JPH11321048A - Image formation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image formation apparatus which easily handles maintenance and jam brought about at a paper feed route of a paper feed device from a feed roller pair to a resist roller pair and prevents a damage because of wrong operation procedures. SOLUTION: This apparatus has a fed paper transfer device 2 for papers from a paper feed cassette 1, and a paper feed device 11 from a pair of feed rollers 6, 7 at a downstream part of the fed paper transfer device to a pair of resist rollers 8, 9 at an upstream part of a transfer device. The fed paper transfer device 2 can be switches into a route open state in accordance with opening of an apparatus main body cover 30 and a lock means 33 locks the apparatus main body cover 30 in a close state. The paper feed device 11 is constituted so that it can be drawn outside an apparatus main body. A lock release means 53 switches the lock means 33 to a lock release state in association with the drawing-out of the paper feed unit.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electrostatographic copying machine,
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer and a facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The above-mentioned image forming apparatus includes a sheet feeding and conveying device for feeding sheets from a sheet feeding cassette, and a sheet feeding device extending from a pair of feed rollers downstream of the device to a pair of registration rollers upstream of a transfer device. In some cases, the sheet feeding / conveying device is configured to be switchable to a path open state when the apparatus main body cover is opened, and is provided with a lock means for locking the apparatus main body cover in a closed state.

According to the above arrangement, when a paper jam occurs in the paper feed path of the paper feeder, the lock of the main body cover by the locking means is released, and the one-touch release of the main body cover is performed. With the operation, the paper feed path of the paper feeder is opened, so that the jam processing can be easily performed.

[0004]

If a paper jam occurs in the paper feeding path of the paper feeding device extending between the two roller pairs, the apparatus body cover is opened, and the jam is cleared through the opening of the cover. However, when the main unit cover is open, the paper feed path inside the device is very difficult to see.Currently, you can insert your hand into the open part of the cover and rely on intuition to clear the jam. The problem was that the workability was very poor. Also, it was very difficult to maintain the sheet feeding device over both roller pairs.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily perform maintenance and jam clearance of a sheet feeding device over both roller pairs.

[0006]

The technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above object are as follows. That is, according to the present invention, in the image forming apparatus having the configuration described at the beginning, the paper feeding device is configured to be able to be drawn out of the apparatus main body, and the locking means of the apparatus main body cover is linked to the drawing of the paper feeding unit. It is characterized in that an unlocking means for switching to the unlocked state is provided.

According to the above configuration, by pulling out the sheet feeding device to the outside of the apparatus main body, it is possible to easily perform a jam clearing operation occurring in the sheet feeding path and also easily perform a maintenance operation. .

By the way, in the paper feeder having the above configuration,
In a case where a part of the components of the paper feed path is configured to be inserted into the paper feed path of the paper feed / conveying apparatus, or When the apparatus main body cover is configured to be overlapped with the lower side of the paper feeding device in the closed state of the apparatus main body cover so as to be suitable in terms of appearance, the opening of the apparatus main body cover is forgotten and the paper feeding unit is moved. If it is pulled out of the apparatus, a part of the above-described path components, the apparatus body cover, and the locking means may be unexpectedly damaged.

In this respect, in the present invention, the locking means of the apparatus main body cover is switched to the unlocking state in conjunction with the drawer of the paper feeding unit, and the apparatus main body cover is opened. Unforeseen damage is reliably prevented.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a full-color printer as an example of an image forming apparatus, in which a plurality of upper and lower (four in this embodiment) paper cassettes 1 are configured to be able to be pulled out of the apparatus, and paper is fed from the paper cassette 1. And a paper feeder 2 that merges and transports the sheets to be fed, is provided on the lower side of the apparatus main body 3, and an image forming unit 5 having an image forming drum 4 is disposed on the upper side of the apparatus main body 3. I have.

The paper feeder 2 is provided with a pair of feed rollers 6 and 7 so as to correspond to the paper feed cassettes 1, respectively. Paper feeder 11 provided with paper feed means 10 for manual paper over a pair of registration rollers 8 and 9 upstream of the transfer device of image forming unit 5
And a sheet feeding and conveying device 13 for conveying the sheet after image formation to the fixing device 12, and a sheet discharging tray 1 for conveying the sheet after fixing.
4 and a pair of paper discharge rollers 15 for discharging the paper to the paper 4.

The above-described image forming unit 5 includes a main body 3 of the apparatus.
Around the image forming drum 4 laid horizontally, the charging device 16
And the image reading information from the optical device 17,
An exposure device 18 for forming a latent image on the drum surface; a developing device 19 for storing cyan, yellow, magenta, and black toners separately to visualize the latent image formed on the drum surface; A transfer / separation unit 20 for transferring a toner image to a sheet and separating the sheet, a cleaning device 21, and a charge removing device 22 are arranged in that order.

The transfer / separation unit 20 includes a transfer belt 23 for the toner image formed on the surface of the drum, a transfer / separation device 24 using rollers, and a cleaning device 25 for the transfer belt 23. Reference numeral 19 denotes a unit for sequentially developing cyan, yellow, magenta, and black toner images on the drum surface when the optical device 17 scans the document image four times. The toner images are sequentially superimposed on the transfer belt 23. As a result, a full-color toner image is formed on the belt surface, and the full-color toner image is transferred to the sheet fed to the transfer / separation device 24.

In the full-color printer having the above configuration, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 7, the paper feed path of the paper feeder 2 can be opened, while both rollers 6, 7, The components 26 and 27 of the sheet feeding path extending over the pairs 8 and 9 and the pair of registration rollers 8 and 9 are unitized on the sheet feeding base 28.
The paper feed unit U is also unitized to a paper feed base 28, and the paper feed unit U is detachably provided in a unit drawer means 29 to the outside of the apparatus main body. , And a paper jam occurring in the sheet feeding path and the transfer / separation device 24 is easily eliminated.

That is, an apparatus body cover 30 that covers the sheet feeding and conveying apparatus 2 is provided so as to be openable and closable around a lower support shaft 31 with respect to the apparatus body 3.
A lock means 33 for locking the sheet feeder 0 in a closed state is provided. Further, of the feed rollers 6 and 7 and the sheet feed guides 34 and 35 constituting the sheet feeder 2, the outer feed roller 6 and the sheet feed guide 34 are formed. Is provided on the cover 30 side,
With the opening of the apparatus main body cover 30 in the unlocked state, the sheet feeding path of the sheet feeding and conveying device 2 is opened.

As shown in FIG. 8, the locking means 33 includes a pin a provided on the apparatus main body 3 side and an apparatus main body cover 3.
A hook b pivotally attached to the 0 side and locked to the pin a, and a spring c for urging and locking the hook b to the pin a, and a hook 32 for unlocking is attached to the hook b.
Are further provided, and the tip of the hook b is formed on a tapered surface S.

Therefore, when the apparatus body cover 30 is closed,
With this closing operation, the taper surface S comes into contact with the pin a, and the hook b rotates against the urging force of the spring c,
Further, after the taper surface S passes through the pin a, the hook b is locked to the pin a, so that the apparatus main body cover 30 is locked by a one-touch operation of closing the apparatus main body cover 30. I have.

On the other hand, on the upper side of the apparatus main body cover 30 with respect to the apparatus main body 3, an accommodating portion 36 for the sheet feeding unit U and an opening 37 for drawing out the unit are formed. And rail members 38 and 3
9 are provided so as to be slidable with each other in the longitudinal direction, a rail 41 having a notch d for inserting a roller is provided, and rollers 42 are provided on one of the left and right sides of the paper supply base 28. The rollers 42 are slidably held on the rails 41, and the other of the right and left sides of the paper supply base 28 is
Unit pull-out means 29 which is screwed to the movable side rail member 39 to detachably provide the sheet feeding unit U.
Is composed.

Further, a hook f of the lock means 44, which is unlocked by the turning operation of the handle 43, is provided in the sheet feeding unit U, and a locking pin h for locking the hook f is provided.
Is provided on the apparatus main body 3 side, and the paper feed unit U can be pulled out of the apparatus main body 3 by pulling the handle 43 in the unlocked state by the handle 43 as it is.

When the paper feeding unit U is housed in the unit housing 36, a cover 45 for closing the opening 37 is provided on the paper feeding base 28, and the manual paper feeding means 10 is provided with the cover 45, a stock member 46 of manual paper foldable in a concave portion of the cover 45;
A sheet feeding path member 48a, 48b, 49a, 49b that is fed through the sheet insertion opening 47, and a pair of rollers 50, 51 for preventing multi-feeding of manual paper.
Consisting of

The lower roller 51 feeds and conveys the sheet following the rotation of the upper roller 50. When two sheets are conveyed, a torque limiter (not shown) sets the lower Is detected, the lower roller 51 is driven to rotate in the reverse direction to prevent double feeding of sheets.

According to the above configuration, the apparatus body cover 30
Is opened to open the paper feed path of the paper feed / conveyance device 2, and then the paper feed unit U is pulled out of the apparatus from the unit accommodating portion 36, so that the paper jam generated in each paper feed path can be easily cleared. It can be carried out.

Further, in addition to the components 26 and 27 of the paper feed path and the pair of registration rollers 8 and 9, the paper feed means 10 for manual paper containing prevention of double feed is unitized in the paper feed base 28, This paper feeding unit U is pulled out of the unit drawer 2
9, it is possible to assemble the paper feeding unit U in a wide working space separately from the apparatus main body 3, and in parallel with this, the paper Can be assembled,
The full-color printer itself as well as the paper feeding device 11 can be easily assembled with good workability. Further, by removing the paper feeding unit U from the unit drawer 29, maintenance work such as replacement of parts can be performed. Can be easily performed.

In the sheet feeding device 11 having the above-described structure, a portion 27a of the lower path forming member 27 is suitable for the introduction surface of the sheet fed from the sheet feeding / conveying device 2 to the sheet feeding device 11.
Into the space between the feed rollers 6 and 7 of the sheet feeding and conveying device 2.
When the user forgets to open the sheet feeding unit U and pulls out the sheet feeding unit U to the outside of the apparatus, a part 27a of the path constituting member 27 interferes with the feed roller 6, and the path constituting member 27 and the lock means 33 are damaged. Become.

Alternatively, in a case where the apparatus main body cover 30 is closed and the apparatus main body cover 30 is overlapped with the lower side of the sheet feeding device 11 so as to be suitable in terms of appearance, the apparatus main body cover 30 may be provided. If the user forgets to open the sheet feeding unit U and pulls out the sheet feeding unit U to the outside of the apparatus, the apparatus body cover 30 and the locking means 33 will be damaged.

In order to solve this inconvenience, the unlocking means 53 for unlocking the locking means 33 of the apparatus main body cover 30 in conjunction with the drawing of the paper feeding unit U is provided with the apparatus main body 3 and the paper feeding unit. Two sets are provided on the right and left sides of U.

That is, as is apparent with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8A, when the device main body cover 30 is closed by the lock means 33, the taper surface S at the tip of the hook b of the lock means 33 is not in contact with the taper surface S. An unlocking pin 55 is slidably provided on the bracket 54 on the side of the apparatus main body 3 so as to face each other, and the lower end of the unlocking pin 55 abuts on the tapered surface S based on its own weight. As shown in FIG. 8 (B), the paper feed unit U is attached to the paper feed unit U as the paper feed unit U is pulled out. An unlocking member 56 is provided for depressing the unlocking pin 55 to unlock the hook b with the pin a.

Therefore, according to the above configuration, when the paper feeding unit U is pulled out of the apparatus with the apparatus main body cover 30 closed, the lock release pin 55 is pushed down in conjunction with this and the apparatus main body is pulled down. Since the locking means 33 for the cover 30 is switched to unlocking, even if the user forgets to open the apparatus main body cover 30 and pulls out the sheet supply unit U to the outside of the apparatus, the path constituting member 27 may be damaged. It will definitely be resolved.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Jams that occur in the paper feed path of the paper feed device from the feed roller pair to the registration roller pair, as well as maintenance work for that device, can be performed easily, and damage due to incorrect operation procedures can be prevented beforehand. An image forming apparatus is provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical sectional side view of a full-color printer as an example of an image forming apparatus.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which a sheet feeding unit is pulled out with an apparatus main body cover opened.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the sheet feeding device pulled out of the apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the sheet feeding device is detached from the unit drawer.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a sheet feeding unit.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a main part of the sheet feeding device and the sheet feeding device.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a part is taken out and the lock is released.

FIG. 8A is a cross-sectional view showing a locked state of the apparatus body cover, and FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view showing an unlocked state.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... paper feed cassette, 2 ... paper feed conveying device, 6, 7 ... feed roller, 7, 9 ... registration roller, 11 ... paper feed device,
30: device body cover, 33: locking means, 53: lock releasing means.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification symbol FI B65H 3/00 310 G03G 15/00 526 5/06 B41J 29/00 B G03G 15/00 526 29/12 A

Claims (1)

[Claims] A feeder for feeding paper from a paper feed cassette; and a feeder that extends from a pair of feed rollers downstream of the apparatus to a pair of resist rollers upstream of the transfer device. Is configured to be switchable to the path open state with the opening of the apparatus main body cover, while the image forming apparatus is provided with locking means for locking the apparatus main body cover in the closed state. And an unlocking means for switching the locking means to an unlocked state in conjunction with the pulling out of the sheet feeding unit.