Patent ID: 7693444
Filing Date: 2010-04-06
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. An image reading and recording apparatus comprising: a process cartridge provided with an image bearing member and detachably mountable on an apparatus main body; an exposing unit that effects exposure conforming to an image signal on said image bearing member; a fixing device disposed on one side of the apparatus main body and above said process cartridge and heat fixes a toner image on a recording medium; a reading unit disposed on another side of the apparatus main body with respect to said exposing unit, wherein said reading unit has an original conveying device that conveys an original and a reading sensor that reads the image of the original while the original is conveyed by said original conveying device; and a cartridge dismounting space provided between said fixing device and said exposing unit, wherein said process cartridge is mounted or dismounted through said cartridge dismounting space, wherein the recording medium on which a toner image is fixed by said fixing device is discharged from the one side of the apparatus main body toward the another side of said apparatus main body, and wherein said original conveying device is provided with a U-shaped original path through which the original is conveyed, wherein the original before reading by the reading sensor is set on said reading unit from the another side of said apparatus main body, the set original before reading by the reading sensor is fed toward the one side of said apparatus main body and is conveyed through said U-shaped original path, and a read original is discharged toward the another side of said apparatus main body.