JP4692587B2 - Discharging device and image forming apparatus having the discharging device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a discharge device and an image forming apparatus provided with the discharge device, and more particularly to a device that can sort output recording sheets.

  In a multifunction device equipped with a printer function, copy function, etc., each recording sheet for each function was provided with a discharge location, so there were multiple discharge locations for one multifunction device. However, there was a problem that would increase the size. In order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to reduce the size of the entire multifunction peripheral by using the same discharge location and sorting the recording sheets in a limited space.

A paper receiving device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 6-25254 (Patent Document 1) is provided as a sorter for recording sheets.
The paper receiving device of Patent Document 1 includes a fixed paper discharge tray and a movable paper discharge tray provided with a lift drive mechanism above the paper discharge tray. The upper movable paper discharge tray is linear from the upstream side to the downstream side in the recording paper discharge direction, while the lower paper discharge tray is inclined at the upstream side in the recording paper discharge direction and downstream in the recording paper discharge direction. Is level.
By moving the upstream end of the movable discharge tray upstream in the discharge direction, the movable discharge tray is rotated about the rotation shaft provided on the upstream side in the discharge direction, and the movable discharge tray is moved to the recording paper receiving position. Alternatively, the paper is moved to one of the non-accepting positions, and the paper is sorted into the paper discharge tray and the movable paper discharge tray.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-25254

  However, in the paper receiving device of Patent Document 1, when the movable paper discharge tray is arranged at the recording paper receiving position and the recording paper is discharged to the lower paper discharge tray, the upstream side in the discharge direction of the movable paper discharge tray is the discharge tray. Therefore, there is a problem that the recording paper discharged to the discharge tray side is not easily exposed and the recording paper discharged to the discharge tray is difficult to take out.

[Object of invention]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a discharge tray from which sorted recording sheets can be easily taken out.

In order to achieve the object, the discharge device according to claim 1 is a discharge device capable of stacking discharged recording sheets,
A discharge roller for discharging the recording sheet;
A discharge tray for stacking the recording sheets discharged from the discharge roller;
A rotating plate provided above the discharge tray and supported so that an upstream end thereof is rotatable in the vertical direction with a downstream side in the discharge direction of the recording sheet as a rotation axis;
A recording sheet that is rotatably supported by the rotating plate so as to extend downstream from the rotating plate in the recording sheet discharge direction, and is smaller than the width of the rotating plate and the width of the discharge tray in the recording sheet width direction. And a receiving part.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the discharge device according to the first aspect is characterized in that an end portion of the recording sheet receiving portion on the downstream side in the discharge direction is in contact with the discharge tray.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the recording sheet receiving portion is formed of a thin plate member made of a rigid body or a rod member made of metal.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the discharge device according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the width of the recording sheet receiving portion is smaller than a minimum recording sheet width usable in the image forming apparatus. Yes.

  A discharge device according to a fifth aspect is the discharge device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the recording sheet receiving portion is downstream in the discharge direction from the upstream base end in the discharge direction of the rotating plate. The length to the front end is set to be equal to or longer than the maximum recording sheet usable in the image forming apparatus and equal to or shorter than the length of the discharge tray.

The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, an image forming unit that forms an image on the recording sheet;
An image reading unit that is placed above the image forming unit with a gap and reads an image formed on a document;
The discharge device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is provided in a gap between the image forming unit and the image reading unit.

According to the discharge device of the first aspect, since the recording sheet receiving portion has a width smaller than that of the rotating plate, even if the recording sheet is discharged to the discharge tray side below the rotating plate, the recording sheet receiving portion Since the recording sheets exposed on both sides of the part can be grasped and taken out, the sorted recording sheets can be easily taken out.
Further, since the rotating plate is rotated around the rotating shaft and the discharged recording sheets are sorted into the discharge tray and the rotating plate, the tray is moved up and down in parallel to move the upper tray and the lower tray. Compared with the case of sorting the recording sheets, the recording sheets discharged in a narrow space can be sorted, and the overall size of the image forming apparatus can be reduced.

  Further, when the recording sheet is discharged to the lower discharge tray, even if the recording sheet comes into contact with the upper recording sheet receiving portion, the recording sheet is rotatably attached to the rotating plate by the discharging force of the recording sheet. Since the receiving portion is pushed up and the recording sheet is discharged, paper jam can be prevented.

  According to the discharge device of the second aspect, since the recording sheet receiving portion is in contact with the discharge tray, the height can be suppressed, and the overall size of the device including the discharge device can be reduced.

  According to the discharge device of the third aspect, since the paper receiving portion is a thin plate member made of a rigid body or a rod member made of a metal, the recording sheet can be stably supported and can be made at low cost. Therefore, the cost can be suppressed.

  According to the discharge device of the fourth aspect, even the smallest usable recording sheet can easily grasp the recording sheet exposed on both sides of the recording sheet receiving portion, and the recording sheet can be easily taken out.

  According to the discharge device of the fifth aspect, even when the recording sheets are stacked on the rotating plate, the front end of the recording sheet receiving portion is exposed from the front end of the recording sheet. The recording sheets stacked on the moving plate can be easily distinguished from each other, and the sorted recording sheets can be taken out.

  According to the discharge device according to claim 6, the image recording sheet read by the image reading unit and the image recording sheet sent to the image forming unit can be discharged in the same discharge space. Therefore, the discharge trays that have been provided separately can be combined into one, and the entire image forming apparatus can be downsized.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings based on a first embodiment or a second embodiment in which a multifunctional machine as an image forming apparatus is embodied.

[First embodiment]
1 to 9 show a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a multifunction peripheral as an example of the image forming apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional side view of the multifunction peripheral.
The multifunction device 1 is mounted on a laser printer (hereinafter referred to as a printer) 2 as an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording sheet, and is placed above the printer 2 with a gap S therebetween, and reads an image formed on a document. A scanner 3 serving as an image reading unit and a discharge device 46 provided in the gap S are provided. A recording sheet P discharged from the printer 2 is stacked on the discharge device 46.
A detailed description of the scanner 3 is omitted here.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 2 forms an image on a fed sheet and a sheet feeding unit 4 for feeding a recording sheet P into a body casing 9 (as an example of an image forming apparatus body). An image forming unit 5 for discharging the recording sheet P, and a discharge unit 6 for discharging the recording sheet P on which the image is formed.

<Paper Feeder>
The sheet feeding unit 4 includes a sheet feeding tray 7, a sheet feeding roller 10, a sheet feeding pad 11, a paper dust removing roller 12, registration rollers 13 and 14, and a sheet pressing plate 15. Then, the recording sheet P at the top of the sheet pressing plate 15 is sent out one by one by the sheet feeding roller 10 and the sheet feeding pad 11, passes through the various rollers 12 to 14, and then conveyed to the image forming unit 5. Is done.

<Image forming unit>
The image forming unit 5 includes a scanner unit 16, a process unit 17, and a fixing unit 18.
<Scanner unit>
The scanner unit 16 is provided at an upper portion in the main body casing 9 and includes a laser light emitting unit (not shown), a polygon mirror 19 that is driven to rotate, a plurality of lenses 20, and a plurality of reflecting mirrors 21. The laser beam based on the image data emitted from the laser light emitting unit is reflected by the polygon mirror 19 as shown by a chain line, and passes or reflects through the plurality of lenses 20 and the plurality of reflecting mirrors 21, so that the photosensitive of the process unit 17. The surface of the drum 25 is scanned.

<Process unit>
The process unit 17 is disposed below the scanner unit 16 in the main body casing 9 and is detachably attached to the main body casing 9. As shown in FIG. 2, the process unit 17 includes a drum unit 22 that is detachably attached to the main casing 9, and a developing unit 23 that is detachably attached to the drum unit 22.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the drum unit 22 includes a drum frame 24, a photosensitive drum 25, a scorotron charger 26, a cleaning brush 27, and a transfer roller 28 provided in the drum frame 24. The photosensitive drum 25 is rotatably supported by the drum frame 24. The scorotron charger 26 is supported by the drum frame 24 above the photosensitive drum 25 and spaced from the photosensitive drum 25. The cleaning brush 27 is supported by the drum frame 24 so as to come into contact with the photosensitive drum 25 from the rear side. The transfer roller 28 is opposed to the photosensitive drum from the lower side of the photosensitive drum 25 and is rotatably supported by the drum frame 24.

  The developing unit 23 includes a developing frame 30, a developing roller 37, a layer thickness regulating blade 38, a supply roller 36, and a toner hopper 31. The developing roller 37 and the supply roller 36 are rotatably supported by the developing frame 30. The layer thickness regulating blade 38 includes a leaf spring member 45 formed in a thin plate shape and a pressure contact rubber 41 provided at a lower end portion of the leaf spring member 45. The upper end portion of the leaf spring member 45 is fixed to the developing frame 30, and the pressing rubber 41 presses the surface of the developing roller 37 by the elastic force of the leaf spring 45. The toner hopper 31 contains positively charged toner.

The toner in the toner hopper 31 is supplied to the developing roller 37 by the rotation of the supply roller 36. At this time, the toner is positively frictionally charged between the supply roller 36 and the developing roller 37. The toner supplied onto the developing roller 37 enters between the layer thickness regulating blade 38 and the developing roller 37 as the developing roller 37 rotates, and is carried on the developing roller 37 as a thin layer having a constant thickness. .
The surface of the photosensitive drum 25 is uniformly positively charged by the scorotron charger 26 and then exposed by scanning with a laser beam from the scanner unit 16 to form an electrostatic latent image. Next, the rotation of the developing roller 37 causes the toner carried on the developing roller 37 to be supplied to the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 25 when it contacts and faces the photosensitive drum 25, thereby The electrostatic latent image is visualized. The visualized toner image is transferred onto the recording sheet P conveyed between the photosensitive drum 25 and the transfer roller 28.

<Fixing part>
As shown in FIG. 1, the fixing unit 18 is provided on the rear side of the process unit 18. The fixing unit 18 includes a heating roller 32 and a pressure roller 33 that is pressed against the heating roller 32 from below. In the fixing unit 18, the toner transferred to the recording sheet P at the transfer position is thermally fixed while the recording sheet P passes between the heating roller 32 and the pressure roller 33, and then the recording sheet P Is conveyed to the discharge unit 6.

<Discharge unit>
The discharge unit 6 includes a discharge path 40, discharge rollers 51 and 52, and a discharge device 46. Then, the recording sheet P conveyed from the fixing unit 18 to the discharge path 40 is conveyed from the discharge path 40 to the discharge rollers 51 and 52, and is discharged to the discharge device 46 by the discharge rollers 51 and 52.

Next, the discharge device 46 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
3 and 5 are perspective views of the discharge device 46 on the upper surface of the printer 2 excluding the scanner 3, FIGS. 4 and 6 are schematic side sectional views of the discharge device 46, and FIG. 7 is an enlarged schematic side sectional view of the rotating plate 55. It is.

The discharge device 46 includes a discharge tray 53 provided substantially at the center of the upper surface of the main casing 9, and a rotating plate 55 that is disposed above the discharge tray 53 and whose upstream end in the discharge direction can be rotated in the vertical direction. And a plastic plate 56 that is pivotally attached to the pivot plate 55 and that can be pivoted in the vertical direction at the downstream end in the discharge direction.
In this embodiment, the size of the maximum recording sheet P that can be used in the multifunction machine 1 is A4 size, and the size of the minimum recording sheet P is A6 size.

The multifunction device 1 according to the present embodiment allows the user to determine whether the printer 2 discharges the recording sheet P on which an image is formed based on image data from a host device (for example, a personal computer) to the discharge tray 53 or the rotary plate 55. Whether a switch (not shown) that can be set is provided on the outer surface of the main body casing 9 of the printer 2 or whether it is discharged to the discharge tray 53 or the rotary plate 55 according to an instruction from a host device (for example, a personal computer) Can be switched.
In the initial setting of the multifunction machine 1 of the present embodiment, the recording sheet P on which the printer 2 has formed an image based on image data from a higher-level device (for example, a personal computer) is discharged to the discharge tray 53 and read data (image data) of the scanner 3. The recording sheet P on which the image is formed based on the data is discharged to the rotating plate 55.

A substantially rectangular parallelepiped recess 45 is provided on the upper surface of the main casing 9. The recess 45 has a bottom wall that inclines upward from the base end immediately below the discharge rollers 51 and 52 toward the downstream side in the discharge direction. Is provided. The bottom wall of the recess 45 is a discharge tray 53 of the discharge device 46.
From both ends of the discharge tray 53 in the discharge direction, substantially triangular side walls 45b are erected. In addition, a base end wall 45c is erected from the upstream end of the discharge tray 53 in the discharge direction, and the base end wall 45c has a slit 45d that faces the discharge rollers 51 and 52 and discharges the recording sheet P. Is provided.

  The side walls 45b of the recess 45 are provided with through holes (not shown) to which a rotation shaft portion 55d of a rotation plate 55 described later is rotatably attached. Further, as shown in FIGS. 4, 6 and 7, a slide hole 45e through which a movement restricting member 55h of a rotating plate 55 described later passes is provided on the upstream side of the through holes of both side walls 45b in the discharge direction. Yes.

The discharge tray 53 is provided with an extension tray 54 that extends to the downstream side in the discharge direction at the center in the width direction, and the extension tray 54 is rotatably attached to the discharge tray 53 at the downstream end in the discharge direction. ing. Further, an accommodation recess 53a capable of accommodating the extension tray 54 is provided on the upper surface of the discharge tray 53. When the extension tray 54 is not used, the extension tray 54 is accommodated in the accommodation recess 53a. As shown in FIG. 1, the downstream end of the extension tray 54 in the discharge direction protrudes from the outer surfaces of the printer 4 and the scanner 3.
In a state where the extension tray 54 is extended, the length from the discharge direction upstream base end Q1 of the discharge tray 53 to the discharge direction downstream end Q2 of the extension tray 54 is about 330 mm, and the A4 size recording sheet P is vertically long. Can be placed.

The rotation plate 55 includes a rotation plate main body portion 55a and an attachment portion 55b that is provided at the downstream end of the rotation plate main body portion 55a in the discharge direction and is attached to a recess 45 formed in the main body casing 9. Yes.
At both ends of the attachment portion 55b, there are formed rotating shaft portions 55d protruding in the axial direction from positions offset downward. The rotation shaft portion 55d is inserted into a through hole (not shown) formed in the recess 45, and the rotation plate 55 is rotatably attached to both side walls 45b of the recess 45. Specifically, the upstream end of the rotation plate 55 is rotated between a retracted position above the nip position N of the discharge rollers 51 and 52 and a discharge position below the nip position N.

In the center of the attachment portion 55b, a notch portion 55e having a predetermined width is provided.
Concave portions 55f are provided on both end surfaces of the cutout portion 55e, and a shaft portion (not shown) of a plastic plate 56 described later is attached to the concave portion 55f. Further, a lower end surface 55k is formed in the cutout portion 55e of the rotating plate 55.
A rod-like movement restricting member 55h protrudes from both side end surfaces of the rotation main body 55a which is separated from the mounting portion 55b by a predetermined distance upstream in the discharging direction. The movement restricting member 55h is passed through the slide hole 45e formed in the side wall 45b of the recess 45 and the movement is restricted in the slide hole 45e, whereby the movement of the rotating plate 55 is restricted.
Further, a plurality of ribs 55g having a substantially trapezoidal shape in a side view are provided from the lower end of the attachment portion 55b to the lower surface of the rotating plate main body portion 55a.

Shaft portions (not shown) protrude from both end faces of the upstream end of the plastic plate 56 in the discharge direction. The shaft portion is fitted into a recess 55f formed in a notch 55e of the rotating plate 55, whereby the plastic plate 56 is rotatably attached to the rotating plate 55. The plastic plate 56 constitutes a recording sheet receiving portion of the present invention.
A drive mechanism M that moves the movement restricting member 55h up and down is provided outside the slide hole 45e.
The lower surface of the front end portion of the plastic plate 56 is suspended by its own weight and is in contact with the upper surface of the discharge tray 53. The downstream end in the discharge direction of the plastic plate 56 protrudes from the outer surface of the printer 2 and the scanner 3.

The width of the plastic plate 56 is uniform and is set smaller than the width of the A6 size recording sheet P which is the smallest recording sheet P that can be used in the multifunction machine 1. In the present embodiment, the width d1 of the plastic plate 56 is set to 70 mm.
As shown in FIG. 4, the downstream end Q3 in the discharge direction of the plastic plate 56 is in contact with the lower discharge tray 53 by its own weight. The downstream end Q3 in the discharge direction of the plastic plate 56 is the downstream end Q in the discharge direction of the largest recording sheet (A4 size) discharged to the discharge tray 53.
4 and downstream of the leading end Q2 in the discharge direction of the discharge tray 53. As described above, the downstream end Q3 in the discharge direction of the plastic plate 56 is located downstream of the front end Q4 in the discharge direction of the A4 size recording sheet, and thus it is difficult to prevent the recording sheets P discharged on the discharge tray 53 from being stacked. .

FIG. 10 shows a modification of the plastic plate.
The plastic plate 58 of FIG. 10 is set so that the width becomes narrower toward the downstream side in the discharge direction.
With this configuration, since the weight of the plastic plate 58 on the downstream side in the discharge direction is small, it is difficult to prevent the recording sheets stacked on the discharge tray 53 below.

8 and 9 show the drive mechanism M described above, FIG. 8 is a schematic side sectional view showing an enlarged main part showing a state where the rotating plate 55 is moved to the discharge position, and FIG. 9 is moved to the retracted position. It is the schematic sectional side view which expanded the principal part which shows a state.
The drive mechanism M includes a drive gear 61 and a cam gear 60 driven by the drive gear 61, and the drive gear 61 is driven by a motor (not shown). The motor is connected to a CPU (not shown), and the CPU controls the motor by determining whether the output is from the scanner 3 or the output from the printer 2.

  The cam gear 60 includes a cam portion 60 a that is in contact with the movement restricting member 55 h and a gear portion 60 b that is engaged with and connected to the drive gear 61. The cam portion 60a is fixed to the gear portion 60b and is rotationally driven together with the gear portion 60b, and the movement restricting member 55h is moved up and down by the cam portion 60b as the gear portion 60b rotates.

Next, the sorting operation of the recording sheets P of the discharge device 46 will be described.
When the printer 2 forms an image based on image data from a host device (for example, a personal computer), the upstream end of the rotating plate 55 in the discharging direction is moved above the nip position of the discharging rollers 51 and 52.
Specifically, the drive gear 61 is rotationally driven by a motor, the rotation of the drive gear 61 is transmitted to the gear portion 60b of the cam gear 60, and the cam portion 60a connected to the gear portion 60b is rotationally driven. Since the movement restricting member 55h of the rotation plate 55 is in contact with the cam portion 60a, the movement restricting member 55h is pushed upward by the cam portion 60a while being in sliding contact with the slide hole 45e.

  The movement restricting member 55h is pushed upward, the rotating plate 55 is rotated about the rotating shaft portion 55d, and the upstream end of the rotating plate 55 in the discharging direction is above the nip position N of the discharging rollers 51 and 52. It is moved and placed at the retracted position shown in FIGS.

  When the rotating plate 55 is moved to the retracted position, the recording sheet P discharged from the discharge rollers 51 and 52 is discharged to the discharge tray 53, and the lower surface of the plastic plate 56 is moved at the contact position between the plastic plate 56 and the discharge tray 53. Pushed up by the recording sheet P, the plastic plate 56 is rotated with respect to the rotating plate 55.

On the other hand, when the printer 2 forms an image based on the read data (image data) from the scanner 3, the upstream end of the rotating plate 55 in the discharge direction moves to a discharge position below the nip position N of the discharge rollers 51 and 52. Is done.
Specifically, the drive gear 61 is rotationally driven by the motor from the retracted position of the rotation plate 55, and the rotation of the drive gear 61 is transmitted to the gear portion 60 b of the cam gear 60. The cam portion 60a connected to the gear portion 60b is rotated, and the movement restricting member 55h that is in contact with the cam portion 60a is slidably contacted with the slide holes 45e formed in the both side wall portions 45b of the recessed portion 45. Moved to.

As a result, the rotation plate 55 is rotated about the rotation shaft portion 55d, and the upstream end of the rotation plate 55 in the discharge direction is moved downward from the nip position N of the discharge rollers 51 and 52. 6 is disposed at the discharge position.
The recording sheet P discharged to the rotating plate 55 side is supported by the rotating plate 55 on the upstream side in the discharging direction and is laminated on the plastic plate 56 on the downstream side in the discharging direction.

  When taking out the recording sheet P output from the scanner 3, the recording sheet laminated on the upper surface side of the plastic plate 56 is grasped and pulled out with the plastic plate 56 as a mark. On the other hand, when the recording sheet P output from the printer 2 is taken out, the recording sheets stacked on the lower surface side of the plastic plate 56 are grasped and pulled out.

One of the discharge rollers 51 and 52 is fixed, and the other discharge roller is rotated about the one discharge roller, and the discharge angle of the recording sheet P is changed to rotate the lower discharge tray 53 and the upper rotation. The recording sheet P may be discharged to the plate 55.
Further, it is preferable that the recording sheet P, which is used more frequently by the user, is discharged onto the rotating plate 55 above the discharge tray 53.

Next, the effect of this embodiment will be described.
With this configuration, since the plastic plate 56 has a smaller width than the rotation plate 55, even if the recording sheet P is discharged to the discharge tray 53 side, the recording sheet exposed on both sides of the plastic plate 56 is grasped and taken out. Therefore, the sorted recording sheets can be easily taken out.

  Further, since the rotating plate 55 is rotated around the rotation axis and the plastic plate 56 is brought into contact with the discharge tray, it is compared with the case where the tray is moved up and down in parallel to sort the upper tray and the lower tray. In addition, recording sheets discharged in a narrow space can be sorted, and the entire image forming apparatus can be reduced in size.

  Further, when the recording sheet P is discharged to the lower discharge tray 53, even if the recording sheet P contacts the upper plastic plate 56, the recording sheet P is rotatably attached to the rotating plate 55 by the discharging force of the recording sheet P. Since the plastic plate 56 is pushed up and the recording sheet P is discharged, the paper jam can be prevented.

  Further, since the downstream side in the discharge direction of the recording sheet P is stacked on the plastic plate 56, the recording sheet P can be stably supported and can be produced at a low cost, thereby reducing the cost.

  Even when the recording sheets are stacked on the rotating plate 55, the leading end of the plastic plate 56 is exposed from the leading end of the recording sheet P. Therefore, the recording sheet P is stacked on the discharging tray 53 and the rotating plate 55. It is easy to distinguish the recording sheet P from the recording sheet P, and the recording sheet P can be easily taken out.

[Second Embodiment]
11 to 13 show a second embodiment of the present invention.
11 is a perspective view of the discharging device on the upper surface of the printer 2 excluding the scanner 3, and FIGS. 12 and 13 are schematic side sectional views showing the discharging position and the retracting position of the rotating plate 55. FIG.

The multifunction machine of this embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the metal rod 57 is rotatably attached to the rotating plate 55, and the other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment. The description is omitted.
The metal rod 57 of this embodiment has a substantially U-shaped U-shaped portion 57a, and mounting shaft portions (not shown) project from both ends of the U-shaped portion 57a. The metal rod 57 is fitted to the concave portion 55 f formed in the above-described manner so as to be rotatable with respect to the rotary plate 55.
Also, as shown in FIG. 12, the downstream end Q5 in the discharge direction of the metal rod 57 is set upstream from the front end Q6 in the discharge direction of the largest recording sheet (A4 size) discharged to the discharge tray 53. Yes.

  When the rotating plate 55 is disposed at the retracted position, as shown in FIG. 13, the metal bar 57 is self-weighted and the tip of the metal bar 57 contacts the upper surface of the discharge tray 53. Accordingly, when the recording sheet P is discharged to the discharge tray 53, the metal rod 57 is pushed upward by the discharged recording sheet P, and the recording sheet P passes between the metal rod 57 and the upper surface of the discharge tray 53.

  On the other hand, when the rotating plate 55 is disposed at the discharge position, the lower end surface 55k of the notch 55e formed in the rotating plate 55 lifts the metal rod 57. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, the tip of the metal bar 57 is lifted from the discharge tray 53. In this case, since the recording sheet P discharged to the rotating plate 55 side is also lifted from the discharge tray 53, the maximum recording sheet P discharged from the downstream end Q <b> 5 of the metal rod 57 in the discharge direction to the discharge tray 53. Even if it is shorter than the downstream end Q6 in the discharge direction of (A4 size), it is easy to take out the recording sheet P discharged to the rotating plate 55.

1 is a perspective view of a multifunction machine of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional side view of the multifunction machine of FIG. 1. It is a perspective view of the discharge device in which the rotation plate is disposed at the retracted position. It is a schematic sectional side view which shows the discharge apparatus of FIG. It is a perspective view of the discharge apparatus with which the rotation board is arrange | positioned in the discharge position. It is a schematic sectional side view which shows the discharge apparatus of FIG. It is the schematic sectional side view which expanded the rotation board of FIG. It is a figure which shows the vertical drive mechanism of a rotation board, and is a schematic sectional side view which shows the state by which the rotation board has been arrange | positioned in the discharge position. It is a figure which shows the up-and-down drive mechanism of a rotation board, and is a schematic sectional side view which shows the state by which the rotation board was arrange | positioned in the retracted position. It is the perspective view of the discharge device which showed the modification of the plastic plate. It is a perspective view of the discharge device of a 2nd embodiment. It is a schematic sectional side view which shows the state by which the rotation board of FIG. 10 is arrange | positioned in the discharge position. It is a schematic sectional side view which shows the state by which the rotation board of FIG. 10 is arrange | positioned in the retracted position.

Explanation of symbols

1 MFP (image forming device)
2 Printer (image forming unit)
3 Scanner (image reading unit)
9 Main body casing 45 Recess 45b Both side walls 45e Slide hole 46 Discharge device 51, 52 Discharge roller 53 Discharge tray 55 Rotating plate 56 Plastic plate 57 Metal rod M Drive mechanism N Nip position P Recording sheet

Claims (6)

A discharging device capable of stacking discharged recording sheets,
A discharge roller for discharging the recording sheet;
A discharge tray for stacking the recording sheets discharged from the discharge roller;
A rotating plate provided above the discharge tray and supported so that an upstream end thereof is rotatable in the vertical direction with a downstream side in the discharge direction of the recording sheet as a rotation axis;
A recording sheet that is rotatably supported by the rotating plate so as to extend downstream from the rotating plate in the recording sheet discharge direction, and is smaller than the width of the rotating plate and the width of the discharge tray in the recording sheet width direction. And a receiving device.   The discharge device according to claim 1, wherein an end portion of the recording sheet receiving portion on the downstream side in the discharge direction is in contact with the discharge tray.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording sheet receiving portion is configured by a thin plate member made of a rigid body or a rod-like member made of metal.   4. The discharge device according to claim 1, wherein a width of the recording sheet receiving portion is configured to be smaller than a minimum recording sheet width usable in the image forming apparatus.   The length from the upstream base end in the discharge direction of the rotating plate to the downstream end in the discharge direction of the recording sheet receiving portion is equal to or longer than the maximum recording sheet usable in the image forming apparatus, and the discharge The discharge device according to claim 1, wherein the discharge device is set to be equal to or shorter than a length of the tray. An image forming unit for forming an image on the recording sheet;
An image reading unit that is placed above the image forming unit with a gap and reads an image formed on a document;
An image forming apparatus in which the discharge device according to claim 1 is provided in a gap between the image forming unit and the image reading unit.