JP2549922Y2 - Paper guide mechanism - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper guide mechanism provided in a paper processing apparatus such as a copying machine or a printing apparatus and capable of stably transporting paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a paper processing apparatus such as a copying machine or a printing apparatus is provided with a paper cassette in which a large number of sheets of the same size are accommodated so that copying and printing can be performed on sheets having different widths such as A4 size and B5 size. Is incorporated for each paper size. The user of the paper processing apparatus selects a paper cassette in which sheets of a desired size are stored from among the plurality of built-in paper cassettes, and copies and prints on the paper fed from the paper cassette. Done.

One sheet fed from a sheet cassette is transported by a pair of transport rollers or the like to a portion where copying and printing are performed (hereinafter, referred to as a paper processing unit). Then, the sheet on which copying and printing has been performed in the sheet processing section is conveyed to the sheet discharge port by another pair of conveying rollers or the like, and discharged from the sheet discharge port.

In the above paper processing apparatus, the paper fed from the paper feed cassette must be stably conveyed to the paper processing section so as not to skew. This is because, if the sheet is conveyed to the sheet processing section in a skewed state, the copying and printing states will also be skewed. For this reason, the paper processing apparatus is provided with a guide mechanism corresponding to the width of various types of paper so that the paper does not skew in the path along which the paper is transported.

A guide mechanism of a conventional paper processing apparatus regulates both side edges of a sheet with side guides based on the center of the sheet to be conveyed, and abuts one side edge of the sheet to be conveyed. There is one in which the other side edge is regulated by a side guide. The center-based guide mechanism moves the side guides on both sides in accordance with the width of the conveyed sheet around the center of the sheet regardless of the sheet size. On the other hand, the guide mechanism based on the side moves the side guide of the other side edge in accordance with the width of the conveyed sheet around one side edge of the sheet. As described above, the conventional guide mechanism moves the side guide according to the width of the sheet to be conveyed, thereby preventing skew of the sheet.

[0006]

The above-described movement of the side guide is usually performed by inputting information on the paper size to the paper processing apparatus. A mechanism and control means for moving the side guide are used. , A driving source and the like are required. As a result, the paper processing apparatus becomes expensive, and the paper processing apparatus becomes large and complicated in structure. An object of the present invention is to provide a paper guide mechanism having a simple structure and adapted to various paper sizes in a paper transport path.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a paper guide mechanism of the present invention is arranged in a paper feed path in which a paper in a paper processing apparatus for performing copying and printing on paper is transported and transported. In the paper guide mechanism that prevents skew of the paper,
A plurality of side guides for partially guiding at least one side edge of the sheet, and supporting means provided on each of the plurality of side guides and supporting the side guides so as to be able to advance and retreat with respect to the sheet guide surface. If the paper is not transported, all the side guides advance from the paper guide surface, and if the paper is transported, the side guides on the side narrower than the paper width are retracted from the paper guide surface due to the advance and weight of the paper and correspond to the paper width. The side guide and the side guide wider than it are advanced and maintained from the paper guide surface, and the side guide corresponding to the paper width regulates at least one side edge of the conveyed paper to prevent skew. Features.

[0008]

According to the present invention, a side guide corresponding to the width of a sheet is arranged in a path along which sheets of various widths are conveyed, and when a sheet wider than the sheet corresponding to the side guide is conveyed, the side guide is moved. The sheet is retracted from the path by a sheet transport operation.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 3 are views showing a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a view showing a configuration of a side guide of a guide mechanism according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an entire guide mechanism, and FIG. 3 is a view of the guide mechanism of FIG. 2 viewed from the X direction.

FIG. 1 typically shows one of a number of side guides arranged corresponding to the widths of various types of paper. The side guide 10 is disposed below the lower guide plate 1 having a surface on which the sheet 50 is conveyed, and
It is rotatably supported on a shaft 2 that is orthogonal to the conveyance direction 0. The side guide 10 is constituted by a member 11 extending along the sheet conveying direction.
Is a supporting portion 1 located below the lower guide plate 1.
1 a and a protruding portion 11 b protruding from the upper surface of the lower guide plate 1. A hole 12 is formed in the support portion 11a, and the shaft 2 is loosely fitted in the hole 12. Further, a balancer 13 for maintaining a balance with the protruding portion 11b is attached to a front end of the supporting portion 11a. As a result, as shown in FIG. 1A, the side guide 10 is supported on the shaft 2 while maintaining a balance so as to be parallel to the lower guide plate 1.

[0011] The side guide 10 keeps the balance and the shaft 2
The upper half of the protrusion 11 b protrudes from the longitudinal window 3 formed in the lower guide plate 1. The front end portion 15 of the protruding portion 11b is formed with a curved inclined surface 16 as shown in FIG. 1 and a guide surface 17 which is bent outward so as to easily receive a conveyed sheet as shown in FIG. When the leading end of the sheet 50 comes in contact with the inclined surface 16 of the front end 15, the sheet 50 is conveyed.
The side guide 10 is rotated clockwise about the shaft 2 by the transport operation (depending on the traveling force and weight of the sheet). As a result, the protruding portion 11b that has protruded from the longitudinal window 3 escapes downward and allows the paper 50 to pass through (FIG. 1).
(B)).

As shown in FIG. 2, the side guides 10 are supported by a pair of shafts 2 centered on the paper center for each width of the paper size. In this figure, the symbol A is B5
The width B corresponds to the width of the A4 size paper. In this figure, only two pairs of side guides corresponding to two paper sizes are shown, but of course, many are provided according to the width of the paper used. As shown in FIG. 3, the paper passes between the lower guide plate 1 and the upper guide plate 5 disposed on the upper surface thereof. The sheet is transported by a transport roller pair (not shown).

Next, the operation when papers of different widths are actually conveyed will be described. In FIG. 2, B
When a sheet of five sizes is conveyed, the sheet is guided by the guide surfaces 17 of the pair of side guides 10.
Conveyed during Here, both side edges of the paper are regulated,
The paper is sent without skew. On the other hand, when A4 size paper is conveyed in the X direction, the paper is
a side guides 10a, 10a
a. In this case, the balance between the side guides 10 and 10 arranged inside is lost due to the leading end of the paper abutting against the respective inclined surfaces 16, and the side guides 10 and 10 shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the protrusion 11b escapes downward from the longitudinal window 3. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3B, both side edges of the sheet are regulated by both side guides 10a, and the sheet is fed without being skewed. Then, when the sheet passes through the side guide, the side guides 10, 10 that have escaped below regain balance, and return to the state shown in FIG.

Although not shown in the drawing, when a wider B4 sheet is conveyed, the projecting portions of the side guides 10, 10 and 10a, 10a are moved downward from the respective longitudinal windows 3, 3a. Run away.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a second embodiment of the present invention. In the above-described embodiment, the side guides are arranged on both sides around the center of the sheet to be conveyed, but in this embodiment, the side guides are arranged on the other side edge side with respect to one side edge of the sheet to be conveyed. I have. In this embodiment, the same parts as those of the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

The shaft 2 is supported through the upper guide rib 26, and each side guide is positioned above the conveyed sheet.
It is supported with a balance. As shown in FIG. 5, the sheet 50 is conveyed on the lower guide rib 25, and one side edge of the sheet is defined by the reference side guide 20. On the shaft 2, a side guide 10a is supported at a portion corresponding to the width of A4 size paper, and a side guide 10b is supported at a portion corresponding to the width of B4 size paper (also corresponding to the horizontal length of B5 size). Have been. That is, in this embodiment, the reference side guide 20 and the shaft 2
The skew of the sheet is prevented by the side guide supported by the sheet. Thus, by providing the reference side guide, the number of components can be further reduced as compared with the above-described embodiment, and the cost can be reduced.

In FIG. 4 (a), B4 size paper 5
0 is transported between the upper guide rib 26 and the lower guide rib 25 in the direction indicated by the arrow. When the front end of the conveyed sheet comes into contact with the inclined surface 16a of the side guide 10a for A4 size, the balance of the side guide 10a is lost, and the side guide 10a is rotated counterclockwise about the shaft 2 and is rotated as shown in FIG. ) And the state shown in FIG. At this time, the skew of the sheet 50 is prevented by the reference side guide 20 and the side guide 10b. Then, when the sheet has passed through this portion, the side guide 10a returns to the balance, and FIG.
The state returns to the state shown in FIG.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, it is possible to variously change the shape, arrangement position, and the like of the side guide according to the center-based guide mechanism and the side-based guide mechanism.

[0019]

As described above, the side guide of the paper guide mechanism of the present invention is driven only by the advancing force and weight of the paper being conveyed. For this reason, a mechanism for moving the side guide according to the width of the sheet,
There is no need to provide a drive source or the like, so that the cost of the paper processing apparatus can be reduced, and the paper processing apparatus can be small and have a simple structure.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams showing a configuration of a side guide of a guide mechanism of the present invention, wherein FIG. 1A shows a state in which the side guide is balanced, and FIG. It is a figure showing the state where it was done.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the entire guide mechanism according to the present invention.

3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating the guide mechanism illustrated in FIG. 2 viewed in the X direction, wherein FIG. 3A illustrates a state in which the side guides are balanced; FIG. It is a figure showing the state where was rotated.

4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating a configuration of a side guide of a guide mechanism according to a second embodiment, in which FIG. 4A illustrates a state in which the side guide is balanced, and FIG. It is a figure showing the state where was rotated.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a guide mechanism according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... axis, 3 ... long window, 10 ... side guide, 13 ... balancer, 50 ... paper.

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A paper guide mechanism, which is disposed in a paper feed path through which a sheet in a paper processing apparatus for copying and printing on a sheet is conveyed and prevents skew of the conveyed sheet, includes various sizes of the conveyed sheet. Corresponding to, a plurality of side guides for guiding at least one side edge of the sheet, a supporting means provided on each of the plurality of side guides, and supporting the side guides so as to be able to advance and retreat with respect to the sheet guide surface, When paper is not conveyed, all side guides advance from the paper guide surface, and when paper is conveyed, the side guides narrower than the paper width are retracted from the paper guide surface due to the paper advance and weight. The side guide corresponding to the sheet width and the side guide wider than it are advanced and maintained from the sheet guide surface, and the side guide corresponding to the sheet width is the sheet to be conveyed. A sheet guide mechanism for restricting at least one side edge of the sheet to prevent skew. 2. A sheet transport path for transporting sheets of various sizes having different widths, and at least one side edge of the sheet transported and arranged in a plurality corresponding to the width of the sheet transported in the sheet transport path. A side guide that regulates a portion to prevent skew; and a sheet that is provided on each of the side guides and that is wider than the regulated sheet is conveyed. And a retreating means for retreating from the paper guide mechanism.