JP4856956B2 - Document reading apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus, and is particularly suitable for being applied to a small-sized copying machine, a facsimile machine (FAX), and a multifunction machine (MFP) equipped with an electric stapling device that is an electric binding processing unit. It is.

  Many image forming apparatus systems for stapling a sheet bundle after forming an image have been proposed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an electric stapler built in a stacker of a console type (separately installed type) installed adjacent to an image forming apparatus and adjacent to a copying machine.

  In the electric stapler described in Patent Document 1, the following two methods are employed when a user attempts to staple a sheet bundle.

  That is, the first method is a method of performing printing by instructing a staple process in the host computer in advance before printing. The second method is a method of performing stapling processing by giving an instruction to the apparatus such as pressing a button for instructing stapling after the copying is finished and before taking out the sheet bundle from the paper discharge bin.

  The electric stapler provided in such a stacker processes paper on a plurality of paper discharge bins. Therefore, this electric stapler is provided with a punch mechanism at a position offset from the sheet bundle. The punch mechanism is moved to the sheet bundle in the paper discharge bin only during the stapling operation and needs to be retracted after the stapling process.

On the other hand, Patent Literature 2 also proposes an electric stapler. Patent Document 2 also proposes an electric stapler that is attached to a sheet post-processing device installed above the image forming apparatus. In the case of such an electric stapler, the punch mechanism is always installed in the sheet conveyance path instead of processing a plurality of bundles of sheets, and the electric stapler is arranged within the installation area of the image forming apparatus. It is also possible to do.
JP-A-2-125790 JP 2005-263488 A

  However, in the example of Patent Document 1, an electric stapler is provided in the stacker, and an additional installation area is required in addition to the installation area of the image forming apparatus.

  In the electric stapler described in Patent Document 2 described above, the electric stapler can be installed with an installation area equivalent to that of a single image forming apparatus. However, the electric stapler described in Patent Document 2 is installed in the conveyance path. For this reason, this electric stapler cannot staple the sheet bundle after the sheet discharge in the post-processing.

  Further, in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 described above, the position of the stapler with respect to the sheet bundle is determined. For this reason, in particular, when stapling a sheet bundle having a horizontal print layout, it may not be possible to staple to the intended corner of the sheet bundle, that is, a position that matches the print layout. Note that these are problems that occur in the same way with regard to overall post-processing performed on a plurality of sheet materials such as punching.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a document reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus that can perform post-processing at a position desired by a user on a sheet material, in a space-saving manner and without performing complicated settings in advance. Is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the first invention of the present invention provides:
Document reading means for reading image data on the document;
The document reading means includes a leg portion for mounting above the image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet material based on the image data read by the original reading means,
The leg portion is for discharging and stacking the sheet material from the image forming apparatus on the sheet material stacking section between the document reading unit and the sheet material stacking section provided on the upper part of the image forming apparatus. It is attached to the image forming apparatus so that a paper discharge space is formed,
The leg is provided with sheet post-processing means for performing post-processing on a sheet material bundle made of a plurality of sheet materials, and an insertion port for inserting the sheet material bundle into the sheet post-processing means has the above-mentioned The document reading apparatus is provided on the side facing the paper discharge space or toward the outside of the apparatus main body .

The second invention of this invention is:
Document reading means for reading image data on the document;
Image forming means for forming an image on a sheet material based on image data read by the original reading means;
A sheet material stacking unit provided on an upper portion of the housing for accommodating the image forming unit and stacking sheet materials;
The document reading unit is mounted on the upper part of the housing so that a sheet discharge space for discharging and stacking sheet materials from the image forming apparatus is formed in the sheet material stacking unit between the document reading unit and the sheet material stacking unit. has a leg, the,
The leg is provided with sheet post-processing means for performing post-processing on a sheet material bundle made of a plurality of sheet materials, and an insertion port for inserting the sheet material bundle into the sheet post-processing means has the above-mentioned The image forming apparatus is provided on the side facing the paper discharge space or toward the outside of the apparatus main body .

  As described above, according to the present invention, since the sheet post-processing means is installed within the image forming apparatus installation area, it is not necessary to take a space other than the installation area of the image forming apparatus itself. Further, the height of the document reading device is increased by installing a sheet post-processing means on a leg portion beside the sheet stacking portion of the image forming device that is required between the document reading device and the image forming device. Therefore, the space can be used efficiently, and the sheet post-processing means can be installed efficiently. Further, since the sheet post-processing means is installed independently of the conveyance path, the user can arbitrarily perform the sheet post-processing.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In all the drawings of the following embodiments, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals.

(First embodiment)
First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 1 shows an overall perspective view, and FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the apparatus main body of FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the image forming apparatus 50 according to the first embodiment, a control signal is supplied from the host computer (not shown) to the electrical board 90. The laser scanner 51 is driven by the control of the electrical board 90 that has received this control signal, and the laser light is thereby scanned. Then, an electrostatic latent image is formed on a photosensitive drum (not shown) installed in the process cartridge 52.

  The electrostatic latent image is developed on the photosensitive drum by a developing device (not shown), and the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum is applied to a sheet of paper as a sheet material conveyed and fed from the paper feeding cassette 53. It is transferred as an image (not shown). The sheet on which the unfixed toner is transferred is conveyed to a fixing device 54 as a fixing unit. The conveyed sheet is heated and conveyed by the fixing device 54, and the toner image is fixed on the sheet as a fixed image. The sheet on which the toner is fixed is discharged onto a sheet discharge tray 55 as a sheet material stacking unit.

  Further, the document reading device 60 as a document reading unit has left and right leg portions, that is, right legs so as to secure a discharge space for discharging and stacking sheets on the discharge tray 55 above the image forming apparatus 50. 70 and the left leg 71 are supported and installed. The document reading device 60 is provided with a copy button 72. When the copy button 72 is pressed by the user (user), a document (not shown) placed on the document table 73 is read. The read image data is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 50, and the image forming apparatus 50 copies and forms an image of a document on a sheet and outputs it. Details regarding these reading mechanisms and image formation are well known in the art and will not be described here.

  The left leg 71 incorporates an electric stapler 80 as a sheet post-processing means or a sheet post-processing means other than the electric stapler 80. Examples of the sheet post-processing means other than the electric stapler 80 include punching means for punching holes, and a cutter for cutting the corners of the sheets round. Further, the slit 81 as an insertion port is formed facing the paper discharge space above the paper discharge tray 55 in order to insert the paper into the electric stapler 80.

  That is, when a user desires a stapling process for a sheet bundle as a sheet material bundle made up of a plurality of sheets stacked on the sheet discharge tray 55, first, the user inserts a sheet bundle (not shown) into the slit 81. Is done. As a result, the electric stapler 80 operates to staple the sheet bundle. A power source (not shown) of the electric stapler is installed in the right leg 70 on the opposite side of the left leg 71 where the electric stapler 80 is installed.

  With this configuration, the electric stapler 80 that can be arbitrarily used by the user can be disposed within the installation area range of the image forming apparatus without increasing the height at which the document reading apparatus is installed. That is, since the electric power of the electric stapler can be efficiently arranged in the image forming apparatus, further downsizing and space saving of the entire apparatus can be realized. Further, it is possible to obtain an image forming apparatus including a sheet post-processing apparatus that can perform post-processing at an arbitrary corner when the user wants to perform post-processing on the output sheet bundle.

(Second Embodiment)
Next explained is an image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment of the invention. 3 and 4 show an image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment. FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the whole, and FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of the apparatus main body shown in FIG. 3 from the front side.

  In the image forming apparatus 50 according to the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, when viewed from the front side on the operation side, the electrical board 90 is provided inside the right side surface of the main body. In addition, the electric stapler 80 and its power source (not shown) are built in the right leg 70 on the right side of the main body on which the electrical board 90 is arranged, and in the second embodiment at a predetermined angle with respect to the front direction. Is installed with an inclination of 45 degrees, for example. Thus, when the user performs stapling after confirming the print contents, the most common stapling process to the upper left of the paper can be easily executed.

According to the above configuration, the height of the image forming apparatus 50 can be suppressed by providing the electrical substrate 90 on the side surface side of the image forming apparatus 50. Further, according to this configuration, since the width of the right leg 70 is widened, the electric stapler 80 can be installed with the direction inclined with respect to the paper discharge direction. As a result, it is possible to prevent the document table 73 of the document reading device 60 from being provided at a high position, and to provide an optimum staple when the user turns the sheet bundle and browses the sheet bundle at an angle. It becomes possible. Even if this configuration is applied to the first embodiment, the same effect can be obtained.

In addition, since the electrical board 90 of the image forming apparatus 50 is installed on the side surface side of the leg where the electrical stapler is installed, the electrical stapler can be installed above the electrical board 90. Therefore, it is possible to improve the degree of freedom of installation of the electric stapler, by tilting the angle of the electric stapler without increasing the footprint of the image forming apparatus, to be stapled at the optimum angle for Ru binding the corner of the paper It becomes possible. Further, it is possible to suppress the height of the document table of the document reading device from the installation surface of the image forming apparatus.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described concretely, this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, The various deformation | transformation based on the technical idea of this invention is possible. For example, the numerical values given in the above embodiment are merely examples, and different numerical values may be used as necessary.

  For example, in the first and second embodiments described above, it is possible to provide switching means for switching the print leading end direction between the upstream side and the downstream side in the paper transport direction. Thus, by reversing the writing direction on the paper, the front end of the paper matches the position of the electric stapler, and after removing the paper stacked on the paper discharge tray 55, the front end direction of the paper is not changed. It is possible to easily perform stapling.

  Further, for example, in the above-described second embodiment, the electric power of the electric stapler is housed in the right leg 70, but is not necessarily limited thereto. For example, the same effect can be obtained even if the power of the electric stapler is provided in the left leg 71 on the opposite side of the right leg 70 on which the electric stapler 80 is installed, as in the first embodiment. it can.

1 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the image forming apparatus by 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the image forming apparatus by 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 50 Image forming apparatus 51 Laser scanner 52 Process cartridge 53 Paper feed cassette 54 Fixing device 55 Paper discharge tray 60 Document reading device 70 Right leg 71 Left leg 72 Copy button 73 Document stand 80 Electric stapler 81 Slit 90 Electrical board

Claims (13)

Document reading means for reading image data on the document;
Said original reading means, anda legs for mounting above the image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet material based on the image data read by the original reading means,
The leg portion is for discharging and stacking the sheet material from the image forming apparatus on the sheet material stacking section between the document reading unit and the sheet material stacking section provided on the upper part of the image forming apparatus. It is attached to the image forming apparatus so that a paper discharge space is formed,
The leg portion is provided with sheet post-processing means for performing post-processing on a sheet material bundle made up of a plurality of sheet materials, and an insertion port for inserting the sheet material bundle into the sheet post-processing means is provided in the drain. An original reading apparatus provided on a side facing a paper space . Document reading means for reading image data on the document;
Said original reading means, anda legs for mounting above the image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet material based on the image data read by the original reading means,
The leg portion is for discharging and stacking the sheet material from the image forming apparatus on the sheet material stacking section between the document reading unit and the sheet material stacking section provided on the upper part of the image forming apparatus. It is attached to the image forming apparatus so that a paper discharge space is formed,
The leg portion is provided with sheet post-processing means for performing post-processing on a sheet material bundle made up of a plurality of sheet materials, and an insertion port for inserting the sheet material bundle into the sheet post-processing means is an apparatus main body. A document reading apparatus, characterized in that the document reading apparatus is provided toward the outside of the document. 3. The document reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the leg portions are provided to face each other with the paper discharge space interposed therebetween . The said sheet post-processing means is electric, The power supply of the said sheet post-processing means is installed in the leg part on the side facing the leg part of the said sheet post-processing means attachment side . Document reader. Image forming means for forming an image on a sheet material;
An original reading apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An image forming apparatus comprising: Image forming means for forming an image on a sheet material;
A document reading device according to claim 3,
An image forming apparatus, wherein an electrical board for controlling the image forming unit is provided on the same side as the side on which the sheet post-processing unit is installed. The sheet post-processing means is a stapler, and is mounted to be inclined with respect to the sheet material discharge direction to the sheet material stacking unit in order to perform stapling with an angle with respect to the sheet material bundle. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6 . Document reading means for reading image data on the document;
Image forming means for forming an image on a sheet material based on image data read by the original reading means;
A sheet material stacking unit provided on an upper portion of the housing for accommodating the image forming unit and stacking sheet materials;
The document reading unit is mounted on the upper part of the housing so that a sheet discharge space for discharging and stacking sheet materials from the image forming apparatus is formed in the sheet material stacking unit between the document reading unit and the sheet material stacking unit. Legs, and
The leg portion is provided with sheet post-processing means for performing post-processing on a sheet material bundle made up of a plurality of sheet materials, and an insertion port for inserting the sheet material bundle into the sheet post-processing means is provided in the drain. An image forming apparatus provided on a side facing a paper space . Document reading means for reading image data on the document;
Image forming means for forming an image on a sheet material based on image data read by the original reading means;
A sheet material stacking unit provided on an upper portion of the housing for accommodating the image forming unit and stacking sheet materials;
The document reading unit is mounted on the upper part of the housing so that a sheet discharge space for discharging and stacking sheet materials from the image forming apparatus is formed in the sheet material stacking unit between the document reading unit and the sheet material stacking unit. Legs, and
The leg portion is provided with sheet post-processing means for performing post-processing on a sheet material bundle composed of a plurality of sheet materials, and an insertion port for inserting the sheet material bundle into the sheet post-processing means is provided in the apparatus main body. An image forming apparatus , wherein the image forming apparatus is provided facing outward . The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the leg portions are provided so as to face each other with the paper discharge space interposed therebetween . 11. The sheet post-processing means is electric, and a power source of the sheet post-processing means is installed on a leg portion on the side facing the leg portion on the seat post-processing means mounting side . Image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein an electrical board that controls the image forming unit is provided on the same side as the side on which the sheet post-processing unit is installed . The sheet post-processing means is a stapler, and is mounted to be inclined with respect to the sheet material discharge direction to the sheet material stacking unit in order to perform stapling with an angle with respect to the sheet material bundle. The image forming apparatus according to claim 12 .

Images