JP2015093745A - Sheet material feeding device, and image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet material feeding device capable of facilitating removal of a sheet material held by a conveyance component and facilitating sheet jam resolving work.SOLUTION: Above a suction separation unit 130, an opening/closing component 140, an opening/closing fulcrum 141, a connection component 142, an exterior component 143, and an opening/closing detection button 144 as opening/closing detection means are included. The opening/closing component 140 is rotatable upward around the opening/closing fulcrum 141 as the fulcrum. The opening/closing detection button 144 is in contact with an opposite side end of the opening/closing component 140 to the opening/closing fulcrum 141 side. When the opening/closing component 140 is rotated clockwise shown in Figure around the opening/closing fulcrum 141 as the fulcrum to open, the suction separation unit 130 connected with the opening/closing component 140 via the connection component 142 is rotated clockwise around a feeding driven roller 107 as the fulcrum and faces outside from an opening Z.

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet material feeding device and an image forming apparatus in a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, an offset printing machine or a complex machine including the sheet material feeding device.

In a sheet material feeding device used for an image forming apparatus in a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, an offset printing machine, or a complex machine thereof, a bundle of sheet materials stacked in a sheet material container such as a paper feeding cassette is conveyed. It is conveyed to the downstream process by the member.
As an example of the conveying member, there is an endless dielectric belt made of a dielectric material. The uppermost sheet material in the sheet cassette is attracted and held on the belt surface by electrostatic force, and the belt is operated in a circular motion. Transport to downstream process.

In Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-188275), a sheet bundle 201 is stacked on a first bottom plate 200 on a sheet feed tray 210 as shown in FIG. An adsorption belt 204 stretched between a downstream roller 202 and an upstream roller 203 abuts above the sheet bundle 201, and the downstream roller 202 is fixed to the unit bracket 205. The suction belt 204 is charged by a charging unit (not shown) and sucks the uppermost sheet 201a by electrostatic force.
Then, as shown in FIG. 14B, when the unit bracket 205 rotates around the fulcrum 205a, the downstream roller 202 moves upward, and the uppermost sheet 201a adsorbed on the surface of the adsorption belt 204 is The curvature is separated from the sheet bundle 201. Then, the sheet 201a is conveyed on the belt by the revolving operation of the suction belt 204, and is conveyed to the paper feed roller pair 206 which is a downstream process.

With the method shown in Patent Document 1, it is possible to separate sheets one by one and convey them to a downstream process. However, in the sheet separating and feeding apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a sheet jam or the like stops while the sheet is adsorbed to the adsorption belt, the adsorbed sheet does not fall on the sheet feeding cassette and remains. It was still adsorbed on the adsorption belt by the electric charge. The sheet that is sucked and remains between the suction belt and the sheet bundle is difficult for the user to visually check and cannot be removed, causing the sheet jam to be resolved, and even if the user notices the sucked sheet, It has been difficult to peel off the adsorbed sheet from the belt, making it difficult to handle the sheet jam.
In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet material feeding device that facilitates the removal of the sheet material held by the conveying member and facilitates the work of eliminating the sheet clogging.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a sheet material storage unit that can store a sheet bundle that is a bundle of stacked sheet materials, and holds and transports the sheet material of the sheet material storage unit on the surface. In the sheet material feeding apparatus including the conveying member, the conveying member is moved from the opening position where the sheet holding surface holding the sheet of the conveying member faces the sheet bundle, and the opening portion where the sheet holding surface is opened. The sheet material feeding device is configured to be switchable to an exposure posture facing outward.

In the sheet material feeding device of the present invention, the sheet material feeding device can be opened to the outside by providing an opening / closing member and opening the opening / closing member. Further, the conveying member that holds and conveys the sheet material can take an exposure posture in which the sheet holding surface is directed outward from the opening.
With this configuration, even when a sheet jam occurs in a state where the sheet material is held on the conveying member, the opening and closing member is opened and the conveying member is exposed to be held on the sheet holding surface of the conveying member. The formed sheet material can be visually observed and removed from the outside, and the sheet clogging can be easily eliminated.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus. It is a schematic block diagram of a sheet material feeding apparatus. It is a perspective view of an adsorption separation unit. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an adsorption separation unit 130. FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a process in which a sheet material feeding device feeds recording paper. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a process in which a sheet material feeding device feeds recording paper. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a process in which a sheet material feeding device feeds recording paper. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a process in which a sheet material feeding device feeds recording paper. It is the perspective view which showed another form of the charging means of a sheet material feeding apparatus. It is the schematic block diagram which showed the sheet material feeding apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic block diagram which showed the sheet material feeding apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic block diagram which showed the sheet material feeding apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic block diagram which showed the sheet material feeding apparatus of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of the conventional sheet material feeding apparatus.

  Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, in each figure, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the part which is the same or it corresponds, The duplication description is simplified or abbreviate | omitted suitably.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 includes an exposure unit 2, an image forming unit 3, a transfer unit 4, a sheet material feeding device 5, a conveyance path 6, a fixing unit 7, a discharge unit 8, and the like. Yes.

  The exposure unit 2 is located above the image forming apparatus 1 and is configured by a light source that emits laser light or the like and various optical systems. Specifically, by irradiating a laser beam for each color separation component of an image created based on image data obtained from an image acquisition unit (not shown) toward a photoconductor of the image forming unit 3 described later, The surface of the photoreceptor is exposed.

The image forming unit 3 is located below the exposure unit 2 and includes a plurality of process units 31 configured to be detachable from the image forming apparatus 1. Each process unit 31 has a photosensitive drum 32 that can carry toner as a developer on the surface, a charging roller 33 that uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 32, and a toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum 32. And a photoconductor cleaning blade 35 for cleaning the surface of the photoconductor drum 32.
Each process unit 31 includes four process units 31 (31Y, 31C, 31M, 31Bk) corresponding to different colors of yellow, cyan, magenta, and black, which are color separation components of a color image. Since the configuration is the same except that different color toners are stored, the reference numerals are omitted.

  The transfer unit 4 is located immediately below the image forming unit 3. The transfer unit 4 includes an endless intermediate transfer belt 43 that is stretched around a driving roller 41 and a driven roller 42 so as to be able to run around, a cleaning blade 44 that cleans the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 43, and the photosensitive of each process unit 31. The primary transfer roller 45 is disposed at a position facing the body drum 32 with the intermediate transfer belt 43 interposed therebetween. Each primary transfer roller 45 presses the inner peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt 43 at each position, and a primary transfer nip is formed at a place where the pressed portion of the intermediate transfer belt 43 and each photosensitive drum 32 come into contact with each other. Has been.

  A secondary transfer roller 46 is disposed at a position opposite to the drive roller 41 of the intermediate transfer belt 43 and the drive roller 41 across the intermediate transfer belt 43. The secondary transfer roller 46 presses the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt 43, and a secondary transfer nip is formed at a location where the secondary transfer roller 46 and the intermediate transfer belt 43 are in contact with each other. Further, a waste toner box 47 for storing waste toner cleaned by the cleaning blade 44 is disposed below the intermediate transfer belt 43 via a waste toner transfer hose (not shown).

  The sheet material feeding device 5 is positioned below the image forming apparatus 1, and includes a sheet feeding cassette 51 serving as a sheet material accommodation unit that accommodates recording paper P serving as a sheet material, and recording paper P from the paper feeding cassette 51. It is made up of an adsorbing belt 52 as a conveying member that is separated and carried out by adsorbing.

  The conveyance path 6 is a conveyance path for conveying the recording paper P carried out from the sheet material feeding device 5, and a pair of conveyance rollers (not shown) conveys the paper until a discharge unit 8 described later in addition to the pair of registration rollers 61. It is appropriately arranged in the middle of the road 6.

  The fixing unit 7 includes a fixing roller 72 that is heated by a heating source 71, a pressure roller 73 that can press the fixing roller 72, and the like.

  The discharge unit 8 is provided on the most downstream side of the conveyance path 6 of the image forming apparatus 1. The discharge unit 8 is provided with a pair of discharge rollers 81 for discharging the recording paper P to the outside and a discharge tray 82 for stocking the discharged recording medium.

  The basic operation of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described below with reference to FIG.

  In the image forming apparatus 1, when an image forming operation is started, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 32 of each process unit 31Y, 31C, 31M, 31Bk. The image information to be exposed on each photosensitive drum 32 is single-color image information obtained by separating a desired full-color image into color information of yellow, cyan, magenta, and black. By supplying toner to each electrostatic latent image formed on each photosensitive drum 32 by each developing device 34, the electrostatic latent image is visualized as a toner image (developer image) that is a visible image. Is done.

  Next, the driving roller 41 of the transfer unit 4 is driven to rotate counterclockwise in the figure, so that the intermediate transfer belt 43 is driven in the direction indicated by the arrow A in the figure. In addition, each primary transfer roller 45 is applied with a constant voltage or a constant current controlled voltage having a polarity opposite to the charging polarity of the toner. As a result, a transfer electric field is formed at the primary transfer nip between each primary transfer roller 45 and each photosensitive drum 32. The toner images of the respective colors formed on the photosensitive drums 32 of the process units 31Y, 31C, 31M, and 31Bk are sequentially superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 43 by the transfer electric field formed in the primary transfer nip. Transcribed. Thus, a full-color toner image is formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 43.

  On the other hand, when the image forming operation is started, the recording paper P accommodated in the paper feeding cassette 51 of the sheet material feeding device 5 is sucked from the paper feeding cassette 51 by the suction belt 52 in the lower part of the image forming apparatus 1. It is adsorbed by the belt 52 and sent to the conveyance path 6. The recording paper P sent to the conveyance path 6 is timed by the registration roller 61 and sent to the secondary transfer nip between the secondary transfer roller 46 and the driving roller 41 facing the recording roller P. At this time, a transfer voltage having a polarity opposite to the toner charging polarity of the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 43 is applied to the secondary transfer roller 46, thereby forming a transfer electric field in the secondary transfer nip. Then, the toner images on the intermediate transfer belt 43 are collectively transferred onto the recording paper P by the transfer electric field formed in the secondary transfer nip.

  The recording paper P to which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed to the fixing unit 7, and the recording paper P is heated and pressed by the fixing roller 72 and the pressure roller 73 heated by the heating source 71, so that the toner image is formed. It is fixed on the recording paper P. Then, the recording paper P on which the toner image is fixed is separated from the fixing roller 72, conveyed by a pair of conveyance rollers (not shown), and discharged to the discharge tray 82 by the discharge roller 81 in the discharge unit 8. Further, residual toner adhering to the intermediate transfer belt 43 after the transfer is removed by the cleaning blade 44 or the like. The removed toner is transported to the waste toner box 47 and collected by a screw or a waste toner transfer hose (not shown).

  The above description is an image forming operation when a full-color image is formed on the recording paper P. A single color image can be formed using any one of the four process units 31Y, 31C, 31M, and 31Bk. It is also possible to form two or three color images using two or three process units 31.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the sheet material feeding device.

A bundle PA of recording sheets as a sheet bundle on which a plurality of recording sheets are stacked is stacked on the bottom plate 102 of the sheet feeding cassette 51. An elevating arm 101 is disposed between the bottom plate 102 and the paper feed cassette 51. The elongating arm 101 extends and retracts to move the bottom plate 102 in the vertical direction in the drawing, and the recording paper bundle PA is raised and lowered.
The sheet material feeding device includes switching means capable of switching between a suction posture in which the suction separation unit 130 is disposed in the horizontal direction and a transport posture in which the suction separation unit 130 is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction. This switching means is arranged on the lower right side of the swing member 103 in contact with the swing member 103 as a swing means having a swing fulcrum 104 above the bundle PA of recording sheets and the swing member 103. And a drive gear 105 that drives around the drive shaft 105a. The swing member 103 receives the driving force from the drive gear 105 and swings around the swing support point 104. A registration roller 61 is disposed on the right side of the suction separation unit 130 in the drawing, and the recording paper P separated and sucked by the suction separation unit 130 is conveyed through the guide plate 120. An adsorption / separation unit 130 is disposed behind the swing member 103 in the drawing.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the adsorption separation unit 130.
The suction separation unit 130 is disposed above the recording paper bundle PA, separates the recording paper P from the recording paper bundle PA, and conveys the recording paper P to a downstream process.

  The adsorption / separation unit 130 is a tension roller, and includes a feeding drive roller 106 as a belt driving unit, a feeding driven roller 107 as a stretching roller, an adsorption belt 52, a belt charging roller 109 as a charging unit, and the like. . The suction belt 52 is an endless belt stretched by a feeding driving roller 106 and a feeding driven roller 107. The suction belt 52 is rotationally driven via a feed driving roller 106 by a belt driving unit (not shown). That is, a driving force is transmitted from a driving unit (not shown) to the feeding driving roller 106 by a paper feeding signal from the image forming apparatus 1, and the suction belt 52 is driven by the rotation of the feeding driving roller 106 to rotate. To start. The feed driven roller 107 is driven by the feed drive roller 106 through the suction belt 52 and is driven by the feed drive roller 106.

  A belt charging roller 109 is in contact with the suction belt 52. An AC power supply 108 shown in FIG. 2 is connected to the belt charging roller 109. The suction belt 52 is charged and charged by the AC power supply 108 via the belt charging roller 109. The suction belt 52 that is charged and sucks the uppermost sheet P1 of the bundle PA of recording sheets, and the uppermost sheet. Are taken out one by one and conveyed to a downstream process. The feed driving roller 106, the feed driven roller 107, and the AC power source 108 are grounded.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the adsorption separation unit 130.

  The shaft 106 a of the feeding drive roller 106 is supported so as to be rotatable with respect to the housing 110. The shaft 107 a of the feed driven roller 107 is supported by a bearing 111 that is slidably held in the paper transport direction with respect to the housing 110. The bearing 111 is urged to the upstream side in the sheet conveying direction by a spring 112. As a result, the feeding drive roller 106 urges the suction belt 52 toward the upstream side in the sheet conveyance direction, and applies tension to the suction belt 52.

  5 to 8 are diagrams illustrating a process in which the sheet material feeding device feeds the recording paper.

  In FIG. 5, the suction separation unit 130 is in a suction posture for sucking the recording paper P, and is in contact with the uppermost paper P1 of the bundle PA of recording paper. The charged suction belt 52 sucks the uppermost sheet P1 by electrostatic force.

After the uppermost sheet P1 is adsorbed by the adsorption / separation unit 130, the swing member 103 receives the driving force from the drive gear 105 and swings about the swing support point 104. The feeding drive roller 106 of the adsorption separation unit 130 is fixed to the swing member 103 and swings in accordance with the rotation of the swing member 103.
As shown in FIG. 6, when the swing member 103 rotates counterclockwise, the feeding drive roller 106 moves upward, and the suction separation unit 130 is brought into a conveying posture separated from the recording paper bundle PA. In accordance with the separation of the suction separation unit 130 from the recording paper bundle PA, the paper P1 sucked by the suction separation unit 130 is separated from the recording paper bundle PA from the feeding drive roller 106 side.

  When the suction separation unit 130 is separated from the recording paper bundle PA, a driving unit (not shown) is driven to rotate the feeding drive roller 106, and the suction belt 52 starts rotating around by the rotation of the feeding driving roller 106. Then, the feeding driven roller 107 is driven. As shown in FIG. 7, the sheet P <b> 1 is transported on the belt and conveyed to the downstream registration roller 61 by the rotating operation of the suction belt 52, and further conveyed to a process downstream of the registration roller 61.

  6 and 7 is the transporting posture, and while the sucked recording paper P is transported from the suction belt 52 to the registration roller 61, the suction separating unit 130 is disposed in the transporting posture. . This is because the first sheet (here, the sheet P1) is transported to the process downstream of the suction separation unit 130 by separating the suction belt 52 from the recording paper bundle PA. This is to prevent P2 from being adsorbed by the adsorption belt 52.

  After finishing the feeding operation of the first sheet P1, the suction belt 52 is charged again, the rotation of the feeding drive roller 106 is stopped, and the rotation operation of the suction belt 52 is stopped. Then, the adsorption separation unit 130 moves downward in accordance with the clockwise rotation of the swing member 103, and returns to the adsorption posture as shown in FIG. Thereafter, by repeating the steps from FIG. 5 to FIG. 8, the sheet material feeding device 5 can feed the second and subsequent sheets. At this time, the adsorption separation unit 130 is configured to move in accordance with the rotation of the swing member 103 and to be switched between the adsorption posture and the conveyance posture.

  The feeding driven roller 107 is set to have a small diameter suitable for separating the curvature in order to increase the curvature during conveyance of the recording sheet P and facilitate separation of the recording sheet P from curvature.

The adsorption belt 52 has a surface layer made of polyethylene terephthalate having a resistance of 10 ⁸ Ω · cm or more and a thickness of about 50 μm, and a conductive layer having a resistance of 10 ⁶ Ω · cm or less formed by aluminum vapor deposition. It has a layer structure. By making the suction belt 52 have the two-layer structure as described above, the conductive layer can be used as a grounded counter electrode, and the belt charging roller 109 for applying charge to the suction belt 52 is provided on the surface layer of the suction belt 52. It can be provided at any position in contact. The feeding drive roller 106 is provided with a conductive rubber layer having a resistance value of 10 ⁶ Ω · cm on the surface, and the feeding driven roller 107 is a metal roller.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing another form of the charging means of FIG.
As the charging means used in the adsorption / separation unit 130, in addition to the belt charging roller 109 described above, a configuration in which a blade-shaped charging blade 121 as shown in FIG.

  10 to 13 are schematic configuration diagrams illustrating the sheet material feeding apparatus according to the present invention, and are diagrams for explaining a processing operation when a paper jam occurs.

  As shown in FIG. 10, in the sheet material feeding apparatus of the present invention, an opening / closing member 140, an opening / closing fulcrum 141, a connecting member 142, an exterior member 143, and an opening / closing detection button as an opening / closing detection means are provided above the adsorption separation unit 130. 144.

An opening / closing fulcrum 141 is disposed at the end of the opening / closing member 140, and the opening / closing member 140 can rotate upward with the opening / closing fulcrum 141 as a fulcrum. An opening / closing detection button 144 is in contact with the end of the opening / closing member 140 opposite to the opening / closing fulcrum 141 side. The opening / closing member 140 and the adsorption separation unit 130 are connected by a connecting member 142.
The suction belt 52 has a sheet holding surface 52a as a sheet material holding surface that faces and contacts the bundle PA of recording sheets and holds the recording paper P by suction. The sheet holding surface 52a faces the bundle of recording sheets PA during the sheet feeding operation, and is in a state in which the back is directed to the opening / closing member 140. That is, the suction separation unit 130 is in a facing posture in which the paper holding surface 52a of the suction belt 52 faces the recording paper bundle PA.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the opening / closing member 140 is opened. The opening / closing member 140 rotates clockwise with the opening / closing fulcrum 141 as a fulcrum to open the inside of the sheet material feeding device to the outside through the opening Z. The adsorption / separation unit 130 connected to the opening / closing member 140 rotates clockwise with the feeding driven roller 107 as a fulcrum via the connecting member 142 and moves upward. At this time, the sheet holding surface 52a of the suction belt 52 changes its direction by rotation and faces the open side (the upper side in the figure) of the opening / closing member 140. That is, the suction separation unit 130 is in an exposed posture in which the paper holding surface 52a of the suction belt 52 faces outward from the opened opening Z. Note that the switching between the facing posture and the exposing posture may be performed by, for example, sliding movement in addition to rotating the adsorption separation unit 130.

When the sheet is fed by the sheet material feeding device 5, if the device is stopped due to a paper jam or the like, the recording paper P sucked by the suction belt 52 is stopped while the recording paper P is sucked on the paper holding surface 52a. May be.
At this time, by providing the opening / closing member 140, the opening / closing member 140 is opened to open the inside of the sheet material feeding device 5, and the inside of the sheet material feeding device 5 is visually observed, or directly inside the sheet material feeding device 5. You can put your hands in. For this reason, it becomes easy to remove the paper held on the paper holding surface 52a and the jammed paper.

  The paper holding surface 52a is arranged facing the recording paper bundle PA in order to hold the recording paper P separately from the recording paper bundle PA. For this reason, as described above, even when the opening / closing member 140 is provided in the sheet material feeding device 5 and the inside of the sheet material feeding device can be opened, the sheet holding surface 52a is difficult to see from the outside, and the sheet is not formed on the surface. It is difficult to check whether it is retained. For this reason, the paper held on the paper holding surface 52a cannot be easily removed simply by providing the opening / closing member 140.

However, in the present invention, the adsorption / separation unit 130 and the opening / closing member 140 are connected by the connecting member 142, so that the adsorption belt 52 is interlocked with the opening / closing member 140 when the opening / closing member 140 is opened as shown in FIG. The sheet holding surface 52a is configured to face the open side (the upper side in the figure) of the opening / closing member 140.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 12, the paper holding surface 52a can be easily seen from the outside with the opening / closing member 140 opened, and the recording paper P held on the paper holding surface 52a can be easily removed. effective.

As shown in FIG. 13, after the paper jam inside the sheet material feeding device 5 is cleared, the opening / closing member 140 is rotated counterclockwise around the opening / closing fulcrum 141 and closed. At this time, the adsorption / separation unit 130 connected to the opening / closing member 140 via the connecting member 142 rotates counterclockwise in conjunction with the opening / closing member 140 and returns to the position during the paper feeding operation.
In this way, by connecting the adsorption separation unit 130 to the opening / closing member 140, the adsorption belt 52 rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the opening / closing member 140. Thus, the opening / closing member 140 is simply opened and closed, and when the opening / closing member 140 is opened, the sheet holding surface 52a is directed to the open side, and when the opening / closing member 140 is closed, the suction belt 52 is moved back to the original position. It can be returned to the paper feeding position. For this reason, when the paper jam is eliminated, it is not necessary to individually move the suction belt 52, and the work for eliminating the paper jam becomes easy.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the suction belt 52 and the suction separation unit 130 are rotated in the same direction in conjunction with the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing member 140, but may be rotated so as to open in the opposite direction. However, it may be configured to move each independently.

Next, detection of the open / close state of the open / close member 140 by the open / close detection button 144 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 10, when the opening / closing member 140 is closed, the opening / closing member 140 presses the opening / closing detection button 144. As shown in FIG. 11, when the opening / closing member 140 is open, the opening / closing detection button 144 is not pressed by the opening / closing member 140, and the button is not pressed. As described above, the open / close detection button 144 distinguishes the open / close state of the open / close member 140 by distinguishing between the open / close detection button 144 and the pressed state.

By detecting the open state of the opening / closing member 140, when the opening / closing member 140 is opened, the operation of the device inside the sheet material feeding device 5 is stopped, and the user can safely perform a paper jam clearing operation. There is an effect that the device can be prevented from being damaged by touching the device.
Specifically, by detecting the open state of the opening / closing member 140, (1) stopping the rotation of the swinging member 103 and stopping the rotation of the adsorption / separation unit 130, or (2) the feeding drive roller. It is conceivable to stop the rotation of the suction belt 52 by stopping the rotation of the suction belt 106, and (3) stop the charging operation to the suction belt 52 by the belt charging roller 109.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the open / close detection means is an open / close detection button that is a push-type switch, but any means that can detect and detect whether the open / close member 140 is open or closed may be used as appropriate. Can be changed. As other means, a sensor-type detection means may be provided to detect that the opening / closing member 140 is in either the opened state or the closed state.

  The opening / closing member 140 has the same external appearance and shape as the exterior member 143. As shown in FIG. 10 and the like, the opening / closing member 140 forms the same plane as the exterior member 143 in a closed state, and serves as an exterior surface of the sheet material feeding device 5 together with the exterior member 143. At this time, by making the appearance of the opening / closing member 140 and the exterior member 143 the same, the appearance of the sheet material feeding device 5 is not impaired.

  The adsorption belt 52 may be an electrode-embedded adsorption belt that embeds a metal sheet inside a belt made of a dielectric and applies a voltage to the metal sheet to dielectrically polarize the recording paper P to generate an electrostatic adsorption force.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it is needless to say that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.
The image forming apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the color image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1, but may be a monochrome image forming apparatus, a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, an offset printing machine, or a complex machine thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 5 Sheet material feeding apparatus 51 Paper feed cassette (sheet material accommodating part)
52 Adsorption belt (conveying member)
52a Paper holding surface (sheet material holding surface)
103 Oscillating member (oscillating means)
106 Feeding drive roller (stretching roller or belt driving means)
107 Feeding driven roller (stretching roller)
109 Belt charging roller (charging means)
140 Open / close member 143 Exterior member 144 Open / close detection button (open / close detection means)
P Recording paper (sheet material)
PA Recording paper bundle (sheet bundle)

JP 2012-188275 A

Claims (9)

A sheet material feeding apparatus comprising: a sheet material accommodating portion capable of accommodating a sheet bundle that is a bundle of stacked sheet materials; and a conveying member that holds and conveys the sheet material of the sheet material accommodating portion on the surface. In
The conveying member is configured to be switchable between a facing posture in which a sheet material holding surface for holding a sheet of the conveying member faces the sheet bundle and an exposing posture in which the sheet material holding surface is open from the opening where the sheet material holding surface is open. A sheet material feeding device characterized by that.   2. The sheet material feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the conveying member is swingable so as to be switchable between the facing posture and the exposing posture.   The sheet material feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the conveying member can be switched between the facing posture and the exposing posture in conjunction with an opening / closing operation of the opening / closing member.   4. The sheet material feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the opening / closing member also serves as an exterior surface of the sheet material feeding device. 5.   The sheet material feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising an open / close detection unit that detects whether the open / close member is in an open / closed state.   Switching means for switching the conveying member between an adsorption posture for adsorbing a sheet material from a sheet bundle and a conveying posture for conveying the adsorbed sheet material, and the open / close detection means indicates that the open / close member is in an open state. 6. The sheet material feeding device according to claim 5, wherein upon detection, the switching means is stopped.   The transport member is an endless belt stretched by a stretch roller, and is driven by a belt driving unit to perform a revolving operation.When the open / close detection unit detects that the open / close member is open, The sheet material feeding device according to claim 4, wherein the belt driving unit is stopped.   8. The sheet according to claim 4, further comprising a charging unit configured to charge the conveying member, wherein the charging unit stops the charging operation when the opening / closing detection unit detects that the opening / closing member is in an open state. Material feeding device. An image forming apparatus comprising the sheet material feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is one of a copier, a facsimile machine, a printer, an offset printing machine, or at least two or more thereof. An image forming apparatus characterized in that the image forming apparatus is a multi-function machine formed by combining the two.

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