JPH11147640A - Image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify a mechanism switching a discharge of recording paper, improve operability, in the case of arranging discharge trays in upper/side parts of an image recorder. SOLUTION: In an image forming part of an image recorder 1, a developer unit 21 and a photosensitive unit 25 are combined, a recording paper forming means by an electrophotographic system is arranged, in a discharge route of recording paper, a rotation switching member 10 is provided rotatively, in a manner wherein the recording paper can be discharged selectively to two discharge trays 17, 18. In the rotation switching member 10, a route linearly guiding the recording paper discharged to the discharge tray 17 and a route changing the direction at a right angle by a sheet member inside the rotation switching member to discharge the paper toward the discharge tray 18 are provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording paper discharge device in an image recording apparatus, and more particularly, to a device capable of arbitrarily selecting an image surface of a recording paper to face upward or downward.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image recording apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile apparatus, etc., when a relatively large apparatus is used, a mechanism capable of changing a recording paper discharge direction can be combined. The direction of the image plane can be arbitrarily set. When a sorter is arranged in combination in the image recording apparatus, any post-processing can be performed in addition to the sorting of the recording paper. On the other hand, when the image recording device is a small device, the image signal is transmitted from the means for reading the image of the document to the image recording unit,
In many cases, the recording paper created by the recording unit is directly discharged to a discharge tray.
The discharge is performed as it is toward the discharge tray provided only in one. Some of the small-sized image recording apparatuses use a mechanism that has two discharge trays and discharges recording paper toward an arbitrary discharge tray.
In such a device, a branching claw device or the like is disposed at a branching portion, and switching is driven by a solenoid.

[0003]

In the branch pawl device provided on the discharge path, a large number of branch pawl members are attached at a predetermined interval to a shaft member provided so as to cross the sheet transport path in many cases. A driving member such as a solenoid is arranged for rotation of the shaft. However, since the conventional branching device uses a long shaft to which the claw member is attached, the weight of the shaft is large, and the solenoid used for switching the branching device generates a relatively loud noise. There is. Further, in the branching device using the claw member, there is also a problem of the reliability of the branching performance, and at present, it is desired to develop a highly reliable branching member having a simple structure, low manufacturing cost.

An object of the present invention is to meet the above-mentioned demands and to provide an apparatus capable of easily performing a switching operation by using a rotating member integrally formed of resin.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus for producing a recording sheet by using an electrophotographic method. According to a first aspect of the present invention, a discharge tray is disposed on a side portion and an upper portion of the apparatus, and a rotation switching member provided with a T-shaped branch path is disposed on a discharge path from a recording unit. The discharge system for the tray can be selected.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the rotation switching member is provided with a T-shaped recording paper guide path in which a straight path and a guide path branched at a right angle from an intermediate portion of the straight path are provided, and the two guides are provided. A sheet member for guiding a sheet at a right angle is disposed at a junction of the road. The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the rotation switching member is provided in a recording paper discharge path of the facsimile apparatus.

With the above-described structure, in the image recording apparatus of the present invention, the branching action by the rotation switching member can be easily performed on the discharge trays arranged on the side and the upper part of the apparatus. In addition, the configuration of the rotation switching member can be simplified. Further, since the rotation switching member can be guided through the support shaft provided integrally with the frame to guide the recording paper, the configuration of the drive mechanism can be simplified and the rotation switching member is disposed at the branch portion. The sheet member can accurately guide the branch of the recording paper. Further, in the case where the rotation switching member is provided in the recording paper discharge path of the facsimile apparatus, it is possible to separate the facsimile-received reception paper from other recording paper and discharge them toward two discharge trays. Post-processing can be easily performed.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An image recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the illustrated example. FIG. 1 shows an image recording apparatus 1 such as a printer in which two discharge trays 17 and 18 are provided.
The paper feed tray 2 is disposed below the image recording apparatus 1, and the developing unit 21 and the photoconductor unit 25 are disposed in combination in the image forming section 20. . In the image recording apparatus 1, a paper feed roller 3 such as a half moon roller and a separating member such as a snubber (not shown) are arranged in a paper feed section of the paper feed tray 2 to Separately feed each sheet. A transport roller device 5 is provided in a paper transport path 4 for transporting the paper from the paper feed tray toward the image forming unit 20.
Is disposed, and the transfer roller 6 is disposed at an image transfer section from the photosensitive drum 26 of the image forming section. The configuration of the paper transporting device is the same as that of a general copying machine or printer.

In the image forming section 20 of the image recording apparatus 1, a developing unit 21 and a photosensitive unit 25 are arranged in combination, and an LED head for writing an image on a photosensitive drum 26 is provided. 28 is arranged.
In the developing unit 21 and the photoconductor unit 25 disposed in the image forming unit 20 of the image recording apparatus, the toner unit is disposed inside the developing unit 21 in the same manner as in a general electrophotographic image forming apparatus. And means for supplying the toner to the sheet supply roller 22 while stirring the toner, and means for charging the toner. A mechanism such as a unit for charging the photosensitive drum 26 is also provided.
Since the configuration can be the same as that of a general electrophotographic system, description of the configuration and operation of each component disposed in the image forming unit 20 is omitted.

In the image recording apparatus, the photosensitive drum 26 is irradiated with light of image information from the LED head 28 to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum that is uniformly charged in advance. Then, a toner image is created by supplying toner from the developing roller 22 to the electrostatic latent image, and the transfer roller 6 transfers the toner image to the sheet by the action of applying a potential from the back side of the sheet. The sheet on which the toner image has been transferred is fixed through a fixing device 7 and is sent out to a discharge path via a discharge roller 8. A rotation switching member 1 is provided downstream of the discharge roller 8.
0, and by switching the guide path of the rotation switching member 10, through one of the discharge paths 15, 15a,
Discharge trays 17 arranged on the side and upper part of the apparatus main body,
Selectively discharge to 18. Note that the control program for creating the recording paper and the control information for the operation of each device are as follows.
The control is performed in accordance with a program set in the control device of the control unit 9. In addition, the operation of switching the discharge path of the recording paper and the control of the operation of each device based on information input to the control panel are also performed. This is performed by control means provided in the control unit 9.

The rotation switching member 10 for switching the recording paper discharge path is constructed as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and is provided at both ends of a frame 12 integrally formed of a plastic material. The shaft 11 is provided so as to protrude, and three recording paper guide ports are provided in the frame body as shown in FIG. The recording paper guide path provided in the rotation switching member 10 includes a straight guide port 13 and a discharge port 13.
a and a route from the upper guide opening 13b that intersects at the center of the straight route. The sheet member 14 is disposed obliquely at the intersection of the straight guide port 13 and the upper guide port 13b, and the recording paper entering through the upper guide port 13a is pressed against the sheet member 14, and the elasticity of the sheet is used. Then, the recording paper is changed to a right angle and guided toward the discharge port 13a, and the recording paper entering from the straight guide port 13 is guided toward the discharge port 13a through the lower portion of the sheet member 14. In the embodiment of the image recording apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, as shown in FIG.
0 is rotated via the shaft 11 to set the guide path to a straight path connecting the straight guide port 13 and the discharge port 13a, and the recording is discharged from the fixing device 7 via the transport roller 8. The paper is discharged to a discharge tray 17 through a discharge path 15.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which the image recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is combined with a reading mechanism of a facsimile apparatus to form an image recording apparatus 1a having a multifunction. In the image recording apparatus 1a, a facsimile reading apparatus 30 is disposed at an upper portion of the apparatus main body, and is configured to read an image of a document set on a document tray 31 and transmit the image information using a facsimile function. . The facsimile reading device 30 includes a pickup roller 32 for taking out a document from a document tray 31 and a sheet separating device 33, and the document is transported by a transport roller device 34 along a substantially U-shaped document transport path. While reading, the reading unit 36 reads an image. As in the case of a general facsimile machine, a platen glass 37 is disposed in the reading unit 36, and a lamp 38 and a CCD 39 are provided below the platen glass 37. Then, the light from the lamp 38 is irradiated on the original, and the reflected light is reflected on the CCD 39.
The recording paper can be converted into an electric signal and transmitted via a communication line, or image information obtained by a CCD can be transmitted to an LED to create a recording paper.

In the document feeder disposed in the facsimile reading device 30, the sheet separating device 33 is composed of a combination of a feed roller and a retard roller, and separates the documents one by one and sends them out to the reading unit 36. As the transport roller device, a plurality of pressing roller members are arranged for a large-diameter drive roller also serving as a guide portion inside a curved portion of a U-shaped document transport path, and a plurality of pressing roller members are arranged at the curved portion of the document. Is configured to be guided. A discharge roller device 35 is disposed at the discharge side end of the document conveying path, and discharges the read document toward the discharge tray 18. Further, in the present embodiment, the document tray 31 is swingably provided via the support shaft 31a, and by opening the document tray, the document discharged to the discharge tray 18 can be easily taken out. .

In the image recording apparatus 1a shown in FIG. 4, the image recording apparatus is constructed in the same manner as in the case of FIG. Transfer the toner image from 26,
The recording paper is discharged through the fixing device 7. In the rotation switching member 10 disposed downstream of the fixing device 7,
Although the guide path is set so as to guide the recording paper toward the upper discharge tray 18, the recording paper may be discharged toward the side discharge tray 17. In the image recording device 1a shown in FIG.
Using the facsimile reading device 30 as a document scanning device, image information read by the facsimile reading device can be transmitted to the image forming section 20 to make a copy. The recording paper created by the image forming unit is discharged toward the discharge tray 17 on the side, so that the document and the recording paper can be prevented from being mixed.

When the facsimile function is used in the image recording apparatus 1a, the scanned document is discharged toward the upper discharge tray 18 and the recording paper is discharged from the discharge tray 17.
, So that the original and the recording paper are not mixed. When a mode for discharging only the recording paper received by facsimile is set, for example, the recording paper based on the first reception is discharged toward the discharge tray 17, and the recording paper by the next reception is discharged to the discharge tray. The operation of the switching mechanism may be set so as to discharge toward 18. As described above, in the present embodiment, since the facsimile apparatus and the image recording apparatus are configured as a combined apparatus, the same as the apparatus configured by combining the conventional large-sized copying machine and the facsimile apparatus. Various functions can be set, and the created recording paper can be arbitrarily sorted and discharged toward two discharge trays.

When the rotation switching member 10 is switched, for example, a gear attached to the shaft 11 of the rotation switching member is driven forward and reverse by a pulse motor or the like to rotate the gear 90 degrees in the forward and reverse directions. Thus, the recording paper guide system can be switched. Also, the discharge roller device 1
It is also possible to connect a drive transmission system for a gear provided on the rotation switching member shaft and a clutch means to a drive transmission system for any one of 6, 6a. When a button on the control panel of the apparatus main body is pressed to display a selection of a discharge tray, the rotation switching member is rotated by 90 ° or 270 ° in accordance with the discharge tray. Is also possible. Further, when the shaft 11 of the rotation switching member 10 is provided so as to protrude out of the machine and a manual lever is attached to the shaft, the operator may manually perform the switching operation. It is possible to simplify the switching mechanism of the rotation switching member.

[0016]

Since the image recording apparatus of the present invention is constructed as described above, in the apparatus of the present invention, the image recording apparatus is rotated with respect to the discharge trays arranged on the side and upper part of the apparatus main body. The branching action by the switching member can be easily performed, and the configuration of the rotation switching member can be simplified.
Further, since the rotation switching member can be guided through the support shaft provided integrally with the frame to guide the recording paper, the configuration of the drive mechanism can be simplified and the rotation switching member is disposed at the branch portion. The sheet member can accurately guide the branch of the recording paper. Further, in the case where the rotation switching member is provided in the recording paper discharge path of the facsimile apparatus, it is possible to separate received paper received by facsimile from other recording paper and discharge the recording paper toward two discharge trays. Then, the post-processing of the document can be easily performed by rotating the rotation switching member using an arbitrary driving unit and setting the recording paper discharge path to the two discharge trays.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of an image recording apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a rotation switching member arranged in a recording paper discharge path.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the rotation switching member of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the image recording apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 image recording device, 2 paper feed tray, 3 paper feed roller, 4 paper transport path, 5 transport roller device, 6 transfer roller, 7 fixing device, 8 discharge roller device, 9 control unit, 10 rotation switching member, 11 axes, 12 frame, 13 guide port, 14 sheet member, 15 discharge path, 16
Discharge roller device, 17, 18 discharge tray, 2
0 image forming unit, 21 developing unit, 25
Photoconductor unit, 26 Photoconductor drum, 28
LED head, 30 facsimile reader, 3
6 reading unit, 37 platen glass, 38 lamp, 39 CCD.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image recording apparatus for producing recording paper using an electrophotographic method, wherein a discharge tray is arranged on a side portion and an upper portion of the apparatus, and a T-shaped guide path is provided on a discharge path from the recording section. An image recording apparatus, wherein a rotation switching member is arranged so that a discharge system for the two discharge trays can be selected. 2. The rotation switching member is provided with a T-shaped recording paper guide path in which a straight path and a guide path branched at a right angle from an intermediate portion of the straight path are provided. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a sheet member that guides the sheet at a right angle is disposed at the junction. 3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotation switching member is provided in a recording paper discharge path of the facsimile apparatus.
Or the image recording device according to 2.