Flat bed electrostatic photocopier design for customer serviceability

Claim 1

Electrophotographic apparatus comprising, in combination: A. a generally rectangular housing; B. an illuminating station accommodated in the top of said housing, said illuminating station including a transparent bed plate on which an opaque original is placed face down; C. a copy sheet supply positioned adjacent the top of said housing laterally of said illuminating station; D. a charging station for imposing a uniform electrostatic charge on copy paper fed from said copy sheet supply; E. an imaging station including 1. a vertically oriented image plane, disposed in adjacent relation to a side of said housing 2. a vacuum conveyor for transporting successive copy sheets from said charging station downwardly in said image plane, and 3. means pivotally mounting said conveyor adjacent its lower end, 4. a door providing access through an opening in said housing side to permit manually induced outward swinging movement of the upper end portion of said conveyor about said pivotal mounting means through said opening to expose said imaging plane, 1. whereby to facilitate access to copy sheets stranded in said imaging station without dismounting said conveyor; G. a development station positioned below said imaging station adjacent the bottom of said housing to accept copy sheets from said conveyor, said development station including a developer tank slidably mounted on the floor of said housing for convenient partial withdrawal through said opening to facilitate access to copy sheets stranded therein; H. a receiving compartment positioned generally below said illuminating station adajcent the bottom of said housing for accumulating successive copy sheets; I. a drying station extending along the bottom of said housing and including a transport for conveying copy sheets from said development station to said receiving compartment; J. means forming an opening in another side of said housing for convenient access to copy sheets stranded in said drying station; and K. an optical system including 1. at least one lamp positioned below said illuminating station for illuminating an original thereat, and 2. projection optics for projecting the image reflected downwardly from the illuminated original generally horizontally between said copy sheet supply and charging station adjacent the top of said housing and said drying and development stations adjacent the bottom of said housing onto a copy sheet at said imaging station; L. wherein the copy paper feed path from said supply to said receiving compartment is essentially U-shaped and consists of an upper horizontal segment including said copy sheet supply and charging stations, a vertical segment including said imaging station, and a lower horizontal segment including said developing means, said drying station, and said receiving compartment.