JPH05323829A - Electrophotographic device and fixing method for electrophotographic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the electrophotographic device and fixing method which save energy more than in the case of setting of a standby temp. by detecting an operating state and controlling a heating temp. in accordance with the result of the detection. CONSTITUTION:A lower fixing roller is heated to a fixable temp. HEATF as far as a print request signal is held outputted from a print control section. The lower fixing roller is heated to a standby tamp. HEATS (i.e., is lowered in temp.) upon lapse of the time regulated by the first prescribed time Ta after the print request signal is no more outputted from the print control section, by which the energy is saved. On the other hand, the lower fixing roller in the state of this standby heat HEATS is heated to an energy saving temp. HEATE (i.e. is lowered in temp.) upon lapse of the time regulated by the total value (Ta+Tb) of the first and second prescribed time Ta, Tb, by which the energy is additionally saved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic apparatus having an image forming means utilizing electrophotography and a fixing method in this electrophotographic apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an electrophotographic apparatus has a transport path for transporting a sheet, an image forming mechanism for forming an image on the sheet transported through the transport path, and a fixing for fixing an image formed on a document. The fixing mechanism includes a pair of heat rollers that are in contact with each other and is configured to fix an image by heat.

[0003]

In such a conventional electrophotographic apparatus, thermal energy is required for the fixing operation, and therefore, the fixing mechanism is always set and maintained in the fixable state. Therefore, a large amount of energy is required, which is against the recent trend of energy saving.
Therefore, in order to achieve energy saving, when the image forming operation does not continue for a predetermined time, the target temperature in the fixing device is lowered to set the standby temperature. By setting the standby temperature in this way, it is true that energy saving is achieved compared to maintaining the fixing state at all times, but further energy saving is required, and improvement in line with this is required. Was requested.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electrophotographic apparatus and an electrophotographic apparatus capable of achieving further energy saving as compared with the case of setting a standby temperature. It is to provide a fixing method.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, an electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a conveying path along which a sheet-like member is conveyed along a predetermined conveying direction, and An image forming unit for forming an image on the surface of the sheet-like member being conveyed through a conveying path, a fixing unit for thermally fixing the image formed on the surface by the image forming unit, and an electronic unit. The photographic apparatus is provided with a state detecting means for detecting an operating state, and a control means for controlling a heating temperature in the fixing means according to a detection result of the state detecting means. When it is determined that the image forming operation is started or continued, the heating temperature in the fixing unit is set to the fixing possible temperature, and the state in which the image forming operation is not continued is the first.
When it is determined that the heating temperature in the fixing unit is set to a standby temperature lower than the fixable temperature, it is determined that the standby state continues for the second predetermined time. In such a case, the heating temperature in the fixing unit is controlled to be set to an energy saving temperature lower than the standby temperature.

The electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention further comprises temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the fixing means, and the fixable temperature has a fixable temperature upper limit value and a fixable temperature lower limit value. However, the standby temperature is
It has a standby temperature upper limit value and a standby temperature lower limit value, and the energy saving temperature has an energy saving temperature upper limit value and an energy saving temperature lower limit value.

Further, in the electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention, the control means detects the temperature in a state in which the fixing possible temperature, the standby temperature or the energy saving temperature is set based on the judgment result of the state detecting means. When it is determined from the detection results of the means that the temperature has risen above the respective upper limit values, the heating operation is stopped, and when it is determined that the temperature has fallen below the respective lower limit values, the heating operation is started. It is characterized by controlling like this.

Further, in the electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention, the fixing means is provided with a pair of heat rollers which are in rolling contact with each other, and at least one of the heat rollers is provided with the heating means. .

Further, in the electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention, the heat rollers are arranged in a vertically separated state, and the heating means is attached so as to heat the outer peripheral surface of the lower heat roller. It is characterized by being.

Further, in the fixing method in the electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention, the image forming means for forming an image on the surface of the sheet-like member conveyed through the conveying path, and the image forming means forms an image on the surface. In an electrophotographic apparatus provided with a fixing unit for thermally fixing the formed image, when the image forming operation of the image forming unit is continued, the heating temperature in the fixing unit is set to a fixable temperature. And a second step of measuring the duration of the stopped state after the image forming operation is stopped, and the time measured in the second step is equal to or more than a first predetermined time. When it is determined that the fixing temperature is higher than the fixing temperature, the third step of setting the heating temperature in the fixing unit to a standby temperature lower than the fixing possible temperature, and the fixing state after the fixing state is started. A fourth step of counting a connection time,
A fifth step of setting the heating temperature in the fixing unit to an energy-saving temperature lower than the standby temperature when it is determined that the time measured in the fourth step has reached the second predetermined time or more It is characterized by having and.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A configuration of an electrophotographic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the case of being applied to a facsimile apparatus.

[Description of Overall Structure] As shown in FIG. 1, the facsimile apparatus 10 of this embodiment automatically reads and reads the image information of a transmission original in which a plurality of sheets are set at one time, one by one. The image information is transmitted to the facsimile device on the receiving side of the other party using the telephone line, and the image information transmitted from the facsimile device on the other party's transmitting side is built in via the electrophotographic method using the laser scanning method. It is configured so that it can be transferred (image formation) to a sheet (in this embodiment, a cut plain sheet).
On the other hand, the facsimile device 10 is configured to have a so-called electronic copying function capable of copying (forming an image) the image information read from the original document on the built-in paper. Further, the facsimile device 10 also has a so-called printer function capable of transferring (image forming) the image information transmitted from, for example, the information processing device to a sheet having a built-in via a connection line other than a telephone line. It is configured.

The facsimile apparatus 10 includes a main plate 1 arranged substantially parallel to a mounting surface thereof.
2, a print mechanism 14 mounted on the upper surface of the main plate 12 and having the above-described image forming function, and rotatably supported at the rear end of the main plate 12 so as to swing with respect to the main plate 12. Possible rocking frame 16, and
An image reading mechanism 18 provided on the upper surface of the swing frame 16 and having the above-described image reading function, and a rear end rotatably supported by an intermediate portion of the swing frame 16,
A control panel 20 that is swingable with respect to the main swing frame 16, lower frames 22a and 22b that are fixed to both left and right sides of the lower surface of the main plate 12 and extend in the front-rear direction, and both lower frames. 22
The print mechanism 14 is disposed in the space sandwiched between a and 22b and is attached to the lower surface of the main plate 12.
A laser scanning unit 24 which has a function of forming a latent image on the outer peripheral surface of a photosensitive drum (described later) and the lower and front ends of the lower surfaces of the lower frames 22a and 22b described above are fixed respectively on a mounting surface (not shown). It roughly comprises four legs 26 to be placed.

[Explanation of Enclosure 28] Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the facsimile apparatus 10 is provided with an enclosure 28 which entirely defines the outer surface thereof. In this one embodiment, this enclosure 2
Reference numeral 8 denotes the periphery of the space sandwiched by the lower frames 22a and 22b (that is, the portion below the main plate 12).
And a lower housing 30 disposed below the main plate 12 and continuously above the lower housing 30 and surrounding the print mechanism 14. The middle housing (printer housing) 32 arranged above the main plate 12 and the middle housing (printer housing) 32 are continuously arranged immediately above the printer housing 32, and swing so as to openably close the upper opening thereof. The upper frame 34 and the upper housing 34 fixed to the moving frame 16 are divided into three parts. The control panel 20 is pivotally supported at the rear edge of the front opening so as to openably close the front opening formed in the front portion of the upper housing 34.

As described above, the enclosure 28 that defines the outer surface of the facsimile apparatus 10 is attached to the lower housing 3.
0, printer housing 32, and upper housing 3
Since the structure is divided into three, the enclosure 28 can be assembled in a state unrelated to the internal structure after all the internal structures are assembled, and the workability of assembling the facsimile device 10 is improved. You will be able to It should be noted that the above-mentioned leg portion 26 has a substantially rectangular bottom surface of the facsimile apparatus 10 as shown in FIG.
It is arranged at a corner and is fixed to the lower surfaces of the lower frames 22a and 22b, respectively, as shown in FIGS. That is, in the facsimile device 10, the enclosure 28
Even when the lower housing 30 is not assembled, the main plate 12 is mounted on a not-shown assembly table via the leg portions 26 fixed to the lower surfaces of the lower frames 22a and 22b attached to the lower part of the main plate 12. It will be placed in a stable state.

Further, these lower frames 22a, 22
With the lower housing 30 attached to b, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the leg portions 26 are inserted through the through holes 30a formed of stupid holes formed in the lower housing 30 in a corresponding state. It is configured to be taken out downward. As a result, the weight of the facsimile apparatus 10 is basically received by the main plate 12 via the lower frames 22a and 22b in a state where the facsimile apparatus 10 is placed on the assembly stand, and the enclosure 28 including the lower housing 30 starts. Will not work at all. Therefore, an unnecessary load (self-weight) does not act on the enclosure 28, the risk of deformation due to receiving this load is eliminated, the thickness is reduced, and the total weight can be reduced. ..

As will be described later in detail, the laser scanning unit 24 is provided with a main plate 1 as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2 in which the lower surface is arranged, it is set so as to be attached to the lower surface of the main plate 12. As shown in FIG. 6, a part of the laser scanning unit 24 (specifically, a laser beam extraction port for image exposure on a photosensitive drum, which will be described later), is projected to the upper surface side of the main plate 12. Is set. Here, if the leg portion 26 is attached to the lower surface of the lower housing 30 and the lower housing 30 receives the load through the leg portion 26, the leather scanning unit 24 can be installed unless the lower housing 30 is assembled in advance. It becomes difficult to assemble, and the work order is greatly restricted,
Workability will be extremely deteriorated. However, in this embodiment, since the legs 26 for receiving the load are fixed to the lower frames 22a and 22b in a state irrelevant to the lower housing 30, the leather scanning unit 24 is attached to the main plate 12. After the lower frames 22a and 22b are assembled, the lower frames 22a and 22b can be assembled to the lower surface of the main plate 12 at any time, so that the degree of freedom in workability increases and the workability can be improved.

On the other hand, in the center of the rear part of the above-mentioned upper housing 34, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a paper feed cassette 36 is inserted and a paper feed cassette mounting opening 34a also serving as a transfer paper take-in port is formed. Further, document intake ports 34b into which transmission documents are captured are formed in front of the attachment ports 34a, respectively. Although not described, the paper feed cassette 36 is configured so that a large number of paper sheets of a predetermined size can be accommodated together in the inside. Further, in the front surface of the printer housing 32, a paper discharge port 32a for discharging the paper on which the image information is transferred is formed on the lower surface in a state of being positioned below, and a reading operation is performed above the paper discharge port 32a. A document discharge port 32b through which the transmitted document after completion is discharged is formed. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the front surface of the lower housing 30 receives the sheet discharged from the sheet discharge port 32a and the discharge for receiving the transmission document discharged from the document discharge port 32b. A paper tray 38 is detachably attached. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, a pair of guide portions 40a and 40b are provided in the above-mentioned document intake port 34b so as to be movable along the width direction of the transmitted document according to the size of the document to be transmitted. The tray 40 is detachably attached.

On the upper surface of the control panel 20 described above, various operation buttons 20a are provided, and a display window 20b provided with a liquid crystal display device for displaying predetermined information to an operator is provided. There is. An upper housing release button 42 is provided on the right side of the front surface of the control panel 20. The upper housing release button 42 is rotatably attached to the swing frame 16, and by rotating the upper frame release button 42 so as to push it up, the main plate 12 of the swing frame 16 is rotated.
The lock of the closed state is released, and as shown in FIG. 7, both the swing frame 16 and the upper housing 34 attached thereto can rotate upward. As a result, the upper opening of the printer housing 32,
In other words, the upper surface of the print mechanism 14 is opened over substantially the entire surface, and it is possible to easily perform the operation of removing the paper jammed during the conveyance, the maintenance of each mechanism portion constituting the print mechanism 14, and the like.

On the other hand, on the immediate left of the upper housing release button 42, a control panel release button 44 is arranged adjacent to it. The control panel release button 44 is rotatably attached to the control panel 20, and by rotating the control panel 20 so as to push it down, the lock of the closed state of the control panel 20 to the swing frame 16 is released. As shown in FIG. 8, the control panel 20 can rotate upward. As a result, the upper housing 34
The front opening of the image reading mechanism 18, that is, the upper surface of the image reading mechanism 18 is opened over substantially the entire surface, and it is possible to easily perform an operation of removing a document jammed in the middle of conveyance, maintenance of each mechanism unit forming the image reading mechanism 18, and the like. It will be possible. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, a front opening 30b communicating with the front internal space in the lower space surrounded by the lower housing 30 is formed on the front surface of the lower housing 30 described above. This front opening 30b is a front blind cover 30.
It is openably closed by c (shown in FIG. 7).
Incidentally, in the front inner space, which will be described later in detail,
An adjustment board 46 for changing and adjusting, for example, a direct current resistance value, an electrostatic capacitance, etc. is accommodated in accordance with the standards of each country in the world. By removing the front blind cover 30c, it is possible to adjust and set the DC resistance value, the electrostatic capacitance, etc. on the adjustment board 46 in accordance with the standard of the country to be shipped.

On the other hand, on the rear surface of the lower housing 30, as shown in FIG. 3, there is formed a rear opening 30d which communicates with the rear inner space in the lower space described above. The rear opening 30d is openably closed by a rear blind cover 30e. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a pair of left and right board guide rails 48, 50 are provided in the rear inner space.
Are arranged on the lower surfaces of the lower frames 22a and 22b so as to extend in the front-rear direction and are attached in parallel to each other. This pair of board guide rails 4
The guide grooves 48a, 48a,
50a is formed.

A main control board 52 which controls the entire control of the facsimile apparatus 10 is supported in a state where both end edges are slidably guided by the guide grooves 48a and 50a. Then, by removing the rear blind cover 30e, the main control board 52 can be taken out of the enclosure 28 through the rear opening 30d. In this way, the main control board 52 can be replaced very easily if necessary. It will be possible.

As shown in the bottom view of FIG. 4, the lower housing 30 is provided with a bottom opening 30f which is slightly larger than the laser scanning unit 24, and the bottom opening 30f is formed. 30f is
It is openably closed by a bottom blind cover (not shown). And by removing this bottom blindfold lid,
The laser scanning unit 24 has a bottom opening 30.
Through f, it can be easily put in and taken out from the above-mentioned lower space. In other words, during assembly of the facsimile apparatus 10, for example, by setting the intermediate assembly in a horizontal state, the laser scanning unit 24 can be easily attached to the main plate 12 even after the lower housing 30 is assembled. It can be assembled to the lower surface, and even when the laser scanning unit 24 is replaced in the event of a failure, it is possible to simply remove the bottom blind cover 30g without removing the lower housing 30. The replacement operation can be performed, and the workability of assembling the laser scanning unit 24 and the workability of the replacement thereof can be improved.

[Description of Document Tray] Next, the configuration of the document tray 40 and the structure for receiving the document tray 40 in the printer housing 32 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. First, the original tray 40
As shown in FIG. 10 in a partially enlarged state, includes a flat plate-shaped document table 54 on which a document is placed, and on the document table 54, the pair of left and right guide portions 40a,
40b is attached so as to be movable along the width direction. Inclined boss portions 56 and 58 for integrally supporting the document tray 40 on the upper housing 34 in a state in which the document tray 40 is inclined at a predetermined angle are integrally formed at the left and right ends of the front portion of the document placing table 54. Here, each inclined boss portion 56, 5
As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the reference numeral 8 has supporting surfaces 56a and 58a inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the extending surface of the document placing table 54 (that is, the document placing surface) in the latter half of the lower surface, When the supporting surfaces 56 a and 58 a are in close contact with the upper surface of the upper housing 34, the original placing table 54 is supported in a state of being inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the upper surface of the upper housing 34.

Further, projecting boss portions 60, 6 projecting downward are provided at the front half portions of the lower surfaces of the inclined boss portions 56, 58.
2 are integrally formed. Each protruding boss 60,
The lower surface of 62 extends substantially parallel to the extending surface (original placing surface) of the original placing table 54, and the supporting surface 56 described above.
a, a protruding surface 60a protruding downward from 58a,
62a are formed respectively. And each protruding boss 6
Locking pins 60b and 62b are integrally attached to the lower ends of 0 and 62 along the width direction, that is, outwardly protruding from the left and right side surfaces of the corresponding protruding boss portions 60 and 62, respectively. ing.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 12, a tray holder 35 for receiving the original tray 40 is integrally attached to the upper surface of the upper housing 34 to which the original tray 40 is attached. On the upper surface of the tray receiving base 35, insertion holes 35a and 35b through which the pair of left and right locking pins 60b and 62b are inserted from above are formed. In addition, in the portion of the tray receiving stand 35 located immediately in front of each insertion hole 35a, 35b, the corresponding insertion hole 35a, 35b.
To the corresponding protruding bosses 60, 62
Fitting holes 35c and 35d into which is fitted are formed.
Here, the respective fitting holes 35c, 35d are set to have a size sufficient to form a predetermined space in front of the front surfaces 60c, 62c of the projecting boss portions 60, 62 fitted therein. Further, on the lower surface of the portion defining the both side edges of the respective fitting holes 35c, 35d, the corresponding locking pins 60b, 6 are provided from below.
A concave portion 35e having a semicircular cross section for rotatably receiving 2b,
35f is formed.

Since the original tray 40 and the tray receiver 35 to which it is attached are constructed in this manner, when attaching the original tray 40 to the tray receiver 35, first, as shown in FIG. Is set in a substantially upright state, and from this state, as shown in FIG.
The protruding bosses 60,
62 is inserted into the corresponding insertion holes 35c and 35d. In this way, the locking pins 60b and 62b are taken out below the lower surface of the upper housing 34.

After this, the supporting surfaces 56a and 58a of the inclined boss portions 56 and 58 and the protruding surfaces 6 of the protruding boss portions 60 and 62, respectively.
0a, 62a intersecting portion, the corresponding insertion hole 35
As shown in FIG. 15, by rotating the document tray 40 as a whole in the counterclockwise direction in the state where it is applied to the upper edges of the rear ends of a and 35b, as shown in FIG. The locking pins 60b and 62b enter the corresponding recesses 35e and 35f from below and are received in a rotatable state, and the respective support surfaces 56a and 58a are in close contact with the upper surface of the upper housing 34. Contact. In this way, the document tray 40 is attached to the upper surface of the tray receiving stand 35.

It should be noted that the original tray 40 is used as the tray tray 3
When removing from 5, the procedure just opposite to the above-mentioned attaching operation may be performed. In this way, the document tray 40 can be attached to and detached from the upper housing 34 very easily, and in the attached state. Can reliably maintain its posture in a stable state. In other words, the original tray 40 is mounted on the upper housing 34 so that the supporting surfaces 56
Since a and 58a are in close contact with the upper surface of the tray pedestal 35, they are rearward (that is, along the counterclockwise direction in the drawing).
Rotation is prohibited and the mounting posture is maintained. On the other hand, the front surfaces 60c and 62c of the protruding boss portions 60 and 62
Each fitting hole 35 so that a predetermined space is formed in front of the
Since the sizes of c and 35d are set, the document tray 40 is allowed to rotate forward (that is, along the clockwise direction in the drawing).

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 16, when the upper housing 34 is lowered and the upper surface of the printer housing 32 is completely closed by the upper housing 34, the document tray 40 attached to the upper housing 34. And the paper feed cassette 3 attached to the print mechanism 14 fixed to the main plate 12.
6 are arranged substantially parallel to each other. As is clear from the above description, the document tray 40 is attached to the upper housing 34, and the paper feed cassette 36 is attached to the print mechanism 14. Therefore, for example, when the print mechanism 14 is being maintained, When the swinging frame 16 is rotated upward to open it, the original tray 40 is also rotated integrally with the opening, but the paper feed cassette 36 remains at that position. It will be a matter. As a result,
In the half-opened state shown in FIG. 7, the rear end of the document tray 40 interferes with the upper surface of the paper feed cassette 36 and abuts against it.

However, in this one embodiment,
As described above, since the original tray 40 is allowed to rotate in the clockwise direction in the drawing from the attached state with respect to the upper housing 34, further opening operation of the upper housing 34 from the state shown in FIG. Accordingly, the rear end of the document tray 40 is swung along the upper surface of the paper feed cassette 36 and is rotated with respect to the upper housing 34 in the clockwise direction in the drawing. In this manner, the document tray 40 is rotated clockwise along with the opening operation of the upper housing 34, so that, for example, the rear end of the document tray 40 is the opening operation of the upper housing 34. Even if it comes into contact with the upper surface of the paper feed cassette 36 on the way, the original tray 40 is not likely to be damaged, and the opening operation of the upper housing 34 is not disturbed.

On the other hand, as described above, the lower housing 3
The adjustment board 46 shown in FIG. 19 is accommodated in the front space in the lower space of 0. A large number of jumper terminals 64a, 64b ... Are erected on the front edge of the adjustment board 46 facing the above-described front opening 30b. As shown in FIG. 20, each of the jumper terminals 64a, 64b, ...
It is composed of a and 65b. Then, the connecting member 66
Are electrically connected to each other by connecting the connection terminals 65a and 65b of the jumper terminals 64a, 64b ... to each other, that is, by short-circuiting the jumper terminals 64a, 64b. The state is defined as the "0" state. On the other hand, any jumper terminal 6
4a, 64b ... In the state where the mutual connection terminals 65a, 65b are not electrically connected, the electrical state of the jumper terminals 64a, 64b ... In the corresponding circuit is "1".
Specified in the state.

On the other hand, in the adjustment board 46, as shown in FIG.
0, predetermined jumper terminals 64a, 64b ...
Are short-circuited in a predetermined combination via the connecting member 66, so that the facsimile device 10 can be adjusted and changed to a standard such as a DC resistance value or an electrostatic capacitance that meets the specifications of countries around the world to be shipped. It will be possible.
That is, in this embodiment, as is apparent from the above description, in order to adjust and change the electrical standard to the specifications of each country, simply remove the front blind cover 30c,
By opening the front opening 30b, the front edge of the adjustment board 46 is made accessible, and the front opening 30b is opened.
By attaching the connecting member 66 to the corresponding jumper terminals 64a, 64b, ... According to the specifications of each country via b, the facsimile apparatus 10 becomes an electrical standard according to the specifications of the country. It is possible to change the adjustment.

As a result, the manufacturer of the facsimile apparatus 10 does not need to set a manufacturing line in consideration of the standards in each country of the world, can set up a uniform manufacturing line, and the manufacturing efficiency is extremely improved. Becomes Therefore, it is no longer necessary to manage electrical standards for each country in the world, and inventory management of electrical parts for each country according to the number of units shipped by country is also unnecessary, and productivity can be improved. Become.

On the other hand, in the country where the facsimile apparatus 10 is supplied, the predetermined jumper terminals 64a, 64b ...
Although it will be short-circuited by 6, the attaching operation of the connecting member 66 can be performed by simply removing the front blind cover 30c. For example, the lower housing 30
It is not necessary to remove the adjustment board 46 or the adjustment board 46 itself from the enclosure 28. In this way, this changing and adjusting operation is performed by simply removing the front blind cover 30c and setting the predetermined jumper terminal 64a,
An extremely simple operation of attaching the connecting member 66 to 64b ... Can be performed, and the effect of improving the work life can be achieved.

[Explanation of Structure of Swing Frame 16] Next,
The structure of the swing frame 16 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, the swing frame 16 includes side plates 68 that are arranged in parallel while standing upright.
a, 68b and laterally extending side plates 68a,
A solid front connecting shaft 70 that connects the front ends of the 68b to each other and a solid front connecting shaft 70 that is disposed substantially parallel to the front connecting shaft 70. A pair of front and rear flat plate-shaped mounts 74a and 74b arranged so as to connect the actual rear connecting shaft 72 and the front portions of the side plates 68a and 68b to each other.
It is roughly composed of and. Here, the swing support shaft 72 is
Although details will be described later, the main plate 12 is rotatably pivotally supported by swing support brackets 76a and 76b that are fixed to the left and right ends of the rear portion of the main plate 12.

On the other hand, locking hooks 78a, 78b are rotatably attached to the left and right ends of the front connecting shaft 70 while being linked to each other so as to integrally rotate about their longitudinal axes. Each locking hook 78a, 78
b is the main plate 1 as the lower end surface goes rearward.
2 is composed of an inclined surface inclined in a direction away from the upper surface, and its rear end has a locking pin 80a, which will be described later.
It is formed so as to project toward the rear by a predetermined amount so that it can be locked to the respective 80b. Also, each locking hook 78
The a and 78b are elastically urged by a torsion coil spring (not shown) so as to be rotationally displaced in the clockwise direction in the figure. It is held elastically.

The respective locking hooks 78a and 78b are tilted by rotating the swing frame 16 downward from the open state while being elastically held at the above-mentioned stop position. The surface engages with the corresponding locking pins 80a, 80b attached to the main plate 12 from above,
According to the inclination, it is forcibly rotated in the counterclockwise direction in the drawing against the biasing force of the torsion coil spring. On the other hand, when the rocking frame 16 is rotated further downward to further deviate the locking hooks 78a, 78b counterclockwise, the locking pins 80a, 80b corresponding to the inclined surfaces are obtained. Will be released at the rear end of each inclined surface, and at the time of this release, the biasing force of the corresponding torsion coil spring reverses the rotational bias in the figure in the opposite direction. ,As a result,
The upper surfaces of the respective locking hooks 78a, 78b enter below the corresponding locking pins 80a, 80b, and in this way the swing frame 16 is locked in the closed position.

On the other hand, the respective locking hooks 78a, 78b are connected to the above-mentioned upper housing release button 42, and by pushing this up, the respective locking hooks 78a and 78b are pushed.
The a and 78b are forcibly rotated counterclockwise in the figure against the urging force of the torsion coil spring, and in this way, the locked state with the corresponding locking pins 80a and 80b is forcibly released. It is designed to work. The locking pins 80a, 80b are attached to mounting brackets 82a, which are fixed to the left and right ends of the front portion of the upper surface of the main plate 12, respectively.
It is firmly attached to and supported by the b 82b so as to be aligned with each other in the lateral direction and substantially parallel to the upper surface of the main plate 12.

As described above, the swing frame 16 has a substantially rectangular shape in a plan view and has a structure in which the rigidity thereof is increased, and the swing frame 16 is mounted in a state of penetrating it along the width direction. The rear connecting shaft 72 is used as a swing support shaft. As a result, the image reading mechanism 16 for reading the image of the transmission document is attached to the pair of front and rear mounts 74a and 74b.
Even if the rocking frame 16 is repeatedly rocked around the axis of the rocking support shaft 72, the rocking frame 16 is not twisted, and the posture in the closed state with respect to the main plate 12 can always be kept constant. Become. In particular,
Although the details will be described later, the lower surfaces of the pair of front and rear mounting bases 74a and 74b to which the image reading mechanism 16 is mounted are set so as to define the upper surface of the sheet conveying path in the print mechanism 14, and swing as described above. Since the distortion of the frame 16 is surely suppressed, the paper transport path can be satisfactorily and accurately defined with a predetermined accuracy.

On the other hand, as the swing frame 16 is opened, the upper housing 34 is driven to open. As is apparent from the above description, when the upper frame 34 is opened, the upper housing 34 itself is opened. It is designed so that no rotational driving force acts. As a result, it is possible to effectively prevent the upper housing 34 from being distorted due to the opening operation of the upper housing 34. Therefore, it is possible to form the upper housing 34 to have a thin wall, and thus to reduce the overall weight. It will be a matter. As shown in the drawing, in the space surrounded by the swing frame 16, which is located behind the pair of front and rear mounts 74a and 74b, the above-described paper feed cassette 36 is provided.
It is set up so that the space where the front end of the can be taken in is regulated.

[Description of Swing Support Structure of Swing Frame 16] Next, the swing support structure of the swing frame 16 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. First, a mode in which both ends of the rear connecting shaft 72 as a swing support shaft are rotatably supported by corresponding swing support brackets 76a and 76b will be described. As shown in FIG. 22, the right end of the swing support shaft 72 is set so as to pass through the corresponding right swing support bracket 76b and terminate at the corresponding right side plate 68b. On the other hand, the left end of the swing support shaft 72 penetrates the corresponding left swing support bracket 76a, and further projects the corresponding left side plate 68a outward, and projects from the outer surface of the left side plate 68a by a predetermined protrusion amount. It is terminated in the state where it did. The left end 72a of the swinging support shaft 72, which will be described in detail later, is provided with a damper 84 for allowing the upper housing 34 to be stopped at an arbitrary open position.
It is installed between and.

On the other hand, at each of the left and right ends of the swing support shaft 72 (the left end is the end except the protruding end 72a),
As shown in FIGS. 22 and 23, the connecting bushes 86a, 8a
6b is fitted in each. Each connecting bush 86a, 8
Reference numeral 6b denotes hollow cylindrical sleeves 86a1 and 86b1 which are directly fitted to the outer periphery of the swing support shaft 72, and each sleeve 86a.
The outer flanges 86a2 and 86b2 are integrally formed on the outer ends of the first and 86b1. The sleeves 86a1 and 86b1 and the swing support shaft 72 are connected to each other by spring pins 88a and 88b attached so as to penetrate the sleeves 86a1 and 86b1 in the radial direction so as to rotate integrally with each other. Then, as shown in FIG. 25, the outer peripheral surfaces of the sleeves 86a1 and 86b1 are attached to the swing support bases 76, respectively.
It is slidably supported by the inner peripheral surfaces of the support holes 90a, 90b formed so as to penetrate through the corresponding upright pieces of a, 76b in the thickness direction.

Further, as shown in FIG. 24, a pair of flat portions 86a3 and 86b3 which are parallel to each other are formed in the portions of the sleeves 86a1 and 86b1 which are located directly outside the corresponding support holes 90a and 90b, respectively. Has been done. On the other hand, the left and right side plates 68a, 68b have a pair of flat portions 8
Sleeves 86a1 and 86b1 having 6a3 and 86b3
Are set so as to be complementarily inserted, and mounting holes 92a and 92b are formed in a state of penetrating along the thickness direction. In this way, the pair of flat portions 86a3,
By fitting the portions of the sleeves 86a1 and 86b1 having 86b3 into the mounting holes 92a and 92b in a complementary manner, the connecting bushes 86a and 86b are rotated integrally with the corresponding left and right side plates 68a and 68b, respectively. Become.

Further, in this embodiment, in order to ensure such integral rotation of both of them, as shown in FIG. 23, the respective outer flanges 86a2, 86b2 of the connecting bushes 86a, 86b are Corresponding left and right side plates 68a, 6
They are fixed to 8b by spot welding, respectively. In this manner, the left and right side plates 68a, 68b are fixed to the left and right ends of the swing support shaft 72, respectively, with the connecting bushes 86a, 86b interposed therebetween, and are integrally rotated in response to the rotation thereof. That is, it becomes possible to swing. Since the left and right side plates 68a and 68b are fixed to the swing support shaft in this manner, the swing frame 16 including the side plates 68a and 68b is not distorted and maintains a stable posture, and the swing support shaft 7 is provided.
It will be driven to swing around the axis of 2. Further, since the distortion deformation of the swing frame 16 is prevented in this manner, the occurrence of so-called squeezing in the pivotally supporting portion that supports the swing frame 16 is effectively suppressed, and as a result, with an extremely light operating force. The swing frame 16 can be driven to swing, and thus the upper housing 34 attached thereto can be driven to open and close. In this way, the operability of the upper housing 34 can be improved.

[Explanation of Mounting Structure of Damper 84] Next, referring to FIGS. 26 and 27, a mounting structure of the damper 84 for stopping the swing frame 16 having the above-described structure at an arbitrary rotational position. explain. The damper 84 protrudes leftward from the leftward protruding end 72a of the swinging support shaft (rear connecting shaft) 72, that is, the leftward swinging support base 76a, and further from the corresponding left side plate 68a to the leftward. It is set so as to be interposed between the protruding end portion 72 a and the main plate 12. For this reason, a mounting stem 94 is fixed to the protruding end portion 72a of the swing support shaft 72 in a state of extending along the radial direction of the swing support shaft 72 so as to rotate integrally therewith. At the tip of this mounting stem 94,
One support pin 94a having an extension axis parallel to the extension axis of the swing support shaft 72 is fixed, and one end of the damper 84 described above is rotatably attached to the one support pin 94a. ing. On the other hand, a mounting bracket 96 is fixed to the upper surface of the main plate 12, and the one mounting pin 9 described above is attached to the mounting bracket 96.
The other support pin 96a having an extension axis parallel to the extension axis of 4a is fixed. This other support pin 96a
The other end of the damper 84 described above is rotatably attached to the.

The damper 84 is of a gas-filled cylinder type, and has a cylinder body 84a at one end and the cylinder body 84a at the other end.
Piston rod 84 that can extend / retract from
b are provided respectively. That is, the one support pin 9 described above
A tip portion of a cylinder body 84a is rotatably supported by 4a, and a tip portion of a piston rod 84a is rotatably supported by the other support pin 96a.
As is well known, the projecting / pulling force of the piston rod 84a from the cylinder body 84a is attenuated by the gas enclosed therein, and the rotation stop position can be elastically held. There is.

Since the damper 84 is attached in this manner, when damping the turning force of the swing frame 16,
Directly, it is configured to damp the turning force of the swing support shaft 72 that constitutes the swing frame 16. Therefore,
The reaction force generated when the turning force of the swing frame 16 is attenuated does not act on the swing frame 16 as a whole, but
It directly and partially acts on the swing support shaft 72. In other words, if one end of the damper 84 is connected to the upper housing 34 attached to the swing frame 16, the reaction force generated when damping the turning force of the swing frame 16 is the upper housing 34. This acts on the housing 34, which may cause twisting deformation in the upper housing 34. In order to prevent this twisting deformation, the upper housing 34
In order to increase the rigidity of the, it is necessary to take measures such as increasing the wall thickness. For this reason, the weight of the entire apparatus is increased and the manufacturing cost is increased, which is not preferable.

However, in this one embodiment,
As is clear from the above description, the reaction force generated in the damper 84 when the turning force of the swing frame 16 is damped acts on the swing support shaft 72, in other words, is received by the swing support shaft 72. It will be a thing. Here, the torsional rigidity of the swing support shaft 72 is set to be extremely high. In this way, the reaction force generated in the damper 84 is generated by the swing support shaft 72.
Therefore, the swing support shaft 72 will not be twisted and deformed. In this way, even if the damper 84 is provided in order to elastically hold the rotating position of the swing frame 16, this allows the swing frame 16 to be held.
The situation that causes twisting deformation in the
A good rotation stop state will be achieved.

[Explanation of Opening / Closing Structure of Control Panel 20] Next, with reference to FIGS. 28 and 29, an opening / closing structure for driving the control panel 20 to open / close with respect to the swing frame 16 will be described in detail. First, as shown in FIG. 28, a swing support shaft 100 for the control panel 20 is attached to the rear end of the control panel 20 in a state of extending along the width direction. Through the shaft 100, the swing frame 16 is swingably supported between a closed position that closes the front opening of the swing frame 16 and an open position that opens the front opening. On the other hand, the lock shaft 102 is attached to the front end portion of the control panel 20 so as to be rotatable around its own central axis in a state of extending along the width direction. At the left and right ends of the lock shaft 102, locking hooks 104a for the control panel 20,
104b (for the sake of illustration, the right locking hook 104b
Is not shown. ) Is attached integrally.

Like the locking hooks 78a and 78b for the swing frame 16 described above, the locking hooks 104a and 104b are slanted in such a direction that the lower end surface thereof moves away from the upper surface of the main plate 12 toward the rear. It is formed of an inclined surface, and its rear end is formed so as to protrude backward by a predetermined amount so that it can be locked to the front connecting shaft 70 at the same time. Also, each locking hook 1
04a and 104b are elastically biased by a torsion coil spring (not shown) so as to be rotationally displaced in the clockwise direction in the drawing, and are brought to their stop positions by contacting stoppers (not shown). It is held elastically.

Each locking hook 104a (104b)
In the state where the control panel 20 is rotated downward from the open state while being elastically held in the open position described above, each inclined surface has the front connecting shaft 70.
Is engaged from above, and according to its inclination, it is forcibly rotated in the counterclockwise direction in the figure against the biasing force of the torsion coil spring. On the other hand, when the control panel 20 is rotated further downward and the locking hooks 104a (104b) are further rotated counterclockwise, the inclined surfaces are engaged with the front connecting shaft 70. Will be released at the rear end of each inclined surface, and at the time of this release, the biasing force of the corresponding torsion coil spring will cause it to be rotationally biased in the clockwise direction in the figure contrary to the previous one, and as a result, Each locking hook 104a (104
The upper surface of b) enters below the front connecting shaft 70,
In this way, the control panel 20 is locked in the closed position.

On the other hand, each locking hook 104a (104b)
Is connected to the control panel release button 44 described above, and by pushing it up, each locking hook 104a (104b) is forcibly rotated counterclockwise in the figure against the biasing force of the torsion coil spring. The lock state of the front connecting shaft 70 is forcibly released in this manner. When the locked state is released in this manner, the control panel 20 is pivotally displaced from the closed position to the open position by the urging force of a spring (not shown) wound around the swing support shaft 100, and the open position is set. Will be held elastically.

Thus, in this one embodiment,
In order to lock the control panel 20 in the closed position with respect to the swing frame 16, a locking hook 104a (104
The rocking frame 16 is configured as an object to be locked by b), and the rocking frame 16 is used as the main plate 1.
Locking hook 78 for locking in the closed position with respect to 2
It is configured to use the front connecting shaft 70 to which a and 78b are attached. In this way, in this embodiment, since it is not necessary to use a member for locking the locking hook 104a (104b), the number of parts can be reduced and the cost can be reduced. Can be done.

[Description of Interlock Mechanism 106] Next, referring to FIGS. 28 to 30, at the same time when the swing frame 16 is in the closed position with respect to the main plate 12,
Interlock mechanism 10 for detecting that the control panel 20 is in the closed position with respect to the swing frame 16.
The configuration and operation of No. 6 will be described in detail.

First, as shown in FIG. 28, the push-on type detection switch 108 for the above-described detection operation is attached to the lower frame 22b on the right side and is attached to the stay 110.
Is attached through. That is, the detection switch 108 includes an operating piece that is turned on by being pushed in, and unless an external force acts on the operating piece, the detecting switch 108 projects outward due to the biasing force of the built-in spring.
Energized to turn off. On the other hand, a final stage actuator 112 is pivotally supported on the mounting stay 110 so as to be rotatable about a support shaft 114 in a state in which the operation piece of the detection switch 108 can be pushed. The final stage actuator 112 is biased by a torsion spring 116 wound around the support shaft 114 so as to be rotationally displaced in the clockwise direction in the drawing.

In the state shown in the drawing, that is, the control panel 20 is in the closed position, the upper front opening of the upper housing 34 attached to the swing frame 16 is closed, and the swing frame 16 is also closed. The detection switch 108 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction in the figure against the biasing force of the torsion spring 116 in the position where the upper opening of the printer housing 32 is closed. It is pushed by the final stage actuator 112 and is in the on-operation.

An intermediate stage actuator assembly 118 is arranged on the main plate 12 located immediately above the final stage actuator 112. The intermediate stage actuator assembly 118 includes a mounting plate 120 fixed on the main plate 12, a slide member 122 slidably supported by the mounting plate 120 in the vertical direction, and the slide member 12.
2, a push-in shaft 124 penetrating in one side in the vertical direction and slidably attached in the vertical direction; It has and.

Here, the lower end of the pushing shaft 124 is passed through a through hole (not shown) formed in the main plate 12 so as to penetrate in the thickness direction of the main plate 1.
2 and is arranged at a position where the final stage actuator 112 described above can be pushed in from above. Further, the above-described spring 124 is configured to have a larger urging force than the total urging force of the torsion spring 116 and the urging force of the spring built in the detection switch 108. As a result, when the push-in shaft 124 is pushed down as the slide member 122 descends, the final stage actuator 112 resists the biasing force of its own torsion spring 114 and the biasing force of the spring built in the detection switch 108 in the figure. The operation piece of the detection switch 108 is pushed inward and turned on so that the operation piece of the detection switch 108 is pivotally displaced along the counterclockwise direction.

As will be described in detail later, the slide member 122 of the intermediate stage actuator assembly 118 is arranged at a position where it can be pushed downward by the first stage actuator assembly 128 attached to the swing frame 16. ing. The first-stage actuator assembly 128 has the swing frame 16 with the control panel 20 in the closed position.
When the upper housing 34 attached to the is rotated from the open position to the closed position, or when the control panel 20 is rotated from the open position to the closed position with the upper housing 34 in the closed position,
It is set so that it can be engaged with the above-mentioned slide member 122 from above and pushed down.

As a result, if a foreign substance enters between the slide member 122 and the first stage actuator assembly 128, the slide member 122 normally moves by the amount of the foreign substance interposed as the upper housing 34 rotates to the closed position. It will be pushed down with a longer stroke. However, in this embodiment, as described above, the push-in shaft 124 is vertically movably attached to the slide member 122 while being biased downward by the spring 126. After the final stage actuator 112 is driven by pushing the final stage actuator 112 by a predetermined amount in response to pushing the member 122 downward, even when the slide member 122 is pushed further downward, the spring 126 contracts and the pushing shaft 124 with respect to the slide member 122. The relative movement in the upward direction is allowed and the abnormal pushing amount of the slide member 122 is absorbed. In this way
In this embodiment, even if a foreign matter enters between the slide member 122 and the first stage actuator assembly 128, the final stage actuator 112 is pivotally displaced by an amount larger than a predetermined amount to detect the detection switch 108.
It is possible to surely prevent the damage to and improve the reliability.

On the other hand, the above-mentioned first-stage actuator assembly 128 is the right side plate 68b constituting the swing frame 16, and is located directly above the above-mentioned slide member 122 in the state where the swing frame 16 is in the closed position. The slide support member 130 and the pushing member 132 slidably attached to the slide support member 130 along the vertical direction are configured. The push-in member 132 projects downward from the lower edge of the side plate 68b, and the lower end of the slide member 122 is engaged with the upper end of the slide member 122 from above, and the upper end of the lower end of the side plate 68b. Is formed with an upper end that is engageable from above.

Since the first-stage actuator assembly 128 is constructed in this manner, as shown in FIG. 28, the control panel 20 is in the closed position with respect to the upper housing 34, and the upper housing 34 is attached to the printer housing 32. On the other hand, in the closed position (completely closed state), the slide support member 132 of the first-stage actuator assembly 128 is pushed into the control panel 20 from above and pushed down. The slide member 12 of the intermediate stage actuator assembly 118 is engaged with the slide support member 132 from above in response to the downward pushing.
2 is pushed down, and in response to the pushing down of the slide member 122, the final stage actuator 112, which engages from above, causes the resultant force of the biasing force of the torsion spring 116 and the biasing force of the spring built in the detection switch 108. Against this, the rotation is displaced in the counterclockwise direction in the figure.

As a result, this final stage actuator 11
When pushed by 2, the operating piece of the detection switch 108 is pushed in and driven. In this way, the detection switch 1
08 is turned on to inform a control system (not shown) that the control panel 20 is in the closed position with respect to the upper housing 34 and that the upper housing 34 is in the closed position with respect to the printer housing 32. You will be able to do it.

On the other hand, when the control panel release button 44 is pushed up from the completely closed state shown in FIG. 28,
Along with this, the locking hook 1 for the control panel 20
The locked state of the front connecting shaft 70 at 04a (104b) is released, and as a result, the control panel 20 is rotated from the closed position to the open position as shown in FIG. With such opening operation of the control panel 20, as shown in the figure, the control panel 20 for pressing the pushing member 132 of the first-stage actuator assembly 128 from above no longer exists.
The urging force of the torsion spring 116 that causes the final stage actuator 112 to be rotationally displaced in the clockwise direction in the drawing is
When it is received through the intermediate stage actuator assembly 118, it is slid upward.

As a result, in the detection switch 108, the operating piece of the detection switch 108 is allowed to project outward by the biasing force of the built-in spring. In this way, the detection switch 108 is turned off, At least the control system (not shown) can be informed that the control panel 20 is in the open position with respect to the upper housing 34.

When the upper housing release button 42 is pushed up from the completely closed state shown in FIG. 28,
Accordingly, the locking hook 7 for the upper housing 34
Corresponding locking pins 80a, 80b on 8a, 78b
As a result, the locked state of the
As shown in, the upper housing 34 is rotated from the closed position to the open position. With such opening operation of the upper housing 34, as shown in the drawing, the pushing member 132 of the first stage actuator assembly 128 is inserted.
Is separated upward from the slide member 122 in the intermediate stage actuator assembly 118. In other words, since the pushing member 132 that holds the slide member 122 from above is no longer present,
This slide member 122 is the final stage actuator 112.
By directly receiving the urging force of the torsion spring 116 for rotating and displacing in the clockwise direction in FIG.

As a result, in the detection switch 108, the operating piece of the detection switch 108 is allowed to project outward due to the biasing force of the built-in spring. In this way, the detection switch 108 is turned off, At least the control system (not shown) can be informed that the upper housing 34 is at the open position with respect to the printer housing 32.

As described above, since the interlock mechanism 106 in this embodiment is constructed, the detection switch 10 is achieved by achieving the completely closed state shown in FIG.
For the first time, the operating state of the facsimile apparatus 10 is regulated when the switch 8 is in the on-operation, and the print unit 14 and the image reading mechanism 1 provided therein are provided.
8 will be put in a drive state. On the other hand, when the control panel 20 is opened from such a completely closed state,
The image reading mechanism 18 is exposed, and when the upper housing 34 is opened, the print unit 14 is exposed. In this embodiment,
In any of these cases, the detection switch 108 of the interlock mechanism 106 is immediately turned off in these exposed states, so that the respective drive systems and the laser scanning unit 24 are immediately turned off to ensure the operator's safety. It will be possible to secure it and to ensure the maintenance of the internal mechanism.

[Description of Layout of Drive Motor] Next,
The layout of the drive motor for driving the facsimile apparatus 10 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 31 and 32. First, FIG. 31 shows the upper surface structure of the facsimile apparatus 10 with the upper housing 34 and the control panel 20 removed, and as shown in FIG. 31 and FIG. A document feed motor 140 as a first drive motor is attached to the outer surface of the left side plate 68a for feeding a document in the image reading mechanism 18 arranged on the main plate 12. A pickup motor 142 as a second drive motor is attached to the left rear portion of the main plate 12 for picking up the sheets one by one from the sheet feed cassette 36 in the print mechanism 14 arranged in Mechanism 1
In order to execute the image forming operation in No. 4, a printer motor 144 as a third drive motor is attached to the right side substantially central portion of the main plate 12. That is, in the facsimile apparatus 10 of this embodiment, a total of 3
The drive motors 140, 142, 144 of the table are arranged so as to drive the image reading mechanism 18, the paper pickup system of the printing mechanism 14, and the image forming system of the printing mechanism 14 independently of each other. Has been done.

As described above, in this embodiment, the image reading mechanism 18 can feed the document independently of the print mechanism 14 and independently of the print mechanism 14, and the print mechanism can be operated. In 18, the sheet pickup and the image forming operation can be executed independently of each other, and the operation timings of the two can be freely set. In other words, in this embodiment, three drive motors 140, 14 are used.
With the provision of Nos. 2 and 144, the respective activation timings can be freely set, and the effect of improving the degree of freedom in design can be obtained. The driving force transmission system in each of the drive motors 140, 142, 144 will be described in detail later in the description of the configuration of each unit.

[Explanation of Arrangement Structure of Circuit Board and Electric Wiring Structure] Next, referring to FIGS. 1 and 32 described above, the arrangement structure of the circuit board and the electric wiring structure of this embodiment will be described. The structure will be described. As shown in FIG. 32,
Above the rear part of the main plate 12 and in the space surrounded by the printer housing 32 described above, the relay board 146 is attached in a horizontally extended state. As shown in FIG. 1, the relay board 146 includes image information read from an original by the image reading mechanism 18 and various detection information, and image information for forming an image on a sheet by the printing mechanism 14 and various types of detection information. It is arranged so that the detection information can be temporarily collected here and can be transmitted to the main control board 52 that controls the entire control of the facsimile apparatus 10 through only one flat cable 147.

As described above, if various kinds of signals are input / output to / from the main control board 52 and they are directly connected to the main control board 52 via the corresponding signal lines,
With a very large number of signal lines bypassing the main plate 12, the signal lines are routed to the main control board 52 arranged below the main plate 12. However, in this embodiment, the signal lines corresponding to the information generated from the parts arranged above the main plate 12 and the information that should be output to these parts are
Relay board 146 arranged above the main plate 12
All are once collected and are electrically organized here, for example, converted into a serial signal. In this way, the number of signal lines provided is reduced as much as possible, and then the main plate 12 is connected to the main control board 52 with the main plate 12 bypassed via the flat cable. In this way, even in the facsimile machine 10 that requires input / output of various kinds of signals, it is possible to route the electric wiring in an extremely neat state, and with this, electrical failure is prevented. Maintenance can be easily performed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, the substrate 1 for the low voltage power source is provided between the main plate 12 and the relay substrate 146.
48 are arranged in a state of horizontally extending and are mounted on the main plate 12. Here, the space in which the low-voltage power supply substrate 148 is disposed will be described in detail later, but ozone generated during charging / transferring in the printing mechanism 14 is outside the enclosure 28, and in the rear portion (specifically, in FIG. 3). As shown, it is set to form a part of an exhaust passage of an exhaust device 150 (described later) for forcibly exhausting from an exhaust port 32c) formed on the rear surface of the printer housing 30. By disposing the low-voltage power supply substrate 148, which has a high degree of heat generation during operation, in the ozone exhaust passage sandwiched between the main plate 12 and the relay substrate 146, the heat exhaust device for the low-voltage power supply substrate 148 is disposed. It is no longer necessary to provide a dedicated. In other words, in this embodiment, the exhaust device 150 has two functions of exhausting ozone and cooling the substrate 148 for low-voltage power supply.
The arrangement space in the enclosure 28 can be effectively used, and thus the overall structure can be made compact. The substrate 152 for the high voltage power source is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the print mechanism 14 is mounted on the main plate 12 in the upright state on the left side.

[Explanation of Image Reading Mechanism 18] Below,
The above-mentioned FIGS. 1, 31 and 32, and FIGS. 33 to 53.
The configuration and operation of the image reading mechanism 18 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

(Description of Overall Structure of Image Reading Mechanism 18) First, the image reading mechanism 18 will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, a document placed on the document tray 40 (at least one document) is the above-described document discharge port 32b.
A document transport path 154 for transporting up to is provided. Further, the image reading mechanism 18 separates the originals placed on the original tray 40 into the originals by the original separation unit 156 and the original take-out roller 158, and takes out the separated single originals. As the roller 158 rotates, it is taken out forward and conveyed between the image reader 160 and the white roller 162.
0, the image of the original document to be transmitted (or copied) is read, and the original document is passed through the original document conveyance path 154 and further forwardly conveyed by a pair of original document ejection rollers 164a and 164b, and the above-mentioned original document ejection path is set. It is generally configured to discharge to the outside of the enclosure 28 via the outlet 32b.

The image reading mechanism 18 has a document feeding path 154 extending from the document tray 40 to the document discharge port 32b.
With a total of 3 sheets in sequence along the document transport direction.
The document detection switches 166, 168 and 170 are provided. Below, the respective document detection switches 166, 168, 1
70 will be sequentially described. First, the first original detection switch 1
As shown in FIG. 31, 66 is disposed immediately upstream of the document take-out roller 158 in the document feed path 154 with respect to the document feed direction, and whether or not the document exists (or remains) on the document tray 40. It is provided to detect that. Specifically, this first document detection switch 166
Is turned off in a state in which the operating piece is interposed in the document conveying path 154, in a state in which no external force acts on it, that is, in a state in which the document is not engaged. On the other hand, in the first original detection switch 166, the original placed on the original tray 40 is conveyed by its own weight toward the original take-out roller 158 along the original conveyance path 154 according to the inclination of the original, and the operation thereof is started. It is configured so that it is turned on by engaging with one piece and pushing it in. The first original detection switch 166 is connected to the above-described main control board 52, and the main control board 52 has no original on the original tray 40 when the first original detection switch 166 is off. Instead, it is configured to judge that at least one document is present on the document tray 40 when this is turned on.

On the other hand, the second original detection switch 168 is
It is arranged in a portion of the document transport path 154 located between the document take-out roller 158 and the image reader 160, and detects that the document is taken out toward the image reader 160 as the document take-out roller 158 rotates. The leading edge of the taken out document is the image reader 1
It is provided to define the timing to reach 60. Specifically, the second document detection switch 168 is
With the operating piece interposed in the document conveying path 154, it is turned off in a state where no external force acts on it, that is, in a state where the document is not engaged. On the other hand, the second document detection switch 168 is configured to be turned on when the document conveyed with the rotation of the document take-out roller 158 is engaged with the operation piece of the document and is pushed and driven. Has been done. The second document detection switch 168 is connected to the main control board 52 described above, and the main control board 52 operates for a predetermined period of time after the second document detection switch 168 is turned on. Between the image disposing position and the image reader 160 and the document take-out roller 15
After the time required for the leading edge of the document to reach the image reader 160, which is defined by the document transport speed due to the rotation of 8, the image reader 160 is activated, and the image reading operation by this is started.

Further, the third original detection switch 170 is
A pair of upper and lower document discharge rollers 1 in the document transport path 154
64a and 164b are provided on the upstream side in the document transport direction, and are provided to detect that the document whose image reading operation has been completed by the image reader 160 is discharged in the document transport path 154 without being jammed. ing. More specifically, the third document detection switch 170 is turned off in a state where its operating piece is interposed in the document transport path 154, in a state where no external force acts on it, that is, in a state where the document is not engaged. There is. On the other hand, the third document detection switch 170
Is turned on by the leading edge of the original that has been further conveyed through the original conveying path 154 after the image reading operation, and turned off by the rear end of the original passing therethrough. The third original detection switch 170 is connected to the main control board 52 described above, and the third original detection switch 170 is connected to the main control board 52 after the second original detection switch 168 is turned on. The time until it is turned off is measured, and the required reference time defined by the distance between the two and the document conveying speed due to the rotation of the document take-out roller 158 is compared with this measured time, and the measured time is longer than the required reference time. If it is determined that the document is the document transport path 1
It is configured to judge that a jam has occurred in 54.

(Description of drive system of image reading mechanism 18)
On the other hand, the drive system of the image reading mechanism 18 is, as shown in FIGS.
Drive gear 172a coaxially fixed to the motor shaft, a first driven gear 172b coaxially fixed to the white roller 162, a second driven gear 172c coaxially fixed to the document take-out roller 158, and A first intermediate gear 172d, which is interposed between the gear 172a and the first driven gear 172b so as to mesh with them, and a first driven gear 1
It is provided with second and third intermediate gears 172e and 172f that sequentially transmit the turning force of 72b to the second driven gear 172c. On the other hand, a drive pulley 172g is fixed to the first driven gear 172b coaxially with the first driven gear 172b, and a driven pulley 172h coaxially fixed to the document discharge roller 164b located below the pair of upper and lower document discharge rollers 164a and 164b is fixed. The endless belt 172i is wound around the pulleys 172g and 172h.

In this way, the first and second driven gears 172b and 172b, 17 are driven by the rotation of the document feeding motor 140.
2c is driven to rotate, and accordingly, the white roller 16
2 and the document take-out roller 158 are driven to rotate at a predetermined reduction ratio. On the other hand, with the rotation of the first driven gear 172b, the driven pulley 172h is driven to rotate via the endless belt 172i. This driven pulley 17
With the rotation of 2h, the lower original discharge roller 164b is rotationally driven at a predetermined speed reduction ratio. That is, in this embodiment, the rollers 160 and 164b for conveying the originals are rotationally driven in synchronization with each other by the single original feed motor 140.

Now, with reference to FIGS. 31 and 34, a description will be given of how the image reading mechanism 18 is attached to the control panel 20 according to each constituent element. That is, among the above-described constituent elements, the image reader 160, the upper guide member 154a that defines the upper side surface of the document transport path 154, and the upper document discharge roller 164a of the pair of document discharge rollers 164a and 164b are: Control panel 20
Is attached to. As a result, as shown in FIG.
As the control panel 20 is driven to open from the printer housing 32, as shown in FIG. 34, the image reader 160, the upper guide member 154a, and the upper document discharge roller 164a are associated with the corresponding white roller 162 and lower guide. The document conveying path 15 is separated upward from the member 154b and the lower document discharge roller 164b.
4 will be opened wide. In other words, even when a document is jammed during the transportation of the document, by driving the control panel 20 to open from the closed position to the open position, the document transportation path 154 is greatly opened and the jammed document is scanned. Can be removed reliably and easily.

Next, each constituent element of the image reading mechanism 18 will be sequentially described in detail. (Description of Document Separation Section) First, as described above, the document on the document tray 40 (hereinafter, referred to as reference numeral G) has the upper surface of the upper housing 34 and the rear end of the control panel 20, as shown in FIG. The original feeding path 154 is set to face the original taking-in port 34b defined by the gap between the document feeding path 154 and the document taking-in port 34b.
It is designed to be taken in by its own weight by utilizing the inclination inside. The originals thus taken into the original conveying path 154 are separated into sheets one by one by the collaborative work of the original separating unit 156 and the original take-out roller 158.
The document feeding path 154 in the vicinity of the document separating portion has a lower document guide 174 and the lower document guide 174, as shown in the figure.
Is defined by a gap between the upper document guide 176 and the upper document guide 176 attached to the upper face of the document with a predetermined gap.
Here, the above-mentioned document take-out roller 158 is integrally formed of a shaft portion 158a and a friction roller portion 158b which is coaxially fixed to the outer periphery of the shaft portion 158a and has an outer peripheral surface having a high friction coefficient. There is. 50, the white roller 162 is also integrally formed of a shaft portion 162a and a roller portion 162b coaxially fixed to the outer circumference of the shaft portion 162a and having a white outer peripheral surface. ing.

<Description of Upper Manuscript Guide 176> The upper manuscript guide 176 described above has a manuscript take-out roller 158 substantially in the center thereof as shown in an enlarged state in FIG.
Insertion hole 176a into which the lower part of the roller portion 158b is inserted
Are formed. The upper original guide 176 is
As shown in FIG. 32, the lower document guide 174 is detachably attached from above through a plurality of snap fixing pins 175. In other words, the upper original guide 176 will rotate the control panel 20 to the open position to widen the original conveying path 154, which will be described in detail in the description of the attaching / detaching operation of the original taking roller 158 and the original separating unit 156. With the snap-fastening pin 17 opened by the operator, the snap-fastening pin 17
By removing 5 from the lower document guide 174 upward, the document take-out roller 158 and the document separating unit 156 can be disassembled from the image reading mechanism 18 by a simple operation.

More specifically, the upper original guide 176 is
The guide main body portion 17 in which the above-described insertion hole 176a is formed
6b and the rear of the guide body 176b (left side in the figure)
The bent portion 176c integrally connected in the bent state
It consists of and. The bending angle of the bending portion 176c with respect to the guide main body portion 176b is set to 25 degrees clockwise as shown in FIG.
The value of 25 degrees is used for the document take-out roller 158.
When the reference axis line (that is, the axis line parallel to the mounting surface on which the facsimile device 10 is mounted) X passing through the rotation center axis line of the guide main body portion 176b is used as the reference
On the other hand, as a result of tilting clockwise by 15 degrees in the figure and bending portion 176c also tilting by 40 degrees, (4
0-15) = 25 degrees.

Note that this numerical value is an example, and the point is that the guide main body portion 176b of the upper document guide 176 surrounds the periphery of the document take-out roller 158 and moves upward with a predetermined gap from the lower document guide 174. Located and
The rear end of the upper document guide 176, that is, the bent portion 176
The rear end of c does not substantially interfere with the document intake port 34b, and the document G that has passed through the document intake port 34b is
The numerical value is not limited to the above-mentioned numerical value and can be appropriately selected as long as it is a numerical value suitable for guiding between the lower document guide 174 and the guide main body portion 176b of the upper document guide 176. Needless to say.

<Description of Lower Manuscript Guide 174> On the other hand, the lower manuscript guide 174 described above is formed in front of the tray receiving base 35 of the upper housing 34, as shown in FIG. 37 and FIG. It is stored in the recess 34c. In detail, the lower document guide 174 has a guide body 1 whose upper surface defines the lower surface of the document transport path 154.
74a, a first recess 174b that is formed in a substantially central portion of the upper surface of the guide body 174a, and in which the above-described separation unit 156 is detachably accommodated, and the guide body 174.
The left and right sides of a are integrally risen to define the left and right ends of the document feeding path 154, respectively, and both ends of the above-mentioned document take-out roller 158 and the white roller 162 are rotatably and detachably attached. It is composed of support plates 174c and 174d for supporting.

As shown in FIG. 37, the white roller 162 is provided at the front portion of the guide body 174a.
Is formed with a second recess 174e into which the roller portion 162b is loosely fitted. Further, the front wall portion 174 defining the front end surface of the first recess 174b formed in the guide body 174a.
The locking groove 174 into which the locking boss portions, which will be described later, respectively formed before and after the document separating unit 156 described above are fitted respectively into b1 and the rear wall portion 174b2 that defines the rear end surface.
f and 174 g are formed respectively. Here, as shown in FIG. 36, the lower document guide 174 is accommodated / fixed in the recess 34c formed in the upper housing 34, and the document receiving side portion thereof (that is, the document take-out roller). The upper surface of the left side portion of the drawing from the disposition position of 158) is set to be substantially flush with the upper surface (original placement surface) of the original tray 40 mounted on the tray receiver 35. And is set so as to be inclined by 28 degrees clockwise in the drawing with respect to the above-mentioned reference axis X, while the document feeding side portion (that is, the document take-out roller 1
The upper surface of the portion 58 on the right side of the drawing) is set substantially parallel to the reference axis X described above.

By setting the upper surface of the document receiving side portion of the lower document guide 174 at such an inclination angle, the reference axis X of the bent portion 176c of the upper document guide 176 described above is set.
From the relative relationship with the inclination angle (40 degrees in this embodiment) with respect to, the document receiving side portion of the document transport path 154 has a so-called wedge shape with a virtual tip angle of 12 degrees.
The height of the original is regulated so that the height of the original is gradually reduced. As a result, the originals G placed on the original tray 40 are reliably conveyed toward the rolling contact portion (that is, the separating portion) between the original separation unit 156 and the original take-out roller 158 regardless of the number of the originals placed. Will be done.

These support plates 174c and 174d are shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 8 in the state of being taken out, each of them is located on the upstream side with respect to the document transport direction with the upper end face opened.
A first concave portion 18 for rotatably and detachably receiving a shaft portion 158a of the document take-out roller 158 via a first bearing bush 178 (described later).
0 is also located on the downstream side with respect to the document transport direction,
A second recess 184 for rotatably and detachably receiving the shaft portion 162a of the white roller 162 via a second bearing bush 182 (described later).
Are formed respectively.

In detail, each recess 180, 184 is formed in a continuous state below the tapered hole portions 180a, 184a for receiving the corresponding bearing bushes 178, 182, and these tapered hole portions 180a, 184a, respectively. , A narrowed hole portion 180 having an opening width set to be narrower than the diameter of the corresponding bearing bush 180, 184.
b, 184b and the corresponding bearing bushes 180, 184 for substantially receiving the corresponding bearing bushes 178, 182, which are formed continuously under the narrowed holes 180b, 184b, respectively, and have substantially the same diameter. Each of the receiving holes 180c and 184c having a diameter of

By forming the recesses 180 and 184 in this way, the corresponding document take-out roller 158 and the white roller 162 are fitted to the bearing bushes 178 and 182.
When receiving through the bearing bush 1
78 and 182 are temporarily received by the receiving holes 180c and 184c after passing through the narrowed holes 180b and 184b. As a result, the document take-out roller 158 and the white roller 162 are received by the corresponding receiving holes 180c and 184c.
It is held in a stable state in a state where the escape from 184c is prohibited. Furthermore, these support plates 174
c and 174d, the first and second bearing bushes 178, 178,
The first and second locking holes 186 into which the protrusions 178d and 182d (described later) respectively formed in 182 are fitted respectively.
188 is formed.

On the other hand, although the above-mentioned first and second bearing bushes 178 and 182 are both formed in the same manner, as shown in FIG. 39, the corresponding shaft portions 158a and 158a,
Bearing main body 178 for rotatably supporting 162a respectively
a, 182a and these bearing body portions 178a, 182a
Corresponding to the receiving hole portions 180c, 184
The fitting groove portions 178b and 182b that are respectively fitted to the c and the extending pieces 178c that are integrally connected to the outer sides of the corresponding bearing body portions 178a and 182a and that extend toward one side orthogonal to the axial direction, 182c and these extension pieces 178,
The inner surface of 182c is provided with projections 178d and 182d formed so as to slightly project inward. Here, as shown in FIG. 51, which will be described later, flat portions 178e1; 178e2, 182e1 set parallel to each other are provided on the outer circumferences of the fitting groove portions 178b, 182b.
182d2 is formed. Incidentally, these flat portions 178
The distance between e1; 178e2, 182e1 and 182e2 is set to be slightly smaller than the opening width of the corresponding narrowed hole portions 180b and 184b. By configuring the bearing bushes 178 and 182 in this manner, the bearing bushes 178 and 182 are once received in the corresponding receiving hole portions 180c and 184c, and then the bearing bushes 178 and 182 are approximately 90 degrees in the corresponding receiving hole portions 180c and 184c. The width of the fitting groove portions 178b and 182b located immediately below the narrowed hole portions 180b and 184b is reduced by rotating the narrowed hole portions 180b and 184b by 180 degrees.
The protrusions 178d and 182d formed on the tips of the extending pieces 178c and 182c, which are wider than the opening widths of b and 184b and are rotated by approximately 90 degrees, correspond to the corresponding locking holes 186 and 188, as described above. Will be inserted in each. As a result, the bearing bushes 178, 182 are prohibited from coming out upward from the corresponding recesses 180, 184 unless the fitting state between the locking holes 186, 188 and the corresponding protrusions 178d, 182d is released. Become.

By forming the support plates 174c and 174d in this manner, the document take-out roller 158 and the white roller 162 are both rotatably supported in a stable state, and the locking holes 186 and 186 are provided. By releasing the fitting state of the protrusions 178d and 182d corresponding to 188, it is possible to easily remove the protrusions 178d and 182d from the lower document guide 174.

<Description of Document Separation Unit 156> Next,
The configuration of the above-described document separating unit 156 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 36, 40 and 41. As shown in FIG. 36, the document separating unit 156 includes a unit main body 190 housed in a first recess 174b formed in the lower document guide 174, and a unit main body 190.
It is roughly configured by a leaf spring 194 and a friction member 196 fixed to the upper surface of the same with screws 192 together. Here, an elastic stopper piece 190a is integrally joined to the front surface of the unit main body 190 in a standing state, and the lower document guide 174 is formed on the front end surface of the elastic stopper piece 190a. The front locking boss 190b fitted and locked in the front locking groove 174f is integrally formed in a state of protruding forward. On the other hand, on the rear surface of the unit main body 190, the lower document guide 1 described above is provided.
A rear locking boss 190c that is fitted into and locked in the rear locking groove 174g formed in 74 is integrally formed in a state of protruding rearward.

As described above, the front locking boss portion 190b and the rear locking boss portion 190c are fitted and locked in the front locking groove 174f and the rear locking groove 174g, respectively.
Unit main body 190 (that is, document separation unit 156)
Is securely inserted into the first recess 174b of the lower document guide 174 in a state where the housed state is locked. Particularly, in this embodiment, the front locking boss 190b is pressed forward by the elastic force inherent to the elastic stopper piece 190a on which the front locking boss 190b is formed, and the fitting state thereof is elastically retained. As a result, the fitted state of the unit main body 190 in the first recess 174b is reliably maintained. When it is necessary to remove the document separating unit 156 for maintenance or the like, the removing operation will be described in detail later.
The elastic stopper piece 190a is pushed back against the elastic force to forcibly release the fitting state between the front locking boss 190b and the front locking groove 174f, so that the lower document guide 174 can be easily carried out. It can be removed from.

Further, the leaf spring 194 described above is integrally formed of a metal spring material, and as shown in FIG. 40 and FIG. The leaf spring main body 194a formed in a substantially L-shape when viewed from above, and the standing spring pieces 19 that are integrally erected from both left and right sides of the erected portion of the leaf spring main body 194a.
4b and 194c and these standing spring pieces 194b and 194.
It is composed of a pair of left and right support spring pieces 194d and 194e bent at a predetermined angle from the upper end of c toward the front. Here, the bending angles of the support spring pieces 194d, 194e with respect to the corresponding upright spring pieces 194b, 194c are the same as those of the support spring pieces 194d, 194e. In a state where the side document guide 174 is accommodated and locked in the first recess 174b, the side document guide 174 can be extended at an angle of 15 degrees clockwise with respect to the reference axis X described above. It is set.

That is, in this way, each support spring piece 194d,
By defining the inclination angle of 194e, as is clear from FIG. 36, the document transport path 154 is provided with the upper document guide 1
Bent portion 176c of 76 and each support spring piece 194d, 194
In the part defined by being sandwiched between e and
Rather than the wedge shape in the portion defined by the bent portion 176c of the upper document guide 176 and the guide body 174a of the lower document guide 174 in the portion adjacent to the upstream side with respect to the document transport direction, When the document receiving surface located on the lower side lies more horizontally, the crossing angle between the two changes to a wedge shape. As a result, when the number of originals passing through here is large, the originals are rapidly narrowed down.

Here, each support spring piece 194d, 194e.
When a predetermined number of the originals G come into contact with the originals G and stop there, the originals G deviate so as to hang down based on the load applied to the originals G (that is, the stiffness of the originals), that is, the originals. It is set so as to have an appropriate elastic coefficient so as to be released from the tendency with respect to the take-out roller 158 and to be displaced downward. In other words, each support spring piece 194d, 194e
When a predetermined number or less of the originals G come into contact therewith and stop, even if the load of these originals G acts,
It is possible to maintain the posture thereof, that is, the posture of elastically abutting against the document take-out roller 158, without being displaced so as to hang down. In this embodiment, the above-mentioned predetermined number of originals G refers to 3 to 4 originals. That is, the number of originals placed on the original tray 40 is 5
When the number of sheets is ˜6 or more, the supporting spring pieces 194d and 194e act as the above-mentioned predetermined number of documents or more.

On the other hand, the bent portion 17 of the upper document guide 176.
6c and the supporting spring pieces 194d and 194e, the upper document guide 176 in a portion adjacent to the downstream side in the document transport direction with respect to the portion defined by the sandwiched state.
Guide body portion 176b and supporting spring pieces 194d, 19
The portion sandwiched by 4e is set substantially parallel to each other. As a result, the document that is sharply squeezed in the portion defined by the bent portion 176c and the support spring pieces 194d and 194e is sequentially separated from the upper side by the above-mentioned separating portion (that is, the document separating unit 156). And the original take-out roller 158), and is supplied in a stable state through the original conveying path 154 set in parallel.

On the other hand, the above-mentioned friction member 196 is shown in FIG.
And, as shown in FIG. 41, the above description is performed with the base end portion (the left end portion in the drawing) being sandwiched between the lower surface of the leaf spring body portion 194a of the leaf spring 194 and the upper surface of the unit body 190 described above. They are fixed together by screws 192 and extend forward in a so-called cantilever state. Here, the friction member 196 is a plate-shaped rubber leaf spring 198 formed of synthetic rubber having a predetermined friction coefficient, and a metal plate made of metal attached with the lower surface of the rubber leaf spring 198 lined. And a spring 200. That is, although the rubber leaf spring 198 can have a desired coefficient of friction on its upper surface, it cannot maintain the cantilevered posture by itself, while the metal leaf spring 200 maintains the cantilevered posture. Although it is possible, the friction coefficient on the upper surface is small, and it is difficult to have a sufficient friction coefficient for separating the original.

In view of these characteristics of both, in this embodiment, the rubber leaf spring 198 is arranged on the upper side and the metal leaf spring 200 is arranged on the lower side, respectively, and a member exhibiting a friction coefficient and a posture maintaining function are provided. In the state where the member that exerts the function is separated by function, both are integrally combined. As a result, the friction member 196 can achieve a configuration in which the friction member 196 has a predetermined friction coefficient on its upper surface and extends forward in a cantilever state. The coefficient of friction between the rubber plate spring 198 of the friction member 196 and the original G is larger than the coefficient of friction between the original G and the pair of left and right supporting spring pieces 194d and 194e, and the original G and the original take-out roller 158. It is set to be smaller than the friction coefficient between and.

Further, the document take-out roller 158 described above is used.
At the lower end portion thereof, the document separating unit 156, more specifically, the rubber leaf spring 198 of the friction member 196 and the pair of left and right support spring pieces 194d and 194e of the leaf spring 194, which constitute the document separating unit 156, respectively. On the upper surface of
The contact is made with a predetermined downward pushing amount from above.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 36, the friction member 196 is tilted 5 degrees counterclockwise with respect to the reference axis X described above in a state in which the leading end portion thereof is pushed downward by the document take-out roller 158. The mounting position on the upper surface of the unit main body 190 and the downward pushing amount by the document take-out roller 158 are defined so that the unit body 190 extends forward while being inclined at an angle. The inclination angle (15 degrees) of the pair of left and right support spring pieces 194d and 194e with respect to the reference axis line X is a value when both are pushed downward by the document take-out roller 158 as described above. Needless to say.

<Description of Document Separation Operation by Document Separation Unit 156 and Document Extraction Roller 158> Next, referring to FIG.
With reference to FIGS. 2 to 44, an operation of separating / capturing a document placed on the document tray 40 will be described.

<< Operation for Taking In One Original Document >> First, referring to FIG.
2, when the number of originals smaller than the above-described predetermined number of originals, for example, only one original is placed on the original tray 40, the operation of separating and taking in this one original G (however,
In the case of one sheet, only the operation of taking in the document is performed).

First, when one original is placed on the original tray 40 with the image reading surface facing upward, the original is moved forward by its own weight in accordance with the inclination of the original placing surface of the original tray 40. The document is conveyed toward and is taken into the document feeding path 154 provided in the image reading mechanism 18 through a document taking port 34b defined by a space between the control panel 20 and the upper housing 34. In this way, from the document intake port 34b to the document transport path 1
When the document G taken into the paper 54 by its own weight turns on the first document detection switch 166, the image reading mechanism 18 enters the image reading standby state. That is,
When the image reading standby state is set, the document feed motor 140 for driving the document take-out roller 158, the white roller 162 and the like is energized to be in an excited state (drivable state), and the image reader 160 is also energized. The image is ready to be read.

More specifically, the operation of taking in the original document by its own weight is such that the original document G taken into the original document conveyance path 154 from the original document intake port 34b first moves in the most upstream portion of the original document conveyance path 154 in the original document conveyance direction. It is introduced into the first portion defined between the lower surface of the bent portion 176c of the upper original guide 176 and the upper surface of the lower original guide 174 at the prescribed position. The lower surface of the first portion of the document transport path 154,
That is, the upper surface of the lower document guide 174 is set to have an inclination angle of 28 degrees with respect to the reference axis line X, as described above. Therefore, the document G conveyed forward in accordance with this inclination has the second portion of the document conveyance path 154 adjacent to the downstream side in the document conveyance direction of the first portion.
Portion, that is, the bent portion 176c of the upper document guide 176.
Leaf spring 19 constituting the document separating unit 156 with the lower surface of the sheet
It is smoothly and reliably brought to a portion between the upper and lower surfaces of the pair of left and right support spring pieces 194d and 194e.

Here, the lower surface of the second portion, that is, the upper surfaces of the pair of left and right support spring pieces 194d and 194e have an inclination angle of 15 degrees with respect to the reference axis line X, as described above. It is set. Therefore, the original G conveyed along the inclination of the upper surface of the lower original guide 174 described above is further moved to the downstream side with respect to the original conveyance direction of the second portion by its own weight along the inclination. The third portion of the adjacent document transport path 154, that is, the portion between the lower surface of the guide main body portion 176b of the upper document guide 176 and the upper surfaces of the pair of left and right support spring pieces 194d and 194e of the leaf spring 194, smoothly, And, it is surely brought, and further, through this third portion, both supporting spring pieces 194d, 194e
According to the inclination of the both of these support spring pieces 194d, 194
As the upper surface of e is slid, it is conveyed toward the above-mentioned separating portion. In this way, as shown in FIG. 42, the one original G that has been conveyed through the first to third portions of the original conveyance path 154 by its own weight has its leading end brought to the separating portion. That is, the pair of left and right support spring pieces 194 of the document take-out roller 158 and the document separation unit 156.
The conveying operation can be stopped in the state where the d and 194e are in contact with each other.

From this state, the document take-out roller 158
When the document G rotates in the counterclockwise direction in the figure, the document G is taken in to the right in the figure with this rotation, and once brought between the document take-out roller 158 and the friction member 196. Here, the original take-out roller 158 and the original G
The coefficient of friction between the original G and the rubber leaf spring 198 of the friction member 196 is larger than the coefficient of friction between the original G and the rubber plate spring 198. This exceeds the stopping force (separation force) of G. As a result, the document G passes through between the two, and this time, is adjacent to the downstream side in the document transport direction of the third portion of the document transport path 154. Document transport path 15
No. 4 of the upper document guide 176, that is, between the lower surface of the guide body portion 176b of the upper document guide 176 and the upper surface of the lower document guide 174, and smoothly and reliably.
It is conveyed through the fourth portion toward the portion between the image reader 160 and the white roller 162.

In this way, the operation of taking out one original is completed. It should be noted that the second original detection switch 168 described above is turned on while the original G taken out forward with the rotation of the original take-out roller 158 is passing through the fourth portion of the original conveying path 154. With the ON operation of the second document detection switch 168, after a predetermined time has passed from the time of this ON operation, specifically, after the time required for the leading edge of the document G to reach the image reader 160, the image reader It is set so that the image reading operation by 160 is started.

When this document G has finished passing through the fourth portion of the document transport path 154, the second document detection switch 1
Although 68 is turned off, as long as the above-described first document detection switch 166 is on, the rotation of the document feed motor 140 is continued. On the other hand, when both the first and second document detection switches 166 and 168 are turned off and a predetermined time period sufficient for the document G to be completely discharged to the outside of the enclosure 28 through the document discharge port 32b, Although the driving of the document feed motor 140 is stopped, if the third document detection switch 170 described above is turned on when this predetermined time has elapsed, the jam detection during conveyance of the document G described above is detected. Outside of the last manuscript G
Judges that the paper jammed in the original conveyance path 154, and executes a predetermined alarm operation.

<< Separation of a plurality of originals smaller than a predetermined number
Taking-in operation >> Next, the separating / taking-out operation of a plurality of originals smaller than the above-described predetermined number will be described with reference to FIG. First, a plurality of sheets smaller than the above-described predetermined number, for example, the first to third three sheets in this embodiment.
When the originals G1, G2, and G3 are set with the image reading surface facing upward and are stacked on the original tray 40 in such a state that the smaller number of pages is facing up, these first The third originals G1, G2, G3 are conveyed in a state of being grouped forward in accordance with the inclination of the original placing surface of the original tray 40 by their own weight, and in the same manner as the case of the one original G described above, It will be transported by its own weight toward the separation section. Then, the first document G1 located on the uppermost side
However, due to the inclination of the document transport path 154, the leading end of the document transport path 154 is brought to the separation section, specifically, the document take-out roller 158 and the pair of left and right support spring pieces 194d and 194e of the document separation unit 156 mutually. It will be in a state where it has entered the abutting part.

On the other hand, the second original G2 continuing below the uppermost first original G1 is the uppermost first original G1.
And a pair of left and right support spring pieces 194d and 194e, which regulate the wedge-shaped space, as shown in FIG.
The conveying operation can be stopped in a state where the leading end does not reach the portion where the document take-out roller 158 and the pair of left and right support spring pieces 194d and 194e contact each other. Further, the third original G3, which is located below the second original G2, is restricted to a wedge-shaped space formed by the second original G2 and a pair of left and right support spring pieces 194d and 194e, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG.
The conveying operation can be stopped in a state where it does not reach the portion where d and 194e contact each other.

In this way, these first to third three
The originals G1, G2, G3 of the sheet are brought into a state in which the uppermost first original G1 can be taken out by the rotation of the original take-out roller 158, and the succeeding second and third originals G2, G3 are successively obtained. It will be brought to a state of waiting behind.

When the document take-out roller 158 is driven to rotate in the counterclockwise direction in the drawing from the state shown in FIG. 43, only one document G described with reference to FIG.
In the same manner as in the above case, the leading end is the original take-out roller 158.
Only the first original G1 brought to the portions where the pair of left and right support spring pieces 194d and 194e contact each other is conveyed forward. On the other hand, the rotating force of the original take-out roller 158 does not directly act on the succeeding second original G2, but only the frictional force accompanying the conveyance of the first original G1 acts. As a result, the second original G2 that continues below the first original G1 taken out is the first original G1.
Due to the friction with the document G1, the document is conveyed so as to be dragged forward. However, when the front end of the second document G2 is engaged with the surface of the friction member 196,
Since the frictional force with this exceeds the frictional force with the first original G1, the conveying operation can be stopped at the engagement position. That is, the first original G1 taken out is separated. Then, the second original G2
Has a rear end of the first original G1 whose original take-out roller 158.
With the rotation of the document take-out roller 158 after exiting from the sheet, it is brought to a standby state where it can be taken out and conveyed forward.

As long as at least one original is brought into the standby state, the first original detection switch 166 is turned on, and as long as the first original detection switch 166 is turned on, The document feed motor 140 is continuously driven to rotate. As a result, as described above, the trailing edge of the first original G1 is located at the original take-out roller 158.
The second original G2 comes into contact with the original take-out roller 158 and makes frictional engagement for the first time when the second original G2 is removed from the original. In this way, the second original G2 following the first original G1 is slightly delayed from the first original G1,
As the document take-out roller 158 rotates, it is conveyed forward. The first original document G previously conveyed in this way
There is a slight gap between the first document G1 and the second document G2 to be conveyed next, and the second document detection switch 168 causes the first document to be detected based on this gap. G
When the trailing edge of 1 has finished passing, the off operation is once performed, and immediately after this off operation, the on operation is performed by the leading edge of the second document G2. By turning off / on the second original detection switch 168 as described above, the previous original and the next original in the image reading operation can be distinguished from each other.

On the other hand, the third original G3, which continues below the second original G2, is conveyed so as to be dragged forward by friction with the second original G2. However, the front end of the third original G3 has the friction member 1
At the time of engaging with the surface of 96, the frictional force with the surface of 96 exceeds the frictional force with the second original G2, so that the conveying operation can be stopped at the engagement position. In addition, this third
Operation of separating the original G3 from the second original G2, and
Third document G after second document G2 is taken out
The start situation of the take-out operation of No. 3 is the above-mentioned first and second
Since it is the same as the originals G1 and G2, the description thereof is omitted here.

<< Separation / Retrieval Operation of Documents Larger Than a Predetermined Number of Sheets >> Next, a separation / retrieval operation of a large number of originals G1, G2, ... First, a large number of originals G, which are larger than the above-described predetermined number,
1, G2, ... are set with the image reading surface facing upwards,
Further, when the plurality of originals G1, G2, ... Are stacked on the original tray 40 in such a state that the smaller number of pages is on the upper side, these originals G1, G2 ,. According to the inclination of the surface, the sheets are conveyed forward in a batch, and then conveyed toward the separating section by their own weight. Then, the first document G1 located on the uppermost side is in a state in which the leading end of the first document G1 is brought to the separating portion based on the inclination of the document conveying path 154, specifically, the document take-out roller 158 and the document separating unit 156. Left and right support spring pieces 194
The d and 194e are in contact with each other.

On the other hand, the originals G2 ... Below the second original G2, which continue below the uppermost first original G1, and the uppermost first original G1, are paired with a pair of left and right support spring pieces 194.
d, 194e, and based on the strength of the waist as a bulk of these originals G1, G2, ...
Both d and 194e are pressed and bent downward, and the plurality of originals G1, G2, ... With their leading ends abutting the upper surface of the rubber leaf spring 198 of the friction member 196, as shown in FIG. The transport operation will be stopped. That is, the first document G1 located at the top is the friction member 196 of the document take-out roller 158 and the document separation unit 156.
It will be in the state which entered into the part which abuts each other.

On the other hand, the second original G2 that continues below the uppermost first original G1 is the uppermost first original G1.
Is regulated by a wedge-shaped space formed by the friction member 196 and the friction member 196, and the leading end thereof does not reach the portion where the document take-out roller 158 and the friction member 196 contact each other.
The carrying operation will be stopped. Further, the third original document G3 positioned below the second original document G2 is positioned below the third original document G3.
Is regulated in a wedge-shaped space formed by the second original G2 and the friction member 196, and its leading end does not reach the portion where the original take-out roller 158 and the friction member 196 abut each other, and the conveying operation thereof. Will be stopped.

In this way, these many originals G
1, G2, ... are brought into a state where the first document G1 located at the uppermost position can be taken out by the rotation of the document take-out roller 158, and the subsequent second and third documents G2, G2.
3, ... will be brought to a state of waiting in the rear one by one.

From the state shown in FIG. 44, when the document take-out roller 158 is driven to rotate in the counterclockwise direction in the figure, the leading end of the document take-out roller 158 and the friction member 196 also come into contact with each other. 1st being fluttered
Only the original document G1 is conveyed forward because the frictional engagement force between the original document G1 and the original document take-out roller 158 is set to be stronger than the frictional engagement force between the original document G1 and the friction member 196. On the other hand, the rotating force of the original take-out roller 158 does not directly act on the succeeding second original G2, but only the frictional force accompanying the conveyance of the first original G1 acts. As a result, the second original G2, which continues below the first original G1 taken out, remains at that position. That is, the first original G1 taken out is separated. Then, the second original G2 is brought into a standby state in which it can be taken out and conveyed forward as the original taking-out roller 158 rotates after the trailing edge of the first original G1 comes out of the original taking-out roller 158. Become.

That is, when the first original G1 is taken out forward as described above, the stiffness of the above-mentioned remaining originals as a bulk is weakened by one original, and as a result, a pair of left and right sides is left. The supporting spring pieces 194d and 194e are lifted up by their own elastic force, and as a result, the second original G2 brought to the uppermost position is the original take-out roller 1
It is brought into a state of being sandwiched by 58 and the friction member 196. In this way, the second original G2 following the first original G1 is slightly delayed from the first original G1, and as the original take-out roller 158 rotates,
It will be transported forward.

On the other hand, the third original G3, which continues below the second original G2, is taken in and conveyed forward just like the second original G2. Here, when the remaining number of originals before being taken in by the original take-out roller 158 becomes smaller than the above-mentioned predetermined number, the same operation as described in << separation / take-in operation of a plurality of originals smaller than a predetermined number >> in the preceding section In this situation, the remaining originals are sequentially conveyed, that is, taken in, in a state substantially similar to the original taking-out operation here, and therefore the description thereof is omitted here.

<Description of Assembling Operation of Document Separation Section> Next, referring to FIGS. 45 to 53, the document separation unit 1 will be described.
56, document take-out roller 158, and white roller 16
2 and the operation for assembling the lower document guide 174,
The details will be described.

<< Description of Attaching Operation of Document Separation Unit 156 >> First, the attaching operation of attaching the document separation unit 156 to the lower document guide 174 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 45 to 49. As shown in FIG. 45, the document separating unit 156 includes a lower original document guide 174 in a bare state, that is, a lower original state before the original take-out roller 158, the white roller 162, and the upper original guide 176 are attached. It is attached to the document guide 174. Specifically, this document separating unit 1
Reference numeral 56 is set so as to be attached in a state of being housed in the first recess 174b of the lower document guide 174. In the attaching operation, first, as shown in FIG. 46, as shown in FIG. The rear locking boss 190c of the unit main body 190 is inserted from above from the rear of the unit main body 190 constituting the unit 156 into the first recess 174b.
As shown in FIG. 47, it is fitted into the corresponding rear locking groove 174g in the first recess 174b.

From the state shown in FIG. 47, when the front portion of the unit main body 190 is pushed down by the operator's finger or the like, the elastic stopper piece 190a formed on the front surface of the unit main body 190 is
As shown in FIG. 48, the front portion of the unit main body 190 is allowed to be inserted into the first recess 174b in a state in which the unit main body 190 is once pushed backward against the elastic force of itself.
Then, by further pushing down the front part of the unit main body 190, this front part is completely inserted into the first recess 174b. In this fully inserted state, as shown in FIG. 49, the front locking bosses 190b formed on the front end surface of the elastic stopper piece 190a are fitted into the corresponding front locking grooves 174f of the first recess 174b. .. In this way, the rear portion of the unit main body 190 has the rear locking boss portion 19
0c fits into the corresponding rear locking groove 174g, and the front portion thereof has the front locking groove 17 corresponding to the front locking boss 190b.
The document separating unit 156 is inserted into the 4f.
Is stored in a state of being locked in the first recess 174b, and the stored state is maintained in a stable state.

The removal operation of the document separating unit 156 may be carried out in the reverse order of the above-mentioned attachment operation, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted. An elastic stopper piece 1 of the unit main body 190 using a nail or a minus type driver
By pushing the upper end of 90a rearward, as shown in FIG. 48, the front locking boss 190b comes out of the corresponding front locking groove 174f, the locked state is released, and it is possible to lift upward. Then, subsequently, by lifting the upper end of the elastic stopper 190a, the front portion of the unit main body 190 comes out of the first recess 174b as shown in FIG. Then, this first recess 174b
By pulling the front part of the unit main body 190 that has come out of the main body while pulling it forward, the document separating unit 156 is moved to the lower document guide 17 as shown in FIG.
It will be possible to completely remove from 4.

<< Explanation of Attaching Operation of Original Retrieval Roller 158 and White Roller 162 >> Next, referring to FIGS. Explained.

First, as shown in FIG. 50, the document separating unit 156 is installed in the first recess 174b of the lower document guide 174.
Although not shown, the upper document guide 176 has the snap lock pin 175 in a state of being inserted and locked in the inside.
It is attached to the upper surface of the lower document guide 174 via. The upper document guide 176 is removed by removing the snap lock pin 175.
It can be easily removed from 6.

On the other hand, the original take-out roller 158 described above.
Is a fitting groove portion 178 of the first bearing bush 178 attached to each end of the shaft portion 158a.
51, from the state shown in FIG. 51, the corresponding extension piece 178c
While maintaining the upright posture, the lower document guide 174 is fitted into the first recesses 180 formed in the support plates 174c and 174d on the left and right sides of the lower document guide 174 so as to be pushed in from above. As a result, the fitting groove portion 178b
Is first loosely fitted into the corresponding tapered hole portion 180a of the first recess 180, and the narrowed hole portion 180a follows the tapered surface of the first concave portion 180a.
It is forcibly guided to the upper end of b, and this narrowed hole portion 180b
Is pushed down while being expanded, and is inserted into the receiving hole 180c as shown in FIG. In this manner, the first bearing bush 178 is pressed into the corresponding receiving hole 180c with the fitting groove 178b, and is in the so-called snap engagement state.
Each of them is rotatably supported by 174d.

As described above, the document take-out roller 15
8 has a first bearing bush 178 at both ends
As shown in FIG. 36, the friction roller portion 158b of the document take-out roller 158 has an insertion hole formed in the upper document guide 176 in a state in which the support plate 174c and 174d are rotatably supported by the support plates 174c and 174d. The pair of left and right support spring pieces 194c, 194 of the leaf spring 194, which is taken out below the document separation unit 156 via the 176a.
At the same time as contacting d from above, the rubber leaf spring 198 of the friction member 196 also contacts from above.

In addition, the white roller 162 described above is
Fitting groove portions 182b of the second bearing bush 182 attached to both ends of the shaft portion 162a, respectively.
51 from the state shown in FIG. 51, while maintaining the state in which the corresponding extension piece 182c is in the upright posture, the second plate formed on the support plates 174c, 174d on the left and right sides of the lower document guide 174, respectively. It is fitted into the recess 184 so as to be pushed in from above. As a result, the fitting groove portion 182b is
First, the taper hole portion 184a of the corresponding second concave portion 184 is loosely fitted, and is forcibly guided to the upper end of the narrowed hole portion 184b according to the tapered surface, and is pushed down while widening the narrowed hole portion 184b. As shown in FIG. 5, the insertion hole 184c is inserted into the receiving hole 184c. In this way
The second bearing bush 182 has the fitting groove portion 18 thereof.
2b is pushed into the corresponding receiving hole 184c, in a so-called snap engagement state, the support plates 174c, 17
4d will be rotatably supported respectively.

Here, in this way, the document take-out roller 1
58 and the white roller 162 are the lower document guide 174.
As shown in FIG. 50, the second driven gear 172c coaxially fixed to one end (the left end in the drawing) of the document take-out roller 158 is attached to the third intermediate gear 1 as shown in FIG.
72f meshes from above, and the white roller 162
The first driven gear 172b coaxially fixed to one end (the left end in the drawing) of the first intermediate gear 172d, 172
e at the same time, the driving force of the document feed motor 140 is generated by these engagements.
The gear train for sequentially transmitting to 172c is configured as shown in FIG.

The white roller 162 is rotatably supported by both the support plates 174c and 174d through the second bearing bushes 182 at both ends thereof. Part 1
62b denotes a second recess 174e of the lower document guide 174.
When the control panel 20 is housed inside and the control panel 20 is closed, the image reader 160 attached to the lower surface of the control panel 20 is accurately positioned in a state having a predetermined positional relationship.

Thereafter, from the state shown in FIG. 52, the extending piece 178c of each first slide bush 178 is rotated by about 90 degrees in the clockwise direction in the figure, and as shown in FIG.
The protrusion 17 formed on the inner surface of the extending piece 178c.
8d is fitted into the corresponding first locking hole 186.
In this way, the attachment state of each first slide bush 178 to the corresponding support plates 174c and 174d is fixed, and therefore the document take-out roller 158 is rotatable in the lower document guide 174 in a stable attachment state. Will be attached to.

Similarly, from the state shown in FIG. 52, the extending piece 182c of each second slide bush 182 is rotated about 90 degrees in the counterclockwise direction in the figure, and as shown in FIG. The protruding portion 182d formed on the inner surface of the extending piece 182c is fitted into the corresponding second locking hole 188. In this way, each second slide bush 1
The attachment state of 82 to the corresponding support plates 174c and 174d is fixed, and therefore the white roller 162 is rotatably attached to the lower document guide 174 in a stable attachment state.

Incidentally, the detaching operation of each of the document take-out roller 158 and the white roller 162 may be carried out in the reverse order of the above-mentioned attaching operation, and the detailed description thereof will be omitted, but it is shown in FIG. 53, for example. In the locked state, the tips of the extending pieces 178c and 182c of the corresponding slide bushes 178 and 182 are attached to the corresponding support plates 174 by using, for example, an operator's nail or a minus type screwdriver.
As shown in FIG. 52, the original take-out roller 158 and the white roller 162 are rotatable about their own central axes by being deformed so as to be peeled off from the c and 174d, respectively. It is possible to lift upward by rotating the slide bushes 178, 18 corresponding to these directions by rotating it by 90 degrees.
As shown in FIG. 51, by lifting the two, it is possible to pull them upward from the corresponding concave portions 180 and 184 and completely remove them from the lower document guide 174.

As described above in detail, according to this embodiment, the image reading mechanism 18 is required to have the most mechanical performance. In other words, the originals are surely separated and conveyed one by one. The document separating portion, which exhibits the function that can be performed, can be assembled by an extremely simple operation, and similarly, can be disassembled by an extremely simple operation. In this way, in this embodiment, for example, at the time of regular maintenance, in order to maintain a good document separating function, the document take-out roller 158 is replaced with a new one, or in the document separating unit 156, a friction member is used. It is possible to reattach the rubber leaf spring 198 of 196, or to adjust the inclination angles of the pair of left and right support spring pieces 194c and 194d in the leaf spring 194, and the like can be performed very easily, and the workability at the time of maintenance is improved. You will be able to plan.

[Description of Print Mechanism 14] The configuration and operation of the print mechanism 14 will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1, 7, and 54 to 75 described above.

(Explanation of Overall Structure of Print Mechanism 14) First, as shown in FIG. 1, the print mechanism 14 includes image information read from a document through the image reading mechanism 18 described above, or a communication line, Specifically, in this embodiment, the paper P taken out from the paper feed cassette 36 is based on the image information transmitted via the telephone line.
It is configured to image, or print an image on. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 54, the print mechanism 14 operates from the paper feed cassette 36 to the paper feed roller 20 to be described later.
The paper P taken out in accordance with the rotation of the second paper is taken in by the paper intake port 34 formed in the rear portion of the upper surface of the upper housing 34.
From b, printer housing (middle housing) 34
A paper transport path 204 for transporting to a paper discharge port 32a formed on the front surface of the paper.

Further, the printing mechanism 14 is provided with a pair of upper and lower parts for defining the conveyance timing of the paper P from the upstream side to the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the paper P in the state along the paper conveyance path 204. Registration rollers 206, 20
8, the photosensitive layer 210 attached to the outer peripheral surface, and the photosensitive drum 210 on which an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image is formed by image exposure by the laser scanning unit 24 described above, and the toner image transferred to the lower surface of the paper P. Fixing device 2 for fixing
12 are provided in sequence.

Here, the photosensitive drum 210 and the fixing device 212 are driven by a printer drive mechanism 214 described later, and the photosensitive drum 210 is rotationally driven in the clockwise direction in the figure. Further, as shown in FIG. 55, a charging charger 216 for uniformly charging the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210 is disposed on the outer periphery of the photosensitive drum 210 in a state immediately below the photosensitive drum 210. Further, the laser scanning unit 24 described above is provided at a position along the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 210 from the charger 216.
The image exposure site IE is defined by
A developing device 218 for developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210 by image exposure with toner is disposed at a position along the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 210.

Further, at a position along the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 210 from the developing device 218,
A transfer charger 220 for transferring the toner image visualized by the toner to the lower surface of the sheet is provided in a state immediately above the outer circumference of the sheet 10. Further, in a position along the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 210 from the transfer charger 220 and on the front side of the above-mentioned charging charger 216, the residual toner after transfer is collected and the outer periphery of the photosensitive drum 210 is collected. A cleaning blade 222 for cleaning the surface is provided. Here, a filter 223 is provided on the main plate 12 located immediately below and below the developing device 218 to remove ozone generated by the charging charger 216 and the transfer charger 220, and immediately behind the filter 223. The exhaust device 150 is arranged in a continuous state. This exhaust device 150
Although not shown in detail, includes a drive motor and a fan rotationally driven by the drive motor. By rotating the fan, air around the photosensitive drum 210 is passed through the filter 223 described above. Enclosure 2
8 is discharged from the rear surface to the outside, and this filter 22
It is set to remove ozone in the air exhausted in 3. That is, in this embodiment, the ozone exhaust passage described above is defined between the exhaust device 150 and the exhaust port 32c (shown in FIG. 3) formed on the rear surface of the print housing 32.

As shown in FIG. 54, the paper feed roller 202 described above is driven to rotate by a paper feed drive mechanism 224. The paper feed drive mechanism 224 includes the above-mentioned pickup motor 142 and this pickup motor 142. Motor 14
A driving force transmission mechanism (not shown) for transmitting the rotational driving force of 2 to the sheet feeding roller 202 is configured. In other words, in this embodiment, the paper feed roller 20 is
2 is driven independently of the printer drive mechanism 214 for driving the photosensitive drum 210 and the fixing device 212,
The paper P can be taken out from the paper feed cassette 36 at its own drive timing.

Here, in the paper feed drive mechanism 224, a paper presence / absence detection switch 226 for detecting whether or not the paper P remains in the paper feed cassette 36 in the state of being close to the paper feed roller 202. A pair of paper size detection switches 228 and 230 for detecting the size of the paper stored in the paper feed cassette 36 are provided. In this embodiment, the paper size detection switch 22
8, 230 are selectively turned on / off in accordance with the difference in the length of the paper stored in the paper feed cassette 36 along the transport direction, and three different types are driven based on this on / off state. It is set to detect the size.

On the other hand, in the above-mentioned paper transport path 204, the paper feed roller 202 and a pair of upper and lower registration rollers 206, 2 are provided.
08, the paper conveyance detection switch 2
The paper discharge detection switches 238 are respectively arranged in a state in which 32 is positioned between the fixing device 212 and a pair of upper and lower paper discharge rollers 234 and 236 which will be described later. Here, one of the features of this embodiment is that, in order to regulate the conveyance timing of the paper P, in the embodiment, the above-described paper conveyance detection switch 232 is used.
Only one is adopted.

That is, generally, in order to regulate the conveyance timing of the paper P, the first paper detection switch for detecting the timing when the paper P is taken out from the paper feed cassette 36, and both registration rollers. Two detection switches, that is, a second paper detection switch for detecting the timing taken out from 206 and 208 are required. However, in this embodiment, only the timing at which the paper P is taken out from the paper feed cassette 36 is detected via the paper conveyance detection switch 232, and the registration roller pair 20 is detected.
The transfer timing from 6, 208 to the photosensitive drum 210 does not require the conventional second paper detection switch by defining the control procedure as described later. As a result, it is possible to reduce the cost by eliminating the need for disposing a relatively expensive sheet detection switch.

(Description of Paper Conveying Path 204 of Printing Mechanism 14) Next, referring to FIG. 56, the paper conveying path 2 located upstream of the photosensitive drum 210 in the paper conveying direction.
The configuration of the portion 204a of 04 will be described.

First, in this embodiment, the lower surface of the upstream side portion 204a of the sheet conveying path 204 is the upper surface of the developing device 218 described above, more specifically, the upper part of the toner cartridge 240 provided in the developing device 218. Is defined by the upper surface of the lower fixed paper guide 242. The portion of the upper surface of the lower fixed paper guide 242, which is located on the downstream side in the paper transport direction, is sufficiently large for one paper P to pass through a gap between the upper movable paper guide 250 described later. A pair of protrusions 246 for accurately and surely defining is integrally formed in a state of protruding upward. Specifically, the pair of protrusions 246 are
The sheets P are arranged on both sides in the width direction of the maximum sheet size so as not to hinder the transport operation of the sheet P transported through the sheet transport path 204. The lower fixed paper guide 242
The upper surface of the toner cartridge 240 defined as the upper surface of the plurality of guides for guiding the paper P smoothly along the paper transport path 204, as shown in FIG. 57, in order to smoothly transport the paper P. The ridge 240a is formed.

On the other hand, the upper surface of the upstream side portion 204a of the sheet conveying path 204 is defined by the lower surface of the upper fixed sheet guide 248 integrally attached to the upper housing 34 at the upstream side thereof. Further, an upper movable paper guide 25, whose downstream side portion is attached so as to be elastically displaceable with respect to the swing frame 16,
It is defined by the lower surface of zero. Here, the upper movable sheet guide 250 is configured to define the positional relationship with the lower fixed sheet guide 242 extremely accurately in a state where the upper movable sheet guide 250 is in contact with the above-mentioned pair of protrusions 246 from above.
The outlet of the upstream side portion 204a of the sheet conveying path 204 has a pair of upper and lower registration rollers 206 and 208 described above.
Are set so as to face each other's rolling contact portions.

More specifically, the upper fixed paper guide 248 is
When the upper housing 34 is integrally attached to the upper housing 34 and the upper housing 34 is brought to the closed position, the lower fixed paper guide 242 has a predetermined positional relationship with the lower fixed paper guide 242, that is, the lower position. The side fixed paper guide 242 is set so as to be positioned with a rough positioning accuracy in a state where a gap between the side fixed paper guide 242 and the upper surface is relatively large.
The upper fixed paper guide 248 has, on its upper surface, the document separating unit 15 in the document reading mechanism 18 described above.
6 is fixed to the lower surface of the lower original guide 174. Then, the above-mentioned upper movable paper guide 250
In the state in which the lower document guide 1 is slightly displaced to the upstream side of the front end portion located on the most downstream side in the conveyance direction of the paper P.
Although described in detail later, the portion of the lower end portion 74 of the tip 74 that is elastically eccentrically attached is fixed to a support block 254 for attaching and supporting the upper registration roller 206 via a screw 256.

In the closed state of the swinging frame 16, the upper movable sheet guide 250 has a guide body 250a which is substantially parallel to the upper surface of the lower fixed sheet guide 242 described above, and the sheet P of the guide body 250a. With respect to the transport direction of the sheet, from the upstream edge, the bent piece 250b connected in a bent state so as to be separated from the upper surface of the lower fixed paper guide 242 toward the upstream side is connected to the leaf spring material. Are integrally formed by. The pair of protrusions 246 described above are provided on the upper movable paper guide 25.
It is set so as to contact the lower surface of the guide body 250a of No. 0.

In this way, the upstream side portion 2 of the paper transport path 204
By configuring 04a, when the swing frame 16, and thus the upper housing 34, is driven to swing to the open position, the upper fixed paper guide 248 and the upper movable paper guide are driven according to the swing drive of the upper housing 34. Two
The paper transport path 204 is biased upward together with 50.
The upper surface of the upstream side portion 204a of the is greatly opened. In this way, for example, the jammed paper P can be easily removed while the paper is being conveyed, and the toner cartridge 240 can be easily replaced even when the developing device 218 runs out of toner. .

On the other hand, when the swing frame 16, and thus the upper housing 34, is driven to swing to the closed position, the upper fixed sheet guide 248 and the upper movable sheet guide 250 are moved in response to the swing driving of the upper housing 34. Are both pushed downward, and the upstream side portion 204a of the paper transport path 204 is defined as a space having a predetermined gap. As a result, the sheet P conveyed in the upstream side portion of the upstream side portion 204a has its upper surface regulated by the upper movable sheet guide 240 at the time of reaching the downstream side portion. The gap between the upstream side portion 204a of the sheet conveying path 204 and the downstream side portion thereof is so small that one sheet P defined as the protrusion of the above-mentioned protrusion 246 is allowed to pass through. As a result, even if the paper P is curled, it is gradually flattened while being conveyed along the upstream side portion 204a of the paper conveyance path 204, and the upper surface is suppressed by the upper movable paper guide 250. It is corrected to a substantially flat state, and its tip is reliably guided to the rolling contact portion of the pair of upper and lower registration rollers 206, 208.

Thus, in this one embodiment,
Even if the paper P is curled, the curl is corrected before being brought to the registration rollers 206 and 208 to be substantially flat, and the leading end of the paper P is a pair of upper and lower registration rollers 206 and 208. The sheets are reliably guided to the rolling contact portions of the sheets, and the occurrence of jam of the sheet P can be effectively suppressed.

(Explanation of Mounting Mode of Registration Rollers 206, 208) Next, a pair of upper and lower registration rollers 20.
The manner of attaching 6, 208 will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the lower registration roller 208 is configured as a driving side, and the upper registration roller 206 is configured as a driven side.

<Description of Lower Registration Roller 208> First,
The lower registration roller 208 on the drive side is located at the most downstream portion of the upper surface of the developing housing 218a that defines the outer surface of the developing device 218 with respect to the sheet transport direction, and is fixed around the central axis of the developing roller 218a. It is rotatably attached. More specifically, the lower registration roller 208 includes a shaft portion 208a and the shaft portion 20.
8a and a friction roller portion 208b that is coaxially fixed to the outer circumference. And this shaft portion 208a
Both ends of each are set to protrude outwardly from both side surfaces of the friction roller portion 208b.

At one end of the shaft portion 208a,
As shown in FIG. 57, a driven gear 208c is detachably connected to a printer drive mechanism 214, which will be described later, and is driven by the driven gear 208c to be rotationally driven. Furthermore,
Support sleeves 218b, which are fixed to both outer side surfaces of the developing housing 218a so as to project outward, are fitted into the outer peripheries of the shaft portions 208a that have begun to project outward from the developing housing 218a. . Both ends of the shaft portion 208a are rotatably supported by corresponding support sleeves 218b by bearing metals (not shown). In other words, the lower registration roller 208 is rotatably attached to the developing device 218 via these support sleeves 218b.

<Description of Upper Registration Roller 206> On the other hand,
The above-described driven-side upper registration roller 206 is elastically eccentrically attached to the lower surface of a portion of the lower document guide 174 located on the most downstream side with respect to the sheet transport direction. Specifically, the upper registration roller 206
As shown in FIG. 56, is composed of a shaft portion 206a and a friction roller portion 206b coaxially fixed to the outer circumference of the shaft portion 206a. Further, both ends of the shaft portion 206a are set to protrude outward from both side surfaces of the friction roller portion 206b. Further, both ends of the shaft portion 206a are rotatably attached to both ends of the support block 254 described above.

Here, each of the support blocks 254 is attached to the block main body 254a extending along the width direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction and the both ends of the block main body 254a in an upright state, and the upper resist is provided at the upper portion. The corresponding end of the shaft portion 206a of the roller 206 is rotatably supported, and the lower end of the roller 206 rises to the outer side of the corresponding lower registration roller 208, and these upstanding pieces 254b. Receiving pieces 254c that respectively project outward from the outer surface of the piece 254b and receive the lower ends of the mounting springs 258 described later, and from the upstream end of the block main body 254a in the sheet conveying direction to the upstream side. It is formed to extend,
The upper movable sheet guide 250 described above is integrally provided with a mounting piece 254d that is fixed to the lower surface.

A recess 254e is formed on the lower end surface of each standing piece 254b so that it can be fitted onto the outer peripheral surface of the shaft portion 208a of the lower registration roller 208 from above.
Are formed respectively. The receiving taper surface 254f is relatively large at the lower opening edge of the recess 254e so that the corresponding lower registration roller 208 can easily be fitted into the end of the shaft portion 208a. Has been formed.

On the other hand, between each receiving piece 254c and the lower document guide 174, each receiving piece 254c is hung below the lower document guide 174 so as to be movable by a predetermined stroke along the vertical direction. The suspension member 260 is provided, and the above-described mounting spring 258 is also provided. In detail, the suspension member 260 includes a suspension main body 260a whose upper end is pivotally attached to the lower surface of the lower document guide 174, and a suspension body 260a which extends downward from the lower surface of the suspension main body 260a and receives a corresponding support. A shaft portion 260b taken out downward through a through hole 254g formed in a state of penetrating the piece 254c in the thickness direction, and a shaft 260b that is detachably attached to the lower end of the shaft portion 260b and is below the corresponding receiving piece 254c. The stopper ring 260c is formed to have a larger diameter than the opening diameter of the through hole 254g in order to prevent the stopper ring 260c from coming out.

By thus defining the mounting mode of the upper registration roller 206, the support block 254 is fixed to the bottom surface of the receiving piece 254c of the support block 254 when the swing frame 16 is in the open position. Ring 260
The state of contacting the upper surface of c with the urging force of the mounting spring 258 and its own weight is maintained. In other words, the upper registration roller 206 is brought into a state of being pivotally suspended by the lower document guide 174, and thus the swing frame 16 to which it is attached, via the suspension member 260.

On the other hand, when the upper housing 34 is rotated toward the closed position, first, the recess 254e of the support block 254 is fitted into the corresponding end of the shaft portion 208a of the lower registration roller 208 from above. , The relative position to the lower registration roller 208 is accurately defined. Here, in this mating start state, the upper registration roller 206 is slightly offset from the lower registration roller 208, or brought into contact with each other. After that, when the swing frame 16 is rotated to the closed position, the upper registration roller 206 comes into contact with the lower registration roller 208 and stays in that position in the contact state. In other words, the contact between the upper and lower registration rollers 206 and 208 causes the distance between the lower document guide 174 and the receiving piece 254c to be shortened as the swing frame 16 rotates to the closed position. However, this will be reliably absorbed by the contraction of the mounting spring 258. That is, the upper registration roller 206 is always kept in elastic contact with the lower registration roller 208 by the urging force of the mounting spring 258 when the swing frame 16 is closed.

Thus, according to this embodiment, even if the friction roller portions 206b and 208b of the upper registration roller 206 and / or the lower registration roller 208 are unevenly worn by repeating the registration operation, The upper and lower registration rollers 206 and 208 are always kept in good contact with each other, and in this way, the resist performance is always set and maintained with high accuracy.

The friction roller portions 206b, 20 of the upper registration roller 206 and / or the lower registration roller 208.
The upper and lower registration rollers 206, 208 due to the abrasion of 8b.
The distance from the center of the ball will be shortened, and the support block 2
The relative position of 54 with respect to the developing device 218 changes, and as a result, the attitude of the upper movable paper guide 250 attached to the support block 254 with respect to the developing device 218 also changes. However, the amount of change is small, and, as described above, since the upper movable sheet guide 250 is formed of the leaf spring material, the amount of change is sufficiently absorbed and the above-mentioned protrusion is formed. It is possible to reliably maintain the contact state with the 246 and accurately define the narrow transport path space.

(Explanation of Drum Unit 262) Next, referring to the above-mentioned FIGS. 57 and 58 to 60, the drum unit 262 including the photosensitive drum 210, and
The transfer charger 220 attached to the drum unit 262 will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 57 and 58, the drum unit 262 includes a unit housing 264 to which the photosensitive drum 210 is rotatably mounted. The unit housing 264 is formed such that the upper surface and the surface facing the above-described developing device 218 are completely opened, and both side surfaces thereof, as shown in FIG. The mounting rods 266 for mounting and supporting the respective members are integrally mounted in a state of protruding outward. Here, the photosensitive drum 21
Although 0 is a well-known structure, detailed description thereof will be omitted. And a flange provided with a gear.
Drum rotation support shafts 210a are coaxially inserted into the drum main body at both end flanges provided with the gears, respectively, from both ends of the drum main body. Each drum rotation support shaft 210a is fixed to the unit housing 264 via a mounting flange (not shown).

In this embodiment, the transfer charger 220 is attached to the upper part of the unit housing 264 so as to cover the upper surface opening thereof. In detail, the intermediate portion 2 of the above-described paper transport path 204.
04b is defined to pass between the photosensitive drum 210 and the transfer charger 220. Here, the transfer charger 220 includes a charger housing 220a whose lower surface is open. The downstream end of the charger housing 220a with respect to the paper transport direction is rotatably supported by the swing support shaft 220b at the downstream end of the upper surface of the unit housing 264 with respect to the paper transport direction.

A charging wire 220c is attached to the lower surface of the charger housing 220a in a state of extending along a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction. That is, in this embodiment, the photosensitive drum 210 and the transfer charger 22 disposed above the photosensitive drum 210.
Since the paper P is transported through the intermediate portion 204b of the paper transport path 204 defined as the space between the toner image formed on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210 and the toner image formed on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210, the transfer operation by the transfer charger 220 is performed. Based on the above, the image is transferred to the lower surface of the paper P.

<Explanation of Pre-Roller 220d> On the other hand, the charging wire 220c described above is provided at the upstream end of the charger housing 220a in the sheet conveying direction.
The pre-roller 220d, which is set to have a rotation axis that is substantially parallel to, is fixed. This pre-roller 220d
Is set so that when the transfer charger 220 is brought to the transfer operation position above the photosensitive drum 210, the transfer charger 220 is positioned above the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210 with a slight gap therebetween. There is. In other words, the pre-roller 220d is connected to the paper transport path 204.
The paper P that has been conveyed to the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210 while being brought to the intermediate portion 204b of the paper conveyance path 204 including the transfer position defined between the photosensitive drum 210 and the transfer charger 220. It is arranged at a position where it can be regulated to be in close contact. Further, the gap formed between the pre-roller 220d and the photosensitive drum 210 needs to be positioned relative to each other so as to have a predetermined size.
0, because the outer diameter of the pre-roller 220d cannot be increased depending on the arrangement of the transfer charger 220, the pre-roller 220d has a shaft of 6 mm in diameter coated with urethane rubber with a thickness of 20 to 50 μm. Is formed.

By thus disposing the pre-roller 220d, the toner image formed on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210 is surely transferred onto the lower surface of the paper P based on the transfer operation by the transfer charger 220. become. on the other hand,
As shown in FIG. 55, the transfer charger 2 is provided along the paper transport path 204.
When the paper P is set to be bent downward after passing through 20, the rear end of the conveyed paper P (that is, the upstream end in the paper conveyance direction) has a so-called waist strength of the paper itself. However, if the trailing edge of the paper P jumps up at the transfer position, the jumped portion largely separates from the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210, impairing the transfer operation of the toner image onto the transfer drum. There is a risk that However, in this embodiment, by disposing the pre-roller 220d in this manner, the rear end of the paper P is held in a state of being substantially in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210 by the pre-roller 220d until the end of the transfer operation. Since it is attached, the jumping of the trailing edge of the sheet P is effectively suppressed, and therefore, the toner image is reliably transferred to the trailing edge of the sheet P.

<Explanation of Lock Lever 268> On the other hand, in this embodiment, in order to maintain the transfer charger 220 described above accurately locked in the transfer operation position, the pre-roller 220d described above is also connected to the photosensitive drum 2.
In order to maintain the state in which the drum unit 10 is accurately locked at a predetermined separation position with respect to the outer peripheral surface of the drum unit 10,
A lock lever 268 is swingably attached to the rotary support shaft 210a of the photosensitive drum 210 in the second example. The pre-roller 22 at the separated position of the lock lever 268
The lock groove 26 into which the pre-roller 220d is fitted is provided on the surface facing 0d (that is, the end surface on the clockwise side in the drawing).
8a is formed in an open state. The lock groove 268a is provided on the rotation support shaft 21 of the photosensitive drum 210 described above.
It is defined as an arc groove centered on the axis of rotation of 0a.

By disposing the lock lever 268 in this manner, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The pre-roller 2 is inserted into the lock groove 268a of the lock lever 268.
In the state in which 20d is inserted, the charging wire 220c of the transfer charger 220 is connected to the photosensitive drum 2
The pre-roller 220d itself is accurately positioned at a separated position close to the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210, and is positioned accurately above the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210 by a predetermined distance. In this way, the transfer operation as described above is reliably executed, and a good transfer state is achieved up to the trailing edge of the paper P.

Further, in this embodiment, the charger housing 22 which constitutes the transfer charger 220.
0a can function as an upper cover of the photosensitive drum 210. That is, this upper cover 220
By providing a, it is possible to effectively prevent the light (natural light) from being applied to the photosensitive drum 210 when the upper housing 34 is opened during maintenance of the internal structure of the facsimile apparatus 10. Here, the photosensitive layer of the photosensitive drum 210 is, in this embodiment,
Since it is composed of an organic photosensitizer, it is not desirable because it causes light fatigue when it is exposed to natural light for a long time.

On the other hand, when the lock lever 268 is rotated counterclockwise in the figure from the state shown in FIG. 58, the pre-roller 220d relatively comes out of the lock groove 268a, and the lock roller 268 is locked as shown in FIG. The lock state between the lever 268 and the pre-roller 220d is released, and thus the transfer charger 220 is in a state of being swingable around the swing support shaft 220b. As a result, as shown in FIG. 60, by swinging the transfer charger 220 in the clockwise direction in the drawing, the intermediate portion 204b of the paper transport path 204 defined between the photosensitive drum 210 and the transfer charger 220 is moved. Is largely opened, and accordingly, the upper portion of the photosensitive drum 210 is also largely opened. As a result, even if the paper P is jammed at the intermediate portion 204b of the paper transport path 204, the transfer charger 220 is swung by rotating the lock lever 268 in the counterclockwise direction to release the lock. By widening the intermediate portion 204b of the transport path 204, the jammed paper P can be easily removed, and the workability at the time of clearing the jam can be greatly improved.

(Explanation of Waste Toner Collection Mechanism 272) Next,
With reference to FIGS. 60 to 63, a waste toner collecting mechanism 272 for collecting the toner remaining on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210 after the transfer operation (hereinafter, referred to as waste toner) in the waste toner collecting container 270. The details will be described.

<Explanation of Cleaning Blade 222> First, as shown in FIG. 61, the above-mentioned cleaning blade 222 is formed of a rubber blade and is at a position along the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 210 rather than the transfer position. The unit housing described above is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210 at a position along the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 210 with respect to the charging position in a state of being pressed in a so-called counter state via the cleaning blade holding metal fitting 274. Two
It is fixed to 64. By disposing the cleaning blade 222 in this manner, the waste toner attached to the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210 is scraped off by the cleaning blade 222 as the photosensitive drum 210 rotates.

<Description of Auger 278> Here, the waste toner scraped off from the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210 is temporarily stored in the unit housing 264 in which the cleaning blade 222 is thus arranged. A waste toner reservoir 276 is provided for this purpose. As shown in FIGS. 62 and 63, this waste toner reservoir 276 is arranged along the axial direction of the photosensitive drum 210 over the entire length of the outer peripheral surface thereof, so that the waste toner accumulated therein is collected. From the waste toner discharge port 264a that is partially formed on the lower surface of the unit housing 264, the waste toner recovery container 270 described above is used.
In order to properly collect the waste toner, the auger 2 for collecting the waste toner accumulated in the waste toner reservoir 276 toward the waste toner discharge port 264a is provided at the bottom of the waste toner reservoir 276.
78 are provided. The waste toner discharge port 264
As shown in the figure, a is a bottom surface of the unit housing 264, and is formed in a state of being displaced to the other end side (left side in the drawing) from the center portion in the width direction of the unit housing 264.

Both ends of the auger 278 are rotatably supported by both side surfaces of the unit housing 264 in a state where the auger 278 is rotatable about a rotation axis parallel to the rotation axis of the photosensitive drum 210. Also, this auger 27
A driven gear 280 connected to a printer drive mechanism 214, which will be described later, is coaxially and integrally attached to one end (the right end in the drawing) of 8. With the driven gear 280 connected to the printer drive mechanism 214, the driving force from this point drives the auger 278 to rotate in one direction.

As shown in the drawing, the auger 278 includes a shaft body 278a having the driven gear 280 attached to one end thereof, and the shaft body 278a.
A first blade portion 278b formed in a spiral shape on the outer periphery of one end side of the portion located immediately above the waste toner discharge port 264a, and directly above the waste toner discharge port 264a of the shaft main body 278a. The second blade portion 278c is formed in a spiral shape on the outer periphery of the portion on the other end side with respect to the positioned portion. When the auger 278 is rotationally driven in one direction, the first blade portion 278b directs the waste toner accumulated in the waste toner reservoir 276 to the other end (that is, to the left in the drawing). The second blade portion 278c so that it can be transported.
The auger 278 is also driven to rotate in one direction, so that the waste toner accumulated in the waste toner reservoir 276 can be conveyed toward one end (that is, toward the right side in the drawing). Like, each is configured. That is, the spiral direction of the first and second blade portions 278b and 278c is
It is set so that the directions are opposite to each other. As a result,
In this embodiment, by rotating the auger along the above-mentioned one direction, the waste toner accumulated in the waste toner reservoir 276 is conveyed toward the waste toner discharge port 264a. Will be done.

<Explanation of Waste Toner Discharge Port Cover 282> Here, for periodical maintenance or the like, for example, for cleaning the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210, the drum unit 262 is pulled out and removed. Things happen. Therefore, in this embodiment, the waste toner discharge port cover 282 is provided so as to automatically close the waste toner discharge port 264a by pulling the drum unit 262 upward. The waste toner discharge port cover 282 has a cross section of substantially L as shown in FIG.
It is formed in the shape of a letter, and its corner portion is projected upward in a chevron shape. Edge (ie rear edge)
In addition, the rotary drum 210 is mounted rotatably around a rotation axis parallel to the rotation axis.

Specifically, this waste toner discharge port cover 28
2 is integrally connected with a closing piece 282a that closes the waste toner discharge port 264a so as to be openable, and is bent 90 degrees with respect to the closing piece 282a, and is connected to the upper end edge of the waste toner collecting container 270 described above. And an open piece 282b for pressing the closed piece 282a to release the closed state of the waste toner discharge port 264a.
2b and a pivotal support shaft 282c attached to each other, that is, a corner portion. Here, a torsion spring 284 is wound around the rotation support shaft 282c, and the biasing force of the torsion spring 284 causes the clogging piece 282a of the waste toner discharge port cover 282 to cover the waste toner discharge port 264a. It is rotationally biased in the closing direction. Further, an elastic seal member such as urethane foam is attached to the pressure contact side of the closing piece 282a with respect to the unit housing 264.
It effectively prevents the waste toner from leaking from the gap when the toner is blocked.

By providing the waste toner discharge port cover 282 configured as described above, when the drum unit 262 is mounted on the print mechanism 14, the drum unit 262 is attached to the open piece 282b of the waste toner discharge port cover 282. The upper end edge of the waste toner collecting container 270 connected to is engaged, and the open piece 282b is pushed by the upper end edge of the waste toner collecting container 270 and pushed up against the biasing force of the torsion spring 284. Become. As a result, the blocking piece 282a of the waste toner discharge port cover 282
Is rotated in a direction to open the waste toner discharge port 264a. Therefore, the waste toner discharge port 264a is
As long as the drum unit 262 is attached to the print mechanism 14, it is always open as shown in FIG. In this way, the waste toner collected toward the waste toner discharge port 264a in the waste toner reservoir 276 by the rotation of the auger 278 is collected in the waste toner discharge port 26.
The waste toner is collected and accommodated in the waste toner collecting container 270 via 4a.

On the other hand, when the drum unit 262 is pulled out upward from the print mechanism 14, the waste toner collecting container 270 and the waste toner discharge port cover 2 are correspondingly pulled out.
The engagement of 82 with the open piece 282b is released. As a result, the open piece 282b of the waste toner discharge port cover 282 is pushed down by the biasing force of the torsion spring 284. As a result, the blocking piece 282a of the waste toner discharge port cover 282 is rotated in the direction of closing the waste toner discharge port 264a, and therefore, the waste toner discharge port 264a is not connected to the drum unit 2.
As long as 62 is removed from the printing mechanism 14, it will always be closed, as shown in FIG. In this way, even if the drum unit 262 is extracted upward alone, the waste toner discharge port 264a is immediately closed by the waste toner discharge port cover 282 in accordance with the extraction, so that the waste toner is removed. Outlet 26
It is possible to effectively prevent the surroundings from being leaked from 4a and being contaminated by the waste toner.

(Description of Printer Drive Mechanism 214) Next,
With reference to FIG. 57 and FIGS. 64 and 65 described above, the printer drive mechanism 21 for driving the print mechanism 14
The configuration of No. 4 will be described in detail.

<Developing device 218 and drum unit 262
Description of Supporting Structure> First, as shown in FIG. 57, the printer drive mechanism 214 includes the main plate 12 described above.
Supporting plates 286 and 288 are attached to the upper left and right sides in an upright state. The support plates 286, 288 are made of a rigid material, for example thick steel plate in this example. Here, the developing device 218 described above is provided at the upper edges of the support plates 286 and 288 and on the upstream side in the paper transport direction.
Are formed with first recesses 286a and 288a for receiving and positioning the support sleeves 218b integrally attached to both sides of the developing housing 218a.
On the other hand, a second end for receiving and positioning the mounting rods 266 integrally mounted on both sides of the above-mentioned drum unit 262 on the upper edges of the support plates 286, 288 and on the downstream side in the paper transport direction.
Recesses 286b and 288b are formed.

In other words, in this embodiment, the developing device 218 described above has its support sleeve 218b fitted into the corresponding first recesses 286a and 288a,
Suspended on both support plates 286, 288,
Guide ribs 218d formed on both sides of the developing housing 218a so as to project outward are provided with gear boxes 290 in which corresponding support plates 286 are housed.
A guide groove 290c formed on the inner side surface (described later) and a guide groove 28 formed on the inner side surface of the support plate 288.
8c and 8c, respectively, are fitted from above, so that the mounting position in the print mechanism 14 can be accurately set. Similarly, the drum unit 262 described above is also hung on both support plates 286 and 288 by fitting the mounting rod 266 into the corresponding second recesses 286b and 288b, and is also mounted on the developing device 218 side. Developing sleeve 218c
A developing gap roller 218f is rotatably attached to both ends of the developing gap roller 218f.
Is applied to the photosensitive drum 210 to dispose the position in the print mechanism 14, in other words, the developing device 21.
8 (i.e., the gap between the developing roller 218c incorporated in the developing device 218 and the photosensitive drum 210) is attached in a precisely defined state. Incidentally, the developing device 218 is provided with both support plates 286, 2
The guide spring 218d is urged toward the photosensitive drum 210 side by the leaf spring 288e attached to the 88, and the developing gap roller 218f is surely pressed against the photosensitive drum 210.

Here, the support plate 286 on the one end side located on the left side of the drawing applies the driving force of the printer motor 144 to the developing device 218, the drum unit 262, and the fixing device 212.
It is attached integrally with a gear box 290 for sequentially transmitting to. The gear box 290 includes the first and second recesses 286 a, 28 of the support plate 286.
Openings 290a and 290b are formed to allow the corresponding support sleeve 218a and the mounting rod 266 of the developing device 218 to be fitted into the 6b from above.

<Description of Driving Force Transmission System> Next, referring to FIGS. 57 and 64, the driving force of the printer motor 144 is applied to the developing device 218, the drum unit 262, and the fixing device 212.
A drive force transmission system (so-called gear train structure) for sequentially transmitting the power to the vehicle will be described.

<< Explanation of Driving Force Transmission System to Developing Device 218 >> First, as shown in FIG. 57, the upstream side (that is, the rear side) of the gear box 290 with respect to the sheet conveying direction with respect to the portion substantially facing the developing device 218. The printer motor 144 described above is housed in the portion located at). In order to transmit the driving force of the printer motor 144 to the developing device 218 (thereby, the drum unit 262 and the fixing device 212), the motor shaft 144a of the printer motor 144 is transmitted.
Is taken out from the outer side surface of the gear box 290, and the drive pulley 292a is coaxially and integrally attached thereto. A first drive shaft 294 is rotatably supported on the downstream side (that is, the front side) of the printer motor 144 with respect to the sheet conveying direction, with both ends thereof protruding from the gear box 290. .. This first
The driven pulley 292b is attached to the outward protruding end of the drive shaft 294 of
Are coaxially and integrally attached. An endless belt 292c is stretched between the driven pulley 292b and the drive pulley 292a, and in this way, the driving force of the printer motor 144 is first transmitted to the first drive shaft 294. ..

Here, at the inward protruding end of the first drive shaft 294, as shown in FIG. 64, the first drive gear 292d is formed.
Are coaxially and integrally attached. On the other hand, this first
Of the drive gear 292d of the connection gear 292
e is rotatably attached to the inner surface of the gear box 290. Here, the connecting gear 292e is composed of a gear body 292e1 and a mounting support shaft 292e2 having a diameter smaller than that of the gear body 292e1. The gear box 290 is simply rotatably attached to the inner surface of the gear box 290, and the locking means for preventing the gear box 290 from coming out of the inner surface is omitted. That is, the mounting support shaft 292e is attached to the inner surface of the gear box 290.
2 has a mounting hole 290d formed therein,
The mounting support shaft 292e2 is simply fitted in the mounting hole 290d and is rotatably supported.

Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to prevent the connecting gear 292e from slipping out from the inner side surface of the gear box 290, the first drive gear 292d and the connecting gear 292e are mutually helical gears. Consists of
In addition, the direction of inclination of the helical teeth is set to the first drive gear 292d.
Is defined in such a direction as to act as a thrust force toward the outside (that is, rightward in the figure) of the coupling gear 292e. As a result, as long as the first drive gear 292d rotates, the connecting gear 292e that meshes with this rotates.
Always receives an outward thrust force, which effectively prevents the gearbox 290 from slipping inward from the inner side surface. Further, in order to prevent the connecting gear 292e from coming off the shaft 292e2 even when it is not rotating, a flange 292e3 is integrally attached to the inner side surface of the gear box 290 of the connecting gear 282e. The flange 292e3 engages with the addendum of the drive gear 292d so that the connecting gear 292e does not come out of the shaft 292e2 even when it is not rotating.

Thus, in this one embodiment,
At least at the time of attaching the connecting gear 292e, the attaching operation is completed by simply inserting the attaching support shaft 292e2 into the corresponding attaching hole 290d without using any engaging means, and the engaging means is constituted. It is possible not only to omit the parts to be used but also to improve the work efficiency. A driven gear 218e is attached to one end of the above-described developing roller 218c in a state of integrally rotating, and the developing device 218 is mounted on both support plates 286 and 288 in the above-described mounting manner.
The driven gear 218e is meshed with the connecting gear 292e from above by being mounted and supported from above in a state of being hung over. In this way, the developing device 21
Since the developing roller 218c is directly connected to the printer motor 144 in a state in which the image forming apparatus 8 is mounted on the print mechanism 14, the developing roller 218c is always driven to rotate in association with the driving of the developing roller 218c.

On the other hand, on the motor shaft 144a of the printer motor 144, although not shown, the gear box 29
The second drive shaft 295 is connected via a clutch mechanism arranged in the zero position. A second drive gear 292f is coaxially and integrally attached to the second drive shaft 295. Here, the lower registration roller 208 described above
The driven gear 208c is integrally attached to one end of the shaft portion 208a of the developing device 218 as described above.
The driven gear 208c is meshed with the second drive gear 292f from above by being attached and supported from above in a state of being bridged over 6,288.

As described above, the second drive gear 292f for driving the lower registration roller 208 is connected to the printer motor 144 via a clutch mechanism (not shown), and the clutch mechanism is driven based on the continuous drive of the printer motor 144. Is configured to be intermittently driven as appropriate based on the intermittent control. Here, this clutch mechanism is intermittently controlled based on the control signal from the main control board 52 described above, and the driving force of the printer motor 144 is lowered only when the connection control signal is output. When the disconnection control signal is output, the disconnection state is set in order to cut off the transmission of the driving force of the printer motor 144 to the registration rollers 208.

<< Description of Driving Force Transmission System to Drum Unit 262 >> In addition, the driven pulley 292b described above has a structure shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the first reduction gear 29 having a small diameter is coaxially arranged with the first reduction gear 29.
2g is fixed, and a large-diameter second reduction gear 292h rotatably attached to the outer surface of the gear box 290 meshes with the first reduction gear 292g.
The reduction gear 2 having a small diameter is coaxial with the second reduction gear 292h.
92h2 is fixed, and the reduction gear 292h2 is also provided with a third gear that is also arranged outside the gear box 290.
Reduction gear 292i is meshed. Here, a third drive shaft 296 is rotatably attached to the gear box 290 with both ends thereof protruding.
The reduction gear 292i is coaxially fixed to the outward protruding end of the third drive shaft 296. Further, in the portion of the third drive shaft 296 located in the gear box 290,
As shown in FIG. 65, the first intermediate gear 292j is coaxially fixed. Further, although not shown, a third drive gear that meshes with a driven gear attached to one end of the rotation support shaft 210a of the photosensitive drum 210 is coaxially provided on the inward protruding end of the third drive shaft 296. It is fixed. Here, the driven gear of the photosensitive drum 210 meshes with the third drive gear from above by the drum unit 262 being mounted and supported from above in a state of being stretched over both the support plates 286 and 288 in the above-described mounting mode. Then, the driving force from the printer motor 144 is transmitted.

<< Description of Driving Force Transmission System to Fixing Device 212 >> Next, referring to FIGS. 65 and 66, the fixing device 21 will be described.
The driving force transmission system to the 2 will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 65, a large-diameter second intermediate gear 292k that constantly meshes with the above-described first intermediate gear 292j is rotatably supported on the inner surface of the gear box 290. On the other hand, this second
A control lever 298 having a substantially L-shape for intermittently controlling the driving force to the fixing device 212 is provided on the immediately upstream side of the intermediate gear 292k with respect to the sheet conveyance direction. The support plate 2 is swingable around the shaft 300.
It is attached to the inner surface of 86. A swing lever 302 is disposed below the second intermediate gear 292k, and the swing lever 302 swings around a second swing support shaft 304 provided at a substantially intermediate portion thereof. Freely supported. The second swing support shaft 3 that pivotally supports the swing lever 302
04 includes a third intermediate gear 292k that is constantly meshed with the third intermediate gear 292k.
Intermediate gear 292l is rotatably attached.
Further, a fourth intermediate gear 292m that constantly meshes with the third intermediate gear 292l is rotatably attached to the downstream side of the swing lever 302 in the sheet conveying direction.

Further, the stay 306 mounted on the main plate 12 located on the downstream side of the gear box 290 with respect to the sheet conveying direction in an upright state.
The fifth intermediate gear 292n is rotatably supported via the. With respect to the fifth intermediate gear 292n, the above-described fourth intermediate gear 2 according to the swing of the swing lever 302.
The 92m is adapted to be engaged and disengaged. Here, in the swing lever 302 described above, the fourth and fifth intermediate gears 292m and 292n are meshed with each other via the coil spring 308 provided between the swing lever 302 and the gear box 290, that is, , Is urged to rotate counterclockwise in the figure. Incidentally, this fifth intermediate gear 2
Reference numeral 92n denotes a lower fixing roller 31 of the fixing device 212, which will be described later.
It is always meshed with a driven gear 292o fixed coaxially to one end of the shaft portion 310a of No. 0.

On the other hand, the above-mentioned control lever 298 has one end from the gear box 290 and the opening 29 formed in the gear box 290.
0e (shown in FIG. 57), and the other end is set so as to engage with the lower surface of the upstream side portion of the swing lever 302 in the sheet conveying direction from below. There is. In other words, this control lever 298
Is swingably supported around the first swing support shaft 300 between the lower position shown in FIG. 65 and the upper position shown in FIG. 66, and is pushed down to the lower position and then the other position. The end is spaced downward from the lower surface of the swing lever 302, which results in
The fourth intermediate gear 292m moves the swing lever 302 to the fifth intermediate gear 292n by the urging force of the coil spring 308.
Will be allowed to mesh with. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 66, in the state where the control lever 298 is pushed up to the upper position, the other end of the control lever 298 comes into contact with the lower surface of the swing lever 392 from below and pushes it up.
2 is to resist the biasing force of the coil spring 308 and separate the fourth intermediate gear 292m from the fifth intermediate gear 292n.

Further, the control lever 298 is provided with a torsion spring 3 around the first swing support shaft 300 described above.
12 is wound, and this torsion spring 31
It is urged by 2 so as to rotate counterclockwise in the figure, in other words, to always be rotationally displaced to the upper position.
On the other hand, one end of the control lever 298 is set so that the upper housing 34 described above can be engaged from above. That is, with the upper housing 34 in the closed position, the control lever 298 is pushed down from the upper position to the lower position against the biasing force of the torsion spring 312, and with the upper housing 34 in the open position. The control lever 298 is allowed to project from the lower position to the upper position by the biasing force of the torsion spring 312.

Here, the biasing force of the torsion spring 312 is set to be stronger than the biasing force of the coil spring 308. That is, in a state where the control lever 298 is not pressed by the upper housing 34, one end of the control lever 298 which is rotationally biased to the upper position by the torsion spring 312 is engaged to move the swing lever 302 in the drawing. A force for rotationally displacing clockwise, that is, the fourth intermediate gear 292m to the fifth intermediate gear 292n.
The force to separate the coil spring from the coil spring 308
Urging force that causes the swing lever 302 to be rotationally displaced counterclockwise in the drawing, that is, the fourth intermediate gear 282m moves to the fifth position.
The force is set to be stronger than the force to engage with the intermediate gear 292n.

Thus, in this embodiment,
With the upper housing 34 brought to the closed position, the control lever 298 is pushed down to the lower position as shown in FIG. 65, and as a result, the force for urging the swing lever 302 in the clockwise direction in the drawing is eliminated. Will be done. In this way, the fourth intermediate gear 292m is connected to the coil spring 308.
The fifth intermediate gear 292n meshes with the urging force of the printer motor 144. Therefore, the driving force of the printer motor 144 is transmitted to the driven gear 292o to the fixing device 212 via these gear trains, and is thereby rotationally driven.

On the other hand, when a paper jam occurs in the fixing device 212 or the like, in order to remove the jammed paper P,
The upper housing 34 is lifted to the open position,
The paper transport path 204 will be opened. Thus, when the upper housing 34 is lifted to the open position,
Since the force holding the control lever 298 to the lower position no longer exists, the control lever 298 is rotated about the first swing support shaft 300 from the lower position to the upper position by the biasing force of the torsion spring 312. Will be As a result, the rocking lever 302 moves to the control lever 2
It is pushed by the other end of 98 and resisted against the urging force of the coil spring 308 to be rotationally displaced clockwise in the drawing.

In this way, as shown in FIG. 66, the fourth intermediate gear 292m is separated from the fifth intermediate gear 292n against the urging force of the coil spring 308, so that the driving force of the printer motor 144 is increased. Of the fixing device 21 is interrupted by the fourth and fifth intermediate gears 292m and 292n.
The second driven gear 292o is not transmitted. That is, since the lower fixing roller 310 of the fixing device 212 is not constrained by the gear train, it can be freely rotated. In this way, jammed paper P
Even if the paper P is held by the pair of upper and lower fixing rollers 314 and 310, the jammed paper P
By pulling outward, the lower fixing roller 310 is driven according to the pulling out, and no load is exerted on the pulling-out operation. As a result, the paper P jammed by the fixing device 212 can be pulled out very easily by simply performing the operation of opening the upper housing 34, and the workability of the jam clearing operation is improved. It will be a thing.

(Explanation of Fixing Device 212) Next, the fixing device 212 will be described with reference to FIG.

<Description of Schematic Structure of Fixing Device 212> FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the fixing device 212 includes a fixing housing 316 fixed on the main plate 12 described above.
A pair of upper and lower fixing rollers 314 and 310 arranged in the fixing housing 316 are generally provided. here,
The downstream side portion 204c of the paper transport path 204, which is located inside the fixing device 212, has an inclination such that its height gradually decreases in the paper transport direction.
It is set to extend. That is, this fixing device 21
The opening 318 defining the inlet portion of the downstream side portion 204c of the sheet conveyance path 204 in 2 is formed on the upper surface of the fixing housing 316 in the upstream side portion with respect to the sheet conveyance direction, and the outlet portion of the downstream side portion 204c is formed. The defining opening 320 is formed in the lower portion of the front surface of the fixing housing 316. In addition, the downstream side portion 20 of the paper transport path 204
4c is set so as to have a substantially straight line shape, specifically, to have a substantially straight line shape that is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the extending surface of the main plate 12.

The above-mentioned lower fixing roller 310 is rotatably supported below the downstream side portion 204c of the sheet conveying path 204 in the fixing housing 316, with its position fixed. That is, this lower fixing roller 31
0 is a shaft portion (not shown) having the driven gear 292o fixed at one end, a hollow sleeve 310b coaxially arranged on the outer periphery of the shaft portion, and a hollow sleeve 310b arranged inside the hollow sleeve 310b. A heating lamp 310a for heating this from the inside is generally configured. On the other hand, the above-described upper fixing roller 314 is defined as an idle roller, and both ends thereof are rotatably supported by the fixing housing 316.
Elastic roller portion 314b coaxially fixed to the outer periphery of 14a
It is roughly composed of and.

<< Description of Rolling Contact State of Upper and Lower Fixing Rollers 314 and 310 >> Here, the line segment L connecting the rotation centers of the upper fixing roller 314 and the lower fixing roller 310 is on the downstream side of the sheet conveying path 204. It is set so as to extend in a state substantially orthogonal to the portion 204c. In other words, the rotation center of the upper fixing roller 314 is set so as to pass through the rotation center of the lower fixing roller 310 and be located on the line segment L orthogonal to the downstream side portion 204c of the paper transport path 204. . Then, the upper fixing roller 314 is rotated by the coil spring 322 interposed between the shaft portion 314a of the upper fixing roller 314 and the fixing housing 316.
It is urged to press against. As a result, the paper P after transfer, which has been carried into the fixing device 212 through the above-described entrance opening 318, contacts the lower fixing roller 310 on the lower surface on which the toner image is transferred, and also the upper fixing roller 310. Three
In the state of being pressed against the lower fixing roller 310 by 14, the upper and lower fixing rollers 314, 310 pass through the rolling contact portions of the lower fixing roller 310 as the lower fixing roller 310 rotates. The toner image is fixed on the lower surface of the paper P by the heat from the. In this way, the fixing operation is completed, and the toner is discharged to the outside of the fixing housing 316 through the outlet opening 320.

Here, in this embodiment, the paper P
By heating the lower surface on which the toner image is transferred via the lower fixing roller 310, the toner image is fixed on the lower surface. Therefore, the lower surface of the sheet P heated by the lower fixing roller 310 is in a state of being dried by heating as compared with the upper surface. As a result, the paper P after fixing tends to curl in a convex state. In consideration of such a curled state of the sheet P, in this embodiment, the outer peripheral surface of the lower fixing roller 310 supports the lower surface of the sheet P after the fixing operation, and the downstream side portion 204c of the sheet conveying path 204. The peeling claw 324 that defines the lower surface of the above is disposed in contact with its tip. By disposing the peeling claw 324 in this manner, even if the paper P is curled by heating, the fixing housing 316 can be surely passed through the outlet opening 320.
Will be discharged from the outside.

<Explanation of Oil Felt 326> This FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the lower fixing roller 310 described above functions as a heat generation roller, and is configured to directly contact the lower surface of the paper P to fix the toner image. Therefore, by repeating the fixing operation, the toner powder forming the toner image gradually adheres to the outer peripheral surface of the lower fixing roller 310, and the outer peripheral surface is soiled by the adhered toner powder. An oil felt 326 is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the lower fixing roller 310 in order to prevent such contamination by the toner powder and to ensure that the paper P is peeled off. That is, the oil felt 326 is made of a felt material and is formed by impregnating the felt material with a predetermined lubricating oil.

By thus pressing the oil felt 326 against the outer peripheral surface of the lower fixing roller 310, the toner powder adhering to the outer peripheral surface of the lower fixing roller 310 is wiped off by the oil felt 326, and the lower fixing is performed. Laura 3
The outer peripheral surface of 10 is always maintained in a clean state in which toner powder is not adhered, and the paper P is effectively suppressed from being contaminated by the toner powder.

<Explanation of Insertion Member 328> Here, as is apparent from the above description, the oil felt 326 serves as a substitute for the outer peripheral surface of the lower fixing roller 310 being contaminated by the toner powder to be contaminated. As a result, the oil felt 326 needs to be frequently replaced or cleaned. For this reason, the oil felt 326 is attached to the lower end of the insertion member 328 that is easily removable from the fixing housing 316. It should be noted that this insertion member 328 is used for the above-described paper transport path 2
With the downstream side portion 204c of 04 crossed from above,
It is set so as to be taken into the fixing housing 316 through the above-mentioned inlet opening 318, and as a result, the downstream side portion 20 of the paper transport path 204 is included in the insertion member 328.
4C, an opening 328a for allowing the passage of the paper P is formed in the portion facing the 4c.
It is formed across the width direction of c.

<Explanation of Guide Member 330> As is apparent from FIG. 55, the paper transport path 204 has a tilt angle of the intermediate portion 204b in the drum unit 262 with respect to the main plate 12 and a downstream portion in the fixing device 212. The inclination angle of 204c with respect to the main plate 12 is set to be different. More specifically, the former inclination angle is set smaller than the latter inclination angle. Therefore, the paper P on which the toner image is transferred in the drum unit 262 is surely fixed to the fixing device 212.
The above-mentioned opening 328a of the insertion member 328 for guiding the inside.
A guide member 330 is integrally connected from immediately above to the downstream side portion 204c of the paper transport path 204 and extends toward the upstream side in the paper transport direction.

Thus, the guide member 3 is attached to the insertion member 328.
By integrally attaching 30 to the sheet P, the sheet of paper P after transfer, which has been taken out from the drum unit 262, has been conveyed through the intermediate portion 204b of the sheet conveying path 204.
After being brought into contact with the guide member 330 at its leading end, the sheet is conveyed along the guide member 330, and the conveying direction is corrected to the conveying direction at the downstream side portion 204c of the sheet conveying path 204. As a result, the sheet of paper P after transfer that is taken into the fixing device 212 through the entrance opening 218.
Is reliably conveyed to the rolling contact portion of the pair of upper and lower fixing rollers 314 and 310 along the downstream side portion 204c of the sheet conveyance path 204.

Thus, in this one embodiment,
The intermediate portion 204b of the paper transport path 204 in the drum unit 262 and the paper transport path 2 in the fixing device 212.
Although the inclination angle with respect to the main plate 12 with respect to the downstream side portion 204c of 04 is set differently,
By providing the guide member 330 in the insertion member 328,
The sheet P is reliably fed between the fixing rollers 314 and 310, and therefore, the possibility that the sheet P is jammed in the fixing device 212 is effectively suppressed.

(Description of Paper Discharge Mechanism 332) This fixing device 2
The sheet P after fixing, which is discharged through the outlet opening 320 of the sheet 12, is discharged through the sheet discharging mechanism 332, which is arranged at a position adjacent to the fixing device 212 on the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction. It is configured to be discharged to the paper tray 38. The configuration of the paper discharge mechanism 332 will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. 67 to 75.

<Explanation of Schematic Structure of Paper Discharging Mechanism 332> As shown in FIG. 67, the paper discharging mechanism 332 is provided in the printer housing 32 described above, and the paper receiving port 332a thereof is described above. The fixing device 212 faces the outlet opening 320, and the paper outlet 33
2b is formed in a state of facing the sheet discharge port 32a formed in the printer housing 32 described above. Specifically, the paper discharge mechanism 332 is provided in the main plate 12
Of the lower fixed sheet discharge guide 334, which is disposed above the lower fixed sheet discharge guide 334 and whose upper surface is set to define the lower surface of the exit portion 204d of the sheet transport path 204. Pair of left and right end plates 336, 33 attached in a state and fixed to the upper surface of the main plate 12.
8 (the left end plate 336 is shown in FIG. 71) and the end plates 336 and 338 are swingably and vertically movable, and the lower surface of the paper transport path 204
And an upper movable sheet discharge guide 340 set so as to define the upper surface of the outlet portion 204d. That is, the upper movable paper ejection guide 340 defines the outlet portion 204d of the paper conveyance path 204 together with the lower fixed paper ejection guide 334 in a state of being set close to the lower fixed paper ejection guide 334. The outlet portion 204d is largely opened by swinging to a position separated from the lower fixed sheet discharge guide 334.

<Description of Lower Paper Ejection Roller 236> Here, the lower fixed paper ejection guide 334 is set to be common to all sizes of the paper P to be ejected, as shown in FIG. A pair of left and right openings 3 at the portions corresponding to the left and right end positions, respectively.
34a and 334b are formed, and these openings 334 are formed.
The lower paper ejection roller 236 is attached to the lower surface of the lower fixed paper ejection guide 334 with the a and 334b partially inserted from below. 67 and 69 for details.
As shown in FIG.
6a and a rubber roller portion 236b that is fixed to the outer periphery of the shaft portion 236a, and is partially taken out upward through the corresponding openings 334a and 334b, respectively. On the other hand, recesses 334c are formed in the lower surface portions of the lower fixed sheet discharge guides 334 located on both sides of the openings 334a and 334b, respectively, for receiving both ends of the shaft portion 236a of the corresponding lower sheet discharge rollers 236 from below. There is. Further, the shaft portion 2 corresponding to these recesses 334c
In order to elastically hold the states in which 36a are respectively fitted from below, a leaf spring 342 for elastically supporting these shaft portions 236a from below is provided with a lower fixed paper ejection guide 334.
Is fixed to the bottom surface of.

That is, the lower paper discharge roller 236 thus attached and supported functions as a backup roller that elastically contacts the upper paper discharge roller 234 from below. Further, the leaf spring 342 described above functions as a backup spring that exerts this elastic force.

<Description of Upper Paper Ejection Roller 234> On the other hand, the above-described upper paper ejection roller 234 is the same as in FIG. 67, FIG. 68 and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a shaft portion 234a that is hung on both end plates 336 and 338 in a manner described later, and the shaft portion 23
A pair of rubber roller parts 234b, 2 arranged on the outer periphery of 4a so as to correspond to the above-described lower paper discharge rollers 236, respectively.
34c and bearings 234d and 234e that are attached to both ends of the shaft portion 234a and that allow rotation with respect to the corresponding end plates 336 and 338, respectively. Here, on the upper end surfaces of the above-mentioned end plates 336, 338, recesses 336a (shown in FIG. 71), 338 for receiving the corresponding bearings 234d, 234e from above are provided.
a (shown in FIG. 67) is formed respectively. That is, the upper paper discharge roller 234 uses the bearings 234d and 234.
By pulling e upward from the corresponding recessed portions 336a and 338a, the upward displacement is allowed as a whole.

Incidentally, these bearings 234d and 234e
In order to elastically retain each in the corresponding recess 336a, 338a, the upper end of each one has a corresponding end plate 336, 338.
Torsion springs 3 attached to the inner surface of each
One end of 44 is locked. Here, the other end of each torsion spring 344 has a corresponding side plate 336, 338.
Is locked to the upper edge of the. In this way, due to the biasing force of these torsion springs 344, the respective bearings 234d, 234e are made to correspond to the corresponding recesses 336a, 33.
8a is stored in a state of being elastically pressed against the bottom of the 8a.

<Explanation of the upper movable sheet discharge guide 340>
The upper movable paper ejection guide 340 described above is the same as that shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 5, in order to prevent the above-described upper paper discharge roller 234 from interfering with the rubber rollers 234b and 234c, its front edge (downstream side edge in the paper conveyance direction) has a rubber roller 2
It ends just before 34b and 234c. The upper movable paper ejection guide 340 is integrally connected to the above-mentioned bearings 234d and 234e, as shown in FIG. Further, a grip portion 340a that can be gripped by an operator's hand is attached to the rear end of the upper movable paper ejection guide 340 (upstream edge in the paper conveyance direction) in a state of integrally extending obliquely rearward. ing.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 67 and 72, a stopper member 340b is attached to the lower surface of the upper movable sheet discharge guide 340 in a state of being positioned outside the sheet conveying area, respectively. That is, when the stopper member 340b abuts on the upper surface of the lower fixed sheet discharge guide 334, the exit portion 204d of the sheet conveyance path 204 defined between the lower fixed sheet discharge guide 334 and the upper movable sheet discharge guide 340 is formed. The gap on the upstream side with respect to the sheet conveying direction is accurately defined. The exit portion 20 of the paper transport path 204
The gap on the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction of 4d is a recess 336 corresponding to both bearings 234d and 234e.
a, 338a is set so as to be regulated in the received state.

<Description of Control Member 346> Here, FIG.
As shown in FIG.
A control member 34 for controlling the rolling contact state between the upper paper discharge roller 234 and the lower paper discharge roller 236 is provided around the outer circumferences of d and 234e.
6 are integrally attached to each. This control member 3
46 is set parallel to each other with the rotation axis of the shaft portion 234a interposed therebetween, and the pair of flat surfaces 346a separated from the rotation axis by the separation distance r1 and the shaft portion 23.
4a, the outer peripheral surface includes an arcuate surface 346b formed of an arcuate surface having a radius r2 set to be longer than the separation distance r1 from the rotation axis. Note that this separation distance r1
Is the concave portion 3 to which the bearings 234d and 234e correspond.
36a, 338a, the shaft portion 23
The distance from the rotation axis of 4a to the upper surface of the lower fixed sheet ejection guide 334 is set to be substantially the same or slightly smaller. In addition, the radius r2 described above is equal to the concave portions 336a, 3 corresponding to the bearings 234d, 234e.
It is set to be longer than the distance from the rotation axis of the shaft portion 234a to the upper surface of the lower fixed sheet ejection guide 334 when being received by the 38a.

<Description of Drive System of Paper Discharge Mechanism 332> Meanwhile,
As shown in FIG. 73, the shaft portion 2 of the upper discharge roller 234 is
34a is taken out to the outside in a state of penetrating the right end plate 338, and the protruding end portion of the shaft portion 234a is
The driven gear 348 is coaxially and integrally attached.
An intermediate gear 350 rotatably supported on the outer surface of the right end plate 338 meshes with the driven gear 348. still,
The intermediate gear 350 is connected to the driven gear 292o of the fixing device 212 described above, and is set to be rotationally driven in a state where the driving force from the printer motor 144 described above is transmitted. That is, the upper paper discharge roller 23
4 is defined as a drive roller, which is rotationally driven by the driving force of the printer motor 144, so that the paper P brought to the rolling contact portion between the upper paper discharge roller 234 and the lower paper discharge roller 236 is The sheet is discharged toward the sheet discharge port 32a.

The recesses 336a and 338a formed in the end plates 336 and 338, respectively, are set so as to be formed of arcuate grooves centering on the rotation axis of the intermediate gear 350. As a result, as described above, the upper discharge roller 2
Even if 34 is deviated upward, this upper paper discharge roller 2
Driven gear 348 and intermediate gear 350 mounted on 34
The meshed state between and will be maintained well. In this way, when the upper movable paper ejection guide 340 is close to the lower fixed paper ejection guide 334, the paper transport path 204
In this state, the upper discharge roller 234 and the lower discharge roller 236 are in rolling contact with each other, and in this state, the fixed paper P is discharged by the upper discharge roller 234. It will be allowed with the rotation.

<Explanation of Jam Clearing Operation in Paper Discharging Mechanism 332> On the other hand, when the upper movable paper discharging guide 340 is swingably driven so that the operator grips the grip portion 340a and pulls it upward. In response to the swing, the flat surface 346a of the control member 346, which has been at the position facing the upper surface of the lower fixed sheet discharge guide 334 until then, moves, and FIG.
4, the arcuate surface 346b now opposes the upper surface of the lower fixed paper ejection guide 344 and engages with it.

As a result, the arc surface 34 is provided between the center of rotation of the upper paper discharge roller 234 and the upper surface of the lower fixed paper discharge guide 344.
It will be separated by a distance defined by the radius r2 of 6b. In this way, both bearings 234d, 234e
Is lifted up from the corresponding recesses 336a and 338a, and the upper paper discharge roller 234 is separated upward from the lower paper discharge roller 246. Therefore, as described above, the rolling contact state of the upper and lower sheet discharge rollers 234 and 236 is released even though the driven gear 348 and the intermediate gear 350 continue to be in mesh with each other. As a result, even if the paper P is jammed in the paper discharge mechanism 332, the grip 340a of the upper movable paper discharge guide 340 is simply gripped and rotated so as to pull it upward. As a result, the rolling contact between the upper and lower paper discharge rollers 234 and 236 that has restrained the paper P is released, so that the jammed paper P can be easily pulled out forward. In this way, this paper discharge mechanism 33
The workability of the jam clearance operation of the paper P in 2 is significantly improved.

<Description of Paper Discharge Detection Switch 238>
The sheet discharge detection switch 238 for detecting a jam in the sheet discharge mechanism 332 of the sheet P described above is a lower fixed sheet discharge guide that defines the lower surface of the outlet portion 204d of the sheet conveyance path 204, as shown in FIG. Recess 3 formed in 334
34d, the operating piece 238a thereof is projected to the outlet portion 204d, and is set to be pushed in by the sheet P conveyed.

More specifically, in the main control section provided on the above-mentioned main control board 52, the time from when the above-mentioned paper transport detection switch 232 is turned on by the paper P transported through the paper transport path 204 is set. When the time is measured and the conveyance operation is performed without any hindrance, the conveyance time theoretically calculated from the relationship between the conveyance speed of the sheet P and the separation distances of the sheet conveyance detection switch 232 and the sheet ejection detection switch 238. If the paper discharge detection switch 238 does not turn on even after the passage of time, at least the fixing device 2
It is determined that a jam of the paper P has occurred in the paper transport path 204 of 12 or before, and the control panel 2
The alarm operation is executed so as to be displayed in the display window 20b of 0. Further, in this main control unit, even if the logical time required for the paper P to pass through the paper ejection detection switch 238 is turned on after the paper ejection detection switch 238 is turned on, the paper ejection detection switch 238 is still activated. If it is not turned off, it is determined that at least the paper ejecting mechanism 332 has jammed the paper P, and the alarm operation is executed so as to display the fact on the display window 20b.

<Rubber roller portion 23 of upper paper discharge roller 234
4b, 234c> On the other hand, the above-described upper paper discharge roller 2
A plurality of protrusions 234f are integrally formed on the outer circumference of the outer end portions of the rubber roller portions 234b and 234c of the No. 34, at equal intervals along the circumferential direction and projecting outward in the radial direction. Has been formed. Further, as shown in FIG. 67, a circular recess 234g is formed on the end face of the outer end portion where the protrusions 234f are formed, leaving a predetermined thickness on the outer peripheral face. That is, by forming the recess 234g, when the protrusion 234f is engaged with the upper surface of the sheet P being conveyed, the protrusion 234f is allowed to be elastically displaced inward in the radial direction. An unnecessary force does not act on the upper surface of the inside paper P.

Here, each rubber roller portion 234b, 234
By forming a plurality of protrusions 234f on the outer circumference of c, the following effects are achieved. That is, the conveyance force of the sheet discharge mechanism 332 to the sheet P is equal to the upper sheet discharge roller 23.
It is generated by the rotation of 4. Therefore, the paper P
When the paper is disengaged from the upper paper discharge roller 234, in other words, the outer peripheral portion of the protrusion 234f comes into frictional contact with the paper P even if it is removed from the rolling contact portion of the pair of upper and lower paper discharge rollers 234 and 236. As a result, the protrusion 234f pushes the rear end of the paper P, so that the active carrying force for the paper P does not disappear, or the carrying force can be maintained to some extent. Further, since the paper P itself has an inertial force during conveyance and a component force of gravity due to the inclination of the conveyance path, for example, the engagement with the upper paper discharge roller 234 is disengaged. After that, the carrying operation is continued.

Incidentally, the paper discharge mechanism 332 in this embodiment.
As is clear from the above description, the enclosure 28
It is arranged so as to be housed inside. That is, the paper ejection port 332b of the paper ejection mechanism 332 is set to be located inside the enclosure 28 with respect to the paper ejection port 32a of the printer housing 32. Therefore, if the above-mentioned inertial force is a frictional engagement force larger than the action of the component force of gravity and the rear end of the paper P engages with the peripheral edge of the paper ejection port 332b, the paper P stops here and the paper is ejected. The sheet is not discharged onto the tray 38. However, the frictional force on the paper P generated by the above-mentioned protrusion 234f, or
The discharging force of the sheet P can be improved by the male conveying force at the rear end of the sheet P.

That is, in this embodiment, a plurality of protrusions 234f are formed on the outer circumference of each rubber roller portion 234b, 234c.
Since the sheet P is formed so as to project, even after the sheet P has come out of the rolling contact portion of the pair of upper and lower sheet discharge rollers 234 and 236, the tip of the protrusion 234f still has the joining roller portions 234b and 234b.
Since it is located radially outward of the outer peripheral surface of 34c, it is pushed forward by this projection 234f and is forcedly pushed forward from the paper outlet 332b. In this way, according to this embodiment, the paper P is reliably pushed forward from the paper ejection mechanism 332 and is ejected well onto the paper ejection tray 38.

As described above, the paper discharge mechanism 3 in this embodiment
32 is configured, so that the upper movable paper ejection guide 340 is defined at a position close to the lower fixed paper ejection guide 334, and the stopper member 340b is in contact with the upper surface of the lower fixed paper ejection guide 334, the fixing device. The paper P on which the toner image is fixed by 212 is accompanied by the rotation of the upper paper discharge roller 234.
The sheet is conveyed so as to be pushed forward through the sheet take-out port 332b, and is ejected onto the sheet ejection tray 38.

<Explanation of Charge Eliminating Sheet 352> On the other hand, the paper P discharged from the paper discharge mechanism 332 is charged when undergoing the above-described printing operation, and is discharged as it is in this charged state. Then, the paper may be attached to the enclosure 28, or the sheets stacked on the paper output tray 38 may be attached to each other, or between the operator's fingers who try to take the paper P discharged onto the paper output tray 38. Then, so-called discharge occurs, which causes inconvenience such as giving the operator an unpleasant feeling. For this reason, the electric charge of the paper P taken out from the paper take-out port 332b must be eliminated. Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 67, a static elimination sheet 352 formed in a sheet shape so as to also function as a sheet guide is attached on the upper surface of the upper movable discharge guide 340. The leading end of 352 is set to cross the exit portion 204d of the paper transport path 204 at a predetermined angle from above. In this way, the paper outlet 332b
The paper P taken out from the
The lower surface of the sheet 2 comes into contact with the sheet, and the conveying direction is changed to the downward direction toward the sheet discharge tray 38, and the electricity is removed.

More specifically, this static elimination sheet 352
Is made of a synthetic resin film having a predetermined rigidity, and a conductive layer 352a is attached to the lower surface thereof. On the other hand, the upper surface of the upper movable sheet discharge guide 340, which is in contact with the lower surface (that is, the conductive layer) of the static elimination sheet 352, is formed of at least a conductive metal, and can be moved upward with the conductive layer 352a of the static elimination sheet 352. The paper guide 340 is electrically connected. Further, the upper movable sheet ejection guide 340 is integrally connected to the metal bearing 234e, and is also electrically connected. And this bearing 234e
Is electrically connected to a side plate 338 made of a conductive synthetic resin via a metal torsion spring 344. In this manner, the conductive layer 352a provided on the lower surface of the static elimination sheet 352 is electrically connected to the side plate 338, and the side plate 338 is grounded, so that the paper P contacting the lower surface of the static elimination sheet 352 is formed. Will be surely discharged.

[Explanation of Control Operation] Next, various control operations characteristic of this embodiment will be described below.

(From the pickup of the paper P to the fixing device 21
Description of Transport Control Operation up to 2) First, the paper feed cassette 36
The sheet P is picked up from the sheet as the sheet feeding roller 202 rotates, and the picked-up sheet P is fixed to the fixing device 212.
The transport control operation for driving the transport between them will be described.

<Pickup of Paper P to Fixing Device 21
Outline of Transport Control Operation up to 2> As described above, in this embodiment, the paper P in the print mechanism 14 is
For the purpose of defining the conveyance timing of the paper P, only one sensor, that is, the paper conveyance detection switch 232 is provided on the conveyance path 204 of FIG. That is, in the past,
Even if the sensor provided in the paper conveyance path between the rolling contact portion of the pair of upper and lower registration rollers 206 and 208 and the transfer portion defined between the photosensitive drum 210 and the transfer charger 220 is omitted. By setting the drive control operations of the pickup motor 142 and the clutch as described below, the transfer start portion in the image formed on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210 is synchronized with the timing brought to the transfer portion. In this state, the leading edge of the paper P is conveyed to this transfer section. In other words, in this embodiment, the pair of upper and lower registration rollers 20
A state is ensured in which the leading ends of the paper sheets P reliably contact the rolling contact portions of the rollers 6, 208, and the conveyance of the paper sheets P is restarted from this contact state.

<Detailed Description of Transport Control Operation of Paper P> The control procedure of the transport operation of the paper P to the transfer portion in this embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 76 and 77. explain. First, step S
At 10, the printer waits for the output of the print request signal from the print controller provided on the main control board 52, and when this print request signal is output, the subsequent step S1.
2, the printer motor 144 is driven, and the developing roller 218c in the developing device 218, the photosensitive drum 210 and the auger 278 in the drum unit 262, and the fixing device 212 are driven via the printer driving mechanism 214 described above.
Lower fixing roller 310 and sheet discharge mechanism 322 in
The upper paper discharge rollers 234 in FIG. On the other hand, in the subsequent step S14, the above-mentioned clutch is turned off so that the driving force of the printer motor 144 is not transmitted to the lower registration roller 208, and the pair of upper and lower registration rollers 206 and 208 are stopped.

From this state, the process proceeds to step S16, where the output of the pickup signal for the paper P is waited, and when the pickup signal is output, the pickup motor 142 is driven in the next step S18 to cause the paper feed roller 202 to be driven. Is driven to rotate, and the paper P is fed from the paper feed cassette 36.
Only one sheet is taken out, and the sheet conveying path 204 is conveyed toward the rolling contact portions of the pair of upper and lower registration rollers 206 and 208. Then, in step S <b> 19, the paper transport detection switch 232 turns on the upstream side portion 2 of the paper transport path 204.
It waits for the leading edge of the paper P conveyed in 04a to turn it on, and in step S20, the timer is counted from the time when the paper conveyance detection switch 232 is turned on, and the first predetermined time T1 elapses. When the elapse of the first predetermined time T1 is counted, the drive of the pickup motor 142 is temporarily stopped in step S22.

Here, the first predetermined time T1 is the paper transport path 2 between the paper transport detection switch 232 for the paper P and the rolling contact portions of the upper and lower registration rollers 206 and 208.
A value obtained by dividing the distance along 04 by the peripheral speed at the time of rotation of the paper feed roller 202, that is, after the paper P is picked up, the paper conveyance detection switch 232 is turned on and the leading edge of the paper P is rotated as described above. It is defined from the logical time required to reach the contact. That is, by stopping the drive of the pickup motor 142 after the elapse of the first predetermined time T1, the paper P theoretically stops with its leading end in contact with the rolling contact portion.

Thereafter, in step S24, the output of the conveyance restart signal of the paper P as the print request signal is waited. Here, the conveyance restart signal is sent to the lower registration roller 2
With the drive of 08, the distance from the transfer unit is equal to the total time obtained by adding the second predetermined time T2 to the transfer position arrival time required for the leading edge of the paper P to reach the transfer unit from the above-mentioned transfer contact unit. Output at a position along the counter-rotational direction of the photosensitive drum 210 when the transfer start position (that is, the leading end position of the image) of the image formed on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210 as the photosensitive drum 210 rotates. Is set. In this embodiment, the above-mentioned second predetermined time T2
Is set to an extremely short time, for example, about 50 msec.

When the output of the conveyance restart signal for the paper P is detected in step S24, the pickup motor 142 is restarted in step S26. Then, in step S28, the above-described second
The predetermined time T2 of 1 is counted by a timer, and the pickup motor 142 is driven for the second predetermined time T2.

That is, when the pickup motor 142 is restarted, the driving of the lower registration roller 208 is not started and remains stopped, so that the paper P is forced toward the rolling contact portion. Will be transported. As a result, at the time when the pickup motor 142 has been driven for the first predetermined time T1 described above, the tip of the paper P should theoretically be in contact with this rolling contact portion. The drive for the slight second predetermined time T2 is executed without determining whether or not there is. By driving the pickup roller motor 142 as described above, if the leading edge of the paper P has already been brought into contact with the rolling contact portion, the leading edge of the sheet P is kept in contact with the rolling contact portion, and thereafter, The sheet is further forcibly conveyed (pushed forward), and a so-called bent state is formed in the upstream side portion 204 of the sheet conveying path 204. On the other hand, when the leading edge of the paper P does not actually come into contact with this rolling contact portion and is stopped immediately before, the leading edge of the paper P is moved to the rolling contact portion by driving for a short predetermined time T2. It will be abutted. That is, even if the sheet P is skewed, the skewed state is resolved at this point.

Thus, in this one embodiment,
For example, the paper P picked up from the paper feed cassette 36
However, as the paper feed roller 202 rotates during pickup,
Even if a state occurs in which the leading end does not reach the rolling contact portion between the pair of upper and lower registration rollers 206 and 208, the pickup motor 142 is driven for the second predetermined time T2 which is performed prior to the driving of the lower registration roller 208. By
The leading end of the sheet P is surely brought into contact with the rolling contact portion.

Then, when the above-mentioned second predetermined time T2 has elapsed, the drive of the pickup motor 142 is stopped in step S30. Then, in synchronization with the stop of the pickup motor 142, in step S32, the clutch is turned on to transmit the driving force of the printer motor 144 to the lower registration roller 208,
The lower registration roller 208 is rotationally driven. Due to the rotation of the lower registration roller 208, the paper P, the front end of which is in contact with the rolling contact portion, is the upstream side portion 2 of the paper transport path 204.
04a is further conveyed toward the transfer section, and after the driving of the lower registration roller 208 is started, the leading edge of the sheet P reaches the transfer section after the above-described transfer position arrival time has elapsed. On the other hand, in synchronization with the arrival of the front end of the paper P at the transfer portion in this manner, the transfer start position (that is, the front end position) of the image formed on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210 as the photosensitive drum 210 rotates is transferred. It will reach the department. In this way, the image is transferred to the lower surface of the paper P by the operation of the transfer charger 220.

On the other hand, in the following step S34,
When it is detected that the third predetermined time T3 has elapsed since the clutch was turned on, the clutch is turned off in step S36. Here, during the third predetermined time T3, the sheet P is conveyed from the rolling contact portion of the upper and lower registration rollers 206 and 208 to the rolling contact portion of the upper and lower fixing rollers 314 and 310 by the rotation of the lower registration roller 208. The time required for the rotation, in other words, as the lower registration roller 208 rotates, the leading edge of the paper P is a pair of upper and lower fixing rollers 314, 31.
The lower fixing roller 31 is conveyed to the rolling contact portion of 0 and nipped.
When the value is 0, the time is set to a time sufficient for further forward transportation.

In this way, the paper P is fed to the paper feed cassette 36.
After the toner image is picked up from the lower surface and the toner image is transferred to the lower surface thereof, the leading end thereof reaches the fixing device 212, which is nipped by the upper and lower fixing rollers 314 and 310 in the fixing device 212, and as the lower fixing roller 310 rotates, Further, the control procedure for causing the paper transport path 204 to be transported forward is completed.

As described above in detail, in this embodiment, only one sheet conveyance detection switch 232 is provided in the sheet conveyance path 204 in order to regulate the conveyance timing of the sheet P, and this sheet conveyance is carried out. By only using the timing at which the detection switch 232 turns on the sheet P to define the sheet conveyance timing, the timing at which the leading edge of the sheet P reaches the transfer portion and the timing of the photosensitive drum 210 by executing the control procedure described above. It is possible to set the timing when the leading edge of the image formed on the outer peripheral surface reaches the transfer portion accurately. In this way, according to this embodiment, the two sensors, which have been conventionally required, are
Since it is sufficient to use only one sensor (paper transport detection switch 232), the number of parts can be reduced and the cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

(Description of Rotational Drive Control Operation of Photosensitive Drum 210) Next, the rotational drive control operation of the photosensitive drum 210 in the printer drive mechanism 214 will be described.

<Outline of Rotational Drive Control Operation of Photosensitive Drum 210> In this embodiment, the printer motor 144 provided in the printer drive mechanism 214 drives the photosensitive drum 210 to rotate in a steady state. That is, in the state where the photosensitive drum 210 continues to rotate at a constant speed, the print permission state is achieved, and as described above, the distance corresponding to the total time obtained by adding the second predetermined time T2 to the transfer position arrival time. Only when the transfer start position (that is, the leading end position of the image) of the image formed on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210 reaches a position along the counter-rotational direction of the photosensitive drum 210 from the transfer portion. Thus, the conveyance restart signal of the paper P as the print request signal is set to be output. On the other hand, the above-mentioned print permission state is achieved by issuing a print request from the print control unit. Specifically, when the print request is output from the print control unit, the printer motor 144 is activated. It is set to In other words, when there is no print request from the print controller, the printer motor 14
4 is stopped, so that the rotation of the photosensitive drum 210 is stopped.

Therefore, if no measures are taken, the printer motor 144 is temporarily stopped at the end of the print request for each page in the print state over a plurality of pages, and the print request for the next page is issued. When output, the driving of the printer motor 144 is restarted, and the photosensitive drum 210
After waiting for the normal rotation drive state, the print permission state is achieved, and the output of the print request signal for the next page starts the print operation for the next page.
In this way, the rotation stop state of the photosensitive drum 210 exists for each page, and the printing time is unnecessarily lengthened.

However, in this one embodiment,
By setting the drum rotation command as follows, when the printing operation extends over a plurality of pages, the photosensitive drum 210
Is set to continue the print permission state between each page without interruption, and the dead time waiting for the photosensitive drum 210 to be in the steady rotation drive state is eliminated, and The printing time can be shortened.

<Detailed Description of Rotational Drive Control Operation of Photosensitive Drum 210> Hereinafter, a print data delivery control procedure for outputting a drum rotation command will be described first, and then,
A print control procedure in consideration of this drum rotation command will be described.

<< Explanation of Print Data Sending-out Control Procedure >> First, when print data is sent using the communication line and stored in the buffer memory, the sending operation of the print data to the print control unit is started. To be done.
When the operation of sending out the print data is started, first in step S40, the completion of preparation of print data for one page is awaited. That is, the print mechanism 14 is configured as a page printer in this embodiment, and is set to start the print operation when print data for one page is prepared. Here, when the preparation of the print data for one page is completed in step S40, a print request signal is output to the printer control unit in subsequent step S42. Based on this print request signal, in step S44, the transport control operation from the pickup of the paper P to the fixing device 212, which has been described with reference to FIGS. 76 and 77, is started. After the start of the transport control operation, in step S46, the output of the print write permission signal is waited for. Here, the print start permission signal is set to be output when the rotation speed of the photosensitive drum 210 reaches a predetermined constant speed in the printing operation described later.

If it is detected in step S46 that the print write permission signal is output, step S48
At, the operation of sending the print data to the laser scanning unit 24 is started. Thereafter, in step S50, the completion of the print data sending operation is detected, and when it is determined in step S50 that the print data sending operation is not completed, in step S52, the print data for the next page is printed. It is determined whether or not there is preparation.

If it is determined in step S52 that the print data for the next page has not been prepared and the sending of the print data of the page currently being printed is completed, it is determined that the sending operation of all the print data is completed. In step S50, the process returns to step S50 and waits for the completion of sending of the print data. On the other hand, this step S5
If it is determined in step 2 that the print data for the next page is ready, the process proceeds to step S54, where a drum rotation command is issued, the process returns to step S46 described above, and the control procedure thereafter is executed again. To do. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S50 that the print data sending operation has been completed, the process jumps to step S56, where the drum rotation command is canceled, and the above control procedure ends.

When the operation of sending the print data to the laser scanning unit 24 is started as described above, the printer motor 144 is driven by the laser beam in the laser scanning unit 24 in step S12 described above. Image exposure is performed at the above-described image exposure site IE on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210 that is rotationally driven in response to this. As a result of this image exposure, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210. Prior to this image exposure, the charging charger 21 is based on the print request signal.
It goes without saying that 6 is charged over the entire outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210. In addition, the electrostatic latent image formed on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210 by this image exposure is developed by the toner in the developing device 218 as the photosensitive drum 210 rotates. The leading edge of the image formed on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210 is brought to the transfer position in a state where the leading edge of the paper P is accurately synchronized with the timing at which it is brought to the transfer portion. here,
The transfer position arrival time required for the leading edge of the image formed on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 210 to reach the leading edge of the sheet P from the above-mentioned transfer contact portion to the transfer portion in accordance with the driving of the above-described lower registration roller 208. The second predetermined time T2 is added to the photosensitive drum 2 from the transfer portion by a distance corresponding to the total time.
When the position of 10 along the counter-rotation direction is reached, the above-described conveyance restart signal for the paper P is output.

<< Explanation of Print Operation Control Procedure >> Next, with reference to FIG. 79, a print operation control procedure in the printer drive mechanism 214 will be described in detail. First, in step S60, the output of a print request signal is waited, and when it is determined that this print request signal is output, it is determined in step S62 whether the photosensitive drum 210 is currently rotating. .. This step S62
If it is determined that the photosensitive drum 210 is not rotated in step S64, the printer motor 144 is driven in step S64 to start the rotational driving of the photosensitive drum 210. Then, in step S66, the process waits for the rotation speed of the photosensitive drum 210 to reach a predetermined constant speed, and if it is determined that the rotation speed reaches the predetermined constant speed, the above-described print write permission signal is output in step S68. With the output of the print write permission signal, the print data sending operation is started in step S48 described above, and the image exposure operation in the laser scanning unit 24 is started.

On the other hand, in this print operation, after the print write signal is output in step S68, the completion of the print operation for one page is waited for in step S70, and the completion of the print operation for this one page is detected. Then, in subsequent step S72, it is determined whether or not the drum rotation command is issued. If it is determined in step S72 that the drum rotation command has not been issued, the completed printing operation for one page is determined to be a single page printing operation or a final page printing operation. Therefore, the subsequent step S7
In 4, the driving of the printer motor 144 is stopped and the rotational driving of the photosensitive drum 210 is stopped. Then, in step S76, the output of the next print request signal is awaited. When this print request signal is output, the process jumps to step S62 described above, and the control procedure thereafter is restarted.
On the other hand, if the print request signal is not output in step S76, the process proceeds to step S78, where the procedure for ending the print operation is executed, and the series of control procedures is ended.

If it is determined in step S72 that the drum rotation command has been issued, the print data of the next page exists, so the above step S74 is skipped and the photosensitive drum 210 is skipped. After continuing to rotate, the above step S
Fly directly to 76. Then, in step S76, the output of the print request signal for the next page is waited for. When the print request signal for the next page is output, step S62 described above is performed.
Then, the control procedure following this is started, and the print operation on the next page is executed.

As described in detail above, according to this embodiment, when the drum rotation command is issued at the time when the printing operation for one page is completed in step S70, the print data for the next page is printed. Is present and the print operation must be continuously executed, the rotation of the photosensitive drum 210 is maintained without being stopped, and the print operation of the next page is started. wait. In this way, the rotation of the photosensitive drum 210 is temporarily stopped before the printing operation for the next page is started, so that the photosensitive drum 2 is started when the printing operation for the next page is started.
When restarting the rotation of 10, the photosensitive drum 210
After the start of the rotation, the waiting time until it reaches a certain predetermined rotation is eliminated, and it is possible to shorten the overall printing time when executing the continuous printing operation over a plurality of pages.

(Description of Heating Control Operation in Fixing Device 212) Below, the lower fixing roller 3 in the fixing device 212 will be described.
The heating control operation of 10 will be described.

<General Description of Heating Control Operation in Fixing Device 212> In this embodiment, the lower fixing roller 31 is used.
In the heating control operation of 0, the built-in heater is energized to heat the hollow sleeve 310b from the center. Here, in this heating operation,
As in the conventional practice, in the print standby state, the heating temperature is not maintained at the fixable temperature HEATF, and the standby temperature H lower than the fixable temperature HEATF is maintained.
It is set to achieve so-called energy saving by setting and maintaining EATS. However, in this embodiment, when the standby temperature HEATS continues for a predetermined time (a second predetermined value Tb as described below) in order to achieve further energy saving, the standby temperature HEAT
It is set to lower the heating temperature to an energy saving temperature HEATE that is lower than ATS. Here, when the drive control operation of the printer drive mechanism 214 described above is used as a main control procedure, the heating control operation procedure is performed at a predetermined interval, for example, 100, with respect to the main control procedure.
It is defined as an interrupt routine that operates with an interrupt time of msec.

<Detailed Description of Heating Control Operation in Fixing Device 212> In the following, the heating control operation procedure described above includes a heating basic control operation including an energy saving command generation procedure for setting an energy saving temperature, and this energy saving command. The heating control procedure for the heater 310a will be described separately.

<< Description of Control Procedure of Heating Basic Control Operation >> First, when the power of the facsimile apparatus 10 is turned on,
This heating basic control operation is started. With this start,
As shown in FIG. 80, first, in step S80, it is determined whether print data is being sent.
If it is determined in step S80 that print data is currently being sent out, the process proceeds to step S82 in order to immediately set the printable state, the counter described later is reset, and the energy saving command is canceled. Then, the setting of the energy saving mode is prohibited, and the control procedure ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in the above step S80 that the print data is not currently sent, the process proceeds to step S84, where it is determined whether or not the preparation of the print data for one page is completed. It When it is determined YES in step S84, that is, when the print data is not sent out (that is, completed) and it is determined that the preparation of the print data for one sheet is completed, Similarly, in order to immediately set the printable state, the process jumps to step S82, where the setting of the energy saving mode is prohibited.

In step S84 described above, N
If it is judged to be O, that is, if it is judged that the print data has not been sent out and the preparation of the print data for one sheet has not been completed, there is no print data to be printed at present. Therefore, in the subsequent step S86, the counter serving as a reference for setting the energy saving mode is incremented by "1".
Thereafter, in step S88, it is determined whether or not the value of this counter has reached the total value of the first predetermined value Ta and the second predetermined value Tb. If it is determined that the total value has not yet reached, , This control procedure ends. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S88 that the total value has been reached, the process proceeds to step S90, where an energy saving command SAVE is issued to set the energy saving mode, and a series of control procedures is ended. ..

<< Description of Heating Control Procedure for Heater 310a >>
Next, with reference to FIG. 81 and FIG. 82, a heating control procedure of the heater 310a in the state in which the energy saving command is added will be described. First, when the heating control procedure of the heater 310a is started, the lower fixing roller 3 is started in step S92.
It is determined whether the current temperature TEMP of 10 (that is, the detected temperature) is equal to or higher than the standby temperature lower limit value HEATSL. If it is determined NO in step S92, that is, if the current temperature TEMP of the lower fixing roller 310 is lower than the standby temperature lower limit value HEATSL, the printing operation must be made to wait in this state. To inform the printer control unit of step S
Proceed to 94, where the standby command WAIT is issued. On the other hand, if YES is determined in this step S92, that is, the current temperature TE of the lower fixing roller 310.
When it is determined that MP is equal to or higher than the standby temperature lower limit value HEATSL, the process proceeds to step S96, and the standby command WAIT described above is canceled.

After issuing the standby command WAIT in step S94 or canceling it in step S96, in either case, step S98 is executed.
Then, it is determined whether the error command ERROR has been issued. If it is determined in step S98 that the error command ERROR has been issued and an error condition that hinders the execution of the fixing operation has occurred, the process proceeds to step S100.
The heater 310a is forcibly turned off, a series of control procedures are ended, and the process returns to the main routine. That is, the fixing operation in the fixing device 310 is forcibly stopped, the error occurrence state is displayed on the display window 20b provided in the control panel 20 based on the above-mentioned issue of the error command ERROR, and the printing operation is stopped. The operator is informed of the existence.

On the other hand, in step S98 described above,
If NO is determined, the error commad ERROR is not issued, and if it is determined that no error state occurs, the process proceeds to step S102 and whether the above-described energy saving command SAVE is issued or not. To judge. In this step S102, the energy saving command SA
When it is determined that the VE is issued, the control procedure for heating the lower fixing roller 310 to the energy saving temperature HEATE will be described below.

That is, the routine proceeds to step S104, where it is determined whether or not the current temperature TEMP is lower than the energy saving temperature lower limit value HEATEL. If YES is determined in step S104, that is, if the current temperature TEMP is lower than the energy-saving temperature lower limit value HEATEL, the heater 310a is turned on in subsequent step S106. Then, in step S108, it is determined whether or not the current temperature TEMP is equal to or higher than the energy saving temperature upper limit value HEATEH. YES in this step S108
If it is determined that the current temperature TEMP is equal to or higher than the energy-saving temperature upper limit value HEATEH, the heater 310 is continued in step S110.
Then, a is turned off, the series of control procedures are terminated, and the process returns to the main routine.

It should be noted that in step S104 described above, N
If it is determined to be O, that is, if the current temperature TEMP is equal to or higher than the energy-saving temperature lower limit value HEATEL, the subsequent step S106 is skipped and the heater 3 is skipped.
The above-described step S108 is directly executed without turning on 10a. When it is determined NO in step S108, that is, when the current temperature TEMP is determined to be lower than the energy-saving temperature upper limit value HEATEH, the subsequent step S110 is skipped and the heater 310a is skipped.
Without turning off, the series of control procedures is terminated and the process returns to the main routine.

If NO is determined in the above step S102, that is, the energy saving command SAVE is issued.
Is determined not to have been issued, step S1
In step 12, it is determined whether the heating control flag HEATHI is set to "1". here,
The heating control flag HEATHI is set to "1" when the print request signal is output from the print control unit, and after the counter has counted by the first predetermined value Ta after the print request signal is not output. It is set to be reset to "0". That is, with the heating control flag HEATHI set to “1”, the lower fixing roller 310 can be fixed at the fixing temperature HE.
When the fixing mode for heating to ATF is set and reset to "0", the lower fixing roller 310 is set to the standby temperature HE.
The standby mode for heating the ATS will be set.
The second predetermined value Tb is defined as a waiting time for setting the energy saving mode after waiting for the second predetermined value Tb to pass, as is apparent from the above description. is there.

[0279] Here, if it is determined NO in step S112 described above, that is, the heating control flag HEA.
When it is determined that THI has been reset to "0" and the standby state is defined, the control procedure for heating the lower fixing roller 310 to the standby temperature HEATS is entered below. That is, if NO in step S112, the process proceeds to step S114, in which it is determined whether the current temperature TEMP is lower than the standby temperature lower limit value HEATSL. If YES is determined in this step S114, that is, if the current temperature TEMP is lower than the standby temperature lower limit value HEATSL, the heater 310a is turned on in the following step S116. Then, in step S118, the current temperature T
It is determined whether EMP is equal to or higher than the standby temperature upper limit value HEATSH. If YES is determined in this step S118, that is, if the current temperature TEMP is equal to or higher than the standby temperature upper limit value HEATSH, the heater 310a is turned off in a succeeding step S120, and a series of control procedures is ended. Then, it returns to the main routine.

[0280] Note that in step S114 described above, N
If it is determined to be O, that is, if the current temperature TEMP is equal to or higher than the standby temperature lower limit value HEATSL, the following step S116 is skipped and the heater 3 is skipped.
The step S118 described above is directly executed without turning on the switch 10a. Further, when it is determined NO in step S118, that is, when the current temperature TEMP is determined to be lower than the standby temperature upper limit value HEATSH, the subsequent step S120 is skipped and the heater 310a is not turned off. The control procedure ends and the process returns to the main routine.

If YES is determined in the above step S112, that is, the heating control flag HEA.
When it is determined that THI is set to "1" and the fixing state is defined, the control procedure for heating the lower fixing roller 310 to the fixable temperature HEATF is entered below. That is, YES in step S112.
If it is determined that the current temperature TEMP is lower than the fixable temperature lower limit value HEATFL, the process proceeds to step S122. When it is determined YES in step S122, that is, when the current temperature TEMP is determined to be lower than the fixable temperature lower limit value HEATFL, the heater 31 is continued in step S124.
Turn on 0a. Then, in step S126, the current temperature TEMP is set to the fixing upper limit temperature HEATF.
It is determined whether or not it is H or more. This step S126
If YES is determined in, that is, the current temperature TE
When it is determined that the MP is equal to or higher than the fixable temperature upper limit value HEATFH, in the subsequent step S128, the heater 310a is turned off, the series of control procedures are ended, and the process returns to the main routine.

Note that in step S122 described above, N
When it is determined to be O, that is, when the current temperature TEMP is determined to be equal to or higher than the feasible fixing temperature lower limit value HEATFL, the following step S124 is skipped, the heater 310a is not turned on, and the above step S126 is directly performed. Run. Further, in this step S126, NO
When it is determined that the current temperature TEMP is lower than the fixable temperature upper limit value HEATFH, the following step S128 is skipped and the heater 3
Without turning off 10a, a series of control procedures are ended and the process returns to the main routine.

As described above, in this embodiment, by performing the heating control operation in the fixing device 212, as shown in FIG. 82, as long as the print request signal is output from the print controller, the lower fixing roller is output. After heating the fixing fixing temperature HEATF to the fixing temperature HEATF, and when the time defined by the first predetermined value Ta elapses after the print request signal is not output from the print control unit, the lower fixing roller 310 is heated to the standby temperature HEATS (ie, , And lowering the temperature) to save energy. On the other hand, when the standby temperature HEATS is maintained, the first and second predetermined values T
When the time defined by the total value of a and Tb (Ta + Tb) elapses, the lower fixing roller 310 is set to the energy saving temperature HEA.
The TE is heated (that is, the temperature is lowered), whereby further energy saving can be achieved.

It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment and can be variously modified without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above-described one embodiment, the case where the invention is applied to the facsimile device has been described, but the invention is not limited to such a configuration and can be applied to a so-called printer device having no communication function. It goes without saying that you can do it.

[0285]

As described above in detail, in the electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention, the sheet-like member is conveyed along the predetermined conveying direction, and the sheet-like member is conveyed along the conveying path. Image forming means for forming an image on the surface of a member, fixing means for thermally fixing the image formed on the surface by the image forming means, and state detection for detecting the operating state of the electrophotographic apparatus. And a control unit for controlling the heating temperature of the fixing unit according to the detection result of the state detection unit, and the control unit starts or continues the image forming operation by the state detection unit. If it is determined that the heating temperature in the fixing unit is set to the fixing possible temperature and the image forming operation is not continued for the first predetermined time, , The above When the heating temperature in the fixing unit is set to a standby temperature lower than the fixing possible temperature and it is determined that this standby state continues for the second predetermined time, the heating temperature in the fixing unit is set to be lower than the standby temperature. It is also characterized by controlling to set a low energy-saving temperature.

The electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention further comprises temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the fixing means, and the fixable temperature has a fixable temperature upper limit value and a fixable temperature lower limit value. However, the standby temperature is
It has a standby temperature upper limit value and a standby temperature lower limit value, and the energy saving temperature has an energy saving temperature upper limit value and an energy saving temperature lower limit value.

Further, in the electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention, the control means detects the temperature in the state where the fixing possible temperature, the standby temperature or the energy saving temperature is set based on the judgment result of the state detecting means. When it is determined from the detection results of the means that the temperature has risen above the respective upper limit values, the heating operation is stopped, and when it is determined that the temperature has fallen below the respective lower limit values, the heating operation is started. It is characterized by controlling like this.

Further, in the electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention, the fixing means is provided with a pair of heat rollers which are in rolling contact with each other, and at least one heat roller is provided with the heating means. ..

Further, in the electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention, the heat rollers are arranged vertically separated from each other, and the heating means is attached so as to heat the outer peripheral surface of the lower heat roller. It is characterized by being.

Further, in the fixing method in the electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention, the image forming means for forming an image on the surface of the sheet-like member conveyed through the conveying path, and the image forming means forms an image on the surface. In an electrophotographic apparatus provided with a fixing unit for thermally fixing the formed image, when the image forming operation of the image forming unit is continued, the heating temperature in the fixing unit is set to a fixable temperature. And a second step of measuring the duration of the stopped state after the image forming operation is stopped, and the time measured in the second step is equal to or more than a first predetermined time. If it is determined that the fixing temperature is higher than the fixing temperature, a third step of setting the heating temperature in the fixing unit to a standby temperature lower than the fixable temperature, and the fixing state after the fixing state is started. A fourth step of counting a connection time,
A fifth step of setting the heating temperature in the fixing unit to an energy-saving temperature lower than the standby temperature when it is determined that the time measured in the fourth step has reached the second predetermined time or more It is characterized by having and.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an electrophotographic apparatus and a fixing method in the electrophotographic apparatus, which can achieve further energy saving as compared with the case of setting the standby temperature.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing an internal configuration of a facsimile machine to which an embodiment of an electrophotographic apparatus according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the configuration of an embodiment of the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. 1 when viewed obliquely from the front.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the configuration of an embodiment of the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. 1 when viewed obliquely from the rear.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view showing the bottom shape of the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. 1 with a bottom blind cover removed.

5 is a bottom view showing a bottom surface shape of a main plate forming the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

6 is a rear view showing the shape of the rear surface of the main plate shown in FIG.

7 is a perspective view showing the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. 2 with an upper housing opened.

8 is a side view showing a side shape of the facsimile device shown in FIG.

9 is a front view showing the front shape of the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG.

10 is a perspective view showing a state in which a document tray provided in the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is taken out.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the original tray shown in FIG. 10 and a tray pedestal attached to the upper housing in a state in which they are separated from each other in order to explain the attachment state.

FIG. 12 is a side sectional view showing the document tray shown in FIG. 11 attached to a tray holder.

FIG. 13 is a side sectional view showing the document tray shown in FIG. 11 in an upright state immediately before being attached to a tray holder.

FIG. 14 is a side cross-sectional view showing a state in which an upright document tray is inserted into the insertion hole of the tray pedestal from the state shown in FIG. 13 from above.

FIG. 15 is a side sectional view showing a state immediately after the operation of inclining the document tray with respect to the tray cradle is started from the state shown in FIG. 14;

16 is a side view showing the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. 2 in a completely closed state.

FIG. 17 is a side view showing the facsimile apparatus in a state where the upper frame is half opened from the state shown in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a side view showing the facsimile apparatus with the upper frame fully opened from the state shown in FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a plan view showing an upper surface shape of an adjustment substrate provided in the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG.

20 is a front view showing a state immediately before the connecting member is attached to the jumper terminal on the adjustment board shown in FIG. 19;

21 is a perspective view showing a frame structure of the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG.

22 is a plan view showing an axially supported state of the swing frame shown in FIG. 21 with respect to a main plate. FIG.

23 is a side view showing a state in which the swing frame shown in FIG. 22 is axially supported by the main plate. FIG.

FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the swing frame is axially supported by the main plate, taken along a line AA in FIG. 22.

FIG. 25 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the swing frame is axially supported by the main plate, taken along the line BB in FIG. 22.

FIG. 26 is a plan view showing how the damper is attached to the swing frame.

27 is a side view showing how the damper is attached to the swing frame shown in FIG. 21. FIG.

28 is a side sectional view showing the internal structure of the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. 1, in particular, the configuration around the interlock mechanism in a completely closed state.

29 is an internal structure of the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. 28, in which the structure around the interlock mechanism is taken out,
It is a side sectional view shown in the state where only a control panel was opened.

30 is an internal structure of the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. 28, in which the structure around the interlock mechanism is taken out,
It is a side sectional view shown in the state where the upper housing was opened.

31 is a side view showing a state where an image reading mechanism provided in the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is taken out.

32 is a plan view showing a top surface shape of the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. 1 with an upper housing removed.

FIG. 33 is a side view showing a side surface configuration of the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. 32.

34 is a side view showing the configuration of the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. 33 with the control panel opened.

35 is a side cross-sectional view showing the configuration near the document separating portion in the image reading mechanism shown in FIG. 31. FIG.

FIG. 36 is an enlarged side sectional view showing the vicinity of the document separating portion shown in FIG. 35 in an enlarged state.

37 is a side sectional view showing a shape of a lower document guide in the image reading mechanism shown in FIG. 31. FIG.

38 is a side view showing the shape of a support plate of the lower document guide shown in FIG.

39 is a perspective view showing a structure of a bearing bush for rotatably supporting a document separation feed roller and a white roller which are respectively attached to the lower document guide shown in FIG. 38. FIG.

FIG. 40 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a document separating unit in the image reading mechanism shown in FIG.

41 is a side sectional view showing a side surface shape of the document separating unit shown in FIG. 40.

FIG. 42 is a side sectional view for explaining the operation of taking out one original.

FIG. 43 is a side sectional view for explaining a separating / removing operation of a plurality of originals smaller than a predetermined number.

FIG. 44 is a side sectional view for explaining a separating / removing operation of a document larger than a predetermined number.

FIG. 45 is a perspective view showing a state immediately before the document separating unit is attached to the lower document guide.

FIG. 46 is a side sectional view showing a state immediately before the document separating unit is attached to the lower document guide.

FIG. 47 is a side sectional view showing a state in which the rear locking boss portion is fitted into the corresponding rear locking groove during the operation of mounting the document separating unit on the lower document guide.

FIG. 48 is a side cross-sectional view showing the upper side of the elastic stopper piece which is biased rearward during the operation of attaching the original separating unit to the lower original guide.

FIG. 49 is a side sectional view showing a state where the document separating unit is completely attached to the lower document guide.

FIG. 50 is a perspective view showing a state immediately before the document take-out roller and the white roller are attached to the lower document guide, with the upper document guide removed.

FIG. 51 is a side view showing a state immediately before the document take-out roller and the white roller are attached to the lower document guide.

52 is a side view showing a state where a document take-out roller and a white roller are fitted into a lower document guide from above. FIG.

FIG. 53 is a side view showing a state where a document take-out roller and a white roller are attached and locked to the lower document guide.

FIG. 54 is a side sectional view generally showing the configuration of the printing mechanism.

FIG. 55 is a side sectional view showing a paper transport path of the print mechanism and various mechanisms located around the paper transport path, which are taken out and shown.

FIG. 56 is a side view showing a part of an upstream side part of the paper transport path of the printing mechanism, which is taken out and shown.

FIG. 57 is an exploded perspective view showing how the developing device and the drum unit are attached to the gear box.

FIG. 58 is a side cross-sectional view showing a mounted state of the transfer charger and a mounted state of the pre-roller in the drum unit in a locked state of the transfer charger.

FIG. 59 shows a transfer charger in the drum unit,
It is a sectional side view shown in an unlocked state.

FIG. 60 shows a transfer charger in the drum unit,
It is a side sectional view shown in an opened state.

FIG. 61 shows a transfer charger in the drum unit,
It is a side sectional view shown in a closed state.

FIG. 62 is a plan view showing a state where the auger is attached to the drum unit with a part thereof cut away.

FIG. 63 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing how the auger is attached to the drum unit.

FIG. 64 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a driving force transmission state to the developing device in the printer driving mechanism.

FIG. 65 is a side view showing a driving force transmission system to the fixing device in the printer driving mechanism in a connected state.

FIG. 66 is a side view showing the driving force transmission system to the fixing device in the printer driving mechanism in a cut state.

FIG. 67 is a side sectional view schematically showing the configuration of the paper ejection mechanism when the upper movable paper ejection guide is in the closed state.

FIG. 68 is a front view showing the front shape of the paper discharge mechanism.

FIG. 69 is a cross-sectional view showing the paper discharge mechanism taken along the line AA.

FIG. 70 is a plan view showing the planar shape of the paper discharge mechanism.

71 is a left side view showing the left side shape of the paper discharge mechanism. FIG.

72 is a cross-sectional view showing the paper discharge mechanism taken along the line BB shown in FIG. 68. FIG.

FIG. 73 is a right side view showing the right side shape of the paper discharge mechanism.

FIG. 74 is a side sectional view showing the paper discharge mechanism in a state where the upper movable paper discharge guide is pulled upward.

FIG. 75 is a cross-sectional view showing the paper discharge mechanism taken along the line C-C in FIG. 68.

FIG. 76:

FIG. 77 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of a conveyance control operation from the sheet pickup to the fixing device.

FIG. 78 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of print data sending operation.

FIG. 79 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure of a print operation.

FIG. 80 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of a heating basic control operation in the fixing device as an example of the fixing method in the electrophotographic device according to the present invention.

FIG. 81 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of heating control of a heater in the fixing device.

FIG. 82 is a diagram showing a state of temperature change of the lower fixing roller in the fixing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Facsimile device 14 Printing mechanism 52 Main control board 202 Paper feed roller 204 Paper transport path 206 Upper registration roller 208 Lower registration roller 210 Photosensitive drum 212 Fixing device 232 Paper transport detection switch

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A conveyance path along which a sheet-shaped member is conveyed along a predetermined conveyance direction, and image forming means for forming an image on the surface of the sheet-like member conveyed along the conveyance path. The fixing unit for thermally fixing the image formed on the surface by the image forming unit, the state detecting unit for detecting the operation state of the electrophotographic apparatus, and the fixing unit according to the detection result of the state detecting unit. A heating means for controlling the heating temperature of the fixing means when the state detecting means determines that the image forming operation is started or continued. When it is determined that the image forming operation is not continued for a first predetermined time, the heating temperature in the fixing unit is set lower than the fixable temperature. When the standby temperature is set and it is determined that this standby state continues for the second predetermined time, the heating temperature in the fixing unit is controlled to be set to an energy saving temperature lower than the standby temperature. Characteristic electrophotographic device. 2. A temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in the fixing means is further provided, wherein the fixable temperature has a fixable temperature upper limit value and a fixable temperature lower limit value, and the standby temperature is a standby temperature. The electrophotographic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electrophotographic apparatus has an upper limit value and a standby temperature lower limit value, and the energy saving temperature has an energy saving temperature upper limit value and an energy saving temperature lower limit value. 3. The control unit sets an upper limit value for each of the detection results of the temperature detection unit in a state in which the fixing possible temperature, the standby temperature, or the energy saving temperature is set based on the determination result of the state detection unit. When it is determined that the temperature has risen above, the heating operation is stopped, and when it is determined that the temperature has dropped below the respective lower limit values, the heating operation is controlled to start. The electrophotographic apparatus according to claim 2. 4. The electrophotographic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fixing unit includes a pair of heat rollers that are in rolling contact with each other, and at least one of the heat rollers is provided with a heating unit. .. 5. The heat roller is arranged in a vertically separated state, and the heating means is attached so as to heat the outer peripheral surface of the lower heat roller. The electrophotographic apparatus according to 1. 6. An image forming means for forming an image on the surface of the sheet-shaped member conveyed through a conveying path, and a fixing for thermally fixing the image formed on the surface by the image forming means. A first step of setting the heating temperature of the fixing means to a fixable temperature when the image forming operation of the image forming means is continued, A second step of measuring the duration of this stopped state after being stopped, and the fixing unit when it is determined that the time measured in the second step is equal to or longer than a first predetermined time A third step of setting the heating temperature in the fixing temperature to a standby temperature lower than the fixable temperature; a fourth step of measuring the duration of the fixing state after the fixing state is started; In the process of And a fifth step of setting the heating temperature in the fixing unit to an energy saving temperature lower than the standby temperature when it is determined that the predetermined time has exceeded the second predetermined time. Fixing method for electrophotographic apparatus.