JPH07172654A - Image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an image recorder having a paper discharge tray by which even a recording material such as a cardboard having large rigidity can be reliably fed and discharged. CONSTITUTION:A paper discharge tray 24 is installed on a main body 5 so as to be switched to an inclined condition and an almost parallel condition in the recording material discharging direction A. In this constitution, when the paper discharge tray 24 is switched to the almost parallel condition in the recording material discharging direction, even a paper sheet 12 having large rigidity can be smoothly sent into a paper discharge port 11, and can be reliably fed without curving it forcibly by using the paper discharge tray 24 as a guide. Even when the fed paper sheet 12 having large rigidity is printed by moving it backward, the paper sheet to be discharged from the paper discharge port 11 can be smoothly derived, and can be reliably discharged without curving it forcibly by using the paper discharge tray 24 almost in parallel in the paper discharging direction as a guide.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus such as a printer, and more particularly, to an image recording apparatus configured to be able to feed a recording material from a paper ejection port using a paper ejection tray for ejecting the recording material as a guide. Regarding the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing the structure of a conventional printer (image recording apparatus) of this type.

In this printer, the cassette 2 in the main body 5 is
The sheets (recording materials) 3 stacked on the sheet are fed from the uppermost portion by the sheet feeding roller 1 which is the first sheet feeding means, and are separated one by one by the separation claw 4, and the sheet guide 23
It is guided to the sub-scanning roller 7 by the guides a and 23b, and is conveyed to the printing unit 8 by the printing width. The print head 9 prints on the paper 3 by ejecting droplets while moving in the paper width direction along the guide rails 19a and 19b. The printed paper 3 is discharged from the paper discharge port 11 by the paper discharge roller 10 onto the paper discharge tray 24 attached to the tray mounting portion 6 of the main body 5.

The paper discharge direction (recording material discharge direction) A from the paper discharge port 11 is substantially horizontal. Since the paper discharge tray 24 is tilted upward by an angle θ with respect to the paper discharge direction, the paper 3b (represented by a chain double-dashed line) that is being discharged is ascended while the direction of the paper 3b is bent upward, and the discharge is completed. Then, it returns in the direction of arrow B by its own weight. Then, the sheets are aligned by hitting the lower wall 21 of the sheet discharge port 11 to form the sheet discharge stack 3c.

The cassette 2 can be pulled out in the paper discharge direction and the paper 3 can be replenished.

Further, manual paper feeding is possible as the second paper feeding means, and the paper ejection port 11 is used as a manual paper feeding port. Further, after printing, the paper is again discharged from the same paper discharge port 11.

That is, as shown in the state explanatory view of FIG. 9, a manual feed switch (not shown) is pressed and a manual feed guide plate drive mechanism (not shown) is actuated to raise the manual feed guide plate 24a, In conjunction with this, the tip of the switching guide plate 30 in the main body 5 is lowered by a switching guide plate drive mechanism (not shown).

After being raised, the manual feed guide plate 24a guides the paper 18 on the paper discharge tray 24 so as to hit the nip 20 of the paper discharge roller 10. The paper 18 conveyed into the main body 5 by the reverse rotation of the paper discharge roller 10 and the sub-scanning roller 7 passes through the upper surface of the switching guide plate 30 after being lowered, and as shown in the state explanatory view of FIG. Is once drawn on the manual feed stand 33.

Then, as shown in the state explanatory view of FIG. 11, the manual scanning guide plate 24a descends at the same time when the sub-scanning roller 7 and the paper discharge roller 10 rotate normally, and printing and paper discharge are performed in this state. Further, the tip of the switching guide plate 30 rises after the end of paper discharge.

As described above, in the above printer, the paper discharge tray 24 also serves as the paper feed tray. Thus, all the paper discharge and the paper feed can be performed from one side of the main body 5.

[0011]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional image recording apparatus, the paper discharge tray 24 is inclined so that the paper discharge stack 3c can be formed. Although there is no problem, in the case of a paper having a large rigidity such as a thick paper, as shown in the explanatory view of FIG. 12, the paper 12 does not fit in the paper ejection tray 24 and the manual paper feed guide plate 24a during manual feeding, and as a result, the paper ejection roller 10
In some cases, the paper cannot be fed without being guided to the nip 20.

Even when the paper can be fed, as shown in the explanatory view of FIG. 13, when the paper 12 is ejected while printing, the paper 12 abuts against the paper ejection tray 24, so that the sub-scanning roller 7 and the paper ejection roller A large load is applied to the sheet 10, and as a result, the feeding of the sheet 12 may be inaccurate or may be stopped in some cases.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an image recording apparatus provided with a paper discharge tray capable of surely feeding and discharging even a recording material having high rigidity such as thick paper. The purpose is to provide.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above object, in the image recording apparatus according to the present invention, a paper discharge tray (2
4) was attached to the main body (5) so as to be switchable between a state inclined with respect to the recording material discharge direction (A) and a state substantially parallel thereto.

[0015]

In the image recording apparatus having the above construction, by switching the paper discharge tray (24) to a state substantially parallel to the recording material discharge direction (A), even a recording material having a high rigidity such as thick paper can be discharged. Using the paper tray as a guide, the paper can be smoothly fed into the paper discharge port (11) without being curved, and the paper can be reliably fed.

Also, when a recording material having a high rigidity fed is printed in the reverse direction, the recording material discharged from the paper discharge port is substantially parallel to the paper discharging direction. Using the guide as a guide, the paper can be smoothly guided out without being forcibly bent, and the paper can be reliably discharged.

The reference numerals in parentheses are for reference to the drawings and do not limit the structure of the present invention.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the arrangement of a printer (image recording apparatus) according to the embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a perspective view of the discharge tray of the same printer, FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the tray mounting portion of the main body of the same printer, and FIG. 4 is X of FIG.
It is a X-ray sectional view. In addition, in the drawing of the embodiment, FIG.
The parts which are not different from the conventional example shown in FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printer according to the present invention is characterized in that the discharge tray 24 is the tray mounting portion 6 of the main body 5.
In addition, as will be described later, it is attached so as to be switchable between a state inclined with respect to the sheet discharge direction (recording material discharge direction) A and a substantially parallel state. In the case of the present embodiment, the sheet discharge direction A is horizontal, and the state in which the sheet discharge direction A is inclined with respect to the sheet discharge direction A is the sheet stack position (two-dot chain line in the figure), and the substantially parallel state is the thick paper manual feed position ( In the figure, it will be called solid line).

As shown in FIG. 2, arms 46 are extended toward the main body side on both sides of the paper discharge tray 24. A support shaft 48 is provided at the base of the side surface of each arm 46, and a tip end is provided. A stopper boss 49 is projectingly provided on this. The support shaft 48
Is arranged coaxially with the center of rotation of the manual feed guide plate 24a that is rotatably connected to the paper discharge tray 24.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the support shaft of the discharge tray 24 is provided on the facing surfaces (only one side is shown) of the pair of plate-shaped tray mounting portions 6 projecting laterally from the main body 5. 48
A shaft hole 40, which is long in the substantially horizontal direction, and a switching hole 41 into which the stopper boss 49 is fitted are formed. The switching hole 41 has a horizontal support portion 42 extending substantially horizontally on the main body side.
And an inclined support portion 43 that extends obliquely downward to the main body side form a substantially U-shape. Further, those inclined supports 42
The locking protrusions 42a, 4
3a is provided.

With such a configuration, the paper discharge tray 24 is mounted on the tray mounting portion 6 of the main body 5 so as to be switchable between the paper discharge stack position and the thick paper manual feed position.

That is, as shown in the state explanatory view of FIG. 5, the stopper boss 49 of the paper discharge tray 24 is fitted into the inclined support portion 42 of the switching hole 41 of the tray mounting portion 6, and the locking projection 4 is provided.
By locating it on the main body side of 2a, the discharge tray 24
Can be held in the discharge stack position.

In this way, if the paper discharge tray 24 is held at the paper discharge stack position and the manual feed guide plate 24a is also tilted as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG.
Similar to the case of FIG. 8 in the conventional example, the sheet discharge port 1 of the main body 5
The sheets (recording materials) ejected from the sheet No. 1 can be stacked on the sheet ejection tray 24 in an aligned state to form a sheet ejection stack.

To switch the paper discharge tray 24 from the paper discharge stack position to the thick paper manual feed position,
First, as shown in the explanatory view of FIG. 6A, the paper discharge tray 24 is pulled in the tray tip direction (arrow C direction), and the stopper boss 49 is engaged by the elasticity of the arm 46 with respect to the inclined support portion 42 of the switching hole 41. Inclination support part 42 over the stop projection 42a
It will be in a state of being separated from. Next, as shown in the explanatory view of FIG. 6B, the paper discharge tray 24 is rotated downward (direction of arrow D), and the paper discharge tray 24 is further shown in the explanatory view of FIG. 6C. , Press in the direction of the main body (direction of arrow E).
Then, the stopper boss 49 causes the horizontal support portion 43 of the switching hole 41 to move.
Entering, the elasticity of the arm 46 causes the locking projection 43a to get over the main body side. With this, the paper discharge tray 24 can be switched to the cardboard manual feed position and held horizontally.

In this way, the paper discharge tray 24 is held in the cardboard manual feed position, and as shown by the solid line in FIG. 1, the manual feed guide plate drive mechanism (not shown) raises the manual feed guide plate 24a to make it horizontal. With this configuration, even the paper 12 having a large rigidity such as thick paper can be smoothly guided by the paper ejection tray 24 and the manual feed guide plate 24a without being forcibly curved, and the paper ejection roller 10 in the paper ejection port 11 can be formed.
The sheet can be fed to the nip 20 and the sheet can be reliably fed.

Even when the manually fed paper 12 is moved backward to print, as shown in the state explanatory view of FIG.
The paper 12 ejected from the paper ejection port 11 can be smoothly guided out without being forcibly curved by using the paper ejection tray 24 parallel to the paper ejection direction as a guide and ejected reliably. At the time of this paper discharge, the manual feed guide plate 24a
To lower.

In order to switch the paper discharge tray 24 from the thick paper manual feed position to the paper discharge stack position, the switching operation described above may be performed in reverse.

Further, in the case of manually feeding an ordinary paper having a low rigidity, it is not necessary to switch the paper discharge tray 24 to the thick paper manual feed position, and if only the manual feed guide plate 24a is raised, it is possible to change the drawing in the conventional example. The paper can be fed in the same manner as in case 9.

In addition to the configuration of the above embodiment, the position of the discharge tray 24, that is, the angle with respect to the discharge direction,
It may be switchable in multiple steps or steplessly, and the release tray 24 at each position may be unlocked by a push button method.

[0032]

As described above, in the image recording apparatus according to the present invention, the paper discharge tray is switched to a state substantially parallel to the recording material discharge direction even when a paper having a large rigidity such as a thick paper is used. As a result, it is possible to reliably feed the paper having high rigidity and eject the paper. Further, in the case of using normal paper having low rigidity, the paper discharge tray can be inclined with respect to the recording material discharge direction to form the paper discharge stack.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a printer (image recording apparatus) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a discharge tray of the same printer.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a tray mounting portion of the main body of the same printer.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a state explanatory view showing a state in which a sheet discharge tray of the same printer is held at a sheet discharge stack position.

FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C are explanatory views for explaining an operation of switching the discharge tray of the same printer from the discharge stack position to the thick paper manual feed position.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of a state of the same printer when printing is performed by reversing the manually fed paper.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a printer (image recording apparatus) in a conventional example.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a state of the same printer during manual paper feeding.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view of another state of the same printer during manual paper feeding.

FIG. 11 is a state explanatory view showing a state of printing on a manually fed sheet of paper and discharging of the same printer.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a problem in a conventional example.

FIG. 13 is another explanatory diagram illustrating a problem in the conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 Main body 11 Paper ejection port 12 Paper (recording material) 24 Paper ejection tray

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A discharge tray attached to the main body,
In an image recording apparatus configured to eject recording material from a paper ejection port of the main body and to feed recording material from the paper ejection port using the paper ejection tray as a guide, the paper ejection tray is a main body. An image recording apparatus, which is mounted so as to be switchable between a state inclined with respect to a recording material discharge direction and a state substantially parallel thereto.