Electrophotography – Having particular structure – Modular or displaceable
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-26
2001-10-23
Chen, Sophia S. (Department: 2852)
Electrophotography
Having particular structure
Modular or displaceable
C399S391000, C399S405000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06308027
ABSTRACT:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This document claims priority from and contains subject matter related to Japanese patent application numbers
11-177,692, 11-229,713,
and
2000-173,374
, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and particularly to the image forming apparatus with a sheet carrier unit and a sheet supply tray.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional image forming apparatus, an image forming device in a main body forms images on a recording sheet and the sheet is conveyed from an image transferring point to a tray or a sorter by a sheet carrying mechanism.
Now referring to FIG.
1
(
a
), a conventional image forming apparatus is described.
An image forming device
10
generally includes a sheet supply tray
6
on a main body of the image forming apparatus
1
. A sorter
2
is individually placed adjacent to the image forming apparatus
1
.
In this type of the image forming apparatus, a paper chute of the sorter
2
is installed such that a route of the sheet conveying in the sorter
2
becomes the same route as that of the image forming device
10
. Therefore, the paper chute of the sorter
2
is located on the same position as a paper chute of the image forming apparatus
1
.
Recently, the demand for a small-footprint of the whole image forming apparatus is increasing. One of the conventional techniques to meet this demand is described in FIG.
1
(
b
) wherein a sorter
2
is arranged on an upper part of the image forming apparatus
1
.
In Japanese Laid Open patent application 10-115,959, another copying device is described. The copying device is constituted of the image forming device main body, an image reader, the carrying device for feeding the paper and a relay carrying unit, where the image forming device main body is attachable to one side surface of the carrying device for feeding the paper by a fixing means such as a screw. The image forming device main body is mainly provided with a developing device, a photoreceptor, a transfer belt, a cleaning device, an electrifying roller, and optical device and a fixing device
27
′ and an ejecting tray
5
′ is provided projectingly outside the side surface on a side where the optical device
26
′ is provided as shown in Figure.
Further, the relay carrying unit
6
′ is provided with a carrying path
61
′ in a connected state to an ejecting part, in the carrying device for feeding the paper
4
′ and further, a manual paper feeding part
62
′ below the carrying path
61
′. The carrying path
61
′ of the relay carrying unit
6
′ is provided to connect to the carrying path
28
′ of a paper entrance part in the image forming device main body
2
′, in a nearly vertical direction.
On the other hand, there is a cartridge type image forming apparatus wherein detachable devices are put on and off the main body of the image forming apparatus.
And then, in Japanese Laid Open patent
03-275,376,
unity image forming devices are laminated and are covered by the outer frame body.
However, the sheet processing station of each of the above conventional image forming apparatus is not common for different types of image forming apparatuses. That is, the sheet processing station can not be exchanged with different types of the image forming apparatus.
The image forming apparatus described in Japanese Laid Open patent
10-115,959
is capable of being a common paper supply tray and a paper feeding tray. But, this apparatus has not a sorter. If the sorter is connected to the apparatus, a footprint of the whole image forming apparatus becomes large.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has aspects to overcome the above problems encountered in the aforementioned art.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, an image forming apparatus, has a common sheet processing station with a sheet supply unit; and at least one image forming unit which is detachably arranged with the common sheet processing station, for forming images on a sheet carried from the common sheet processing station via the sheet carrying path.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the common sheet processing station has a sheet supply unit which stocks recording sheets, a sheet ejecting tray and a sheet carrying path which carries the sheet from the sheet supply unit to the sheet ejecting tray.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the common sheet processing station further has at least a sheet supply unit, a sheet sorter and a sheet ejecting tray.
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patent: 5881340 (1999-03-01), Stickney et al.
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Obu Makoto
Uda Shigeharu
Chen Sophia S.
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
Ricoh & Company, Ltd.
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