JP3582531B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a device for providing an openable and closable paper transport path in an image forming apparatus such as a small laser beam printer so as to easily perform a jam clearing operation, and in particular, to a side cover member of an apparatus main body. And an opening / closing guide member for a sheet transport path.

  In an image forming apparatus such as a small laser beam printer, a sheet feeding means such as a sheet feeding tray is arranged at a lower portion of the apparatus main body, and a substantially vertical sheet conveying path is arranged between the sheet feeding means and an ejection tray arranged at an upper portion of the apparatus. Then, a mechanism for transferring the toner image to the sheet and fixing the sheet through the fixing device while the sheet is being conveyed along the sheet conveying path is provided. For example, in the example shown in Patent Document 1, a paper feeding member is arranged at a lower portion of a main body of a laser beam printer, a discharge tray is provided at an upper portion of the apparatus, and a paper transport path is formed in a vertical direction. On the other hand, a toner image forming member, a fixing device and the like are arranged. Further, in order to allow the apparatus to cope with double-sided / multiple copy creation, a sheet reversing unit is provided for connecting between a sheet discharging path of the main body and a lower portion of the sheet feeding path. It is arranged separately on the side of the main body.

In the image forming apparatus of the related art, the paper created as a copy is directly discharged to the discharge tray, and can be discharged with the image surface facing down. Further, the paper can be inverted by using the system for discharging to the discharge tray, and the paper can be discharged to the discharge tray provided on the opposite side with the copy surface facing upward. Further, it is also possible to feed a sheet to a sheet reversing unit via a reversing discharge system, transfer another image to the back side of the sheet, make a double-sided copy, and discharge the sheet to a discharge tray. . Therefore, by configuring the image forming apparatus as described above, it is possible to expand the functions of a small-sized laser beam printer and to respond to various demands of users (for example, see Patent Reference 1).
JP-A-6-250464 JP-A-3-39758

  In the above-described image forming apparatus, since the entire apparatus is configured to be very compact, when a jam occurs in the paper transport path, there remains a problem that the paper processing work is troublesome. I have. For example, if a paper reversing unit is equipped, if a paper jam occurs in the paper transport path of the main unit, the paper reversing unit is removed from the apparatus main body, and then the operation of opening the paper transport path of the main body is performed. Step to perform the jam processing. Therefore, since the guide members, roller members, and the like disposed in the paper transport path of the apparatus main body are arranged in a very close state, it is troublesome to remove jammed paper from between these members. There is a problem that an extra burden is imposed on the operator.

  In addition, in addition to the above-described conventional example (Patent Document 1), in the example shown in Patent Document 2, two paper feed trays are arranged at the upper part of the apparatus main body, and the paper is moved from top to bottom. A paper transport path for transport is configured, and a photosensitive drum and a fixing device are provided respectively. In the image forming apparatus, a paper guide member formed separately is arranged on a side portion of the apparatus main body, and a reversing tray member arranged in parallel with the paper feed tray is used to cope with an operation of making a double-sided copy. Is composed. However, as described above, even when the paper reversing mechanism is configured to be detachable, in the case of jam clearance in the paper transport path of the main body, the paper guide member is removed from the main body before the paper transport path of the main body. Must be performed, and the burden on the operator is not reduced. As described above, in the conventional small-sized image forming apparatus, when opening and closing the sheet conveyance path of the apparatus main body, extra work such as attaching and detaching a separately installed paper reversing unit and the like to and from the measure main body is performed. And still have the problem of jam handling being cumbersome.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the problem of jam clearance in the paper transport path of the conventional small image forming apparatus main body or a separately-configured unit as described above. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a mechanism that can easily perform the above.

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which a sheet conveying path is arranged between a sheet feeding unit located at a lower part of an apparatus main body and a discharging unit located at an upper part of the apparatus main body.
In the present invention, the cover of the image forming apparatus constitutes a part of the sheet conveying path, and is rotatably supported on a side portion of the image forming apparatus so as to take an open position and a closed position. A side cover member to be
A duplex unit rotatably supported by the image forming apparatus between an open position in an open state and a sliding position in a sliding state with the side cover member, further outside the side cover member. And
The duplex unit includes fixing means for fixing the duplex unit to the image forming apparatus, and urging the duplex unit outward with respect to the image forming apparatus, and moving the cover member toward the image forming apparatus. Biasing means for biasing,
Further, when the urging unit is configured to rotate the cover member at the open position to the closed position to urge the cover member toward the image forming apparatus, the rotation supporting portion of the cover member It has an inclined portion for contacting the opposite end portion,
When rotating the double-sided unit toward the image forming apparatus from the open position to the sliding position to urge the cover member toward the image forming apparatus, the cover member includes the distal end portion of the cover member. Is brought into contact with the inclined portion of the urging means, and the cover member is rotated toward the image forming apparatus while sliding the tip end of the cover member against the inclined portion of the urging means.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, an opening / closing guide plate member for the sheet transport path is formed integrally with a cover member disposed on the side of the apparatus main body, and the sheet cover is opened and closed by the operation of opening and closing the side cover. The transport path can be opened. Further, in the case where a reverse transport unit is arranged outside the opening / closing cover member of the apparatus main body to correspond to the creation of double-sided copy, the reverse transport unit is provided to be swingable via a spindle provided in the apparatus main body. The paper transport path of the main body can be opened and closed while the reversing transport unit is swung. In addition to the above configuration, in the reverse transport unit of the present invention, one guide member is fixedly arranged on the paper transport path provided in the unit main body, and the other guide member is provided to be openable and closable. After the reversing conveyance unit is swung with respect to the main body, the sheet conveyance path can be easily opened and closed. A mechanism for automatically positioning a roller member, a guide plate member, and the like is disposed with respect to the sheet transport path provided in the reverse transport unit, and each component member disposed in the sheet transport path after the jam processing is performed. Can be respectively positioned.

  In a sheet conveying device of an image forming apparatus described below, an opening / closing guide plate member for a sheet conveying path is integrally formed with a cover member arranged on a side portion of the apparatus main body, and a sheet is opened and closed by an operation of opening and closing the side cover member. The transport path is configured to be openable. Further, when a sheet reversing unit is arranged outside the opening / closing cover member of the apparatus main body to support double-sided copying, the sheet reversing unit is provided swingably via a support shaft provided in the apparatus main body. Further, it is possible to open and close the paper transport path of the main body while the paper reversing unit is swung. And, in conjunction with the opening and closing operation of the opening / closing cover member with respect to the apparatus main body, the sheet transport path can be configured to be openable, and the sheet transport path of the separately configured sheet reversing unit can be easily opened and closed. The device is configured to be capable of accurately positioning the components of the paper transport path by the operation of positioning the unit at a proper position.

  The paper transport device of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the illustrated example. The example shown in FIG. 1 shows an image forming apparatus configured as a laser beam printer. In a main body 2 of the image forming apparatus 1, a paper feed tray 3 is arranged at a lower part, and a discharge tray 25 is arranged at an upper part. Further, inside the apparatus main body, a paper feeding device 4 is arranged corresponding to the paper feeding tray 3, and the paper feeding device 4 is configured by combining a pickup roller 4a and a paper separating device 5, and the paper separating device is provided. 5 is constituted by a sheet feeding roller 5a and a separating roller 5b, and constitutes means for feeding sheets one by one. Further, a paper conveyance path 6 configured substantially vertically is disposed downstream of the paper feeding device, and a registration roller device 7 is disposed upstream of the photoconductor drum 10 so that the paper feeding path 6 can be connected to the paper feeding device 4. A mechanism for forming a loop on the sheet to perform the sheet alignment action is configured.

  The paper transport path 6 has guide plates 16 and 17 disposed on both sides thereof with a predetermined interval therebetween, and a registration roller device 7 and a photosensitive drum 10 are disposed on the paper transport path regulated by the guide plates. And a transfer roller 15. Then, the sheet aligned by the registration roller device is transported toward the image transfer section from the photosensitive drum, and the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum is transferred to the sheet by applying a voltage from the transfer roller 15. To the fixing device 20. Further, a developing device 11 and a cleaning device 12 are arranged corresponding to the photosensitive drum 10, and further, a charging device (not shown) and an image writing device 13 are provided. Then, a laser beam is output from the image writing device 13 based on the image information output from the image processing device 14, and the image is written on the photosensitive drum that has been uniformly charged by the charging device. Then, an electrostatic latent image is formed, and a toner is supplied from a developing device so as to be visualized as a toner image, and the image is transferred to a sheet using the transfer roller 15.

  The fixing device 20 disposed above the image transfer unit is configured as a heat roller type device similarly to a fixing device used in a general small-sized image forming apparatus, and includes a heat roller and a pressure roller. The toner image is fixed on the sheet through a sheet carrying the toner image during the printing, and is discharged as a copy. A gate 21 is arranged on the fixing device so that the sheet can be fed to two systems to be discharged via a discharge roller device 22 corresponding to a discharge tray 25 and a discharge roller device 23. The discharge roller device 22 corresponding to the discharge tray 25 is configured as a forward / reverse drive roller, and has a reversing path 24 connecting the discharge roller devices 22 and 23 on both sides.

  When the sheet is turned over, the sheet discharged from the fixing device 20 is guided to the discharge roller device 22 through the gate 21, and the rear end of the sheet is nipped by the discharge roller device. By switching the drive of the roller device in the opposite direction, the sheet can be conveyed to the discharge roller device 23 via the reversing path 24 and discharged to a discharge tray (not shown) via the discharge roller device 23. . Therefore, in either case of discharging directly to the discharge tray 25 disposed on the upper part of the apparatus main body 2 and discharging the discharge roller device 23 to the discharge tray (not shown) via the reversing path 24, The image is deposited with the image surface facing down. Further, when the paper is discharged directly to the discharge roller device 23 through the gate 21 disposed above the fixing device, the paper can be deposited on a discharge tray or the like with the image surface of the paper facing upward. . In the image forming apparatus, as will be described later, by connecting the discharge path of the discharge roller device 23 and the upstream portion of the registration roller device via a sheet reversing unit, double-sided and multiple copies can be created. Device can be configured.

  In the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, one member such as a guide plate which forms the sheet transport path 6 is provided integrally with the side cover member 18 as shown in FIG. A lower portion of the side cover member 18 is swingably provided with respect to the apparatus main body via a support shaft 19, and one of the guide plates 17 of the paper transport path 6 and the pinch roller 9 of the registration roller device 7. The transfer roller 15 is arranged. Then, the rollers 9 and 15 opposing the two rollers 9 and 15 are disposed with springs 9a and 15a for urging toward the photosensitive drum, respectively. Make sure to combine the device with the operating state. In addition to the above configuration, a lock lever 27 is disposed on the side cover member 18 so as to protrude toward the side of the apparatus main body, and the lever member is provided with respect to a lock member (not shown) provided on the apparatus main body. Are locked, so that the guide plate 17 can be positioned with respect to the guide plate 16 arranged at the fixed position.

  (Configuration of Reverse Transport Unit) In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, the reverse transport unit 30 is arranged in the image forming apparatus main body of the present invention along the side cover member 18, and a single-sided copy sheet is formed. The apparatus is configured to be inverted and conveyed toward the image recording unit, and to be compatible with the creation of a double-sided copy. The reverse transport unit 30 is swingably provided via a support shaft 32 disposed below the main body frame 31. In order to support the support shaft 32, the auxiliary frame 28 is supported from below the apparatus main body. By protruding and disposing the support shaft 32 at a position separated from the side of the apparatus main body, as described later, there is no hindrance to the swinging operation of the reverse transport unit and the opening and closing of the side cover member. Is to be. The paper transport path 33 disposed in the reverse transport unit 30 is configured to connect the discharge roller device 23 of the apparatus main body and the upstream portion of the registration roller device 7. Roller devices 35 to 37 are arranged.

  The paper transport path disposed in the reverse transport unit is configured by arranging an outer guide plate 34 fixedly provided on the main body frame 31 and an inner guide plate 42 at a predetermined interval. At the upper part, a transport path to a discharge roller device for directly discharging through a gate 48 is formed. The main body frame 31 of the reversing conveyance unit 30 is provided with an inner frame member 40 swingably via a support shaft 41, and the inner guide plate 42 is opened and closed by the opening and closing operation of the inner frame member 40. Can be opened and closed. Further, in order to regulate the distance between the outer guide plate 34 and the inner guide plate 42, a regulating block member 38 is provided in the main body frame, and the inner frame member 40 is closed with respect to the main body frame 31 of the reverse transport unit. Thus, the gap between the two guide plates is regulated via the regulating block member 38. Further, in order to position the inner frame member 40 with respect to the reverse transport unit 30, a pressing member 43 is disposed on the inner frame member 40 via a spring 44. The inner frame member 40 is urged toward the main body frame of the reversing conveyance unit via the spring 44 while being pressed against the side of the main body of the apparatus 1 so that the interval between the two guide plates 34 and 42 can be set. ing.

  In the reversing conveyance unit 30 configured as described above, the sheet fixed through the fixing device 20 in the apparatus main body is passed through the sheet conveyance path 33 of the reversing conveyance unit 30 in the image transfer unit in correspondence with the duplex mode or the multiplex mode. Paper can be fed to For example, when making a two-sided copy, the sheet discharged from the fixing device 20 is sent to a discharge roller device 22 through a gate 21, and the rear end of the sheet is nipped by the discharge roller device 22. Then, the discharge roller device 22 is driven to rotate in the reverse direction, and guided toward the sheet transport path 33 of the reverse transport unit 30 via the reverse path 24. Then, the sheet is merged from the lower part of the sheet conveyance path 33 of the reversing conveyance unit into the sheet conveyance path 6 of the image forming apparatus 1 and is aligned via the registration roller device 7 so that the back surface of the sheet corresponds to the photosensitive drum. In this state, the image is transferred, and the image is fixed through a fixing device, and the completed two-sided copy is discharged toward the discharge tray 25. When making multiple copies, the paper discharged from the fixing device is sent to the discharge roller device 23 through the gate 21 and is passed through the paper transport path 33 of the reversing transport unit 30 to the paper transport path of the apparatus main body. 6 so that another image is transferred to the image surface.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the reversing conveyance unit 30 disposed on the side of the image forming apparatus 1 swings the main body frame 31 counterclockwise through the support shaft 32 as shown in FIG. After that, the inner frame member 40 can be swung clockwise through the support shaft 41 to open the sheet conveyance path. When the reverse transport unit 30 is swung from the image forming apparatus main body, the locking by the lock lever 39 with respect to a locking member (not shown) arranged on the main body is released, and the reverse transport unit is moved via the support shaft 32. The reverse transport unit 30 is configured to be supported by the apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus via the support shaft 32 and the lock lever 39. As shown in FIG. 4, the transport roller device disposed on the main body frame 31 of the reverse transport unit 30 has a drive roller member disposed along with the outer guide plate 34, and the inner frame member 40 has the inner guide plate 42 and pinch roller members 45 to 47 of the transport roller device are arranged.

  The pinch roller members 45 to 47 constitute means for urging toward the drive roller members by springs 45a, 46a,..., As shown in FIG. With the member 40 positioned, the nip state of the paper in each of the transport roller devices 35 to 37 can be set. The pressing member 43 disposed on the inner frame member 40 is attached to the inner frame member via a spring 44, and the pressing member 43 presses the distal end of the pressing member 43 against the main body of the image forming apparatus. The inner guide plate 42 is pressed toward the regulating block member 38 to set the distance between the guide plates. By arranging the pressing member 43 corresponding to the regulating block member 38, the positioning operation of the inner guide plate is performed. Can be performed favorably.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5, after the reversing conveyance unit 30 is swung through the support shaft 32, the side cover member 18 of the apparatus main body is opened, and a jam clearance or the like in the paper conveyance path 6 of the apparatus main body is performed. The state is shown. As shown in FIG. 5, the side cover member 18 is opened and closed with respect to the apparatus main body via the support shaft 19. To this end, a lock lever 27 disposed on the side cover member 18 is locked by the main body. Remove from the member. That is, the side cover member is also fixedly supported on the apparatus main body by using two members, the lock lever 27 and the support shaft 19. As shown in FIG. 5, when the support shaft 32 of the reversing conveyance unit 30 is disposed on the auxiliary frame 28 and the reversing conveyance unit is provided so as to be swingable, the support shaft 19 of the side cover member 18 is provided. When the side cover member 18 is opened in order to increase the distance between the cover member and the pressing member 43, the upper portion of the cover member comes into contact with the pressing member 43.

  Then, as described above, when the side cover member 18 is to be closed after the side cover member is opened and the jam is cleared, as shown in FIG. This can be done by pressing against the body. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, by swinging the reverse transport unit 30 clockwise through the support shaft 32, the side cover member is pressed in the closing direction by the reverse transport unit, and the side cover member is closed. The upper corner portion is pressed in the closing direction while sliding on the slope portion 43a of the pressing member 43. Therefore, in the reversing conveyance unit of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5, the operation of opening the inner frame member 40 with respect to the reversing conveyance unit 30 and the operation of opening the side cover member after opening the reversing conveyance unit. Is performed separately, but when closing the side cover member, only after closing the inner frame member with respect to the frame of the reverse transport unit, swing the reverse transport unit clockwise via the support shaft. With the above operation, the side cover member can be closed at the same time. In the present invention, the reverse transport unit is swung to a fixed position on the side of the image forming apparatus, and the regulating block member 38 disposed above the reverse transport unit is locked to the locking portion of the main body. The operation of positioning the guide plate constituting the paper conveyance path of the reverse conveyance unit and the operation of positioning the side cover member on the apparatus main body can be performed simultaneously.

  As described above, in the present invention, a case is shown in which the paper discharge unit 50 is arranged on the side of the image forming apparatus main body, and an apparatus for selecting and arranging the front and back of the paper with respect to the discharge tray 57 is shown. I have. In the paper discharge unit 50 shown in FIG. 7, similarly to the case of the reverse transport unit 30, the paper discharge unit 50 is attached to an auxiliary frame 28 protrudingly provided on a side portion of the apparatus main body via a shaft member. The paper discharge unit can be rocked together with the side cover member. The paper discharge unit 50 is provided with a reversing path 53 connected to the discharge roller device 23 of the apparatus main body, for switching between the reversing path 53 and a path toward the discharge roller apparatus 52 for directly discharging the paper. , A gate 51 is arranged.

  A plurality of transport roller devices 55 and 55a and a gate 56 are arranged in the reversing path 53, and the transport roller device is configured as a forward / reverse drive roller. Then, the sheet sent to the reversing path 53 is conveyed toward the lower part of the apparatus by the conveying roller devices 55 and 55a, and the rear end of the sheet in the conveying direction has passed the position of the gate 56, and The roller device is driven to rotate in the reverse direction, and the gate is swung to the position indicated by the dashed line in the figure so that the sheet is discharged onto the discharge tray 57 in a state of being inverted.

  In the paper discharge unit 50, as in the case of the reverse transport unit 30, the inner guide plate 54, the pinch roller member, and the outer guide plate 54a and the apparatus main body in which the drive roller member of the transport roller device is disposed. Can be configured to be swingable so as to cope with the operation of the paper jam processing in the reversing path. Further, in order to set the interval between the guide plates 54 and 54a constituting the reversing path, similarly to the case of the reversing conveyance unit, the pressing member 58 is disposed in a state of being biased by a spring, and the tip of the pressing member 58 The positioning of the inner guide plate 54 and the pinch roller member of the transport roller device can be performed by the operation of pressing the portion against the side portion of the apparatus main body to perform positioning. By using the paper discharge unit 50 configured as described above, it is possible to configure an apparatus that can easily perform the operation of opening and closing the paper conveyance path of the apparatus main body and the jam clearance inside the paper discharge unit. it can.

  In the reversing conveyance unit or the sheet discharge unit of the present invention configured as described above, the support shafts of those units are supported via the auxiliary frame 28. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, even when the manual feed tray 60 is provided for the auxiliary frame 28, the end of the reverse feed unit contacts the manual feed tray 60 when the reverse feed unit is swung. Such a problem does not occur. That is, by arranging the mounting position of the unit of the present invention in the vicinity of the end portion largely separated from the main body at the lower part of the unit, as shown in FIG. 8, various operating members arranged on the side parts interfere with each other. Can be prevented. The paper processing unit mounted on the side and the side cover member of the main body are swung and opened and closed, so that the paper conveyance path of the apparatus main body and the paper conveyance path of the unit are swung in the direction to close the unit. By doing so, they can be set at the same time. In the present invention as described above, it is possible to connect an arbitrary unit such as a reverse transport unit or a paper discharge unit to the paper discharge path of the apparatus main body.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a state where a side cover member of the apparatus main body is opened. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of an example in which a reverse transport unit is arranged on a side portion of the apparatus main body. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which a sheet conveyance path of a reverse conveyance unit is opened. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which a reverse transport unit and a side cover member are simultaneously opened. It is explanatory drawing of the effect | action of closing a side part cover member simultaneously by the operation | movement which closes a reverse conveyance unit. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of an example in which a sheet discharge unit is arranged on a side portion of the apparatus main body. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a unit arranged on a side portion of the device main body and other devices.

Explanation of reference numerals

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 image forming apparatus, 2 apparatus main body, 3 paper feed tray, 6 paper transport path, 7 registration roller device, 10 photosensitive drum, 15 transfer roller,
18 side cover member, 20 fixing device, 21 gate,
22/23 discharge roller device, 25 discharge tray, 28 auxiliary frame,
30 reverse transport unit, 31 body frame, 33 paper transport path,
38 regulating block member, 40 inner frame member, 43 pressing member,
50 paper discharge unit, 53 reverse path, 57 discharge tray,
58 pressing member, 60 manual feed tray.

Claims (1)

In an image forming apparatus, a sheet conveying path is disposed between a sheet feeding unit located at a lower part of the apparatus main body and a discharging unit located at an upper part of the apparatus main body.
A side cover member that constitutes a part of the paper transport path, is rotatably supported by a side of the image forming apparatus so as to take an open position and a closed position, and forms a cover of the image forming apparatus. When,
A duplex unit rotatably supported by the image forming apparatus between an open position in an open state and a sliding position in a sliding state with the side cover member, further outside the side cover member. And
The duplex unit includes fixing means for fixing the duplex unit to the image forming apparatus, and urging the duplex unit outward with respect to the image forming apparatus, and moving the cover member toward the image forming apparatus. Biasing means for biasing,
Further, when the urging unit is configured to rotate the cover member in the open position to the closed position and to urge the cover member toward the image forming apparatus, the rotation support portion of the cover member It has an inclined portion for contacting the opposite end portion,
When rotating the two-sided unit toward the image forming apparatus from the open position to the sliding position to urge the cover member toward the image forming apparatus, the cover member includes the tip end of the cover member. An image is rotated toward the image forming apparatus while the leading end of the cover member slides on the inclined portion of the urging means. Forming equipment.

Images