JP2019156631A - Sheet feeding device, image forming device, image forming system, and control method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a sheet storage device capable of preventing a sheet from being damaged when a sheet storage is opened.SOLUTION: In a conveyance path which is provided to convey a sheet from a sheet storage to the outside and at least a part of which is inclined upward toward the downstream side in a conveyance direction, whether a jam is occurring is detected. When the occurrence of jam has been detected, a nip of a pair of rollers on the conveyance path is released, and a loading part of the sheet storage is so controlled as to be lowered.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet feeding apparatus capable of feeding sheets, an image forming apparatus, an image forming system, and a control method.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a sheet feeding device that can pull out a storage and supply sheets. In such a feeding device, if the storage is pulled out with the sheet remaining in the sheet feeding path, the sheet may be torn. Patent Document 1 describes a configuration in which when a storage is pulled out, a sheet remaining on the feeding path is returned to the storage by reversely rotating a feeding roller provided on the sheet feeding path.

JP 2010-24033 A

  However, in Patent Document 1, when the feeding roller is rotated in the reverse direction, the end of the sheet is caught on the wall of the storage, and the sheet may be deformed into a bellows shape without returning to the storage normally. is there. Further, if the storage is pulled out while the sheet is deformed in a bellows shape, the sheet may be broken.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet feeding apparatus, an image forming apparatus, an image forming system, and a control method for preventing damage to a sheet when a sheet storage is opened in view of such a conventional problem. With the goal.

  In order to solve the above problems, a feeding device according to the present invention is a sheet feeding device that accommodates a sheet stacking device capable of stacking sheets and feeds the stacked sheets. And a conveying path provided to convey the sheet fed by the feeding means to the outside, and at least a part of the conveying path is inclined upward toward the downstream side in the conveying direction. A conveying means for nipping the sheet fed to the conveying path by a roller pair and further conveying the sheet downstream in the conveying direction; a first detecting means for detecting that a jam has occurred on the conveying path; And a control unit that releases the nip of the roller pair and lowers the stacking unit of the sheet stacking device when it is detected by the one detection unit that a jam has occurred.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the damage of the sheet | seat at the time of opening a sheet | seat storage can be prevented.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus. It is a perspective view of a feeding deck. It is a figure which shows the structure of a feeding deck. It is a figure which shows the block structure of the control system of a feeding deck. It is a flowchart of jam removal control of a feeding deck. It is a figure which shows the action | operation of the feeding deck at the time of jam clearance control.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described more specifically and in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the examples described below, and there may be changes and additions within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention.

  In this specification, “recording” (sometimes referred to as “printing”) is not limited to the case of forming significant information such as characters and graphics, but may be significant. Furthermore, it also represents a case where an image, a pattern, a pattern, or the like is widely formed on a recording medium or a medium is processed regardless of whether or not it is manifested so that a human can perceive it visually.

  The “recording medium (sheet)” is not only a recording paper used in a general image forming apparatus, but also a wide range of materials such as cloth, plastic film (OHP), metal plate, glass, ceramics, wood, leather, etc. It also includes media that can be transported.

<Schematic configuration of image forming system>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming system 100 according to the present embodiment. The image forming system 100 includes an apparatus main body 1 and a feeding deck 2 (sheet feeding apparatus). FIG. 1A shows a state in which the feeding deck 2 is mounted on the apparatus main body 1, and FIG. 1B shows a state in which the feeding deck 2 is separated from the apparatus main body 1. When the feeding deck 2 is mounted on the apparatus main body 1 that is a sheet feeding destination, the feeding deck 2 and the apparatus main body 1 are connected via the feeding path 41 (conveyance path). The sheet can be fed from 2 to the external apparatus main body 1. Further, in a state where the feeding deck 2 is separated from the apparatus main body 1, for example, the user can remove the sheet S causing the jam.

  When the feeding deck 2 is separated from the apparatus main body 1, the feeding deck 2 moves away from the apparatus main body 1 along the detachable rail 35 housed in the feeding deck 2 in FIG. To do. The detachable rail 35 has a mechanism that expands and contracts, for example. In the present embodiment, the detachable rail 35 is housed inside the feeding deck 2 when mounted on the apparatus main body 1. Further, the detachable rail 35 may be configured to be housed inside the apparatus main body 1 when attached to the apparatus main body 1.

  The apparatus main body 1 includes a photosensitive drum 10, a laser scanner 11, a mirror 12, a charger 13, a developing device 14, a transfer roller 15, and a cleaner 16 as an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium. At the top. The charger 13 uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 10. The laser scanner 11 irradiates the photosensitive drum 10 charged by the charger 13 through the mirror 12 with the pattern of the image data to be imaged. As a result, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 10. The developing device 14 develops the electrostatic latent image formed by the laser scanner 11 by developing it into a toner image. The transfer roller 15 transfers the toner image visualized on the surface of the photosensitive drum 10 to the sheet S. The cleaner 16 removes the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 10 after transferring the toner image.

  On the downstream side of the image forming unit in the sheet conveying direction, a conveying unit 17 for conveying the sheet S to which the toner image is transferred, and the toner image on the sheet S conveyed by the conveying unit 17 are fixed as a permanent image. A fixing device 18 is provided. A discharge roller 19 for discharging the sheet S on which the toner image is fixed by the fixing device 18 from the apparatus main body 1 is provided on the downstream side of the fixing device 18. A discharge sheet stacking tray 20 for receiving the sheet S discharged by the discharge roller 19 is provided on the outer top side of the apparatus main body 1.

  The cassette sheet feeding trays 30a to 30d are provided so as to be positioned at the uppermost stream in the sheet feeding path, and can store a predetermined number of sheets S. Cassette feed roller pairs 31a to 31d are provided downstream of the cassette feed trays 30a to 30d to pick up the uppermost sheet S from the sheet bundle. The picked up sheet S is conveyed to the vertical conveyance path 33 by the drawing roller pairs 32a to 32d.

  A manual paper feed unit 30 e is provided on the side surface of the apparatus main body 1. A manual paper feed roller pair 31e is provided downstream of the manual paper feed unit 30e to pick up the sheet S. The picked up sheet S is conveyed to the vertical conveyance path 33.

  The feeding deck 2 is configured to be capable of handling a relatively large capacity cut sheet (hereinafter also simply referred to as a sheet S) such as a unit of 1000 sheets. In the present embodiment, the lower part of the manual sheet feeding unit 30e is configured. It is configured to be connectable to. Further, the feeding deck 2 is provided with a controller 60 having a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM for controlling the feeding deck 2 in accordance with a command from a controller 65 that controls the entire image forming system 100.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiments, a single-function image forming apparatus (printer apparatus) has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The present invention can be applied to, for example, a copier system in which an image reading apparatus (scanner apparatus), an image forming apparatus, and an ADF apparatus are integrated, or a combined system in which a facsimile function is added to the copier system.

  Furthermore, although it has been described that the image forming unit of the image forming apparatus includes a mechanism for forming an image according to an electrophotographic method, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, an image forming unit that forms an image according to an inkjet method may be used.

<Configuration of feeding deck>
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the feeding deck 2, and FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of the feeding deck 2. The feeding deck 2 includes an apparatus main body 2a, a large capacity sheet storage 3 (sheet stacking apparatus) accommodated in the apparatus main body 2a, and a sheet feeding apparatus 4. The sheet feeding device 4 sends out the sheets S stacked and stored in the sheet storage 3 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape stored in the device toward the image forming unit 901.

  The sheet storage case 3 includes a stacking unit 36 on which sheets S can be stacked. The stacking unit 36 can be moved in the H direction (lifting direction) in FIG. 2 by an lifting mechanism (not shown) including a lifting motor (not shown) that can lift and lower the loading unit 36.

  Further, the feeding deck 2 is provided with a storage opening switch 39 for receiving a user opening instruction when the sheet storage 3 is opened and a lock mechanism (not shown) capable of fixing and releasing the sheet storage 3 in the closed state. It has been. The lock mechanism is locked when the image forming apparatus is powered on. When the user depresses the storage opening switch 39 for replenishment of the sheet S or the like, the lock is released. When the lock is released, the sheet storage case 3 is pushed along the open / close rail 38 by a biasing member (not shown) to a pullable position where the sheet storage case 3 can be pulled out to the near side. From the pullable position, it becomes easy to pull out the sheet storage case 3 to the sheet supplyable position, and the sheet S can be easily supplied.

  The sheet feeding device 4 includes a pick-up roller 31f that feeds the uppermost sheet S from a bundle of sheets stacked and stored in the stacking unit 36 of the sheet storage 3, and a separation and conveyance roller pair that includes a conveyance roller 31h and a separation roller 31i. 31g. The pickup roller 31f is disposed in the vicinity of the front end portion in the sheet feeding direction (arrow b direction) so as to be able to come into pressure contact with the uppermost sheet S on the stacking portion 36 with an appropriate force.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the pickup roller 31f is driven by a drive motor (not shown) and rotates in the sheet feeding direction (arrow a direction), the uppermost sheet S is fed in the arrow b direction. . As a result, the sheet S comes into contact with the nip portion of the separation conveying roller pair 31g on the feeding path 41. In the feeding path 41, at least a part of the path from the sheet storage case 3 to the nip portion of the separation conveyance roller pair 31g is inclined upward toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction.

  Now, when double feeding occurs in the sheet S fed out by the pickup roller 31f, the following occurs. That is, the separation roller 31i that is driven to rotate in the opposite direction to the conveyance roller 31h that rotates in the same direction as the arrow a (the direction of the arrow c) is the same as the conveyance roller 31h because two or more sheets S are interposed in the nip portion. Rotate in the direction. Then, the second and subsequent sheets S in the nip portion are pushed back by the separation roller 31i in the direction of the stacking portion 36, which is opposite to the transport direction, and only the uppermost sheet S is indicated by the arrow b by the transport roller 31h. Sent out in the direction. The fed sheet S is conveyed to the vertical conveyance path 33 by the drawing roller pair 32a.

  The sheet feeding device 4 includes a roller pair separation drive motor 55 (not shown), and can separate the conveyance roller 31h and the separation roller 31i. That is, the transport roller 31h and the separation roller 31i can be switched to the nip state or the nip release state.

  The sheet feeding device 4 further includes a leading edge detection sensor 44 and a feeding path sensor 45 on the feeding path 41. The leading edge detection sensor 44 is provided on the downstream side of the separation conveying roller pair 31g in the conveying direction, and detects the leading edge position of the conveyed sheet S. The feeding path sensor 45 is provided on the downstream side of the leading end detection sensor 44 in the conveyance direction, and detects the presence or absence of a staying sheet on the conveyance path.

  As the leading edge detection sensor 44 and the feeding path sensor 45, for example, an optical sensor that is turned off when the optical path between the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit is blocked by the sheet S can be used. Further, for example, a switch that operates mechanically in contact with the seat may be used. Alternatively, an ultrasonic sensor in which a transmitter and a receiver are arranged so as to sandwich the feeding path 41, a pressure sensitive sensor that detects by contact with the sheet S on the feeding path 41, and the like may be used. Good.

  When the sheet S is fed to the vertical conveyance path 33 from the feeding deck 2 having the above configuration or the cassette sheet feeding trays 30a to 30d or the manual sheet feeding unit 30e described above, the leading edge of the sheet S is Then, it hits the nip portion of the pre-registration roller pair 34. The pre-registration roller pair 34 includes a pair of opposed rollers and is disposed on the sheet S feeding path 41. When the sheet S hits the nip portion, the pre-registration roller pair 34 performs skew correction of the sheet S, timing adjustment of image writing and sheet conveyance, and conveys the sheet S to the image forming unit.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a block configuration of a control system of the feeding deck 2. FIG. 4 shows the apparatus main body 1 and the feeding deck 2. The feeding deck 2 includes a display unit 47. The display unit 47 includes, for example, an operation panel and is configured on the upper portion of the apparatus main body 1. The display unit 47 displays various user interface screens such as device information, setting screens, and job information. The display unit 47 includes, for example, hard keys, and accepts job execution instructions and function setting operations from the user. In addition to the display unit 47, an instruction unit 47a having a hard key, a pressure-sensitive operation panel, or the like may be provided.

  The apparatus main body 1 in FIG. 4 has a controller 65 including a CPU 50, and controls the apparatus main body 1 in an integrated manner based on jobs and the like. For example, the CPU of the apparatus main body 1 communicates with the CPU 50 of the feeding deck 2 to control a series of processes from paper feeding to image formation on a recording medium.

  The controller 60 of the feeding deck 2 includes a CPU 50, a ROM 61, a RAM 62, and a jam timer 64. For example, when the CPU 50 reads the program stored in the ROM 61 into the RAM 62 and executes it, the controller 60 controls the operation of the feeding deck 2. For example, the CPU of the apparatus main body 1 transmits a paper feed request to the CPU 50 of the feeding deck 2 at the paper feed timing at the time of job execution. When the CPU 50 receives the paper feed request from the CPU of the apparatus main body 1, The feeding deck 2 is controlled to perform a paper feeding operation on the apparatus main body 1. The components of the controller 60 are connected to each other via a bus 63, and the bus 63 functions as a data communication path between various components.

  Detection signals from the tip detection sensor 44 and the feed path sensor 45 are transmitted to the CPU 50. The jam timer 64 is a time from when the feeding is started by the pickup roller 31f until the CPU 50 receives the detection signal of the leading edge detection sensor 44, that is, the time until the leading edge of the sheet reaches the detection position of the leading edge detection sensor 44 (hereinafter referred to as the jam timer 64). , Called arrival time).

  The CPU 50 calculates the rush amount of the sheet S from the arrival time measured by the jam timer 64. Here, the amount of entry of the sheet S is an amount indicating how much the leading edge of the sheet S has entered the downstream side of the conveyance direction from the separation conveyance roller pair 31g. For example, when the arrival time is t [sec] at the design center, if the detected arrival time is shorter than t [sec], the sheet S is transported to the downstream earlier than the design center. Is larger than the design center. On the other hand, if the arrival time is longer than t [sec], since the sheet S is conveyed downstream from the design center, the amount of entry of the sheet S becomes smaller than the design center.

  The CPU 50 detects whether or not a staying jam has occurred downstream of the separation conveyance roller pair 31g by the feeding path sensor 45, and displays a jam notification for notifying the occurrence of the staying jam when it is detected. This is displayed on the unit 47.

  In addition, when the CPU 50 receives the opening request signal from the storage opening switch 39, the CPU 50 pushes the sheet storage 3 to the pullable position. However, when a release request signal is received when a jam occurs, the lock mechanism is unlocked and the sheet storage case 3 can be pulled out when it is determined that the lock is released by jam release control described later. Push out. In one embodiment, the lock mechanism releases the locked state of the sheet storage unit lock solenoid 58 via the driver 57.

  Further, the CPU 50 drives various motors 53 on the conveyance path of the sheet S including the feeding path 41 via a motor driver 52 connected to an input / output interface (I / O) 51 to drive various rollers. To do. Here, the various rollers include various roller drive motors 54, a roller pair separation drive motor 55, and a lift drive motor 56.

<Operation of paper feeding device when jam occurs>
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control flow of jam clearance control by the CPU 50 in this embodiment. This process is executed by the CPU 50 calling a program stored in the ROM 61 to the RAM 62, for example.

  When receiving a job such as copying or scanning from the apparatus main body 1, the CPU 50 starts the following flow. The initial state of the locking mechanism of the sheet storage case 3 is a locked state.

  In S101, the CPU 50 starts a paper feeding operation. That is, the sheet S is sent out to the apparatus main body 1 by the pickup roller 31f and the separation feeding roller pair 31g. At this time, the arrival time until the sheet reaches the conveyance path sensor 45 is measured.

  In S102, the CPU 50 determines whether or not the conveyance path sensor 45 is on, and repeats the process until it is determined to be on.

  If it is determined in S102 that the transport path sensor 45 is on, in S103, the count of the jam timer (add a number and add it to the block diagram) is reset and the count is started. In S104, the transport path is started. It is determined whether the sensor 45 is on for a predetermined time or more.

  If it is determined in S104 that it has not been turned on for a predetermined time or more, it is determined in S105 whether or not the conveyance path sensor 45 has been turned off. If it is not off, the processing from S104 onward is repeated, and if it is off, it is determined in S106 whether the job has ended. If the job is finished, the flow is finished. If the job is not finished, the processing from S101 is repeated.

  If it is determined in S104 that the conveyance path sensor 45 has been on for a predetermined time or more, the jam timer count and paper feeding operation are stopped in S107, and in S108, the CPU 50 detects jamming with respect to the apparatus main body 1. Notify the occurrence. When the CPU of the apparatus main body 1 receives the notification of the occurrence of the jam, it displays a message notifying the occurrence of the jam on the display unit 47. In addition, a message prompting the user to press the storage opening switch 39 is displayed at the time of jam notification. For example, a message such as “Jam has occurred in the feeding deck. Press the storage release button to wait.” Is displayed on the display unit 47.

  In S109, the CPU 50 determines whether or not the storage container opening switch 39 has been pressed. If the storage container release switch 39 is not pressed, the processing from S108 onward is repeated. When the storage opening switch 39 is pressed, the process proceeds to S110. Even when the storage container release switch 39 is pressed, the lock mechanism remains in the locked state until the process proceeds to S113 described later.

  In S110, the arrival time from when the sheet feeding operation is started until the conveyance path sensor 45 detects the sheet is acquired. In S111, the sheet rush amount is calculated based on the acquired arrival time, and according to the rush amount. The lowering amount of the loading unit 36 is determined. The CPU 50 may continuously change the descending amount at this time according to, for example, the amount of the sheet S entering. Further, for example, the rush amount of the sheet S may be divided into a plurality of stages such as “large” and “small”, and the descending amount may be defined in stages according to the rush amount stage. Further, for example, the descending amount may be increased as the amount of the sheet S entering is larger.

  In S112, the CPU 50 drives the roller pair separation drive motor 55 to release the nip by separating the conveyance roller 31h and the separation roller 31i forming the nip portion, and the stacking portion is the amount of the lowering determined in S109. 36 is lowered, and the process proceeds to S113.

  In S113, the lock state of the lock mechanism of the sheet storage case 3 is released, and the flow is finished.

  Note that it may be determined whether or not the jam has been resolved before S113, and if not, the stacking unit 36 may be lowered until the jam is resolved. In the process of S112, if the feeding path sensor 45 is turned off before the stacking unit 36 is lowered to the lowering amount determined in S111, the lowering of the stacking unit 36 is stopped and the process proceeds to S113. The lock state of the lock mechanism of the warehouse 3 may be released.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state of the sheet feeding device 4, the stacking unit 36, and the sheet S during execution of the jam clearance control.

  FIG. 6A shows a state at the time of the process of S103 in the flowchart of FIG. The sheet S is sandwiched between nip portions of the separation conveyance roller pair 31g. Further, the stacking unit 36 is located at a height at which the uppermost sheet S of the stacked sheet bundle comes into contact with the pickup roller 31f.

  FIG. 6B shows the state of separation and conveyance during the process of S103 in the flowchart of FIG. The conveyance roller 31h and the separation roller 31i are separated from each other, and the sheet S is not sandwiched between the nip portions of the separation conveyance roller pair 31g. However, since the height of the stacking unit 36 has not changed, the sheet S remains on the feeding path 41 without returning to the stacking unit 36.

  FIG. 6C shows a state at the time of the process of S109 in the flowchart of FIG. Since at least a part of the feeding path 41 is inclined upward toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction, when the stacking unit 36 is lowered from the state of FIG. 6B, the sheet S descends the feeding path 41 and its own weight. As a result, the jammed paper is dropped on the loading section 36 and the jam is resolved. The amount of lowering of the stacking unit 36 at this time is determined by the processing of S108, but at least until the uppermost sheet S on the stacking unit 36 is lower than the connection portion between the feeding path 41 and the sheet storage case 3. Descend. Further, when the descending amount of the stacking unit 36 is increased, the contact area between the sheet S jammed when the stacking unit 36 is lowered and the uppermost sheet on the stacking unit 36 is decreased, and the frictional force acting therebetween is reduced. The jammed sheet S is likely to fall onto the stacking unit 36.

  Note that the configuration and operation of the sheet feeding device at the time of occurrence of a jam described above can also be adopted in a feeding device built in the apparatus main body 1 of the image forming system 100, such as a cassette tray. At this time, a reception unit that receives a user's opening instruction may be provided on the side surface of the cassette tray, the instruction unit 47a above the apparatus main body 1, or the like.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the sheet storage case 3 is opened, the nip of the separation feeding roller 31g is released and the stacking unit 36 is lowered, so that the sheet S on the feeding path 41 is removed. Falls to the loading section 36 due to its own weight. Accordingly, damage to the sheet S when the sheet storage case 3 is opened can be prevented. Further, according to the present embodiment, the amount of lowering of the stacking unit 36 is determined by the amount of rushing sheets S, so that it is possible to prevent the stacking unit 36 from being lowered more than necessary. Accordingly, it is possible to shorten the waiting time at the time of jam processing and return to the job.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus main body, 2 Feeding deck, 45 CPU, 100 Image forming system

Claims (12)

A sheet feeding device that accommodates a sheet stacking device capable of stacking sheets and feeds the stacked sheets,
A feeding means for feeding sheets from the sheet stacking device;
A conveying path provided to convey the sheet fed by the feeding means to the outside, and at least a part of the conveying path is inclined upward toward the downstream side in the conveying direction;
Conveying means for nipping the sheet fed to the conveying path with a roller pair and further conveying the sheet downstream in the conveying direction;
First detection means for detecting that a jam has occurred on the conveyance path;
A second detection means for detecting a rush amount of the sheet with respect to the roller pair;
When the first detection means detects that a jam has occurred, the nip of the roller pair is released, the stacking means of the sheet stacking device is lowered, and the rush detected by the second detection means Control means for determining a descending amount of the loading means based on the amount,
A sheet feeding apparatus characterized by that.   The control means lowers the stacking means to a position where an uppermost surface of the sheets stacked on the stacking means is lower than a connection portion between the conveyance path and the sheet stacking apparatus. The sheet feeding device according to 1.   3. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a display unit that displays a notification that a jam has occurred when the first detection unit detects that a jam has occurred. . A reception unit that receives an instruction to open the sheet stacking device by a user;
The display means notifies the user of an instruction to open the sheet stacking device when the first detection means detects that a jam has occurred,
The control means releases the nip of the roller pair and lowers the stacking means when it is detected by the first detection means that the jam has occurred and the acceptance unit accepts the opening instruction. ,
The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 3. Fixing the sheet stacking device in a stored state, and further comprising a fixing means capable of releasing the fixing when the receiving unit receives the opening instruction,
The control means detects that the jam has occurred by the first detection means, and when the acceptance section accepts the opening instruction, the control means detects that the jam has been eliminated by the first detection means. Releasing the fixing means;
The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 4, wherein   2. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein when the jamming is resolved by the first detection unit while the stacking unit is being lowered, the control unit stops the descent of the stacking unit. The sheet feeding apparatus according to any one of 1 to 5.   The sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet stacked on the stacking unit is a cut sheet.   The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit increases the descending amount of the stacking unit as the rush amount increases.   The control means further lowers the stacking means when the first detection means detects that a jam has occurred even if the stacking means is lowered by the descending amount determined based on the rush amount. The sheet feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the sheet feeding device is used. A sheet feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet fed by the sheet feeding device. A sheet feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
An image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet fed from the sheet feeding apparatus;
An image forming system comprising: A control method executed in a sheet feeding apparatus that accommodates a sheet stacking apparatus capable of stacking sheets and feeds stacked sheets,
Feed for feeding a sheet from the sheet stacking device to a conveyance path that is provided to convey the sheet to the outside of the sheet feeding device and is inclined upward toward the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction. Process,
A conveyance step of nipping the sheet fed to the conveyance path with a pair of rollers and further conveying the sheet downstream in the conveyance direction;
A detection step for detecting the occurrence of a jam on the conveyance path;
A release step of releasing the nip of the roller pair when it is detected by the detection step that a jam has occurred;
A lowering step of lowering the stacking means of the sheet stacking device when it is detected by the detection step that a jam has occurred,
A control method characterized by that.

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