Image forming apparatus configured to accommodate roll media and cut media and feed tray therefor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12162267-B2
Application number	US-202318369344-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 18, 2023
Priority date	Dec 29, 2020
Publication date	Dec 10, 2024
Grant date	Dec 10, 2024

Abstract

An image forming apparatus includes a housing, a feeding tray inserted into and pulled out from the housing, an image forming unit, and first and second guide members. The feeding tray includes a first accommodation part in which a roll body having a configuration where a sheet-shaped medium is rolled in a roll shape is accommodated and a second accommodation part in which stacked sheet-shaped media are accommodated. The first guide member guides a sheet-shaped medium to a conveying path. The second guide member guides a roll medium unrolled from the roll body to the conveying path. The second guide member is movable between a guide position for guiding the roll medium to the conveying path, and a retreat position further distant from the first guide member than the guide position and where the second guide member does not interfere with a sheet-shaped medium accommodated in the second accommodation part.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
a housing in which a conveying path is formed;
a feeding tray capable of being inserted into and pulled out from the housing, and including a first accommodation part in which a roll body having a configuration where a sheet-shaped medium is rolled in a roll shape is accommodated;
an image forming unit configured to form an image on a sheet-shaped medium provided in the conveying path;
a feed roller configured to feed a sheet-shaped medium from the feeding tray toward the conveying path;
a first guide member configured to guide a sheet-shaped medium to the conveying path; and
a second guide member configured to guide a roll medium, which is a sheet-shaped medium unrolled from the roll body, to the conveying path,
wherein the feeding tray has the first guide member and the second guide member is located on an opposite side to the first guide member, the roll medium being interposed between the first guide member and the second guide member,
wherein the second guide member is further configured to be movable, and
wherein the second guide member extends downstream of the feed roller in a conveying direction of the sheet-shaped medium toward the conveying path.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the second guide member is supported on the housing.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the second guide member is configured to be movable between a first position where the second guide member guides the roll medium to the conveying path, and a second position that is more distant from the first guide member than the first position.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 ,
wherein the second guide member being in the second position does not interfere with the feeding tray while the feeding tray is inserted into and pulled out from the housing.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a feeding tray including a second accommodation part in which a plurality of sheet-shaped media are accommodated in a state of being stacked,
wherein in a state that the second guide member is in the first position, at least a part of the second guide member is arranged in an accommodation area where a sheet-shaped medium enables to be accommodated in the second accommodation part, and
wherein in a state that the second guide member is in the second position, an entirety of the second guide member is arranged outside the accommodation area.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5 ,
wherein the second guide member being in the second position is arranged above a highest position of the stacked sheet-shaped media in which a maximum number of the sheet-shaped media are accommodated in the second accommodation part.

7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 , further comprising:
a swing arm configured to support the feed roller to be rotatable;
a swing shaft configured to support the swing arm to be swingable; and
a retreat mechanism configured to move the feed roller and the swing arm to a position where the feed roller and the swing arm do not interfere with the feeding tray, when the feeding tray is inserted into and pulled out from the housing,
wherein the second guide member is configured to be movable to the second position in conjunction with insertion and pullout of the feeding tray with respect to the housing, and
wherein the second guide member is configured to be movable to the second position in conjunction with a movement of the swing arm.

8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7 ,
wherein one of the swing arm and the second guide member is provided with a convex portion extending in a direction orthogonal to an insertion/pullout direction of the feeding tray,
the other of the swing arm and the second guide member has a long hole portion formed along a direction orthogonal to an extension direction of the convex portion, the convex portion being inserted in the long hole portion, and
the convex portion moves along the long hole portion when the feeding tray is inserted into and pulled out from the housing, such that the second guide member is movable in conjunction with the movement of the swing arm.

9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8 ,
wherein the second guide member has a rotary shaft at one end portion on a downstream side in a conveying direction along the conveying path,
the second guide member is configured to be movable between the first position and the second position by rotating about the rotary shaft,
the feed roller is arranged below the rotary shaft and the swing shaft and between the rotary shaft and the swing shaft in the insertion/pullout direction, in a state that the second guide member is in the first position, and
the convex portion and the long hole portion are formed to have a shape that a force in either a first direction from a contact place of the convex portion and the long hole portion toward a center of the swing shaft or a second direction from the contact place toward a lower of the center of the swing shaft acts on the swing arm when the second guide member rotates from the first position toward the second position due to contact with the roll medium during feeding of the roll medium by the feed roller.

10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9 ,
wherein the second direction is either a horizontal direction or a direction facing upward relative to the horizontal direction.

11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9 ,
wherein the contact place is formed to have a shape that the force in the first direction acts on the swing arm when the second guide member rotates from the first position toward the second position due to the contact with the roll medium during feeding of the roll medium by the feed roller.

12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8 ,
wherein the swing arm is provided with the convex portion, and
the second guide member is provided with the long hole portion.

13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7 ,
wherein the second guide member is arranged on each of both sides more outside than the swing arm in a direction orthogonal to the insertion/pullout direction of the feeding tray.

14. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 ,
wherein the second guide member is bent in a direction from the first position toward the second position.

15. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the feeding tray includes a second accommodation part in which a plurality of sheet-shaped media are accommodated in a stacked state, and
the second guide member being in the second position does not interfere with a sheet-shaped medium accommodated in the second accommodation part.

16. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the conveying path between the first guide member and the second guide member when the second guide member is in the first position becomes narrower toward a downstream side in a conveying direction of a sheet-shaped medium.

17. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of second guide members,
wherein the second guide members are arranged on both sides of the feed roller.

18. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a pair of rollers are provided at an upstream side in a conveying direction of a sheet-shaped medium in the image forming unit, a cutter mechanism is arranged in a position on a further upstream side than the pair of rol

Assignees

• Brother Ind Ltd

Inventors

• Yamaguchi Masatomo
• Miyase Satoshi
• Tatematsu Yuya
• Yoshimune Hideaki
• Kanazawa Gakuro

Classifications

• B41J15/18

  Multiple web-feeding apparatus · CPC title

• B41J15/22

  for feeding webs in separate paths during printing · CPC title

• B41J15/20

  for webs superimposed during printing · CPC title

• B65H2405/10

  Cassettes, holders, bins, decks, trays, supports or magazines for sheets stacked substantially horizontally · CPC title

• G03G15/65

  Apparatus which relate to the handling of copy material (handling sheets or webs in general B65H; for photographic purposes in general G03B) · CPC title