JPH02272578A - Electrophotographic recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the operability by providing a recording paper conveyance path which slants upward from a paper feed cassette loading part to behind a device main body in a lower unit which is provided with the loading part on the front and arranging an upper unit which has an operation panel as a top surface above the conveyance path. CONSTITUTION:The loading part 6 where a paper feed cassette 7 is loaded is provided on the front of the lower unit 2 which constitutes a half of the recording device main body 1, the recording paper conveyance path which slants upward from the loading part 6 to behind the device main body 1 is provided, and an upper unit 4 which is provided with a recording setting operation part 5 on the top surface is arranged above the recording paper conveyance path and freely opened and closed around the front side as a fulcrum. Therefore, specifying operation for a recording mode and inserting and extracting operation for the paper feed cassette 7 are all performed in front of the device and the device can be arranged adjacently to one side of an office computer, etc. Consequently, the space is reduced and the operability is improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an electrophotographic recording apparatus of a type such as a page printer in which information manually inputted from an external device is written by an optical writing means and recorded on recording paper.

(Prior art) Information sent from a personal computer or the like is written using an optical writing means to form a latent image corresponding to the input information on a photoreceptor, and this latent image is visualized with toner and transferred onto recording paper. In a transfer-type electrophotographic recording device that uses a dry development method, as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-187273, in order to minimize disturbance of the toner image, from the transfer section to the constant W section, In most devices, the recording paper conveyance path is horizontal, and since the paper feed section and paper ejection section are located on opposite sides of the device, it is difficult to load and remove the recording paper. From a top view, a layout is adopted in which one side of the recording paper conveyance path is the operational front of the apparatus.

This type of recording production generally serves as a terminal for office computers, word processors, etc., and is usually placed on one side of these devices, but if the layout described above is adopted, it may be a mischief hazard. Not only does this require a large installation space, making it impossible to install it on one side of the computer, etc., but the operator must move his or her body to the paper feed side each time the paper feed cassette is inserted or removed. There are also operational inconveniences such as not being able to do so.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of these inconveniences, and its purpose is to perform all operations such as specifying the recording mode, inserting and removing the paper cassette, etc. from the front of the device. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording device l which takes up a very small installation space and can be installed on one side of an office computer or the like.

(Means for Solving the Problems) That is, the present invention provides an electrophotographic recording device for achieving the above object, and includes a loading section for loading a paper feed cassette on the front surface of a lower unit forming one half of the recording device main body. At the same time, a recording paper conveyance path is provided that slopes upward from the loading section toward the rear of the apparatus main body, and an upper unit having a recording setting operation section on the top surface is disposed above the recording paper conveyance path. This upper unit can be opened and closed using the front side as a fulcrum.

(Example) Therefore, the illustrated embodiment will be explained below.

FIG. 1 shows the entire structure of a recording device that is an embodiment of the present invention.This recording device main body 1 is designed to minimize the installation space so that it can be placed adjacent to a personal computer or the like. In addition, an operation panel, display, and support for mounting the recording cassette are installed on the paper feeding side of the recording paper transport path so that operations such as selecting the recording mode, inserting and removing the paper cassette, and clearing jams can all be performed from the front. It is configured as a vertical device with a stand etc.

Next, the details of this device will be explained with reference to FIG. 2.
It is divided into a lower unit 2 and an upper unit 4 with a recording paper transport path extending obliquely upward from the rear surface of the apparatus, that is, to the paper ejection side (right side in the figure) as a boundary.

The lower unit 2 described above includes a photoconductor drum 22, a developing unit 23, a cleaning unit 24, and a charger 25, as well as a laser writing unit 26 for writing recorded information from a personal computer or the like onto the photoconductor drum, and a sequence control unit. A circuit board 27 is provided for the paper output side of the lower unit 2.
A 0-shaped guide plate 28 for reversing the recording paper and a guide plate 32 for sorting and discharging are branched via a route switching mechanism 33, and the U-shaped guide plate 28 has a roughly route switching mechanism. A discharge guide plate 30 for discharging the recording paper to a discharge tray 31 via a guide plate 29 is provided in a branched manner. On the other hand, a sorting arm 35 is provided at the discharge end of the discharge guide plate 32, and the angle can be set stepwise using the axis of the first discharge roller 34 as a fulcrum. A plurality of slots, which are removably inserted into the rear surface of the lower unit 2, are configured so that the recording paper can be ejected to any one of the trays 37 by means of ejection rollers 36 provided at the rear surface of the lower unit 2.

On the other hand, the upper unit 4 is attached to the lower unit 2 so as to be openable and closable so that it can be reversed about a common shaft 38 fixed to the upper part of the paper feed side of the lower unit 2 as a fulcrum. The upper unit 4 is provided with a guide plate 41 on its lower surface that guides the recording paper along the conveyance path, and includes a pair of registration rollers 42, a transfer charger 43, and a fixing roller in order from the upper side in the recording paper conveyance direction. There are 44 units installed. The upper surface side of the upper unit 4 is entirely open, and a guide plate 45 for conveying the inverted recording paper is provided here parallel to the guide plate 41 on the lower surface. In the closed state, the upper end in the transport direction or the above-mentioned U on the lower unit 2
It is connected to the letter-shaped guide plate 28, and the lower end thereof is connected to a guide plate 6 for feeding recording paper on the paper feed unit 6, which will be described later.
It is configured to connect with 3.

By the way, reference numeral 5 in the figure is an operation panel that is attached to the upper surface of the above-mentioned upper unit 4 and also serves as a recording paper guide member. It is attached together with the unit 4 so that it can be opened and closed. This operation panel 5 has a first
In addition to the operation keys 51 that can specify various recording modes as shown in the figure, a display 52 that can display the specified recording mode if necessary is provided. In addition to a guide plate 53 that guides the reversed recording paper in cooperation with the guide plate 45 of
A plurality of driven rollers 54 that form a pair with the paper feed roller 46 on the upper unit 4 are pivotally supported.

Note that reference numeral 6 in the figure is a paper feeding unit provided on the paper feeding side of the lower unit 2, and this paper feeding unit 6 is connected to the paper feeding guide 3 on the lower unit 2 with the above-mentioned common shaft 38 as a fulcrum.
It is pivoted so that it can be pulled upwards so that nine sides can be opened. This paper feed unit 6 is provided with a support base 61 for mounting one or more paper feed cassettes on the front side, and a paper feed roller 62 for feeding out the recording paper in the paper feed cassette seat 7. In addition, a switchback type recording paper feeding guide plate 63 is provided on the upper part for feeding the reversed recording paper sent out via the reversed recording paper feeding guide plate 45 on the upper surface of the upper unit 4 to the recording conveyance path again. It is provided,
The inner surface of the paper feed unit 6 has a lower unit 2.
A paper feed guide plate 65 moves with a paper feed guide 39 provided on the front surface of the apparatus to guide the recording paper sent out by the paper feed roller 62, and a large-capacity recording paper storage chamber 8 forms a support base for the apparatus main body 1. A guide plate 66 is provided to guide the recording paper fed out by the paper feed roller 81 from the paper feed roller 81.

The recording device configured in this manner is in a normal recording operation state, and the diagonally open upper surface of the lower unit 2 is covered by the upper unit 4, and the open upper surface of the upper unit 4 is used for recording. Operation panel 5 that also serves as a paper guide member
Therefore, in this state, the operation panel 5 is tilted toward the front of the main body of the apparatus so that the operator can easily operate it.

Therefore, the paper feed cassette 7 is loaded into the cassette support base 61 of the paper feed unit 6 located on the paper feed side, that is, the front of the main body 1 of the apparatus, and the desired recording mode is selected by operating the keys 51 on the operation panel 5. When you select and press the start button, the recording paper in the paper feed cassette 7 is fed into the recording conveyance path in synchronization with the recording writing operation, where it is transferred and fixed. [
When sorting recorded recording paper that has been ejected to the upper paper ejection tray 31, the sorting is performed from the guide plate 32 at a preset angle (ejection roller 36 on the farm 35).
Any one sort selected through is discharged into the tray 37. When recording on both sides of the recording paper, the recording paper reversed by the inverted U-shaped guide plate 28 is transferred from the reversed recording paper conveying surface guide plate 45 on the upper surface of the upper unit 4 to the switchback type recording paper feeding guide plate 63. From there, it is fed into the recording conveyance path again to print on the back side of the recording paper.

On the other hand, if the recording paper jams in a part of the recording conveyance path during the recording process, the upper unit 4 is rotated around the common shaft 38 provided in the lower unit 2 as shown in FIG. By pulling the paper upward and inverting it to the front side to expose the recording conveyance path, the jam that occurs here can be disposed of.Also, if a jam occurs on the guide plate 45 for reversing recording paper conveyance during double-sided printing, As shown in FIG.
: Pull it up and turn it toward you, open the inverted recording paper transport surface on the upper unit 4, and clear the jam.Furthermore, if a jam occurs on the paper feed path (in this case, see Figure M5). As shown, the paper feed unit 6 is rotated toward the front, that is, clockwise in the figure, about the common shaft 38 to expose the paper feed and conveyance surface, and any jams that occur here are disposed of.

In the above-described embodiment, since the recording apparatus is configured to be capable of double-sided printing, the operation panel 5, which also serves as a recording paper guide member, is provided on the upper surface of the upper unit 4 so as to be openable and closable. When configured as a recording device that only prints, an operation panel may be provided on the top surface of the upper unit 4.

(Effects) As described above, according to the present invention, the lower unit provided with the paper cassette loading section on the front is provided with a recording paper transport path that slopes upward from the loading section toward the rear of the apparatus main body. At the top of this recording paper conveyance path, an upper unit with the upper surface as an operation panel surface is installed, so this type of recording device can be made into a vertically long device, saving a small amount of space next to a burner computer, etc. In addition to making it possible to set the recording mode, attach/detach the paper feed cassette, or clear a jam from the front side, the operability can be greatly improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of the same apparatus, and FIGS. 3 to 5 are views showing a jam processing state. 1... Apparatus body 2... Lower unit 22... Photosensitive drum 23... Developing unit 24... Cleaning unit 38... Common shaft 4... Upper part Unit 43...Transfer charger 44...Fixing unit 45...Guide plate for reversing recording paper conveyance 5...Combined operation panel 51...Operation key 6...Paper feeding unit 7... Paper cassette output person Seiko Epson Co., Ltd. agent Patent attorney Keiji Nishikawa Wood 8! Hiko 3rd figure 4th figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an electrophotographic recording device of a type in which information input from the outside is written by an optical writing means and recorded on recording paper, a loading section for loading a paper feed cassette is provided on the front of a lower unit forming one half of the recording device main body. At the same time, a recording paper conveyance path is provided that is inclined upward from the loading section toward the rear of the apparatus main body, and an upper unit having a recording setting operation section on the upper surface is disposed above the recording paper conveyance path. An electrophotographic recording device characterized in that the upper unit can be opened and closed using the front side as a fulcrum.