JP2011128418A - Sheets conveying device and image forming apparatus using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheets conveying device and an image forming apparatus, wherein a jamming processing position is easily recognized since a knob for jamming processing is projected on a front surface of a machine body when the jamming occurs. <P>SOLUTION: When sheet jamming occurs in a conveying path, the position where a sheet remains is detected by a detection means, corresponding jamming recovery operation procedure and the jammed position are displayed on an operating section, an operator recognizes the jamming position and opens the front door, and the knob for jamming processing 70 corresponding to the jammed position is projected in the front side of an apparatus body which is in the direction approximately perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction. As for the knob for jamming processing 70, the action is controlled by a shaft 9, a screw 14, a revolving arm 11 and a stopper 12 and the knob 70 is projected when the stopper 12 comes off. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus used in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile, and an image forming apparatus using the same.

  Conventionally, in the image forming apparatus as described above, when a jam occurs in the sheet conveyance path, an area where the jam has occurred is displayed on the operation unit, and the operator can easily recognize the occurrence of the jam and the occurrence area. This makes it easy for the operator to select and operate jammed knobs and levers to remove jammed sheets.

  However, even if it is configured to display the area where the jam occurred on this operation unit, it is said that there is a problem that the operator who is not familiar with the operation cannot grasp the actual jam occurrence location. On the other hand, in the invention disclosed in Patent Document 2, in addition to the operation unit, when a jam occurs, display means for displaying a jam recovery operation is provided on the front side of the body for each area, and the operator generates a jam. It is the structure which leads to the location.

  However, as in the configuration of the invention disclosed in Patent Document 2, a large space is required to have display means for displaying a jam recovery operation on the front surface of the aircraft for each area, in addition to the operation unit, when a jam occurs. Therefore, it may lead to an increase in the size of the image forming apparatus, and a large power consumption in the display means may also occur.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a sheet conveying apparatus that can accurately guide an operator to a place where jam recovery should be performed with low power consumption without increasing the size of the machine, and an image forming apparatus using the sheet conveying apparatus. For the purpose.

  Of the sheet conveying apparatus according to the present invention, the apparatus according to claim 1 includes a jam detecting unit that detects a jam in a sheet conveying path, and an operation unit that also serves as a display unit for clearly indicating a recovery operation of the jam. And a knob projecting mechanism including a knob that is rotated during the recovery operation so as to project toward the front side of the body of the image forming apparatus main body, and a front door opening / closing detection unit of the apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the sheet conveying apparatus according to the first aspect, the knob protruding mechanism includes a stopper that restricts the operation of the knob, and a drive source for removing the restriction by the stopper when a jam occurs. It is characterized by becoming.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the sheet conveying apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the knob protruding mechanism is configured such that only the knob that is turned during the jam recovery operation is disposed on the front side of the body based on the information of the jam detecting means. It is made to protrude.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the sheet conveying apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the knob projecting mechanism is based on a detection result of a front door opening / closing detection unit that detects opening / closing of the front door of the body. The knob is protruded when the front door is opened.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the sheet conveying apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the knob protruding mechanism is configured such that only the knob that is turned during the jam recovery operation is disposed on the front side of the body based on the information of the jam detecting means. The knob is protruded when the front door is opened based on the detection result of the front door opening / closing detection means for detecting the opening / closing of the front door of the machine body.

  An image forming apparatus according to a sixth aspect is characterized by using the sheet conveying apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects.

  According to the present invention, when a jam occurs, the jam processing knob projects to the front of the machine body, so that the jam processing position can be easily recognized.

1 is a conceptual cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus that is an example of an implementation target of the present invention. The perspective view seen from the front side of the apparatus main body shown in FIG. 1 is a conceptual cross-sectional view illustrating an example of a sheet conveyance path in an image forming apparatus that is an example of an object of the present invention. Sectional drawing which shows the knob for jam processing provided on the axis | shaft of a conveyance roller Sectional view with the stopper removed and protruding to the front side The figure which shows the state where the knob for jam processing has projected Enlarged side view showing stopper operation

  The sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention includes a detecting means for detecting a jam in a sheet conveying path, a display means that also serves as an operation unit for clearly indicating the jam recovery operation to the operator, and a knob that is turned during the jam recovery operation. A knob protruding mechanism that protrudes to the side and a front door opening / closing detection means of the apparatus main body, and when a jam occurs, only the jam processing knob protrudes to the front side of the apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus, and the operator handles the jam processing section. It is a configuration that enables accurate guidance.

  Further, the sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention comprises a stopper for restricting the knob by the knob protruding mechanism and a drive source for removing the restriction by the stopper when the jam occurs, and the jam processing knob at the jam occurrence position when the jam occurs It is the structure which enables it to project to the apparatus main body front side.

  Further, in the sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention, only the knob that the knob protruding mechanism turns during the jam recovery operation based on the information of the detecting means protrudes to the front side of the main body of the image forming apparatus, and the operator is accurately guided to the jam processing unit. It has a configuration that makes it possible.

  Further, in the sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention, the knob protruding mechanism causes the knob to protrude when the front door of the apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus is opened based on the detection result of the body front door opening / closing detection means, thereby preventing malfunction during conveyance. It can be configured.

  If the sheet conveying apparatus as described above is used, an image forming apparatus having high jam handling performance can be obtained.

  Note that the knob projection mechanism projects only the knob that is turned during jam recovery operation based on the information of the jam detection means to the front side of the fuselage, or the detection result of the front door open / close detection means that detects opening / closing of the front door of the fuselage Based on the above, the knob may be protruded when the front door is opened.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the illustrated image forming apparatus, and can be applied to various apparatuses that perform image formation. In the present application, “sheets” refers to sheet-like paper and the like, which are all objects to be conveyed in various image forming apparatuses. In addition, as long as it can be transported, it includes those that have not been cut into a certain size in advance.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus which is an example of an implementation target of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the apparatus main body 1 as seen from the front side. The illustrated image forming apparatus includes an operation unit 4, a front door 5, and a conveyance path as shown in FIG. That is, in the following, the front side of the apparatus main body 1 is the side where the front door 5 is located, and the rear side is the opposite side of the front side (not shown in FIG. 2) (also referred to as the back side as appropriate).

  As shown in FIG. 3, the sheet conveyance path in this apparatus includes a detection unit 6 that detects a jam, a conveyance roller 7, and a conveyance roller 8. Further, as shown in FIG. 4 and the like, a jam handling knob 70 is provided on the shaft 9 of the conveying roller 8.

  A series of operations for accurately guiding the operator to the jam recovery unit when the sheet 10 is jammed (sheet jam) in the conveyance path as shown in FIG. 3 will be described.

  When a jam occurs, the remaining portion of the sheet is detected by the detection means 6 shown in FIG. 3, and the corresponding jam recovery operation procedure and jam location are displayed on the operation unit 4 shown in FIG. First, the operator recognizes a jam location on the operation unit 4 and opens the front door 5. Although the apparatus main body 1 has front door opening / closing detection (not shown), it can be detected that the front door 5 is opened. When the front door 5 is in the open state, the jam handling knob 70 corresponding to the jam location then protrudes toward the front side of the apparatus body, which is substantially perpendicular to the sheet 10 conveyance direction, according to the information of the detection means 6. That is, in the case of a general image forming apparatus, the apparatus main body 1 usually has a plurality of jam processing knobs. However, in the illustrated apparatus, the jam corresponding to the position of the jam is detected from the information of the detection means 6. Only the processing knob protrudes toward the front side of the apparatus body. Therefore, the operator can accurately recognize the jam processing unit.

  Next, details of the operation of the jam handling knob 70 projecting toward the front side of the apparatus main body will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, the jam handling knob 70 is regulated by a shaft 9, a screw 14, a rotating arm 11, and a stopper 12. The stopper 12 is configured to be rotatable only in the arrow X direction shown in FIG. There is a compression spring 13 between the jam handling knob 70 and the side plate 71 supporting the shaft 9. When a jam occurs and the front door 5 is determined to be open in the above-described front door opening / closing detection, the front door 5 is turned by a drive source solenoid (solenoid ON) (not shown) linked to the turning arm 11 shown in FIG. 5 state. In this state, the stopper 12 is detached from the jam handling knob 70. When the stopper 12 is removed from the jam processing knob 70, the solenoid is turned off. The jam handling knob 70 protrudes toward the front side (front side) of the apparatus main body 1 by the compression spring 13. The position of the protruding jam handling knob 70 is regulated by the screw 14. FIG. 6 shows a state in which the jam handling knob 70 is fully projected.

  After the jam recovery, when the jam handling knob 70 is pushed into the rear side (rear side) of the apparatus main body 1, the stopper 12 can rotate about the shaft 72 in the arrow X direction as shown in FIG. The jam handling knob 70 pushes up the stopper 12 (as indicated by the dotted line position). Further, the rotating arm 12 and the stopper 11 always have a force acting in the direction of the arrow Y shown in FIG. 7, and when an external force does not act on the stopper 12, an elastic body (not shown) (compression spring or the like) is regulated. ). As a result, when the jam processing knob 70 goes to a position beyond the stopper 12, the stopper 12 returns to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 7, and finally the jam processing knob 70 is restricted to the position shown in FIG. .

  In other words, according to the present embodiment, when a jam occurs, only the jam handling knob 70 at the jam occurrence point protrudes to the front side of the apparatus main body 1, so that the operator can be accurately guided to the jam recovery unit. Further, since the jam handling knob 70 is projected only by turning the solenoid ON / OFF, space saving can be achieved compared to the conventional mechanism and configuration, and the power consumption can be reduced. In other words, it is possible to accurately lead the operator to the jam processing unit with low power consumption without increasing the size of the image forming apparatus.

  In FIG. 1, 100 is an image forming apparatus main body, 200 is a paper feed table on which it is placed, 300 is a scanner mounted on the image forming apparatus main body 100, and 500 is an automatic document feeder mounted thereon.

  The image forming apparatus main body 100 includes four tandem image forming units 18 each including various units for performing an electrophotographic process such as charging, developing, and cleaning around a photosensitive member 40 as a latent image carrier. A type image forming apparatus 20 is provided. Above the tandem image forming apparatus 20, there is provided an exposure apparatus 21 that exposes the photoreceptor 40 with laser light based on image information to form a latent image. Further, an intermediate transfer belt 19 made of an endless belt member is provided at a position facing each photoconductor 40 of the tandem type image forming apparatus 20. A primary transfer unit 62 for transferring the toner images of the respective colors formed on the photoconductor 40 to the intermediate transfer belt 10 is disposed at a position facing the photoconductor 40 via the intermediate transfer belt 19.

  The developing device 400 of the image forming unit 18 uses a developer containing the above toner. In the developing device 400, the developer carrying member carries and conveys the developer, and an alternating electric field is applied at a position facing the photoconductor 40 to develop the latent image on the photoconductor 40. By applying the alternating electric field, the developer is activated, the charge amount distribution of the toner can be narrowed, and the developability can be improved.

The operation of the image forming apparatus is as follows.
First, a document is set on the document table 30 of the automatic document feeder 500, or the automatic document feeder 500 is opened and a document is set on the contact glass 32 of the scanner 300, and the automatic document feeder 500 is closed. Hold it down.

  When a start switch (not shown) is pressed, when the document is set on the automatic document feeder 500, the document is transported and moved onto the contact glass 32, and then the document is set on the other contact glass 32. At that time, the scanner 300 is immediately driven to travel the first traveling body 33 and the second traveling body 34. Then, the first traveling body 33 emits light from the light source and further reflects the reflected light from the document surface toward the second traveling body 34 and reflects by the mirror of the second traveling body 34 and passes through the imaging lens 35. The document is placed in the reading sensor 36 and the original content is read.

  When a start switch (not shown) is pressed, one of the support rollers 15, 16, and 17 is rotationally driven by a drive motor (not shown), the other two support rollers are driven to rotate, and the intermediate transfer belt 19 is rotated and conveyed. To do. At the same time, the individual image forming means 18 rotates the photoconductor 40 to form black, yellow, magenta, and cyan monochrome images on each photoconductor 40. Then, along with the conveyance of the intermediate transfer belt 19, the monochrome images are sequentially transferred to form a composite color image on the intermediate transfer belt 19.

  On the other hand, when a start switch (not shown) is pressed, one of the paper feed rollers 42 of the paper feed table 200 is selectively rotated, and the sheet is fed out from one of the paper feed cassettes 44 provided in multiple stages in the paper bank 43, so Then, the sheets are separated one by one into the paper feed path 46, transported by the transport roller 47, guided to the paper feed path 48 in the copying machine main body 100, and abutted against the registration roller 49 and stopped. Alternatively, the sheet feed roller 50 is rotated to feed out the sheets on the manual feed tray 51, separated one by one by the separation roller 52, put into the manual feed path 53, and abutted against the registration roller 49 and stopped.

  Then, the registration roller 49 is rotated in synchronization with the composite color image on the intermediate transfer belt 19, the sheet is fed between the intermediate transfer belt 19 and the secondary transfer device 22, and transferred by the secondary transfer device 22. A color image is recorded on the sheet.

  The image-transferred sheet is conveyed by the secondary transfer device 22 and sent to the fixing device 25. The fixing device 25 applies heat and pressure to fix the transferred image, and then the switching roller 55 is used to switch the discharge image. The paper is discharged at 56 and stacked on the paper discharge tray 57. Alternatively, it is switched by the switching claw 55 and put into the sheet reversing device 28, where it is reversed and guided again to the transfer position, and an image is recorded also on the back surface, and then discharged onto the discharge tray 57 by the discharge roller 56.

  On the other hand, the intermediate transfer belt 19 after the image transfer is removed by the intermediate transfer belt cleaning device 21 to remove residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 19 after the image transfer, so that the tandem image forming device 20 can prepare for the image formation again.

1: image forming apparatus main body 4: operation unit 5: front door 6: detecting means 7, 8: conveying roller 9: conveying roller shaft 10: sheet 11: rotating arm 12: stopper 13: compression spring 14: screw 70: Jam processing knob 71: Side plate 72: Shaft

JP-A-2005-258104 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H04-148754

Claims (6)

Jam detection means for detecting jams in the sheet conveyance path;
An operation unit also serving as a display means for clearly indicating the recovery operation of the jam;
A knob projecting mechanism comprising a knob that is rotated during the recovery operation and projecting to the front side of the body of the image forming apparatus main body;
Front door opening / closing detection means of the main body of the image forming apparatus;
Having
A sheet conveying apparatus characterized by that. In the sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1,
The knob protruding mechanism is
A stopper for restricting the operation of the knob;
Consisting of a drive source for removing the restriction by the stopper when jamming occurs,
A sheet conveying apparatus characterized by that. In the sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
Based on the information of the jam detection means, the knob protrusion mechanism protrudes only the knob that is turned during the jam recovery operation to the front side of the body.
A sheet conveying apparatus characterized by that. In the sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The knob projecting mechanism is configured to project the knob when the front door is opened based on a detection result of a front door opening / closing detection unit that detects opening / closing of the front door of the airframe.
A sheet conveying apparatus characterized by that. In the sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The knob protruding mechanism is
Based on the information of the jam detection means, only the knob that is turned during jam recovery operation protrudes to the front side of the aircraft, or
A sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the knob is projected when the front door is opened based on a detection result of a front door opening / closing detection means for detecting opening / closing of the front door of the machine body. An image forming apparatus using the sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1.