JPH10217574A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an inexpensive image forming apparatus in which a user is protected against electric shock and against being caught in a roller by detecting the opening of a cover easily during conduction. SOLUTION: A discharge 78a comprises a first movable part, i.e., a detection lever 212, turnable through any one of a discharged paper or a second movable part, i.e., a lever 213 for detecting opening/closing of a discharge cover, and a section for detecting the turning of the first movable part. When the first movable part is sustained in the ON state even after elapsing a predetermined time, jamming of sheet is detected in the vicinity of a discharge roller and when the second movable part acts on the first movable part, opening of a discharge cover is detected. Consequently, prohibition of image formation due to opening of the discharge cover openable independently from a front cover can be detected by means of a signal sensor, cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a photoreceptor by an electrostatographic process, developing the image with toner, and outputting the image on paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic process, a photoconductive photoconductor is charged to a predetermined potential, and the photoconductor is irradiated with image light to select the potential of the photoconductor. Attenuated to form a latent image. The latent image formed on the photoconductor is converted into a toner image obtained by developing with a toner supplied by a developing device.

A toner image is transferred to a material to be transferred, that is, a recording sheet, is melted by heat provided by a fixing device, and is fixed to the recording sheet by a pressure provided at the same time. The sheet on which the toner image is fixed in this way is discharged from the discharge section to the outside of the apparatus.

In the above-described image forming apparatus, a discharge sensor for detecting a jam (jam) of a sheet in a discharge section is disposed near a discharge roller for discharging a sheet to the outside of the apparatus. In addition, the discharge unit is provided with a discharge cover that is formed to be openable and closable with respect to the apparatus main body so that the paper on which the jam has occurred can be easily removed. In order to prevent the user from inadvertently opening the paper ejection cover, a body switch formed to be openable and closable for toner supply and maintenance, that is, opening a door switch for shutting off power supply to the apparatus, has been opened. It is formed so that it can be opened only in the state.

[0005] However, if the paper output cover is opened after the main body cover is opened, the main body cover can be closed even when the paper output cover is open. Independently of the switch, there is further provided a discharge cover open switch that detects that the discharge cover is open and shuts off the power supply to the apparatus main body.

[0006]

As described above, in the image forming apparatus, the user cannot carelessly open the cover of the apparatus while the apparatus main body is energized, or any one of the covers is opened. In such a case, the power supply to the device is cut off when the power supply is turned off.

[0007] This is because, in relation to each of the covers that can be opened, each cover is opened even if switches for other functions are arranged in close proximity. This requires a switch for detecting an error, which causes a problem of increasing the cost of the apparatus. Also,
There is a problem that the circuit configuration of the device becomes complicated when many switches are used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus which can easily detect that a cover is opened during energization, protects a user from electric shock and entanglement in a roller, and has a low cost.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made based on the above problems, and forms an image on a sheet on which a predetermined image forming process has been completed, and discharges the sheet on which the image has been formed to the outside of the apparatus. In the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus has a discharge sensor for detecting the presence or absence of discharged paper and a discharge cover that can be opened and closed from the apparatus main body, and the discharge sensor is formed so as to be able to detect that the discharge cover is opened. An image forming apparatus is provided.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet on which a predetermined image forming process has been completed, and discharging the sheet on which the image has been formed to the outside of the apparatus. It has a discharge cover that can be opened and closed from the apparatus main body, and a front cover that includes a stopper member that prohibits the discharge cover from being opened alone. The discharge sensor can detect that the discharge cover has been opened. An image forming apparatus characterized by being formed is provided.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an image reading means for reading an image of a document, a latent image formed on the basis of the image information read by the reading means, and a toner image obtained by developing with toner is recorded on a recording sheet. An image forming means for fixing and discharging to the outside of the apparatus; a discharge cover formed to be openable and closable with respect to the image forming means; and a front cover including a stopper member for preventing the discharge cover from being opened alone. A first movable part for detecting the presence or absence of the recording sheet, and a second movable part for detecting that the discharge cover has been opened from the image forming means. The first movable portion detects that the discharge cover has been opened, and detects the jam of the recording paper discharged by the image forming means by the first movable portion. There is provided an image forming apparatus characterized by comprising detection means for, the.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus, that is, the laser beam type digital copying apparatus 2
An image forming unit for copying information corresponding to an image of a document onto recording paper, that is, a copying machine main body 4, and a document D to be copied on a platen to be described later,
It comprises an automatic document feeder 6 for feeding each sheet.

The copying apparatus main body 4 includes a document reading section 4a for reading image information of the document D and an image forming section 4b for forming an image based on image data read by the document reading section 4a or image data supplied from the outside. It is divided into and.

An original D to be copied, that is, an original table 10 for holding the original D, is located at an upper portion of the main body 4 of the copying apparatus and at a position facing an after-mentioned transport belt of the automatic original feeder 6. Is arranged.

At one end of the document table 10, when setting the document D, the position of the leading edge to be set is indicated.
When a document is conveyed by the automatic document feeder 6,
A document indicating plate 12 for stopping the leading edge of the document is provided.

A first carriage 1 is disposed below the document table 10 so as to be movable substantially in parallel along the document table 10 and takes out information described on the document D as light and dark.
4. Following the first carriage 14, the first carriage 14
A second carriage 16 for guiding information extracted by the above to a CCD sensor described later is arranged.

The first carriage 14 has a lamp for illuminating the document D set on the document table 10, and guides the reflected light from the document D illuminated by the lamp to the second carriage 16.

The second carriage 16 has a plurality of mirrors, and applies the reflected light from the original D obtained by the first carriage 14 to an image forming lens 18 which gives a converging property to the reflected light from the original D. The light is made incident and guided to a CCD sensor 20 arranged at a stage subsequent to the imaging lens 18.

The image forming section 4b includes a drum-shaped photosensitive member as an image carrier, that is, a photosensitive drum 50, which is disposed substantially at the center of the copying machine main body 4. Photoconductor drum 5
0, a charging device 52 as charging means for charging the photosensitive drum 50 to a predetermined surface potential, and a toner (not shown) formed on an electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 50 via a laser exposure device described later. Developing device 54 as a developing means for developing a latent image by supplying
A cleaning device 56 for removing the remaining toner and removing the electric charge remaining on the photosensitive drum 50 is arranged in order along the direction in which the photosensitive drum 50 is rotated.

In the vicinity of the photosensitive drum 50 and upstream of the developing device 54 in the direction in which the photosensitive drum 50 is rotated, the photosensitive drum 50 charged to a predetermined potential by the charging device 52 is provided. On the other hand, an exposure position 58a to which a laser beam from a laser exposure device 58 for exposing a latent image corresponding to image data is irradiated is defined.

The developing device 54 and the cleaning device 5
A transfer device 55 for transferring a latent image, that is, a toner image, on the photosensitive drum 50 developed by the developing device 54 to a transfer material supplied from a cassette described later, for example, a copy sheet P, is disposed between the transfer device 55 and the transfer device 6. I have.

On the right side of the image forming section 4b, the image forming section 4
a cassette 62a into which a paper cassette 62a for accommodating paper P for holding the image formed by b is inserted;
A bypass tray 62b formed integrally with the cassette 62a is disposed above the cassette 62a. Also,
Below the cassette 62a, for example, a large-capacity cassette 62c capable of storing 2000 sheets of paper P is arranged.

The cassette 62a and the large capacity cassette 6
The paper P supplied from the cassette 62a or the large capacity cassette 62c is
Upper feed roller 64a for guiding the photosensitive drum 50 toward the photosensitive drum 50
And a lower feed roller 64b and a lower feed guide 6 that guide the paper P supplied from the large capacity cassette 62c toward the photosensitive drum 50.
6b are respectively arranged. The bypass tray 62b is provided with a bypass feed roller 68 for guiding the paper P placed on the tray 62b to the upper paper feed roller 64a.

Between the paper feed guides 66a and 66b and the photosensitive drum 50, the inclination of the sheet P is corrected by temporarily stopping the sheet P fed from the cassette 62a or from the bypass tray 62b or the large capacity cassette 62c. At the same time, an aligning roller 70 that is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 50 and aligns the leading end position of the paper P with the image, that is, the toner image that is conveyed toward the transfer roller 60 with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 50 is arranged. I have. Note that, upstream of the aligning roller 70, the paper P
Sensor 70a for detecting that the sheet has been conveyed
Is arranged.

The transfer device 55 is located on the left side of the image forming section 4b.
And a fixing device 72 for fixing the toner image to the sheet on which the toner image has been transferred from the photosensitive drum 50, and the fixing device 72 is disposed between the fixing device 72 and the transfer device 55 to direct the sheet on which the toner image has been transferred to the fixing device 72. And a branch gate 76 for guiding the sheet on which the toner image has been fixed by the fixing device 72 to the outside of the copying apparatus main body 4 or to a sheet reversing section to be described later. A discharge roller 78 for sending paper guided outside to the outside of the copying apparatus main body 4 and a tray 80 for holding the discharged paper are arranged.

In the vicinity of the discharge roller 78, there is disposed a discharge sensor 78a for detecting the passage of the sheet sent from the copying machine main body 4 to the outside. Note that the discharge sensor 78a
Is integrated with a discharge cover arranged on the left side surface of the apparatus main body 4 as will be described later in detail with reference to FIG.

A branch gate 7 is provided below the image forming section 4b.
6, a sheet reversing unit 9 for reversing the front and back of the sheet P branched, and guiding the sheet P to the aligning roller 70 again.
0 is arranged.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the appearance of the vicinity of the paper discharge unit, that is, the discharge roller 78 of the image forming apparatus 2 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, an outer peripheral portion of the apparatus main body 4 of the image forming apparatus 2 includes an upper cover 32 covering the periphery of the document table 10, a front cover 34 covering the front surface of the apparatus main body 4,
Left cover 36 covering left side surface of apparatus body 4, left cover 36
Independently of the discharge portion of the apparatus main body 4, that is, the discharge roller 78
A discharge cover 38 which forms a discharge port when paper is discharged through the printer, and a right cover and a rear cover (not shown) shaded in FIG. 2 prevent a user from putting his / her hand inside the apparatus. Covered.

As described below with reference to FIG. 3, the discharge cover 38 is formed so as to be rotatable about an end 38a near the rear cover as a fulcrum. In addition, the discharge cover 38
The end 38b on the front cover 34 side is the front cover 3
A step portion 38c is formed so as to enter the inside of No. 4. When the front cover 34 is closed, the step 38 c is given a size that makes contact with the inner wall of the front cover 34, and the discharge cover 38 is opened independently without opening the front cover 34. Can be prevented.

As shown in FIG. 3, the front cover 34 is disposed at a predetermined position of the apparatus main body 4 and detects whether the front cover 34 is opened.
A rod 34a for notifying the opening / non-opening of the front cover 34 with respect to 0 is provided. When the front cover 34 is rotated and opened using the fulcrum 34b as a fulcrum, the door switch 40 Announce opening.
That is, the rod 34a is detached from the door switch 40 when the front cover 34 is opened, so that the door switch 40 can detect the opening of the front cover 34.

FIG. 4 shows the discharge cover 38 shown in FIG.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a discharge sensor 78a illustrated in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 4, a discharge roller 78 and a discharge sensor 78a are integrally arranged on a discharge cover 38 which is rotatable around an end 38a near the rear cover (not shown) of the apparatus main body 4 as a fulcrum. ing.

More specifically, the discharge roller 78 includes a single roller 202 fixed at a predetermined position on the shaft 201, a pinch roller 203 forming a pair with the single roller 202, and a drive gear 204 disposed at the rear end of the shaft 201. And is rotatably supported at a predetermined position on the discharge cover 38 by a bearing (not shown) or the like.

The ejection sensor 78a has a sensor body 211, a detection lever 212, and an ejection cover open / close detection lever 213 as described below with reference to FIG. 5A. When the detection lever 212 is displaced to the state shown in FIG. 5B by the sheet, the detection point 211a is blocked, and the sheet jam is detected. When the discharge cover 38 is opened, the cover 38
The discharge cover opening / closing detection lever 213 is released from contact with the reference point 42 of the apparatus main body 4 by the rotation operation of, and the detection lever 212 is pushed up by the discharge cover opening / closing detection lever 213 so that the detection point 211a is blocked. The sensor 78a is operated.

That is, only by the discharge sensor 78a,
The jam near the discharge roller 78 and the opening of the discharge cover 38 can be detected. FIG. 6 schematically shows a control section for controlling each section of the copying apparatus shown in FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 100
A CPU (central processing unit) 110 as a main control unit is included. The CPU 110 includes an operation panel (not shown) and a number of mechanisms or circuits constituting the copying apparatus main body 4, for example, a main motor (not shown) for rotating the photosensitive drum 50, and first and second carriages 14 and 16 for movement. When a developing motor for rotating the developing roller of the developing device and a scanning motor (not shown) are arranged independently of the main motor, a motor drive circuit 112 for rotating various motors including the developing motor and the like, a charging device A high voltage generation circuit 114 for supplying a charging voltage to the transfer device 52; a transfer voltage generation circuit 116 for providing a transfer voltage to the transfer device 55;
An input circuit 118 or the like for notifying 110 is connected.

The CPU 110 also includes an imaging lens 18
Is connected to a lens motor control circuit 122 for controlling a lens motor (not shown) for moving the lens motor to a position corresponding to the input copying magnification.

The CPU 110 is further provided with a memory unit 130 for storing predetermined initial data, adjustment data set when the apparatus body 4 is assembled, variable data input from an operation panel (not shown), and the like. Is connected.

The memory unit 130 is a read-only memory (RO) in which predetermined numerical data or control data for operating the apparatus 2 is stored.
M) 132, a random access memory (RAM) 134 that stores copy condition data input from an operation panel (not shown) and an image of a document photoelectrically converted by the CCD sensor 20, that is, image data, and the device 2 It includes a nonvolatile memory (NVM) 136 in which adjustment data input at the time of assembling, for example, a reference voltage for lighting an illumination lamp and the like are stored.

Next, the features of the operation of the digital copying apparatus 2 of the present invention will be described. In the copying apparatus 2 shown in FIG. 1, an original D set at a predetermined position on an original
Is brought into close contact with the document table 10 by the automatic document feeder 6.

The image of the document closely attached to the document table 10 is reflected by the first mirror of the first carriage 14 as reflected light generated by being illuminated by the illumination lamp and the reflector.
The second carriage 16 is guided to the CCD sensor 20 by the second and third mirrors and the imaging lens 18. Before an instruction to start copying or reading is given by an operation panel (not shown), the imaging lens 18 is placed at a predetermined position corresponding to the input copying magnification.
Be moved.

The reflected light from the document D guided to the CCD sensor 20, ie, the image information, is photoelectrically converted at a predetermined timing, and is temporarily stored in the RAM 134 of the memory unit 130.

Next, the intensity of the photosensitive drum 50 charged to a predetermined potential by the charging device 52 energized by the high voltage generating circuit 114 is modulated in accordance with the image data stored in the RAM 134. An electrostatic latent image is formed by the laser beam from the laser exposure device 58.

The electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 50 is developed as a toner image by a toner supplied via a developing device 54, and then transferred to a sheet P by a transfer device 55.

The sheet on which the toner image has been transferred is transported by the transport device 7.
4, the toner image, that is, the toner is fixed by the heat provided from the fixing device 72, and then guided to the sheet reversing unit 90 or the outside of the device 2.

The photosensitive drum 50 that has delivered the toner image to the sheet is cleaned by the cleaning device 56 to remove the charge and toner remaining on the surface, and is subsequently used for the next image formation.

When the number of copies is two or more, or when the next original is supplied, the above series of copying operations is repeated. FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of the digital copying apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, particularly a display of a warning message for jam detection and opening of a door (front) cover, and a control for preventing danger to the user. .

When a document D is set at a predetermined position (or an automatic document feeder) on the document table 10 and a print key on an operation panel (not shown) is turned on, the door switch 40 by the front cover 34 is turned on, that is, the door switch is turned on. 40 detects that the front cover 34 is closed (S1).

In step S1, the door switch 40
Is off (S1-No), the output of the discharge sensor 78a is detected and the discharge sensor 78a is on
If (S11-Yes), the opening of the front cover 34 is opened, and if the ejection sensor 78a is off (S11-No), the opening of the ejection cover 38 and the opening of the front cover 34 are notified, and the corresponding covers are closed. Is displayed on the display of the operation panel (not shown) (S12, S13).

In step S1, the door switch 40
Is on (S1-Yes), the output of the discharge sensor 78a is detected and the discharge sensor 78a is off
At (S2-No), a message notifying that the discharge cover 38 has been opened and urging the user to close the discharge cover is displayed on the display unit of the operation panel (not shown) (S21).

In step S2, the discharge sensor 78a
Is on (S2-Yes), the illumination lamp is turned on, and the first carriage and the second carriage
0, and is moved at a speed corresponding to the copy magnification.
Image information of the document D, which is divided into regions of a predetermined width in a line according to the moving speed of the carriage, is sequentially transmitted to the CCD sensor 20 as light / dark information of light, and is stored in the image memory via the line memory. Is done. In this case, by moving the first carriage by a distance corresponding to the size of the document D, all the image information of the document D is taken into the image memory. When the automatic document feeder is used, it goes without saying that the first document D is transported to a predetermined position on the document table 10 before the illumination lamp is turned on.

Subsequently, the laser light intensity-modulated according to the image information stored in the image memory is applied to the laser exposure position 5.
In 3a, the photosensitive drum 50 charged to a predetermined potential in advance by the charging device 52 from the laser exposure device 53 is irradiated from the laser exposure device 53,
An electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image information of the document D is formed on the photosensitive drum 50. This electrostatic latent image is converted into a toner image by the toner supplied from the developing device 54 and is transferred to the transfer device 5.
5 is transferred to the sheet P. Hereinafter, the toner image transferred to the sheet P is fixed on the sheet by the fixing device 72, and is discharged to the outside of the device by the discharge roller 78. If the aligning sensor 70a does not turn on after a predetermined time has elapsed after the print key (not shown) is turned on, that is, paper sent from one of the cassette 62a, the outline cassette 62c, and the manual feeder 62b may be removed for some reason. When the toner is not conveyed to the lining roller 70, or when the electrostatic latent image converted into a toner image by the developing device with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 50, that is, the toner image on the photosensitive drum 50 moves, the aligning roller 70 When the sheet P sent out by the controller does not reach the discharge sensor 78a after a predetermined time has elapsed,
a or the outline cassette 62c or the manual feeder 6
2b is transferred from either one of the aligning rollers 70
When the discharging sensor 78a is not turned on even though the aligning roller 70 is rotated again to transfer the paper P and the toner image on the photosensitive drum 50 stopped at
In (S3-No), a paper jam in the apparatus main body 4 is detected, and a message urging inspection of the inside of the apparatus main body 4 and removal of the paper P is displayed on a display section of an operation panel (not shown) (S22).

In step S3, if the discharge sensor 78a is turned on after a predetermined time has elapsed (S3-Yes),
Subsequently, a counter corresponding to the length of the paper P is set by the CPU 110, and a discharge timer for detecting whether or not the paper P has been discharged is operated (S4).

In step S4, if the discharge sensor 78a is turned off before the counting by the discharge timer set based on the length of the paper P is completed, it is detected that the paper P has been discharged normally. (S5).

On the other hand, in step S4, if the discharge sensor 78a is not turned off even after the count by the discharge timer is completed, a paper jam in the discharge section is detected, and a message urging inspection of the inside of the apparatus main body 4 and removal of the paper P is displayed. Displayed on the display of the operation panel (not shown) (S2
3).

If it is detected in step S5 that the paper on which the toner image has been transferred is detected, the presence or absence of the next image formation, that is, the presence or absence of the remaining paper P being conveyed is detected (S5).
6) If the sheet P does not exist (S6-No), the image formation is terminated, and if the sheet P exists (S6-Yes).
, Steps S1 to S5 are repeated.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to detect the paper jam in the discharge unit and the opening of the discharge cover by the discharge sensor that detects the paper jam near the discharge unit.

[0057]

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to detect the paper jam in the discharge unit and the opening of the discharge cover by the discharge sensor that detects the paper jam near the discharge unit.

Accordingly, the inhibition of image formation due to the opening of the discharge cover that can be opened independently of the front cover can be detected by one sensor, so that an image forming apparatus with low cost can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an image forming apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an appearance and a cover of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an open state of a front cover shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a relationship between a discharge cover and a discharge roller illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a front view showing an example of the structure and operation of a discharge sensor incorporated in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically showing a control unit of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 shows the operation of the image forming apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 6,
Particularly, a flowchart showing an example of display of a warning message regarding jam detection and opening of a front cover, and control for preventing danger of a user.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference numeral 2 denotes a copying apparatus (image forming apparatus), 4 denotes a copying apparatus main body, 4a denotes a document reading unit, 4b denotes an image forming unit, 6 denotes an automatic document feeder, 10 denotes a document table, 12 denotes a document indicating plate, and 14 denotes a first. Carriage 16 second carriage 18 imaging lens 20 CCD sensor 32 upper cover 34 front cover 34 a rod 34 b fulcrum 36 left cover 38 discharge cover 38 a fulcrum 38b front end portion 38c step portion 40 door switch 42 CCD sensor 50 photoreceptor drum 62a cassette 62b bypass tray 62c large capacity cassette 70 aligning roller 70a Aligning sensor 72 Fixing device 78 Discharge roller 78a Discharge sensor 100 Control unit 110 PU, 112: motor drive circuit, 114: high voltage generation circuit, 116: transfer voltage generation circuit, 118: input circuit, 132: ROM, 134: RAM, 201: shaft, 202: single roller, 203: pinch roller, 204 .., Drive gear, 211, sensor body, 211 a, detection point, 212, detection lever, 213, discharge cover open / close detection lever, D, document.

Claims (9)

[Claims] An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet and discharging the sheet on which the image has been formed to an outside of the apparatus has a discharge sensor for detecting the presence or absence of a discharged sheet and a discharge cover which can be opened and closed from the apparatus main body. The image forming apparatus is characterized in that the discharge sensor is formed so as to detect that the discharge cover has been opened. 2. An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet and discharging the sheet on which the image has been formed to an outside of the apparatus. A front cover including a stopper member for prohibiting the cover from being opened alone, wherein the discharge sensor is formed so as to be able to detect that the discharge cover has been opened. apparatus. 3. The discharge sensor has a first movable part for detecting the presence or absence of the discharged paper, and a second movable part for detecting that the discharge cover is opened from the apparatus main body. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the second movable portion of the discharge sensor acts on the first movable portion to notify that the discharge cover has been opened. . 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first movable portion of the discharge sensor is formed so as to be rotatable by a second movable portion and by a discharge sheet. . 6. An image reading means for reading an image of a document, and a latent image is formed based on image information read by the reading means, and a toner image obtained by developing with toner is fixed on recording paper. An image forming means for discharging to the outside of the apparatus; a discharge cover formed to be openable and closable with respect to the image forming means; a jam of the recording paper discharged by the image forming means; and a notification that the discharge cover has been opened. An image forming apparatus comprising: a detection unit configured to detect the image. 7. The detecting means has a first movable part for detecting the recording paper and a second movable part for detecting that the discharge cover is released from the image forming means. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the second movable portion acts on the first movable portion to notify that the discharge cover has been opened. 8. An image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said first movable portion of said detection means is formed so as to be rotatable by a second movable portion and by a recording sheet. 9. An image reading means for reading an image of a document, and a latent image is formed based on the image information read by the reading means, and a toner image obtained by developing with toner is fixed on a recording sheet. An image forming unit that discharges to the outside of the apparatus, a discharge cover that is formed to be openable and closable with respect to the image forming unit, a front cover that includes a stopper member that prohibits the discharge cover from being opened alone, A first movable part for detecting the presence or absence of a sheet and a second movable part for detecting that the discharge cover is released from the image forming means, wherein the first movable part is provided by the second movable part. Detecting means for detecting that the discharge cover has been opened, and detecting a jam of the recording paper discharged by the image forming means by the first movable part, An image forming apparatus comprising: