JP2001122471A - Paper sheet guide and sheet transporting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper sheet transporting device for a facsimile device, etc., capable of making sheet guide action from a horizontal path toward a curving path in good performance by installing a curve guide in the width direction in such a way as approximately horizontal to the sheet transport path or having a lower central part in the part to guide the sheet toward the curving path. SOLUTION: An automatic document transporting device 1 furnished with a sheet transport path in the U-form facing aside is equipped with a guide member 40 through a supporting member 50 to mount on the shaft 18 of drive roller for guiding each sheet of paper from a transport roller device 15 to a curing path 20 where a large diametric drive roller 21 is installed. The guide face on the obverse surface of the guide member 40 is formed approximately horizontal across the width or curved so that the central part is low, and handing-over is made to the transporting device of the curving path via a guide sheet 49.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a sheet conveying device for reading a sheet sent from a supply tray through a reading section and a sheet guide for guiding the sheet toward a curved conveying path.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus and the like, there is provided a means for separating and feeding paper sheets placed on a supply tray one by one, and transporting the paper toward a processing unit by a transport roller device provided in a transport path. Used. In order to send out the paper from the tray, a pickup roller is disposed at a position corresponding to the tray, and the paper taken out by the pickup roller is separated one by one by a paper separating device, and the separated paper is directed to a reading unit of the image reading device. It is configured to send in. In order to supply the sheets one by one toward the reading unit, a sheet separating device is disposed downstream of the pickup roller,
A retard roller rotated in the direction opposite to the sheet feeding direction and a separate roller rotated in the sheet feeding direction are arranged to face each other.

In the case where the image reading apparatus is configured as a miniaturized one and is arranged above an image forming apparatus in combination with a flatbed scanner mechanism (FBS), the paper transport path of the image reading apparatus is set to be horizontal. It is necessary to provide a mechanism which is formed in a substantially U-shape, and which feeds a sheet while bending the sheet with a very small radius. In the U-shaped conveyance path, a guide is provided around an intermediate frame to guide the sheet, and the intermediate frame supports a retard roller of a sheet separating device and is disposed on the upper frame. The nip pressure is set to a predetermined value between the two rollers. In the elastic pressing means disposed on the retard roller, a means for adjusting the pressing force is provided so that the nip pressure can be adjusted at any time, so that double feeding does not occur on the paper to be sent.

[0004]

In the paper transport path, a paper guide is arranged between a transport roller device and a large-diameter drive roller disposed on a curved path, and paper fed from the transport roller device is guided by the guide. And guide the vehicle toward a curved road. The paper guide is made of a plastic molded product, and has a narrow width in the paper transport direction, but is configured as a long one corresponding to the width of the paper transport path. However, there is a problem that irregularities or the like are formed in unexpected portions when the paper is guided by being incorporated in the apparatus. When the paper guide surface of the paper guide is not set accurately, for example, when the downstream guide surface protrudes from the upstream guide surface (a reverse step portion is formed), In addition, there is an inconvenience that the paper is caught on the protruding portion and a jam occurs.

The present invention is intended to solve the above-described problem of the guide of the paper transport path, and a paper guide disposed upstream of a curved path can be mounted so as to be curved so that the central portion is lowered. Thus, it is an object of the present invention to be able to perform the sheet guiding operation satisfactorily.

[0006]

The present invention relates to a guide member provided in a paper transport path. According to the invention of claim 1 of the present invention, when the both ends of the guide member are screwed to the frame of the apparatus, the intermediate portion of the guide member is forcibly deformed in a direction opposite to the paper path surface due to the stress at the time of screwing. It is configured to be. Further, it is possible to prevent the upstream end of the guide from protruding, and to prevent the occurrence of paper jam in the paper transport path.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, mounting surfaces are provided at both ends of the paper guide, and the mounting surfaces are such that the entire guide is curved downward with respect to a horizontal mounting surface formed on the apparatus main body. It has a characteristic inclined surface. Therefore, even if the paper guide is curved upward so as to warp upward due to molding conditions or the like, the curved state of the paper guide can be reduced, and the paper can be guided toward the curved path.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a sheet guide for guiding a sheet is provided in a curved sheet conveying path disposed between a supply tray and a discharge tray. Then, even if the paper guide is curved downward, the paper guide can be mounted on the apparatus with the curved state corrected by the guide support.

[0009]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a sheet conveying apparatus provided with a sheet guide according to the present invention. The example shown in FIG. 1 illustrates the configuration of an automatic document feeder (ADF) 1 used in combination with a facsimile machine or an image forming apparatus and used for reading a document image. In the automatic document feeder 1, a substantially horizontal U
The sheet is transported through a transport path configured in a letter shape, and the transport path includes a transport path 1 from the insertion port 14a.
4, the curved path 20, and the discharge path 24 connected to the discharge tray 72, and the reading device reads the image of the document at the position of the platen 23 disposed below the curved path 20. Make up. In the automatic document feeder 1, an intermediate frame 30 and an upper frame 3 are provided in combination with a base frame 2 disposed above the image forming apparatus. And the intermediate frame 30 is mounted on the shaft 1 of the drive roller 17 of the transport roller device 15.
8 so as to be swingable.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, a pickup roller 5 positioned at a paper insertion opening 14a, a paper separating device 10, a transport roller device 15, and a large-diameter driving roller for transporting a paper in a paper transport path. 21 and a plurality of pinch rollers 22, 22a and a discharge roller device 25. Of the rollers, the upper frame 3
A pickup roller 5 for taking in a sheet from a tray, and a separate roller 1 of a sheet sorting apparatus 10.
1. The pinch roller 16 of the transport roller device 15 and the pinch roller 22 for the large-diameter drive roller 21 are provided.
Further, the two pinch rollers 16 and 22 are mounted on a roller support frame 8 supported by a stay 7 disposed on the upper frame 3 via a not-shown biasing spring and a support arm member, It is pressed with a certain pressing force against the corresponding drive roller. Further, a guide plate 9 facing the large-diameter roller 21 of the curved path 20 is disposed on the upper frame 3 to guide the paper on the curved path 20.

The intermediate frame 30 has a document tray 7
1, an upper cover 35 as a lower guide member of the sheet insertion port 14a, the retard roller 12 of the sheet sorting apparatus 10, the drive roller 17 of the transport roller apparatus 15, and
The drive roller 27 of the discharge roller device 25 is provided.
Further, a large-diameter drive roller 21 and a pinch roller 22a for performing a conveying operation in a curved portion of the sheet conveying path 6 and a pinch roller 26 of a discharge roller device 25 are disposed on the base frame 2, and the base frame 2 Reference numeral 2 denotes a reading unit and a guide plate member for a transport path on the discharge side. In the apparatus having the above-described configuration, when the paper is jammed in the paper conveyance path, the nip pressure of the nip portion of the conveyance roller device 15 is adjusted, and other maintenance is performed, the apparatus is sequentially opened from the upper frame. By doing so, the work can be performed by opening the paper transport path or exposing each component member.

In the automatic document feeder 1, when a sheet is transported along a sheet transport path, a sheet insertion port 1 is provided.
The paper is taken in by the pickup roller 5 arranged corresponding to the tray 71 connected to
And send it to. Then, a separating action for the sheet is provided between the separate roller 11 and the retard roller 12 of the sheet separating apparatus 10, and only one sheet is fed toward the transport roller apparatus 15. The paper conveyed by the conveyance roller device 15 is nipped between the large-diameter drive roller 21 and the pinch roller 22 at the curved portion 20 of the paper conveyance path, passes through the reading section of the platen 23, and contacts the pinch roller 22a. After passing through the nip portion, the sheet is fed from the discharge path 24 toward the discharge tray 72 by the discharge roller device 25 provided with the drive roller 27 and the pinch roller 26 facing each other. A pressing force adjusting mechanism (not shown) is provided for the retard roller 12 of the sheet separating apparatus 10 to adjust the nip pressure between the retard roller 12 and the separate roller 11. The nip pressure between the rollers can be adjusted according to the state of the sheet separating operation of the apparatus.

The intermediate frame 3 of the automatic document feeder 1
0, the frame roller 31 composed of a sheet metal and an upper cover 35 as a guide plate disposed on the frame frame 31 are combined to form a drive roller 1 of the transport roller device 15.
7 is provided so as to be swingable about a shaft 18. In order to drive the retard roller 12 disposed on the intermediate frame 30 and the drive roller 27 of the discharge roller device 25, a gear group for transmitting drive from the drive shaft 18 of the transport roller device 15 is provided. When the sheet separating operation is performed, the retard roller 12 is rotated so that the retard roller 12 is conveyed in the direction opposite to the sheet conveying direction of the separate roller 11 with respect to the shaft 13 of the retard roller 12.

The transport path 14 including the transport roller device 15
A curved path 20 partitioned by a large-diameter drive roller 21 and a guide plate 9 is disposed downstream of the sheet feeding roller, and guides a sheet discharged from a nip portion of the transport roller device 15 smoothly toward the curved path. For this purpose, a paper guiding means is provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the paper guide means includes a support member 50 supported on the shaft 18 of the drive roller 17 of the transport roller device 15, and a guide member 40 for guiding the paper.
And are combined. The main body 51 of the support member 50 is configured as a downwardly substantially U-shaped member, and has an inner surface of the main body 51 having a friction coefficient of The bearing member 53 made of a small material is arranged so as not to hinder the rotation of the drive shaft 18. The main body 51 may be made of a material having a small coefficient of friction. Also, on the upper surface of the main body 51 of the support member 50, a plurality of protrusions 52 are provided so as to protrude at predetermined intervals in the width direction of the sheet conveying device,
Guide the paper. Further, a claw receiving member 55 for locking and holding the locking claw member 45 of the guide member is provided at a downstream portion of the support member 50 in the sheet conveying direction at a substantially central portion in a width direction of the apparatus. ing.

The guide member 40 supported by the support member 50 is integrally formed of a plastic material, and has a body 41 having a substantially arc-shaped guide surface 41a.
And a vertical member 42 protruding toward the lower surface, a flange 43 arranged at both ends and an arbitrary position, and a rib 44 arranged at a predetermined interval between the flanges.
Further, a locking claw member 45 provided at the center of the vertical member 42 is locked by a claw receiving member 55 provided on the support member 50, and the guide member 40 is combined with the bearing member 50 to be integrated and driven. The sheet is held by the shaft 18 so as to function as a guide plate for the sheet. Further, even if the guide member 40 is curved downward from the beginning, the support member 50 has an effect of suppressing the curvature. A guide sheet 49 extending from the guide surface is disposed at the end of the main body 41 of the guide member, and guides the sheet toward the large-diameter drive roller 21. As the guide sheet 49, a thin sheet made of plastic is used. For example, a film (Mylar...) Made of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) resin is preferably used.

The guide member 40 is constructed as shown in the front view of FIG. 3 and the bottom view of FIG.
The end fixing portions 46, 46 are integrally provided at both ends of the main body 1 and the main body is reinforced by arranging the flanges 43 and the ribs 44 at predetermined intervals. Further, a screw hole 48 is provided in the end fixing portion 46, and the end fixing portion 46 is screw-fixed so as to press the pressing surface 47 against the supporting surface 39 provided on the supporting member 38 of the intermediate frame 30. The support surface 39 of the support member 38 that supports the pressing surface 47 of the end fixing portion 46 is formed horizontally, but the pressing surface 47 of the end fixing portion 46 has an angle θ (for example, 1
２2 °). And when the said end fixing part 46 is screw-fixed with respect to the support member,
When the pressing surface 47 is pressed against the support surface 39,
The main body 41 of the guide member 40 is in a state of being curved downward as shown by the phantom line in FIG. The guide member 40 can be mounted so as to be bent substantially upward or downward by performing the fixing action, and can be positioned by the support member 50 so that the central portion is lowered. Therefore, since the function of bending the main body 41 is performed by the end fixing portions 46 at both ends of the guide member 40, the screw members are mounted by aligning the screw holes of both the support member 50 and the guide member 40, Guide member 4
A bending action is provided such that the center of O is the lowest, and the guide surface for the sheet is set to be substantially horizontal or downward curved in the width direction of the sheet transport path.

The main body 41 of the guide member 40 is provided with a locking claw member 45 at or near the center in the width direction of the main body 41 so as to lock with the claw receiving member 55 provided on the supporting member 50. I keep it. Since the curved state of the guide member 40 is maintained in a state where the locking claw member 45 is locked to the claw receiving member 55, the guide member 40 is attached to the mounting surface of the main body. The shape of the guide surface can be automatically set only by fixing the screw with respect to. The guide member 40 is not provided only at a portion for guiding a sheet toward the curved path 20. In addition, the guide member 40 may be used as a guide plate for a sheet conveyance path.
It can be arranged at an arbitrary position, imparts the effect of bending the sheet in the width direction, and can be used as a means for guiding the sheet toward a guide member arranged downstream of the sheet conveying path. Further, the inclination angle θ of the pressing surface 47 of the end fixing portion 46 formed at both ends of the guide member 40 can be set to an arbitrary angle in accordance with conditions such as the width of the paper conveyance path. Even when the central portion of the guide member 40 is curved more than the set state, the locking claw member 45 is locked to the claw receiving member 55 provided on the support member 50 to correct the curved state of the central portion. Can be.

The example shown in FIG. 5 shows a configuration of a reading device 60 provided integrally with the image forming apparatus. A scanning device frame 61 is provided with a scanning device 63 configured as shown in FIG. . The scanning device 63 includes a full-rate carriage 64 provided with a lamp 64a and one mirror m1, and two opposing mirrors m2, similarly to a device used in a conventional copier scanning device. m3
Are provided in combination with a half-rate carriage 65 for disposing the. Then, the reading information of the document is transmitted to the CCD 69 via the lens device 68, the optical signal is converted into an electric signal, and transmitted to the image information processing section of the image forming apparatus. In the scanning device, in order to drive the full rate carriage 64 and the half rate carriage 65, a driving pulley 66 having a diameter set to 2: 1 is provided.
66a is coaxially arranged, and a mechanism is provided for moving the two carriages in conjunction with each other via wires 67, 67a wound around the respective drive pulleys.

An original of a book is placed on the upper portion of the frame 61, and an FBS (flatbed scanner) is used.
And a platen 23 disposed below the document feeder corresponding to an ADF (automatic document feeder). The platen 62
By opening the upper opening / closing frame 70 and setting the original, and closing the upper opening / closing frame 70, the platen cover 73 presses the image surface of the original against the upper surface of the platen to scan the set original. . For a document set on the platen 62, the full-rate carriage 64 of the scanning device 63 reciprocates by the length of the document in accordance with detection information of a sensor (not shown), and the half-rate carriage 65 Reads image information while moving at half the speed of the carriage.
An image signal is output from D69. The document tray 71
When scanning an original on a sheet using the ADF, the ADF
The image reading operation is performed in a state where the scanning device 63 is fixed to the platen 23 while the document is being conveyed through a conveyance path provided in the document conveyance unit as a document.

Using the reading device 60, the document tray 7
When scanning the original set in 1, the setting of the original in the original tray 71 is performed by operating the control device in response to a detection signal of a detection unit (not shown), or using the original conveyance unit in the control panel. This is performed by inputting a command to perform the scanning. Then, the full-rate carriage 6 of the scanning device 63 is
4 is stopped at a position corresponding to the platen 23, the half-rate carriage 65 is moved to the left end of the scanning unit frame 63, and the originals are sequentially transferred from the original tray 71 one by one.
The document is transported into the mold transport path, and the image of the document is read at the platen 23. Therefore, the scanning unit frame 61
, The two platens 62,
A scanning device can be set in correspondence with the image processing apparatus 23 to perform an operation of reading an arbitrary document. The image information can be transmitted by using the transmission function of the facsimile apparatus, or by using the function of the copying machine. It can print on recording paper.

In the case where the automatic document feeder 1 shown in the above embodiment is used alone, and in the case where the automatic document feeder and the FBS are integrated with each other, the reading device is constituted as a single reading device. can do. In general, it can be used as a document reading unit provided integrally with the image forming apparatus or as a reading device of a facsimile machine. Also in the example of the reading device 60 shown in FIG. 5, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the guide member 40 for guiding the paper from the transport roller device 15 to the large-diameter drive roller 21 on the curved path is used. Means for arranging and transporting the sheet in a state where the sheet is curved in the width direction can be used. Further, a paper guide that is fixed at both side portions of the paper transport path and is curved so that the central portion is lowered to guide the paper is used as a member that guides the paper toward the curved portion of the paper transport path. In addition, it is possible to arrange the sheet at an arbitrary position in the sheet conveying path and to use the sheet as a means for feeding the sheet toward the downstream guide member while correcting the widthwise curvature of the sheet.

[0022]

Since the apparatus of the present invention is constructed as described above, it is provided on the downstream side of the transport roller device for transporting the paper sent from the supply tray, and the paper is transported to the curved paper transport path. The paper guide that guides the paper is curved away from the paper path surface, preventing the upstream end of the guide from protruding and preventing paper jams in the paper transport path. it can. Also, by providing an inclined surface that bends downward in the entire paper guide, even if the paper is curved upward so that both ends in the width direction are warped upward, the state of the paper guide is maintained. Can be reduced, and the paper can be guided toward the curved road. Further, since a guide support attached to the shaft of the transport roller device is provided at the center of the paper guide, even if the paper guide is curved downward, the curved state is corrected by the guide support. It can be attached to the device in the state.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the structure of an automatic document feeder to which the configuration of the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a guide member and a support member.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a guide member.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the guide member.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an example in which the apparatus of FIG. 1 is combined with an image reading apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 automatic document feeder, 2 base frame, 3
Upper frame, 5 Pickup rollers, 9
Guide plate, 10 paper separating device, 11 separate roller, 12 retard roller, 14 transport path, 15 transport roller device, 16 pinch roller, 17 drive roller, 18 axis, 20 curved path, 21 large diameter drive roller, 22 pinch roller, 23 platen, 24 discharge path, 25
Discharge roller device, 27 drive roller, 30 intermediate frame, 31 frame frame, 35 upper cover, 39 support surface, 40 guide member, 41
Body, 42 vertical members, 43 flange, 4
4 rib, 45 locking claw member, 46 end fixing portion, 47 pressing surface, 48 screw hole, 49 guide sheet, 50 support member, 51 main body, 5
2 ridge, 53 bearing member, 55 claw receiving member, 60 reader, 62 platen, 64
Full rate carriage, 65 Half rate carriage, 68 lens, 69 CCD, 71
Document tray, 72 output tray.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A guide member provided in a paper transport path, wherein when the both ends of the guide member are screwed to a frame of an apparatus, an intermediate portion of the guide member is caused to have a paper path surface by a stress generated when the screws are tightened. A paper guide that is forcibly deformed in the opposite direction. 2. A mounting surface is provided at both ends of the paper guide, and the mounting surface has an inclined surface such that the entire guide is curved downward with respect to a horizontal mounting surface formed on the apparatus main body. The paper guide according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A sheet conveying device provided with the sheet guide according to claim 1, wherein the sheet is guided to a curved sheet conveying path disposed between the supply tray and the discharge tray.