JP2008273645A - Paper carrying device and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve workability of paper powder collecting work by facilitating take-out work of paper powder from a paper powder collecting portion provided on a carrying unit. <P>SOLUTION: The carrying unit 20 is opposed to a resister roller pair 412 arranged on a just upstream side of a light-sensitive drum 121 included in a device main body 11 of an image forming device 10, on a lower side thereof. The carrying unit 20 comprises a unit main body 30 detachably equipped to the device main body 11, a guide member 40 detachably equipped to the unit main body 30 and forming a manually feeding carrying passage 21 with the unit main body 30, a cleaning member 50 abutting on a peripheral surface of a driving roller 142 which is one unit roller of the resister roller pair 142 and removing paper powder adhered to the peripheral surface, and a gutter member 60 provided along the cleaning member 50 and receiving and collecting the paper powder removed by the cleaning member 50. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus used for conveying a sheet provided in an image forming apparatus toward an image carrier, and an image forming apparatus to which the sheet conveying apparatus is applied.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a vertical conveyance type paper conveyance device (a paper feeding device in Patent Literature 1) applied to an image forming apparatus as described in Patent Literature 1. This sheet conveying apparatus is configured to convey a sheet fed from a sheet cassette built in a lower part of the apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus or a sheet manually fed from a manual tray provided on one side of the apparatus main body (Patent Document). In FIG. 1, it is configured so as to be fed to an upper image forming unit (image forming unit in Patent Document 1) by driving rotation of a pair of relay rollers) and driving rotation of a registration roller pair provided on the downstream side of the conveying roller pair. .

  In such a paper transport device, a guide plate is provided along the transport path from the transport roller pair to the registration roller pair, and the paper introduced into the transport path by the driving rotation of the transport roller pair is It is directed to the registration roller pair while being guided by the guide plate, and is fed toward the image forming section by driving rotation of the registration roller pair in accordance with a predetermined image forming timing in the image forming section. Incidentally, the upper edge portion (downstream end edge portion) of the guide plate is opposed to the peripheral surface of the driving roller in the registration roller pair.

  In such a sheet conveying apparatus, the guide plate has a blade that scrapes away the paper dust on the peripheral surface by contacting the peripheral surface of the driving roller, which is one unit roller of the registration roller pair, on the upper edge portion thereof. A collection case for receiving and collecting the paper powder scraped off by the blade is provided below the blade. The collection case is fixed to the guide plate with screws or locking.

  According to such a sheet conveying device, the paper dust adhering to the peripheral surface of the drive roller in the registration roller pair is scraped off by the blade as the drive roller is driven to rotate and is collected in the collection case. Therefore, the peripheral surface of the drive roller can always maintain a clean state free from paper dust.

Then, the collection case in which the paper dust is accumulated is removed from the guide plate by being screwed or locked during regular maintenance work, and the internal paper dust is discarded. Note that Patent Document 1 also describes that the guide plate itself is removed from the conveyance path by grasping and pulling the handle (see paragraph [0051] and FIG. 4 of Patent Document 1). According to the guide plate having such a configuration, it is possible to remove the guide plate together with the collection case during maintenance work and remove paper dust accumulated in the collection case.
JP 2006-182562 A

  By the way, in recent years, various members built in the apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus have been divided into units according to their functions in order to ensure the workability of the assembly operation of the image forming apparatus and the ease of maintenance work. In many cases, this is not an exception for a series of conveyance systems from the conveyance roller pair to the registration roller pair via the conveyance path. When a transport unit in which a series of transport systems including the paper powder collection case is unitized is adopted, when a trouble such as paper jam occurs in the transport system or during maintenance work of the transport system, etc. By pulling out the transport unit from the apparatus main body, trouble solving work and maintenance work for the transport system can be easily performed.

  However, when the transport system is unitized, when collecting paper dust accumulated in the collection case, the paper unit in the collection case must be taken out after the transport unit has been pulled out from the main body of the device. Had the problem of being inferior.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional situation, and is capable of easily collecting and discarding paper dust from a paper dust collecting unit provided in a unitized conveyance system. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet conveying apparatus capable of improving the workability of the paper dust collecting operation and an image forming apparatus to which the sheet conveying apparatus is applied.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet conveying apparatus that conveys a sheet, the unit main body having a first guide surface for forming a sheet conveying path, the detachably attached to the unit main body, and the sheet conveying A guide member having a second guide surface facing the first guide surface to form a path, and the guide member has a paper dust adhering to a peripheral surface on at least one side of a predetermined pair of conveying rollers. A cleaning member that is brought into contact with the peripheral surface of the transport roller and a paper dust collecting container that collects the paper dust removed by the cleaning member are integrally attached. is there.

  According to this configuration, the paper fed into the paper transport device is transported through the paper transport path formed by the first guide surface of the unit main body and the second guide surface of the guide member, and continues to the pair of transport rollers. It is sent to the target place through.

  Since the peripheral surface of at least one unit roller in the pair of transport rollers is in contact with a cleaning member integrally attached to the guide member via the paper dust collecting container, the peripheral surface of the unit roller The paper dust adhering to is scraped off by the cleaning member in accordance with the rotation of the unit roller around the axis, and is collected in a paper dust collecting container integrally attached to the guide member.

  Since the paper dust collecting container is integrally attached to the guide member, the paper dust collected in the paper dust collecting container can be discarded by separating the guide member from the unit main body. Therefore, it is not necessary to remove the paper dust collecting container from the guide member for discarding the collected paper dust.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, wherein the paper dust collecting container is a bowl-shaped bowl member extending in a sheet width direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction, and the cleaning member is the bowl It is integrally fixed to the flange member along an edge portion extending in the longitudinal direction in the member.

  According to such a configuration, since the scissors member as the paper dust collecting container and the cleaning member fixed to the scissors member can be handled integrally, the place is compared with the case where both are provided in separate places. This contributes to the compactness of the paper transport device and improves the workability of assembling the paper transport device.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention (an image forming apparatus), an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet based on image information, and a bundle of sheets fed to the image forming unit are formed in a predetermined apparatus main body. A sheet cassette to be stored, the pair of conveyance rollers disposed immediately upstream of the image forming unit, and the sheet conveyance device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet conveyance device is in a unitized state. The apparatus is characterized in that it is detachably mounted in a space between the sheet cassette and the pair of conveying rollers in the apparatus main body.

  According to this configuration, the image forming apparatus can enjoy the functions and effects provided in the sheet conveying device according to claim 1.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, the sheet fed from the sheet cassette is fed in the vertical direction toward the image forming unit via the sheet conveying device and the conveying roller pair. It is characterized by this.

  According to such a configuration, it is possible to minimize the sheet conveyance path by vertically feeding the sheet toward the image forming unit, which contributes to the downsizing of the image forming apparatus.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the present invention, a manual feed tray for manually feeding paper to the image forming unit is provided, and the paper on the cassette side is provided with the paper on the cassette side. And a sub-transport path for transporting the manual-side paper to the image forming section.

  According to such a configuration, the transport unit is capable of handling the main transport path and the sub-sheet with respect to the paper fed from either the paper cassette provided at the lowermost part of the apparatus main body or the manual feed tray provided at the side of the apparatus main body. It is possible to cope with any one of the transport paths, and a better and more stable transport state is ensured compared to the case where the paper from the paper cassette and the paper from the manual feed tray are shared by one transport path. The

  According to the paper transport device of the present invention, the paper transport device includes a unit main body and a guide member that is detachably attached to the unit main body and includes a cleaning member and a paper dust collecting container. When discarding the paper dust scraped off from the peripheral surface of the transport roller by the cleaning member and collected in the paper dust collection container from the paper dust collection container, remove the guide member from the unit body to remove the paper dust collection container from the main unit. This makes it possible to improve the workability of paper dust disposal.

  FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus 10 to which a transport unit 20 according to the present invention is applied, and shows a state where a front cover is removed. FIG. 2 is a front sectional view illustrating the outline of the internal structure of the image forming apparatus 10. 1 and 2, the XX direction is referred to as the left-right direction, and the Y-Y direction is referred to as the front-rear direction. In particular, the -X direction is leftward, the + X direction is rightward, the -Y direction is frontward, and the + Y direction is rearward. That's it.

  First, as shown in FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment is a so-called in-body discharge type copying machine, and an apparatus main body 11 includes an image forming unit 12, a fixing unit 13, A paper storage unit 14, a paper discharge unit 15, an image reading unit 16, and an operation unit 17 are formed. Then, a part of the apparatus main body 11 is recessed at the lower part of the image reading unit 16 to form the paper discharge unit 15, whereby the image forming apparatus 10 is called an in-body paper discharge type.

  The apparatus main body 11 includes a lower casing 111 having a rectangular parallelepiped shape in appearance, an upper casing 112 having a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape disposed above the lower casing 111, and the upper casing 112. And a connecting portion 113 interposed between the lower casing 111 and the lower casing 111. The connecting portion 113 is a structure for connecting the paper discharge portion 15 between the lower housing 111 and the upper housing 112 to each other, and stands from the left portion of the lower housing 111. It is installed. The upper housing 112 is supported on the upper end portion of the connecting portion 113 on the left side.

  The lower casing 111 includes an image forming unit 12, a fixing unit 13, and a sheet storage unit 14, and the upper casing 112 is equipped with an image reading unit 16 and an operation unit 17. . In the present embodiment, the operation unit 17 is attached to the upper casing 112 in a state of projecting forward from the front edge of the upper casing 112.

  The paper storage unit 14 has a paper cassette 141 that can be inserted into and removed from the apparatus main body 11. The sheet cassette 141 stores a sheet bundle P0 (FIG. 2). Then, when the image forming process is performed, the sheets P are fed out from the sheet bundle P0 one by one, sent to the image forming unit 12, and the sheet P is subjected to the printing process. In the present embodiment, the paper cassette 141 is provided in two stages.

  The paper discharge unit 15 is formed between the lower housing 111 and the upper housing 112. The paper discharge unit 15 has an in-body paper discharge tray 151 formed on the upper surface of the lower casing 111, and the paper P onto which the toner image from the image forming unit 12 has been transferred is The paper is discharged toward the in-body discharge tray 151.

  The image reading unit 16 includes a contact glass 161 mounted on the upper surface opening of the upper housing 112 for placing a document, and an openable / closable document pressing cover 162 for pressing the document placed on the contact glass 161. And an optical system 163 having a scanning mechanism for scanning the image of the document placed on the contact glass 161.

  Then, the analog information of the document image read by the optical system 163 is converted to a digital signal and then output to an exposure unit 123 described later, and is subjected to image forming processing.

  The operation unit 17 is used to input processing information related to image forming processing. The operation unit 17 is used to input the number of sheets P to be processed, the numeric keypad 171 and other various operation keys, and further to perform touch input. An LCD (Liquid crystal display) 172 and the like are provided.

  Further, a manual feed tray 18 is provided on the right surface of the lower housing 111 at a position directly above the sheet storage unit 14. The lower side of the manual feed tray 18 is pivotally supported around the support shaft 181, and is positioned between a closed posture standing to close the manual paper feed port and an open posture protruding rightward. It can be changed. The manual feed tray 18 is used to manually feed the paper P one by one in a state where the posture is set to the open posture.

  A relay unit 184 and a transport unit according to the present invention connected to the downstream end (left end) of the relay unit 184 between the manual feed tray 18 and a later-described photosensitive drum 121 of the image forming unit 12. (Paper transport device) 20 is provided. Then, the sheet P (FIG. 2) manually fed from the manual feed tray 18 is directed toward a nip portion between the photosensitive drum 121 and a transfer roller 125 described later via the relay unit 184 and the transport unit 20. Sent out.

  The lower surface of the lower casing 111 is provided with a maintenance door 19 for maintenance that can be opened and closed by pivoting forward and backward around the door shaft 191. In addition, an out-of-body discharge tray 152 that can be opened and closed is provided immediately above the maintenance door 19. The paper P for which printing processing has been completed in the image forming unit 12 is selectively discharged to either the out-body discharge tray 152 or the in-body discharge tray 151.

  The outline of the internal structure of the image forming apparatus 10 will be described below with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming unit 12 is provided with a photosensitive drum 121 at a substantially central portion thereof. The photosensitive drum 121 is uniformly charged on its peripheral surface by a charging unit 122 provided immediately to the right while rotating clockwise around the drum center. Then, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 121 by the laser beam from the exposure unit 123 based on the image information of the original image read by the image reading unit 16. A developer (hereinafter referred to as toner) is supplied from the developing unit 124 provided below the photosensitive drum 121 toward the electrostatic latent image, whereby a toner image is formed on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 121. .

  On the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 121 on which the toner image is formed, the paper P sent from one of the paper cassettes 141 of the paper storage unit 14 or the manual paper P from the manual feed tray 18 is fed to the paper transport unit 20 and the resist. It is fed through a roller pair (conveying roller pair) 142.

  The registration roller pair 142 includes a driving roller 142a that is driven to rotate by driving of a driving motor (not shown), and a driven roller 142b that is rotated on the left side by contacting the peripheral surface of the driving roller 142a. . The drive roller 142a is provided on the apparatus main body 11 side, while the driven roller 142b is provided on the conveyance path forming member 195 side described later.

  The sheet P fed to the photosensitive drum 121 via the registration roller pair 142 is electrostatically acted on by the transfer roller 125 disposed on the left side of the photosensitive drum 121 and facing the photosensitive drum 121. The toner image on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 121 is transferred. The sheet P on which the toner image is transferred is separated from the photosensitive drum 121 and sent to the fixing unit 13.

  After the transfer of the toner image to the paper P is completed, the photosensitive drum 121 is continuously rotated in the clockwise direction, so that its peripheral surface is cleaned by the cleaning device 126 provided immediately above it. The charging unit 122 is headed for the image forming process.

  The fixing unit 13 includes a fixing roller 131 provided with an energization heating element such as a halogen lamp inside, and a pressure roller 132 disposed opposite to the fixing roller 131 on the left side. The sheet P fed from the image forming unit 12 is subjected to a fixing process of the toner image by obtaining heat from the fixing roller 131 while passing through the nip portion between the fixing roller 131 and the pressure roller 132. The

  The paper P after the fixing process is selectively placed inside the cylinder of the paper discharge unit 15 via the paper discharge conveyance path 102 provided above the fixing unit 13 when the paper P is for single-sided printing. The paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 151 or discharged to the out-body discharge tray 152.

  On the other hand, when the sheet P after the fixing process is for double-sided printing in which the single-sided printing process is completed, the first half is discharged into the cylinder via the reciprocating conveyance path 103 provided above the discharge conveyance path 102. After being discharged into a temporary evacuation space 153 formed above the paper tray 151, the paper is reversely fed through a reverse feed path 104, which will be described later, and supplied again to the image forming unit 12 with the front and back sides reversed, and the back side. Is subjected to a printing process. The paper P for which double-sided printing has been completed is discharged to the paper discharge tray 151 or the out-body discharge tray 152.

  In such an image forming apparatus 10, the lower housing 111 is provided with a conveyance path forming member 195 that can be opened and closed with respect to the image forming unit 12 immediately inside the maintenance door 19. The conveyance path forming member 195 is disposed in a state of being held on the right surface side of the closed maintenance door 19. The transport path forming member 195 is pivotally supported around a support shaft 195 a supported by the lower housing 111 with its lower end positioned slightly above the lower end of the maintenance door 19. ing. Then, such a conveyance path forming member 195 rotates forward and backward around the support shaft 195a, thereby closing the left surface of the image forming unit 12 (indicated by a solid line in FIG. 2) and opening the left surface. The posture can be changed between the opened posture (indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 2).

  Then, in a state where the conveyance path forming member 195 is set to the closed posture, the vertical sheet conveyance for conveying the paper P fed from the paper cassette 141 or the manual feed tray 18 to the right side of the conveyance path forming member 195. A path (main transport path) 101 is formed.

  The conveyance path forming member 195 is provided by changing the attitude of the conveyance path forming member 195 to the open position when a paper jam occurs in the vertical paper conveyance path 101 corresponding to the left surface of the image forming unit 12. This is because the jammed paper P can be exposed to the outside and removed.

  Further, between the right side of the maintenance door 19 set in the closed posture and the left side of the transport path forming member 195 set in the closed posture, when performing double-sided printing on the paper P, only on one side A reverse conveyance path 104 is formed for reversely feeding the paper P on which the printing process has been performed. The paper P that has been reversely fed along the reverse conveyance path 104 is transferred to the vertical sheet conveyance path 101 formed between the left side of the conveyance unit 20 and the right side of the conveyance path forming member 195 with the front and back sides reversed. Then, the printing process (transfer process) by the photosensitive drum 121 is performed on the back side of the sheet P. The paper P for which double-sided printing has been completed is discharged to the in-body discharge tray 151 or the out-body discharge tray 152.

  In the present embodiment, the paper P that is manually fed from the manual feed tray 18 is fed leftward by the driving of the feed roller 182 provided at the back (left side) of the manual feed tray 18. Then, the sheet is conveyed toward the registration roller pair 142 in the sheet vertical conveyance path 101 via the conveyance roller pair 183, the relay unit 184, and the conveyance unit 20, and continues to the photosensitive drum 121 and the transfer roller 125 via the registration roller pair 142. Is supplied to the nip portion.

  Hereinafter, the transport unit 20 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of the transport unit 20. 4 is an assembled perspective view of the transport unit 20 shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 (A) is a perspective view seen from the left side, and FIG. 4 (B) is a perspective view seen from the right side. is there. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VV in FIG. 3 to 5, the direction display by X and Y is the same as in FIG. 1 (X is the left-right direction (-X: leftward, + X: rightward), Y is the front-rear direction (-Y: forward, + Y: backward)).

  First, as shown in FIG. 3, the transport unit 20 is detachably interposed between the downstream end of the relay unit 184 (FIG. 2) and the right surface of the substantially lower half of the transport path forming member 195. The unit main body 30, a guide member 40 that is detachably attached to the unit main body 30, a longitudinally cleaning member 50 that is fixed to the upper edge of the guide member 40, and the cleaning member 50 And a long scissors member (paper dust collecting container) 60 having the same front-rear dimensions as the cleaning member 50.

  The unit main body 30 includes a front plate 31, a rear plate 32 disposed opposite to the front plate 31 at the rear, and a guide top plate (first guide) laid between lower positions of the front plate 31 and the rear plate 32. Surface) 33, a roller shaft 34 installed between the front plate 31 and the rear plate 32 at the left position of the guide top plate 33, and a unit-side transport that is concentrically and integrally fitted to the roller shaft 34 so as to be integrally rotatable. And a roller 35.

  The front plate 31 and the rear plate 32 are slightly different in shape, but both have a substantially trapezoidal shape in which the left-right width dimension gradually increases as it goes downward, and an inclined edge surface is formed on the left surface side. .

  The guide top plate 33 is used to form a manual feed conveyance path (sub conveyance path) 21 for guiding the paper manually fed from the manual feed tray 18 to the vertical paper conveyance path 101 with the guide member 40. . The guide top plate 33 is formed in a concave arc shape as shown in FIG. Specifically, the right end portion of the guide top plate 33 is installed between the lowermost positions of the front plate 31 and the rear plate 32, and the height of the arcuate upper surface gradually increases from the right end portion toward the left. It is formed to do.

  As shown in FIGS. 4B and 5, the roller shaft 34 is installed at a position slightly below the upper left edge portion of the guide top plate 33 between the front plate 31 and the rear plate 32. The paper P that has passed through the path 21 does not interfere with the unit-side transport roller 35 that is pivotally supported by the roller shaft 34.

  The unit-side transport roller 35 is for feeding the paper P fed from the paper cassette 141 toward the photosensitive drum 121 through the paper vertical transport path 101. In the present embodiment, the unit-side transport rollers 35 are provided as a pair in the front-rear direction at a position near the center of the roller shaft 34.

  On the other hand, the transport path forming member 195 includes a transport path forming member side transport roller 196 and a transport path forming member side so that the peripheral surface faces the peripheral surface of the unit side transport roller 35 as shown in FIG. A relay fin 197 provided at a position directly above the conveying roller 196 is provided. In the state where the conveyance path forming member 195 is set to the closed posture, the circumferential surfaces of the conveyance path forming member side conveyance roller 196 and the unit side conveyance roller 35 are in contact with each other, and the right surface of the relay fin 197 is guided. It faces the downstream end of the bottom plate (second guide surface) 42. In this state, the sheet P from the sheet cassette 141 sandwiched between the unit-side conveyance roller 35 and the conveyance path forming member-side conveyance roller 196 by the drive rotation of the unit-side conveyance roller 35 passes through the sheet vertical conveyance path 101 and passes through the guide bottom plate. Then, it is conveyed toward the registration roller pair 142 via the left surface side of 42.

  Further, the front plate 31 protrudes upward at a left end portion (specifically, a portion corresponding to the uppermost position of the guide top plate 33) which is an upper edge portion and is set horizontally. A threaded support 36 (FIG. 3) is provided. This screwing column 36 is for detachably screwing the front end portion of the guide member 40. A pair of upper and lower bolt holes 361 are screwed on the left surface of the screwing column 36.

  The rear plate 32 has a pair of upper and lower locking holes 321 (FIG. 3) extending in the front-rear direction for locking the rear end portion of the guide member 40 at a position facing the screw strut 36. It is installed. Therefore, the guide member 40 is attached to the unit main body 30 by screwing and fastening the front end portion to the bolt hole 361 with the bolt B while the rear end portion of the guide member 40 is locked by the locking hole 321. become.

  The guide member 40 is attached to the guide member main body 41 as a skeleton and the guide member main body 41, and the lower surface thereof and the upper surface of the guide top plate 33 of the unit main body 30 form the manual feed path 21; A guide bottom plate 42 is provided on the left side to form the vertical paper conveyance path 101.

  The guide member body 41 includes an arcuate front plate 411 whose left edge surface has an arc shape when viewed from the front, a rear plate 412 having an L shape when viewed from the front facing the front plate 411, and the front An erection plate 413 provided between the upper portions of the plate 411 and the rear plate 412, and a reinforcing plate 414 having a step shape in front view attached to the right side of the erection plate 413 are configured.

  The outer dimension between the front plate 411 and the rear plate 412 is set to be slightly shorter than the inner dimension between the front plate 31 and the rear plate 32 of the unit main body 30, whereby the guide member main body 41 is moved forward. It can be mounted between the plate 31 and the rear plate 32.

  A bracket 43 corresponding to the screwing post 36 is provided on the front upper portion of the front plate 411 so as to project forward. A through hole 431 is formed in the bracket 43 at a position corresponding to the bolt hole 361 of the screwing post 36. Further, a pair of upper and lower locking protrusions 415 protrudes rearward from the rear surface of the rear plate 412 at positions corresponding to the respective locking holes 321 of the rear plate 32 of the unit body 30.

  Accordingly, the bracket 43 is brought into contact with the left surface of the screwing post 36 with each locking protrusion 415 being fitted in the corresponding locking hole 321, and in this state, the bolt B is inserted into the through hole 431 of the bracket 43. The guide member main body 41 is attached to the unit main body 30 by being screwed and fastened to the bolt hole 361 of the screwing post 36.

  The guide bottom plate 42 is used to form the manual feed conveyance path 21 in the conveyance unit 20 with the guide top plate 33 of the unit main body 30 in a state where the guide member main body 41 is fixed to the unit main body 30. The guide bottom plate 42 is formed in a concave arc shape so as to follow the arc shape of the rear plate 412 when viewed from the front. The guide bottom plate 42 is bonded to the front plate 411 by screwing, adhesive bonding, or heat welding. It is fixed to the rear plate 412.

  In such a guide member 40, the locking projection 415 is fitted into the locking hole 321, and the bracket 43 is screwed to the screwing column 36 with the bolt B, so that as shown in FIG. It will be in the state where it was attached to.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the cleaning member 50 is in contact with the peripheral surface of the drive roller 142 a that is one unit roller of the registration roller pair 142 in a state where the transport unit 20 is mounted on the apparatus main body 11. It has a square shape as viewed from the end, and has substantially the same length as the guide member 40. Accordingly, when the drive roller 142a is driven to rotate, the peripheral surface of the drive roller 142a is brought into sliding contact with the cleaning member 50, whereby the paper dust attached to the peripheral surface of the drive roller 142a is scraped off.

  In this embodiment, the cleaning member 50 is formed in a prismatic shape using a foaming synthetic resin material such as polyurethane.

  The flange member 60 is fixed to the top of the guide member 40 while supporting the cleaning member 50. The flange member 60 has a left and right width dimension wider than that of the cleaning member 50 and a length dimension substantially equal to that of the cleaning member 50, and left and right edges of the flat plate section 61 facing upward. And a pair of left and right edge dams 62 formed by being bent.

  Then, the cleaning member 50 is brought to the left by the flat plate portion 61 of the flange member 60 and is in contact with the left edge dam 62. Are included).

  Hereinafter, the operation of the transport unit 20 according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described based on FIG. 5 and with reference to FIGS. The direction display by X in FIG. 5 is the same as in FIG. 2 (−X: leftward, + X: rightward).

  First, the paper P (cassette side paper P1) fed out from the paper cassette 141 of the paper storage unit 14 is introduced into the paper vertical transport path 101 below the unit side transport roller 35, and then the unit side transport roller 35 and While being nipped by the transport path forming member side transport roller 196, the unit side transport roller 35 is driven to rotate up the sheet vertical transport path 101, and passes through the left side of the relay fin 197 and the left side of the guide member 40 and the registration roller pair 142. It is conveyed toward. The image forming process for the cassette-side paper P1 after passing through the registration roller pair 142 is as described above with reference to FIG.

  On the other hand, for the paper P (manually fed paper P2) manually fed from the manual feed tray 18 (FIG. 2), the manual feed in the transport unit 20 from the opening on the right side of the transport unit 20 via the relay unit 184. After being introduced into the path 21, guided by the relay fins 197 and introduced into the sheet vertical conveyance path 101, it is conveyed toward the registration roller pair 142. The image forming process for the manual feed side paper P2 after passing through the registration roller pair 142 is the same as that for the cassette side paper P1.

  In this embodiment, the peripheral surface of the driving roller 142a that is a unit roller on the apparatus main body 11 side in the registration roller pair 142 is provided on the top of the guide member 40 of the transport unit 20 via the flange member 60. Since it is in contact with the member 50, the paper dust adhering to the peripheral surface of the drive roller 142a is scraped off by the cleaning member 50 every time the drive roller 142a rotates. Therefore, the peripheral surface of the drive roller 142a is always kept clean with no paper dust attached.

  Incidentally, with respect to the paper dust adhering to the peripheral surface of the driven roller 142b, the registration roller pair 142 is rotated in a state where the registration roller pair 142 does not nip the paper P, so that the driving roller is driven from the peripheral surface of the driven roller 142b. Accordingly, the peripheral surface of the driven roller 142b is eventually subjected to a cleaning process via the driving roller 142a.

  Since the paper dust on the peripheral surface of the drive roller 142a scraped off by the cleaning member 50 is received by the flange member 60, the paper dust removed from the peripheral surface of the drive roller 142a is scattered in the apparatus main body 11. The occurrence of inconvenience is prevented.

  In the present invention, since the gutter member 60 as a paper dust collecting container for storing the paper dust removed from the driving roller 142a is detachable from the unit main body 30, it accumulates in the gutter member 60. When discarding the paper dust, the guide unit 40 can be easily taken out from the apparatus main body 11 by loosening the bolt B and separating the guide member 40 from the unit main body 30 without taking out the transport unit 20 from the apparatus main body 11 one by one. In this way, the paper dust collected on the gutter member 60 can be discarded.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which the guide member 40 is being removed from the unit main body 30. The direction display by X and Y in FIG. 6 is the same as in FIG. 1 (X is the left-right direction (−X: leftward, + X: rightward), Y is the front-rear direction (−Y: forward, + Y: rearward). )).

  When removing the guide member 40 from the unit main body 30, first, the maintenance door 19 (FIG. 1) is opened and the conveyance path forming member 195 is also opened, thereby securing a working space on the left side of the conveyance unit 20.

  Subsequently, the bolt B screwed to the screwing column 36 of the unit main body 30 is loosened through this work space, and the bracket 43 of the guide member 40 is removed from the screwing column 36. Subsequently, by pulling the front end portion of the guide member 40 to the left, the guide member 40 is watched in a plan view around the locking hole 321 of the rear plate 32 into which the locking protrusion 415 (FIG. 3) is fitted. As shown in FIG. 6, the front end of the unit body 30 is disengaged leftward from the front plate 31.

  In this state, by moving the guide member 40 forward, the locking protrusion 415 is detached from the locking hole 321, whereby the guide member 40 can be pulled away from the front plate 31. Then, the guide member 40 pulled away from the unit main body 30 can be pulled out from the apparatus main body 11 and the paper dust accumulated in the flange member 60 can be discarded.

  The guide member 40 after discarding the paper dust can be attached to the unit main body 30 again by performing an operation reverse to that when the paper powder is removed.

  In general, the operation of taking out the transport unit 20 from the apparatus main body 11 is troublesome, and the transport unit 20 may not be taken out from the apparatus main body 11 without a service engineer who has received a predetermined training. Many.

  Therefore, when the guide member 40 is not detachable from the unit main body 30, even if the user tries to discard the paper dust accumulated in the gutter member 60, it cannot be performed easily in the prior art. However, in the present invention, the guide member 40 provided with the gutter member 60 for collecting paper dust can be attached to and detached from the unit body 30 in the present invention. Therefore, even if the transport unit 20 is not taken out from the apparatus main body 11, only the guide member 40 can be separated from the unit main body 30 on the user side, and the paper dust accumulated on the gutter member 60 can be discarded. It is very convenient as long as you don't have to bother with your hands.

  When the cleaning member 50 is worn and needs to be replaced, the replacement work can be easily performed by removing the guide member 40 from the unit main body 30.

  As described above in detail, the transport unit 20 according to the present embodiment is positioned below the registration roller pair 142 disposed immediately upstream of the photosensitive drum 121 housed in the apparatus main body 11 of the image forming apparatus 10. The unit main body 30 that is opposed to and detachably attached to the apparatus main body 11 and the guide member 40 that is detachably attached to the unit main body 30 and forms the manual feed path 21 with the unit main body 30. A cleaning member 50 that contacts the peripheral surface of the driving roller 142a, which is one unit roller of the registration roller pair 142, at the downstream end (upper end) of the guide member 40, and removes paper dust adhering to the peripheral surface; And a gutter member 60 as a paper dust collecting container that is provided along the cleaning member 50 and receives and stores the paper dust removed by the cleaning member 50.

  According to the transport unit 20 having such a configuration, when the paper dust scraped off from the peripheral surface of the driving roller 142a by the cleaning member 50 and collected by the scissor member 60 by rotating around the axis is discarded from the scissor member 60. Without removing the transport unit 20 from the apparatus main body 11 one by one, the guide member 40 is removed from the unit main body 30 while the transport unit 20 is mounted in the apparatus main body 11, thereby removing the collar member 60 from the apparatus main body 30. It becomes possible to take it out of the main body 11, thereby improving the workability of the paper dust disposal operation.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and includes the following contents.

  (1) In the above embodiment, a copying machine has been described as an example of the image forming apparatus 10 to which the transport unit 20 is applied. However, the present invention is limited to the image forming apparatus 10 being a copying machine. It may be a printer or a facsimile machine.

  (2) In the above-described embodiment, the cleaning member 50 is a prismatic material made of foamable synthetic resin made of polyurethane as a raw material, but various synthetic resin foams are used instead of polyurethane. be able to. Further, instead of the foaming synthetic resin as the cleaning member 50, an elastomer blade such as rubber or soft synthetic resin may be employed, or a cleaning brush in which a large number of brush hairs are implanted. May be adopted.

  (3) In the above embodiment, as the paper dust collecting container, the flat plate portion 61 and the rod member 60 in which the edge dams 62 are respectively formed on the left and right side portions of the flat plate portion 61 are employed. Instead of 60, a large-capacity container having a deep pan shape as viewed from the front and extending greatly toward the right side of the cleaning member 50 using a free space on the right side of the transport unit 20 may be adopted. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the frequency of discarding the paper dust accumulated in the paper dust collecting container.

  (4) In the above-described embodiment, the manual transport path 21 is formed in the transport unit 20, but in the present invention, it is not essential that the manual transport path 21 is provided, and the manual tray 18 is provided. In the case of an image forming apparatus that is not provided, the manual feed path 21 need not be provided. In this case, the transport unit 20 is a member for forming the paper vertical transport path 101 between the left surface of the transport unit 20 and the right surface of the transport path forming member 195.

  (5) In the above-described embodiment, another cleaning member may be brought into contact with the peripheral surface of the driven roller 142b to remove paper dust attached to the peripheral surface of the driven roller 142b.

1 is an external perspective view showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus to which a transport unit 20 according to the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a front sectional view for explaining an outline of an internal structure of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows one Embodiment of a conveyance unit. FIG. 4 is an assembled perspective view of the transport unit shown in FIG. 3, (A) is a perspective view seen from the left side, and (B) is a perspective view seen from the right side. It is the VV sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the state in which the guide member is being removed from the unit main body.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 101 Paper vertical conveyance path (main conveyance path)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 102 Paper discharge conveyance path 103 Reciprocating conveyance path 104 Reverse conveyance path 11 Apparatus main body 111 Lower housing | casing 112 Upper housing | casing 113 Connection part 12 Image formation part 121 Photosensitive drum 122 Charging unit 123 Exposure unit 124 Development unit 125 Transfer roller 126 Cleaning Device 13 Fixing unit 131 Fixing roller 132 Pressure roller 14 Paper storage unit 141 Paper cassette 142 Registration roller pair (conveying roller pair)
142a Drive roller 142b Follower roller 15 Discharge unit 151 In-cylinder sheet discharge tray 152 Out-cylinder sheet discharge tray 153 Temporary retraction space 16 Image reading unit 161 Contact glass 162 Document pressing cover 163 Optical system 17 Operation unit 171 Numeric keypad 172 LCD 18 Manual tray 181 Support shaft 182 Feed roller 183 Transport roller pair 184 Relay unit 19 Maintenance door 191 Door shaft 195 Transport path forming member 195a Support shaft 196 Transport path forming member side transport roller 197 Relay fin 20 Transport unit (paper transport device)
21 Transport path for manual feeding (sub-transport path)
30 Unit body 31 Front plate 32 Rear plate 321 Locking hole 33 Guide top plate (first guide surface)
34 Roller shaft 35 Unit-side transport roller 36 Threaded post 361 Bolt hole 40 Guide member 41 Guide member main body 411 Front plate 412 Back plate 413 Construction plate 414 Reinforcement plate 415 Locking protrusion 42 Guide bottom plate (second guide surface)
43 Bracket 431 Through hole 50 Cleaning member 60 Scissor member 61 Flat plate part 62 Edge dam B Bolt P Paper P0 Paper bundle P1 Cassette side paper P2 Manual side paper

Claims (5)

A paper transport device for transporting paper,
A unit body having a first guide surface for forming a paper transport path;
A guide member that is detachably attached to the unit main body and has a second guide surface facing the first guide surface to form the paper transport path;
The guide member includes a cleaning member that comes into contact with the peripheral surface of the transport roller to remove paper dust attached to the peripheral surface of at least one side of the predetermined pair of transport rollers, and the paper powder removed by the cleaning member. And a paper dust collecting container for collecting the paper.   The paper dust collecting container is a bowl-shaped bowl member extending in the sheet width direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction, and the cleaning member is disposed along the edge extending in the longitudinal direction in the bowl member. 2. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet conveying apparatus is integrally fixed to the member. An image forming unit configured to perform image forming processing on a sheet based on image information formed in a predetermined apparatus body;
A paper cassette for storing a bundle of paper to be fed to the image forming unit;
The conveying roller pair disposed immediately upstream of the image forming unit,
A sheet conveying device according to claim 1 or 2,
The image forming apparatus, wherein the sheet conveying device is detachably mounted in a space between the sheet cassette and the conveying roller pair in the apparatus main body in a unitized state.   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the sheet fed from the sheet cassette is fed in a vertical direction toward the image forming unit via the sheet conveying device and the pair of conveying rollers. A manual feed tray for manually feeding paper to the image forming unit is provided;
The paper transport device includes a main transport path for transporting the cassette-side paper to the image forming section and a sub-transport path for transporting the manual-feed-side paper to the image forming section. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4.

Images