JP4107321B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having an image reading function, and is particularly effective when applied to a facsimile apparatus having a transmission / reception function.

As an image forming apparatus having an image reading function, for example, in the invention described in Patent Document 1, a reading document placement guide on which a reading document is placed is provided on the upper side of the main body, and the reading document placement guide is used as the reading document placement guide. It is configured to read an image written on the original while conveying the placed original from the upper rear side to the lower front side.
JP 2000-49989 A

  However, in an image forming apparatus with an image reading function of a so-called sheet feed (SF) type as in the invention described in Patent Document 1, the reading document placement guide is directed further upward from the upper part of the casing of the image forming apparatus. Therefore, the vertical (height) dimension of the image forming apparatus inevitably increases. For this reason, the invention described in Patent Document 1 has a problem that it cannot be installed in a place where a relatively large space cannot be secured on the upper side.

  The SF type image forming apparatus is often installed on a shelf. However, in order to install the SF type image forming apparatus, it is necessary to secure a relatively large space on the upper side. There is a problem in that a relatively large useless space (dead space) that has no other use is easily generated on the upper side of the forming apparatus.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that, in an image forming apparatus having an image reading function, the vertical (height) dimension is reduced to improve the installation property of the image forming apparatus.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a process cartridge (60) provided with a toner accommodating portion (64a) in which toner is accommodated, and an image is recorded on a recording medium. An electrophotographic image forming unit (10) to be formed, an image reading unit (43) for reading an image written on a document, an image forming unit (10), and an image reading unit (43) are housed and processed. A housing (3) in which the cartridge (60) is detachably mounted, an operation panel unit (80) operated by a user, and a document inserted from a document insertion slot (42a) is read by an image reading means (43). A document conveying means (41) that conveys the document to the document discharge port (42b), a side wall casing (3a) that is rotatably provided on the side wall of the casing (3), and a side wall casing (3a), the document insertion And to cover the mouth (42a) and the operation panel section (80), the document insertion opening (42a) and the operation panel section and a cover member and a state for exposing (3c) to (80), the document insertion opening (42a ) And the operation panel section (80) are provided in the side wall casing section (3a) , the document discharge port (42b) is opened in a substantially horizontal direction, and the operation panel section ( 80) .

  Normally, the image forming apparatus is installed with the operation panel (80) side as the front surface. Therefore, in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the document insertion slot (42a) is located on the front side of the image forming apparatus. The original for reading is inserted into the image forming apparatus from the front side. For this reason, in the present invention, it is not necessary to provide a reading document placement guide or the like on the upper portion of the image forming apparatus.

  Further, since the document whose image reading has been completed is discharged from the document discharge port (42b) opened substantially in the horizontal direction, a discharge tray or the like for placing the discharged document is extended upward. There is no need to provide it.

  Accordingly, since the vertical (height) dimension of the image forming apparatus can be reduced, it is not necessary to secure a relatively large space on the upper side, and a relatively large dead space is generated on the upper side of the image forming apparatus. Can be prevented. As a result, the image forming apparatus can be installed in a relatively low space such as in a shelf, and the installability of the image forming apparatus can be improved.

Also, a cover member (3c) that switches between a state of covering the document insertion slot (42a) and the operation panel section (80) and a state of exposing the document insertion slot (42a) and the operation panel section (80) is a side wall housing section. Since it is provided at (3 a ), it is possible to suppress dust and the like from adhering to the document insertion slot (42a) and the operation panel section (80) .
Therefore , for example, it is possible to prevent the image reading means (43) from being contaminated by dust entering from the document discharge port (42b) and to restrict the functional shapes of the document insertion port (42a) and the operation panel unit (80). Accordingly, it is possible to make the design shape of the image forming apparatus excellent in aesthetics.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the image forming unit (10) is provided below the housing (3), and includes a medium supply tray (21) in which a recording medium before image formation is stored, and a medium supply tray. (21), an image transfer unit (50, 60) for transferring an image to a recording medium conveyed from the medium supply tray (21), and an image transfer unit (50, 60) A fixing unit (70) provided on the downstream side in the transport direction and above the image transfer unit (50, 60) for fixing the image transferred to the recording medium, and supplied from the medium supply tray (21) The transported recording medium is transported to the image transfer section (50, 60), and the recording medium after fixing is transported to a discharge tray (5) provided on the upper side of the housing (3), thereby supplying the medium. From tray (21) to discharge tray (5) Characterized in that it is configured to have a recording medium conveying means constituting the medium transportation path curved in U-shape (L1).

  By the way, when the recording medium is smoothly conveyed and the conveyance direction is turned, it is desirable to make the curvature radius of the turning portion as large as possible. However, if the curvature radius of the turning portion is increased, the horizontal direction of the image forming apparatus is increased. The dimensions become large.

  For this reason, if the medium conveyance path is substantially S-shaped, the number of turning portions is increased as compared with the substantially U-shaped medium conveyance path, and thus the horizontal dimension of the image forming apparatus is increased. In other words, if the medium transport path is substantially U-shaped, the horizontal dimension of the image forming apparatus can be made smaller than that of an image forming apparatus having a substantially S-shaped medium transport path.

Therefore, as in the second aspect of the invention, if the medium transport path is substantially U-shaped, it is possible to prevent the horizontal dimension of the image forming apparatus from being enlarged even if the image reading means (43) is provided. .

In the case of claim 2 , as in the invention of claim 3 , if the image reading means (43) is housed in a portion of the housing (3) corresponding to the lower side of the discharge tray (5). Since the image reading means (43) is disposed in the dead space generated below the discharge tray (5), the provision of the image reading means (43) further increases the size of the image forming apparatus. While preventing, it can suppress that the horizontal dimension of an image forming apparatus becomes large.

In the invention described in claim 4 , the image forming section (10) is provided on the lower side of the housing (3), and includes a medium supply tray (21) storing a recording medium before image formation, and a medium supply tray. (21) provided above the image transfer unit (50, 60) for transferring an image to the recording medium, and provided downstream of the image transfer unit (50, 60) in the conveyance direction of the recording medium. The fixing unit (70) for fixing the transferred image and the conveyance direction of the recording medium supplied from the medium supply tray (21) are turned to approximately 180 ° and conveyed to the image transfer unit (50, 60) and fixed. The recording medium is transported to a discharge tray (5) provided on the upper side of the casing (3) by turning the transport direction of the recording medium that has been finished approximately 180 ° to thereby discharge the recording medium from the medium supply tray (21). Substantially S-shaped medium conveyance path to (5) (L1) and a recording medium conveying unit, and the image reading unit (43) is disposed on the document insertion port (42a) side of the housing (3). It is characterized by.

  As described above, if the medium conveyance path (L1) is substantially U-shaped, the horizontal dimension of the image forming apparatus can be suppressed from increasing, but the fixing unit (70) is more than the image transfer unit (50, 60). Since it must be arranged on the upper side, the vertical (height) direction dimension of the image forming apparatus may be enlarged. On the other hand, when the medium transport path (L1) is substantially S-shaped, the fixing unit (70) and the image transfer unit (50, 60) can be arranged in a horizontal direction.

Therefore, if the medium conveyance path (L1) is substantially S-shaped as in the fourth aspect of the invention, it is possible to suppress an increase in the vertical dimension of the image forming apparatus.
The invention according to claim 5 is characterized by comprising a document conveying means for conveying the document whose image has been read by the image reading means (43) to the discharge tray (5).

  As a result, the tray on which the recording medium on which image formation has been completed can be shared with the tray on which the document on which image reading has been completed can be shared, so that the image forming apparatus can be downsized. .

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a document conveying means that constitutes a document conveying path (L2) for conveying a document whose image has been read by the image reading means (43) to the discharge tray (5), A part of the path (L1) and a part of the document transport path (L2) are shared.

Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the size of the image forming apparatus as compared with the case where the document conveyance path (L2) and the medium conveyance path (L1) are provided independently.
Incidentally, in order to sharing a part of the medium transportation path (L1) and the document conveying path (L2) is, as in the invention recited in claim 7, of the medium transportation path (L1), media supply tray (21 ), A part of the medium transport path (L1) and a part of the document transport path (L2) may be shared on the downstream side of the transport direction with respect to the portion where the transport direction of the recording medium supplied from the head is approximately 180 °. desirable.

Further, the present invention is, as in the embodiment described in claim 8, separately from the document discharge port (42b), the medium outlet recording medium having been subjected to image formation by the image forming unit (10) is discharged (7 ) Can also be implemented.

Further, according to the present invention, as in the ninth aspect of the invention, the image transmission / reception that transmits the image read by the image reading means (43) and sends the transmitted image to the image forming unit (10) side is performed. A facsimile function may be provided by providing the means (90).

In the invention described in claim 10, the image reading means is housed in the side wall casing.
Incidentally, the reference numerals in parentheses for each of the above means are examples showing the correspondence with the specific means described in the embodiments described later, and the present invention is indicated by the reference numerals in the parentheses of the above respective means. It is not limited to specific means.

  In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a multifunction image forming apparatus having an electrophotographic image forming function (laser printer function), an image reading function (scanner function), and a facsimile function. Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
1. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of a multifunction image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. The multifunction image forming apparatus 1 is installed with the upper side of the paper as the upper side in the direction of gravity. Usually, the front side of the paper is used as the front side.

  On the upper surface side of the housing 3 of the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1, a paper discharge tray 5 on which a recording medium that has finished printing and is discharged from the housing 3 is placed. In the present embodiment, paper such as paper or an OHP sheet is assumed as the recording medium.

  Further, the paper discharge tray 5 is configured by a mounting surface 5a that is inclined so as to descend from the upper surface of the housing 3 toward the rear side, and printing is performed on the rear end side of the mounting surface 5a. A discharge unit 7 for discharging the finished recording medium is provided.

  An extension tray 5b that extends the mounting surface 5a is provided in a portion corresponding to the front side of the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 in the paper discharge tray 5, and hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, The extension tray 5b is also referred to as a paper discharge tray 5.

  Incidentally, in this embodiment, the expansion tray 5b is rotatably mounted on the mounting surface 5a. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the expansion tray 5b can be attached to and detached from the mounting surface 5a. It may be assembled to.

2. Configuration of multifunctional image forming apparatus 2.1. Schematic Configuration FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the main part of the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1. The image forming unit 10 constitutes an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium, and the feeder unit 20 constitutes a part of a conveying unit that supplies the recording medium to the image forming unit 10. The feeder unit 20 is turned approximately 180 ° so as to make a U-turn in the conveying direction of a recording medium fed from a sheet feeding tray 21 described later, and the image forming unit 10 disposed on the upper side of the sheet feeding tray 21. The recording medium is transported to.

  The discharge chute 30 turns approximately 180 ° so as to make a U-turn in the conveyance direction of the recording medium on which image formation has been completed in the image forming unit 10, and the recording medium is transferred to the discharge unit 7 provided above the fixing unit 70. It constitutes a guiding member for guiding.

  In addition, a discharge roller 32 that discharges the conveyed recording medium to the sheet discharge tray 5 is provided at the most downstream portion of the recording medium conveyance path 31 formed by the discharge chute 30. The discharge roller 32 has a conveyance direction reversal function for conveying the recording medium, which has been printed on one side by reversing its rotation direction, to the conveyance path 33 for double-sided printing during double-sided printing.

  An image reading unit (image scanner unit) 40 that reads an image written on a document is housed on the side wall of the housing 3, that is, on the front surface 3 a side of the housing 3. In the following description, a portion of the housing 3 in which the image forming unit 10 is housed is referred to as a housing body portion 3b, and a front surface portion 3a in which the image reading unit 40 is housed is referred to as a scanner side wall housing portion 3a.

  The transmission / reception board 90 converts the image data read by the image reading unit 40 and transmits the converted image data to another facsimile apparatus via a telephone line, and receives the image data transmitted from the other facsimile apparatus. Thus, image transmission / reception means to be sent to the image forming unit 10 is configured.

2.3. Feeder unit The feeder unit 20 includes a paper feed tray 21 housed in the lowermost part of the housing 3, and a recording medium provided on the paper feed tray 21 provided above the front end of the paper feed tray 21. A sheet feeding roller 22 that feeds (conveys) the sheet, and a separation pad 23 that is disposed at a portion facing the sheet feeding roller 22 to separate the recording medium one by one by applying a predetermined conveyance resistance to the recording medium It is comprised.

  Then, the recording medium placed on the paper feed tray 21 makes a U-turn on the front side in the housing 3, and enters the image forming unit 10 disposed at a substantially central portion in the housing 3. Be transported. For this reason, in the conveyance path of the recording medium from the paper feed tray 21 to the image forming unit 10, the recording conveyed to the image forming unit 10 while curving in a substantially U shape at a portion that is turned in a substantially U shape. A conveyance roller 24 that applies a conveyance force to the medium is disposed.

  A pressure roller 25 that presses the recording medium against the conveyance roller 24 is disposed at a portion facing the conveyance roller 24 across the recording medium. The pressure roller 25 is an elastic means (such as a coil spring). (Not shown in the figure).

  In addition, a registration roller 26 including a pair of rollers that adjusts the conveyance state of the recording medium by applying a conveyance resistance to the recording medium at the entrance of the image forming unit 10 in the conveyance path from the paper feed tray 21 to the image forming unit 10. Is arranged.

2.3. Image Forming Unit The image forming unit 10 includes an exposure device (scanner unit) 50, a process cartridge 60, a fixing unit 70, and the like.

2.3.1. Exposure Device The exposure device 50 is provided in the upper part of the housing 3 and forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of a photosensitive drum 61 described later. Specifically, a laser light source, a polygon mirror, an fθ lens, And a reflecting mirror.

  The laser beam emitted from the laser light source based on the image data is deflected by the polygon mirror, passes through the fθ lens, the optical path is folded back by the reflecting mirror, and the optical path is further bent downward by the reflecting mirror. As a result, the surface of the photosensitive drum 61 is irradiated and an electrostatic latent image is formed.

2.3.2. Process Cartridge The process cartridge 60 is at the lower side of the exposure device 50 is disposed in detachably housing 3, the process cartridge 60 includes the photosensitive drum 61, a charger 6 2, from 及 Beauty developing cartridge 64, etc. It is configured.

  The photosensitive drum 61 serves as an image carrying unit that carries an image to be transferred to a recording medium. The outermost layer is a cylindrical drum body 61a formed of a positively charged photosensitive layer made of polycarbonate or the like, In the axial center of this drum main body 61a, it has the drum axis | shaft 61b extended along the longitudinal direction of the drum main body 61a, and supporting the drum main body 61a rotatably.

  The charger 62 serves as a charging unit that charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 61. The charger 62 is disposed diagonally above the rear side of the photosensitive drum 61 so as not to contact the photosensitive drum 61 with a predetermined interval. It is installed. The charger 62 according to the present embodiment employs a scorotron charger that charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 61 substantially uniformly with positive charges using corona discharge.

  The transfer roller 63 is disposed opposite to the photosensitive drum 61 and rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 61, and is opposite to the charge charged on the photosensitive drum 61 when the recording medium passes near the photosensitive drum 61. Forming a transfer means for transferring the toner adhering to the surface of the photosensitive drum 61 to the printing surface of the recording medium by applying a negative charge (in this embodiment, a negative charge) to the recording medium from the side opposite to the printing surface. It is.

  The developing cartridge 64 includes a toner storage chamber 64a that stores toner, a toner supply roller 64b that supplies toner to the photosensitive drum 61, a developing roller 64c, and the like.

  The toner stored in the toner storage chamber 64a is supplied to the developing roller 64c side by the rotation of the toner supply roller 64b, and the toner supplied to the developing roller 64c side is carried on the surface of the developing roller 64c. In addition, the thickness of the toner carried by the layer thickness regulating blade 64d is adjusted to be constant (uniform) at a predetermined thickness, and then supplied to the surface of the photosensitive drum 61 exposed by the exposure device 50. The

2.3.3. Fixing Unit The fixing unit 70 is disposed on the downstream side of the photosensitive drum 61 in the recording medium conveyance direction, and fixes the toner transferred to the recording medium by heating and melting. Specifically, the fixing unit 70 is disposed on the printing surface side of the recording medium and heats the toner while applying a conveying force to the recording medium while heating the toner, and the opposite side of the heating roller 71 across the recording medium. And a pressure roller 72 that presses the recording medium toward the heating roller 71 and the like.

  Incidentally, the heating roller 71 is driven by a driving means such as a motor (not shown), while the pressure roller 72 is rotated by receiving a rotational force from the heating roller 71 via a recording medium in contact with the heating roller 71.

2.3.4. Outline of Image Forming Operation In the image forming unit 10, an image is formed on a recording medium as follows.
That is, the surface of the photosensitive drum 61 is uniformly positively charged by the charger 62 as it rotates, and then exposed by high-speed scanning of the laser beam emitted from the exposure device 50. As a result, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image to be formed on the recording medium is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 61.

  Next, when the developing roller 64 c rotates, the positively charged toner carried on the developing roller 64 c is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 61 when it contacts the photosensitive drum 61. The electrostatic latent image, that is, the surface of the photosensitive drum 61 that is uniformly positively charged, is supplied to an exposed portion exposed to a laser beam and having a lowered potential. As a result, the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 61 is visualized, and a toner image by reversal development is carried on the surface of the photosensitive drum 61.

  Thereafter, the toner image carried on the surface of the photosensitive drum 61 is transferred to a recording medium by a transfer bias applied to the transfer roller 63. Then, the recording medium onto which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed to the fixing unit 70 and heated, and the toner transferred as the toner image is fixed on the recording medium, thereby completing the image formation.

2.4. Image reading unit 40
3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the front cover 3c provided on the front side of the scanner side wall casing 3a is closed, and FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which the front cover 3c is opened. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the scanner side wall housing 3b is opened. In FIG. 4, the configuration is illustrated in a simplified manner.

  The image reading unit 40 according to the present embodiment includes an auto document feeder mechanism 41 (hereinafter referred to as an ADF mechanism 41) that automatically conveys a document for reading, and the ADF mechanism 41 is illustrated in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 4, the document conveying means for conveying the document inserted from the document insertion port 42 a to the document discharge port 42 b via the image pickup device 43 is configured.

  The ADF device 41 is provided at a portion facing the drawing roller 41a and the drawing roller 41a for drawing a document placed on a document tray 3d, which will be described later, and applies a predetermined conveyance resistance to the document. Separation pad 41b that separates every time, conveyance roller 41c that applies conveyance force to the document, and guide wall 41d that constitutes a substantially U-shaped conveyance path from document insertion port 42a to image output port 43b through document image pickup element 43a. Etc. are configured.

  In the present embodiment, a CIS (Contact Image Sensor) is used as the image pickup device 43, and the longitudinal direction of the CIS (image pickup device 43) is transported to the image pickup device 43 in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface. It extends in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the original is conveyed.

  A platen (not shown) made of a transparent member such as glass or acrylic is disposed on the image reading surface side of the image pickup element 43, and the opposite side of the image pickup element 43 with the platen interposed therebetween. As shown in FIG. 3, a document presser 44 is provided for pressing the conveyed document toward the platen.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the document insertion opening 42a is provided so as to open in a substantially horizontal direction on the front side of the scanner side wall housing portion 3a (housing 3) when the front cover 3c is opened. A document tray 3d on which a document for reading is placed is provided at a portion of the front cover 3c that is continuous from the document insertion opening 42a.

  On the other hand, similarly to the document insertion opening 42a, the document discharge opening 42b is also provided so as to open in a substantially horizontal direction on the front side of the scanner side wall housing portion 3a (housing 3) when the front cover 3c is opened. In this embodiment, the document discharge port 42b is provided above the document insertion port 42a.

  The discharged document tray 3e is a part on which the document discharged from the document discharge port 42b is placed, and the discharged document tray 3e rotates (shakes) with respect to the scanner side wall casing 3a (case 3). It is assembled to the scanner side wall casing 3a (casing 3) so that it can be moved.

  Further, the user performs setting operation of the scanner function, the printer function, and the like on the inner side of the front cover 3c, that is, the side of the front cover 3c that faces the document insertion port 42a and the document discharge port 42b when the front cover 3c is closed. An operation panel unit 80 is provided.

  Therefore, in the multifunction image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, when the front cover 3c is closed, the document insertion port 42a, the document discharge port 42b, and the operation panel unit 80 are covered with the front cover 3c. On the other hand, when the front cover 3c is opened, the document insertion port 42a, the document discharge port 42b, and the operation panel unit 80 are exposed to the front side.

  By the way, the devices constituting the image reading unit 40 such as the image pickup element 43 and the ADF mechanism 41 are accommodated in the scanner side wall casing 3a. The scanner side wall casing 3a is shown in FIG. Further, it is configured to be able to rotate so as to fall to the front side with a rotation shaft 3f provided on the lower side of the scanner side wall housing portion 3a as a rotation center.

  For this reason, if the front side of the housing body 3b is opened by rotating the scanner side wall housing 3a to the front, the process cartridge 60 can be attached or removed, or the recording medium jammed in the paper feed tray 21 can be removed. It can be done easily.

3. Features of Multi-Function Image Forming Apparatus 1 According to this Embodiment Normally, image forming apparatuses such as the multi-function image forming apparatus 1 are installed with the operation panel unit 80 side as the front surface. In the apparatus 1, the document insertion opening 42 a is positioned on the front side of the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1, and a document for reading is inserted into the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 (image reading unit 40) from the front side. It will be. For this reason, in this embodiment, it is not necessary to provide a reading document placement guide or the like as described in the “Background Art” column on the top of the housing 3.

  Further, since the document whose image reading has been completed is discharged from the document discharge port 42b opened in the substantially horizontal direction, a discharge tray or the like for placing the discharged document needs to be provided to extend upward. There is no.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the vertical (height) dimension of the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 can be reduced, so that it is not necessary to secure a relatively large space on the upper side, and the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 It is possible to prevent a relatively large dead space from occurring on the upper side. As a result, the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 can be installed in a relatively low space such as a shelf, so that the installation of the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 can be improved.

  If the front cover 3c is closed when the image reading unit 40 (scan function) is not used, the document insertion port 42a, the document discharge port 42b, and the operation panel unit 80 are covered with the front cover 3c. Therefore, it is possible to suppress dust and the like from adhering to the document insertion port 42a, the document discharge port 42b and the operation panel unit 80.

  Therefore, for example, it is possible to prevent the sensor unit of the image pickup element 43 from being contaminated by dust entering from the document discharge port 42b, and to restrict the functional shapes of the document insertion port 42a, the document discharge port 42b, and the operation panel unit 80. Therefore, the appearance design shape of the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 can be made aesthetically pleasing.

  By the way, in the present embodiment, the recording medium fed from the paper feed tray 21 is turned by approximately 180 ° to transport the recording medium to the image forming unit 10 and then discharged from the image forming unit 10. 2 is turned about 180 ° by the discharge chute 30 and discharged to the paper discharge tray 5, so that the medium transport path L1 from the paper feed tray 21 to the paper discharge tray 5 is substantially S as shown by the thick solid line in FIG. It becomes a letter shape.

  If the medium transport path L1 is substantially S-shaped, the fixing unit 70, the exposure device (scanner unit) 50, and the process cartridge 60 can be arranged so as to be arranged in a substantially horizontal direction. The installation property of the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 can be improved while suppressing the vertical dimension of the forming apparatus 1 from increasing.

4). Correspondence between Invention Specific Items and This Embodiment In this embodiment, the front cover 3c corresponds to the cover member described in the claims, and the paper feed tray 21 is the medium supply tray described in the claims. The discharge tray 5 corresponds to the discharge tray described in the claims, and the exposure device 50 and the process cartridge 60 correspond to the image transfer section described in the claims.

  The fixing unit 70 corresponds to the fixing unit described in the claims, the discharge unit 7 corresponds to the medium discharge port described in the claims, and the transmission / reception substrate 90 is described in the claims. In this embodiment, the medium transport path L1 is configured by the paper feed roller 22, the transport roller 24, the discharge chute 30, and the like.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the reading document sucked from the document insertion port 42a is provided at the upper side of the document insertion port 42a with the conveyance direction turned approximately 180 ° on the upper side in the scanner side wall casing 3a. In the present embodiment, the original that has been read is discharged to the paper discharge tray 5 to eliminate the discharge original tray 3e and to be supplied from the paper supply tray 21. And a part of the original conveyance path L2 (the thick two-dot chain line in FIG. 6) from the original insertion opening 42a to the paper discharge tray 5 and the medium conveyance on the downstream side of the conveyance direction from the portion where the conveyance direction of the recording medium to be turned is approximately 180 °. A part of the route L1 (thick solid line in FIG. 6) is shared.

  6 to 8 are views showing a cross section of the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a view showing a state in which the front cover 3c and the scanner side wall housing portion 3a are closed. FIG. 7 is a view showing a state in which the front cover 3c is opened with the scanner side wall housing 3a closed, and FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the state in which the scanner side wall housing 3a is opened and the front surface side of the housing body 3b is opened. It is a figure which shows a state.

  In the present embodiment, the reading surface side of the image pickup element 43 is directed upward, and the document conveyance path L2 (thick solid line in FIG. 6) is located on the housing main body on the downstream side in the conveyance direction from the paper feed roller 22. It is configured to join the medium transport path L1 (thick two-dot chain line in FIG. 6) provided in 3b. That is, in the present embodiment, the document that has passed through the platen (the image pickup element 43) is sandwiched between the transport roller 24 and the pressure roller 25 and drawn into the medium transport path L1.

  Accordingly, in the present embodiment, the discharge tray 5 on which the recording medium on which image formation has been completed is placed and the discharge document tray 3e on which the document on which image reading has been finished can be shared. The multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 can be reduced in size.

  Further, since a part of the medium transport path L1 and a part of the document transport path (L2) are shared, the document transport path L2 and the medium transport path L1 are provided independently of each other. Thus, the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 can be reduced in size.

In the present embodiment, the conveying roller 24, the pressure roller 25, the discharge roller 32, and the like constitute the document conveying means described in the claims.
(Third embodiment)
In the above-described embodiment, the medium transport path L1 is substantially S-shaped, but in the present embodiment, the medium transport path L1 is substantially U-shaped as shown by the thick dashed line in FIG. It is configured.

  9 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the front cover 3c and the scanner side wall casing 3a are closed, and FIG. 10 is a cross section showing a state in which the front cover 3c is opened with the scanner side wall casing 3a closed. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the scanner side wall housing portion 3a is opened and the front surface side of the housing main body portion 3b is opened.

1. Characteristic Structure of Multifunctional Image Forming Apparatus 1 According to the Present Embodiment In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the recording medium discharged from the paper feed roller 22 is turned approximately 90 ° upward in the transport direction. Then, the transport direction is turned in a substantially horizontal direction by the discharge roller 32 and the guide guide 32a. For this reason, the recording medium placed on the paper feed tray 21 is transported along the medium transport path L1 curved in a substantially U shape so as to protrude toward the rear side.

  In this embodiment, since the fixing unit 70 is disposed above the exposure device 50 and the process cartridge 60, the recording medium discharged from the paper feed tray 21 and turned approximately 90 ° upward is fixed. Until the paper is discharged from the unit 70 and turned in a substantially horizontal direction by the discharge roller 32 and the guide guide 32a, the paper is conveyed in a substantially linear direction.

Incidentally, the handle 60a is a holding portion for holding the process cartridge 60 when the process cartridge 60 is attached or detached.
2. Features of Multi-Function Image Forming Apparatus 1 According to this Embodiment When turning a recording medium while smoothly feeding a recording medium, it is desirable to make the radius of curvature of the turning portion as large as possible. When the radius is increased, the horizontal dimension of the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 is naturally increased.

  For this reason, if the medium conveyance path is substantially S-shaped, the number of turning parts is increased as compared with the substantially U-shaped medium conveyance path, and thus the horizontal dimension of the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 is increased. End up. That is, if the medium transport path L1 is substantially U-shaped, the horizontal dimension of the multifunction image forming apparatus 1 can be made smaller than that of the multifunction image forming apparatus 1 having the substantially S-shaped medium transport path L1. it can.

  In the present embodiment, the medium transport path L1 is substantially U-shaped, and the fixing unit 70 is disposed above the exposure apparatus 50 and the process cartridge 60. Therefore, exposure is performed with the medium transport path L1 being substantially S-shaped. Compared with the case where the apparatus 50 and the process cartridge 60 are disposed in the horizontal direction, the horizontal dimension of the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 can be reduced.

  Therefore, as in the present embodiment, if the medium conveyance path L1 is substantially U-shaped, the horizontal dimension of the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 is increased even if the image reading unit 40 is provided on the front side of the housing body 3b. Can be suppressed.

  Further, as in the present embodiment, if the image reading unit 40 is housed in a portion corresponding to the lower side of the paper discharge tray 5 (including the extension tray 5b), the dead space generated on the lower side of the paper discharge tray 5 is reduced. The image reading unit 40 can be arranged.

  That is, in the present embodiment, since the medium conveyance path L1 is substantially U-shaped, the horizontal dimension (front-rear dimension) of the housing main body 3b can be reduced, and as shown in FIG. The horizontal dimension (front-rear dimension) of the casing 3 including the scanner side wall casing 3 a can be equal to or less than the horizontal dimension (front-rear dimension) of the paper feed tray 21.

  Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 from increasing in size in the horizontal direction while preventing the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 from further increasing in size by providing the image reading unit 40. .

  By the way, in the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the document transport path L2 is provided separately from the medium transport path L1, and the paper discharge tray 5 on which the recording medium on which image formation has been completed is placed. And the discharged document tray 3e on which the document for which image reading has been completed are placed independently and separately, but the present embodiment is not limited to this.

  (Other embodiments)

  In the above-described embodiment, the operation panel unit 80 is provided on the surface (rear surface) of the front cover 3c on the side of the document insertion opening 42a. However, the present invention is not limited to this. You may provide on the surface of 3b or the front cover 3c. Further, the operation panel unit 80 may be provided on the front side on the upper surface side of the housing body 3b.

  In the above-described embodiment, when the scanner function is not used, the document insertion opening 42a and the like are covered with the front cover 3c. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the front cover 3c is eliminated. May be.

  In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to a multi-function image forming apparatus (image forming apparatus) having a facsimile function. However, the application of the present invention is not limited to this and does not have a facsimile function. The present invention can also be applied to an image forming apparatus.

In the above-described embodiment, the CIS is used as the image pickup device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) may be used.
Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as long as it matches the gist of the invention described in the claims.

1 is an external view of a multifunction image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a side sectional view showing a main part of a multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a front cover 3c provided on the front side of the scanner side wall housing portion 3a is opened in the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a simplified perspective view of a multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the scanner side wall housing portion 3b is opened in the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a front cover 3c and a scanner side wall housing portion 3a are closed in the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a front cover 3c is opened in a state in which a scanner side wall casing 3a is closed in a multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a scanner side wall housing section 3a is opened and a front surface side of a housing body section 3b is opened in the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a front cover 3c and a scanner side wall housing portion 3a are closed in a multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which a front cover 3c is opened in a state in which a scanner side wall housing portion 3a is closed in a multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the scanner side wall housing portion 3a is opened and the front surface side of the housing body portion 3b is opened in the multifunctional image forming apparatus 1 according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Multifunctional image forming apparatus, 3 ... Housing | casing, 3a ... Scanner side wall housing | casing part, 3b ... Housing | casing main-body part,
3c ... front cover, 3d ... document tray, 3e ... discharged document tray, 3f ... rotating shaft,
5 ... discharge tray, 5a ... loading surface, 5b ... expansion tray, 7 ... discharge section,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Image formation part, 20 ... Feeder part, 21 ... Paper feed tray, 22 ... Paper feed roller,
24 ... Conveying roller, 25 ... Pressure roller, 26 ... Registration roller,
30 ... discharge chute, 31 ... transport path, 32 ... discharge roller, 33 ... transport path,
40 ... image reading unit, 41 ... auto document feeder mechanism (ADF device),
41a ... drawing roller, 41b ... separation pad, 41c ... conveying roller,
42a ... document insertion port, 42a ... document insertion port, 42b ... document discharge port,
42b ... document outlet, 43 ... image pickup device, 44 ... document holder, 50 ... exposure device,
60 ... Process cartridge, 61 ... Photosensitive drum, 61a ... Drum body,
61b ... drum shaft, 62 ... charger, 63 ... transfer roller, 64 ... developing cartridge,
64a ... toner storage chamber, 64b ... toner supply roller, 64c ... development roller,
64d: Layer thickness regulating blade, 70: Fixing unit, 71: Heating roller,
72 ... pressure roller, 80 ... operation panel, 80 ... operation panel,
90: transmission / reception board, L1: medium conveyance path, L2: document conveyance path.

Claims (10)

Has a process cartridge having the toner accommodating portion in which the toner is accommodated is provided an image forming portion of an electrophotographic system for forming an image on a recording medium,
Image reading means for reading an image described in a document;
A housing in which the image forming unit and the image reading unit are stored , and the process cartridge is detachably disposed ;
An operation panel operated by a user;
Original convey means for conveying to the document discharge port of the inserted document from the document insertion opening through the image reading means,
A side wall casing provided rotatably on the side wall of the casing;
A cover member that is provided on the side wall casing and switches between a state of covering the document insertion port and the operation panel unit and a state of exposing the document insertion port and the operation panel unit;
The document insertion slot and the operation panel unit are provided in the side wall casing unit ,
The document discharge port opens in a substantially horizontal direction ,
Further, the operation panel unit is provided on the cover member . The image forming unit includes:
A medium supply tray provided on the lower side of the housing and storing a recording medium before image formation;
An image transfer unit that is provided above the medium supply tray and transfers an image to a recording medium conveyed from the medium supply tray;
A fixing unit provided downstream of the image transfer unit in the conveyance direction of the recording medium and above the image transfer unit and fixing the image transferred to the recording medium;
The recording medium supplied from the medium supply tray is transported to the image transfer unit, and the recording medium after fixing is transported to a discharge tray provided on the upper side of the housing, thereby removing the recording medium from the medium supply tray. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising: a recording medium conveyance unit that constitutes a medium conveyance path that is curved in a substantially U shape to reach the discharge tray. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the image reading unit is housed in a portion of the housing corresponding to a lower side of the discharge tray. The image forming unit includes:
A medium supply tray provided on the lower side of the housing and storing a recording medium before image formation;
An image transfer unit that is provided above the medium supply tray and transfers an image to a recording medium;
A fixing unit provided downstream of the image transfer unit in the conveyance direction of the recording medium and fixing the image transferred to the recording medium;
The conveyance direction of the recording medium supplied from the medium supply tray is turned by approximately 180 ° and conveyed to the image transfer unit, and the conveyance direction of the recording medium after fixing is turned by approximately 180 ° to place the recording medium in the housing. And a recording medium conveying means that constitutes a substantially S-shaped medium conveying path from the medium supply tray to the discharge tray by being conveyed to a discharge tray provided on the upper side of the body. ,
Further, the image reading unit, the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that arranged on the document insertion port side of the housing. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that it comprises a document conveying means for conveying an original image reading is finished by the image reading means to said discharge tray. A document conveying unit that constitutes a document conveying path for conveying the document whose image has been read by the image reading unit to the discharge tray;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein a part of the medium transport path and a part of the document transport path are shared. Of the medium conveyance path, a part of the medium conveyance path and a part of the document conveyance path are located downstream of the part where the conveyance direction of the recording medium supplied from the medium supply tray is turned by approximately 180 °. There the image forming apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that it is shared. Apart from the document outlet, an image forming apparatus according to claim 1 in which the recording medium having been subjected to image formation by the image forming section, characterized in that the medium discharge port to be discharged is provided. It transmits an image read by the image reading means, according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in comprising an image transmitting and receiving means for sending the image transmitted to the image forming portion Image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image reading unit is housed in the side wall casing.

Images