Sheet discharging device for accommodating sheets of different widths and image forming apparatus provided with same

摘要

A sheet discharging device includes a sheet discharge roller pair, a sheet discharge tray, a first actuator, a second actuator and a detector. The first actuator includes a first shaft portion and a first contact piece. The second actuator includes a second shaft portion, a second contact piece and a third contact piece. The detector detects the discharge of the sheet by the rotation of the second actuator about the second shaft portion. The leading end of a first sheet comes into contact with the first, second and third contact pieces to rotate the first and second actuators and the detector detects the discharge of the first sheet. The leading end of a second sheet comes into contact with only the third contact piece to rotate the second actuator without rotating the first actuator and the detector detects the discharge of the second sheet smaller than the first sheet.

主权项

1. A sheet discharging device, comprising:
a housing with a sheet discharge port; a sheet discharge roller pair arranged in the sheet discharge port and configured to discharge a sheet in a predetermined discharging direction; a sheet discharge tray configured such that the sheet discharged by the sheet discharge roller pair is stacked thereon; a first actuator provided to face the sheet discharge port, including a first shaft portion extending on one end side in a sheet width direction intersecting with the discharging direction and a first contact piece projecting from the first shaft portion on the one end side in the sheet width direction, and supported in the housing rotatably about the first shaft portion; a second actuator provided to face the sheet discharge port, including a second shaft portion extending on the other end side in the sheet width direction on the same axis as the first shaft portion, a second contact piece projecting from the second shaft portion on the other end side in the sheet width direction and a third contact piece projecting from the second shaft portion on the one end side in the sheet width direction, and supported in the housing rotatably about the second shaft portion; a detector configured to detect the discharge of the sheet by the rotation of the second actuator about the second shaft portion, wherein: the leading end of a first sheet comes into contact with the first, second and third contact pieces to rotate the first and second actuators and the detector detects the discharge of the first sheet when the first sheet having a first sheet width is discharged from the sheet discharge port; and the leading end of a second sheet comes into contact with only the third contact piece to rotate the second actuator without rotating the first actuator and the detector detects the discharge of the second sheet when the second sheet having a second sheet width smaller than the first sheet width is discharged from the sheet discharge port; and the sheet discharging device further comprising a coupling portion that couples the first and second shaft portions and causes the first and second shaft portions to rotate integrally when the first sheet is discharged and allows only the second shaft portion to rotate with the portion of the first shaft portion being stopped when the second sheet is discharged.