JPH03156473A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve workability in the case of manually feeding a paper without enlarging a set space by manually feeding the paper from a paper ejecting tray side to an image forming part and ejecting the paper to the paper ejecting tray again. CONSTITUTION:A pair of paper ejecting rollers 16 is constituted so that it can be driven to be reversely rotated and a 3rd paper feeding path 17 is disposed from the just upstream side of the pair of rollers 16 to a 1st paper feeding path, then a path switching member 18 is provided between a fixing part 11 and the pair of rollers 16. The path switching member 18 is constituted so that it can freely switch a 1st state X where the paper (a) to which fixing is performed is fed to the pair of rollers 16 and a 2nd state Y where the paper (a) fed to the paper ejecting tray 15 is fed to the 3rd paper feeding path 17 when the pair of rollers 16 is driven to be reversely rotated. Then, the paper (a) where an image has been formed and which is fed from the tray 15 to the image forming part is taken out to the tray 15. Thus, the workability in the case of manually feeding the paper is improved without enlarging the set space.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electrostatographic copying machine or a printer, and more specifically, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electrostatic photocopier or a printer. A first paper feed path is provided from the image forming unit to the image forming unit, and a second paper feed path is provided for feeding the paper after image formation toward a pair of paper ejection rollers above the paper feed unit, and
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that includes a paper ejection tray outside an image forming apparatus main body for accommodating the image-formed paper fed out by the paper ejection roller pair.

[Conventional technology]

For example, in an electrostatographic copying machine, in order to provide a manual paper feeding mode in addition to the paper feeding mode using the paper feeding cassette, conventionally, as shown in FIG.
A manual paper feed tray 32 is disposed at a lower portion of the paper feed tray 32, and the paper fed to the manual paper feed tray 32 is transferred from a paper feed section 34 to a transfer section (image forming section) 35 by a paper feed cassette 33. Manual paper feed path 3 that merges and feeds paper into the 1 paper feed path 36
Alternatively, as shown in FIG. A manual paper feed path 37 is provided which feeds paper merging with the paper feed path 36.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the manual paper feed mode shown in FIG. 5, the paper output tray 31 on the top of the manual paper feed table 32 gets in the way, making it difficult to see the manual paper feed, and the operator is forced to bend his back. The paper feeding work was not only difficult but also tiring.

On the other hand, in the form of manual paper feed shown in FIG. 6, paper can be fed manually in a comfortable posture. Since a large installation space is required, and the manual feed position and paper ejection position are far apart, there is an inconvenience in that the operator has to move to collect the paper.

The present invention improves the workability of manual paper feeding without increasing the installation space by utilizing rationally improved technology that effectively utilizes the components inherent in image forming apparatuses such as electrophotographic copying machines and printers. The purpose is to

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the image forming apparatus described at the beginning, in which a third paper feed path is provided extending from the immediately upstream side of the pair of paper ejection rollers to the first paper feed path, and The pair of rollers is configured to be able to be driven in reverse, and the third sheet feeding path has a first state in which the sheet after image formation can be ejected to the pair of ejecting rollers at the starting end of the third sheet feeding path, and the ejecting roller A feature of the present invention is that a path switching member is provided which can switch the paper fed to the paper discharge tray to the second state in which the paper fed to the third paper feeding path is fed when the pair is reversely driven.

[Effect]

According to the above-described characteristic structure, the paper after image formation is taken out to the paper ejection tray by setting the path switching member to the first state and driving the paper ejection roller pair in normal rotation.

On the other hand, when the path switching member is switched to the second state, the paper ejection roller pair is driven in reverse, and the paper is fed to the paper ejection roller pair through the paper ejection port, the paper is guided by the path switching member. Then, the paper is fed to the third paper feed path side, and the paper is fed to the image forming section through the first paper feed path.

Then, before the paper after the image formation reaches the path switching member, the path switching member is switched to the first state and the pair of paper ejection rollers are driven in normal rotation, so that the image is formed from the paper ejection tray. The paper fed into the set and on which the image has been formed is taken out to the paper output tray.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 schematically shows an electrostatographic copying machine as an example of an image forming apparatus. A photoreceptor 3 is horizontally mounted on the main body 2, and around the photoreceptor 3, a charging section 4, a developing section 5, a transfer section (image forming section) 6, a paper separation section 7, and a cleaning section 8 are arranged. A paper feed section 10 with a paper cassette 9 is provided on the lower side of the copying machine main body 2, and a fixing section 11 is provided above the paper feed section 10. A first paper feed path 12 that feeds the paper to the transfer section 6 and a second paper feed path 13 that feeds the paper a after the transfer amount #l to the fixing section 11 are provided. A pair of paper discharge rollers 16 are provided to feed the paper from the paper discharge port 14 to an external paper discharge tray 15.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a bracket 22 is provided on the paper discharge section side of the copying machine main body 2, and
The paper discharge tray 15 is pivotally attached to the free end of the bracket 22 via the horizontal shaft 23, and the free end side of the paper discharge tray 15 is tilted upward, so that the filter paper holder is in posture A and the base side is tilted upward. A pair of position regulating tools 2 are provided on the upper surface of the paper ejection tray 15 to regulate the position of the side edges of the paper.
4, and the position regulating device 24 is configured to be moved toward and away from each other by a rank/binion mechanism 25, and further, the
A third paper feed path 17 is provided across the paper feed path 12, and a path switching member 18 is provided between the fixing section II and the pair of paper discharge rollers 16.

This path switching member 18 operates in a first state a second paper feed path 17 for feeding the paper a that has been
It is configured such that it can be freely switched between the shape By and the shape By.

A first sensor 19 is provided near the paper ejection port 14 for detecting that the paper ejection tray 15 has been switched to the paper feeding position B, and is located directly downstream of the paper ejection roller pair 16. A second sensor 20 is provided for detecting the presence or absence of paper.

Next, one aspect of manual paper feeding will be described based on the flowchart in FIG.

First, until the first sensor 19 detects the paper feeding posture B of the paper ejection tray 15 (step S), the paper feeding mode from the paper cassette 9 (step 511) is assumed. When the position is switched to paper feeding position B, the following manual paper feeding mode is adopted.

That is, when the paper ejection tray 15 is switched to the paper feeding position B and a paper is fed onto the paper ejection tray 15 and inserted into the paper ejection port 14, the paper is detected by the second sensor 2o (step h). In conjunction with this, the paper ejection roller pair 16, which is under drive stop, is driven in the opposite direction to the paper ejection direction (step S
S), the path switching member 18 is switched to the second state Y (step S4), and the paper fed onto the paper ejection tray 15 is moved by the paper ejection roller pair 16 to the side opposite to the paper ejection direction. At the same time, the paper is fed from the third paper feeding path 17 to the first
Paper is fed into the paper feed path 12 (see FIG. 3).

Next, when the passage of the trailing edge of the paper a is detected by the second sensor 20 (step S), the trailing edge of the paper a passes through the pair of paper ejection rollers 16 with a time delay. 16 is driven in normal rotation (step S,), the path switching member 18 is switched to the first state LiX (step Sq), and the pre-transfer sheet feeding means 21 (see FIG. 1) is driven at a predetermined timing. performs a sheet feeding operation to form a predetermined image (step SS).

Then, before the paper on which the image has been formed passes through the fixing section 11 and reaches the paper ejection roller pair 16, the paper ejection tray 1
By switching the paper tray 5 to the position A, the paper on which the image has been transferred and fixed is ejected to the paper ejection tray 15 in the same way as in the normal paper feeding mode using the paper feed cassette 9. (See Figure 4).

When the paper is ejected to the paper ejection tray 15, the second sensor 20 detects the presence and passage of the paper (step S9).
However, in the second detection signal in the manual paper feeding mode, the paper ejection roller pair 16 is not driven in the reverse direction and the path switching member 18 is not switched to the second state aY, and the paper ejection roller pair 16 is stopped (step S1°), and with this, the manual feeding of one sheet of paper is completed.

Note that the above paper feeding control is just an example, and for example, in conjunction with switching the paper ejection tray 15 to the paper feeding position B, the paper ejection roller pair 16 is driven in the reverse direction, and the path switching member 18 is driven in the reverse direction. The paper discharge tray 15 may be switched to the second position A by a driving means.
, B, and the paper ejection tray 15 is switched to the paper feeding position B in conjunction with the selection of the manual feed mode, and in conjunction with the second sensor 20 detecting passage of paper. Modifications such as switching the paper discharge tray 15 to the paper tray position A are possible.

Further, the paper discharge tray 15 is moved in two positions A by 18 movements.

I am trying to switch to paper output tray 15, but
It is also possible to change the position between the two positions A and B by changing the position of the position up and down.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the image forming apparatus of the present invention has a manual paper feed path leading to the image forming section formed with its starting end facing directly upstream of the pair of paper ejection rollers, and a paper ejection tray. The feature is that the paper is manually fed from the side toward the image forming section, and the paper is ejected again to the paper output tray. Since the paper feed section is configured and the paper output tray itself is used as a manual paper feed tray, the installation space of the image forming apparatus does not need to be increased when using the manual paper feed mode, and the situation of manual paper feed is It is easy to see and the paper feeding operation can be carried out in a comfortable posture, and overall, the object of the present invention has been achieved with simple improved technology.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional side view of an electrophotographic copying machine as an example of an image forming apparatus, FIG. 2 is a flowchart, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of manual paper feeding, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of paper ejection. 5 and 6 are schematic longitudinal sectional side views showing a conventional copying machine, respectively. 2... Copying machine main body, 6... Transfer section, 9... Paper feed cassette, lO... Paper feed section, 11... Fixing section, 12...
...First paper feed path, 13...Second paper feed path, 14... Paper discharge port, 15... Paper discharge tray, 16... Paper discharge roller pair, 17... Third paper feed Paper path, 18... Path switching member, a... Paper, X... First state, Y... Second state. Applicant: Sanda Kogyo Co., Ltd. Agent: Hideo Fujimoto, patent attorney

Claims (1)

[Claims] A first paper feeding path is provided from a paper feeding section provided by a paper feeding cassette on the lower side of the image forming apparatus main body to the image forming section, and
A second paper feed path is provided to feed the paper on which an image has been formed toward a pair of paper ejection rollers above the paper feeding section, and a paper ejection path is provided to accommodate the paper on which the image has been formed and is fed out by the pair of paper ejection rollers. In an image forming apparatus including a tray outside an image forming apparatus main body, a third paper feed path is provided extending from immediately upstream of the paper ejection roller pair to the first paper feed path, and the paper ejection roller pair is driven in reverse. and a first state in which the paper after image formation is enabled to be ejected to the pair of ejecting rollers, and a first state in which the sheet after image formation is enabled to be ejected to the pair of ejecting rollers, and when the pair of ejecting rollers is driven in reverse. An image forming apparatus characterized in that an image forming apparatus is provided with a path switching member capable of switching freely between a second state in which the paper fed to the paper discharge tray is fed to the third paper feeding path.