JPH04191248A - Image former - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To take out a sheet of final ending paper for copying as well as to improve the extent of facility for a tray by making it separable to a first paper storage part, storing the copying final ending paper, and a second paper storage part storing a sheet of refeeding paper, respectively. CONSTITUTION:A tray 23 is constituted so as to be separable to a first paper storage part 44, storing a sheet of paper P whose copying is finally ended, and a second paper storage part 45 storing the paper P being refed, respectively. In brief, the first storage part 44 is tilted so as to make the upstream side be little lowered, while it consists of a first tilting tray part 46 having a long and wide area, and a second tilting tray part 47 ranging with the former and being tilted so as to make the downstream side become lowered, while having a short and narrow area. Next, the second storage part 45 is separated from the second tray part 47 at the downstream side, and it is set up so as to be situated in the lower part of a paper jogging side plate 43 of a width arranging mechanism 26. In this connection, there are provided two guided members 52, 53 which are engaged with both tray guide members 48, 49, through which the storage part 44 is insertable or drawable into or from the front side of an image former body 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of forming a so-called composite image, such as superimposing original images on one side of a sheet of paper and forming images on both sides of a sheet of paper.

[Prior Art] As a conventional example of the above-mentioned image forming apparatus, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-2
There is one shown in Japanese Patent No. 36155. This image forming apparatus has a paper feed center that is inserted into and removed from the front side of the main body of the image forming apparatus, and a paper feed center that is used to temporarily store paper between copying operations when copying paper multiple times. A tray is provided that serves as an intermediate tray and a paper discharge tray for storing sheets that have finally been copied.

According to the image forming apparatus configured in this way,
It can perform overlapping formation of original images on one side of paper and image formation on both sides of paper, and also stores a paper feed cassette for supplying paper used for image formation and paper on which a predetermined image has been formed. Since there is no protruding object from the main body of the image forming apparatus, there is an advantage that the area around the image forming apparatus is neat and the space required for its installation is small.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-mentioned conventional image forming apparatus, since the tray is integrally configured, the paper that is temporarily stored during the copying process and the paper that is ultimately Paper that is finished and stored will be placed on the same part of the tray, and for example, when pulling out the tray from the front side of the image forming apparatus main body, in order to prevent it from interfering with the pulling out, It is necessary to lift the paper refeeding roller as a paper refeeding means, which makes control complicated,
In addition, the downstream end of the tray had to have a special shape.

The present invention has been made with the above-mentioned considerations in mind, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that avoids the above-mentioned disadvantages by a simple device, has a tray that is easy to handle, and is easy to use. It is in.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes an intermediate tray for temporarily storing paper in the middle of copying operations when copying paper multiple times, and a final copy In an image forming apparatus that is provided with a tray that also serves as a paper ejection tray for storing sheets that have been copied, the tray is connected to a first paper storage section that stores sheets that have finally been copied, and a paper re-feeding section. It is configured such that it can be separated into a second paper storage section that stores the paper that is to be stored.

In this case, the first paper storage section may be configured to be inserted and removed from the front side of the main body of the image forming apparatus.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, the first paper storage unit that stores the paper that has finally been copied can be separated from the second paper storage unit that stores the paper that is to be re-fed. The storage section can be easily inserted and removed from the front side of the image forming apparatus main body without causing any hindrance to other members, such as the paper refeed roller.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show an electrostatographic copying machine as an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, and in these figures,
2 is a main body of the copying machine, and a document mounting table 2 and a document presser 3 are provided on the upper surface thereof. Inside the copying machine main body I, a drum-shaped photoreceptor 4 that rotates in the direction shown by arrow R in FIG. 2 is horizontally suspended. Developing device 6.7, transfer device 8
, a paper separation device 9, a cleaning device IO, etc. are provided in this order at predetermined positions along the rotational direction R of the photoreceptor 4, and an exposure device 11 with a movable optical system is arranged in the upper space. There is. Note that 12 is a blank lamp.

Also, inside the copying machine main body 1, paper P is stored in a cassette 13 that is provided so that it can be inserted and removed from the front side.
A paper feed conveyance device 14 that conveys the sheet P toward the transfer device 8, and a paper discharge conveyance device 16 that conveys the sheet P after transfer and separation toward the fixing device 5 are provided.

Further, on the downstream side of the fixing device 15, there is a stock path 18 that guides the paper P after fixing toward a paper discharge device 17 (the configuration of which will be described later), and a stock path 18 that guides the paper P after fixing toward a paper discharge device 17 (the configuration of which will be described later), and a stock path 18 that guides the paper P after fixing in the direction of a paper discharge device 17 (the configuration of which will be described later), and a stock path 18 that guides the paper P after fixing in the direction of a paper discharge device 17 (the configuration of which will be described later). A switch pack path 19 is provided leading to the device I7. Reference numeral 20 indicates a first route switching member provided at a branching portion of both of these paths 18 and 19, and 21 and 22 indicate a second route switching member and a pair of conveyance rollers provided at the switch pack path 119, respectively.

Further, 23 is a tray (the configuration of which will be described later) that is provided below the paper discharge device I7 and receives the paper P discharged from the paper discharge device 17 and accommodates it in a predetermined state.

24 is provided on the downstream side of this tray 23, and
Among the sheets P stocked above, the sheets P to be used for forming a composite image such as overlapping the original image on one side or forming images on both sides of the sheet are merged and fed into the sheet feeding bag f14 at a predetermined timing. 25 is a paper refeeding roller serving as a paper refeeding means.

Furthermore, 26 is a width alignment mechanism for aligning the widths of the sheets P stocked on the tray 23.

Next, referring to FIG. 1, the structure of the paper ejection bag f17 and the tray 23 will be explained. First, the paper ejection device (7) consists of a pair of upper and lower frames (supination) at an appropriate interval. Three paper ejection roller pairs 27.28 consisting of paper ejection rollers
．． 29, and each paper ejection roller pair 27.28.2
Paper guide members 30 and 31 are provided between the paper guide members 30 and 31 between the paper guide members 30 and 31, and paper discharge sections 32 and 33 are provided immediately downstream of the upstream paper discharge roller pair 27 and the intermediate paper discharge roller pair 28, respectively. Paper ejection guides 34 and 35 are pivotally mounted immediately downstream of these paper ejection sections 32 and 33, and a guide member 37 that guides the paper 14 downward is attached to the paper ejection section 36 formed by the pair of paper ejection rollers 29 on the downstream side. This is provided.

The paper ejection guides 34 and 35 have a paper ejection posture in which the paper 14 is ejected onto the tray 23 across the paper ejection path, and a paper ejection posture in which the paper 14 is retracted from the paper ejection path to allow the paper 14 to pass downstream. By setting the sheet discharge guide 34 immediately downstream of the roller pair 27 on the upstream side to the sheet discharge posture, the long size paper P1 is guided toward the tray 23, and By setting only the paper ejection guide 35 on the immediate downstream side of the middle paper ejection roller pair 28 to the paper ejection position, the medium-sized paper P2 is fed indoors toward the tray 23, and furthermore, the two paper ejection rollers 28 are By switching the guide F34, 35 to the paper-passing-allowing posture, the small-sized paper P is guided from the paper ejection section 31 toward the tray 23 by the paper ejection roller pair 29 on the downstream side. The sheets P, , P2 ., guided onto the tray 23 via the sheet discharge section 32, 33, 36. Regardless of its size, the paper sheets P3 are width-aligned by the width alignment mechanism 26, and are housed with their leading ends in contact with a paper stopper (not shown).

Further, a branching guide 38 is provided upstream of the paper discharge section 32 for branching the long size paper P toward the tray 23. That is, on the downstream side and in the vicinity of the confluence of the stock path 18 and the switch pack path 19, a paper ejection roller pair 39 consisting of upper and lower paper ejection rollers is provided on the pair of upper and lower frames, and this paper ejection roller pair 39 A paper guide member 40 is provided between the paper discharge roller pair 27 and
．． 41, and furthermore, a paper ejection section 42 is provided immediately downstream of the paper ejection roller pair 39, and a branch guide 38 is provided downstream of this paper ejection section 42. The installation position of this branch guide 3H is such that when the electrophotographic copying machine guides the maximum size paper on which an image is to be formed toward the tray 23 and stores it therein, the leading edge of the paper is re-fed. It is set so that it does not reach the tip of the paper roller 25, and more preferably so that it does not reach the downstream end of the paper alignment side plate 43 of the width alignment mechanism 26.

Further, the tray 23 is configured to be separable into a first paper storage section 44 that stores the paper P that has finally been copied, and a second paper storage section 45 that stores the paper P that is to be re-fed. has been done. That is, the first paper storage section 44 includes a first inclined tray section 46 which is inclined so that the upstream side (the left side in FIG. 1) is slightly lower, and which has a long and wide area; The second paper storage section 45 includes a second inclined tray section 47 which is connected to the tray section 46 and is inclined so that the downstream side is lower and has a short and narrow area. Separated from this on the side, width alignment I!flI26
Inside the image forming apparatus main body 1, tray guides 48 and 49 are disposed horizontally in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper in FIG. , the outside of the side plate 5o on the upstream side of the first inclined tray portion 46 of the first paper storage section 44 and the back surface of the downwardly bent portion 51 of the second inclined tray portion 47 are engaged with tray guide members 48.49. Guided members 52 and 53 are provided to connect the first paper storage section 44 to the main body of the image forming apparatus.
It is designed so that it can be inserted and removed from the front side.

Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus having the above configuration will be explained.

By the way, normally, although the original image is most often formed only once on one side of the paper P, the branch guide 38 is maintained in the state shown by the solid line in FIG. And the first
It is assumed that the route switching member 2o and the branch guide 3 have been switched to the positions shown by solid lines in FIG.

First, place a document on the document table 2 and cover it with the document holder 3, and then press the copy key on the operation/display section 54 provided on the top of the image forming apparatus main body (2).
The exposure device 11 exposes and scans the document, and the paper P is fed from the paper feed cassette 13 toward the transfer device 8 at a predetermined timing. Then, an electrostatic layer image is formed on the photoreceptor 4 based on the exposure scanning, this becomes a toner image by the developing device 6, and this toner image is transferred onto the paper P by the transfer device 8. Then, this paper P is sent to the fixing device 15 by the paper discharge conveyance device 16, and predetermined fixing is performed.

Then, the paper P after the fixing process is guided to the stock path 18 by the first path switching member 20, and is guided to the sheet discharge device 1.
7, and here, the branch guide 38 causes the paper discharge section 42 to
In that case, the tray 2
The paper sheets are stored on the first paper storage section 44 on the upstream side of the paper sheet 3 with the image forming surface facing down (face down). In this case, the branching guide 38 is located upstream of the paper discharging unit 32 that branches the largest size paper used for image formation toward the tray 23, and furthermore, the branching guide 38 is arranged so that the leading edge of the paper is connected to the paper refeed roller 23.
Since it is provided in a position where it does not reach the paper ejection section 42,
The leading edge of the paper P4 that reaches the tray 23 via the .

Then, when a predetermined number of copies have been made, the paper P after copying and fixing is stocked on the tray 23. After the copying is completed, as shown in FIG. A predetermined copy can be taken out by pulling it out to the front side of the image forming apparatus main body 1.

At the time of copying, if the first path switching member 20 and the second path switching member 21 are switched to the state shown by the imaginary lines in FIG.
Since the paper reaches the paper discharge device 17 via the switch bank path 19, it is stored with the image forming side facing up (face amplifier).

Note that the selection of whether to output the copied paper face-down or face-up is made using the operation/display section 5.
All you have to do is operate the 4 selection keys.

Next, when superimposing the original image on one side of the paper, for example, performing two-color printing, in the operation/display section 54,
Operate a selection key to set such a copy mode.

In this copy mode, the paper P that has been subjected to a predetermined fixing process during initial image formation needs to be accommodated face down on the tray 23, so the first path switching member 20 The branch guide 38 is held in the state shown by the solid line in FIG. 1, and the branch guide 38 is held in the state shown by the imaginary line in FIG. Then, depending on whether the size of the paper P is large, medium, or small, the paper ejection guide 3
4.35 is switched as appropriate, but if it is assumed that a document image is to be superimposed on one side of a large-sized paper P and copied, the paper discharge guide 34 is held in the state shown by the imaginary line in FIG.

In this state, when the copy key is operated, the original is exposed to light in the same manner as described above, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoreceptor 4, but this electrostatic latent image is first developed by the developing device 6. Ru. Then, the paper P that has been subjected to the predetermined transfer and fixing processing is guided to the stock path 18 by the first path switching member 20 and reaches the paper discharge device I7, where it passes through the branch guide 38 and is guided to the paper discharge device I7. 34, the paper ejection section 32
In that case, the tray 2
The paper P stocked on the tray 23 is stored face down across the downstream portion of the second paper storage section 45 and the first paper storage section 44 of 3, and is stored in the width alignment mechanism 26. The width is aligned by .

When the first copy of a predetermined number of sheets is completed, the paper refeed key on the operation/display section 54 is operated, and the first path switching member 20 and branch guide 38 are switched to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. At the same time, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoreceptor 4 in the same manner as described above, but this static tWI image is then developed by another developing device 7. Then, the paper P that has been subjected to the predetermined transfer and fixing processing is guided to the stock path 18 by the first path switching member 20 and reaches the sheet discharge device 17, where it is transferred to the branch guide 3.
8, the paper is introduced into the tray 23 via the paper discharge section 42, and in that case, the paper is stored face down on the first paper storage section 44 of the tray 23.

In addition, when forming images on both sides of paper, the paper P after copying and fixing on one side is stored face-up on the tray 23, or when the image is superimposed on one side. Since it is the same as that, detailed explanation will be omitted.

Note that although the image forming apparatus having the above configuration is capable of copying in forms other than those described above, a description thereof will be omitted here.

In the above embodiment, the first paper storage section 44
Although it is configured so that it can be inserted and removed from the front side of the image forming apparatus main body 1, the second paper storage section 45 may also be configured to be inserted and removed in the same way.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, in the present invention, the tray housed in the main body of the image forming apparatus is divided into a first paper storage section for storing paper that has finally been copied, and a first paper storage section that stores paper that has been finally copied. Since the configuration is such that it can be separated into a second paper storage section that stores the paper that has been copied, by pulling out the first paper storage section from the front side of the image forming apparatus main body, for example, you can retrieve the paper that has finally been copied. The tray is easy to handle, as it can be easily removed without having to take it out, which greatly improves usability.

Further, according to the present invention, there is no need to displace or specially control parts with many moving parts such as the paper refeeding means.
Since the structure is simple, reliability is improved and costs can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the configuration of essential parts of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the second is a schematic longitudinal sectional side view of an electrostatographic copying machine as an example of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a photocopying machine. 1... Image forming apparatus main body, 13... Paper feed cassette,
23... Tray, 44... First paper storage section, 45...
...Second paper storage section, P, P,, P,, P,, P,...
・Paper. Applicant: Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. Agent: Hideo Fujimoto, patent attorney

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Inside the image forming apparatus, there is an intermediate tray for temporarily storing paper during the copying process when copying multiple times on paper, and an intermediate tray for storing the paper after copying has finally been completed. In an image forming apparatus that is provided with a tray that also serves as a paper output tray, the tray is used as a first paper storage unit that stores paper that has finally been copied, and a second paper storage unit that stores paper that is to be re-fed. An image forming apparatus characterized in that it is configured to be separated into a storage section and a storage section. (2) The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first paper storage section is configured to be inserted and removed from the front side of the image forming apparatus main body.