JPS61238655A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To stack sheets of paper of various sizes in alignment on a tray and allow the simple storage movably back and forth along the discharge direction so that it advance length from a paper discharge port can be charged for hooking. CONSTITUTION:Sheets of paper P discharged through paper discharge rollers 20 are dropped and received on a paper discharge tray 22, their tips hit a stopper 22b, and they are stopped and stacked in alignment. A tray 22 is provided movably along a passage section 24, a hooking piece 22a can be released and moved from one hooking recess 25 and hooked with another hooking recess 25 against the force of a spring 26 by holding a handle section 22c. Hooking recesses 25 are formed at positions in response to various sizes of sheets P and decide the advance length from the paper discharge port 21. In addition, scales displaying paper sizes in response to the advance length are formed on the surface of the tray 22, and the advance length can be adjusted by observing them. When copying is not performed, the tray can be pushed in and stored.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having an improved paper ejection tray.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer is equipped with a paper discharge tray that receives and accumulates paper discharged from a paper discharge port of the apparatus main body after image formation.

In conventional image forming apparatuses, a paper ejection tray is removably attached to the side of the ejection port of the apparatus main body.

Therefore, in such a structure in which the paper discharge tray is detachably attached, the size of the paper discharge tray is set to match the maximum size of paper used in the image forming apparatus. Therefore, when the paper that is ejected from the paper ejection port of the main body of the device is the largest size, the paper hits the tip of the paper ejection tray and stops, allowing the paper to be stacked neatly. Easy to handle. However, if the paper being ejected from the paper ejection slot is smaller than the maximum size, the paper will stop before it hits the edge of the paper ejection tray, resulting in uneven stacking of the paper. There is a problem that handling is troublesome.

In addition, if the output tray is removable, it is possible to avoid the troublesome work of removing and attaching the output tray to the main body of the device. Leave it attached to the main body. Therefore, the paper ejection tray occupies a large installation space and obstructs the passage of people, and when a person collides with the paper ejection tray, the paper ejection tray may fall off and be damaged. Furthermore, when moving the main body of the device, for example, the paper ejection tray gets in the way, so the paper ejection tray must be removed from the main body of the device before the work is carried out.
After that, it has to be attached to the main body of the apparatus, which is a cumbersome process, and there is a risk that it will be lost if the paper ejection tray is removed from the main body of the apparatus.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned circumstances, and it is possible to align and stack sheets of paper ejected from the paper ejection port of the apparatus main body on the paper ejection tray regardless of their size, and to prevent the paper ejection tray from getting in the way. To provide an image forming apparatus in which a paper discharge tray can be easily stored in a main body of the apparatus when needed.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a structure in which a discharge tray is provided in the main body of the apparatus so as to be movable forward and backward in the paper discharge direction with respect to the paper discharge port.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 will be described below.

Figure 1 shows the entire image forming apparatus.
A fixed original table 2 is provided on the upper surface of the paper, and two paper feed cassettes 3 and J', for example, are provided one above the other on the negative side. Papers P of different sizes are stored in each paper feed cassette) 3 and J'. Inside the apparatus main body 1, an exposing device 5, a charger 6, a developing device 7, a transfer device 8, a peeling device 9, a fixing device 10, a cleaner 11, and a static eliminator 12 are provided surrounding the photosensitive drum 4. In the exposure device 5, a lens 13 and a mirror 14 move to scan a document placed on a document table 2, and an image is formed on the surface of a rotating photosensitive drum 50 via a lens 15. The photosensitive drum 5 is charged by a charger 6, and a latent image is formed on the surface. As the photosensitive drum 50 rotates, the latent image on its surface is developed by a developing device 7 and transferred to a transfer device 8. On the other hand, paper P is fed out one by one from each paper feed cassette 3, 4 by paper feed rollers 16, 17,
It is guided between the photosensitive drum 5 and the transfer device 8 by registration rollers 18 . In this case, the size of the paper P to be used for copying is selected, and the paper P of the selected size is selected from among the papers P stored in the paper feeder 7) and 3' and sent out. Then, the image on the photosensitive drum 5 is transferred onto the paper P by the transfer device 8, and the paper P is conveyed to the fixing device 10 by the conveyor belt 19, where fixation is performed. Further, the paper P is conveyed by a paper discharge roller 20 and is discharged to the outside from a paper discharge port 2 formed on the other side of the main body 1 of the apparatus.

Furthermore, 22 in the figure is a paper output tray provided on the other side of the apparatus main body 1, and the paper output tray 22 has a length that matches the maximum size of paper P used in the image forming apparatus. .

As shown in FIG. 2, the paper ejection tray 22 is movable into a passage 24 formed along the direction in which the paper P is ejected from the paper ejection port 21 by means of a tray support 23 provided inside the apparatus main body 1. It is inserted and supported, and can be moved by being pulled out from the passage 24 and pushed into the passage 24. Accordingly, the paper discharge tray 22 is provided so as to be movable forward and backward relative to the paper discharge port 21 along the paper discharge direction.

Note that the length of the moving path 24 is, for example, smaller than the length of the paper discharge tray 22. Further, the paper ejection tray 22 has a plurality of stages in which the length of advancement from the paper ejection port 21, that is, the length of advancement from the tip opening of the passage section 24, is different depending on the size of the paper P ejected from the paper ejection port 21. It is possible to selectively stop at a certain position. The structure for this purpose is to form a locking piece 22 at the rear end of the paper discharge tray 22, and to
4, there are a plurality of locking recesses 25 at positions spaced apart from each other in the length direction, into which the locking pieces 22a of the paper discharge tray 22 are engaged and disengaged.
Further, a spring 26 is provided on the tray support 23 to push up the discharge tray 22 from below and maintain the locked state between the locking piece 22a and each of the locking recesses 25.

As a result, when the paper output tray 22 is moved along the passage 24 and the locking piece 22m is inserted and locked into the locking recess 25 at a predetermined position, the spring 26 supports the paper output tray 22 downward and locks it. The locking piece 22h can be removed from the locking recess 25 by maintaining the state and displacing the sheet discharge tray 22 in the input direction against the spring force of the spring 26. to release the locked state and move the paper output tray 22 into the passage section 24.
You will be able to move again along the route. The plurality of locking recesses 25 are formed at positions corresponding to the respective sizes of paper P used in the image forming apparatus, and the locking recess 25 formed at the position closest to the tip of the passage portion 24 is Each of the locking recesses 25 formed from the locking recess 25 to the rear end of the passage section 24 corresponds to the maximum size of P, and the paper size decreases sequentially, and the locking recesses 25 are formed at positions close to the rear end of the passage section 24. Recess 25
corresponds to the minimum size of paper P. Paper output tray 22
By locking the locking pieces 22a in each of the locking recesses 25, the advancing length of the paper discharge tray 22 that advances from the tip opening of the passage section 24 is controlled by the locking recess 25 that is locked by the locking pieces 22m.
The size can be set according to the size of paper P that corresponds to
When the paper P of the selected size is discharged from the paper discharge port 21, the paper P hits a stop horn 422b formed at the leading edge of the paper discharge tray 22 and can be stopped. Note that, as shown in FIG.
Graduation 26 indicating each paper size according to the advancing length is formed at intervals in the length direction, and the paper size indicated by the scale 26 located at the opening at the tip of the passage section 24 is the paper size to be ejected. This is the length of the extension of the tray 22. Therefore, the extension length of the paper discharge tray 22 can be adjusted while looking at the scale 26. Further, the stopper 22b formed at the leading edge of the paper ejection tray 22 is for stopping the paper P ejected from the paper ejection port 21, and a handle portion 22a is provided at the center of the stopper 22b, which is folded toward the front. It is a song formation.

In the image forming apparatus configured in this manner, the passage portion 24 of the paper ejection tray 22 is removed by the above-described operation.
The advancing length from the main body 1 is selected according to the size of the sheet P to be discharged from the paper discharge port 21 of the apparatus main body 1, and the sheet P is locked at that advancing length position. For example, if the paper P is the maximum size, the paper output tray 22 is locked at the maximum extension length position, and if the paper P is the minimum size, the paper output tray 22 is locked in the passage section 24.
Push it all the way to the rear end of the inside to lock it. Accordingly, the stop horn 422b of the paper discharge tray 22 can be positioned at a position where the leading edge of the paper P comes into contact with and stops depending on the size of the paper P discharged from the paper discharge port 21. Then, as described above, when the paper P that has been copied is ejected from the paper ejection port 21 of the apparatus main body 1, the paper P is ejected from the paper ejection tray 21.
It falls upward and is caught, and its leading end hits the stopper 22b of the paper discharge tray 22 and stops. Therefore, the paper discharge port 21
The sheets P discharged from the paper P can be stopped at positions corresponding to their sizes and stacked on the paper discharge tray 22 in a neatly aligned state.

Furthermore, when the image forming apparatus does not perform copying, the paper discharge tray 22 is pushed into the passage section 24 of the apparatus main body 1 and moved to a position where it does not obstruct the passage of people. Therefore, the paper discharge tray 22 does not occupy the space on the side of the apparatus main body 1 and obstruct the passage of people, and a situation where a person collides with the paper discharge tray 22 can be avoided. When copying is to be performed, the paper discharge tray 22 is pulled out from the passage section 24 and moved to a position for a predetermined paper size.

Furthermore, for example, when moving the apparatus main body 1, if the paper ejection tray 22 is pushed into the passage part 24 of the apparatus main body 1,
The paper discharge tray 22 does not get in the way of work.

Hiko, the paper ejection tray may be movably provided on the outside of the apparatus main body, and the mechanism for locking the paper ejection tray in stages according to the paper size is not limited to the embodiment.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the sheets of paper ejected from the paper ejection port of the apparatus main body are stopped on the paper ejection tray at a position corresponding to the paper size and stacked in a neatly aligned state. In addition, if the paper ejection tray becomes an obstacle, it can be stored in the main body of the apparatus with a simple operation, making the paper ejection tray easier to handle.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus, and FIGS.
The figures are an enlarged sectional view and an enlarged perspective view showing the paper discharge tray. 1... Apparatus main body, 21... Paper ejection port, 22... Paper ejection tray.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In an image forming apparatus provided with a paper ejection tray that receives and accumulates paper ejected from an ejection port of the apparatus main body, the paper ejection tray is movable forward and backward in the paper ejection direction with respect to the paper ejection port. An image forming apparatus characterized in that it is provided in a main body of the apparatus. (2) The paper ejection tray is capable of being locked in a plurality of positions in which the advancing length relative to the paper ejection port differs depending on the size of the paper to be ejected from the paper ejection port. image forming device. (3) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the paper ejection tray is provided inside the apparatus main body so that it can be pulled out.