operation.

When the remover main body has a pair of left and right strips, the staples can be easily removed regardless of the position and orientation of the staples fixed to the sheet. When the pair of collection boxes is further provided, the staple removed from the sheet by the strip portion is collected in the collection box. As a result, the removed staples are not scattered and the aesthetics around the staple remover is maintained.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a copying machine in which an embodiment of the present invention is adopted. This copying machine is mainly composed of the copying machine main body 1
And a sorter 2 disposed on the side of the copying machine body 1. Inside the copying machine main body 1, an image forming section, a document scanning section arranged above the image forming section, and a sheet transport for supplying a sheet to the image forming section and discharging a sheet from the image forming section. And a device. The image forming unit has a photosensitive drum arranged in the center and a charging device, a developing device, a transfer device, a paper separating device and a cleaning device arranged around the photosensitive drum. The document scanning section has an optical system arranged above the image forming section, a document table arranged above the optical system, and a document cover 3 arranged on the document table. The document cover 3 is provided on the copying machine main body 1 so as to be openable and closable, and has a shape that covers the upper surface of the document table. An automatic document feeder 4 is provided on the upper surface of the document table 3.

An operation panel 5 for operating the copying machine body 1 is provided on the front side of the upper surface of the copying machine body 1. The operation panel 5 is provided with a liquid crystal display for displaying operation modes, a ten-key pad for inputting numerical values such as the number of copies, and a print button for instructing the start of copy operation. A recess 7a of the upper wall 7 is formed on the upper surface of the document cover 3, and the staple remover 6 is mounted in the recess 7a. The staple remover 6 mainly includes a remover main body 11, an operation plate 12, and a coil spring 13.

The remover body 11 has a pair of left and right strip portions 11a, as is apparent from FIG. Each strip portion 11a has a flat lower surface and a tapered upper surface. The operation plate 12 has a disc shape, and the remover main body 11 is fixed to the lower portion thereof. Operation board 1
2, the part to which the remover body 11 is fixed is a transparent window 12a made of acrylic resin. Thereby, the operator can confirm the periphery of the remover main body 11. In the transparent window 12a, an index 12 for accurately arranging the staples is provided on the outer side in the circumferential direction of each strip portion 11a.
b is marked.

The upper end of the coil spring 13 is the operation plate 1.
2 is fixed to the central portion of the lower surface and the lower end is fixed to the upper wall 7. The operation plate 12 and the remover body 11 are arranged above the upper wall 7a by a predetermined distance by the coil spring 13. In addition, on the upper wall 7, the remover body 1
In the vicinity of 1, a raised portion 7a that gently rises is formed. On the outer wall of the upper wall 7 in the circumferential direction of each strip portion 11a, the first collection box 16a and the second collection box 16a are provided.
A collection box 16b is formed.

When the staple remover 6 is not used, 3
The operation plate 12 is stored at the position indicated by the dotted line. As described above, when the staple remover 6 is not used, the remover main body 11 is arranged below the operation plate 12, so that the operator is not injured by the strip portion 11a. When using the staple remover 6, return the staple remover 6 to the use position shown by the solid line in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the portion where the staple S of the paper P is stopped is arranged on the tip side of the strip portion 11a of the remover body 11 (the back portion of the staple S is facing up).
At this time, the staple S is aligned with the index 12b marked on the operation plate 12. Note that the staple S is the index 12b.
It can be confirmed by the transparent window 12a whether or not The staple S is placed on either the left or right strip portion 11a.
Whether to dispose on the side is selected on the side where the staple S is easily removed depending on the position and the direction in which the staple S is stopped by the paper P (FIGS. 5 and 6).

Here, the paper P is raised by the raised portion 7a.
Since the part where the staple S of is stopped is bent upward,
The tip of the strip portion 11a has a staple S and a paper P.
It is easy to enter between and. Subsequently, the operator pushes the operation plate 12 downward from the state of FIG. 7, and then rotates the operation plate 12 and the remover main body 11. At this time,
The coil spring 13 contracts in the vertical direction and then twists. The leading end of the strip portion 11a enters between the staple S and the paper P and removes the staple S from the paper P. As shown in FIG. 8, the removed staple S is collected in the collection box on the rotation direction side (in this case, the first collection box 16a). As a result, the staple S removed from the paper P does not scatter, and the appearance around the staple remover 6 is maintained.

When the operator releases his / her hand from the operation plate 12 after the above operation, the operation plate 12 and the remover main body 11 rotate and move upward due to the restoring force of the coil spring 13. The above staple removing operation is easily and surely performed by a series of operations such as arranging the paper P, pushing down the operation plate 12, and rotating the operation plate 12. Further, since it is not necessary to move the paper P, the operability is greatly improved as compared with the conventional one.

Here, since the remover main body 11 has the pair of left and right strip portions 11a, the staples can be easily removed regardless of the position and orientation of the staples fixed to the sheet. [Other Embodiments] The remover main body 11 and the operation plate 12 may be used at positions close to the upper wall 7 (positions indicated by dotted lines in FIG. 3). Here, when removing the staples, the operator pulls the operation plate 12 upward and sandwiches the paper P between the remover body 11 and the upper wall 7a. When the operation plate 12 is released, the remover main body 11 automatically pushes the paper from above.
In this case, the force with which the operator pushes the operation plate 12 can be reduced as compared with the above-described embodiment.

[0017]

According to the present invention, since the remover body of the staple remover is fixed to the lower portion of the operation plate, the operator is not injured by the strip portion of the remover body. When the remover main body has a pair of left and right strip portions, the staples can be easily removed regardless of the position and orientation of the staples fixed to the sheet.

When the pair of recovery boxes is further provided, the staples removed from the sheet by the strip section are recovered in the recovery box. As a result, the removed staples are not scattered and the aesthetics around the staple remover is maintained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a copying machine to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of a staple remover.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the staple remover.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the staple remover.

FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 showing one operation state of the staple remover.

FIG. 6 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2 showing a state of a staple remover.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing one operation of the staple remover.

FIG. 8 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 7 showing one operation of the staple remover.

[Explanation of symbols]

6 Staple remover 11 remover body 12 Operation board 13 coil spring

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. A staple remover provided on an upper wall of an image forming apparatus for removing staples fastened to a sheet, the staple remover having a strip portion, and arranged at a predetermined distance above the upper wall. A remover body, an operation mechanism having an operation plate having the remover body fixed to a lower portion, and an elastic member that supports the operation plate in a vertically movable and rotatable manner with respect to the upper wall. Remover. 2. The staple remover according to claim 1, wherein the remover body has a pair of left and right strip portions. 3. The staple remover according to claim 2, further comprising a pair of recovery boxes provided on the upper wall outside the pair of strip portions in the rotational direction. 4. An image forming apparatus main body having an upper wall for reading and processing an image of a document, a remover main body having a strip portion and arranged at a predetermined distance from the upper wall, and the remover. A main body includes an operation mechanism having an operation plate fixed to a lower portion and an elastic member that supports the operation plate vertically and rotatably with respect to the upper wall, for removing staples fixed to a sheet. And an image forming apparatus including the staple remover. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the remover main body has a pair of left and right strip portions. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the staple remover further includes a pair of recovery boxes provided on both sides of the upper wall in the circumferential direction of the pair of strip portions. 7. A smooth convex portion is formed on a portion of the upper wall corresponding to the strip portion.
The image forming apparatus according to any one of 6 above.