JP2001270643A - Sheet material carrying device and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet material carrying device offering simple construction for accurately carrying a sheet material, independently of the size of the sheet material, and an image forming device. SOLUTION: Grooves 23, 24 corresponding to ribs 30a, 30b, provided along the carrying direction of the sheet material in the range of its end for reducing carrying resistance, are gradually narrower tending to bottoms 23c, 24c corresponding to the ends of the ribs 30a, 30b.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a copying machine, a printer, and the like having a function of forming an image on a sheet material.
Alternatively, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile machine, and more particularly, to a sheet material transporting apparatus provided in these apparatuses for transporting a sheet material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 6, a sheet conveying apparatus 100 of this type has a first conveying path 110 and a second conveying path 111. A restricting unit 130 for restricting the conveyance of the sheet material is provided at the confluence of the conveyance path 111,
Of the sheet material P that has passed through the sheet material P, the transport direction is reversed by a transport direction changing unit that changes the transport direction of the sheet material P, and the sheet material P passes through the transport path 111 by a regulating unit 130 that regulates the transport path.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7A, a transport path 110 is formed by a first guide 120 and a second guide 121, and a transport path 111 is formed by a second guide 121 and a third guide. 122 is formed.

[0004] The regulating means 130 is rotatably held by the first guide 120, and the regulating means 130 is connected to the second guide 12.
1 is provided, and the regulating means 130 is provided with ribs 130a and 130b for reducing the conveyance resistance of the sheet material P, and the second guide 121
Some are provided with engaging means 141 and 142 which engage with the ribs 130a and 130b of the regulating means 130.

[0005]

However, in the case of the prior art described above, the ribs 130a and 130b of the regulating means 130 urged by the second guide 121 and the second
Depending on the size of the sheet material, the end portion of the sheet material may pass through the engaging portion between the engaging means 141 and 142 formed on the guide 121.

In this case, the rib 130b is urged by the urging force of the urging means 140 so as to contact the upper end 141c of the engaging portion 141.
The distance between the first side end 141a and the rib 1 is small.
When the distance between the second side end portion 141b and the second side end portion 141b is small, FIG.
(B) As shown in the example, there is a danger that the edge of the sheet material is sharply bent in each space, thereby causing the edge of the sheet material to break.

[0007] When the end of the sheet material is broken, FIG.
(C) As shown in the example, the sheet material itself has a strong stiffness, so that the tip of the sheet material strongly contacts the third guide 122, and the sheet material buckles due to the impact, which is the worst case. There was a disadvantage of causing jams.

The side end 141a of the engagement means 141
1, 141b1, the width of the sheet material P as described above is increased.
When the bending of the sheet material is to be reduced, as shown in an example in FIG.
When the sheet material is curled toward the side 20 and the sheet material size is just near the inside of the rib 130b, the distance between the first side end 141a1 and the rib 130b is large. Side, the sheet material tip P1 is positioned at the upper end 14 of the engagement means 141.
There is a drawback that the danger of catching on 1c1 increases, which also causes ear breaks and jams.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is to accurately convey a sheet material regardless of the size of the sheet material.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sheet material transporting apparatus and an image forming apparatus whose configurations are simplified.

[0010]

According to the present invention, there is provided a sheet conveying apparatus which guides a sheet conveyed along a sheet conveying path.
A first and a second guide member provided to face each other so as to urge each other at a downstream end, and one of the first and the second guide members is provided along the sheet material conveying direction. A rib provided to the end to reduce conveyance resistance; and, on the other hand, a groove corresponding to the rib, wherein the groove gradually narrows in width toward a bottom corresponding to a tip of the rib. It is characterized by becoming.

After the sheet material conveyed along the sheet material conveyance path has passed through the end portion, the conveyance direction changing means reverses the conveyance direction of the sheet material, and urges the first and second members. It is also preferable that the guide member is used to restrict the conveyance direction so as not to return to the sheet material conveyance path, and to reversely convey the sheet material along the sheet material reversal conveyance path.

[0012] It is also preferable that an inclined portion is provided on a side of the groove facing the bottom.

[0013] It is also preferable that a curved portion is provided on a side of the groove facing the bottom.

The image forming apparatus is characterized in that the sheet material on which the image is formed by the image forming means is conveyed by the above-described sheet material conveying device.

[0015]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the dimensions of the components described in this embodiment,
The material, the shape, and the relative arrangement thereof should be appropriately changed depending on the configuration of the apparatus to which the invention is applied and various conditions, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the following embodiments.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows an image forming apparatus 5 provided with a sheet conveying apparatus 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
0. FIG. 2 is a front cross-sectional view of the sheet material conveying device 1 at a portion A in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view thereof.

First, an outline of the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 50
Emits a laser based on the obtained image information by the laser scanner 51,
The laser is irradiated on the photosensitive drum 53 built in the.

Then, a latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 53, and the latent image is developed by the toner by the process cartridge 52.

On the other hand, the sheet materials S stacked on the sheet stacking section are fed one by one by a feeding roller while being separated one by one, and further conveyed by the respective conveying rollers further downstream (in the direction of the arrow). On the formed sheet material, development by toner formed on the photosensitive drum 53 is performed by the transfer unit 5.
4 is transferred.

Then, the sheet material on which the unfixed toner image is formed is further conveyed to the downstream side, where the fixing means 55
After the toner image is fixed, the sheet is conveyed to the outside of the apparatus by the sheet conveying means 1, or the sheet is inverted and then discharged to the outside, or
In the case of the double-sided copy mode, the sheet is conveyed to the upstream side again to execute the above-described image forming process.

Next, the sheet conveying apparatus 1 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 2, the sheet conveying apparatus 1 is formed with a sheet conveying path 10 and a sheet reversing conveying path 11, and at a junction of the sheet conveying path 10 and the sheet reversing conveying path 11. A regulating means (first guide member) 30 for regulating the conveyance of the sheet material is provided, and the sheet material P which has passed through the sheet material conveyance path 10 is conveyed by the conveyance direction changing means for changing the conveyance direction of the sheet material P. Is reversed,
In some cases, the sheet passes through the sheet material reversal conveyance path 11 by a regulating unit 30 that regulates the conveyance path.

The sheet material conveying path 10 is formed by a guide 20 and a guide 21 (second guide member) on the upstream side, and formed by a regulating means 30 and a guide 21 held by the guide 20 on the downstream side. The sheet material reversing conveyance path 11 is formed by a guide 21 and a guide 22.

The restricting means 30 is rotatably held by the guide 20 and has a biasing means 40 for bringing the restricting means 30 into contact with the guide 21. As shown in FIG. Are provided with ribs 30a and 30b for reducing the conveyance resistance of the sheet material P.
Grooves 23 and 24 corresponding to a and 30b are provided.

Notches 23a, 23b, 24a and 24b are formed in the grooves 23 and 24 at a slant with respect to the sheet material conveying direction in order to reduce bending when the sheet material passes through the ends.
Is provided.

When the end of the sheet material passes between the rib 30a or rib 30b and the groove 23 or 24, the rib 30a and the oblique cutout 23a, 23b or the rib 30b and the oblique cutout 24a, Since a sufficient space is formed between the sheet material and the sheet material 24b, the conveyance resistance is reduced, and the bending of the end of the sheet material is reduced as shown in FIG. It is possible to greatly reduce the bending and jam of the sheet material end.

Further, even if the tip of the inverted sheet material is curled toward the first guide 20 and the size of the sheet material is just near the inside of the rib 30a or 30b, FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the sheet material tip P1 is formed at the bottom 2 of the groove by the oblique cutouts 23b and 24b.
Since it is possible to prevent the sheet material from being caught on the sheets 3c and 24c, it is possible to greatly reduce the breakage of the edge of the sheet material and the jam.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 4 shows Embodiment 2
It is shown. The same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 4, a sheet material conveying path 10 and a sheet material reversing conveying path 11 are formed in the sheet material conveying apparatus 1, and the sheet material conveying path 10, the sheet material reversing conveying path 11
Are guides 20, 21a (second guide members), respectively.
22.

A restricting means (first guide member) 30 is rotatably provided on the guide 20, and the restricting means 30 is urged by an urging means 40 to the guide 21a. The regulating means 30 is provided with ribs 30a and 30b,
In a, grooves 25 and 26 corresponding to the ribs 30a and 30b are provided.

The grooves 25 and 26 are provided with cutouts 25a, 25b, 26a and 26b whose corners are curved and curved to reduce bending when passing through the sheet material end. .

When the end of the sheet material passes between the rib 30a or 30b and the groove 24 or 25, the rib 30a and the notch 25a, 25b or the rib 30b
And the notches 26a and 26b, a sufficient space is generated, so that the conveyance resistance is reduced, and the notch 26b having a curved corner portion reduces the bending of the sheet material end. Thus, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 5 shows Embodiment 3
It is shown. The same components as those in the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 5, a sheet material transporting path 10 and a sheet material reversing transporting path 11 are formed in the sheet material transporting device 1, and the sheet material transporting path 10 and the sheet material reversing transporting path 11 are formed.
Are guides 20 and 21b (second guide members), respectively.
22.

A restricting means 30 (first guide member) is rotatably provided on the guide 20, and the restricting means 30 is urged by an urging means 40 toward the guide 21b. The regulating means 30 is provided with ribs 30a and 30b,
b has grooves 27 and 28 corresponding to the ribs 30a and 30b.

The grooves 27 and 28 have cutouts 27 which are slanted with respect to the sheet material conveyance direction and whose corners are formed of curved surfaces and curved portions in order to reduce bending when passing through the sheet material end.
a, 27b, 28a and 28b are provided.

When the end of the sheet material passes between the rib 30a or 30b and the groove 27 or 28, the rib 30a and the notch 27a, 27b or the rib 30b
And a notch 28a, 28b, a sufficient space is generated, so that the conveying resistance is reduced, and the notch 2 which is oblique to the sheet conveying direction and has a curved corner.
By 8a, the bending of the sheet material end is reduced, so that the same effect as in the first and second embodiments can be obtained.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The groove corresponding to the rib that is provided to the end along the conveying direction of the sheet material and reduces the conveyance resistance is such that the groove width gradually decreases toward the bottom corresponding to the leading end of the rib,
Irrespective of the size of the sheet material, deformation at the edge of the sheet material can be suppressed, and the conveyance resistance of the sheet material can be reduced. Thus, it is possible to provide a high-quality sheet material conveying apparatus and an image forming apparatus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the sheet material conveying device according to the first exemplary embodiment in a part A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A is a schematic side view of the sheet conveying apparatus according to the first embodiment, and FIGS. 3B and 3C are schematic perspective views illustrating a passing state of an end of the sheet. .

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of a sheet conveying apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of a sheet conveying apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional sheet conveying apparatus.

FIG. 7A is a schematic side view of a conventional sheet conveying apparatus, and FIGS. 7B, 7C, and 7D are schematic perspective views illustrating a passing state of an end of the sheet. .

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sheet material conveyance apparatus 10 Sheet material conveyance path 11 Sheet material reversal conveyance path 20,21,21a, 21b, 22 Guide 23,24,25,26,27,28 Groove 23a, 23b, 24a, 24b, 25a, 25b, 2
6a, 26b, 27a, 27b, 28a, 28b Notch 23c, 24c Bottom 30 Regulator 30a, 30b Rib 40 Biasing 50 Image forming apparatus

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2H072 BA03 CA01 CA02 CA05 CB01 FA01 3F053 BA03 BA14 BA23 EA02 EA04 EA05 EB04 EC02 LA02 LA05 LA07 LB03 3F101 FA01 FB00 FC05 LA02 LA05 LA07 LB03

Claims (5)

[Claims] A first guide member which guides a sheet material conveyed along a sheet material conveyance path and is provided to face each other at a downstream end so as to urge each other; A rib provided to one of the first and second guide members to the end along the sheet material conveyance direction to reduce conveyance resistance; and a groove corresponding to the rib on the other side.
The sheet material conveyance device, further comprising: a groove width of the groove is gradually reduced toward a bottom portion corresponding to a tip portion of the rib. 2. After the sheet material conveyed along the sheet material conveyance path has passed through the end portion, the conveyance direction of the sheet material is reversed by conveyance direction changing means to urge the first and second members. 2. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveying direction is regulated by the second guide member so as not to return to the sheet conveying path, and the sheet is conveyed reversely along the sheet reversing conveying path. 3. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an inclined portion is provided on a side of the groove facing the bottom. 4. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a curved portion on a side of the groove facing the bottom. 5. An image forming apparatus, wherein a sheet material on which an image is formed by an image forming means is conveyed by the sheet material conveying apparatus according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4.