JPH05307285A - Opening/closing mechanism for image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate jamming processing in the case that jamming occurs in a carrying path and to smoothly perform exchanging operation in the case of exchanging a photosensitive unit by perfectly retreating parts constituting a carrying mechanism from the advance/retreat path of a unit as to an image forming device where the carrying path is positioned above the photosensitive unit and the photosensitive unit is attached/detached from above. CONSTITUTION:In the image forming device having constitution that a process unit including a photosensitive body 7 is attached/detached from the upper part of a device main body, and where the carrying path for a recording paper and the attaching/detaching path of the process unit cross, an upper cover 21 for opening the upper part and an inner cover 26 positioned inside the cover 21 are pivotally supported on the device main body so that they may be freely opened/closed. The upper rollers 14a, 15a and 10a of carrying roller pairs 14 and 15 constituting the carrying path and a resist roller pair 10 are arranged on the upper cover side, and a lower resist roller 10b is arranged in the inner cover 26.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention smoothly carries out both an operation of opening a conveyance path for jam processing and an operation of attaching / detaching a unit in an image forming apparatus in which a photoreceptor unit or the like is detachably attached as a unit itself. The present invention relates to the improvement of the opening mechanism of the image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some image forming apparatuses such as copiers, printers, and facsimile machines have a process unit including a photoconductor, a developing device, and the like, which are integrally removable from the main body of the apparatus. .. In this type of image forming apparatus, when the magazine type process unit is taken out upward by opening the lid on the upper part of the apparatus main body, the recording paper conveyance path passes directly above the magazine loading section. In that case, some rollers, guides, etc. of the transport mechanism may have to be arranged in the ejection path of the magazine. In the image forming apparatus of this type, a part of the mechanism that hinders the replacement work when the magazine is replaced, in particular, a part of the transport mechanism is retracted from the advance / retreat path of the replacement part to facilitate the replacement work. It needs to be configured to do.

Therefore, when the upper lid is opened, it is necessary to retract a part of the transport mechanism from the advance / retreat path of the replacement part. On the other hand, in the image forming apparatus of the type in which the upper lid is opened, When the recording paper jams in the transport path located directly above the magazine, the guides and rollers located below the transport path are left on the main body of the machine when the lid is opened to remove jammed paper. In this state, only the guides and rollers on the upper side of the conveyance path need to be retracted together with the lid. However, as long as the lower transport parts remain on the device body side (on the advancing / retreating path of the magazine), it is difficult to attach / detach the magazine, and complicated work such as temporary removal of the lower transport parts is required. there were.

In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-121082, a photoconductor unit and various process units directly above the photoconductor unit are integrated into an upper unit, and a conveying path is arranged immediately below the upper unit to replace the photoconductor. The upper unit is integrally opened at the time or when the recording paper is jammed. However, in this conventional example, the recording paper transport path is located below the upper unit including the photoconductor, and the transport path is located above the photoconductor unit, and the image forming apparatus in which the photoconductor unit is detached from above is attached. No correspondence is disclosed. Therefore, the above problems cannot be solved by the technique described in this publication.

Further, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 60-52887, in order to improve the maintainability of the photoconductor magazine and the ability to remove jammed paper, the upper unit and the photoconductor when the upper unit of the image forming apparatus is opened. A configuration is disclosed in which the magazine and the lower machine body are substantially Z-shaped. However, in the technique described in this publication, the recording paper conveyance path is located below the photoconductor magazine, There is no disclosure regarding the correspondence with respect to the image forming apparatus in which the transport path is located above and the photoconductor magazine is detached from above. Therefore, the above problems cannot be solved even by the technique described in this publication.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in an image forming apparatus in which a conveyance path is located above a photoconductor unit and the photoconductor unit is attached and detached from above, a jam in the conveyance path is detected. At the time of occurrence, jam processing can be facilitated, and at the same time, when the photoconductor unit is replaced, the components that make up the transport mechanism are completely retracted from the advancing and retracting paths of the unit so that the replacement work can be performed smoothly. Is intended to provide.

[0007]

To achieve the above object, the present invention has a structure in which a process unit including a photoconductor is attached and detached from above the main body of the apparatus, and the attaching / detaching path of the process unit intersects a conveyance path of recording paper. In the electrophotographic image forming apparatus having the structure described above, an upper cover for opening the upper portion of the apparatus main body and an inner cover located inside the upper cover are pivotally supported in the image forming apparatus main body so as to be openable and closable. On the side of the upper cover, an upper roller of a pair of conveying rollers and a pair of registration rollers forming the conveying path is arranged, and a lower registration roller is arranged on the inner cover, and only the upper cover is opened. It is possible to perform jam processing in the transport path, and when the upper cover and the inner cover are opened, the attachment / detachment path of the process unit is opened. That.

The present invention will be described in detail below. FIG. 1 shows an image forming apparatus (facsimile, copier,
FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the overall configuration of a printer or the like), and FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a state in which the upper cover is opened. A paper feed roller 2, a manual feed port 3 for manually feeding a recording sheet, an image sensor 4 for electrically reading a document, an operation unit 5 having various keys and a display unit, and a developing device. 6 and a photoconductor drum 7, a photoconductor process unit, a fixing unit 8, a laser writing unit 9, a registration roller pair 10 (upper roller 10a, lower roller pair 10b), and an electrical function of the entire image forming apparatus. It has a control board 11 for controlling, various multifunctional modules 12, a corona transfer device 13, and the like. In the recording conveyance path between the paper feed roller 2 and the registration roller pair 10, a conveyance roller pair 14 is provided.
a, 14b, 15a, 15b, the conveyance guide 16 and the like are arranged.

The upper registration roller 10a and the upper conveying rollers 14 and 15a are mounted on an upper cover 21 which is pivotally supported at one end by a hinge portion (rotating shaft) 20 and is openable and closable as shown in FIGS. , The transport guide 16 is supported, as shown in FIG.
As described above, when the upper cover 21 is opened, the upper registration roller 10a, the upper conveyance rollers 14 and 15a, and the conveyance guide 16 are integrally opened to open the recording paper conveyance path to facilitate the jam processing.

A rotary shaft 25 located on the right side of the upper cover 21.
One end of the inner cover 26 is pivotally supported and is urged in the opening direction by a spring 27. A lower registration roller 10b is supported on the inner cover 26, and when the covers 21 and 26 are closed, the registration rollers 10a and 10b are in a facing nip state as shown in FIG. In addition,
A spring-loaded lock claw 28 is provided at the tip of the inner cover 26.
Is provided and the lock claw 28 is engaged with the pin 29 provided on the image forming apparatus main body side (lower unit), whereby the inner cover 26 can be held in the closed state. Further, the lock claw 28 is rotatably supported with respect to the inner cover 26, and is configured so that the lock is released by gripping the handle 30 and pulling it up.

The photoconductor process unit including the developing device 6 and the photoconductor drum 7 is integrally constructed so as to be attachable to and detachable from the upper part of the apparatus. In the present invention, both covers 21 and 26 are provided.
When the two are simultaneously opened, the forward and backward movement paths of the process unit are all opened, and the process unit can be smoothly attached and detached.

In the above structure, both covers 21, 26
Is closed, all the recording paper conveyance paths from the paper feed roller 2 to the photosensitive drum are in a conveyable state,
The recording paper transported to the registration roller pair 10a, 10b by the transport rollers 14a, 14b, 15a, 15a is
The toner image is fed to the transfer position in synchronization with the movement timing of the toner image on the photosensitive drum. If a jam occurs in which the recording paper is sandwiched by the pair of registration rollers 10a and 10b during the conveyance of the recording paper, the upper cover 21 is opened to separate the upper registration roller 10a from the lower registration roller 10b, thereby eliminating the jam. It will be possible. Similarly, when a jam occurs in another conveyance roller, the jam process becomes easy.

When the process unit is taken out, the lower registration roller 10b is simply opened by opening the upper cover 21.
Etc. are left in the extraction path, so the inner cover 2
When 6 is opened, it can be taken out.

The opening / closing mechanism of the present invention can be applied to an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile, a copying machine and a printer. Further, the present invention can be similarly applied to an apparatus in which a cover provided on the side of the apparatus housing is opened and closed to attach and detach the process unit.

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the image forming apparatus in which the conveyance path is located above the photoconductor unit and the photoconductor unit is attached and detached from above, when a jam occurs in the conveyance path, a jam occurs. At the same time as the processing can be facilitated, at the time of exchanging the photoconductor unit, the parts constituting the transport mechanism can be completely retracted from the advancing / retreating path of the unit to smoothly perform the exchanging work.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration explanatory diagram of an example of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which a cover of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1 is opened.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 paper feed cassette, 2 paper feed rollers, 3 manual feed slot, 4
Image sensor, 5 scanning unit, 6 developing unit, 7 photoconductor drum, 8 fixing unit, 9 laser writing unit, 10 registration roller pair, 10a upper registration roller 10b lower registration roller, 20 hinge section, 21
Upper cover, 25 rotation shaft, 26 inner cover, 27 spring, 28 lock claw,

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus having a structure in which a process unit including a photoconductor is attached / detached from above the apparatus main body, and a conveyance path of recording paper intersects the attachment / detachment path of the process unit. An upper cover for opening an upper portion of the apparatus main body and an inner cover located inside the upper cover are pivotally supported on the image forming apparatus main body so as to be openable and closable. An upper roller of the pair of conveyance rollers and a pair of registration rollers forming the path is arranged, a lower registration roller is arranged on the inner cover, and when only the upper cover is opened, the jam treatment in the conveyance path becomes possible. The opening / closing mechanism of the image forming apparatus, wherein the attachment / detachment path of the process unit is opened when both the upper cover and the inner cover are opened.