JPH0352763Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a recording device such as a printer using electrophotographic technology.

[Prior art]

Printers using conventional electrophotographic techniques, such as laser beam printers, liquid crystal printers,
Many LED printers have a configuration in which paper is ejected face-up (hereinafter referred to as "face-up") with the side on which information (image) is recorded facing up.

This is because paper (cut paper) immediately after information has been printed (transferred) must be transported face-down (hereinafter referred to as "face-down"), with the side on which the information is printed facing down. This is because supporting the surface on which information is printed by rubbing from below before the printing image fixing process may cause the information to become blurred or smudged. .

In addition, for a recording device that is ejected in a face-down state, it is necessary to record once in a face-up state.
It was equipped with a mechanism for fixing the printed image, inverting it face down in the conveyance path, and then discharging it.

[Problems with conventional technology]

In the conventional recording device with the above configuration, the face-up ejection device is only the face-up,
In the case of face-down discharge, it is only face-down and it is not possible to selectively perform both.

Therefore, in a face-up discharge recording device,
The order of the pages to be recorded was reversed, and it was necessary to rearrange the order after printing was completed.

Further, in the face-down discharge recording apparatus, there is an inconvenience in that the recording paper must be turned over one after another when it is desired to check the print quality of the recorded information that has been printed out.

Furthermore, in face-down ejection, since the paper is reversed in the conveyance path, stiff cardboard or the like can get jammed in the conveyance path, causing malfunctions.

[Purpose of invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a recording apparatus that can freely switch paper ejection between face-up and face-down.

[Key points of the idea]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a recording device that forms an image by transferring a toner image on an image carrier onto a sheet of paper and fixing the toner image transferred to the sheet of paper. The paper after fixing is reversed and guided by a guide surface, and the reversing plate is provided so as to be openable to the main body of the apparatus, and the reverse side of the guide surface of the reversing plate is configured to rotate the reversing plate when it is in the open state. It is characterized by stacking sheets without turning them over in cooperation with a rotatably supported stacking plate.

[Example of idea]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electrophotographic printer as a recording device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, an electrophotographic printer records information (image) on a photoreceptor 1 as a drum-shaped image carrier.
a recording section 2 that forms a sheet of paper 3; a paper feed section 4 that sequentially conveys paper 3 in accordance with the recording information formed on the photoreceptor 1; It is composed of a conveying section 8 and the like, which includes an inverting section 7 that guides the sheet to be selectively placed on the placing section 6 of the paper.

The recording unit 2 is composed of known technical means, and includes a charger 9 disposed around the photoconductor 1 for uniformly charging the photoconductor 1, and an optical recording head 10 for recording record information on the photoconductor 1. and a developing device 11 that develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor 1 and a transfer device 12 that transfers the developed recorded information onto the paper 3. A cleaner 13 removes residual toner on the photoreceptor 1 and an eraser 13a erases residual charge on the photoreceptor 1.
In this embodiment, the optical recording head 10 uses a liquid crystal light shutter in which a large number of microshutters are assembled in the main scanning direction, and the light source 1
An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoreceptor 1 by light incident from 0a through the light guide 10b.

Note that the present invention is not limited to this,
It can also be applied to optical recording heads using laser beams or LEDs.

The paper feed section 4 includes a cassette 14 in which a large number of sheets of cut paper 3 are stacked, and a paper feed roller 15 that takes out and conveys the recording paper 3 one by one from the top.
and a guide plate 16 that guides the conveyance direction of the paper 3.
and a pair of transport rolls 17a, which are transported to the transfer device 12 in synchronization with the recorded information on the photoreceptor 1.
17b, and conveys the recording paper 3 in synchronization with recording information formed on the photoreceptor 1 in response to signals from a control mechanism (not shown).

In the above embodiments, a case has been described in which cut paper cut to a predetermined size is fed, but it goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to recording paper cut into roll paper as appropriate.

The conveying unit 8 transfers recorded information on the photoreceptor 1 to the transfer device 1.
2, a guide plate 19 that receives the paper in a face-up state, a fixing roll 20 that fixes the transferred recorded information by heat and pressure, and a reversing section 7. , a plurality of pairs of transport rolls 21, 22, etc.

Here, the recording paper on which recording information has been recorded before the fixing process must be held and conveyed in a face-up state to prevent the image from becoming smudged or blurred.

A sheet (not shown) received on the guide plate 19 in a face-up state is fixed by a fixing roll 20 and then conveyed to the reversing section 7 by a pair of conveying rolls 21. The reversing section 7 is composed of a stacking plate 23 that stacks the sheets 3 without reversing them, and a reversing plate 24 that reverses the sheets 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the loading plate 23 has a bent portion 23a at the lower end,
It has shaft support members 23b and 23c that protrude from the intermediate and upper portions of the side surfaces, respectively, and a short shaft (not shown) is inserted into a shaft hole 23d drilled in the shaft support member 23b at the intermediate portion. It is rotatably supported by a bearing (not shown) provided on the side of the housing 25 via the housing 25. The reversing plate 24 has one surface forming a flat surface, the other surface forming a concave curved surface 24a which is a guide surface for face-down paper discharge, and has a shaft supporting member 24b at the side end. The shaft support member 24b of the reversing plate 24 and the shaft support member 23 of the upper part of the loading plate 23
c are overlapped and short shafts (not shown) are inserted into shaft holes 23e and 24c provided in both shaft support members 23c and 24b to form a hinge structure. Due to the hinge structure of the reversing part 7, when the reversing plate 24 is superimposed on the loading plate 23 as shown in FIG. When the reversing plate 24 is opened by the hinge structure, it rotates 180 degrees so that the flat surface of the reversing plate 24 and the flat surface of the loading plate 23 are on the same plane as shown in FIG. 1b or FIG. The mounting portion 6 is formed by the above configuration. When the reversing section 7 is in the closed state as shown in FIG. It is located at a position opposite to a guide plate 26 provided between the roll pair 21 and the transport roll pair 22. Further, as shown in FIG. 1B, when the reversing portion 7 is in the open state, it is locked in a position inclined outward at a specified angle by a detachable locking means (not shown).

The casing 25 has an inclined part 2 that constitutes a placing part 5 on the upper part.
7, and the inclined portion 27 is connected to the conveyor roll pair 2.
A bent portion 27 for receiving paper is provided at the lower end facing near the bottom of the reversing portion 2, and the inclination angle is substantially the same in the opposite direction to the inclination angle in the open state of the reversing portion 7.

When the reversing unit 7 configured as described above is in the closed state, the fixed paper conveyed by the lower pair of transport rolls 21 is transported between the concave curved surface 24a of the reversing plate 24 and the reversing plate 24, as shown in FIG. 1a. 24, the paper is guided and reversed by a guide plate 26, and the upper end reaches the upper transport roll pair 22, and is discharged face down by the transport roll pair 22.
It is placed on the inclined part 27 of the housing 25. Conversely, when the reversing section 7 is in the open state, the lower conveying roll pair 21
As shown in FIG. 1b, the fixed paper conveyed by the fixing member is placed in a face-up state without being turned over onto the loading section 6, which is composed of an outwardly inclined stacking plate 23 and a reversing plate 24. is discharged and placed.

According to the above embodiment of the present invention, the reversing unit 7 is in a vertical position when in the closed state and discharges the reversed paper face down, and when in the open state it is ejected at a predetermined angle. The slanted position allows the paper after transfer to be ejected in a face-up state, and since both of the above two positions are locked by removable locking means, it is easy to switch between the two positions. The loading plate 23 and the reversing plate 2 that constitute the reversing section 7 can be freely operated.
4 are connected by a hinge structure, and the reversing part 7 is supported by a shaft, so that the structure is simple, and the switching operation between the above two positions involves switching the drive relationship and does not require any electrical processing. The reversing plate 24 has a flat surface and a concave curved surface 24a, and when the reversing section 7 is in the closed state, the concave curved surface inverts and guides the sheet, and when the reversing section 7 is in the open state, the sheet can be guided to the stacking plate 23 without reversing the sheet. Together with this, they form a placing section 6, which can be used very conveniently. Further, when the reversing section 7 is in a closed state, the stacking plate 23 and the reversing plate 24 are folded, so that the height can be reduced and the apparatus can be particularly applied to a small-sized recording apparatus.

[Effect of idea]

According to the present invention, the paper after fixing can be reversed in the reversing section and ejected in a face-down state, and the reversing section can be opened to eject and stack the paper in a face-up state without reversing it. This is very convenient because the operator can freely switch between the face-down state and the face-up state. Furthermore, since the reversing section has a folding structure, the height can be reduced, and it can be easily applied to small-sized recording devices.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1a is a schematic configuration diagram of an electrophotographic printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which the reversing section is in a closed state, FIG. 1b is a partial configuration diagram when the reversing section is in an open state, and FIG. The figure is a perspective view of the loading plate and the reversing plate that constitute the reversing section. 1... Photoreceptor, 2... Recording section, 3... Paper, 4
...Paper feeding section, 5, 6... Placement section, 7... Reversing section,
8... Conveyance unit, 9... Charger, 10... Optical recording head, 11... Developing device, 12... Transfer device, 13...
... Cleaner, 14 ... Cassette, 15 ... Paper feed roller, 16 ... Guide plate, 17a, 17b ... Conveyance roll pair, 18 ... Separation roller, 19 ... Guide plate, 20 ... Fixing roll, 21, 22... Conveyance roll pair, 23... Loading plate, 24... Reversing plate, 25
...Housing, 26...Guide plate, 27...Slope portion.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] In a recording device that forms an image by transferring a toner image on an image carrier 1 to a sheet of paper 3 and fixing the toner image transferred to the sheet of paper 3, when the recording device is in a closed state. After fixing the paper to the guide surface 24
a, and has a reversing plate 24 which is provided so as to be able to be reversed and guided with respect to the device main body, and the reverse side of the guide surface 24a of the reversing plate 24 is rotatable when the reversing plate 24 is in the open state. A recording apparatus characterized in that sheets 3 are stacked without being reversed in cooperation with a stacking plate 23 supported by a stacking plate 23.