JPH07137379A - Vertical image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the handling of paper, discharged out of a device, by a method wherein a transfer material retaining means, provided near an opening, is on standby under the pinching condition of the transfer material when a part of the transfer material has passed through the opening and the other part of the same remains in the main body of the device. CONSTITUTION:In a vertical type picture forming device, in which a transfer material 4 is transferred while being established uprightly with respect to the material putting surface of the main body of a device and is discharged out of an opening 3, when a part of the transfer material 4 has passed through the opening and the other part of the same remains in the main body of the device, a transfer material retaining means, provided near the opening 3, is on standby under a condition that the means has pinched the transfer material 4. As a result, trouble of dropping the transfer material can be avoided whereby the handling of the operator thereof can be facilitated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet conveying section in an image forming apparatus such as a printer, and more particularly to a vertical type image forming apparatus having means for erecting and conveying a sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 16 shows a conventional vertical image forming apparatus.
The ones shown in are known.

In FIG. 16, 101 is a paper cassette, 102 is an opening / closing door for jam clearance, and is also a loading / unloading port for a cartridge. Reference numeral 103 is a sheet discharge port, and 104 is a printed sheet.

In this vertical image forming apparatus, a conveying means for conveying a sheet, a conveying guide means for forming a conveying path, etc. are provided substantially upright with respect to the apparatus mounting surface, and the width of the apparatus is increased. Since it can be narrowed, it is very effective when the device is placed on a predetermined space.

[0005]

However, in such a vertical type image forming apparatus, since the sheet conveying means stands substantially vertically, naturally the sheet discharged from the apparatus is also discharged in a standing state.

As a result, the discharged print paper does not always have the print surfaces aligned in one direction, but scatters in a scattered manner. Therefore, it is difficult to confirm the printing state, and when printing a large number of sheets, it is very troublesome to handle the printed sheets.

In particular, in the case of double-sided printing or the like, since the pages are not stacked in the page order, the operator has to make the page order very troublesome, and there are many problems.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vertical image forming apparatus in which paper discharged from the apparatus is easy to handle.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, in a vertical image forming apparatus of the present invention, a transfer material is conveyed substantially upright with respect to a mounting surface of an apparatus main body and discharged from an opening. In the vertical image forming apparatus, when a part of the transfer material passes through the opening and the other part is inside the apparatus main body, the transfer material holding means provided near the opening holds the transfer material. It is characterized by waiting in a state.

The transfer material holding means is a discharging and conveying means for discharging the transfer material from the main body of the apparatus. When a part of the transfer material passes through the opening and the other portion is inside the main body of the apparatus, the discharge material is discharged. It is preferable to hold the transfer material by stopping the conveying means.

Further, switching means for switching the transfer material conveying path to the second path for forming a screen image is provided on the upstream side of the discharging and conveying means. It is preferable that the transfer material is rotated in a direction in which the transfer material is discharged from the main body of the apparatus, and the transfer material is sent to the second path by the switching means being switched at the time of reverse rotation.

A second surface printing switch is provided on the exterior of the apparatus main body, and the discharging / conveying means rotates in the normal direction, and stops with a part of the printed transfer material remaining in the apparatus main body. By operating the surface printing switch, the discharging / conveying means is reversed, and at the same time, the switching means is switched to feed the transfer material to the second path.

On the other hand, it is preferable that the switching means can select the discharge port for the printed transfer material from a plurality of discharge ports.

[0014]

In the vertical type image forming apparatus constructed as described above, the transfer material holding means stands by while holding the transfer material, so that it is possible to avoid a situation in which the transfer material is scattered downward.

Further, since the discharge / conveyance means can be switched between normal and reverse directions, the transfer material can be reversed without providing a reverse path.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to illustrated embodiments.

1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention. First, the overall configuration will be described with reference to these drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vertical image forming apparatus according to the present invention. 1 is a paper cassette. Reference numeral 2 is an opening / closing door for clearing jam, and at the same time is a loading / unloading opening for the cartridge. Reference numeral 3 is a sheet discharge port which is an opening, and 4 is a sheet as a printed transfer material.

FIG. 2 is a top sectional view of this vertical image forming apparatus.
Shown in. Here, S is a sheet as a transfer material, which is stacked vertically in this cassette. This is repeated one by one by the sheet feeding roller 6 and passes through the transfer portion 8 of the process cartridge 7. At this time, the unfixed toner image is transferred onto the paper.

The toner image on the sheet is fixed when it passes through the fixing section 9, passes through the sheet discharging roller pair 10 and 11 for discharging and conveying means and holding the transfer material, and is discharged from the apparatus main body.

As shown in FIG. 3, the sheet feeding roller 6, the transfer section 8, the fixing section 9 and the other conveying rollers described above are constructed so that the nip of the rollers formed therein stands substantially vertically. It goes without saying that the entire sheet conveyance path is substantially vertical.

A laser scanner 12 forms an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum D in the cartridge.

A paper trailing edge detection sensor 15 is provided between the fixing section 9 and the paper discharge rollers 10 and 11, and a flapper 16 which is a switching means for switching the paper transport path is provided in this portion. Is provided. The sensor 15 is used for switching the forward / reverse rotation of the discharge rollers 10 and 11 and for stopping and for switching the paper transport path by the flapper 16.
It works according to the output of.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a double-sided transport path for transporting the paper from the paper discharge rollers 10 and 11 to the paper feed roller, and relay transport roller pairs 18 and 19 are provided on this path. The relay conveyance roller 18 has a clutch provided on its shaft 20 so that the front end of the paper is conveyed to the position shown in FIG. 2. When the front end of the paper is detected by the sensor 22, the conveyance of the paper is temporarily performed by the action of the clutch. Stop.
After that, the paper feed timing from the cassette 1 is checked and the paper is alternately conveyed from both sides.

The transport rollers are driven and controlled by a drive system (not shown) provided in the lower part of the apparatus.

Next, the order in which these parts related to the present invention operate will be described. First, in the case of single-sided printing, the sheet enters the nip between the pair of discharge rollers 10 and 11 through the process described above. Subsequently, when the sensor 15 detects the trailing edge of the sheet, the timer operates to stop the drive motor before the trailing edge of the sheet completely passes through the pair of discharging rollers 10 and 11, whereby the pair of discharging rollers 10 and 11 is stopped. The rotation is stopped, and the rear end of the sheet is held while being gripped by the pair of discharge rollers 10 and 11. This state is shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
As shown in. It goes without saying that this printed sheet can be pulled out by pulling the oplator.

The case of double-sided printing will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 shows a state in which the sensor 15 has detected the trailing edge of the sheet 4 and a predetermined time has elapsed. This state,
That is, the flapper 16 is moved to the position shown in FIG. 5 while the trailing edge of the sheet is held by the pair of discharge rollers 10 and 11. afterwards,
By switching the drive gear train of the discharge roller pair (not shown), the discharge roller pair 10 and 11 are reversed. As a result, the sheet enters the transport path 17. The sheet is conveyed by the pair of relay conveying rollers 18 and 19, and when the sensor 22 detects the leading edge of the sheet, the sheet is temporarily stopped before the sheet feeding roller 6 by the action of the clutch on the shaft. After that, the sheet is conveyed to the sheet feeding roller 6 while adjusting the timing with the sheet of the first side fed from the cassette 1, and the printing of the second side is formed again through substantially the same process as the first side. The sheet on which the second side has been printed is still held by the pair of discharge rollers 10 and 11, and stands by in a state where it is pulled out. (Other Embodiment) A second embodiment is shown in FIG. This example shows an example in which the paper can be discharged and held in a direction in which the printing surface of the paper is very easy for the operator to see, that is, in a direction different from the direction of FIG. 1 by about 90 °. In the case of this device, as shown in FIG. 7, the first paper discharge roller pair 30, 3 having different paper discharge directions is used.
1 and the second paper discharge roller pair 32, 33 are provided, and the flapper 16
By switching the position of 2 in two steps using the solenoid 25 as shown in FIG. 8, the paper discharge direction can be switched. Further, both the first paper discharge rollers 30 and 31 and the second paper discharge rollers 32 and 33 can hold the trailing edge of the paper and stand by.

Although the above-described second embodiment is a single-sided printer, FIGS. 9 to 11 show a case of a double-sided printer as a third embodiment. In this example, by using the three-position type 34 of the rotary solenoid as shown in FIG. 9, from the position of the flapper 16 for discharging the paper toward the second paper discharge rollers 32, 33 shown in FIG. By switching the position of the flapper 16 to the position and at the same time reversing the rotation direction of the second paper discharge roller pair 32, 33, the paper can be conveyed to the double-sided conveyance path 17, and a double-sided printer can be easily configured. is there.

Further, the first paper discharge roller pair 30, 31 and the second paper discharge roller pair
A fourth embodiment in which the pair of discharge rollers 32 and 33 has a shared roller 35 is shown in FIGS. In the case of this configuration, the common roller 35 can be rotated forward and backward and can be stopped, so that the same operation as that of the third embodiment described above can be performed. That is, the number of rollers can be reduced as compared with the previous example, so that the device can be simplified.

The following configuration is also possible as the fifth embodiment. In the double-sided printer, as shown in FIG. 1, a print start switch 29 having a second operation surface on the front side is provided. By preventing the printing of the second side from starting unless this switch is pressed, for example, the operator confirms the printing state of the first side in the sheet hold state, and if there is no problem, press this switch, as described above. The printing operation for the second side is started. If a print defect or an error in the print content is found, this paper can be pulled out and discarded without pressing the switch 29.

FIG. 14 shows the sixth embodiment. This example corresponds to the case of simply executing a job of printing a large number of sheets in the printer according to the present invention, and corresponds by mounting the paper discharge tray 38. A discharge tray detection sensor 39 is attached to the tray 38 and the detachable portion of the printer body.
When the sensor 39 detects that the tray 38 is mounted, the function of holding the trailing edge of the sheet by the sheet discharge roller can be released. Needless to say, this is because when the paper discharge tray 38 is mounted, the sheets are correctly aligned and stacked on the tray 38.

In the above embodiment, the trailing edge of the paper is sandwiched by the paper discharge rollers, but in the seventh embodiment shown in FIGS. 15A to 15E, the paper is sandwiched by the gripper. In the case of this example, a gripper 42 and a gripper 42, which are swingable by a solenoid 40 and a solenoid 41 (not shown) behind the solenoid 40, respectively.
3 is provided, and these grippers can alternately sandwich the paper. 15 (a)-
The movement will be described with reference to FIG. 15E. In FIG. 15A, the discharged sheet approaches the gripper, and the gripper 43 indicated by diagonal lines operates to hold the leading edge of the sheet. After that, the paper forms a loop as shown in FIG. 15B, and the abdomen of the loop comes out of the printer first. Eventually, the trailing edge of the sheet is ejected from the apparatus by the action of the driving roller 45, as shown in FIG. Then, in FIG.
When the next sheet is discharged as shown in FIG.
(E) The gripper 42 operates to hold the leading edge of the sheet,
At the same time, the gripper 43 is released to prepare for holding the leading edge of the third sheet. In this way, the leading ends of the sheets discharged continuously or intermittently can be held one after another. This method is characterized in that a large number of sheets can be stacked and held as in the sixth embodiment.

Further, in such an apparatus, by providing a stapler on the gripper portion, it is possible to easily bind these overlapping sheets.

Needless to say, the bound sheets can be pulled out by the operator.

[0035]

According to the present invention having the above-mentioned structure and operation, the transfer material holding means stands by while holding the transfer material, so that it is possible to avoid a situation in which the transfer material is scattered downward, and the operator can easily handle it. .

Further, since the discharge / conveyance means can be switched between the forward and reverse directions, the transfer material can be reversed without providing a reverse path, and double-sided printing can be performed only by providing a re-feeding path.

Further, when printing on the first side is defective, waste of printing on the second side can be avoided.

On the other hand, since a plurality of discharge ports are provided and can be selected, there is an effect that the discharge can be performed in a direction that is easy for the operator to see.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vertical image forming apparatus that is a first embodiment and a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a vertical image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the vertical image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts of a vertical image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of essential parts of a vertical image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a vertical image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts of a vertical image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an external view of a flapper 16 of a vertical image forming apparatus that is a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an external view of a flapper 16 of a vertical image forming apparatus that is a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts of a vertical image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of essential parts of a vertical image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts of a vertical image forming apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts of a vertical image forming apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts of a vertical image forming apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 (a), (b), (c), (d),
(E) is a sectional view of a main part of a vertical image forming apparatus according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a conventional vertical image forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 101 Cassette 2, 102 Opening / Closing Door 3,103 Paper Discharge Port (Opening) 4,104 Paper (Printed Transfer Material) 10, 11 Paper Discharge Roller (Discharge Conveying Means, Transfer Material Holding Means) 16 Flapper (Switching Means) )

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location B65H 29/58 B 8819-3F 29/60 C 8819-3F G03G 15/00 518 (72) Inventor Kimio Kono 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Akiyoshi 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A vertical image forming apparatus in which a transfer material is conveyed in a substantially upright position with respect to an apparatus body mounting surface and is discharged from an opening, wherein a part of the transfer material passes through the opening and the other portion. The vertical image forming apparatus is characterized in that, when the transfer material is inside the apparatus main body, the transfer material holding means provided in the vicinity of the opening portion stands by while holding the transfer material. 2. The transfer material holding means is a discharging / conveying means for discharging the transfer material from the apparatus main body, and when the transfer material partially passes through the opening and the other portion is inside the apparatus main body, the discharge material is discharged. 2. The vertical image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer material is held when the transfer means is stopped. 3. A switching means for switching the transfer material transporting path to a second path for screen image formation is provided upstream of the discharging and transporting means, and the discharging and transporting means is capable of forward / reverse rotation, and transfers at the time of forward rotation. The material rotates in the direction in which it is discharged from the device body,
3. The vertical image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the transfer material is sent to the second path by the switching means being switched during reverse rotation. 4. A second-face printing switch is provided on the exterior of the apparatus main body, the discharging and conveying means is rotated in the normal direction, and the printing material is stopped while a part of the printed transfer material remains in the apparatus main body, and then the second 4. The vertical image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when the surface printing switch is operated, the discharging / conveying means reversely rotates and at the same time, the switching means switches to transfer the transfer material to the second path. 5. The vertical image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the switching means can select a discharge port for the printed transfer material from a plurality of discharge ports.