JPH01164962A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify a constitution and to facilitate handling by providing an image carrier and an image forming process means in a 1st main body on a lower side and also providing a registration means and a transfer means on a 2nd main body on an upper side. CONSTITUTION:The title device is divided into a 1st main body 1 on the lower side and a 2nd main body 2 which is provided to be able to open to the main body 1 and which becomes a guide for the other at the time of conveying sheet to be constituted in a clamshell type. And the image carrier 3, a cleaner blade 16 and the image forming process means such as a corona electrifier 17 and a focusing lens 18, etc., are provided on the 1st main body 1 on the lower side and the registration means 30 and the transfer means 37 are provided on the 2nd main body 2 on the upper side. Since the members attached to the 2nd main body 2 which is opened can be reduced, the 2nd main body 2 side is simplified and lightened in weight and handling is facilitated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus configured as a clamshell type.

[Prior Art] An image forming apparatus that performs double-sided printing or double printing is provided with a path that transfers and fixes a toner image onto a sheet of paper and guides the sheet of paper to a transfer section again. In the conventional apparatus, a transfer means is provided below the image carrier, and the path is provided further below.

Therefore, in order to dispose of paper jams, it is necessary to provide a space to open the paper path, which inevitably increases the size of the apparatus. Furthermore, when removing jammed paper by hand, there is a problem in that the paper path is located below the device, resulting in poor work efficiency.

To address this problem, there is a conventional device configured in a so-called clamshell type in which the paper path can be separated.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, the ramshell type image forming apparatus has the advantage of being compact because no space is required for opening the paper path.

However, since the device is opened in parts, it is necessary to lift and open the heavy part above the paper path, which not only requires effort to handle (the structure is complicated due to the installation of strong springs and oil dampers). There is a tendency to

Furthermore, the structure becomes increasingly complex because it requires two mechanisms: one to open the paper path between the toner image carrier and the transfer means, and the other to open the paper path for duplex printing. there were.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides an image forming apparatus that has a relatively simple configuration, is easy to handle, and can perform the predetermined operation of the image carrier and image forming means without any trouble. The purpose is to

[Means for solving problems and cost means,
a transfer section for transferring the image on the image carrier to paper;
In an image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus includes a paper transport means for guiding the paper to the transfer section, and a registration means for aligning the image on the image carrier with the paper to determine the timing of paper transport. A first body and a second body which is provided so as to be openable with respect to the body and serve as one of the guides during sheet conveyance, and are configured in a clamshell shape, and the image carrier and the image forming process are divided into two parts. The device is characterized in that the device is provided in the first body on the lower side, and the registration device and the transfer device are provided on the second body on the upper side.

With such a configuration, the number of members attached to the second body that is opened can be reduced, making the second body simple and lightweight, making it easy to handle. In addition, this makes it possible to move obstructive parts from the opening for inspection and replacement of the image carrier and image forming process means provided on the first main body side, making the work easier. can.

[Example] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the overall structure of this embodiment. In FIG. 1, the apparatus is divided into parts, and a bell unit 3 as an image carrier, a developing unit 4, a print head 5, a motor 6, and a source unit 7 are arranged in a first main body 1 on the lower side.

On the other hand, a paper transport unit 8 is formed on the side of the second main body 2 which is openably provided with respect to the first main body 1, and serves as one of the guides during paper transport. This paper conveyance unit 8 is supported by a cover plate 9 with a fulcrum lO and a spring 11,
The cover plate 9 can be opened upward about the rotation center 12. Therefore, by opening the cover plate 9, the cover plate 9 and the paper transport unit 8 can be moved upward.

An image-bearing pet 15 is stretched between the drive roller 13 and the tension roller 14 on the belt unit 3, and a cleaner blade 16, a corona charger 17, and a focusing lens 18 are provided below the belt 15. Together with the RAD 5 and the developing unit 4, it constitutes an image forming process means. Note that 19 is the developing unit 4.
shows the sleeve.

A paper tray 20 is provided above the developing unit 4, and a manual feed guide 21 is further provided above the paper tray 20. 2
2 is a paper feed roller, 23 is a separation plate, and 24 is a sheet whose leading end is inserted between the paper feed roller 22 and the intermediate plate 25.

A manual feed sensor 26 is provided on the distal end side of the manual feed guide 21, and a manual feed row 227 and a pinch roller 28 are further provided on the front side thereof.

Near the confluence of the paper supply path from the paper tray 20 and the paper supply path from the manual feed guide 21, there is a registration shore unit 30 that aligns the image on the image carrier with the paper and determines the timing of paper conveyance. provided. Registry 7
37 means 30 is a registration sensor 31. It is composed of a gate plate 32, a conveyance roller 33, and a pinch roller 34.

35 and 36 are the paper guides under -E, and in front of them, a corona charger 37 as a transfer means is connected to the tension roller 21.
4 and is disposed above it.

Furthermore, a front roller unit 41 consisting of a vacuum duct 38, heat rollers 39, 7' and a reshaping roller 40 is disposed in the paper conveyance path.

Reference numeral 42 denotes a peeling claw for peeling off the paper from the heat roller 39, and a paper discharge tray 45 is further provided via a discharge roller 43 and a pinch row 244. 46 is the paper that has passed between the paper ejection row 243 and the pinch roller 44.
This is a gate for selecting whether to allow the paper to pass through the paper or to send it upward for double-sided copying and invert it. Furthermore, 47 is a guide plate, and 48 and 49 are a conveyance roller and a pinch roller, respectively.

Next, to explain the operation of this image forming apparatus, the sheets 24 in the sheet tray 20 are taken out one by one by the sheet feeding row 222 and the separation plate 23, and the sheets 24 are taken out one by one by the sheet feeding row 222 and the separating plate 23, and the sheets are passed through the sheet feeding path to the registration 73.
7 is sent to the position of the means 30 and is temporarily stopped by 4 and the gate 32.

On the other hand, in the belt unit 3, the image carrying belt 1
After the toner of No. 5 is removed by the cleaner blade 16 and charged by the corona charger 17, an image is formed by the print head 51. This image is in development unit 4
The image is developed at the portion shown in FIG. At this time, the paper 24 is released on the paper conveyance path in time with one image of the image carrying belt 15-E as detected by the registration sensor 31 in the registration means 30, so that the paper 24 is The image is transferred to the back side. paper 2
4 advances while being sucked by the vacuum duct 38, and thermal checking is performed in the fixing roller unit 41.

The paper 24 is directly ejected into the paper ejection tray 45 by the ejection row 243 when the gate 46 is open.

When the gate 46 is closed for double-sided copying, the paper is sent to the upper guide plate 47 and passed through a part of the upper side of the paper transport unit 8 by the transport roller 48 and pinch roller 49, and then the manual feed roller 27 and the pinch roller 29. supplied in between. After a predetermined time after the end of the paper 24 passes through the sensor 50, the first manual feed roller 27 and the pinch roller 2
8 is reversed, and the paper 24 is sent again to the registration means 30 along the paper supply path in the reversed state, and after the transfer is performed on the other side of the paper 24 following the process described above, it is transferred to the paper discharge tray 45. is discharged.

In the image forming apparatus of this embodiment, the paper conveyance path is formed at a relatively upper part of the apparatus, so this paper conveyance path is opened by opening the cover plate 9 on the second main body 2 side as shown in FIG. If there is a paper jam, it can be easily removed.

Further, since a part of the duplex paper transport path can be opened by opening the paper transport unit 8 about the fulcrum 10 against the force of the spring 11, paper jams in this part can be easily removed.

Since the number of parts of the second main body 2 that move upward together with the cover plate 9 is kept to a minimum, the second main body 2 can be made lightweight and can be easily opened and closed. Furthermore, since the developing unit 4, print head 5, motor 9, power supply unit 7, etc. are provided in the first main body 1 on the fixed side, wiring etc. can be simplified.

Furthermore, since there is no need to provide extra space required to open the paper conveyance path, not only can the apparatus be configured compactly, but also the main body 2 can be opened and used as the registration means 30 and the corona charger 17 as the transfer means. In the state shown in FIG. 2, these parts are moved from above the belt unit 3 as an image carrier and the image type processing means, and these parts are opened, so that inspection, maintenance, and replacement of these parts is easy.

Next, the configuration and operation of each part will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 3.

In FIG. 3, the paper conveyance unit 8 is rotatably supported on a fulcrum 10 provided on a cover plate 9 with a clearance δ. In this case, the paper conveyance unit 8 is drawn toward the cover plate 9 by the spring 11, but is moved away from the paper guide 9a formed by the lip of the cover plate 9 by a small margin t by the leaf spring 11'. is energized by That is, the pressing force of the leaf spring 11' is greater than the tensile force of the spring 11.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the upper part of the paper conveyance unit 8 also forms a paper guide 8a with a lip.A sensor 50 for detecting passage of paper is protruded from the center of the paper guide 8a. It is supported by a rotatable shaft 51 that passes through the. As shown in FIG. 5, an arm 52 is fixed to the outside of the flap 51 on the side opposite to the paper conveyance unit 8, and swings in accordance with the movement of the sensor 50. The swing range of the arm 52 is restricted by a pin 53 protruding from the unit 8.

Further, a photo interrupter 54 is installed on the side plate of the main body at the position of the arm 52 when the paper is not detected by the sensor 50. In FIG. 4, a guide is formed on the paper feed side of the paper conveyance unit 8 to guide the paper 24 conveyed from both directions of the paper feed roller 22 and the manual feed roller 26 to the nip portion between the conveyance roller 33 and the pinch row 234. The registration sensor 31 and the gate plate 32 are provided at the junction of these two guides. Registration sensor 31
is fixed to @55 which passes through the paper conveying unit 8 and is swingably supported, and swings as the paper 24 passes. As shown in FIG. 5, an arm 56 is fixed to this shaft 55, and swings about the shaft 55 in conjunction with the above-mentioned movement. At this time, a pin 57 is provided protruding from the side plate of the paper conveyance unit 8 and comes into contact with the arm 54 to restrict its swing range. Further, a photo interrupter 58 is provided on the side plate of the main body so as to interrupt the optical path at the position of the arm 56 when there is no paper 24 on the paper guide.

In FIG. 4, the conveyance roller 33 is supported by a bearing 59 shown in FIG.
The bearing 59 is provided to largely protrude outside the paper conveying unit 8. The pinch roller 34 is also rotatably supported by a bearing 60,
Moreover, it is biased by a spring 61 so as to be pressed against the conveyance roller 33 . Conveyance row 233 and pinch row 23
4, a gate plate 32 is supported by a shaft 62 and is provided so as to be retractable from the paper conveyance path.

An arm 63 is fixed to the shaft 62 as shown in FIG.
It abuts against a stopper pin 65 that determines the lower limit position of the gate plate 32, which is urged in a direction to retreat from the paper conveyance path by a coil spring 64.

On the side plate of the main body side, a single actuator 66 is rotatably waiting around @1167 at a position where it is about to engage with a pin protruding from the arm 63. A solenoid 68 is engaged with one arm of the actuator 66 via a compression spring 69, and is urged so that the one arm comes into contact with a stopper 70 protruding from the main body uniform plate. Further, a bearing groove 71 is formed in the side plate of the main body so that the bearing 59 of the paper conveying unit 8 is tightly fitted therein.

35 and 36 in the figure are the paper guides explained in FIG.
7 is a corona charger, 38 is a vacuum duct, and on the downstream side of the corona charger 37, a charge removal brush 71 for removing charge from the paper is provided.

Next, the paper conveyance operation and the opening/closing operation of the cover plate 9 will be explained.

In FIG. 4, the paper feed roller 22 and the manual feed roller 22
The paper conveyed by 7 is guided by a guide formed on the -F side of the paper conveyance unit 8 and reaches the positions of the conveyance roller 33 and the pinch roller 34.

During this process, by swinging the registration sensor 31, the outer arm 56 of the paper transport unit 8 shown in FIG. When the solenoid 67 shown in FIG. 3 is energized at a predetermined timing by this signal, the actuator 66
is rotated around the shaft man 67, so that one arm portion of the actuator 66 comes into contact with the protruding pin of the arm 63, and the arm 63
rotate clockwise along the shaft 62. As a result of this rotational operation ζ, the gate plate 32 shown in FIG. 4 projects into the paper conveyance path and performs a registration operation.

After registration, when the solenoid 68 runs out, the biasing force of the compression spring 69 returns and the actuator 66 moves to the stopper 70.
Go back to As a result, the gate plate 32 is retracted from the paper conveyance path.

The registered paper rushes into the conveyance roller 33 due to the reaction of the deflection of the paper during registration, is guided by paper guides 35 and 36, and is conveyed to the corona charger 37 of the transfer section. In the transfer section, the corona charger 37 is energized at the appropriate timing.
Transcription takes place. Furthermore, when the paper is conveyed forward, static electricity is removed by contacting or passing near the unloading brush 72, and the paper reaches the vacuum duct 38, where it is attracted by the vacuum duct 38 and sticks to the vacuum duct 38. This is how they are transported.

The upper side of the paper transport unit 8 is a transport path for double-sided copying. The cover plate 9 has a conveyance roller 48 and a pinch roller 49.
is rotatably supported by a spring 11 with nip pressure applied to it. The paper that has passed through this pair of rollers is further conveyed and advances to the manual feed roller 27. On the way, the sensor 50 is tilted forward, so the shaft 51 moves clockwise, simultaneously rotating the arm 52 shown in FIG. 5 on the outside of the paper conveyance unit 8. As a result, the arm 52 comes off the photointerrupter 54, and a detection signal is generated. After the paper has passed, it rotates in the opposite direction due to its own weight and is stopped by a pin 53.

In order to transmit the power to the conveying roller 33, a gear train 75 with one point as a fulcrum is provided in the vicinity of the bearing groove 71, as shown in FIG.
9 is fitted into the bearing groove 71, this is done by meshing with the gear 76 on the conveying row 233.

Next, the opening and closing operations of the cover plate 9 will be explained.

FIG. 3 shows the cover plate 9 in an open state.

The paper conveying unit 8 is engaged with the fulcrum 10 with a clearance δ, and is held in a balanced state by the spring 10, the plate spring 11', and its own weight. When the cover plate 9 is closed, the bearing 59 protruding to the outside of the paper conveyance unit 8 fits into the bearing groove 71 provided on the side plate of the main body.

Furthermore, when the cover plate 9 is closed, the belt unit 3
A positioning member 73 on the side plate of the paper conveyance unit 8 contacts the side plate of the paper conveyance unit 8 . When the cover plate 9 is completely pushed in, the paper conveyance path is now separated from the paper conveyance unit 8 and the paper guide 9a of the cover plate 9 by a proper distance, as shown in FIG. will be retained.

At this time, the bearing 59 of the paper conveying unit 8 is positioned by the bearing $71, the height direction is positioned by the positioning member 73, and it is held down by the leaf spring 11', so it is important for image formation that the image at the transfer section is A major advantage is that the positional relationship between the surface of the carrying belt 15 and the corona charger 37 in the transfer section can be determined accurately.

In this embodiment, the duct 74 and the vacuum duct 38 are also separated by 3% by opening and closing the cover plate 9.
In this embodiment, air leakage is prevented by employing the configuration shown in Figures 7 and 8.

That is, a step is provided at the joint portion of the duct 74, and an elastic body 75 is attached to this portion.

Since the vacuum duct 38 presses against the elastic body 75, there is no air leakage, and the resistance of the sealing member during connection can be kept low.

Note that this invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and can be implemented with various modifications without changing the gist.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that has a relatively simple configuration, is easy to handle, and allows the image bearing member and image forming means to be attached and detached without any trouble. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the embodiment, and FIGS. 3 to 6 are respectively the same embodiment. FIGS. 7 and 8 are illustrations of the paper conveying unit used in this embodiment, and are diagrams of the connection portion between the duct and the vacuum duct of the same embodiment, respectively. 1... First main body 2... Second main body 3... Belt unit 4... Developing unit 5... Print head 6... Motor 7... Power supply unit 8.
...Paper transport unit 9...Cover plate 10...
・Fully point 11...Spring 12...Rotation center 13...Drive row 2 14...Tension row 2
15... Image carrying belt 16... Cleaner plate 17... Corona? 1FtW 18...Focusing lens 19...Sleeve 20...Paper tray 21
... Manual feed guide 22 ... Paper feed row 223 ...
・Separation plate 24...paper 25...middle board
26... Manual feed sensor 27... Manual feed roller 28... Pinch roller 29... Paper guide
30... Registration means 31... Registration sensor 32... Gate plate 33.
...Conveyance roller 34...Pinch roller 35.3
6...Paper guide 37...Corona charger 38.
・・Vacuum duct 39・Heat roller 40・
... Pressure roller 41 River fixing roller unit 42 ... Peeling claw 43 ... Discharge roller 44
... Pinch roller 45 ... Paper ejection tray 46
...Gate 47...Guide plate 48
... Conveyance roller 49 ... Pinch roller 50
... Sensor 51 ... Axis 52 ... Arm 53 ... Pin 54 ... Photo interrupter 55 ... Axis 56 ... Arm 5
7... Pin 58... Photo interrupter 59,
60...Bearing 61...Spring 62...
・Shaft 63... Arm 64... Coil spring 65... Stopper pin 66... Actuator 67
...shaft 68 ... solenoid 49 ... compression spring 70 ... stopper 71
... Bearing groove 72 ... Static elimination brush 73.
...Positioning member 74...Duct 75...Gear train 76...Gear Figure 3 Figure 6 = L ro 1 dispute 5θ tb) Figure 7 drawing 1 dispute Figure 8 procedural amendment (Operation) □1q5.4/38 Kunio Ogawa, Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office 1, Indication of the case % head No. 1988-324258 2, Name of the invention Image forming device 36 Person making the amendment Relationship to the case Patent applicant (037) Olympus Optical Industry Co., Ltd. 4, Agent Address: 1117-E15, Nishiura, 11-ku, Higashiei Todai (Total of 3 units) 3 YFt〒 141 Short Story 03 (738) 97717, Contents of Amendment (1) ) "Section 7" on page 19, lines 15 and 16 of the specification
FIG. 8 and FIG. 8 are configuration diagrams of the connection section. ” has been corrected as follows. Fig. 7 fa) is a perspective view showing the outside and actual state of the duct of the same embodiment, Fig. 7 fb) is a perspective view showing the configuration of the duct of the same embodiment, and Fig. 8 shows the structure of the duct of the same embodiment. FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view for explaining a mud duct and a connection state of the duct. (2) The seventh page of the attached drawing of this application is corrected as shown in the attached sheet. Applicant: Olympus Optical Industry Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) An image carrier, a plurality of image forming process means for forming an image on the image carrier, a transfer section for transferring the image on the image carrier onto paper, and a paper In the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus includes a paper transport means for guiding the image on the image carrier and the paper, and a registration means for determining the timing of paper transport by aligning the image on the image carrier and the paper. The registration means and the transfer means are provided in the upper second main body, which is openable to the first main body and forms one guide for sheet conveyance. An image forming apparatus characterized by: (2) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the registration means includes a driving source provided in the first main body. (3) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the registration means and the transfer means have a base facing an opening for attaching and detaching the image carrier.