JPH04179678A - Picture forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an inexpensive picture forming device, whose setting space is decreased, by providing a picture forming means, sheet feed means, sheet discharge means, refeed means and a conveying means for feeding a sheet to the refeed means from the outside of a device. CONSTITUTION:When a sheet is inserted from a hand-insertion port 55, a sensor arm 56 is moved to a position, shown by a dotted line, to detect a sheet provided by a photointerrupter 57, and a paper feed roller 58, which constitutes a conveying means, is rotated to advance the sheet into an intermediate tray 47 through guide plates 59, 60, 44, flapper 45 positioned in a condition shown by a dotted line and a guide plate 46. Now when copying action is directed, the sheet is fed to paired separating rollers 49 by a paper refeed roller 48, similarly to the case of both-side and multicopy action, to pass through the concerned paired separating rollers 49 thereafter through a guide plate 50, flapper 45 positioned in a condition shown by a full line and a refeed path 51, and the sheet is fed into the second paired feed rollers 28 through guide plates 25, 26, 27.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine, and particularly to an image forming apparatus capable of forming double-sided and multiple images.

<Prior Art> In recent years, image forming apparatuses such as electrophotographic copying machines have been designed so that the paper feeding cassette can be completely stored in the lower part of the main body of the apparatus to reduce the protrusion of the cassette, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The mainstream is to eliminate the need for a power supply and take up less space for installation.

First, the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 5 will be described. A document 102 placed f2 on a document placement glass 101 is illuminated by a light source 103, and its light image is formed by a plurality of reflecting mirrors 104, a zoom lens 105, etc. The image is guided to the image forming unit 106 by an optical system.

Here, the sheets stacked in the cassette 107 or 108 are separated by a separating section 109 and then sent to a sheet feeding section 110, and conveyed to the image forming section 106 by the sheet feeding section 110.

At this time, the sheet is transferred to the photosensitive drum 10 of the image forming section 106 by a pair of feeding rollers 110a of the sheet feeding section 110.
It is conveyed so as to match the visible image on 6a. The visible image on the photosensitive drum 106a is transferred to the sheet by the charger 106b. After the 0 image is transferred, the sheet is sent to the fixing device 112 via the conveyance section 111, and after the image on the sheet is fixed, it is transferred to the discharge section. 113 and discharged from the device.

Further, this copying apparatus includes a discharge section 113 and a refeed section 114.
This allows double-sided and multiple copying.

Further, a sheet is inserted from a manual feed section 115 provided on the right side of the apparatus main body and fed into the image forming section 106 inside the apparatus. The subsequent image formation is performed in the same manner as the above operation.

Further, the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 6 is provided with a manual feed section 116 on the left side of the main body of the apparatus, and a sheet conveyance path 117 for conveying sorted sheets inserted from the manual feed section 116 to the image forming section 106. ing.

<Problem to be solved by the invention> However, in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG.
Since the sheet insertion section 115 for manually feeding is provided on the right side of the main body of the apparatus, the manual feeding section 115 protrudes even though the protrusion of the cassette is eliminated, and there is a certain amount of space when manually feeding the sheet. This does not lead to space saving of the image forming apparatus.

In addition, in order to solve the above problem, the sheet manual feed section 116 shown in FIG.
In the image forming apparatus installed below 3a, in order to convey the sheet inserted from the manual feed section 116 to the image forming section 106, it is necessary to provide a sheet conveying path 117 consisting of a guide plate, rollers, etc. This results in an increase in size and cost.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the prior art described above, and its purpose is to provide an inexpensive image forming apparatus that is miniaturized and requires a small installation space.

<Means for solving in> A typical means that solves the above problem and is applied to the embodiments described below includes an image forming means that forms an image on a sheet, and a means that conveys the sheet to the image forming means. a sheet feeding means, a sheet discharging means for discharging the sheet after image formation to the outside of the apparatus, a refeeding means for conveying the sheet after image formation to the image forming means again, and the refeeding means from outside the apparatus. A conveying means for feeding the sheet to the sheet.

Therefore, the sheet is fed from the outside of the apparatus to the refeeding means by the conveying means, and is sent to the image forming means by the refeeding means. Since there is no need to provide a separate sheet conveyance path for conveying the fed sheets to the image forming section, the apparatus can be downsized and costs can be reduced.

<Example> Hereinafter, an example of the image forming apparatus according to the above means will be described.

[First embodiment]

First, the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG. , 6, 7, 8.9 and a zoom lens 10, the light is guided onto the photosensitive drum 11. The light source 3 and the reflecting mirrors 4, 5, 6 each move at a predetermined speed in the direction of the arrow a to scan the original 2. On the other hand, since the photosensitive drum 11 rotates in the direction of the arrow after its surface is uniformly charged by the primary charger 12, electrostatic latent images corresponding to the original image are sequentially formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11. It is formed. Color toner (for example, green) is applied around the photosensitive drum 11.
A color developing device 13 containing black toner and a black developing device 14 containing black toner are provided. These developing devices 13 and 14 are movable in the directions of arrows c and d, respectively, and are brought close to the photosensitive drum 11 to visualize the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 11 according to a desired color image. do. In the case of this figure, the color developer 13 is far away and the black developer 14 is close, so there is no space on the photosensitive drum ll! An IAN image is formed. This image is transferred to a sheet of transfer paper by a transfer charger 15. Thereafter, the photosensitive drum 11 reaches a cleaner 16, where residual toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 is removed, and the process returns to the next copying process.

Next, regarding the basic operation of the copying apparatus, the transfer paper is fed as follows, and the original image is copied.

First, the transfer paper loaded in the cassette 17 is transferred to the paper feed roller 1.
8 and sent to a pair of separation rollers 19. The separation roller pair 19 is designed to separate only the top paper when multiple sheets of transfer paper are fed into the apparatus, and after passing through the separation roller pair 19, the transfer paper is removed. The paper is transported through guide plates 20, 21, first feeding roller pair 22, guide plates 23, .
24.25.26.27 via second feed roller pair 28
leading to.

Alternatively, in the same manner as the cassette 17, the transfer paper stacked in the cassette 29 is transferred to the separation roller pair 3 by the paper feed roller 30.
Sent to 1. The separation roller pair 31 has the same function as the separation roller pair 19. After passing through the separation roller pair 31, the transfer paper passes through the guide plate 32 and the first feeding roller pair 22.
, the second through the guide plate 23.24.25.26.27
The feed roller pair 28 is reached.

The second feeding roller pair 28 starts rotating at a timing such that the developed image on the photosensitive drum 11 matches the transfer paper, and transfers the transfer paper to the photosensitive drum 11 via the upper transfer guide 33 and the lower transfer guide 34. send it to the surface.

As mentioned above, the image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 is transferred to the transfer paper by the transfer charger 15, and the transfer paper is separated from the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 by the separation charger 35, and is then processed by the heating roller 37a via the conveyance section 36. The image is sent to a fixing device 37 having a pressure roller 37b. The fixing device 37 heats and pressurizes the image on the transfer paper to fix it as a permanent image, and the transfer paper is sent to a first pair of discharge rollers 38 and then to a flapper 39.
．． 40, the paper reaches the second discharge roller pair 41, and is then discharged to a paper discharge tray 42 provided outside the copying apparatus.

In this figure, the flapper 40 is shown blocking the transfer paper path, but this flapper 40 is made of a light material and is rotatable around the fulcrum 40a, so the transfer paper is When it passes, it is pushed up by the leading edge of the transfer paper and takes a retracted position with respect to the transfer paper, so there is no problem in passing the transfer paper.

Furthermore, this copying apparatus is capable of double-sided copying and multiple overlapping copying, and the copying operation of the transfer paper during zero-order double-sided copying and multiple overlapping copying will be shown.

When a duplex copying operation is instructed to the copying apparatus, an original image is transferred and fixed on one side of the copy paper in the same manner as the basic operation described above. In the case of double-sided copying, the flapper 39 is positioned as shown by the dotted line. Therefore, the transfer paper should be placed first with the front edge first.
The paper is sent out by the discharge roller pair 38 and sent to the guide plates 43 and 44 along the right slope of the flapper 39, and enters the intermediate tray 47 via the flapper 45 and the guide plate 46 located in the state shown by the dotted line. Then, the transfer paper waits until a copying operation to the other side is instructed.

When a copy signal for the other side is issued, the transfer paper is sent to a separation roller pair 49 by a paper refeed roller 48. The separation roller pair 49 has the same function as the separation roller pair 19.31 described above, and when a plurality of overlapping sheets of transfer paper are fed, only the topmost transfer paper is separated and fed. There is. After passing through this separation roller pair 49, the guide plate 5
0, through the flapper 45 located in the state shown in solid lines, the rollers 52, 53, 54 pass through the refeed 151 formed by the guide plate, and the second The transfer paper is fed to the feeding roller pair 28. The operation after the transfer paper reaches the second feed roller pair 28 is the same as the basic operation described above, and the transfer paper with the image copied onto the other side is finally delivered to the second discharge roller pair 41. The paper is ejected to a paper ejection tray 42 provided outside the apparatus.

On the other hand, in the first copying operation when a multiple copying operation is instructed to the copying device, the original image is transferred and fixed on one side of the transfer paper in the same way as the basic operation described above, and the second ejection roller pair 41 The paper is then sent to a paper discharge tray 42 provided outside the apparatus. Then, the trailing edge of the transfer paper is detected by a sheet detection mechanism consisting of a detection lever (not shown) and an optical sensor (not shown), and a certain period of time thereafter (i.e., the time until the trailing edge of the transfer paper passes the flapper 40). ), the second ejection roller pair 41 starts rotating in reverse and feeds the transfer paper into the transfer device again. Then, the transfer paper passes through the guide plates 43 and 44 along the left slopes of the flappers 40 and 39 with the rear end first, and is transferred via the flapper 45 and guide plate 46 located in the state shown by the dotted line. The paper enters the intermediate tray 47 in the same manner as for both sides.

Then, when the second copy signal is issued, the refeed roller 48 starts rotating. The movement of the transfer paper at this time is the same as in the case of double-sided copying. The transfer paper on which the second image has been copied on the same surface is finally transferred to the second discharge roller pair 41.
The paper is ejected to a paper ejection tray 42 provided outside the apparatus.

Furthermore, when a sheet is inserted from the manual feed port 55, the sensor arm 56 moves to the position shown by the dotted line, the presence of the sheet is detected by the photo ink printer 57, and the paper feed roller 5B constituting the conveying means rotates, and the guide Fi59.60.4
4. It enters the intermediate tray 47 via the flapper 45 and guide plate 46 located in the state shown by the dotted line. When a copying operation is instructed here, the separation roller pair 49 is moved by the paper refeed roller 48 as in the case of the double-sided and multiple copying operations described above.
After passing through the separation roller pair 49,
The guide plate 50 and the flapper 4 located in the state shown by the solid line
5. Pass through the refeed path 51 and guide plate 25.26.2
The sheet is fed to a second feeding roller pair 28 via rollers 7 . The image forming operation after the sheet reaches the second feeding roller pair 28 is performed in the same manner as the basic operation described above.

By configuring as described above, there is no protrusion such as a manual feed port on the right side of the main body of the device in FIG. 1, so the installation space can be reduced, and furthermore, unlike the conventional technology, a new passage for manual feed can be provided. Since the paper refeeding path is used instead of the paper refeeding path, the size of the main body of the apparatus can be reduced, and costs can be reduced at the same time.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, by disposing the manual feed tray 61 above the paper ejection tray 42, and disposing the paper feed roller 62, sensor arm 63, photo ink club taro 4, etc. above, There is no need to look under the paper discharge tray 42 when inserting a sheet from the manual feed port 61a, and operability can be improved.

(Second Embodiment) When a duplex copying operation is instructed to a copying apparatus as shown in FIG. The transfer paper is sent to a pair of rollers 41 and discharged to a paper discharge tray 42 provided outside the apparatus.Then, the trailing edge of the transfer paper is detected by a sheet detection mechanism consisting of a detection lever (not shown) and an optical sensor (not shown). After that, the trailing edge of the transfer paper is detected by the flapper 4.
0), the second discharge roller pair 41 starts rotating in the opposite direction and feeds the transfer paper into the transfer device again. Then, the transfer paper is guided along the left slope of the flapper 39.40 with the trailing edge first.
44, 71, and 72, the leading edge of the transfer paper moves the detection lever 77 to the position shown by the dotted line, and the presence of the sheet is detected by the photo ink club tough 8, and the leading edge of the transfer paper moves to the roller 73.74.
．． 75 starts to rotate, and the transfer paper is conveyed to the paper refeed roller 7.
Reach 6. At this point, the refeed roller 76 has stopped, and after the transfer sheet has completely abutted against this refeed roller 76, the rollers 73, 74, and 75 also stop. Then, the transfer paper waits until a copying operation to the other side is instructed.

When a copy signal for the other side is issued, the paper refeed roller 76 starts rotating and feeds the transfer paper to the second feed roller pair 28 via the guide plates 25, 26, 27.

The operation after the transfer paper reaches the second feed roller pair 28 is the same as the basic operation described above, and the transfer paper with the image copied onto the other side is finally delivered to the second discharge roller pair 41. The paper is ejected to a paper ejection tray 42 provided outside the apparatus.

On the other hand, in the first copying operation when the copying apparatus is instructed to perform a multiple copying operation, the original image is transferred and fixed onto the transfer paper in the same manner as the basic operation described above. In the case of multiple copying, the flapper 39 is positioned as shown by the dotted line. Therefore, the transfer paper is sent out by the first discharge roller pair 38 with the front end first, and runs along the right slope of the flapper 39 on the guide plates 43, 44.
71 and 72, and the detection lever 77 as mentioned above.
, roller 73.74.7 by photo ink club tough 8
5 begins to rotate, and the transfer paper is conveyed and reaches the paper refeed roller 76. Thereafter, the rear end of the transfer paper is detected by the detection lever 77 and the photo ink club tough 8, and after a predetermined period of time has elapsed, the flapper 39 returns to the position shown by the solid line.

Then, when the second copy signal is issued, the paper refeed roller 76 starts rotating, but the movement of the transfer paper at this time is the same as in the case of double-sided copying. The transfer paper on which the second image has been copied on the same surface is finally transferred to the second discharge roller pair 41.
The paper is ejected to a paper ejection tray 42 provided outside the apparatus.

Furthermore, in the case of manual copying, the sheet is inserted from the manual feed section 79, passed through the guide plate 80, 81, 71, 72 that constitutes the conveyance path as a conveyance means, and is detected by the aforementioned detection lever 77 and photo interrupter 78. The leading edge of the sheet is detected and the sheet is passed through the refeed path by rollers 73, 74, 75.
．． 76 and sent to the second feeding roller pair 28. After the sheet reaches the second feeding roller pair 28,
Image formation is performed in the same manner as in the previous basic operation.

By configuring as described above, it is possible to omit some parts such as rollers compared to the configuration of the first embodiment, and the advantages of the first embodiment such as space saving and small size are not lost, and the advantages are further improved. In this embodiment, an inexpensive device can be provided.

[Third Example]

The double-sided copying and multiple copying operations of the copying device shown in FIG. This is done from a certain paper ejection tray 42. At this time,
As means for detecting the presence or absence of a sheet, sensors 83 and 84 are used to detect paper jams of transfer paper in the discharge section. Further, as a means for conveying the sheet to the refeeding section, a second discharge roller pair 41 configured to be rotatable in forward and reverse directions is provided.
(accept).

In the case of copying by manual feeding, insert the sheet from the transfer paper ejection section, and when the presence of the sheet is detected by the sensors 83 and 84, the second ejection roller that can rotate in the opposite direction for double-sided copying. The sheet is fed into the device by means of the pair 41 and is fed along the left side slope of the flapper 39.40 to the guide plate 43.44 and then via the guide plate 7'1.72 to the roller 73. Thereafter, the sheet is fed along the refeed path by rollers 74, 75, and 76 to reach the second feed roller pair 28. After the notebook reaches the second feeding roller pair 28, image formation is performed in the same manner as in the previous basic operation.

By configuring as described above, compared to the configurations of the previous embodiments, it is possible to omit manual feed trays, guide plates, etc., and costs can be reduced. Furthermore, since this embodiment uses both the paper output tray and the manual feed tray, it is difficult to manually feed sheets or copy images by providing separate paper output trays and manual feed trays as in the previous embodiments. It is possible to prevent the transfer paper from becoming loose. Of course,
The first objective of the present invention is to save space and reduce the size of the device.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, in the present invention, a conveyance means for feeding sheets from outside the apparatus to the refeeding means is provided, so that notes inserted from the manual feed port of the apparatus are re-fed by the conveyance means. The image forming apparatus is configured to be fed into the image forming means and sent again to the image forming means by the refeeding means, and there is no need to provide a separate conveyance path for manual feeding as in the conventional example, so the apparatus can be miniaturized. At the same time, it is possible to reduce costs and provide an inexpensive device.

In addition, by using the paper output tray and the manual feed tray as both, it is possible to prevent (prevent) the above-mentioned effects from being made difficult by providing the paper output tray and the manual feed tray separately on the same side of the device. can.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 4 show embodiments of the present invention, and are cross-sectional explanatory views when the present invention is applied to a still T* photographic machine, and FIGS. 5 and 6 show an image forming apparatus. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional explanatory diagram showing a conventional example. 1 is the document placement glass, 2 is the document, 3 is the light source, 4°5.6
．． 7.8.9 is a reflection mirror, lO is a zoom lens, 11
12 is a photosensitive drum, 12 is a primary charger, 13.14 is a developer, 15 is a transfer charger, 16 is a cleaner, 17°29 is a cassette, 18.30 is a paper feed roller, 19.31 is a pair of separation rollers, 20 .21.23.24. ．． 25.26.27
．． 32 is a guide plate, 22 is a first feeding roller pair, 28 is a second feeding roller pair, 33 is an upper transfer guide, 34 is a lower transfer guide, 35 is a separation charger, 36 is a conveyance unit, and 37 is a fixing device. , 37a is a heating roller, 37b is a pressure roller, 38 is a first pair of discharge rollers, 39.40 is a flapper, 41 is a second pair of discharge rollers, 42 is a paper discharge tray, 43.44.46.5
0.51.59° 60 is a guide plate, 45 is a flapper, 4
7 is an intermediate tray, 48 is a paper refeed roller, 49 is a separation roller pair, 55.61a is a manual feed slot, 56.63 is a sensor arm, 57.64 is a photo ink printer, 58.62 is a paper feed roller, 61 is a manual feed tray, 71.72 is a guide plate, 73.74.75 is a roller, 76 is a refeed roller,
77 is a detection lever, 78 is a photo ink printer, 79 is a manual feed section, 80.81 is a guide plate,

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) An image forming means for forming an image on a sheet, a sheet feeding means for conveying the sheet to the image forming means, a sheet ejecting means for ejecting the sheet after the image has been formed to the outside of the apparatus, and a sheet after the image has been formed. An image forming apparatus comprising: a refeeding means for conveying a sheet to the image forming means again; and a conveyance means for feeding a sheet from outside the apparatus to the refeeding means. (2) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a conveyance means for feeding the sheet to the refeeding means from outside the apparatus, provided near the refeeding means on the sheet ejection means side. (3) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a sheet insertion section of the conveyance means for feeding the sheet to the refeeding means also serves as a sheet discharge section of the sheet discharge means. (4) The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims (1) to (3), wherein the detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a sheet in the sheet discharge section also serves as the detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a sheet in the sheet insertion section.