JPH0398922A - Picture-image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To effectively utilize an original discharge space as the feed and discharge space of a recording sheet when the device has been installed by carrying out the feed and discharge of the recording sheet as well as the dis charge of a read original on the same side of the device body. CONSTITUTION:It is so constituted that the feed of a recording sheet to a transfer means C for transferring and discharging the recording sheet to a recording means B, and the discharge of the recording sheet after recording, and also the discharge of an original which has been read by a read means A are carried out on the same side of the device body. Thus, the feed and discharge of the recording sheet is carried out in the projected area of the discharge space of the original, and when the device has been installed, the original discharge space is effectively utilized as the feed and discharge space of the recording sheet.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus used in facsimile machines, copying machines, etc. This invention relates to an image-based precept device designed to perform.

<Prior Art> Today, image forming devices such as facsimile machines and copying machines are widely used. The apparatus has a recording means for loading a cassette containing stacked sheets into the main body of the apparatus and separating and feeding recording sheets one by one from within the cassette to perform recording.

In order to supply recording sheets in the above-mentioned apparatus, it is common to load a cassette containing a stack of sheets of general-purpose size into the main body of the apparatus, and separate and feed the sheets one by one from inside the cassette to the recording means. In order to record on sheets of other sizes, a manual recording sheet feed port is provided on the side of the device opposite to the side where the recording sheet output section is formed, and recording sheets of various sizes can be fed from the manual feed port. Many of them are made so that they can be sent and recorded.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> The above-mentioned device requires a space on one end of the main body of the device for attaching a document extension tray and a recording sheet extension tray, and a space on the other end for attaching a recording sheet. In order to facilitate manual feeding, a space was required to install a manual feeding tray, and the installation area of the device needed to be large.

Also, the manual feed tray is not something that is used all the time like the original output tray or the recording sheet output tray, so securing space for installing the manual feed tray is important from the perspective of making effective use of the space around the main body of the device. This is not preferable, and no matter how small the device itself is made, its effectiveness cannot be improved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to provide an image forming apparatus that can reduce the installation area.

<Means for Solving the Intelligence Problem> Typical means according to the present invention for solving the above problem include a reading means for conveying and reading a document, and a recording means for forming an image on a recording sheet. and a conveying means for conveying and ejecting the recording sheet to the recording means, the recording sheet is supplied to the conveying means, the recording sheet is discharged after recording, and the recording sheet is read by the reading means. The device is characterized by the fact that the ejection of the original document and the ejection of the original document are carried out on the same side of the main body of the device.

<Operation> In the above means, since the feeding and ejection of the recording sheet and the ejection of the read original are performed on the same side of the apparatus main body, the feeding and ejection of the recording sheet are performed in the projection area of the original ejection space. When the apparatus is installed, the original discharge space is effectively used as recording sheet supply and discharge space.

Embodiment> Next, an embodiment of the present invention in which the above means is applied to a facsimile machine will be described.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the entire apparatus, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the entire apparatus, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the structure of the recording sheet feeding and discharging portions.

First, the overall structure of this apparatus will be explained. A is a document reading means that reads information written on a document, converts it into an electrical signal, and transmits it to a predetermined recording system. Further, B is a recording means, which records an image on a recording sheet that is conveyed according to an image signal. Reference numeral C denotes a recording sheet conveying means, which conveys the recording sheet stored in the cassette or the recording sheet fed from the manual feed port to the recording means B, and discharges the sheet after recording.

In FIG. 2, D is an operation panel provided with the number of recording sheets, recording density, transmission switch, etc., and E is a telephone set. In this embodiment, this image-forming warning device has internal storage shelves in several stages, and is placed on a device mounting table G that can store spare recording sheets and the like by opening and closing a door F.

The structure of each part of this image-based precept device will be explained in order below.

[Original reading means] As shown in FIG. 1, the structure of the original reading means A is that a document R placing table 1 is formed on the upper surface of the device, and the documents are stacked on this placing table 1 with the original surface facing down. Of the originals 3 guided by the side guides 2, the lowermost originals iI & 3 are preliminarily conveyed by a pre-W1 conveyance roller 4a and a pressure contact member 4b that is in pressure contact with this, and a separating opening roller 5a and a pressure contact member 5b that is in pressure contact therewith. The structure is such that the sheets are separated one by one and fed in the direction of arrow a in FIG. 1 (to the left of the main body of the apparatus). The separated and fed document 3 is then conveyed by a conveyance roller 6a and a vinci roller 6b pressed against it by a spring 7, and the document surface is read by a pressing member 8b made of a white polyester film that is pressed downward by a weight shaft 8a. glass 8
LE when pressed by C and encountering the glass 8c.
Light from a light emitting member 8d such as D is irradiated, and reflected light from the document surface passes through a lens 8e to a photoelectric conversion element 8 such as a CCD.
The image forming apparatus is configured such that the image written on the original document is converted into an electrical signal by focusing on f. In this embodiment, a contact type reading sensor using a short focus imaging lens is used as the lens 8e.

The document 3 whose image has been read by the optical means is discharged to a document discharge tray 10 attached to the left side of the main body of the apparatus by a discharge port roller 9a and a pinch roller 9b pressed against the discharge port roller 9a by a spring 7. .

[Recording means]

Recording means B is constructed as a laser beam printer in this embodiment. To explain its configuration, a charger l is placed around a photosensitive drum 1) rotating in the direction of arrow b.
2, the drum surface is charged, and the rotating drum 1) is exposed to light by reflecting light from a laser oscillator l3 that emits a laser beam in response to an image signal by a polygon mirror 14 to form an electrostatic latent image. The latent image is then visualized in a developing section 15 using toner. Further, the toner image is transferred and recorded on the recording sheet opening 7, which is fed between the photosensitive drum 1l and the transfer roller 16 that is in pressure contact with the photosensitive drum 1l. Further, the photosensitive drum 1) after toner transfer is configured to be cleaned by a cleaning member 18.

The photosensitive drum 1l, the charger 12, the developing section 15, and the cleaning member 18 are housed in a recording cartridge 19, which is detachably housed in the main body of the apparatus as described later.

[Recording Sheet Conveying Means] Next, the recording sheet 1 conveying means C will be explained. At the bottom of the main body of the apparatus, there is a cassette 2 for accommodating the recording sheets 17.
0 is removably attached as will be described later, and recording sheets 17 made of sheet sheets are stacked and housed in this cassette 20. This record sea}17 is the first
As shown by arrow C in the figure, one sheet of the uppermost layer is fed by a half-moon-shaped feeding roller 21, and is registered and conveyed by a pair of cassette conveying rollers 22a and 22b pressed against each other, and further by a driving roller 23a. The sheet l7 is conveyed in synchronization with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 1) by a pair of conveying rollers consisting of a pinch roller 23b, and an image is recorded as it passes between the photosensitive drum 1) and the transfer roller l6. The toner image is fixed by applying heat and pressure when it passes between the built-in fixing roller 25a and the pressure roller 25b that is in pressure contact with the fixing roller 25a, and is ejected to the recording sheet ejection tray 27 by the ejection port-ra pair 26a, 26b. In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, a manual feed port 28 is formed on the left side of the main body of the apparatus, and a manual feed tray 29, which serves as a recording sheet supply tray, is attached to the manual feed port 2. This manual feed tray 29 is rotatably attached to the thlI 30, and when in use, the tray 29 is folded down as shown in FIG.
When the recording sheet 17 is placed thereon and fed from the manual feed port 28, it is separated one by one by the separating member 3l that is in pressure contact with the drive roller 23a.
It is arranged so that it is conveyed to the recording position by b.

[Manual Feed Tray and Auxiliary Tray] Here, the manual feed tray 29 will be specifically explained. As shown in FIG. , and is configured to guide the side edge of the recording sheet 17 placed on the tray 29. Further, a fitting recess 29c is provided at the rotating tip of the tray 29, and a fitting convex portion 32a of the auxiliary tray 32 is fitted into the fitting recess 29c. That is,
By fitting the fitting protrusion 32a of the auxiliary tray 32 into the fitting recess 29c of the manual tray 29, the manual tray 29
The auxiliary tray 32 can be connected to the auxiliary tray 3.
2 can be removed from the manual feed tray 29 by pulling it out.

Therefore, when the size of the recording sheet 17 to be placed on the manual feed tray 29 is long, the auxiliary tray 3 is placed on the manual feed tray 29.
2, the recording sheet 17 can be reliably placed on the tray and manually fed. Furthermore, when the size of the recording sheet 17 is short, by removing the manual feed tray 29, wasted space for stacking recording sheets can be eliminated. It can be removed and stored compactly, without creating wasted space in the device body or increasing the size of the entire device.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a hook-shaped locking member 33 is provided on the lower surface of the recording sheet ejection tray 27 located above the manual feed tray 29 with a spacing slightly wider than the width of the auxiliary tray 32. It's been done (re). This locking member 33 constitutes a housing portion for the auxiliary tray '32, and the auxiliary tray 32 removed from the manual feed tray 29 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 from the tapered side (the left end side in FIG. 3). As shown, the auxiliary tray 32 can be accommodated on the lower surface of the recording sheet discharge tray 27 by being inserted and locked between the locking members 33.

By providing the accommodating portion for the auxiliary tray 32 as described above, the auxiliary tray 32 removed from the manual tray 29 does not get in the way and can be prevented from being lost. In general, the width and length of the ejection tray 27 are such that the wandering tray 27 can accommodate the recording sheets 17 loaded on the manual feed tray 29.
Since the paper is to be loaded again, the manual feed tray 29
By providing the storage section on the lower surface of the recording sheet wandering tray 27 located above the manual feed tray 29, the two can be stored so as to overlap. It can be stored compactly in terms of space. Further, there is no need to add a special space to the main body of the apparatus as an auxiliary tray accommodating section, and since the auxiliary tray accommodating section is accommodated near the manual feed tray 29, the storage location is easy to identify and handling is easy.

[Recording size switch] As shown in FIG. A size switch 34 is provided for manually adjusting the size of the recording sheet 17 to be sent. In this embodiment, this switch 34 is configured so that it can manually select three types: (1) A4 size, (2) letter size (LTR), and (2) legal size (LGL).

As a result, when the operator inputs the size of the recording sheet 7 placed on the manual feed tray 29 using the size switch 34 and executes recording, the thousand recording stages B will perform recording according to the recording sheet size. This eliminates the need for a sensor to detect the size of the recording sheet 17, as well as extra space and a display device for indicating the recording sheet size on the operation unit, reducing the number of parts and downsizing the device, as well as reducing costs. You can try to bring it down.

Further, the size adjustment tip 34 is provided on the inner side of the manual feed tray 29 and on the back side of the tray opening/closing handle. Since the switch 34 is located at a visual position near the operating position, the operator does not forget about the size and manual force. [Opening/Closing Cover] Furthermore, the apparatus is designed so that the recording cartridge 19 can be replaced. Therefore, in FIG. 1, the left side of the main body of the apparatus is configured as an open/close cover 35.

To explain this specifically, the opening/closing cover 35 is attached to be rotatable around a rotation pin 36, and the cover 3
At a predetermined position of 5, a release lever 38 that rotates about a shaft 37 is attached as shown in FIG. This release lever 3 constitutes a release member for releasing the closed state of the opening/closing cover 35, and has a hook portion 38a that engages with the chassis 39 of the device main body at one end, and a hook portion 38a at the other end. A release button portion 38b is formed.

When the hook portion 38a is engaged with the chassis 39 by the bias of the torsion coil spring 40 attached to the rotation shaft 37, the opening/closing cover 35 is held in the closed state, and the release button portion 38b When the hook portion 38a is pulled up in the direction of arrow e in FIG. 3, the locking state of the hook portion 38a is released and the opening/closing cover 35 can be opened. The release button portion 38b is configured to be exposed through the through hole 35a of the opening/closing cover 35 so that it can be operated by an operator.

A manual feed tray 29, a driving roller 23a, a transfer roller 16, a fixing roller 25a, a pressure roller 25b, and discharge ports 26a and 26b are attached to the opening/closing cover 35, as shown in FIG. When the cover 35 is opened, the members attached to the cover 35 are moved away from the main body of the device. Therefore, the opening/closing cover 3
5 is opened, the recording cartridge 19 is exposed, and the cartridge 19 can be replaced.

It should be noted that since the opening/closing cover 35 is not provided with the original reading means A, the opening/closing cover 35 and the original reading means A are configured independently. Therefore, the recording cartridge I9 can be taken out without complicating the device configuration as in the conventional case.

(Relationship between the opening/closing cover and the recording cartridge) The relationship between the recording cartridge l9 and the opening/closing cover 35 will now be explained. As shown in FIG. 1, locking protrusions 19a are provided on both sides of the recording cartridge l9. A locking groove 41a into which the protrusion 19a can be slidably fitted is formed in the cassette housing section 4l of the main body of the apparatus. Therefore,
Open the opening/closing cover 35, hold the handle 19b of the exposed recording cartridge 19, and insert/unload the cartridge 19 into the apparatus main body.
9 can be exchanged.

Further, the recording cartridge 19 is provided with a light-shielding shutter 19c for protecting the photosensitive drum 1), which can be opened and closed about a shaft 19c+. When the opening/closing cover 35 is closed, this light-shielding shirt cover 19c automatically opens to cover the photosensitive drum 1.
) and the transfer roller 16 are pressed against each other, and when the opening/closing cover 35 is opened, it is automatically closed to shield the photosensitive drum l1 from light.

The interlocking mechanism between the light shielding shutter 19c and the opening/closing cover 35 is constructed as shown in FIG. To explain this in the case of closing the opening/closing cover 35, a rod 43 is supported by a shaft 42 on the opening/closing cover 35.
At the tip of the rack 4 is biased by a tension spring 44.
5 is in contact. This rank 45 has pins 46a, 46
When the rod 43 slides in the direction of arrow f by closing the opening/closing cover 35, the rack 45 slides in the direction of arrow g, and the rack 45
When the pinion 47 engaged with the pinion 47 rotates in the direction of the arrow h, the pin 19cz of the light-shielding shutter 19c mounted on the pinion arm 47a is lifted in the direction of the arrow i,
The light shielding shutter 19c is configured to open. Also, when the opening/closing cover 35 is opened, the pin 19c is moved in the opposite direction to that described above.
t is lowered by the rotation center shaft 19c of the light-shielding shutter 19c and the biasing force of the torsion coil/l/spring 19c4 provided above, and the shutter 19c closes.

[Relationship between the opening/closing cover and the recording sheet ejection tray] As mentioned above, the opening/closing of the light shielding shutter 19c is linked to the opening/closing of the opening/closing cover 35, so when taking out the recording cartridge 19, the opening/closing cover 35 is completely opened and the light shielding shutter 19c is opened/closed.
It is preferable to take it out with it completely closed. Therefore, in this embodiment, the release lever 38 of the opening/closing cover 35 cannot be operated unless the recording sheet wandering tray 27 attached to the opening/closing cover 35 is removed.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the recording sheet wandering tray 27 is attached to the main body of the apparatus by locking the locking protrusions 27a provided at both ends in the sheet width direction into the locking grooves 48 near the recording sheet ejection port. The ejection tray 27
A release prevention plate 27b is integrally provided on one side of the tray 27 to cover the through hole 35a through which the button portion 38b of the release lever 38 is exposed when the tray 27 is attached. Therefore, unless the recording sheet ejection tray 27 is removed, the release lever 38 cannot be operated and the opening/closing cover 35 cannot be opened.

When the opening/closing cover 35 is opened with the recording sheet ejection tray 27 still attached, the ejection tray 27 comes into contact with the installation floor.
The cover 35 may be damaged or the tray 27 may get in the way, preventing the opening/closing cover 35 from being completely opened. At this time, the light-shielding shutter 19c may not be completely closed, resulting in the photosensitive drum 1) being exposed to light. In this embodiment, the opening/closing cover 38 cannot be opened unless the recording sheet ejection tray 27 is removed, so the above-mentioned inconvenience does not occur. Also, if the opening/closing cover 35 is left half-open, it may not be possible to force the recording cartridge/mail card 9.
To avoid having to take out the recording cartridge 1,
No inconveniences such as breakage of item 9 occur.

[Space for taking out the recording cartridge] Next, the space for taking out the recording cartridge 19 in the above-mentioned apparatus will be explained.As mentioned above, this apparatus is configured so that the opening/closing cover 35 is opened and the recording cartridge 19 is taken out. The document 3 read by the reading means A is ejected to the side of the main body of the apparatus where the opening/closing cover 35 is provided.

Therefore, the document ejection tray 10 is arranged above the opening/closing cover 35, and the space below the document ejection tray 10 is used to take out the recording cartridge 19 as shown in FIG. Therefore, when installing the apparatus, a separate projection space is not required to take out the recording cartridge 19, and the installation area of the apparatus can be reduced.

[Casenoto drawer space]

Next, the drawer space of the drawer 20 that accommodates the recording seam 7 will be explained.

As described above, the cassette 20 is removably housed in the lower part of the main body of the apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, slide protrusions 20a are provided on both outer surfaces of the cassette container, and a cassette accommodating section 49 is provided at the bottom of the device, with an opening on the side where the original document tray 10 is attached. A guide groove 49a is formed on the inner wall of the accommodating portion 49, into which the slide protrusion 20a can fit and slide.

Therefore, the cassette 20 can be inserted by fitting the slide protrusion 20a into the guide groove 49a and pushing it in from the left side of FIG.
It can be taken out by holding the handle 20b formed at 0 and pulling it out to the left in FIG.

As mentioned above, since the cassette 2G is taken out at the bottom where the document ejection tray 10- is provided as shown in FIG. This eliminates the need to provide a separate space for this purpose, making it possible to reduce the installation area of the device.

Incidentally, the force center accommodating portion 49 is covered by the upper part of the door F of the device mounting table G. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, in the mounting table G, a door F is attached to a case part 52 having several stages of storage shelves 51 therein so that it can be opened and closed by a hinge 53. It is constructed so that it protrudes by the height of the force center accommodating portion 49. Therefore, the above-described image forming apparatus is placed on the case portion 52,
When the door F is closed by a locking portion 54 made of a magnet or the like, the cassette accommodating portion 49 is covered by the upper part of the door F, as shown in FIG.

[Manual feeding and ejection space for recording sheet] In the apparatus of this embodiment, the projection space for ejecting the document is also effectively used as a space for manually feeding and ejecting the recording sheet 17.

For this purpose, the manual feed section 28 of the recording sheet 17, the recording sheet discharge section, and the document discharge section 3 are arranged on the same side of the main body of the apparatus. As a result, as shown in FIG. 1, the recording sheet ejection tray 27 is attached above the manual feed tray 29, the document ejection tray 10 is attached above the ejection tray 27, and each of these trays 29,
27. 10 are arranged so as to protrude from the same side of the device main body.

Therefore, the manual feed tray 29 and the recording sheet output tray 2
7 is located within the projection space of the original discharge tray 10, and the space below the original protruding tray 10 is effectively utilized. Therefore, as in the case described above, there is no waste of space, and the installation area of the apparatus can be reduced.

[Arrangement of fixing means and document reading means] Furthermore, in the apparatus of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. The original reading means A is configured so as to
are placed. At this time, the light emitting member 8d of the reading means 8,
A heat insulating means is provided to prevent damage to optical components such as the lens 8e and the photoelectric conversion element 81.

In this embodiment, the heat insulating means includes a fixing roller 25a,
A heat insulating member 50 such as felt is provided between the reading means A located above the heater 24 and the reading means A is insulated from the heat of the heater 24, so that the heat does not adversely affect the optical components. are doing.

By providing the heat insulating means as described above, the reading means A having optical components can be placed above the fixing means, and the lateral dimension of the apparatus can be reduced to reduce the installation area. In addition, this causes the recording sheet to be disposed above the recording sheet ejection tray 27 provided near the fixing means.
Original output tray 10 provided near the reading optical component
can be placed in close proximity.

[Other Examples]

Although a facsimile machine was exemplified in the embodiment described above, it goes without saying that this can also be applied to other recording devices such as a copying machine.

Effects of the Invention> As described above, in the present invention, since the feeding and ejection of the recording sheet and the ejection of the read original are performed on the same side of the apparatus main body, the feeding and ejection of the recording sheet is performed in the projection area of the original ejection space. When the apparatus is installed, the document ejection space can be effectively used as recording sheet supply and ejection space, and the installation space of the apparatus can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the entire device, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the overall appearance, Fig. 3 is an explanatory view of the structure of the manual feeding and ejection part of the recording sheet, and Fig. 4 is an explanation of the state with the opening/closing cover open. Figure, 5th
The figure is an explanatory diagram of the interlocking mechanism of the opening/closing cover and the light-shielding shutter.
The figure is an explanatory diagram of a state in which the cassette is pulled out, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the state in which the door of the mounting table is opened. A is a document reading means, B is a recording means, C is a recording sheet conveying means, D is an operation panel, E is a telephone, F is a door, G
is a loading table, l is a document loading table, 2 is a side guide, 3 is a document, 4a is a preliminary conveyance roller, 4b is a pressing member, 5a is a separation roller, 5b is a pressing member, 6a is a conveying roller, 6b is a pinch roller, 7 is a spring, 8a is a weight shaft, 8b is a pressing member, 8C is a reading glass, 8d is a light emitting member, 8e is a lens, 8f is a photoelectric conversion element, 9a is an exit port, 9b
1) is a vinyl roller, 10 is a document discharge tray, 1) is a photosensitive drum, 12 is a charger, 13 is a laser oscillator, 14 is a polygon mirror, 15 is a developing section, 16 is a transfer roller, 17
18 is a recording sheet, 18 is a cleaning member, 19 is a recording cartridge nozzle, 19a is a locking protrusion, 19b is a handle, 19c
is shading +-/evening, 19c, is axis, 19C! is a bottle, 1
9c3 is a shaft, 19c4 is a torsion recoil spring, 20 is a cassette, 20a is a slide protrusion, 20b is a handle, 21 is a feeding roller, 22a and 22b are cassette transport rollers, 2
3a, 23b are feed rollers, 24 is a heater, 25a is a fixing roller, 25b is a pressure roller, 26a. 26b is an ejection port, 27 is a recording sheet ejection tray, 27a is a locking protrusion, 27b is a release prevention plate, 28 is a manual feed port, 29 is a manual feed tray, 29a is a fixed guide, 29b is a slide guide, and 29c is a fitting Recessed portion, 30 is a shaft, 31 is a separation member, 3
2 is an auxiliary tray, 32a is a fitting projection, 33 is a locking member, 34 is a size adjustment, 35 is an opening/closing cover, 35
3 is a through hole, 36 is a rotation pin, 37 is a shaft, 3rd is a release lever 38a is a hook part, 38b is a release button part, 39 is a chassis, 40 is a torsion recoil spring, 41 is a cassette storage part, and 41a is an engagement part. Stop groove strip, 42 is shaft, 43 is rod, 4
4 is a tension spring, 45 is a rank, 46a, 46b are pins, 47 is a pinion, 47a is a pinion arm, 48 is a locking groove, 49 is a cassette storage part, 49a is a guide groove, 50 is a heat insulating member, 51 is a storage Shelf, 52 is case part, 5
3 is a hinge, and 54 is a lock part.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A reading means for conveying and reading the original;
It has a recording means for forming an image on a recording sheet, and a conveying means for conveying and discharging the recording sheet to the recording means, and is capable of supplying the recording sheet to the conveying means and discharging the recording sheet after recording. An image forming apparatus characterized in that the image forming apparatus is configured such that ejection of the document and ejection of the document read by the reading means are performed on the same side of the apparatus main body. (2) The image forming apparatus according to claim (1), wherein the recording sheet supply tray, the recording sheet output tray, and the original document output tray are attached to the same side of the apparatus main body.