JP2002293443A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device improved in the general purpose of use of a paper feeding device and possible to perform an exchange of parts and the maintenance work in a small space by removing the paper feeding device from a pull-out type feeding paper sheet material loading part (a cassette and a deck). SOLUTION: This image forming device is provided with several paper feeding parts 105. In the figure, 102 is a paper feeding deck and 105 is a paper feeding cassette. They can be drawn from main bodies 101 and 102A in a direction vertical to the paper surface. The paper feeding deck 102 and the paper feeding cassette 105 are provided with the same paper feeding unit (a paper feeding device) 300 freely to be removed. The paper feeding unit 300 has a pickup roller 301, a feed roller 302 and a retard roller 303.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a copying machine for forming an image on sheet materials (recording materials) fed one by one.
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer and a facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 shows the overall structure of a conventional image forming apparatus (copier).

[0003] The image forming apparatus comprises an image forming apparatus main body 10.
1 is provided with a sheet feeding deck 102 in which a large amount of sheet materials S are stacked and stored, and a plurality of sheet feeding cassettes 103 and 105 in which a predetermined amount of sheet materials S are stacked and stored in the lower part of the image forming apparatus main body 101. It has. Paper cassette 10
3, 105 can be pulled out to the front side of the main body 101 as shown in FIG. The paper feed deck 102 is also the deck body 10
It can be pulled out to the front side of 2A. Paper feed deck 102
And the sheet feeders 106-1, 106-106 of retard separation type are provided at the installation sites of the sheet feed cassettes 103, 105, respectively.
2, 106-3.

The above three paper feeding units (102, 103, 10
5) One of them is selected and the sheet material S is fed to the image forming unit.

A paper feeding deck 102, a paper feeding cassette 103,
The sheet material S in the sheet feeding unit 105
When the sheet is fed by 1, 106-2.106-3, the sheet is first sent to the registration roller pair 133 in the rotation stopped state, where the skewed state is corrected.

Next, the toner image is transferred to a transfer portion between the photosensitive drum 111 and the transfer charger 112 by a pair of registration rollers 133 which starts rotating at a timing relative to the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 111. Here, the toner image on the photosensitive drum 111 is transferred by the transfer charger 112 (image formation).

After that, the sheet material S to which the toner image has been transferred is fixed by a conveying belt 113 to a fixing device (fixing roller pair) 115.
The fixing process is performed here to fix the unfixed toner image on the sheet surface.

The image forming apparatus has a normal copy mode for performing one-sided copying on the sheet material S, a double-sided copying mode for performing double-sided copying, and a multiple copying mode for performing multiple copying. The sheet material S after the fixing process is discharged onto a discharge tray 119 outside the apparatus by an inner discharge roller pair 116 and an outer discharge roller pair 117.

In the case of the double-sided copying mode and the multiple copying mode, the sheet material S after the fixing process is passed through the re-feeding path 120 and the double-sided conveying path 126 by the inner discharge roller pair 116 or the switchback roller pair 127. And is temporarily loaded and stored on the intermediate tray 121. The sheet material S in the double-sided copying mode is reversed by the switchback roller pair 127 and stacked on the tray 121 with the print surface facing up. The sheet material S in the multiple copy mode is stacked on the tray 121 with the print surface facing down.

Then, the sheet material S stored on the intermediate tray 121 is sent again to the registration roller pair 133 for image formation by the re-feeding device 130, and thereafter discharged out of the apparatus through the same process as that for one-sided copying. Is done.

FIG. 4 shows a paper feeding unit (102, 103, 105).
Paper feeder 106 (106-1, 106)
-2, 106-3).

The sheet feeding device 106 is provided with the uppermost sheet material S.
Pickup roller 205 fed out of the machine (see FIG. 3)
And a feed roller 206 that conveys the sheet material S sent out by the pickup roller 205, and a retard roller 20 that is disposed to face the feed roller 206.
7 and a transport roller pair 209 (not in 106-1) for transporting the sheet material S sent to the feed roller 206 to the image forming section. The retard roller 207 is
When one sheet material enters the nip of the rollers 206 and 207, the sheet is driven to rotate by the rollers 206, and
When a plurality of sheet materials enter the nip of 207, the sheet material is rotated in a direction to push back the sheet material, and the sheet material other than the topmost one is returned to the stacking unit.

A sheet material passage area between the pickup roller 205, the feed roller 206 and the retard roller 207, and the feed roller 206 and the retard roller 2
A guide (not shown) is provided in a sheet material passage area between the sheet feed roller 07 and the conveying roller pair 209 so that the sheet is guided and conveyed.

The feed roller 206 and the retard roller 207 are configured as follows, and drive is transmitted.

A feed roller shaft 215 for supporting the feed roller 206, a retard roller shaft 216 for supporting the retard roller 207, and the retard roller shaft 216
Are provided substantially parallel to each other. The retard roller shaft 216 is supported by a swingable support member (not shown) to feed the feed roller shaft 215.
Can be moved in and out of parallel. A coupling 219 and a torque limiter 220 are interposed between the retard roller shaft 216 and the retard roller drive shaft 217. The coupling 219 is for transmitting the drive from the retard roller drive shaft 217 to the retard roller shaft 216 even when the retard roller 207 is displaced.

At an end of the feed roller shaft 215, there is provided an electromagnetic clutch 222 for transmitting a driving force transmitted from a main motor (not shown) of the image forming apparatus main body 101 via a drive input belt 221 to the feed roller shaft 215. ing. Between the pulley 240 on the feed roller shaft 215 side and the pulley 241 on the retard roller drive shaft 217 side, a retard drive belt 223 for transmitting the rotational driving force transmitted to the feed roller shaft 215 to the retard roller drive shaft 217 is wound. Have been.

Next, the driving of the feed roller 206 and the retard roller 207 will be described.

The rotational driving force from the main motor of the main body 101 of the image forming apparatus is transmitted to a drive input belt 221 and is controlled by a pulley 225 provided on an armature portion of an electromagnetic clutch 222 which is ON / OFF controlled in accordance with a sheet feeding timing. Is entered. Here, the feed roller shaft 215 and the retard roller drive shaft 217 and the retard roller shaft 216 that rotate integrally with the rotor portion of the electromagnetic clutch 222 are connected by the retard drive belt 223, so that the feed roller shaft 215 and the retard roller shaft 216 And the retard roller drive shaft 217 rotates in the same direction. The feed roller 206 and the retard roller 207 are driven to rotate in synchronization with the sheet feeding timing ON (clutch 222 ON).

Feed roller 206 and retard roller 2
When one sheet S enters the nip 07, the torque limiter 220 idles due to the frictional force between the feed roller 206 and the sheet, and the retard roller 207 rotates in the opposite direction to the rotation direction of the retard roller drive shaft 217. Rotate in the direction. Also, the feed roller 206 and the retard roller 20
In the case where a plurality of sheet materials enter the nip 7, the torque limiter 220 cannot rotate because the frictional force between the plurality of sheet materials is smaller than the frictional force between the retard roller 207 and the sheet material. Instead, the retard roller 207 rotates in the same direction as the rotation direction of the retard roller drive shaft 217. As a result, the uppermost sheet material and the other sheet materials are separated, and double feeding of the sheet material to the image forming unit is prevented.

As described above, when the sheet material S separated one by one and sent by the feed roller 206 reaches a predetermined position, an ON signal is transmitted to the conveyance roller control clutch 231. Thus, the drive from the main motor is transmitted to the transport roller shaft 230 via the belt 232, and the transport roller pair 209 rotates. As a result, the sheet material S is transferred to the registration roller pair 1 by the conveyance roller pair 209.
33.

Then, the leading end of the sheet material S conveyed by the conveying roller pair 209 abuts against the nip of the registration roller pair 133 in the rotation stopped state, and a predetermined amount of loop is formed on the sheet material S to correct skew. Then, an ON signal is transmitted to the registration roller control clutch 234. Thus, the drive from the main motor is transmitted to the registration roller shaft 236 via the belt 235, and the registration roller pair 133 rotates. As a result, the sheet material S is conveyed to the image forming unit by the registration roller pair 133.

The configuration shown in FIG. 4 is a case where the paper feeder 106 is fixedly installed on the image forming apparatus main body 101 side or the deck main body 102A side. For this purpose, the pickup roller 205 of the sheet feeding device 106 and the feed roller 2
In some cases, as shown in FIG. 5, the sheet feed roller 06 and the retard roller 207 are integrally provided on the side of the sheet cassette or the sheet deck that can be pulled out. In this case, when the sheet cassette or sheet deck is stored in the main body, the drive from the main motor is performed by the pickup roller 205 and the feed roller 20.
6. The structure is transmitted to the retard roller 207.

[0023]

However, as in the above-mentioned conventional example, when the sheet feeding device is installed integrally with the sheet material stacking section (sheet feeding cassette, sheet feeding deck) which can be pulled out. (1) The paper feeding device is dedicated to one paper feeding unit and has low versatility. (2) When replacing parts or performing maintenance on the paper feeding device, remove the paper sheet loading unit from the main body. Therefore, there is a problem that a large work space is required.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and a paper feeding device can be used in common for a plurality of paper feeding units, so that versatility can be improved, and a sheet material for paper feeding can be stacked. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of performing component replacement and maintenance of a sheet feeding device without removing a unit from a main body.

[0025]

According to the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus having a plurality of sheet material stacking portions which can be pulled out from a main body.

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the same sheet feeder for separating and feeding sheet materials one by one is detachably mounted on each of the sheet material stacking sections. It is characterized by the following.

Each of the sheet material loading sections is provided with a drive transmitting means for transmitting the drive of the main body to the sheet feeding device.

[0028] The sheet feeding device is provided with a positioning pin provided on one of the sheet feeding device or the sheet feeding portion on the other side with respect to the sheet feeding portion on the sheet feeding portion. The drive is transmitted from the drive transmission means to the paper feeder by this positioning.

When the sheet material stacking portion is stored at a predetermined position in the main body, the driving of the main body side is transmitted to the drive transmitting means.

The sheet feeding device includes a feed roller that feeds out the sheet material stacked on the sheet material stacking section, and a separation device that separates and feeds the sheet material sent out by the feed roller one by one. / Feed roller pair.

The sheet feeding device can correspond to each of the sheet material stacking sections for different sheet feeding directions.

[0032]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of an image forming apparatus (copier) to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 shows a configuration of a main part (invention part) of the image forming apparatus.

The basic configuration of the image forming apparatus is as follows.
This is the same as the conventional image forming apparatus (FIG. 3). Therefore, only the different part (invention part) will be described here.

The same paper feed unit (paper feed device) 300 is detachably mounted on the paper feed cassettes 103 and 105 and the paper feed deck 102 which can be pulled out of the image forming apparatus. The sheet feeding unit 300 includes a pickup roller 301 that feeds out the stacked sheet materials S, a feed roller 302 that feeds the sheet material S sent out by the pickup roller 301, and a pickup roller 301.
Has a retard roller 303 for separating the fed sheet material S one by one.

FIG. 2 shows a state where the sheet cassette 105 and the sheet deck 102 are pulled out.

A paper supply unit installation section 400 is provided on the leading end side of the paper supply cassette 105 in the paper supply direction, and the paper supply unit 300 is detachably installed in this installation section 400. The paper feeding unit 300 has two positioning pins 30.
4 and 305 are used as positioning holes 401 and 402 of the installation section 400.
Is positioned and installed by fitting it into the. The sheet feeding unit 300 positioned in the installation section 400 is fixed by screws (not shown) or the like.

The installation section 400 is provided with a drive transmission shaft 500 for transmitting the drive of the main body 101 to the paper feeding unit 300. The drive transmission shaft 500 has a coupling 500 at one end.
a and a gear 500b at the other end. When the sheet feeding unit 300 is positioned on the installation section 400, the gear 50
0b meshes with a gear (not shown) on the paper feed unit 300 side, and the drive of the drive transmission shaft 500
1. The state is transmitted to the feed roller 302 and the retard roller 303. Further, the paper feed cassette 105 is
1, the coupling 500a is attached to the main body 101.
Connected to the coupling (not shown) on the side, and the state where the drive of the motor is transmitted to the drive transmission shaft 500 is established.

The paper feed cassette 300 is also provided with a paper feed unit 300 having the same configuration.

A paper feeding unit installation section 600 is provided on the leading end side of the paper feeding deck 102 in the paper feeding direction, and the paper feeding unit 300 is detachably mounted on this installation section 600. The paper feeding unit 300 has two positioning pins 304,
By fitting the 305 into the positioning holes 601 and 602 of the installation section 600, it is positioned and installed. The sheet feeding unit 300 positioned in the installation section 600 is fixed by screws or the like (not shown).

The installation section 600 is provided with a drive transmission shaft 700 for transmitting the drive of the main body 102A to the paper feeding unit 300. The drive transmission shaft 700 has a coupling 70 at one end.
0a, and a gear 700b at the other end. When the sheet feeding unit 300 is positioned on the installation section 600, the gear 7
00b meshes with a gear (not shown) on the paper feed unit 300 side, and the drive of the drive transmission shaft 700
01, a state of transmission to the feed roller 302 and the retard roller 303. Further, the paper feeding deck 102 is
2A, the coupling 700a is
This is connected to the coupling (not shown) on the 2A side, so that the drive of the motor is transmitted to the drive transmission shaft 700.

Here, the sheet feeding unit 300 installed in the sheet feeding cassette 105 and the sheet feeding unit 300 installed in the sheet feeding deck 102 have opposite setting directions due to the difference in the sheet feeding direction. For this reason, the drive transmission shaft 500 on the paper feed deck 105 side is longer while the drive transmission shaft 500 on the paper feed cassette 105 side is shorter.

As described above, the sheet cassettes 103, 10
When the same sheet feeding unit 300 is used for the sheet feeding deck 5 and the sheet feeding deck 102, when a sheet feeding unit of a certain sheet feeding unit fails, a sheet feeding unit of another sheet feeding unit can be removed and used temporarily.

[0044]

As described above, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the same sheet feeding device is removably installed in the plurality of sheet feeding sheet stacking sections that can be pulled out. In addition, the versatility of the paper feeder is improved, and parts replacement and maintenance of the paper feeder can be performed in a small space.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus (copier) to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a main part (part of the invention) of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the overall configuration of a conventional image forming apparatus (copier).

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a sheet feeding device of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example in which a sheet feeding device is integrally installed in a drawable sheet cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 Image Forming Apparatus Main Body (Main Body) 102 Paper Feed Deck (Paper Sheet Loading Section) 102A Paper Deck Main Body (Main Body) 103, 105 Paper Cassette (Paper Sheet Loading Section) 300 Paper Feed Unit (Feed) Paper device) 301 Pick-up roller (feed roller) 302 Feed roller (feed roller) 303 Retard roller (separation roller) 304, 305 Positioning pin 401, 402, 601, 602 Positioning hole 500, 700 Drive transmission shaft (drive transmission means) S sheet material

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3F343 FA02 FB02 FC21 GA01 GB01 GC01 GD01 HA16 HA17 HA25 HA27 HA31 HA33 HB03 HB04 HC04 HC05 HC25 HC30 KB03 KB05 KB17 LA02 LA04 LA13 LA14 LB08 LC11 LC12 LC25 LD10 LD24

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus having a plurality of sheet material stacking portions that can be pulled out from a main body, wherein the same sheet feeding device that separates and feeds sheet materials one by one is provided for each of the sheet feeding devices. An image forming apparatus, which is detachably installed on a sheet material stacking section. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the sheet material stacking units is provided with a drive transmission unit for transmitting the drive of the main body to the sheet feeding device. . 3. The sheet feeding device is provided with a positioning pin provided on one of the sheet feeding device or the sheet feeding portion for sheet feeding on the other side of the sheet feeding portion for sheet feeding. It is positioned by fitting it into the positioning hole,
3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the positioning causes a state in which the drive is transmitted from the drive transmission unit to the sheet feeding device. 4. The image according to claim 3, wherein when the sheet material stacking portion for sheet feeding is stored at a predetermined position in the main body, the driving of the main body side is transmitted to the drive transmission means. Forming equipment. 5. The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet feeding unit feeds the sheet material stacked on the sheet feeding sheet stacking unit, and separates and feeds the sheet material sent out by the sending roller. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a separation / feed roller pair. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet feeding device can correspond to the sheet material stacking sections having different sheet feeding directions.