JP4152608B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, copying machines and printers have been steadily increasing in speed and size. In particular, shortening the time required to output the first sheet (first copy time, first print time) has become important, and each company has responded by increasing the feeding line speed and shortening the conveyance path. Especially for shortening the conveyance path, what is called a vertical conveyance machine in which a paper feed roller, an image forming transfer unit, and a fixing device are arranged on a vertical line is mainly used.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in such a vertical conveyance machine, the discharge tray of the main body is often the upper surface of the machine (in the case of a copying machine, the lower part of the scanner), and the connection of the post-processing device is opposite to the vertical conveyance unit in consideration of jam handling. It is attached to the side of the side. For this reason, a transport path from the main body discharge to the post-processing apparatus, which was not necessary in the conventional machine, is required, and a relay unit is required. This relay unit not only serves as a relay conveyance path from the main body discharge to the post-processing apparatus, but also is placed on the main body discharge tray in terms of installation space, and it is necessary to substitute the main body discharge tray. The problem here is the problem of heat. The relay unit receives heat of the main body from the lower side, and the sheet heated by the fixing device continuously passes through the relay unit, so that the temperature rises extremely. Therefore, a vent hole is provided on the upper surface of the relay unit for heat dissipation to escape hot air. Naturally, the upper surface of the relay unit occupies the top of the paper discharge tray, so it is necessary to provide a vent here, but this is the paper stack surface, so the position of the air vent is so as not to catch the paper. It is set so that the edge of the paper size does not come. However, when the trailing edge of the paper slides down along the tray shape, it is easy to skew and the first sheet is particularly uneven. The problem here is that the rear end of the first sheet is likely to get caught in the vent hole when falling along the tray.
[0004]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to prevent the sheet from being caught in the vent hole when the first sheet is discharged to the discharge tray and falls along the discharge receiving surface. Is to make it.
[0005]
Another object of the present invention is to prevent the cooling hole from being deteriorated because the vent hole is blocked when even one sheet of paper is discharged to the tray, and there is no escape path for hot air.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention conveys a sheet from bottom to top and fixes the image onto the sheet during the conveyance, and performs post-processing on the sheet after image fixing. A relay transport path provided between the post-processing device, the vertical transporter and the post-processing device, for transporting the paper after the image fixing to the post-processing device; discharge tray is provided above, yet the paper discharge tray discharge roller is provided for discharging the paper after the image fixing on the paper discharge tray, the relay conveying the sheet on which the image is fixed A relay unit that guides the paper to the paper discharge roller. The paper discharge tray has a paper discharge receiving surface that decreases in height toward the rear side with respect to the paper traveling direction. Multiple vents are formed to release heat from the paper. Wherein the particular vent hole located on the rear side than at least the rear end portion of the sheet after the image fixing just fallen into the paper ejection receiving surface is discharged by the discharge rollers of the plurality of vent exhaust A taper portion extending toward the lowermost portion of the paper receiving surface is formed.
[0007]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, in which a sheet is conveyed from bottom to top and an image is fixed on the sheet during the conveyance, and post-processing is performed on the sheet after image fixing. A relay transport path provided between the post-processing device, the vertical transporter and the post-processing device, for transporting the paper after the image fixing to the post-processing device; A paper discharge tray is provided above, and a paper discharge roller is provided on the paper discharge tray for discharging the paper on which the image has been fixed to the paper discharge tray . A relay unit that leads to the paper discharge roller, and the paper discharge tray has a paper discharge receiving surface that decreases in height toward the rear side with respect to the paper traveling direction, and is conveyed along the relay conveyance path. To release the heat of the paper after image fixing. The vents are formed, located on the rear side than at least the rear end portion of the sheet after the image fixing just fallen into the paper ejection receiving surface is discharged by the discharge rollers of the plurality of vent holes The specific vent is provided with a stepped portion that descends toward the bottom of the sheet receiving surface .
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0009]
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a casing, and a vertical transfer machine 2 is built in the casing 1. Reference numeral 3 denotes a paper feed tray, and the paper 4 in the paper feed tray 3 is guided to the vertical transfer machine 2 by a paper feed roller 5. The vertical conveyance device 2 includes a grip roller 6, a registration roller 7, an image forming transfer unit 8, a fixing unit 9, and a paper discharge roller 10. The paper from the paper supply roller 5 is conveyed to the image forming transfer unit 8 through the grip roller 6 and the registration roller 7. The image forming transfer unit 8 includes a roller 8a and a photoconductor 8b. When the paper passes through the roller 8a, an image written on the photoconductor 8b is transferred to the paper via the roller 8a. The fixing unit 9 has a roller 11 , and the transferred image is fixed by passing the paper through the roller. Next, the paper is discharged by a paper discharge roller 10 to a relay unit described later.
[0010]
Reference numeral 12 denotes a post-processing apparatus. This post-processing apparatus is composed of a finisher, a mail box, a sorter, a sorter taper, and the like.
[0011]
A relay unit 13 is provided between the vertical transfer machine 2 and the post-processing device 12. The relay unit 13 includes a guide 14, a branch claw 15, a relay conveyance path 16, and a paper discharge roller 18, and the sheet after image fixing from the paper discharge roller 10 is guided to the branch claw 15 by the guide 14. The branch claw 15 is operated by a selection switch (not shown) to guide the paper from the guide 14 to the relay conveyance path 16 or the paper discharge roller 18. A conveyance roller 17 is provided in the relay conveyance path 16, and the sheet after image fixing from the branch claw 15 is moved in the relay conveyance path 16 by the conveyance roller 17 and conveyed to the post-processing device 12. It has become.
[0012]
A paper discharge tray 19 is provided above the relay conveyance path 16. The paper discharge tray 19 is configured to carry the paper from the paper discharge roller 18. The discharge receiving surface 20 of the discharge tray 19 becomes lower as it goes rearward with respect to the paper traveling direction. The relay roller 17 as shown in FIG. 3 is supported by the ribs 35, 36. Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a plurality of vent holes 22 are formed in the paper discharge tray 19 for releasing the heat of the paper after image fixing conveyed through the relay conveyance path 16. The heat dissipated from the paper in the relay conveyance path 16 escapes as hot air as indicated by an arrow a. Returning to FIG. 1, reference numeral 27 denotes a reading device, which includes a CCD substrate 8, a lens 29, mirrors 30 to 32, and a light source 33 .
[0013]
Now, the behavior of the paper from the paper discharge roller 18 on the paper discharge receiving surface 20 will be described with reference to FIG.
[0014]
The paper 23 discharged by the paper discharge roller 18 advances toward the paper discharge receiving surface 20 (A). The sheet 23 moves from the front end along the sheet receiving surface 20 at a certain point (B). Thereafter, when the rear end of the paper 23 comes out of the paper discharge roller 18, the rear edge of the paper falls so as to follow the shape of the paper discharge receiving surface 20 (C). At this time, a gap X exists between the rear end of the sheet and the lowermost portion of the sheet receiving surface 20. Thereafter, the sheet falls to the lowest position by its own weight along the inclination of the sheet receiving surface 20 (D).
[0015]
2, back to FIG 3, a tapered portion 24 extending in the traveling direction of the sheet 23 is formed in each ventilation hole 22. As a result, when the paper 23 is in a state as shown in FIG.
[0016]
FIG. 5 shows the relay unit 13 as viewed from above. In the state shown in FIG. 4C, the discharged paper is dropped to the paper discharge tray with the posture b. However, the paper is not necessarily parallel to the paper traveling direction due to the curl or skew of the paper. Therefore, there is a possibility that the posture becomes c. Thereafter, the sheet falls toward the dropping point along the slope as shown in FIG. At this time, as shown in FIGS. 5B and 5C, if the rear end portion 23a of the sheet is caught on the side surface of the vent hole 22, a stack failure occurs.
[0017]
Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, from the rear end portion of the sheet after the image fixing, which has been discharged by at least the discharge roller 18 among the plurality of vent holes 22 and has just dropped to the discharge receiving surface 20. A taper portion 25 extending toward the paper stack portion is formed in a specific vent hole located on the rear side. When the distance between the lowermost part of the paper receiving surface 20 and the side surface of the vent hole 22 is 6 A , and the distance between the lowermost part of the paper receiving surface 20 and the rear edge of the paper is 6 B , the paper is satisfied under the condition of 6 A ≦ 6 B. Since the rear end may be caught when the paper slides down along the paper discharge tray, a taper shape is provided on the side surface opposite to the paper traveling direction. The vent hole 22 with the taper portion 25 may be adopted as long as the rear end of the sheet is caught by the adjacent vent hole 22.
[0018]
7 and 8 are views showing the main part of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. A step 26 is provided instead of the taper in the above. Specifically, the step 26 is desirably in a range of about 0.5 mm to 10 mm, and the step 26 is formed so as to connect adjacent vent holes.
[0019]
If the width 7c of the step is set to be equal to or larger than the maximum width size 7d of the discharged paper, the air holes 22 are connected by the step 26 in a direction perpendicular to the paper traveling direction even after the paper is discharged to the discharge tray. Thus, it is possible to escape the hot air from the step portion 26 on which no paper is placed. When the maximum width of the discharged paper is 7d, it is important that the relationship is 7d <7c.
[0020]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention of claim 1, wherein As described above, the sheet is prevented catch on vents when the first sheet is gradually being discharged to the discharge tray falls along the paper discharge receiving surface be able to. As a result, it is not necessary to add a cooling fan, which not only leads to cost reduction of the product but also contributes to energy saving and noise reduction.
[0021]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, by providing a series of steps that can connect the air holes, even if the paper is placed on the discharge tray, the hot air does not pass through the gap between the paper and the step. When it moves up to, it can waste heat. Thereby, the remarkable fall of a waste heat effect can be prevented. In general, the temperature rise on the side close to the fixing device tends to be severe, and in this sense, this step is located upstream of the paper conveyance path, that is, on the side close to the fixing device. In this sense, it is efficient.
[Brief description of the drawings]
1 is a diagram illustrating an image forming equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a relay unit.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a relay unit.
[4] (A) ~ (D) are diagrams showing the behavior of a sheet on the discharge tray.
FIGS. 5A to 5C are diagrams illustrating a problem to be solved by the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a main part of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention .
[Explanation of symbols]
2 Vertical transport machine 12 Post-processing device 13 Relay unit 16 Relay transport path 18 Paper discharge roller 19 Paper discharge tray 22 Vent

Claims (2)

A vertical conveying machine that conveys a sheet from the bottom to the top and fixes an image on the sheet during the conveyance, a post-processing device that performs post-processing on the sheet after the image fixing, the vertical conveying machine, and the post-processing A relay conveyance path for conveying the image-fixed paper to the post-processing apparatus, and a discharge tray is provided above the relay conveyance path. The paper tray is provided with a paper discharge roller for discharging the paper on which the image has been fixed to the paper discharge tray, and a relay unit for guiding the paper on which the image has been fixed to the relay conveyance path or the paper discharge roller. The paper discharge tray has a paper discharge receiving surface whose height decreases toward the rear side with respect to the paper traveling direction, and a plurality of vent holes for releasing the heat of the paper after the image fixing is formed. And at least the exhaust of the plurality of vent holes. A taper extending toward the lowermost portion of the paper discharge receiving surface in a specific air hole positioned on the rear side of the rear end portion of the paper after the image fixing just discharged on the paper discharge receiving surface by the roller. An image forming apparatus in which a portion is formed. A vertical conveying machine that conveys a sheet from the bottom to the top and fixes an image on the sheet during the conveyance, a post-processing device that performs post-processing on the sheet after the image fixing, the vertical conveying machine, and the post-processing A relay conveyance path provided between the apparatus and for conveying the image-fixed paper to the post-processing apparatus, and a paper discharge tray is provided above the relay conveyance path, and the paper discharge A paper discharge roller for discharging the paper on which the image has been fixed to the paper discharge tray, and a relay unit for guiding the paper on which the image has been fixed to the relay conveyance path or the paper discharge roller, The paper discharge tray has a paper discharge receiving surface whose height decreases toward the rear side with respect to the paper traveling direction, and for releasing the heat of the paper after image fixing conveyed through the relay conveyance path. A plurality of ventilation holes are formed, and the plurality of ventilation holes The bottom of the sheet discharge receiving surface to a particular vent located rearwardly of the Chi at least the rear end portion of the sheet after the image fixing just fallen into the discharge paper receiving surface is discharged by the discharge roller image forming apparatus characterized by stepped difference portion down headed to is provided.

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