JP2002123049A - Sheet processing apparatus, mounting method of sheet processing apparatus, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet processing apparatus that can be easily and accurately mounted in a sheet discharge space in an image forming apparatus, and a mounting method of the sheet processing apparatus. SOLUTION: A scanner unit 3 for reading an image of a document is disposed above an image forming unit 1 for forming an image on a sheet, and a discharge space portion for discharging a sheet between the image forming unit 1 and the scanner unit 3. In the image forming apparatus provided with the image forming apparatus 4, a sheet processing apparatus that can be mounted in the paper discharge space section 4, wherein the sheet processing apparatus is an optional paper discharge unit connected to a sheet discharge path provided on the upper surface of the image forming section 1. 160 and a finisher main body 200 that processes a sheet sent from the optional paper ejection unit 160. The optional paper ejection unit 160 is mounted from the outside of the side of the apparatus main body. Be attached.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and a facsimile, and more particularly, to an in-machine paper discharge type for discharging a sheet to a space provided between an image forming section and an image reading section. And a sheet processing apparatus which can be mounted on the image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Many image forming apparatuses, such as copiers and facsimile machines, provided with an image reading unit (hereinafter, referred to as a scanner) for reading an original have a scanner disposed at an upper position of the apparatus. . In particular, this type is mostly used in models that form images by an electrophotographic method widely used in offices.

In recent years, so-called multifunction peripherals having both printer and copier functions and facsimile functions have been increasing for the purpose of cost reduction and reduction of apparatus installation space.

Further, the scanner and the image forming section are separately arranged, and a sheet discharge space is formed between the scanner and the image forming section so that the discharge tray does not protrude to the side of the apparatus, thereby reducing the occupied area. That is, an image forming apparatus of a so-called paper discharge type is realized.

[0005]

In such a space-saving image forming apparatus as described above, a sorter for sorting and aligning sheets, a finisher for performing a process such as staple binding, and the like are provided while maintaining the space saving. A configuration in which a so-called sheet processing apparatus can be added as an option is desired. In response to such a demand, an image forming apparatus of a type in which a sheet processing apparatus is provided in a sheet discharge space in an apparatus has already been proposed.

However, in the above prior art, no particular consideration has been given to the mounting method of the sheet processing apparatus and the workability relating to the mounting. In connecting the sheet path (sheet conveyance path) between the sheet processing apparatus and the image forming apparatus, positioning accuracy is required to prevent sheet jams. However, work such as positioning is performed from within a narrow sheet discharge space. Was very difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a sheet processing apparatus and a sheet processing apparatus which can be easily and accurately mounted in a sheet discharge space in an image forming apparatus. An object of the present invention is to provide a method of mounting the device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus provided with such a sheet processing apparatus.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided an image reading section for reading an image of a document, provided above an image forming section for forming an image on a sheet. An image forming apparatus having a space for discharging a sheet between an image forming unit and the image reading unit, a sheet processing apparatus mountable in the space, wherein the sheet processing apparatus is mounted from outside a side surface of the image forming apparatus main body, A connection path unit connected to a sheet discharge path that discharges a sheet from the image forming unit; and a sheet processing unit that is mounted from the front side of the image forming apparatus main body and performs processing on a sheet sent from the connection path unit. , Is characterized by having.

The connection path unit has a sheet path including a rotation guide rotatable outside the image forming apparatus main body and a fixed guide fixed to the image forming apparatus main body. Good to do.

Further, according to the mounting method of the sheet processing apparatus of the present invention, an image reading section for reading an image of a document is provided above an image forming section for forming an image on a sheet, and the image forming section is connected to the image reading section. A connection path unit that is connected to a sheet discharge path that discharges a sheet from the image forming unit in the space of the image forming apparatus having a space for discharging a sheet between the image reading units; A sheet processing apparatus having a sheet processing unit that performs processing on the fed sheet, wherein the connection path unit is from outside the image forming apparatus main body side surface, and the sheet processing unit is from the front side of the image forming apparatus main body. , To be mounted.

It is preferable that the sheet processing unit is mounted after the connection path unit is mounted.

Further, in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, an image reading section for reading an image of a document is provided above the image forming section for forming an image on a sheet, and the image forming section and the image reading section are provided. And a connection path unit connected to a sheet discharge path for discharging sheets from the image forming unit, and a sheet fed from the connection path unit. A sheet processing apparatus having a sheet processing unit for performing processing, wherein the connection path unit is mounted in the space from the outside of a side surface of the image forming apparatus main body, and the sheet processing unit is mounted in the space from the front side of the image forming apparatus main body. It is characterized by.

Further, the connection path unit has a sheet path composed of a rotation guide rotatable outside the image forming apparatus main body and a fixed guide fixed to the image forming apparatus main body. Good to do.

[0015]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the dimensions of the components described in this embodiment,
The materials, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to them unless otherwise specified.

First, with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention before the sheet processing apparatus is mounted will be described.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the image forming apparatus before the sheet processing apparatus is mounted, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image forming unit.

The image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 has a main body 101, a paper feed table 103 optionally mounted below the main body 101, and an automatic document feeder also optionally mounted on the upper surface of the main body 101. (Hereinafter referred to as ADF) 102.

The image forming apparatus 100 has a function of a copier and a function of a facsimile, and converts image information (optical signal) of a read original into an electric signal to form an image. It is.

The main body 101 has an image forming section 1 at a substantially central portion thereof.
Is disposed, and the sheet feeding unit 2 is located below. Further, a scanner unit 3 as an image reading unit is disposed at the top of the main body. A space is provided between the scanner unit 3 and the image forming unit 1 to form a paper discharge space unit 4. The main body 101 according to the present embodiment separates the image forming unit 1 and the scanner unit 3 by utilizing the characteristics of the digital machine, and achieves a wingless structure by forming a paper discharge space between the two units. The present invention realizes a space-saving image forming apparatus having no space.

In the main body 101, the image forming section 1 is constructed as a conventionally known electrophotographic print engine, and incorporates a laser writing device (not shown), an electrophotographic process means 150, a fixing device 151 and the like (FIG. 4). . The paper feed unit 2 has a two-stage paper feed cassette 21 and supplies sheets to the image forming unit 1. Each paper cassette 21
Is a front loading type in which the sheet is drawn out to the front side of the apparatus to supply sheets, and a handle for pulling out is provided at the center of the front surface of the cassette.

In the scanner section 3, a contact glass (not shown) is arranged on the upper surface, and a scanner unit (not shown) is arranged below the contact glass.

The paper discharge space 4 has two sides except the front,
That is, the left side and the back side of the apparatus in FIG. 3 are surrounded by a wall surface, and furthermore, the upper and lower sides are surrounded by the scanner unit 3 and the image forming unit 1.

The paper discharge tray 41 provided at the lowermost part of the paper discharge space 4 is provided on the upper surface of the image forming unit 1.
In FIG. 4, a sheet discharge path is provided in the in-machine discharge cover 45 forming the left side wall, and the sheet on which the recording is performed by the image forming unit 1 is positioned below the in-machine discharge cover 45 in the height direction. Is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 41 from the printer.

The ADF 102 is mounted on the upper part of the main body 101 by a hinge (not shown) provided on the back side of the apparatus.
It is installed so as to cover the contact glass on the upper surface of the scanner unit 3 so that it can be opened and closed and closed. Since the configuration and operation of the ADF 102 are the same as those of the conventional ADF, detailed description is omitted, but a bundle of documents (not shown) set on the document table 71 is placed on the contact glass one by one from below. The document that has been conveyed and has been read and scanned by the scanner unit 3 is discharged onto a document discharge table 72.

For copying that does not rely on automatic paper feeding, or for copying a book or notebook, the ADF 102 can be used as a pressure plate. The optional equipment ADF
When the scanner 102 is not mounted, the upper surface of the scanner unit 3
A pressure plate for holding the original on the contact glass is mounted.

The paper feed table 103 has a two-stage paper feed cassette, like the paper feed section 2 of the main body 101. Therefore, in the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, a sheet feeding unit is constituted by a total of four stages of sheet feeding cassettes.
It is also possible to change the upper cassette of the main body paper feed unit 2 to an automatic double-sided unit (double-sided tray) to enable double-sided copying.

Next, a configuration of the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The finisher as a sheet processing apparatus includes a finisher main body 200 shown in FIG. 7 and an optional paper discharge unit 160 shown in FIG.

The optional sheet discharging unit 160 is a connection path unit connected to a sheet discharging path provided on the upper surface of the image forming unit 1 of the image forming apparatus 100, and receives a sheet from the image forming unit 1 in the direction of arrow C. The sheet is discharged in the direction of arrow D, and delivered to the finisher main body 200. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the optional sheet discharging unit 160.

The finisher main body 200 aligns a plurality of sheets sent from the optional sheet discharging unit 160, performs staple operation, and discharges a bound sheet bundle to the stack tray 202. Is a sheet processing unit. The configuration of the finisher is described in detail in Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-44916.

In the present embodiment, a finisher that performs staple binding processing is described as an example of a sheet processing apparatus. However, in addition to alignment and staple binding, a punch (perforation), a stamp, and the like can be used as a finisher function. is there. Further, a sorter for performing a sheet sorting process may be used. The configuration of these sheet processing apparatuses is the same as that of a conventionally known apparatus, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 7, the finisher main body 200 mainly includes a front side plate 204, a rear side plate 203, a sheet receiving section 207, a processing tray 208, and a stack tray 202 which can expand and contract in correspondence with large-size sheets. Be composed.

The optional sheet discharging unit 160 includes a rotation guide 160a and a fixed guide 160b.
Both guides form a sheet path. Rotation guide part 1
Reference numeral 60a is rotatably fitted to the fitting portion 88 of the fixed guide portion 160b. In the case of jam clearance, the rotation guide portion 160a is rotated in the direction of arrow E in FIG. Can be opened.

This finisher is an optional equipment of the above-described in-machine discharge type image forming apparatus 100,
It can be attached to the paper discharge space 4.

FIG. 1 is a front view of an image forming apparatus equipped with the sheet processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. Also, FIG.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a sheet path when a sheet processing apparatus is mounted.

Here, the copying operation in the image forming apparatus 100 equipped with the finisher will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, taking the case where the ADF 102 is used as a pressure plate as an example.

First, an original is placed on the contact glass on the upper surface of the scanner section 3. After the ADF 102 is closed, the number of copies and the like are designated by the operation unit 60, and the start button is pressed. Then, reading of the document by the scanner unit is started, and the image information of the read document is digitized by photoelectric conversion and subjected to image processing.

The laser writing device of the image forming unit 1 is driven based on the processed signal, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum. The latent image is visualized as a toner image, and is transferred to a sheet fed from the sheet feeding unit 2 or the sheet feeding cassette 21 of the sheet feeding table 103. The toner image transferred onto the sheet is fixed by the fixing device 151 and sent to the optional sheet discharging unit 160.

The sheet on which the image has been formed is sent to the processing tray 208 of the finisher body 200 through the sheet path of the optional sheet discharging unit 160, and is subjected to predetermined processing such as alignment and staple binding. Is discharged on top.

Next, a method of attaching a finisher to an in-machine paper ejection type image forming apparatus will be described step by step.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are perspective views of the in-machine discharge type image forming apparatus before the finisher is mounted.

First, the preparation operation of the in-machine paper ejection type image forming apparatus for mounting the finisher will be described.

First, the front door 86 is opened to the front side of the apparatus main body (FIG. 10). Next, the in-machine paper ejection cover 45 and the paper ejection tray 4 fixed to the main body front side plate 82 with screws (not shown).
Remove 1. At the same time, the upper left cover 80 fixed to the main body stay 84 with the screw 167 is removed from the main body. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which all of them are removed. This state is a state where the preparation for the finisher mounting is completed.

Next, the finisher mounting operation will be described.

The finisher is a finisher body 2
00 and an optional paper discharge unit 160, each of which is divided and separately mounted on the image forming apparatus 100. Further, the optional sheet discharging unit 160 includes a rotation guide section 160a and a fixed guide section 160b.

As the mounting operation, first, the fixed guide portion 160b is mounted on the in-machine paper ejection type image forming apparatus 100 in the direction of arrow A (FIG. 12). Then, two holes 169 provided on the mounting stay 165 shown in FIG.
The two holes of the main body stay 84 are fixed with screws 167 from outside the side surface of the main body.

Next, the rotation guide 160a is mounted in the direction of arrow A (FIG. 13). At this time, the rotation guide 16
A boss 87 provided on the fixed guide portion 160a is rotatably fitted to the fitting portion 88 of the fixed guide portion 160b.

Next, the finisher main body 200 is mounted on the in-machine paper ejection type image forming apparatus 100.

As shown in FIG. 14, the paper is inserted straight into the paper discharge space 4 from the front side of the main body in the direction of arrow B as shown in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a front view of the paper ejection type image forming apparatus 100 before the finisher body 200 is inserted. The finisher main body 200 is attached to the inner rear side and the main body front side plate 82.
Three positioning holes 161 are provided. The finisher main body 200 is provided with a positioning pin 206. Two positioning pins (not shown) are provided on the rear plate 203. The positioning pin 206 is located in the positioning hole 161.
The finisher main body 200 is inserted so as to fit. Then, the screw is reduced from the front side to four places of the screw hole 83 provided in the inner side of the machine and the screw hole 83 provided in the left front support column 163.

As described above, the finisher is attached and fixed to the in-machine paper discharge space of the in-machine paper discharge type image forming apparatus.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the portion of the finisher which requires positioning accuracy is divided as the optional paper discharge unit 160, and the optional paper discharge unit 160 can be mounted from the outside of the side of the apparatus main body. With this configuration, it is not necessary to perform the work of attaching the parts requiring the positioning accuracy in the narrow discharge space 4,
Workability has improved.

Further, since the rotation guide portion 160a is provided so as to be freely opened and closed, if a sheet jam occurs in the optional sheet discharging unit 160, the rotation guide portion 160a can be simply rotated to the side of the apparatus. (FIG. 16).

The order of mounting is that the optional sheet discharging unit 160 is installed first, and then the finisher body 20 is installed.
It is desirable to attach 0. Considering that the fixing guide 160b is mounted in the reverse order, it is necessary to consider the positioning of the fixed guide portion 160b with the sheet receiving portion 207 of the finisher main body 200 in addition to the sheet path of the image forming apparatus 100. Because.

As described above, the above-mentioned problem can be solved by the structure of the present embodiment. However, the following problem can be solved by adopting the structure. did it.

In the in-machine paper ejection type image forming apparatus, it is necessary to support the scanner unit with the paper ejection space interposed therebetween. However, in order to maintain the reading accuracy of the scanner, at least three of the four corners of the scanner unit are required. It is desirable to support. In the present embodiment, the scanner unit 3 is supported by the left front support 163 and the support wall on the back side of the apparatus. The reason why the support is not provided at the right front portion of the paper discharge space portion 4 is that the convenience of taking out the sheet is taken into consideration.

Further, due to a demand for space saving, a sheet discharging path from the image forming unit is often provided in a scanner supporting unit located on a side of the sheet discharging space.

When the image forming apparatus is to be mounted with a sheet processing apparatus in which the connecting portion of the image forming section to the sheet discharge path is integrated, when the sheet processing apparatus is simply inserted from the front side of the apparatus body. However, the sheet path connecting portion on the sheet processing apparatus side interferes with the scanner supporting portion, and cannot be physically inserted.

Alternatively, it is conceivable to insert the sheet processing apparatus from the side opposite to the side where the sheet discharge path is provided, avoiding insertion from the direction in which the sheet path connection section and the scanner support section interfere with each other. However, in this case, since the sheet paths are connected to each other on the sheet discharge path side, which is on the back side in the insertion direction, the mounting operation has to be performed in a narrow discharge space,
Difficulty is required in positioning the sheet path.

Further, in an apparatus in which the scanner supporting portions are on both sides of the paper discharge space and a sheet discharging path is provided in any one of the scanner supporting portions, the sheet processing apparatus is almost mounted unless the scanner supporting portion is removed. Impossible.

In the sheet processing apparatus (finisher) of the present embodiment, the optional discharge unit 160 serving as a sheet path connecting portion is divided into the finisher main body 200, and each can be mounted from a direction in which it can be easily mounted. Thus, the positioning of the sheet path was simplified, and the workability was improved.

[0063]

As described above, according to the present invention, the sheet processing apparatus is divided into a connection path unit and a sheet processing unit, and the connection path unit is mounted from outside the side of the image forming apparatus main body. Since the image forming apparatus is configured to be mounted from the front side, it is not necessary to perform the mounting operation of the part requiring the positioning accuracy in a narrow space, and the workability is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an image forming apparatus equipped with a sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a sheet path when the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is mounted.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the image forming apparatus before the sheet processing apparatus is mounted.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of an image forming unit of the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a side view of an optional sheet discharging unit of the sheet processing apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an optional discharge unit of the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a finisher main body of the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus before the sheet processing apparatus is mounted.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus before the sheet processing apparatus is mounted.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a state where a front door is opened in preparation for mounting the sheet processing apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a tray and a cover are removed in preparation for mounting the sheet processing apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a front view showing a mounting direction of a fixed guide unit.

FIG. 13 is a front view showing a mounting direction of a rotation guide unit.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view illustrating a mounting direction of a finisher main body.

FIG. 15 is a front view showing a mounting hole of the finisher main body.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a state where a rotation guide unit is opened.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming part 2 Paper supply part 3 Scanner part 4 Paper discharge space part 21 Paper supply cassette 41 Paper discharge tray 60 Operation part 71 Document table 87 Boss 88 Fitting part 100 Image forming apparatus 101 Main body 102 ADF 103 Paper feed table 160 Option Paper discharge unit 160a Rotation guide unit 160b Fixed guide unit 200 Finisher body

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 1/00 H04N 1/00 D 5C062 108 108Q F-term (Reference) 2H071 AA35 BA03 BA13 BA14 DA24 EA04 3F049 AA10 DA12 DB05 DB06 LA02 LA05 LB03 3F054 AA01 AC02 AC03 BA04 BC01 BC14 BJ02 DA01 DA12 3F101 FB12 FE15 FE17 LA02 LA05 LB03 3F108 GA02 GA03 GB01 HA02 HA32 5C062 AA05 AB35 AD05 AD06

Claims (6)

[Claims] An image forming section for forming an image on a sheet,
An image forming apparatus having an image reading unit that reads an image of a document, and a space for discharging a sheet provided between the image forming unit and the image reading unit. A connection path unit mounted from the outside of a side surface of the image forming apparatus main body and connected to a sheet discharge path for discharging sheets from the image forming unit; and a connection path unit mounted from the front side of the image forming apparatus main body and A sheet processing unit, comprising: a sheet processing unit that performs processing on a sent sheet. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the connection path unit has a sheet path including a rotation guide rotatable outside the image forming apparatus main body and a fixed guide fixed to the image forming apparatus main body. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. An image forming section for forming an image on a sheet,
Discharging a sheet from the image forming unit into the space of an image forming apparatus in which an image reading unit that reads an image of a document is provided and a space for discharging a sheet is provided between the image forming unit and the image reading unit. A sheet processing unit having a connection path unit connected to a sheet discharge path to be processed and a sheet processing unit for processing a sheet sent from the connection path unit. The connection path unit is a main body of the image forming apparatus. A mounting method of the sheet processing apparatus, wherein the sheet processing unit is mounted from a front side of the image forming apparatus main body from outside a side surface. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the sheet processing unit is mounted after mounting the connection path unit. 5. An image forming section for forming an image on a sheet,
In an image forming apparatus provided with an image reading unit for reading an image of a document and a space for discharging a sheet between the image forming unit and the image reading unit, a sheet discharging path for discharging a sheet from the image forming unit A sheet processing apparatus having a connection path unit connected to the image forming apparatus and a sheet processing unit configured to process a sheet sent from the connection path unit. An image forming apparatus, wherein the sheet processing unit is mounted in the space from a front side of the image forming apparatus main body. 6. A sheet path comprising: a rotation guide rotatable to the outside of the image forming apparatus main body; and a fixed guide fixed to the image forming apparatus main body. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein: