Patent Publication Number: US-8985568-B2

Title: Paper discharge device of image forming apparatus

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from U.S. application Ser. No. 13/222,849, filed on Aug. 31, 2011, which claims the benefit of priority from Provisional U.S. Application 61/406,991, filed on Oct. 26, 2010, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     Embodiments described herein relate generally to a space-saving paper discharge device to discharge a sheet after image formation in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, there is an apparatus in which a dual purpose tray having both a manual feed function and a paper discharge function is pulled out from a side surface of an apparatus body, and manual feed of a sheet or discharge of a sheet is performed. 
     However, if the dual purpose tray is used as an auxiliary tray for performing the paper discharge function, the dual purpose tray must be protruded from the apparatus body to the outside. 
     Thus, a paper discharge device capable of supporting a sheet discharged from an apparatus body even in a state where a dual purpose tray is folded on a side surface of the apparatus body is desired to be developed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic structural view showing an image forming apparatus of an embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic explanatory view showing a gate of the image forming apparatus of the embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart showing a print operation in a manual paper feed mode of the image forming apparatus of the embodiment; and 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart showing a print operation of a FAX image in an auto feed mode in the image forming apparatus of the embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In general, according to one embodiment, a paper discharge device includes a discharged-sheet receiving part that can be opened and closed on a side surface of an apparatus body, is closed on the side surface and receives a recording medium dropped from above along the side surface after image formation. 
     Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described.  FIG. 1  shows an image forming apparatus  1  of the embodiment. The image forming apparatus  1  includes a printer  2  and a scanner  5 . Further, the image forming apparatus  1  includes a control panel la, a processor  7  and a FAX part  8 . The control panel la is used for display of information or input of an operation. The processor  7  executes an image forming process or an image reading process of an image forming job or the like transmitted from a terminal  10  connected through a network line  7   a . The FAX part  8  transmits and receives a facsimile signal. 
     The printer  2  includes four sets of image forming stations  13 Y,  13 M,  13 C and  13 K along a lower side of a transfer belt  12 . A backup roller  12   a  and a driven roller  12   b  support the transfer belt  12 , and move the transfer belt  12  in an arrow f direction. The respective image forming stations  13 Y,  13 M,  13 C and  13 K form toner images of Y (Yellow), M (Magenta), C (Cyan) and K (black) on respective photoconductive drums  14 Y,  14 M,  14 C and  14 K. Incidentally, the printer  2  may include only, for example, the K (black) image forming station  13 K to support monochrome printing. 
     The respective image forming stations  13 Y,  13 M,  13 C and  13 K include chargers  16 Y,  16 M,  16 C and  16 K, developing devices  17 Y,  17 M,  17 C and  17 K and photoreceptor cleaners  18 Y,  18 M,  18 C and  18 K around the respective photoconductive drums  14 Y,  14 M,  14 C and  14 K rotating in an arrow g direction. 
     The printer  2  includes a laser exposure device  20  constituting an image forming part  2   a . The laser exposure device  20  irradiates laser lights corresponding to the respective colors to the respective photoconductive drums  14 Y,  14 M,  14 C and  14 K between the chargers  16 Y,  16 M,  16 C and  16 K and the developing devices  17 Y,  17 M,  17 C and  17 K, and form electrostatic latent images on the photoconductive drums  14 Y,  14 M,  14 C and  14 K. The developing devices  17 Y,  17 M,  17 C and  17 K develop the electrostatic latent images formed on the respective photoconductive drums  14 Y,  14 M,  14 C and  14 K, and forms toner images of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C) and black (K) on the photoconductive drums  14 Y,  14 M,  14 C and  14 K. 
     The printer  2  includes primary transfer rollers  26 Y,  26 M,  26 C and  26 K at positions facing the photoconductive drums  14 Y,  14 M,  14 C and  14 K through the transfer belt  12 . The primary transfer rollers  26 Y,  26 M,  26 C and  26 K multiple-transfer the toner images on the photoconductive drums  14 Y,  14 M,  14 C and  14 K onto the transfer belt  12 . The photoreceptor cleaners  18 Y,  18 M,  18 C and  18 K remove and collect toners remaining on the photoconductive drums  14 Y,  14 M,  14 C and  14 K after a primary transfer. 
     The printer  2  includes a secondary transfer roller  27  at a secondary transfer position facing the backup roller  12   a  through the transfer belt  12 . The printer  2  includes a paper feed cassette  28  to supply a sheet P as a recording medium toward the secondary transfer roller  27 . The printer  2  includes a paper discharge device  30  used also as a manual paper feed part on a side surface  3   a  of a housing  3  as an apparatus body. 
     The paper discharge device  30  is opened and closed at the side surface of the housing  3  around a shaft  30   a . The paper discharge device  30  includes a receiving tray  31  as a discharged-sheet receiving part and a manual feed tray  32  as a manual paper feed part. The paper discharge device  30  includes, at an end of the receiving tray  31 , a drop port  31   a  to introduce the sheet P dropped from above and discharged if the paper discharge device  30  closes the side surface  3   a  of the housing  3  as indicated by a solid line of  FIG. 1 . As indicated by a dotted line of  FIG. 1 , if the paper discharge device  30  opens the side surface  3   a  of the housing  3 , the paper discharge device supplies the sheet on the manual feed tray  32  toward the secondary transfer roller  27 . 
     A pickup roller  28   a , a separation roller  28   b , a conveyance roller  33  and a register roller pair  34  are positioned between the paper feed cassette  28  and the secondary transfer roller  27 . A manual feed pickup roller  32   a  and a manual feed separation roller  32   b  are positioned between the manual feed tray  32  and the conveyance roller  33 . 
     After aligning a leading edge of the sheet P taken out from the paper feed cassette  28  or the sheet P supplied from the manual feed tray  32 , the register roller pair  34  conveys the sheet to the secondary transfer roller  27 . The printer  2  secondarily transfers the toner images on the transfer belt  12  onto the sheet P conveyed from the register roller pair  34  at a nip between the transfer belt  12  and the secondary transfer roller  27  in a lump, and forms a non-fixed toner image on the sheet P. The printer  2  includes a fixing device  37  at the downstream side of the secondary transfer roller  27  along the conveyance direction of the sheet P. The fixing device  37  fixes the toner image to the sheet P. 
     The transfer belt  12 , the image forming stations  13 Y,  13 M,  13 C and  13 K, the primary transfer rollers  26 Y,  26 M,  26 C and  26 K, the secondary transfer roller  27 , and the fixing device  37  constitute the image forming part  2   a.    
     The printer  2  includes a gate  38  at the downstream side of the fixing device  37 . The gate  38  distributes the sheet P conveyed from the fixing device  37  toward a paper discharge roller  40  or a switch-back roller  41 . The gate  38  distributes the sheet P conveyed from the switch-back roller  41  toward a re-conveyance path  42  or the paper discharge device  30 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the gate  38  switches among a first position ( 1 ), a second position ( 2 ), a third position ( 3 ) and a fourth position ( 4 ). If the gate  38  is at the first position ( 1 ), the gate distributes the sheet P conveyed from the fixing device  37  toward the switch-back roller  41 . The switch-back roller  41  once conveys the sheet P conveyed from the gate  38  in an arrow h direction. If a sheet detection switch  41   a  detects that a trailing edge of the sheet P passes an auxiliary conveyance roller  36 , the switch-back roller  41  reversely rotates and conveys the sheet P in an arrow i direction. 
     If the gate  38  is at the second position ( 2 ), the gate distributes the sheet P conveyed from the fixing device  37  toward the paper discharge roller  40 . The paper discharge roller  40  discharges the sheet P to a main tray  44  which is a main paper discharge part and is in a hollow body of the image forming apparatus  1 . 
     If the gate  38  is at the third position ( 3 ), the gate distributes the sheet P conveyed from the switch-back roller  41  toward the re-conveyance path  42 . The sheet P is again conveyed toward the register roller pair  34  by a re-conveyance roller  42   a . If the gate  38  is at the fourth position ( 4 ), the gate distributes the sheet P conveyed from the switch-back roller  41  toward the paper discharge device  30 . The sheet P drops into the receiving tray  31  of the paper discharge device  30  and is received. 
     The paper discharge device  30  will be described in detail. As indicated by the solid line of  FIG. 1 , if the paper discharge device  30  is closed on the side surface  3   a  of the housing  3 , a side surface  31   b  of the receiving tray  31  is on the same plane as the side surface  3   a  of the housing  3 . Further, the receiving tray  31  includes an opening and closing cover  31   c  to take out a sheet in the receiving tray  31  at the side surface  31   b . The opening and closing cover  31   c  opens in an arrow k direction around a shaft  31   d.    
     Incidentally, the paper discharge device  30  may include an opening and closing cover at the front side so that the sheet in the receiving tray  31  is taken out from the front side of the image forming apparatus  1 . Alternatively, the front side of the receiving tray  31  may be open. The paper discharge device  30  is formed of, for example, a highly translucent material, and the user can easily visually confirm whether or not the sheet P is discharged into the receiving tray  31 . 
     If printing starts, the user opens or closes the paper discharge device  30  in accordance with a paper feed mode. Alternatively, the printer  2  switches the gate  38  to one of the first position ( 1 ) to the fourth position ( 4 ) in accordance with a print mode. 
     [Manual Paper Feed Mode] 
     If the paper feed mode is a manual paper feed mode, the user rotates the paper discharge device  30  in an arrow m direction, and opens the manual feed pickup roller  32   a  and the manual feed separation roller  32   b . The user places the sheet P on the manual feed tray  32 , sets a document on the scanner  5 , sets the print mode through the control panel  1   a  and starts printing. 
       FIG. 3  shows a flowchart of a print operation in the manual paper feed mode. At ACT  100 , if a mode is a one-sided printing mode, at ACT  101 , manual paper feeding is performed, and at ACT  102 , the printer  2  prints one side of the sheet P. At ACT  103 , the sheet P is distributed toward the paper discharge roller  40  by the gate  38  located at the second position ( 2 ) and is discharged to the main tray  44 . At ACT  106 , one-sided printing is repeated until a specified number of sheets are printed, and if the specified numbers of sheets are printed, the printing is ended. 
     At ACT  100 , if a mode is a two-sided printing mode, at ACT  110 , manual paper feeding is performed, and at ACT  111 , the printer  2  prints the first side of the sheet P. At ACT  112 , the sheet P is distributed toward the switch-back roller  41  by the gate  38  located at the first position ( 1 ). The switch-back roller  41  is positively rotated and conveys the sheet P in the arrow h direction. 
     At ACT  113 , if the sheet detection switch  41   a  detects that the trailing edge of the sheet P passes the auxiliary conveyance roller  36 , at ACT  114 , the switch-back roller  41  is reversely rotated, and the gate  38  is set to the third position ( 3 ). The switch-back roller  41  conveys the sheet P in the arrow i direction, and the sheet P is distributed toward the re-conveyance path  42 . 
     At ACT  116 , the printer  2  prints the second side of the sheet P. At ACT  117 , the sheet P is distributed toward the paper discharge roller  40  by the gate  38  located at the second position ( 2 ) and is discharged to the main tray  44 . At ACT  118 , two-sided printing is repeated until a specified number of sheets are printed, and if the specified numbers of sheets are printed, the printing is ended. 
     [Auto Feed Mode] 
     If a paper feed mode is an auto feed mode from the cassette  28 , the user rotates the paper discharge device  30  in an arrow n direction, and closes the side surface  3   a  of the housing  3 . For example, if the printing is such that a document image is read from the scanner  5 , the user sets the document on the scanner  5 , sets the print mode through the control panel  1   a , and starts printing. 
     If the printing is such that the document image is read from the scanner  5 , the print operation in the auto feed mode is the same as that of the manual paper feed mode except that paper feeding at ACT  101  or ACT  110  in the flowchart of the manual paper feed shown in  FIG. 3  is performed from the paper feed cassette  28 . 
     Next, if the print mode is such that printing is performed based on, for example, a reception signal from the FAX part  8 , the processor  7  sets the gate  38  so that the print image is discharged to the receiving tray  31  of the paper discharge device  30 . 
       FIG. 4  shows a flowchart of a print operation of a FAX image. At ACT  200 , printing of the FAX image is set, and at ACT  201 , paper feeding from the paper feed cassette  28  is performed. At ACT  202 , an image based on reception data from the FAX part  8  is printed on the sheet P. At ACT  203 , the gate  38  located at the first position ( 1 ) distributes the sheet P toward the switch-back roller  41 . The switch-back roller  41  is positively rotated and conveys the sheet P in the arrow h direction. 
     At ACT  204 , if the sheet detection switch  41   a  detects that the trailing edge of the sheet P passes the auxiliary conveyance roller  36 , at ACT  206 , the switch-back roller  41  is reversely rotated, and the gate  38  is set to the fourth position ( 4 ). The switch-back roller  41  conveys the sheet P in the arrow i direction, and the sheet P is distributed toward the paper discharge device  30 . At ACT  207 , the sheet P drops into the receiving tray  31  through the drop port  31   a  of the receiving tray  31  and is discharged. At ACT  208 , printing of the FAX image is repeated until the reception data from the FAX part  8  is ended, and if a specified number of sheets are printed, the printing is ended. 
     The user visually confirms whether the sheet P is discharged to the receiving tray  31  of the paper discharge device  30 . If the sheet P is discharged to the receiving tray  31 , as indicated by the dotted line in  FIG. 1 , the user opens the opening and closing cover  31   c  in the arrow k direction, and takes out the sheet P in the receiving tray  31 . Even if the sheet P is taken out from the side surface  3   a  of the housing  3 , the opening and closing cover  31   c  has only to be opened, and the space used for the operation of taking out the sheet P can be made compact. Incidentally, if the opening and closing cover is provided at the front side of the receiving tray  31  or the front side surface is open, the sheet P is taken out from the front side. 
     Incidentally, with respect to the paper discharge to the receiving tray  31 , not the FAX image, but an image printed after reading a document image by the scanner  5  may be adopted, or an image based on data sent from the terminal  10  through the network line  7   a  may be adopted. 
     According to the embodiment, the paper discharge device  30  including the receiving tray  31  in which the sheet P is dropped and is received, and the manual feed tray  32  is arranged to be openable and closable on the side surface  3   a  of the housing  3 . If the paper discharge device  30  is closed with respect to the side surface  3   a  and is housed in the housing  3 , the paper discharge device can receive the sheet P discharged after printing in the receiving tray  31 . If manual paper feeding is performed, the user opens the paper discharge device  30  from the side surface  3   a , and uses the manual feed tray  32 . The receiving tray  31  is not required to be always arranged in the state of protruding from the side surface  3   a  of the housing  3 . The space for the receiving tray  31  is not required at the outside of the housing  3 . 
     While certain embodiments have been described these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel apparatus and methods described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms: furthermore various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the apparatus and methods described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and there equivalents are intended to cover such forms of modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the invention.