JPH07187483A - Picture image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the pagination of discharge paper without large modification of a main body of a device provided with a face up paper discharge function only. CONSTITUTION:Each control of paper supply system K, a paper conveyance system H, and an image formation and processing system G is conducted by a main control section of a picture image forming device main body. When 'pagination mode' is selected, the control of the paper supply system K is carried out by different control from ordinary paper supply control (for instance, continuous operation) so that picture image formation processing in the image formation processing system G is not performed. In the ordinary paper supply mode, a bundle S1 of paper sheets which are discharged with face up on a paper discharge tray 13 are loaded according to the order reverse (the order of P3, P2, P1) to the original page order. When the bindle S1 of sheets which are discharged are set in a paper supply cassette 1 according to the discharged page order as it is and the mode is switched to the 'pagination mode' to perform the pagination, only paper supply, conveyance, and paper discharge are carried out and a bundle S2 of sheets which are paginated according to the original page order (the order of P1, P2, P3) are obtained.

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 or a copying machine, and more specifically, it is an apparatus having only a so-called face-up sheet discharging function, but is capable of aligning pages of discharged sheets. Regarding the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various types of image forming apparatuses as shown in FIG. 13 (herein, a page printer is shown as an example), that is, an image forming apparatus M _{1 having} only a basic structure shown by a solid line, and this image forming apparatus M _An image forming apparatus M _{2 including} a sheet feeding mechanism indicated by a three-dot chain line in ₁ and an image forming apparatus M _{3 including a} sheet discharging mechanism indicated by a two-dot chain line in the image forming apparatus M ₂ are well known. Is. In general, this type of image forming apparatus stores a sheet and feeds the sheets one by one (paper feed cassettes 1, 2, paper feed rolls 3, 4).
Etc.), a standby section (standby roll pair 5 etc.) for temporarily holding the fed sheet and re-conveying it at a predetermined timing, an image forming section (photoreceptor drum 6, charging) for performing an image forming process on the conveyed sheet. Roll 7, optical writing head 8, developing device 9, transfer roll 10, cleaner 11, etc., fixing unit (fixing roll pair 1) for fixing the image formed here on the paper.
2)), and the like, and the like, including a paper discharge unit (face-up paper discharge tray 13, conveyance direction switching member 14, paper discharge roll pair 15, face-down paper discharge tray 16, etc.) that discharges and stores the fixed paper outside the machine. Then, the processing of each of these parts is sequentially performed, and the sheet on which the image is formed is finally obtained.

Here, in the sheet feeding section, a sheet bundle is stored in a sheet feeding tray or the above sheet feeding cassettes 1 and 2, and is appropriately fed one by one by sheet feeding rolls 3 and 4. There are various types of paper feeding modes. For example, like a paper feeding mechanism including a paper feeding cassette 1 and a paper feeding roll 3, the paper is fed toward an image forming unit along a substantially linear transportation path. A so-called straight paper feed, or an inversion guide 1 of a substantially U-shaped paper, such as a paper feed mechanism including a paper feed cassette 2 and a paper feed roll 4.
There is a so-called U-turn paper feeding in which the paper is conveyed to the image forming unit while being turned upside down by 7. Further, as the paper feed cassette 2, there are one that is attached and detached from the right side of the drawing, one that is attached and detached from the left side, and one that is attached and detached in the vertical direction of the paper surface. Further, there are various kinds of paper discharge modes in the paper discharge unit, for example, so-called face-up paper discharge for discharging the paper onto the paper discharge tray 13 with its image forming surface facing up (face-up), or By switching the transport switching member 14, the image forming surface is turned down via the reversing guide 18 (face down).
There is a so-called face-down sheet discharge or the like for discharging the sheet onto the sheet discharge tray 16.

[0004]

In the conventional image forming apparatus as described above, the downsizing and personalization of the apparatus have been further advanced, and the demand has been increased. And, the specifications for individual users are also emerging in the market. In this case, since the printer often performs printing of a plurality of sheets in sequence and ejects the sheets, it is desirable to eject the sheets in page order. Therefore, normally, the image forming apparatus M of FIG.
A face-down paper discharge mechanism (conveying direction switching member 14, reversing guide 18, paper discharge roll 15, face-down paper discharge tray 16, etc.) as shown by a chain double-dashed line in ₃ has always been provided.

However, due to downsizing and cost reduction of the device,
In addition, since individual users are not required to print such a large number of pages, it is possible to provide an extremely simple device such as the image forming apparatus M ₁ shown by the solid line in FIG. Became. Also in the configuration of the paper feed unit, as will be described later, the paper feed roll 3 is removed from the image forming apparatus M ₁ to perform only so-called manual paper feeding, and an automatic paper feeder (APF) is optionally available. ) Is detachable from the manual feed port (see FIG. 3). As described above, by suppressing the function to some extent, the page printer, which has been a flower of Takamine for an individual, becomes inexpensive, and the number of individual users is increasing.

However, the face-up sheet discharge function alone requires manual page alignment in the case of printing a large amount, but in the case of a complicated structure such as the image forming apparatus M ₃ shown in FIG. There were limits to price reduction, and there were advantages and disadvantages.

In view of the above conventional problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus that is capable of aligning pages without drastically changing the apparatus body while having only a face-up sheet discharging function. And

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises an image forming section for performing an image forming process on a sheet, and a sheet feeding section for feeding the sheet to the image forming section. In an image forming apparatus including a paper discharge unit that sequentially discharges the paper on which the image forming processing is performed by the image forming unit only with the image forming surface facing upward, without performing the image forming processing operation. A page alignment mode is provided for controlling a plurality of sheets of paper stored in the paper feeding unit to be sequentially fed and a predetermined stacking unit to change the page order when the paper feeding unit is stored and stack the sheets.

[0009]

In the present invention, when the "page alignment mode" is selected, if a plurality of face-up discharged sheet bundles are stored in the sheet feeding section, they are conveyed again by the sheet feeding mechanism and fed. The page order when the paper portion is stored is changed and the sheets are stacked on a predetermined stacking portion. Therefore, the face-up sheet discharge is repeated twice, and eventually, a sheet bundle in which the pages are aligned in the original page order can be obtained.

By providing such a page alignment mode, even an individual user can effectively use an image forming apparatus such as a page printer which has been a flower of Takamine until now as a familiar apparatus.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is an overall view of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention (here, a page printer is shown as an example), and FIG. 2 is an external perspective view thereof.

The image forming apparatus of the present embodiment has the same basic configuration as a page printer as the basic type image forming apparatus M ₁ shown by the solid line in FIG. 13, that is, the paper feed cassette 1, the paper feed roll 3, A standby roll pair 5, a photoconductor drum 6, a charging roll 7, an optical writing head 8, a developing device 9, a transfer roll 10, a cleaner 11, a fixing roll pair 12, a face-up paper discharge tray 13 and the like are provided. Further, in this embodiment, the right side of FIG. 1A is the front side, and the operation panel 20 as shown in FIG. 2 is provided on the front side, and the “page alignment mode” is selected on the operation panel 20. A page alignment selection switch 21, a number selection switch 22 for setting the number of sheets at that time, an operation switch 23 for executing a page alignment operation, a display section 24 for performing various displays according to each switch operation, and the like are included. .

In FIG. 1A, the internal structure is roughly classified into three systems, that is, a paper feed system K including a paper feed roll 3, a standby roll pair 5, a photosensitive drum 6, and a transfer roll 10. A paper transport system H including the fixing roll 12 and the like (note that
A paper discharge roll pair is also included in the paper transport system H, but it is not shown here), the photoconductor drum 6, the charging roll 7,
An image forming processing system G including an optical writing head 8, a developing device 9, a transfer roll 10, a cleaner 11 and the like is shown separately. Since the photoconductor drum 6 and the charging roll 7 also have a role of conveying the sheet, they are included in both the image forming processing system G and the sheet conveying system H in an overlapping manner.

Also in this embodiment, as is well known, the paper feed control of the paper feed system K, the standby control of the standby roll pair 5, the transport control of the paper transport system H, the image formation processing control of the image formation processing system G, Various controls such as the fixing temperature control of the fixing roll pair 12 are controlled by the main control unit of the apparatus main body, but the characteristic feature is that it has the "page alignment mode" unique to the present invention. When this mode is selected, the control of the sheet feeding system K is performed under the control different from the normal sheet feeding control (for example, continuous operation), and the image forming processing in the image forming processing system G is controlled not to be performed. To be done. Here, the fact that the image forming processing is not performed means that the charging roll 7, the optical writing head 8, the developing device 9, the cleaner 11 and the like in the image forming processing system G are inoperative, and the paper conveying system is not operated. It means that the photoconductor drum 6 and the transfer roll 10 which are also included in H are rotated, that is, the sheet is conveyed by the sheet conveying system H.

In the page alignment mode, it is desirable to control so as to increase the paper transport speed by the paper feed system K and the paper transport system H as compared with the case of the normal print mode. By doing so, page alignment described later can be performed quickly. The fixing roll pair 12 included in the paper transport system H is set to a sleep mode at a temperature lower than the fixing temperature in the normal print mode (or may be turned off completely), and has only a simple paper transport function. To do so. In the page alignment mode, only the feeding / conveying / discharging of the sheets is performed, so speeding up the sheet feeding system K and the sheet conveying system H can be used.

Next, regarding the specific page alignment operation,
This will be described with reference to FIG. First, when a plurality of sheets are printed in the normal print mode, a plurality of sheets on which images are formed are sequentially face-up discharged onto the discharge tray 13. In the discharged sheet bundle S ₁ , as shown in the upper left of FIG. 1B, the sheet P ₁ of the first page is stored at the bottom of the face-up sheet discharge tray 13, and then on top of it. The second page of paper P _{2 is} further stacked thereon, and the third page of paper P ₃ is stacked thereon in the reverse order of the original page order.

Therefore, the discharged sheet bundle S ₁ is stored in the sheet feeding cassette 1 in the same page order as shown in the upper right of FIG. 1 (b). In this case, if a blank sheet has already been stored in the paper feed cassette 1, the blank sheet may be removed, or the blank sheet may be stacked on the blank sheet and the sheet bundle S may be stacked.
You only need to store ₁ . Then, the page alignment selection switch 21 of the operation panel 20 shown in FIG. 2 is operated to switch to the "page alignment mode". Further, the number of sheets of the sheet bundle S ₁ is set by the number of sheets selection switch 22, and then the operation switch 23 is operated to perform page alignment.

Then, the uppermost sheets of the sheet bundle S ₁ stored in the sheet feeding cassette 1 are sequentially fed, conveyed and discharged, and face-up discharged again onto the sheet discharge tray 13. Go. In this way, when all the predetermined number of sheets have been discharged onto the discharge tray 13, the discharged sheet bundle S
_As shown in the lower left of FIG. 1B, ₂ is the paper P of the first page.
₁ is placed on the top of the face-up paper ejection tray 13, then the second page of paper P ₂ is placed underneath, and 3 is placed underneath.
Page of paper P _3, is housed is Pejisoroe to the original page order and so on. In the page alignment mode, the paper feed roll 3
As a control for feeding a predetermined number of sheets by means of, for example, a sheet sensor (not shown) detects the sheet conveyance of each sheet, and the sheet feeding rolls corresponding to the sheet length of a predetermined size in advance. 3 may be rotated, and the rotation of the paper feed roll 3 may be stopped when a predetermined number of sheets have been fed.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the page alignment can be easily performed only by storing the sheet bundle S _{1 in the} reverse order of the pages in the sheet feeding cassette 1 and switching to the page alignment mode. In this case, unlike in the normal print mode, the paper is conveyed substantially continuously, so that page alignment can be completed in a relatively short time even with an apparatus having a slow print speed. Then, if the conveying speed is changed to a high speed, the speed can be further increased, and the same page alignment function as that of the face-down sheet discharge can be obtained by utilizing a short time after printing. Moreover, there is no need to change the structure of the device, and only the control of each part needs to be changed, which is very suitable for a personal printer.

[0020] Incidentally, when performing Pejisoroe, but in FIG. 1 (b) shows an example to be stored in the paper feed cassette 1 in a state where the sheet bundle S ₁ the image forming surface on it, the paper stack S _{Even when} the whole of 1 is stored in the paper feed cassette 1 in a state of being turned upside down, page alignment can be performed similarly.

Next, FIG. 3A is an overall view of the image forming apparatus of the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is an external perspective view thereof. The image forming apparatus of this embodiment does not have the paper feed roll 3 as shown in FIG. 1A, but instead has a manual feed port 25 and a pair of slip rolls for manual paper feed to enable manual paper feed. 26, and an optional automatic paper feeder (APF) 30 is attached to the manual feed port 25.

The automatic paper feeder 30 has a structure shown in detail in FIG. That is, as a paper feed mechanism similar to a well-known one, a paper feed roll 31 that feeds out paper, a separation pad 32 that separates the paper one by one to enable separate paper supply, and a pressing plate such as a mylar sheet that presses the paper. 33, a sheet feeding table 34 for stacking and storing sheets, a sheet feeding auxiliary table 36 provided as an extension of the sheet and foldable around a hinge 35 as a fulcrum, an auxiliary roller 37 for assisting sheet feeding, and the like.
When 1 rotates in the direction of the arrow, the sheet is fed to the image forming unit via the manual feed port 25 of the image forming apparatus main body.

In the present embodiment, a reversing guide plate 41 and a roller 42 are further provided as reversing guide means for carrying the U-turn of the paper fed from the paper feed roll 31, and these are provided by an interlocking mechanism not shown in FIG. ) (Or FIG. 5)
It is possible to move between an inversion position (shown by a broken line in (a)) and a normal sheet feeding position shown by a solid line in FIG. 5 (a), and a switching operation can be performed by a switching knob 43 shown in FIG. Further, near the outlet of the reversal guide plate 41, a paper discharge tray 44 for accommodating and accommodating the reversed guide sheets is attached. The paper discharge tray 44 may also be used as the paper discharge tray 13 shown in FIG. 4, that is, the paper discharge tray 13 may be detached from the image forming apparatus main body side and attached as the paper discharge tray 44.

The sorting pad 32 and the pressing plate 33 are attached to a cover 45 that covers the upper part of the paper feed roll 31, and the cover 45 is openable as shown in FIG. 5B. Therefore, when the paper is set on the paper feed tray 34, the cover 45 is opened to facilitate the setting of the paper. Further, the paper feed tray 34 is also configured to be openable as shown in FIG. 5B, so that it is easy to take the paper discharged onto the paper discharge tray 44 in the page alignment mode described later.

The image forming apparatus equipped with the automatic paper feeding device 30 having the above-mentioned structure also has the "page alignment mode" as in the first embodiment. However, in the case of the present embodiment, the conveyance path in the image forming apparatus main body is not used, and page alignment is performed only by the automatic paper feeding device 30.

The automatic paper feeder 30 is electrically connected to the main body of the image forming apparatus by a connection circuit (not shown), and in the normal printing mode, the paper feed roll 3 is driven by a paper feed command signal from the main body.
1 rotates to feed the lowermost paper on the paper feed table 34 toward the slip roll pair 26 through the manual feed port 25 in the main body.
The paper feed roll 31 is controlled by a known method so that the paper is fed by a predetermined amount, and after the leading edge of the paper comes into contact with the standby roll pair 5, the paper feed roll 31 is temporarily stopped and then rotated again to some extent or simply rotated. It

Next, a specific page alignment operation will be described with reference to FIG.
An explanation will be given using (b). First, when a plurality of sheets are printed in the normal print mode as described above, a plurality of sheets on which images are formed are sequentially face-up discharged onto the discharge tray 13. The discharged sheet bundle S ₁ is shown in FIG.
As shown in the upper left of (b), the paper P ₁ of the first page is stored at the bottom on the face-up paper ejection tray 13, and then the paper P ₂ of the second page is further thereon and further on it. The third page of paper P ₃ is stacked in the order opposite to the original page order.

[0028] Therefore, by the whole of the ejected sheet bundle S ₁ in a state flipped vertically while the page order (i.e., toward the image forming surface downward), the upper right shown in FIG. 3 (b) Set on the paper feed tray 34 as shown. In this case, when blank paper is already set on the paper feed tray 34,
Get rid of this. Then, as in the first embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The page alignment selection switch 21 of the operation panel 20 shown in FIG. 2 is operated to switch to the “page alignment mode” and the switching knob 43 is operated to switch the reversing guide plate 41 to the above reversing position. The page number is set by setting the number of sheets in S ₁ and then operating the operation switch 23. At this time, if the operation of the switching knob 43 is forgotten and the reversal guide plate 41 remains in the normal paper feeding position, a detection signal (not shown) is sent to the main body side,
Even if the operation switch 23 is operated, page alignment is not started. Here, the reversal guide plate 41 may be automatically controlled by a solenoid or the like, and in that case, the reversal guide plate 41 may be moved to the reversal position by operating the page alignment selection switch 21.

When page alignment is started, the paper feed roll 31 rotates and paper is fed in order from the bottommost paper of the paper stack S ₁ set on the paper feed tray 34, and is fed through the reverse guide plate 41. The sheets are discharged face-up onto the sheet discharge tray 44. When all the predetermined number of sheets have been discharged onto the discharge tray 44 in this way, the discharged sheet bundle S ₂ is
As shown in the lower right of (b), the paper P ₁ of the first page is placed on the top of the discharge tray 44, then the paper P ₂ of the second page is below it, and further below it. The third page of paper P ₃ , such as P ₃ , is stored in the original page order. In addition, in the page alignment mode, as the control for feeding the predetermined number of sheets by the sheet feeding roll 31, the above-described sheet feeding roll 3 is used.
In the same manner as the rotation control of (1), the sheet sensor (not shown) detects the conveyance of each sheet, and the paper feed roll 31 is rotated in advance according to the length of the sheet of a predetermined size to supply a predetermined number of sheets. The rotation of the paper feed roll 31 may be stopped at the time of feeding.

As described above, also in the present embodiment, page alignment can be performed as in the first embodiment. Moreover,
In this embodiment, since the conveyance path in the main body of the image forming apparatus is not used, it is not necessary to control only the conveyance system without performing the image forming operation as in the first embodiment. The time control can be further simplified. Further, since the sheet does not have to pass through the inside of the image forming apparatus main body in the page alignment mode, there is no concern that the sheet on which the image has been formed is soiled with toner or the like.
Since it is not necessary for the paper to pass through between the second and the like, there is no fear of wrinkles or the like due to careless pressing of the paper. Further, for example, the user purchases only the image forming apparatus main body shown in FIG.
If the manual paper feeding becomes unsatisfactory and the automatic paper feeding device 30 is additionally purchased as an option, not only the automatic paper feeding function can be obtained, but also the page alignment function equivalent to face-down paper ejection can be obtained.

Incidentally, when executing page alignment, as shown in FIG.
Is a stack of sheets S₁Up and down repeatedly on the paper feed table 34
An example of setting is shown, but as in the first embodiment, paper
Bunch S ₁Paper feed table 3 with the image forming side facing up
Even if you set it to 4, it is not possible to align pages as well.
It is a theory.

Further, in order to make the control on the image forming apparatus main body side simpler, the following can be performed. That is, the image forming apparatus main body side has the page alignment selection switch 21, but by operating this switch 21, the paper feeding control on the automatic paper feeding device 30 side by the image forming apparatus main body is cut off. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the automatic paper feeding device 30 is provided with its own operation section 46 (in which the same switches as the number selection switch 22 and the operation switch 23 are provided), and the selection switch When the page alignment mode is selected by 21, the switches of the operation unit 46 are appropriately operated to enable page alignment.

Next, FIG. 6A is an overall view of the image forming apparatus of the third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is an external perspective view thereof. The present embodiment is applied to an image forming apparatus M ₂ having a paper feed section below a basic type image forming apparatus M ₁ as shown in FIG. That is, in this embodiment, the left side of FIG. 6A is the front, and the paper feed cassette 2 is taken in and out in the arrow direction. Then, the paper normally fed by the paper feed roll 4 is conveyed by U-turn by the reversing guide 17, and is discharged onto the face-up paper discharge tray 13 by a known method.

Here, in the present embodiment, the "page alignment mode" is provided as in the above embodiments, and the reversing guide 17 is opened in the direction of the arrow around the fulcrum 51 as shown by the alternate long and short dash line. It is lockable. Further, the opening of the reversing guide 17 is detected by the detection switch 52 provided in the vicinity thereof. Therefore, the page alignment mode is selected by operating the page alignment selection switch 21 of the operation panel 20 provided on the front face of the apparatus, and the reversing guide 1
When 7 is opened, page alignment can be performed. That is, in this state, by operating the number selection switch 22 and the operation switch 23 in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment, the paper feed roll 4 continuously rotates at high speed to continuously feed the paper in the paper feed cassette 4. Then, the reversing guide 17 is discharged to the outside of the apparatus through the opening formed. The page alignment operation in this case is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment as shown in FIG. 6B, and the sheet bundle S _{1 in the} reverse page order is page aligned and the sheet bundle in the original page order. S ₂ is obtained. A paper discharge tray 53 (which may also be used as the face-up paper discharge tray 13) can be attached below the reversing guide 17, and papers subjected to page alignment can be stacked on the paper discharge tray 53. Good.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, not only the effect similar to that of the first embodiment can be obtained only by adding an extremely simple structure, but also in the page aligning mode, the paper does not form the image forming portion or the fixing roll pair 12. Since it does not pass through, it is easy to control, and there is no concern about paper stains or wrinkles. Further, when a paper jam occurs in or near the paper feeding unit during normal paper feeding, the reversing guide 17 can be opened to facilitate the jam processing.

In FIG. 6 (a), even if the upper part of the drawing is the front and the paper feed cassette 2 is attached / detached in the vertical direction of the paper, the same structure as this embodiment can be applied. is there.

Next, FIGS. 8A and 8B are respectively an overall view and an external perspective view of the image forming apparatus of the fourth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus M ₁ having a paper feeding section below the basic type image forming apparatus M ₁ shown in FIG.
_The present invention is applied to the case where the sheet feeding cassette 2 is 2 and the right side of FIG.

In the present embodiment, the reversing guide 17 is fixed until it is replaced. Instead, as shown in detail in FIG. 9, page alignment is performed in the middle of the reversing guide 17 so as to branch out from the normal conveying path to reach the outside of the apparatus. A paper discharge port 61 is provided, and a switching member 62 for switching the paper transport direction is provided at a branch portion thereof.
Further, a pair of auxiliary transport rolls 63 that rotate only at the time of page alignment are arranged in the middle of the page alignment discharge port 61. The switching of the switching member 62 is performed manually by the switching lever 64 shown in FIG. 8B, or alternatively, by a solenoid or the like in synchronization with the operation of the page alignment selection switch 21 of the operation panel 20. You may make it switch. Although the auxiliary transport roll pair 63 is not always necessary, the provision of the auxiliary transport roll pair 63 enables reliable paper discharge. Further, a paper discharge tray 65 (which may also serve as the paper discharge tray 13) can be attached near the lower portion of the page alignment paper discharge port 61.

Also in this embodiment having such a structure, as in the case of the third embodiment, the pages are aligned by ejecting the sheets through the page alignment ejection port 61 by operating a predetermined switch of the operation panel 20. It becomes possible and the same effect can be obtained.

Next, FIGS. 10A and 10B are an overall view and an external perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention, respectively. Similar to the fourth embodiment, the present embodiment is applied to a device having a paper feed mechanism for loading and unloading the paper feed cassette 2 from the front side of the apparatus and reversing the paper with the reversing guide 17 after feeding the paper to the front side. It is a thing.

This embodiment differs from the third and fourth embodiments in that
Instead of the reversing guide 17, the paper feeding cassette 2 is modified. More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, in detail, in the front of the sheet feeding cassette 2 and in the middle of the feeding path from the sheet feeding roll 4 to the reversing guide 17, the apparatus branches off from the feeding path. Page alignment slit 7 reaching outside
1 is provided, and a switching member 72 for switching the paper conveyance direction is provided at the branch portion. The switching of the switching member 72 is performed by a switching lever 73 provided on the front surface of the sheet feeding cassette 2 as shown in FIG.
It is designed to be done manually. That is, FIG.
As shown in detail in FIG. 12, it is located at the position shown in FIG. 11A during normal paper feeding, but in the page alignment mode, the switching lever 73 is rotated as shown in FIG. Then, the switching member 72 is switched to a position where the sheet is conveyed in the direction of the page alignment slit 71.

In this structure as well, similar to the fourth embodiment, the pages can be aligned by ejecting the paper through the page alignment slit 71 by operating a predetermined switch on the operation panel 20, and the same effect can be obtained. can get. Moreover, in the present embodiment, since only a part of the paper feed cassette 2 is slightly changed, it can be carried out extremely easily and inexpensively.

In the above description, only the printer device has been described, but any image forming device such as a copying machine or a facsimile device may be used as long as it has only a face-up paper discharging mechanism as a paper discharging mechanism. Also, similar effects can be obtained by applying the present invention.

[0044]

According to the present invention, even with a face-up sheet discharge machine, a simple page alignment function can be added to any of various sheet feeding modes with only slight changes in the mechanism and control. The same effect as face-down paper ejection can be obtained at a small size and at low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 (a) is an overall view of an image forming apparatus of the same embodiment, and FIG. It is a figure.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment as viewed from the diagonal front side.

3A and 3B are diagrams showing a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3A is an overall view of the image forming apparatus of the same embodiment, and FIG. It is a figure.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment as viewed from a diagonal front side.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the automatic paper feeding device 30 in the second embodiment, in which (a) shows a state in a normal paper feeding mode,
(B) shows a state in which the paper feed tray 34 is opened in the page alignment mode.

6A and 6B are views showing a third embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6A is an overall view of the image forming apparatus of the same embodiment, and FIG. It is a figure.

7A and 7B are external perspective views of the image forming apparatus according to the third embodiment, where FIG. 7A is a diagram viewed from a diagonal front side, and FIG. 7B is a diagram viewed from a diagonal rear side.

8A and 8B are views showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 8A is an overall view of the image forming apparatus of the same embodiment, and FIG. 8B is an external perspective view as seen from the diagonal front side. .

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a sheet feeding unit and its vicinity in the image forming apparatus of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a view showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention, (a) is an overall view of the image forming apparatus of the same embodiment, and (b) is an external perspective view as seen from the diagonal front side thereof. .

FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of a sheet feeding unit and its vicinity in the image forming apparatus of the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an engagement relationship between a switching member 72 and a switching lever 73 in the image forming apparatus of the fifth embodiment, (a) shows a normal paper feed mode, and (b) shows page alignment. Indicates the mode time.

FIG. 13 is an overall view of a conventional image forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2 Paper feed cassette 3, 4 Paper feed roll 5 Standby roll pair 6 Photosensitive drum 7 Charging roll 8 Optical writing head 9 Developing device 10 Transfer roll 11 Cleaner 12 Fixing roll pair 13 Face-up discharge tray 17 Inversion guide 20 Operation Panel 21 Page alignment selection switch 22 Number of sheets selection switch 23 Operation switch 24 Display section 25 Manual feed slot 26 Slip roll pair 30 Automatic paper feeding device 31 Paper feeding roll 32 Separation pad 34 Paper feeding table 41 Reversing guide plate 44 Paper ejection tray 51 Support point 52 Detection switch 53 Paper ejection tray 61 Paper ejection port for page alignment 62 Switching member 63 Auxiliary transport roll pair 71 Page alignment slit 72 Switching member 73 Switching lever

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image forming unit for performing an image forming process on a sheet, a sheet feeding unit for supplying the sheet to the image forming unit, and an image forming surface for the sheet subjected to the image forming process by the image forming unit. An image forming apparatus including a paper discharge unit that sequentially discharges paper only with the upper side up, without sequentially performing the image forming processing operation, sequentially feeding a plurality of sheets of paper stored in the paper supply unit. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a page stacking mode in which a predetermined stacking section is controlled to convert a page order when the sheet is stored and to stack the sheet.