JPH01104527A - Feeding device for image forming sheet - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce scratches formed on image forming faces because of friction by changing the pressing position on a image forming sheet by a rotary body in the conveying direction of the image forming sheet in order. CONSTITUTION:One of the arm parts 62 of a paddle roller 60 is first brought into contact with the sheet of image receiving paper 42 positioned on the topmost housed in a sheet cassette at a point A. As the paddle roller 60 is further rotated, the arm part 62 gives a conveying force in the direction along the rotating direction of the paddle roller 60 to the sheet of image receiving paper 42 while pressing it with its end in an elastically deformed condition, to move the sheet of image receiving paper 42. In this case, the pressing position of the sheet of image receiving paper 42 by means of the arm part 62 is changed from the point A to the point B and further to the point C in order. Thereby, the pressing force is dispersed in a wide range making it harder to produce a scratch which might be formed on an image forming face because of the friction between sheets of image receiving paper 42 at the time of continuously pressing a single position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an image forming sheet supplying apparatus, and more particularly to an image forming sheet feeding apparatus that moves an image forming sheet by frictional force and supplies it to a predetermined position.

[Prior art] Sheets cut to a predetermined length are stored in a magazine, and the sheet located at the top is pressed by a rotating roller to apply a conveying force by frictional force, and the sheet is conveyed along the rotational direction of the rotating roller. 2. Description of the Related Art Sheet feeding devices that feed sheets in a direction are known.

For example, in an image recording device in which a photosensitive material that has been imagewise exposed is thermally developed and superimposed on an image-forming sheet (image-receiving material) and pressed, thereby transferring an image to the image-forming sheet, It is used as a means to feed the sheet to the pressure transfer position.

According to this image forming seed supply device, a rotating roller is pressed against the image forming sheets stored in the magazine, which is a simple structure that allows seeds to be seeded from the top to the top.
It is possible to take out and supply one sheet at a time.

Incidentally, the photosensitive material used in this type of image recording apparatus is coated with microcapsules in which photosensitive silver halide, a reducing agent, a polymerizable compound, a color image forming substance, etc. are encapsulated. After this photosensitive material is exposed to light, it is heated and developed, and when it is overlapped with an image forming sheet and pressurized, the portions of the microcapsules where the latent image does not exist rupture, and the color image forming substance is transferred to the image forming sheet. It has started to metastasize to. Further, a color developer is applied to the image forming surface of the image forming sheet, and this color developer reacts with the transferred color image forming substance to form an image.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when an image forming sheet coated with a chemical substance such as a color developer is fed to a pressurized transfer position by the above-mentioned image forming sheet feeding device, Due to the friction between the image forming sheets pressed by the rotating roller,
There is a drawback that scratches are caused by rubbing on the image forming surface (for example, the color developer is partially peeled off), and the quality of the transferred image is deteriorated.

In consideration of the above facts, the present invention provides an image forming sheet that can reliably supply an image forming sheet coated with a chemical substance such as a color developer without causing any damage that would cause deterioration in image quality. The purpose is to obtain a feeding device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] An image forming sheet feeding device according to the present invention is an image forming sheet feeding device that moves an image forming sheet by frictional force and feeds the image forming sheet to a predetermined position. The image forming apparatus includes a rotating body that presses and rotates the image forming sheet to apply a conveying force, and also changes the image forming sheet pressing position in the image forming sheet conveying direction.

[Function] In the image forming sheet feeding device having the above configuration, the rotating body presses and rotates the image forming sheet to apply a conveying force. In this case, the image forming sheet pressing position of the rotating body changes sequentially in the conveying direction of the image forming sheet. Therefore, the pressing force is dispersed over a wide range, and scratches on the image forming surface due to friction between the image forming sheets are less likely to occur.

[Embodiment] FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of an image recording apparatus 12 to which an image forming sheet feeding apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

A magazine 16 is disposed on the machine base 14 of the image recording apparatus 12, and a photosensitive material 18 wound into a roll is housed in the magazine 16. The photosensitive material 18 is pulled out from its outer periphery, cut into a predetermined length by a cutter 20, and then transported to an exposure section 22.

An exposure device 24 is provided directly above the exposure section 22 .

A plurality of reflecting mirrors 23 and an optical system 25 are arranged in the exposure device 24, and the image of the original film 29 placed on the mounting plate 27 on the upper part of the machine stand 14 is transferred to the photosensitive material 18 located in the exposure section 22. It is designed to perform scanning exposure.

A heat development section 26 is arranged below the exposure section 22, and the exposed photosensitive material 18 is sent to this heat development section 26. The heat developing section 26 is composed of a heating drum 28 and an endless pressure belt 30.
Furthermore, a halogen lamp 32 is arranged within the heating drum 28. The heating drum 28 uses this halogen lamp 32.
The photosensitive material 18 is conveyed and held between the heating tram 28 and the endless pressure belt 3o to be thermally developed.

An overlapping section 34 is arranged on the exit side of the heat developing section 26, and the heat-developed photosensitive material 18 is placed in the overlapping section 3.
4. On the other hand, on the side of the machine base 14, there is a manual feed section 40 and a quick-release sheet cassette 36.
38 insertion slots are formed so that the image receiving paper 42 as an image forming sheet supplied from the manual feed section 40 or the sheet cassette 36 or 38 is superimposed on the photosensitive material 18 conveyed to the overlapping section 34. It has become.

As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet cassettes 36 and 38 contain image-receiving paper 42 cut to a predetermined length.
Further, it is constantly urged and pressed upward by a compression spring 39 disposed at the bottom. This receiving paper 42
is an image forming sheet feeding device lO which will be explained in detail later.
The sheets are taken out and supplied one by one starting from the topmost one.

A pressure transfer section 44 is arranged on the side of the overlapping section 34, so that the photosensitive material 18 and the image receiving paper 42, which are superimposed one on top of the other, are both sent to the pressure transfer section 44. The pressure transfer unit 44 includes a pair of pressure rollers 46 that are in pressure contact with each other, and a backup roller 48 that is in pressure contact with each of the pressure rollers 46.
The photosensitive material 18 and the image-receiving paper 42 are sandwiched and pressed together in the overlapping state, and the image recorded on the photosensitive material 18 is transferred to the image-receiving paper 42.

A peeling unit 50 is disposed on the side of the pressure transfer unit 44, and the image receiving paper 42 and the photosensitive material 18 on which the image has been transferred are sent to the peeling unit 50 and peeled off from each other, leaving only the photosensitive material 18. It is transported to a waste tray 52 and discarded.

On the other hand, a fixing device 54 is arranged on the conveyance path of the peeled-off image receiving paper 42. The fixing device 54 has a built-in ultraviolet lamp 56, and the image-receiving paper 42 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays by the ultraviolet lamp 56 to fix the image, and then taken out of the machine 14.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming sheet supply device 10 is positioned directly above the leading end of the inserted sheet cassette 36,38. This image forming sheet supply device 10 includes a pair of paddle rollers 60 fixed to a single rotating shaft 58. The rotating shaft 58 is the magazine 16
The hook is passed in the direction perpendicular to the direction of insertion (that is, the width direction of 42), and is rotated in the direction of arrow R by the driving force of a drive source (not shown). Paddle rollers 60 are adapted to rotate at the same time.

The paddle roller 60 has a substantially cylindrical shape and is made of soft rubber, and thin arm portions 62 are formed on the outer periphery in a radial manner at equal intervals and in the same direction as the rotating shaft 58. This arm 6
2 is a sheet cassette 36.3 with the tip elastically deformed.
When the paddle roller 60 rotates with the rotation of the rotating shaft 5, the adjacent arm 62 can be pressed. The image receiving paper 42 is sequentially pressed to apply a conveying force.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

The photosensitive material 18 pulled out from the magazine 16 and cut into a predetermined length by the cutter 20 is conveyed to the exposure section 22,
An exposure device 24 exposes the image. The exposed photosensitive material 18 is conveyed to a heat developing section 26, and is conveyed while being sandwiched between a heating drum 28 heated to about 80° C. to 200° C. by a halogen lamp 32 and an endless pressing belt 30, where it is thermally developed. be done. The photosensitive material 18 after being roughly thermally developed is conveyed to the overlapping section 34, and then transferred to the image forming sheet supply device 1.
It is superimposed on the image receiving paper 42 supplied by No. 0.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the paddle roller 60 in the image forming sheet supply device IO.

One arm 62 of the paddle roller 60 first abuts the uppermost portion of the receiving paper 42 contained in the sheet cassette 36, 38 at point A. Furthermore, paddle roller 60
When rotated, the arm portion 62 presses the image receiving paper 42 with its tip end elastically deformed and applies a conveying force in a direction along the rotational direction of the paddle roller 60 to move the image receiving paper 42.

In this case, the pressing position of the image-receiving paper 42 by the arm portion 62 changes sequentially from point A to point B and then to six points (that is, in the conveyance direction of the image-receiving paper 42). For this reason, the pressing force is distributed over a wide range, and if a single position is continuously pressed, the image receiving paper 4
Scratches on the image surface due to friction between the two are less likely to occur.

Thereafter, the adjacent arm portions 62 sequentially press the image receiving paper 42 to apply a conveying force and supply the image receiving paper 42 to the one-overlapping section 34 .

The photosensitive material 18 and the image-receiving paper 42 superimposed in the superimposing section 34 are both sent to the pressure transfer section 44, and in the superimposed state are held between pressure rollers 46 and recorded on the photosensitive material 18. The resulting image is transferred to image receiving paper 42.

The image-receiving paper 42 and the photosensitive material 18 on which the image has been transferred are sent to a peeling section 50 and peeled off from each other, and only the photosensitive material 18 is transported to a waste tray 52 and discarded.

On the other hand, the image-receiving paper 42 is separated from the photosensitive material 18 and then conveyed to the fixing device 54, irradiated with ultraviolet light by the ultraviolet lamp 56 to fix the image, and then taken out of the machine stand 14.

In this way, in this embodiment, the pressing position when pressing the image receiving paper 42 changes in the conveyance direction of the image receiving paper 42 due to the elastic force of the arm portion 62 formed on the paddle roller 60, so that the pressing force can be applied over a wide range. This reduces the possibility of scratches occurring on the image forming surface due to friction between the image forming sheets, and the quality of the image transferred to the image receiving paper 42 does not deteriorate.

Next, other embodiments of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 4 shows an eccentric roller 70 according to a second embodiment. The eccentric roller 70 has a cam shape with an oval cross section, and the rotating shaft is mounted eccentrically. As shown in FIG. 5, this eccentric roller 70 presses the image receiving paper 42 at point D at first, but as it rotates, it pushes down the image receiving paper 42 against the biasing force of the compression spring 39, and at the same time reduces the conveyance force. While applying, the pressing position gradually changes from point E to point F in the conveying direction of the image receiving paper 42. Therefore, as in the first embodiment, the pressing force is dispersed over a wide range, making it difficult for scratches to occur on the image forming surface due to friction between the image forming sheets, and improving the quality of the image transferred to the image receiving paper 42. It never declines.

In this case, the eccentric roller 70 is not limited to an oval cross-section, but may be circular or circular arc-shaped in which the axis of one rotation is eccentrically attached.

FIG. 6 shows a rotating roller 74 according to a third embodiment. The rotating roller 74 is rotated by a rotating shaft 76, and the rotating shaft 76 itself moves in a direction along the rotating direction (that is, in a direction in which the receiving paper 42 is conveyed: the direction of arrow G in FIG. 6). Therefore, in this embodiment as well, the position at which the rotating roller 74 presses the image receiving paper 42 changes in the conveying direction of the image receiving paper 42, and the pressing force is dispersed over a wide range.

Note that if the outer circumferential surfaces of the eccentric roller 70 and rotating roller 74 in these embodiments are knurled or made of elastic bodies with a large coefficient of friction, the conveying force (i.e., frictional force) necessary to feed the image receiving paper 42 will be reduced. This can be caused by a small pressing force, which makes the image receiving paper 42 less likely to be damaged, further increasing its effectiveness.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the image forming sheet feeding device according to the present invention is an image forming sheet feeding device that moves the image forming sheet by frictional force and feeds it to a predetermined position. It is equipped with a rotating body that presses and rotates the sheet to apply a conveying force, and also changes the pressing position of the image forming sheet in the direction of conveying the image forming sheet, so there is no possibility of causing scratches that may cause deterioration of image quality. This has the effect that the image forming sheet 1- can be reliably supplied without any problems.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming sheet feeding apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of an image recording apparatus to which the image forming sheet feeding apparatus is applied, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the rotating roller according to the second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the operating state of the rotating roller according to the second embodiment; FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the operating state of the rotating roller according to the third embodiment. lO...Image forming sheet supply device, 36.38...
- Sheet cassette, 42... Receiving paper, 58... Rotating shaft, 60... Paddle roller, 62... Arm portion.

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) An image forming sheet supply device that moves an image forming sheet by frictional force and supplies it to a predetermined position, which presses and rotates the image forming sheet to apply a conveying force, and the image forming sheet is 1. An image forming sheet feeding device comprising a rotating body that changes a pressing position of an image forming sheet in a conveyance direction. (2) The image forming sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the rotating body is a paddle roller having a radial arm portion that can press the image forming sheet and can be elastically deformed. (3) The image forming sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the rotating body is an eccentric roller capable of pressing the image forming sheet. (4) The image forming sheet feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the rotating body has a rotating shaft that moves in the image forming sheet feeding direction.