JPH02132059A - Sheet containing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent push out of an already contained sheet and to prevent jamming of sheets by a method wherein a first guide member to guide downward the forward end of a discharged sheet and a second guide member to form a sheet containing space are movably supported. CONSTITUTION:A sheet 7 is discharged toward a first guide member 14 in a state to be nipped between sheet discharge rotary body pair 26 and 30 and is contained in a containing space 16 formed with the first guide member 14 and a second guide member 15, and the rear end thereof is turned over by means of an open part 21. A direction in which a sheet is discharged by means of the discharge rotary body pair 26 and 30 is changed by means of a solenoid 31, and the inclination angles of the first and second guide members 14 and 15 are varied by means of a solenoid 36. By varying a direction in which a sheet is discharged by the discharge rotary body pair 26 and 30 and the inclination angles of the first and second guide members 14 and 15 according to a kind of a sheet, turn over of a sheet having a nerve can be facilitated, and a loop can be reliably formed to e limp sheet, and the occurrence of a jam can be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (A) Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to a sheet storage device used in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile machine, and more specifically, a sheet storage device disposed in a paper ejection section of an image forming apparatus, The present invention also relates to a sheet storage device that stores image-formed sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus.

(Example) Prior Art Conventionally, sheet storage devices (for example, sheet storage trays) for storing sheets ejected from image forming apparatuses (hereinafter referred to as facsimile devices) have been known. As shown in the figure, facsimile machine 1
The facsimile machine 1 is placed on a document table 2.
An image reading and transmitting system that reads information from a document 3 that is being fed by an optical system 4 and transmits the image information; and an image reading and transmitting system that reads information from a document 3 that is sent above and transmits the image information; It is equipped with an image receiving and recording system having a thermal head 8 for recording. A document storage tray 9 is provided on the left side of the facsimile device 1 to store documents 3 that are sequentially sent out from the document table 2.
Further, on the right side of the main body 1, after an image is recorded by the thermal head 8, a cutter 10 is used to record the image to a predetermined length.
For example, a sheet material storage tray 11 for storing recording paper 7 cut into lengths of A4 size and on which images have been formed is provided so as to protrude outward. Note that 12 is a power supply section including a power supply device, etc. Incidentally, in recent years, there has been a strong demand for image forming apparatuses such as facsimile machines to be smaller and lighter in weight.
Since the trays protrude from both sides, no matter how small the main body of the apparatus is, the actual installation space will not be reduced much due to the protrusion of these trays. As a solution to this problem, it may be possible to put these trays together on one side of the device main body and omit the separate space for the trays on one side, but if the trays are concentrated on one side of the device main body like this, the document Both drive systems for the recording paper will be concentrated on one side, which will not only reduce space efficiency inside the device but also complicate the drive system, leading to decreased reliability and a significant increase in costs. .

Furthermore, in the conventional image forming apparatus as described above, sheets on which images have been formed are ejected from the apparatus and are stacked in the order in which they are ejected with the recording surface facing up. For this reason, when creating a record of a multi-page document, if you record sequentially from the first page of the document, the image-formed sheet that is ejected from the device will be placed on the tray with the first page facing down and the second page. Subsequent sheets are stacked one after the other, and the sheets stacked on the tray are in the reverse order of the original. Therefore, after the recording operation is completed, it is necessary to rearrange the image-formed sheets in order from the first page, a so-called page alignment operation, which is very time-consuming. Furthermore, rolled paper such as thermal recording paper used in facsimiles etc. has a strong curl, and it is difficult to store it in an orderly manner on a conventional straight tray surface. Recently, in line with the miniaturization of the main body of the equipment, there is a trend to reduce the outer diameter of the roll as much as possible without changing the length of the paper, and as a means of doing so, a method has been adopted to make the diameter of the core as small as possible. There is. As a result, curling has become more noticeable, and there has been a strong desire to develop a paper storage method that can accommodate this.

Therefore, in order to solve these problems, the applicant of the present invention previously invented and applied for a sheet storage tray as shown in FIG. 4 (Japanese Patent Application No. 134175/1982). In FIG. 4, the sheet storage tray 13 is provided near the lower side of the sheet ejection port of the facsimile main body 1, and as shown in detail in FIG. The first guide member 14 is in contact with the first guide member 14 and guides the seat downward, and the second guide member 15 is opposed to the first guide member and forms a seat storage space 16. The second guide member 15 is made of a plastic plate fixed to the stay 17 of the facsimile main body 1, and the lower end of the first guide member 14 is connected to the lower end of the second guide member by a pin 18. connected. Then, the facsimile device main body 1 and the first guide member 14
A click mechanism (not shown) is provided between them to lock the first guide member 14 in the state shown by the solid line in FIG. Retained. However, when a large amount of recording paper 7 is stored in the sheet storage tray 13' and the storage capacity is exceeded, the first
The click mechanism that locks the guide member 14 in the closed state is automatically released by the weight of the stored recording paper.
The first guide member 14 rotates around the pin 18,
It is locked by the stay 17 of the wooden body 1 in the open position shown by the two-dot chain line. When the first guide member 14 is open as shown in FIG. 6, the guide member 14 forms a sheet ejection guide section, and the recording paper 7 ejected from the facsimile machine π1 is Move along the guide member.

As shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of ribs 19 are provided on the inner wall surface of the first guide member 14 to reduce the contact resistance with the leading edge of the recording paper and to smoothly move the leading edge of the recording paper to the storage tray 13'. At the same time, the first
When the second guide member 14 is locked in the closed position, the narrow V-shaped width is used to grasp the tip of the sheath 7 that is sent downward between the guide member 14 and the second guide member 15. A closed portion 20 is formed (see FIG. 8).

Furthermore, when the first guide member 14 is closed,
An opening 21 is provided at the upper end of the first guide member 14 so that when a long type sheet is stored, the looped rear end of the recording paper 7 is turned over and sufficiently discharged outward. ing.

Since the sheet storage tray filed earlier is constructed in this manner, the thermal recording paper 7 fed out from the roll 6 is heated in accordance with the information by the thermal head 8, and image information is recorded on the surface of the recording paper 7. Ru. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 9, the recording paper 7 is conveyed by the rotation of the platen roller 6, passes through the cutter 10, and its tip abuts at an obtuse angle on the first guide member 14 forming the storage space 16. The leading end of the recording paper 7 is guided downward, and the leading end 7' of the recording paper 7 is gripped in a state in which it is wedged into the closing portion 20 at the bottom of the storage space 16. When the recording paper 7 is continuously fed out in this state, the recording paper 7 forms a loop from the opening 21 as shown in FIG. It is discharged to the outside of the machine, and finally curls up and hangs down outside the facsimile machine 1 as shown in FIG. Next, the cutter 10 operates and cuts off the rear end of the recording paper 7, and the recording paper 7, which had been hanging down outside the machine, is reversed in the direction of the arrow using its own weight and the rotational force of the cutter blade, and the leading edge 7' is held in the V-shaped closing portion 20 and hangs down from the rear end to the outside of the machine, resulting in the state shown in FIG.

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above-mentioned sheet storage tray 13', when a stiff sheet is stored, when the sheet expands into a loop shape in the open portion 21, the seat is As a result, the loop-shaped portion tends to rise above the first guide member 14, and the rear end of the sheet enters the seat storage space 16 without being fully inverted (see Fig. 13). (a) . (b)), there is a drawback that the next sheet to be ejected pushes out the already stored sheets or jams them.

To solve this problem, a structure has been considered in which the upper end of the seat storage tray is directed outward and the lower end is directed inward to the inside of the device so that the rear end of the seat, which has a strong waist, can easily be turned over. When discharging a weak sheet, the sheet discharging direction must be directed downward so that the leading edge of the sheet abuts the first guide member at an obtuse angle, and the sheet is difficult to expand into a loop shape and jams are likely to occur. was there.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet storage device that solves the above-mentioned problems by changing the inclination angles of the first and second guide members and the sheet ejection angle.

(2) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and as shown in FIG. a member (14), a second guide member (15) opposing the first guide member (14) to form a seat storage space (16), and an upper end of the first guide member (14). A seat storage device comprising an opening part (21) provided and in which the rear end of the seat is reversed at the opening part (21)! In (1 3), a pair of movable discharge rotors (26) and (30) for discharging sheets toward the first guide member (14) is disposed, and the first guide member ( 14) and the second guide member (15)
) is supported in a movable manner.

(e) Effect Based on the above-described configuration, the sheet is provided with a pair of ejection rotors (26),
(30) and is ejected toward the first guide member (14), and stored in the sheet storage space (16) formed by the first guide member (14) and the second guide member (15). , the rear end is inverted at the opening (21). Depending on the type of sheet, a pair of discharge rotors (26). (3
0) changes the sheet discharge direction and also changes the inclination angle of the first guide member (14) and the second guide member (15).

Note that the above-mentioned symbols in brackets are shown for reference and do not limit the configuration in any way.

(f) Examples Hereinafter, examples embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or equivalent members and parts as in the conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals and explained.

As shown in FIG. 1(a), the leading edge 7' of the recording paper 7 discharged from the facsimile machine 1 is located near the bottom of the sheet discharge section located behind the platen roller 6 and cutter 10 of the facsimile machine 1. A first guide member 14 that comes into contact with the guide member 14 and guides it downward, and a second guide member 15 that is fixed to the main body of the apparatus and that faces the first guide member 14 and forms a seat storage space l6. A sheet storage tray 13 consisting of the following is provided. These guide members are made of plastic plates or many wires arranged vertically, and prevent the movement of the recording paper and guide it into the storage space 1.
It is made up of members that can be guided into the 6. The first guide member 14 and the twentieth guide member 15 are connected at their lower ends by a pin 18, and the first guide member 1
4 is rotatable around a pin 18 between the illustrated closed position and an almost horizontal open position, and is configured to be lockable in both positions by a known fixing means such as a click mechanism. . When the first guide member 14 is in the closed position, the ejected recording paper 7 and the guide member 14
The arrangement of the first guide member is adjusted so that the angle formed by the first guide member is an obtuse angle because the recording paper comes into contact with the guide member and is smoothly guided downward into the storage space 16.

On the other hand, on the sheet ejection section side of the facsimile 1, a shaft 25 connected to a motor (not shown) is rotatably supported by a stay 17 of the machine body.
is fixed. Then, the arm 27 is
A pinch roller 30 is fixed to a shaft 29, which is rotatably supported by the arm 27, and which presses into contact with the drive roller 26. .30 is configured. Also,
The arm 27 is connected to a solenoid 31 and swings when the solenoid 31 is turned on and off. Further, a grip roller 32 is supported below the drive roller 26 so as to be rotatable and swingable only in the direction of the arrow, and the roller 32 is driven by the shaft 25 via a belt 33. ing. The second guide member 15 is swingably supported by a shaft 35, and the guide member 15 is connected to a solenoid 36, and when the solenoid 36 is turned on and off, the first and second guides are The members 14 and 15 are designed to swing.

Above the first guide member 14, when a long type of sheet material is stored with the first guide member closed, the rear end of the looped recording paper 7 is inverted and directed outward. An opening part 21 is provided so that the water can be sufficiently discharged.
Further, at this time, a friction piece 37 is provided at the upper end of the first guide member 14 to prevent the sheet material from slipping up.

Note that in such a sheet storage tray 13, the distance from the lower end of the storage space 16 where the leading edge 7' of the recording paper 7 is located to the position of the ejection port-ra pair 26. If the length of the recording paper in the feeding direction is shorter than the length of A4 size recording paper, for example, the recording paper 7
The front end side is held in the storage space, and the rear end side is held in the open part 2.
1, it expands into a loop shape and hangs down outside the device, so that a large number of recording sheets can be precisely stored in the tray 13.

Since the present embodiment has the above-described configuration, when the recording paper 7 that has been unwound from the recording paper roll 5 and on which image information has been recorded according to the information by the thermal head 8 is stored in the sheet storage tray 13, the recording paper 7 is As shown in FIG. 1(a), the paper 7 is conveyed by the rotation of the platen roller 6, passes through the cutter 10, and is discharged into the sheet storage tray 13 through the discharge port-ra pair 26 and 30. And recording paper 7
When the tip 7' of reaches the position of the first guide member l4,
The tip 7' abuts the guide member 14 at an obtuse angle, is guided downward, and enters the storage space 16. Then, the leading end 7' of the recording paper 7 enters the gripping portion 2o between the grip roller 32, which is being driven and rotated, and the first guide member 14, and is gripped. Furthermore, when the leading edge 7' of the recording paper 7 reaches the lower end of the storage space 16-1, its advancement stops;
Normally, the length of the recording paper is the ejection port-ra pair 24 and the storage space 16.
Since the distance is longer than the distance from the lower end, the rear end side of the recording paper 7 continues to be fed out by the ejection port-ra pair 26 and 30, forming a loop shape, and is facilitated by the rotation of the pinch roller 30 to be removed from the apparatus through the opening section 21. is discharged. At this time, the leading edge 7' of the recording paper is gripped by the grip roller 32 and the first guide member 14, and the recording paper 7 is being subjected to frictional force by the friction piece 37 provided at the upper end of the first guide member 14. Therefore, as the pinch roller 30 rotates, only the upper part of the loop is discharged without the lower part of the loop being lifted up.

When the thermal head 8 finishes recording on the recording paper 7, the rear end of the recording paper 7 is cut by the rotation of the cutter 10, but the paper ejection roller 25 continues to rotate, and the recording paper 7
The rear end is surely turned over and discharged out of the device by the pinch roller 30. At this time as well, the recording paper 7 tends to fall off due to its own weight, but is prevented from falling off by the gripping of the leading edge 7' of the recording paper by the grip roller 32 and the first guide member 14 and the resistance of the friction piece 37.

Next, when using a stiff recording paper 7, the method shown in FIG.
), when the solenoid 31 is turned on, the pinch roller 30 swings clockwise about the shaft 25, thereby changing the sheet ejection direction of the paper ejection roller pair 26, 30 downward. Furthermore, the solenoid 36 is turned on, and the first and second guide members 14 are turned on.
．． 15 swings clockwise around a shaft 35. and,
The recording paper 7 that has been conveyed by the platen roller 6 and cut into a predetermined length by the cutter 10 is delivered to the paper ejection port-ra pair 26.
．． 30, the sheet is discharged into the sheet storage tray 13. Then, even if the leading edge 7' of the recording paper 7 reaches the lower end of the storage space 16 and forms a loop, and the trailing edge jumps up significantly when the sheet storage tray 13 is tilted,
The rear end of the recording paper 7 does not come into contact with the upper case 22 and the pinch roller 30 and is easily reversed. Further, the recording paper 7 is stored with its rear end hanging out of the apparatus by the same operation as described above.

Next, when using short recording paper, even if the recording paper 7 ejected from the facsimile machine 1 is short, its leading edge 7' will touch the grip roller 32 as in the case of long recording paper. The recording paper 7 is held securely by the first guide member 14, and the storage space 1 is
The recording paper 7 does not slip out from the upper case 6, and is finally stored with the rear end of the recording paper 7 supported by the lower end of the upper case 22. If the next recording paper is ejected in this state, or if it is a long recording paper, it will be inverted and hanging down together with the previous short recording paper; It is stored in the same condition as the recording paper. Therefore, it is possible to sequentially align and store a large number of recording sheets regardless of their length.

Further, as another embodiment, a case where a motor is used as the drive source will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b). In addition,
The same parts as those described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

A tray support member 40 is connected to the arm 27.
The support member 40 has first and second guide members 14.1.
5 is supported, and these members are designed to swing together around a shaft 25. Further, a motor 41 is disposed near the sheet storage tray 13, and a gear 42 is fixed to the shaft of the motor 41. Furthermore, a crank gear 43 that meshes with the gear 42 is provided, and the gear 43 is connected to the tray support member 40 via a crank arm 45. Further, a sensor 4 for detecting the position of the tray support member 40 is provided near the gear 43.
6 are arranged.

When a stiff sheet is stored in the sheet storage tray 13, the motor 41 is turned on, and the rotation of the motor 41 is transmitted to the crank gear 43 via the gear 42. Then, the rotation of the gear 43 moves the crank arm 45, and the Vinci roller 30, the first and second guide members 14, 15, and the tray support member 40 swing together with the crank arm 45. Furthermore, when the crank gear 43 rotates approximately 180 degrees, the tray support member 40 moves toward the sensor 4.
6, the sensor 46 is turned on, and the motor 41 is stopped by the ON signal from the sensor 46, whereby the sheet storage tray 13 is located at the position shown in FIG. 2(b).

Then, by the same operation as described above, a stiff sheet is stored in the tray 13.

In addition, when using a weak sheet such as thermal paper, when the operator turns on a switch (not shown), the motor 41 rotates the crank gear 43 by 180 degrees, and the sheet storage tray 13 is rotated by 180 degrees. Figure 2 (a)
Move to the position shown. Then, by the same operation as described above, the weak seat is stored in the tray 13. (g) Effects of the Invention As explained above, according to the present invention, a pair of movable discharge rotors for discharging sheets toward a first guide member is provided, and the first guide member and the second guide member After movably supporting the guide member, depending on the type of sheet, the sheet ejection direction of the pair of ejection rotors is changed, and the inclination angle of the first and second guide members is changed to accommodate stiff sheets. In addition to being able to easily perform reversal, loops can be reliably formed on sheets with weak stiffness, and the occurrence of jams can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1(a). (b) is a front sectional view showing the seat storage device according to the present invention. Also, Fig. 2(a)(b)
FIG. 3 is a front sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention. Furthermore,
3 to 13(a) and 13(b) show conventional examples. 13.13'... Sheet storage device 14... First guide member 15... Second guide member
16... Seat storage space, 21... Opening part
26.30...Discharge rotating body pair Fig. 1(a) Fig. 1(b) ] Fig.(a) Fig. Fig. Fig. 9(b) Fig. 9 Fig. 10 Fig. 11 Figure 12 Figure 13 (a)

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A first guide member that guides the leading edge of the discharged sheet downward; a second guide member that opposes the first guide member and forms a sheet storage space; an opening provided at the upper end of the first guide member, and a sheet storage device in which the rear end of the sheet is reversed at the opening, the movement of discharging the sheet toward the first guide member. A sheet storage device characterized in that a pair of rotatable discharge rotors is disposed, and the first guide member and the second guide member are movably supported.