JP4656048B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus provided with a manual feed tray unit.

In many cases, a copier used in an office is provided with a manual tray unit that allows a user to feed paper from the outside, in addition to a paper feed cassette provided in the housing.
The paper feed cassette inside the housing stores two or three types of frequently used recording sheets. When printing on recording sheets of other sizes or special paper such as envelopes, A manual tray unit is used.

Usually, such a manual feed tray unit includes a manual feed tray on which a recording sheet is placed, and a tray unit main body that pivotally supports the manual feed tray so as to be openable and closable around a horizontal axis. The user opens the manual feed tray, places a bundle of recording sheets on the sheet placement surface, and presses a start button to start copying. Then, when the desired number of copies is completed, the manual feed tray is left open, and a space is taken.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-146854 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 06-305584 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 07-172597

However, between the tray unit main body and the end surface of the base end of the manual feed tray (the end of the manual feed tray that is pivotally supported by the tray unit main body) so that the manual feed tray can be opened and closed smoothly. There is a slight gap.
Normally, the user removes the recording sheet remaining on the manual feed tray and then closes the manual feed tray. However, the user closes it inadvertently, or uses the manual feed tray at a later time, leaving the recording sheet. In some cases, you may want to keep the bypass tray closed. In this way, when the recording sheet is placed on the manual feed tray and is closed, the recording sheet slips through the gap between the manual feed tray base end and the tray unit body, and the user collects it. May feel uncomfortable.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and even if the manual feed tray is closed while leaving the recording sheet on the sheet placement surface of the manual feed tray, It is an object to provide a user-friendly image forming apparatus that does not fall.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus including a manual feed tray unit including a manual feed tray on which a recording sheet is placed, and a tray holder that pivotally supports the manual feed tray with respect to an apparatus main body. In the apparatus, the manual feed tray is provided with a sheet front end regulating member that is erected substantially perpendicularly to the sheet placing surface at a front end portion in a paper feeding direction, and regulates a front end position of the recording sheet, and the tray holding body. Is provided with a contact member that contacts the upper surface of the recording sheet placed when the manual feed tray is closed, and in the state where the manual feed tray is closed, the contact position of the contact member is: It is set so that it may be located in the said sheet mounting surface side rather than the position of the horizontal direction of the upper edge of the said sheet front-end | tip regulation member.

  When the manual feed tray is closed, the contact member provided on the tray holder hits the upper surface of the recording sheet placed on the sheet placing surface, and the recording sheet is placed on the sheet more than the upper edge of the sheet leading edge regulating member. Because it presses against the loading surface, even if there is a gap between the base end of the manual feed tray and the main body of the device, the bottom of the recording sheet will come into contact with the sheet leading edge regulating member and may fall out of the gap Disappears.

Here, a recording sheet receiving portion is provided below the sheet leading edge regulating member in a state in which the manual feeding tray is closed, and the position of the recording sheet receiving portion closest to the manual tray is the sheet leading end. You may set so that it may be located in the said sheet mounting surface side rather than the position of the upper edge of a control member.
By providing such a sheet receiving member, even when the manual feed tray is closed, even if the recording sheet that has been placed is about to fall beyond the upper edge of the sheet leading edge regulating member, the sheet receiving portion It can be received and prevented from falling and scattering on the floor.

Furthermore, the manual feed tray unit may be pivotally supported so as to be openable and closable with respect to the apparatus main body via a pivot arranged in the vertical direction.
This makes it easy to handle jams that occur in the paper feed system of the manual tray unit. However, since the contact member is provided on the tray holder of the manual tray unit, the manual tray unit can be opened. The recording sheet that has been placed does not fall.

  A manual tray unit according to the present invention is a manual tray unit including a manual tray on which a recording sheet is placed and a tray holder that pivotally supports the manual tray with respect to the image forming apparatus main body. The manual feed tray is provided with a sheet front end regulating member that is erected substantially perpendicular to the sheet placement surface at a front end portion in a paper feeding direction and regulates a front end position of the recording sheet, and the tray holding body includes A contact member that contacts the upper surface of the recording sheet that is placed when the manual feed tray is closed, and when the manual feed tray is closed, the contact position of the contact member is the leading edge of the sheet; It is set so that it may be located in the said sheet | seat mounting surface side rather than the position of the horizontal direction of an upper edge of a control member.

Here, a recording sheet receiving portion is provided below the sheet front end regulating member in a state where the manual feed tray is closed, and the position of the recording sheet receiving portion on the most manual tray side is the sheet front end regulating member. You may make it set so that it may be located in the said sheet | seat mounting surface side rather than the position of the upper edge.
With this configuration, when the manual feed tray is closed with the recording sheet remaining on the sheet placement surface of the manual feed tray, there is a gap between the manual feed tray base end and the apparatus main body. In addition, it is possible to provide a manual tray unit in which the recording sheet does not fall and scatter from the gap.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described using a printer as an example.
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a side portion of the printer 100 to which a manual feed tray unit is attached.
The printer 100 includes, for example, a known electrophotographic printer engine in the housing 110. This printer engine forms an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive drum, develops it with toner, transfers the toner image onto a recording sheet, and then thermally fixes it. However, the printer engine employed in the present invention may be another image forming method, for example, an ink jet method.

On the right side surface of the housing 110, a refeed unit 120 that reverses the recording sheet on which the image is formed on the first surface at the transfer position and feeds the recording sheet to the transfer position again, and a recording sheet of a desired size from the outside. A manual feed tray unit 130 for feeding paper is attached so as to be openable and closable.
The manual tray unit 130 includes a manual tray 140 and a tray unit main body 150 that holds the manual tray 140 so as to be openable and closable with respect to the apparatus main body.

Reference numeral 160 below the manual feed tray unit 130 is a paper feed door, which can be pulled out sideways to supply recording sheets to an internal paper feed cassette.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion indicated by an arrow A in FIG. 1 when the manual feed tray 140 is opened.
As shown in the figure, the manual feed tray 140 includes a manual feed tray main body 141 on which a recording sheet is placed, a sheet push-up plate 142 disposed on the base end side of the manual feed tray main body 141, and both sides of the manual feed tray main body 141. 2 and a pair of sheet guide plates 145 provided on the sheet placement surface 141a of the manual feed tray body 141 (however, in FIG. 2, one sheet guide plate is provided). Only shown.)

The pair of sheet guide plates 145 are coupled to the back surface of the sheet placement surface 141 a via a known link mechanism or gear mechanism, and slide symmetrically with respect to the center in the width direction of the manual feed tray body 141. The recording sheet placed on the sheet placement surface 141a is guided to a central position in a direction orthogonal to the paper feeding direction (the direction of arrow C).
Further, a sheet front end regulating wall 143 having a height H from the sheet placement surface 141a is erected substantially perpendicularly to the sheet placement surface at the front end of the manual feed tray body 141 in the sheet feeding direction. The leading ends of the recording sheets placed thereon can be aligned. Notches 1432 are provided in the sheet leading edge regulating wall in some places. When the sheet leading edge regulating wall 143 swings in accordance with the opening / closing operation of the manual feed tray 140, other notches in the tray unit main body 150 are provided. The width of the notch in the direction perpendicular to the paper feeding direction is set to be smaller than the width of the minimum paper feeding size. It is desirable. Thereby, even if the position of the support shaft of the manual feed tray 140 is set to the very end, the sheet front end regulating wall 143 can swing, which contributes to the compactness of the apparatus.

Further, the convex portion 144 a formed on the outer surface of the side wall portion 144 engages with the engagement protrusion 152 on the tray unit main body 150 side when the manual feed tray 140 is closed, and locks the manual feed tray 140. The manual feed tray 140 is prevented from being inadvertently opened due to vibration of the apparatus.
A sheet contact portion 154 is formed above the base end portion of the manual feed tray 140 on the tray unit main body 150 side, and the recording remains placed on the sheet placement surface when the manual feed tray 140 is closed. The sheet abuts against the sheet and presses it against the sheet placement surface side.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the plane including the two-dot chain line B of FIG. 1 in a state where the manual feed tray 140 is opened.
As shown in the figure, on the base end side of the manual feed tray 140, a sheet push-up plate 142 is pivotally supported by a support shaft 1421 so as to be swingable in the arrow direction, and is not provided in the tray unit main body 150. The lift drive mechanism shown in the figure is configured to be pushed upward only during printing.

The above-described sheet contact portion 154 is provided above the sheet push-up plate 142 of the tray unit main body 150, and a sheet receiving portion 161 is provided above the sheet feeding door 160. The role and positional relationship of the sheet contact portion 154 and the sheet receiving portion 161 will be described later.
Further, the tray unit main body 150 is also equipped with a pickup roller 171, a paper feed roller 172, a separating roller 173, and the like, so that the size is reduced.

  A user places a bundle of recording sheets on the sheet placing surface 141 a of the manual feed tray 140 and aligns the leading end thereof with the sheet leading end regulating wall 143. When a print job is received from a terminal device connected to the printer 100, the sheet push-up plate 142 is pushed upward, the uppermost recording sheet is fed out one by one by the pickup roller 171, and further fed by the paper feed roller 172. It is fed forward and conveyed to a transfer position (not shown) via paper feed rollers 174 and 175. Note that the roller 173 is a rolling roller, and a predetermined torque is applied in the rotational direction opposite to the paper feeding direction, and prevents two or more recording sheets from being overlapped and conveyed. When the print job ends, the sheet push-up plate 142 returns to the original position.

The lifting mechanism for the sheet push-up plate 142 is not particularly illustrated, but is not particularly limited as long as it is a known mechanism. For example, a coil spring that urges the front end portion of the sheet push-up plate 142 to face downward may be attached coaxially with the support shaft 1421 and the sheet push-up plate 142 may be pushed upward by a cam mechanism or the like.
FIG. 4 shows a state where printing is finished and the user is about to close the manual feed tray 140. At this time, since the user has forgotten to remove the recording sheet from the sheet placement surface of the manual feed tray 140, even if the user tries to slide down obliquely downward, the sheet leading edge regulating wall 143 prevents the recording sheet, and the load is large. Even if the recording sheet of the recording head crosses the upper edge 1431 of the sheet leading edge regulating wall 143 as indicated by the arrow, it can be received by the sheet receiving portion 161 on the printer main body side, so that the recording sheet falls on the floor and is scattered. There is nothing to do.

The upper surface of the sheet receiving portion 161 has a cross-sectional shape that does not intersect with the locus of the corner portion Q at the front end portion of the manual feed tray 140 so as not to prevent the rotation of the manual feed tray 140 (two-dot chain line in FIG. 5). reference).
FIG. 5 shows a cross-section when the manual feed tray 140 is completely closed. At this time, the position of the sheet contact member 154 closest to the manual feed tray 140 is set to be closer to the sheet placement surface 141a side by a distance D1 in the horizontal direction than the upper edge 1431 of the sheet leading edge regulating wall 143. Therefore, it abuts against the upper surface of the recording sheet as it is stacked, and pushes it toward the sheet placement surface 141a, preventing its lowermost end from coming out to the left of the upper edge 1431 of the sheet leading edge regulating wall 143. And can prevent falling.

  Further, the outermost position of the sheet receiving portion 161 on the printer main body side is also positioned on the sheet placement surface 141a side by D2 from the horizontal position of the upper edge 1431 of the sheet leading edge regulating wall 143. Even if there is a recording sheet that passes through the restriction by the contact member 154 and exceeds the front of the upper edge 1431 as indicated by an arrow, there is always a receiving surface of the sheet receiving portion 161 immediately below the upper edge 1431. It will not fall downward.

In the present embodiment, the tray unit main body 150 of the manual feed tray unit 130 is pivotally supported by a vertical shaft (not shown) with respect to the printer main body so as to facilitate jam processing, and the lock lever 151 (FIG. 1). 6), the entire manual feed tray unit 130 can be opened with respect to the main body of the printer 1 as shown in FIG.
As described above, since the sheet abutting member 154 is formed on the tray unit main body 150, even when the manual feed tray unit 130 is opened as described above while the recording sheet remains on the manual feed tray 140, the sheet contact The contact member 154 is released while being in contact with the recording sheet, and the recording sheet does not fall.

<Modification>
Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the content of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and for example, the following modifications can be considered.
(1) In the above embodiment, an example in which the sheet receiving portion 161 is integrally formed with the paper feed door 160 of the printer main body has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In addition, in a model that does not have the paper feed door 160 in this portion, it may be provided in the printer casing. You may make it attach a sheet | seat receiving part to the tray unit main body 150 side. In this case, since the sheet receiving portion also moves together with the manual feed tray unit 130, there is an advantage that even when the manual feed tray unit 130 is opened as shown in FIG.
(2) Further, the sheet contact portion 154 may be provided not only at one place but at a plurality of different positions in the vertical direction.
(3) In the above embodiment, the tray unit main body 150 is also provided with a pickup roller, a paper feed roller, and a roller, so that it can be expected to be sufficiently compact. However, this is an essential matter in the present invention. Alternatively, the tray unit main body 150 may be a simple tray holder for pivotally supporting the manual feed tray.
(4) The present invention is not limited to a printer, and may be any image forming apparatus including a manual tray unit such as a copying machine, an MFP (Multiple Function Peripheral), and a FAX apparatus.

  The present invention is applicable to all image forming apparatuses having a manual feed tray.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a printer side surface according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a state in which the manual feed tray is opened. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where a manual feed tray is opened. It is sectional drawing which shows the mode in the middle of closing a manual feed tray. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where a manual feed tray is closed. FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a state where the entire manual feed tray unit is opened by swinging around a vertical axis.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Printer 110 Printer housing | casing 120 Refeed unit 130 Manual feed tray unit 140 Manual feed tray 143 Sheet front end regulation wall 1431 Sheet front end regulation wall upper edge 1432 Notch
150 Tray unit body 154 Sheet contact portion
160 Feeding door 161 Sheet receiving part

Claims (5)

An image forming apparatus having a manual tray unit including a manual tray on which a recording sheet is placed and a tray holder that pivotally supports the manual tray so as to be openable and closable with respect to the apparatus main body.
The manual feed tray is
A sheet leading edge regulating member that is erected substantially perpendicular to the sheet placement surface at the front end in the sheet feeding direction and regulates the leading edge position of the recording sheet;
The tray holder is
When the manual feed tray is in a closed state, a contact member that comes into contact with the upper surface of the recording sheet placed thereon is provided. When the manual feed tray is closed, the contact position of the contact member is the sheet. An image forming apparatus, wherein the image forming apparatus is set so as to be positioned closer to the sheet placement surface than a horizontal position of an upper edge of the leading end regulating member. A recording sheet receiving portion is provided below the sheet leading edge regulating member in a state where the manual feeding tray is closed, and the position of the recording sheet receiving portion closest to the manual feeding tray is the upper edge of the sheet leading edge regulating member. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is set so as to be positioned closer to the sheet placement surface than the position.   3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the manual feed tray unit is pivotally supported so as to be openable and closable with respect to the apparatus main body via a support shaft disposed in a vertical direction. A manual tray unit including a manual tray on which a recording sheet is placed, and a tray holder that pivotally supports the manual tray with respect to the image forming apparatus main body;
The manual feed tray is
A sheet leading edge regulating member that is erected substantially perpendicular to the sheet placement surface at the front end in the sheet feeding direction and regulates the leading edge position of the recording sheet;
The tray holder is
When the manual feed tray is in a closed state, a contact member that comes into contact with the upper surface of the recording sheet placed thereon is provided. When the manual feed tray is closed, the contact position of the contact member is the sheet. The manual feed tray unit is set so as to be positioned closer to the sheet placement surface than the horizontal position of the upper edge of the leading end regulating member. A recording sheet receiving portion is provided below the sheet leading edge regulating member in a state where the manual feeding tray is closed, and the position of the recording sheet receiving portion closest to the manual feeding tray is the upper edge of the sheet leading edge regulating member. 5. The manual feed tray unit according to claim 4, wherein the manual feed tray unit is set so as to be positioned closer to the sheet placement surface than the position.

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