JP2005320081A - Rotating conveying member support structure and image forming device equipped with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent generation of skewing and wrinkles of paper sheets when axes of a pair of conveyance rollers are not in parallel in the mounted state. <P>SOLUTION: An elastic holding member 8 composed of a plate spring rotatably supports a conveyance roller 7, and the conveyance roller 7 is made to pressure-contact with a conveyance roller 6 by the spring force. The elastic holding member 8 is rotatably supported by a holding member support part 9 to be able to change an angle between an axis of the conveyance roller 7 and an axis of the conveyance roller 6. A washer-faced screw 11 is threadably attached to the holding member support part 9 to prevent the holding member from falling. The friction force between the washer-faced screw 11 and the elastic holding member 8 is reduced by placing grease 12 between the washer-faced screw 11 and the elastic holding member 8 so as to make the elastic holding member 8 easily rotate to a position where the angle between the axis of the conveyance roller 7 and the axis of the conveyance roller 6 gets 0 degree. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  According to the present invention, one of the paired rotary transport members is pressed against the other rotary transport member by a spring force, and the angle formed by the axis of the one rotary transport member and the axis of the other rotary transport member changes. In particular, the present invention relates to a rotary conveyance member support structure that is rotatably supported and an image forming apparatus including the same.

The image forming apparatus is provided with a paper feed transport path for transporting paper for forming an image to the image forming section, and a discharge transport path for discharging the paper after the image is formed by the image forming section to a paper discharge tray or the like. On each of the transport paths, a pair of rotary transport members each including a roller, a roller, and the like are provided.
For example, in the paper transport mechanism described in Patent Document 1, a driving roller and a driven roller are rotatably provided so as to be transportable while holding a paper transported between a pair of transport guides, and the driven roller is a pressure member. The pressure is applied to the drive roller.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-89448 (second page, FIG. 1)

However, in the paper transport mechanism in which the pair of rotary transport members rotate while being pressed against each other, the pair of rotary transport members are not parallel to each other in the assembled state due to an assembly error or component accuracy. , May be assembled in an angled state. In this state, when the paper is transported there, the paper is inclined obliquely, or the paper may be wrinkled due to stress applied by the rotary transport member.
Therefore, if one of the rotary conveying members is rotatably supported with respect to the other rotary conveying member so that the angle formed by the axis of each other changes, the axis between the pair of rotary conveying members caused by assembly errors or the like The degree of parallelism should be correct.

However, in the paper transport mechanism that transports the paper by the pair of rotary transport members, in order to reliably transmit the transport force to the paper while the paper is sandwiched between the pair of rotary transport members, The other rotary conveying member is pressed against and pressed by a spring or the like. For this reason, depending on the structure of the portion that supports the rotary conveying member on the side that can be rotated so that the angle of the axis can be changed, the urging force of the spring or the like may cause the rotation of the rotary conveying member on the rotating side. There is a concern that the frictional force of the portion is increased, which may hinder the rotation of the rotary conveying member.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and even when the pair of rotary conveying members are not parallel when the axes of each other are assembled due to an assembly error, part accuracy, etc. It is an object of the present invention to prevent a sheet conveyed by a rotating conveyance member from being inclined obliquely or causing wrinkles due to stress.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is formed by a pair of rotating and conveying members and a leaf spring, and rotatably supports one of the rotating and conveying members, and the rotating and conveying member is spring-loaded to the other rotating and conveying member. An elastic holding member that is pressed by force, and a holding member support portion that supports the elastic holding member so as to be rotatable in a direction in which an angle formed by the axis of the one rotary conveyance member and the axis of the other rotary conveyance member changes. A fixing member that is fixed to the holding member supporting portion and prevents the elastic holding member from falling off the holding member supporting portion, and a friction reducing member is interposed between the fixing member and the elastic holding member. Provided is a rotary conveying member support structure.
The friction reducing member may be grease, a metal washer, or a resin washer. Alternatively, the friction reducing member may be a rolling bearing.
Also provided is an image forming apparatus provided with any one of the above-mentioned rotating and conveying member support structures in a sheet conveying path.

  According to the present invention, one of the rotary conveyance members is rotatably supported by the elastic holding member, and the angle formed by the axis of the one rotary conveyance member and the axis of the other rotary conveyance member of the elastic holding member is changed. Since the elastic holding member is supported by the holding member support portion so as to be pivotable in the direction to be removed, and the friction reducing member is interposed between the fixing member and the elastic holding member so that the elastic holding member is not dropped by the fixing member. Even if one rotary conveying member is pressed against the other rotary conveying member by the spring force of the elastic holding member, the elastic holding member acts as a friction reducing member so that the axis of the one rotary conveying member is the other rotary conveying member. It can be easily rotated to a position parallel to the axis. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the paper from being obliquely fed and the paper from being wrinkled.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of a rotating and conveying member support structure according to the present invention in a partially sectional state, and FIG. 2 is a conveying roller of the rotating and conveying member supporting structure and an elastic holding member that rotatably supports the roller. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the elastic holding member in a state where the conveying roller is supported, and FIG. 4 is also engaged with a boss engaging hole formed in the elastic holding member. FIG. 5 is an overall configuration diagram showing an example of an image forming apparatus using the rotary conveying member support structure of FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining that the rotation is possible due to a dimensional difference from the outer diameter of the boss portion.

5 is a drum provided by the optical scanning device 1 in the image forming system 44 based on the image data read by the optical reading system 42 provided in the copying machine main body 41. A latent image is formed on the photoconductor 45 and the developing device 46 of the image forming system 44 makes the latent image visible with toner.
A paper feeding device 20 is provided on the lower right side of the copying machine main body 41, and the paper P fed from the paper feeding cassette 47 of the paper feeding device 20 is conveyed upward in the vertical conveyance path 21 to form an image forming system 44. The visible image (toner image) on the photoconductor 45 is transferred there.

The sheet P on which the visible image has been transferred is conveyed to the fixing device 48 where the visible image is fixed, and then discharged to the external discharge tray 65 by the discharge roller pair 49. At the time of double-sided image formation, the paper P is transported to a reverse transport path 61 that is a paper transport path by a paper discharge branch claw (not shown), and is transported toward a double-sided device 62 by a paper transport mechanism 5 provided there. After the paper is once stored in the double-sided tray 63, the traveling direction is reversed and sent again from the double-sided conveyance path 64 to the image forming system 44 to form an image on the back surface. To be discharged.
In FIG. 5, only one sheet feeding device 20 is shown to simplify the drawing, but a plurality of sheet feeding devices may be provided as necessary. Further, the image forming apparatus having the paper feeding device is not limited to a copying machine, and can be applied to a facsimile, a printer, and the like without any trouble.

As shown in FIG. 1, the paper transport mechanism 5 is formed of a pair of rotary transport members 6 and 7 and a leaf spring, and rotatably supports one transport roller 7 of the rotary transport member. An elastic holding member 8 that presses the conveying roller 7 against the other conveying roller 6 by the spring force of the material itself, and the elastic holding member 8 is connected to the axis L ₁ shown in FIG. 6 is shown in FIG. 1 which is supported so as to be rotatable in the direction of arrow A in which an angle θ formed by an axis L _{2 of} 6 (only the axis L ₂ is shown in FIG. Rotating conveyance provided with a holding member supporting portion 9 and a seated screw 11 which is fixed to the holding member supporting portion 9 by screwing and prevents the elastic holding member 8 from falling off the holding member supporting portion 9 It has a member support structure. In this rotary conveyance member support structure, grease 12 as a friction reducing member is interposed between the seated screw 11 and the elastic holding member 8.

The conveyance roller 6 is a roller on the driving side, and both ends of the roller shaft 10 are rotatably supported by bearings (not shown) fixed to the fixing portions of the apparatus, respectively. Rotating force is transmitted to rotate.
The conveyance roller 7 is a driven roller, and is rotatably supported by the elastic holding member 8 having a spring force as described above, and is in pressure contact with the conveyance roller 6 by the spring force of the elastic holding member 8. . And the conveyance rollers 6 and 7 which make this pair come to be located in the intermediate | middle of the plate | board thickness direction of the pair of conveyance guides 13 and 14 in an assembly state.

The elastic holding member 8 is formed by bending a leaf spring material into a shape as shown in FIG. 3, and holds the transport roller 7 rotatably at the tip end side. Further, the rear end side has a U-shape with an inclined middle portion, and a boss engagement hole 15 is formed in the upper mounting surface 8a, and a positioning hole 16 is formed in the lower mounting surface 8b.
The holding member support portion 9 shown in FIG. 1 is integrally formed of resin, for example, and is fixed to the copying machine main body 41 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the holding member support portion 9 has a boss portion 9 a at a portion that supports the elastic holding member 8. As shown in FIG. 6, the boss engaging hole 15 of the elastic holding member 8 is engaged with the boss portion 9a, and a screw hole 9b formed on the upper surface side of the boss portion 9a in the engaged state. The elastic holding member 8 is prevented from falling off from the holding member support portion 9 by screwing the seat screw 11.

As shown in FIG. 1, the holding member support portion 9 has a pin-shaped positioning projection 9c formed on the lower surface. When the positioning projection 9c is assembled, the positioning hole 16 of the elastic holding member 8 (shown clearly in FIG. 3). ) Is rotatably inserted.
The positioning projection 9c is a portion that serves as a fulcrum when the elastic holding member 8 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. No play is provided between the positioning hole 16 and the positioning hole 16.
On the other hand, the boss engagement hole 15 of the elastic holding member 8 has a hole diameter larger than the outer diameter of the boss portion 9a, and the elastic holding member 8 rotates in the direction of arrow A within the range of the difference. To make it possible.

As shown in FIG. 6, the boss portion 9a of the holding member support portion 9 is elastically held by making the height H from the leaf spring contact surface 9d to the screw contact surface 9e higher than the plate thickness t of the elastic holding member 8. In a state where the member 8 is assembled and the seated screw 11 is screwed into the screw hole 9b, a gap S is formed between the upper mounting surface 8a of the elastic holding member 8 and the lower surface of the seated screw 11. . The gap S is filled with grease 12.
By the way, as shown in FIG. 1, the conveying rollers 6 and 7 that are in pressure contact with each other are in the assembled state due to assembly error, component accuracy, etc. (see L ₁ and L ₂ in FIG. 2). May not be parallel and may be assembled with an angle. In addition, since the conveying roller 7 is pressurized so as to come into pressure contact with the conveying roller 6 by the spring force of the elastic holding member 8, it is caused by a friction load when the portion where the elastic holding member 8 is in contact with other members is rotated. In this case, the above deviation in parallelism is difficult to be corrected.
Thus, when the paper is transported between the transport rollers 6 and 7 with the axes of the transport rollers 6 and 7 having an angle with each other (the state shown in FIG. 2), the paper is inclined and transported. Or wrinkles due to the stress generated there.

However, in the rotary conveying member support structure according to this embodiment, as described above, the elastic holding member 8 rotatably supported by the holding member support portion 9 and the seat screw 11 fixed to the holding member support portion 9 are provided. Since the grease 12 is interposed as shown in FIG. 6, even if the conveying roller 7 is brought into pressure contact with the conveying roller 6 by the spring force of the elastic holding member 8, the elastic holding member 8 functions as the grease 12. by easily rotated in the direction of arrow a shown in FIG. 2, the axis L ₁ of the conveying roller 7 is parallel to the axis L ₂ of the transfer roller 6 (theta = 0 degrees). Therefore, it is possible to prevent the paper from being obliquely fed and the paper from being wrinkled.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view similar to FIG. 6 for explaining the rotating and conveying member support structure using a washer, and the same reference numerals are given to portions corresponding to FIG.
The rotating and conveying member support structure of this embodiment is different from the rotating and conveying member supporting structure described in FIGS. 1 to 6 only in that a metal washer 23 is used as a friction reducing member. That is, the metal washer 23 is disposed there without applying the grease 12 (FIG. 6) between the elastic holding member 8 and the seat screw 11.

In this way, when applying the grease 12, it is necessary to manage the application amount of the grease 12, but it is not necessary to manage it, so the management becomes easy. In addition, when applying the grease 12, care must be taken so that the grease 12 does not adhere to other parts during the application process. However, according to this rotating and conveying member support structure, this is not necessary. Assembly workability is improved and productivity is improved. Furthermore, since the metal washer 23 is less worn, it is excellent in durability.
The washer 23 may be a resin washer (polyslider). Then, since the resin washer has better slidability than the metal washer, the frictional force between the elastic holding member 8 and the seat screw 11 can be further reduced.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view similar to FIG. 6 for explaining a rotating and conveying member support structure using a rolling bearing, and the same reference numerals are given to portions corresponding to FIG.
The rotating and conveying member support structure of this embodiment is different from the rotating and conveying member supporting structure described in FIGS. 1 to 6 only in that a rolling bearing 25 that reduces a load in the thrust direction is used as a friction reducing member. That is, the rolling bearing (ball bearing) 25 is disposed between the elastic holding member 8 and the seat screw 11 without applying the grease 12 (FIG. 6).
When the rolling bearing 25 is used in this way, the elastic holding member 8 is rotated by the rolling contact. Therefore, the frictional force between the elastic holding member 8 and the seat screw 11 is further increased than when the washer is used. Can be reduced.

  The rotating and conveying member support structure according to the present invention can be widely applied to a pair of conveying rollers provided in a sheet conveying system of an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile machine, a copying machine, a printer, or a multifunction machine.

It is a front surface which shows one Example of the rotational conveyance member support structure by this invention in a partial cross section state. It is a top view which similarly shows the conveyance roller of the rotation conveyance member support structure, and the elastic holding member which supports it rotatably. It is a perspective view which shows the elastic holding member of the state which supported the conveyance roller similarly. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating similarly that the elastic holding member can be rotated by the dimensional difference of the boss | hub engagement hole currently formed there, and the boss | hub part outer diameter engaged there. FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram illustrating an example of an image forming apparatus including the rotation conveyance member support structure of FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing a part in cross section for explaining a height H of a boss part of a holding member support part. It is an enlarged view similar to FIG. 6 for demonstrating the rotation conveyance member support structure using a washer. It is an enlarged view similar to FIG. 6 for demonstrating the rotation conveyance member support structure which uses a rolling bearing.

Explanation of symbols

6, 7: Conveying roller (rotary conveying member), 8: Elastic holding member, 9: Holding member supporting portion, 11: Screw with seat (fixing member), 12: Grease (friction reducing member), 23: Washer (friction reducing) Members), 25: Rolling bearings (friction reduction members), 61: Reversing conveyance path (paper conveyance path)

Claims (6)

  A pair of rotating and conveying members; an elastic holding member that is formed of a leaf spring and rotatably supports one of the rotating and conveying members, and presses the rotating and conveying member against the other rotating and conveying member by a spring force; and A holding member supporting portion that rotatably supports the holding member in a direction in which an angle formed by the axis of the one rotary conveying member and the axis of the other rotating conveying member changes, and is fixed to the holding member supporting portion and A rotation conveying member support structure comprising: a fixing member that prevents the elastic holding member from falling off from the holding member supporting portion; and a friction reducing member interposed between the fixing member and the elastic holding member. .   The rotary conveying member support structure according to claim 1, wherein the friction reducing member is grease.   The rotary conveying member support structure according to claim 1, wherein the friction reducing member is a metal washer.   The rotary conveying member support structure according to claim 1, wherein the friction reducing member is a resin washer.   The rotary conveying member support structure according to claim 1, wherein the friction reducing member is a rolling bearing. An image forming apparatus comprising the rotation conveyance member support structure according to claim 1 in a sheet conveyance path.

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