JPH05193767A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve operability of supply of recording paper sheets, to integrally form various feed paper sheet trays, and to form the paper sheet feed part body of an image forming part in a compact size by providing opposite type constitution wherein directions in which paper sheets are fed by means of a plurality of paper sheet feeding means arranged in each of two rows of right and left rows are extending opposite facing each other with the central part of an image forming device body therebetween. CONSTITUTION:Paper sheet feeding devices 4A-4C are arranged to the right in a diagram of the lower part of a duplicator body. Directions, in which recording paper sheets S1 are fed by means of the paper sheet feeding devices 4A-4C, are all pointed to the central part of the duplicator body on the left side in a diagram. The recording paper sheet S1 conveyed from each paper sheet feeding device is conveyed approximately in a vertical raising state by means of a guide plate 41 and intermediate conveyance rollers R4 and R3 of the duplicator body. To the left side in a diagram being the downstream side, a large capacity recording paper sheet feed tray 4D1 capable of containing recording paper sheets S2 is positioned and arranged on an elevating paper sheet feed table, and the recording paper sheets S2 contained in the paper sheet feed tray 4D1 are fed from an upper layer to he right in a diagram. This constitution improves operability of supply of recording paper sheets.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet recording sheet feeding device in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, and more particularly to an arrangement of a plurality of sheet feeding trays in a front loading type sheet feeding device. Is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, sheet-like recording paper accumulated on a paper cassette that can be pulled out and a large-capacity recording paper feed tray having a paper feed table elevating means. There is provided a paper feeding device that sequentially takes out (transfer paper and the like) one by one from the top or the bottom and sends it to the image recording unit and the like.

For example, in order to transfer a toner image formed on an image forming body onto a transfer material in a timely manner, a recording paper conveyed from a paper feed cassette through a pickup roller and a feed roller is abutted against a registration roller in advance and loosened. Is stopped in the state where the sheet is formed, the registration roller is driven in synchronization with the scanning start operation of the optical system for reading the document information, and the recording sheet is nipped and conveyed to the transfer area.

An automatic double-sided recording function (ADU) capable of recording images on both sides of a recording paper and an automatic multiplex recording function (RAD)
In the image forming apparatus including U), generally, an intermediate stack tray for temporarily storing the recording paper on which one side has been recorded and a recording paper re-feeding device are provided below the image forming unit. The recording paper is sent out, separated and fed, and conveyed. The paper feed cassette and the large-capacity recording paper feed tray are conventionally mounted on the side surface of the main body of the copying machine and can be detached or moved. Therefore, not only a large operation space is required on the side of the main body of the copying machine, but there is a problem in terms of operability.

In recent years, many front loading type sheet feeding devices have been put into practical use in which a sheet feeding cassette or the like can be pulled out from the operator's front side. With this type of paper feeder,
Although a plurality of paper feed cassettes are arranged in a row below the main body of the copying machine, the height of the copying machine is restricted due to the operability of the copying machine.
The paper feed cassette generally has three to four stages.

On the other hand, according to the user's needs, a plurality of types of paper feed cassettes, a large capacity recording paper feed tray (LCT), an automatic double-sided recording function (ADU), etc. are provided in order to use recording papers of various sizes. There is a demand for a multifunctional copying machine.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to meet the above-mentioned market requirement specifications of large-capacity paper feed trays and a large number of paper feed cassettes, the frequency of replacement of paper feed cassettes increases and operability increases. There are problems such as problems and enlargement of the copying machine body.

Further, if a plurality of paper feed trays are arranged in left and right columns, a jam paper processing space and a vertical conveyance unit space required for each paper feed tray are required, which increases the size of the copying machine main body.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a plurality of paper feeding cassettes of the front loading type and a large capacity recording paper feeding tray of the same type are arranged in two columns in the lower part of the main body of the image forming apparatus. The purpose of the present invention is to improve the operability of recording paper replenishment, integrate a multi-purpose paper feed tray, downsize a paper feed unit main body of an image forming apparatus, and facilitate jam processing. ..

In the image forming apparatus of the present invention which achieves the above object, the toner image formed on the image carrier by the image forming means is transferred onto the recording paper fed from the paper feeding tray of the paper feeding means. In the image forming device that is discharged outside the machine,
Below the image forming means, a plurality of recording paper feeding means are arranged in two rows on the left and right sides, and each of the paper feeding trays is of a front loading type which can be drawn out to the operator side, and is arranged in the two rows. The present invention is characterized in that each of the plurality of paper feeding means in each of the left and right rows is configured to face each other in a paper feeding / discharging direction so as to face the center of the image forming apparatus main body.

The left and right paper feed trays arranged in two rows are
One of them is a large size and the other is a small size.

Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, at least one of the plurality of paper feeding means arranged in the left and right rows and feeding the recording paper toward the center of the apparatus main body has a large capacity. It is characterized in that it is a recording paper feed tray.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram including an optional device of an image forming apparatus (copier) to which the paper feeding device of the present invention is applied. In the figure, 1 is an automatic document feeder (AD
F), 2 is a scanning exposure optical system, 3 is an image forming unit, 4 is a recording sheet feeding unit (paper feeding unit), 5 is a recording sheet conveying unit, 6 is a fixing device, 7 is a sheet discharge reversal switching conveying unit, 8 Is a recording paper feeding unit (ADU) for double-sided recording, 9 is a second recording paper feeding unit,
10 is a sorter for sorting and organizing the recording paper discharged from the main body of the copying machine. The dashed line in the figure is the recording paper (transfer paper).
The transport path of S is shown. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part of the recording paper conveying means of the copying machine. The upper body of the copying machine includes a scanning exposure optical system 2 disposed below the platen glass 21,
Charger 32 around photoconductor drum (image carrier) 31 and developer 3
3, an image forming unit 3 including a transfer unit 34, a classifier 35, and a cleaning unit 36, a recording sheet conveying unit 5 that conveys a recording sheet on which an image has been formed by a belt, a fixing unit 6, and a discharge reversal switching conveying unit 7 And a recording paper conveying unit (ADU) for double-sided recording. The lower main body of the copying machine is a paper feeding unit in which a plurality of recording paper feeding means (paper feeding devices) 4A, 4B, 4C and 4D are arranged. The sheet feeding devices 4A, 4B, 4
As shown in the plan view of FIG. 3, the recording sheets S1 and S2 fed by C and 4D are all arranged so that the periphery of the recording sheet is orthogonal to the arrowed sheet feeding direction, and each sheet feeding cassette. 4A1 (4B1, 4C1) and the paper feed tray 4D1 are positioned and stored on the basis of one side reference (BL).

Three stages of sheet feeding devices 4A, 4B and 4C are provided on the lower right side of the copying machine main body in the figure. A paper feed cassette 4A1 can be pulled out to the operator's front side when replenishing the recording paper in the upper paper feed device 4A. Similarly, the sheet feeding cassette 4B1 is attached to the sheet feeding device 4B in the middle stage, and the sheet feeding cassette 4C1 is attached to the sheet feeding device 4C in the lower stage so as to be drawn out. These paper feed cassettes 4A1 and 4B
1 and 4C1 have almost the same structure except that the heights and partition plates differ from each other according to the number of sheets of the recording paper S1 to be stored, and therefore, the upper sheet feeding cassette 4A1 and the sheet feeding cassette 4A1 are mainly used. Paper means will be described.

The upper sheet feeding device 4A includes a sheet feeding table 4A2 for accommodating the sheet feeding cassette 4A1 at a predetermined position and fixing it.
From a cassette unit composed of a movable bottom plate 4A3 in the housing of the sheet feeding cassette 4A1, a push-up lever 4A4 that pushes up the movable bottom plate 4A3 in a vibrating manner, a vibration shaft 4A5 that vibrates and drives the push-up lever 4A4, and a driving unit (not shown). It is composed of a recording paper pushing-up mechanism and a paper feed mechanism portion including a pickup roller 4A6, a feed roller 4A7, a reverse roller 4A8, and a conveying roller 4A9. The middle sheet feeding device 4B and the lower sheet feeding device 4C have the same configuration as the upper sheet feeding device. Since these sheet feeding devices are known sheet feeding mechanisms, detailed description thereof will be omitted. The sheet feeding devices 4A, 4B, and 4C accommodate large-sized recording sheets of maximum size A3 (or 11 ″ × 17 ″).

The sheet feeding direction of the recording sheet S1 by each of the sheet feeding devices 4A, 4B and 4C is toward the central portion of the copying machine main body on the left side in the drawing, and the recording sheet S1 conveyed from each sheet feeding device is , The guide plate 41 and the intermediate transfer rollers R4 and R3 of the main body of the copying machine raise the paper substantially vertically, and further, the intermediate stack tray in the double-sided recording paper conveying means (ADU) 8 provided in the upper main body of the copying machine. The conveying rollers R81, R82, and R83 provided below convey the conveying path to the right in the horizontal direction in the figure, and further ascend to follow the conveying path from the intermediate conveying roller R2 to the registration roller R1.

From the three stages of the sheet feeding devices 4A, 4B, and 4C on the downstream side in the sheet feeding direction and further to the left in the drawing, 1000 to 1000
A large-capacity recording paper feed tray (LCT) 4D1 capable of accommodating 3000 sheets of recording paper S2 is positioned and arranged on the elevating paper feed table, and can be pulled out to the front side of the operator when the recording paper is replenished. In addition, the maximum size A is included in the LCT.
4 size (or 8.5 ″ × 11 ″) small size recording paper is stored.

Above the large-capacity recording paper feed tray 4D1, there is provided a paper feed mechanism section similar to the above-mentioned paper feed mechanism section (4A6 to 4A9), and the recording stored in the paper feed tray 4D1. The paper S2 is fed from the upper layer to the right side in the drawing. The fed recording sheet S2 is vertically lifted and merges with the recording sheet conveying path of the three-stage sheet feeding devices 4A, 4B, 4C, and thereafter, the above-mentioned double-sided recording sheet conveying unit (ADU). A common conveyance path from the horizontal conveyance path by the conveyance rollers R81, R82, R83 in 8 to the registration roller R1 via the intermediate conveyance roller R2 is followed.

A second recording paper feeding means 9 can be connected to the right side of the main body of the copying machine, and the paper feeding device 9 of three stages is connected.
A, 9B, 9C enables large-scale paper feeding of about 4,500 sheets. The three paper feed trays of these paper feed devices can also be pulled out to the front side of the operator when recording paper is replenished. The recording sheet S3 sent out from these sheet feeding trays by the sheet feeding means is conveyed to the upper main body of the copying machine via the intermediate conveying roller R9,
The intermediate transfer roller R2 reaches the registration roller R1.

Inside the paper feed passage formed by a pair of fixed / movable guide plates 41 and two pairs of intermediate conveying rollers R3, R4 provided on the left side of the three-stage paper feeding devices 4A, 4B, 4C. When a paper jam (jam) of the recording paper S1 occurs at, the movable guide plate 41 and the driven rollers R3 and R4 supported by the movable guide plate 41 are opened to the left to open the paper feed path to remove the jammed paper. remove. When the movable guide plate is opened, a space without any obstacle is formed on the left side of the lower main body of the copying machine, that is, on the right side of the large-capacity recording paper feed tray (LCT) 4D1. The plate 41 can be sufficiently opened to easily inspect the paper feed path and remove jams.

Further, the large capacity recording paper feed tray (LC
T) 4D1 on the right side in the figure does not need to be provided with an intermediate conveyance roller for LCT, a guide plate, etc.
D1 and the three-stage paper feed cassettes 4A1, 4B1, 4C
Since the gap with 1 is close to other than the common paper feeding space, the main body of the copying machine can be made compact.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of front-loading paper feed cassettes and a large-capacity recording paper feed tray are arranged in two rows in a vertical arrangement in the lower portion of the main body of the image forming apparatus. By doing so, an integrated structure of the apparatus main body of the multi-type paper feed tray and improvement of operability of recording paper replenishment,
Ease of jam processing and downsizing of the image forming apparatus body are achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus to which a multiple sheet feeding device of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of a recording paper conveyance unit of the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the positioning of the recording paper size and the transport direction.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 Image Forming Means 31 Photosensitive Drums 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D Recording Paper Feeding Means (Paper Feeders) 4A1, 4B1, 4C1 Paper Feed Cassette 41 Guide Plate 4D1 Large Capacity Recording Paper Feed Tray (LCT) 8 Double Sided Recording Recording paper conveying means (ADU) 81 Intermediate stack tray 9 Second recording paper supplying means 9A, 9B, 9C Paper feeding device R1 Registration rollers R2, R3, R4, R81, R82, R83, R9 Intermediate conveying rollers S, S1, S2, S3 recording paper

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus for transferring a toner image formed on an image bearing member by an image forming unit onto a recording sheet fed from a sheet feeding tray of a sheet feeding unit and discharging the image outside the apparatus. Below the image forming means, a plurality of recording paper feeding means are arranged in two rows on the left and right sides, and each of the paper feeding trays is of a front loading type that can be drawn out to the operator side, and the left and right rows are arranged on the two rows. An image forming apparatus, characterized in that each of a plurality of sheet feeding means in each row feeds and feeds each sheet in a facing manner so as to face the center of the main body of the image forming apparatus. 2. The paper feed direction from the paper feed tray is A3.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the long-edge feed is performed. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the left and right two-row paper feed trays has a large size and the other has a small size. 4. A large-capacity recording paper feed tray is provided in at least one of the plurality of paper feed units that are arranged in the left and right rows and feeds the recording paper toward the center of the apparatus main body. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein
The image forming apparatus according to item.