JPH0441359A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (A) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, and more particularly to a feeding apparatus that feeds a sheet material on which an image is formed.

(B) Conventional technology Recent image forming apparatuses such as copying machines have been developed in order to reduce the area required for installation and to make it easier for the user to replenish sheet materials. The so-called front-loading type, in which sheet material storage cassettes can be taken in and out from the front side of the machine, is on the rise.

In this front-loading type image forming apparatus, a paper feed cassette containing sheet material is inserted from the front side of the apparatus, the sheet material is fed out to the right side of the apparatus, and then turned in a U-turn to form an image in the image forming section. Afterwards, the sheet material is discharged onto a paper discharge tray on the left side of the apparatus. In the case of such a device, there are no restrictions on the right side or rear side of the device, and the main body of the device can be installed close to the wall of the room, saving space in the area occupied by the device. ing.

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, it is possible to easily use sheet materials as transfer materials that are not commonly used, such as second original drawings, OHP film sheets, colored paper, or sheets of different sizes. In order to do this, most normal image forming apparatuses are equipped with a temporary manual paper feeding mechanism.

Some of these manual paper feed mechanisms have so-called multi-sheet feed mechanisms that load multiple sheets at once and feed the sheets one by one, rather than manually feeding one sheet at a time. Some are equipped with a manual feed mechanism. This manual feed mechanism is configured to feed sheet materials from the right side of the device to the left side, and uses the right side of the device as a functional surface, which prevents the right side of the device from being pressed against a wall, etc. This is an impediment to reducing the area occupied by the device.

Therefore, image forming apparatuses have been proposed in which paper can be manually fed from the front side of the apparatus, and these image forming apparatuses are classified into the following two types.

■Mechanism for re-feeding sheet materials from the normal intermediate tray section after inserting the sheet material into the device from the front side, transporting it, and storing it in the so-called intermediate tray section provided for double-sided or multiple image forming devices. A device that feeds sheet materials for image formation using

In the case of this image forming apparatus, it is difficult to store a plurality of sheet materials in the intermediate tray, or the feeding relationship including the intermediate tray section becomes complicated.

■Without installing a special intermediate tray like ■ above, 1
This system provides a feeding path for only one sheet of material, and the sheet is once fed from the front side of the material device toward the back to a predetermined position, and then fed in the opposite direction by 90 degrees. A pair of feeding rollers are provided to feed the sheet material in two directions within one feeding path.

In the case of this image forming apparatus, the feeding roller group that performs feeding in each direction is set so that the feeding rollers are driven alternately.
Not only N-OFF, but also sheet material entering the feeding path.
In order to make the separation possible, measures such as moving the guide plate that guides the sheet material are also required, making the device complicated.

Therefore, the present invention provides a first conveying means for feeding a sheet material in a first direction, and a second conveying means for feeding the sheet material fed by the first conveying means in a second direction. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus in which a sheet material feeding means is disposed between the sheet material feeding means and the feeding direction of the sheet material can be changed from a first direction to a second direction. .

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances. For example, referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the sheet material (P) is (A), a first conveying means (8) for transporting the first
a second conveyance means (36) for conveying the sheet material (P) conveyed by the conveyance means (8) in a second direction (C);
In the image forming apparatus (1), the sheet material feeding means (4), which is inclined at the same angle with respect to the first direction (A) and the second direction (C), is connected to the first conveying means. (8) and the second conveyance means (36).The sheet material conveyance means (4) is arranged between a pair of guide plates ( 12, 13).

Further, the first direction (A) is the image forming apparatus (1).
The second direction (C) is the direction in which the sheet material (P) is manually fed, and the second direction (C) is the direction of the image forming process in the image forming apparatus (1).

(E) Effect Based on the above configuration, when the sheet material (P) is inserted from the direction of the arrow (A), the sheet material (P) is transported by the first conveying means (8).
P) are fed in the same direction, and further sheet material feeding means (4
), the traveling direction is changed by the second transport means (36
) is fed in the second direction (C).

The rear end of the sheet material (P) to be fed is connected to the first conveying means (8
), the leading edge of the sheet material (P) is held by the pair of feeding rollers (36), so even after the direction of movement of the sheet material (P) is changed, the sheet material (P) will not be skewed, etc. It is fed in a proper position without any problems.

Note that the above-mentioned symbols in parentheses are shown for reference to the drawings, and do not limit the configuration of the present invention in any way.

(F) Example A first example of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

First, the external appearance of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, a paper feed tray 9 is inserted into the front side of the main body 2 of the image forming apparatus 1 so as to be freely pulled out, and the sheet material in the paper feed tray 9 is inserted into the front side of the main body 2 of the image forming apparatus 1. The paper is fed rightward by the paper feed roller shown in the figure, and then transported upward, makes a U-turn, and has a toner image transferred thereto at an image forming section (not shown).

A manual paper feed port 3 is opened on the front side of the apparatus main body 2 and above the paper feed tray 9, and this manual paper feed port 3 is closed by a cover 5 as an exterior member. When manually feeding paper into the apparatus main body 2, the cover 5 is rotated and a manual sheet material, which will be described later, is inserted through a manual paper feeding guide section 6 formed on the top surface of the cover 5. The manual paper feeding guide section 6 is continuous with a second guide plate 13, which will be described later, inside the apparatus main body 2, and a backing plate 6a for positioning the side of the sheet material is provided on the negative side of the second guide plate 13, which will be described later.
, 7a are provided, respectively.

The manually inserted sheet material inserted into the back of the apparatus main body 2 from above the guide section 6 is detected by a detection means (not shown) inside the apparatus main body 2, and a feed roller (described later) is started to feed the sheet material into the apparatus main body 2. It is sent into the inside of the main body 2. The fed sheet material is changed in direction by approximately 90'' by a sheet material feeding means, which will be described later, and is conveyed to the right side when viewed from the front of the apparatus. will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

Fig. 1 shows a plan view of only the direction changing part of the sheet material, Fig. 2 shows a front view seen from the direction of arrow A in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 shows a view 8 in the direction of arrow A in Fig. 1. There is.

The lower side in FIG. 1 corresponds to the front side of the main body 2 of the apparatus.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the second guide plate 1 described above
A first guide plate 12 is disposed at an appropriate interval from 3. The upper peripheral surfaces of a plurality of drive rollers 15a fixed to a support shaft 16 extend between the guide plates 12 and 13, and the support shaft 16 is connected to the side plates 10 and 11 via bearings 17.
Each is rotatably supported. An input gear 19 is fixed to one end of the support shaft 16.
is connected to a drive source (not shown), and manually feeds the sheet material P.
It is configured to be driven by a drive source when detected by a detection means (not shown).

From the plurality of holes drilled in the first guide plate 12, the support shaft 2
A plurality of driven rollers 15b fixed to the drive roller 15b each extend and are pressed against the drive roller 15a as will be described later.

Both ends of the support shaft 20 are rotatably supported via bearings 21 in elongated holes bored in the side plates 10, 11, and the driven roller 15b fixed to the support shaft 20 is connected to the side plates 10, 11.
Due to the elasticity of a compression spring 22 disposed between the cut-and-raised portion 11 and the bearing 21, it is pressed against the drive roller 15a and rotates as the drive roller 15a rotates. The driving roller 15a is made of a friction member such as rubber, and the driven roller 15b is made of a resinous material.

As shown in FIG. 3, on the downstream side of the feed roller pair 15, there is a pinch roller 23 made of the same material as a rubber driving roller 23a and a resin driven roller 23b in pressure contact with the pinch roller 23. Pinch rollers 25 are arranged from the configured drive roller 25a and the driven roller 25b in pressure contact with the drive roller 25a. As shown in FIG. 1, a support shaft 27 fixed to a support member 26 in the main body 2 includes
The bases of a pair of support levers 29.30 are each pivotally mounted, and the driven rollers 23b, 25b are each pivotally supported at the free ends of the support levers 29.30. Further, each end of a torsion spring 31 wound around the support shaft 27 is locked to the support lever 29, 30, and the elasticity of the torsion spring 31 drives the driven rollers 23b, 25b to the drive rollers 23a, 25a. It is biased in the direction of bringing it into pressure contact.

A pair of feeding rollers 15 including the driving roller 15a and the driven roller 15b, and the pinch roller 23.2.
5 constitutes a first conveying means 8 for feeding the sheet material P in the direction of arrow A (first direction).

The rear sides of the first guide plate 12 and the second guide plate 13 are curved to approximately 45'' with the distance between the two guide plates 12 and 13 being constant, and the direction after the curve is according to the present embodiment. , it is facing in the right direction of arrow C (second direction).The curved portions of the first and second guide plates 12 and 13 allow
A sheet material feeding means 4 for changing the feeding direction of the sheet material P and feeding the sheet material P is configured.

As shown in FIG. 3, on the downstream side of the sheet material feeding means 4, there are a plurality of rubber drive rollers 3 fixed to a support shaft 37.
6a and a plurality of resin driven rollers 3 that are in pressure contact with the same roller 36a as described later and are fixed to the support shaft 41.
A pair of feeding rollers (second conveying means) 36 consisting of 6b is provided. The support shaft 37 is connected to the side plate 3 through a bearing 39.
The driven gear 40 is rotatably supported at 3.degree. 35, and a driven gear 40 fixed to one end thereof is connected to a drive source (not shown).

Both ends of the support shaft 41 to which the driven roller 36b is fixed have bearings 42 inserted into elongated holes bored in the side plates 33, 35 so as to be vertically movable. A compression spring 43 disposed between the cut-up and the bearing 42 provided on the side plate 33.35.
Due to the elasticity of the driven roller 36b, the driven roller 36b is urged to come into pressure contact with the driving roller 36a.

The sheet material feeding means 4 is fed in the direction of the arrow A (first direction) by the first conveying means 8 and in the direction of the arrow C fed by the pair of feeding rollers (second conveying means) 36. (second direction) at the same angle (approximately 45”
), so that the first and second directions are translated approximately 90'' to the right in the feeding direction.

Note that both guide plates 1 in the direction of arrow C (second direction)
The downstream side of 2.13 is configured to join the feeding path (as shown) of the sheet material P from the paper feed tray 9 (see Section 4) to the image forming section, and is fed in the direction of arrow C. The manually fed sheet material P can be conveyed to an image forming section within the main body 2 of the apparatus.

Next, when performing manual paper feeding in the apparatus configured as described above, the manually fed sheet material P is inserted from the guide section 6 shown in FIG. When detected by the detection means, the first conveyance means 8
The feeding roller pair 15, the pinch rollers 23, 25, and the feeding roller pair (second conveyance means) 36 rotate, respectively.

The sheet material P fed to the back side of the apparatus main body 2 by the feeding roller pair 15 and the pinch rollers 23 and 25 is
1 is fed in the direction of arrow C (second direction) with the feeding direction changed by the sheet material feeding means 4. Thereafter, the sheet material P is fed in the direction of arrow C by a pair of feeding rollers 36, which is a second conveying means, and further joins the feeding bus from the paper feeding tray 9 mentioned above to be conveyed to the image forming section. It will be done. In this way, the sheet material P inserted into the apparatus main body 2 by the first conveying means 8 is changed in the feeding direction by about 90 degrees by the sheet material feeding means 4, and then transferred to the second conveying means ( It is continuously fed by a pair of feeding rollers 36).

The length of the sheet material P to be manually fed is sufficiently long, for example, A3.84, and the rear end is held in the feeding roller pair 15, and the leading edge is held in the feeding roller pair 36. If the sheet material P is short, there is no problem, but if the sheet material P is short, the feeding roller pair 15 is
There is a possibility that the sheet material P may come off from the sheet material P, and the normal feeding of the sheet material P may be impaired. In this regard, in this example, 2
Since the pair of pinch rollers 23, 25 are provided, even short sheets P can be fed in an accurate position. Therefore, any means other than the pair of pinch rollers 23 and 25 may be used as long as the feeding mechanism is capable of feeding the sheet material P in a normal position.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the invention.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the sheet material feeding means 4 had a structure in which the upper and lower guide plates 12 and 13 were paired and gently twisted approximately 90 degrees to the right. In order to facilitate feeding, it is also possible to provide a guide roller 51 in place of the first guide plate 12 at the inner turning portion of the sheet material feeding means 4, as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 5, the guide roller 51 is the first guide roller 51 of the above embodiment.
It has an outer diameter corresponding to the curvature of the guide plate 12 and is rotatably supported by a support shaft 50 in the direction of the arrow. , a gap is formed in which the sheet material P can be fed.

Further, the support shaft 50 to which the guide roller 51 is fixed is connected to a drive source (not shown), and the support shaft 50 is connected to a driving source (not shown).
The rotation is controlled along with 5.36 etc. Further, the axis of the guide roller 51 is located midway between the first direction of arrow A and the second direction of arrow C, as well as the curved portion of the second guide plate 13, that is, with respect to arrow A and arrow C. Each has an inclination of approximately 45°.

Therefore, the traveling direction of the outer periphery of the guide roller 51 and the traveling direction of the sheet material P (arrow A, arrow C direction) are always about 4
Although the sheet material P has a deviation of 5", since the sheet material P is always kept at high speed by either the feeding roller pair 15, the pinch roller 23, 25, or the feeding roller pair 36, the difference in the feeding of the sheet material P Problems such as skewing do not occur.In addition, in order to obtain a more stable conveyance force of the sheet material P, a part of the peripheral surface is attached to the second guide plate 13 as shown in FIG. It is also possible to provide a driven roller 52 passing through a hole (not shown) and press it against the outer periphery of the guide roller 51.

(G) As described in detail of the invention, according to the present invention, the sheet material has a simple structure in which the sheet material fed from the first direction is gently curved and the traveling direction is changed to the second direction. By using the material feeding means, it is possible to easily change the direction of movement of the sheet material, and by applying this sheet material feeding means to the manual feeding of sheet materials, it is possible to easily feed large-sized sheets by hand. However, it is possible to insert the image forming apparatus into the main body of the image forming apparatus from the front side and change the direction of movement to a predetermined direction, thereby realizing a front manual feed mechanism with high operability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a manual sheet material direction changing section (sheet material feeding means section) of an image forming apparatus showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. Figure 3 is a front view seen from the direction of arrow 8 in Figure 1;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional side view of a traveling direction converting section of an image forming apparatus showing a second embodiment of the present invention. P... sheet material to be manually fed, Pl... tip of sheet material A... arrow (first direction) C... arrow (second direction), 1... image forming apparatus, 2 . . . Apparatus body, 3. Manual paper feed port 4. Sheet material feeding means (progressing direction conversion unit) 12. . . . First guide plate.
13... second guide plate, 23.25.
...Pinch roller 36...Feeding roller pair, 51...
・Guide roller, 52...driven roller

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first conveyance means for conveying a sheet material in a first direction, and a second conveyance means for conveying a sheet material conveyed by the first conveyance means in a second direction. In the image forming apparatus, sheet material feeding means inclined at the same angle with respect to the first direction and the second direction are disposed between the first conveying means and the second conveying means. An image forming apparatus characterized by: 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet material feeding means is a pair of guide plates separated by an appropriate distance. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first direction is a direction in which the sheet material is manually fed into the image forming apparatus, and the second direction is an image forming process direction in the image forming apparatus.