JPH11165903A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain high functions, reducing an image forming device by forming a sheet carrier path provided with a part supplying sheets and part forming an image on a sheet and ejecting the sheet on which the image is formed into a roughly elliptical shape. SOLUTION: In a sheet carrier path, sheets are supplied in a supply sheet loading part 4, a sheet carrier is performed in a roughly elliptical shape and sheets are ejected in an ejected sheet loading part 3. Cases of the ejected sheet loading part 3 and the supply sheet loading part 4 can be integrally rotated with a center 10 of rotation as a center. When a sheet jam is generated or a toner cartridge is changed, a work is performed by opening these cases. In a second supply sheet loading part 5, a sheet hand supply can he performed. Thus, an image forming device can be inexpensively miniaturized and the device which is excellent in design can be made because the ejected sheet loading part 3 and the supply sheet loading part 4 are adjacently included in the armor of the image forming device, the parts 3 and 4 are adjacent and the sheet carrier path draws an elliptical shape.

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 for forming an image on a sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type of image forming apparatus,
For example, there are an electrophotographic printer, a copying machine, a facsimile, and the like.

FIG. 9 shows an electrophotographic printer.

[0006] In FIG. 9, the type of a sheet conveying path of a sheet on which an image is formed is a linear conveying path.

[0005] A plurality of sheets are stacked on a sheet stacking table 101, and the sheets separated by a feeding roller 102 are conveyed to an image forming unit 103.

Scanner 1 provided inside image forming apparatus
In step S04, a latent image formed by the scanner 104 is formed on the image carrier by the image forming unit 102 having the image carrier based on image information sent from the outside, and then developed with toner. The sheet on which the toner image is transferred and the image is formed is conveyed to the fixing device 105, and the toner image is fixed by applying pressure while being heated by the heating device in the fixing device 105.

Then, the sheet is discharged to a discharge sheet stacking table 106.

In addition, an S-shaped conveyance path for reversing and transferring a sheet after supplying the sheet into the apparatus and reversing and discharging after fixing, or a transfer and fixing process arranged in a vertical direction after the supply is performed. There is a U-shaped conveyance path that conveys the sheet and is discharged in the horizontal direction.

[0009]

However, in the case of the above-described prior art transport path, the sheet loading table and the discharged sheet loading table take a large space.

Further, since the sheet stacking table and the discharged sheet stacking table are separately provided, it is difficult to reduce the size of the image forming apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a high-performance image forming apparatus capable of reducing the size of the image forming apparatus.

[0012]

According to the present invention, there is provided a sheet supply unit for supplying a sheet, an image forming unit for forming an image on the sheet, and discharging of the sheet on which the image is formed. And a sheet conveying path including the discharge section is substantially elliptical.

Therefore, in the image forming apparatus formed as described above, the portion where the sheet is supplied or discharged is also included in the substantially elliptical conveyance path, so that the image forming apparatus can be reduced in size.

[0014] It is preferable that the supply section and the discharge section are arranged at a superimposed position on the sheet conveying path.

Thus, the transport path can be shortened by an amount corresponding to the overlapping of the supply section and the discharge section, and the image forming apparatus can be reduced in size.

It is preferable that the supply section and the discharge section are partitioned by a single plate-like member.

Thus, the sheet conveying path from feeding to discharging can be shortened, and the image forming apparatus can be reduced in size.

It is preferable that the supply section and the discharge section hold a sheet upright.

As a result, the installation space can be reduced and the installation space can be efficiently used.

It is preferable that an image forming section for forming an image on a sheet is provided on a side of the sheet conveying path opposite to a portion where the supply section and the discharge section are provided.

Thus, the installation space for the image forming section can be reduced.

It is preferable that the supply section and the discharge section are provided in a case having the plate-like member as a partition.

Thus, the installation space can be reduced.

Preferably, the case is movable so as to open the inside of the apparatus.

Thus, during maintenance such as when a sheet jam occurs in the image forming apparatus, the entire case can be moved, and the maintainability can be improved.

The supply section is provided on the image forming section side, and the sheet is discharged from the supply section to the discharge section provided on the side opposite to the image forming section, and the sheet is conveyed to the supply section. It is preferable that a sheet is formed as a part of the path, to guide a sheet discharged from the image forming section to a discharge section, and to be provided with a lid for closing a supply port for replenishing the sheet to the supply section.

This makes it possible to easily replenish the sheets and guide the discharged sheets.

It is preferable that an image reading means for reading an original image is provided.

As a result, the device can be made compact and multifunctional.

[0030]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the dimensions of the components described in this embodiment,
The material, shape, relative arrangement, and the like are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to them unless otherwise specified.

(First Embodiment) An image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes an information transmitting means for outputting image information, and 2 denotes an image forming unit cartridge provided with an image carrier and provided in a vertical direction. The toner is put on the latent image formed on the image carrier.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a discharge sheet stacking unit as a discharge unit outside the image forming apparatus, and reference numeral 4 denotes a supply sheet stacking unit as a supply unit inside the image forming apparatus.

The discharge sheet stacking section 3 and the supply sheet stacking section 4 are provided in the case, and are adjacent to the front and back surfaces of the plate member.
The image forming unit is provided so as to stand and stack the sheets on the conveyance path opposite to the cartridge 2, the supply sheet stacking unit 4 feeds the sheets from the lower end, and the discharged sheet stacking unit 3 sets the upper end. The discharge sheet is loaded from the section.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a second supply sheet stacking unit,
Is a feed roller that separates and transports only one sheet from the stacked sheets, and a fixing roller pair 8 fixes an image on the sheet.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a cover provided at a supply port for replenishing sheets to the supply sheet stacking section 4 while rotating, and guides when the discharge sheet is sent to the discharge sheet stacking section 3 in a closed state.

With such a configuration, the sheet is image-formed in the same manner as in the prior art.

The sheet conveyance path is supplied by the supply sheet stacking section 4 and conveys the sheet in a substantially elliptical shape to form the discharge sheet stacking section 3.
Is discharged.

As shown in FIG. 3, the case of the discharge sheet stacking section 3 and the case of the supply sheet stacking section 4 can be integrally rotated about a rotation center 10, and when a sheet jam occurs,
Or, when replacing the toner cartridge, open here for work.

The second supply sheet stacking section 5 is capable of manually feeding sheets.

As a result, the discharged sheet stacking section 3 and the sheet stacking section 4 are adjacently included in the exterior of the image forming apparatus, and are adjacent to each other, and the sheet conveying path draws an ellipse. And can be excellent in design.

As shown in FIG. 4, the discharge sheet stacking section 3 is provided inside the image forming apparatus, the supply sheet stacking section 4 is provided outside, and the cover 9 discharges the sheet on which the image is formed. A portion that guides the sheet stacking unit 3, a portion that is opened when a sheet is supplied to the supply sheet stacking unit 4,
The same effect can be obtained even if the configuration is integrated.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, two discharge sheet stacking sections 3a and 3b are provided, and the lid 9 has a function of selecting the discharge sheet stacking sections 3a and 3b. As shown in FIG. The configuration may be selectable.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the second supply sheet stacking section 5 may be formed integrally with the discharge sheet stacking section 3.

In the present embodiment, the case is rotatable so as to open the inside of the apparatus. However, the case may be any as long as it is movable, and may be a slide or the like.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 8 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.

The difference from the first embodiment is that an image scanner as image reading means is provided below the image forming apparatus.

The other configuration and operation are the same as those of the first embodiment, so that the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted. In FIG. 8, an image scanner 11 is provided below the image forming apparatus as image reading means for reading a document image. The reading device 14 reads an image while a document is conveyed by a pair of conveying rollers 12 and 13.

Then, the read image information is sent to the image forming section to form an image.

As a result, the same functions and effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained, and the image read by the image scanner can be formed.

[0051]

According to the present invention, there is provided a feeding unit for stacking sheets,
A sheet conveyance path including an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet and a discharge unit that discharges the sheet on which the image is formed has a substantially elliptical shape. The size of the image forming apparatus can be reduced by being included in the convey path.

The supply section and the discharge section are arranged at the position where they are superimposed on the sheet conveyance path, so that the conveyance path can be shortened by the overlap of the supply section and the discharge section, and the image forming apparatus can be reduced in size.

Since the supply section and the discharge section are separated by a single plate-like member, the sheet conveyance path from feeding to discharge can be shortened, and the image forming apparatus can be reduced in size.

When the supply unit and the discharge unit hold the sheet upright, the installation space can be reduced, and the installation space is efficient.

By providing an image forming section for forming an image on a sheet on the opposite side of the sheet conveying path from the section where the supply section and the discharge section are provided, the installation space of the image forming section can be reduced.

Since the supply section and the discharge section are provided in a case having a plate-like member as a partition, the installation space can be reduced.

The case can be moved so as to open the inside of the apparatus, so that the case can be moved at the time of maintenance such as when a sheet jam occurs in the image forming apparatus to improve the maintainability.

The supply section is provided on the image forming section side, and the sheet is discharged from the supply section to a discharge section provided on the side opposite to the image forming section, and becomes a part of a sheet conveying path to the supply section. Since the discharge sheet from the forming section is guided to the discharge section, and the supply section is provided with a lid for closing the supply port for replenishing the sheet, the sheet can be easily supplied and the discharge sheet can be guided.

The provision of the image reading means for reading the original image makes it possible to provide a compact and multifunctional device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state where a case of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment is opened.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view showing the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing a selection state of a discharge sheet stacking unit with a lid of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 5 according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view showing the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic sectional view showing an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an image forming apparatus according to the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Information receiving means 2 Cartridge 3 Discharge sheet stacking section 4 Supply sheet stacking section 5 Second supply sheet stacking section 6, 7 Feed roller 8 Fixing roller pair 9 Lid 10 Rotation center 11 Image scanner 12, 13 Transport roller pair 14 Reading apparatus

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A sheet conveyance path including a sheet supply section for supplying a sheet, an image forming section for forming an image on the sheet, and a discharge section for discharging an image-formed sheet, has a substantially elliptical shape. Characteristic image forming apparatus. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the supply unit and the discharge unit are disposed at a position where the supply unit and the discharge unit overlap each other on the sheet conveyance path. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the supply unit and the discharge unit are separated by a single plate-shaped member. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the supply unit and the discharge unit hold a sheet upright. 5. An image forming section for forming an image on a sheet is provided on a side of the sheet conveying path opposite to a portion where the supply section and the discharge section are provided. Image forming device. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the supply unit and the discharge unit are provided in a case having the plate-shaped member as a partition. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the case is movable so as to open the inside of the apparatus. 8. The supply unit is provided on the image forming unit side, and a sheet is discharged from the supply unit to the discharge unit provided on a side opposite to the image forming unit. 8. A sheet feeding path, comprising a cover for guiding a sheet discharged from the image forming section to the discharge section and closing the supply port for replenishing the sheet to the supply section. An image forming apparatus according to claim 1. 9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising image reading means for reading a document image.