JPH066378Y2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a cassette loading mechanism.

[Prior art]

In an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a printer using electrophotographic technology, the amount of paper used varies depending on the purpose of use of the user, etc. Although it is sufficient to feed the paper by the cassette, it is inconvenient to replace the cassette several times in the middle when copying a large number of sheets of which the usage amount is several hundred. As a method for eliminating this inconvenience, for example, there is a method described in JP-A-57-17960.

That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the electrophotographic copying machine 1 is provided with two cassettes 2 and 3 for storing the sheets, and further, a paper feeding unit for storing a large number of sheets is provided separately from the main body of the electrophotographic copying machine 1. A paper unit 4 is provided, and when a large number of paper sheets are required in succession, the paper feed unit 4 can be attached to the main body of the electrophotographic copying machine 1 instead of the cassette 3 for electrophotographic copying. The machine 1 and the paper feeding unit 4 are placed on a dedicated stand 5 (see FIG. 2). When the paper feeding unit 4 is attached to the main body of the electrophotographic copying machine 1, paper is sequentially fed into the paper feeding unit 4 one by one as in the case of normal cassette paper feeding.

That is, when copying several tens of sheets, the cassette 2
Alternatively, when 3 is used for copying a large number of sheets, the paper feeding unit 4 is used.

[Problems of conventional technology]

According to the method described in the above publication, it is possible to appropriately meet the user's request for a small number of copies or a large number of copies, but a sheet feeding unit 4 is provided as a separate unit for copying a large number of sheets, and the main body of the copying machine is provided. Attaching and making it possible to feed paper in the same manner as normal cassette feeding not only makes the structure very complicated, but also requires a large increase in cost. In particular, it is not appropriate to use such a configuration in a small or medium size machine.

[Purpose of device]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of appropriately loading a small number of cassettes and a large number of cassettes with a simple structure.

[Key points of device]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus having a space for accommodating at least an upper surface portion of a paper cassette in a bottom portion of a casing constituting a main body of an apparatus, in which at least a part of the bottom face of the casing is cut out The upper surface of the paper cassette is configured to be housed inside the housing through the cutout portion, and the paper cassette includes support means for locking and supporting the device body. The device body is mounted on the paper cassette. It is characterized by being placed in.

[Example of device]

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

3 and 4 are block diagrams of the image forming apparatus showing the first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 3, a charging device 7, a developing device 8, a transfer device 9, and a cleaning device 10 are provided around the rotatably provided photoconductor 6, and a document table 11 is provided above the photoconductor 6. A light source 12 and a lens 13 are provided for performing image exposure of a document placed on the. Further, a fixing device 14 is provided in front of the paper discharge unit.

Paper can be fed from the manual feed stand 16 or the cassette 17. The bottom of the image forming apparatus main body is notched, and the entire cassette 17 is accommodated. The loading of the cassette 17 is guided by guide members 18 and 19 provided on the bottom of the main body of the image forming apparatus, and set at a fixed position.

Further, a stand 20 for supporting the apparatus body on the installation table 15 is attached to the bottom of the image forming apparatus body, and a screw portion is provided on the stand 20 to adjust the height of the image forming apparatus body. It is configured to be able to.

The operation of the image forming apparatus having the above configuration will be described.

First, the charger 7 uniformly charges the surface of the photoconductor 6,
Subsequently, image exposure of a document (not shown) placed on the document table 11 is performed. Image exposure is performed by irradiating the surface of the photoconductor 6 with light reflected by the document from the light source 12 through the lens 13, and an electrostatic latent image according to the document is formed on the surface of the photoconductor 6. The electrostatic latent image is visualized by toner in the developing device 8. Subsequently, the toner image on the photoconductor 6 is transferred by the transfer device 9 onto the paper fed from the manual feed stand 16 or the cassette 17 at a timing. After the transfer, the paper is separated from the photoconductor 6 and the fixing device 1
After being fixed in No. 4, it is ejected out of the machine. After the transfer, the toner remaining on the photoconductor 6 is cleaned by the cleaning device 10 to prepare for the start of a new process.

Image formation is performed by the above steps, but when forming a large number of images, a cassette capable of accommodating a large number of sheets is loaded in the apparatus main body.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which a cassette for a large number of sheets is loaded. The cassette 21 can store, for example, about twice as many sheets as the cassette 17, and when the cassette 21 is loaded in the apparatus main body, the bottom of the apparatus main body is cut out, so that a part of the cassette 21 is a bottom portion of the apparatus main body. It is stored in a state of protruding from.

Therefore, when loading the cassette 21, the stand 20
Installation base 1 by screwing back the screw part provided on
The apparatus main body is lifted from 5, and a loading space for the cassette 21 is secured. The cassette 21 is guided by the guide members 18 and 19 and set at a fixed position, and as in the case of the cassette 17, the sheets are fed one by one from the cassette 21.

In this way, when forming a large number of images, it is possible to easily load a large number of cassettes in place of the small number of cassettes. The stand 20 may be formed by stacking rubber seats or the like, and the insertion direction of the cassettes 17 and 21 is not limited to the front direction of the drawing as in the present embodiment, but may be a left or right direction. .

5 and 6 are configuration diagrams of an image forming apparatus showing a second embodiment of the present invention. The same parts as those in FIG. 3 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the duplicated description will be omitted.

The image forming steps of charging, exposing, developing, transferring, fixing and cleaning in the image forming apparatus of this embodiment are exactly the same as those in the first embodiment. The structure is different from the first embodiment in that the main body of the image forming apparatus is placed over the cassette 22 placed on the installation table 15 so that the main body of the image forming apparatus is integrated with the cassette. That is what is being done.

That is, the bottom plate of the image forming apparatus main body is the base end portion 23.
a and 23b are cut out, and the cassette 2
2 is provided with cassette protrusions 24a and 24b, and when the apparatus main body is placed on the cassette 22, the base end 23a and the cassette protrusion 24a, and the base end 23b and the cassette protrusion 24 are provided.
b are engaged with each other to be integrated, and when the apparatus main body and the cassette 22 are integrated, sheet feeding is performed from the cassette 22 one by one (see FIG. 6).

Therefore, when forming a small number of images, the main body of the image forming apparatus may be set in a cassette for a small number of sheets, and when forming a large number of images, the main body of the image forming apparatus may be set.
This embodiment is particularly effective for a small and lightweight device.

[Effect of device]

As described in detail above, the image forming apparatus of the present invention can easily load a small number of cassettes and a large number of cassettes with a simple and inexpensive structure.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 and 2 are respectively a front view and a perspective view of a conventional electrophotographic copying machine, FIGS. 3 and 4 are configuration diagrams of an image forming apparatus showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. And FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an image forming apparatus showing a second embodiment of the present invention. 1 ... Electrophotographic copying machine, 2, 3, 17, 21, 22 ... Cassette, 4 ... Paper feeding unit, 6 ... Photosensitive member, 8 ... Developing device, 10 ... Cleaning device, 12 ... Light source , 14 ... Fixing device, 15 ... Installation base, 16 ... Manual feed stand, 18, 19 ... Guide member, 20 ... Stand, 23a, 23b ... Base end, 24a, 24b ... Cassette projection.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Osamu Kitahata Osamu Kitabata, Minami 1-2 chome, Musashimurayama, Tokyo AI Day Co., Ltd. Examiner Toshiyasu Kimura (56) Reference JP-A-59-190128 (JP, A) JP-A-60-19159 (JP, A) JP-A-59-207337 (JP, A) JP-A-57-122468 (JP, A) JP-A-50-98846 (JP, A) Actual development Sho-51 -64631 (JP, U) Actual development Sho 52-108938 (JP, U) Japanese patent Sho 48-26775 (JP, B1) Actual public Hei 5-35407 (JP, Y2) Actual public Hei 2-743 (JP, Y2) )

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An image forming apparatus having a space for accommodating at least an upper surface portion of a paper cassette in a bottom portion of a casing constituting a main body of an apparatus, wherein at least a part of the bottom face of the casing is cut out, and the cutout portion is passed through. The upper surface of the paper cassette is configured to be housed inside the housing, the paper cassette includes support means for locking and supporting the device body, and the device body is placed on the paper cassette. An image forming apparatus characterized by.