JP5655587B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, and a fax machine, and more specifically, a conveyance guide capable of changing a position, a traveling direction, and a posture of a sheet-like material to be conveyed (recording paper) in a conveyance path. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including the apparatus.

In recent years, since image forming apparatuses are required to be compact at the same time as multifunction, the shape of the conveyance path of the recording paper has become complicated, and as the material of the recording paper as the material to be conveyed has diversified, The leading edge of the recording paper may rub at the bent portion, and the leading edge may be bent or the recording paper may be misaligned. Then, the recording paper is displaced to the transfer device with the positional deviation and the like being transferred, and the toner image on the image carrier is transferred, resulting in the formation of a fixed image with the positional deviation. Degraded images with low quality are generated.
Therefore, in order to obtain a high-quality image, it is necessary to transport the recording paper from the paper feeding unit to the transfer device without causing leading edge bending or recording paper position deviation.
For example, in Patent Document 1, a registration roller driven by a stepping motor is abutted against a leading end of a recording sheet that has been transported to temporarily stop the skew, thereby correcting the skew, and the toner formed on the image carrier. In the paper transport control method for transporting the image in synchronization with the timing, the recording paper is corrected by skewing it against the registration roller and then temporarily stopped to correct the skew of the recording paper. A paper conveyance control method is disclosed in which a stepping motor is driven by a predetermined number of pulses and the leading edge of the recording paper is held by the registration roller. There is a problem that the structure is complicated by detecting and controlling the number of pulses.

In addition, there is a transport unit that separates / transports a material to be transported by air suction or air transport, etc., with which the leading edge of the recording paper is rubbed and the leading edge is not bent or the recording paper is not misaligned.
For example, in Patent Documents 2 and 3, a discharge levitation device that levitates a sheet material by discharging air to the lower surface of the sheet material, and a positioning roll that moves in contact with the upper surface of the floated sheet material and moves the sheet material to the side. And a positioning reference stopper that is disposed on the side of the positioning roll and is contacted with a side end of the sheet material that has been moved sideways is disclosed.

  Further, in Patent Document 4, a paper feed table on which a document is placed, a feeding belt that contacts and transports the lowermost document on the paper feed table, and an air jet that blows air to the front end of the document to float the document. An automatic document feeder having an apparatus and a vacuum device for sucking a document to the feeding belt, wherein a document detector for detecting the thickness of the document is provided, and the air injection is performed according to a detection signal of the document detector The number of rotations of the blower motor of the apparatus is controlled to be switched to a predetermined level, and one original is separated and conveyed by a feeding belt by the blowing of the air injection device and the suction of the vacuum device, and the original is at least a stacked original An automatic document feeder has been disclosed in which the air jetting device and the vacuum device are temporarily stopped after they have exited the document, and then are operated again at a predetermined timing for each document.

Further, in Patent Document 5, an air levitation transport mechanism that transports a substrate in one direction while the substrate is levitated by an air levitation module, and an ink jet method that ejects ink from above the substrate transported by the air levitation transport mechanism. An image recording unit for recording an image, and in a region facing the image recording unit, the plurality of air levitation modules intersect each other in the same direction as the inkjet head with respect to the substrate transport direction, and An ink jet image recording apparatus disposed at a position not facing the ink jet head is disclosed.
However, these air suction, air conveyance, and the like are those in the conveyance path from the paper feed unit and are not performed in the register unit (immediately before).
Further, in air suction and air transport used in the paper feed unit and the transport path, there is a problem that a large air flow generator and a suction machine are required to obtain air.

  Further, in Patent Document 6, sheet detection means for detecting the edge of a sheet conveyed on the feeding path, and the trailing edge of the preceding sheet is detected from the sheet detection means in a direction intersecting the sheet conveyance surface. A rear end separation unit that is spaced outside the detectable region of the unit, and the leading end of the sheet that follows while the rear end of the preceding sheet is separated by the separation unit is positioned by the sheet detection unit, Thereafter, the separation of the trailing edge of the preceding sheet from the sheet detecting means is released, and the sheet feeding is controlled so as to be conveyed while maintaining a constant distance between the trailing edge of the preceding sheet and the leading edge of the following sheet. A feeding device is disclosed.

However, none of the techniques in the cited references considers the thickness, rigidity, etc. of the conveyed material such as recording paper.
Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and the problem is that by using an airflow generator, the thickness and stiffness of the transport path before the image position of the transported material is determined. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus including a transport guide device that moves transported materials (recording paper, paper) having different rigidity and the like expressed by strength in a preset direction.

The features of the present invention, which is a means for solving the above problems, are listed below.
The image forming apparatus of the present invention regulates a plurality of air flow generators, a conveyance guide plate disposed upstream of the registration rollers in the conveyance path, and a conveyance width in the conveyance orthogonal direction of a material to be conveyed on the conveyance guide plate. A reference guide plate that is fixed and a width guide member that is a regulation guide plate that moves in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, and a plurality of air flow outlet holes that are perpendicular to the air flow generator and the guide plate surface are provided. Further, the transport guide plate is connected to the transport guide plate, the air flow generated by the air flow generator is guided to the air flow blowout hole, and is ejected from the airflow blowout hole on the surface of the transport guide plate to be transported to the transport guide plate. In an image forming apparatus including a conveyance guide device that moves a material to a preset position / direction while levitating the material, a reference guide plate that regulates the material to be conveyed or a plurality of elasticity on the surface of the regulation guide plate The optionally provided, the elastic member is a film-like, the elastic body is in the direction the vertical relative to the conveying guide surface, and the surface of the reference guide plate or regulating guide plate of the elastic member The angle between the direction toward the front end with a certain portion as the base end and the direction in which the transported material is transported is an acute angle, and the line connecting the ends on the transport path side of the plurality of elastic bodies is parallel to the regulation guide plate surface The elastic body is arrange | positioned at the regulation guide plate so that it may become .
In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of air flow generators, a conveyance guide plate disposed upstream of the registration rollers in the conveyance path, and a conveyance width in the conveyance orthogonal direction of the material to be conveyed on the conveyance guide plate are regulated. A reference guide plate that is fixed and a width guide member that is a regulation guide plate that moves in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, and a plurality of air flow outlet holes that are perpendicular to the air flow generator and the guide plate surface are provided. Further, the transport guide plate is connected to the transport guide plate, the air flow generated by the air flow generator is guided to the air flow blowout hole, and is ejected from the airflow blowout hole on the surface of the transport guide plate to be transported to the transport guide plate. In an image forming apparatus including a conveyance guide device that moves a material to a preset position / direction while levitating the material, a reference guide plate that regulates the material to be conveyed or a plurality of bullets on the surface of the restriction guide plate The elastic body is in the form of a film, and the elastic body is in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance guide surface and the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate of the elastic body The angle between the direction toward the tip with the portion located at the base and the direction of conveyance of the material to be conveyed is an acute angle, and as the lines connecting the ends on the conveyance path side of the plurality of elastic bodies go downstream in the conveyance The elastic body is arranged in the transporting direction of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate so that the distance from the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate is shortened .

In the image forming apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, the elastic body may be alternately replaced with a reference guide plate and a restriction guide plate in two or more different lengths protruding from the surface of the reference guide plate or the restriction guide plate. It is arranged.
Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the elastic body is characterized in that the longer the length protruding from the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate, the thinner the thickness.
Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the elastic body is of two types, a short-length elastic body protruding from the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate, and a reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate. The elastic body is different in thickness from the long elastic body protruding from the surface, and the long elastic body is thinned.
Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the elastic body is characterized in that the longer the length protruding from the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate, the lower the rigidity.
Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the elastic body is of two types, a short-length elastic body protruding from the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate, and a reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate. The elastic body having a long length protruding from the surface is different in rigidity from the elastic body, and the rigidity of the long elastic body protruding from the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate is lowered.

Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the elastic body is characterized in that two or more types having different angles formed by the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate and the surface of the elastic body are alternately arranged. To do.
Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the elastic body has a length that protrudes from the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate as the angle formed increases, and the elastic body tip increases as the angle formed increases. And the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate are arranged alternately so as to shorten the distance.
Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the elastic body is of two types, and the longer the angle formed, the shorter the length protruding from the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate, and the formed angle. The distance between the front end of the elastic body and the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate is shortened as the length increases.
In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the elastic body is a PET film.

The present invention, which is a means for solving the above problems, has the following specific effects.
In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, an elastic body is provided on the surface of the regulation guide plate that regulates the width in the conveyance orthogonal direction of the material to be conveyed that has floated from the bottom surface of the conveyance guide portion due to the airflow from the airflow blowing hole of the conveyance guide. Therefore, the contact load on the material to be conveyed is suppressed, the conveying force from the upstream is maintained, and at the same time, an appropriate pressing force is applied to the material to be conveyed, and the position of the material to be conveyed in the orthogonal direction of conveyance is set as the reference. Therefore, image registration deviation can be reduced.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration example of a conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention. It is a top view which shows the relationship between the position of the to-be-conveyed material in the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention, and an airflow ejection hole. It is a top view which shows the relationship between the position of the to-be-conveyed material in the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention, and an airflow ejection hole. It is the schematic which shows simply the other structural example of the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic which shows simply the other structural example of the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic which shows simply the other structural example of the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the other structure of the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the attachment method of the elastic body in the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the other structure of the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the other structure of the elastic body in the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the other structure of the elastic body in the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the other structure of the elastic body in the conveyance guide apparatus used for the image forming apparatus of this invention.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that it is easy for a person skilled in the art to make other embodiments by changing or correcting the present invention within the scope of the claims, and these changes and modifications are included in the scope of the claims. The following description is an example of the best mode of the present invention, and does not limit the scope of the claims.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a typical tandem type image forming apparatus having an intermediate transfer belt as an example, and the present invention is not limited to the following configuration.
An image forming apparatus 1 according to the present invention includes an automatic document feeder (ADF) 5 that automatically feeds a placed document from above, a scanner (reader) 4 that reads the document, and an image that forms a toner image. A forming unit 3 and a sheet feeding unit 2 including a transported material 9 such as a recording sheet and supplying the forming unit 3 are disposed below the forming unit 3.
The image forming apparatus 1 has an image forming unit 3 disposed at the center thereof. In the image forming unit 3, four image forming units 10 as process cartridges corresponding to yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) toners are provided at approximately the center of the image forming unit 3. They are arranged in a tandem shape arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction.
Above the four image forming units 10Y, 10C, 10M, and 10K, an exposure device 12 that exposes the surface of each charged photoreceptor 11 based on image data of each color to form a latent image is provided. . Further, below the four image forming units 10Y, 10C, 10M, and 10K, endless belts made of a heat-resistant material such as polyimide or polyamide and adjusted to a medium resistance are provided on rollers 651, 652, and 653. A transfer device 60 including an intermediate transfer belt 61 that is supported by being wound and rotated is disposed.
Since any image forming unit 10 has the same configuration, in this figure, the display of Y, C, M, and K is omitted if it is not related to the distinction of colors. Each of the image forming units 10Y, 10C, 10M, and 10K includes photoreceptors 11Y, 11C, 11M, and 11K. Around each photoreceptor 11, a charging device 20 that applies a charge to the surface of the photoreceptor 11 and the photoreceptor 11 are provided. The latent image formed on the surface is developed with each color toner to form a toner image, a developing device 30 that applies a lubricant (not shown) to the surface of the photoconductor 11, and the surface of the photoconductor 11 after the toner image is transferred. A cleaning device 40 having a cleaning blade for cleaning is disposed. Thus, one image forming unit 10 is formed.

The photoconductor 11 is a metal such as amorofus silicone or selenium, or an organic photoconductor. Here, the photoconductor 11 is described as an organic photoconductor. The organic photoreceptor 11 has a resin layer in which a filler is dispersed, a photosensitive layer having a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer on a conductive support, and a protective layer in which a filler is dispersed on the surface thereof.
The photosensitive layer may be a single-layered photosensitive layer containing a charge generation material and a charge transport material, but a laminated type composed of a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer is excellent in sensitivity and durability.
In the charge generation layer, a pigment having charge generation ability is dispersed in a suitable solvent together with a binder resin as necessary using a ball mill, an attritor, a sand mill, an ultrasonic wave, etc., and this is coated on a conductive support. It is formed by drying. As binder resin, polyamide, polyurethane, epoxy resin, polyketone, polycarbonate, silicone resin, acrylic resin, polyvinyl butyral, polyvinyl formal, polyvinyl ketone, polystyrene, polysulfone, poly-N-vinylcarbazole, polyacrylamide, polyvinyl benzal, polyester Phenoxy resin, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyvinyl acetate, polyphenylene oxide, polyamide, polyvinyl pyridine, cellulose resin, casein, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl pyrrolidone and the like. The amount of the binder resin is suitably 0 to 500 parts by mass, preferably 10 to 300 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the charge generating material.
The charge transport layer can be formed by dissolving or dispersing the charge transport material and the binder resin in a suitable solvent, and applying and drying the solution on the charge generation layer. Charge transport materials include hole transport materials and electron transport materials. As the binder resin, polystyrene, styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer, styrene-butadiene copolymer, styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyvinyl acetate, Polyvinylidene chloride, polyarate, phenoxy resin, polycarbonate, cellulose acetate resin, ethyl cellulose resin, polyvinyl butyral, polyvinyl formal, polyvinyl toluene, poly-N-vinyl carbazole, acrylic resin, silicone resin, epoxy resin, melamine resin, urethane resin, phenol Examples thereof include thermoplastic or thermosetting resins such as resins and alkyd resins.
In addition, a protective layer may be provided on the photosensitive layer. By providing the protective layer and improving the durability, the photosensitive member 11 having high sensitivity and no abnormal defects of the present invention can be used effectively.
Materials used for the protective layer include ABS resin, ACS resin, olefin-vinyl monomer copolymer, chlorinated polyether, allyl resin, phenol resin, polyacetal, polyamide, polyamideimide, polyacrylate, polyallylsulfone, polybutylene, Examples thereof include resins such as polybutylene terephthalate, polycarbonate, polyarylate, polyethersulfone, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyimide, acrylic resin, polymethylbenten, polypropylene, polyvinylidene chloride, and epoxy resin. Of these, polycarbonate or polyarylate can be most preferably used. Other protective layers include fluorine resins such as polytetrafluoroethylene, silicone resins, and inorganic fillers such as titanium oxide, tin oxide, potassium titanate, and silica for the purpose of improving wear resistance. What disperse | distributed the filler etc. can be added. The filler concentration in the protective layer varies depending on the filler type used and also on the electrophotographic process conditions using the photoconductor 11, but the ratio of the filler to the total solid content on the outermost layer side of the protective layer 9 is 5% by mass or more. Preferably it is 10 mass% or more and 50 mass% or less, Preferably about 30 mass% or less is favorable.

The charging device 20 includes a charging roller 21 configured by covering a conductive core bar with a medium-resistance elastic layer as a charging member. The charging roller is connected to a power source (not shown), and is applied with a predetermined direct voltage (DC) and / or alternating voltage (AC). The charging roller 21 that discharges ions uses an elastic resin roller as a material. In addition, the charging roller 21 may contain an inorganic conductive material such as carbon black or an ionic conductive material in order to adjust electric resistance.
In addition, the charging roller 21 is disposed with a small gap with respect to the photoreceptor 11. This minute gap is set by, for example, winding a spacer member having a certain thickness around the non-image forming regions at both ends of the charging roller 21 to bring the surface of the spacer member into contact with the surface of the photoreceptor 11. can do. Further, the charging roller 21 may be brought into contact without being brought close to the photosensitive member. The photosensitive member 11 can be charged by discharging at a portion that is in a roller shape and is close to the photosensitive member 11. Further, by making them close and not in contact with each other, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of contamination due to the transfer residual toner of the charging roller 21. In addition, the charging roller 21 is provided with a charging cleaner roller (not shown) that contacts the surface of the charging roller 21 for cleaning.
In the developing device 40, a developing sleeve (not shown) including a magnetic field generating unit is disposed at a position facing the photoconductor 11. Below the developing sleeve, a stirring / conveying screw having a mechanism for mixing toner introduced from a toner bottle (not shown) with a developer and pumping the toner into the developing sleeve while stirring is provided. The two-component developer composed of the toner and the magnetic carrier conveyed by the developing sleeve is regulated to a predetermined developer layer thickness by the regulating member and is carried on the developing sleeve. The developing sleeve carries and carries the developer while supplying the toner to the photoconductor 11 while moving in the same direction at a position facing the photoconductor 11. In addition, toner cartridges for each color in which unused toner is stored are detachably stored in a space above the photoconductor 11. Toner is supplied to each developing device 40 as necessary by toner conveying means such as a mono pump or air pump (not shown). A toner cartridge for black toner that is highly consumed can be set to have a particularly large capacity.

The cleaning device 40 includes a cleaning blade and a holder for holding the blade, and removes residual toner from the photoconductor 11 by pressing the blade member against the photoconductor 11. In addition, the cleaning blade includes a mechanism for contacting / separating with the photosensitive member 11, and can be arbitrarily contacted / separated by the control unit of the image forming apparatus 1. The cleaning blade is brought into contact with the photoconductor 11 in a counter manner, whereby toner remaining on the photoconductor 11 and additives such as talc, kaolin, calcium carbonate, etc. of the transported material adhering as dirt are added to the photoconductor 11. Remove from and clean. The removed toner or the like is conveyed and stored in a waste toner container (not shown) by a waste toner collection coil (not shown).
The toner that has been cleaned by the cleaning device 40 and removed from the photoconductor 11 is collected by a serviceman or the like by a toner conveying member, or conveyed to a developing device or the like as recycled toner and used for development.

The transfer device 60 includes an intermediate transfer belt 61 on which toner images are stacked, a primary transfer roller 62 that transfers and stacks the toner images on the photoreceptor 11 to the intermediate transfer belt 61, and transfers the stacked toner images to the transported material 9. Secondary transfer roller 63 and the like. Further, the transfer device 60 is a portion facing the secondary transfer roller 63, and is provided inside the intermediate transfer belt 61 so that a support roller 653 serving as a facing member faces.
A primary transfer roller 62 that primarily transfers a toner image formed on the photoconductor 11 onto the intermediate transfer belt 61 is disposed at a position facing each photoconductor 11 with the intermediate transfer belt 61 interposed therebetween. The primary transfer roller 62 is connected to a power source (not shown), and is applied with a predetermined direct current voltage (DC) and / or alternating current voltage (AC). As the polarity of the voltage to be applied, the polarity is opposite to the polarity of the charge of the toner, and primary transfer is performed by drawing and moving from the photoreceptor 11 to the intermediate transfer belt 61 side. The primary transfer roller 62 is preferably semiconductive by containing an inorganic conductive material such as carbon black and an ionic conductive material in order to adjust electric resistance. Even if the resistance value of the primary transfer roller 62 is different, the transfer efficiency is hardly changed. However, if the image area ratio is different, the transfer efficiency is greatly different, so that the transfer efficiency cannot be stably maintained. This is because the current flows preferentially to the portion where the toner is not present in the transfer nip portion. As a result, when the image area ratio is small, the transfer voltage value becomes low and the electric field necessary for transfer cannot be obtained sufficiently. is there. In particular, when the resistance value of the primary transfer roller 62 is low, the influence of the resistance value of the toner interposed in the transfer portion becomes large. When constant current control is employed in this way, it is desirable to use a primary transfer roller 62 having a high resistance value. However, if the resistance value exceeds 5 × 10 ⁸ Ω, a toner image is formed due to current leakage. The risk of disturbance is increased. Therefore, it is preferable to use a primary transfer roller having a resistance value in the range of 1 × 10 ⁵ Ω to 5 × 10 ⁸ Ω. The phenomenon that the current flows preferentially to the portion where the toner does not intervene is not only due to the above-described toner resistance, but also the primary transfer voltage applied to the metal core provided at the center of the primary transfer roller 62 and the photosensitive member 11. This is also because the transfer current tends to flow toward the larger potential difference because the portion where the toner is not developed is larger than the portion where the toner is developed. This is because the toner image is the same as the charging polarity of the photoconductor 11, and the toner is developed on the photoconductor 11 where the photoconductor potential is removed by receiving the image exposure of the photoconductor 11, thereby forming a toner image on the photoconductor 11. This occurs in the case of the image forming apparatus 1 that performs this. The photosensitive member potential is high where the toner image is not formed and the photosensitive member potential is low where the toner image is formed, but the transfer potential is opposite to the photosensitive member potential, so the primary transfer voltage and the photosensitive member potential The difference is larger at the portion where the toner is not developed than at the portion where the toner is developed. In this case, the resistance value of the primary transfer roller 62 is desirably in the range of 5 × 10 ⁷ Ω to 5 × 10 ⁸ Ω.

Further, the toner image laminated on the intermediate transfer belt 61 is secondarily transferred to the transported material by the secondary transfer roller 63. Similar to the primary transfer roller 62, the secondary transfer roller 63 is connected to a power source (not shown) and is applied with a predetermined DC voltage (DC) and / or AC voltage (AC). The polarity of the voltage to be applied is opposite to the polarity of the charge of the toner, and secondary transfer is performed by drawing the intermediate transfer belt 61 toward the conveyed material to be conveyed.
The secondary transfer roller 63 includes a cylindrical metal core made of metal, an elastic layer formed on the outer peripheral surface of the metal core, and a surface layer made of a resin material formed on the outer peripheral surface of the elastic layer. Has been.
The metal constituting the metal core is not particularly limited. For example, a metal material such as stainless steel or aluminum is used. Generally, a rubber material is used for the elastic layer formed on the cored bar to form a rubber layer 65b. This is because the secondary transfer roller 63 is required to have an elastic function in order to deform the secondary transfer roller 63 and secure a secondary transfer nip portion, and the JIS-A hardness is 70 [ °] The following is desirable.
In addition, since the cleaning blade 22 is used as a cleaning means for the secondary transfer roller 63, if the elastic layer is too soft, the contact state of the cleaning blade 22 becomes unstable and an appropriate cleaning angle cannot be obtained. Therefore, the hardness of the elastic layer is preferably JIS-A 40 [°] or more.
In addition, since the secondary transfer roller 63 cannot perform the function of transferring a toner image to a recording medium when an insulator is used, it is preferably a foamed resin agent having a conductive function and a thickness of 2 mm to 10 mm. As a material imparting a conductive function, EPDM or Si rubber in which carbon black is dispersed, NBR having an ionic conductive function, urethane rubber, or the like may be used.
Since most of the foamed resin agents used for the elastic layer have high chemical affinity for the toner and a large friction coefficient, the functions required for the surface layer with which the cleaning blade 22 is in contact are low friction coefficient, toner separation. Since the moldability is required, the surface layer of the secondary transfer roller 63 is used by adjusting the resistance by adding a resistance control material to the fluororesin resin.
Further, since the secondary transfer roller 63 rotates in contact with the intermediate transfer belt 61, if a minute linear velocity difference occurs between the intermediate transfer belt 61 and the secondary transfer roller 63, the intermediate transfer belt 61. It will affect the driving of the. Therefore, since the sliding property with the intermediate transfer belt 61 is required for the surface layer of the secondary transfer roller 63, it is desirable to set the friction coefficient of the outermost surface layer to be 0.4 or less.
The intermediate transfer belt 61 is provided with an intermediate transfer belt cleaning device 64 that cleans the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 61 after the secondary transfer.
In addition, the support roller 653 includes a mechanism for contacting / separating with the intermediate transfer belt 61 and can be arbitrarily contacted / separated by the control unit of the main body of the image forming apparatus 1.

Further, the image forming apparatus 1 is provided with a lubricant applying device 67 that applies a lubricant to the intermediate transfer belt 61. The lubricant application device 67 includes a solid lubricant housed in a fixed case, a brush roller that contacts the solid lubricant, scrapes the lubricant, and is applied to the intermediate transfer belt 61 and a lubricant applied by the brush roller. A lubricant application blade for leveling is provided. The solid lubricant is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape and is urged toward the brush roller by a pressure spring. The solid lubricant is scraped off and consumed by the brush roller, and the thickness of the solid lubricant decreases with time. However, since the solid lubricant is pressurized by the pressure spring, the solid lubricant is always in contact with the brush roller. The brush roller applies the lubricant scraped off while rotating to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 61.
Note that a lubricant application device having a similar function may be provided for the photoreceptor 11.
In this embodiment, a lubricant application blade (not shown) as a lubricant leveling means is brought into contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 61 on the downstream side in the moving direction with respect to the lubricant application position by the brush roller. The lubricant application blade is made of rubber which is an elastic body, has a function as a cleaning means, and is in contact with the moving direction of the intermediate transfer belt 61 in the counter direction. As the solid lubricant, a dry solid hydrophobic lubricant can be used. In addition to zinc stearate, metal compounds having fatty acid groups such as stearic acid, oleic acid, and palmitic acid can also be used. . Further, waxes such as candelilla wax, carnauba wax, rice wax, wax, ooba oil, beeswax, and lanolin can be used.

The intermediate transfer belt 61 is composed of single layer or multiple layers of PVDF (vinylidene fluoride), ETFE (ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer), PI (polyimide), PC (polycarbonate), etc., and is made of conductive material such as carbon black. The volume resistivity is adjusted to be in the range of 10 ⁸ to 10 ¹² Ωcm, and the surface resistivity is adjusted to be in the range of 10 ⁹ to 10 ¹³ Ωcm. If necessary, a release layer may be coated on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 61. As materials used for the coating, ETFE (ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer),
PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), PVDF (vinylidene fluoride), PEA (perfluoroalkoxy fluororesin), FEP (tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene copolymer), PVF (vinyl fluoride), etc. Although a fluororesin can be used, it is not limited to this.
The method of manufacturing the intermediate transfer belt 61 includes a casting method, a centrifugal molding method, and the like, and the surface thereof may be polished as necessary.
If the volume resistivity of the intermediate transfer belt 61 exceeds the above-described range, the bias necessary for transfer increases, which increases the power supply cost, which is not preferable. Further, since the charging potential of the intermediate transfer belt 61 becomes high and the self-discharge becomes difficult in the transfer process, the transfer paper peeling process, etc., it is necessary to provide a static eliminating means. Also, if the volume resistivity and surface resistivity are below the above ranges, the charge potential decays faster, which is advantageous for static elimination by self-discharge, but toner scattering occurs because the current during transfer flows in the surface direction. End up. Therefore, the volume resistivity and the surface resistivity of the intermediate transfer belt 61 in the present invention must be within the above ranges.
The volume resistivity and surface resistivity were measured by connecting an HRS probe (inner electrode diameter 5.9 mm, ring electrode inner diameter 11 mm) to a high resistivity meter (manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Co., Ltd .: Hiresta IP). The measured value 10 seconds after applying the voltage of 100V (surface resistivity is 500V) to the front and back of the was used.

In FIG. 1, a fixing device 70 is provided on the left side of the transfer device 60 to fix the toner image on the transported material 9 semi-permanently on the transported material 9. Although not shown in detail, the fixing device 70 mainly includes a fixing roller 71 having a halogen heater inside, and a pressure roller 72 disposed so as to be opposed to and pressed against the fixing roller 71. The fixing device 70 is controlled by a control unit (not shown) so as to control fixing conditions based on full-color and monochrome images, single-sided or double-sided, and optimal fixing conditions according to the type of the transported material 9.
Further, the image forming apparatus 1 forms various transport paths 87 from the paper feeding device 80 of the transported material 9 to the transfer device 60, the fixing device 70, and the paper discharge tray 86. In particular, in the small-sized image forming apparatus 1 or the high-speed and high-performance image forming apparatus 1, the conveyance path 87 from the sheet feeding device 80 has a large bent portion and is complicated. Since the conveyance path from the sheet feeding device 80 often constitutes the side surface of the image forming apparatus 1, it is inevitably bent. In particular, in the image forming apparatus 1 that delivers from the paper feed cassette 80a, the side surface portion is often configured due to the size relationship with the paper feed device 80, and the conveyance path is folded back from the paper feed cassette 80a. Head to 3. In particular, when demand for special sheet materials such as coated paper is high, a guide plate having a large curvature radius is required so that the conveyance resistance during conveyance is low and the surface of the material 9 to be conveyed is not damaged.
A paper feed cassette 80 a and a paper discharge unit 86 are connected to the image forming unit 3. The transported material 9 fed from any one of the paper feed cassettes 80a by the pickup roller 82 is separated into one sheet by the separation roller 81, and then abuts against the resist roller 84 in a stopped state and stands by. Thereafter, the toner image is sent out at a timing coincident with the toner image on the photoconductor 11.

When the duplex copy mode is selected, the transported material 9 having an image fixed on one side is transported to the transported material reversing device 89 by the switching claw 851, and the reversing transport path 87 is By reciprocally moving on the reversely formed transport path 87 formed in advance by a plurality of predetermined transport rollers and a guide member (not shown), the vertical direction of the transported material surface 9 is reversed, and again, It is switched by the switching claw 852 to return to the transport path 87 for image formation, transported on the transport path 87, and transported to the transport guide device 90 again. Here, the position and direction of the material 9 to be conveyed are aligned again and sent to the registration roller 84. Therefore, even when an image is formed on the back surface of the transported material 9, the front and back images of the transported material 9 can be aligned.
Further, after being guided to the transfer device 60, this time the image is transferred and fixed on the back surface of the transported material 9, the paper is finally discharged onto the paper discharge tray 86 by the paper discharge roller 85.
At this time, when the number of transported materials 9 is one, the vertical direction of the transported material 9 is reversed, and then passes through the transport path 87 for re-transport of the transported material reversing transport device 89 and is again registered. The roller 84 waits for the image forming unit 10 to form an image, and the transfer roller 63 forms an image on the transported material 9. This time, after the image is transferred and fixed on the back surface of the transported material 9, it is finally discharged onto the paper discharge tray 86 by the paper discharge roller 48.
When there are a plurality of transported materials 9, the transported material reversal storage device 88 in the transported material reversing transport device 89 stores one end of the transported material 9 having a toner image formed on one side of the set number of sheets. From there, the paper is fed by the paper feed roller 82, separated one by one by the separation roller 81, and again waits until the image is formed by the image forming unit 10 by the registration roller 84. An image is formed on top. This time, after the image is transferred and fixed on the back surface of the transported material 9, it is finally discharged onto the paper discharge tray 86 by the paper discharge roller 85.
In the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention, a conveyance guide device 90 is provided upstream of the registration rollers 84 on the conveyance path 87 in front of the transfer device 60. As described above, as shown in FIG. 1, the paper feed cassette 80 a and the paper discharge unit 86 are connected to the image forming unit 3. The transported material 9 fed from any one of the paper feed cassettes 80a by the pickup roller 82 is separated into one sheet by the separation roller 81, and then abuts against the resist roller 84 in a stopped state and stands by. Before reaching the registration roller 84, a conveyance guide device 90 is provided. Skew correction is performed by the conveyance guide device 90. Thereafter, the toner image is sent out at a timing coincident with the toner image on the photoconductor 11.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram simply showing a configuration example of a conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conveyance guide device 90 used in the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention is disposed upstream of the registration roller pair 84 as upstream of the transfer device 60 in the conveyance path 87.
Further, the conveyance guide device 60 used in the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention is provided on the surface of a conveyance guide plate 91 that conveys a sheet-like material (recording paper) 9 horizontally disposed upstream of the registration rollers 84. A plurality of airflow ejection holes 94 (hereinafter, simply referred to as “ejection holes”) are provided.
The airflow generating hole 94 and the airflow generator 95 on the lower surface side of the conveyance guide plate 91 are connected to a tube serving as a pipe, and the airflow generated by the airflow generator 95 is guided if not shown here. As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of air flow ejection holes 94 are formed on the surface of the conveyance guide plate 91. The to-be-conveyed material 9 conveyed to the conveyance guide device 90 slightly floats from the surface by the airflow from the airflow ejection holes 94 provided on the lower surface side of the conveyance guide plate 91.
The transported material 9 that has floated is brought close to a reference guide plate 931 that is one of the width guide members 93 that are arranged on one side by a restriction guide plate 932 that is one of the width guide members 93. After approaching the reference guide plate 931 on one side, the airflow in the airflow ejection hole 94 is changed to abut the tip of the transported material 9 against the registration roller pair 84.
Further, in the transport guide device 90, a transported material detector (sensor) 99 for detecting the transported material 9 in the transport path 97 is not shown, but above the transport guide plate 91,
They are provided at set intervals at positions parallel to the surface.

The number (interval) of the air flow ejection holes 94 is set so that the transported material 9 can be lifted. In FIG. 2, five rows of air flow ejection holes 94 are illustrated in the conveyance progress direction of the material to be conveyed (recording paper) 9 and five rows in the conveyance orthogonal direction or width direction of the material to be conveyed (recording paper) 9. The reference guide plate 931 provided on one side of the conveyance guide device 90 is fixed, and the regulation guide plate 932 that moves in the width direction that is the conveyance orthogonal direction is provided on the other side plate. The restriction guide plate 932 is configured to be movable in the width direction depending on the size of the material 9 to be conveyed by a moving unit (not shown).
A registration roller 84 having a height substantially coincident with the surface of the conveyance guide plate 91 is disposed downstream of the conveyance guide device 90 in the conveyance direction.
In addition, an elastic body 933 is disposed on one surface of the reference guide plate 931 and the regulation guide plate 932.
By the elastic body 933 disposed on the surface of the regulation guide plate 932, the conveyed material 9 is lightly pressed against the reference guide plate 931 side, and the posture and position of the conveyed material 9 are regulated. By reducing the contact location with the transported material 9 (point contact), it is possible to regulate while suppressing a decrease in the transport force of the transported material 9.
The elastic body 933 may be disposed on the reference guide plate 911 instead of the restriction guide plate 632. Hereinafter, the elastic body 933 disposed on the surface of the regulation guide plate 932 will be described.
Further, a PET (registered trademark) film is used as the elastic body 933, and the shape (length), thickness, and manner of contact with the transported material 9 are changed according to the material and transport speed of the transported material 9. This makes it possible to obtain appropriate regulatory power.
The elastic body 933 will be described in detail later.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are plan views showing the relationship between the position of the material to be conveyed and the air flow ejection holes in the conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
Here, for the sake of explanation, five rows (groups A to E) of the air current ejection holes 94 in the conveyance advance direction of the material to be conveyed (recording paper) 9 and the air current ejection in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance of the material to be conveyed (recording paper) 9 are shown. The perforations 94 are arranged in four rows (groups 1 to 4).
In the state where about half of the material to be transported (shaded portion) 9 transported in the direction of the arrow is placed on the transport guide plate 91 as shown in (a), the ejected airflow of all the airflow ejection holes 94 is the same. .
Further, when substantially all of the transported material 9 is on the transport guide plate 91 as shown in (b), the air flow ejection hole group corresponding to the transport upstream side (the rear end portion of the transported material 9). Increase the airflow of D and E. In this way, a force (conveying force) for pushing forward can be applied to the material 9 to be conveyed, and the material 9 to be conveyed is conveyed in the direction of conveyance by controlling the airflow in the direction of conveyance.
The standard of the position of the transported material 9 that controls the airflow is determined by whether or not the controlled airflow acts in the traveling direction of the transported material 9.
If the air flow rate control responds to the transport speed, the airflow in the airflow ejection holes 94 (in the case of (a), which corresponds to the airflow ejection hole groups A and B) in the region where there is no material to be transported 9 is stopped. I do not care.
In this way, the conveyance force is applied by controlling the air flow in the conveyance advance direction of the material 9 to be conveyed.
In order to control the airflow in the transporting direction with respect to the entire transported material (recording paper) 9, as shown in FIG. 3, a group A of a plurality of airflow ejection holes 94 lined up with the airflow generator 95 in the transport orthogonal direction, as shown in FIG. Connect B, C, D, and E by piping.

Further, as shown in (c), when the transported material 9 is greatly displaced in the transport orthogonal direction, or the transported material 9 is strong, and cannot be restricted only by the elastic body 933 of the width guide member 93, the width guide member The airflow of the group 1 (A1, B1, C1, D1, E1) of the airflow ejection holes 94 close to 93 is increased.
As a result, a regulating force is applied to the conveyed material 9 such that the conveyed material 9 faces the reference guide plate 931 as indicated by the dotted arrow in FIG.
By controlling the air flow in the transporting direction in this way, it is possible to apply a regulating force to the transported material 9 along the reference guide plate 931, and the position / direction of the transported material 9 in the transport orthogonal direction is set in a predetermined position / It can be guided / moved in the direction.
The position of the transported material 9 at this time can be detected by using a transported material detector (sensor) 99 on the reference guide plate 931 side at the upstream end of the transport guide plate 91.
Further, as shown in (d), when a group of air current ejection holes 94 that are unnecessary due to the size of the material 9 to be conveyed is generated, the holes (A1, B1, C1, D1, By stopping the supply of airflow to E1), generation of useless airflow can be prevented.
In order to control the airflow in the transporting direction, as shown in (c), the airflow generator 95 and a group 1 to 4 of a plurality of airflow ejection holes 94 arranged in a row in the transporting direction are connected by piping.
Thus, by controlling the airflow position or the air flow rate ejected from the transport guide plate 91, the transported material 9 is lifted from the bottom surface of the transport guide plate 91, and the transport force and the regulation force are applied, so that the transported material is transported. While transporting the material 9 in the direction of travel, the position and direction of the transported material 9 in the direction perpendicular to the transport can be guided / moved to a preset position / direction to reduce image registration deviation and at the same time generate wasteful airflow. Can be prevented.

Further, in the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention, a group of a plurality of ejection holes 94 arranged in a row in the conveyance traveling direction and one air flow generator 95 are connected by piping, and a plurality of ejections arranged in a row in the conveyance orthogonal direction. The group of holes 94 and another air flow generator 95 different from the air flow generator are connected by piping, and the air flow generator 95 is controlled so that the transported material 9 moves in the direction of the transport progress and the regulation guide plate 932. .
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram simply showing another configuration example of the conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
Here, for the sake of explanation, there are nine rows of groups of air flow ejection holes 94 in the conveyance advance direction of the transported material (recording paper) 9 and air flow ejection holes 94 in the transport orthogonal direction of the transported material (recording paper) 9. The group has 4 columns.
Here, an air flow ejection hole 94 indicated by a black circle on the surface of the conveyance guide plate 91 is connected to a pipe in the conveyance progress direction indicated by a dotted line, and is connected to an air flow supply port hatched in gray formed deep in the thickness direction from the surface. The airflow from the connected airflow generator 95 is ejected.
In addition, the air flow ejection hole 94 indicated by a circle with an oblique line is connected to a pipe in the conveyance orthogonal direction indicated by a one-dot chain line, and from an air flow generator 95 connected to an air flow supply port formed shallow from the surface in the thickness direction. Is blowing out the airflow.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, the airflow generator 95 controls the airflow in the conveyance advance direction and the conveyance orthogonal direction independently, and the conveyance force and the regulation force in the direction of the reference guide plate 931 are applied to the material 9 to be conveyed. Is granted.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram simply showing another configuration example of the conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
However, when the number of the airflow ejection holes 94 in the conveyance orthogonal direction in the conveyance guide device 90 is smaller than the number of the airflow ejection holes 94 in the conveyance advancing direction, the airflow is ejected from all the airflow ejection holes 94 simultaneously. When performing the above, there is a difference in how the airflow strikes between the direction perpendicular to the conveyance and the direction in which the conveyance proceeds. When this becomes a problem, as shown in FIG. 5, it is preferable to increase the number of air flow ejection holes 94 connected to the pipe in the conveyance orthogonal direction. Thus, by separately controlling the airflow in the transporting direction and the airflow in the transport orthogonal direction, a transport force can be applied to the transported material 9 and a large regulation force along the reference guide plate 631 of the transported material 9 can be applied. . Therefore, the air flow in the conveyance advance direction and the conveyance orthogonal direction can be independently controlled, and the conveyance force and the regulation force in the direction of the reference guide plate 931 can be reliably applied to the material 9 to be conveyed.

In the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention, the number of rows of the group of air flow ejection holes 94 that pipe-connect one air flow generator 95 is 1 to 3 rows.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram simply showing another configuration example of the conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
By connecting the group of air flow ejection holes 94 that form a row in the conveyance advance direction or the conveyance orthogonal direction and the air flow generator 95, fine adjustment of the application of the conveyance force or the regulation force is possible. However, in that case, the number of airflow generators 95 needs to be increased.
When the pitch of the formed air flow ejection holes 94 is short or when the power of the air flow generator 95 has a margin, as shown in FIG. 6, one air flow generator 95 is connected to a row of a plurality of air flow ejection holes 94. To do. However, even if the same airflow is supplied to many rows, the effect of the conveying force or the regulation force does not occur. Therefore, if the minimum pitch of the airflow ejection holes 94 is 1 cm, the number of rows is limited to 3 rows.
Thereby, while maintaining the effects of the conveying force and the regulating force by controlling the airflow, the airflow generator 95 can be used efficiently.
In the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention, the pitch in the group of the air jet holes 94 is set to 1 to 5 cm.
When an air flow is applied to the material 9 to be transported, which is weak, a portion of the material 9 to be transported may cause an air pool due to the air current, resulting in bending. If the deflection is large, the material 9 to be conveyed comes into contact with the conveyance guide plate 91 and the conveyance force is reduced so that it cannot be conveyed.
In addition, in the case of the material 9 to be conveyed that is weak, the deflection may increase when the pitch of the air flow ejection holes is about 4 cm or more. If the conveying speed of the conveyed material 9 in the image forming apparatus 1 is high, air accumulation is difficult to occur, and even if bending occurs, the airflow can be further increased to increase the flying height of the conveyed material 9. . However, it is preferable that the pitch in the group of the air flow ejection holes 94 is about 5 cm even in consideration of the adjustment due to the conveyance speed and the air flow. As a result, even if the transported material 9 is plain paper with weak stiffness, it can be surely floated and the number of air flow generators 95 can be reduced.

In the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention, the air flow generator 95 is provided for each air flow ejection hole 94 of the air current.
Even when the same airflow is supplied in units of rows, the airflow in each hole varies depending on the condition of the piping. Further, when the material corresponds to the wide material 9 to be conveyed, the conveyance guide plate 91 becomes large, the pipe length becomes long and the variation becomes large, and at the same time, the generated air flow rate becomes large, and the air flow generator 95 becomes large.
However, by providing the airflow generator 95 for each airflow ejection hole 94 of the airflow, the airflow is supplied not for each row of the airflow ejection holes 94 but for each single airflow ejection hole 94, so that the conveying force can be more finely conveyed. Or regulation power can be given.
By connecting the individual air flow generators 95 to the air flow ejection holes 94, not only variations in the air flow of the air flow ejection holes 94 can be suppressed, but also finer conveyance force and regulation force can be applied.
Further, since the air flow generated by the air flow generator 95 is also reduced, a small air flow generator 95 can be used.
In the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention, the airflow generation amount of the airflow generator 95 is controlled by increasing or decreasing the airflow, or by opening and closing a pipe line connected to the airflow generator 95.
When a fan or blower is used for the airflow generator 95, the airflow (air volume) is increased or decreased by changing the power supply voltage. In a blower using a piezoelectric element, the air volume is increased or decreased by changing the drive frequency.
When a compressor is used for the airflow generator 95, an electromagnetic valve is provided in the middle of the piping, and the electromagnetic valve is opened and closed to control the airflow.

In the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention, various transport paths 87 are formed from the paper feed 9 to the transfer, fixing, and paper discharge from the paper feed. In particular, in a small machine or a high-performance machine, the conveyance path 87 from the sheet feeding unit has a large bent part, which is complicated. In many cases, the sheet feeding unit 2 to the image forming unit 3 constitute a side surface of the image forming apparatus 1, so that the conveyance path 87 is inevitably bent. In particular, the conveyance path 87 for delivering from the sheet feeding device 80 often forms a side surface due to the size relationship between the image forming apparatus 1 and the sheet feeding device 80, and the conveyance path 87 is from the sheet feeding cassette 80a. It turns back like a U-turn and goes to the image forming unit 3. In particular, when the demand for special sheet materials such as coated paper is high, a guide plate having a large curvature radius is required so that the conveyance resistance during conveyance is low and the surface of the material to be conveyed is not damaged.
As can be seen from FIG. 1, the path from the paper feed cassette 80a to the registration roller 84 is where the transport path 87 changes greatly. Further, a frictional noise is generated between the material 9 to be conveyed and the conveyance path 87 such as a guide. As a result, there was a problem that paper jam and swell occurred.
The lateral registration of the material to be conveyed 9 is regulated in the paper feed cassette 80 a, but there is nothing particularly regulated in the conveyance path 87 after being sent to the conveyance path 87.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing another configuration of the conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
An elastic body 933 is provided on the surface of the regulation guide plate 932 facing the reference guide plate 931 as shown in FIG.
The elastic body 933 realizes a function of lightly pressing the transported material 9 against the reference guide plate 931. Although the elastic body 933 is deformed by hitting the edge of the material 9 to be conveyed, a force for returning the deformation is used as a pressing force.
If the regulation guide plate 932 does not have the elastic body 933, it comes into contact with the edge of the transported material 9 by a line, and the contact load increases.
Since the conveyance guide plate 91 conveys the material 9 to be conveyed to the downstream registration roller 84 by using the conveyance force upstream of the conveyance guide plate 91, the conveyance guide plate 91 may not be conveyed when the contact load increases.
Further, when there is no elastic body 933, it is necessary to match the surface position of the regulation guide plate 932 with the size of the material 9 to be conveyed, and the position in the conveyance orthogonal (main scanning) direction of the material 9 to be conveyed is large in the direction of the regulation guide plate 932. If they are displaced, there is a risk of colliding with the side surface of the regulation guide plate 932.
As described above, as a countermeasure against a problem when entering the conveyance guide plate 91, the passing width of the material 9 to be conveyed is wide at the time of entry, and is gradually narrowed with the movement of the material 9 to be conveyed, immediately before the register roller 84. Although it is conceivable to move the regulating guide plate 932 dynamically in accordance with the movement of the material 9 to be conveyed so that it is substantially the same as the size of the material 9, it is difficult to control the response and the width guide position as the conveying speed increases. It becomes.
In addition, even if the size of the material to be transported 9 is determined by the standard, there is a slight variation in the size. Therefore, it is difficult to follow the reference guide plate 931 without the elastic body 933.
By providing the elastic body 933 as shown in the figure, it is possible to absorb the variation of the material 9 to be conveyed and firmly follow the reference guide plate 931.
By providing a plurality of elastic bodies 9 in the transporting direction, the material to be transported 9 comes into contact with a point, the contact load of the elastic body 933 is suppressed, and the transport force is maintained.

Further, in the conveyance guide device 90 in the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention, a PET film having a film shape is used for the elastic body 933. PET is a kind of polyester resin. The PET film is preferably made of a resin film having good surface smoothness and high sliding performance in order to suppress a contact load on the transported material 9.
As shown in FIG. 7, the elastic body 933 has a base end in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the transport guide plate 931 and on the surface of the reference guide plate 931 or the regulation guide plate 932 of the elastic body 933. As described above, the elastic body 933 is arranged so that the angle α formed between the direction toward the tip and the conveyance advance direction of the material 9 to be conveyed is an acute angle.
The optimum angle α varies depending on the material / size of the elastic body 933 to be used, the material of the material 9 to be transported, and the transport speed, and is appropriately determined including the process conditions and specifications of the image forming apparatus 1.
The plurality of elastic bodies 933 are arranged at equal intervals d in the conveyance traveling direction so that a line connecting the tips (broken line L) is substantially parallel to the surface of the regulation guide plate 932.
When the angle α formed is 15 ° or 30 °, the interval d was set to 30 mm in the experiment under the above conditions.
FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing how to attach the elastic body in the conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
(A) is a regulation guide so that the direction from the portion on the surface of the reference guide plate 931 or regulation guide plate 932 of the elastic body 933 toward the tip is the angle α formed with the conveyance advance direction of the material 9 to be conveyed. An attachment surface is formed on the plate 932 main body, and the elastic body 933 is fixed with a double-sided tape and an adhesive. Further, (b) attaches a mounting plate (stay) on which the elastic body 933 is fixed at a degree α to the regulation guide plate 932 main body.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing another configuration of the conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
Here, in the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention, the distance Dd from the reference guide plate 931 becomes shorter as the line connecting the ends of the plurality of elastic bodies 933 in the transport guide device 90 on the transport path side goes to the transport downstream side. As shown in FIG. 9, a line formed when the ends of the plurality of elastic bodies 933 are connected: between the broken line L and the reference guide plate 931. A restriction guide plate 932 provided with an elastic body 933 is installed so that the upstream side of the formed conveyance path 87 is wide and the downstream side is narrow.
Even when the position in the conveyance orthogonal direction of the material 9 to be conveyed that has entered the conveyance guide plate 91 is deviated from the reference position (reference guide plate 931), it is guided onto the conveyance guide plate 91 by a large frontage and is conveyed while being conveyed. The position of the conveyed material 9 is regulated by being pressed against the guide plate 931. As shown in FIG. 9, the distance Dd from the reference guide plate 931 is shortened by increasing the length of the elastic body 933 as it goes downstream in the transporting direction.
Alternatively, the size of the plurality of elastic bodies 933 is the same, and the restriction guide plate 932 is inclined with respect to the reference guide plate 931 so that the distance Dd between the elastic body 933 and the reference guide plate 931 is shortened. You can also

FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing another configuration of the elastic body in the conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
In the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention, two or more types of elastic bodies 933 having different lengths protruding from the surface of the regulation guide plate 932 are alternately arranged.
Among the elastic bodies 933, the elastic body E1 protrudes with a length Ls protruding from the surface of the regulation guide plate 932. The elastic body E2 of the elastic bodies 933 protrudes with a length Lh that protrudes from the surface of the regulation guide plate 932.
Thus, by making the protruding length of the elastic body 933 two or more types, even if the rigidity of the material 9 to be conveyed is different depending on the thickness, material, etc., it is guided onto the conveyance guide plate 91. The force pressed against the reference guide plate 931 of the transported material 9 can be similarly applied, and the position of the transported material 9 on the transport guide plate 91 can be regulated.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing another configuration of the elastic body in the conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
For the purpose of explanation, the types of the transported material 9 are hereinafter referred to as two types, one having low rigidity (for example, plain paper) and one having high rigidity (for example, coated paper).
As shown in (a), in the case of the transported material 9 having low rigidity, the regulation guide is such that only the elastic body E1 having a long protruding portion from the surface of the regulation guide plate 932 is pressed against the edge of the transported material 9. The plate 932 is fixed on the conveyance guide plate 91. In this case, since the deformed portion of the elastic body 933 is long, the elastic body 933 is easily deformed, and the portion in contact with the edge of the transported material 9 is halved, so that it is pushed more than when all the elastic bodies 933 on the regulation guide plate 932 are in contact. The contact force is weak.
At this time, the distance Ds between the regulation guide plate 932 and the reference guide plate 931 is represented by the following formula (1).
Ds = Conveyed material size + La ......... Formula (1)
Here, Lh <La <Ls, and a position where the material to be conveyed 9 is not deformed by the pressing force is set.

On the other hand, as shown in (b), in the case of the material 9 to be conveyed having high rigidity, all the elastic bodies 933 are pressed against the edge of the material 9 to be conveyed, and the regulation guide plate 932 is used as the reference guide plate 931. And is fixed on the conveyance guide plate 91. The pressing force is increased by contact with the short elastic body E2 in addition to the long elastic body E1, and it is possible to press the material 9 having high rigidity toward the reference guide plate 931 side.
The distance Dh between the restriction guide plate 932 and the reference guide plate 931 at this time is expressed by the following formula (2).
Dh = conveyed size + Lb ......... Formula (2)
And Here, 0 <Lb <Lh, and a position where the material to be conveyed 9 is not deformed by the pressing force is set.

In addition, as the elastic bodies 933 having different lengths, the elastic bodies 933 having different thicknesses are used. Here, the elastic body 933 is thinner as the length of the elastic body 933 protruding from the surface of the regulation guide plate 932 is longer.
Therefore, the thickness of the long elastic body E1 is reduced, and the thickness of the short elastic body E2 is increased. Similarly to FIG. 11, the material 9 to be transported having low rigidity is limited only by the elastic body E1 having a smaller thickness and softer, and the material 9 having higher rigidity uses the pressing force of the elastic body E2 having a larger thickness and harder. Thus, the position of the transported material 9 is regulated. At this time, the position of the restriction guide plate 932 is adjusted to the distances Ds and Dh between the restriction guide plate 932 and the reference guide plate 931.

In addition, as the elastic bodies 933 having different lengths, the elastic bodies 933 having different rigidity are used in order to give a force against deformation caused by an external force.
A long elastic body E1 is used with low rigidity, and a short elastic body E2 is used with high rigidity. Thus, similarly to FIG. 11, the material to be transported 9 having low rigidity is restricted by only the elastic body E1 having low rigidity and soft, and the material 9 having high rigidity is pressed against the elastic body E2 having high rigidity and hardness. The position of the transported material 9 is regulated using force.
At this time, the position of the restriction guide plate 932 is adjusted to the distances Ds and Dh between the restriction guide plate 932 and the reference guide plate 931.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view showing another configuration of the elastic body in the conveyance guide device used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 12, by changing the angle α formed between the elastic body 933 and the surface of the regulation guide plate 932, it is possible to apply regulation force (pressing force) corresponding to the difference in rigidity of the material 9 to be conveyed. To do.
By reducing the formed angle α and lengthening the elastic body 933 having the formed angle α1, the degree of contact with the transported material 9 is weak, and the amount of deformation of the elastic body 933 can be increased, so the pressing force is weak. can do.
On the contrary, a strong pressing force can be obtained by increasing the degree α to be made and shortening the elastic body 933 having the degree α2 to be made.
In addition, the elastic body 933 having a small degree α makes a protruding portion from the regulation guide plate 932 longer, and the elastic body 933 having a large degree α makes a protruding portion from the regulation guide plate 932 shorter. A line formed when the ends of the elastic bodies 933 having a small angle α are connected to each other: the distance between the broken line K and the reference guide plate 931 connects the ends of the elastic bodies 933 having a large angle α. A line formed in the case where it is assumed that the distance is shorter than the distance between the broken line J and the reference guide plate 932.
Similarly to the above, in the case of the transported material 9 having low rigidity, the transported material 9 is pressed and restricted only by the elastic body 933 having a small angle α, and in the case of the transported material 9 having high rigidity, the angle α formed. A large elastic body 933 can be added to increase the pressing force and increase the regulating force.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Paper feed part 3 Image forming part 4 Scanner part 401 Contact glass 5 Automatic document feeder (ADF)
9 Material to be conveyed 10 Image forming unit (process cartridge)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Photoconductor 12 Exposure apparatus 13 Static elimination apparatus 20 Charging apparatus 21 Charging roller 30 Developing apparatus 40 Cleaning apparatus 60 Transfer apparatus 61 Intermediate transfer belt 62 Primary transfer roller 63 Secondary transfer roller 64 Belt cleaning apparatus 641 Cleaning backup roller 642 Rotating member 65 Roller 651 Follower roller 652 Driving roller 653 Support / tension roller 66 Conveying belt 67 Lubricant coating device 70 Fixing device 80 Paper feeding device 80a Paper feeding cassette 81 Separating roller 82 Paper feeding roller 83 Conveying roller 84 Registration roller 85 Paper ejection rollers 851 and 852 Switching claw 86 Paper discharge tray 87 Conveyance path 88 Conveyed material storage device 89 Conveyed material reversal conveying device 90 Conveyance guide device 91 Conveyance guide plate 93 Width guide member 931 Reference guide plate 932 Restriction guide De plate 933 elastic body 934 stays 94 air jet and hole 95 the flow generator

JP2002-274700 JP 06-239495 A JP 06-239499 A JP 04-93956 JP2010-47355 JP 05-193782

Claims (11)

Multiple air flow generators,
A conveyance guide plate disposed upstream of the registration rollers in the conveyance path;
A fixed reference guide plate for regulating the conveyance width in the conveyance orthogonal direction of the material to be conveyed on the conveyance guide plate, and a width guide member composed of a regulation guide plate moving in the conveyance orthogonal direction,
Pipe connection between the air flow generator and the conveyance guide plate provided with a plurality of air flow outlet holes in the vertical direction with respect to the guide plate surface,
A position set in advance while floating the material to be conveyed conveyed to the conveyance guide plate by guiding the air flow generated by the air flow generator to the air flow blowing hole and ejecting it from the air flow blowing hole on the surface of the conveyance guide plate In the image forming apparatus including the conveyance guide device that moves in the / direction,
The conveyance guide device includes:
A plurality of elastic bodies are provided on the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate for regulating the material to be conveyed ,
The elastic body is in the form of a film, and the elastic body is in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance guide surface and a base portion of a reference guide plate or a regulation guide plate of the elastic body is a base end The angle between the direction toward the tip and the direction in which the material to be conveyed proceeds is an acute angle, and the regulation guide is such that the lines connecting the ends of the plurality of elastic bodies on the conveyance path side are parallel to the regulation guide plate surface. An image forming apparatus , wherein an elastic body is disposed on a plate . Multiple air flow generators,
A conveyance guide plate disposed upstream of the registration rollers in the conveyance path;
A fixed reference guide plate for regulating the conveyance width in the conveyance orthogonal direction of the material to be conveyed on the conveyance guide plate, and a width guide member composed of a regulation guide plate moving in the conveyance orthogonal direction,
Pipe connection between the air flow generator and the conveyance guide plate provided with a plurality of air flow outlet holes in the vertical direction with respect to the guide plate surface,
A position set in advance while floating the material to be conveyed conveyed to the conveyance guide plate by guiding the air flow generated by the air flow generator to the air flow blowing hole and ejecting it from the air flow blowing hole on the surface of the conveyance guide plate In the image forming apparatus including the conveyance guide device that moves in the / direction,
The conveyance guide device includes:
A plurality of elastic bodies are provided on the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate for regulating the material to be conveyed,
The elastic body is in the form of a film, and the elastic body is in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance guide surface and a base portion of a reference guide plate or a regulation guide plate of the elastic body is a base end As the angle between the direction toward the tip and the direction of conveyance of the material to be conveyed is an acute angle, and the line connecting the ends on the conveyance path side of the plurality of elastic bodies goes to the conveyance downstream side, the reference guide plate or the regulation An image forming apparatus, characterized in that an elastic body is arranged in a direction in which the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate is conveyed so that the distance from the guide plate is shortened . Two or more types of the elastic bodies having different lengths protruding from the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate are alternately arranged on the reference guide plate and the regulation guide plate.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus. The elastic body has a smaller thickness as it protrudes longer from the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 . The elastic body is of two types: a short elastic body protruding from the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate and a long elastic body protruding from the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate. The elastic body has a different thickness and the long elastic body is made thinner.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus. The elastic body has a lower rigidity as the length protruding from the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate is longer.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 . The elastic body is of two types: a short elastic body protruding from the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate and a long elastic body protruding from the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate. The rigidity of the elastic body is different, and the rigidity of the long elastic body protruding from the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate is lowered.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus. Two or more types of the elastic bodies having different angles formed between the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate and the elastic body surface are alternately arranged.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 . The elastic body shortens the length protruding from the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate as the angle formed increases, and the distance between the tip of the elastic body and the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate as the angle formed increases. Are arranged alternately so that the
The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus. The elastic body is of two types. The larger the angle formed, the shorter the length protruding from the surface of the reference guide plate or the regulation guide plate, and the larger the angle formed, the more the elastic body tip and the reference guide plate or regulation. Alternatingly arranged so that the distance to the guide plate is short
The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus. The elastic body is a PET film
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus.

Images