JPH09255210A - Structure for document discharge section of image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a document from dropping from a document discharge section and improve the stack performance of the document by providing multiple ribs erected from the planar bottom face of the document discharge section and extended in the document discharging direction, and extending the rib on the foremost line forward than the other ribs. SOLUTION: Multiple ribs 71A-71C erected from the planar bottom face and extended in the document discharging direction are arranged on a document discharge section 70 receiving the image-formed documents, and the rib 71A on the foremost line is extended forward than the other ribs 11B, 11C. When a document having the relatively narrow width is discharged on the document discharge section 70, the rib 71A serves as a guide when the tip of the document proceeds in front of the terminal ends of the ribs 111B, 11C. For a document having the relatively wide width, the tip section of the document rides over the rib 71A and is lifted forward and inclined when it proceeds, and the drop of the document is prevented. Good stack performance is obtained for the document of any size.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure of a document discharging section of a document feeding device in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As one of measures for saving space in a copying machine, a document feeding device is configured such that the document feeding device turns the document once and then conveys it to an exposing portion, and after the exposure, further turns and the upper surface of the document feeding device. A method of ejecting and stacking the sheets on a document ejecting section provided in the is widely adopted. FIG. 19 is a front view showing an example of a conventional structure of a document discharge section according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a document feeder, which can be opened upward from the state shown in the figure with respect to the lower copying machine main body (not shown) with the lower left corner of the figure as a fulcrum. Reference numeral 11 is a document table, and 12 is a document discharge unit. The document feeding device 10 functions as a document feeding device in the closed state as shown in the figure, and is used as a pressure plate for pressing a document by opening and closing it.

In the state where the document feeder 10 is closed as shown in the figure, the document placed on the document table 11 is fed toward the left side in the figure, and after turning once, it goes downward. The sheet is conveyed and exposed, and then conveyed rightward and further turned to be ejected to the document ejection section 12 and stacked. In the document discharge unit 12, when the discharged document comes into contact with the flat surface of the bottom surface, static electricity is generated and the document sticks to the bottom surface. Therefore, in order to prevent this, the document discharge unit 12 A plurality of ribs 13 extending in the paper discharge direction are arranged on the bottom of the document 12. Each rib
13 has heights h that are uniform with respect to each other and in the longitudinal direction.

[0004]

However, if the document feeding device 10 is opened and closed when it is used as a pressure plate, the document may drop from the document feeding device 10 due to its centrifugal force when it is closed. Even when used as a document feeder, the ejected document is not ejected due to static electricity when the copy machine is installed or when the document is ejected.
May fall from 10.

[0005] The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems.
An object of the present invention is to improve the stacking performance of documents by preventing the documents from dropping from the document discharge unit by optimizing the ribs of the document discharge unit.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 provides a structure of a document discharge section of an image forming apparatus for placing a document after being exposed and discharged. , A plurality of ribs that rise from the flat bottom surface of the document discharge section and extend in the document discharge direction are provided, and the ribs in the front row are extended ahead of the other ribs. is there.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the document discharge section is provided with a plurality of ribs in place of the rib according to the first aspect, and the height of the rib in the front row is set higher than the height of other ribs. It is characterized by being. The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the document discharge section according to claim 2 is provided with the lowest ribs at least in a portion other than the front row and the last row.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the document discharging section according to the second aspect, the height of the ribs in the front row adjacent to each other is set to be equal to or higher than the height of the ribs in the rear row. It is what According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the document discharge section according to the first aspect, an elastic body having one end fixed and the other end forming a free end and the other end facing the bottom surface of the document discharge section. It is characterized in that it is provided with a document pressing member which is made of a plate-like member and which receives the document and presses it between the other end and the bottom surface side of the document discharging section according to the document discharging operation.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, in the document discharging section according to the fifth aspect, the other end of the document pressing member faces the region where the ribs other than the frontmost rib are arranged. It is characterized by. The invention according to claim 7 is characterized in that the document discharging part according to claim 2 is provided with the document pressing member according to claim 5, and the other end faces a portion between the ribs. It is what

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a document feeding apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 20 is a copying machine main body, 30 is a document feeding device, and 31 is FIG.
A document table similar to that in 32, a document feeding unit, a document separating unit, a document separating unit, a conveying unit, a contact glass, a reversing unit, a return unit, a document ejecting unit, a document ejecting unit, and a document original. A rib that rises from the flat bottom surface of the paper discharge unit 38 and extends in the document discharge direction. The document feeder 30 is provided with a document table 31.
The plurality of originals are separated one by one by the original separating unit 33, conveyed on the contact glass 35, and after being exposed,
The sheets are discharged and stacked on the document discharge section 38 via the reversing section 36 and the return section 37.

The original document feeding section 32 is provided with a calling roller 40.
A presser lever 41, a document set detection filler 42, a document set sensor 43, a document stopper 44, and the like. Then, the document separating section 33 includes a separation roller 45, a separation belt 46, a separation belt driving roller 47, a separation belt driven roller 48, a size detection sensor 49, a pullout driving roller 50, a pullout driven roller 51, and a registration roller. The sensor 52 and the like. The transport unit 34 includes a transport belt 53 and a transport belt drive roller 54.
, The conveyor belt driven roller 55, and the conveyor belt fixing roller 56
And a conveyor belt pressing roller 57, a reference scale 58 and the like. The reversing unit 36 includes a reversing drive roller 59, a reversal entrance driven roller 60, a reversal sheet discharge sensor 61 and the like. The return unit 37 includes a guide roller 62, a switching claw 63, a reversing outlet driven roller 64, a paper ejection drive roller 65, a paper ejection driven roller 66, and the like.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a document discharging section showing a first embodiment of the present invention, which corresponds to the invention of claim 1. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 70 denotes the document discharge section 38 shown in FIG.
A plurality of ribs 71A, 71 that stand up from a flat bottom surface and extend in the original discharge direction.
B and 71C are arranged. The rib 71A in the front row is extended ahead of the other ribs 71B and 71C. The heights h of the ribs 71A, 71B, 71C are the same as in FIG. 19 and are uniform in the longitudinal direction.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of the height of the ribs of the document discharge section according to each embodiment of the present invention. For example, each rib of the document discharge section 70 in FIG. 2 is the same as in FIG. Instead of having a uniform height h in the longitudinal direction,
As shown in FIG. 5, the rib 39 of the document discharge section 38 may have a shape that has a top portion at the middle portion in the longitudinal direction and is inclined to the left and right. Hereinafter, the height of the top of the document discharge section with respect to the bottom is represented by h. It should be noted that FIG. 1 shows the document discharge section 38 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a state in which the document P is discharged onto the document discharge section 70 having the configuration of FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is an arrow AA when the document P is relatively small. Cross-sectional view, FIG.
[FIG. 3] is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA when the document P is relatively large. With reference to FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, since the rib 71A in the front row is extended ahead of the other ribs 71B and 71C, when a relatively narrow original P is ejected, In the state where the leading end of P is advanced further than the end of the ribs 71B and 71C, the problem that the rib 71A serves as a guide and the document P falls toward the front side is eliminated. Also, for a relatively wide original P, as shown in FIG.
In the same manner, the side end of the document P rides on the rib 71A and inclines so as to rise forward, so that the document P is prevented from falling. Therefore, the stack performance is improved for the original P of each size. In FIG. 2, the lengths of the other ribs 71B and 71C are made equal to each other, but they are not necessarily equal.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a document discharge section showing a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view of FIG. 7, which corresponds to the second aspect of the invention. 80 in FIGS. 7 and 8.
Is a document discharge unit configured in place of the document discharge unit 38 in FIG. 1, and is provided with a plurality of ribs 81A, 81B, 81C that rise from the flat bottom surface and extend in the document discharge direction.
The height of the frontmost rib 81A is higher than that of the other ribs 81B and 81C. Although the rib 81A in the front row is one rib for conveyance, it serves as a fence for a document having a comparatively narrow width and prevents the document P from falling forward and falling. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, even for a relatively wide original P, the end of the original P leans on the rib 81A and is inclined so as to rise forward, so that the original P is prevented from falling. . Therefore, the stack performance is improved for the original P of each size. Although the lengths of the ribs 81A, 81B, and 81C are equal to each other in FIG. 7, they may not necessarily be equal to each other.

FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are sectional views of the document discharging section showing the third embodiment of the present invention, and correspond to the invention of claim 3. In FIGS. 9 and 10, reference numerals 90 and 100 respectively denote original document ejecting sections configured in place of the original document ejecting section 38 shown in FIG. 1, and the original document ejecting section 90 shown in FIG. Three ribs 91A extending in the paper discharge direction,
91B and 91C are arranged. The height of the rib 91B at the center is lower than that of the other ribs 91A and 91C.
Since the originals P are curved and stacked in a shape having a low central portion and a high front and rear, the deviation and the falling of the originals at the time of stacking are prevented. In the document discharging section 100 shown in FIG. 10, the height of the rib 101D at the central portion is set to be the lowest, and the ribs on the front row side and the rear row side are sequentially made equal or higher in height, and a large number of ribs 101A to 101G are formed. It is arranged. Therefore, the original P is similarly curved especially with respect to the central reference original feeding device, and it becomes possible to improve stacking performance of originals of various sizes.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a document discharging section showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention, which corresponds to the fourth aspect of the invention. In FIG. 11, reference numeral 110 denotes a document discharge section configured in place of the document discharge section 38 shown in FIG. 1, and a large number of ribs 111 rising from the flat bottom surface and extending in the document discharge direction.
A to 111F are arranged. The height of the ribs 111A in the front row is set to be the highest, and the ribs 111B to 111F in the rear row are set to be successively lower. Therefore, it is possible to improve stacking performance of documents of various sizes, especially in a document feeder that is edge-based.

Although the ribs shown in the above figures have a rectangular cross section, they may be trapezoidal or round. FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a document discharging section showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 13 is a front sectional view of FIG. 12, and FIG.
FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of an essential part of FIG.

12, FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, reference numeral 120 designates a document ejecting section configured in place of the document ejecting section 70 shown in FIG. 2, and a plurality of ribs 71A, 71B and 71C shown in FIG. are doing. Reference numeral 121 denotes a rectangular document pressing member made of an elastic plate member such as mylar, one end of which is fixed to the document table 31 via a bracket 122, the other end of which is a free end, and the other end of which is the document discharge unit 120. Of the document P, the document P is received between the other end of the document P and the bottom surface side of the document discharge unit 120 and is pressed by the document discharge operation. When the ribs 71A, 71B, and 71C have the same height as each other, the end portion of the relatively wide original P is on the rib 71A in the front row and is displaced forward and falls. However, since the document P is pressed by the document pressing member 121, the document is prevented from falling. Therefore, the stacking performance with respect to the document P is further improved as compared with the configuration of FIG.

FIG. 15 and FIG. 16 are side sectional views of the document discharge section showing the sixth embodiment of the present invention, and correspond to the invention of claim 6. FIG. 15 shows the document discharge section 120 of FIG. 12, and the other end of the document pressing member 121 in this case faces the ribs 71B and 71C other than the rib 71A in the front row. The other end of the document pressing member 131 of the document discharge unit 130 of FIG. 16 faces the ribs 71B other than the rib 71A in the front row. The document holding members 121 and 131 are shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 16, by placing the ribs 71B and 71C other than the frontmost row of ribs 71A so as to face each other, the original document in FIG.
Since it is sandwiched between the document holding member 121 and the bottom face in a state of being pushed by the bottom surface between the ribs 71B and 71C by being supported by, the document holding member 131 in FIG.
Since the original is directly sandwiched between the rib 71B and the rib 71B facing it, the effects described with reference to FIGS. 12, 13, and 14 can be reliably obtained.

FIG. 17 and FIG. 18 are side sectional views of the document discharge section showing the seventh embodiment of the present invention, and correspond to the invention of claim 7. The document output section 140 shown in FIG.
The ribs 141A to 141F of FIG. 10 are arranged in the same manner as in FIG. 10, and the ribs 151A to 151F of the document discharge section 150 of FIG.
Are arranged as in FIG. Then, the document pressing members 142 and 152 respectively have ribs 141A to 141F or
Opposite parts of 151A to 151F that are adjacent to each other. The document pressing members 142, 1 are different from the configurations shown in FIGS.
By adding 52 respectively, the original is rib 141C
And 141D or 151C and 151D to support the rib 141
While being pushed to the bottom side between C and 141D or between 151C and 151D, it is sandwiched between the document holding member 142 or 152 and the bottom surface, so that stacking performance of documents of various sizes can be further improved. become.

[0022]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of ribs are provided, which rise from the flat bottom surface of the document discharge section and extend in the document discharge direction, and the rib in the front row is more than other ribs. Since it is also extended to the front, when a relatively narrow original is ejected, the ribs in the front row serve as a guide, eliminating the problem of the original falling.
Further, even for a document having a relatively wide width, the end of the document rides on the rib and is inclined so as to rise forward, so that the document is prevented from falling and the stacking performance of the document is improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the height of the ribs in the front row in the document discharge section is set higher than the heights of the other ribs. As a result, the ribs in the front row function as a fence to prevent the original from slipping forward and falling, and even for relatively wide originals, the side edges of the original ride on the ribs and move forward. The document is prevented from falling because the document is inclined to the state of being raised to the end. Therefore, the stack performance is improved for the original P of each size.

Further, according to the third aspect of the invention, since the document discharge section is provided with the lowest ribs in the portions other than the front row and the last row, the original has a shape in which the central portion is low and the front and rear are high. By curving and stacking, it is possible to prevent misalignment during stacking and document dropping, so that it is possible to improve stacking performance of documents of various sizes, especially for a central reference document feeder.

According to the invention of claim 4, the height of the ribs in the front row adjacent to each other in the document discharge section is set to be equal to or higher than the height of the ribs in the rear row. In addition, it is possible to improve the stacking performance of documents of various sizes, especially in a document feeder that is edge-based. Further, according to the invention of claim 5, in addition to the structure of claim 1, the document is received between the document output section and the bottom face side of the document discharge section and pressed against the document discharge section in accordance with the document discharge operation. Since the original document holding member is provided, the original document is pressed by the original document pressing member to prevent the original document from dropping. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the stacking performance for the original document is further improved.

According to the invention of claim 6, since the other end of the document pressing member is opposed to the area where the ribs other than the ribs in the front row are arranged, the effect of claim 5 can be obtained reliably. To be According to the invention of claim 7,
In addition to the configuration according to claim 2, the document pressing member according to claim 5 is provided, and the other end of the document pressing member is opposed to the portion between the ribs. , The stack performance for the original is further improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a document feeder according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a document discharge unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a rib height shape of a document discharge unit according to each embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state in which a document has been discharged onto a document discharging unit having the configuration of FIG.

5 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 4 when the document is relatively small.

6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 4 when the document is relatively large.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a document discharge unit showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a document discharge unit according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a document discharge unit showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of a document discharge unit according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a document discharge section showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a front sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a side cross-sectional view of a document discharge section showing a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a side cross-sectional view of a document discharging section showing a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a side cross-sectional view of a document discharge section showing a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a side sectional view of a document discharging section showing a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a front view showing an example of a conventional structure of a document discharge unit according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Document Feeding Device 11 Document Table 12 Document Output Unit 13, 39, 71A, 71B, 71C, 81A, 81B, 81C, 91A,
91B, 91C, 101A to 101G, 111A to 111F, 141A to 141
F, 151A to 151F Rib 20 Copier body 30 Document feeder 31 Document table 32 Document feeder 33 Document separator 34 Conveyor 35 Contact glass 36 Inverter 37 Return 38, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150 Original output section 40 Calling roller 41 Presser lever 42 Original set detection filler 43 Original set sensor 44 Original stopper 45 Separation roller 46 Separation belt 47 Separation belt drive roller 48 Separation belt driven roller 49 Size detection sensor 50 Pull-out drive roller 51 Pull-out driven roller 52 Registration sensor 53 Conveyor belt 54 Conveyor belt drive roller 55 Conveyor belt driven roller 56 Conveyor belt fixed roller 57 Conveyor belt pressing roller 58 Reference scale 59 Reverse drive roller 60 Reversed inlet driven roller 61 Reversed paper ejection sensor 62 Guide roller 63 Switching pawl 64 Reversed outlet driven roller 65 Paper ejection driving roller 66 Paper ejection driven roller 121, 131, 142, 152 Document holding section Material 122 bracket

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A structure of a document discharge unit of an image forming apparatus for placing a document after being exposed and discharged, wherein a document discharge direction is raised from a flat bottom surface of the document discharge unit. 1. A structure of a document discharge section of an image forming apparatus, wherein a plurality of ribs extending in a line are provided, and a rib in a front row is extended ahead of other ribs. 2. A structure of a document discharge unit of an image forming apparatus for placing a document after being exposed and discharged, wherein a document discharge direction is raised from a flat bottom surface of the document discharge unit. A structure of a document discharge section of an image forming apparatus, wherein a plurality of ribs extending in a vertical direction are provided, and a height of a rib in a front row is set to be higher than a height of other ribs. 3. The structure of a document discharge section of an image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein at least three ribs are provided, and the lowest ribs are provided in at least a portion other than the front row and the last row. . 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein at least three ribs are provided, and the height of the ribs in the front row adjacent to each other is set to be equal to or higher than the height of the ribs in the rear row. Structure of the original document output section. 5. An elastic plate member, one end of which is fixed and the other end of which is a free end, and the other end of which is opposed to the bottom surface of the document discharge section. 2. The structure of the document discharging unit of the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a document pressing member for receiving the document and pressing the document between the document discharging unit and a bottom surface side of the document discharging unit. 6. The document discharging section of the image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the other end of the document pressing member faces a region where ribs other than the ribs in the front row are arranged. Construction. 7. An elastic plate member, one end of which is fixed and the other end of which is a free end, and the other end of which is opposed to the bottom surface of the document discharge section. 7. A document pressing member for receiving a document and pressing the document is provided between the rib and the bottom surface side of the document discharging unit, and the other end faces a portion between the ribs. 2 is a structure of a document discharge unit of the image forming apparatus described in 2.