Sheet discharge apparatus and image forming apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11440764-B2
Application number	US-202117379057-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 19, 2021
Priority date	Jul 30, 2020
Publication date	Sep 13, 2022
Grant date	Sep 13, 2022

Abstract

A sheet discharge apparatus includes a discharge unit configured to discharge a sheet in a discharge direction, a stacking surface configured to stack the sheet discharged by the discharge unit, and a wall including a plurality of hole portions and an abutting part, wherein the plurality of hole portions includes a first hole portion disposed across an extension line along the stacking surface when viewed in a width direction, the first hole portion including a first edge portion and a second edge portion, the first edge portion being positioned on a side of the stacking surface, and wherein, in the vertical direction, an upper end of the first edge portion of the first hole portion is positioned above the extension line, and a lower end of the first edge portion of the first hole portion is positioned below the extension line.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sheet discharge apparatus comprising:
a discharge unit configured to discharge a sheet in a discharge direction;
a stacking surface configured to stack the sheet discharged by the discharge unit; and
a wall comprising a plurality of hole portions and an abutting part against which an upstream edge, in the discharge direction, of the sheet stacked on the stacking surface abuts, the abutting part being disposed upstream of the stacking surface in the discharge direction,
wherein the plurality of hole portions comprises a first hole portion disposed across an extension line along the stacking surface when viewed in a width direction orthogonal to the discharge direction and a vertical direction, the first hole portion comprising a first edge portion and a second edge portion opposite to the first edge portion, the first edge portion being positioned on a side of the stacking surface, and
wherein, in the vertical direction, an upper end of the first edge portion of the first hole portion is positioned above the extension line, and a lower end of the first edge portion of the first hole portion is positioned below the extension line.

2. The sheet discharge apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a gap is disposed between the stacking surface and the wall in the discharge direction.

3. The sheet discharge apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising a receiving portion disposed under the gap.

4. The sheet discharge apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the wall comprises a reference surface extending in the vertical direction, the reference surface being a surface in which the plurality of hole portions are formed, and
wherein the abutting part comprises a rib which is provided on the reference surface, which extends downstream of the reference surface in the discharge direction, and against which the upstream edge of the sheet stacked on the stacking surface abuts.

5. The sheet discharge apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of hole portions comprises the first hole portion and a second hole portion, the second hole portion being disposed below the extension line.

6. The sheet discharge apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of hole portions comprises an upper hole portion disposed above the first hole portion.

7. The sheet discharge apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the stacking surface comprises a groove extending along the discharge direction.

8. The sheet discharge apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of hole portions comprises a plurality of rows of hole portions lined in the vertical direction when viewed in the discharge direction, each of the plurality of rows of hole portions comprising a plurality of holes aligned along the width direction, and
wherein adjacent rows of the plurality of rows of hole portions in the vertical direction are configured to overlap each other in the vertical direction.

9. The sheet discharge apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of hole portions, when viewed in the discharge direction, comprises a first row comprising a plurality of holes lined in the width direction, a second row comprising a plurality of holes lined in the width direction and positioned above the first row, and a third row comprising a plurality of holes lined in the width direction and positioned above the second row, and
wherein the second row is configured to overlap with the first row and the third row in the vertical direction.

10. The sheet discharge apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the abutting part is configured to regulate a movement of the sheet in a case where the sheet stacked on the stacking surface has moved toward the wall.

11. The sheet discharge apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the stacking surface is inclined so as to move the sheet stacked on the stacking surface toward the wall.

12. The sheet discharge apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an apparatus body,
wherein the discharge unit is configured to discharge the sheet from an inside of the apparatus body to an outside of the apparatus body, and
wherein the first edge portion communicates with the outside of the apparatus body, and the second edge portion communicates with the inside of the apparatus body.

13. An image forming apparatus comprising:
a transfer portion configured to transfer a toner image onto a sheet;
a fixing unit configured to fix the toner image transferred by the transfer portion on the sheet; and
the sheet discharge apparatus according to claim 1 configured to discharge the sheet passed through the fixing unit.

14. The image forming apparatus according to claim 13 , further comprising a first heat insulating wall disposed between the fixing unit and the wall in the discharge direction and extending along the vertical direction; and
a second heat insulating wall extending in the discharge direction and disposed between the first heat insulating wall and the wall in the discharge direction,
wherein a passing area is defined by the first heat insulating wall, the second heat insulating wall, and the wall, the passing area being an area through which air flowing toward the plurality of hole portions passes,
wherein the first heat insulating wall comprises a first wall made of metal material and a second wall made of resin material and disposed such that an air layer is formed between the first wall and the second wall, and
wherein the second heat insulating wall is made of resin material.

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Sekiyama Junichi

Classifications

• B65H29/247

  blowing on upperside of the sheet · CPC title

• B65H2301/5144

  Cooling · CPC title

• B65H2301/4212

  of articles substantially horizontal · CPC title

• B65H29/246

  acting on stacking devices · CPC title

• B65H2801/06

  Office-type machines, e.g. photocopiers · CPC title