JP2551438B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a laser beam printer.

<Prior Art> An image forming apparatus such as a laser beam printer includes a main body of an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a surface of a sheet member while being conveyed through a conveyance path, and a sheet member as needed to supply the sheet member to the conveyance path. Some include a supply unit body that is detachably attached to the main body of the forming apparatus. The main body of the forming apparatus is generally an image bearing means such as a rotary drum having a photoconductor on its surface, an image forming means for forming a toner image on the surface of the photoconductor, a transfer means arranged in a transfer area, and a recording paper. The transport mechanism for transporting the sheet member through the transfer area as described above, and the manual feeding means for feeding the sheet member to the transport path through the introduction opening defined in the housing. The manual feeding means comprises a table arranged in the introduction opening, and the sheet member positioned on the table is moved along the upper surface of the table member to pass through the introduction opening to a conveyance path defined in the housing. Supplied. Further, the supply unit body includes a supply unit for supplying the sheet members one by one, and the sheet member supplied from the supply unit is delivered to the outside of the supply housing through the delivery opening defined in the supply housing.

However, in the conventional image forming apparatus, due to the fact that the feeding unit body, the table of the feeding means for manual feeding, and the feeding unit body are configured to be selectively attached to the forming apparatus main body, The changing operation between the state of using the table of the supply means for supplying and the state of using the supply unit body is considerably complicated. That is, in order to change the state of using the table of the manual feeding means to the state of using the supply unit body, it is necessary to remove the table and attach the supply unit body. In order to change the table of the supply means for use to a state where it is used, it is necessary to remove the supply unit body and attach the table. Also,
When the supply unit body is attached to the main body of the forming apparatus, the sheet member cannot be supplied manually.

<Object of the Invention> The present invention has been made in view of the above facts, and its main purpose is to sufficiently perform a change operation between a state of using a table of a manual feeding means and a state of using a supply unit body. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved image forming apparatus which is simple and can supply the sheet member in a manual feeding manner even when the supply unit body is attached to the forming apparatus main body.

<Solution to the Invention> According to the present invention, as an image forming apparatus for achieving the above main object, according to the present invention, a conveyance path for conveying a sheet member, and a conveyance path for the sheet member through the introduction opening defined in the apparatus housing. A supply unit that includes a forming apparatus main body having a manual supply means for feeding and a supply means for supplying a sheet member through a delivery opening defined in a supply housing, and is detachably attached to the forming apparatus main body. And a body, the manual feeding means comprises a table pivotably mounted between a feeding position and a storage position, the table extending toward the introduction opening when in the feeding position. The sheet member positioned on the upper surface is guided to the conveyance path through the introduction opening, and is located along the apparatus housing when in the storage position, and the introduction opening is opened to the outside. The supply unit body is allowed to be attached to the forming apparatus main body when the table is in the storage position, and when the table is detachably attached, the delivery opening of the supply housing is the introduction opening. The sheet member thus fed through the feed opening by the action of the feeding means is fed to the conveying path through the introduction opening, and the guide protrusion is provided at the base of the table of the manual feeding means. When the supply unit is detachably attached to the forming apparatus main body after the table is positioned at the storage position, a sheet is provided between a part of the upper wall of the supply housing and the guide protrusion. An image forming apparatus is provided, wherein an insertion opening for guiding a member through the introduction opening to the transport path is defined.

<Preferred Specific Examples of the Invention> Hereinafter, preferred specific examples of the image forming apparatus configured according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, the illustrated image forming apparatus such as a laser beam printer includes an apparatus main body generally designated by numeral 2 and a supply unit body generally designated by numeral 4. The supply unit body 4 is detachably attached to the apparatus main body 2 as needed, as described later.

Outline of Device Main Body In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the illustrated device main body 2 is provided with a rectangular parallelepiped device housing 6, and this housing 6 is composed of a lower housing 8, an upper main body housing 10 and an upper opening / closing housing 12. . Opening / closing housing
12 is mounted on the upper body housing 10 so as to be rotatable between a closed position (the position shown in FIGS. 1 to 3) and an open position around a support shaft 14 (FIG. 2).

A process unit is provided at a substantially central portion of the device housing 6.
15 are arranged. The illustrated process unit 15 includes a unit frame 16 which is detachably mounted in the housing 6, and a rotary drum 18 which constitutes an image carrying means is rotatably mounted in the unit frame 16. An electrostatic photoconductor is arranged on the peripheral surface of the rotary drum 18. Arrow 20
Around the rotary drum 18 which is rotated in the direction indicated by, a charging corona discharger 22, a developing device 24, a transfer corona discharger 26 and a cleaning device 28 which constitute a transfer means are arranged, and a charging corona discharger is provided. An electric device 22, a developing device 24, and a cleaning device 28 are mounted on the unit frame 16. The charging corona discharger 22 charges the photoconductor on the rotary drum 18 to a specific polarity. The developing device 24 includes a magnetic brush mechanism 30 and develops an electrostatic latent image formed as described later into a toner image. In addition, the transfer corona discharger 26 disposed in the transfer area 32
Applies corona discharge to the back surface of the sheet member conveyed through the conveying path as described later. The cleaning device 28 includes an elastic blade 34 that acts on the surface of the photoconductor, removes the toner remaining on the surface of the photoconductor, and collects the toner in the toner collection chamber 36.

The upper part in the device housing 6, that is, the process unit 15
An optical unit 38 is disposed above the. The illustrated optical unit 38 includes a box-shaped unit housing 40. Inside the housing 40, a laser light source (not shown), a rotary polygon mirror 42 that is rotated in a predetermined direction, and a first imaging lens are provided. 44, second imaging lens 46, first reflecting mirror 48, second
The reflecting mirror 50 and the cylindrical lens 52 are arranged. A laser light source (not shown) irradiates the rotary polygon mirror 42 with laser light based on image information output from a computer, for example. The laser light reflected from the rotary polygon mirror 42 is
As indicated by the solid arrow in the figure, the first imaging lens 44 and the second imaging lens 44
Through the image forming lens 46, reaches the first reflecting mirror 48, is reflected by the first reflecting mirror 48 and the second reflecting mirror 50, and further passes through the cylindrical lens 52 to rotate in the projection area 54. It is projected on the surface of the drum 18.

The lower part in the device housing 6, that is, the process unit 15
A transport mechanism indicated by reference numeral 56 is disposed below the transport mechanism. The illustrated transport mechanism 56 includes a transport roller pair 58, a guide plate 60,
A guide plate 62, a fixing roller pair 64, a guide claw 64, a guide claw 66, and a conveying roller pair 68 are provided to define the main part of the conveying path for conveying a sheet member such as recording paper. In the specific example, the upstream end of the transport path is branched into two, one of which extends straight to the right, and a manual feeding means 70 is disposed at the upstream end thereof. The other side is curved and extends downward, and an automatic feeding means 72 is arranged at its upstream end (specifically, below the transport mechanism 56 and at the bottom of the apparatus housing 6). The automatic feeding means 72 includes a cassette 84 in which sheet members are loaded in a stacked state. The cassette 84 is detachably attached to a cassette receiving portion 88 defined at the bottom of the device housing 6 through an opening 86 formed on the left side of the device housing 6, more specifically, the lower housing 8. A feeding roller 90 is arranged above the cassette receiving portion 88. Therefore, by rotating the feeding roller 90 in the direction shown by the arrow 92, the sheet members in the cassette 84 are fed one by one, and the thus fed sheet members are provided on the upright wall portion 94 of the lower housing 8. The guide ridges 96 and the guide ridges 100 provided on the wall 98 guide the conveying roller pair 58. In addition, the feeding means 70 for manual feeding
Will be described later.

The downstream end of the transport path is also branched into two,
In this connection, a part of the opening / closing housing 12, that is, the opening / closing cover 102 is rotatably mounted between a first position shown by a solid line in FIG. 1 and a second position shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. Has been done. When the opening / closing cover 102 is in the first position, the sheet member fed by the pair of conveying rollers 68 is conveyed further upward, and the opening / closing cover 102 and the upper opening / closing housing 12 are provided.
The sheet is guided to the discharge roller pair 106 through the walls 104 of the sheet, and is discharged to the receiving portion 108 provided on the upper surface of the apparatus housing 6 by the action of the discharge roller pair 106. On the other hand, openable cover 1
When 02 is in the second position, the sheet member fed by the pair of conveying rollers 68 is directly discharged to the outside of the apparatus housing 6 without being conveyed upward, and the inner surface of the opening / closing cover 102 (indicated by a chain double-dashed line). At the top).

The receiving portion 108 in the specific example is defined by the wall 104 and an inclined upper wall 110 extending from the lower end portion of the wall 104 to the right in FIG. 1 and inclined upward, and is discharged by the action of the discharge roller pair 106. The sheet member is received on the upper surface of the inclined upper wall 110 and the rear end is aligned by the wall 104.
An auxiliary receiver 112 is arranged at the upper end of the receiving portion 108, in other words, at the upper end of the inclined upper wall 110. The illustrated auxiliary receiver 112 is composed of a plate-shaped member 114, and projections 116 (only one of which is shown in FIGS. 1 and 3) provided at both ends of the plate-shaped member 114 have an inclined upper wall via a pin 118. It is mounted on the upper end of 110 so as to be rotatable in the directions shown by arrows 120 and 122 (FIG. 1). A pair of support projections 124 (FIG. 2) is provided on one surface of the plate-shaped member 114 (right surface in the state indicated by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 1). When the auxiliary receiver 112 is used, that is, when the sheet member is received, the auxiliary receiver 112 is positioned at the first position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 1 and shown in FIG. By making contact with the upper wall 126, the pivotal movement of the auxiliary receiver 112 in the direction shown by the arrow 120 beyond the first position is prevented). When in the first position, the other surface of the plate-shaped member 114 extends from the upper end of the upper surface of the inclined upper wall 110 while further inclining upward to the right in FIG. When not in use, that is, when stored in the receiving portion 108, the auxiliary receiver 112 is positioned at the second position shown by the solid line in FIG. 1 (also shown in FIG. 3) (the plate-shaped member 114).
By abutting the base part of the inclined upper wall 110,
The turning movement of the auxiliary receiver 112 in the direction indicated by the arrow 122 beyond the second position is prevented). When in the second position, the plate-like member 114 extends substantially parallel to and above the upper end of the inclined upper wall 110, thus the auxiliary receiver 112 is housed in the upper part of the upper receiver 108 as desired. .

Further, a cover body 128 for covering the receiving portion 108 is attached to the upper opening / closing housing 12 (note that the cover body 128 is omitted in FIG. 2). Illustrated cover body 128
Has a substantially plate-like shape, and has a slightly bent central portion.
Protrusions 130 are provided on both ends of the base of the cover body 128, and the protrusions 130 are rotatably mounted via pins 132 (only one of them is shown in FIGS. 1 and 3). ). A stop portion 134 is provided at the free end of the cover body 128, and a grip projection 136 is provided at the tip of the stop portion 134. With such a configuration, the cover body 128 can be moved to the open position shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 1 by gripping the grip projection 136 and pivoting it in the direction indicated by the arrow 138. When the cover body 128 is thus moved to the open position, the cover body 128 extends substantially vertically upward to open the upper side of the receiving portion 108, and the above-described turning movement of the auxiliary receiving body 112 is allowed. Further, by gripping the grip projection 136 and pivoting it in the direction indicated by the arrow 140, this cover body 128 can be moved to the closed position shown by the solid line in FIG. 1 and shown in FIG. 3 (the cover body 128). The stop 134 of the upper wall 142 of the upper opening / closing housing 12
Abutting against the above-mentioned position prevents the cover body 128 from swinging in the direction indicated by arrow 140 beyond the closed position). When the cover body 128 is thus moved to the open position, the cover body 128 covers the upper portion of the receiving portion 108 and prevents dust and the like from adhering to the receiving portion 108. Incidentally, in order to bring the cover body 128 to the closed position, it is necessary to position the auxiliary receiving body 112 at the second position.

The operation of the apparatus main body 2 having such a configuration will be outlined below.

While the rotary drum 18 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow 20, the charging corona discharger 22 charges the photosensitive member of the rotary drum 18, and then the laser light source (not shown) of the optical unit 38 in the projection area 54. The laser light from is projected on the photoconductor,
An electrostatic latent image corresponding to image information is formed on the surface of the photoconductor. Thereafter, the magnetic brush mechanism 30 of the developing device 24 applies toner to the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive member, develops the electrostatic latent image into a toner image, and thus the charging corona discharger 22 and the optical unit 38.
A toner image is formed on the rotary drum 18 by the action of the image forming means including the developing device 24. Next, the sheet member fed from the manual feeding means 70 (or the sheet member introduced from the feeding unit body 4 as described later) or the sheet member fed from the automatic feeding means 72 is the transfer area of the conveyance path. It is brought into contact with the photoconductor at 32, and the toner image on the photoconductor is transferred to the sheet member by the action of the transfer corona discharger 26. The sheet member on which the toner image is transferred is peeled off from the rotary drum 18, then conveyed to the fixing roller pair 64, and the toner image is fixed on the surface of the sheet member by the action of the fixing roller pair 64. The sheet member on which the toner image is fixed is conveyed to the pair of conveying rollers 68, and the opening / closing cover 102
Is in the above second position, the open / close cover
Discharged on 102. When the sheet member is discharged onto the opening / closing cover 102, as understood from FIG. 1, the sheet member is discharged with the surface on which the image is formed facing up. In contrast,
When the opening / closing cover 102 is in the first position, the sheet member conveyed to the conveying roller pair 68 is
The sheet is conveyed further upward through the gap between the wall 104 and the wall 104, and is discharged toward the receiving portion provided in the opening / closing housing 12 by the action of the discharging roller pair 106. When the sheet member is discharged toward the receiving portion 108, as understood from FIG. 1,
The image-formed surface is discharged downward. When the sheet member is discharged to the receiving portion 108, the cover body 128
Is held in the open position, and the auxiliary receiver 112 is
Held in position.

Outline of Supply Unit Body Referring again to FIG. 1, the illustrated supply unit body 4 will be described. The supply unit body 4 includes a supply housing 146 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the supply means is attached to the supply housing 146. The illustrated supply means includes a cassette receiving portion 148 defined in a supply housing 146, and a feeding roller 152 which is rotated in a direction indicated by an arrow 150 is arranged above the cassette receiving portion 148. First of supply housing 146
In the drawing, a mounting opening 154 is defined on the right surface, and the box-shaped cassette 156 is detachably mounted in the cassette receiving portion 148 through the mounting opening 154. In the cassette 156, there is mounted a loading plate 158 which is biased upward with a rear end as a fulcrum by the action of a biasing means (not shown) such as a spring, and the sheets in a stacked state are mounted on the loading plate 158. The parts are loaded as required. A delivery opening 160 is defined on the left side of the supply housing 146 in FIG. A pair of guide plates 162 that define a delivery path are disposed between the delivery opening 160 and the cassette receiving portion 148.

In the supply unit body 4, when the feeding roller 152 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow 150, the uppermost sheet member in the cassette 156 is fed from the cassette 156 by the action of the feeding roller 152, and the feeding is performed. The sheet member is
It is conveyed to the delivery opening 160 through a pair of guide plates 162, and is delivered to the outside of the supply housing 146 through this delivery opening 160.

Manual Insertion-Type Supplying Means and Mounting / Removing Operations of Supply Unit Body Next, the manual insertion-type supplying means 70 in the apparatus main body 2 will be described in detail. The supply means 70 shown is a table 16 for manual feeding.
Equipped with 4. The table 164 includes a plate-shaped table body 166, and side walls 168 are provided at both ends of the table body 166.
(See FIG. 2). The inner surface of the side wall 168 acts as a guide surface for guiding the sheet member in the insertion direction. A support protrusion 170 protruding leftward in FIG. 1 is integrally provided at one end of the side wall 168 (a downstream end in the sheet member insertion direction, that is, a left end in FIG. 1). A support protrusion 170 is pivotally mounted via a support pin 172 to a lower end portion of the upper opening / closing housing 12, specifically, a bracket member (not shown) attached to the inner surface of the right wall 174 of the upper opening / closing housing 12. . In a specific example, a contact portion 176 extending substantially vertically from the table body 166 is provided at the base portion (downstream end in the sheet member insertion direction) of the table body 166, and the tip of the contact portion 176 further includes The guide protrusion 178 is integrally provided.

With such a configuration, when the sheet member is fed by the manual feeding means 70, the table 164 is positioned at the feeding position shown in FIG. When the table 164 is swung downward as indicated by the arrow 180, the abutting portion 176 of the table 164 abuts the wall 98 of the lower housing 8 and thus the table 164 is securely held in the feeding position. When in the feeding position, the upper surface of the table body 166 has the introduction opening 182 defined on the right surface of the apparatus housing 6.
(Specifically, it extends substantially horizontally toward the introduction opening defined between the wall 98 of the lower housing 8 and the wall 174 of the upper opening / closing housing 12). Therefore, when a sealing member is positioned on the upper surface of the table body 166 and moved along the inner surface of the side wall 168, this sheet member is introduced into the apparatus housing 6 through the introduction opening 182. Then, the sheet member thus introduced is fed to the conveyance path through between the upper edge of the guide projection plate 100 provided on the wall 98 and the guide plate 184, and is conveyed through the conveyance path as described above. On the other hand, when storing the table 164 when it is not in use, etc.
Is positioned in the storage position shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.
The table 164 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow 186 from the above feeding position.
When it is turned 90 degrees upward, the upper edge of the side wall 168 of the table 164 abuts the wall 174 of the upper opening / closing housing 12, and thus the table 164 is held in the storage position. When in the storage position, as shown in FIG.
Is substantially vertically extended along the wall 174 of the upper opening / closing housing 12 and is housed outside the wall 174 as required. When the table 164 is moved to the storage position, the second
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, below the table 164 (ie,
The introduction opening 182 is exposed to the outside at the lower side of the contact portion 176 of the table 164.

In the specific example, in connection with the table 164 being rotatable between the feeding position and the storage position, the supply unit body 4 is detachably attached to a portion of the device housing 6 where the introduction opening 182 is formed. It can be installed.

To mount the supply unit body 4, position the table 164 in the storage position as described above and then move the supply unit body 4 in the direction indicated by arrow 188 (FIG. 1) to the position shown in FIG. After positioning, the device body 2 and the supply unit body 4 may be connected to each other by a releasable locking means (not shown). As the locking means (not shown), for example, an engaging member which is rotatable between a locked position for engaging a part of the apparatus main body 2 and a non-locked position for releasing the engagement is known per se. Anything is fine. With the supply unit body 4 thus mounted, as shown in FIG. 3, the delivery opening 160 defined in the supply housing 146 is connected to the externally exposed inlet opening 182 below the table 164. Thus, as described above. The sheet member delivered from the delivery opening 160 is introduced into the apparatus housing 6 through the introduction opening 182, and is supplied to the conveyance path through the upper edge of the guide protrusion 100 and the guide plate 184. Further, in this case, the lower edge (that is, the contact portion 176 and the guide protrusion 178) and the upper wall 190 of the supply housing 146 in FIG.
A space is created between a part 190a of the above, and the left end of the space in FIG. 3 is also connected to the introduction opening 182 (the delivery opening 160 is connected to the lower part of the introduction opening 182, and the space is defined as the introduction opening 182). Connected to the top). Therefore, as easily understood, the space thus formed can be effectively used as an insertion opening for manually inserting the sheet member,
The sheet member inserted through the insertion opening is the upper wall.
It is guided between the part 190a of 190, the guide protrusion 178, and the contact portion 176, and is supplied to the conveyance path through the introduction opening 182.

To remove the supply unit body 4, the supply unit body 4 may be moved in the direction opposite to the direction indicated by the arrow 188 after unlocking by the locking means (not shown).
When the manual feeding means 70 is used, the table 164 may be moved from the storage position to the feeding position.

As described above, in the image forming apparatus, the mounting of the supply unit body 4 is allowed by positioning the table 164 at the storage position without removing it.
In connection with this, the operation for mounting and dismounting the supply unit body 4 is remarkably simple and easy.

The preferred specific examples of the image forming apparatus configured according to the present invention have been described above in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to such specific examples, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

<Effects of the Invention> In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the supply unit body is attached to the main body of the forming apparatus only by rotating the table to the storage position without removing the table of the manual feeding means from the main body of the forming apparatus. Is possible
The change operation between the state of using the table of the manual feeding means and the state of using the supply unit body is sufficiently simple. Further, even when the supply unit body is attached to the forming apparatus main body, the sheet member is manually supplied through the insertion opening defined between a part of the upper wall of the supply housing of the supply unit body and the guide protrusion of the table. can do.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a preferred specific example of an image forming apparatus constructed according to the present invention in a state where a supply unit body is detached from an apparatus main body. 2 is a diagram showing a part of the apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1 as viewed from the right side in FIG. FIG. 3 is a simplified cross-sectional view showing the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1 with a supply unit body attached to the apparatus main body. 2 ... Device body 4 ... Supply unit body 6 ... Device housing 8 ... Lower housing 12 ... Upper opening / closing housing 18 ... Rotating drum 22 ... Charging corona discharger 24 ... Developing device 26 ... Transfer Corona discharger 32 …… Transfer area 38 …… Optical unit 56 …… Transport mechanism 70 …… Manual feeding means 72 …… Automatic feeding means 146 …… Supply housing 156 …… Cassette 160 …… Sending opening 164 …… Table 178 …… Guide protrusion 182 …… Introduction opening

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A forming apparatus main body having a conveying path for conveying a sheet member, and a manual feeding means for feeding the sheet member to the conveying path through an introduction opening defined in the apparatus housing, and a supply housing. A feed means for feeding the sheet member through a defined delivery opening,
A supply unit body detachably attached to the forming apparatus main body, the manual feeding means includes a table mounted so as to be rotatable between a feeding position and a storage position, and the table is provided at the feeding position. The sheet member positioned on the upper surface of the sheet member is guided to the conveyance path through the introducing opening when the sheet is in the storage position, and is located along the apparatus housing when in the storage position. When exposed to the outside, the supply unit body is allowed to be attached to the forming apparatus body when the table is in the storage position. When the supply unit body is detachably attached to the forming apparatus body, the delivery opening of the supply housing is The sheet member connected to the introduction opening and thus fed through the delivery opening by the action of the feeding means is fed to the conveyance path through the introduction opening, and is fed for manual feeding. A guide protrusion is provided at the base of the table of the means, and when the supply unit body is detachably attached to the forming apparatus main body after the table is positioned at the storage position, the upper wall of the supply housing is An image forming apparatus, wherein an insertion opening for guiding a sheet member to the conveyance path through the introduction opening is defined between a part and the guide protrusion. 2. The table is pivotable between the feeding position extending substantially horizontally and the storing position pivoting substantially 90 degrees upward from the feeding position and extending substantially vertically to store the table. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the introduction opening is exposed to the outside below the table when the image forming apparatus is positioned at the position.