JPH0758892A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To save the space, to reduce the cost and to improve the operability by providing a recording paper container section to an upper part of a main body, forming the recording paper container section with an upper outer package member and using a cover of the recording paper container section in common with a recording paper discharge tray. CONSTITUTION:A recording paper container section 20 is formed by utilizing an upper outer package member of a main body 18 and contains recording paper 7 in the inside. A liftup plate 10 is fitted to a container cover 21 to retain the recording paper 7 by a spring 9. The recording paper in which print is finished is discharged onto a cover 21. Thus, the cover 21 is used in common for the paper discharge tray. The liftup plate 10 and the cover 21 are turned around a fulcrum 22 and the recording paper 7 is supplied simply. Through the constitution above, the equipment of a small size, at a low cost and excellent operability is 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 having means for transferring a visible image formed on a photoconductor to recording paper according to image data and fixing the image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in addition to a copying machine as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-44964, an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic method has come to be used in FAX and computer output equipment.

A conventional image forming apparatus will be described below with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, the photoconductor 1 has a photoconductive layer on its surface and rotates in the direction of the arrow in the figure. Photoconductor 1
A charger 2 for uniformly charging the photoreceptor 1 around the
A writing laser scanner for forming an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 1, an optical system 3 including an LED head, and a developing device 4 for visualizing the electrostatic latent image are arranged. . A transfer device 5 and a cleaning device 6 are arranged on the downstream side of the developing device 4 with respect to the rotation direction of the photoconductor 1 in the direction of the arrow in the figure.

The transfer device 5 is for transferring the developer from the photoconductor 1 to the recording paper 7, and is a conductive material in which carbon or the like is dispersed in a corona discharger, a metal roller or a synthetic resin applied with a high voltage. It is configured by applying a high voltage to the roller. The cassette 8 is a storage box for storing the recording paper 7. The cassette 8 has a spring 9 and a push-up plate 1 inside.
The push-up plate 10 has a structure in which it is always pushed up by the spring 9.

The paper feed roller 11 is made of rubber, metal, or the like, and a separation pad 13 attached to the pad pressing plate 12 is arranged facing the paper feed roller 11. The separation pad 13 is made of cork material, resin, or the like, and is pressed against the paper feed roller 11 by the spring 14.

Reference numeral 15 is a registration roller, which is composed of a rubber or metal roller, and which has a spring clutch or an electrode clutch (not shown) for recording paper 7.
Controls the position of the leading edge and corrects skewing of the recording paper. 16
Is a carrier plate made of resin or sheet metal. A fixing unit 17 is composed of a fixing roller 17a and a pressing roller 17b. The fixing roller 17a has a surface of an aluminum tube coated with fluorine resin or the like, and a halogen heater is arranged in the aluminum tube to serve as a heat source. The press roller 17b is made of a rubber material having a rubber hardness of 15 ° to 60 °.

Reference numeral 18 is a main body, and 19 is a paper discharge tray. The operation of the image forming apparatus configured as described above will be described below.

First, a photoreceptor 1 having a high resistance in a dark area is uniformly charged by a charger 2 which generates corona ions by corona discharge, and a laser scanner or LED is used.
An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoconductor 1, which is a photoconductor, by exposing the photoconductor 1 according to image data by an optical system 3 including a head.

Next, the developing device 4 develops the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 1 to develop it on the photoconductor 1 with a developer to obtain a visible image. The recording paper 7 stored in the cassette 8 is fed up after the push-up plate 10 is pushed up by the spring 9 to come into contact with the paper feed roller 11 and separated by the separation pad 13. The registration roller 15 controls the leading end position and skew of the supplied recording paper 7, and the recording paper 7 is sent to the transfer unit.

The visible image on the photoconductor 1 is a corona discharger for generating corona ions by corona discharge on the recording paper 7 sent in, or a conductive roller in which carbon or the like is dispersed in a metal roller or a synthetic resin. The image is transferred by the transfer device 5 which is configured by applying a high voltage to. The recording paper 7 having the surface on which the visible image on the photoconductor 1 is transferred is guided to the fixing unit 17 through the conveying plate 16. The fixing unit 17 is composed of a fixing roller 17a and a press roller 17b, and fixes a visible image on the recording paper 7 by applying heat and pressure to the recording paper 7. The recording paper 7 on which the visible image is fixed is discharged to the outside of the main body 18 and stocked on the paper discharge tray 19.

[0011]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional image forming apparatus, the cassette 8 for storing recording paper and the discharge tray 19 are projected outside the main body 18, and the installation area of the main body 18 becomes very large. Further, there is a problem that it is difficult to reduce the cost because the number of parts such as the cassette 8 and the paper discharge tray 19 is large. Further, it is necessary to attach / detach the cassette 8 from the main body 18 every time the recording paper 7 is replenished,
It has a problem of poor operability.

The present invention is intended to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to save the installation area of the main body, reduce the cost, and improve the operability.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a recording paper storage portion in the upper part of the main body, and the recording paper storage portion is constituted by an upper exterior member, and the recording paper storage portion cover is recorded. It is also used as a paper output tray.

[0014]

Operation: The storage cover and push-up plate rotate about a fulcrum on one side of the main body to open and close. However, the storage cover and push-up plate are opened to supply recording paper into the recording paper storage. And store it. Then, after the recording paper is replenished in the recording storage portion, the storage portion cover is locked to the main body.

Inside the main body, the recording paper which has finished printing through each means such as a charging means, an optical system means, a developing means, a transfer means and a cleaning means is discharged onto the storage section cover. In this way, the storage section cover of the recording sheet storage section also functions as a recording sheet discharge tray, in other words, the storage section cover of the recording sheet storage section also serves as the recording sheet discharge tray. It will be.

[0016]

(Embodiment 1) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In addition,
The same parts as those of the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. Since the printing process is the same, the description is omitted. The characteristic configuration of this embodiment is that the recording paper storage unit 2
0 is provided on the upper portion of the main body 18, the recording paper storage portion 20 is constituted by the upper exterior member, and the cover 21 of the recording paper storage portion 20 is shared with the recording paper discharge tray 19.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of the inside of the main body of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 20 denotes a recording paper storage unit configured by using an upper exterior member of the main body, in which the recording paper 7 is stored. The push-up plate 10 is the storage section cover 2
1 is attached to the recording paper 7 by the spring 9.
It is configured to hold down. The recording paper 7 on the storage unit cover 21 is the recording paper 7 that has been printed and ejected. The storage cover 21 is also used as a paper discharge tray, and in order to improve the stockability of the recording paper 7, recording paper regulating ribs (not shown) are provided on both sides in the traveling direction of the recording paper 7. It can also be provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the push-up plate 10 and the accommodating section cover 21 are configured to rotate around a fulcrum 22.
When replenishing the recording paper 7, the recording paper 7 can be easily replenished by rotating and opening / closing the storage section cover 21. After the recording paper 7 is replenished, the storage section cover 21 is locked to the main body 18 (the lock structure is not shown).

In this embodiment, the fulcrum 22 is provided on the left side, but the fulcrum 22 may be provided at any of the front and rear or left and right positions. Reference numeral 11 denotes a paper feed roller, which is arranged below the recording paper storage unit 20. A separation pad 13 attached to a pad pressing plate 12 is arranged by a spring 14 so as to face the paper feed roller 11.

It is also one of the features of the present invention that the main paper feed mechanism is arranged below the recording paper storage section 20. It is possible to dispose the paper feed mechanism above the recording paper 7, but the presence of the paper feed roller 11 limits the lengthwise direction of the storage portion for the discharged recording paper 7, and There is a problem that it becomes an obstacle when replenishing and it is difficult to replenish.

(Embodiment 2) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The same parts as those in the conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the inside of the main body when the image forming apparatus of the present invention is used as a FAX output device.
Reference numeral 23 denotes a document reading unit, which is composed of a contact sensor or the like. Reference numeral 24 is a document, and 25 is a document tray formed on the storage section cover 21. The document tray 25 is integrated with the storage cover 21, and is opened and closed together with the storage cover 21 when recording paper is replenished. The document 24 separated by the paper feed roller 11 and the separation pad 13 is the document reading unit 2
The content of the original is read by 3 and is discharged to the outside of the main body 18.

Although not shown in FIG. 3, the read document 24 can be turned U and discharged onto a document discharge tray (not shown) provided on the document tray 25. With the above-mentioned configuration, the installation area can be reduced to the main body 18
And can save space.

[0024]

As is apparent from the above description, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the recording paper storage portion is provided in the upper part of the main body, the recording paper storage portion is constituted by the upper exterior member, and the recording paper storage portion cover is used for recording. By sharing it with the paper output tray, the installation area of the main unit can be saved, the cost can be reduced by reducing the number of parts, and the recording paper supply can be simplified. An excellent image forming apparatus can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an inside of a main body of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the inside of the main body with the storage unit cover open.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the inside of the main body of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the inside of the main body of a conventional image forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Photoreceptor 2 Charging Device 3 Optical System 4 Developing Device 5 Transfer Device 6 Cleaning Device 7 Recording Paper 18 Main Body 19 Paper Ejection Tray 20 Recording Paper Storage 21 Storage Cover

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A photosensitive member having a photoconductive layer on its surface, a charging unit for uniformly charging the surface of the photosensitive member, and exposing the photosensitive member surface according to image data to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive member surface. Optical system means for forming, developing means for forming an electrostatic latent image into a visible image, transfer means for transferring the visible image on the photoreceptor onto recording paper,
It has a cleaning means for cleaning the residual developer on the photoconductor, the recording paper storage part is provided in the upper part of the main body, the recording paper storage part is constituted by the upper exterior member, and the cover of the recording paper storage part is the recording paper discharge tray. Image forming device shared with 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording paper holding member cover is provided with a recording paper pressing member. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording paper is fed from the lowermost recording paper in a recording paper storage unit in which the recording paper is stored. 4. An original document feed means and an original reading means, and an original tray is integrated on a recording paper storage section cover.
The image forming apparatus described. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a document feeding unit and a document reading unit, wherein the document discharge tray is integrated on the recording paper storage unit cover.