JPH07109052A - Image former - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an image former equipped with a manual paper feeding mount that is able to reduce the member of part items in the whole device, with no hindrance at unused time, and also to perform the positional regulation of a paper end face in time of manual paper feeding in an accurate manner. CONSTITUTION:A turn guide 11 to guide a sheet of paper fed by a cassette as turning over both sides is installed in and around a manual, paper inlet port 8 with a shaft 12 as the fulcrum as free of opening or closing, and at time being situated in the closing position, it serves as a normal turn guide, but situated in the opening position, it doubles as a manual paper feeding mount for guiding the paper into the manual paper inlet port 8 the other way. In addition, a rib member 13 being projected and retractable in an arrow E direction is installed in the turn guide 11, and a projecting part in time of the projection comes to a guide 13b to regulate the end face of the manual feeding paper, while an inside surface part in time of retreat comes to a turnover guiding rib 13a. As for the rib member 13, plural pieces are installed there at proper intervals conformed to paper size, and they are automatically projected or retreated according to the opening or closing of the turn guide 11. In this connection, they are able to be projected or retracted even by manual operation as well.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine and a facsimile, and more specifically, means for reversing and guiding the paper fed from a paper feeding section and manual paper feeding. And an image forming apparatus including both of the following.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 shows the overall configuration of a conventional image forming apparatus (here, a printer is shown as an example). This apparatus includes a paper feed cassette 1 which is detachably attached to the main body of the apparatus, a paper feed roll 2 as a paper feed unit for sequentially feeding the papers stacked and stored in the paper feed cassette 1, and the fed papers A turn guide 3 that guides the sheet while reversing it, a standby roll 4 that temporarily waits the sheet that has been reversed and re-conveys at a predetermined timing, and an image forming unit 5 that forms a toner image on the conveyed sheet based on image information ( Photoconductor drum 5a, charging device 5b, optical writing head 5c, developing device 5
d, transfer device 5e, cleaner 5f, etc.), a fixing device 6 for fixing the toner image on the paper, a paper discharge roll 7 for discharging the fixed paper to the outside of the apparatus, and the like.

Here, the turn guide 3 is provided so as to be openable and closable in the direction of arrow A with the shaft 3a as a fulcrum, so that the jam can be removed. Usually, ribs 3b having a curved surface are provided on the inner surface of the turn guide 3 at appropriate intervals according to the paper size.

In addition to the paper feeding from the above-mentioned paper feeding cassette 1, a manual paper feeding port 8 is provided on the side of the main body of the device for manually feeding the paper to the image transfer portion in the device. A manual paper feed tray 9 for guiding the paper to the manual paper feed inlet 8 is provided, and manual paper feed is also possible. The manual paper feed tray 9 may be one that is rotatable in the direction of arrow B as shown in FIG. 7, one that is screwed as shown in FIG. 8, or one that is detachably attached. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a guide 9a which is slidable in the direction of arrow C according to the width of the sheet is provided on the upper surface of the manual sheet tray 9 as a regulating member for regulating the sheet side end surface when the sheet is introduced. .

[0005]

The manual paper tray 9 is shown in FIG.
In the case of the fixed type as shown in (3), there is a problem in that it is extremely obstructive because it sticks out to the side of the device even when it is not used. If the guide provided on such a manual paper feed tray is a slide type as described above, there is a problem that rattling is likely to occur left and right, and the positional accuracy of the paper is disturbed.

Further, when the manual paper feed tray 9 is of a rotatable type as shown in FIG. 7, when it is not in use, it can be rotated to the storage position to eliminate the above-mentioned inconvenient protruding portion. On the other hand, there is a problem that the structure becomes complicated and the cost increases. If the guide is slidable in such a manual paper tray, the same problem as described above occurs.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention does not disturb when not in use and can reduce the number of parts of the entire apparatus,
Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus provided with a manual paper feed tray that can accurately regulate the position of the end surface of a paper when manually feeding paper.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a manual sheet introduction port for introducing a sheet into an image transfer section in the apparatus main body, which is provided in a side portion of the apparatus main body, and the manual sheet feed sheet. A rib member having a curved surface on the inside is provided so as to be openable and closable in the vicinity of the introduction port, and is used for inverting the sheet fed from the sheet feeding section in the apparatus main body and guiding it to the image transfer section. In the image forming apparatus having a turn guide, the turn guide serves as a manual sheet tray when the outer surface is opened substantially horizontally, and the rib member is projectable and retractable from the manual sheet tray when it projects. It is characterized in that it is configured so as to also serve as a regulating member for regulating the end face of the manual paper.

[0009]

The turn guide serves as a manual feed sheet tray by opening the turn guide substantially horizontally, and the rib member of the turn guide serves as a regulating member for regulating the sheet end surface of the manual feed sheet tray by projecting the rib member.

As described above, according to the present invention, the turn guide originally provided in the apparatus can be used also as a manual paper tray, and such a construction can be achieved by using the turn guide. This is extremely effective because manual paper feeding cannot occur at the same time.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the same embodiment during manual paper feeding, and FIG. 3 is an overall view of the same embodiment.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a paper feed cassette 1 which is detachable from the main body of the apparatus, and a paper feed unit which sequentially feeds the paper stacked and stored in the paper feed cassette 1 is provided. The paper roll 2, a standby roll 4 for temporarily holding the fed paper and re-conveying it at a predetermined timing, and an image forming unit 5 (photosensitive drum 5a, which forms a toner image on the conveyed paper based on image information). Charging device 5b, optical writing head 5c, developing device 5d, transfer device 5e, cleaner 5f
Etc.), a fixing device 6 for fixing the toner image on a sheet,
A sheet discharge roll 7 for discharging the fixed sheet to the outside of the apparatus is provided, and a manual sheet introduction port 8 for introducing the sheet to the image transfer section in the apparatus by manual operation is provided on the side of the apparatus main body. The configuration of these is similar to that of the device shown in FIG.

In the present embodiment, a turn guide 11 for guiding the paper fed by the paper feed roll 2 to the image transfer portion while reversing the paper fed by the paper feed roll 2 is provided with a shaft 12 near the manual paper feed opening 8. As a fulcrum, it is provided so as to be openable and closable in the direction of arrow D, and its outer surface is closed substantially vertically (the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 3) and the opened position that is opened substantially horizontally (the two in FIG. 3). The position indicated by the dotted line) can be taken. When the turn guide 11 is in the closed position, it serves as a normal turn guide for reversing and guiding the paper fed from the paper feed cassette 1. On the other hand, when the turn guide 11 is in the open position, the manual paper feed port 8 is provided. It serves as a manual paper tray for guiding the paper to.

As shown in FIG. 1, the turn guide 11 is provided with a member (rib member) 13 forming a rib 13a for providing a curved surface on the inner surface of the turn guide 11 on the outer surface of the turn guide 11. Through the opened opening 14 in the direction of arrow E (state shown in FIG. 1B) and backward (FIG. 1B).
The state shown in (a)) is freely provided, and the protruding portion in the case of protruding serves as a guide 13b as a restricting member for restricting the end surface of the manual paper. That is, one rib member 1
3 has both the rib 13a of the turn guide and the guide 13b of the manual paper feed tray.

A plurality of rib members 13 are provided at a suitable interval corresponding to the paper width of, for example, B4 size, A4 size, B5 size, etc., with two rib members 13 being symmetrical in the paper width direction as one set (FIG. 2). Then 3 sets as an example). Here, the rib 13a guides the sheet with the sheet placed on the upper end surface thereof, and is therefore provided so as to be located inside the end surface of the sheet width, while the guide 13b regulates the sheet end surface by the inner side surface thereof. Therefore, the inner side surface is provided so as to be located at the end surface of the sheet width, and therefore, the boundary portion between the side wall surface of the rib 13a and the side wall surface of the guide 13b is slightly stepped.
3c is formed.

Further, in the turn guide 11, for each rib member 13 having the above-mentioned structure, as shown in FIG.
5, a rotatable link 16 is provided, and when the turn guide 11 is opened and closed, one end of the link 16 is engaged with a stopper 17 provided in the main body of the apparatus, counterclockwise at the time of opening and closed at the time of closing. It is configured to rotate clockwise. A tension spring 18 is hooked from the other end of the link 16 to a part of the rib member 13, and when the turn guide 11 is closed, the link 16 is rotated clockwise as shown in FIG. Along with this, an urging force acts on the rib member 13 via the tension spring 18 in the direction of retracting the rib member 13, while the turn guide 11 is opened as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the rib member 13 is biased by a tension spring 18 in a direction in which the rib member 13 is projected in association with the link 16 rotated counterclockwise. Also,
The turn guide 11 is provided with an elastic spring 20 capable of engaging with the convex portion 19 provided on the rib member 13, and by these engagements, the rib member 13 is moved to the retracted position as shown in FIG. It can be held or held in the protruding position as shown in FIG.

In the above configuration, when cassette feeding is performed, the turn guide 11 is used at the closed position as shown in FIG. 1 (a). When the turn guide 11, which has been used as a manual paper tray until now, is moved to the closed position as shown in FIG. 1A, the link 16 engages with the stopper 17 and rotates clockwise, so that the tension spring 18 is moved. All of the rib members 13 are pulled in through to the retracted position, and are held in this position by the engagement of the elastic spring 20 and the convex portion 19. In this state, the rib 13a of each rib member 13 serves as a rib for inverting and guiding the sheet fed from the sheet feeding cassette 1, and normal sheet feeding can be performed.

On the other hand, in the case of manually feeding paper, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the turn guide 11 is used at a position where it is opened substantially horizontally. When the turn guide 11 which has been in the closed position until now is moved to the open position as shown in FIG. 1 (b),
At that time, since the link 16 engages with the stopper 17 and rotates counterclockwise, all the rib members 13 are pulled upward through the tension springs 18 to the projecting position, and the elastic spring 20 and the convex portion are located at this position. It is held by engagement with 19. All rib members 1 held in the protruding position in this way
Among the three, only the rib member corresponding to the paper size to be used is left, and the other rib members are pushed downward (in the direction of arrow F) with a finger and retracted. For example, FIG. 2 shows a state in which all but one set of rib members corresponding to the B4 size are retracted. In this state, the turn guide 11 serves as a manual feed paper tray, and the guide 13b protruding upward from the outer surface thereof functions as a regulating member for regulating the end surface of the manual feed paper, that is, manual feed is possible. When it is desired to change the paper size to be used, the rib member 13 at the position corresponding to the paper size is pushed upward (in the direction of arrow G) with a finger as shown in FIG. All you have to do is retract the member.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, since the turn guide 11 can be used also as the manual paper feed tray as described above, it is not necessary to newly provide a manual paper feed tray, thus reducing the number of parts of the entire apparatus. It can be greatly reduced.
Moreover, when the manual feeding is not performed, the turn guide 11
Since it is only necessary to keep the closed position, it is extremely easy to use because no obtrusive protruding part is formed on the side of the device. Normally, cassette feeding and manual feeding are not performed at the same time, so it is extremely effective to use both the turn guide and the manual feeding tray as described above.

Further, since each guide 13b, which serves as a paper regulating member for manual paper feeding, is provided at a position fixed in the paper width direction, rattling in the paper width direction unlike the conventional slide type does not occur, and therefore, Therefore, it is possible to accurately control the position of the end surface of the paper.

Next, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part of another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of the same embodiment during manual paper feeding. In the above-mentioned embodiment, each rib member 13 can be individually projected and retracted as shown in FIG. 1. However, in this embodiment, all the rib members are integrated so that the entire rib member 13 can be projected and retracted. It is a thing. That is, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, in the turn guide 21 provided in the vicinity of the manual feed sheet introduction port 8 so as to be openable and closable in the direction of arrow D with the shaft 22 as a fulcrum, as in the turn guide 11 of the above embodiment. , An integrally formed rib member 23 having a plurality of ribs 23a on the inner surface side and a plurality of guides 23b on the outer surface side projects in the direction of arrow E (state shown in FIG. 4B) and retracts (FIG. 4B).
(State shown in (a)) It is provided freely. The plurality of ribs 23a and guides 23b are arranged at appropriate intervals corresponding to the paper size, like the ribs 13a and guides 13b in the above embodiment. However, as shown in FIG. 6, the height of each of the plurality of guides 23b is configured so that the guide corresponding to the small paper size is lower than the guide corresponding to the large paper size, that is, the manual paper feeding. Occasionally, large-sized paper is passed over a guide for small-sized paper and regulated (papers P ₁ , P ₂ , and P ₃ shown in FIG. 6 are, for example, B4 size, A4 size, and B5 size, respectively. Is). Even with this configuration, since the paper is extremely thin, it is sufficient that the height of the guide 23b actually slightly projects from the surface of the paper regulated by the guide 23b, and there is no problem in manual insertion operation.

Further, a cam 24 having a convex portion 24a protruding upward is fixedly provided coaxially with the shaft 22 on the apparatus main body side, and a guide pin engaging with the cam 24 is provided on the rib member 23. 25 are provided. Further, a tension spring 26 is hooked from a part of the turn guide 21 to the end of the guide pin 25, and constantly urges the rib member 23 toward its retracted position.

In the above construction, when feeding the cassette, the turn guide 21 is used at the closed position as shown in FIG. 4 (a). When the turn guide 21 is in the closed position, the spring member 26 pulls the rib member 23 inward to the retracted position. In this state, the rib member 23
Each of the ribs 23a serves as a rib for reversing and guiding the sheet fed from the sheet feeding cassette 1, and normal cassette sheet feeding becomes possible.

On the other hand, in case of manually feeding paper, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the turn guide 21 is used at a position where it is opened substantially horizontally. When the turn guide 21 is in the open position, the guide pin 25 is pushed up by the convex portion 24a of the cam 24, and accordingly, the rib member 23 is also pushed up to the projecting position. In this state, the turn guide 21 serves as a manual paper feed tray, and the guide 23b protruding upward from the outer surface of the turn guide 21 functions as a regulating member for regulating the end face of the manual paper feed, that is, manual paper feed is possible.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, in addition to the same effect as the above-mentioned embodiment, the rib member 23 is provided as described above.
Since it has a single structure including a plurality of ribs 23a and guides 23b and is capable of projecting and retracting as a whole, there is an advantage that the structure can be made simpler and cheaper than that of the above embodiment.

In each of the above embodiments, the guide of the rib member is automatically projected when the turn guide is opened. This is preferable, but the rib member is not limited to this, What is configured to be retractable is within the scope of the present invention, and for example, the rib member may be configured to be taken in and out by manual operation.

[0027]

According to the present invention, since the turn guide can be used also as the manual paper feed tray, it is not necessary to newly provide a manual paper feed tray, and therefore, the number of parts of the entire apparatus can be greatly reduced. When it is not used as a manual paper tray, it does not have an obtrusive protruding part on the side of the device, which makes it extremely easy to use.

Furthermore, when the rib member is used as a paper regulating member for manual paper feeding, the position of the paper regulating member in the paper width direction is fixed, so that there is no rattling in the paper width direction, and therefore, It is possible to accurately control the position of the end surface of the paper.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an essential part of an embodiment of the present invention, (a)
Shows a state when feeding a cassette, (b) shows a state when manually feeding, and (c) shows an operation for changing the sheet size when manually feeding.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view at the time of manual paper feeding in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an overall view of the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part of another embodiment of the present invention,
(A) shows the state when the cassette is fed, and (b) shows the state when the sheet is manually fed.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of the same embodiment during manual paper feeding.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a relationship between a height of a guide 23b and a paper size in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an overall view of a conventional image forming apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional manual paper tray.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Paper Feed Cassette 2 Paper Feed Roll 5 Image Forming Section 8 Manual Feeding Paper Inlet 11 Turn Guide 12 Shaft 13 Rib Member 13a Rib 13b Guide 15 Shaft 16 Link 17 Stopper 18 Pulling Spring 19 Convex 20 Elastic Spring 21 Turn Guide 22 Shaft 23 Rib member 23a Rib 23b Guide 24 Cam 25 Guide pin 26 Extension spring

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI Technical display location G03G 21/16 H04N 1/00 108 C

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A manual sheet feed port provided on the side of the apparatus main body for introducing a sheet into an image transfer section in the apparatus main body, and provided with a curved surface on the inner surface which is openably and closably provided near the manual sheet feed port. An image forming apparatus having a rib member and a turn guide for inverting a sheet fed from a sheet feeding section in the apparatus main body at the curved surface and guiding the sheet to the image transfer section, wherein the turn guide is When the outer surface is opened substantially horizontally, it serves as a manual paper feed tray, and the rib member is configured to be capable of protruding and retracting from the manual paper feed tray and also serving as a regulating member for regulating the end surface of the manual paper when it projects. An image forming apparatus characterized by the above.