JP5592636B2 - Output tray - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image-formed sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, and a paper discharge tray for storing a read sheet discharged from a reading device such as a scanner.

  As an image forming apparatus (wide-width machine) capable of copying (or printing) using a sheet, in particular, a large-sized sheet such as A1 size, configurations as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are known.

In these paper discharge trays of Patent Documents 1 and 2, in order to reduce the cost and reduce the weight of the tray, a round iron bar is combined with bending and welding, and the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus is substantially gravity-induced. The upper part opens and extends downward so as to be received in a state of natural falling in the direction.
JP-A-8-48454 (see FIG. 1) Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei 4-88459 (see FIG. 1)

  In such a configuration of the paper discharge trays of Patent Documents 1 and 2, when a large number of sheets are stacked, there is a possibility that the sheets are not stacked due to the weight of the sheets and fall down in a curled state. In particular, when a sheet with weak stiffness is stacked, it often falls in a state of being curled downward. For this reason, the operation of taking out the sheet tends to be complicated.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has a stacker for stacking sheets of different sizes, which are discharged from the discharge port of the apparatus, and the stacker includes a sheet placement unit for stacking a large size sheet, And a small-size placement section for placing a small-size sheet provided in the center of the sheet placement section, and further, a movable placement that secures a certain space for discharging the sheet from the discharge port to the stacker A sheet discharge position switching unit for making the height of the sheet discharged from the discharge port constant according to the type of the sheet discharged to the movable stacking unit, and a stacker attached to the apparatus. The support means includes a frame having one end attached to the apparatus and the other end pivotally supporting one end of the stacker, and an attachment portion provided in the apparatus and supporting the other end of the stacker. The attachment portion includes a; and a second mounting member for supporting the other end of the stacker to a predetermined position when the first mounting member for mounting the stacker at the normal position, the stacker to release from the normal position To do.

  With the above configuration, according to the present invention, a plurality of sheets can be stacked.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, an apparatus to which the paper discharge tray of the present invention is applied will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an apparatus A to which the paper discharge tray of the present invention is applied. The apparatus A is an image forming apparatus including a paper feeding unit B, an image forming unit C, and a fixing unit D. In this embodiment, the apparatus A discloses an image forming apparatus, but is not limited thereto, and may be an image processing apparatus such as a scanner.

  The paper feeding unit B outputs an image formed by the image forming unit C described later. Specifically, although not shown in the drawing, the paper feeding unit B includes a storage unit for storing roll paper and a roll paper. It comprises a sending means for feeding to the feed image forming unit side and a cutting means for cutting the roll paper fed by the sending means.

  The roll paper fed out from the storage unit is cut to a predetermined length to form a sheet. This sheet is conveyed to an image forming unit described later.

  The image forming unit C inputs an output signal from an external device (not shown) to form an image (toner image). Specifically, the image forming unit is, for example, an electrophotographic system in which a process of static elimination, charging, exposure, development, transfer, and cleaning is applied around a photoreceptor (not shown).

  The fixing unit D fixes the toner image transferred to the sheet to the sheet onto which the toner image formed by the image forming unit is transferred. The sheet on which the toner image is fixed is discharged from the discharge port 10 to the discharge tray of the present invention.

  Next, the paper discharge tray of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the paper discharge tray includes a stacker 20 and support means 30.

  The stacker 20 is used to place the sheet S discharged from the discharge port 10 of the apparatus A. As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of round bars are arranged in parallel and arranged on the apparatus A side. It consists of a sheet placing portion 21 and a sub sheet placing portion 22.

  The sheet placement portion 21 is provided with a guide portion 23 in which a pipe is bent downward. The guide portion 23 is provided with a claw 24 to be attached to the support means 30 described later. Further, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 4, and 5, a small size placement unit 25 for placing a small size sheet S is provided in the center of the sheet placement unit 21.

  When the small size placement unit 25 ejects a plurality of small size sheets S, the urging force of the ejected small size sheet S is applied to the small size sheet S placed on the sheet placement unit 21. This acts in the opposite direction to the discharge port 10 side to prevent the small-sized sheet S from being spread and placed in the opposite direction to the discharge port 10 side.

  The small size placement unit 25 is disposed at a position slightly lower than the variable sheet placement unit 41 described later when viewed from the side surface on which the sheet S is placed. This is because, when the small size placement unit 25 is arranged at a position higher than the variable sheet placement unit 41, as shown in FIG. Because of its own weight, there is no problem because the entire surface of the sheet S is placed in contact with a variable sheet placement portion 41 described later. However, as shown in FIG. This is because when the sheets are stacked, the trailing edge of the discharged large-sized sheet S is blocked by the discharge port 10, and the discharged sheet S may block the discharge port 10.

  The sheet placement unit 21 is provided with a support shaft 26 that pivotally supports the sub-sheet placement unit 22. The sub-sheet placement unit 22 includes at least two materials so that the placement area of the sheet S can be changed depending on the length (or width) of the discharged sheet S.

  The placement region of the sheet S is changed by sliding the sub-sheet placement unit 22 toward the apparatus A and overlapping the sheet placement unit 21. Thereby, it is possible to improve the stackability of the narrow sheet S and the sheet S in which the wide and narrow widths are mixed.

  Further, a movable stacking unit 40 is provided at the center of the sheet placement unit 21 and on the discharge port 10 side of the apparatus A. The movable stacking unit 40 is configured such that when a number of sheets S are discharged from the discharge port 10 to the stacker 20, the sheet S is discharged from the stacker 20 so that the discharge port 10 is not blocked by the thickness of the stacked sheets S. And a certain space for the sheets S stacked on the stacker 20.

  The movable stacking unit 40 includes an urging unit (not shown) made of a spring or the like, a variable sheet placement unit 41 attached to the urging unit, and a sheet discharge position switching unit 50. The urging means is always urged upward (the side on which the sheet S is placed), and when the sheet S is discharged from the discharge port 10, the center of the sheet S is gradually expanded due to its own weight. Thus, the space for discharging the sheet S described above and the space for placing the sheet S can be secured at the same time.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the sheet discharge position switching unit 50 operates the variable lever 51 to change the height of the variable sheet placement unit 41 depending on the type of the sheet S on which several sheets S are placed. The position of is changed. Here, the sheet type refers to size, length, thickness, material, and the like.

  By providing the sheet discharge position switching unit 50, it is possible to ensure both a space for discharging the sheet S and a space for placing the sheet S even if the types of discharged sheets are different.

  For example, when the type of the sheet S to be placed is tracing paper, the movable stacking unit 40 is shifted upward because the stiffness is weak. Further, when the sheet S is a film, when the sheet S is stacked and placed on the sheet placing portion 21, the sheet S placed on the sheet stacking portion 21 and the sheet S discharged from the discharge port 10 are rubbed. This causes charging friction between the sheets. For this reason, the movable stacking unit 40 is shifted upward to narrow the space between the stacked sheets and the discharged sheets.

  Further, when the type of the sheet S to be placed is thick plain paper, the movable stacking unit 40 is shifted downward.

  The support means 30 is attached to the apparatus A and supports the stacker 20 and includes a frame 60 and an attachment portion 70.

  The frame 60 is formed by bending a thin plate member made of metal, and one end is attached to the apparatus A and the other end pivotally supports one end of the stacker 20. The mounting portion 70 supports the other end of the stacker 20 and is provided in the apparatus A.

  The attachment portion 70 includes a first attachment member 80 and a second attachment member 90. The first attachment member 80 is provided at a regular position (a position where the sheet S is discharged from the discharge port 10). Furthermore, the second mounting member 90 supports the other end of the stacker 20 at a predetermined position when the stacker 20 is released from the normal position, for example, when the sheet S is jammed. It is disposed below the member 80.

  Further, a reinforcing member 61 is attached at an appropriate position from the second attachment member 90 to the frame 60. In this embodiment, the attachment position of the reinforcing member 61 is attached to the approximate center of the frame 60. Thereby, the strength of the paper discharge tray can be increased. -

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the other end of the frame 60 is used when the stacker 20 is set from the first mounting member 80 to the second mounting member 90 or from the second mounting member 90 to the first mounting member 80. A lock member 62 that locks and releases the sheet placement portion 21 when the sheet is set is provided.

  With the above configuration, the claw 24 is attached to the first attachment member 80, the lock member 62 is locked, and the stacker 20 is attached to the apparatus A. Thereafter, the sheets S are sequentially discharged from the discharge port 10 of the apparatus A. When the sheets S are stacked on the stacker 20, as shown in FIG. 4, the movable stacking unit 40 sinks downward from a predetermined position due to the weight of the sheets S, and the sheet S and the space where the sheets S are discharged are placed. Space can be secured.

  Further, when the sheet S is jammed at the discharge port 10 of the apparatus A, the lock member 62 is unlocked, the lock member 62 is shifted in the direction of the arrow, and the claw 24 is detached from the first attachment member 80. The claw 24 removed from the first attachment portion is attached to the second attachment member 90. As a result, the placement position of the sheet S of the stacker 20 is separated from the position of the discharge port 10 of the apparatus A, and a space for jamming the sheet S is formed.

  As described above, it is possible to stack sheets corresponding to sheets having different characteristics with a simple configuration. Further, when jamming or the like occurs, it can be performed without completely removing the stacker itself from the apparatus.

1 is a schematic view of an apparatus to which a paper discharge tray of the present invention is applied. FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an outline of a paper discharge tray according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a sheet discharge position switching unit. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a paper discharge tray according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a top view of the paper discharge tray according to the present invention. The figure explaining arrangement | positioning of a small size mounting part, (a) is a figure which mounted the large sized sheet | seat with a weak stiffness, (b) is the figure which mounted the large sized sheet | seat with a strong stiffness. The figure which shows operation | movement of a locking member.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Discharge port 20 Stacker 30 Support means 40 Movable stacking part 50 Sheet discharge position switching part 60 Frame 70 Attachment part 80 First attachment member 90 Second attachment member A Apparatus
S sheet

Claims (1)

A stacker for stacking sheets of different sizes discharged from the discharge port of the apparatus is provided, and the stacker is provided at the center of the sheet stacking unit for stacking a large size sheet. A small-size placement unit for placing a small-sized sheet, a movable placement unit that secures a certain space for discharging the sheet from the discharge port to the stacker, and the movable stacking unit is discharged to the movable stacking unit. A sheet discharge position switching unit that makes a height of the sheet discharged from the discharge port constant according to a type of the sheet, and a support unit that is attached to the apparatus and supports the stacker. Is composed of a frame having one end attached to the apparatus and the other end pivotally supporting one end of the stacker, and a mounting part provided on the apparatus for supporting the other end of the stacker. A first mounting member for mounting the car, paper ejection tray and having a second mounting member for supporting the other end of the stacker to a predetermined position when releasing the stacker from the normal position.

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