JPH0740168B2 - Printer device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a printer device such as an LED (light emitting diode) printer, and in particular, an operation related to paper feeding and discharging can be performed from the front of the device body.

(B) Conventional technology In some conventional printers and electronic copying machines, the mounting direction of the paper feed cassette and the paper ejection direction are opposite to each other, and the paper is ejected to the paper feed cassette side (for example, the actual printer 60- (See JP No. 80462)
Exists. There is also a paper feed direction in which the paper feed direction in the manual paper feed passage is opposite to that in the paper discharge passage, and the paper is ejected to the manual paper feed port side (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-24968). .

In the former case, the paper feed cassette is attached to the apparatus main body so that the upstream side end is the front side along the paper feeding direction, and the upstream side end projects from the apparatus main body to the front side.
Further, in the latter case, the paper feed cassette is mounted on the side opposite to the manual paper feed side, and it is not possible to perform all operations related to paper feeding and discharging from one side surface side.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention As described above, according to the conventional technique, it is not possible to perform all operations related to paper feeding and discharging from one side surface side, or even if this operation can be performed, the paper feeding cassette The upstream end of the was protruding to the front side and the operability was poor.

On the other hand, in recent years, so-called office automation equipment has been developed, and along with it, printers and copying machines are frequently used, and high operability is being demanded. Therefore,
There is a long-felt demand for a device that can perform all operations related to paper feeding and discharging on one side surface of the main body of the apparatus, and in which the paper feeding cassette does not project to the front side.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and is intended to realize an image forming apparatus having high operability.

(D) Means for Solving the Problems In the present invention, a latent image carrier, a means for forming a latent image on the latent image carrier, and a toner image are provided in a main body of an apparatus having an operation section in which operation switches are arranged. For transferring the recording paper to the recording paper, a paper feed cassette in which the recording papers are stacked and stored, an automatic paper feed passage for reversing the recording paper sent from the paper feed cassette to the transfer means, and an automatic paper feed passage In a printer device in which a manual paper feed passage communicating with a paper feed passage and a paper feed passage for ejecting a recording paper on which a toner image has been transferred are installed, the paper feed cassette has a downstream end along the paper feed direction. The operation section side is detachably attached to the apparatus main body in a state where the section is arranged on the front side, and the manual sheet feeding passage has a manual sheet feeding port at the operation section side of the apparatus body. Provided approximately tangential to the transfer site of the latent image carrier The recording paper fed from the manual paper feed port is conveyed substantially horizontally with respect to the transfer portion, and is configured to allow paper feeding in substantially the same direction as the mounting direction of the paper feed cassette. The paper discharge passage is configured to allow paper discharge in a direction substantially opposite to the mounting direction of the paper feed cassette.

(E) Action As described above, the paper feed cassette is mounted so that it can be detachably inserted into the apparatus main body from the operation unit side with the downstream end arranged in the front direction along the paper feed direction. In the manual paper feed passage, a manual paper feed port is provided in a direction substantially tangential to the transfer part of the latent image carrier, and the recording paper fed from this manual paper feed port is conveyed substantially horizontally to the transfer part. And is configured to allow feeding in a direction substantially the same as the mounting direction of the paper feeding cassette, and the paper discharge passage discharges paper in a direction substantially opposite to the mounting direction of the paper feeding cassette. By being configured to allow, all operations relating to paper feeding and discharging can be performed from one side surface of the apparatus main body without the paper feeding cassette protruding toward the operation surface side.

Further, regarding manual feeding, a manual paper feeding port is provided in a substantially tangential direction of the transfer portion of the latent image carrier, and the recording paper fed from the manual paper feeding port is conveyed substantially horizontally to the transfer portion. With such a configuration, it is possible to feed the recording paper substantially horizontally without facing the paper feed port and skewing.

(C) Embodiments All of the drawings show an LED printer as an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a right side cover is opened, FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a main part showing a state in which the paper feed cassette is slightly pulled out from the apparatus main body.
The figure is a perspective view showing the downstream edge portion of the paper feed cassette.

A photoconductor drum (2) is rotatably mounted in the apparatus body (1). The photoconductor drum (2) is formed by coating a polyvinylcarbazole photoconductor, which is a positively-charged (positive type) organic photoconductive material, on the outer peripheral surface of an aluminum cylinder. Formed by a monolithic LED array (4) on the top of the photoconductor drum (2) extending in a direction parallel to the rotation axis (3) line (direction perpendicular to the paper surface), and the monolithic LED array (4). A short focus lens array (5) extending parallel to the monolithic LED array (4) is provided for projecting and forming the formed optical image on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum (2).

A charging corotron (6) for uniformly positively charging (about 600v) the photosensitive drum (2) is fixedly provided on the upstream side of the short focus lens array (5).

The charging corotron (6), the monolithic LED array (4), the short focus lens array (5) and the like are formed on the photosensitive drum (2) on the downstream side of the short focus lens array (5). A developing device (8) for developing the electrostatic latent image with toner is provided. The developing device (8) includes a magnet roller (9) for transporting a developer composed of a mixture of toner and carrier toward the surface of the photosensitive drum (2), and a screw for mixing toner and carrier. (10) (10) is rotatably built in. (11) is a toner hopper integrally fixed to the upper part of the developing device (8), and the toner stored inside is supplied to the developing device (8) little by little at the bottom of the toner hopper (11). A toner supply roller (12) is provided for this purpose.

The developing device (8) projects downward leftward and upward rightward,
Guide pieces (13) (14) extending in a direction parallel to the rotation axis (3) line of the photoconductor drum (2) are fixed, and the free end edges of the guide pieces (13) (14) are It is slidably mounted on guide rails (15) (16) having a U-shaped cross section, which is fixed to the device body (1). A spring (17) is provided below the developing device (8) to press and hold the developing device upward.

Below the developing device (8), a first guide (18), a second guide (19), and a third guide (20) as manual paper feed passages are arranged in parallel in series. Between the 18) and the second guide (19), a pair of manual paper feed rollers (20)
(21) is provided, and the second guide (19) and the third guide (2
A pair of register rollers (22) and (23) are provided between them and (0). And the upstream side (left side) of the first guide (18)
A manual paper feed port (24) has been opened. As shown in FIG. 2, the manual sheet feeding port (24) is provided substantially in the tangential direction of the lowermost end which is the transfer portion of the photosensitive drum (2), and the manual sheet feeding port (24) is provided. ) Is configured to be conveyed substantially horizontally with respect to the transfer portion, and the recording sheet can be fed directly to the sheet feeding port (24). The paper can be fed by positioning it substantially horizontally. As a result, the manually fed recording paper is conveyed to the transfer site without skewing.

The second guide (19) is composed of a horizontal portion and a vertical portion, and the vertical portion forms an automatic sheet feeding passage. Therefore, this second
On the guide (19), the manual paper feed passage and the automatic paper feed passage merge and communicate with each other. A transport roller (25) for transporting the recording paper on the automatic paper feed path is provided near the lower end of the second guide (19).

(26) is a paper feed cassette that is detachably mounted in the inner bottom of the apparatus body (1) in the same direction as the manual paper feed direction (right direction), and is located downstream in the paper feed direction. Handle part (27)
Are formed. An idler (28) is rotatably mounted on the grip portion (27) of the paper feed cassette (26), and when the paper feed cassette (26) is mounted on the apparatus body (1), the idler (28) is moved by the transport roller. The rotary shaft (29) is held by the leaf spring (30) so as to be pressed against the (25). A frustoconical coil spring (31) is attached to the downstream end of the inner bottom portion of the paper feed cassette (26), and the coil spring (31) is provided with an upper portion downstream of a support plate (32) on which recording sheets are stacked. The vicinity of the side end is placed. The support plate (3
The upstream edge of 2) is swingably held by the inner bottom of the paper feed cassette (26). Further, a pair of corner separators (33) (33) for separating the recording sheets one by one are provided at the downstream corners of the sheet feeding cassette (26). Above the vicinity of the downstream side end of the paper feed cassette (26), a rubber feed roller (35) partially cut out (34) for feeding copy paper one by one. Is provided. (3
6) is a low friction material such as plastic for preventing the cutout (34) from coming into contact with the copy paper when the cutout (34) of the feeding roller (35) faces the copy paper. An idler made of a material is rotatably loosely fitted to the support shaft (37) of the feeding roller (35).

Since the manual paper feed path and the automatic paper feed path are configured as described above, the manually fed recording paper is linearly fed from left to right, and the automatically fed recording paper is right. After moving forward to the left from, it will be reversed (U-turn) and will be fed to the right.

A transfer corotron (38) for transferring the toner image developed by the developing device (8) to a recording sheet is provided below the photosensitive drum (2). The transfer corotron (38) is removably inserted in a direction parallel to the rotation axis (3) line of the photosensitive drum (2). Further, on the downstream side of the transfer corotron (38), a peeling claw (39) for peeling the recording paper from the photosensitive drum (2) is provided adjacently. The peeling claw (39) is rotatably mounted on the support shaft of the upper roller (40) of the pair of conveying rollers (40) (41), and the tip thereof is the photosensitive drum (2).
Is urged to rotate toward.

A heat roller (43) having a halogen lamp (42) of about 800w inserted therein is provided on the downstream side of the peeling claw (39).
And a pressure roller (44) pressed against the heat roller (43). A felt (45) in which the heat roller (43) is impregnated with silicon oil is pressed against the upper part of the heat roller (43).

On the downstream side of the fixing device, the recording paper after fixing is reversed (U
A paper discharge guide (46) is provided which forms a paper discharge passage for making a turn and discharging. A pair of transport rollers (47), (48), (49) and (50) are provided at the central portion of the paper discharge guide (46) and at the discharge port. Since this paper discharge path is curved as described above, it is configured to allow paper discharge in a direction substantially opposite to the mounting direction of the paper feed cassette (26).

A discharge port (51) facing the operator side (left side) is provided at the downstream end of the discharge path, and a discharge unit (51) is provided downstream of the discharge port (51). 52) has been formed.

On the downstream side (upper side in the figure) of the peeling claw (39) along the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum (2), the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum (2) that cannot be completely transferred to the recording paper is removed. A cleaning device (53) is provided for this purpose. The cleaning device (53) includes a rubber blade (54) for scraping off the residual toner on the photosensitive drum (2).
And a screw conveyor (55) for discharging the toner scraped off by the blade (54). Further, the blade (54) is provided with a spring (56) for urging the blade (54) in the counterclockwise direction, that is, the tip edge toward the photosensitive drum (2). On the downstream side (upper side in the figure) of the cleaning device (54), an erase lamp (5) for removing all residual charges on the photoconductor drum (2).
7) is provided.

Further, on the front side of the apparatus main body (1), an operation section provided with various kinds of operation switches (58) is formed, and an operator installs the operation section as a front surface to operate the apparatus, It is possible to perform operations related to paper feeding and discharging from the same side.

The photosensitive drum (2) and the cleaning device (5
3) is mounted on the same chassis (59), and these are integrally mounted on the apparatus body (1) in a detachable manner (see FIG. 1).

Then, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoconductor drum (2) uniformly charged by the charging corotron (6) by the LED array (4) and the short focus lens array (5). The electrostatic latent image is toner-developed by the developing device (8). On the other hand, in synchronization with the formation of the electrostatic latent image, a sheet feeding roller (35) for automatic sheet feeding, a conveying roller (25) and an idler (28) forming a conveying roller pair, a register roller pair (22) (2).
3) respectively rotates, the recording paper is reversed through the automatic paper feed passage, and is fed between the photoconductor drum (2) and the transfer corotron (38). Then, the toner image on the photosensitive drum (2) is transferred onto the recording paper by the transfer corotron (38), the recording paper on which the toner image is transferred is fixed by the fixing device, and then passes through the paper discharge passage. It is inverted again and discharged onto the paper discharge unit.

Therefore, since the recording surface is downwardly (face down) and the recording papers are sequentially stacked on the paper discharge unit (52), when the stack of the recording papers is reversed, the first page is the top. Therefore, there is no need to do so-called page alignment.

(G) Effect of the Invention According to the present invention, it is possible to perform all operations related to paper feeding and discharging from the direction of the operation unit side of the printer body without the paper feed cassette protruding toward the operation unit side. Is
The operation part can be installed as the front,
With respect to manual feeding, the recording sheet can be fed substantially horizontally without facing the feed port and skewed in combination with the operation section facing the front.

Therefore, not only the operation of the operation switch but also the operation required for the printer including the insertion of the sheet to be fed and ejected can be executed substantially from the front side, and a highly manufacturable apparatus can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

Each of the drawings shows an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a perspective view, FIG. 2 is an overall internal configuration diagram, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the paper feed cassette. (1) ... Device body, (2) ... Photosensitive drum, (4)
...... LED array, (8) …… Developing device, (18) …… First
Guide, (19) …… Second guide, (20) …… Third guide, (24) …… Manual feed port, (26) …… Feed cassette, (38) …… Transfer corotron, (46 ) …… Paper ejection guide, (51) …… Paper outlet.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-58-147758 (JP, A) real-opening Sho-60-59264 (JP, U) real-opening Sho-59-156031 (JP, U) real-opening Sho-59- 156031 (JP, U) Actual development Sho 59-104148 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A latent image carrier, a means for forming a latent image on the latent image carrier, a means for transferring a toner image to a recording paper, and a recording device in a main body of an apparatus having an operation section in which operation switches are arranged. A paper feed cassette in which papers are stacked and stored, an automatic paper feed passage for reversing recording paper sent from the paper feed cassette to the transfer unit, a manual paper feed passage communicating with the automatic paper feed passage, and a toner In a printer device in which a discharge path for discharging a recording sheet on which an image has been transferred is installed, the paper feed cassette is configured such that the downstream end of the paper feed cassette is arranged on the front side in the paper feed direction. It is mounted so as to be detachable from the operation unit side with respect to the apparatus main body, and the manual sheet feeding passage has a manual sheet feeding port substantially tangential to the transfer portion of the latent image carrier on the operation unit side of the apparatus main body. The paper is fed from this manual feed slot The recording paper is conveyed substantially horizontally with respect to the transfer portion, and is configured to allow the paper to be fed in a direction substantially the same as the mounting direction of the paper feed cassette. A printer device, which is configured to allow paper ejection in a direction substantially opposite to a mounting direction of a cassette.