JP2005225645A - Multi-tray, paper feed tray, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To operate with a prescription that is likely to be folded, rolled up or bent, and that the prescription may be damaged.
A multi-tray 4 includes a manual paper feed tray unit 104 for placing paper to be manually fed, side fences 105 and 105 for guiding the side of the paper placed on the manual paper feed tray unit 4, A release lever 106 for releasing the paper feed pressure by the bottom plate 41 of the tray portion 102 and an extension tray portion 107 that can be put in and out of the manual feed tray portion 104 are provided. The manual feed tray is provided by the release lever 106 and the side fence 105. The paper discharge tray means is configured to receive the paper discharged from above at a distance from the paper placement surface 104a of the section 104.
[Selection] Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a multi-tray, a paper feed tray, and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a multi-tray, a paper feed tray, and an image forming apparatus that can perform paper feeding and discharging by a front operation.

  2. Related Art As an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile machine, a copying machine, or a multifunction machine of these, for example, an ink jet recording apparatus using a droplet discharge head as a recording head is known. An ink jet recording apparatus means a sheet (not limited to paper as a material, but also an OHP, which can be attached with ink droplets, other recording liquids, etc.) from an ink recording head. In other words, recording is performed by ejecting ink onto recording paper, transfer paper, etc.), and high-definition color images can be recorded at high speed.

  An image forming apparatus such as an ink jet recording apparatus is provided with a paper feed tray attached to the apparatus main body and a paper feed cassette that is detachably attached to the apparatus main body in order to feed paper to the apparatus main body. In this specification, the tray is detachably attached to or attached to the apparatus main body, and does not require removal from the apparatus main body in order to replenish the paper. It is used to mean a thing that needs to be pulled out or removed from the apparatus main body in order to replenish.

As an apparatus for feeding paper to such an image forming apparatus, a manual feed tray function for manually feeding a recording material to be fed, as described in Patent Document 1, has been conventionally known , A manual feed / discharge tray having a discharge tray function for receiving and holding a recording material to be discharged from the upper side, which is to be discharged from above, at the side edge of the recording material during manual feeding Is provided with a side end guide member formed with a guide surface that defines a feeding position in the main scanning direction, and the guide surface expands upward in the upper part so as to follow the vertical surface in the lower part. A manual feed / discharge tray in which a side end guide member is formed is known.
JP 2002-68535 A

Further, as described in Patent Document 2, a paper feed roller that conveys the paper stacked on the paper stacking plate, a pressure spring that presses the paper stacking plate against the paper feed roller, and the paper are separated one by one. This is a friction separation type paper feeding device having a friction plate, a manual paper insertion guide coming out of the vicinity of the paper feed roller to convey the manual paper with the paper feed roller, and a paper feed cover surrounding the paper feed section. When the paper feed cover is opened, the cover mounting means forms an extended plane on the insertion side of the manual paper insertion guide when the paper feed cover is opened, and the paper feed roller of the paper stacking plate in conjunction with opening and closing of the paper feed cover There is known one having means for releasing the pressing force.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-116784

In addition, as a manual feed tray device in an image forming apparatus, as described in Patent Document 3, there is one provided with a stacking amount regulating unit that is inclined in a paper feeding direction.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-240887

  Recently, in the industry related to pharmaceutical affairs, for example, a necessary item is printed on a prescription issued by a doctor brought by a patient by using a printer such as an ink jet recording apparatus as described above. It has become.

  However, such a prescription may be folded, rolled, or bent when a patient brings it to a pharmacy or the like. It is difficult to set and feed such a sheet whose flatness is not guaranteed in a sheet feeding cassette.

  For this reason, in general, a prescription is set one by one in the paper feed tray and fed manually. However, the conventional image forming apparatus generally has a configuration in which paper is fed from a paper feed tray set on the rear side of the apparatus main body and discharged to a paper discharge tray on the front side of the apparatus main body. Therefore, when the prescription is set in the image forming apparatus, it is set in the paper feed tray on the rear side of the apparatus main body, and the operability of the paper setting operation is poor. In particular, it is troublesome to set a sheet that is bent, rolled, or bent like a prescription on the sheet feeding tray on the rear side of the apparatus main body with as much flatness as possible.

  Therefore, if a paper feed cassette having a lid serving as a manual feed / discharge tray having both a manual feed tray function and a paper discharge tray function as described in Patent Document 1 is used, a prescription is provided on the front side of the apparatus main body. Can be manually fed and discharged to the front side of the apparatus main body.

  However, in the manual feed / discharge tray described in Patent Document 1, the sheet placement surface formed by the lid member of the paper feed cassette has both the function of the manual feed tray and the function of the discharge tray. Paper that has been printed on the tray will be ejected, especially if it is curled paper or paper that has been folded once and has become weak, it will be pulled into the paper feed side and fed again. There is a problem of fear. In particular, since there is only one prescription, the prescription must be prevented from being damaged. However, the manual feed / discharge tray described in Patent Document 1 takes measures for that purpose. Absent.

  Further, in the paper feeding device described in Patent Document 2, the manual feed guide is arranged above the paper feeding cassette, but the paper discharge tray is arranged at the rear side of the device main body. However, there is a problem in that feeding and discharging cannot be performed on the front side of the apparatus main body, which is not suitable for printing prescriptions and the like.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a multi-tray, a paper feed tray, and an image forming apparatus with improved operability.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a multi-tray according to the present invention includes a manual paper feed tray unit for manually feeding paper from the front side of the apparatus main body and the manual paper feed tray unit. Above the paper tray portion, there is provided a discharge tray means for receiving the paper discharged from the apparatus main body at a distance from the manual paper feed tray portion.

  Here, the paper discharge tray means aligns the position of the release lever for releasing the paper pressure supply means on the apparatus main body side and the direction orthogonal to the paper feed direction of the manual paper, and discharges the discharged paper. It is preferable to provide a side fence that supports both sides orthogonal to the direction from below.

  Further, it is preferable that the multi-tray can be detachably attached to the apparatus main body. Furthermore, it is preferable that the multi-tray can be mounted on the upper side of the paper feed tray mounted on the apparatus main body.

  The paper feed tray according to the present invention is a paper feed tray for feeding paper from the front side of the apparatus main body, and this paper feed tray can stack a larger amount of paper than any of the multi-tray according to the present invention. In addition, the multi-tray can be exchanged.

  The image forming apparatus according to the present invention is configured such that any of the multi-tray according to the present invention or the paper feed tray according to the present invention can be mounted in a replaceable manner.

According to the multi-tray of the present invention, there is provided a manual paper feed tray portion that can be manually fed from the front side of the apparatus main body, and a paper discharge tray means that receives paper discharged from the apparatus main body above the manual paper feed tray section. Therefore, paper can be set and removed by full front operation, and operability is improved especially when printing on paper such as prescriptions. Since the sheet discharged after being placed is received, it is possible to prevent the discharged sheet from being fed again.

  The paper feed tray according to the present invention is a paper feed tray for feeding paper from the front side of the apparatus main body, and this paper feed tray contains a larger amount of paper than any of the multi-tray according to the present invention. Stackable and interchangeable with multi-tray, so it can be replaced with multi-tray according to the paper to be used, and multi-tray can be mounted without increasing the size and complexity of the main unit be able to.

  According to the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, any of the multi-tray according to the present invention or the paper feed tray according to the present invention can be mounted in a replaceable manner. Will be able to.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. An example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention in which a multi-tray and a paper feed tray according to the present invention can be exchangeably mounted will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an explanatory perspective view of the image forming apparatus as viewed from the front side with the paper feed tray according to the present invention attached, and FIG. 2 shows the image forming apparatus with the multi-tray according to the present invention attached. It is perspective explanatory drawing seen from the front side.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus is mounted on an apparatus main body 1, a paper feed tray 2 according to the present invention for loading paper mounted on the apparatus main body 1, and an upper portion of the paper feed tray 2. And a paper discharge tray 3 for stocking the paper on which the image is recorded (formed). Further, one end of the front surface of the apparatus main body 1 protrudes from the front to the front and is lower than the upper surface. A cartridge loading unit 6 is provided, and an operation unit 7 such as operation keys and a display is arranged on the upper surface of the cartridge loading unit 6. An ink cartridge (main tank) (not shown) that is a recording liquid cartridge is replaceably mounted on the cartridge loading unit 6 and has a front cover 8 that can be opened and closed.

  In this image forming apparatus, as shown in FIG. 2, a multi-tray 4 according to the present invention can be attached to the apparatus main body 1 instead of the paper feed tray 2 and the paper discharge tray 3. Here, the paper feed tray 2 can stack and set a larger amount of paper than the multi-tray 4. As a result, it is possible to replace and mount the paper feed tray 2 on which a large number of sheets can be set with the image forming apparatus main body 1 in common and the multi-tray 4 according to the present invention. The tray can be selected and the apparatus main body 1 can be shared.

  Next, the mechanism of this image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining the overall configuration of the mechanism section in a state in which the paper feed tray 2 and the paper discharge tray 3 are mounted, and FIG. 4 is a plan view for explaining a main part of the mechanism section.

  A carriage 33 is slidably held in the main scanning direction by a guide rod 31 which is a guide member horizontally mounted on the left and right side plates 21A and 21B constituting the frame 21, and a stay 32. It moves and scans in the carriage main scanning direction.

  In this carriage 33, a plurality of recording heads 34, which are ink jet heads that are droplet discharge heads for discharging recording droplets (ink droplets), are arranged in a direction crossing a plurality of nozzles in the main scanning direction, and ink It is mounted with the droplet discharge direction facing downward.

  Here, the recording head 34 includes, for example, a recording head 34y that discharges yellow (Y) droplets, a recording head 34m that discharges magenta (M) droplets, and a recording head that discharges cyan (C) droplets. 34c, and a recording head 34b that discharges black (Bk) droplets. The “recording head 34” does not distinguish between colors. The head configuration is not limited to these examples, and it may be configured using one or a plurality of recording heads having one or a plurality of nozzle rows that eject droplets of one or a plurality of colors.

  The droplet discharge head constituting the recording head 34 includes a piezoelectric actuator such as a piezoelectric element, a thermal actuator that uses a phase change caused by liquid film boiling using an electrothermal transducer such as a heating resistor, and a metal phase caused by a temperature change. A shape memory alloy actuator using a change, an electrostatic actuator using an electrostatic force, or the like provided as energy generating means for discharging recording droplets can be used.

  A driver IC is mounted on the recording head 34 and is connected to a control unit (not shown) via a harness (FPC cable) 22.

  In addition, the carriage 33 is equipped with sub tanks 35y, 35m, 35c, and 35k for each color for supplying the recording liquid of each color to each recording head 34 (referred to as “sub tank 35” when colors are not distinguished). Yes.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the sub-tanks 35y, 35m, 35c, and 35k have the above-described ink cartridges 10 for the respective colors (in the case of distinguishing the respective colors) via a recording liquid supply tube 37 composed of four tubes. The recording liquid is supplied from “ink cartridges 10y, 10m, 10c, 10k”).

  Here, as described above, the ink cartridge 10 is stored in the cartridge loading unit 6, and the cartridge loading unit 6 is provided with the supply pump unit 23 for feeding the recording liquid in the ink cartridge 10. .

  The recording liquid supply tube 37 from the ink cartridge loading unit 6 to the sub tank 35 is fixed and held by the main body side holder 25 on the rear plate 21 </ b> C constituting the frame 21 in the middle of turning. Further, it is fixed on the carriage 33 by the fixing rib 26.

  On the other hand, a large number of sheets (multi-tray 4) are supported on the sheet feeding tray 2 on a bottom plate 41 which is a paper stacking portion that is pivotally supported by a support shaft 40 and is urged upward in FIG. Paper 42 can be stacked. Then, in order to feed the paper 42 set in the paper feed tray 2, a half-moon roller (paper feed roller) 43 that feeds the paper 42 one by one from the paper stacking portion 41 of the paper feed tray 2 and a paper feed roller 43. A separation pad 44 made of a material having a large friction coefficient is provided opposite to the paper roller 43, and this separation pad 44 is urged toward the paper feed roller 43 side.

  As a transport unit for transporting the paper 42 fed from the paper feed unit on the lower side of the recording head 34, a transport belt 51 for transporting the paper 42 by electrostatic adsorption, and a paper feed unit The counter roller 52 for transporting the paper 42 fed through the guide 45 while sandwiching it between the transport belt 51 and the paper 42 fed substantially vertically upward are changed by approximately 90 ° and copied onto the transport belt 51. A conveyance guide 53 for adjusting the pressure and a tip pressure roller 55 urged toward the conveyance belt 51 by a pressing member 54. In addition, a charging roller 56 that is a charging unit for charging the surface of the conveyance belt 51 is provided.

  Here, the conveyance belt 51 is an endless belt, and is configured to be wound around the conveyance roller 57 and the tension roller 58 and circulate in the belt conveyance direction (sub-scanning direction) in FIG. . The charging roller 56 is disposed so as to come into contact with the surface layer of the conveyor belt 51 and to be rotated by the rotation of the conveyor belt 51, and 2.5N is applied to both ends of the shaft as a pressing force.

  In addition, a guide member 61 is disposed on the back side of the conveyor belt 51 so as to correspond to a printing area by the recording head 54. The upper surface of the guide member 61 protrudes closer to the recording head 34 than the tangent line of the two rollers (the conveyance roller 57 and the tension roller 58) that support the conveyance belt 51. As a result, the conveyance belt 51 is pushed up and guided by the upper surface of the guide member 61 in the printing region, so that highly accurate flatness is maintained.

  Further, as a paper discharge unit for discharging the paper 42 recorded by the recording head 34, a separation claw 71 for separating the paper 42 from the transport belt 51, a paper discharge roller 72, and a paper discharge roller 73 are provided. A paper discharge tray 3 is provided below the paper discharge roller 72. Here, the height from between the paper discharge roller 72 and the paper discharge roller 73 to the paper discharge tray 3 is increased to some extent in order to increase the amount that can be stored in the paper discharge tray 3.

  A double-sided paper feeding unit 81 is detachably attached to the back surface of the apparatus body 1. The double-sided paper feed unit 81 takes in the paper 42 returned by the reverse rotation of the transport belt 51, reverses it, and feeds it again between the counter roller 52 and the transport belt 51. In addition, a manual feed unit 82 on the rear side is provided on the upper surface of the duplex feeding unit 81.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, in the non-printing area on one side of the carriage 33 in the scanning direction, the maintenance / recovery mechanism (hereinafter referred to as “subsystem”) is used to maintain and recover the state of the nozzles of the recording head 34. ) 91 is arranged. The sub-system 91 contributes to the recording by discharging each cap member 92 for capping each nozzle surface of the recording head 34, the wiper blade 93 for wiping the nozzle surface, and discharging the thickened recording liquid. An empty discharge receiving portion 94 for receiving droplets when performing empty discharge for discharging liquid droplets that are not discharged is provided.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, in the non-printing area on the other side in the scanning direction of the carriage 33, the liquid used when performing the idle ejection for ejecting the liquid droplets that do not contribute to the recording in order to discharge the thickened recording liquid. An empty discharge receiver 95 for receiving droplets is arranged, and the empty discharge receiver 95 is provided with an opening 96 along the nozzle row direction of the recording head 34.

  In the ink jet recording apparatus configured as described above, the paper 22 is separated and fed from the paper feed tray 2 one by one, and the paper 22 fed substantially vertically upward is guided by the guide 25, and the conveyance belt 31 and the counter roller 32, and the tip is guided by the transport guide 33 and pressed against the transport belt 31 by the tip pressure roller 35, and the transport direction is changed by approximately 90 °.

  At this time, a positive output and a negative output are alternately repeated from the high-voltage power supply to the charging roller 56 by a control circuit (not shown), that is, an alternating voltage is applied, and a charging voltage pattern in which the conveying belt 51 alternates, that is, In the sub-scanning direction, which is the circumferential direction, plus and minus are alternately charged in a band shape with a predetermined width. When the sheet 42 is fed onto the conveyance belt 51 charged alternately with plus and minus, the sheet 42 is electrostatically attracted to the conveyance belt 51, and the sheet 42 is moved in the sub-scanning direction by the circular movement of the conveyance belt 51. Be transported.

  Therefore, by driving the recording head 34 according to the image signal while moving the carriage 33, ink droplets are ejected onto the stopped paper 42 to record one line, and after the paper 42 is conveyed by a predetermined amount, Record the next line. Upon receiving a recording end signal or a signal that the trailing edge of the paper 42 has reached the recording area, the recording operation is finished and the paper 42 is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 3.

  During printing (recording) standby, the carriage 33 is moved to the subsystem 91 side, the recording head 34 is capped by the cap 92, and the nozzle is kept in a wet state to prevent ejection failure due to ink drying. A recovery operation for discharging ink not related to recording is performed before starting recording or during recording to maintain stable discharging performance.

  Next, details of the multi-tray 4 mounted on the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 is a perspective explanatory view of the multi-tray 4, FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional explanatory view of the multi-tray 4 mounted on the apparatus main body 1, and FIG. 7 is a front side of the multi-tray 4 (the front of the apparatus main body). It is explanatory drawing seen from the meaning of the side.

  The multi-tray 4 cannot store sheets in order to be shared with the paper feed tray 2, but like the paper feed tray 2, the multi-tray 4 is pivotally supported by a support shaft 40 and is not illustrated. Thus, the sheet is mounted on the tray portion 102 having the bottom plate 41 which is a sheet stacking portion biased upward in FIG. The bottom plate 41 is a means for applying a sheet feeding pressure on the apparatus main body 1 side.

  That is, the multi-tray 4 can be mounted on the apparatus main body 1 in a state where the paper feed tray 2 capable of stacking a larger amount of paper than the multi-tray 4 is taken out from the apparatus main body 1 together with the paper discharge tray 3. it can. As a result, it is possible to easily cope with users having different uses of the image forming apparatus without changing the configuration of the apparatus main body 1.

  The multi-tray 4 guides the manual paper feed tray unit 104 for placing the paper to be manually fed and the sides (both ends in the direction perpendicular to the paper feed direction) of the paper placed on the manual paper feed tray unit 4. Side fences 105, 105, a release lever 106 for releasing the sheet feeding pressure by the bottom plate 41 of the tray unit 102, and the front side of the manual feed tray unit 104 (front side when mounted on the apparatus main body 1, the same applies hereinafter) And an extension tray portion 107 that can be taken in and out.

  Here, the paper discharge tray means of the multi-tray 4 is constituted by the upper surface of the release lever 106, the upper surfaces of the side fences 105 and 105, and the extension tray portion 107. These members are all manually fed as described above. It is held on the tray unit 104. The release lever 106 and the upper surfaces of the side fences 105 and 105 constitute a paper discharge tray means, so that the upper side of the manual paper feed tray unit 104 is spaced from the paper placement surface 104a of the manual paper feed tray unit 104. You can receive the ejected paper.

  The side fences 105 and 105 are mounted on the paper placement surface 104a of the manual paper feed tray section 104 so as to be simultaneously movable in opposite directions along the guide grooves 108 and 108 provided on the paper placement surface 104. . Here, in the rising portions 104 b and 104 b on both sides of the manual paper feed tray portion 104, depressions 131 and 131 that allow the fingers to escape corresponding to the side fences 105 and 105 are formed.

  Thus, even when the side fences 105 and 105 are opened to the wall surfaces of the rising portions 104b and 104b on both sides of the manual feed tray unit 104, the fingers can be operated with the fingers in the recesses 131 and 131. By providing the recess 131 corresponding to both the side fences 105 and 105, it becomes easy to operate by both right-handed users and left-handed users.

  The side fence 105 includes a fence main body 110 for regulating and guiding both ends of the paper placed on the paper placement surface 104a of the manual paper feed tray section 104, and a paper feed side front end of the fence main body 110. The guide member 111 is pivotally supported by the support shaft 112 so as to be swingable in the vertical direction in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the fence main body 110 has a side surface shape (meaning the shape of FIG. 6; the same applies hereinafter) and a bulge in the upstream portion 110a in the paper feeding direction, and the height increases toward the paper feeding direction. In addition, the sheet is formed so as to be lowered, and the sheet to be fed is guided along the upper end surface of the fence main body 110 and the lower surface of the sheet to be ejected is guided, and the sheet to be fed and the sheet are discharged. An eaves-shaped guide portion 113 that is substantially parallel to the paper placement surface 104a (in a direction orthogonal to the paper supply / discharge direction) for separating paper to be printed is integrally formed.

  As a result, when viewed from the side, the gap between the paper placement surface 104a and the paper discharge guide surface (guide portion 113) is large on the entrance side of the side fence 105, and approaches the paper feed roller 43 (closes to the paper feed port). ), The gap becomes smaller.

  With this configuration, the guide portion 113 of the fence main body 110 prevents curling or lifting of the leading edge of the paper when feeding, and even paper with low flatness can be easily put into the paper feeding port, and stable manual feeding. Paper can be fed. The guide unit 113 also has a function of restricting the number of stacked sheets when feeding paper.

  Further, both end portions on the side orthogonal to the paper discharge direction of the discharged paper can be supported by the guide portion 113 wider than the simple plate-shaped fence main body 110 at the time of paper discharge. Can support printed paper.

  In addition, since the paper feed and the paper discharge are separated by the guide portion 113, it becomes possible to manually feed a plurality of sheets and to discharge a plurality of sheets. .

  Further, since the guide member 111 is swingably provided at the leading end portion of the guide fences 105 and 105 in the sheet feeding direction, the guide member 111 can swing following the bottom plate 41 of the tray portion 102. Become. The guide member 111 has an L-shaped cross section, supports both ends of the sheet fed from the sheet placing surface 104a from below, and regulates and guides both ends of the sheet.

  As a result, both end portions of the manually fed paper can be supported by the guide member 111 until just before the paper feed roller 43 as the paper feed means, and the skew paper accuracy of the paper is improved and the stability of manual paper feed is improved. In addition, when a plurality of manual sheets are set, the sheet feeding pressure is released, so that the sheets can be reliably inserted until they contact the front end side wall surface 102a of the tray portion 102, and stable manual sheet feeding is performed. Can do.

  The release lever 106 is supported on the rising portions 104 b and 104 b on both sides of the manual paper feed tray portion 104 so as to be swingable by a support shaft 122. The release lever 106 has a guide portion 121 for guiding the lower surface of the paper discharged on the upper side, and a push-down portion 123 that can be engaged with the convex portion 120 provided on the bottom plate 41 of the tray portion 102 on the lower side. 6 and rotating the release lever 106 counterclockwise in FIG. 6, the push-down portion 123 pushes down the convex portion 120 provided on the bottom plate 41, so that the bottom plate 41 is pushed down to release the paper feed pressure. Can do.

  The guide portion 121 of the release lever 106 is formed with a concave portion 124 having a planar shape with a central portion recessed toward the paper feeding direction, and both end portions are formed as lever portions 125 and 125. Providing the recess 124 facilitates operations such as correction of the position of the paper set by the user in the manual paper feed tray unit 104 and correction of bending, and also places the user's hand all the way when setting small size paper. This makes it easy to perform setting and correction operations. In addition, since the lever portions 125 and 125 are provided on the left and right (the end portion in the direction orthogonal to the paper discharge direction), the user can easily operate the lever regardless of whether the user is right-handed or left-handed.

  On the other hand, a concave portion 133 is formed in the central portion on the front side of the paper placement surface 104a of the manual paper feed tray portion 104. That is, in order to set a small sheet in the manual sheet feed tray unit 104, it is necessary to insert the sheet to the far side, but it is difficult to insert a hand into a limited narrow space, but a recess 133 is provided. This makes it easy to pick the rear edge of the paper with a finger, and even a small paper can be surely inserted to the paper feed port side, making it easy to set a small paper.

  Further, on the paper loading surface 104a of the manual paper feed tray 104, a convex rib 134 having a side shape and a chevron shape is formed on the front side of the side fences 105, 105 at the center, as shown in FIG. Yes. As shown in FIG. 8, the convex rib 134 has an inclined surface 134a on the upstream side in the paper discharge direction and an inclined surface 134b on the downstream side in the paper discharge direction. The inclined surface 134a is formed more gently than the inclined surface 134b.

  Further, an extension tray portion 107 is detachably mounted on the front side of the manual paper feed tray portion 104. As described above, the extension tray portion 107 constitutes a part of the paper discharge tray means. However, the extension tray portion 107 may not be provided if the manual feed tray portion 104 can secure a required length. .

The operation when the manual feed is performed using the multi-tray 4 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
First, before releasing the sheet feeding pressure by the bottom plate 41 of the tray portion 102, the push-down portion 123 of the release lever 121 is attached to the bottom plate 41 while the multi-tray 4 is mounted on the apparatus main body 1 as shown in FIG. The state is in contact with the upper surface of the convex portion 120. Therefore, when the lever 125 of the release lever 121 is lifted in the direction indicated by the arrow from this state, the release lever 121 rotates to push down the bottom plate 41 as shown in FIG. Is released (the paper feed pressure is released).

  At this time, since the guide members 111 and 111 at the front end portions of the guide fences 105 and 105 of the manual paper feed tray unit 104 are supported so as to be swingable, the front end portion follows the bottom plate 41 as shown in FIG. Oscillates downward, and the guide members 111 and 111 are maintained in a state in which the distal end side is in contact with the bottom plate 41. Therefore, it is possible to guide the paper that is smoothly set manually until just before the paper feed roller 43.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11, a sheet 142 is set on the sheet placing surface 104a of the manual sheet feed tray unit 104 of the multi-tray 4 (here, an example in which one sheet 142 is set will be described). ) By rotating the release lever 121 in the opposite direction again, the bottom plate 41 returns and the sheet 142 can be fed out (sheet feeding) by the sheet feeding roller 43.

  Thereafter, manual paper is fed into the image forming apparatus main body 1 as described above, and after image formation is performed, as shown in FIG. 12, the paper 142 after printing is discharged. At this time, the discharged paper 142 is first guided on the upper surface of the release lever 121 and further guided on the upper surfaces of the guide portions 113 and 113 of the side fences 105 and 105 on both sides, and the extension tray portion 107 is ejected. If it is, it reaches the extension tray 107 and is discharged. If the length of the sheet 142 is short, the extension tray unit 107 may not be reached.

  In this way, the paper is fed from the manual paper feed tray unit 104 of the multi-tray 4 and is formed of the release lever 121, the side fences 105 and 105 and / or the extension tray unit 107 above the manual tray unit 104. The paper is discharged while the lower surface of the paper 142 is supported by the tray means.

  At this time, the paper is discharged at an interval from the paper placement surface 104a of the manual paper feed tray section 104 of the multi-tray 4, so that the discharged paper is prevented from being fed again. The Since the multi-tray 4 can manually feed and discharge paper, the manual paper is set and printed after the front side of the apparatus body 1, that is, by full front operation. Can do.

  As a prescription, when printing on paper that cannot be guaranteed flatness that may be folded, rolled, or bent when the patient is brought to a pharmacy, etc., set the paper with full front operation. In addition, the printed paper can be taken out and the operability is improved, and the printed paper is not drawn and sent to the paper feeding unit again. Even when the prescription is bent, it is possible to stably feed and discharge the paper, and it is possible to prevent the prescription having only one sheet from being damaged.

  Further, as described above, the multi-tray 4 is provided with the convex ribs 134 on the paper placing surface 104a. As shown in FIG. 14, when the manual paper is folded, rolled, bent, or when the paper itself is weak and is ejected in that state even after printing. Even if the guide portions 113, 113 of the side fences 105, 105 support both sides of the paper, the paper may be discharged in a state in which the leading end is recessed and arrives at the paper placement surface 104a.

  Therefore, when the sheet is discharged in such a state, the leading end of the sheet comes into contact with the inclined surface 134a of the convex rib 134 of the sheet placing surface 104a, and as shown in FIG. The sheet guided upward and discharged is surely sent to the near side without being caught by the sheet placing surface 104a or the like.

  As a result, when printing on a prescription that may be folded, rounded, or bent as described above, or when using low-stiffness paper, the paper can be discharged more reliably. become.

  In this case, as described above, the convex rib 134 has a side surface shape having the inclined surface 134a and the inclined surface 134b having a mountain shape, so that the leading edge of the paper can be prevented from being caught at the time of paper discharge and also for paper feeding. It is also possible to prevent the tip from being caught by the convex rib 134 when setting the paper on the paper placement surface 104a of the manual paper feed tray section 104.

  Further, when a small size paper is set in the manual paper feed tray section 104, the paper feed tray means and the paper placement surface are arranged to receive the paper ejected above the manual paper feed tray section. It is difficult to secure a sufficient space between them, and there is a possibility that a small-size sheet cannot be reliably inserted to the paper feed port side.

  Therefore, in this multi-tray 4, a concave portion 124 that is recessed in the paper feeding direction is formed in the release lever 121 to facilitate insertion of a hand, and a concave portion 133 is formed in the paper placement surface 104 a. As a result, as shown in FIG. 16, when a small-size sheet 143 is set, the rear portion of the sheet 143 can be easily grasped and set reliably.

  Although the case of manually feeding one sheet of paper has been described here, it is naturally possible to use a method in which a plurality of sheets are set in the manual feed tray unit 104 and sequentially fed. Since the paper feed and the paper discharge are separated, it can be performed by a front operation, so that the operability is improved and the discharged paper can be prevented from being fed again.

  Here, an example in which the paper feed tray 2 (including the paper discharge tray 3) and the multi-tray 4 are interchangeably mounted on the apparatus main body 1 has been described. However, as shown in FIG. A large-capacity paper feed tray 200 that can set a large amount of paper (meaning more than the multi-tray 4) is disposed below the paper feed tray 2 and is large while using the discharge tray means of the multi-tray 4. A configuration in which the capacity sheet feeding tray 200 is used together can also be adopted.

  The paper feed tray 200 includes a paper feed roller 201 for feeding paper, a guide plate 202, and a feed roller pair 203 for feeding the paper into the additional paper feed path 204 of the apparatus main body 1.

  Further, by replacing the tray unit 102 on which the multi-tray 4 is mounted with the paper feed tray 2, similarly, a configuration in which a large-capacity paper feed tray is used together while using the paper discharge tray means of the multi-tray 4 can be used. .

  In the image forming apparatus according to the above-described embodiment, the multi-tray 4 can be mounted on the front side, and the manual feed unit 82 is also provided on the duplex unit 81 on the rear side. It is also possible to perform manual sheet feeding for papers that are required.

  In the above embodiment, the present invention has been described with an example in which an inkjet recording apparatus as an image forming apparatus is configured as a printer. However, the present invention can also be applied to a copying apparatus, a printer / fax / copier multifunction machine, and the like. Further, the present invention can also be applied to an image forming apparatus using a recording liquid (liquid) other than ink. Furthermore, although the case where the manual feed sheet is mainly a prescription is described as an example, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this. Furthermore, an electrophotographic system can be used as the image forming unit.

FIG. 3 is a perspective explanatory view of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention as viewed from the front side in a state where the paper feed tray according to the present invention is mounted. FIG. 3 is a perspective explanatory view of the image forming apparatus as viewed from the front side in a state where the multi-tray according to the present invention is mounted. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a mechanism unit of the image forming apparatus in a state where a paper feed tray 2 and a paper discharge tray 3 are mounted. FIG. It is a principal part plane explanatory drawing of the mechanism part similarly. It is a perspective explanatory view of a multi-tray according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional explanatory diagram in a state where the multi-tray is mounted on the apparatus main body. It is principal part explanatory drawing which looked at the multi-tray from the front side. It is an expanded explanatory view with which it uses for description of the convex rib of the same multi-tray. FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a state in which the multi-tray is mounted on the apparatus main body. FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a state in which a sheet feeding pressure release operation is performed using the multi-tray. FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory diagram illustrating a state where manual paper is set in the multi-tray. FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory diagram illustrating a state where a sheet is discharged to the multi-tray. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which a discharged paper is bent and contacts a paper placement surface. It is principal part explanatory drawing similar to FIG. 7 with which it uses for description of an effect | action of the convex rib of the same multi-tray. FIG. 9 is an enlarged explanatory view similar to FIG. 8 for explaining the operation of the convex ribs. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a case where a small-size sheet is set in the multi-tray. FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory diagram for explaining an example in which a multi-tray and a large-capacity paper feed tray are provided side by side.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Main body 2 ... Paper feed tray 3 ... Paper discharge tray 4 ... Multi-tray 34 ... Recording head 41 ... Bottom plate 43 ... Paper feed roller 51 ... Conveying belt 102 ... Tray part 104 ... Manual paper feed tray part 105 ... Side fence 106 ... Release lever 107 ... Extension tray part 113 ... Guide part 134 ... Convex rib

Claims (6)

  A manual paper feed tray unit for performing manual paper feed from the front side of the main unit, and a manual paper feed tray unit that is held by this manual paper feed tray unit and spaced above the manual paper feed tray unit. A multi-tray comprising a paper discharge tray means for receiving the paper discharged from the apparatus main body.   2. The multi-tray according to claim 1, wherein the discharge tray means is aligned with a release lever that releases a means for applying a sheet feeding pressure on the apparatus main body side and a position perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction and discharged. A multi-tray comprising a side fence that supports both sides perpendicular to the paper discharge direction from below.   3. The multi-tray according to claim 1, wherein the multi-tray can be detachably attached to the apparatus main body.   4. The multi-tray according to claim 1, wherein the multi-tray can be mounted on an upper side of a paper feed tray mounted on the apparatus main body.   A paper feed tray for feeding paper from the front side of the apparatus main body, the paper feed tray being capable of stacking more sheets than the multi-tray according to any one of claims 1 to 3, and A paper feed tray that is replaceable with the multi-tray. In the image forming apparatus for forming an image on the fed paper, the multi-tray according to any one of claims 1 to 3 or the paper-feed tray according to claim 5 can be replaceably mounted. An image forming apparatus.

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