JP2012126543A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus including a conveyance guide device that uses a plurality of small airflow generators without needing a large airflow generator to move a material to be conveyed (recording paper, sheet) in a conveyance path in a direction set in advance to direct a way to go and assume a posture to go before an image position of the material is decided.SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus 1 includes: the plurality of airflow generators 95; a plurality of detectors 99 of the material to be conveyed; a conveyance guide plate 91; and a width guide member 93. The apparatus further includes the conveyance guide device 90 in which a plurality of small-diameter airflow blowout holes 94 in a vertical direction with respect to a surface of the guide plate are formed at the conveyance guide plate 91 and floated by an air current and which moves the material to be conveyed to a predetermined position and in the predetermined direction. A position of the hole blowing out air current or an airflow generation amount of the airflow generator 95 is controlled according to a position of the material to be conveyed which has been conveyed.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, and a fax machine, and more specifically, a conveyance guide capable of changing a position, a traveling direction, and a posture of a sheet-like material to be conveyed (recording paper) in a conveyance path. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including the apparatus.

In recent years, since image forming apparatuses are required to be compact at the same time as multifunction, the shape of the conveyance path of the recording paper has become complicated, and as the material of the recording paper as the material to be conveyed has diversified, The leading edge of the recording paper may rub at the bent portion, and the leading edge may be bent or the recording paper may be misaligned. Then, the recording paper is displaced to the transfer device with the positional deviation and the like being transferred, and the toner image on the image carrier is transferred, resulting in the formation of a fixed image with the positional deviation. Degraded images with low quality are generated.
Therefore, in order to obtain a high-quality image, it is necessary to transport the recording paper from the paper feeding unit to the transfer device without causing leading edge bending or recording paper position deviation.
For example, in Patent Document 1, a registration roller driven by a stepping motor is abutted against a leading end of a recording sheet that has been transported to temporarily stop the skew, thereby correcting the skew, and the toner formed on the image carrier. In the paper transport control method for transporting the image in synchronization with the timing, the recording paper is corrected by skewing it against the registration roller and then temporarily stopped to correct the skew of the recording paper. A paper conveyance control method is disclosed in which a stepping motor is driven by a predetermined number of pulses and the leading edge of the recording paper is held by the registration roller. There is a problem that the structure is complicated by detecting and controlling the number of pulses.

In addition, there is a transport unit that separates / transports a material to be transported by air suction or air transport, etc., with which the leading edge of the recording paper is rubbed and the leading edge is not bent or the recording paper is not misaligned.
For example, in Patent Documents 2 and 3, a discharge levitation device that levitates a sheet material by discharging air to the lower surface of the sheet material, and a positioning roll that moves in contact with the upper surface of the floated sheet material and moves the sheet material to the side. And a positioning reference stopper that is disposed on the side of the positioning roll and is contacted with a side end of the sheet material that has been moved sideways is disclosed.

  Further, in Patent Document 4, a paper feed table on which a document is placed, a feeding belt that contacts and transports the lowermost document on the paper feed table, and an air jet that blows air to the front end of the document to float the document. An automatic document feeder having an apparatus and a vacuum device for sucking a document to the feeding belt, wherein a document detector for detecting the thickness of the document is provided, and the air injection is performed according to a detection signal of the document detector The number of rotations of the blower motor of the apparatus is controlled to be switched to a predetermined level, and one original is separated and conveyed by a feeding belt by the blowing of the air injection device and the suction of the vacuum device, and the original is at least a stacked original An automatic document feeder has been disclosed in which the air jetting device and the vacuum device are temporarily stopped after they have exited the document, and then are operated again at a predetermined timing for each document.

Further, in Patent Document 5, an air levitation transport mechanism that transports a substrate in one direction while the substrate is levitated by an air levitation module, and an ink jet method that ejects ink from above the substrate transported by the air levitation transport mechanism. An image recording unit for recording an image, and in a region facing the image recording unit, the plurality of air levitation modules intersect each other in the same direction as the inkjet head with respect to the substrate transport direction, and An ink jet image recording apparatus disposed at a position not facing the ink jet head is disclosed.
However, these air suction, air conveyance, and the like are those in the conveyance path from the paper feed unit and are not performed in the register unit (immediately before).
Further, in air suction and air transport used in the paper feed unit and the transport path, there is a problem that a large air flow generator and a suction machine are required to obtain air.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the problem is that the image position of the material to be conveyed is determined by using a plurality of small air flow generators without requiring a large air flow generator. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus including a transport guide device that moves a transported material (recording paper, paper) in a transport path in a preset direction so as to be in a direction / posture to be advanced.

The features of the present invention, which is a means for solving the above problems, are listed below.
An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a plurality of airflow generators, a plurality of transported material detectors for detecting a transported material in the transport path, and a transport guide plate disposed on the upstream side of the registration rollers in the transport path. ,
It comprises a reference guide plate and a width guide member made up of a regulating guide plate for restricting the conveyance width in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance of the material to be conveyed on the conveyance guide plate, and the conveyance guide plate is perpendicular to the surface of the guide plate A plurality of small-diameter airflow ejection holes are formed, pipes are connected so as to guide the airflow generated by the multiple airflow generators to the airflow ejection holes, and airflow is generated in the material being conveyed that has reached the conveyance guide plate. In the image forming apparatus including a transport guide device that moves to a preset position / direction while being floated by the airflow output from the airflow ejection hole by driving the device, the image forming apparatus is transported during the transport According to the present invention, the position of the air current ejection hole or the amount of air flow generated by the air flow generator is controlled according to the position of the material.
The image forming apparatus according to the present invention further includes a plurality of ejection hole groups arranged in a row in the conveyance orthogonal direction and a single air flow generator connected to each other by pipes so that the conveyed material moves in the conveyance traveling direction. It is characterized by controlling the vessel.
Further, the image forming apparatus of the present invention further connects a plurality of airflow ejection hole groups and a single airflow generator that are arranged in a line in the transporting direction so that the transported material moves in the direction of the reference guide plate. It controls the airflow generator.
The image forming apparatus according to the present invention further includes a plurality of airflow ejection holes arranged in a row in the transporting direction and one airflow generator connected by piping, and a plurality of airflow ejections formed in a row in the transport orthogonal direction. A hole group and another airflow generator different from the airflow generator are connected by piping, and the airflow generator is controlled so that the material to be conveyed moves in the conveyance advance direction and the reference guide plate direction.
Further, the image forming apparatus of the present invention is further characterized in that the number of rows of the ejection hole group that pipe-connects one air flow generator is 1 to 3.
The image forming apparatus of the present invention is further characterized in that the pitch of the ejection holes in the group of air current ejection holes is 1 to 5 cm.
The image forming apparatus of the present invention is further characterized in that an airflow generator is provided for each airflow ejection hole.
The image forming apparatus of the present invention is further characterized in that the airflow generation amount of the airflow generator is controlled by increasing or decreasing the airflow amount.
The image forming apparatus of the present invention is further characterized in that the airflow generation amount of the airflow generator is controlled by opening and closing a pipe line connected to the airflow generator.
Further, the image forming apparatus of the present invention is further characterized in that the pitch of the air flow ejection holes in the transport traveling direction is shorter than the pitch of the air flow ejection holes in the transport orthogonal direction.
Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, among the four corners of the conveyance guide plate, the corner corresponding to the reference guide plate side on the downstream side in the conveyance traveling direction is the lowest position than the other three corners. The conveyance guide plate is arranged at an angle with respect to the horizontal.

The present invention, which is a means for solving the above problems, has the following specific effects.
In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the conveyance guide device using a plurality of small airflow generators moves the position and / or posture of the material to be conveyed in a preset direction without requiring a large airflow generator. Can do.
Furthermore, by controlling the air flow position or the air flow rate of the transport guide device, the transport material and the regulating force are applied while the transported material is lifted from the bottom surface of the transport guide unit, so that the position of the transported material in the transport orthogonal direction The image registration deviation can be reduced by guiding / moving the direction to a preset position / direction.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration example of a conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention. It is a top view which shows the relationship between the position of the to-be-conveyed material in the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention, and an airflow ejection hole. It is a top view which shows the relationship between the position of the to-be-conveyed material in the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention, and an airflow ejection hole. It is the schematic which shows simply the other structural example of the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic which shows simply the other structural example of the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic which shows simply the other structural example of the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic which shows simply the other structural example of the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the structural example of the sensor used for the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic which shows simply the other structural example of the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic which shows simply the other structural example of the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic which shows simply the other structural example of the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that it is easy for a person skilled in the art to make other embodiments by changing or correcting the present invention within the scope of the claims, and these changes and modifications are included in the scope of the claims. The following description is an example of the best mode of the present invention, and does not limit the scope of the claims.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a typical tandem type image forming apparatus having an intermediate transfer belt as an example, and the present invention is not limited to the following configuration.
An image forming apparatus 1 according to the present invention includes an automatic document feeder (ADF) 5 that automatically feeds a placed document from above, a scanner (reader) 4 that reads the document, and an image that forms a toner image. A forming unit 3 and a sheet feeding unit 2 including a transported material 9 such as a recording sheet and supplying the forming unit 3 are disposed below.
The image forming apparatus 1 has an image forming unit 3 disposed at the center thereof. In the image forming unit 3, four image forming units 10 as process cartridges corresponding to yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) toners are provided at approximately the center of the image forming unit 3. They are arranged in a tandem shape arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction.
Above the four image forming units 10Y, 10C, 10M, and 10K, an exposure device 12 that exposes the surface of each charged photoreceptor 11 based on image data of each color to form a latent image is provided. . Further, below the four image forming units 10Y, 10C, 10M, and 10K, endless belts made of a heat-resistant material such as polyimide or polyamide and adjusted to a medium resistance are provided on rollers 651, 652, and 653. A transfer device 60 including an intermediate transfer belt 61 that is supported by being wound and rotated is disposed.
Since any image forming unit 10 has the same configuration, in this figure, the display of Y, C, M, and K is omitted if it is not related to the distinction of colors. Each of the image forming units 10Y, 10C, 10M, and 10K includes photoreceptors 11Y, 11C, 11M, and 11K. Around each photoreceptor 11, a charging device 20 that applies a charge to the surface of the photoreceptor 11 and the photoreceptor 11 are provided. The latent image formed on the surface is developed with each color toner to form a toner image, a developing device 30 that applies a lubricant (not shown) to the surface of the photoconductor 11, and the surface of the photoconductor 11 after the toner image is transferred. A cleaning device 40 having a cleaning blade for cleaning is disposed. Thus, one image forming unit 10 is formed.

The photoconductor 11 is a metal such as amorofus silicone or selenium, or an organic photoconductor. Here, the photoconductor 11 is described as an organic photoconductor. The organic photoreceptor 11 has a resin layer in which a filler is dispersed, a photosensitive layer having a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer on a conductive support, and a protective layer in which a filler is dispersed on the surface thereof.
The photosensitive layer may be a single-layered photosensitive layer containing a charge generation material and a charge transport material, but a laminated type composed of a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer is excellent in sensitivity and durability.
In the charge generation layer, a pigment having charge generation ability is dispersed in a suitable solvent together with a binder resin as necessary using a ball mill, an attritor, a sand mill, an ultrasonic wave, etc., and this is coated on a conductive support. It is formed by drying. As binder resin, polyamide, polyurethane, epoxy resin, polyketone, polycarbonate, silicone resin, acrylic resin, polyvinyl butyral, polyvinyl formal, polyvinyl ketone, polystyrene, polysulfone, poly-N-vinylcarbazole, polyacrylamide, polyvinyl benzal, polyester Phenoxy resin, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyvinyl acetate, polyphenylene oxide, polyamide, polyvinyl pyridine, cellulose resin, casein, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl pyrrolidone and the like. The amount of the binder resin is suitably 0 to 500 parts by mass, preferably 10 to 300 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the charge generating material.
The charge transport layer can be formed by dissolving or dispersing the charge transport material and the binder resin in a suitable solvent, and applying and drying the solution on the charge generation layer. Charge transport materials include hole transport materials and electron transport materials. As the binder resin, polystyrene, styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer, styrene-butadiene copolymer, styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyvinyl acetate, Polyvinylidene chloride, polyarate, phenoxy resin, polycarbonate, cellulose acetate resin, ethyl cellulose resin, polyvinyl butyral, polyvinyl formal, polyvinyl toluene, poly-N-vinyl carbazole, acrylic resin, silicone resin, epoxy resin, melamine resin, urethane resin, phenol Examples thereof include thermoplastic or thermosetting resins such as resins and alkyd resins.
In addition, a protective layer may be provided on the photosensitive layer. By providing the protective layer and improving the durability, the photosensitive member 11 having high sensitivity and no abnormal defects of the present invention can be used effectively.
Materials used for the protective layer include ABS resin, ACS resin, olefin-vinyl monomer copolymer, chlorinated polyether, allyl resin, phenol resin, polyacetal, polyamide, polyamideimide, polyacrylate, polyallylsulfone, polybutylene, Examples thereof include resins such as polybutylene terephthalate, polycarbonate, polyarylate, polyethersulfone, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyimide, acrylic resin, polymethylbenten, polypropylene, polyvinylidene chloride, and epoxy resin. Of these, polycarbonate or polyarylate can be most preferably used. Other protective layers include fluorine resins such as polytetrafluoroethylene, silicone resins, and inorganic fillers such as titanium oxide, tin oxide, potassium titanate, and silica for the purpose of improving wear resistance. What disperse | distributed the filler etc. can be added. The filler concentration in the protective layer varies depending on the filler type used and also on the electrophotographic process conditions using the photoconductor 11, but the ratio of the filler to the total solid content on the outermost layer side of the protective layer 9 is 5% by mass or more. Preferably it is 10 mass% or more and 50 mass% or less, Preferably about 30 mass% or less is favorable.

The charging device 20 includes a charging roller 21 configured by covering a conductive core bar with a medium-resistance elastic layer as a charging member. The charging roller is connected to a power source (not shown), and is applied with a predetermined direct voltage (DC) and / or alternating voltage (AC). The charging roller 21 that discharges ions uses an elastic resin roller as a material. In addition, the charging roller 21 may contain an inorganic conductive material such as carbon black or an ionic conductive material in order to adjust electric resistance.
In addition, the charging roller 21 is disposed with a small gap with respect to the photoreceptor 11. This minute gap is set by, for example, winding a spacer member having a certain thickness around the non-image forming regions at both ends of the charging roller 21 to bring the surface of the spacer member into contact with the surface of the photoreceptor 11. can do. Further, the charging roller 21 may be brought into contact without being brought close to the photosensitive member. The photosensitive member 11 can be charged by discharging at a portion that is in a roller shape and is close to the photosensitive member 11. Further, by making them close and not in contact with each other, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of contamination due to the transfer residual toner of the charging roller 21. In addition, the charging roller 21 is provided with a charging cleaner roller (not shown) that contacts the surface of the charging roller 21 for cleaning.
In the developing device 40, a developing sleeve (not shown) including a magnetic field generating unit is disposed at a position facing the photoconductor 11. Below the developing sleeve, a stirring / conveying screw having a mechanism for mixing toner introduced from a toner bottle (not shown) with a developer and pumping the toner into the developing sleeve while stirring is provided. The two-component developer composed of the toner and the magnetic carrier conveyed by the developing sleeve is regulated to a predetermined developer layer thickness by the regulating member and is carried on the developing sleeve. The developing sleeve carries and carries the developer while supplying the toner to the photoconductor 11 while moving in the same direction at a position facing the photoconductor 11. In addition, toner cartridges for each color in which unused toner is stored are detachably stored in a space above the photoconductor 11. Toner is supplied to each developing device 40 as necessary by toner conveying means such as a mono pump or air pump (not shown). A toner cartridge for black toner that is highly consumed can be set to have a particularly large capacity.

The cleaning device 40 includes a cleaning blade and a holder for holding the blade, and removes residual toner from the photoconductor 11 by pressing the blade member against the photoconductor 11. In addition, the cleaning blade includes a mechanism for contacting / separating with the photosensitive member 11, and can be arbitrarily contacted / separated by the control unit of the image forming apparatus 1. The cleaning blade is brought into contact with the photoconductor 11 in a counter manner, whereby toner remaining on the photoconductor 11 and additives such as talc, kaolin, calcium carbonate, etc. of the transported material adhering as dirt are added to the photoconductor 11. Remove from and clean. The removed toner or the like is conveyed and stored in a waste toner container (not shown) by a waste toner collection coil (not shown).
The toner that has been cleaned by the cleaning device 40 and removed from the photoconductor 11 is collected by a serviceman or the like by a toner conveying member, or conveyed to a developing device or the like as recycled toner and used for development.

The transfer device 60 includes an intermediate transfer belt 61 on which toner images are stacked, a primary transfer roller 62 that transfers and stacks the toner images on the photoreceptor 11 to the intermediate transfer belt 61, and transfers the stacked toner images to the transported material 9. Secondary transfer roller 63 and the like. Further, the transfer device 60 is a portion facing the secondary transfer roller 63, and is provided inside the intermediate transfer belt 61 so that a support roller 653 serving as a facing member faces.
A primary transfer roller 62 that primarily transfers a toner image formed on the photoconductor 11 onto the intermediate transfer belt 61 is disposed at a position facing each photoconductor 11 with the intermediate transfer belt 61 interposed therebetween. The primary transfer roller 62 is connected to a power source (not shown), and is applied with a predetermined direct current voltage (DC) and / or alternating current voltage (AC). As the polarity of the voltage to be applied, the polarity is opposite to the polarity of the charge of the toner, and primary transfer is performed by drawing and moving from the photoreceptor 11 to the intermediate transfer belt 61 side. The primary transfer roller 62 is preferably semiconductive by containing an inorganic conductive material such as carbon black and an ionic conductive material in order to adjust electric resistance. Even if the resistance value of the primary transfer roller 62 is different, the transfer efficiency is hardly changed. However, if the image area ratio is different, the transfer efficiency is greatly different, so that the transfer efficiency cannot be stably maintained. This is because the current flows preferentially to the portion where the toner is not present in the transfer nip portion. As a result, when the image area ratio is small, the transfer voltage value becomes low and the electric field necessary for transfer cannot be obtained sufficiently. is there. In particular, when the resistance value of the primary transfer roller 62 is low, the influence of the resistance value of the toner interposed in the transfer portion becomes large. When constant current control is employed in this way, it is desirable to use a primary transfer roller 62 having a high resistance value. However, if the resistance value exceeds 5 × 10 ⁸ Ω, a toner image is formed due to current leakage. The risk of disturbance is increased. Therefore, it is preferable to use a primary transfer roller having a resistance value in the range of 1 × 10 ⁵ Ω to 5 × 10 ⁸ Ω. The phenomenon that the current flows preferentially to the portion where the toner does not intervene is not only due to the above-described toner resistance, but also the primary transfer voltage applied to the metal core provided at the center of the primary transfer roller 62 and the photosensitive member 11. This is also because the transfer current tends to flow toward the larger potential difference because the portion where the toner is not developed is larger than the portion where the toner is developed. This is because the toner image is the same as the charging polarity of the photoconductor 11, and the toner is developed on the photoconductor 11 where the photoconductor potential is removed by receiving the image exposure of the photoconductor 11, thereby forming a toner image on the photoconductor 11. This occurs in the case of the image forming apparatus 1 that performs this. The photosensitive member potential is high where the toner image is not formed and the photosensitive member potential is low where the toner image is formed, but the transfer potential is opposite to the photosensitive member potential, so the primary transfer voltage and the photosensitive member potential The difference is larger at the portion where the toner is not developed than at the portion where the toner is developed. In this case, the resistance value of the primary transfer roller 62 is desirably in the range of 5 × 10 ⁷ Ω to 5 × 10 ⁸ Ω.

Further, the toner image laminated on the intermediate transfer belt 61 is secondarily transferred to the transported material by the secondary transfer roller 63. Similar to the primary transfer roller 62, the secondary transfer roller 63 is connected to a power source (not shown) and is applied with a predetermined DC voltage (DC) and / or AC voltage (AC). The polarity of the voltage to be applied is opposite to the polarity of the charge of the toner, and secondary transfer is performed by drawing the intermediate transfer belt 61 toward the conveyed material to be conveyed.
The secondary transfer roller 63 includes a cylindrical metal core made of metal, an elastic layer formed on the outer peripheral surface of the metal core, and a surface layer made of a resin material formed on the outer peripheral surface of the elastic layer. Has been.
The metal constituting the metal core is not particularly limited. For example, a metal material such as stainless steel or aluminum is used. Generally, a rubber material is used for the elastic layer formed on the cored bar to form a rubber layer 65b. This is because the secondary transfer roller 63 is required to have an elastic function in order to deform the secondary transfer roller 63 and secure a secondary transfer nip portion, and the JIS-A hardness is 70 [ °] The following is desirable.
In addition, since the cleaning blade 22 is used as a cleaning means for the secondary transfer roller 63, if the elastic layer is too soft, the contact state of the cleaning blade 22 becomes unstable and an appropriate cleaning angle cannot be obtained. Therefore, the hardness of the elastic layer is preferably JIS-A 40 [°] or more.
In addition, since the secondary transfer roller 63 cannot perform the function of transferring a toner image to a recording medium when an insulator is used, it is preferably a foamed resin agent having a conductive function and a thickness of 2 mm to 10 mm. As a material imparting a conductive function, EPDM or Si rubber in which carbon black is dispersed, NBR having an ionic conductive function, urethane rubber, or the like may be used.
Since most of the foamed resin agents used for the elastic layer have high chemical affinity for the toner and a large friction coefficient, the functions required for the surface layer with which the cleaning blade 22 is in contact are low friction coefficient, toner separation. Since the moldability is required, the surface layer of the secondary transfer roller 63 is used by adjusting the resistance by adding a resistance control material to the fluororesin resin.
Further, since the secondary transfer roller 63 rotates in contact with the intermediate transfer belt 61, if a minute linear velocity difference occurs between the intermediate transfer belt 61 and the secondary transfer roller 63, the intermediate transfer belt 61. It will affect the driving of the. Therefore, since the sliding property with the intermediate transfer belt 61 is required for the surface layer of the secondary transfer roller 63, it is desirable to set the friction coefficient of the outermost surface layer to be 0.4 or less.
The intermediate transfer belt 61 is provided with an intermediate transfer belt cleaning device 64 that cleans the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 61 after the secondary transfer.
In addition, the support roller 653 includes a mechanism for contacting / separating with the intermediate transfer belt 61 and can be arbitrarily contacted / separated by the control unit of the main body of the image forming apparatus 1.

Further, the image forming apparatus 1 is provided with a lubricant applying device 67 that applies a lubricant to the intermediate transfer belt 61. The lubricant application device 67 includes a solid lubricant housed in a fixed case, a brush roller that contacts the solid lubricant, scrapes the lubricant, and is applied to the intermediate transfer belt 61 and a lubricant applied by the brush roller. A lubricant application blade for leveling is provided. The solid lubricant is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape and is urged toward the brush roller by a pressure spring. The solid lubricant is scraped off and consumed by the brush roller, and the thickness of the solid lubricant decreases with time. However, since the solid lubricant is pressurized by the pressure spring, the solid lubricant is always in contact with the brush roller. The brush roller applies the lubricant scraped off while rotating to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 61.
Note that a lubricant application device having a similar function may be provided for the photoreceptor 11.
In this embodiment, a lubricant application blade (not shown) as a lubricant leveling means is brought into contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 61 on the downstream side in the moving direction with respect to the lubricant application position by the brush roller. The lubricant application blade is made of rubber which is an elastic body, has a function as a cleaning means, and is in contact with the moving direction of the intermediate transfer belt 61 in the counter direction. As the solid lubricant, a dry solid hydrophobic lubricant can be used. In addition to zinc stearate, metal compounds having fatty acid groups such as stearic acid, oleic acid, and palmitic acid can also be used. . Further, waxes such as candelilla wax, carnauba wax, rice wax, wax, ooba oil, beeswax, and lanolin can be used.

The intermediate transfer belt 61 is composed of single layer or multiple layers of PVDF (vinylidene fluoride), ETFE (ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer), PI (polyimide), PC (polycarbonate), etc., and is made of conductive material such as carbon black. The volume resistivity is adjusted to be in the range of 10 ⁸ to 10 ¹² Ωcm, and the surface resistivity is adjusted to be in the range of 10 ⁹ to 10 ¹³ Ωcm. If necessary, a release layer may be coated on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 61. As materials used for the coating, ETFE (ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer),
PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), PVDF (vinylidene fluoride), PEA (perfluoroalkoxy fluororesin), FEP (tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene copolymer), PVF (vinyl fluoride), etc. Although a fluororesin can be used, it is not limited to this.
The method of manufacturing the intermediate transfer belt 61 includes a casting method, a centrifugal molding method, and the like, and the surface thereof may be polished as necessary.
If the volume resistivity of the intermediate transfer belt 61 exceeds the above-described range, the bias necessary for transfer increases, which increases the power supply cost, which is not preferable. Further, since the charging potential of the intermediate transfer belt 61 becomes high and the self-discharge becomes difficult in the transfer process, the transfer paper peeling process, etc., it is necessary to provide a static eliminating means. Also, if the volume resistivity and surface resistivity are below the above ranges, the charge potential decays faster, which is advantageous for static elimination by self-discharge, but toner scattering occurs because the current during transfer flows in the surface direction. End up. Therefore, the volume resistivity and the surface resistivity of the intermediate transfer belt 61 in the present invention must be within the above ranges.
The volume resistivity and surface resistivity were measured by connecting an HRS probe (inner electrode diameter 5.9 mm, ring electrode inner diameter 11 mm) to a high resistivity meter (manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Co., Ltd .: Hiresta IP). The measured value 10 seconds after applying the voltage of 100V (surface resistivity is 500V) to the front and back of the was used.

  In FIG. 1, a fixing device 70 is provided on the left side of the transfer device 60 to fix the toner image on the transported material 9 semi-permanently on the transported material 9. Although not shown in detail, the fixing device 70 mainly includes a fixing roller 71 having a halogen heater inside, and a pressure roller 72 disposed so as to be opposed to and pressed against the fixing roller 71. The fixing device 70 is controlled by a control unit (not shown) so as to control fixing conditions based on full-color and monochrome images, single-sided or double-sided, and optimal fixing conditions according to the type of the transported material 9.

Further, the image forming apparatus 1 forms various transport paths 87 from the paper feeding device 80 of the transported material 9 to the transfer device 60, the fixing device 70, and the paper discharge tray 86. In particular, in the small-sized image forming apparatus 1 or the high-speed and high-performance image forming apparatus 1, the conveyance path 87 from the sheet feeding device 80 has a large bent portion and is complicated. Since the conveyance path from the sheet feeding device 80 often constitutes the side surface of the image forming apparatus 1, it is inevitably bent. In particular, in the image forming apparatus 1 that delivers from the paper feed cassette 80a, the side surface portion is often configured due to the size relationship with the paper feed device 80, and the conveyance path is folded back from the paper feed unit 80a. Head to 3. In particular, when demand for special sheet materials such as coated paper is high, a guide plate having a large curvature radius is required so that the conveyance resistance during conveyance is low and the surface of the material 9 to be conveyed is not damaged.
A paper feed unit 80 a and a paper discharge unit 86 are connected to the image forming unit 3. The transported material 9 fed from any one of the paper feeding units 80a by the pickup roller 82 is separated into one sheet by the separation roller 81, and then abuts against the resist roller 84 in a stopped state and stands by. Thereafter, the toner image is sent out at a timing coincident with the toner image on the photoconductor 11.
As can be seen from FIG. 1, the path from the paper feed unit 80a to the registration roller 84 is where the transport path 87 changes greatly.
In addition, a frictional noise is generated between the transported material 9 and the transport path 87. As a result, there is a problem that paper jams and paper swell occur. The lateral registration of the material 9 to be transported is regulated by the paper feed unit 80 a, but there is nothing particularly regulated in the transport path 87 after being sent to the transport path 87.

When the duplex copy mode is selected, the transported material 9 having an image fixed on one side is transported to the transported material reversing device 89 by the switching claw 851, and the reversing transport path 87 is By reciprocally moving on the reversely formed transport path 87 formed in advance by a plurality of predetermined transport rollers and a guide member (not shown), the vertical direction of the transported material surface 9 is reversed, and again, It is switched by the switching claw 852 to return to the transport path 87 for image formation, transported on the transport path 87, and transported to the transport guide device 90 again. Here, the position and direction of the material 9 to be conveyed are aligned again and sent to the registration roller 84. Therefore, even when an image is formed on the back surface of the transported material 9, the front and back images of the transported material 9 can be aligned.
Further, after being guided to the transfer device 60, this time the image is transferred and fixed on the back surface of the transported material 9, the paper is finally discharged onto the paper discharge tray 86 by the paper discharge roller 85.
At this time, when the number of transported materials 9 is one, the vertical direction of the transported material 9 is reversed, and then passes through the transport path 87 for re-transport of the transported material reversing transport device 89 and is again registered. The roller 84 waits for the image forming unit 10 to form an image, and the transfer roller 63 forms an image on the transported material 9. This time, after the image is transferred and fixed on the back surface of the transported material 9, it is finally discharged onto the paper discharge tray 86 by the paper discharge roller 48.
When there are a plurality of transported materials 9, the transported material reversal storage device 88 in the transported material reversing transport device 89 stores one end of the transported material 9 having a toner image formed on one side of the set number of sheets. From there, the paper is fed by the paper feed roller 82, separated one by one by the separation roller 81, and again waits until the image is formed by the image forming unit 10 by the registration roller 84. An image is formed on top. This time, after the image is transferred and fixed on the back surface of the transported material 9, it is finally discharged onto the paper discharge tray 86 by the paper discharge roller 85.
In the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention, a conveyance guide device 90 is provided upstream of the registration rollers 84 on the conveyance path 87 in front of the transfer device 60.
As shown in FIG. 1, a paper feed unit 80 a and a paper discharge unit 86 are connected to the image forming unit 3. The transported material 9 fed from any one of the paper feeding units 80a by the pickup roller 82 is separated into one sheet by the separation roller 81, and then abuts against the resist roller 84 in a stopped state and stands by. Before reaching the registration roller 84, a conveyance guide device 90 is provided. Skew correction is performed by the conveyance guide device 90. Thereafter, the toner image is sent out at a timing coincident with the toner image on the photoconductor 11.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram simply showing a configuration example of a conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conveyance guide device 90 used in the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention is disposed upstream of the registration roller pair 84 as upstream of the transfer device 60 in the conveyance path 87.
Further, the conveyance guide device 60 used in the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention is provided on the surface of a conveyance guide plate 91 that conveys a sheet-like material (recording paper) 9 horizontally disposed upstream of the registration rollers 84. A plurality of airflow ejection holes 94 (hereinafter, simply referred to as “ejection holes”) are provided.
The airflow generating hole 94 and the airflow generator 95 on the lower surface side of the conveyance guide plate 91 are connected to a tube serving as a pipe, and the airflow generated by the airflow generator 95 is guided if not shown here. As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of air flow ejection holes 94 are formed on the surface of the conveyance guide plate 91. The to-be-conveyed material 9 conveyed to the conveyance guide device 90 slightly floats from the surface by the airflow from the airflow ejection holes 94 provided on the lower surface side of the conveyance guide plate 91.
The transported material 9 that has floated is brought close to a reference guide plate 931 that is one of the width guide members 93 that are arranged on one side by a restriction guide plate 932 that is one of the width guide members 93. After approaching the reference guide plate 931 on one side, the airflow in the airflow ejection hole 94 is changed to abut the tip of the transported material 9 against the registration roller pair 84.
Further, in the transport guide device 90, a transported material detector (sensor) 99 for detecting the transported material 9 in the transport path 97 is not shown, but above the transport guide plate 91,
They are provided at set intervals at positions parallel to the surface.

The number (interval) of the air flow ejection holes 94 is set so that the transported material 9 can be lifted. FIG. 2 illustrates five rows of airflow ejection holes 94 in the conveying direction of the conveyed material (recording paper) 9 and five rows in the conveying orthogonal direction or the width direction of the conveyed material (recording paper) 9. A reference guide plate 931 provided on one side of the conveyance guide device 90 is fixed, and a regulation guide plate 932 that moves in the width direction is provided on the other side plate.
The restriction guide plate 932 is moved in the width direction by a moving means (not shown) depending on the size of the material 9 to be conveyed. Further, an elastic body 931 is disposed on the regulation guide plate 932.
By this elastic body 933, the transported material 9 is lightly pressed against the reference guide 931 side, and the posture and position of the transported material 9 are regulated. By reducing the contact location with the transported material 9 (point contact), it is possible to regulate while suppressing a decrease in the transport force of the transported material 9. For example, using a PET film as the elastic body 933, the shape (length) of the PET film, depending on the material of the transported material 9 and the transport speed,
An appropriate regulation force can be obtained by changing the thickness and the manner (angle) of contact with the transported material 9.
On the downstream side of the conveyance guide device 90 in the conveyance direction, a registration roller 84 having a height substantially coincident with the surface of the conveyance guide plate 91 is disposed.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the relationship between the position of the material to be transported and the air flow ejection holes in the transport guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
Here, for the sake of explanation, five rows (groups A to E) of the air current ejection holes 94 in the conveyance advance direction of the material to be conveyed (recording paper) 9 and the air current ejection in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance of the material to be conveyed (recording paper) 9 are shown. The perforations 94 are arranged in four rows (groups 1 to 4).
In the state where about half of the material to be transported (shaded portion) 9 transported in the direction of the arrow is placed on the transport guide plate 91 as shown in (a), the ejected airflow of all the airflow ejection holes 94 is the same. .
Further, when substantially all of the transported material 9 is on the transport guide plate 91 as shown in (b), the air flow ejection hole group corresponding to the transport upstream side (the rear end portion of the transported material 9). Increase the airflow of D and E. By doing in this way, the force (conveyance force) pushed ahead can be provided to the to-be-conveyed material 9, and the to-be-conveyed material 9 is conveyed in a conveyance advancing direction by controlling the airflow of a conveyance advancing direction.
The standard of the position of the transported material 9 that controls the airflow is determined by whether or not the controlled airflow acts in the traveling direction of the transported material 9.
If the air flow rate control responds to the transport speed, the airflow in the airflow ejection holes 94 (in the case of (a), which corresponds to the airflow ejection hole groups A and B) in the region where there is no material to be transported 9 is stopped. I do not care.
In this way, the conveyance force is applied by controlling the air flow in the conveyance advance direction of the material 9 to be conveyed.
In order to control the airflow in the transporting direction with respect to the entire transported material (recording paper) 9, as shown in FIG. 3, a group A of a plurality of airflow ejection holes 94 lined up with the airflow generator 95 in the transport orthogonal direction, as shown in FIG. Connect B, C, D, and E by piping.

Further, as shown in (c), when the transported material 9 is greatly displaced in the transport orthogonal direction or the transported material 9 is strong and cannot be restricted only by the elastic body 931 of the width guide plate 93, the width guide plate The airflow of the group 1 (A1, B1, C1, D1, E1) of the airflow ejection holes 94 close to 93 is increased.
As a result, a regulating force is applied to the conveyed material 9 such that the conveyed material 9 faces the reference guide plate 931 as indicated by the dotted arrow in FIG.
By controlling the air flow in the transporting direction in this way, it is possible to apply a regulating force to the transported material 9 along the reference guide plate 931, and the position / direction of the transported material 9 in the transport orthogonal direction is set in a predetermined position / It can be guided / moved in the direction.
The position of the transported material 9 at this time is detected by using a transported material detector (sensor) 99 on the reference guide plate 931 side at the upstream end of the transport guide plate 91.
Further, as shown in (d), when a group of air current ejection holes 94 that are unnecessary due to the size of the material 9 to be conveyed is generated, the holes (A1, B1, C1, D1, By stopping the supply of airflow to E1), generation of useless airflow can be prevented.
In order to control the airflow in the transporting direction, as shown in FIG. 3C, the airflow generator 95 and the groups 1 to 4 of the plurality of airflow ejection holes 94 that form a line in the transporting direction are connected by piping.
Thus, by controlling the airflow position or the air flow rate ejected from the transport guide plate 91, the transported material 9 is lifted from the bottom surface of the transport guide plate 91, and the transport force and the regulation force are applied, so that the transported material is transported. While transporting the material 9 in the direction of travel, the position and direction of the transported material 9 in the direction perpendicular to the transport can be guided / moved to a preset position / direction to reduce image registration deviation and at the same time generate wasteful airflow. Can be prevented.

Further, in the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention, a group of a plurality of ejection holes 94 arranged in a row in the conveyance traveling direction and one air flow generator 95 are connected by piping, and a plurality of ejections arranged in a row in the conveyance orthogonal direction. The group of holes 94 and another air flow generator 95 different from the air flow generator are connected by piping, and the air flow generator 95 is controlled so that the transported material 9 moves in the direction of the transport progress and the regulation guide plate 932. .
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram simply showing another configuration example of the conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
Here, for the sake of explanation, there are nine rows of groups of air flow ejection holes 94 in the conveyance advance direction of the transported material (recording paper) 9 and air flow ejection holes 94 in the transport orthogonal direction of the transported material (recording paper) 9. The group has 4 columns.
Here, the air flow ejection holes 94 indicated by black circles on the surface of the conveyance guide plate 91 are connected to the piping in the conveyance direction indicated by dotted lines, and are connected to the air flow supply port hatched in gray formed deep in the thickness direction from the surface. The airflow from the generated airflow generator 95 is ejected.
In addition, the air flow ejection hole 94 indicated by a circle with an oblique line is connected to a pipe in the conveyance orthogonal direction indicated by a one-dot chain line, and from an air flow generator 95 connected to an air flow supply port formed shallow from the surface in the thickness direction. Is blowing out the airflow.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, the airflow generator 95 controls the airflow in the conveyance advance direction and the conveyance orthogonal direction independently, and the conveyance force and the regulation force in the direction of the reference guide plate 931 are applied to the material 9 to be conveyed. Is granted.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram simply showing another configuration example of the conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
However, when the number of the airflow ejection holes 94 in the conveyance orthogonal direction in the conveyance guide device 90 is smaller than the number of the airflow ejection holes 94 in the conveyance advancing direction, the airflow is ejected from all the airflow ejection holes 94 simultaneously. When performing the above, there is a difference in how the airflow strikes between the conveyance orthogonal direction and the conveyance direction. When this becomes a problem, as shown in FIG. 5, it is preferable to increase the number of air flow ejection holes 94 connected to the pipe in the conveyance orthogonal direction. Thus, by separately controlling the airflow in the transporting direction and the airflow in the transport orthogonal direction, a transport force can be applied to the transported material 9 and a large regulation force along the reference guide plate 631 of the transported material 9 can be applied. . Therefore, the air flow in the conveyance advance direction and the conveyance orthogonal direction can be independently controlled, and the conveyance force and the regulation force in the direction of the reference guide plate 931 can be reliably applied to the material 9 to be conveyed.

In the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention, the number of rows of the group of air flow ejection holes 94 that pipe-connect one air flow generator 95 is 1 to 3 rows.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram simply showing another configuration example of the conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
By connecting the group of air flow ejection holes 94 that form a row in the conveyance advance direction or the conveyance orthogonal direction and the air flow generator 95, fine adjustment of the application of the conveyance force or the regulation force is possible. However, in that case, the number of airflow generators 95 needs to be increased.
When the pitch of the formed air flow ejection holes 94 is short or when the power of the air flow generator 95 has a margin, as shown in FIG. 6, one air flow generator 95 is connected to a row of a plurality of air flow ejection holes 94. To do. However, even if the same airflow is supplied to many rows, the effect of the conveying force or the regulation force does not occur. Therefore, if the minimum pitch d of the airflow ejection holes 94 is 1 cm, the number of rows is limited to three.
Thereby, while maintaining the effects of the conveying force and the regulating force by controlling the airflow, the airflow generator 95 can be used efficiently.

In the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention, the pitch in the group of the air jet holes 94 is set to 1 to 5 cm.
When an air flow is applied to the material 9 to be transported, which is weak, a portion of the material 9 to be transported may cause an air pool due to the air current, resulting in bending. If the deflection is large, the material 9 to be conveyed comes into contact with the conveyance guide plate 91 and the conveyance force is reduced so that it cannot be conveyed.
In addition, in the case of the material 9 to be conveyed that is weak, the deflection may increase when the pitch of the air flow ejection holes is about 4 cm or more. If the conveying speed of the conveyed material 9 in the image forming apparatus 1 is high, air accumulation is difficult to occur, and even if bending occurs, the airflow can be further increased to increase the flying height of the conveyed material 9. . However, it is preferable that the pitch in the group of the air flow ejection holes 94 is about 5 cm even in consideration of the adjustment due to the conveyance speed and the air flow. As a result, even if the transported material 9 is plain paper with weak stiffness, it can be surely floated and the number of air flow generators 95 can be reduced.

In the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention, the air flow generator 95 is provided for each air flow ejection hole 94 of the air current.
Even when the same airflow is supplied in units of rows, the airflow in each hole varies depending on the condition of the piping. Further, when the material corresponds to the wide material 9 to be conveyed, the conveyance guide plate 91 becomes large, the pipe length becomes long and the variation becomes large, and at the same time, the generated air flow rate becomes large, and the air flow generator 95 becomes large.
However, by providing the airflow generator 95 for each airflow ejection hole 94 of the airflow, the airflow is supplied not for each row of the airflow ejection holes 94 but for each single airflow ejection hole 94, so that the conveying force can be more finely conveyed. Or regulation power can be given.
By connecting the individual air flow generators 95 to the air flow ejection holes 94, not only variations in the air flow of the air flow ejection holes 94 can be suppressed, but also finer conveyance force and regulation force can be applied.
Further, since the air flow generated by the air flow generator 95 is also reduced, a small air flow generator 95 can be used.

In the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention, the airflow generation amount of the airflow generator 95 is controlled by increasing or decreasing the airflow, or by opening and closing a pipe line connected to the airflow generator 95.
When a fan or blower is used for the airflow generator 95, the airflow (air volume) is increased or decreased by changing the power supply voltage. In a blower using a piezoelectric element, the air volume is increased or decreased by changing the drive frequency.
When a compressor is used for the airflow generator 95, an electromagnetic valve is provided in the middle of the piping, and the electromagnetic valve is opened and closed to control the airflow.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram simply showing another configuration example of the conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
In the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention, the pitch of the air flow ejection holes 94 in the conveyance progress direction is made shorter than the pitch of the air flow ejection holes 94 in the conveyance orthogonal direction.
First, the transported material 9 may bend. As shown in FIG. 7, there are two major ways of bending that hinder the conveyance.
One is that the central part of the material to be transported 9 is lifted and the both ends of the material to be transported 9 hang down as if a cavity was formed in the transporting direction as shown in (a) (hereinafter referred to as “tunnel type”). .)
The other is a state in which a cavity is formed in the conveyance orthogonal direction as shown in (b) and the leading end and the trailing end of the material to be conveyed 9 hang down (hereinafter referred to as “kamaboko type”). In particular, in the latter kamaboko type, the leading end portion of the material 9 to be conveyed is caught and the conveying force is largely lost.
Since the width of the transported material 9 in the direction perpendicular to the transport is determined, the positions of both end portions of the transported material 9 hardly change even during transport.
Therefore, in the case of the tunnel type, the transported material 9 is increased by increasing the airflow in the airflow ejection holes 94 (groups of airflow ejection holes 94 surrounded by dotted lines) at the end of the transported material 9. The drooping of both ends of the can be suppressed.
In the case of the kamaboko type, the position of the leading end and the trailing end of the material 9 being transferred changes one by one. It is also possible to control the air flow by providing a transported material detector (sensor) 99 at the position of the air flow ejection hole 94 in the transport direction and detecting the position of the transported material 9 for each row.

In addition, the minimum pitch of the airflow ejection holes 94 in the conveyance traveling direction is narrowed, and the region where the airflow does not hit the front and rear end portions of the material 9 to be conveyed is made difficult to cause dripping.
The positions of both ends of the material 9 to be conveyed parallel to the sub-scanning direction (conveyance direction) are determined when the size of the material 9 to be conveyed is determined and do not change even during conveyance. Therefore, in order to cope with tunnel-type bending, control is performed so as to increase the amount of air ejected from the airflow ejection holes 94 disposed in the vicinity of both ends of the transported material 9.
On the other hand, the positions of the front and rear end portions of the material 9 to be conveyed parallel to the main scanning direction (conveying orthogonal direction) change every moment during the conveyance regardless of the size of the material 9 to be conveyed.
In order to cope with the kamaboko-type bending, the time for the front and rear end positions of the material 9 being conveyed to reach each hole is calculated from the conveyance speed of the material 9 to be conveyed, Control is performed to increase the ejection amount of the hole corresponding to the rear end position.
However, depending on the conveying speed, it is difficult to respond to the air volume control, and the position of the front and rear end portions of the material to be conveyed 9 and the position of the air flow ejection hole 94 for controlling the air volume are affected by fluctuations in the conveying speed of the material to be conveyed 9. It may not match well. In order to minimize the amount of bending that occurs in such a case, the pitch of the air flow ejection holes 94 is reduced.
In addition, since the front and rear end positions of the transported material 9 can be detected by providing a plurality of transported material detectors (sensors) 99 in the transporting direction, problems due to variations in transport speed can be dealt with.

Here, the air flow distribution and the like are controlled in accordance with the way the material 9 is bent. First, the bending of the transported material 9 is detected using a transported material detector (sensor) 99. Here, the detection will be described with a non-contact sensor using light so as not to cause a load on the transported material 9.
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration example of a sensor used in the conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
The transported material detector (sensor) 99 is provided by combining a light emitter 991 and a light receiver 992. In particular, by embedding the light emitter 991 and the light receiver 992 in both ends of the width guide member 93 or in the width guide member 93, it is possible to prevent obstruction of the transport of the material 9 to be transported.
The light beam (beam) emitted from the light emitter 991 has a width of several millimeters, and the width of the beam emitted from the light emitter 991 is set so that the beam width is perpendicular to the surface of the conveyance guide plate 91. The light emitter 991 and the light receiver 992 are arranged so that one end in the direction is blocked by the surface of the transport guide plate 91 and all the remaining beams pass through the surface of the transport guide plate 91 and enter the light receiver 992.
When the transported material 9 is not bent, a sufficient gap is formed between the surface of the transport guide plate 91 and the transported material 9, and the beam reaches the light receiver 992. When the bending occurs, the gap between the surface of the transport guide plate 91 and the transported material 9 is reduced, the beam is blocked and the amount of light incident on the light receiver 992 is decreased, and the transported material 9 contacts the transport guide plate 91. Then, the beam is completely blocked and the light receiver 992 does not detect the beam (light quantity). Thus, the amount of deflection can be known from the detection result of the light receiver 662.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram simply showing another configuration example of the conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
Control of the amount of generated airflow is performed when the detection result of the light receiver 992 reaches a preset value. When the light emitter 991 and the light receiver 992 are arranged on the diagonal line of the conveyance guide plate 91 as shown in FIG. 10, it is possible to detect either the tunnel type or the kamaboko type bending. Here, the arrangement of the light emitter 991 and the light receiver 992 need not be as shown in FIG. Any structure may be used as long as the beam emitted from the end surface on one side of the conveyance guide plate 91 enters the light receiver 992 provided on the end surface on the opposite side.
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram simply showing another configuration example of the conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
Further, as shown in FIG. 10, by increasing the number of combinations of the light emitter 991 and the light receiver 992, it is possible to detect the degree of bending that occurs in a small region of the transported material 9.

The image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention transports the four corners of the transport guide plate 91 so that the corner corresponding to the reference guide plate 931 side on the downstream side in the transport progress direction is the lowest position than the other three corners. The guide plate 91 was disposed at an angle with respect to the horizontal.
FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram simply showing another configuration example of the conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
(A) shows the state which has arrange | positioned the conveyance guide plate 91 horizontally. A plane formed by the x-axis and the y-axis is a horizontal plane.
The conveyance guide plate 91 is arranged so that the conveyance tip point A (round portion) of the reference guide plate 931 is at the lowest position as shown in FIG. At this time, the angles α and β formed with the horizontal plane are appropriately determined according to the conveyance speed. When the conveyance speed is variable, it is set so that an appropriate conveyance force and regulation force can be obtained at the fastest conveyance speed.
As a result, a force corresponding to the conveying force and the regulating force generated by its own weight can be added to the conveying force and the regulating force due to the airflow of the airflow ejection hole 94.
Even if the conveying force and the regulating force due to the air current are not sufficient, the conveyed material 9 can be moved / guided to the intended position / posture.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Paper feed part 3 Image forming part 4 Scanner part 401 Contact glass 5 Automatic document feeder (ADF)
9 Material to be conveyed 10 Image forming unit (process cartridge)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Photoconductor 12 Exposure apparatus 13 Static elimination apparatus 20 Charging apparatus 21 Charging roller 30 Developing apparatus 40 Cleaning apparatus 60 Transfer apparatus 61 Intermediate transfer belt 62 Primary transfer roller 63 Secondary transfer roller 64 Belt cleaning apparatus 641 Cleaning backup roller 642 Rotating member 65 Roller 651 Follower roller 652 Driving roller 653 Support / tension roller 66 Conveying belt 67 Lubricant coating device 70 Fixing device 80 Paper feeding device 80a Paper feeding cassette 81 Separating roller 82 Paper feeding roller 83 Conveying roller 84 Registration roller 85 Paper ejection rollers 851 and 852 Switching claw 86 Paper discharge tray 87 Conveyance path 88 Conveyed material storage device 89 Conveyed material reversal conveying device 90 Conveyance guide device 91 Conveyance guide plate 93 Width guide member 931 Reference guide plate 932 Restriction guide De plate 933 elastic body 94 the air jet and the hole 95 the flow generator 951 nozzle 952 pump chamber 953 inlet 99 conveyed material detector / sensor 991 emitting 992 light receiver

JP2002-274700 JP 06-239495 A JP 06-239499 A JP 04-93956 JP2010-47355

Claims (11)

Multiple air flow generators,
A plurality of transported material detectors for detecting a transported material in the transport path;
A conveyance guide plate disposed upstream of the registration rollers in the conveyance path;
A width guide member comprising a reference guide plate and a regulation guide plate for regulating a conveyance width in a conveyance orthogonal direction of a material to be conveyed on the conveyance guide plate;
The transport guide plate is formed with a plurality of small-diameter air flow ejection holes in a vertical direction with respect to the surface, and pipes are connected so as to guide the air flows generated by the plurality of air flow generators to the air flow ejection holes. In an image forming apparatus provided with a conveyance guide device that moves a material to be conveyed in the middle of conveyance, which is moved in a preset position / direction, while being levitated by an airflow output from an airflow ejection hole by driving an airflow generator,
The image forming apparatus controls the position of a hole through which an air flow is ejected or the amount of air flow generated by an air flow generator in accordance with the position of a material to be conveyed in the middle of conveyance. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
The image forming apparatus includes:
Image formation characterized in that a plurality of air flow ejection hole groups arranged in a row in the conveyance orthogonal direction and one air flow generator are connected by piping, and the air flow generator is controlled so that the material to be conveyed moves in the conveyance traveling direction. apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
The image forming apparatus includes:
An image characterized by controlling the air flow generator so that the material to be transported moves in the direction of the reference guide plate by pipe-connecting a plurality of air flow jet holes grouped in a line in the transport direction and one air flow generator. Forming equipment. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
The image forming apparatus includes:
A plurality of air flow ejection hole groups and one air flow generator lined up in the direction of conveyance are connected by piping,
A plurality of air flow ejection hole groups that are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction and another air flow generator different from the air flow generator are connected by piping,
An image forming apparatus characterized by controlling an air flow generator so that a material to be conveyed moves in a conveyance traveling direction and a reference guide plate direction The image forming apparatus according to claim 2,
The image forming apparatus includes:
An image forming apparatus characterized in that the number of rows of groups of airflow ejection holes that pipe-connect one airflow generator is 1 to 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
The image forming apparatus includes:
An image forming apparatus characterized in that a pitch in a group of air flow ejection holes is 1 to 5 cm. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
The image forming apparatus includes:
An image forming apparatus comprising an airflow generator for each airflow ejection hole. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
The image forming apparatus includes:
An image forming apparatus, wherein the airflow generation amount of the airflow generator is controlled by increasing or decreasing the airflow amount. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
The image forming apparatus includes:
An image forming apparatus, wherein the airflow generation amount of the airflow generator is controlled by opening and closing a pipe line connected to the airflow generator. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
The image forming apparatus includes:
An image forming apparatus characterized in that the pitch of the air flow ejection holes in the conveyance traveling direction is shorter than the pitch of the air flow ejection holes in the conveyance orthogonal direction. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
The image forming apparatus includes:
Of the four corners of the transport guide plate, angle the transport guide plate with respect to the horizontal so that the corner corresponding to the reference guide plate side is the lowest position on the downstream side in the transport direction with respect to the other three corners. An image forming apparatus characterized by being arranged.

Images