JP2592568B2 - Sheet conveying device of image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus, and more particularly, to a sheet conveying apparatus provided in an image forming apparatus having an image forming unit detachably mounted on a main body frame.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile apparatus, a fixing device is used to fix a toner image formed on a sheet surface. This fixing device has a heat roller having a heater inside, and a pressure roller that presses against the heat roller. The fixing roller conveys the sheet while nipping the sheet between the rollers, and fixes the toner image on the sheet surface. I do.

In such a fixing device, since the heat roller and the pressure roller are in pressure contact with each other, if the device is left for a long time during transportation or storage before use, the roller may be deformed. is there. In order to prevent this, for example, at the time of shipping, spacers are inserted into both ends of both rollers to release the pressure contact between the two rollers. Further, one roller is separated from the other roller by a lever or a cam to release the pressure contact.
In the case where the pressure contact is released by using the lever or the cam, a stopper such as a pin or a screw for fixing the lever or the cam in the pressure released state is provided.

[0004]

In the conventional pressure release method using a spacer or a stopper, it is necessary for a user or service person to remove the spacer or the like during setup. If the user forgets to remove the spacers and the like, the fixing unit may be heated, causing burnout of the spacers and damage to the rollers. In addition, since the two rollers are not pressed against each other due to forgetting to remove the spacer or the like, a fixing failure occurs.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to maintain the pressure contact of the conveying means such as rollers when not in use at the time of shipping or the like without using a spacer or a stopper, etc. Is to be pressed.

[0006]

A sheet conveying device of an image forming apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is a sheet conveying device provided in an image forming apparatus having an image forming unit detachable from a main body frame. Conveying means, pressing means,
Attitude control means. The pair of conveying means can take a press-contact posture in which they press against each other and a press-release posture in which the press is released, and convey the sheet in the press-contact posture. The pressure contacting means constantly urges the pair of transporting means in order to maintain the pair of transporting means in the pressure contact position. When the image forming unit is not mounted on the main body frame, the attitude control means maintains the pair of conveying means in the pressure release state against the urging by the pressing means, and when the image forming unit is mounted on the main body frame, A part thereof contacts the image forming unit and causes the pressing means to maintain the pressing posture of the pair of conveying means.

A sheet conveying device of an image forming apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is a sheet conveying device provided in an image forming apparatus having an image forming unit detachably mounted on a main body frame. A member and a posture control unit are provided. A pair of transport means are in a press-contact state where they are pressed against each other
It is possible to take the pressure and the pressure release position where the pressure is released
And conveys the sheet in the pressed position. Moving member
Indicates that the image forming unit is not
To the first position when the image forming unit
When the image forming unit is mounted on the
It is moved to two positions. The attitude control means is configured such that the moving member is
At the first position, a pair of transport means are maintained in the pressure release posture
Then, at the second position, a part is brought into contact with the moving member and a pair of transports is performed.
The feeding means is maintained in the pressing position. Here, a pair of transport means
To fix the toner image formed on the sheet surface by heating.
Fixing device consisting of heat roller and pressure roller
can do.

[0008]

In the sheet conveying apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the image forming unit is not mounted, for example, when the product is shipped, the pair of conveying means is maintained in the pressure-releasing posture by the posture control means. Further, when the image forming unit is mounted, a part of the attitude control means directly abuts on the image forming unit to maintain the pair of conveying means in the pressed-in attitude.

In such an apparatus, the pair of conveying means can be automatically brought into the pressure contact position and the pressure release position in accordance with the attachment / detachment operation of the image forming unit, thereby avoiding malfunction or damage to each part due to an operation error. be able to. Further, since a part of the attitude control means is directly applied to the image forming unit to control the attitude of the pair of transport means, the structure is simplified.

In the sheet conveying apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, the moving member is located at the first position when the image forming unit is not mounted. When the moving member is at the first position, 1
The pair of transporting means are maintained in the pressure-releasing attitude by the attitude control means. On the other hand, when the image forming unit is mounted on the frame of the apparatus body during use, the moving member is moved to the second position by mounting the unit. The moving member is the second
When moved to the position, a part of the attitude control means abuts on the moving member located at the second position to maintain the pair of transport means in the pressed-in attitude.

As described above, the moving member is moved by utilizing the non-mounting state and the mounted state of the image forming unit, and the pressing and releasing of the conveying means is controlled by the position of the moving member. When the apparatus is not used, as in the case of, for example, the conveying means can be maintained in the pressure release position, and when the apparatus is used, the conveyance means is automatically set to one with the mounting of the image forming unit.
The pair of transporting means can be in the pressure contact posture. Therefore, it is possible to prevent malfunctions and damage to each part due to an operation error.

Further, in this case, a part of the attitude control means abuts on the moving member and does not abut on the image forming unit.
For this reason, even when the rigidity of the image forming unit is low, the image quality does not deteriorate.

[0013]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a facsimile apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a longitudinal section thereof. As shown in these figures, the present apparatus is provided with a reading unit 1 arranged at an upper portion for reading image information of a document.
And an output unit 2 arranged at a substantially central portion of the apparatus to form received image information on the surface of a sheet, and a sheet feeding unit 3 arranged at the bottom of the apparatus to supply sheets to the output unit 2. Have been.

A reading unit 1 has a document table 5 on which a document is placed.
And a document transport unit 6 for transporting the document, and a document discharge tray 7 for storing the document discharged from the document transport unit 6. An image information reading sensor 8 for reading image information of a document is arranged in the document conveying section 6. An operation panel 9 having various keys and a display unit is arranged on the upper surface of the apparatus. In addition, a handset 10 is located at the top of the device. The output unit 2 includes an imaging unit 11 including a photosensitive drum and a developing unit 14 including a developing roller 12 and a toner cartridge 13.
And an image corresponding to the received information.
Device 15 for forming on the surface of the photosensitive drum
And a fixing and conveying device 16 for fixing the toner image formed on the surface of the sheet by the imaging unit 11. A sheet discharge tray 17 is provided downstream of the fixing and conveying device 16. The paper supply unit 3 includes a paper supply cassette 21 that is detachable from an opening 20 provided at the bottom of the apparatus main body, and a paper supply device that sends out paper from the paper supply cassette 21 and supplies the paper to the output unit 2. 22.

The main body of the apparatus is divided into an upper case 25 and a lower case 26.
Is openable and closable with respect to the lower case 26. The upper case 25 includes the reading unit 1, the imaging unit 11 of the output unit 2, the developing unit 14, and the laser device 15.
The lower case 26 is provided with the fixing and conveying device 16 of the output unit 2 and the paper feed unit 3.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the imaging unit 11 and the fixing and conveying device 16 of the output unit 2. The imaging unit 11 has a unit case 30. At the upper part of the unit case 30, a mounting flange portion 31 protruding upward is formed. The mounting flange portion 31 has a vertically long hole 31a formed therein, and the hole 31a is engaged with a pin 32 provided on the main body frame side. With such a configuration, the imaging unit 11 can move in a predetermined range in the vertical direction. On the other hand, a locking portion 33 projecting downward is formed at a lower portion of the unit case 30. The locking portion 33 locks a pin 34 provided on the body frame side to position the imaging unit 30 in the vertical direction. A photosensitive drum 35 is rotatably mounted at an end of the imaging unit 11 on the developing roller side. Further, a cleaning blade 36 for removing the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 35 is provided on a side of the photosensitive drum 35. The toner removed from the surface of the photosensitive drum 35 by the cleaning blade 36 is stored in a storage section 37 in the unit case 30.

Below the photosensitive drum 35, a transfer roller 40 for transferring the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 35 to a sheet is disposed. The transfer roller 40
It is rotatably supported by the frame on the lower case 26 side. A main charging device 41 for charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 35 is disposed above the photosensitive drum 35. As described above, the imaging unit 11, the developing unit 14, the transfer roller 40, and the main charging device 41 form an image forming unit that forms a toner image on the sheet surface. In this embodiment, the photosensitive drum 35 is negatively charged, the toner has a positive charge, and the paper is negatively charged by the transfer roller 40.

A transport guide 45 for guiding the sheet having the toner image formed on its surface to the fixing and transporting device 16 is disposed downstream of the image forming section in the sheet transporting direction. The transport guide 45 is formed of an antistatic resin. The antistatic resin has a surface resistivity of 10 ¹⁰ Ω or more and 10 ¹⁰ Ω or more.
A resin of ¹⁴ Ω or less is used. For example, Toray rack TP10 (surface specific resistance value: 1 × 1) manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc.
0 ¹¹ Ω) and, (Ltd.) JSR made of JSR ABS EM1
2 (surface specific resistance value: 2 × 10 ¹¹ Ω) or the like is preferable. An intermediate frame 46 is disposed above the transport guide 45 and close to the imaging unit 11. The intermediate frame 46 is formed of, for example, an iron plate material, and is a conductor. The intermediate frame 46 is in contact with the imaging unit 11 via the flange 46b, and is grounded via another frame. In this intermediate frame, at two places at both ends in the width direction of the conveyed paper,
A notch 46a is formed.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the fixing and conveying device 16 includes a heat roller 50 having a heater 50a therein,
A pressure roller 51 that can be pressed against the heat roller 50 is provided. On the side and above the heat roller 50, an upper fixing housing 52 is arranged so as to cover the heat roller 50. The upper fixing housing 52 extends in the axial direction of the heat roller 50 and is detachable from a lower fixing housing (not shown). The lower fixing housing is fixed to a pair of fixing frames 53 provided at both axial ends of the rollers 50 and 51. A groove 52a is formed in the center of the upper wall of the upper fixing housing 52 along the roller axis direction, and a mounting member 54 is detachably inserted into the groove 52a. The mounting member 54 has a concave portion 54a at the center, and a cleaning member 55 for cleaning the surface of the heat roller 50 is mounted at the lower end thereof.

Notches 52c are formed at two positions in the roller axial direction on the side wall 52b of the upper fixing housing 52 on the sheet discharge side.
Are formed. A pin-shaped support portion 56 is formed in the notch 52c.
Are rotatably supported. The peeling claw 57 is supported by the support portion 5.
6, a separation portion 57b extending from the fulcrum portion 57a toward the heat roller 50, and a fulcrum portion 57a.
And a lever portion 57c extending outward from the side wall 52b. The peeling portion 57 b is pressed against the surface of the heat roller 50 by a torsion spring 58. Also, the lever 57c
Extends from the notch 52c so as to be exposed to the outside of the side wall 52b.
As shown in FIG. 4, the operator places the lever portion 57c on the side wall 52.
By pushing to the b side, the exfoliated portion 57b at the tip is separated from the surface of the heat roller 50.

With such a peeling claw 57, the paper wound around the heat roller 50 can be peeled from the surface of the heat roller 50 by a very simple mechanism. Moreover, when attaching and detaching the upper fixing housing 52 at the time of component replacement or the like, the tip of the peeling claw 57 can be reliably separated from the surface of the heat roller 50 by gripping the lever portion 57c, and the heat is removed at the time of component replacement or the like. Damage to the surface of the roller 50 can be avoided.

As shown in FIG. 3, the heat roller 50 is
0, it is rotatably supported by the fixing frame 53. On the other hand, the pressure roller 51 has a shaft 61 supported by a fixing frame 53 via a bearing 62 and a spring 63. An upper part of the bearing 62 has a protrusion 6 projecting upward.
2a is formed. The bearing 62 is provided in the frame 5
3 and is always urged by the spring 63 toward the heat roller 50. The bearing 60,
The spring 62 and the spring 63 are arranged at both ends in the roller axial direction.

On the other hand, a pressure release lever 65 is concentrically and rotatably mounted on the outer periphery of each of the pair of bearings 60 supporting the heat roller 50. 1
The pair of pressure release levers 65 includes a support portion 65a that covers the outer periphery of the bearing 60, and a cam portion 6 formed on a part of the support portion 65a.
5b and an L-shaped lever portion 65c extending from the support portion 65a to the image forming portion side. The pressure release lever 65 is urged in a counterclockwise direction in FIG. 3 by a spring 66 whose one end is locked to the fixing frame 53. When the imaging unit 11 is mounted on the apparatus, the end of the lever portion 65c is
6 through the notch 46a of the imaging unit 11
The lever portion 65c is rotated clockwise against the urging force of the spring 66. In this state, the cam 6
5b is apart from the bearing protrusion 62a of the pressure roller 51. For this reason, the pressure roller 51 is pressed against the heat roller 51 by the spring 63.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, two notches 70a and 70b are formed on the side wall 52d of the upper fixing housing 52 on the image forming portion side, and the notches 70a and 70b are formed.
An engaging portion 71 is formed between the a and 70b. The thermal fuse 7 passes through the inside of the housing of the locking portion 71.
2 are locked, and both ends of the thermal fuse 72 are screwed to the outer surface of the housing side wall 52d. Although not shown, an electric wiring connected to the internal heater 50a of the heat roller 50 is connected to the screw stopper. Entry guides 52 e and 71 a are formed at the lower end of the side wall 52 d and the locking portion 71 so that the supplied sheet is guided between the heat roller 50 and the pressure roller 51. With such a configuration, when the thermal fuse 72 is arranged close to the heat roller 50, the gap between them can be easily and accurately adjusted.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the intermediate frame 46 also extends above the fixing and conveying device 16 to constitute a partition frame 47 for separating the fixing and conveying device 16 from its upper portion. . The partition frame 47 is inclined upward at both left and right portions so that the portion directly above the mounting member 54 is the lowest, and the inclined surfaces 47a and 47b and the water droplets attached to the inclined surfaces 47a and 47b are collected. Part 4
7c.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a pair of discharge rollers 75 and 76 are disposed downstream of the fixing and conveying device 16. The upper roller 75 is fixed to a drive shaft 77 supported by the fixing frame 53. On the other hand, the lower roller 7
Numeral 6 is rotatably supported by a lower fixing housing (not shown). The lower roller 76 is formed of a resin such as POM (polyacetal), for example.
As shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of substantially U-shaped grooves 76a are formed. The lower roller 76 has an outer diameter of 12 as an example.
mm, the inner diameter is 4.3 mm, and the thickness is 8 mm. The groove 76a has a width dimension of 1.2 mm and is provided with 15 grooves at equal angular intervals of 24 °. 8, the angle α between the groove end surface of the groove 76a and the outer peripheral surface is:
The angle is set to 90 ° or less. Therefore, when the lower roller 76 rotates in the direction of arrow A in FIG.
a, and the sheet is reliably sent out to the discharge tray side.

The fixing and conveying device 16 is mounted on the main body of the apparatus by mounting the fixing frames 53 disposed at both ends of the fixing and conveying device 16 to a mounting frame 80 as shown in FIG.
The fixing frame 53 has a first hook portion 81 and a second hook portion 82 at its lower end, and a flange portion 8 on the side on the discharge side.
Three. The mounting frame 80 has a mounting portion 80e on which the fixing frame 53 is mounted and a vertical portion 80d. The first hook portion 81 of the fixing frame 53 is
It has a protruding portion 81a protruding toward the image forming unit side, and its upper end has a curved surface shape. 1st hook part 81
Is inserted into a notch 80 a formed in the mounting frame 80. Here, as shown in FIG. 11, the mounting frame 80 is formed with a locking portion 80b projecting into the notch 80a, and the projection 81a of the first hook portion 81 is engaged with the locking portion 80b. Can be stopped. The locking portion 80b can be elastically deformed by a predetermined amount. The relationship between the dimension t1 between the upper surface of the protrusion 81a and the lower end surface of the fixing frame 53 and the plate thickness t0 of the mounting frame 80 is t0> t1 (for example, t0 = 1.2 mm, t1 = 1). .
15 mm). Therefore, when the first hook portion 81 is locked to the locking portion 80b, the tip of the locking portion 80b is elastically deformed upward.

On the other hand, the second hook portion 82 has a projecting portion 82a projecting toward the first hook portion 81. Projection 8
The upper surface of 2a is an inclined surface 82b whose tip is inclined downward. A second hook portion 82 is provided on the mounting frame 80 side.
A notch 80c is formed corresponding to. Notch 80
c is a size that allows the entire first hook portion 82 to be inserted. Also, the base end of the inclined surface 82b and the fixing frame 5
3 The dimension t2 between the lower end face and the thickness t of the mounting frame 80
0, t0 <t2 (for example, t0 = 1.2 mm, t2 = 1.
3 mm).

The vertical portion 80d is attached to the mounting frame 80.
Is bent upward from the end of the mounting portion 80e. A screw hole 84 is formed in the vertical portion 80d, and the flange portion 83 of the fixing frame 53 is attached with a screw 85. Here, as shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 10, when the fixing conveyance device 16 is mounted on the mounting frame 80 and the second hook portion 82 is in contact with the notch 80 c end face of the mounting frame 80, the fixing portion 16 A slight gap t3 (for example, 0.1 to
0.5 mm) is set to open.

When the fixing and conveying device 16 having the fixing frame 53 is mounted on the mounting frame 80 of the apparatus main body, first, both the hook portions 81 and 8 of the fixing frame 53 are used.
2 is inserted into the notches 80a and 80c of the mounting frame 80. In this state, when the fixing frame 53 is moved rightward in FIG.
Is guided downward by the contact between the inclined surface 82b and the end surface of the notch 80c. Further, the first hook portion 81 is guided such that the protruding portion 81a extends under the locking portion 80b. In this manner, the fixing and conveying device 16 can be temporarily fixed in the vertical direction only by moving the fixing frame 53 in the horizontal direction.

In the temporarily fixed state, a gap t3 is formed between the vertical portion 80d of the mounting frame and the flange 83 of the fixing frame 53. In this state, screw 85
Is screwed into the screw hole 84 and tightened, the flange portion 83 bends and comes into close contact with the vertical portion 80d. The fixing and conveying device 16 is firmly fixed to the mounting frame 80 by the bending force of the flange portion 83.

By using such a fixing frame 53 and the mounting frame 80, even when the fixing frame 53 cannot be fixed with screws from above in the mounting direction, the fixing frame 53 can be easily positioned and securely fixed. In the embodiment having such a configuration, the imaging unit 11 is not mounted, for example, when the product is shipped. In this case, as shown in FIG. 12, the lever 65c of the pressure release lever 65 is
It is possible to pivot upward through 6a. Therefore, the lever 65c is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 12 by the urging force of the spring 66. In this state, the cam portion 65b of the pressure release lever 65 comes into contact with the bearing protrusion 62a of the pressure roller 51, and pushes the bearing 62 and the pressure roller 51 downward against the urging force of the spring 63. As a result, the pressure roller 51 is separated from the heat roller 50, and the pressure contact between the rollers 50 and 51 is released.

On the other hand, when installing the facsimile machine, the upper case 25 is opened and the imaging unit 11 is mounted. When the upper case 25 is closed with the imaging unit 11 mounted, the lever 65c of the pressure release lever 65 is pushed downward by the bottom surface of the case 30 of the imaging unit 11, as shown in FIG. Then, against the urging force of the spring 66, the pressure release lever 6
5 rotates clockwise in FIG. 3, and the cam portion 65 b separates from the bearing protrusion 62 a of the pressure roller 51. Then, the pressure roller 51 is pushed upward by the spring 63, and the two rollers 50, 51 are pressed against each other.

The lever portion 65 of the pressure release lever 65
The bottom of the imaging unit 11 is pushed upward by c. Then, the locking portion 33 of the unit case 30 hits the pin 34, and reliable positioning is performed. Further, when the imaging unit 11 is replaced, the gap between the photosensitive drum 35 and the developing roller 12 can be increased by opening the upper case 25 and releasing the pressing by the lever 65c. Therefore, the imaging unit 1
1 Collision between the developing roller 12 and the photosensitive drum 35 at the time of attachment / detachment can be avoided.

As described above, the heat roller 50 and the pressure roller 51 can be automatically brought into pressure contact with the mounting operation of the imaging unit 11, and can be installed in comparison with the case where a spacer or the like is used as in the conventional apparatus. The time is shortened, and a malfunction due to an erroneous operation can be eliminated. Further, since the center of rotation of the pressure release lever 65 is made coincident with the axial center of the heat roller 50, a rotation center shaft for the lever 65 is not required, and the mechanism for releasing pressure is simplified. Further, since the pressure contact is released by the rotation operation, if the slope of the cam portion 65b is made gentle, the pressure contact can be released with a small force.

When the paper is jammed in the fixing and conveying device 16, the upper case 25 is opened as shown in FIG. In this case, the imaging unit 11
Of the unit case 30 is separated from the distal end of the lever portion 65c of the pressure release lever 65, so that the pressure release lever 6 is the same as when the imaging unit 11 is not mounted.
5 rotates counterclockwise in FIG.
The pressing roller 51 is separated from the heat roller 50 by the pressing. In this state, the paper jammed by the fixing and conveying device 16 can be easily taken out.

Next, an operation of forming an image on a sheet and an operation of conveying the sheet will be described. When the facsimile device receives the information, the laser device 15 forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 35 according to the received content. This electrostatic latent image is visualized as a toner image by the developing unit 14. The toner image is transferred onto the sheet surface by the transfer roller 40.

This sheet is guided to the fixing and conveying device 16 by the conveying guide 45. At this time, a positively charged residual toner is stored in the storage section 37 of the imaging unit 11. On the other hand, the sheet that has passed through the transfer roller 40 is charged to a polarity opposite to that of the toner. Here, if the transport guide 45 is formed of a good conductor, the electric charge of the sheet is suddenly released via the transport guide 45, and the carrying force of the unfixed toner on the sheet is lost. Therefore, the image on the surface of the sheet is disturbed during the conveyance. However, in this embodiment, the transport guide 4
5 is formed of the antistatic resin having the surface resistivity as described above, so that the charge of the paper
Is gradually removed through. For this reason, disturbance of the unfixed toner image can be suppressed. In particular, in the present embodiment, since the distance of the transport guide 45 is long, by setting the surface resistivity to the above-described value, it is possible to prevent the image from being disturbed due to the escape of electric charges even during the transport.

The residual toner accommodated in the accommodating portion 37 of the unit case 30 is positively charged. Moreover, since the intermediate frame 46 is grounded, the intermediate frame 46 is negatively charged by electrostatic induction. Further, as described above, since the negative charges of the paper on the transport guide 45 gradually escape, the electrical attraction of the paper to the residual toner in the storage portion 37 is reduced, and the paper is prevented from winding up. it can. Therefore, stable conveyance can be performed.

The sheet conveyed in this manner is transferred to the conveyance guide 52 e of the upper fixing housing 52 and the locking portion 71.
And is guided between the heat roller 50 and the pressure roller 51. Then, the sheet is heated while being nipped between the rollers 50 and 51 by a predetermined pressure, and the toner image on the surface of the sheet is fixed. In such a fixing operation, since the sheet usually contains a large amount of water and the temperature of the heat roller is adjusted to 150 ° C. or higher, water vapor is generated from the sheet immediately after passing through the heat roller 50. If the steam touches the partition frame 47 when the inside of the machine is not sufficiently warm, dew condensation occurs on the surface of the partition frame 47. Water droplets generated by the dew condensation concentrate on the collecting part 47c above the mounting member 54 along the inclined surfaces 47a and 47b of the partition frame 47. Then, the water droplets dropped from the collecting part 47c are
Accumulate inside.

The concave portion 54a of the mounting member 54 is
Close to. Therefore, when the printing operation is continued, the water in the concave portion 54a evaporates due to the heat of the heat roller 50. At this time, since the inside of the apparatus is sufficiently warmed, no dew condensation occurs even if the partition frame 47 comes into contact with steam again. In this case, if the concave portion 54a of the mounting member 54 has a capacity capable of accommodating the moisture of the maximum dew amount, it is possible to prevent water droplets from dropping on other portions such as the surface of the paper, and suppress disturbance of the image due to water droplets. be able to. Further, since the partition frame 47 and the mounting member 54 are used, a special member such as a moisture absorbent is not required.

The sheet on which the fixing operation has been completed is separated from the heat roller 50 by the separation claw 57, and
The sheets are discharged onto a sheet discharge tray by the trays 5 and 76. At this time, the trailing edge of the sheet enters the groove 76a of the lower roller 76 as shown in FIG. In this case, since the groove end surface of the groove 76a is at an acute angle with respect to the outer peripheral surface, the rear end of the sheet further enters the groove 76a with the rotation of the lower roller 76. Therefore, the sheet is reliably sent to the sheet discharge tray 17. Further, since the outer peripheral surface of the lower roller 76 is a curved surface on an arc, it is possible to prevent the paper from being damaged.

[Other Embodiments] (a) In the above embodiment, the lever portion 65c of the pressure release lever 65 is directly applied to the bottom surface of the case of the imaging unit 11, but may be applied to another member. . In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, a shutter member 90 is movably disposed below the intermediate frame 46. The shutter member 90 is supported by guides 91a and 91b provided on the lower surface of the intermediate frame 46, and is movable in the roller axis direction of the heat roller 50. In the shutter member 90, a pair of notches 90a having substantially the same size are formed at positions corresponding to the notches 46a of the intermediate frame 46. Therefore, in the position as shown in FIG. 15, the notch 46a of the intermediate frame 46 and the notch 90a of the shutter member 90 coincide, and the lever 65c can pass through these notches 46a, 90a. is there. On the other hand, at one end of the shutter member 90,
A projecting portion 90b projecting upward is formed. When the imaging unit 11 is mounted on the apparatus main body,
The end of the imaging unit 11 is a shutter member 90
Of the shutter member 9.
0 is moved in the direction of the arrow in FIG. This allows
Notch 46a of intermediate frame 46 and shutter member 90
Is displaced from the notch 90a, and the lever portion 65c comes into contact with the shutter member 90 and cannot rotate upward.

In this state, as shown in FIG. 14, the cam portion 65b of the pressure release lever 65 is separated from the bearing protrusion 62a of the pressure roller 51, and the pressure contact between the rollers 50, 51 is permitted. When the rigidity of the imaging unit 11 is low, if the lever portion 65c of the pressure release lever 65 is directly brought into contact with the imaging unit 11 as in the above embodiment, the imaging unit 11 may be bent by the spring force of the spring 66. Imaging unit 1
If 1 warps, it adversely affects image formation.

However, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the lever portion 65c hits the shutter member 90,
It does not directly hit the imaging unit 11. For this reason,
Even when the rigidity of the imaging unit 11 is low, the pressure contact between the heat roller 50 and the pressure roller 51 can be automatically released without adversely affecting image formation. (B) Another embodiment of the peeling nail is shown in FIGS.

In this embodiment, a notch 92b is formed in the side wall 92a on the downstream side of the upper fixing housing 92. A substantially L-shaped support member 93 is fixed to the side wall 92a. The lower portion 96 of the support member 93 has a notch 92b.
, And extend into the upper fixing housing 92. In the lower part 96 of the support member 93, the peeling claw 95 is attached to the fixing part 96 a (region A 1) of the downstream half thereof via the adhesive 94.
Are bonded at the base end. Further, the extension portion 96b (region A2) of the upstream half is disposed with a predetermined gap from the peeling claw 95.

The peeling claw 95 is formed of a heat-resistant resin sheet material such as polyimide, and the lower surface facing the paper is coated with a fluorine-based resin. The peeling nail 9
The upper surface of 5 is not coated because it needs to be adhered to the fixing portion 96a. Also, the peeling nail 9
The thickness of 5 is desirably 70 μm to 250 μm. The tip of the peeling claw 95 is elastically in contact with the surface of the heat roller 50. The distal end of the peeling claw 95 has a tapered shape, and the distal end portion is formed in an arc shape. For this reason, the tip of the peeling claw 95 comes into contact with the surface of the heat roller 50 at one place, and even if the mounting posture of the peeling claw 95 is shifted, the paper can be smoothly peeled from the heat roller 50.

In such an embodiment, the paper wound around the heat roller 50 is peeled by the peeling claw 95 and is conveyed to the discharge roller side. At this time, the heat roller 5 of the peeling claw 95
0 is applied to the fulcrum P by the end of the fixed portion 96a.
It is determined according to the length from 1 to the tip and can be set relatively small. For this reason, the wear of the heat roller 50 can be reduced, and the life can be extended.

On the other hand, when peeling a stiff sheet or when a paper jam occurs, the peeling claw 95 is pushed upward, and the peeling claw 9 is pressed.
The intermediate portion of No. 5 abuts on a fulcrum P2 which is the end of the extension 96b. In this case, the elastic force of the peeling claw 95 is determined according to a relatively short length from the fulcrum P2 to the tip, and a relatively large force is required to deform the peeling claw 95 upward. That is, the peeling claw 95 and the support member 93 can increase the resistance to the winding of the peeling claw 95 without excessively increasing the pressing force.

Further, since the lower surface of the peeling claw 95 is coated with fluorine, contamination of the peeling claw 95 by toner and paper powder is reduced, and stable peeling performance can be obtained for a long time. (C) FIGS. 19 to 21 show still another embodiment of the peeling nail. In this embodiment, the lower portion 100a of the support member 100
However, as shown in FIG. 20, it is formed in an inverted V shape, and the center is higher by H than at both ends. The peeling claw 101 also has an inverted V-shape along the lower portion 100a of the support member 100. Also, peeling nail 1
In FIG. 21, as shown in FIG. 21, the tip has a tapered shape, and the tip is formed in an arc shape. The peeling claw 101 is attached such that the contact angle β (the angle with respect to the tangent line m) to the heat roller 50 is in the range of 5 ° <β <45 °.

In such an embodiment, the peeling claw 101
Since the central portion is formed to be curved so as to be higher, the elastic force of the peeling claw 101 pushed toward the heat roller 50 becomes larger than the elastic force in the direction away from the heat roller 50, It is possible to increase the resistance of the peeling claw 101 against winding up without increasing the pressing force of the heat roller 50.

When the peeling claw 101 has an angle β (5 ° <β <
(45 °), the sheet can be smoothly separated from the heat roller 50 even when the sheet is thick. The shape of the peeling claw 101 is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 20, and may be, for example, curved in an arc shape. (D) In the above embodiment, the pressure release lever is rotated by pressing the imaging unit 11 or the like. However, as shown in FIG. 22, it may be rotated using a drive mechanism such as a motor. .

In the example shown in FIG.
Are rotatably arranged on the outer periphery of a bearing 60 that supports the heat roller 50. A cam portion 105a for pressing the protruding portion 62a of the bearing 62 of the pressure roller 51 is formed on a part of the outer periphery. A gear portion 105b is formed on a part of the outer periphery. On the other hand, a motor 107 is fixed to the fixing frame 106, and a worm gear 109 is connected to a shaft end of the motor 107 via a joint 108. The worm gear 109 is
It engages with the gear portion 105b of the pressure release member 105.

In such an embodiment, by rotating the motor 107 to rotate the worm gear 109, the pressure-contact releasing member 105 can be rotated around the heat roller 50. Therefore, the pressure contact release member 105 is rotated, and the cam portion 105a is moved to the bearing protrusion 6 of the pressure roller 51.
2a, the heat roller 50 and the pressure roller 51
Can be released.

In this embodiment, a lever or the like is not required, and the pressure contact between the heat roller 50 and the pressure roller 51 and the release thereof can be easily performed in a very small space. (E) As shown in FIG.
A hole 54b may be formed at the bottom of a. In such an embodiment, the water droplet that has fallen into the concave portion 54a penetrates the cleaning member 55 through the hole 54b. Since the cleaning member 55 is in contact with the surface of the heat roller 50, the heat becomes high, and moisture evaporates in a short time.

[0056]

As described above, according to the present invention, the pair of conveying means is pressed and released in accordance with the non-mounting and mounting of the detachable image forming unit on the main body frame. The pressure contact between the pair of conveying means can be released without performing the above operation. For this reason, it is possible to prevent paper conveyance failure and damage to each part due to forgetting to operate or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a facsimile apparatus employing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a longitudinal section of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view of an image forming unit and a fixing and conveying device of the apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a partial vertical cross-sectional configuration diagram of a fixing and conveying device.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional configuration diagram of a fixing and conveying device.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a thermal fuse mounting portion of the fixing and conveying device.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a lower roller of the fixing conveyance device.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged partial view of the lower roller.

FIG. 9 is a front partial view of a frame of the fixing and conveying device.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a mounting frame of the fixing conveyance device.

FIG. 11 is a partial perspective view of a frame mounting portion of the fixing and conveying device.

FIG. 12 is a front view of the fixing conveyance device at the time of product shipment.

FIG. 13 is a front view of the fixing conveyance device during a jam processing.

FIG. 14 is a front partial view of a fixing and conveying device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a partial side view of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a longitudinal sectional configuration diagram of a fixing and conveying device according to still another embodiment.

FIG. 17 is an enlarged partial view of FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a bottom view of the peeling nail shown in FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is an enlarged partial view of a fixing and conveying device according to still another embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a side view of FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is a bottom view of FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is a front partial view of a fixing and conveying device according to still another embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a longitudinal sectional configuration diagram of a fixing and conveying device according to still another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Imaging Unit 16 Fixing and Conveying Device 46 Intermediate Frame 46a Notch 50 Heat Roller 51 Pressing Roller 62 Bearing 62a Bearing Projection 63 Spring 65 Pressure Release Lever 65b Cam 65c Lever 66 Spring 90 Shutter Member

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shinichi Tanaka 1-2-2, Tamazo, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi Inside Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-3-41476 (JP, A) JP-A-64 -22750 (JP, A) JP-A-3-239573 (JP, A) JP-A-1-169554 (JP, U)

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sheet conveying device provided in an image forming apparatus having an image forming unit detachably mounted on a main body frame, wherein a press-contact posture for press-contacting each other and a press-contact release state in which press-contact is released.
And a pair of transporting means for transporting the sheet in the pressure-contacting position, and maintaining the pair of transporting means in the pressure-contacting position.
A press-contact unit that constantly urges the pair of transport units , and the image forming unit is mounted on the main body frame.
When not in contact with the pressure by the pressing means,
The conveying unit is maintained in the pressure release position, and the image forming unit is
When the unit is mounted on the body frame,
The pair of pressing means is brought into contact with the image forming unit and
And a posture control means for maintaining the pressure contact posture of the conveying means of the image forming apparatus. 2. A sheet conveying device provided in an image forming apparatus having an image forming unit detachably mounted on a main body frame, comprising: a press-contact posture for pressing against each other;
And a pair of conveying means for conveying the sheet in the pressing position and the image forming unit mounted on the main body frame.
When the image forming unit is not in the first position.
The image forming uni <br/> Tsu up by a moving member that is moved to the second position, said conveying means of said pair when said movable member is said first position pressure when mounted on the serial body frame maintaining the release position, the image formation part case of the second position is provided with a posture control means for maintaining the conveying means of the pair in contact with the moving member to the pressure <br/> contact posture Equipment sheet transport device. (3) The pair of conveying means are formed on a sheet surface.
Heat roller for heating and fixing the toner image
The fixing device according to claim 2, wherein the fixing device includes a pressure roller.
Painting Sheet conveying device of the image forming apparatus.