JPH0486837A - Electrophotographic copying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To restrain the excessive rising of a temperature in a main body, to reduce the number of parts and to reduce cost by utilizing a paper ejecting guide as one part of a duct for exhausting air in a device. CONSTITUTION:In the case of an operation, both of fans 42 and 52 are driven and the air outside a device main body 10 is sucked in the main body 10 through a vent 51 as shown by an arrow C and sent to a transfer device 23 while it cools a power source unit 50. Then, the air passing through the transfer device 23 is guided by the duct 41 and discharged together with hot air around a fixing device 24 to the outside from an air exit through the duct 41. At such a time, the air around an electrostatic charger 16 is sucked by the fan 42 and discharged to the outside from the air exit through the duct 41 in the same manner.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial Application Field This invention is applicable to printers, copying machines, facsimile machines, etc. using laser electrophotography (a method of recording by transferring an image formed on a photoreceptor onto paper). The present invention relates to an electrophotographic device that performs recording on paper.

BACKGROUND ART In this type of electrophotographic apparatus, for example, after recording is performed on paper, the paper is guided by a paper ejection guide and ejected to a paper ejection section on the main body of the apparatus through a paper ejection path formed by the paper ejection guide. do. Conventionally, electrophotographic devices have been equipped with a suction fan inside the main body of the device, as well as having a number of air holes in the paper ejection guide. There is a system that attempts to suck in the toxins, pass them around the fixing device, cool them, and discharge them to the outside (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-66583).

Problem to be Solved by the Invention However, in this conventional electrophotographic apparatus, even when the suction fan is rotated, the air taken in from the air hole is discharged to the outside without passing through the fuser, causing damage to the fuser. There was a problem in that the surrounding high-temperature air could not be exhausted to the outside, and the temperature inside the device body would eventually rise excessively, which would adversely affect electronic components, toner, and the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to efficiently exhaust the air around the fixing device to the outside of the fixing device in the electrophotographic apparatus as described above, thereby suppressing an excessive temperature rise inside the fixing device.

Means for Solving the Problems Therefore, the present invention as set forth in claim 1, for example, as shown in the illustrated embodiments below, guides the sheet 20 after fixing by the paper ejection guide 38 and forms the paper 20 with the paper ejection guide 38. In an electrophotographic apparatus in which paper is ejected to a paper ejection section 31 on the apparatus main body 10 through a paper ejection path 28, the paper ejection guide 38 is used as a part of a duct 41 that discharges air inside the apparatus main body 10 to the outside. It is characterized by the fact that it can be used.

Further, in the present invention as set forth in claim 2, as shown in the illustrated embodiments below, the device main body 10 is composed of a lower main body 10b and an upper main body 10a that can be freely opened and closed with respect to the lower main body 10b. The paper ejection guide 38 is placed in the upper main body 10a at an open position where the paper ejection path 28 is opened and the paper ejection path 2 is opened.
The upper main body 10a is provided with a holding means such as a lever 44 that is movable between a closed position and a closed position forming a paper discharge guide 8 and holds the paper discharge guide 38 in the open position.

In the electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention as set forth in claim 1, air within the apparatus main body 10 is circulated to the outside through the duct 41.

Further, in the electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention as set forth in claim 2, normally the paper ejection guide 38 is set to the closed position and the paper ejection path 2 is
8, the sheet of paper 2° with the image fixed thereon is discharged to the paper discharge section 31. In this case, when the paper 20 is jammed, the upper main body 10a is opened, the paper ejection guide 38 is moved to the open position to open the paper ejection path 28, and the jammed paper 20 is held in the open position by the holding means. Take it out. After disposing of the jammed paper, the holding by the holding means is released, the paper discharge guide 38 is returned to the closed position, and then the upper main body 10a is closed.

Example Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the overall schematic structure of the internal mechanism of a laser printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, viewed from the front. What is indicated by the reference numeral 10 in the figure is the main body of the apparatus. Device body 1
0 is equipped with a belt running device 11 at the center of the interior. Belt running gear! i11 is a wide endless photoreceptor belt 15 between the driving roller 12 and two driven rollers 13 and 14.
Kake is handed over. Although not shown, the rotation from the drive device is transmitted to rotate the drive roller 12, and as the drive roller 12 rotates, the photoreceptor belt 15 runs in the direction of the arrow in the figure. Then, the surface of the photoreceptor belt 15 is uniformly charged by the charger 16, written by the laser writer 17 to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface, and developed by the developer 18 to form the latent image. Visualize. On the other hand, the device main body 10
A paper feed cassette 19 is attached to the lower side in the figure so that it can be taken in and out. Then, the paper 20 stored in the paper feed cassette 19 is fed one by one one by one, and the leading end is brought into contact between the pair of registration rollers 22 and stopped. Then, the registration rollers 22 are rotated in synchronization with the visible image on the photoreceptor belt 15, and the paper 20 is
is guided between the photoreceptor belt 15 and the transfer device 23. As a result, the transfer device 23 transfers the visible image on the photoreceptor belt 15 to the paper 2.
0 onto the upper surface, and is sent to the fixing device 24, where the transferred image is fixed. Thereafter, the switching guide 25 appropriately switches the paper ejection direction, and the image-fixed paper 20 is transported by the transport rollers 26 and 27 according to the paper ejection direction.

The sheets are ejected as they are in the direction of arrow A on the left in the figure, or they are ejected through the ejection path 28 in the direction of arrow B on the apparatus main body 10 using the ejection rollers 29 and 30, and stacked one after another on the ejection section 31. On the other hand, the surface of the photoreceptor belt 15 after the transfer is cleaned by a cleaning device 32, and then static electricity is removed by a static eliminator 33, and then uniformly charged by a charging device 16 again.

By the way, this laser printer
As shown in the figure, the device main body 10 is composed of an upper main body 10a and a lower main body 10b. The upper body 10a has an upper frame 34 at its center, and is attached to a support shaft 35 provided on the lower body 10b via a bracket (not shown) attached to the upper frame 34, and the lower body 10b is mounted around the support shaft 35. It can be opened and closed freely. The upper main body 10a includes a charger 16 and a charger 16 inside the upper frame 34.
It is equipped with a laser writer 17, a static eliminator 33, etc., and supports a belt running device m1ll and a cleaning device 32 on the lower side of an upper frame 34. Further, a cover 36 is attached to the upper side of the upper frame 34. The cover 36 has a paper discharge guide portion 36a inside thereof, and one paper discharge roller 29 is provided above the paper discharge guide portion 36a. Further, the upper body 10a has a pin 3 provided on the upper left side of the upper frame 34 in the figure.
A paper discharge guide 38 is attached to 7 so as to be rotatable about it. The paper discharge guide 38 is formed by curving a plate-like member as shown in the figure. The paper ejection guide 38 has a conveyance roller 27 attached to its lower end, and a paper ejection roller 3o attached to its upper end. Then, one end of the spring 39 is hooked to the cover 36, and the other end of the spring 39 is hooked to the paper ejection guide 38, so that it is constantly urged to rotate clockwise in the figure, and the conveyance roller 27 is pressed against the conveyance roller 26. Then, press the paper ejection roller 30 against the paper ejection roller 29. Thus, the paper ejection guide 38 is positioned and held at the closed position where the paper ejection path 28 is formed between the paper ejection guide portion 36a facing the paper ejection guide 36a. Also.

A flexible sealing member 40 made of rubber or the like is provided between the paper ejection guide 38 and the upper frame 34 to shield the space between them. Cleaning device 32
A duct 41 is formed by surrounding it with. The duct 41 is
It is formed extending from the front of the device main body 1o to the back side thereof. A fan 42 is provided in the duct 41 at an appropriate position that does not interfere with the rotation of the paper discharge guide 38. Furthermore, the upper frame 34 has a shaft 4 as shown in FIG.
3 is provided with a lever 44 (holding means) rotatably about the lever. The lever 44 has a claw portion 44a at its tip, and a protrusion 44b is provided near the claw portion 44a. Then, a spring 45 biases it to rotate clockwise in the figure. Thus, the paper ejection guide 38 is rotated counterclockwise against the spring 39, and the lever 44 is also rotated counterclockwise against the spring 45, so that the claw portion 44a of the lever 44 is rotated counterclockwise against the spring 39. The paper ejection guide 38 is configured to be able to be positioned and held at an open position that opens the paper ejection path 28 as shown in the figure.

On the other hand, the lower body 10b is as shown in FIG.

A paper feed cassette 19 and the like are provided inside the lower frame 46, and a transfer device 23 and a fixing device 24 are provided above the lower frame 46.
and a power supply unit 50.

In addition, the lower body 10b has a ventilation hole 51 in the lower frame 46 below the power supply unit 50. A fan 52 is installed on the right side of the power supply unit 50 in the figure. Further, a release piece 5 is provided on the left side of the upper part of the lower frame 34 in FIG.
3 is provided upward.

If the upper main body 10a is closed with the paper ejection path 28 open as shown, the lever 44
The projection 44b is pressed against the paper discharge guide 38 to release the holding state of the paper discharge guide 38 in the open position. In addition, the reference numeral 54 in the figure
is a display unit that displays that the paper 20 has jammed in the paper discharge path 28.

Now, in the illustrated laser printer, when the laser printer is in operation, both the fans 42 and 52 are driven, and the air outside the main body 10 is sucked into the main body 10 through the vent 51 as shown by arrow C in FIG. While cooling 50,
Furthermore, it is sent to the transfer device 23. Then, the air that has passed through the transfer device 23 is guided by a duct 41 and is discharged to the outside from the exhaust port through the duct 41 along with the hot air around the fixing device 24. At this time, the air around the charger 16 is also sucked in by the fan 42, and while ozone generated during charging is removed through an ozone filter (not shown) provided in the duct 41, it is similarly discharged through the duct 41 from the exhaust port to the outside. and discharge. During this paper ejection, if the paper 20 jams in the paper ejection path 28 and this is displayed on the display section 54, as shown in FIG. 38 is rotated to the open position shown by the solid line, and held in the open position by the lever 44. And the jammed paper 20
After taking out the sheet, the holding of the paper ejection guide 38 in the open position is released and it is returned to the closed position, and then the upper main body 10a is closed.

Note that the above-mentioned paper ejection guide 38 is designed to handle the jammed paper 20.
In order to make it easier to see, it is preferable to make it transparent, for example, using resin or the like.

Effects of the Invention Therefore, according to the present invention, in the electrophotographic apparatus described above, the paper ejection guide is used as a part of the duct for discharging the air inside the apparatus main body to the outside.
Air around the fixing device in the apparatus main body can be efficiently discharged to the outside, thereby suppressing excessive temperature rise within the apparatus main body. Furthermore, since no separate dedicated duct is required, the number of parts can be reduced and costs can be kept low.

Furthermore, according to the invention described in claim 2, even if the paper ejection path is formed by the paper ejection guide and the paper ejection path side is shielded and the paper ejection guide is used as a part of the duct,
Since the paper ejection guide is configured to be movable to the open position that opens the paper ejection path, there is an advantage that even if paper jams in the paper ejection path, the jammed paper can be easily disposed of.

[Brief Description of the Drawings] Fig. 1 is an overall schematic configuration diagram showing the internal mechanism of a laser printer that is an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is an overall schematic diagram showing the laser printer in an open state. FIG. 1o...... Apparatus main body 10a... Upper main body 10b... Lower main body 20... Paper 28... Paper ejection path 38... Paper ejection guide 41... Duct

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In an electrophotographic apparatus in which a sheet after fixing is guided by a sheet discharge guide and is discharged to a sheet discharge section on the main body of the apparatus through a sheet discharge path formed by the sheet discharge guide, the sheet discharge An electrophotographic apparatus in which a guide is used as a part of a duct for discharging air inside the apparatus body to the outside. 2. The device main body is composed of a lower main body and an upper main body that can be opened and closed with respect to the lower main body, and the paper ejection guide is formed in the upper main body in an open position where the paper ejection path is opened and the paper ejection path is formed therein. 2. The electrophotographic apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a holding means provided on the upper main body to be movable to a closed position and a holding means for holding the paper ejection guide in the open position.