JP3947415B2 - Image processing device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus.
[0002]
[Prior art]
An image processing apparatus typified by a copying apparatus or a multi-function apparatus capable of copying or printing personal computer data has a scanner on the upper surface of the apparatus main body, an image forming unit in the apparatus main body, and a print medium horizontally in the apparatus main body. There is known one having a paper feed unit composed of a cassette stored in the printer.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In such an image processing apparatus, for example, a copying apparatus, a scanner is provided on the uppermost surface, and the main body of the apparatus is at least the largest document that can be read. Will occupy the area. The same applies to a multifunction device having a scanner.
[0004]
Further, since such an image processing apparatus is provided with a scanner surface on the upper surface of the apparatus, a printed print medium cannot be discharged on the upper surface of the apparatus, and thus is discharged on the side of the apparatus. In addition to the above area, the floor area is required by adding the maximum area of the print medium.
[0005]
An image processing apparatus of the present invention includes a paper feed unit that stores a print medium in an upright state,
An image forming unit that is provided above the paper feeding unit and that prints on a print medium supplied from the paper feeding unit;
An image reading unit provided above the paper feeding unit, arranged with at least an image reading surface in the stowed state, and reading an image written on a reading medium;
A stack unit that is provided above the image forming unit and the image reading unit and stores a printed medium printed by the image forming unit in a standing state;
And a transport unit that transports the print medium in a standing state over a path from the paper feed unit to the stack unit entrance via the image forming unit.
[0006]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an image processing apparatus for explaining an image processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line A1-A2 in FIG. . These image processing devices are shown on the floor.
[0007]
In FIG. 1, the image processing apparatus includes a paper feeding unit 10, an image forming unit 20 disposed above the paper feeding unit 10, a stack unit 30 disposed further above the image forming unit 20, and a paper feeding unit 10. And an image reading unit 40 provided between the stack unit 30 and the main body 1 that stores these units.
[0008]
First, the overall configuration of the image processing apparatus will be described. The image processing apparatus includes a print medium feeding unit 10, an image forming unit 20, an image reading unit 40, and a printed medium stack unit 30 that overlap each other. When viewed from the front, as shown in FIG. 2, the sheet feeding unit 10 is provided at the bottom, the image reading unit 40 is provided thereon, and the stack unit 30 is further provided thereon.
[0009]
Next, details of each component will be described. First, the paper feeding unit 10 will be described. FIG. 1 shows a state where the paper feeding unit 10 is opened. The paper supply unit 10 is configured to store the print medium 4 in an upright state. The paper supply unit 10 includes a print medium storage box 11, and the storage box 11 is attached to the main body 1 so that the upper direction can be freely opened and closed. The print medium storage box 11 is provided on the guide plate 12, the spring 13 that presses the guide plate 12 in the direction of the main body 1, the convex guide 14, and the upper portion of the medium storage box 11 so as not to be detached from the main body. And the stopper 15.
[0010]
The other side of the paper feeding unit 10 is provided in the main body 1 and includes a concave guide 16, a hopping roller 17, a separation unit 18, and a registration roller 19.
[0011]
The sheet feeding unit 10 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3.
[0012]
The convex guide 14 is formed in a semi-conical shape in which the lower part swells in the center but does not swell as it goes upward. On the contrary, the lower part of the concave guide 16 is recessed at the center and the peripheral part protrudes, but like the convex guide 14, it is formed so that the protrusion disappears and becomes flat as it goes to the upper part. As shown in FIG. 3, the print medium lower part 4-1 is sandwiched between the convex guide 14 and the concave guide 16 so as to be curved and stored, so that the print medium 4 becomes resistant to the stress in the vertical direction. Can be held in a standing state.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 3, the print medium 4 held in the above-described state is flatly guided by the guide plate 12 at the upper part of the print medium 4-2, and is directed toward the hopping roller 17 by the spring 13. Pressed. The hopping roller 17 is a D-shaped roller, and does not protrude from the concave guide 16 except during hopping so as not to apply a friction load. When the hopping roller makes one rotation while the printing medium storage box 11 shown in FIG. 1 is closed, the printing medium 4 is fed to the separation unit 18 and separated one by one and sent to the registration roller 19. The separating unit 18 includes a friction pad and a roller, and separates the printing media 4 one by one when the hopping roller 17 sends a plurality of printing media 4.
[0014]
A sensor (not shown) is provided in front of the registration roller 19, and when this sensor detects the arrival of the printing medium 4, the registration roller 19 rotates slightly after aligning the printing medium 4 in parallel with the registration roller 19. By stopping, the front end of the print medium 4 is held in a bitten state.
[0015]
Next, the image forming unit 20 will be described. The image forming unit 20 is formed from an inkjet printer engine, an electrophotographic printer engine, a thermal printer engine, or the like. The image forming unit 20 is provided on the back surface of the main body 1.
[0016]
When the preparation for printing is completed in the image forming unit 20 shown in FIG. 1, the printing medium 4 is conveyed from the registration roller 19 in a standing state, and is printed in a standing state by the image forming unit 20.
[0017]
Next, the stack unit 30 will be described. The stack unit 30 includes a stack plate 31, a stopper 32, medium guides 33 and 34, a transport roller 35, and a select guide 36.
[0018]
The printed medium 5 is driven by the transport roller 35 and transported along the medium guide 33, and the direction is changed by the medium guide 34, for example, stacked on the uppermost stack plate 31. The stack plate 31 has a stopper 32 and stores the printed medium 5.
[0019]
When stored in the multi-stacker as in the present embodiment, only the selected select guide 36 blocks the vertical medium transport path, and the other select guides 36 do not block the vertical medium transport path. The printed medium 5 is guided to a desired stack plate 31 by being conveyed.
[0020]
Next, the image reading unit 40 will be described. The image reading unit 40 includes a reading unit main body 41 and a reading unit cover 42.
[0021]
The reading unit main body 41 is provided in front of the main unit 1, has an image reading sensor (not shown), and reads information described on the reading medium 6 placed on the reading unit main body 41. Consists of a scanner. The reading unit cover 42 holds the reading medium 6 so as to be flat. The reading unit main body 41 and the reading unit cover 42 are pivotally supported so as to be rotatable between a position in which the reading unit main body 41 and the reading unit cover 42 are stood in the main body 1 around the rotation shaft 43 and a position horizontally protruding forward.
[0022]
The lower portion of the reading unit main body 41 is supported by the end of the main body 1 so that the reading unit main body 41 is stabilized horizontally when pulled out forward. It is further stable when supported by the guide stopper 44. The height of the reading unit main body 41 is preferably about 80 cm to 120 cm so that the scanner can be easily operated.
[0023]
The image reading unit 40 is placed in front of the operator so that the scanner reading operation is easy, and the image forming unit 20 is placed behind the image reading unit 40. Since the image forming unit 20 does not need to be accessed unless the toner or ink runs out or the print medium 4 is jammed, there is no problem even if it is located behind the main body. For these maintenances, it is preferable to open the image reading unit 40 on the side surface or the front surface of the main body 1 so that the inside of the image forming unit 20 can be accessed.
[0024]
Next, an example in which a tandem type electrophotographic apparatus is used as a specific example of a print engine used as the image forming unit 20 will be described.
[0025]
As shown in FIG. 4, the tandem-type electrophotographic apparatus prints an image drum cartridge 60Y for printing yellow, an image drum cartridge 60M for printing magenta, an image drum cartridge 60C for printing cyan, and black as a print engine. The image drum cartridges 60K for this purpose are sequentially stacked in the upward direction.
[0026]
The image drum cartridge 60Y for printing yellow is composed of a photosensitive drum 61Y, a charging device 62Y including a charging roller, an exposure device 63Y including an LED head, and a developing device 64Y including a developing roller and a toner storage unit. The
[0027]
Each color image drum cartridge has the same configuration as the yellow image drum cartridge, and the color of the toner stored in the toner storage unit is different.
[0028]
At a position facing these image drum cartridges 60, a conveyance belt 65 that adsorbs the print medium 4 with static electricity and conveys it upward is provided. A belt charging roller 66 is provided at the bottom of the conveyance belt 65, whereby the surface of the conveyance belt 65 is charged and the print medium 4 is adsorbed.
[0029]
Transfer rollers 67Y, 67M, 67C, and 67K are provided at positions corresponding to the respective photosensitive drums 61 of the transport belt 65.
[0030]
In the printing by the electrophotographic apparatus, the surface of the photosensitive drum 61 is charged by the charging device 62 as in the known electrophotographic apparatus, and the surface of the photosensitive drum 61 is exposed by the exposure device 63 to form an electrostatic latent image. A toner layer is formed on the photosensitive drum 61 by the developing device 64, and the toner image is transferred from the photosensitive drum 61 to the printing medium by the transfer roller 67.
[0031]
Immediately above each of the transfer rollers 67Y, 67M, and 67C, fixing devices 68Y, 68M, and 68C for presupposing the transferred toner as needed are provided. These fixing devices 68 fix the toner at a temperature lower than the final fixing temperature, so that the toner is not completely fixed to the print medium but is not peeled off during conveyance. A high-temperature fixing roller 69 is provided on the transfer roller 67K, and completely fixes the toner onto the printing medium onto which the toner has been transferred.
[0032]
Assuming that each fixing device 68 is attached, the toner does not come off from the print medium even when the print medium is conveyed in an upright state. In addition, since the temperature of the fixing device can be lowered due to the assumption, the life of the conveying belt 65 can be kept long and the power consumption in the fixing device can be suppressed. It should be noted that the fixing device for these assumptions can be eliminated by strongly attaching the toner image to the printing medium with a strong electrostatic force or the like.
[0033]
(Effects of the first embodiment)
As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, since the image reading unit 40 and the stack unit 30 of the printed medium 5 are overlapped, the image processing apparatus main body having these image reading units 40 is provided. 1 can be formed thin.
[0034]
Furthermore, since the image reading unit 40 is stored in a standing state and can be pulled out when necessary, the main body 1 of the image processing apparatus can be made very thin, and a board type image processing apparatus can be obtained.
[0035]
That is, the thickness of the image processing apparatus can be significantly reduced compared to the height direction and the width direction.
[0036]
Thereby, the floor area to be installed can be reduced, and the office can be widely used, for example, by placing it on the wall of the office or as part of a partition between departments.
[0037]
Even if a tandem type electrophotographic printer is used for the image forming unit 20, since the print engines for each color are stacked vertically, a high-quality color image can be obtained at high speed without increasing the floor area to be installed.
[0038]
In addition, if a thin image reading unit 40 is used, the main body can be held by standing in a position perpendicular to the floor surface when not in use, without being stored in the main body 1 as in the above embodiment. Thus, a substantially thin image processing apparatus with little protrusion of the image reading unit 40 from 1 can be obtained.
[0039]
(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an image processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
[0040]
In FIG. 5, the image processing apparatus includes a paper feeding unit 10, an image forming unit 20 provided on the paper feeding unit 10, a stack unit 30 provided thereon, and a space between the paper feeding unit 10 and the stack unit 30. The image reading unit 40 is provided. Since the sheet feeding unit 10 and the image forming unit 20 have the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted.
[0041]
The image forming unit 20 is configured to protrude rearward. When a relatively small engine such as an ink jet is used as the engine of the image forming unit 20, the rear side can be configured flat as in the first embodiment. However, in the case where the engine is an electrophotographic apparatus as described above, the engine is relatively large, and therefore it is preferable that the engine protrudes rearward and is stored.
[0042]
The stack unit 30 has the following configuration.
[0043]
In the drawing, the state in which the stacker 37 is opened is indicated by a dotted line. The stack unit 30 includes medium guides 33 and 34, a conveyance roller 35, a stacker 37, and a stack guide plate 38 that guides the printed medium 5 loosely.
[0044]
The stack guide plate 38 is loosely pressed forward by a torsion spring (not shown). This strength is strong enough that the printed medium 5 does not stop halfway between the stack guide plate 38 and the front surface of the stacker 37.
[0045]
The printed medium 5 is transported by a transport unit including a medium guide 33 and a transport roller 35. In order to prevent the printed medium 5 from being jammed between the conveying rollers 35, it is preferable to connect the conveying rollers with a conveying belt 39 made of a belt-like rubber as shown in the figure.
[0046]
The printed medium 5 is stored in the stacker 37 in a state where the leading end is conveyed along the medium guide 34 and reversed. At this time, the printed medium 5 is guided and held by the stack guide plate 38.
[0047]
When the stacker 37 is formed to be transparent, it is possible to confirm the printed contents that are stacked and held from the outside.
[0048]
The image reading unit 40 includes a reading unit main body 41 housed in the main body 1 and a reading unit cover 6 that can be opened and closed forward.
[0049]
The reading unit main body 41 is held in the main body 1 in the vertical direction with the reading surface facing forward. The reading unit main body 41 can read the information by sandwiching the reading medium 6 with the writing surface facing the reading unit main body side between the reading unit main body 41 and the reading unit cover 42. The reading unit cover 42 can be opened and closed forward. However, like the reading unit main body 41 of the first embodiment, the reading medium 6 can be read by the image reading unit 40 by limiting the rotation range from a vertical position to a horizontal position. Can be prevented from falling off. As for the limitation of the rotation range of the reading unit cover 42, it is preferable to use a guide stopper (not shown) or a lower portion thereof supported by the end of the main body 1 as in the first embodiment.
[0050]
(Effect of the second embodiment)
As described above, in the second embodiment of the present invention, since the stack unit 30 holds the printed medium 5 in an upright state, the image is thinner than the image processing apparatus of the first embodiment. It can be a processing device.
[0051]
Furthermore, since the reading unit main body 41 of the image reading unit 40 is stood and fixed in the main body, and only the reading unit cover 42 that is lighter than the reading unit main body 41 can be opened and closed, the operator can open and close without using force. In addition to being able to operate, since the member opened forward is the reading unit cover 42 and is light, it can be supported horizontally with a simple configuration.
[0052]
In the present embodiment, when the stacker is transparent, the printed medium can be held upright and the printed contents can be visually recognized from the outside, so that the printing result can be used instead of the poster or the bulletin board. In addition, unlike a CRT or plasma display panel, the print medium once displayed is continuously displayed without being energized, so that the image processing apparatus can be used as an energy-saving display medium.
[0053]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, since the stack portion of the printed medium is overlapped on the image reading portion, the image processing apparatus having the image reading portion can be formed thin.
[0054]
In each of the above embodiments, the image forming unit 20 and the reading unit main body 41 are arranged at the same height on the paper feeding unit 10. However, the image forming unit 20 and the reading unit main body 41 are arranged in the same height. It is good also as a structure piled up and down. In this case, either may be set up depending on the shape of the image forming unit 20 or the shape of the image reading unit 40.
[0055]
For example, when the print engine in the image forming unit 20 is a monochrome electrophotographic apparatus or an inkjet, the image forming unit 20 may be provided on the paper feeding unit 10 and below the image reading unit 40. In this case, the sheet feeding unit 10, the image forming unit 20, the image reading unit 40, and the stack unit 30 are arranged from the bottom. Further, a medium transport unit including a combination of the medium guide 33 and the transport roller in FIG. 5 may be provided behind the image reading unit 40 in order to transport the printed medium 5.
[0056]
Conversely, the image forming unit 20 is provided on the image reading unit 40, and the medium conveying unit conveys the print medium 4 to the image forming unit 20, where printing is performed and discharged to the stack unit 30 thereon. May be.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a first embodiment of an image processing apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a front view for explaining the first embodiment of the image processing apparatus of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A1-A2 for explaining the first embodiment of the image processing apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a main cross-sectional view for explaining an example of a print engine.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view for explaining a second embodiment of the image processing apparatus according to the present invention;
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1: Main body, 10: Paper feeding part, 11: Printing medium storage box 12: Guide plate, 20: Image forming part, 30: Stack part, 31: Stack board 40: Image reading part, 41: Reading part main body, 42: Reading unit cover 44: guide stopper.

Claims (5)

A paper feed unit for storing print media in an upright state;
An image forming unit that is provided above the paper feeding unit and that prints on a print medium supplied from the paper feeding unit;
An image reading unit provided above the paper feeding unit , arranged with at least an image reading surface standing when stored , and reading an image described on a reading medium;
A stack unit that is provided above the image forming unit and the image reading unit and stores a printed medium printed by the image forming unit in a standing state ;
An image processing apparatus comprising: a conveyance unit configured to convey the print medium in a standing state over a path from the sheet feeding unit to the stack unit entrance via the image forming unit .   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image reading unit is provided on a front surface in the main body of the image processing apparatus and is accessible from the front surface.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image reading unit is housed in a standing state in a main body of the image processing apparatus, and is drawn forward so that the reading surface is substantially horizontal.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image reading unit is fixedly housed in a standing state in the main body so that a reading surface is a front surface, and a cover is drawn forward. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming unit includes a color electrophotographic printer engine in which a plurality of image drum cartridges are stacked in a vertical direction.

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