JP2024009332A - Sheet conveyance device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a configuration that can correct positional deviation of a sheet in a width direction while suppressing increase in size of a device.

SOLUTION: A sheet conveyance device includes a pair of regulation guides 14A, 14B capable of guiding both end edges in a sheet width direction Y of a sheet S4 which is conveyed while being nipped by a conveyor belt 12 and a spherical body 20. The pair of regulation guides 14A, 14B can move to both of a guide position of guiding both end edges of a sheet and a retreat position of retreating from both end edges of the sheet as compared to the guide position. A conveyance roller pair 402 disposed downstream in a conveyance direction X of the conveyor belt 12 can move to both of a nip position capable of carrying a sheet while nipping the sheet and a nip release position of separating the conveyance roller pair 402 from each other as compared to the nip position. The sheet conveyance device can execute nip release motion of moving the conveyance roller pair 402 in the nip release position when moving the pair of regulation guides 14A, 14B to the guide position from the retreat position.

SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 12

COPYRIGHT: (C)2024,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a sheet conveying device that conveys sheets.

In a sheet conveyance device that conveys a sheet, there is a possibility that the sheet may be misaligned due to various factors during sheet conveyance. If the sheet is conveyed, for example, to an image forming apparatus that forms an image on the sheet while the sheet is misaligned, problems such as misalignment of the image with respect to the sheet may occur. For this reason, a sheet conveyance device that corrects the positional deviation of a sheet during conveyance is known (for example, Patent Document 1).

Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration including a fixed reference guide provided on one side in the width direction intersecting the sheet conveyance direction, a conveyance belt provided at an angle with respect to the reference guide, and a spherical body. . In the case of the sheet conveyance device described in Patent Document 1, the sheet is conveyed while being held between a conveyor belt and a sphere, so that the edge in the width direction of the sheet abuts against a reference guide. Then, the side registration (positional deviation of the edge in the sheet width direction) of the sheet and the side skew (the inclination of the edge in the width direction of the sheet with respect to the sheet conveyance direction) are corrected at the same time.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-217096

In the case of the sheet conveying device described in Patent Document 1, the sheet is conveyed by a conveying belt provided at an inclination, and the edge of the sheet in the width direction abuts against a reference guide. That is, the sheet is conveyed diagonally to correct positional deviation. Therefore, it is necessary to transport the sheet until it hits the reference guide, and it is also necessary to transport the sheet to some extent even after the sheet hits the reference guide. Therefore, in order to ensure the length for conveying the sheet in this manner, there is a risk that the apparatus will become larger. In particular, in order to be able to correct the misalignment of a sheet that is long in the conveying direction, it is necessary to ensure an additional length for conveying the sheet, which may further increase the size of the apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a configuration that can correct misalignment of a sheet in the width direction while suppressing an increase in size of the apparatus.

The present invention is a sheet conveyance device that conveys a sheet in a conveyance direction, which has a conveyance surface extending along the conveyance direction, and conveys the sheet delivered to the conveyance surface in the conveyance direction. an endless conveyor belt, a plurality of spheres arranged along the conveyance direction at positions facing the conveyance surface and rotatable in any direction while holding the sheet between them, and the spheres in the conveyance direction; a pair of regulation guides that are arranged on both sides of the conveyor belt with respect to the sheet width direction intersecting with the conveyor belt and can guide both edges in the sheet width direction of the sheet being conveyed while being held between the conveyor belt and the sphere; a guide moving means capable of moving a pair of regulation guides between a guide position that guides both ends of the sheet in the sheet width direction and a retracted position that is retracted from both ends of the sheet in the sheet width direction from the guide position; a pair of conveyance rollers that are disposed downstream of the conveyance belt in the conveyance direction and that sandwich the sheet and convey the sheet in the conveyance direction; and at least one of the pair of conveyance rollers that pinch the sheet and convey the sheet in the conveyance direction. roller moving means that is movable to a nip position where the pair of conveying rollers can be conveyed by the guide moving means and a nip release position where the pair of conveying rollers are separated from the nip position; The present invention is characterized in that when moving the pair of regulation guides from the retracted position to the guide position, it is possible to perform a nip release operation that brings the pair of conveyance rollers to the nip release position.

The present invention is a sheet conveyance device that conveys a sheet in a conveyance direction, which has a conveyance surface extending along the conveyance direction, and conveys the sheet delivered to the conveyance surface in the conveyance direction. an endless conveyor belt, a plurality of spheres arranged along the conveyance direction at positions facing the conveyance surface and rotatable in any direction while holding the sheet between them, and the spheres in the conveyance direction; a pair of regulation guides that are arranged on both sides of the conveyor belt with respect to the sheet width direction intersecting with the conveyor belt and can guide both edges in the sheet width direction of the sheet being conveyed while being held between the conveyor belt and the sphere; a guide moving means capable of moving a pair of regulation guides between a guide position that guides both ends of the sheet in the sheet width direction and a retracted position that is retracted from both ends of the sheet in the sheet width direction from the guide position; a pair of conveyance rollers that are disposed upstream of the conveyance belt in the conveyance direction and that sandwich the sheet and convey the sheet in the conveyance direction; and at least one of the pair of conveyance rollers that pinch the sheet and convey the sheet in the conveyance direction. roller moving means that is movable to a nip position where the pair of conveying rollers can be conveyed by the guide moving means and a nip release position where the pair of conveying rollers are separated from the nip position; The present invention is characterized in that when moving the pair of regulation guides from the retracted position to the guide position, it is possible to perform a nip release operation that brings the pair of conveyance rollers to the nip release position.

According to the present invention, it is possible to correct the positional deviation of the sheet in the width direction while suppressing the increase in size of the apparatus.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an image forming system according to an embodiment. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a relay conveyance device according to an embodiment. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a relay conveyance device according to an embodiment. FIG. 1 is a side view of a relay conveyance device according to an embodiment. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a relay conveyance device according to an embodiment. (a) A perspective view, (b) A view seen from the left side of (a), (c) A sectional view taken along the sheet conveyance direction, and (d) Sheet conveyance, of the regulation guide according to the embodiment. A sectional view taken in a direction perpendicular to the direction. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a mechanism for approaching and separating conveyance rollers according to an embodiment. FIGS. 3A and 3B are side views of the conveyance roller contact/separation mechanism according to the embodiment, respectively showing (a) a nip state of the conveyance roller and (b) a nip released state of the conveyance roller. These diagrams illustrate the operation of the regulation guide according to the embodiment, and show (a) a sheet receiving state, (b) a state in which the trailing edge of the sheet has passed through the conveyance roller, and (c) a sheet misalignment correction state. , (d) are diagrams each showing the receiving state of the second sheet. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating that a subsequent sheet does not hit the regulation guide when correcting the positional deviation of the preceding sheet in the embodiment. These diagrams explain the operation of the regulation guide when the sheet is made of thick paper. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the abutment state of the other edge. This is a diagram illustrating the nip release timing of the conveyance roller when the sheet is long. Figure shown. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the relay conveyance device in a state where opposing members are in opposing positions according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the relay conveyance device in a state where the opposing member is at the take-out position according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the relay conveyance device showing a state in which a sheet is pushed by a rear regulation guide with the opening/closing guide according to the embodiment opened.

Embodiments will be described using FIGS. 1 to 15. First, the image forming system of this embodiment will be explained using FIG. 1.

[Image forming system]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an example of an image forming system including a multistage feeding device and an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. In the following description, a laser printer system (hereinafter simply referred to as a printer) using an electrophotographic method will be exemplified as an image forming apparatus having an image forming section. Note that the image forming apparatus constituting the image forming system may be a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a multifunction device, etc. in addition to a printer. Furthermore, the image forming apparatus is not limited to the electrophotographic method, but may be configured using another method such as an inkjet method.

The image forming system 1000 of this embodiment includes an image forming apparatus 100, a multistage feeding apparatus 200 as a sheet feeding apparatus connected to the image forming apparatus 100, and a feeding deck 500. As will be described in detail later, the multi-stage feeding device 200 has a plurality of storage compartments each capable of storing a plurality of sheets, and can feed sheets from each storage compartment to the image forming apparatus 100. . Further, the feeding deck 500 also has a storage capable of storing a plurality of sheets, and is arranged on the upstream side of the multi-stage feeding device 200 with respect to the sheet conveyance direction. Further, the sheet fed from the feeding deck 500 is conveyed to the image forming apparatus 100 via a relay conveying device 400 provided in the multistage feeding device 200. Note that examples of the sheet include paper such as plain paper, thin paper, and cardboard, and plastic sheets.

The image forming apparatus 100 generates toner images (images) in response to image signals from a document reading device 102 connected to the image forming apparatus main body 101 or a host device such as a personal computer communicably connected to the image forming apparatus main body 101. ) into a sheet. In this embodiment, the document reading device 102 is arranged above the image forming apparatus main body 101.

When reading a document, the document reading device 102 irradiates the document placed on the platen glass 103 with light from a scanning optical system light source, and reads the document image by inputting reflected light into a CCD. I have to. Further, the document reading device 102 includes an automatic document feeder (ADF) 104, which automatically transports the document placed on the tray 105 to the reading section of the document reading device 102, and images the document. It is also possible to read. The read original image is then converted into an electrical signal and transmitted to a laser scanner 113 of the image forming section 110, which will be described later. Note that image data transmitted from a personal computer or the like may be input to the laser scanner 113 as described above.

The image forming apparatus 100 includes an image forming section 110, a plurality of sheet feeding devices 120, a sheet conveying device 130, and the like. Each part of the image forming apparatus 100 is controlled by a control unit 140. The control unit 140 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The CPU controls each part while reading a program corresponding to a control procedure stored in the ROM. Further, the RAM stores work data and input data, and the CPU performs control by referring to the data stored in the RAM based on the aforementioned program and the like.

Each of the plurality of sheet feeding devices 120 includes a cassette 121 that stores the sheets S, a pickup roller 122, and a separation conveyance roller pair 125 that includes a feed roller 123 and a retard roller 124. The sheets S stored in the cassette 121 are separated and fed one by one by a pick-up roller 122 and a pair of separating and conveying rollers 125, which move up and down and rotate at predetermined timing.

The sheet conveying device 130 includes a pair of conveying rollers 131 and a pair of registration rollers 133. The sheet S fed from the sheet feeding device 120 is passed through a sheet conveyance path 134 by a pair of conveyance rollers 131 and then guided to a pair of registration rollers 133 . Thereafter, the sheet S is sent to the image forming section 110 at a predetermined timing by a pair of registration rollers 133.

Note that a sheet conveyed from a multistage feeding device 200 or a feeding deck 500, which will be described later, via a pair of conveying rollers 201 is conveyed into the image forming apparatus 100 via a connection path 202 with the image forming apparatus 100. Then, the sheets conveyed into the image forming apparatus 100 from the multistage feeding apparatus 200 or the feeding deck 500 pass through the pair of registration rollers 133 in the same way as the sheets conveyed from the sheet feeding apparatus 120 in the image forming apparatus 100. The image is sent to the image forming section 110 at a predetermined timing.

The image forming section 110 includes a photosensitive drum 111, a charger 112, a laser scanner 113, a developing device 114, a transfer device 115, a cleaner 117, and the like. During image formation, the photosensitive drum 111 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in the figure, and first, the surface of the photosensitive drum 111 is uniformly charged by the charger 112. Then, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 111 by irradiating the charged photosensitive drum 111 with laser light emitted from the laser scanner 113 in accordance with the image signal. Further, the electrostatic latent image thus formed on the photosensitive drum 111 is then visualized as a toner image by the developing device 114.

Thereafter, the toner image on the photosensitive drum 111 is transferred onto the sheet S by the transfer device 115 in the transfer section 116. Furthermore, the sheet S onto which the toner image has been transferred in this manner is conveyed to a fixing device 150, where the toner image is fixed, and then discharged by a discharge roller 151 to a discharge tray 152 outside the machine.

When forming a toner image on the back surface of the sheet S, the sheet S discharged from the fixing device 150 is conveyed to a reversing conveyance path 160. Then, the sheet S is conveyed again to the transfer section 116 of the image forming section 110 with the front and back sides reversed by the reversing conveyance path 160. The sheet S with the toner image transferred to its back surface is conveyed to a fixing device 150, and after the toner image is fixed, the sheet S is discharged onto a discharge tray 152 by a discharge roller 151. Note that the transfer residual toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 111 after the transfer is removed by a cleaner 117.

[Multi-stage feeding device]
Next, the outline of the multistage feeding device 200 will be explained using FIG. 1. The multistage feeding device 200 includes a plurality of storages 210a to 210c, a relay conveyance device 400, and the like. In this embodiment, the three storages 210a to 210c are arranged vertically in three stages, and the relay conveyance device 400 is disposed between the bottom storage 210c and the second storage 210b from the top.

Sheets fed from the top storage 210a are conveyed to the conveyance path 212, sheets fed from the second storage 210b from the top are conveyed to the conveyance path 213, and the sheets fed from the top storage 210a are conveyed to the conveyance path 213. The sheets fed from the warehouse 210c are conveyed to the conveyance path 214. Further, the sheet conveyed from the relay conveyance device 400 is conveyed to the conveyance path 215. The transport route 213 joins the transport route 212 midway. Furthermore, the conveyance paths 212 , 214 , and 215 meet at a confluence point 216 , and are conveyed through a conveyance path 217 to a pair of conveyance rollers 201 , and then conveyed to the image forming apparatus 100 via a connection path 202 .

Further, double feed detection sensors for detecting double feeding of sheets are respectively arranged in the conveyance path 212 after merging with the conveyance path 213, the relay conveyance device 400, and the conveyance path 214. Then, the sheet whose double feed is detected by the double feed detection sensor is conveyed to the conveyance path 217. A double-feed sheet storage section (escape tray) 218 is arranged below the conveyance path 217 to accommodate sheets for which double-feed has been detected. When double feeding is detected, the sheet conveyed to the conveyance path 217 is conveyed to the double conveyance sheet storage section by switching the conveyance path by a switching member 219 provided in the conveyance path 217.

Further, each part of the multistage feeding apparatus 200 is controlled by a control section 203. The control unit 203 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory). Further, the control unit 203 can communicate with the control unit 140 of the image forming apparatus 100, and controls sheet feeding timing and the like by communicating with the control unit 140.

The sheet fed from the upstream feeding deck 500 is conveyed to the relay conveyance device 400 through the conveyance path 512. Further, the multi-stage feeding device 200 can feed sheets even by manual feeding. The manually fed sheet is conveyed to a conveyance path 510 that joins a conveyance path 512 , and is conveyed to the relay conveyance device 400 via the conveyance path 512 by a pair of conveyance rollers 511 .

The relay conveyance device 400 includes, as will be described in detail below, a misalignment correction section 410 including a conveyance belt 12, a pair of conveyance rollers 401 on the upstream side in the sheet conveyance direction of the misalignment correction section 410, and a sheet conveyance system of the misalignment correction section 410. A pair of transport rollers 402 and the like on the downstream side in the direction are provided. The sheet conveyed through the conveyance path 512 is sent to the misalignment correction section 410 by the conveyance roller pair 401. After the side registration (positional deviation of the edge in the width direction of the sheet) and side skew (inclination of the edge in the width direction of the sheet with respect to the sheet conveyance direction) are corrected by the positional displacement correction unit 410, the sheet is transferred to the downstream conveyance roller pair 402. handed over to. Then, it is transported to the transport path 215 by a pair of transport rollers 402 and 403. In this way, the relay conveyance device 400 corrects the positional deviation of the sheet conveyed from the upstream feeding deck 500, etc., and delivers the sheet to the downstream image forming apparatus 100.

[Relay conveyance device]
Next, the relay conveyance device 400 as a sheet conveyance device will be explained. First, the schematic configuration of the relay conveyance device 400 will be explained using FIGS. 2 to 5. The relay conveyance device 400 includes an upstream conveyance roller pair 401, a downstream conveyance roller pair 402, the above-described positional deviation correction section 410, and the like, and conveys the sheet in the conveyance direction X. The positional deviation correction section 410 includes a conveyor belt 12, a plurality of spheres 20, a pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B, a guide moving section 420, and the like.

The conveyance belt 12 is disposed downstream in the conveyance direction X (downstream in the conveyance direction) of the conveyance roller pair 401 as a conveyance member that conveys the sheet. The conveyance belt 12 is an endless belt that is stretched around pulleys 11A and 11B, and has a conveyance surface 12A extending along the conveyance direction X. A motor M1 as a drive source is connected to the pulley 11A on one side, and the conveyor belt 12 is rotated by the drive of the motor M1. Such a conveyance belt 12 conveys in the conveyance direction X the sheet that has been transferred from the conveyance roller pair 401 on the upstream side in the conveyance direction X to the conveyance surface 12A.

A plurality of spheres 20 are arranged along the conveying direction X at positions facing the conveying surface 12A of the conveying belt 12. In this embodiment, the plurality of spheres 20 are arranged above the conveyor belt 12. The plurality of spheres 20 can rotate in any direction while holding the sheet between them and the conveying surface 12A. For this purpose, the plurality of spheres 20 are each held by a holding plate 18 provided above the conveyor belt 12 so as to be rotatable in any direction. That is, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the holding plate 18 is a long plate disposed above the conveyor belt 12 and at a predetermined distance from the conveyance surface 12A along the conveyance direction X. It has a plurality of holding holes 18A spaced apart from each other in the transport direction X. The spheres 20 are rotatably held in the respective holding holes 18A.

As shown in FIG. 4, the sphere 20 is exposed from the holding hole 18A, placed on the conveyance surface 12A of the conveyor belt 12, and is rotatable in any direction. The spheres 20 are in contact with the conveyance surface 12A due to their own weight. Note that the number of spheres 20 may be set depending on the pressing force required against the sheet conveyed on the conveyor belt 12. Furthermore, since the sheet is conveyed while slipping on the conveyor belt 12 as described later, it is preferable that the sphere 20 be made of a material such as glass or plastic that has a relatively low coefficient of friction. In this embodiment, a configuration in which a plurality of spheres 20 are arranged in one row along the conveyance direction You can also do it.

The pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are arranged on both sides of the conveyance belt 12 with respect to the sheet width direction Y that intersects with the conveyance direction X (in this embodiment, the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction). The pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B can guide both edges in the sheet width direction Y (both edges in the sheet width direction) of the sheet being conveyed while being held between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20. Note that the regulation guide 14B disposed on one side in the sheet width direction Y can guide one edge in the sheet width direction of the sheet being conveyed while being held between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20. Further, the regulation guide 14A disposed on the other side in the sheet width direction Y can guide the other edge in the sheet width direction of the sheet being conveyed while being held between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20.

As shown in FIG. 5, the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B each have a side plate part 15, a lower plate part 16, and an upper plate part 17, and are surrounded by these plate parts 15, 16, and 17. The end portion of the sheet S conveyed by the conveyor belt 12 is allowed to enter into the space. The pair of regulation guides 14A, 14B are supported by support shafts 421A, 421B (see FIG. 3) so as to be movable between a guide position and a retracted position by a guide moving section 420, which will be described later. The support shafts 421A and 421B are each arranged substantially parallel to the sheet width direction Y, and support the ends of the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B in the transport direction X. The pair of regulation guides 14A, 14B are movable in the sheet width direction Y along the support shafts 421A, 421B.

At the guide position, the side plate portion 15 has a guide surface 15A that faces the edge in the sheet width direction Y (edge in the sheet width direction) of the sheet S that is conveyed while being held between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20. The guide surface 15A is arranged parallel to the transport direction X. Further, the guide surface 15A is a surface perpendicular to the conveyance direction X and the sheet width direction Y, and in this embodiment, a surface along the substantially vertical direction.

The lower plate part 16 is disposed perpendicular to the side plate part 15, and is a support surface that supports the edge of the sheet S in the sheet width direction Y, which is conveyed while being held between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20 at the guide position. It has 16A. The support surface 16A extends substantially horizontally from the lower end of the guide surface 15A in the vertical direction. Further, the support surface 16A is located vertically lower than the conveyance surface 12A of the conveyance belt 12.

Here, let us consider a case where the support surface 16A and the conveyance surface 12A are at the same height, or the support surface 16A is located vertically higher than the conveyance surface 12A. In this case, a highly rigid sheet S such as cardboard is conveyed between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20 in a downwardly curled state (both edges in the width direction Y are lower than the center) as shown in FIG. Then, both edges of the sheet S in the width direction Y are supported by the support surface 16A. At this time, the central portion of the sheet S in the width direction Y becomes in a lifted state (bridged state), pushing up the sphere 20. As a result, the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20 are separated from each other, and the conveyance force of the conveyor belt 12 is not transmitted to the sheet S, which may cause a conveyance failure. Therefore, in this embodiment, the support surface 16A is arranged vertically lower than the conveyance surface 12A of the conveyance belt 12.

The upper plate portion 17 has a facing surface 17A disposed opposite to the supporting surface 16A. The opposing surface 17A is located above the edge in the sheet width direction Y of the sheet S that is being conveyed while being held between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20 at the guide position. Further, the opposing surface 17A is formed substantially parallel to the supporting surface 16A.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the guide moving unit 420 includes a first moving unit 420A that moves the regulation guide 14A of the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B, and a first moving unit 420A that moves the regulation guide 14B on the other side. 2 moving section 420B. The guide moving unit 420 also includes a motor M2 that generates a driving force to move the regulation guide 14A, and a motor M3 that generates a driving force to move the regulation guide 14B on the other side.

The first moving section 420A includes a pair of pulleys 422A and 423A, an endless belt 424A that is stretched around both the pulleys 422A and 423A, and a connecting section 425A that connects the belt 424A and the regulation guide 14A. Similarly, the second moving unit 420B includes a pair of pulleys 422B and 423B, an endless belt 424B that is stretched over both pulleys 422B and 423B, and a connection that connects the belt 424B and the regulation guide 14B on the other side. 425B.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the first moving section 420A is driven by a motor M2 as a driving source, and the second moving section 420B is driven by a motor M3 as a driving source. That is, in the case of the present embodiment, separate motors are used as drive sources for moving the pair of regulation guides 14A, 14B, and the pair of regulation guides 14A, 14B are movable independently. For this purpose, the pulley 422A of the first moving unit 420A is connected to a pulley 427A via a connecting shaft 426A, and a belt 428A is passed between the pulley 427A and the pulley rotationally driven by the motor M2. ing. The rotational drive of motor M2 is then transmitted to belt 424A via belt 428A, pulley 427A, connecting shaft 426A, and pulley 422A. As described above, since the regulation guide 14A is connected to the belt 424A via the connecting portion 425A, the regulation guide 14A is driven by the motor M2 in the seat width direction Y along the support shafts 421A and 421B. Moving.

Similarly, the pulley 422B of the second moving unit 420B is connected to a pulley 427B via a connecting shaft 426B, and a belt 428B is stretched between the pulley 427B and the pulley rotationally driven by the motor M3. There is. The rotational drive of motor M3 is then transmitted to belt 424B via belt 428B, pulley 427B, connecting shaft 426B, and pulley 422B. As described above, since the other side regulation guide 14B is connected to the belt 424B via the connection part 425B, the other side regulation guide 14B is moved along the support shafts 421A and 421B by the drive of the motor M3. to move in the sheet width direction Y.

By driving the motors M2 and M3 in this manner, the regulation guides 14A and 14B are moved to the guide position and the retracted position, respectively. In this embodiment, the motors M2 and M3 are pulse motors (stepping motors), and the positions of the regulation guides 14A and 14B are controlled by the number of pulses sent to the motors. Further, each of the regulation guides 14A and 14B has a home position, and a sensor that detects each of the regulation guides 14A and 14B is provided at the home position. For this reason, the positions of the regulation guides 14A, 14B are detected at the home position, and thereafter, the regulation guides 14A, 14B are moved to the guide position or the retreat position according to the number of pulses sent to the motor.

In the case of this embodiment, the motor M1 that drives the above-mentioned conveyor belt 12, the motors M2 and M3 that move the regulation guides 14A and 14B, and the motors M5, M7, and M8 that will be described later are located on the other regulation guide 14B side. It is placed. In particular, with respect to the conveyance direction X, it is preferable that the motors within the sheet conveyance range of the misalignment correction unit 410 be arranged on the back side of the conveyance belt 12 (on the side of the regulation guide 14B on one side). This is because, as will be described in detail later, the jammed sheet is removed from the front side (the other side of the regulation guide 14A).

In addition, in the case of this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a double feed detection sensor 430 for detecting double feeding of sheets is arranged between the upstream conveyance roller pair 401 and the conveyance belt 12. There is. The double feed detection sensor 430 is a sensor that detects, for example, when two or more sheets are conveyed in an overlapping manner using ultrasonic waves. When the double feeding detection sensor 430 detects double feeding of sheets, the control unit 203 (FIG. 1) of the multistage feeding device 200 sends the double fed sheets to the relay conveyance device 400 and the conveyance paths 215 and 217 as described above. The multi-feed sheets are transported to the multi-feed sheet storage section 218.

In addition, in the case of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 13, which will be described later, the sheet is conveyed by the conveyor belt 12 between the conveyor belt 12 and the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B in the sheet width direction Y. Opposing members 450 and 460 are arranged to face the lower surface of the sheet. The opposing members 450 and 460 support the end of the sheet if the end of the sheet is conveyed without being supported by any of the regulation guides 14A and 14B. The detailed structure of the opposing members 450 and 460 will be described later.

The relay conveyance device 400 configured as described above sandwiches the sheet transferred to the conveyance belt 12 from the upstream conveyance roller pair 401 in the conveyance direction X, between the conveyance belt 12 and the sphere 20 . Then, the sheet is conveyed by rotation of the conveyor belt 12. At this time, as will be described in detail later, both ends of the sheet conveyed by the conveyor belt 12 in the width direction Y abut against the guide surfaces 15A of the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B. When the sheet abuts against the guide surface 15A, the sheet is conveyed in a direction parallel to the guide surface 15A while slipping between the sheets and the conveyor belt 12 with both ends along the guide surface 15A. At this time, the sheet is held between the conveyor belt 12 by a sphere 20, and since the sphere 20 can rotate in any direction, the sheet can move on the conveyor belt 12 while slipping in any direction. be. This corrects the side registration and side skew of the sheet.

[Regulatory Guide]
Next, the detailed structure of the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B will be explained using FIGS. 6(a) to 6(d). Note that in FIGS. 6A to 6D, only the regulation guide 14A is shown, but the regulation guide 14B on the other side also has a similar configuration. As shown in FIG. 5, the regulation guide 14A includes a side plate part 15 having a guide surface 15A, a lower plate part 16 having a supporting surface 16A, and an upper plate part 17 having an opposing surface 17A.

As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the lower plate part 16 and the upper plate part 17 are continuously provided over almost the entire length of the regulation guide 14A. As shown in FIG. 2, etc., the regulation guide 14A is arranged substantially parallel to the conveyance direction shall be. Therefore, in this embodiment, the support surface 16A of the lower plate part 16 and the opposing surface 17A of the upper plate part 17 are provided continuously over the predetermined area A in the conveyance direction X. The predetermined area A is almost the entire area where the sheet is conveyed by the positional deviation correction unit 410.

On the other hand, the side plate portion 15 is continuously provided over a guide region B, which is a shorter region than the predetermined region A, as shown in FIGS. 6(a) to 6(c). In this embodiment, the upstream end (upstream end in the transport direction) B1 of the side plate portion 15 in the transport direction X is located downstream of the upstream end A1 of the predetermined area A in the transport direction X. That is, the upstream end B1 of the guide surface 15A of the side plate portion 15 in the conveyance direction X is located downstream of the upstream end A1 of the predetermined area A. Further, the guide surface 15A is provided continuously in the transport direction X up to the downstream end A2 of the predetermined area A. Therefore, the position of the downstream end B2 of the side plate part 15 in the transport direction X and the position of the downstream end A2 of the predetermined area A in the transport direction X are approximately the same position in the transport direction X.

In this embodiment, a notch 19C is provided upstream of the upstream end B1 of the side plate portion 15. An outer plate portion 19 located on the outer side of the side plate portion 15 in the seat width direction Y is disposed in a part of this notch 19C. The outer side in the sheet width direction Y is the side farther away from the conveyor belt 12 in the sheet width direction Y. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6(c), the inner surface 19A of the outer plate portion 19 is located on the outer side in the seat width direction Y than the guide surface 15A, which is the inner surface of the side plate portion 15. Further, with respect to the conveyance direction X, an inclined plate part 19B is provided between the outer plate part 19 and the side plate part 15, and is inclined so as to approach the side plate part 15 as it goes downstream.

The pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are configured as described above, so that the interval in the width direction Y between the inner surfaces 19A of the outer plate portion 19 on the upstream side in the conveyance direction It is wider than the interval in the width direction Y between the surfaces 15A. Therefore, as will be described in detail later, both edges in the width direction Y of the sheet transferred from the upstream conveying roller pair 401 to the conveying belt 12 are located between the inner surfaces 19A on the upstream side in the conveying direction X. The guide surface 15A is located between the guide surfaces 15A by being conveyed to the downstream side.

Note that the outer plate portion 19 and the inclined plate portion 19B may be omitted. However, if the edge in the width direction Y of the sheet transferred from the upstream pair of conveyance rollers 401 to the conveyance belt 12 is located within the notch 19C, the edge of the sheet will be There is a possibility that the portion may get caught on the upstream end B1 of the side plate portion 15. For this reason, in this embodiment, the outer plate part 19 and the inclined plate part 19B are provided, so that even if the sheet is conveyed deviated from the normal position in the width direction Y, the outer plate part 19 regulates the position. Furthermore, the end portion of the sheet is guided to the guide surface 15A of the side plate portion 15 by the inclined plate portion 19B.

[Contact/separation configuration of conveyance roller pair]
Next, with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, and FIGS. 7, 8(a) and 8(b), the contact and separation configuration of the transport roller pairs 401 to 403 will be described. As described above, conveyance roller pairs 401 to 403 are arranged upstream and downstream of the conveyance belt 12 in the conveyance direction X, respectively. Each of the transport roller pairs 401 to 403 has a driving roller 32 and a driven roller 33 as a pair of transport rollers. The drive roller 32 is an elastic roller including an elastic body such as rubber around a rotating shaft 32a. The driven roller 33 forms a nip portion that contacts the drive roller 32 to nip and convey the sheet. The drive roller 32 of the transport roller pair 401 can be driven to rotate independently by a motor M4, the drive roller 32 of the transport roller pair 402 can be driven by a motor M5, and the drive roller 32 of the transport roller pair 403 can be driven to rotate independently by a motor M6.

In this embodiment, a pair of transport rollers 402 and 403 arranged on the downstream side (downstream side in the transport direction) of the transport belt 12 in the transport direction have The drive roller 32 and the driven roller 33 can be brought into contact with and separated from each other independently by a motor M7 for the transport roller pair 402 and a motor M8 for the transport roller pair 403, respectively. Since the configurations of the conveyance roller pairs 402 and 403 are the same, the contact/separation configuration will be described below using the conveyance roller pair 402 as an example with reference to FIGS. 7, 8(a), and 8(b).

The contact/separation mechanism 31 that brings the drive roller 32 and the driven roller 33 into contact with each other and separates them includes a compression spring 34 as a biasing means, a support member 35, a motor M7, a separation cam 36, and a link member 37. The contact/separation mechanism 31 moves at least one of the pair of conveyance rollers, that is, the driven roller 33, to a nip position where the sheet can be conveyed while nipping, and a nip release position that separates the pair of conveyance rollers from the nip position. This corresponds to roller moving means that can be moved to different positions.

The compression spring 34 is a spring that biases the driven roller 33 toward the drive roller 32. The support member 35 supports the rotating shaft 33a of the driven roller 33 and is supported to be swingable about the swing shaft 37a. Further, the support member 35 is biased by a compression spring 34 in a direction to press the driven roller 33 toward the drive roller 32 centering on the swing shaft 37a. The support member 35 is fixed to the swing shaft 37a, and rotates together with the swing shaft 37a to move the driven roller 33 in the direction toward the drive roller 32 and in the direction away from the drive roller 32.

Motor M7 rotationally drives separation cam 36 via pulleys 38a, 38b and belt 38c. The pulley 38a is fixed to the drive shaft of the motor M7, and the pulley 38b is fixed to the rotation shaft 36a of the separation cam 36. The belt 38c is an endless belt that is stretched around the pulleys 38a and 38b. The separation cam 36 is an eccentric cam whose outer peripheral surface is eccentric from the center of the rotating shaft 36a, and rotates together with the rotating shaft 36a by driving the motor M7.

The link member 37 is fixed to the swing shaft 37a and is provided to be swingable together with the swing shaft 37a. Therefore, the link member 37 rotates in synchronization with the support member 35 via the swing shaft 37a. The link member 37 is arranged so as to come into contact with the separation cam 36 when the support member 35 is biased by the compression spring 34 .

When the separation cam 36 is in the phase shown in FIG. 8(a), the driven roller 33 is pressed against the drive roller 32 by the biasing force of the compression spring 34. The state shown in FIG. 8(a) is the nip position. When the separation cam 36 is driven to rotate, for example, 180 degrees by the motor M7 from this state, the link member 37 is pushed by the separation cam 36 and rotates counterclockwise in the figure around the swing shaft 37a, as shown in FIG. 8(b). swing in the direction. Then, the support member 35 connected to the link member 37 via the swing shaft 37a swings in the same direction about the swing shaft 37a. Since the driven roller 33 is supported by the support member 35 via the rotating shaft 33a, the driven roller 33 is separated from the drive roller 32 by the swinging of the support member 35. That is, the driven roller 33 is moved to the nip release position.

In order to move the driven roller 33 from the nip release position to the nip position, the separation cam 36 may be further rotated by 180 degrees from the state shown in FIG. 8(b) using the motor M7. Note that the contact/separation mechanism for bringing the drive roller 32 and the driven roller 33 into contact with each other and separating them from each other may be configured to move both the drive roller 32 and the driven roller 33. Further, in the above example, the contact/separation mechanism is driven by a motor, but the pair of conveyance rollers may be brought into contact with and separated from each other by another drive source such as a solenoid.

Further, in the above example, the pair of conveying rollers 402 and 403 on the downstream side of the conveying direction X of the conveying belt 12 are able to come into contact with each other and separate from each other, but only the pair of conveying rollers 402 may be able to make contact with and separate from each other. Furthermore, the pair of conveyance rollers 401 on the upstream side of the conveyance belt 12 in the conveyance direction X may be able to come into contact with each other and separate from each other. In this case, only the upstream pair of conveyance rollers 401 may be allowed to come into contact with and separate from each other, or the conveyance roller pair 402 and even the conveyance roller pair 403 on the downstream side may also be allowed to come into contact with and separate from each other.

[Sheet conveyance operation]
Next, the sheet recoil operation in the relay conveyance device 400 of this embodiment will be explained using FIGS. 9(a) to 9(d) and FIG. 10, while referring to FIGS. 2, 3, etc. In this embodiment, the control unit 203 (FIG. 1) controls the motors M2 and M3 (FIG. 2) according to the conveyance state of the sheet to adjust the position of the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B in the sheet width direction Y. I'm trying to change it. As described above, by controlling the motors M2 and M3, the guide moving unit 420 (FIG. 2) can be driven to move the pair of restriction guides 14A and 14B to the guide position and the retracted position.

Here, the guide position is a position where the guide surface 15A of the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B can guide the edge in the width direction Y of the sheet being conveyed while being held between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20. . In the present embodiment, the guide position is such that the distance between the guide surfaces 15A (guide surfaces) of the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B is such that the distance in the sheet width direction of the sheet being conveyed while being held between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20 is This is the position where the length is longer than the length of Y.

Specifically, the state in which the center position of the sheet in the width direction Y matches the center position of the guide surfaces 15A on both sides, and the edge of the sheet in the width direction Y is parallel to the guide surface 15A ( The guide position is the position where the edge of the sheet in the width direction Y and the guide surface 15A are at a predetermined distance when the sheet is conveyed (center reference). This predetermined interval can be set as appropriate depending on the apparatus, but is such an interval that even if the sheets are misaligned within this interval, the misalignment between the sheet and the image formed on the sheet can be tolerated. This predetermined interval is, for example, 0.5 mm. That is, at the guide position, the guide surfaces 15A of the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are each 0.5 mm apart from the edge of the sheet in the width direction Y. This guide position can be changed as appropriate by the control unit 203 according to the sheet size.

In this way, in the guide position, the pair of regulation guides 14A, 14B are positioned at a position where the distance between the guide surfaces 15A of the pair of regulation guides 14A, 14B is longer than the length of the sheet in the sheet width direction Y. Therefore, the transport load of the sheet transported by the transport belt 12 can be suppressed. For example, if the distance between the guide surfaces is the same as the length of the sheet in the width direction Y, the sheet will be conveyed while the edge of the sheet rubs against the guide surface, resulting in increased conveyance resistance. In particular, in this embodiment, since the sheet is conveyed while being sandwiched between the conveyor belt 12 and the spheres 20, the nip pressure at which the sheet is sandwiched between the conveyor belt 12 and the spheres 20 is small. Therefore, if the sheet conveyance resistance is large, there is a possibility that conveyance defects such as delays in sheet conveyance or stoppage of sheet conveyance are likely to occur. For this reason, in this embodiment, the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are positioned at the guide position as described above to suppress sheet conveyance resistance.

Note that it is preferable to convey the sheet with reference to the center as described above, and to correct the side registration or side skew of the sheet (perform an alignment operation) as described later. This is because, in this embodiment, the sheet is slipped between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20, and the side skew is corrected while rotating the sheet. That is, by starting the alignment operation at a position (center reference) where the center of gravity of the sheet S and the center portions of the regulation guides 14A, 14B substantially match (center reference), damage to the sheet can be reduced during the alignment operation.

On the other hand, the retracted position is a position where the guide surfaces 15A of the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are retracted from the edge of the sheet in the width direction Y than the guide position. In other words, the distance in the width direction Y between the guide surfaces 15A of the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B at the retracted position is greater than the distance in the width direction Y between the guide surfaces 15A of the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B at the guide position. It's also spacious. In this embodiment, the retracted position is a position where the distance from the edge in the width direction Y of the sheet conveyed based on the center reference is 5 mm. Note that the sheet S is delivered to the conveyor belt 12 with the regulation guides 14A and 14B in the retracted position, and in this state, vertical movement of the sheet S is regulated by the support surface 16A and the opposing surface 17A. As a result, even if the sheet S is curled, when the regulation guides 14A and 14B move from the retracted position to the guide position, both edges of the sheet S are placed within the area surrounded by the guide surface 15A, the support surface 16A, and the opposing surface 17A. can be accommodated in

The operation of the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B when two sheets S1 and S2 are successively conveyed to the relay conveyance device 400 will be explained using FIGS. 9(a) to 9(d) and FIG. 10. do. First, as shown in FIG. 9A, when the first sheet S1 is conveyed from the upstream conveyance roller pair 401 to the conveyance belt 12, the control unit 203 controls a pair of regulation guides 14A, 14B is moved to the retracted position. This is because if the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are in the guide position when the sheet S1 is transferred to the conveyor belt 12, the sheet S1 may be skewed or misaligned in the width direction Y. This is because if the end portion of the sheet S1 interferes with either of the regulation guides 14A and 14B, there is a possibility that a conveyance failure of the sheet S1 may occur.

Next, as shown in FIG. 9B, the control unit 203 causes the rear end (upstream end) of the first sheet S1 transferred from the transport roller pair 401 to the transport belt 12 to After passing, the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are moved from the retracted position to the guide position. In this embodiment, the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are guided from the retracted position while the sheet S1 transferred to the conveyor belt 12 is within the predetermined area A (FIG. 6(b), within the predetermined area). being moved to position. As a result, side registration and side skew correction (alignment operation) of the sheet S1 is performed.

That is, when the sheet S1 is on the upstream side in the conveyance direction X, the regulation guides 14A and 14B are located at the retracted position, and both ends of the sheet S1 are spaced apart from the guide surface 15A. Then, after the sheet S1 is further conveyed to the downstream side and the rear end of the sheet S1 passes the pair of conveyance rollers 401, the regulation guides 14A and 14B move to the guide position. Then, the guide surface 15A is brought into contact with both edges of the sheet S1 in the width direction Y. When the sheet S1 abuts against the guide surface 15A, the sheet S1 is conveyed in a direction parallel to the guide surface 15A while slipping between the sheet S1 and the conveyor belt 12 while aligning the edge along the guide surface 15A. This corrects the side registration and side skew of the sheet S1.

In this embodiment, the control unit 203 moves the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B from the retracted position to the guide position while the sheet is being conveyed while being held between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20. ing. As a result, side registration and side skew of the sheet can be corrected without stopping the conveyance of the sheet, and productivity can be improved. However, the alignment operation may be performed to move the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B from the retracted position to the guide position after the conveyance of the sheet is once stopped. In this case, although productivity decreases, it is possible to more reliably correct positional deviations.

Next, as shown in FIG. 9(c), when the leading edge of the second sheet S2 transferred from the pair of conveyor rollers 401 to the conveyor belt 12 enters the predetermined area A, the pair of regulation guides 14A , 14B remain in the guide position. At this time, the first sheet S1 is guided by the guide surface 15A in the guide area B (FIG. 6(b)). That is, in this embodiment, while the first sheet S1 is being guided by the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B, the second sheet S2 starts to enter the predetermined area A. .

Here, as shown in FIG. 10, on the upstream side of the upstream end B1 (FIG. 6(b)) of the guide surface 15A in the conveying direction 19A exists. In addition, in FIG. 10, the inner surface 19A is inclined toward the guide surface 15A as it goes downstream, but the inner surface 19A may be a surface parallel to the transport direction X. In any case, since the inner surface 19A is located on the outer side of the guide surface 15A in the seat width direction Y, even when the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are in the guide position, the inner surfaces 19A are The interval is wider than the interval between the guide surfaces 15A. Therefore, even if the second sheet S2 enters the predetermined area A while being skewed or misaligned in the width direction Y in this state, the end of the sheet S2 is not connected to the pair of regulation guides 14A. , 14B. Therefore, in the present embodiment, even if the second sheet S2 is conveyed at the timing described above, sheet conveyance defects are unlikely to occur, and productivity can be improved.

Then, as shown in FIG. 9(d), before the leading edge of the second sheet S2 reaches the upstream end B1 of the guide surface 15A in the conveying direction 14B from the guide position to the retracted position. At this time, the alignment operation for the first sheet S1 has been completed, and the sheet S1 has been transferred to the pair of transport rollers 402 on the downstream side. Therefore, even if the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are moved to the retracted position, the attitude of the seat S1 is not affected. Furthermore, since the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are moved to the retracted position before the second sheet S2 reaches the guide surface 15A, the end of the second sheet S2 is When passing over the inner surface 19A, it is possible to suppress interference with the upstream end B1 of the guide surface 15A, thereby suppressing the occurrence of sheet conveyance defects.

Thereafter, as described in FIG. 9B and subsequent figures, after the rear end of the second sheet S2 passes through the pair of transport rollers 401, the control unit 203 moves the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B to the retracted position. to the guide position. In this embodiment, after the leading edge of the second sheet S2 passes through the upstream end B1 of the guide surface 15A in the transport direction X, the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are moved from the retracted position to the guide position. Then, an alignment operation is performed for the second sheet S2. If there is a third or subsequent sheet, the operations shown in FIGS. 9(c), (d), and (b) are performed continuously, and if it is the last sheet, it is delivered as is to the conveying roller pair 402, and the sheets are aligned. Complete the action.

Note that the above-mentioned position of the sheet in the conveying direction 203 can be grasped.

In this embodiment, the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are moved from the retracted position to the guide position after the rear end of the sheet transferred to the conveyor belt 12 passes through the pair of conveyor rollers 401 on the upstream side. I try to let them do it. Therefore, when the sheet is transferred to the conveyor belt 12, the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B can be made less likely to interfere with the sheet. Furthermore, since the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are not positioned at the guide position while the sheet is being transported by the upstream transport roller pair 401, the sheet being transported by the transport roller pair 401 may not be placed in any of the regulation guides. Bending can be suppressed by contact.

Furthermore, since the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are moved to the guide position after the rear end of the sheet passes through the pair of transport rollers 401, the sheet can be transported diagonally without hitting the regulation guide, for example. You can correct sheet misalignment, etc. Therefore, it is possible to correct the positional deviation of the sheet without increasing the length for conveying the sheet, and it is possible to suppress the increase in size of the apparatus. That is, the positional deviation of the sheet in the width direction Y can be corrected while suppressing the increase in size of the apparatus.

[Thick paper transport operation]
Next, the conveyance operation of the sheet S3 (for example, cardboard) whose basis weight is equal to or greater than a predetermined value will be explained using FIGS. 11(a) to 11(c). The predetermined value is, for example, 100 g/m ² . Here, if the rigidity is high, such as a sheet with a basis weight of a predetermined value or more, as described above, both edges of the sheet may be held between the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B, or a minute gap may be formed between the sheet and the guide surface 15A. When corrections such as side registration are performed by opening and guiding, there is a risk that conveyance resistance will increase. If the conveyance resistance increases, a delay in conveyance of the sheet will occur. Therefore, in the present embodiment, in the case of a sheet such as cardboard, one of the regulation guides 14A and 14B is brought into contact with the edge of the sheet to correct side registration and side skew. This will be explained in detail below.

First, in the case of this embodiment, the guide moving unit 420 (FIG. 2) is capable of moving the regulation guides 14A and 14B independently, as described above. That is, the first moving section 420A (FIG. 2) of the guide moving section 420 moves one of the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B to a first guide that guides one edge of the sheet in the width direction Y. position, and a first retracted position retracted from one edge of the sheet than the first guide position. Similarly, the second moving section 420B (FIG. 2) of the guide moving section 420 moves the other regulating guide 14B of the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B to the second moving section 420B (FIG. 2) that guides the other edge of the sheet in the width direction Y. It is movable between a second guide position and a second retracted position, which is retracted from the other edge of the sheet than the second guide position.

As shown in FIG. 11(a), when a sheet S3 such as cardboard is transferred to the conveyor belt 12, the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are located at the retracted position. That is, one regulation guide 14A is located at the first retracted position, and the other regulation guide 14B is located at the second retracted position.

Next, as shown in FIG. 11(b), the control unit 203 moves one of the regulation guides 14A to the first guide position after the rear end of the sheet S3 passes the conveyance roller pair 401 (FIG. 3, etc.). At the same time, the other regulation guide 14B is positioned at the second retracted position. That is, the guide surface 15A of one regulation guide 14A is brought into contact with one edge of the sheet S3, and the other regulation guide 14B remains in the second retracted position, and the guide surface 15A of the regulation guide 14B is brought into contact with the other edge of the sheet S3. evacuate from.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 11(c), the control unit 203 moves the other regulation guide 14B to the second guide position, and moves one regulation guide 14A to the first retracted position. That is, the guide surface 15A of the other regulation guide 14B is brought into contact with the other edge of the sheet S3, and the one regulation guide 14A is moved to the first retracted position, so that the guide surface 15A of the regulation guide 14A is brought into contact with one end of the sheet S3. Move away from the edge.

In this embodiment, the regulation guides 14A and 14B are brought into contact with the edge of the sheet S3 on one side at a time, and the regulation guide on the opposite side is retracted from the edge of the sheet S3 during the butting. Therefore, it is possible to suppress an increase in the conveyance resistance of the sheet S3. Note that the order in which the regulation guides 14A and 14B abut against each other is not limited to the above-mentioned order, and the regulation guide 14A may be abutted after the regulation guide 14B is abutted against each other.

Note that if the basis weight of the sheet transferred from the pair of transport rollers 401 to the transport belt 12 is less than a predetermined value (for example, plain paper), as explained in FIGS. 9(a) to 9(d) above, After the rear end of the sheet passes through the pair of transport rollers 401, the pair of regulation guides 14A, 14B is moved from the retracted position to the guide position.

[Long sheet conveyance operation]
Next, the conveyance operation for the sheet S4 (such as a long sheet) having a predetermined size or more will be described using FIGS. 12(a) and 12(b) while referring to FIGS. 4, 7, and 8. In the case of a sheet S4, such as a long sheet, whose length in the conveyance direction There is a possibility that the side or upstream side is nipped by the pair of conveyance rollers. When the sheet is nipped between the pair of transport rollers, even if the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are pressed against the edge of the sheet, correction (alignment operation) such as side registration may not be performed sufficiently, or the sheet may be bent. There is a possibility that

On the other hand, in order to align even long sheets without being nipped by the pair of conveyance rollers, it is conceivable to lengthen the distance in the conveyance direction X guided by the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B, but in this case , the device becomes larger. Therefore, in this embodiment, when performing an alignment operation for sheets S4 of a predetermined size or larger, the nip between the pair of conveying rollers 402 on the downstream side is released.

As described above, the pair of conveyance rollers 402 and 403 on the downstream side of the conveyance belt 12 can bring the driving roller 32 and the driven roller 33 into contact with or apart from each other (for example, see FIG. 4). Furthermore, the contact/separation mechanism 31 that brings the driving roller 32 and the driven roller 33 into contact with each other or separates them from each other includes motors M7 and M8 that are controlled by the control section 203. Therefore, the control unit 203 can control the contact/separation mechanism 31 to cause the driving roller 32 and the driven roller 33 to come into contact with each other or to separate from each other.

In the present embodiment, when the guide moving unit 420 moves the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B from the retracted position to the guide position, the control unit 203 performs a nip release operation to move the pair of conveyance rollers 402 and 403 to the nip release position. is possible. A detailed explanation will be given below using FIGS. 12(a) and 12(b).

As shown in FIG. 12A, when the sheet S4 is transferred from the upstream pair of conveyance rollers 401 to the conveyance belt 12, the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are located at the retracted position. Then, as shown in FIG. 12(b), after the sheet S4 is further conveyed to the downstream side and the rear end of the sheet S4 passes through the upstream conveyance roller pair 401, the control unit 203 controls the downstream conveyance roller pair 401. The pair 402 and 403 are set as nip release positions. At the same time, the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are moved from the retracted position to the guide position. That is, in this embodiment, the nip release operation is performed at the same time as the guide moving unit 420 moves the pair of regulation guides 14A, 14B from the retracted position to the guide position.

Note that the alignment operation for moving the pair of regulation guides 14A, 14B from the retracted position to the guide position and the nip release operation may not be performed at the same time. For example, if the leading edge (downstream end) of the sheet has not reached the downstream transport roller pair 402 after the trailing edge of the sheet has passed through the upstream transport roller pair 401, the alignment operation is started first. However, the nip release operation may be performed before the leading edge of the sheet reaches the pair of transport rollers 402 on the downstream side. In addition, in the case of a long sheet in which the leading edge of the sheet reaches the pair of conveying rollers 402 before the trailing edge of the sheet passes through the pair of conveying rollers 401, the leading edge of the sheet is conveyed before the leading edge reaches the pair of conveying rollers 402. The nip release operation of the roller pair 402 is performed.

After the alignment operation of the sheet S4 is completed, the pair of conveyance rollers 402 and 403 on the downstream side are returned from the nip release position to the nip position, and the pair of conveyance rollers 402 and 403 convey the sheet S4 further downstream. Note that the downstream conveyance roller pair 402 and 403 are returned to the nip position at the latest before the rear end of the sheet S4 passes the downstream end of the conveyance belt 12.

Further, the control unit 203 moves the pair of transport rollers 402 and 403 from the nip release position to the nip position using the contact/separation mechanism 31, and then moves the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B from the guide position to the retracted position. Here, if the sheet is nipped by the pair of transport rollers 402 after the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are moved to the retracted position, there is a possibility that the sheet will be misaligned due to the sheet nipping operation. . On the other hand, since the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B are moved to the retracted position after the sheet is first nipped by the transport roller pair 402, etc., the sheet is guided by the regulation guides 14A and 14B when the sheet is nipped. This prevents the sheet from being inadvertently misaligned.

Furthermore, by moving the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B to the retracted position after the sheet is nipped by the pair of transport rollers 402, when the next sheet is transported, the next sheet is moved to the pair of regulation guides. Interference with 14A and 14B can be suppressed, and productivity can be improved. The timing at which the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B start moving to the retracted position may be the same as when the pair of transport rollers 402 and 403 start moving from the nip release position to the nip position. By moving the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B to the retracted position more quickly, the next sheet can be delivered to the conveyor belt 12 as quickly as possible, and productivity can be further improved.

In the present embodiment, by performing the nip release operation in this manner, even if the downstream side of the sheet S4 has reached the pair of conveying rollers 402 and furthermore the pair of conveying rollers 403, the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B Consistent operation becomes possible. Therefore, it is possible to perform the alignment operation even on sheets having a predetermined length or more without increasing the size of the apparatus.

Further, when the length of the sheet is less than a predetermined length, the nip release operation of the transport roller pair is not performed during the alignment operation, so that the number of times the transport roller pair approaches and separates can be reduced. When the contact/separation operation is performed, each component of the contact/separation mechanism 31 is worn out or noise is generated. Therefore, by avoiding contact and separation operations as much as possible, wear of parts and generation of noise can be suppressed.

Note that the length of the sheet is not limited to the predetermined length or more, and the nip release operation of the pair of conveying rollers may be performed during the alignment operation as described above. As a result, the length of the misalignment correcting section 410 that performs the sheet alignment operation in the conveying direction X can be further shortened, and the apparatus can be made more compact.

Here, in the case of a sheet having a basis weight of a predetermined value or more, as explained in FIGS. 11(a) to 11(c), the alignment operation is performed by abutting the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B against the sheet on one side at a time. ing. When a sheet having a basis weight equal to or greater than a predetermined value is long, the pair of conveying rollers 402 and 403 are set at the nip release position during this alignment operation. That is, the trailing edge of the sheet passes through the upstream pair of conveyance rollers 401, and at the same time one of the pair of regulation guides 14A, 14B moves to the guide position, the conveyance roller The pair 402 and 403 are set as nip release positions. After the alignment operation is completed, the pair of transport rollers 402 and 403 are returned to the nip position. As in the case described above, the timing of the start of the alignment operation and the timing of the nip release operation may be different.

In the above description, the nip release operation is performed by the pair of transport rollers 402 and 403, but the nip release operation may be performed only by the pair of transport rollers 402. Further, in the case of a configuration in which the driving roller 32 and the driven roller 33 of the pair of conveying rollers 401 on the upstream side of the conveying belt 12 are brought into contact with each other or separated from each other, the nip release operation of the pair of conveying rollers 401 may be performed. That is, when the guide moving unit 420 moves the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B from the retracted position to the guide position, the control unit 203 executes a nip release operation that sets the upstream conveyance roller pair 401 to the nip release position. It may be possible. For example, in the state shown in FIG. 12A, the pair of conveyance rollers 401 may be set to the nip release position, and the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B may be moved to the guide position.

Furthermore, all of the upstream and downstream conveyance roller pairs 401, 402, and 403 may be configured to be able to come into contact with and separate from each other. In this case, the nip release operation for all the transport roller pairs 401 to 403 may be performed at the same time as the alignment operation starts. Alternatively, the timing of the nip release operation of the pair of transport rollers may be varied depending on the length of the sheet and the transport situation. For example, when a sheet straddles a plurality of conveyance roller pairs during an alignment operation, all of the plurality of conveyance roller pairs are set to the nip release position during the alignment operation. Alternatively, the nip release operation may be performed in order from the upstream pair of conveyance rollers as the sheet is conveyed, so that the sheet is not nipped by any pair of conveyance rollers during the alignment operation.

Further, the number of conveyance roller pairs that perform the nip release operation may be changed depending on the sheet size. For example, the pair of conveying rollers 402 is a pair of first conveying rollers, and the pair of conveying rollers 403 is a pair of second conveying rollers. The pair of conveyor rollers 403 is located further away from the conveyor belt 12 than the pair of conveyor rollers 402 . Further, the approaching/separating mechanism 31 that can move the pair of conveyance rollers 403 between a nip position and a nip release position is used as a second roller moving means.

In this case, the control unit 203 can operate the pair of transport rollers 402 and 403 as follows by controlling the contact/separation mechanism 31 as the roller moving means and the second roller moving means. First, when the length of the sheet in the conveyance direction is equal to or greater than the second predetermined length, which is longer than the predetermined length, when moving the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B from the retracted position to the guide position, the conveyance roller pair 402 and 403 are nip release positions. On the other hand, if the length of the sheet is less than the second predetermined length and greater than or equal to the second predetermined length, when moving the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B from the retracted position to the guide position, only is set to the nip release position, and the transport roller pair 403 is left at the nip position.

The above-described operation of the pair of conveyance rollers 402 and 403 may be performed by the pair of conveyance rollers 401 on the upstream side and the pair of conveyance rollers 402 on the downstream side. In addition, in the case where all the conveyor roller pairs 401 to 403 are configured to be able to approach and separate, if the length of the sheet is a third predetermined length that is longer than the second predetermined length, all the conveyance roller pairs 401 to 403 are 401 to 403 may be used as nip release positions.

Note that the basis weight and size of the sheet described above are based on information input through an input unit (eg, operation panel) 1001 (FIG. 1) included in the image forming system 1000. For example, the user inputs information such as the basis weight and size of the sheets accommodated in the feeding deck 500 via the input unit 1001. The control unit 203 determines the basis weight and size of the sheet to be conveyed to the relay conveyance device 400 from this input information. The input unit 1001 may be an operation panel provided in any of the image forming apparatus 100, the multistage feeding apparatus 200, and the feeding deck 500, or may be an external device such as a personal computer connected to the image forming system 1000. It may be a terminal.

Alternatively, the basis weight and size of the sheet described above can be detected by providing a sensor for detecting the basis weight and size of the sheet in the conveyance path from the feeding deck 500 to the relay conveyance device 400 and in the feeding deck 500. You can do it like this.

[Operation when sheet jam occurs]
Next, the operation of the relay conveyance device 400 when a jam occurs in which a sheet stops on the conveyance belt 12 will be described using FIGS. 13 to 15 while referring to FIGS. 2 and 3. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 13, in the sheet width direction Y, opposing members 450 and 460, which face the lower surface of the sheet conveyed by the conveyance belt 12, are provided between the conveyance belt 12 and the pair of regulation guides 14A and 14B. are placed. Of the opposing members 450 and 460, the opposing member 450 on the regulation guide 14A side is movable between an opposing position and a take-out position retracted below the opposing position, as will be described later. The opposing position is a position facing the lower surface of the sheet conveyed on the conveyor belt 12. On the other hand, the opposing member 460 on the regulation guide 14B side is fixed at the opposing position.

The opposing members 450, 460 have opposing surfaces 450A, 460A facing the lower surface of the sheet at opposing positions, respectively. The opposing surfaces 450A and 460A support the end of the sheet if the end of the sheet is conveyed by the conveyor belt 12 without being supported by any of the regulation guides 14A and 14B.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 13, the relay conveyance device 400 includes a housing 470 that houses the above-described positional deviation correction section 410. The casing 470 has a take-out port 471 formed in the front of the apparatus, that is, on one side in the sheet width direction Y, for taking out the sheet inside the casing 470. The take-out port 471 is provided on the regulation guide 14A side (first regulation guide side) in the sheet width direction Y, and is mainly an opening for taking out the sheet stopped on the conveyor belt 12.

Moreover, the take-out port 471 is located below the conveyor belt 12, as shown in FIG. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the first moving section 420A and the second moving section 420B that constitute the guide moving section 420 are arranged above the conveyor belt 12. As described above, the first moving section 420A and the second moving section 420B include pulleys 422A, 423A, 422B, 423B, belts 424A, 424B, and connecting sections 425A, 425B.

Here, if the take-out port 471 is on the same side of the conveyor belt 12 as the first moving section 420A and the second moving section 420B, when taking out the sheet, the first moving section 420A and the second moving section 420B may get in the way. Therefore, in this embodiment, the take-out port 471 is provided on the opposite side of the conveyor belt 12 from the first moving section 420A and the second moving section 420B. That is, the first moving section 420A and the second moving section 420B are arranged above the conveyor belt 12, and the take-out port 471 is arranged below the conveyor belt 12, respectively.

While the sheet is being conveyed while being held between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20, a jam may occur in which the sheet stops on the conveyor belt 12. In this embodiment, the jammed sheet can be taken out from the takeout port 471. For this purpose, the facing member 450 on the side of the take-out port 471 is made movable between the facing position shown in FIG. 13 and the take-out position shown in FIG. The take-out position is a position where the facing member 450 is retracted below the facing position and can access the sheet stopped on the conveyor belt 12 from the take-out port 471.

As described above, the opposing member 450 is supported by the link mechanism 454 so as to be movable between the opposing position and the take-out position. The link mechanism 454 is a parallel link mechanism having two link members 451, 452 and pins 451A, 451B, 452A, 452B that support both ends of each link member 451, 452. Pins 451A and 451B are supported by housing 470, and pins 451B and 452B are supported by opposing member 450. The link member 451 has both ends rotatably supported by pins 451A and 451B, and the link member 452 has both ends rotatably supported by pins 452A and 452B. It is assumed that the link members 451 and 452 have the same length. Thereby, the facing member 450 is movable between the facing position and the take-out position while maintaining the facing surface 450A substantially parallel to the transport direction X (in this embodiment, substantially parallel to the horizontal direction).

In this way, by making the facing member 450 movable to the take-out position while maintaining the facing surface 450A in a substantially horizontal direction, the user can easily take out the sheet when the facing member 450 is set at the take-out position. For example, when the facing member 450 is located at the take-out position with the facing face 450A inclined with respect to the horizontal direction, the hand or the like may be inserted inside the facing member 450 from the take-out port 471 due to the inclination of the facing face 450A. There is a risk that the space for inserting (the space for access) becomes narrow. In contrast, in the case of the present embodiment, for example, when the user inserts his/her hand or the like into the interior through the ejection opening 471 beyond the facing member 450, the insertion space can be widened, and the sheet can be taken out more easily.

Further, a grip portion 453 is provided at the front end (left side in FIG. 13) of the facing member 450 for a user or the like to grasp with his or her hand and move the facing member 450 between the facing position and the take-out position. There is. When the sheet stops on the conveyor belt 12, the user opens the door of at least the portion of the multi-stage feeding device 200 where the relay conveyance device 400 is arranged, grasps the grip portion 453, and moves the sheet as shown in FIGS. 13 to 14. , the facing member 450 is moved from the facing position to the take-out position. Thereby, the user can access the sheet stopped on the conveyor belt 12 through the take-out port 471 and the space above the facing surface 450A of the facing member 450 at the take-out position.

At this time, by touching the sheet, the user may push the sheet to the back side, that is, to the regulation guide 14B side (second regulation guide side). In this case, if the rear regulation guide 14B is movable further to the rear, there is a risk that when the sheet is pushed, the rear regulation guide 14B will also be pushed, causing the sheet to move further to the rear. . If the sheet moves further back, it becomes difficult to take out the sheet.

Therefore, in the case of the present embodiment, when the sheet stops on the conveyor belt, the control section 203 that controls the guide moving section 420 holds the rear regulation guide 14B at the position when conveyance of the sheet stopped. That's what I do. Specifically, a holding current is applied to the motor M3 that generates the driving force for moving the regulation guide 14B on the rear side. In the case of this embodiment, the motors M2 and M3 are pulse motors, and are maintained in a stopped state by being energized.

Therefore, when the control unit 203 determines that a sheet jam has occurred on the conveyor belt 12, it energizes the motor M3 to maintain the position of the regulation guide 14B. Thereby, even if the user pushes the sheet when accessing the sheet, the rear regulation guide 14B is held at that position, so that the sheet can be prevented from moving further to the rear. As a result, sheets stopped on the conveyor belt 12 can be easily taken out.

Note that the control for maintaining the position of the regulation guide 14B may be started when the control unit 203 determines that the sheet has stopped on the conveyor belt 12, or may be started when a predetermined period of time has elapsed from the time of determination. It's okay. For example, the control unit 203 determines that conveyance of the sheet on the conveyor belt 12 has stopped when a sensor that detects the sheet downstream of the conveyor belt 12 does not detect the sheet for a predetermined period of time. Note that a sensor for detecting a sheet jam may be provided in the sheet conveyance path in the positional deviation correction unit 410, and the control unit 203 may determine whether to stop conveying the sheet based on the detection result of this sensor.

Further, the holding of the position of the regulation guide 14B may be started when the opposing member 450 moves to the take-out position, or after the movement. In this case, a sensor is provided to detect that the facing member 450 has moved to the take-out position, and the regulation guide The position of 14B may be maintained.

In addition, in the case of the present embodiment, when the sheet stops on the conveyor belt 12, the front regulation guide 14A (another regulation guide) is moved in a direction farther from the conveyor belt 12 than the position immediately before the conveyance of the sheet stops. I'm trying to move it. Specifically, the regulation guide 14A on the side of the outlet 471 is moved further forward as shown by arrow α in FIG. For example, if the regulation guide 14A is movable not only to the guide position and the retracted position, but also to a home position further away from the conveyor belt 12 than the retracted position, the control unit 203 prevents sheets from jamming on the conveyor belt 12. When detected, the regulation guide 14A is moved to the home position.

In this manner, by moving the front regulation guide 14A in the direction away from the conveyor belt 12 when conveyance of the sheet is stopped, the user can easily access the sheet stopped on the conveyor belt 12. For example, by increasing the distance between the conveyor belt 12 and the front regulation guide 14A, it becomes easier for the user to put his/her hand in between. In addition, if the end of the stopped sheet is caught in the regulation guide 14A, by moving the regulation guide 14A in the direction away from the conveyor belt 12, the sheet will be easily unlatched and the user can easily take out the sheet. Become.

Note that when the conveyance of the sheet is stopped, the power supply to the motor M2 that drives the front regulation guide 14A may be stopped, and the front regulation guide 14A may be moved manually. In this case, by manually moving the regulation guide 14A by the user, the space for taking out the sheet can be widened, and the sheet can also be taken out easily.

In addition, in the case of the present embodiment, when the sheet stops on the conveyor belt 12, the control unit 203 controls the control guide 14B on the back side to the ejection port 471 side (the ejection port 471 side in the sheet width direction Y), as shown in FIG. I try to move it to the mouth side). That is, the control unit 203 drives the motor M3 to move the regulation guide 14B to the front side, as shown by the arrow β in FIG. Thereby, the sheet is pushed by the regulation guide 14B and moves toward the take-out port 14, making it easier for the user to take out the sheet. Note that the sheet is nipped between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20, but since this nip pressure is small, the sheet moves forward by being pushed by the regulation guide 14B.

Here, the timing to move the regulation guide 14B to the front side may be the time when the control unit 203 determines that the sheet has stopped on the conveyor belt 12, or the time when a predetermined time has elapsed from the time of determination. When the control unit 203 moves the regulation guide 14B as a result of determining that the sheet has stopped in this manner, control to maintain the position of the regulation guide 14B is not performed as described above.

Moreover, the timing for moving the regulation guide 14B to the front side may be when the opposing member 450 moves to the take-out position, or after the movement. In this case, a sensor is provided to detect that the facing member 450 has moved to the take-out position, and the regulation guide 14B may be moved to the front side. In this case, control may or may not be performed to maintain the position of the regulation guide 14B at the position when sheet conveyance is stopped.

Alternatively, a button or the like that can be operated by the user may be provided on any of the devices, and the regulation guide 14B may be moved to the front side by operating this button or by operating the input unit 1001. good. Control may be performed to maintain the position of the regulation guide 14B at the position when sheet conveyance is stopped, and the regulation guide 14B may be moved by a user's operation.

In this way, the operation of moving the regulation guide 14B to the front side when the conveyance of the sheet is stopped is such that the stopped sheet is moved between the conveyance belt 12 and the upstream conveyance roller pair 401 (one pair of upstream conveyance rollers), or when the stopped sheet is This is not carried out if the rollers straddle the pair of transport rollers 402 on the side (a pair of downstream transport rollers). That is, the control unit 203 does not move the regulation guide 14B when the sheet stops straddling the conveyance belt 12 and the conveyance roller pair 401 or the conveyance roller pair 402. This is because if the regulation guide 14B is moved while the sheet is nipped by the transport roller pair 401 or the transport roller pair 402, the sheet may be damaged or torn.

However, when the sheet stops on the conveyance belt 12, the regulation guide 14B may be moved forward by moving the pair of conveyance rollers 401 and 402 to the nip release position. The sheet straddling the conveyor belt 12 and the conveyor roller pair 401 or the conveyor roller pair 402 means, for example, that the sheet is straddled between the conveyor belt 12 and the conveyor roller pair 401 or between the conveyor belt 12 and the conveyor roller pair 402, respectively. Detection may be performed by providing a sensor for detection. That is, when the control unit 203 determines that the sheet has stopped on the conveyor belt 12 and any sensor detects the sheet, the control unit 203 determines that the sheet has stopped on the conveyor belt 12 and the conveyor roller pair 401 or the conveyor roller pair 402. It can be determined that the vehicle is stopped astride.

<Other embodiments>
In the above-described embodiment, the multi-stage feeding device 200 is provided with the control section 203 that controls the relay conveyance device 400, but these controls may be performed by the control section 140 of the image forming apparatus 100. Further, the relay conveyance device 400 may be provided with a control unit that controls each part of the relay conveyance device 400. Furthermore, the sheet conveyance device is not limited to the above-described relay conveyance device, but may have another configuration as long as it is a sheet conveyance device that can shift the position of the sheet.

12... Conveyance belt/12A... Conveyance surface/14A... Regulation guide (first regulation guide, other regulation guide)/14B... Regulation guide (second regulation guide)/15A...・Guide surface/16A... Support surface/17A... Opposing surface/20... Sphere/31... Contact/separation mechanism (roller moving means)/100... Image forming device/200... Multi-stage Feeding device/203...Control unit/400...Relay conveyance device (sheet conveyance device)/401...Conveyance roller pair (conveyance member, one pair of conveyance rollers, one pair of upstream conveyance rollers)/ 402... Conveyance roller pair (one pair of conveyance rollers, one pair of downstream conveyance rollers)/403... Conveyance roller pair (one pair of conveyance rollers, one pair of second conveyance rollers)/420... Guide moving part (guide moving means) /420A...First moving part/420B...Second moving part/450...Opposing member/471...Ejection port/M2, M3...Motor (drive source)

Claims (1)

A sheet conveying device that conveys a sheet in a conveying direction,
an endless conveyance belt having a conveyance surface extending along the conveyance direction and conveying the sheet transferred to the conveyance surface in the conveyance direction;
a plurality of spheres arranged along the conveyance direction at positions facing the conveyance surface and rotatable in any direction while sandwiching the sheet between the spheres;
a pair of regulation guides that are arranged on both sides of the conveyor belt with respect to the sheet width direction that intersects with the conveyance direction, and are capable of guiding both edges in the sheet width direction of the sheet being conveyed while being held between the conveyor belt and the sphere; and,
a guide moving means capable of moving the pair of regulation guides between a guide position that guides both ends of the sheet in the sheet width direction and a retracted position that is retracted from both ends of the sheet in the sheet width direction from the guide position; ,
a pair of transport rollers that are disposed downstream of the transport belt in the transport direction and sandwich the sheet and transport the sheet in the transport direction;
Roller moving means capable of moving at least one of the pair of conveyance rollers between a nip position where the sheet can be conveyed while nipping the sheet, and a nip release position where the pair of conveyance rollers are separated from the nip position. and,
The roller moving means is capable of performing a nip release operation that brings the pair of conveyance rollers to the nip release position when the guide moving means moves the pair of regulation guides from the retreat position to the guide position. is,
A sheet conveying device characterized by:

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