JPH02231355A - Air suction type paper form conveyer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To remove hollow deformation of a paper form, when it is conveyed by section of air, by arranging in line symmetry in both sides of the center line of a paper form conveying passage an endless conveying belt forming its conveying direction at an angle dispersedly opening mutually toward the conveying direction of the paper form. CONSTITUTION:Each endless conveying belt E provides in the inside of its paper form conveying side running part applying a nozzle port of an air suction nozzle F sucking air in a direction of arrow head (a) thus conveying in a direction of arrow head (b) a paper form sucked in an outer side of the paper form conveying side running part. The endless conveying belt E is arranged in line symmetry in both sides of the center line O of a paper form conveying passage along a conveying direction of the paper form further set up so as to form an angle alpha dispersedly opening the conveying direction of the endless conveying belt E to the both sides of the center line O mutually toward the paper form conveying direction. By the constitution thus obtained, hollow deformation following the sucked deformation can be sustantially removed by always receiving tension such as pulling to the outer both side parts of the paper form while it is conveyed.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] Air suction holes are formed in each of a plurality of endless conveyance belts in the length direction thereof, and air suction nozzles are arranged on the inner surface of the paper conveyance side running section of each endless conveyance belt. With regard to an air suction type paper conveyance device that attracts and conveys paper on the outer surface of the paper conveyance side running section, in particular, in an electrostatic recording device that employs an electrophotographic method, the toner image is removed from the recording medium drum. Regarding an air adsorption type paper conveyance device suitable for separating paper onto which has been electrostatically transferred from the recording medium drum and conveying it to a fixing device, the paper is air adsorbed with the paper conveyance side running section of an endless conveyor belt. An object of the present invention is to provide an air suction type paper conveyance device configured to substantially eliminate concave deformation from the paper when the paper is conveyed. The endless conveyance belts are arranged symmetrically on both sides of the center line of the paper conveyance path along the center line of the paper conveyance path, and the conveyance directions of the endless conveyance belts on both sides of the center line of the paper conveyance path are mutually spaced toward the paper conveyance direction. An air adsorption type paper conveyance device is constructed, which is characterized by forming an angle such that the paper is dispersed.

[Industrial application field]

According to the present invention, air suction holes are formed in each of a plurality of endless conveyance belts in the length direction thereof, and air suction nozzles are arranged on the inner surface of the paper conveyance side running section of each endless conveyance belt. Regarding an air suction paper conveyance device that attracts and conveys paper on the outer surface of a side running section, in particular, in an electrostatic recording device that employs an electrophotographic method, etc., a toner image is electrostatically transferred from a recording medium drum. The present invention relates to an air adsorption type paper conveyance device suitable for separating paper from the recording medium drum and conveying it to a fixing device.

[Conventional technology]

For example, in an electrostatic recording device that uses an electrophotographic method, an electrostatic latent image is formed on a light-absorbing drum used as a recording medium drum, and this electrostatic latent image is developed with charged toner to become a visible image. . Next, a sheet of paper is brought into contact with such a toner image, and a charge having a polarity opposite to that of the charged toner is applied to the sheet of paper from the back surface thereof, whereby the toner image is electrostatically transferred to the sheet of paper. The sheet having such a transferred toner image is separated from the drum and sent to a thermal fixing device consisting of a heat roller or a pressure fixing device consisting of a pressure roller, for example.
The transferred toner image is then fixed as a fixed image on the recording paper.

Now, since the paper carrying the transferred toner image is given a charge of opposite polarity to the surface charge of the photosensitive drum, an electrostatic attraction force is exerted between the paper and the photosensitive drum. Therefore, in order to separate the paper after the toner image has been transferred from the photosensitive drum, mechanical means such as a separation claw is applied between the paper and the photosensitive drum to separate the paper from the photosensitive drum, or the paper is separated from the photosensitive drum. It is practiced to separate the paper from the separator drum by applying an air suction effect.

In recent years, the method of separating the paper from the photosensitive drum by air suction has been further developed, and the paper is now conveyed to the fixing device using the air suction. In such a paper separation and conveyance system, a plurality of endless conveyance belts are arranged parallel to each other along the paper conveyance direction, and air suction holes are formed in each endless conveyance belt in its length direction. An air suction nozzle is arranged on the inner surface of the paper transport side running portion of each endless conveyor belt, and this air suction nozzle is connected via a suitable suction chamber to a suitable air suction source, such as a blower. The shape of the nozzle opening of the air suction nozzle is a slot-like elongated hole that runs along the length of the paper transport side running section of the endless conveyor belt, so that the air suction hole of the endless conveyor belt passes through the nozzle opening of the air suction nozzle. At this time, external air is sucked into the air suction nozzle through the air suction hole, so that the outer surface of the paper conveyance side traveling portion of the endless conveyance belt functions as a suction surface for the paper.

Such an air adsorption type paper conveyance device is installed between the photosensitive drum and the fixing device in the electrostatic recording device of the electrophotographic method mentioned above, and at this time, the endless conveyance belt has one end side of the paper conveyance side running section. placed close to the photosensitive drum,
As a result, the paper after the charged toner image has been transferred is subjected to an air suction action at one end of the paper transporting side running section to be separated from the light absorbing drum, and is also attracted to the paper transporting side running section and transported.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, as the paper is separated from the light-separating drum and transported toward the fixing device, the paper comes to cover the front surface of the paper transport side running section of the endless transport belt, which causes air to flow into the air suction nozzle. As the inflow rate gradually decreases, the static pressure within the air suction nozzle will decrease. the result,
The endless conveyor belt is deformed so as to fill the inside of the nozzle opening of the air suction nozzle, and the paper is also deformed accordingly, which tends to cause wrinkles in the paper when the transferred toner image is fixed, that is, when it passes between the fixing rollers. Cause. In short, the paper undergoes local depression deformation at the engagement point with the paper transport side traveling section of the endless conveyor belt, and such local deformation must be released when the paper passes between the fixing rollers. , the paper will wrinkle.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to form air suction holes in each of a plurality of endless conveyance belts in the length direction thereof, and to arrange air suction nozzles on the inner surface of the paper conveyance side running section of each endless conveyance belt. This is an air suction type paper conveyance device that adsorbs and conveys the paper on the outer surface of the paper conveyance side running section, and when the paper is conveyed by air suction with the paper conveyance side running section of the endless conveyance belt. Another object of the present invention is to provide an air suction paper conveying device configured to substantially eliminate concave deformation from the paper.

[Means to solve the problem]

According to the present invention, in such an air suction paper conveyance device, the endless conveyance belts are disposed symmetrically on both sides of the center line of the paper conveyance path along the paper conveyance direction, and It is characterized in that the conveying directions of the endless conveying belts on both sides form an angle such that they diverge from each other toward the sheet conveying direction.

[Effect]

In the air adsorption paper conveyance device according to the present invention, endless conveyance belts are disposed symmetrically on both sides of the center line of the paper conveyance path along the paper conveyance direction, and Since the conveyance directions of the endless conveyor belts are at an angle such that they diverge from each other toward the paper conveyance direction, both sides of the paper are always subjected to outward tension while the paper is conveyed, and this Therefore, concave deformation is substantially eliminated from the paper.

〔Example〕

Next, an embodiment of the air suction paper conveying device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1(a) and FIG. 1 et al.) show the basic structure of an air suction paper conveying device according to the present invention. In Figure 1(a),
An air suction paper conveyance device A according to the present invention is shown disposed between a photosensitive drum B and a fixing roller C of an electrophotographic electrostatic recording device.

Reference numeral D indicates a transfer charger, which consists of a transfer device that applies an electric charge to the paper during toner image transfer, and an AC static eliminator that reduces the electric charge on the paper in order to improve the separation of the paper from the photosensitive drum B. .

As shown in FIG. 1(b), the air suction paper conveyance device is equipped with a plurality of endless conveyor belts E, each of which has air suction holes (see FIG. 1) in its longitudinal direction. (not shown in (b)) is formed. As seen in FIG. 1(a), the nozzle of the air suction nozzle F is applied to the inner surface of the lower running part of each endless conveyor belt, that is, the paper conveyance side running part, and the air suction nozzle F has an appropriate nozzle. An air suction source (not shown) is connected, and air is sucked as shown by arrow a, whereby the paper (not shown) is attracted to the outer surface of the paper transport side running section, as shown by arrow b. It will be transported in the direction.

As is clear from FIG. 1(b), the endless conveyor belt E is arranged symmetrically on both sides of the center line O of the paper conveyance path along the paper conveyance direction, and The conveyance directions of the endless conveyor belts on both sides form an angle α such that the conveyance directions of the endless conveyance belts open and break with respect to each other toward the sheet conveyance direction. With this configuration, while the paper is being conveyed, both sides of the paper are always subjected to tension that pulls the paper outward.

Note that in FIG. 1(c), the angle α is exaggerated to emphasize the features of the present invention, and is actually a small angle of about 2°.

Referring to FIG. 2, an air suction paper transport device constructed in accordance with the present invention is indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, and is similar to that of FIG. 1(a). , is shown disposed between a photosensitive drum 12 and a fixing roller 14 of an electrostatic recording apparatus using an electrophotographic method. A transfer charger 16 is applied to the photosensitive drum IO, and this transfer charger 16 is composed of a transfer device 18 and an AC static eliminator 20 as described with reference to FIG. 1(a). The air suction paper conveying device 10 includes an air suction box 22 forming an air suction chamber, and the air suction box 22 has a substantially rectangular shape as is clear from FIGS. 2 and 3.

A substantially cubic-shaped suction head 24 is attached to the top of the air suction box 22 , and the bottom of the suction head 24 is opened to communicate with the inside of the air suction box 22 . A cylindrical outlet 26 is formed on one side of the lower suction head 24 (
3), this cylindrical outlet 26 is connected to an air suction source (not shown) such as a blower via a flexible hose or the like. The air suction box 22 is fixed onto the support plate 28 with, for example, screws 30 with its bottom surface open.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the air suction paper conveyance device 10 includes six endless conveyance belts 32 disposed below the bottom surface of the support plate 28, each endless conveyance belt 32 having a drive roller 34. and the driven roller 36. Six drive rollers 34, as best shown in FIG.
are attached to a common drive shaft 38, and the drive shaft 38 is rotatably supported via bearings 42 by side members 40 suspended downward from both side edges of the support temporary 28, and is also supported by a frame structure (not shown). is rotatably supported via a bearing 44. A pulley 46 is attached to one end of the drive shaft 38, and the pulley 46 is driven by a drive belt (not shown). As best shown in FIG. 4, each driven roller 36 is mounted on a separate shaft 48, the manner in which these shafts 48 are supported will be described below.

What should be noted here is that, as shown in FIG. This means that the roller 34 and the driven roller 36 are not aligned with each other in the direction along the center line 0 of the paper conveyance path, but are slightly shifted from each other. That is, first, the fourth
Three pairs of driven rollers 36 and drive rollers 34 on the right side of the figure
Specifically, the axis of rotation of the shaft 48 of each driven roller 36 is set in the paper transport direction (
the drive roller 34 is tilted outwardly towards arrow b) while the drive roller 34 is in alignment with the driven roller 36 (driven roller 36
The axis of rotation of the drive roller 34 is parallel to the axis of rotation of the drive roller 34, which is assumed to be parallel to the axis of rotation of the drive roller 34. The same is true for the three pairs of driven rollers 36 and drive rollers 34 on the left side of FIG. 4, and as a result, the three pairs of driven rollers 34 on the right side of FIG.
6 and driving roller 34, and the three pairs of driven roller 36 and driving roller 34 on the left side in FIG. 4 are arranged symmetrically with respect to the center line O of the paper conveyance path. In short, when the endless conveyance belt 32 is stretched around each pair of drive roller 34 and driven roller 36 (not shown in FIG. The conveyance directions of the endless conveyor belts 32 on both sides of the center line 0 of the paper conveyance path diverge from each other toward the paper conveyance direction (arrow b). 1.7°).

As shown in FIG. 5, a large number of air suction holes 50 are formed in the endless conveyor belt 32 along its length, and when the width of the endless conveyor belt 32 is, for example, about 16 mo+, the air suction holes 50 are formed in the endless conveyor belt 32. It is said that the diameter is about 2 pavilions, and the spacing between them is about 5.6 peng. Note that as the material for the endless conveyor belt 32, a rubber material or the like having appropriate flexibility is used.

As seen in FIGS. 2-4, from the bottom of the support plate 28 are two types of air suction nozzles 54 and 56.
The air suction nozzles 54 and 56 are shown in detail in FIGS. 6 and 7, respectively. As is clear from FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b), the air suction nozzle 54 has a substantially rectangular nozzle body 5.
4a, and a nozzle end portion 54b that protrudes into a bifurcated shape of the nozzle body 54a. An air inflow chamber is formed in the nozzle body 54a, and a slot-shaped long hole 54c is formed as a nozzle hole in each nozzle end portion 54b.
c is communicated with the air inflow chamber within the nozzle body 54a. The air inflow chamber of the nozzle body 54a is opened at its top side, that is, on the opposite side from the nozzle bottom portion 54b. On the other hand, the air suction nozzle 56 is constructed in the same manner as the air suction nozzle 54, and the only difference is that a nozzle bottom portion 56b is formed only on one side of the nozzle body 56a. therefore,
The elongated hole 56c formed in the nozzle mouth portion 56b also communicates with the air inflow chamber formed in the nozzle body 56a, and the air inflow chamber of the nozzle body 56a is opened at its top side.

When the air suction nozzles 54 and 56 are attached to the support plate 28, an opening that communicates with the air suction chamber in the air suction box 22 is formed at the attachment location of the support plate 28, and the air suction nozzles 54 and 56 are attached to the support plate 28. When attached to the nozzle body 28, it can be communicated with the air inlet chamber in the nozzle body 54a, 56a through the opening. As is clear from FIGS. 3 and 4, when the air suction nozzles 54 and 56 are attached to the support plate 28 in a predetermined position, the nozzle holes 54 and 56
b, 56b are in contact with the inner surface of the lower running part of the corresponding endless conveyor belt 32, that is, the paper conveyance side running part, and as a result, when each endless conveyor belt 32 runs, the air suction hole 50 of the endless conveyor belt 32 is in contact with the corresponding elongated hole. 54c and 56c, so that the outer surface of the lower running portion of each endless conveyor belt can attract and convey the paper.

As seen in FIG. 4, another air suction nozzle 60 is provided on the bottom side of the support plate 28 at a suitable location between the endless conveyor belts 32, and each air suction nozzle has two or more air suction nozzles 60. It has three oblong holes 58 at its bottom,
This opening communicates with the interior of the air suction box 22 via the support plate 28. As is clear from FIG. 4, all the air suction nozzles 60 are arranged close to the driven roller 36, and the reason for this is that the air suction nozzles 60 are provided with an auxiliary function to separate the paper from the photosensitive drum 10. Because there is.

In this embodiment, the air suction nozzles 54, 56 and the air suction nozzle 60 are also provided with another function, which is to support the shaft 48 of the driven roller 36, as is clear from FIG. The nozzles 54, 56 and the air suction nozzle 60 are formed with shaft grooves at appropriate locations for pivotally supporting the corresponding ends of the shaft 48.

In the embodiment described above, an endless conveyor bell. In order to run the sheet 32 at a slight inclination outward with respect to the central axis 0 of the paper conveyance path, the rotational axis of the driven roller 36 is set to . Although a method was adopted in which the drive roller 34 is tilted at around J and the position of the drive roller 34 is shifted somewhat from the aligned position of the corresponding slave roller, it is clear that the drive shaft 38 of the drive roller 34 itself may be tilted as necessary. Will. However, in that case, the three left and right drive rollers 34 need to be driven by separate drive shafts.

In the above embodiment, the air suction type paper conveyance device according to the present invention was explained in relation to the fixing roller of an electrostatic recording device, but it can also be used when feeding paper between the rollers independently of such a fixing roller. It is clear that the present invention can be widely used as a paper conveyance device.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, while the paper is being conveyed, both sides of the paper are constantly subjected to tension that pulls it outward, and as a result, the paper is substantially deformed into depressions due to the suction deformation of the endless conveyor belt. Therefore, it is possible to effectively eliminate wrinkles in the paper when it passes through the rollers.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1(a) and 1(b) are schematic diagrams showing the principle structure of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view of an air suction type paper conveying device according to the present invention, which is an electrophotographic method. 3 is a front view of the air suction type paper conveyance device according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the air suction type paper conveyance device of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5(a) and 5(c) are views showing the endless conveyor belt according to the present invention taken out from the air suction paper conveying device, and FIG.
a) is a plan view of the endless conveyor belt, FIG. 5(b) is a side view of the endless conveyor belt of FIG. 5(a), and FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b) are views of the air suction nozzles. 6(a) is a side view of the air suction nozzle, and FIG. 6(a) is a side view of the air suction nozzle;
The bottom view of the air suction nozzle in a), FIGS. Fig. 7(a) is a side view of the air suction nozzle, and Fig. 7(b) is a bottom view of Fig. 7(a). 10... Air suction paper conveyance device 22... Air suction box 24... Air suction head 28... Support plate 32... Endless conveyor belt 34... Drive roller 36... Followed roller 38... Drive shaft 48... Shaft 50... Air suction hole 54・56...Air suction nozzle

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Air suction holes (50) are formed in each of the plurality of endless conveyance belts (32) in the length direction thereof, and air is sucked into the inner surface of the paper conveyance side running portion of each endless conveyance belt. Suction nozzle (54
. The endless conveyor belts are disposed line-symmetrically on both sides of the paper conveyance path, and the conveyance directions of the endless conveyor belts on both sides of the center line of the paper conveyance path form an angle such that they diverge from each other toward the paper conveyance direction. An air adsorption type paper conveying device characterized by: