JP5810668B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including a discharge roller for discharging a recording sheet to the outside of the apparatus main body.

  In an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a sheet on which a toner image has been transferred and heat-fixed is discharged from the apparatus main body to the outside by a discharge roller pair, but may be jammed along the way. In order to remove such a sheet, Patent Document 1 includes an opening / closing cover that is supported so as to be openable / closable with respect to the apparatus main body while supporting the lower roller of the discharge roller pair, and by opening the opening / closing cover. A printer that allows access to jammed sheets is disclosed.

JP 2010-208810 A

  By the way, since the above-mentioned printer needs to open and close the opening / closing cover every time the sheet is jammed near the pair of discharge rollers, the workability when processing the jammed sheet (jam processing) is not good. There was a problem of being complicated.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above background, and an object thereof is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of improving workability when performing jam processing.

In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes an apparatus main body provided with a long opening in the width direction of a recording sheet, a plurality of first rollers, and a plurality of second rollers. And a discharge roller for discharging the recording sheet nipped between the first roller and the second roller to the outside through the opening.
At least one first roller is supported by each of a plurality of first rotation shafts arranged with a first gap in the width direction.
The opening extends from the position shifted in the width direction with respect to a part of the first rollers in the width direction so as to expose at least one first gap, and extends toward one side in the short direction of the opening. Part.

  According to such a configuration, even when the recording sheet is jammed in the vicinity of the discharge roller, the user can access the jammed recording sheet by putting a finger into the first gap from the first widened portion. Thus, the trouble of opening and closing the member that can be opened and closed each time can be saved. As a result, it is possible to improve workability when performing jam processing.

  In the present invention, the entire opening is not enlarged, but the widened portion is provided at a position corresponding to the gap between the rotation shafts of the opening that is long in the width direction so that only the portion is enlarged. It is possible to prevent the discharge roller and the rotating shaft from being accidentally touched while the roller is rotating. Further, it is possible to suppress the intrusion of dust into the apparatus main body as compared with the case where the entire opening is enlarged.

  In the above-described image forming apparatus, at least one second roller is supported by each of a plurality of second rotation shafts arranged with a second gap in the width direction in a range corresponding to the first gap. Preferably it is.

  According to such a configuration, since the second rotation shaft does not exist at the position in the width direction corresponding to the first gap exposed by the first widened portion, the second rotation shaft can be used when accessing the recording sheet. There is no obstacle. Thereby, the workability | operativity at the time of performing a jam process can be improved more.

In the image forming apparatus described above, the opening is directed to the side opposite to the first widened portion from a position shifted in the width direction with respect to a part of the second rollers in the width direction so as to expose the second gap. It may have a 2nd widening part extended.

  According to such a configuration, a portion (widened portion) for accessing the jammed recording sheet in the opening can be further increased, so that workability when performing jam processing can be further improved. .

  The image forming apparatus having the second widened portion described above has the first widened portion and the second widened portion when the apparatus main body has a placement portion on which the recording sheet discharged from the opening is placed below the opening. The part is preferably larger on the lower side.

  In the configuration having the placing portion below the opening, there is a space for placing the recording sheet between the opening and the placing portion (below the opening), so that the lower widened portion can be easily formed larger. This makes it easier to access the jammed recording sheet. Further, if the upper widened portion is large, the height of the apparatus main body may be increased. However, the enlargement of the device can be suppressed by increasing the lower widened portion having a space.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the apparatus main body has a placing portion on which the recording sheet discharged from the opening is placed below the opening, and the opening has only the first widened portion. In this case, it is preferable that the first widened portion extends downward.

  As described above, in the configuration having the placement portion below the opening, since there is a space for placing the recording sheet below the opening, the first widening portion extending downward is formed to be large. Can do. This makes it easier to access the jammed recording sheet. Moreover, since the space below the opening can be used, it is possible to suppress an increase in the size of the device as compared with the case where the first widened portion extends upward.

  In each of the image forming apparatuses described above, one first roller and the other first roller arranged with the first gap interposed therebetween may be arranged so as to be shifted in the lateral direction. In addition, one of the first rollers and the other of the first rollers arranged with the first gap interposed therebetween curves the recording sheet to be discharged into a predetermined shape. You may arrange | position so that the angle of an axis line may differ.

  According to such a configuration, the recording sheet discharged from the discharge roller can be bent into a predetermined shape when viewed from the discharging direction, so that the discharged recording sheet can have a firmness. As a result, curling of the recording sheet being discharged can be suppressed, and curling of the discharged recording sheet can be corrected to some extent.

Each of the image forming apparatuses described above has a wall that forms one of a pair of edges of the opening opposed in the short-side direction, and supports one of the first roller and the second roller. It is good also as a structure provided with the supporting member to do.
In this case, it is preferable that the support member is swingably supported with respect to the apparatus main body so that one of the pair of edges is separated from the other.

  According to such a configuration, by swinging the support member, one of the discharge rollers can be separated from the other roller, and the access port for accessing the jammed recording sheet can be enlarged. Therefore, the jam processing can be performed more reliably.

  In this configuration, since the user can select whether to perform jam processing using the widened portion or to perform jam processing after swinging the support member, compared to the conventional technology that needs to be opened and closed each time It is possible to reduce time and labor when performing jam processing.

In each of the image forming apparatuses described above, two first rotation shafts are provided across one first gap, and further provided in the apparatus main body, and an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording sheet; One driving source that applies driving force to the image forming unit, and a first source that is provided on one side in the width direction of the image forming unit and that can transmit the driving force from the driving source to the first rotating shaft on one side in the width direction. A drive transmission unit and a second drive transmission unit provided on the other side in the width direction of the image forming unit and capable of transmitting a driving force to the first rotation shaft on the other side in the width direction can be employed.
In this case, the image forming unit receives the driving force from the driving source from one side in the width direction, and transmits the input driving force to the second driving transmission unit on the other side in the width direction. It is preferable to have a means.

  According to such a configuration, even if the first rotating shaft is provided with two first gaps and the number of driving sources is one, the rotational driving force is applied to both first rotating shafts. Can be transmitted. In particular, the third drive transmission means is not provided with a dedicated drive transmission means for transmitting the driving force, but uses the configuration of the image forming unit, and therefore a drive provided separately from the image forming unit. Compared to the configuration including the force transmission means, the number of parts can be reduced and the increase in size of the apparatus can be suppressed.

  According to the present invention, since the recording sheet jammed from the widened portion of the opening can be accessed, the trouble of performing other operations can be saved, and the workability at the time of jam processing can be improved.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a color printer as an example of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is the front view (a) of opening vicinity seen from the X direction of FIG. 1, and the front view (b) of a discharge roller. It is an enlarged view (a) in the vicinity of the discharge roller, and a view (b) showing when the support member is swung. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of a drive transmission mechanism. It is the figure (a) seen from the A direction of FIG. 4, and the figure (b) seen from the B direction. It is the front view (a) near opening which concerns on 2nd Embodiment, and the front view (b) of a discharge roller. It is the enlarged view (a) of the discharge roller vicinity which concerns on a modification, and the figure (b) which shows when a support member is rock | fluctuated. It is a front view (a) and (b) which show arrangement of a discharge roller concerning a modification.

[First Embodiment]
Next, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate. In the following description, first, a schematic configuration of the color printer 1 as an example of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment will be briefly described, and then the color printer 1 (periphery of the discharge roller 9) according to the characteristic portion of the present invention. The detailed configuration will be described.

  In the following description, the direction will be described with reference to the user who uses the color printer 1. That is, the right side in FIG. 1 is “front”, the left side is “rear”, the front side is “left”, and the back side is “right”. Also, the vertical direction in FIG.

<Schematic configuration of color printer>
As shown in FIG. 1, the color printer 1 forms an image on a main body housing 2 as an example of an apparatus main body, a paper feed unit 3 that supplies paper S as an example of a recording sheet, and the supplied paper S. The image forming unit 4 and the discharge roller 9 for discharging the sheet S on which the image is formed to the outside are mainly provided.

  The paper feed unit 3 is provided at a lower portion in the main body housing 2 and mainly includes a paper feed tray 3A that accommodates the paper S and a paper feed mechanism 3B that supplies the paper S to the image forming unit 4 from the paper feed tray 3A. In preparation. The sheets S stored in the sheet feeding tray 3A are separated one by one by the sheet feeding mechanism 3B and supplied to the image forming unit 4.

  The image forming unit 4 is provided in the main body housing 2 and mainly includes four process units 5, four LED units 6, a transfer unit 7, and a fixing unit 8.

  The process units 5 are arranged in the front-rear direction above the paper feed tray 3A, and each of them accommodates a photosensitive drum 5A, a charger 5B, and toner of any one of magenta, cyan, yellow, and black. And a known developing device 5C for supplying the toner to the photosensitive drum 5A on which the electrostatic latent image is formed.

  The LED unit 6 is arranged to face the lower side of the photosensitive drum 5A, and a plurality of LEDs (not shown) provided at the front end (upper end) based on the image data blink, so that the charged photosensitive drum 5A Expose the surface.

  The transfer unit 7 is provided above the process unit 5, and includes a driving roller 7A, a driven roller 7B, an endless intermediate transfer belt 7C stretched between the driving roller 7A and the driven roller 7B, and four ones. A primary transfer roller 7D and a secondary transfer roller 7E are mainly provided. Each primary transfer roller 7D is disposed to face the photosensitive drum 5A with the intermediate transfer belt 7C interposed therebetween, and the secondary transfer roller 7E is disposed to face the drive roller 7A with the intermediate transfer belt 7C interposed therebetween.

  The fixing unit 8 is provided above the driving roller 7A and the secondary transfer roller 7E, and mainly includes a heating roller 81 and a pressure roller 82 that is disposed opposite to the heating roller 81 and presses the heating roller 81. .

  In such an image forming unit 4, the surface of the photosensitive drum 5 </ b> A is uniformly charged by the charger 5 </ b> B and then exposed by the LED unit 6. An electrostatic latent image is formed. Then, toner is supplied from the developing device 5C to the surface of the photosensitive drum 5A on which the electrostatic latent image is formed, whereby the electrostatic latent image is visualized and a toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 5A. Is done.

  The toner images of the respective colors formed on the respective photoconductive drums 5A are sequentially superimposed and transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 7C. Then, the sheet S conveyed from the sheet feeding unit 3 is conveyed between the intermediate transfer belt 7C and the secondary transfer roller 7E, whereby the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 7C is transferred to the sheet S. The sheet S on which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed between the heating roller 81 and the pressure roller 82, whereby the toner image is thermally fixed.

  The discharge roller 9 is provided in front of the fixing unit 8. The sheet S on which the toner image has been thermally fixed and carried out of the fixing unit 8 is discharged to the outside through an opening 20 provided in the main body housing 2 by a discharge roller 9 and is discharged onto a discharge tray 2A as an example of a placement unit. Placed on. The paper discharge tray 2A is formed at an upper portion of the main body housing 2 so as to extend from the rear side to the front side while inclining upward from the vicinity of the lower side of the opening 20 and to extend substantially along the front-rear direction from the middle. ing.

<Detailed configuration of laser printer>
As shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), the color printer 1 includes a main body housing 2 provided with a plurality of pairs of discharge rollers 9 and an opening 20, as a configuration related to the characteristic part of the present invention. A support member 25, a motor 10 (see FIG. 4) as an example of a drive source, and a drive transmission mechanism (reference numeral omitted) are provided.

  The discharge roller 9 includes four drive rollers 91 as an example of a plurality of first rollers and four driven rollers 92 as an example of a plurality of second rollers. As described above, the sheet S nipped in between is discharged to the outside of the main body housing 2 through the opening 20 (see FIG. 1).

  The driving roller 91 is a roller disposed on the upper side, and is rotatably supported by the main body housing 2. As will be described later, the drive roller 91 is configured to be rotationally driven when a driving force is transmitted from the motor 10. More specifically, two drive rollers 91 are provided on two rotation shafts 91A as an example of a plurality of first rotation shafts arranged with a first gap SP1 in the left-right direction (the width direction of the paper S). It is supported one by one. A gear 91G that can rotate integrally with the rotation shaft 91A and the drive roller 91 is fixed to an end portion on the outer side in the left-right direction of the rotation shaft 91A, and the motor 10 is connected to the gear 91G via a drive transmission mechanism described later. When the driving force is transmitted from the driving roller 91, the driving roller 91 is rotationally driven.

  The driven roller 92 is a roller disposed below the driving roller 91, and one driven roller 92 is provided for each driving roller 91. Each driven roller 92 has a rotation shaft 92A as an example of a second rotation shaft, and is rotatably supported by a support member 25 (to be described later) via the rotation shaft 92A and driven to rotate. Is driven to rotate.

  The four (plural) rotating shafts 92A are arranged at predetermined intervals in the left-right direction. More specifically, the two rotation shafts 92A arranged near the center in the left-right direction are in a range corresponding to the first gap SP1, more specifically, at a position corresponding to the first gap SP1 in the left-right direction. The second gap SP2 is slightly wider than the first gap SP1.

  The opening 20 is an opening through which the paper S discharged from the inside of the main body housing 2 passes, and is formed in a shape that is long in the left-right direction. The opening 20 has a first widened portion 21 and a second widened portion 22.

  The first widened portion 21 is a part in the left-right direction of the upper edge portion 20A of the pair of edge portions (upper edge portion 20A and lower edge portion 20B) facing each other in the vertical direction (short direction) of the opening 20, specifically Specifically, it is a portion having a concave shape extending from the vicinity of the center of the upper edge portion 20A toward the upper side (one side in the short side direction). The first widened portion 21 is formed so as to expose the first gap SP1 between the two rotating shafts 91A to the outside.

  The second widened portion 22 extends from a part in the left-right direction of the lower edge portion 20B of the opening 20, specifically, from the vicinity of the center corresponding to the first widened portion 21, on the lower side opposite to the first widened portion 21. It is the part which makes the concave shape extended toward. The second widened portion 22 is formed so as to expose the second gap SP2 between the two rotating shafts 92A disposed near the center in the left-right direction.

  As described above, since the opening 20 includes the first widened portion 21 and the second widened portion 22, even if the paper S is jammed near the discharge roller 9, the user can point the gaps SP1 and SP2 from the widened portions 21 and 22. It becomes possible to access the jammed paper S. As a result, it is possible to improve the workability at the time of performing jam processing, as compared with the conventional technique that requires an operation of opening and closing a member that can be opened and closed every time in order to access the jammed paper S. .

  In particular, in the present embodiment, the opening 20 has the first widened portion 21 and the second widened portion 22 extending toward the opposite side of the first widened portion 21, so that the opening 20 is clogged. A portion (widened portion) for accessing the paper S can be made larger. This makes it possible to further improve the workability when performing jam processing.

  In the present embodiment, the first widened portion 21 and the second widened portion 22 are formed larger than the first widened portion 21 in which the second widened portion 22 located on the lower side is located on the upper side. As a result, in the present embodiment, the entire portion that widens in the vertical direction near the center of the opening 20 becomes larger (wider), so that the jammed paper S can be easily accessed.

  Further, in the configuration having the discharge tray 2A below the opening 20 as in the color printer 1, there is a space for placing the paper S below the opening 20, so the second widened portion on the lower side. It is easy to form 22 large. Therefore, the enlargement of the whole apparatus can be suppressed. Supplementally, when the upper first widened portion 21 is larger than the lower second widened portion 22, the height of the main body housing 2 may be increased and the entire apparatus may be enlarged. As described above, by enlarging the second widened portion 22 on the lower side having a space, it is possible to suppress an increase in size of the entire apparatus.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3A, the support member 25 is a member configured as a separate component from the main body housing 2 that houses the paper feed unit 3, the image forming unit 4, and the like. It has a wall portion 25W that forms a part of the lower wall. In the state shown in FIG. 3A, the upper end portion of the wall portion 25 </ b> W constitutes the lower edge portion 20 </ b> B of the opening 20. The support member 25 rotatably supports the driven roller 92 via the rotation shaft 92A.

  The support member 25 is supported so as to be swingable with respect to the main body housing 2 around the swing shaft 25A at the lower end of the wall portion 25W. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 3B, the lower edge portion 20B of the opening 20 is separated from the upper edge portion 20A by swinging the support member 25, so that the vicinity of the opening 20 of the main housing 2 is large. Open (access port 200 is formed). At this time, the driven roller 92 supported by the support member 25 is separated from the driving roller 91, so that the nip of the discharge roller 9 is released.

  According to such a configuration, the large access port 200 is formed by swinging the support member 25 when it is difficult to access the jammed paper S from the opening 20 (the first widened portion 21 and the second widened portion 22). Therefore, the jam processing can be performed more easily and reliably. Note that when the jammed paper S can be accessed from the opening 20 (the widened portions 21 and 22), it is not necessary to swing the support member 25. Therefore, compared with the conventional technique, the trouble in performing the jam processing is reduced. It can be reduced.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the motor 10 is a known motor that applies a driving force to the paper feeding unit 3 (paper feeding mechanism 3 </ b> B), the image forming unit 4 (process unit 5, transfer unit 7, fixing unit 8). In the present embodiment, one is provided on the left side in the main body housing 2.

  The drive transmission mechanism is a mechanism for transmitting the driving force of the motor 10 to the paper feeding unit 3, the image forming unit 4, and the like, and is mainly configured by a plurality of gears, shaft couplings, and the like. In the present specification, description of specific means for transmitting the driving force to the paper feeding unit 3, the process unit 5, and the transfer unit 7 is omitted, but such means adopts a widely known configuration. be able to.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, in the present embodiment, the drive transmission mechanism includes a first gear train 11 as an example of a first drive transmission means and a second gear train as an example of a second drive transmission means. 12, a heating roller 81 as an example of a third drive transmission means, an intermediate gear 13, and a pressure roller gear 82G.

  The first gear train 11 is provided on the left side (one side in the width direction) of the image forming unit 4 in the main body housing 2, and transmits the driving force from the motor 10 to the gear 91 </ b> G of the rotary shaft 91 </ b> A disposed on the left side. It consists of a number of possible gears. The intermediate gear 13 meshes with one of the gears constituting the first gear train 11 and the left heating roller gear 81G.

  The heating roller 81 mainly has a metal cylindrical rotating body 81A heated by a heater (not shown) and left and right heating roller gears 81G provided at both left and right ends of the rotating body 81A. The rotating body 81A is supported so as to be directly or indirectly rotatable with respect to the main body housing 2, and is driven from the motor 10 via the first gear train 11 and the intermediate gear 13 and input to the left heating roller gear 81G. The force can be transmitted to the right side of the image forming unit 4.

  The second gear train 12 is composed of a plurality of gears provided on the right side (the other side in the width direction) of the image forming unit 4 in the main body housing 2, and the driving force input from the right heating roller gear 81 </ b> G is placed on the right side. Transmission to the gear 91G of the arranged rotation shaft 91A is possible.

  The pressure roller gears 82G are gears provided at the left and right ends of the rotation shaft of the pressure roller 82, and mesh with the heating roller gear 81G, respectively.

  With the drive transmission mechanism as described above, the driving force of the motor 10 is transmitted to the gear 91G (drive roller 91) of the left rotation shaft 91A via the first gear train 11. Further, the driving force of the motor 10 is transmitted to the gear 91G (drive roller 91) of the right rotation shaft 91A via the first gear train 11, the intermediate gear 13, the heating roller 81, and the second gear train 12. It will be.

  Thereby, even if it is the structure where the two rotating shafts 91A are provided with 1st clearance gap SP1 and the motor 10 is one, both rotating shafts 91A (all the drive rollers 91) are rotationally driven. Can be done.

  In the present embodiment, since the driving force from the motor 10 disposed on the left side of the image forming unit 4 is transmitted to the right side of the image forming unit 4 using the heating roller 81, the driving force is transmitted. Therefore, the number of parts can be reduced as compared with a configuration including a dedicated drive transmission means for the purpose, for example, a shaft provided with gears at both ends.

  In addition, when a shaft such as that described above is provided, it is necessary to dispose such a shaft so as to avoid the image forming unit 4, and in some cases, there is a possibility that the main body housing 2 (apparatus) is enlarged. However, according to the present embodiment in which the configuration of the heating roller 81, that is, the image forming unit 4 is used for transmitting the driving force, such an increase in the size of the apparatus can be suppressed.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the discharge roller 9 of this embodiment includes four driven rollers 93 as other examples of the plurality of first rollers, and a plurality of second rollers. The sheet S nipped between the driven roller 93 and the driving roller 94 is discharged to the outside of the main body housing 2 through the opening 20.

  The driven roller 93 is a roller disposed on the lower side, and is configured to be driven and rotated by a driving roller 94 that is driven to rotate. The driven roller 93 is supported two by two on two rotation shafts 93A as another example of the plurality of first rotation shafts arranged with a first gap SP1 in the left-right direction.

  The driving roller 94 is a roller disposed on the upper side of the driven roller 93, and one driving roller 94 is provided for each driven roller 93. The drive roller 94 is arranged on two rotation shafts 94A as another example of a plurality of second rotation shafts arranged with a second clearance SP2 in the left-right direction within a range corresponding to the first clearance SP1. Two are supported. The drive roller 94 is configured to be driven to rotate when a driving force is transmitted to a gear 91G provided at the outer end in the left-right direction of each rotating shaft 94A.

  The opening 20 of the present embodiment is an opening provided in the main body housing 2 through which the paper S discharged outside from the main body housing 2 passes, and is formed in a shape that is long in the left-right direction. In the present embodiment, the opening 20 has only the first widened portion 23 as the widened portion.

  The first widened portion 23 has a concave shape extending downward from a part of the lower edge portion 20B of the opening 20 in the left-right direction, specifically, near the center of the lower edge portion 20B. And this 1st widening part 23 is formed so that 1st clearance gap SP1 between the two rotating shafts 93A may be exposed outside.

  As described above, since the opening 20 has the first widened portion 23, the jammed paper S can be accessed from the first widened portion 23, as in the first embodiment described above. Thus, the workability at the time of jam processing can be improved.

  Although not shown in the drawings, also in the present embodiment, the paper discharge tray 2A is provided below the opening 20. Accordingly, since there is a space for placing the paper S below the opening 20, the first widened portion 23 extending downward can be formed larger, and the jammed paper S can be easily accessed. be able to. Further, since the space below the opening 20 can be used, it is possible to suppress an increase in the size of the device as compared with the configuration in which the first widened portion 23 extends upward from the upper edge portion 20A of the opening 20.

  In the present embodiment, the widening portion is not provided at the upper edge portion 20A of the opening 20, but the rotation shaft 94A of the drive roller 94 has a second gap SP2 in the left-right direction within a range corresponding to the first gap SP1. It is arranged with a gap. Thereby, since the rotation shaft 94A does not become an obstacle when accessing the paper S from the first widened portion 23, it is possible to improve workability when performing jam processing.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. About a concrete structure, it can change suitably in the range which does not deviate from the meaning of this invention.

  In the above-described embodiment, the support member 25 that has the wall portion 25W that forms the lower edge portion 20B of the opening 20 and supports the driven roller 92 (second roller) is illustrated, but the present invention is limited to this. It is not a thing. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 7A, the support member 26 includes a wall portion 26 </ b> W that forms the upper edge portion 20 </ b> A (and the upper wall) of the opening 20, and includes a driving roller 91 (first roller). You may be comprised so that it may support.

  Supplementally, as shown in FIG. 7B, the support member 26 is supported so as to be swingable with respect to the main body housing 2 around the swing shaft 26 </ b> A at the rear end thereof. The upper edge portion 20A of the opening 20 is configured to be separated from the lower edge portion 20B so that the access port 200 can be formed. At this time, the driving roller 91 supported by the support member 26 is separated from the driven roller 92 to release the nip. Even with such a configuration, it is possible to perform jam processing more easily and reliably as in the case of the above-described embodiment.

  In the embodiment, the driving roller 91 (first roller) has the rotation center arranged on the same axis, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 8A, the left driving roller 91 (one first roller) and the right driving roller 91 (the other first roller) disposed with the first gap SP1 interposed therebetween. The roller may be arranged so as to be deviated in the vertical direction (short direction of the opening not shown).

  Further, as shown in FIG. 8B, the left driving roller 91 and the right driving roller 91, which are arranged with the first gap SP1 interposed therebetween, are disposed in the discharge direction of the sheet S (on the paper surface of FIG. 8). They may be arranged so that the angles of the axes AL and AR are different from each other when viewed from the direction in which they head.

  According to such an arrangement of the drive roller 91 (discharge roller 9), as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the sheet S discharged from the discharge roller 9 has a predetermined shape when viewed from the discharge direction. Therefore, the discharged paper S can be given a firmness. As a result, curling of the paper S being discharged can be suppressed, or curling of the discharged paper S can be corrected to some extent.

  In the first embodiment, the first roller is the drive roller 91, and in the second embodiment, the second roller is the drive roller 94. In the present invention, the first roller and the second roller are Any of them may be a driving roller. In the above embodiment, the driving rollers 91 and 94 are disposed on the upper side and the driven rollers 92 and 93 are disposed on the lower side. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the driving roller is disposed on the lower side. The driven roller may be disposed on the top.

  In the above embodiment, the pair of discharge rollers 9 is composed of one drive roller 91 (first roller) and one driven roller 92 (second roller), but the present invention is not limited to this. It is not something. For example, the pair of discharge rollers may be composed of one first roller and two second rollers, or may be composed of two first rollers and one second roller. Also good.

  In the embodiment, the number of first gaps is one (two first rotation shafts), but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the number of first gaps is two or more (first There may be three or more rotation axes. In this case, a plurality of first widened portions may be provided so as to expose all the first gaps, for example, only one so as to expose one of the plurality of first gaps. It may be provided. The same applies to the second gap and the second widened portion.

  In the above embodiment, the gear train is exemplified as the first and second driving force transmission means. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be, for example, a train of friction wheels or one gear or friction. It may be a car, a belt or a chain. Further, the first driving force transmission means and the second driving force transmission means may have the same type of configuration (both gear trains) as in the above-described embodiment, or different types of configurations (for example, one of A gear train, the other being a train of friction wheels, etc.).

  In the above embodiment, the heating roller 81 is exemplified as the third driving force transmission means, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may be, for example, the pressure roller 82. Alternatively, the photosensitive drum 5A of the process unit 5 or the driving roller 7A of the transfer unit 7 may be used.

  In the embodiment, the configuration in which the left and right rotating shafts 91 </ b> A are driven by one motor 10 (drive source) via a drive transmission mechanism is illustrated, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the left and right rotating shafts 91A may be driven by separate driving sources.

  In the embodiment, the color printer 1 that exposes the photosensitive drum 5A (photosensitive member) with the LED unit 6 (LED light) is exemplified as the image forming apparatus, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, an electrophotographic printer that exposes a photosensitive member with laser light, an ink jet printer, or a thermal printer may be used. The image forming apparatus is not limited to a printer, and may be, for example, a copier or a multi-function machine including a document reading apparatus such as a flat bed scanner. Further, the image forming apparatus may be capable of forming only a monochrome image.

  In the embodiment, the paper S such as plain paper or postcard is exemplified as the recording sheet. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be, for example, an OHP sheet.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Color printer 2 Main body housing | casing 2A Discharge tray 4 Image forming part 9 Discharge roller 10 Motor 11 1st gear row 12 2nd gear row 20 Opening 20A Upper edge part 20B Lower edge part 21 1st wide part 22 2nd wide part 25 Support member 25W Wall part 81 Heating roller 91 Driving roller 91A Rotating shaft 92 Driven roller 92A Rotating shaft S Paper SP1 First gap SP2 Second gap

Claims (11)

An apparatus main body provided with a long opening in the width direction of the recording sheet;
A discharge roller composed of a plurality of first rollers and a plurality of second rollers, and discharging the recording sheet nipped between the first roller and the second roller to the outside through the opening; An image forming apparatus comprising:
The first roller is supported at least one by one on a plurality of first rotation shafts arranged with a first gap in the width direction,
The opening extends from a position shifted in the width direction with respect to a part of the first roller in the width direction so as to expose at least one of the first gaps. An image forming apparatus having a first widened portion extending toward the surface.   The second roller is supported at least one by one on a plurality of second rotating shafts arranged with a second gap in the width direction within a range corresponding to the first gap. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The opening is directed from the position shifted in the width direction with respect to a part of the second roller in the width direction to the side opposite to the first widened portion so as to expose the second gap. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a second widened portion extending. The apparatus main body has a placing portion on which a recording sheet discharged from the opening is placed below the opening,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first widened portion and the second widened portion are larger on the lower side. The apparatus main body has a placing portion on which a recording sheet discharged from the opening is placed below the opening,
The opening has only the first widened portion,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first widened portion extends downward.   The one of the first rollers and the other of the first rollers arranged with the first gap interposed therebetween are arranged so as to be shifted in the lateral direction. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5.   One of the first rollers and the other of the first rollers arranged with the first gap interposed therebetween curves the recording sheet to be discharged into a predetermined shape, so that the recording sheet is viewed from the discharging direction. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the angles of the axes are different from each other. A support member that has a wall that forms one of a pair of edges of the opening facing each other in the short-side direction and supports one of the first roller and the second roller; ,
The said support member is supported so that rocking | fluctuation with respect to the said apparatus main body is possible so that one of said pair of edge parts may space apart from the other. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. Two first rotating shafts are provided across one first gap,
further,
An image forming unit provided in the apparatus main body and forming an image on a recording sheet;
One driving source for applying a driving force to the image forming unit;
A first drive transmission means provided on one side in the width direction of the image forming unit and capable of transmitting a driving force from the drive source to a first rotation shaft on the one side in the width direction;
A second drive transmission unit provided on the other side in the width direction of the image forming unit and capable of transmitting a driving force to the first rotation shaft on the other side in the width direction; A driving force from a source is input from the one side in the width direction, and the driving force is input to the second driving transmission unit on the other side in the width direction. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8. 10. The image formation according to claim 1, wherein the first widened portion is formed at a position shifted in the width direction with respect to the first rotation axis. 11. apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the second widened portion is formed at a position shifted in the width direction with respect to the second rotation axis.

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