JP3403281B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

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 such as an electronic copying machine or an electrophotographic printer, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus using roll paper as recording paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In this type of image forming apparatus, a roll paper supporting cassette is provided in the front portion of the main body of the apparatus so as to be drawn out, and a roll paper of a desired size is rotatably supported in the cassette. . The roll paper is unwound by a pair of paper feed rollers located in the vicinity of the roll paper, and the unwound roll paper is guided to an image transfer unit along a paper transport path provided downstream of the paper feed roller pair. To be done. The position of the paper transport path in the main body of the apparatus differs according to the direction of discharge of the recording paper after the image transfer.

That is, in an apparatus for ejecting recording paper to the front side of the apparatus main body, a paper conveyance path is provided on the back side of the apparatus main body,
The recording paper is sent to the image transfer unit located at the upper center along the paper transport path, and after the image is fixed, it is discharged to the front side of the apparatus main body.

On the other hand, in the apparatus for ejecting the recording paper to the rear side of the apparatus main body, a paper conveyance path is provided on the front side of the apparatus main body, and the recording paper is located at the upper center along the paper conveyance path. To the rear side of the main body of the apparatus after fixing the image.

[0005]

As described above, in the apparatus of this type, the position of the paper transport path differs in the front and back depending on the discharge direction of the recording paper. Therefore, in the prior art, for supporting the roll paper. The roll paper support cassettes also had to be configured individually for each model, that is, in accordance with the position of the paper transport path.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and in an image forming apparatus in which a roll paper support cassette for supporting roll paper is provided so as to be drawn out from the apparatus main body, The cassette has a frame body that can be loaded in either the front or rear direction with respect to the apparatus body, and a handle portion that can be mounted in either the front or back of the frame body,
By changing the mounting position of the handle part to the frame body in the front-back direction, the cassette can be commonly used in different models having different paper transport path positions in the front-back direction.

Further, in particular, the cassette is provided with a paper feed roller pair for unrolling the roll paper in the vicinity of the roll paper loaded in the cassette, and the paper feed roller pair is provided on the paper transport path side. The orientation of the loading direction of the frame is set so as to be positioned.

[0008]

The roll paper supporting cassette is commonly used regardless of the model by changing the mounting position of the handle portion to the frame body according to the position of the paper conveying path by the above means.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The apparatus shown in FIG. 1 has roll paper support cassettes 1, 2, 3 which can be pulled out to the front side (the left hand side in the figure) at the lower position of the apparatus main body 100 in three stages. Roll paper 1a, 2a, 3 supported in each cassette
One a is selected and unwound according to the roll paper selection signal instructed by the operator, and is sent to the upper position of the apparatus through the common paper conveyance path 8 located on the front side of the apparatus main body 100. Reference numerals 5, 6, and 7 denote a pair of paper feed rollers that feed the paper to the paper transport path 8 while unrolling the roll paper, respectively, in the respective cassettes 1, 2, and 3 in the vicinity of the roll paper loaded therein. It is provided.

At the upper position of the main body of the apparatus, a timing roller pair 11, a cutter 12, an image forming section 20, and a fixing device 14 are sequentially arranged in accordance with the transfer paper conveyance direction. The image forming section 20 is composed of a well-known electrophotographic engine, and has a charging device 22, an image exposing device 23,
A developing device 24, a transfer device 25, a separating device 26, and a cleaning device 27 are arranged in this order. The transfer paper unwound from the roll paper is sent between the photosensitive drum 21 and the transfer device 25, where the powder image is transferred from the photosensitive drum, separated, and fixed by the fixing device 14. The pair of discharge rollers 15 discharge the sheet to the rear side of the apparatus main body 100. Reference numeral 16 is a tray for receiving the transfer paper discharged from the discharge port, although the upper part is omitted in the drawing. Normally, this kind of device (transfer paper is ejected to the rear side) is used by connecting it to a peripheral device for handling paper, such as a paper folding machine or a sorting machine, rather than storing the transfer paper in a tray. To be done.

FIG. 2 shows the other type of device, in which roll papers 1a, 2a, 3 in roll paper support cassettes 1, 2, 3 are shown.
The sheet a is sent to the transfer portion through the conveyance path 8 on the rear side of the apparatus main body, and after transferring and fixing the image, it is discharged to the front side of the apparatus main body 100 and stored in the front tray 16. This type of apparatus has an advantage of good workability because the apparatus can be handled and the recording paper can be received from the tray only on the front side of the apparatus. The front tray 16 is configured to be attachable to and detachable from the apparatus main body 100 or openable and closable to the left and right around one side as a pivot. After the tray 16 is removed or opened, the cassettes 1, 2, 3 are connected to the apparatus main body 10 respectively.
Can be derived from zero.

In the different models shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cassettes 1, 2 and 3 have a common frame 31, respectively.
32, 33 and handle parts 41, 4 fixed to these frames
2 and 43. The frame bodies 31, 32, and 33 are basically in the shape of a box whose upper part is open, and a pair of slide rails (not shown) provided near both side surfaces or both side edges of the bottom portion of the frame body 31, 32, and 33 in front of the device body 100. It is provided so that it can be pulled out to the side. The slide rail may have a known structure such as "Accuride (trade name)".
The frame is configured so that it can be loaded in the apparatus body in either the front or rear direction. In this way, roll paper is in cassette 1,
After pulling out 2 and 3, they are loaded into the frame bodies 31, 32 and 33 from above. If necessary, cassettes 1, 2,
An appropriate stopper can be provided to prevent the cassette from falling out of the apparatus body when the device 3 is pulled out.

As shown in the figure, both side plates of the frame bodies 31, 32 and 33 form valley portions 31a, 32a and 33a having a substantially triangular shape, and the roll paper 1a is formed at the valley bottoms 31b, 32b and 33b which are recessed in each valley portion. , 2a and 3a are rotatably supported. Further, a pair of paper feed rollers 5, 6 and 7 for feeding the roll paper while unrolling the roll paper is located in the vicinity of the roll paper loaded in the cassette, is supported by the both side plates, and has an appropriate drive source. It is connected to and provided.

In order to pull out the cassettes 1, 2, and 3, handle portions 41, 43, and 43 are attached so as to be located on the front side with respect to the frame bodies 31, 32, and 33, respectively. The handle parts 41, 42, 43 are provided with a clamp mechanism or the like,
With the cassettes 1, 2 and 3 closed, they can be temporarily fixed so that they do not open accidentally due to vibration, etc., and conversely, by releasing this clamp, the cassettes 1, 2 and 3 can be pulled out from the device body. Let

The handle parts 41, 42, 43 are frame members 31, 3
It has a structure that can be attached to both front and rear of 2, 33, and can be easily attached and detached by screwing, for example.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, by changing the mounting position of the handle part with respect to the frame body as shown in FIGS.
It can be used in common for different models with different paper transport path positions.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, it can be used with a roll paper supporting cassette of another model only by changing the mounting position of the handle portion back and forth, and there is an economic advantage due to common parts.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image forming apparatus in which a paper conveyance path is located on the front side of an apparatus main body.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image forming apparatus in which a paper conveyance path is located on the back side of the apparatus main body.

FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are views showing a state in which the mounting positions of the handle portion with respect to the frame body of the roll paper supporting cassette are different from each other in the front and rear.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Roll paper support cassette 2 roll paper support cassette 3 Roll paper support cassette 5 Paper feed roller pair 6 Paper feed roller pair 7 Paper feed roller pair 8 paper transport path 31 frame 32 frame 33 frame 41 Handle 42 Handle 43 Handle 100 device body

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 15/00 G03G 15/00 510-550 G03G 21/16-21/18 B65H 16/00-16/10

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus in which a roll paper supporting cassette for supporting roll paper is provided so as to be drawn out from the apparatus main body, and the cassette can be loaded in the apparatus main body in any of front and rear directions. The cassette has a frame and a handle that can be attached to either the front or the rear of the frame. By changing the mounting position of the handle with respect to the frame, the position of the paper transport path of the cassette is changed between the front and the rear. An image forming apparatus that can be commonly used by different models. 2. The cassette comprises a paper feed roller pair for unrolling and feeding the roll paper near the roll paper loaded in the cassette, and the paper feed roller pair is located on the paper transport path side. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the orientation of the frame is set as described above.