JP6224149B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus in which a consumable container such as a toner cartridge is detachably mounted.

  Conventionally, in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, toner (consumables) stored in a toner container (toner cartridge or toner bottle) is automatically supplied to a developing device according to toner consumption. Many things are used. Such an image forming apparatus is configured such that a used toner container (hereinafter referred to as “toner cartridge”) can be easily replaced by a user.

  An image forming apparatus using such a toner cartridge is known which facilitates replacement of the toner cartridge.

  As a conventional technique, in a color electrophotographic image forming apparatus in which a plurality of cartridges are detachably attached to an apparatus main body and an image is formed on a recording medium, a cartridge support member (tray or drawer) for supporting the cartridge is provided on the apparatus main body. There has been proposed an apparatus in which a cartridge seal member supported by a cartridge support member is opened by movement from an outer position to an inner position (see Patent Document 1).

  With this configuration, it is possible to easily open the seal member of the cartridge, and to improve usability.

JP 2010-217814 A

  The image forming apparatus 101 described in Patent Document 1 is useful in that it can easily open the seal member of the cartridge and improve usability (operability). However, as shown in FIG. 17 (a), the door 31 rotates about the shaft (hinge) 32 with respect to the apparatus main body, and therefore, as shown in FIG. When the timing (timing) for loading (replenishing) and the timing (timing) for pulling out the cartridge tray 35 to replace the cartridge overlap, the door 31 becomes an obstacle and the recording paper is loaded on the paper feed tray 19. There is a problem that can not be.

  In particular, it is important to provide the user with a smooth printing environment so that the cartridge replacement time and the recording paper placement time (replenishment time) do not overlap as much as possible.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and provides an image forming apparatus capable of improving the workability of supplying a recording medium when the recording medium is supplied to a paper feed tray. The purpose is to do.

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention for solving the above-described problems is as follows.
The present invention includes a consumable container (for example, a toner cartridge) that detachably mounts a consumable, and includes a recording medium accommodating unit that accommodates a recording medium, and forms an image of the consumable on the recording medium. In the image forming apparatus, the recording medium housing portion is configured such that a side wall of a housing formed so as to surround the housing portion for housing the recording medium is inclined outward from a bottom portion to an upper opening portion, and it is characterized in that the upper portion of the housing configured to be continuously wider than the bottom area of the frontage area of the accommodating portion and expanded.

  The present invention may further include a consumable container support section that removably supports the consumable container on the image forming apparatus, and the consumable container support section is configured above the recording medium storage section. preferable.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the consumable container support portion and the recording medium storage portion are housed inside the image forming apparatus and can be pulled out from the front surface of the image forming apparatus.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the recording medium is placed in the recording medium container in a vertically long direction.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the recording medium accommodating portion is configured so that the size in the width direction is larger than the size in the width direction of the consumable container support portion.

  In the present invention, the consumable container preferably includes at least one of a consumable container, a developing roller, and a charging roller.

According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, a consumable container (for example, a toner cartridge) that stores a consumable is detachably mounted, and includes a recording medium storage unit that stores a recording medium. An image forming apparatus for forming an image by a product, wherein the recording medium housing portion is formed so as to surround the housing portion for housing the recording medium, and the side wall of the housing is inclined outward from the bottom portion to the upper opening portion. It is constituted by the by the upper portion of the housing configured to be continuously wider than the bottom area of the frontage area of the accommodating portion and expanded, it is possible to put a large amount of recording medium at a time, recording The workability of replenishing the medium can be improved.

  In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to configure a small-volume image forming apparatus that is space-saving and low in height, and can suppress the frequency of replacing the recording medium to reduce the trouble of placing the recording medium, thereby improving operability. be able to.

1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a configuration of a developing device constituting the image forming apparatus in a cross-sectional view. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the intermediate hopper with which the said developing device is mounted | worn. (A) is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the toner cartridge mounted in the said image forming apparatus, (b) is A arrow directional view of (a). (A) is a perspective view showing a configuration of the image forming apparatus, (b) is a detailed view of a portion B of (a). FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of the toner cartridge tray. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a paper feed cassette of the image forming apparatus. It is explanatory drawing which shows the detail of the shape of the said paper feed cassette. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the image forming apparatus. (A) is a perspective view which shows the structure of the image forming apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention, (b) is detail drawing of the C section of (a). FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a toner cartridge tray that constitutes the image forming apparatus. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along line DD in FIG. 11, illustrating a state in which a toner cartridge tray is disposed at a predetermined position in the image forming apparatus. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a toner cartridge tray of the image forming apparatus. FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a paper feed cassette of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a toner cartridge tray of an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a paper feed cassette of the image forming apparatus. (A) is an explanatory view showing a state in which a cartridge tray is pulled out from a conventional image forming apparatus, and (b) is an explanatory view showing a positional relationship with a door when the paper feed tray is pulled out from the image forming apparatus.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an example of an embodiment for carrying out the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram showing the overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a photosensitive drum 3 on which an electrostatic latent image is formed, a charger (charging device) 5 that charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 3, and the photosensitive drum 3. An exposure unit (exposure device) 1 for forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface, a developing device 2 for supplying toner to the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 to form a toner image, and a toner for the developing device 2 A toner replenishing device (not shown) for replenishing, an intermediate transfer belt unit (transfer device) 8 for transferring the toner image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 to a recording medium, and a fixing unit (fixing device) for fixing the toner image on the recording medium. The toner replenishing device is detachably mounted with a toner cartridge (consumables container) containing consumables having storage means for storing consumables information, and an image is obtained using toner by an electrophotographic method. Image to be formed A deposition apparatus 100, as a characteristic configuration of the image forming apparatus, is obtained by employing the configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

First, the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 will be described.
In the following description, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 forms multicolor and single color images on a predetermined sheet (for example, recording sheet) in accordance with image data transmitted from the outside. 110 and an automatic document processing apparatus 120.

  The apparatus main body 110 includes an exposure unit 1, a developing device 2, a photosensitive drum 3, a cleaner unit 4, a charger 5, a transfer unit 6, a fixing unit 7, a paper feed cassette (recording medium storage unit) 81, a paper discharge tray 91, and the like. It is comprised.

  A platen glass (original platen) 92 made of transparent glass on which an original is placed is provided above the image reading unit 90 provided on the upper part of the apparatus main body 110, and an automatic original is provided above the platen glass 92. A processing device 120 is attached.

The automatic document processing device 120 automatically conveys the document on the platen glass 92.
Further, the automatic document processing device 120 is configured to be rotatable in the direction of arrow M, and the document can be placed manually by opening the platen glass 92.

The image data handled in the image forming apparatus 100 corresponds to a color image using each color of black (BK), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y).
Accordingly, four developing devices 2, photosensitive drums 3, chargers 5, and cleaner units 4 are provided to form four types of latent images corresponding to the respective colors. Black, cyan, magenta, and yellow are respectively provided. These are set to form four image stations.

In addition to black (BK), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y), for example, light cyan (LC) having the same hue as cyan (C) and magenta (M) and a lighter density. ) And light magenta (LM) may be used.
By using these six colors, a clearer high-quality full-color image can be obtained.

  The charger 5 is a charging unit for uniformly charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 to a predetermined potential.

  The exposure unit 1 exposes the charged photosensitive drum 3 in accordance with image data input from the outside or image data obtained by reading from a document, thereby generating an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image data on the photosensitive body. This is an image writing device formed on the surface of the drum 3. The exposure unit 1 is provided with a polygon mirror that scans the laser beam and optical elements such as a lens and a mirror for guiding the laser beam reflected by the polygon mirror to the photosensitive drum 3.

  The developing device 2 visualizes the electrostatic latent images formed on the respective photosensitive drums 3 with toners of four colors (Y, M, C, BK).

  The photosensitive drum 3 has a cylindrical shape, is disposed above the exposure unit 1, the surface thereof is cleaned by the cleaner unit 4, and the cleaned surface is uniformly charged by the charger 5.

  The cleaner unit 4 removes and collects toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 after development and image transfer.

  The transfer unit 6 disposed above the photosensitive drum 3 includes an endless intermediate transfer belt (endless belt) 61, an intermediate transfer belt driving roller 62, an intermediate transfer belt driven roller 63, an intermediate transfer roller 64, and an intermediate transfer roller. A belt cleaning unit 65 is provided. Four intermediate transfer rollers 64 are provided corresponding to each color of Y, M, C, and BK.

  The intermediate transfer belt driving roller 62, the intermediate transfer belt driven roller 63, and the intermediate transfer roller 64 are configured to stretch and drive the intermediate transfer belt 61.

  The intermediate transfer belt 61 is formed in an endless shape using a film having a thickness of about 100 μm to 150 μm, and is provided so as to contact each photosensitive drum 3. A function of forming a color toner image (multicolor toner image) on the intermediate transfer belt 61 by sequentially superimposing and transferring the toner images of the respective colors formed on the photosensitive drum 3 onto the intermediate transfer belt 61. have.

  The intermediate transfer roller 64 is a roller whose surface is covered with a conductive elastic material (for example, EPDM, urethane foam, etc.). The intermediate transfer belt 61 transfers the toner image on the photosensitive drum 3 to the intermediate transfer belt 61. A transfer bias for transferring the image onto the image 61 is applied. Specifically, a high voltage transfer bias (a high voltage having a polarity (+) opposite to the toner charging polarity (−)) is applied to the intermediate transfer roller 64 in order to transfer the toner image.

  As described above, the toner images visualized according to the hues on the photosensitive drums 3 are stacked on the intermediate transfer belt 61. The stacked toner images as image information are transported together with the intermediate transfer belt 61, moved to a contact position (secondary transfer position, predetermined position) between the transported paper and the intermediate transfer belt 61, and moved to this contact position. The image is transferred onto the paper by the arranged transfer roller 10.

  The toner adhering to the intermediate transfer belt 61 or the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 61 without being transferred onto the sheet by the transfer roller 10 causes a color mixture of the toner in the toner image formed in the next process. Therefore, the intermediate transfer belt cleaning unit 65 is configured to be removed and collected.

The paper feed cassette 81 is a tray for storing sheets used for image formation, and is provided below the exposure unit 1 of the apparatus main body 110.
Above the apparatus main body 110, a paper discharge tray 91 for collecting printed sheets face down is provided.

  In addition, the apparatus main body 110 is provided with a substantially vertical sheet conveyance path S for sending the sheets in the sheet feed cassette 81 to the sheet discharge tray 91 via the transfer roller 10 and the fixing unit 7. In the vicinity of the paper transport path S from the paper feed cassette 81 to the paper discharge tray 91, a pickup roller 11a, a plurality of transport rollers 12a to 12d, a registration roller 13, a transfer roller 10, a fixing unit 7, and the like are arranged. .

  The transport rollers 12 a to 12 d are small rollers for promoting and assisting the transport of paper, and are provided along the paper transport path S. The transport roller 12b functions as a paper discharge roller that discharges the paper to the paper discharge tray 91, and is therefore referred to as a paper discharge roller.

  The pickup roller 11 a is provided near the end of the paper feed cassette 81, picks up paper one by one from the paper feed cassette 81, and supplies it to the paper transport path S.

  The registration roller 13 temporarily holds the paper conveyed through the paper conveyance path S. The sheet has a function of conveying the sheet to the transfer roller 10 at the timing when the leading edge of the toner image on the photosensitive drum 3 is aligned with the leading edge of the sheet.

  The fixing unit 7 includes a pair of a heat roller 71 and a pressure roller 72 as the fixing roller 70, and the heat roller 71 and the pressure roller 72 are rotated and conveyed with a sheet interposed therebetween.

  The heat roller 71 and the pressure roller 72 are disposed to face each other, and a fixing nip portion is formed at a pressure contact portion between the heat roller 71 and the pressure roller 72.

  The temperature of the heat roller 71 is controlled by a control unit (not shown) so as to reach a predetermined fixing temperature. The controller controls the temperature of the heat roller 71 based on a detection signal from a temperature detector (non-contact type thermistor) (not shown) that detects the temperature of the heat roller 71 provided around the heat roller 71. It controls so that it may become the range of 200 degreeC.

  Further, the heat roller 71 has a function of fusing, mixing, and pressing the multicolor toner image transferred to the paper and thermally fixing the paper with the pressure roller 72 by thermally pressing the toner onto the paper. ing. As shown in FIG. 1, the heat roller 71 is provided with an external fixing belt 73 for fixing the heat roller 71 from the outside.

  On the other hand, similarly to the heat roller 71, the pressure roller 72 is also configured by providing an elastic layer on the peripheral surface of a cylindrical metal core. And it contacts with the heat roller 71 with a predetermined pressure.

  The image forming apparatus 100 is connected to a PC, FAX, and a data management server such as a manufacturer, a sales destination or a lease destination via a network line (LAN, telephone line, etc.) not shown.

Next, the configuration of the developing device 2 constituting the image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the developing device constituting the image forming apparatus of the first embodiment in a sectional view, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the structure of an intermediate hopper attached to the developing device.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the developing device 2 includes a developing roller 231, first and second toner conveying rollers 232 and 233, a developing tank 234, a toner concentration sensor 235, and a doctor blade 236.

  The developing tank 234 forms an exterior portion of the developing device 2, and has a toner introduction port 234a for introducing a toner as a developer at an upper portion thereof. An opening 234b is formed on the side of the developing tank 234 facing the photosensitive drum 3. Inside the developing tank 234, a developing roller 231, a first toner transport roller 232, and a second toner transport roller 233 are disposed.

  The developing roller 231 is provided in the vicinity of the opening 234b formed in the developing tank 234, is exposed from the opening 234b, and is in contact with or close to the photosensitive drum 3. The developing roller 231 is a magnet roller for forming the magnetic brush described above.

  The first toner transport roller 232 and the second toner transport roller 233 are arranged on the bottom side of the developing tank 234 so as to be parallel to the developing roller 231 and develop while stirring the toner supplied into the developing tank 234 together with the carrier. Transport to roller 231. A toner density sensor 235 is provided at the bottom of the developing tank 234. This toner concentration sensor 235 is a magnetic permeability sensor, and detects the ratio of toner and carrier in the developing tank 234.

  The toner replenishing device 700 disposed above the developing device 2 includes a toner cartridge (consumable container) 500 that supplies toner, a toner cartridge tray 400 in which the toner cartridge 500 is disposed, and a lower portion of the toner cartridge tray 400. An intermediate hopper (consumable supply unit) 600 disposed in the toner, a toner conveyance path 612 for guiding the toner supplied from the toner cartridge 500 via the intermediate hopper 600 to the developing device 2, and first and second (not shown). Motor.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the intermediate hopper 600 includes first and second conveying screws 601, 603, a partition plate 607, a supply port (consumable supply port) 611, a piezoelectric sensor 216, and a toner supply port (supply). Mouth) 613.

The first and second conveying screws 601 and 603 agitate and convey the toner as the developer supplied from the toner cartridge 500 to the supply port 611, and discharge the toner from the supply port 613.
Specifically, the first and second conveying screws 601 and 603 have a stirring blade 605 and a gear to which driving force is transmitted from a second motor (not shown) disposed on the back side of the developing device 2. Is attached and rotated by the driving force transmitted from the gear to stir the toner.

  The first and second conveying screws 601 and 603 have the same shape, and the respective stirring blades 605 are formed in a spiral shape. Therefore, the first and second conveying screws 601 and 603 can convey toner in one direction by rotation. The second motor drives the first conveying screw 601 in the direction in which the first conveying screw 601 rotates to convey the toner from the front side to the back side. Further, the second conveying screw 603 is driven to rotate so as to convey the toner from the back side to the front side.

  A partition plate 607 that partitions between the first and second conveying screws 601 and 603 is disposed. Thereby, the first conveyance path 615 in which the first conveyance screw 601 is arranged and the second conveyance path 617 in which the second conveyance screw 603 is arranged are partitioned by the partition plate 607.

  Here, the partition plate 607 partitions the inside of the intermediate hopper 600 except for the back side and the front side, which are both ends in the longitudinal direction, and both ends of the first and second conveying screws 601 and 603 in the rotational axis direction. The portion is disposed away from the wall surface of the intermediate hopper 600. Thereby, the communication part which connects the 1st conveyance path 615 and the 2nd conveyance path 617 is formed in the back side and the front side in intermediate hopper 600, respectively.

  Accordingly, the toner replenished from the replenishing port 611 is transported from the front surface side to the back surface side by the first transport screw 601 and then sent to the second transport route 617 through the connecting portion on the back surface side. Then, the second conveying path 617 is conveyed from the back side to the front side by the second conveying screw 603. As a result, the toner in the intermediate hopper 600 circulates through the first transport path 615 and the second transport path 617. The toner sent to the second conveyance path 617 is again conveyed from the front side to the back side through the first conveyance path 615 by the first conveyance screw 601, and is then discharged from the supply port 613 to pass through the toner conveyance path 612. Via the developing device 2.

  The piezoelectric sensor 216 is provided at the bottom of the inner wall surface of the intermediate hopper 600, here the bottom of the second transport path 617, and outputs a voltage corresponding to the force applied from the outside. For this reason, as the amount of toner in the intermediate hopper 600 increases, the pressure generated by the weight of the toner and the bottom portion and the stirring blade 605 of the second conveying screw 603 increases, and the force applied to the piezoelectric sensor 216 from the outside is increased. Will grow. Conversely, when the amount of toner in the intermediate hopper 600 decreases, the pressure generated by the weight of the toner and the bottom portion and the stirring blade 605 of the second conveying screw 603 decreases, and the force applied to the piezoelectric sensor 216 from the outside is reduced. Get smaller. Therefore, the piezoelectric sensor 216 outputs a voltage corresponding to the amount of toner in the intermediate hopper 600.

Next, the toner cartridge 500 will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 4A is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a toner cartridge mounted on the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 4B is a view as viewed from an arrow A in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the toner cartridge 500 includes a columnar body having a substantially rectangular cross section, and includes a toner storage portion 502 in which supply toner is stored.

A toner supply port (consumable supply port) 540 is provided at the bottom (lower side in the figure) of the toner storage unit 502.
A storage unit (storage unit) 501 in which consumable information is stored is provided at one end 500a of the toner cartridge 500 attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus 100.

  The storage unit 501 is configured using any one of two-dimensional codes such as an IC chip (for example, a non-volatile memory such as a wireless IC tag and a contact-type CRUM), a barcode, and a QR code (registered trademark). In the first embodiment, the storage unit 501 is provided with a non-volatile memory contact type CRUM composed of a device incorporating an EEPROM or the like for storing information about the toner cartridge 500, and the memory includes a model number of the toner cartridge. Information such as the manufacturing location, the remaining amount of toner (sequentially updated), and whether or not it is new is stored.

  The storage unit 501 is provided with a storage unit positioning boss 504. The storage unit positioning boss 504 is a positioning member for positioning the storage unit 501 with respect to a storage unit connector (not shown) on the main body of the image forming apparatus 100 when the toner cartridge 500 is mounted on the image forming apparatus 100. It is. In the drawing, reference numeral 505 denotes a connection terminal, and 506 denotes an attachment hole for attaching the storage unit 501 to the toner cartridge 500.

Next, a characteristic configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
5A is a perspective view showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment, FIG. 5B is a detailed view of a portion B of FIG. 6A, and FIG. 6 shows an example of the configuration of the toner cartridge tray of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of the paper feed cassette of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing details of the shape of the paper feed cassette.

  As illustrated in FIG. 5A, the image forming apparatus 100 includes a toner cartridge tray (consumable container support unit) 400 that detachably supports the toner cartridge (consumable container) 500 to the image forming apparatus 100. .

  On the operation side of the image forming apparatus 100, a display unit 204 using a liquid crystal panel and an input unit 205 including a numeric keypad are provided.

  In the first embodiment, the display unit 204 notifies the replacement of the toner cartridge 500 when the toner cartridge 500 runs out of toner.

  When the operation side of the image forming apparatus 100 is a front side, the toner cartridge tray 400 is configured to be able to appear and retract on the front side 110a on the front side in the drawing as shown in FIG.

  On the toner cartridge tray 400, a plurality of toner cartridges 500 are mounted in the apparatus, and are arranged side by side at positions facing the developing device 2 corresponding to each toner cartridge 500.

On the toner cartridge tray 400, as shown in FIG. 5A, from left to right in the drawing, yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (BK) 4 in this order.
A toner cartridge 500 is mounted.

  Further, the toner cartridge tray 400 is provided with a handle 401 so that the user can manually pull out the toner cartridge tray 400 from the protruding end 400a.

  As shown in FIG. 5 (b), the handle 401 has a recess 401 a that is open at the bottom so that a user or the like can insert a finger from below.

  The toner cartridge tray 400 can be inserted into and removed from the apparatus main body 110 of the image forming apparatus 100 along a guide portion (not shown).

  The toner cartridge tray 400 is connected to a storage unit 501 of the toner cartridge 500 and a storage unit connector (not shown) on the image forming apparatus 100 side, and the toner cartridge tray 400 is connected to an image forming position (for example, inside the image forming apparatus 100). Positioned at a toner replenishment position to the developing device 2 disposed in the apparatus.

  In this way, the toner cartridge tray 400 is held in the image forming apparatus 100 so that the storage information stored in the storage unit 501 of the toner cartridge 500 can be read out on the image forming apparatus 100 side. Communication with the image forming apparatus 100 can be established.

  In the first embodiment, a sheet feeding cassette 81 that stores sheets is stored below a portion of the image forming apparatus 100 in which the toner cartridge tray 400 is stored. Similarly to the toner cartridge tray 400, the paper feed cassette 81 is configured to be able to appear and retract in the same direction as the toner cartridge tray 400 on the front side 110 a of the image forming apparatus 100.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the paper feed cassette 81 is provided with a handle 811 at the protruding end 81a so that the user can grip and manually pull out the paper feed cassette 81.

  As shown in FIG. 5B, the handle portion 811 is formed with a concave portion 811a having a lower opening so that a user or the like can insert a finger from below.

  The capacity (volume) of the accommodating portion that accommodates the paper in the paper feed cassette 81 is configured to be larger than the capacity (volume) of the accommodating portion that accommodates the toner cartridge 500 of the toner cartridge tray 400.

  In the first embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 is configured to support A3 size paper. A3 size paper has a length of 420 (mm), a width of 297 (mm), and a thickness of 0.080 (mm).

  As shown in FIG. 7, the paper feed cassette 81 has a shape of the bottom 81d1 of the accommodating portion 81d in which the paper is accommodated, the outer bottom depth is D11, the bottom width is W11, and the outer height is H11. The bottom depth is D12, the bottom width is W12, and the inner height (side wall height of the housing) is H12.

In order for the paper feed cassette 81 to accommodate 1,000 sheets of A3 size paper, the A3 size paper has a length of 420 (mm), a width of 297 (mm), and a thickness of 0.080 (mm). Therefore, a capacity larger than the length 420 (mm) × width 297 (mm) × thickness 0.080 (mm) × 1,000 (sheets) = 9,979,200 (mm ³ ) is required.
And the thickness T1 of the housing | casing which forms the accommodating part of the paper feed cassette 81 is 1.5 (mm).

From this, the outside and inside dimensions of the paper feed cassette 81 are
Outside: D11 × W11 × H11 = 353 (mm) × 503 (mm) × 101.5 (mm)
Inside: D12 × W12 × H12 = 350 (mm) × 500 (mm) × 100 (mm)
And
The capacity (inner volume) of the paper cassette 81 is
D12 × W12 × H12 = 350 (mm) × 500 (mm) × 100 (mm)
= 17,500,000 (mm ³ )
It becomes.

  The reason for setting the height to 100 (mm) is that the thickness of the recording paper is set to be larger than 0.080 (mm) × 1,000 (sheets) = 80 (mm).

  On the other hand, the capacity (inner volume) of the toner cartridge tray 400 is at least larger than the lateral width of 297 mm (image area width) of the A3 size paper, and further, a gap for facilitating the attachment / detachment of the toner cartridge 500 is taken into consideration. There is a need to.

  As shown in FIG. 6, in the toner cartridge tray 400, the shape of the bottom 400d1 of the housing portion 400d in which the toner cartridge 500 is housed is D1, the bottom back depth is W1, the bottom back width is W1, and the outside height is H1. The inner bottom depth is D2, the bottom width is W2, and the inner height (side wall height of the housing) is H2.

  Since the A3 size sheet has a length of 420 (mm), a width of 297 (mm), and a thickness of 0.080 (mm), the accommodating portion 400d of the toner cartridge tray 400 has at least a width 297 (mm) of the sheet (image area). Width).

  The thickness T1 of the housing forming the housing portion 400d of the toner cartridge tray 400 is 1.5 (mm).

Accordingly, the outside and inside dimensions of the storage portion 400d of the toner cartridge tray 400 are as follows.
Outside: D1 × W1 × H1 = 303 (mm) × 263 (mm) × 51.5 (mm)
Inside: D2 × W2 × H2 = 300 (mm) × 260 (mm) × 50 (mm)
And
The capacity (inner volume) of the container 400d of the toner cartridge tray 400 is
D2 × W2 × H2 = 300 (mm) × 260 (mm) × 50 (mm)
= 3,900,000 (mm ³ )
It becomes.

From the above, if at least the paper feed cassette 81 is a cube,
The capacity of the paper feed cassette 81 is 17,500,000 (mm ³ ) ÷ the capacity of the consumable tray is 3,900,000 (mm ³ ) ≈4.5 times.

  That is, the inner height H12 of the storage portion 81d of the paper feed cassette 81 is configured to be higher than the inner height H2 of the storage portion 400d of the toner cartridge tray 400, and the capacity (volume) of the storage portion 81d of the paper feed cassette 81 is The capacity (volume) of the storage portion 400d of the toner cartridge tray 400 is larger.

  As a result, a large amount of paper can be placed in the paper feed cassette 81 at a time, so that mixing of non-recycled paper with recycled paper or glossy paper can be prevented. Furthermore, the number of times of interference between the toner cartridge replacement time and the paper placement time (replenishment time) can be reduced, and the contamination of the consumables (toner) on the paper due to the toner cartridge replacement can be eliminated, thereby preventing paper smearing. .

  When the paper cassette 81 is a manual paper feed tray, the capacity of the manual paper feed tray is the maximum size of recording paper that can be printed by the image forming apparatus and the maximum number of sheets that can be loaded on the manual paper feed tray. It is good also as what multiplied the height of paper.

  In the first embodiment, the paper feed cassette 81 is formed so that the frontage area of the storage portion 81d that stores the paper is larger than the bottom area of the storage portion 81d.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, in the paper feed cassette 81, the side wall of the housing is inclined upward at the top, and the area of the upper opening (frontage) 81d2 is wider than the area of the bottom 81d1. ing. For example, if the inner height H12 of the paper feed cassette 81 is 100 (mm) and the angle θ at which the side wall is formed is 93 °, the side wall inclination angle Δθ is 3 °. The inclined side HS2 of the inclined side wall is 100.14 (mm), and the spread width ΔW of the upper opening 81d2 is 5.24 (mm).

Therefore, the area S1 of the bottom 81d1 of the paper feed cassette 81 and the area S2 of the upper opening 81d2 are
S1 = 500 (mm) × 350 (mm) = 175,000 (mm ² )
S2 = (500 (mm) +5.24 (mm) × 2) × (350 (mm) +5.24 (mm) × 2) ≈184,017.8 (mm ² )
It becomes.

  As a result, S2 ÷ S1≈1.05 (times), and the area S2 of the upper opening 81d2 of the paper feed cassette 81 is formed so that the upper opening 81d2 of the paper feed cassette 81 is wider than the bottom 81d1. , Paper can be taken in and out easily.

Next, a characteristic configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to a block diagram.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the image forming apparatus 100 mainly includes a control unit 210, a display unit 220, a document reading unit 230, an image forming unit 240, and a communication unit 250 as an electrical configuration.

  The control unit 210 is connected to the display unit 220, the document reading unit 230, the image forming unit 240, and the communication unit 250, and controls the entire image forming apparatus 100.

  The storage medium for storing the program executed by the control unit 210 is not limited to a memory card, and may be a medium such as a flexible memory, an optical disk, an IC card, an optical card, a mask ROM, an EEPROM, or a semiconductor memory. .

  The display unit 220 includes a display unit 221, an input unit 222, and a display control unit 223, and is used as an operation panel.

  The display unit 221 uses a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic ELD (Electro Luminescence Display), a display such as electronic paper using electrophoresis, a plasma display (PDP), a plasma tube array display (PTAD), and an electron-emitting device. A display device such as a display (FED, SED) or the like, which displays an instruction menu such as a setting screen for the user and a screen including information on acquired image data.

  The input unit 222 includes a plurality of keys, and accepts input of various instructions, data such as characters and numbers by user operations corresponding to the keys.

  The plurality of keys included in the input unit 222 are hard keys including switches. The input unit 222 may include a touch panel as a part of the key, or may be configured by the touch panel itself.

  When the input unit 222 includes a touch panel or is configured from a touch panel, the touch panel is provided on the display unit 221.

  The input unit 222 of the first embodiment is assumed to include a touch panel. Note that gesture input using a finger wearable wearable interface may be used.

  The document reading unit 230 is an automatic document reading apparatus (ADF) including a document reading unit 231 and a document reading unit 232.

  The document reading unit 231 includes a light source that irradiates light to the document conveyed to the document reading position and a photoelectric conversion element that receives light reflected by the document, and scans a document image corresponding to the size of the document. The photoelectric conversion element converts the received light into image data, which is an electrical signal, and outputs the image data to the image forming unit 240. The document reading control unit 232 controls document reading in accordance with an instruction from the user or an instruction from the outside.

  The image forming unit 240 includes an exposure unit 241, a charging unit 242, a developing unit 243, a toner storage unit 244, a transfer unit 245, and a fixing unit 246.

  The image forming unit 240 performs various data processing such as shading correction on the image data input from the document reading unit 231 and then outputs an image. A paper feed unit (not shown) conveys the paper stored in the paper feed cassette 81 to the image forming unit 240.

  The exposure unit 241 forms an electrostatic latent image on a photoreceptor (not shown) based on the image data after data processing. The charging unit 242 performs frictional charging by stirring the toner in the toner container. The developing unit 243 forms a toner image based on the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor. The transfer unit 245 forms an image on a sheet of paper that is conveyed by a paper feeding unit (not shown) with the toner image formed on the photoconductor. The fixing unit 246 melts the toner image formed on the paper by the transfer unit 245 and fixes the toner image on the paper.

  In this way, the paper on which the image is formed by the image forming unit 240 is discharged onto the paper discharge tray.

  The communication unit 250 includes a wired communication unit 251, a wireless communication unit 252, and a communication control unit 253. And according to the instruction | indication from the control part 210, data are transmitted / received between the connected external apparatuses. A wired LAN or the like is used as the wired communication unit 251. As the wireless communication unit 252, a communication line such as a wireless LAN or WiFi is used.

  Next, an operation for supplying paper to the paper feed cassette 81 in the image forming apparatus 100 of the first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In the image forming apparatus 100, when paper is supplied to the paper feed cassette 81, a finger is inserted from below into the concave portion 811 a of the handle portion 811 of the paper feed cassette 81 as shown in FIGS. By grasping the handle portion 811, the paper feed cassette 81 is pulled out from the inside to the outside of the image forming apparatus 100.

  At this time, the paper feed cassette 81 protrudes outward from the front surface 110 a on the front side of the image forming apparatus 100 and is exposed, so that paper can be supplied into the paper feed cassette 81.

  In the image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment, since the upper opening 81d2 of the paper feed cassette 81 is inclined and formed so as to be wider than the bottom 81d1, the operator can easily perform the paper supply operation. It can be carried out. Thereby, the workability | operativity at the time of replenishing a paper can be aimed at.

  With the above-described configuration, according to the first embodiment, in the image forming apparatus 100 including the paper cartridge 81 in which the toner cartridge 500 is detachably mounted and accommodates paper, the toner cartridge 500 is attached to the image forming apparatus. A toner cartridge tray 400 that is detachably supported on 100 is provided, and the capacity of the accommodating portion 81 d that accommodates the paper in the paper feed cassette 81 is configured to be larger than the capacity of the accommodating portion 400 d that accommodates the toner cartridge 500 in the toner cartridge tray 400. Thus, since a large amount of recording media can be loaded at one time, the workability of replenishing paper can be improved, and the number of times of interference between the replacement timing of the toner cartridge 500 and the paper placement time (replenishment time) can be reduced. Eliminates the scattering of consumables (toner) on the paper by replacing the toner cartridge 500 Te, the paper dirt can be prevented.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, the height of the side wall of the housing that surrounds the housing portion 81 d that houses the paper of the paper feed cassette 81 is surrounded by the housing portion 400 d that houses the toner cartridge 500 of the toner cartridge tray 400. Since the height of the side wall of the housing to be constructed is higher, when the paper is replenished or when the toner cartridge 500 is replaced, it is possible to easily determine the tray without making a mistake and to draw out an accurate tray.

  In addition, according to the first embodiment, the frontage area of the accommodating portion 81d that accommodates the sheets of the sheet feeding cassette 81 is configured to be larger than the bottom area of the accommodating portion 81d, so that large-capacity sheets can be replenished or replaced. Can be performed smoothly, improving usability.

  In addition, according to the first embodiment, the toner cartridge tray 400 and the paper feed cassette 81 are housed inside the image forming apparatus 100 and can be moved in and out from the front surface of the image forming apparatus 100. While facing the image forming apparatus 100, various recording papers (glossy paper, plain paper, recycled paper, postcards, etc.) can be exchanged quickly and in large quantities. A further space-saving image forming apparatus can be provided.

  In the first embodiment, the paper feed cassette 81 is configured to be able to appear and retract in the same direction as the toner cartridge tray 400 on the front side 110 a of the image forming apparatus 100, as with the toner cartridge tray 400. The recording medium storage unit is not limited to the configuration of the paper feed cassette 81. For example, a recording paper manual feed tray may be configured near the paper transport path S of the main unit. With this configuration, paper can be fed without using the paper feed cassette 81, the height of the paper feed cassette 81 can be reduced, and the space-saving image forming apparatus 100 can be reduced. Configuration is possible.

  In the first embodiment described above, an example in which the present invention is applied to the image forming apparatus 100 to which a plurality of toner cartridges 500 can be mounted has been described. However, the image forming apparatus includes a consumable container support unit that can replace a consumable container. If there is, the image forming apparatus is not limited to the above-described image forming apparatus. For example, a process unit in which a photosensitive member, a charging device, a developing device, a toner storage container (consumable container) and the like are integrally provided, It can also be developed in other image forming apparatuses.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 10A is a perspective view showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 10B is a detailed view of a portion C of FIG. 10A, and FIG. 11 is a toner constituting the image forming apparatus. FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along the line DD in FIG. 11 and shows a state in which the toner cartridge tray is disposed at a predetermined position in the image forming apparatus. FIG. FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a toner cartridge tray of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a sheet feeding cassette of the image forming apparatus.

  As shown in FIG. 10A, the image forming apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment includes a process cartridge tray (consumable container support unit) that detachably supports a process cartridge (consumable container) 1500 on the image forming apparatus 200. 1400 and a sheet feeding cassette 181 for storing sheets below the process cartridge tray 1400.

  The process cartridge tray 1400 and the paper feed cassette 181 are configured such that both the process cartridge tray 1400 and the paper feed cassette 181 can be projected and retracted in the same direction on the front surface 210 a side of the image forming apparatus 200.

  On the process cartridge tray 1400, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 11, from the front side to the rear side in the figure, black (BK), cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y) In this order, four process cartridges 1500 are mounted.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the process cartridge 1500 is a unit in which a developing cartridge 1501, a photosensitive drum 1502, a charging unit 1503, a toner supply roller 1505, a developing roller 1506, a doctor blade 1507, and a charging roller 1508 are provided almost integrally. It is configured. In the figure, reference numeral 1504 denotes an exposure optical path, 161 denotes an intermediate transfer belt, and 163 denotes an intermediate transfer belt driven roller (support roller).

  When the process cartridge tray 1400 is arranged at a predetermined position (image forming position) in the image forming apparatus 200, the plurality of process cartridges 1500 in the process cartridge tray 1400 are transported by the axial direction of the process cartridge 1500 and the intermediate transfer belt 161. They are arranged at right angles to the direction and aligned along the conveying direction of the intermediate transfer belt 161.

  The capacity (volume) of the storage unit that stores the paper in the paper feed cassette 181 is configured to be larger than the capacity (volume) of the storage unit that stores the process cartridge 1500 in the process cartridge tray 1400.

  In the second embodiment, the image forming apparatus 200 is configured to correspond to A3 size paper, similar to the image forming apparatus 100 of the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the paper feed cassette 181 has a shape of the bottom portion 181d1 of the accommodating portion 181d in which the paper is accommodated, the outer bottom depth is D111, the bottom width is W111, and the outer height is H111. The bottom depth is D112, the bottom width is W112, and the inner height (side wall height of the housing) is H112.

In order for the paper feed cassette 181 to accommodate 1,000 sheets of A3 size paper, the A3 size paper has a length of 420 (mm), a width of 297 (mm), and a thickness of 0.080 (mm). Therefore, a capacity larger than the length 420 (mm) × width 297 (mm) × thickness 0.080 (mm) × 1,000 (sheets) = 9,979,200 (mm ³ ) is required.
And the thickness T1 of the housing | casing which forms the accommodating part of the paper feed cassette 181 is 1.5 (mm).

From this, the outside and inside dimensions of the paper feed cassette 181 are:
Outside: D111 × W111 × H111 = 503 (mm) × 353 (mm) × 101.5 (mm)
Inside: D112 × W112 × H112 = 500 (mm) × 350 (mm) × 100 (mm)
And
The capacity (inner volume) of the paper cassette 181 is
D112 × W112 × H112 = 500 (mm) × 350 (mm) × 100 (mm)
= 17,500,000 (mm ³ )
It becomes.

  The reason for setting the height to 100 (mm) is that the thickness of the recording paper is set to be larger than 0.080 (mm) × 1,000 (sheets) = 80 (mm).

  In contrast, the capacity (inner volume) of the process cartridge tray 1400 is at least larger than the lateral width of 297 mm (image area width) of A3 size paper, and further, a non-image area width (not shown), the developing roller 1506 and the photosensitive drum 1502. In addition, it is necessary to consider a driving gear such as the charging roller 1508, a high-voltage application terminal, each housing, a gap for facilitating attachment / detachment of the process cartridge 1500, and the like.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the process cartridge tray 1400 has the shape of the bottom 1400d1 of the accommodating portion 1400d in which the process cartridge 1500 is accommodated, the bottom depth of the outer bottom is D101, the bottom width is W101, and the outer height is H101. The inner bottom depth is D102, the bottom width is W102, and the inner height (side wall height of the housing) is H102.

  Since the A3 size paper has a length of 420 (mm), a width of 297 (mm), and a thickness of 0.080 (mm), the accommodating portion 1400d of the process cartridge tray 1400 has at least the width of the paper 297 (mm) (image area). Width).

  The thickness T1 of the housing forming the housing portion 1400d of the process cartridge tray 1400 is 1.5 (mm).

The outside and inside dimensions of the housing portion 1400d of the process cartridge tray 1400 are:
Outside: D101 × W101 × H101 = 263 (mm) × 303 (mm) × 51.5 (mm)
Inside: D102 × W102 × H102 = 260 (mm) × 300 (mm) × 50 (mm)
And
The capacity (inside volume) of the accommodating portion 1400d of the process cartridge tray 1400 is
D102 × W102 × H102 = 260 (mm) × 300 (mm) × 50 (mm)
= 3,900,000 (mm ³ )
It becomes.

From the above, if at least the paper feed cassette 181 is a cube,
The capacity of the paper feed cassette 181 is 17,500,000 (mm ³ ) ÷ the capacity of the consumable tray is 3,900,000 (mm ³ ) ≈4.5 times.

  That is, the inner height H112 of the storage portion 181d of the paper feed cassette 181 is configured to be higher than the inner height H102 of the storage portion 1400d of the process cartridge tray 1400, and the capacity (volume) of the storage portion 181d of the paper feed cassette 181 is The capacity (volume) of the accommodating portion 1400d of the process cartridge tray 1400 is larger.

  As a result, a large amount of paper can be placed in the paper feed cassette 181 at a time, so that mixing of non-recycled paper with recycled paper or glossy paper can be prevented. Furthermore, the number of times of interference between the toner cartridge replacement time and the paper placement time (replenishment time) can be reduced, and the contamination of the consumables (toner) on the paper due to the toner cartridge replacement can be eliminated, thereby preventing paper smearing. .

  In the second embodiment, similarly to the image forming apparatus 100 of the first embodiment, the paper feed cassette 181 is formed such that the opening area of the storage portion 181d for storing paper is wider than the bottom area of the storage portion 181d. .

  As a result, the area of the upper opening 181d2 of the paper feed cassette 181 can be easily taken in and out because the upper opening 181d2 of the paper feed cassette 181 is wider than the bottom 181d1.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the process cartridge 1500 as a consumable container includes a developing cartridge 1501 that functions as at least a toner container, a developing roller 1506, and a charging roller 1508. By doing so, the unit can be exchanged for each color, so that the exchange workability can be improved.

  In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the paper feed cassettes 81 and 181, the toner cartridge tray 400, and the process cartridge tray 1400 are configured to correspond to A3 size paper. The configuration of the paper cassette and the toner cartridge tray is not limited to the size of the paper.

(Third embodiment)
Below, 3rd Embodiment of this invention is described with reference to drawings.
FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a toner cartridge tray of an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a sheet feeding cassette of the image forming apparatus.

  In the third embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, instead of a paper feed cassette 81 and a toner cartridge tray 400 that can store A3 size paper, as a paper feed cassette and a toner cartridge tray provided in the image forming apparatus. In addition, a paper feed cassette 281 and a toner cartridge tray 2400 that can accommodate A4 size paper are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 16, the paper feed cassette 281 has a shape of the bottom portion 281d1 of the accommodating portion 281d in which the paper is accommodated, the outer bottom depth is D211, the bottom width is W211 and the outer height is H211. The bottom depth is D212, the bottom width is W212, and the inner height (side wall height of the housing) is H212.

In order for the paper feed cassette 281 to accommodate 1,000 sheets of A4 size paper, the A4 size paper has a length of 297 (mm), a width of 210 (mm), and a thickness of 0.080 (mm). Therefore, a capacity larger than length 297 (mm) × width 210 (mm) × thickness 0.080 (mm) × 1,000 (sheets) = 4,989,600 (mm ³ ) is required.
And the thickness T1 of the housing | casing which forms the accommodating part of the paper feed cassette 281 is 1.5 (mm).

From this, the outside and inside dimensions of the paper feed cassette 281 are:
Outside: D211 x W211 x H211 = 353 (mm) x 283 (mm) x 101.5 (mm)
Inside: D212 × W212 × H212 = 350 (mm) × 280 (mm) × 100 (mm)
And
The capacity (inner volume) of the paper cassette 281 is
D212 × W212 × H212 = 350 (mm) × 280 (mm) × 100 (mm)
= 9,800,000 (mm ³ )
It becomes.

  The reason for setting the height to 100 (mm) is that the thickness of the recording paper is set to be larger than 0.080 (mm) × 1,000 (sheets) = 80 (mm).

  On the other hand, in the toner cartridge tray 2400, as shown in FIG. 15, the shape of the bottom 2400d1 of the housing portion 2400d in which the toner cartridge is housed is D201 as the depth of the bottom bottom outside, W201 as the bottom width, and H201 as the outside height. The inner bottom depth is D202, the bottom width is W202, and the inner height (side wall height of the housing) is H202.

  Since the A4 size paper has a length of 297 (mm), a width of 210 (mm), and a thickness of 0.080 (mm), the capacity (inside volume) of the storage portion 2400d of the toner cartridge tray 2400 is at least the width of the recording paper. It is larger than 210 (mm) (image area width).

  Further, a non-image area width (not shown), a driving gear such as a developing roller, a photosensitive member, and a charging roller, a high voltage application terminal, each housing, a gap for facilitating attachment / detachment of the process cartridge, and the like are taken into consideration.

  The thickness T1 of the housing forming the housing portion 2400d of the toner cartridge tray 2400 is 1.5 (mm).

Accordingly, the outside and inside dimensions of the storage portion 2400d of the toner cartridge tray 2400 are as follows:
Outside: D201 × W201 × H201 = 183 (mm) × 223 (mm) × 51.5 (mm)
Inside: D202 × W202 × H202 = 180 (mm) × 220 (mm) × 50 (mm)
And
The capacity (inside volume) of the container 2400d of the toner cartridge tray 2400 is
D202 × W202 × H202 = 180 (mm) × 220 (mm) × 50 (mm)
= 1,980,000 (mm ³ )
It becomes.

  Since it is configured as described above, according to the third embodiment, since the image forming apparatus is configured to support A4 size paper, the image forming apparatus is more compact than an apparatus compatible with A3 size paper. Can be realized.

In the above-described embodiment, the inner dimension (W12, W112, W212) in the width direction of the side wall of the casing that encloses the accommodating portion that accommodates the sheets of the sheet feeding cassettes 81, 181, 281 is defined as the toner cartridge tray (process). Cartridge tray) 400, 1400, and 2400 are configured to be larger than the inner dimension (W2, W102, W202) in the width direction of the side wall of the casing that encloses the accommodating portion for accommodating the toner cartridge, but the present invention is not limited to this. However, the inner dimension in the width direction of the side wall of the housing that surrounds the housing portion that houses the paper of the paper feed cassette is the same as that of the side wall of the housing that surrounds the housing portion that houses the toner cartridge of the toner cartridge tray. It may be configured to be smaller than the inner dimension in the width direction.
With this configuration, it is possible to provide a compact image forming apparatus by suppressing the size of the toner cartridge tray in the width direction.

  As described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications, and various modifications can be made within the scope shown in the claims, and technical means disclosed in different embodiments, respectively. Embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the above are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

81,181,281 Paper feed cassette (recording medium storage)
81d, 181d, 281d Storage part 81d1, 181d1, 281d1 Bottom part 81d2, 181d2 Upper opening part 100, 200 Image forming apparatus 400, 2400 Toner cartridge tray (consumable container support part)
400d, 1400d, 2400d Container 400d1, 1400d1, 2400d1 Bottom 500 Toner cartridge (consumable container)
1400 Process cartridge tray (consumable container support)
1500 Process cartridge (consumable container)
1501 Developing cartridge 1502 Photosensitive drum 1503 Charging unit 1505 Toner supply roller 1506 Developing roller 1507 Doctor blade 1508 Charging roller S1 area (area of bottom of toner cartridge tray)
S2 area (area of the upper opening of the toner cartridge tray)
ΔW width Δθ inclination angle θ angle

Claims (6)

An image forming apparatus in which a consumable container for storing a consumable is detachably mounted and includes a recording medium storage unit for storing a recording medium, and forms an image of the consumable on the recording medium,
The recording medium housing portion is configured such that a side wall of a housing formed so as to surround the housing portion for housing the recording medium is inclined outward from a bottom portion to an upper opening portion, and an upper portion of the housing is expanded. image forming apparatus characterized by frontage area of the accommodating portion and is configured to be continuously wider than the bottom area. A consumable container support unit that removably supports the consumable container in an image forming apparatus;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the consumable container support unit is configured above the recording medium storage unit.   3. The consumable container support portion and the recording medium storage portion are housed inside the image forming apparatus and configured to be respectively drawable from the front surface of the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus described in 1.   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the recording medium accommodating portion is configured to have a width direction larger than a width direction size of the consumable container support portion.   5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium is placed in the recording medium container in a vertically long direction. 6.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the consumable container includes at least one of a consumable container, a developing roller, and a charging roller.

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