JP2001233525A - Sheet feeding structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the size of an image forming device for a copying machine. SOLUTION: In this sheet feeding structure 46, a plurality of branch levers 61 to 66 are disposed rotatably and displaceably at a cross portion 45 of feeding paths 16 and 43 for inserting and extracting a sheet into and from a stable treating part 14 incorporated in a copying machine 1. The plurality of branch levers 61 to 66 are maintained in a first attitude by their own weights and, in this attitude, allow the sheet in the feeding path 16 to be carried thereon and guides the lower surface thereof, and pushed up by the sheet fed through the feeding path 43 so as to come into a second attitude. In this attitude, these levers guide the upper surface of the sheet fed through the feeding path 43. The plurality of branch levers 61 to 66 are formed independently of each other and rotatable relative to each other, and also disposed at the positions corresponding to a pair of end parts of different sizes of sheets in lateral direction. Thereby, the size of the paper carrier structure 46 can be reduced by eliminating a branch lever displacing mechanism and, in addition, the sheet can be fed smoothly at the cross portion 45.

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 such as an electrostatic copying machine and a printer, and a peripheral device provided in connection with the image forming apparatus. It relates to a transport structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In some paper transport structures, a plurality of paper transport paths for transporting paper cross each other. A branch lever for guiding a sheet is provided at an intersection of these sheet transport paths. The branch lever is provided so as to be displaceable between the first and second postures, for example. The branching lever in the first position opens one of the paper transport paths at the intersection, guides the paper along the paper transport path, and prevents the paper from entering the other paper transport path. ing. Similarly, the branching lever in the second position closes one of the sheet conveyance paths while opening the other sheet conveyance path.

[0003] A drive mechanism including a solenoid or the like is used for displacement of the branch lever. Thus, before the sheet to be conveyed reaches the intersection, the branch lever is displaced by the drive mechanism for both the sheet conveyance paths so that the corresponding sheet conveyance path can be conveyed. I have.

[0004]

By the way, although the size of the image forming apparatus has been reduced, it is preferable to reduce the size of the sheet conveying structure. Even if the paper transport structure can be reduced in size, it is not preferable that the transported paper be caught at the intersection. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned technical problems and to provide a compact paper transport structure capable of transporting paper smoothly.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet transport structure including a branch lever provided at an intersection of a first sheet transport path and a second sheet transport path which intersect each other. The branch lever is rotatably supported around the rotation axis, and hangs down in an inclined manner below the rotation axis by its own weight to abut on the positioning member, thereby placing a sheet passing through the intersection and placing this sheet. The first posture guided along the first paper conveyance path and the leading edge of the paper conveyed along the second paper conveyance path are pushed and lifted to allow the paper to pass through the intersection. Provided is a paper transport structure that is displaced to a second posture.

According to the present invention, before the paper arrives at the intersection, the branch lever hangs down in an inclined manner due to its own weight and abuts on the positioning member to maintain the first posture. The sheet conveyed along the first sheet conveyance path passes through the intersection while being placed on the branch lever in the first position and guided on the lower surface by the branch lever. At this time, the weight of the sheet also acts to maintain the branch lever in the first position, so that the sheet can be guided stably.

On the other hand, the leading end of the sheet conveyed through the second sheet conveying path is moved to the branching lever in the first position at the intersection.
The branch lever pushes and lifts against the moment load due to its own weight, and passes through the intersection. At this time, the branch lever that has received the moment load due to its own weight guides the upper surface of the sheet to be conveyed. The branch lever can apply a constant moment load required for the paper guide while being freely displaced along the upper surface of the paper according to the thickness of the paper passing therethrough, so that the first paper transport path is temporarily stapled. Even when a thick sheet bundle passes, the sheet bundle can be smoothly conveyed.

As described above, since the branch lever can be displaced as described above by its own weight and the paper being conveyed, the driving means for displacing the branch lever can be omitted, and as a result, the paper transport structure can be reduced in size. Can be According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the paper transport structure according to the first aspect, the first paper transport path transports the paper to an intermediate tray disposed downstream of the intersection in the paper transport direction. The second paper transport path is for transporting the post-processed paper on the intermediate tray to the paper discharge unit via the intersection, and provides a paper transport structure.

This paper transport structure can be suitably employed when an image forming apparatus is equipped with a post-processing device having an intermediate tray. According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the sheet transport structure according to the second aspect, wherein the post-processing is a process of binding a plurality of sheets with staples. According to the present invention, if the sheet bundle is stapled, there is no possibility that the sheet bundle will be bent when the branch lever is pushed at the leading end. As a result, the moment due to the weight of the branch lever can be increased, and the conveyance along the first paper conveyance path can be further stabilized.

[0010] The invention described in claim 4 is the first to third aspects of the present invention.
Wherein the plurality of branching levers are independently provided along a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction and parallel to the sheet to be conveyed. I will provide a. According to the invention,
Since the plurality of branch levers can rotate relative to each other, when a small-sized sheet passes, some of the branch levers do not have to be lifted, and the moment load applied to the sheet when the sheet is lifted can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the paper from being bent even if the paper is small in size and has no stiffness.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the paper transport structure of the fourth aspect, a plurality of sheets of different sizes are transported to the first and second paper transport paths, and a plurality of branch levers are provided. Provides a paper transport structure including branch levers respectively disposed at positions corresponding to a pair of ends of the paper facing each other in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the paper of each size. According to the present invention, the pair of ends of the sheet, which tends to be easily broken, can be guided along the branch lever, so that the pair of ends of the sheet can be prevented from being caught or bent at the intersection.

[0012]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a copying machine including a paper transport structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that FIG.
The arrow which shows a direction is illustrated. The copying machine 1 has an apparatus main body 2 as an image forming apparatus. This device body 2
A document feeder 5 is mounted on the upper surface 3 of the document. The document feeder 5 places documents one by one on a transparent document loading window 4 provided on the upper surface 3 of the apparatus main body 2. The original placed on the original placing window 4 is exposed and scanned by a reading unit 6 provided at an upper portion of the apparatus main body 2 and is read. Reading unit 6
Outputs a signal corresponding to the document.

A paper tray 7 on which a plurality of papers are placed, a transport path 8 for taking out and transporting the papers from the paper tray 7, and a signal An image forming unit 10 for forming a toner image on the photosensitive drum 9, a transfer unit 11 for transferring the formed toner image to paper, and a fixing unit 12 for fixing the transferred toner image to paper are provided. I have. The paper is a photosensitive drum 9
The sheet is sent upward along the conveyance path 8 between the transfer section 11 and the transfer section 11 and through the fixing section 12, and is then sent out to the inner discharge section 13. The inner discharge unit 13 is a middle portion of the apparatus main body 2 in the vertical direction (arrow Z), for example, a space provided between the reading unit 6 and the image forming unit 10. (Not shown) and extends rearward from this opening.

In particular, the copying machine 1 has
A staple processing unit 14 for stapling a predetermined number of sheets on which images are fixed together is provided. The staple processing unit 14 is disposed at a position above the inner discharge unit 13 and below the reading unit 6. Correspondingly, the transport path 8 is branched downstream of the fixing unit 12, and one of the branched transport paths 15 is connected to the inner discharge unit 13.
The other branched path 16 communicates with the staple processing unit 14. Internal discharge unit 13 and staple processing unit 14
Paper feed switching claw 1 that can be displaced in order to guide paper
7 is provided at a branch portion of the transport path 8.

The staple processing unit 14 is operated in cooperation with the reading unit 6, the image forming unit 10, and the like. For example, the reading unit 6
Reads a plurality of originals, and an image corresponding to these originals is fixed on a plurality of sheets by the fixing unit 12 or the like. The plurality of sheets are conveyed one by one to the staple processing unit 14, where they are stapled to form a sheet bundle. Thereafter, the sheet bundle is transferred to an outer sheet discharging unit 18 provided on the side of the apparatus main body 2.
Is discharged. The staple processing unit 14 includes a transport path 16
An intermediate tray 34 serving as a stack table on which the sheets sent from the tray are stacked and placed, and a rear end for positioning and aligning the rear end (the left end in FIG. 1) of the sheets stacked on the intermediate tray 34. An end stopper (hereinafter also referred to as a “stopper”) 35 and a front shifting member 36 that pushes the front end of the sheet to align the sheet along the stopper 35.
A width matching member 37, 38 provided on the back side and the near side with respect to the paper to match the width of the paper (dimension along the depth direction Y); a stapler 40 for binding the stacked papers with staples; A plurality of, for example, two transport rollers 4 for transporting the bound paper to the outer discharge unit 18
1 and a pressing roller 42 arranged to face the transport roller 41. Press roller 42, stopper 3
5 and the like are provided so as to be displaceable by a displacement mechanism 44.

A transport path 43 for guiding the sheet from the intermediate tray 34 to the outer sheet discharging section 18 is provided. Intermediate tray 3
4, an entrance of the transport path 43 is provided at the right end, and an exit of the transport path 16 is disposed above the entrance. The sheets are sent out one by one onto the intermediate tray 34 through the transport path 16 and positioned, and a predetermined number of sheets are stacked and stapled by the stapler 40. Thereafter, when the stopper 35 is tilted and the pressing roller 42 is displaced upward and the transport roller 41 is driven to rotate in a predetermined direction, for example, clockwise in FIG.
It is carried out to.

The transport path 43 and the transport path 16 are
Intersecting each other, and the intersection 4 of the two transport paths 16 and 43
5 is provided with a plurality of branching levers 61 to 66 and a branching plate 70 that are displaceable, respectively, for guiding the sheet along each of the transport paths 16 and 43. These two transport paths 16, 4
3, the branch levers 61 to 66, and the branch plate 70,
A paper transport structure 46 for taking in and out the paper with the staple processing unit 14 is configured.

In the present embodiment, the branch levers 61 to 66 of the sheet transport structure 46 can be displaced by using their own weights, so that the structure for displacing the branch levers 61 to 66 is simplified and downsized. I can do it. As shown in FIG. 2, the paper transport structure 46 has a plurality of members 51 to 56 that partition the upstream and downstream transport paths 16 and 43 with the intersection 45 interposed therebetween. Is formed. The intersection 45 is a space extending in the depth direction Y (also referred to as the width direction). In the intersection 45, the transport directions of the two transport paths 16 and 43 intersect each other and are respectively orthogonal to the width direction. I have. For example, when viewed from the front, the transport direction of the transport path 16 at the intersection 45 is inclined obliquely upward as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 43
6 is substantially horizontally leftward as shown in FIG. The sheet enters the intersection 45 such that the front end of the sheet conveyed in each of the conveying paths 16 and 43 is parallel to the width direction.

In the vicinity of the intersection 45, a single support shaft 58 for rotatably displacing a plurality of branch levers 61-66.
Is provided. The support shaft 58 is a metal round shaft extending in the depth direction, and is fixed to a member 56 disposed obliquely upward when viewed from the intersection 45. The plurality of branch levers 61 to 66 are arranged along the width direction. Also,
A positioning member 57 with which the lower ends of the branch levers 61 to 66 can come into contact is formed integrally with the member 51. A branch plate 70 is disposed on the opposite side of the branch levers 61 to 66 across the intersection 45 so as to be rotatable by a displacement mechanism 71 (see FIG. 4).

The plurality of branch levers 61 to 66 are provided independently of each other along a direction (width direction) perpendicular to the paper transport direction and parallel to the transported paper, and are relatively rotatable relative to each other. I have. Each of the branch levers 61 to 66 is rotatably supported around a rotation axis 59 passing through the center of the support shaft 58. The branch levers 61 to 66 hang down in an inclined manner below the rotation axis 59 under their own weight and come into contact with the positioning member 57, so that a sheet passing through the intersecting portion 45 is placed thereon and the sheet is transferred to the first sheet transport path. 1st attitude | position guided along the conveyance path 16 as a reference (refer FIG. 2)
And a second posture in which the sheet is pushed and lifted by the leading edge of the sheet conveyed along the conveyance path 43 as the second sheet conveyance path, and allows the sheet to pass through the intersection 45 (see FIG. 6). And is displaced.

Each of the branch levers 61 to 66 is formed of a hard material such as a resin material. Each branch lever 61-6
Numeral 6 has an end that is pivotally supported and a guide that extends from this end in a direction perpendicular to the pivot axis 59.
The guide portion is formed to be long in the direction in which it extends and narrow in the width direction, and has a guide surface 8 having a convex curved shape that allows the sheet to follow the sheet in the first posture.
1 and a guide surface 82 that guides the paper in the second posture. The end has a support hole 83 into which the support shaft 58 is fitted (see FIG. 7). The branch levers 61 to 66 can be rotationally displaced while maintaining the shapes of the guide surfaces 81 and 82, and by rotating, the direction in which the guide portions of the branch levers 61 to 66 extend can be changed to the two conveying paths 16 and 43. Are arranged in parallel with each other in the transport direction.

The support hole 83 is loosely fitted to the outer peripheral surface of the support shaft 58 at its inner peripheral surface so that the support hole 83 can lightly rotate around the support shaft 58 and hang down by its own weight. Support hole 8
3, a notch is formed in which the support shaft 58 can be fitted from a direction intersecting the axial direction. The width of the notch (the dimension along the circumferential direction of the support shaft 58) is smaller than the diameter of the support shaft 58. At the time of fitting, the support shaft 58 can be easily fitted into the support hole 83 while elastically deforming the peripheral portion of the notch so as to expand the notch. It is locked by the part to prevent falling off.

As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of branch levers 61 to 66 are arranged at predetermined intervals from each other in the width direction. The positions in the width direction of the plurality of branch levers 61 to 66 are set as follows according to the sheet size. That is, a plurality of sheets of different sizes are transported to the transport paths 16 and 43, respectively. The paper of each size passes through a predetermined position in the width direction in each of the transport paths 16 and 43, respectively. For example, this predetermined position is
At the intersection 45, the same is true for both the transport paths 16 and 43, and the center in the width direction of the paper of each size is
3 through the center position (center line CL) in the width direction. The pair of branch levers 62 and 65 are located at positions corresponding to a pair of front and rear ends of a small-size sheet.
The branch lever is arranged along the edge of the sheet. The pair of branch levers 61 and 66 are arranged at positions corresponding to a pair of similar ends of a large-size sheet. The pair of branch levers 63 and 64 are located between and close to the pair of transport rollers 41 in the width direction.

The distance between the branch levers 61 to 66 is wider than the width of the branch levers 61 to 66 themselves. Thereby, the plurality of branch levers 61 to 6
6 while maintaining the sheet width that can be guided by the branch lever 6.
1 to 66 can be reduced and the size can be reduced in the width direction. Further, the intervals between the branch levers 61 to 66 are made different from each other and wide at a central portion along the width direction and narrow near both ends in the width direction. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the branch plate 70 is a plate-like member extending in a width direction crossing the transport direction. The branch plate 70 has a guide surface 84 that guides the paper in the first posture (see FIG. 2) and a guide surface 85 that guides the paper in the second posture (see FIG. 6). Branch plate 70
As shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. 4, is supported so as to be rotatable and displaceable about a support shaft 72, and is drivingly connected to a displacement mechanism 71 including a solenoid 73, a link mechanism 74 and the like. The lever 75 of the link mechanism 74 is provided with a tension spring 76 as a biasing member for rotating and biasing in one direction, whereby the lever 75 pushes the branch plate 70 up to the first position. ing. When the solenoid 73 is turned on, the lever 75 is displaced against the tension spring 76, the lever 75 stops pushing up the branch plate 70, and the branch plate 70 becomes the second horizontal position by its own weight (see FIG. 4). See each arrow). When the solenoid 73 is turned off, the lever 75 pushes up the branch plate 70 by the tension spring 76,
The branch plate 70 assumes a first posture inclined upward to the right.

In the present paper transport structure 46, as shown in FIG. 2, the paper transported in the transport path 16 is crossed at an intersection 45.
It is guided from both sides by the guide surface 84 of the branch plate 70 and the guide surface 81 of the branch levers 61 to 66 in the first position. That is, in a state before the paper arrives at the intersection 45, the branch levers 61 to 66 hang down in an inclined manner by their own weight and come into contact with the positioning member 57 to maintain the first posture. The sheet conveyed on the conveyance path 16 passes over the intersection 45 while being placed on the guide surface 81 of each of the branch levers 61 to 66 in the first position and guided on the lower surface by each of the branch levers 61 to 66. I do. At this time, the weight of the sheet also acts to maintain each of the branch levers 61 to 66 in the first position, so that the sheet can be guided stably. Further, since each of the branch levers 61 to 66 hangs down in an inclined manner in the first posture, it is difficult for the levers to rattle.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the paper conveyed in the conveyance path 43 is crossed at the intersection 45 by the guide surface 85 of the branch plate 70 in the second position and the branch levers 61-61. It is guided from both sides by 66 guide surfaces 82. That is, as described above, the branch levers 61 to 66 are maintained in the first posture until the sheet passes through the second transport path 43 and reaches the intersection 45 (see FIG. 5).
Then, the leading end of the sheet conveyed in the conveying path 43 is moved to the respective branch levers 61 to 66 in the first position at the intersection 45.
The branch levers 61 to 66 are pushed and lifted against the moment load due to their own weight, and pass through the intersection 45 (FIG. 6).
reference). At this time, the guide surfaces 82 of the branch levers 61 to 66 that have received the moment load due to their own weight guide the upper surface of the conveyed sheet. Each of the branch levers 61 to 66 can apply a constant moment load required for paper guiding while freely displacing along the upper surface of the paper according to the thickness of the paper passing therethrough. Even when a thick sheet bundle passes through, the sheet bundle can be smoothly conveyed.

In the case of small-size paper, for example, 4
The two branch levers 62 to 65 guide the sheet. When the sheet is transported through the transport path 43, the branch levers 61 and 66
In the first position, only the branch levers 62 to 65 are pushed up to pass the sheet. Further, a large-size sheet is guided by more branch levers 61 to 66, and pushes up these branch levers 61 to 66 to pass through the conveyance path 43. As described above, according to the present embodiment, while the branch levers 61 to 66 are displaced as described above,
Since the paper conveyed through the sheets 6 and 43 can be guided, the paper can be smoothly conveyed by the present paper conveyance structure 46.

Further, since the branch levers 61 to 66 can be displaced as described above due to their own weight and the paper being conveyed, the drive means for displacing the branch levers 61 to 66 is omitted. As a result, the paper transport structure 46 can be downsized. Therefore, an image forming apparatus such as a small-sized copying machine 1 can be realized. Further, the present paper transport structure 46 including the branch levers 61 to 66 is a post-processing device having the intermediate tray 34, for example, the staple processing unit 14
Can be suitably adopted to equip the image forming apparatus with This is because an image forming apparatus in which the transport paths 16 and 43 for feeding and unloading sheets to and from the intermediate tray 34 intersects each other usually tends to be large, but as described above, the sheet transport structure 46 is small. This is because the size of the image forming apparatus can be reduced or reduced in size.

In particular, as the above-mentioned post-processing apparatus, an apparatus for binding a plurality of sheets with staples is preferable. In other words, if the sheet bundle is stapled, there is no possibility that the sheet bundle is further bent when pushing the branch levers 61 to 66 at the leading end when the sheet bundle is sent along the transport path 43 as compared with the case of a single sheet of paper. . As a result, the moment due to the weight of the branch levers 61 to 66 can be increased, and the conveyance along the conveyance path 16 can be further stabilized.

Further, in the transport path 16, each sheet before stapling, which tends to be easily bent, is guided by the branch levers 61 to 66 in the stable first position. In addition, a plurality of independent branch levers 61 to 66 are provided.
Can rotate relative to each other, so that when a small-sized sheet passes, some of the branching levers need not be lifted, and as a result, the moment load applied to the sheet during lifting can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the paper from being bent even if the paper is small in size and has no stiffness.

Further, since the plurality of branch levers 61 to 66 are made independent of each other, it is not necessary to link the respective branch levers 61 to 66 with each other.
It is possible to eliminate the need for a shaft for transmitting torque for interlocking .about.66. Therefore, for example, the support shaft 58 is
To 66 can be rotatably supported.
The members that support this and the members that are supported by the support shaft 58 can be reduced in size, and as a result, the paper transport structure can be reduced in size and thickness.

As shown in FIG. 3, a pair of branch levers 62 and 65 and a pair of branch levers 61 and 66 are arranged at positions corresponding to a pair of ends of a sheet in the width direction. . Thus, a pair of ends of the sheet, which tends to be easily broken, can be guided along each of the above-mentioned branch levers.
Can be prevented from being caught or bent. In particular,
Since the branch levers 61 to 66 are respectively arranged corresponding to the ends of the sheets of different sizes, it is preferable to prevent the paper from being bent in correspondence with the sheets of various sizes.

Further, since the branch levers 61 to 66 are urged by their own weight, it is possible to prevent rattling and noise caused by the rattling. Therefore, there is no need for a biasing member such as a spring for preventing these. At the intersection 45, the transport path 43 is wider than the transport path 16 in the thickness direction of the sheet. Thus, even if the sheet conveyed along the conveyance path 43 is a thick sheet bundle, the sheet easily passes through the intersection 45.
Moreover, even if the sheet is bent by the moment due to the weight of each of the branch levers 61 to 66, the sheet can pass smoothly.

Further, since the shape of each of the branch levers 61 to 66 can be maintained by a hard member, for example, in order to guide the paper at the intersection 45, compared with the case where a flexible resin film is used. And easy to jam. That is, the above-mentioned resin film is pushed up by the paper, and the paper can pass through the intersection,
On the other hand, if a paper jam occurs due to the flexibility of the film, the film may be caught in the jammed paper, and the film may be damaged when the jammed paper is removed. Because there is.

The above-mentioned branch levers 61 to 66 are rotatably supported at the upper end and are positioned at the lower end.
, But it is not limited to this. For example, it may be supported by an intermediate portion of the branch levers 61 to 66, or may be in contact with the positioning member 57. In addition, a support structure for rotatably supporting each of the branch levers 61 to 66 includes:
It is composed of the support holes 83 of the branch levers 61 to 66 and the fixed support shafts 58 that are rotatably fitted in the support holes, but are not limited thereto. For example, the support structure includes a shaft fixed to the branch lever, and a support member such as a support hole forming member and a bearing for rotatably supporting the shaft, and the support member may be fixedly arranged. Good. Further, the single support shaft 58 supports the plurality of branch levers 61 to 66, but shafts that individually support the branch levers 61 to 66 may be provided.

The above-described paper transport structure 46 may be applied to an image forming apparatus such as a printer and a facsimile, in addition to the copying machine 1. Further, the paper transport structure 46 has been used in the staple processing unit 14 built in the image forming apparatus, but in addition to this, the staple processing unit is configured as a peripheral device used externally to the image forming apparatus. In such a case, it may be used for such a peripheral device. Others
Various design changes can be made without changing the gist of the present invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial front cross-sectional view of a paper transport structure of the copying machine shown in FIG. 1 and a portion in the vicinity thereof, illustrating a transport state of a first paper transport path.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a sheet transport structure shown in FIG. 2 and a portion in the vicinity thereof.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a guide plate displacement mechanism of the paper transport structure shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a front partial cross-sectional view of the paper transport structure shown in FIG. 2 and a portion near the paper transport structure, showing a state before a paper transported along a second paper transport path reaches an intersection.

FIG. 6 is a front partial cross-sectional view of the sheet transport structure shown in FIG. 2 and a portion in the vicinity thereof, and illustrates a state in which a sheet transported along a second sheet transport path passes an intersection.

7 is an exploded perspective view of a branch lever and a support shaft of the paper transport structure shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 16 transport path (first paper transport path) 17 external paper discharge section 34 intermediate tray 43 transport path (second paper transport path) 45 intersection 46 paper transport structure 57 positioning member 59 rotation axis 61-66 branch lever P Paper P2 A pair of ends of paper

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A sheet transport structure comprising a branch lever provided at an intersection of first and second sheet transport paths intersecting with each other, wherein the branch lever is supported rotatably about a rotation axis. A first posture in which a sheet passing through the intersecting portion is placed and guided along a first sheet transport path by hanging down in an inclined manner below the rotation axis and abutting on the positioning member by its own weight; A paper transport structure, wherein the paper is transported along a second paper transport path by being pushed and lifted by a leading edge of the paper, and displaced to a second position that allows the paper to pass through the intersection. 2. The paper transport structure according to claim 1, wherein the first paper transport path transports the paper to an intermediate tray disposed downstream of the intersection in the paper transport direction. The sheet transport structure, wherein the second sheet transport path is configured to transport sheets post-processed on the intermediate tray to a sheet discharge unit via an intersection. 3. The sheet transport structure according to claim 2, wherein the post-processing is a process of binding a plurality of sheets with staples. 4. The paper transport structure according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the branch levers are independently provided along a direction perpendicular to the paper transport direction and parallel to the transported paper. A sheet transport structure, which is provided. 5. A paper transport structure according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of papers of different sizes are transported to said first and second paper transport paths, and a plurality of branch levers are provided for each size paper. A sheet transport structure, comprising: branch levers respectively arranged at positions corresponding to a pair of ends of sheets facing each other in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction.