JP6004536B2 - Document feeder and image forming apparatus provided with document feeder - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a document feeder provided in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a multifunction peripheral, or a facsimile machine, and an image forming apparatus including the document feeder.

  Conventionally, like the feeding device 200 of Patent Document 1, a feeding device for feeding a document in a document reading device or the like has been provided. A feeding device 200 of Patent Document 1 includes a paper support unit 201, a cover unit 202, and a discharge tray unit 203. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state where the cover unit 202 of the feeding device 200 is opened. FIG. 6 shows a side sectional view in a state where the cover portion 202 is opened, and FIG. 7 shows a side sectional view in a state where the cover portion 202 is closed.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the feeding device 200 of Patent Document 1 can change the paper support unit 201 and the discharge tray unit 203 in conjunction with each other by opening and closing the cover unit 202. Then, by changing the cover unit 202 from the open state to the closed state, the paper support unit 201 can be changed from the “use position” in FIG. 6 to the “storage position” in FIG.

  For this reason, according to the feeding device 200 of Patent Document 1, it is possible to omit a useless space when the cover unit 202 is closed when not in use, and the entire feeding device 200 is reduced in size and thickness. Can do.

JP 2010-245624 A

  However, the feeding apparatus 200 of Patent Document 1 cannot make the paper support unit 201 sufficiently large with respect to the document size in order to allow the paper support unit 201 to be housed inside the housing. . For this reason, when a large-size document is placed at the “use position” in FIG. 6, the trailing edge of the document hangs down inside the cover unit 202, and the document easily rises with respect to the paper support unit 201. There was a problem that paper jam occurred during feeding. Further, in the “use position” shown in FIG. 6, there is a problem that the cover unit 202 covers the document discharged to the discharge tray unit 203, so that the document on the discharge tray unit 203 is forgotten.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a document feeding device that can reduce the size and thickness of a document feeding device having a document placing tray that can be stored, and that does not hinder the visibility of the document discharge tray portion. To do.

  In order to solve the above problems, a document feeder according to the present invention includes a housing that houses a paper feed mechanism, a document placing tray that places a document, and a document discharge tray that collects a document. An upper cover and a first convex portion provided on the upper cover, the document placing tray having an engaging portion and an opening, and a first position opened on the document discharge tray side, and the upper cover Between the first position and the second position, which is closed to the side, so as to be swingable with the engaging portion as a fulcrum, and the opening is disposed on the first convex portion when in the second position. It is characterized by that.

  The paper feed mechanism includes a pickup roller that feeds a sheet from the document placing tray or a paper feed roller, and at least one of the pick up roller and the paper feed roller is positioned below the first convex portion. It is characterized by being housed in.

  Further, the housing has a second convex portion that comes into contact with and separates from the document placing tray when the document placing tray is at the second position.

  The opening is arranged on the document discharge tray when the document placing tray is at the first position.

  An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes any one of the document feeders described above.

  According to the document feeding device of the present invention, the document feeding device provided with the storable document loading tray can be reduced in size and thickness, and the document loading tray can prevent the visibility of the document discharge tray portion from being deteriorated. can do.

1 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus provided with a document feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a perspective view of a document feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view showing a first position where a document placing tray is opened. FIG. 10 is a side cross-sectional view showing a second position where the document placing tray is closed. It is a perspective view of the conventional feeder. It is side surface sectional drawing which shows the "use position" of the conventional feeder. It is side surface sectional drawing which shows the "position at the time of accommodation" of the conventional feeder.

  Hereinafter, a document feeder and an image forming apparatus according to the best embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings of the present invention, the same parts or corresponding parts are represented by the same reference numerals.

  FIG. 1 is an external view of an image forming apparatus 100 provided with a document feeder 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 100 selectively performs a copy mode, a facsimile mode, a scanner mode, and a printer mode. In the copy mode, an image read from a document is printed on a recording sheet. In the facsimile mode, an image read from a document is transmitted via a public line, and an image received via the public line is printed on a recording sheet. In the scanner mode, an image read from a document is output to an external information terminal device. In the printer mode, an image input from the information terminal device via the network is printed on a recording sheet.

  The image forming apparatus 100 includes a document feeder 10, a scanner unit 112, an image forming unit 113, a paper feed cassette 114, a paper discharge tray 115, and the like.

  The scanner unit 112 is a document reading device, and includes an image reading unit (not shown) inside, and the document feeding device 10 is mounted on the upper side. The document feeder 10 includes a document placement tray 30 and a document discharge tray 40, and feeds a sheet-like document placed on the document placement tray 30 in the copy mode, the facsimile mode, and the scanner mode. The document is discharged to the document discharge tray 40 via the image reading unit of the scanner unit 112. The scanner unit 112 reads an image of a document with an image reading unit.

  The image forming unit 113 includes an image forming unit (not shown) therein, and includes a paper feed cassette 114, a paper discharge tray 115, and the like. The image forming unit 113 forms an image on the recording paper fed from the paper feed cassette 114 by the image forming unit and discharges it to the paper discharge tray 115.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the document feeder 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The document feeder 10 includes an upper cover 20 constituting a part of a housing, a first convex portion 21 provided on the upper cover 20, a document placement tray 30 for placing a document, and a document placement tray 30. An opening 32 is provided, an adjustment guide 41 for adjusting the document placement position, and a document discharge tray 40 for collecting the read document.

  3 is a side sectional view showing a first position where the document placing tray 30 of the document feeding apparatus 10 is opened, and FIG. 4 shows a second position where the document placing tray 30 of the document feeding apparatus 10 is closed. It is side surface sectional drawing.

  The upper cover 20 covers the upper portions of the paper feed roller 52 and the pickup roller 51 of the paper feed mechanism housed in the housing so as to be freely opened and closed. The paper feed roller 52 and the pickup roller 51 are provided at a high position of the document feeder 10 in preparation for a large number of documents.

  For this reason, by accommodating at least one of the paper feed roller 52 or the pickup roller 51 so as to be positioned below the first convex portion 21 provided on the upper cover 20, a portion other than the first convex portion 21. Therefore, the document feeder 10 can be reduced in size.

  The document placing tray 30 has an engaging portion 31 formed of a shaft portion or a hole portion provided at an end portion, and an opening portion 32 provided in a portion on which the document is placed. Further, it is engaged with the casing of the document feeder 10 so as to be swingable with the engaging portion 31 as a fulcrum. Therefore, the document placing tray 30 can be displaced between the first position in FIG. 3 and the second position in FIG. 4 by opening and closing the casing.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the document feeder 10 is used, the document is placed on the document placement tray 30 with the document placement tray 30 in the first open position. The document placed on the document placing tray 30 is fed from the paper feed port 42 to the document reading unit 46 by the pickup roller 51 and the paper feed roller 52, read by the document reading unit 46, and then the paper discharge port 47. And is collected in the document discharge tray 40.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the document placement tray 30 is set to the first opened position, the opening 32 provided in the document placement tray 30 is arranged on the document discharge tray 40. The document recovered from the opening 32 to the document discharge tray 40 can be viewed. For this reason, it is possible to prevent forgetting to remove the document collected in the document discharge tray 40.

  As shown in FIG. 4, after use of the document feeder 10, the document stacking tray 30 is folded and stored on the upper cover 20 with the document stacking tray 30 in the closed second position. At this time, the opening 32 of the document placing tray 30 is arranged at the position of the first convex portion 21 of the upper cover 20.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the height of the first convex portion 21 of the upper cover 20 and the thickness of the document placing tray 30 are formed to be approximately the same. Therefore, when the document placing tray 30 is folded over the upper cover 20, the document placing tray 30 and the first convex portion 21 of the upper cover 20 can be made substantially flat, and the height of the document feeding device 10 can be increased. Therefore, the document feeder 10 can be downsized even when the document tray 30 is stored in the second position.

  Further, since the document placement tray 30 is not housed in the housing, a placement area suitable for the document size can be freely set in the document placement tray 30.

  The main configuration of the document feeder 10 according to the present invention has been described above. However, as a more preferable embodiment, the following configurations can be appropriately combined.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the document feeder 10, the first convex portion 21 of the upper cover 20, the opening portion 32 of the document placing tray 30, and the document discharge tray 40 are substantially in the document feeding direction 60. Although arranged so as to be parallel to each other, it is more preferable to align the respective central axes on the same straight line. With this configuration, since various sizes of documents discharged to the document discharge tray 40 can be viewed from the opening 32, it is possible to reliably prevent forgetting to remove a document from the document discharge tray 40. it can.

  In addition, it is preferable that the document feeder 10 of the present invention is substantially flat as a whole including the peripheral portion of the document placing tray 30 when the document placing tray 30 is closed. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the second convex portion 22 adjacent to the peripheral portion of the document placing tray 30 may be formed on the housing or the upper cover 20. By providing the second convex portion 22, the upper surface of the document feeder 10 becomes substantially flat when the document placement tray 30 is closed, so that the design of the document feeder 10 can be prevented from being damaged.

  The first convex portion 21 is a portion that is always exposed to the outside regardless of whether the document placement tray 30 is opened or closed. By displaying the above, an advertising effect can be brought about.

  For example, the space of the first convex portion 21 can be effectively utilized by displaying a company logo, a drawing of the document feeder, a symbol ADF indicating the document feeder, and the like.

  The concave portions other than the first convex portion 21 and the second convex portion 22 are exposed when the document placing tray 30 is opened, and are covered when the document placing tray 30 is closed. Therefore, an instruction unit 61 that indicates a placement position for each document size and an opening unit 62 for confirming the leading end position of the document may be provided in these portions.

  When the document feeder 10 is used, the document placement tray 30 is opened and the instruction section 61 and the opening section 62 appear, whereby the operability of the document feeder 10 can be improved. Further, when the document is not used, the document placing tray 30 is closed and the instruction unit 61 and the opening unit 62 are hidden, so that the appearance of the document feeder 10 can be improved.

  Further, the instruction unit 61 can be provided on the inner surface of the document placing tray 30 similarly to the concave portion on the housing side.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Document feeder 20 Upper cover 21 1st convex part 22 2nd convex part 30 Document mounting tray 31 Engagement part 32 Opening part 40 Document discharge tray 41 Adjustment guide 42 Paper feed port 46 Document reading part 47 Paper discharge port 51 Pickup Roller 52 Paper feed roller 60 Document feeding direction 61 Instruction section 62 Opening section 100 Image forming apparatus 112 Scanner unit 113 Image forming unit 114 Paper feed cassette 115 Paper discharge tray 200 Paper feed apparatus 201 Paper support section 202 Cover section 203 Paper discharge tray section 204 Feed roller

Claims (4)

A document feeding device comprising a housing for accommodating a paper feed mechanism, a document placing tray for placing a document, and a document discharge tray for collecting the document,
The housing includes an upper cover and a first convex portion provided on the upper cover,
The document placing tray has an engagement portion and an opening, and the casing is disposed between a first position opened on the document discharge tray side and a second position closed on the upper cover side. Engaged with the engaging portion as a fulcrum,
It said opening when said second position, is disposed on the first projecting portion,
The paper feeding mechanism includes a pickup roller that feeds a sheet from the document placing tray or a paper feeding roller, and at least one of the pick up roller and the paper feeding roller is below the first convex portion. A document feeder that is housed so as to be positioned.   2. The document feeder according to claim 1, wherein the housing has a second convex portion that comes into contact with and separates from the document placing tray when the document placing tray is in the second position.   2. The document feeder according to claim 1, wherein the opening is disposed on the document discharge tray when the document placement tray is in the first position. 3. An image forming apparatus comprising the document feeder according to any one of claims 1 to 3 .