Sheet conveyance device and image forming apparatus

Abstract

To provide a sheet conveyance device in which abrasions are not easily visible to a user when a discharged sheet stopper is in a non-use state.SOLUTION: A discharged sheet stopper 53 has a first surface 53A and a second surface 53B on the reverse side of the first surface 53A. The discharged sheet stopper 53 can be rotated between a non-use state in which the second surface 53B is facing upward and a use state in which the first surface 53A is facing upward. In the use state, the discharged sheet stopper 53 can be rotated between a first use position and a second use position in which the tip of the discharged sheet stopper 53 is lower than the first use position, and the discharged sheet stopper 53 is in contact with the downstream end portion of a sheet discharged to a sheet discharge tray in a sheet discharge direction. A discharged sheet stopper urging member 54 includes a contact member 56 in contact with the discharged sheet stopper 53 in the use state and an urging member 57 for urging the contact member 56 in a direction in which the discharged sheet stopper 53 is directed from the second use position toward the first use position. The discharged sheet stopper 53 has a to-be-contacted portion 53D that is in contact with the contact member 56 in the use state. The to-be-contacted portion 53D is located lower than the second surface 53B in the non-use state.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a sheet conveying device and an image forming apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a conventional sheet conveying device. This sheet conveying device includes a paper discharge roller that discharges a sheet in the paper discharge direction, a paper discharge tray that supports the sheet discharged by the paper discharge roller, and a paper discharge stopper located downstream in the paper discharge direction from the paper discharge roller.

[0003] The paper discharge stopper has a first surface and a second surface on the back side of the first surface, and is rotatable between a non-use state in which the second surface faces upward and a use state in which the first surface faces upward. Further, the paper discharge stopper in the use state is rotatable between a first use position and a second use position where the tip is lowered more than the first use position. And the paper discharge stopper in the use state abuts against the downstream end portion in the paper discharge direction of the sheet discharged onto the paper discharge tray.

[0004] This sheet conveying device further includes a paper discharge stopper biasing member that biases the paper discharge stopper. The paper discharge stopper biasing member has a contact member that contacts the paper discharge stopper in the use state and a biasing member that biases the contact member. The biasing member biases the contact member in a direction that causes the paper discharge stopper to move from the second use position to the first use position. The paper discharge stopper has a contacted portion that contacts the contact member.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] In the above-described conventional sheet conveying apparatus, the discharge stopper in the use state rotates in a direction from the first use position to the second use position with the tip descending as the weight of the sheet supported by the discharge stopper increases. That is, the discharge stopper in the use state repeats rotation in which the tip moves up and down in response to a change in the weight of the sheet supported by the discharge stopper. A contact member always contacts the contacted portion of the discharge stopper that repeats this rotation with an urging force. For this reason, there is a risk that scratches may occur on the contacted portion. In this sheet conveying apparatus, the contacted portion is on the second surface, and in the non-use state, the second surface faces upward and is exposed to the outside of the sheet conveying apparatus. For this reason, in this sheet conveying apparatus, there is a problem that the scratched contacted portion is easily visible to the user.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional situation, and an object thereof is to provide a sheet conveying apparatus and an image forming apparatus in which scratches are difficult for a user to see in a non-use state of a discharge stopper.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] The sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention a discharge roller that discharges a sheet in the discharge direction, a discharge tray that supports the sheet discharged by the discharge roller, a discharge stopper that has a first surface and a second surface on the back side of the first surface, is rotatable between a non-use state in which the second surface faces upward and a use state in which the first surface faces upward, and is located downstream of the discharge roller in the discharge direction, and the discharge stopper in the use state is rotatable between a first use position and a second use position where the tip is lower than the first use position, and the discharge stopper that contacts the downstream end portion of the sheet discharged onto the discharge tray in the discharge direction in the use state, a contact member that contacts the discharge stopper in the use state, and a biasing member that biases the contact member in a direction to move the discharge stopper from the second use position toward the first use position, and includes a discharge stopper biasing member. The paper discharge stopper has a contact portion that contacts the contact member in the above-described use state. The contact portion is characterized in that it is located below the second surface in the non-use state.

[0009] In the sheet conveying device of the present invention, in the non-use state of the paper discharge stopper, since the contact portion of the paper discharge stopper is located below the second surface of the paper discharge stopper, the contact portion where scratches may occur is difficult for the user to see.

[0010] Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a sheet conveying device in which scratches are difficult for the user to see in the non-use state of the paper discharge stopper.

[0011] The image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus including the sheet conveying device of the present invention, an opening accessible inside the apparatus, and an opening / closing cover that opens and closes the opening by rotation. The opening / closing cover is characterized by having the paper discharge stopper and the paper discharge stopper biasing member.

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus including a sheet conveying device in which scratches are difficult for the user to see in the non-use state of the paper discharge stopper.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0013]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Hereinafter, embodiments embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0015] (Embodiment) The image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment is a multifunction machine as an example of a specific aspect of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. Also, the sheet conveying apparatus 5 included in the image forming apparatus 10 is an example of a specific aspect of the sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention. In the following description, with reference to the state in which the image forming apparatus 10 is installed for use as shown in FIG. 1, the side from which the sheet tray 13 is pulled out is defined as the front, the opposite side as the rear, the left - right direction is defined when viewing the image forming apparatus 10 from the front side, and further, the side of the second housing 2 of the image forming apparatus 10 is defined as the upper side and the side of the first housing 1 as the lower side to define each direction. In the present embodiment, the left - right direction is an example of the width direction orthogonal to the paper discharge direction of the sheet S by the paper discharge roller 51.

[0016] <Schematic configuration of the image forming apparatus> As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment includes a first housing 1, a second housing 2, and an ADF (auto document feeder) 4.

[0017] The first housing 1 is a housing having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The first housing 1 includes a housing main body 11 having an opening 11A accessible to the inside of the apparatus in the front, and an opening - closing cover 12 that rotates in the front - rear direction to open and close the opening 11A. The lower end portion of the opening - closing cover 12 is connected to the housing main body 11 such that the upper portion of the opening - closing cover 12 can rotate in the front - rear direction about a rotation shaft 12A (see FIG. 5) provided at the lower end portion of the opening - closing cover 12 and facing the left - right direction.

[0018] The first housing 1 houses a sheet tray 13 for accommodating the sheet S, a sheet conveyance device 5 for conveying the sheet S from the sheet tray 13 to the outside of the first housing 1, and an image forming unit 14 for forming an image on the sheet S. The configuration of the image forming unit 14 is not particularly limited, and configurations such as an electrophotographic method, an ink - jet method, and a thermal head method can be used.

[0019] The second housing 2 is a housing having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, is located above the first housing 1, and covers the upper surface of the first housing 1. The second housing 2 houses an image reading unit 21 for reading a document. Further, the second housing 2 is provided with an operation unit 22 such as a touch panel and operation buttons for operating the image forming apparatus 10 on the front side.

[0020] The ADF4 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped-shaped housing that is located above the second housing 2 and covers the upper surface of the second housing 2. The ADF4 pivots vertically at the front with respect to the second housing 2. The ADF4 includes a document supply tray 41, a document conveyance mechanism 42 for conveying the document, a document discharge tray 43, and a document stopper portion 44 for restricting the document discharged onto the document discharge tray 43. The image reading unit 21 has a document glass on which the document can be placed on the upper surface, and the ADF4 presses the document at a portion below the document discharge tray 43 and facing the document glass.

[0021] <Configuration of the Sheet Conveying Device> As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the sheet conveying device 5 includes a paper discharge roller 51, a paper discharge tray 52, a resin paper discharge stopper 53, and a paper discharge stopper biasing member 54.

[0022] The image forming apparatus 10 has a form called a so-called in-body paper discharge type. As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 10 has a sheet discharge opening 10A as an opening between the upper surface of the first housing 1 and the lower surface of the second housing 2 at the front. The first housing 1 has a paper discharge tray 52 on its upper surface. The paper discharge tray 52 has a shape that slopes upward from the rear to the front. The sheet conveying device 5 has a conveyance path 55 that connects from the sheet tray 13 through the image forming unit 14 to the paper discharge tray 52. The image forming apparatus 10 has a plurality of pairs of conveyance rollers in the conveyance path 55 and has a paper discharge roller 51 at the most downstream portion of the conveyance path 55. The paper discharge tray 52 is located downstream in the paper discharge direction from the paper discharge roller 51, and the paper discharge roller 51 discharges the sheet S onto the paper discharge tray 52. In this specification, the direction in which the paper discharge roller 51 discharges the sheet S toward the paper discharge tray 52 is defined as the paper discharge direction. The paper discharge direction is the direction from the rear to the front of the image forming apparatus 10 in FIGS. 1 and 2. Also, the direction from the front to the rear of the image forming apparatus 10 in FIGS. 1 and 2 is defined as the reverse paper discharge direction.

[0023] As shown in FIGS. 5 and 10, the image forming apparatus 10 has a resin holding member 3. The holding member 3 is located at the upper end of the opening / closing cover 12 and holds a paper discharge stopper 53 and a paper discharge stopper biasing member 54. As shown in FIG. 11, the holding member 3 has a cover plate 3E, and the cover plate 3E covers the upper side of the paper discharge stopper biasing member 54. The paper discharge stopper 53 is located at the front end of the upper surface of the first housing 1 as shown in FIG. 2 and is located downstream in the paper discharge direction of the paper discharge tray 52. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the paper discharge stopper 53 has a first surface 53A and a second surface 53B on the back side of the first surface 53A.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 5, the paper discharge stopper 53 is rotatable between a non-use state in which the second surface 53B faces upward and a use state in which the first surface 53A faces upward as shown in FIGS. 6, 7, and 11. As shown in FIG. 8, in the non-use state, the end portion on the tip side of the paper discharge stopper 53 abuts against the upper surface 3C of the holding member 3. In the non-use state, the second surface 53B of the paper discharge stopper 53 forms substantially the same plane as the upper end surface 12C of the opening / closing cover 12. The paper discharge stopper 53 has a plate-shaped stopper body 53G having an upward-facing second surface 53B and a downward-facing first surface 53A in the non-use state. As shown in FIG. 5, the paper discharge stopper 53 has a pair of left and right wall portions 53H extending downward from the stopper body 53G of the paper discharge stopper 53 in the non-use state. The wall portions 53H have a pair of left and right engaging shaft portions 53C protruding outward in the left-right direction (width direction) at the rear end portion of the paper discharge stopper 53 in the use state. The engaging shaft portions 53C are located below the second surface 53B and also below the first surface 53A in the non-use state. By the engagement between the engaging shaft portions 53C and a recessed-shaped engaged portion (not shown) provided in the holding member 3, the paper discharge stopper 53 is made rotatable with respect to the opening / closing cover 12. That is, the paper discharge stopper 53 is rotatable with respect to the opening / closing cover 12 about the engagement portion between the engaging shaft portion 53C and the engaged portion as a rotation axis R. In the following description, in the front-rear direction of the paper discharge stopper 53, the side with the rotation axis R is defined as the base end side, and the opposite side is defined as the tip side.

[0025] As shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, the holding member 3 has a pair of left and right plate spring-like rotation restricting portions 3A. The rotation restricting portion 3A restricts the rotation of the paper discharge stopper 53 in the non-use state with respect to the rotation of the opening / closing cover 12 in the opening direction. The rotation restricting portion 3A extends from the rear to the front at both left and right end portions of the holding member 3, and the tip thereof is swingable vertically by elastic deformation. The rotation restricting portion 3A has a bent tip portion 3B whose tip is bent and extends obliquely upward from the rear to the front. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the paper discharge stopper 53 has a pair of left and right engaging protrusions 53E at the end portion on the base end side. As shown in FIG. 8, the engaging protrusion 53E has an inclined surface 53F that inclines downward from the rear to the front in the non-use state of the paper discharge stopper 53. When the inclined surface 53F abuts against the bent tip portion 3B and the engaging protrusion 53E and the rotation restricting portion 3A are snap-engaged, the rotation of the paper discharge stopper 53 in the non-use state is restricted.

[0026] As shown in FIG. 3, the opening / closing cover 12 has a restricting portion 12B that extends in the left-right direction by the width of the paper discharge stopper 53 at the front end portion of the upper end surface 12C of the opening / closing cover 12. The restricting portion 12B is composed of an inclined surface that inclines downward from the front to the rear. When the second surface 53B of the paper discharge stopper 53 in the use state abuts against the restricting portion 12B in surface contact, the maximum rotation position of the paper discharge stopper 53 is restricted.

[0027] As shown in FIGS. 5 and 10, the paper discharge stopper biasing member 54 has a resin contact member 56 and a biasing member 57 that biases the contact member 56. Both the contact member 56 and the biasing member 57 are provided on the upstream side in the paper discharge direction with respect to the rotation axis R of the paper discharge stopper 53. The biasing member 57 is a compression coil spring that extends horizontally in the paper discharge direction. The front end of the biasing member 57 is fixed to the contact member 56, and the rear end of the biasing member 57 is fixed to the holding member 3. When the paper discharge stopper 53 is in the non-use state, the contact member 56 abuts against the wall 3D of the holding member 3 at the front end, and in that state, the biasing member 57 is compressed. The contact member 56 is held by the holding member 3 and is reciprocable horizontally in the paper discharge direction. The contact member 56 has a contact surface 56A that is orthogonal to the paper discharge direction at the downstream end in the paper discharge direction.

[0028] As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the contact member 56 contacts the discharge stopper 53 in the used state. The discharge stopper 53 has a contacted portion 53D that contacts the contact member 56 in the used state. The contacted portion 53D is located at the center in the width direction orthogonal to the discharge direction of the discharge stopper 53, that is, at the center in the left-right direction of the discharge stopper 53 shown in FIG. 4. The contact surface 56A of the contact member is at a position facing the contacted portion 53D. The stopper main body 53G has a curved portion whose front end is curved downward as shown in FIG. 5 in the non-used state, and the contacted portion 53D is on the inner surface of the curve. The contacted portion 53D is located on the upstream side in the discharge direction from the rotation axis R in the used state of the discharge stopper 53, and is located on the downstream side in the discharge direction from the rotation axis R in the non-used state. The discharge stopper 53 in the used state is rotatable between a first used position where the contacted portion 53D contacts the contact surface 56A and a second used position where the tip of the discharge stopper 53 descends and moves forward from the first used position. This first used position is the position when the contacted portion 53D of the discharge stopper 53 moving from the non-used state to the used state contacts the contact surface 56A. As shown in FIG. 6, the contacted portion 53D of the discharge stopper 53 in the first used position is along the contact surface 56A and contacts the contact surface 56A by surface contact. That is, the contacted portion 53D of the discharge stopper 53 in the first used position is a surface orthogonal to the discharge direction. As shown in FIG. 7, the discharge stopper 53 in the second used position contacts the regulating portion 12B by surface contact with the second surface 53B, and the maximum rotation position is regulated.

[0029] The contacted portion 53D of the discharge stopper 53 in the non-used state is located below the second surface 53B and below the first surface 53A as shown in FIG. 5. Also, the contacted portion 53D is a surface facing downward in the non-used state of the discharge stopper 53. That is, the contacted portion 53D is hidden in the non-used state of the discharge stopper 53. In other words, the contacted portion 53D is covered by the second surface 53B of the stopper main body 53G in the non-used state and is in a position where it is not exposed to the outside.

[0030] <Function and Effect> The operation and effects of the sheet conveyance device 5 and the image forming apparatus 10 having the above configuration will be described below. To change the discharge stopper 53 in the non-use state shown in FIG. 5 to the use state, the user lifts the rear end portion of the discharge stopper 53 in the non-use state. At this time, as shown in FIG. 9, when the rear end portion of the discharge stopper 53 in the non-use state is lifted upward, the rotation restricting portion 3A elastically deforms so that the bent tip portion 3B pressed by the inclined surface 53F moves downward, and the snap engagement between the engagement protrusion 53E and the rotation restricting portion 3A is released. As a result, the discharge stopper 53 becomes rotatable about the rotation axis R. Then, when it rotates until the contact portion 53D contacts the contact surface 56A, the discharge stopper 53 reaches the first use position shown in FIG. 6, the tip of the discharge stopper 53 faces the discharge direction, and the first surface 53A faces upward.

[0031] In this way, the discharge stopper 53 is in a use state in which it can support the sheet S discharged onto the discharge tray 52. In the use state of the discharge stopper 53, even if a sheet S having a length protruding from the discharge tray 52 is discharged onto the discharge tray 52, the downstream end portion of the sheet S in the discharge direction contacts the first surface 53A of the discharge stopper 53. Therefore, even if a sheet S having a length protruding from the discharge tray 52 is discharged onto the discharge tray 52, it is possible to prevent such a sheet S from falling outside the apparatus.

[0032] When the paper discharge stopper 53 at the first use position in the use state supports the sheet S, the tip of the paper discharge stopper 53 tends to descend due to the weight of the sheet S. At this time, since the abutted portion 53D and the abutting surface 56A are in contact, the paper discharge stopper 53 attempts to move the abutting member 56 in the reverse paper discharge direction. If the load due to the paper discharge stopper 53 supporting the sheet S exceeds the restoring force of the biasing member 57, the tip of the paper discharge stopper 53 descends, and the paper discharge stopper 53 moves the abutting member 56 in the reverse paper discharge direction. As a result, the biasing member 57 deflects, and a biasing force is accumulated in the biasing member 57. The biasing member 57 with the accumulated biasing force biases the abutting member 56 in a direction to move the paper discharge stopper with its tip descended from the first use position back toward the first use position. Then, when the tip of the paper discharge stopper 53 supporting a large number of sheets S descends significantly, the second surface 53B abuts against the restricting portion 12B. As a result, the paper discharge stopper 53 reaches the second use position shown in FIG. 7, and the maximum rotation position of the paper discharge stopper 53 is restricted.

[0033] In this way, the tip of the paper discharge stopper 53 in the use state descends according to the weight of the supported sheet S, and repeats a rotation in which the tip moves up and down according to the change in the weight. At this time, the abutting member 56 always abuts against the abutted portion 53D of the paper discharge stopper 53 with the biasing force from the biasing member 57. For this reason, there is a possibility that scratches may occur on the abutted portion 53D of the paper discharge stopper. In this regard, in this sheet conveying device 5 and the image forming apparatus 10, since the abutted portion 53D is hidden when the paper discharge stopper 53 is in the non-use state, the abutted portion 53D where scratches may occur is not easily visible to the user.

[0034] Therefore, it becomes possible to provide the sheet conveying device 5 in which scratches are not easily visible to the user when the paper discharge stopper 53 is in the non-use state. Also, it becomes possible to provide the image forming apparatus 10 including such a sheet conveying device.

[0035] In this image forming apparatus 10, the contact portion 53D is located below the second surface 53B and below the first surface 53A in the non-use state of the paper discharge stopper 53, and is a surface facing downward. Therefore, the contact portion 53D is difficult to be noticed by the eyes of a user standing near the image forming apparatus 10.

[0036] The biasing member 57 in this image forming apparatus 10 is provided on the upstream side in the paper discharge direction from the rotation axis R of the paper discharge stopper 53, and is a compression coil spring extending horizontally in the paper discharge direction. And the contact member 56 is provided on the upstream side in the paper discharge direction from the rotation axis R and reciprocates horizontally in the paper discharge direction. In this case, it is easy to configure the biasing member 57 and the contact member 56 that are difficult to be noticed by the eyes of the user.

[0037] The contact portion 53D in this image forming apparatus 10 is on the upstream side in the paper discharge direction from the rotation axis R in the use state of the paper discharge stopper 53. In this case, it is easy to configure the contact portion 53D that is difficult to be noticed by the eyes of the user.

[0038] The contact member 56 in this image forming apparatus 10 has a contact surface 56A orthogonal to the paper discharge direction at the downstream end in the paper discharge direction, and the contact portion 53D of the paper discharge stopper 53 in the first use position is along the contact surface 56A. In this case, since the contact surface 56A orthogonal to the paper discharge direction that coincides with the biasing direction of the biasing member and the contact portion 53D are in surface contact, the biasing force of the biasing member 57 can be efficiently transmitted to the paper discharge stopper 53.

[0039] The contact portion 53D in this image forming apparatus 10 is located at the center in the width direction orthogonal to the paper discharge direction of the paper discharge stopper 53. In this case, the state of the paper discharge stopper 53 can be held in good balance against the force from the sheet S.

[0040] In this image forming apparatus 10, the opening / closing cover 12 has a regulating portion 12B that regulates the maximum rotation position of the paper discharge stopper 53. In this case, since the regulating portion 12B regulates the maximum rotation position of the paper discharge stopper 53, it is not necessary for the paper discharge stopper 53 to be subjected to the biasing force of the biasing member 57 at the second use position, which contributes to preventing the deterioration of the biasing member 57.

[0041] In this image forming apparatus 10, the opening / closing cover 12 has a holding member 3, and the holding member 3 has a paper discharge stopper 53 and a paper discharge stopper biasing member 54. In this case, in a non-use state of the paper discharge stopper 53, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus 10 provided with a sheet conveying device 5 in which scratches are less likely to come into contact with the user's eyes.

[0042] In this image forming apparatus 10, the opening / closing cover 12 has a holding member 3, and the holding member 3 has a rotation regulating portion 3A that regulates the rotation of the paper discharge stopper 53 in a non-use state with respect to the rotation of the opening / closing cover 12 in the opening direction. In this case, when the opening / closing cover 12 rotates in the opening direction, the rotation regulating portion 3A can regulate the rotation of the paper discharge stopper 53 in a non-use state.

[0043] In the above embodiment, an example in which the sheet conveying device of the present invention is applied to the sheet conveying device 5 provided at the most downstream portion of the conveying path 55 through which the sheet S is conveyed from the image forming portion 14 has been described. However, the sheet conveying device of the present invention can also be applied to the document conveying mechanism 42, the document discharge tray 43, and the document stopper portion 44 in the ADF 4 of this image forming apparatus 10.

[0044] In the above embodiment, the biasing member 57 is a compression coil spring, but it is not limited thereto. That is, the biasing member 57 only needs to be able to bias the contact member 56 in a direction that causes the paper discharge stopper 53 to move from the second use position toward the first use position, and may be a tension coil spring, a leaf spring, or the like.

[0045] In the above embodiment, an example in which the first housing 1 as a component of the image forming apparatus 10 includes the sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention has been described. However, it is also possible to regard the first housing 1 including the paper discharge roller 51, the paper discharge tray 52, etc. as a housing which is a component of the sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention.

[0046] In the above embodiment, an example in which the contact portion 53D faces downward when the paper discharge stopper 53 is in a non-use state has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, even if the contact portion 53D faces upward when the paper discharge stopper 53 is in a non-use state, a member that covers the contact portion 53D may be arranged so as not to be exposed to the outside.

[0047] As described above, the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments. However, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and can be appropriately modified and applied without departing from the spirit thereof.

Industrial Applicability

[0048] The present invention can be used in an image forming apparatus, an image reading apparatus, a multifunction peripheral, or the like.

Explanation of Signs

[0049] 10... Image forming apparatus 51... Paper discharge roller 52... Paper discharge tray 53A... First surface 53B... Second surface 53... Paper discharge stopper 53D... Contact portion 54... Paper discharge stopper biasing member 56... Contact member 56A... Contact surface 57... Biasing member 11A... Opening 12... Opening / closing cover 12B... Regulation portion 3A... Rotation regulation portion S... Sheet R... Rotation axis center

Claims

1. A paper discharge roller that discharges a sheet in the paper discharge direction, A paper discharge tray that supports the sheet discharged by the paper discharge roller, A paper discharge stopper that has a first surface and a second surface on the back side of the first surface, is rotatable between a non-use state in which the second surface faces upward and a use state in which the first surface faces upward, and is located downstream of the paper discharge roller in the paper discharge direction. The paper discharge stopper in the use state is rotatable between a first use position and a second use position where the tip is lower than the first use position, and the paper discharge stopper that contacts the downstream end of the sheet discharged onto the paper discharge tray in the paper discharge direction when in the use state, A paper discharge stopper biasing member having a contact member that contacts the paper discharge stopper in the use state and a biasing member that biases the contact member in a direction to move the paper discharge stopper from the second use position toward the first use position, A cover that covers the upstream end of the contact member in the paper discharge direction, A regulating portion that is in surface contact with the second surface and regulates the maximum rotation position of the paper discharge stopper, The paper discharge stopper has a contacted portion that contacts the contact member in the use state, The contact member has a contact portion that contacts the contacted portion, and the upper end of the contact portion is located below the upper surface of the cover, The contacted portion is located below the second surface in the non-use state. A sheet conveying device characterized by this.

2. The sheet conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the contacted portion is a surface facing downward in the non-use state.

3. The biasing member is a compression coil spring provided upstream of the rotation axis of the paper discharge stopper in the paper discharge direction and extending horizontally in the paper discharge direction, The contact member is provided upstream of the rotation axis of the paper discharge stopper in the paper discharge direction and reciprocates horizontally in the paper discharge direction. The sheet conveying device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The sheet conveying device according to claim 3, wherein the contacted portion is upstream of the rotation axis of the paper discharge stopper in the paper discharge direction in the use state.

5. The contact member has a contact surface orthogonal to the paper discharge direction at the downstream end in the paper discharge direction, The contacted portion of the paper discharge stopper at the first use position is along the contact surface. The sheet conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. The sheet conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the contact portion is located at the center in the width direction orthogonal to the sheet discharging direction of the sheet discharging stopper.

7. An image forming apparatus comprising the sheet conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, an opening accessible inside the apparatus, and an opening / closing cover that opens and closes the opening by rotation. The image forming apparatus is characterized in that the opening / closing cover has the sheet discharging stopper and the sheet discharging stopper biasing member.

8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the opening / closing cover has a rotation restricting portion that restricts rotation of the sheet discharging stopper in the non-use state with respect to rotation of the opening / closing cover in the opening direction.

Images