JPH03118557A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the shape of the device thin, area as a plane of the whole device small, and the device miniaturized as a whole by having a scanning optical system travel in a direction perpendicular to traveling direction of a belt-like photosensitive body and placing each of a developing device and a fixing device in the tip part of the traveling direction of the belt-like photosensitive body. CONSTITUTION:The scanning optical system 6 for reading an original image placed on a contact glass 5 is placed to scan in the direction B which is perpendicular to the traveling direction A of the belt-like photosensitive body 2, in the upper direction of the belt state photosensitive body 2. Thus, the dimensions in a direction of a long side 2a can be made as small as possible. The developing device 9 and the fixing device 10 are each placed in space to the right and left of the belt-like photosensitive body 2. Because the developing device 9 and the fixing device 10 are placed in the space which is in the vicinity of the long side of the belt state photosensitive body 2, the shape of the plane of the device as a whole is made to be close to a square.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electronic copying machine.

Image forming apparatuses are becoming smaller year by year, and copying machines for personal use in particular are becoming thinner and smaller. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-57878 proposes using a belt-shaped photoreceptor to make the device thinner and more cylindrical.

However, although this prior art seems to be able to achieve the goal of making the device thinner, the horizontal area increases due to the compression in the height direction, making it difficult to install. This has the disadvantage that the device requires a large area. In other words, due to the thinner design, it is necessary to move the developing device and fixing device, which had previously been arranged with sufficient space in the vertical direction, to the horizontal position of the photoreceptor. Since the developing device and the fixing device were disposed at both longitudinal ends of the belt-shaped photoreceptor, the horizontal dimension was extremely large.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus that can be truly miniaturized by not only being thinner but also having a larger horizontal area. do.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention which achieves the above-mentioned object of the present invention has the following features: 1.
The first shaft is suspended between the second shaft and the first shaft. a belt-like photoreceptor whose axial dimension is larger than the dimension between the second axes; and a developing device disposed in a first space adjacent to the shaft and laterally outside the belt-like photoreceptor. , a fixing device disposed in a second space opposite to the first space with the belt-shaped photoreceptor in between; The scanning optical system includes a scanning optical system for reading an original, which is provided to move in a direction parallel to the second axis.

With this configuration, the scanning optical system moves in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the belt-shaped photoreceptor. Further, since the developing device and the fixing device are respectively arranged at the ends of the belt-shaped photoreceptor in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction thereof, the area thereof when viewed in plan can be close to a square.

Left JLJ Embodiments of the present invention shown in the drawings will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an electronic copying machine for personal use, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the main parts thereof. In this embodiment, the components of the electronic copying machine are arranged within the outer shell (1) in a manner that makes effective use of the space. 2nd axis (3) (4)
It is suspended in an endless manner between them and is arranged in a space approximately in the middle of the outer shell (1). As shown in FIG. 2, this belt-shaped photoreceptor (2) has its long side (2a)
．． Arranged parallel to the second axis (3) (4), short side (2b)
is arranged so as to straddle the shafts (3) and (4), and the length of its long side (2a) and short side (2b) are slightly larger than the vertical and horizontal dimensions of A4 size paper. has been selected. Of course, the size of the belt-shaped photoreceptor (2) that appears two-dimensionally is not limited to A4 size, and may correspond to other paper sizes such as 84 size.

It is assumed that the belt-shaped photoreceptor (2) moves in the direction (A). Next, above the belt-shaped photoreceptor (2), a scanning optical system (6) for reading the original image placed on the contact glass (5) is installed on the belt-shaped photoreceptor (2).
It is arranged so as to scan in a direction (B) perpendicular to the movement direction (A) of . The scanning optical system (6) is composed of a single focus lens array (7) and a light source (8).

A developing device (9) and a fixing device (10) are installed in the left and right spaces of the belt-shaped photoreceptor (2), respectively. As can be seen from Figure 2, the developing device (9) and fixing device (10) are arranged in the space adjacent to the long side of the belt-shaped photoreceptor (2), so the overall structure of the device is This allows the planar shape to be close to a square, thereby avoiding the problem of being extremely long in one direction. Note that the scanning optical system (6) is connected to the belt-shaped photoreceptor (2).
), the dimension in the long side (2a) direction can be made as small as possible by moving in the direction (B) perpendicular to the movement direction (A). Accordingly, a mechanism attached to the scanning optical system is arranged in the direction of the short side (2b), but this does not increase the lateral dimension of the entire apparatus.

Next, below the belt-shaped photoreceptor (2), there is a conveyance bell I-(13) for conveying the paper fed through the paper feed section (12) from the paper feed cassette or tray (11). It is provided. Further, a charger (14) is provided between the left end of the conveyor belt (13) and the fixing device (10). This charger (14) can serve as both a main charger and a transfer charger. (15) is a discharge tray.

In the above embodiment, after the belt-shaped photoreceptor (2) is charged by the charger (14) while rotating, the charged area corresponding to A4 size or slightly larger than A4 size is as shown in FIG. When it is located on the upper surface, it stops, and in this state, a latent image is formed as the scanning optical system (6) scans. After that, the belt-shaped photoreceptor (2) rotates again and the developing device (
In step 9), the image is developed and then transferred to paper. After the transferred paper is fixed by a fixing device (10), it is delivered onto a discharge tray.

Incidentally, the copying operation of this embodiment will now be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, step (#1
), the belt-like photoreceptor (2) rotates, and the charger (14) is accordingly turned on in step (#2), so that the surface of the heald-like photoreceptor (2) is charged. Next, it is determined in step (#3) whether or not this charged surface is located above an area approximately equivalent to A4 size, and if the determination is No, the process returns to step (#1) to charge the charged surface. Vessel (14)
Continue ONL. Of course, at this time, the belt-shaped photoreceptor (2)
continues to rotate. If Yes in step (#3), proceed to step (#4), stop the rotation of the heald-like photoreceptor (2), and turn off the charger (14) in the next step (#5).
Make it FF. After that, the scanning optical system (6) is driven to apply the scanning optical system (6) to the charged surface of the belt-shaped photoreceptor (2).
is driven to expose the charged surface of the belt-shaped photoreceptor (2) [step (#6)]. Then, it is determined in step (#7) whether or not the exposure of the A4 size portion is completed, and if it is not completed, the process returns to step (#6) to continue the exposure operation by the scanning optical system. In step (#8), the exposure operation by the scanning optical system (6) is stopped. Thereafter, in step (#9), the belt-shaped photoreceptor (2) is rotated and the process proceeds to the next step (+110). At step (+110), development 1 paper is fed, conveyed, transferred, and fixed.

Performs operations such as ejection. Here, after developing with the developing device (9), the paper is fed from the paper feed cassette or tray (11) at the same timing, and this paper is placed on the opening belt (
13) and convey it to the charger (14) side.

The charger (14) then acts as a transfer charger. The transferred paper is fixed by a fixing device (10) and then discharged onto a discharge tray (15).

The overall space of this embodiment is 40 mm when the plane area of the belt-shaped photoreceptor (2) shown in FIG. 2 is assumed to be A4 size.
The area was small, 0 mm square.

As described above, the present invention has a thin shape and the overall planar area can be reduced, so the present invention has the effect of achieving miniaturization of the entire device, and the present invention is extremely useful. It is.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an electronic copying machine embodying the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of its main parts, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart of its operation. (1) - Outer shell, (2) - Belt-shaped photoreceptor (3) - First axis. (4)...-Second axis. (5) (9) -.-Contact glass, (6) -Scanning optical system. ...-developing device, (10) constant deposition device, (12)-paper feeding unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A belt-shaped photoreceptor suspended between a first and second shaft and having a dimension in the axial direction larger than a dimension between the first and second shafts, and a space adjacent to the shaft and the belt. a developing device disposed in a first space laterally outside of the belt-shaped photoconductor; a fixing device disposed in a second space opposite to the first space with the belt-shaped photoconductor in between; 1. An image forming apparatus comprising: a scanning optical system for reading a document, which is provided to move in a direction parallel to a second axis;