JPH07242361A - Sheet delivery tray - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form a sheet delivery tray capable of loading the transfer paper of different sizes with simple structure and at low cost without moving a stopper plate and causing paper clogging. CONSTITUTION:A sheet delivery tray 32 is provided with a storing surface which can store the maximum sized sheets delivered from a device main body and inclined downward and a stopper 34 which is installed at the bottom end of the storing surface. Also the storing surface is provided with a projected part 33 which is projected upward in the upstream from the top end of the minimum sized sheets loaded with the stopper 34 as a basis, and the projected part 33 is provided with an inclined surface slanted in normal direction toward the advancing direction of the delivered sheets.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet discharge tray of an image forming apparatus such as an electronic copying machine or a printer, and more particularly, to a sheet discharge tray of an image forming apparatus that uses a plurality of sizes from a large size to a small size. Regarding the tray.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in such an image forming apparatus,
Due to the diversification of the usage, it is required that a plurality of sizes of paper, for example, large size paper such as A1 and A2 sizes to small size paper such as A4 size can be used in series. These sheets of paper on which an image has been formed in the device are discharged from the discharge port of the device to the outside of the device, and normally,
The discharged sheets are stacked on a sheet discharge tray having a size sufficient to receive the sheets.

The most known structure of such a tray is a structure arranged so as to be inclined downward below the discharge port of the apparatus so as to receive the paper discharged from the inside of the apparatus. The accommodating surface of the sheet ejection tray has a size based on the maximum size sheet to be ejected.

[0004]

In such a paper ejection tray, the first ejected paper sheet is accommodated in the tray by its front end being received by a stopper provided at the lower end of the paper ejection tray. When such a sheet has a small size, the trailing edge of the sheet is located in the middle of the tray in the longitudinal direction. When multiple sheets of such small size are stacked below the tray, the leading edge of the next sheet of paper collides with the trailing edge of the group of sheets that are stacked to form a thickness, and the sheets are neatly aligned. I can't. Further, when the sheets to be discharged in the next order are large-sized sheets, the collision of the leading ends stops the progress of the sheets, and the trailing end of the sheets located inside the apparatus causes a paper jam. For this reason, in the past, the above-mentioned stopper that receives the leading edge of the paper was constructed as a removable stopper plate, and this stopper plate was moved back and forth according to the size of the paper to be ejected, and The size was adjusted to avoid the collision.

As described above, in the conventional apparatus, since the stopper plate must be moved so that the paper jam does not occur each time the size of the paper to be discharged changes, there is a problem that the work efficiency is low. is doing.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a simple discharge tray capable of stacking transfer sheets of different sizes without moving the stopper plate and without causing a paper jam. It is an object to provide it with a configuration and at low cost.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to a paper discharge tray for receiving sheets of a plurality of sizes discharged from the apparatus main body and sequentially stacking the sheets, the tray being discharged from the apparatus main body. Has a storage surface that can accommodate a maximum size sheet and that is inclined downward, and a stopper that is provided at the lower end of this storage surface, and the storage surface of the minimum size sheet stacked with the stopper as a reference. It is characterized in that it has a protrusion protruding upward at a position higher than the upper end position, and the protrusion has an inclined surface inclined forward in the traveling direction of the discharged paper. .

In particular, a plurality of the protrusions are provided in parallel in the width direction of the paper, and furthermore, the protrusions are provided in a plurality of rows in the lengthwise direction of the paper and are provided on the stopper side. As it goes, the number of protrusions in each row is reduced from both sides.

[0009]

In such a structure, small-sized sheets are stacked below the protrusions, and therefore the sheets to be ejected in the next order slide and jump along the inclined surface of the protrusions, and sheets already stacked. Pass without hitting the top of the group. Even when the first sheet is small and the next sheet is large, the inclined surface of the protrusion causes the sheet to pass through the upper edge of the first sheet group, which may cause the paper jam described above. Can be loaded without.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of an image forming apparatus using a discharge tray according to the present invention. A sheet on which an image is to be formed, that is, a transfer sheet is sent from the sheet feeding cassette 5 to the image forming section 1 where the toner image is transferred, and then is conveyed to the fixing section 2 by the conveyor belt 18 and the toner image is transferred. It is fixed on the paper. The paper feed cassette 5 can be detachably attached to the apparatus main body, and a cassette containing paper of a size intended by the user is selected and attached. Further, the paper feed cassette 5 may be a manual feed table instead of the paper feed cassette.

The transfer paper on which the fixed image is formed is the paper discharge roller 1.
It is discharged from the discharge port 20 to the outside of the machine by 9. Below the discharge port 20, the sheet is discharged onto a storage surface of a sheet discharge tray 32 that is attached so as to be inclined downward with respect to the apparatus body. The upper surface of the paper discharge tray 32, that is, the storage surface 35 that receives the discharged transfer paper, has a flat surface that is wide enough to accommodate the maximum size transfer paper that is discharged, and faces downward. The inclination has an angle sufficient for the transfer paper to slide down along the accommodation surface 35 due to the pushing force of the paper discharge roller 19 and the weight of the paper itself. Accommodation surface 35
Also has one or a plurality of protrusions 33 projecting upward in the middle in the longitudinal direction thereof, and further has a stopper for receiving the front end of the discharged transfer paper at the front end of the receiving surface, that is, the lower end. It has 34. In the illustrated example, the protrusions 33 are provided in two rows above and below the rows A and B,
The present invention is not limited to this, and only one of the columns may be provided.

3 and 4 show the protrusions 33 having different shapes. In the examples shown in these figures, the protrusions 33 are spaced apart from each other so that the protrusions 33 are parallel to each other in the width direction of the sheet. A plurality is provided. However, the present invention is not limited to the protrusions thus separated, and may have a linearly extending shape so as to form a ridge in the width direction of the transfer paper, for example. Each row of the protrusions 33, that is, the position of the protrusions 33 in the longitudinal direction on the tray is determined in relation to the size of the transfer paper to be ejected.

For example, the maximum size of the transfer paper to be discharged is A
2 and the minimum size is A4, the receiving surface 35
The length L in the longitudinal direction is longer than at least the length of the A2 size transfer paper, and the length from the stopper 34 to the closest row A of the protrusion 33 is larger than the length of the A4 size transfer paper. The length from the stopper 34 to the row B of the protrusions 33 on the main body side is set to be slightly longer than the length of the transfer paper of A3 size. From experience, the distance from the apex of these protrusions 33 to the upper end of the transfer paper stacked below is not limited,
About 10 mm is suitable.

As shown in the figure, the protrusion 33 has an inclined surface 33F which is inclined in the forward direction when viewed in the traveling direction of the discharged transfer paper.
Have. The inclined surface 33F acts so that a transfer paper, which will be described later, can pass through the protrusion 33 along the inclined surface without any trouble. The rear surface 33G of the inclined surface 33F may have a steep slope.

FIG. 2 shows the positional relationship between the protrusion 33 and the transfer sheets stacked on the tray. As shown in the figure, when the A4 size transfer sheet P1 is first ejected, the transfer sheet P passes through the protrusion 33 along the inclined surface 33F of the protrusion 33,
The receiving surface 3 with its tip abutted by the stopper 34
Accommodated on the 5th. As shown in the figure, the rear end (upper end) of the transfer sheet P1 is located at a hidden position by the projection 33 when viewed in the moving direction of the transfer sheet. In this way, even if a plurality of A4 size transfer sheets P are continuously ejected, they are sequentially stacked at the illustrated positions in the same manner. On the other hand, for example, when the transfer paper P2 of A3 size is next conveyed, the transfer paper P2 has the protrusion 3
3 passes above the transfer sheet P1 first conveyed,
The leading end of the sheet is brought into contact with the stopper 34, and the trailing end (upper end) is positioned below the protrusion 33 on the discharge roller 19 side. In this way, the next-order transfer sheet is smoothly conveyed without colliding with the rear end of the already stacked transfer sheet group, and the sheet can be stacked without jamming.

The shape of the protrusion 33 is as shown in FIG.
A projecting portion 33a that is notched on the downstream side of the sheet discharge direction of the sheet discharge tray 32 and has an inclined surface that is inclined in the forward direction toward the falling direction of the transfer sheet, or as shown in FIG.
Alternatively, the protrusion 33b may be formed by notching the left and right sides and pushing up the center.

When a plurality of rows of protrusions 33 are provided, the protrusions 33 of each row are arranged such that the protrusions of the row A in the stopper 34 direction are on both sides in the width direction as compared with the protrusions of the row B on the apparatus body side. It is preferable that the number of protrusions is reduced to reduce the number. This is because when a large-sized transfer sheet is conveyed, it is easier to stack and the cost is lower if both ends of the leading end in the stopper direction are not provided.

In the example shown in FIG. 5, the paper discharge tray 32 is provided in the table 50 on which the apparatus main body is placed. In this case, the transfer paper discharged from the paper discharge roller 19 is inverted to the table 50 side by the transfer paper guide plate 31 which is provided so as to be in contact with the front end of the transfer paper and change its direction. The sheet is discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 32 in the table. The structure of the paper discharge tray 32 in the table is the same as the above-mentioned example.

[0019]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide at low cost an image forming apparatus for stacking transfer sheets of different sizes without causing a paper jam without moving the stopper.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of an output tray according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a protrusion of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the protrusion of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 31 Transfer Paper Guide Plate 32 Paper Ejection Tray 33 Projection 34 Stopper

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A discharge tray for receiving sheets of a plurality of sizes discharged from an apparatus main body and sequentially stacking the tray, the tray being capable of accommodating the maximum size sheets discharged from the apparatus main body and inclined downward. And a stopper provided at the lower end of the storage surface, and the storage surface has a protruding portion that protrudes upward at a position above the upper end position of the smallest size sheets stacked with the stopper as a reference. The discharge tray is characterized in that the protrusion has an inclined surface which is inclined in the forward direction toward the traveling direction of the discharged sheet. 2. The plurality of the protrusions in the width direction of the paper,
The discharge tray according to claim 1, wherein the discharge trays are provided in parallel. 3. The projections are provided in a plurality of rows in the longitudinal direction of the paper, and the number of projections in each row is reduced from both sides toward the stopper side. Output tray.