JPS632862B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sheet material storage tray, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a sheet material storage tray, which is provided near the bottom of sheet ejection of an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile machine or a copying machine, and receives sheet material ejected from the image forming apparatus. This invention relates to a sheet material storage tray.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there has been a strong demand for image forming apparatuses such as facsimile machines and copying machines to be smaller and lighter.
As a result, in the past, trays for storing recording paper, manuscripts, and other sheet materials ejected from image forming devices were not built into the machine body, but were attached in a way that protruded outside the machine. It was common practice to downsize the . As a result,
Even if the main body of the machine was made smaller, the installation space during use became larger due to the protrusion of the tray section, and there was a drawback that the machine was not miniaturized in an actual sense. In addition, rolled paper such as thermal recording paper used in facsimiles and the like has a disadvantage in that it has a strong curl and is difficult to store in an orderly manner on a conventional linear tray surface. Recently, there has been a trend to reduce the outer diameter of the paper while keeping the length the same, especially in response to the demand for downsizing of the main body of the machine. , paper curls have become more prominent, and there is a strong desire to develop a paper storage method that can accommodate this.

In addition, when creating records of multiple original documents using such an image forming apparatus, if the recording is performed sequentially from the first page of the original, the recorded sheets ejected from the apparatus will be placed with the image side facing upward. Since the recorded sheets stored in the conventional tray are stacked with the first page facing down and the second and subsequent pages are stacked on top of it, the sheets stacked in the tray are It will be in the reverse order of the original. For this reason, conventionally, after the recording operation is completed, it is necessary to rearrange the recorded sheets in order from the first page, that is, perform a page alignment operation, which is very time-consuming.

In order to eliminate the drawbacks of the sheet material storage tray of the conventional image forming apparatus as described above, the present inventor has proposed a first guide member against which the leading edge of the ejected sheet is brought into contact and guides the ejected sheet downward; A second guide member facing the first guide member and forming a seat storage space.
A narrow closing portion is formed in the lower part of the storage space to grasp the leading end of the sheet fed downward, and a long type sheet is formed at the upper end of the first guide member. We have developed a sheet material storage tray with an open section that allows the rear end to be reversed.

This sheet material storage tray is attached to the image forming apparatus main body in a form that does not protrude significantly outside the main body of the image forming apparatus, thus making it possible to downsize the entire apparatus.Moreover, it can hold even tightly curled sheet materials correctly.
Although it is easy to take out and does not require page alignment operations after storage, since the sheet material storage space is limited between the first and second guide members, more sheet material than the storage capacity is fed in. The disadvantage is that paper jams may occur if

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet material storage tray that has various advantages of the above-described type of sheet material storage tray, and also prevents jamming, which is a drawback thereof.

The sheet material storage tray according to the present invention includes: a first guide member that guides discharged sheets downward; a second guide member that faces the first guide member and forms a sheet storage space; support means for movably supporting the first guide member between an operating position where the first guide member faces the second guide member and forms the seat storage space and a non-operating position where the seat storage space is opened; , the first guide member is held in the above-mentioned operating position, and when a predetermined number of sheet materials are stored in the above-mentioned storage space, the holding of the first guide member is released and returned to the above-mentioned non-operating position. and a first guide member holding means that allows movement of the guide member.

This will be explained below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a conventional facsimile machine equipped with this type of sheet material storage tray. The illustrated facsimile device 1 includes an image reading and transmitting system that reads information from the document using an optical system 3 and transmits image information while feeding the document on a document table 2, and a recording paper according to the received image information. An image receiving and recording system is provided for recording an image by a thermal head 7 onto a thermal recording paper 6 that is fed out from a roll 4 and transported by a platen roller 5. 8 is a power supply section including a power supply device and the like.

On the left side of the image forming apparatus main body 1, there is provided a document storage tray 10 for storing original documents 9 that are sequentially sent out from the document table 2, and on the right side of the apparatus main body 1, a document storage tray 10 is provided where images are recorded by a thermal head 7. After that, cut the cutter 11 to a predetermined length, e.g.
A recording paper storage tray 12 is provided to store recorded recording paper cut into lengths of A4 size.

In such a conventional image forming apparatus, the trays 10 and 12 protrude from both sides of the apparatus main body 1, so even if the apparatus main body is downsized, the actual installation space is still small due to the protrusion of these trays. Can't make it smaller. If these trays are installed together on one side of the device main body, the installation space can be reduced by one tray, but if they are installed all together on one side of the device main body, documents and records will be Both paper drive systems are concentrated on one side, which impairs the space efficiency inside the main body of the apparatus and complicates the drive system, which not only leads to a decrease in reliability but also to a significant increase in costs.

In addition, in the case of the recording paper storage tray 12, as described above, the thermal recording paper that is cut to a predetermined length by the cutter 11 and discharged onto the tray has a strong curl, so the straight tray is used. There is a problem that it is difficult to store the documents in an orderly manner on the tray 12, and when recording multiple sheets of original documents in sequence, it is necessary to align the pages of the recording sheets stacked on the tray 12 after the recording operation is completed. .

FIG. 2 shows a facsimile machine equipped with a sheet material storage tray 13 that improves the drawbacks of the sheet material storage tray shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, the same parts as those shown in FIG. 1 are indicated by the same reference numerals, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

The sheet material storage tray 13 is provided near the bottom of the recording paper output of the facsimile machine, and as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. member 14;
The seat storage space 1 faces this first guide member.
5 and a second guide member 16 for forming the guide member 5. In the illustrated embodiment, each guide member is shown as being plate-shaped, but these guide members do not necessarily have to be plate-shaped; for example, they may be formed by arranging a plurality of wires. In short, any member that can guide the recording paper into the storage space 15 may be used. A narrow closing part 1 for grasping the tip of the sheet material fed downward into the lower part of the sheet material storage space 15 formed between the first guide member 14 and the second guide member 16
9 is formed. In the illustrated embodiment, the sheet material storage space 15 is formed in a V-shape, with a closing portion 19 formed at the bottom thereof, but this does not necessarily have to be V-shaped.

Furthermore, an open portion 20 is formed at the upper end of the first guide member 14 to allow the rear end of the long sheet material to be reversed when the sheet material is stored. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, when the first guide member 14 is closed, the loop-shaped recording paper 6 is ejected between the upper end of the first guide member 14, the upper case 22 of the main body 1, and the guide 23. Opening area 2 large enough to
0 is formed. Therefore, the leading edge 6' of the recording paper 6 is introduced into the wedge-shaped storage space 15 of the storage tray 13, and the leading edge 6' of the recording paper 6 is held in the bottom of the storage space. When the rear end of the recording paper is cut by the cutter 11, the rear end of the recording paper is reversed and sent out of the apparatus due to the elasticity of the paper and the rotational force of the cutter blade, and the leading edge 6' of the recording paper 6 is inside the machine. Storing is completed with the rear end hanging out of the machine while it is held in the paper, and the operation can be continued to store the next recording paper.

In this way, a large number of recording sheets that have been sequentially cut into predetermined lengths are inverted and stored in the storage space 15, and this storage space 15 is filled with the first guide member 14 and the second guide member. Since the number of recording sheets accumulated in the storage space 15 exceeds its storage capacity, a jam may occur.

In order to prevent the occurrence of such a jam, the first guide member 14 is pivotally connected to the second guide member 16 by a pin 18 as a support means at its lower end. an operating position (position shown in FIG. 4) in which the sheet material storage space 15 is formed opposite to the second guide member 16;
It is movable between an inoperative position and a disengaged position. However, the first guide member is always held at the above operating position, and when a predetermined number of recording sheets are stored in the storage space 15, the holding is released and the first guide member 14 is moved to the non-operating position. will be moved. In the illustrated embodiment, the first guide member 14 is in the inoperative position as shown in FIG.
It is locked to the stay 17 and takes a substantially horizontal position, and forms a discharge guide section for the recording paper 6 in this position.

Examples of means for holding the first guide member 14 in the operating position as described above are shown in FIGS. 6, 7, and 8. FIG. 6 shows a click mechanism for holding the first guide member 14 in the operating position using a leaf spring 29 as a holding means. FIG. 7 shows the second guide member 16
A magnet 31 is attached to the first guide member 14, and the magnet 31 is attracted by magnetic force to the screw 30 fixing the main body to the stay 17 of the main body. Figures 6 and 7
The mechanism shown in the figure always holds the first guide member 14 in its operating position, and when the number of recording sheets accumulated in the storage space 15 exceeds its storage capacity, the weight of the recording sheets is used to The click mechanism is automatically released and the first guide member 14 is moved to the position shown in FIG. Therefore, jamming of the recording paper is prevented in advance.

In FIG. 8, an electromagnet 32 is attached to the second guide member 16, which attracts the first guide member 14, and when a predetermined number of recording sheets are stored in the sheet storage space 15, the electromagnet 32 is deenergized. A mechanism for releasing the first guide member 14 is shown.

Next, the operation of storing sheet materials in the sheet material storage tray according to the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 9 to 13.

First, the thermal recording paper 6 is fed out from the roll 4.
is heated by a thermal head 7 according to the information, and image information is recorded on the surface of the recording paper 6. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 9, the recording paper 6 is conveyed by the rotation of the platen roller 5 and passes through the cutter 11.
Its tip abuts at an obtuse angle on the first guide member 14 forming a wedge-shaped or V-shaped storage space 15 . At that time, a plurality of ribs 25 are provided on the inner wall surface of the first guide member 14 as shown in FIG.
To smoothly guide the leading edge of a recording paper into a storage space 15 of a storage tray 13 by reducing contact resistance with the leading edge of the recording paper. At that time, the recording paper 6
The tip 6' of the storage space is inserted into the closed part at the bottom of the storage space. When the recording paper is continuously fed out in this state, the recording paper 6 forms a loop through the opening 20 as shown in FIG. It is discharged, and finally, as shown in Fig. 12, it curls greatly and hangs down outside the machine body.

When the cutter 11 operates in this state and cuts off the rear end of the recording paper 6, the recording paper hanging outside the machine is reversed in the direction of the arrow using its own weight and the rotational force of the cutter blade. 13, in which the leading end 6' is held in the wedge-shaped closing part of the storage space and the trailing end hangs down outside the machine. This series of operations of the recording paper 6 is repeated until it is moved into the tray 13. Recording paper sheets accumulate.

When the number of accumulated recording sheets exceeds the storage capacity of the tray, the first guide member 14, which forms a wedge-shaped sheet material storage space, is locked in the operating position.
The guide member holding means is automatically released by the weight of the recording paper 6 or by the deenergization of the electromagnet, and the first guide member 14 moves to the non-operating position to prevent jams in the machine. to prevent.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the leading end of the sheet material is inserted into the closed part at the bottom of the sheet material storage space, and the rear end is turned over and hung outside the machine, thereby making it possible to remove the special material from the machine body. The installation space of the machine can be significantly reduced without having to carry out a separate tray, and the sheet materials can be stored in an orderly arrangement regardless of the winding pattern. The pages can be placed face up and arranged in page order and stored in the tray.
This not only improves the installation space, but also greatly improves operability such as handling of sheet materials.Furthermore, since the paper can be guided into the tray immediately after passing through the cutter, there is no need for ejection rollers and the mechanism is simple. It is possible to easily store more sheet material than the storage capacity of the tray without impairing the original function of the tray, which is designed to hold the leading edge of the ejected sheet, which can be expected to significantly reduce costs and improve reliability. This has the effect of automatically opening the tray when the sheet material is loaded, thereby making it possible to prevent the sheet material from jamming inside the machine.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional facsimile machine, Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a facsimile machine equipped with a tray according to the present invention, Fig. 3 is a side view of the tray according to the present invention shown in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a facsimile machine according to the present invention. , FIG. 5 is a side view showing the formation of a recording paper loop in the tray shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a side view showing the state in which the first guide member of the tray shown in FIG. 7 and 8 respectively show a holding mechanism for holding the first guide member of the tray shown in FIG. 3 in the operating position, and FIGS. 9 to 13 show a paper storage section according to the invention FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a series of movements of paper. 1...facsimile device body, 2...document stand,
3...Optical system, 4...Recording paper roll, 5...Platen roller, 6...Recording paper, 6'...Recording paper leading edge,
7...Thermal head, 8...Power unit, 9...Document, 10...Document tray, 11...Cutter,
12... Recording paper tray, 13... Sheet material storage tray according to the present invention, 14... First guide member,
15... Sheet material storage space, 16... Second guide member, 17... Stay, 18... Pin, 19...
Closed part, 20... Open part, 22... Upper case,
23... Guide, 25... Rib, 26... Leaf spring, 29... Leaf spring, 30... Screw, 31... Magnet, 32... Electromagnet.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first guide member 1 that guides the discharge sheet downward.
4, and a second guide member 1 for forming a seat storage space 15 facing the first guide member 14.
6, and an operating position in which the first guide member 14 is opposed to the second guide member 16 to form the seat storage space 15;
a support means 18 for movably supporting the first guide member 14 between a non-operating position in which the first guide member 5 is opened and a non-operating position; A sheet material storage tray comprising first guide member holding means 29, 30, and 32 that release the holding of the first guide member 14 when stored and allow the first guide member 14 to move to the non-operating position.