JPH0646758B2 - Small facsimile machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial field of application> The present invention relates to a compact facsimile apparatus in which the entire apparatus is compact and easy to use.

<Prior Art> This kind of apparatus conventionally used for a facsimile or the like has an original conveying system 37 for conveying the original 3 by rollers 36 as shown in FIG. The original reading system 39, which reads the image by the photoelectric conversion element 14 and converts it into an electric signal and transmits it to the recording head 20 of another facsimile apparatus, and the recording head 20 which receives a predetermined signal to display image information on the recording material 17. It is composed of a recording system 40 for recording.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, the above-mentioned conventional device is large in size as a whole, and has a drawback that it requires a large space for placing the device. In addition, there is a small device called a desktop type today, but even if it is placed on a personal desk such as an office, it occupies most of the desk area and other work is done at that desk. However, there is a problem that the operator cannot operate the device while sitting on the chair when operating the device.

The present invention relates to a completely new device developed to solve the above-mentioned problems of the related art, and its object is to be compact in general and to have a room in space even when placed on a desk, and for an operator to sit on a chair. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of performing all operations while sitting on the chair.

<Means for Solving Problems> A typical means for solving the above problems according to the present invention is to integrate a telephone with an apparatus, and to arrange a handset handset of the telephone at a side of the apparatus. When the transmitter / receiver is arranged in the arrangement portion, the transmitter / receiver occupies most of the front-rear direction of the side of the apparatus, and a document conveying section, a document reading section, a recording section from the front to the rear of the apparatus. Are arranged in order,
Further, the front side of the apparatus is configured to be low and the rear side is configured to be high, and an upper cover on the front side from the recording material discharge port of the recording unit is formed on a slope portion, and a document discharge port is provided on the slope surface portion of the upper cover and the front portion of the apparatus is provided. A document insertion port for inserting a document from the front side is provided in the document insertion unit, and a document conveyance path for conveying a document by changing the conveyance direction from the document insertion port to the document ejection port is formed in the document insertion unit. The originals are characterized in that they are ejected to the front cover sloping portion in the front direction of the apparatus.

<Operation> In the above means, the document inserted from the front side of the apparatus is read by the document reading section, and is discharged from the discharge port to the front on the slope portion of the upper cover. The recording material recorded by the recording unit is also discharged from the discharge port toward the front of the apparatus on the sloped portion of the upper cover. Therefore, the operator can handle the document and the recording material while sitting on the chair in front of the apparatus.

Further, the front-rear direction of the device is approximately the same size as the handset, and since the original and the recording material are discharged onto the upper cover, a special discharge tray or the like is not required, and the whole becomes compact.

Further, since the rear side of the apparatus in which the recording section is arranged is formed high, the apparatus is compact as a whole, but the storage space for the recording material can be increased.

<Embodiment> Next, an embodiment of a small facsimile apparatus to which the above means is applied will be described.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of this device, in which the left side of the drawing is the front,
Assuming that the right side is rear, a document insertion port 1 is provided at the lower front end, and the document detection sensor 2 and the signal from the sensor 2 are moved near the insertion port 1 and the document 3 is pressed against the lower guide 4. The pickup roller 5 that conveys the document 3 backward is provided by the cooperation of the above, and a document conveying system that conveys the inserted document 3 backward is configured.

Further, behind the pickup roller 5, there is provided a document leading edge detection sensor 6 for detecting the leading edge of the transported document 3 which is further swingable around a shaft 7a and whose lower surface is pressed by a leaf spring. A reading platen roller 8 that conveys the original 3 at a constant speed is provided by a cooperative action with the lower guide 7 that is formed, and a small sensor (so-called contact type sensor, equal-magnification sensor, etc.) 9 is provided obliquely above the rear part. Further, the small sensor 9 is biased from the rear of the frame 9a by a leaf spring 11 so that the paper guide 10 having one end supported by the frame 9a is pressed against the reading platen roller 8.

The small sensor 9 irradiates the document 3 immediately after passing through the paper guide 10 with a row-shaped illumination mechanism 12, forms an image with the image formation mechanism 13, and converts it into an electric signal with a photoelectric conversion element 14, In the case of a facsimile operation, the signal is transmitted to the recording section of another facsimile apparatus, and in the case of a copy operation, the signal is transmitted to its own recording section, thereby forming a reading system for reading image information of a document.

The illumination mechanism 12 of the small sensor 9 is composed of an LED array or the like, the imaging mechanism 13 is composed of a rod lens array or the like, and the photoelectric conversion element 14 is composed of a photodiode array or the like. As shown in FIG. 3, the original 3 is configured to extend over the entire width direction. By using such a small sensor 9, the width direction of the original 3 can be read at a time, and the optical path length can be about 10 to 30 mm. Therefore, it was necessary to secure a total optical path length of about 300 mm.
The size of the entire device can be significantly reduced as compared with the case of using an IC image sensor of the shape.

Further, the image forming mechanism 13 of the small sensor 9 may be omitted. In this case, the distance H between the original 3 and the photoelectric conversion element 14 can be further reduced, and the apparatus can be downsized. Further, the illumination mechanism 12 may be provided on both sides so as to sandwich the image forming mechanism 13 as shown in FIG.

An example of reading a document of JIS standard A4 size using the small sensor 9 will be described below.
As shown in the figure, the length of the photoelectric conversion element 14 in the width direction is L ₁ = 216 mm
For reading the read width L ₃ = 208 mm of the A4 size document width L ₂ = 210 mm, the same size is read.

Next, the mounting angle of the small sensor 9 will be described in detail. The original reading position by the image forming mechanism 13 and the like is read at a point above the center of the reading platen roller 8 as shown in FIG. It is preferable to arrange so that the optical axis p of 13 forms an acute angle with the horizontal axis q.

In order to clarify the reason, a comparison will be made with the case where the image forming mechanism 13 is arranged on the horizontal axis q as shown in FIG. 4 (b).
First of all, the advantage is that when the image forming optical axis p is set to an acute angle with respect to the horizontal axis q, the end surface of the image forming mechanism 13 is directed downward as shown in FIG. As compared with the case where the end surface of the image forming mechanism 13 is vertical as shown in (b), there is an advantage that dust and the like are less likely to attach. Secondly, a space is formed below the reading platen roller 8 and the small sensor 9, and it becomes easy to install the document edge detection sensor 6 in the space. Thirdly, the reaction force (strength of the waist) of the original 3 is advantageous. That is, in FIG. 4, assuming that the original conveyance direction when reading the original 3 is a and the final conveyance direction of the original 3 is b, the angle formed by both is θ ₁ in FIG. 2 (a). , Θ ₂ in FIG. 2 (b). At this time, if both angles θ ₁ and θ ₂ are compared, then θ ₁ <θ ₂ . The smaller θ is, the smaller the reaction force of the original document 3 is. Therefore, the floating action of the original document 3 is reduced, which is advantageous for reading the original document 3. When the small sensor 9 is used, the depth of focus on the document reading surface is as small as 0.1 to 0.2, so it is an important problem to eliminate the floating action of the document 3 and stabilize the optical axis direction. At this point, it is desirable that θ = 0, but for that purpose the imaging mechanism 13 must be brought almost directly above the reading platen roller 8, and in this case, the height direction of the apparatus becomes thick. It is not preferable because it will end up.

In FIG. 1, an upper guide 15 and a backup roller 16 for discharging the original 3 read by the small sensor 9 are provided above the platen roller 8 above the platen roller 8.
It is installed so as to be close to.

Next, a recording system for recording image information is formed behind the document reading system. Explaining this recording system, a recording material holder 18 for loading a roll-shaped recording material (paper, plastic sheet, etc.) 17 is formed at the end of the apparatus,
The roll-shaped recording material 17 is loaded while being placed on the holder 18. A recording platen roller 19 that conveys a recording material 17 is provided in front of the holder 18 and substantially above the reading platen roller 8, and a recording head 20 that thermally records predetermined information on the recording material 17 is provided with the recording platen roller. It is attached to the upper cover 21 via a leaf spring 22 so as to come into pressure contact with 19.

The upper surface of the upper cover 21 forms a downward inclined surface from the rear side of the apparatus in which the recording material holder 18 is provided to the front side of the apparatus in which the recording system, the document reading system, and the document conveying system are sequentially arranged. A document discharge port 23 and a recording material discharge port 24 are provided at the document discharge position and the recording material discharge position, respectively. The recording material discharge port 24 is located above the document discharge port 23, and a cutter 25 is formed at the end thereof. Further, the rear side cover 21a of the upper cover 21 is the device main body 26
A hinge 27 is attached to the rear end of the recording material, and the recording material discharge port 24 can be opened and closed rearward (in the direction of arrow c). An operation panel 28, which is an operation key of the apparatus, is provided at a predetermined portion.

That is, the upper cover 21 includes the rear side cover 21a and the front side cover 21b.
The rear side cover 21a covers the roll-shaped recording material 17 and the upper part of the recording system, and is loaded with the recording material 17 and the recording head 20.
The front cover 21b covers the document reading system and the document conveying system, and is fixed to the main body of the apparatus. A recording material discharge port 24 is formed in the gap between the covers 21a and 21b, and the recording material discharge port 24 is generally inclined from the rear side to the front side.

Next, the operation of the apparatus configured as described above will be described in the case of a copy operation.

When the document 3 is manually inserted from the document insertion port 1 with the image information surface facing downward, the document detection sensor 2 operates and the pickup roller 5 descends as shown by the broken line in FIG. It is transported to the rear by the cooperative action of. The conveyed document 3 is conveyed at a constant speed by the cooperative action of the reading platen roller 8 rotating counterclockwise and the lower guide 7, and the leading edge detection sensor 6 detects the leading edge of the original 3 and the lower guide 4 and the lower guide 4. It is conveyed along the outer surface of the platen roller 8 by the paper guide 10.

Immediately after passing through the paper guide 10, the image information of the original 3 is read by the illumination mechanism 12 and the imaging mechanism 13 of the small sensor 9 and converted into an electric signal by the photoelectric conversion element 14, and the signal is recorded by the recording head. The document 3 transmitted to and read by the document 20 is conveyed along the upper guide 15 and the backup roller 16 and is ejected from the document ejection port 23 of the upper cover 21.

On the other hand, in the recording system, the recording platen roller 19 rotates counterclockwise and the recording head 20 which receives the signal from the photoelectric conversion element 14 operates. As a result, the recording material 17 is conveyed, a predetermined recording image is copied onto the recording material 17, and the recording material 17 is discharged from the recording material discharge port 24.

Therefore, the original 3 inserted with the image information surface facing downward makes a U-turn by the reading platen roller 8 and is discharged onto the upper cover 21 with the image information surface facing upward as shown in FIG. 5, and the recording material 17 is also recorded. It is discharged onto the upper cover 21 with the surface facing upward. In this respect, the upper cover 21 is the original 3 and the recording material.
The upper cover that functions as a discharge tray for 17
Reference numeral 21 forms a downward slope toward the front, so that the original 3 and the recording material 17 can be discharged smoothly.

Further, since the recording unit such as the recording head 20 is arranged substantially above the small sensor 9 in this apparatus, when the copying operation is performed, the heat radiation of the small sensor 9 reaches the recording unit as it is, and the recording head for thermal recording is used. Supports 20 heating states.

Next, when replacing the recording material 17, the rear cover 21a is opened from the front to the back around the hinge 27, a new roll-shaped recording material 17 is loaded into the recording material holder 18, and the recording material 17 is also replaced. It is possible to pull out the leading end of the recording material from the recording material discharge port 24, close the rear side cover 21a, and cut the recording material 17 protruding from the discharge port 24 with a cutter 25 for replacement. Since all the replacement work at this time can be performed from the front, the operator can remain sitting on the chair when replacing the recording material 17. Further, since the upper cover 21 is inclined downward to the front, the operation panel 28 can be easily visually recognized and its operation can be performed while sitting on a chair.

The conventional facsimile machine requires a larger space because it is separate from the telephone, but as shown in FIG. 6, this machine has the telephone on one side of the apparatus main body 26, that is, on the side of the recording material 17 and the original conveying path. By installing 29, the telephone function is integrated.

In this device, when the handset 30 of the telephone set 29 is placed because the whole is compact and the upper cover surface is configured to face down, as shown in FIG.
The outer shape of 30 approximately matches the shape of the device. Therefore, in this device, the telephone 29 can be integrally attached without impairing the overall compactness.

In the above case, when the handset 30 of the telephone 29 is bent at the center as shown in FIG. 7, it fits better to the shape of the device, and the overall cohesion is better.

Further, the telephone 29 may be arranged on either the left or right side of the device main body 26, but if it is assumed that the operation panel 28 of the present device is operated by the right hand, it is preferable that the telephone 29 is attached on the left side when crossing hands or a telephone cord 31. It is easy to use because there are no intersections.

Next, an embodiment in which the compactness of the present device is further pursued will be described.

For example, in a facsimile machine, the functions required by an operator who normally operates the machine are a telephone, an original reading system, and a recording system for printing and recording on a recording material, and a so-called information input / output section ( Below "I
/ O part ”). Therefore, the I / O on the desk
It is enough if there is only a part.

In view of the above points, as shown in FIG. 8, the device main body 26 accommodates only the I / O part 32 of the device, and other electrical equipment functions such as a power supply for operating the device, an NCU, and a system control unit are different. The device body 26 can be made extremely compact if it is housed in the electrical system box 33 and the device body 26 and the electrical system box 33 are connected by the relay cable 34.

In this case, the electrical system box 33 need only be installed somewhere around the desk 35 such as the side of the desk 35, and it is not necessary to place it on the desk 35, so the occupied space on the desk 35 can be reduced. .

In the above case, if one end of the relay cable 34 is connected to the connector, it is convenient for installation and maintenance of the device.

Next, an embodiment in which the upper guide 15 is made of an elastic member will be described.

In carrying out the present invention, as the upper guide 15, an elastic member such as a thin spring plate material or mylar sheet is used, which is spot welded to the supporting member, that is, the sheet discharge stay 41, or double-sided tape or the like. Even if the upper guide 15 comes into contact with the small sensor 9, the elasticity of the upper guide 15 can absorb the positional deviation of the small sensor 9 if the upper guide 15 comes into contact with the small sensor 9. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the reading focus of the small sensor 9 from being distorted. Therefore, the upper guide 15 can be positively brought close to the small sensor 9 or can be mounted in direct contact with the small sensor 9 as shown in FIG.

If the upper guide 15 is made of an elastic member as described above, it is not necessary to provide a gap between the upper guide 15 and the small sensor 9, and therefore, the original 3 after reading is smoothly guided by the upper guide 15 and the original 3 is read. It is possible to prevent flapping or the occurrence of jams.

When the upper guide 15 is made of an elastic member,
As shown in the figure, the sheet discharge stay 41 can be brought into close contact with the reading platen roller 8, and at this time, the relationship between the coefficient of friction between the sheet discharge stay 41 and the original 3 <the friction coefficient between the original 3 and the reading platen roller 8 is satisfied. With the above, the original 3 can be discharged without using the backup roller 16.

Therefore, the volume of the space occupied by the backup roller can be reduced, and the apparatus can be made compact accordingly.

<Effects of the Invention> According to the present invention, as described above, the document conveying system, the document reading system, and the recording system are sequentially arranged from the front side to the rear side of the apparatus, and the front side of the apparatus is lowered so that the front side is lower and the rear side is higher. The slanted surface makes it possible to make the entire device compact while taking up a large space for storing the recording material. Also, the operator can sit on the chair while inserting a document, operating the operation panel, or exchanging the recording material. It can be done easily.

Further, since the original and recording material discharge ports are provided at predetermined positions on the upper cover of the apparatus, the upper cover can be used as a discharge tray when discharging the original and recording material, which is advantageous in terms of space and the upper cover. Since the sheet has a front-down inclination, the above-described discharging is performed smoothly, and the discharged document and recording material come out with the image information upward, so that the operator can easily visually recognize the recording status and the like.

Furthermore, since the top surface of the device is front-down, the handset of the phone is integrated with the device body even if the phone is attached integrally, the overall shape is also smart, and the length of the device in the front-back direction is almost the same as the transceiver. Therefore, it is characterized by being compact as a whole.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional explanatory view of an apparatus according to the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are structural explanatory views of a small sensor, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a mounting angle of the small sensor with respect to a reading platen roller, and FIG. And a perspective view of the apparatus showing a state in which the recording material is ejected, FIGS. 6 and 7 are explanatory views when the telephone is integrated with the apparatus main body, and FIG. 8 is an I / O part of the apparatus and an electrical system. And FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are explanatory views when the upper guide is an elastic member, and FIG. 11 is an explanatory view of the prior art. 1 is a document insertion port, 2 is a document detection sensor, 3 is a document,
4, 7, 10, and 15 are guides, 5 is a pickup roller, and 6
Is a document edge detection sensor, 8 is a reading platen roller, 9 is a small sensor, 12 is an illumination mechanism, 13 is an imaging mechanism,
14 is a photoelectric element, 15 is an upper guide, 17 is a recording material, 18 is a recording material holder, 19 is a recording platen roller, 20 is a recording head, 21 is an upper cover, 23 is a document ejection port, 24 is a recording material ejection port, 26 is a main body, 28 is an operation panel, 29 is a telephone, 30 is a handset, 32 is an I / O part, 33 is an electrical system box, 34 is a relay cable, and 35 is a desk.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A telephone is integrated with a device, and a handset placement unit of the telephone is provided on a side of the device. When the handset is placed in the placement unit, the handset is located in front of and behind the device. It is configured so as to occupy most of the direction, and a document feeding section, a document reading section, and a recording section are sequentially arranged from the front to the rear of the apparatus, and the front of the apparatus is configured to be low and the rear is configured to be high, and The upper cover on the front side from the recording material discharge port is formed on the sloped surface, the document discharge port is provided on the sloped surface of the upper cover, and the document insertion port for inserting a document from the front side is provided on the front part of the apparatus. Forming a document transport path for transporting the document by changing the transport direction from the document insertion port to the document discharge port, and the recording material and the document are respectively discharged to the front side of the apparatus toward the front side of the upper cover when discharged. To be discharged Small facsimile apparatus, characterized in that the.