JPH02305772A - Sheet carrying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance processability for a device jammed with sheets by providing a carriage unit in such a way as to be movable to the direction opposite to that of delivery while the sheets are delivered to a sheet housing means, thereby providing a wide work space for users above the sheet housing means. CONSTITUTION:A carriage unit 1 or 2 holding a sheet S moves the sheet S to the delivery direction so as to delivery it onto a sheet housing means 183 at a specified position by means of carriage rollers 20 and 23 or 57 and 59. In this case, the carriage units 1 and 2 are moved to the direction opposite to the sheet delivery direction while the sheet S is being delivered. This enables the sheet S to be delivered out of the tip end position of the sheet housing means 183, thereby letting the sheet S be stably delivered to the sheet housing means 183.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (A) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a sheet conveyance device, and more particularly, to a conveyance bus for a duplex unit installed in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine.

(B) Conventional technology Conventionally, as a recording device such as a copying machine or a printer, there has been an automatic duplex copying machine using an electrostatic recording method, and the configuration of the apparatus that performs automatic duplexing of this copying machine can be broadly classified into two types. be done.

The first automatic double-sided configuration is the copying machine P2 shown in FIG.
The basic configuration is an S-shaped path arranged in the .

In the figure, an original is placed on a platen 152 disposed at the top of a copying machine main body 151 of a copying machine P2, and the original is scanned by an optical system 156 in the copying machine main body 151 to an image forming section 157. A latent image is formed by exposing the photosensitive drum. By developing this latent image,
A toner image is formed in the image forming section 157. The copying machine main body 151 is provided with a plurality of cassettes 159, 160 for storing sheets S, a manual feed cassette 161, etc., and a cabinet 162 in which the copying machine main body 151 is placed. A large number of sheets S are also stored in the section 163. These sheets S are fed to a paper feed section 1 consisting of rollers, separation rollers, etc. provided in each cassette.
The paper is fed by 65.

A toner image is transferred to the sheet S fed by a paper feeding unit such as a paper feeding unit 165 in a transfer unit 166 of an image forming unit 157, and then transferred to a fixing unit 169 by a conveyor belt 167.
After the toner image is fixed by heating and pressurizing the sheet S conveyed to
71 and is discharged onto the discharge tray 172.

Here, when performing double-sided copying in which images are formed on both the front and back sides of one sheet S, or multiple copying in which images are formed by overlapping two or more original images on one side of one sheet S,
The sheet S on which the toner image is formed on the first surface is not discharged outside the machine, but is guided to the branch bus 175 via the flapper 173. First, in the case of double-sided copying, sheet S is 8 character bus 17
6, the paper is discharged onto the intermediate tray 179 by the final discharge roller pair 177. Further, during multiple copying, the paper is discharged onto the intermediate tray 179 from the middle of the eight-character bus 176 via deflecting members 180 and 181 located midway through the eight-character bus 176. Sheets S stacked on intermediate tray 179
The image is separated from the lower side and fed, and after passing through the paper refeed bus 182, the image is transferred again at the transfer unit 166 for double-sided copying or multiple copying.

The second automatic double-sided configuration is the copying machine P3 shown in FIG.
The basic configuration is a C-shaped bus located in the center.

In the same figure, when performing double-sided/multiple copying, the device with the C-shaped bus configuration forms an image on the first side, similar to the device with the basic configuration of the S-shaped bus described above. The sheet S is transferred to a branch bus 175 via a flapper 173.
be led to.

During double-sided copying, it is necessary to stack the sheets S on the intermediate tray 183 with the image side obtained by the first transfer facing upward, so the sheets S are once conveyed to the switchback bus 186 via the flapper 185, where After being switched back, the sheet is sent to a conveyance section 187 above an intermediate tray (sheet storage means) 183. Then, the sheet S is transferred to the conveying section 18
7 predetermined deflection members 189, 190 or the most distal discharge roller 191 onto the conveying section 183. At the time of multiple copying, the sheet S is directly discharged onto the intermediate tray 183 from a predetermined position of the conveying section 187 without sending the sheet S from the flapper 185 to the switchback path 186.

5. A deflection plate 189 that makes it possible to switch the discharge position to a plurality of locations in order to provide an appropriate discharge position depending on the size (length) of the sheet S for both double-sided copying and multiple copying.
190 is arranged above the intermediate tray 183.

(c) Invention or problem to be solved However, the copying machine P2 that constitutes the above-mentioned S-shaped bus
In the case of
The disadvantage is that the size of 2, especially the height dimension, is very large.

Furthermore, due to the long conveyance path, there are many locations where jamming must be done when a jam occurs, making the jamming operation time-consuming.

Furthermore, during double-sided copying, the sheet S discharged to the intermediate tray J779 is placed between the inclined surface of the intermediate tray 179 and the sheet S.
Since alignment in the sheet feeding direction was carried out with the expectation of a certain amount of movement due to the weight of the sheet S, there is a loss time between the sheet S being ejected to the intermediate 1-lay 179 and the sheet re-feeding process being started. This problem becomes more pronounced as the number of double-sided copies of the sheet S decreases, and has the drawback of reducing the productivity of the copying machine 'P3, especially when making a single double-sided copy.

In addition, in the case of a copying machine P3 that enables double-sided copying using a C-shaped bus, when discharging a large size (A3, 84, etc.) sheet S to the intermediate tray 179, the discharge position of the sheet S is Otherwise, the leading edge inevitably tends to move away from the position of the leading edge stopper when refeeding. For this reason, due to the stiffness of the ejected sheet S or the curling of the leading edge of the sheet S, the stiffness of the sheet S may be broken or the leading edge may be curled during sheet ejection, causing the sheet S to be stacked on the intermediate tray 183. It contained extremely unstable factors in terms of gender.

Moreover, above the intermediate tray 183, small size (
Deflection plate 189 for discharge bus compatible with A4, 85, etc.
, 190, etc. are protruding, so if there is a poor conveyance on the discharge bus or within the intermediate tray 183 due to the spacing between the discharge bus and the intermediate tray 183, the jam handling performance will be significantly reduced. The problem was that it was getting worse.

Therefore, the present invention provides a reciprocating carriage unit approximately above the intermediate tray that can temporarily store sheets, and while discharging sheets from this carriage unit, moves the carriage unit in the opposite direction to the sheet discharging direction. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet conveyance device that is movable and thereby provides a stable sheet conveyance/discharge means to a sheet storage means.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances. For example, as shown with reference to FIGS. , a sheet storage means (183) disposed in the middle of the sheet conveyance path, and the sheet storage means (183).
) for conveying the sheet (S) to <20.
23) (57, 59) and the sheet storage means (18).
3) Carriage unit (1) that can reciprocate approximately above the
(2) In the sheet conveying device, the carriage units (1) and (2) include the sheet storage means (18).
3) while discharging the sheet (S) in the discharging direction (1).
7) is characterized by being movable in the opposite direction (19).

(E) Based on the operational configuration, the carriage unit (1) or (2) that holds the sheet (S) moves in the sheet (S) discharge direction, and from a predetermined position 1, the carriage unit (1) or (2)
Alternatively, the sheet is discharged onto the sheet storage means (intermediate tray 183) by (57, 59). carriage unit (1),
(2) moves in a direction (19) opposite to the sheet discharge direction (17) while discharging the sheet (S). As a result, the sheet (S) can be ejected from the tip position of (183), and the sheet (S) can be ejected from the tip position of (183).
) The sheet (S) is stably discharged.

Note that the above-mentioned symbols in parentheses are shown for reference, and do not limit the structure of the present invention in the same manner.

(F) Example Hereinafter, a first example of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 22. Components that are the same as those shown in FIGS. 28 and 29 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 shows a copying machine P to which a first embodiment of the present invention is applied;
FIG. 1 to 5, an intermediate tray ejection sensor 4 for detecting the sheet S, a pair of ejection rollers 3, etc. are arranged downstream of the flapper 185, and near the downstream side of the ejection roller 3, , a first carriage unit 1 that grips and conveys the leading edge of a sheet S as will be described later, and a second carriage unit 2 are disposed downstream of the first carriage unit 1. This carriage unit 1,
2 is a top plate 5a and side plates 5 integrally provided on both sides thereof.
It has a frame body 5 consisting of the side plates 5b and 5c.
A pair of rotatable rollers 6 is disposed on the upper outer surface of each of the rollers 5c.

The carriage units 1 and 2 operate in the longitudinal direction of the copying machine P (in the figure) by loosely fitting the pair of rollers 6 into a pair of guide rails 7.8 fixed to both side plates in the copying machine main body 151, respectively. It is movable in the left and right direction. A pair of belts 9 whose ends are connected to the side plates 5b and 5c of the first carriage unit 1 are each fixed to a shaft 11.12 and wound around a pair of pulleys 13.15,
A motor 16 that can rotate in forward and reverse directions is connected to the end of the shaft 11, and thereby the carriage unit 1
It is moved in the direction of arrow 17 or the opposite direction of arrow 19. Similarly, both side plates 5b of the second carriage unit 2
, 5c are wound around a similar pair of pulleys 13a, 15a, and are driven by another motor 16 so as to be able to reciprocate.

Both ends of the shaft 21 to which the plurality of carriage rollers 20 of the first carriage unit 1 are fixed are rotatably attached to the side plates 5b, 5c of the frame 5, and the side plates 5b,
The bases of a pair of support levers 22 are rotatably attached to both ends of the shaft 21 extending from the shaft 5c. A plurality of carriage rollers 23 that form a pair with the carriage roller 20 have shafts 26 rotatably provided on the side plates 5b and 5c.
is fixed to. Both ends of this shaft 26 are connected to the side plates 5b and 5c.
They pass through long holes 27 formed in each of the support levers 22 and are attached to the long holes 22a formed in the free ends of the support levers 22,
The lever spring 22b biases the carriage roller 23 toward the shaft 21, that is, in a direction in which the carriage roller 23 comes into pressure contact with the carriage roller 20.

The support lever 22 is biased counterclockwise in the figure by a tension spring 29 whose both ends are engaged with the measuring plate 5b and the support lever 22, and the shaft 26 is biased toward the rear end of the elongated hole 27 (in the figure). It is stationary in contact with the left edge).

In this state, the carriage roller 23 is in pressure contact with the carriage roller 20 in a vertical position as shown in FIG.

An actuation lever 30a of a deflection solenoid 30 is connected to the side edge of the support lever 22 opposite to the spring 29. When the deflection solenoid 30 is actuated at the timing described later, the support lever 22 moves around the shaft 21. arrow 31
The shaft 26 rotates clockwise as shown by , and comes to rest with the shaft 26 in contact with the front end (the right end in the figure) of the elongated hole 27 . In this state, the carriage roller 23 slightly revolves in the paper feeding direction [(to the right in the figure) while being in pressure contact with the carriage roller 20, as shown by the chain line in FIG. Due to this revolution of the carriage roller 23, the tangential direction of the contact portion of the carriage roller 20.23, that is, the discharge direction of the sheet s, is directed slightly downward.

A motor 32 for driving the carriage rollers 20° 23 is fixed to the side plate 5c of the frame 5, and a gear 33 fixed to the output shaft of the motor 32 is connected to a gear 35 fixed to the end of the shaft 21. This gear 35 meshes with a gear 36 fixed to the end of the shaft 26.

The base of an actuating member 42 is attached to a suitable position on the frame 5, and its free end extends upward from the frame 5. When the carriage unit 1 moves, the actuating member 42 is activated by a sensor to be described later. It is something that is detected. Also,
Carriage roller sensors 4 for detecting the sheet S are installed before and after the carriage rollers 20 and 23 of the carriage unit 1.
3 are arranged.

The second carriage unit 2 also has similar carriage rollers 57, 59, which are driven by the motor 16, and carriage roller sensors 60 for detecting the sheet S are installed before and after the carriage rollers 57, 59. It is arranged.

In FIG. 2, carriage units 1 and 2 and belts 9 and 9a for moving them are arranged in series as shown. Pulley 15 downstream from the vicinity of pulley 13
A microswitch 46.61 for stopping the carriage unit 1 and a microswitch 82.47 for stopping the carriage unit 2 are fixed to the support plate 67 and arranged along the line a. Notch 5d formed in the upper plate 5a of the frame 5 (see Figure 3)
It is turned ON-〇FF. Further, on the downstream side of the pulley 13, sensors 83, 85 for detecting the operating member 42 of the carriage unit 1, sensors 86, 87 for detecting the operating member 63 of the carriage unit 2, etc. are arranged fixed to the support plate 67. There is. In the above configuration, the operation when making n half-size double-sided copies (n>1) of one original will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 10. In FIG. 1, the operation from the end of single-sided copying to the sheet S until the sheet S enters the switchback path 186 is the same as the operation of the conventional C-shaped bus shown in FIG.

The first carriage unit 1 is in a position where the microswitch 46 is turned on, as shown in FIG. The switchback roller 45 and the discharge roller 3 rotate in the directions of the arrows, and the sheet S is sent to the carriage unit 1 side.
When the intermediate tray ejection sensor 4 detects the leading edge of the sheet S, the carriage rollers 20 and 23 of the carriage unit 1
are rotated in the directions of the arrows by the rotation of the motor 32, and grip the leading end of the sheet S. At this time, the carriage rollers 20 and 23 rotate together with the switchback roller 45.

When the carriage roller sensor 43 in the first carriage unit 1 detects that the leading edge of the sheet S is caught in the nip portion of the carriage roller 20.23, the motor 32 is stopped and the rotation of the carriage roller 20.23 is stopped. Stop. Next, the moving motor 16 in FIG. 3 starts rotating, and the first carriage unit 1 starts moving in the direction of the arrow 17 in FIG. 6, and moves at a speed equal to the circumferential speed of the switchback roller 45. do.

At this time, the second carriage unit 2 is at rest with the microswitch 62 turned ON.

When the notch 5d of the carriage unit 1 moving in the direction of the arrow 17 is detected by the sensor 85, the moving motor 16 of the carriage unit 1 decelerates, and the actuating member 42
When this is detected by the microswitch 61, a brake (not shown) is applied to the motor 16, and the carriage unit 1 comes to a standstill as shown in FIG. In this state, the carriage rollers 20 and 23 of the first carriage unit 1 and the carriage roller 57 of the second carriage unit 2 are
．． 59 start rotating and rotating, respectively, and insert the sheet S into the carriage unit 2.

When the sensor 60 detects that the leading edge of the sheet S is caught in the nip portion of the carriage rollers 57 and 59 of the carriage unit 2, the carriage unit 1 moves at a speed V in the direction of the arrow 19 as shown in FIG. , and the carriage unit 2 moves at a speed V in the direction of the arrow 17.
Move with.

Further, the sheet S held by the carriage unit 2 also moves at a speed V in the direction of arrow 17. Seat S at this time
Let V be the moving speed (process speed).

During the movement of the carriage unit 2, the carriage rollers 57, 59 of the carriage unit 2 remain stationary and hold the sheet S in their mouths, but the carriage rollers 20, 23 of the carriage unit 1 rotate at a circumferential speed (V+v). At this time, carriage roller 2 of carriage unit 1
A one-way clutch (not shown) is interposed in the gear 36, which is integrated with the gear 0, and there is a slight difference in the feeding speed of the sheet S, but the rotational speed of the carriage rollers 20 and 23 cannot catch up with the moving speed of the sheet S. However, the seat S will not be damaged due to the action of the one-way clutch.

As the carriage unit 2 moves, when the spark 5d of the carriage unit 2 detects the sensor 87 as shown in FIG. 9, a brake is applied to the carriage unit 2 (as shown in the diagram).
acts, and the actuating member 63 turns on the micro switch 47.
Then, the carriage unit 2 stops. Further, the deflection solenoid 30 of the carriage unit 2 shown in FIG. 5 is activated, and the carriage roller 57 revolves toward the sheet discharge side as shown in FIG. 9, with the discharge port facing slightly downward. .59 rotates in the direction of the arrow and discharges the sheet S. Carriage unit 2 is
While discharging the sheet S, it returns at a speed V in the direction of arrow 19, as shown in FIG.

At this time, the moving speed of the second carriage unit 2 is V
, the discharge speed of the sheet S is V, so the carriage rollers 57 of the carriage unit 2 have a circumferential speed '(V
+v) to rotate. When the carriage unit 2 is discharging the sheet S, the carriage unit 1 moves in the direction of arrow 17 while holding the next sheet 1-S in its mouth. When the discharge of the sheet S onto the intermediate tray 183 is completed, a solenoid (not shown) is turned on, and the transport roller 65 descends to come into contact with the sheet S. Next, the deflection solenoid of the carriage unit 2 is turned off, and the five carriage rollers return to their original positions.

1st. The second carriage unit 1.2 returns to the state shown in FIG.
The sheet S is separated from the sheet S on the intermediate tray (
(sheet storage means) 183. Intermediate tray 1
When the stacking of the sheets S on the sheet 83 is completed, the stacked sheets are aligned in the lateral direction by a width adjusting motor (not shown). Regarding the refeeding of sheets from the intermediate tray 183, it is similar to the conventional device shown in FIG. 1 sheet S by roller 66
The sheets are separated and conveyed one by one, and then the second registration roller 70
The skew of the sheet S is corrected by conveying it while forming a loop between the first registration roller 66 and the second registration roller 70 and the second registration roller 70 .

Next, use one large size sheet S for the original.
The operation when copying sheets (n>1) is shown in Figures 11 to 1.
This will be explained using Figure 5.

The second carriage unit 2 is retracted to a location away from the home position (the location where the microswitch 62 is turned on) in response to the sheet size signal. Carriage unit 1 is equipped with micro switch 4 as in the case of half size.
After the tip of the sheet S is held in its mouth by the ONL device 6, the rotation of the carriage rollers 20 and 23 is stopped, and in this state, the sheet S is moved in the direction of the arrow 17.

When the carriage unit 1 stops at the ONL position of the microswitch 61 as shown in FIG. 12, the deflection solenoid 3o shown in FIG.
0.23 points slightly downward as shown in the figure, and by rotating the carriage roller 20.23 in this state, the sheet S is discharged onto the intermediate tray 183. The carriage unit 1 moves in the direction of arrow 19 while discharging the sheet S.

In order for the carriage unit 1 to convey the sheet S at a speed V, let the moving speed of the carriage unit 1 be .
The carriage roller 20.23 rotates at a peripheral speed of (V+v). At this time, the next sheet S is switch hack path 1
86 and is gripped by the switchback roller 45. When the carriage unit 1 returns to the home position and turns on the microswitch 46, the next sheet S is transferred to the carriage roller 20.2 of the carriage unit 1.
It's stuck in 3.

The conveyance and discharge of the large size sheet described above is performed using the sheet S.
Since the pushing distance is significantly reduced compared to that of the conventional device, stable conveyance onto the intermediate tray 183 is achieved. Further, since the carriage unit 1 returns to the home position side while conveying the sheet S, the productivity of the sheet conveying device is not reduced to the same extent.

Next, based on Figures 16 to 18, for both half size and large size, when making one double-sided copy from one double-sided original, and when making one double-sided copy from two single-sided originals. I will explain.

The process up to the point where it is inserted into the first carriage unit 1 and the second carriage unit 2 via the switchback path 186 is the same as in the case of the half-size double-sided copy described above. The microswitch 47 for stopping the carriage unit 2 is connected to the operating member 75a of the solenoid 75, as shown in FIG.
When the microswitch 47 is activated, the microswitch 47 is rotated to the position shown by the chain line 47A. The second carriage unit 2 moves to a location where the microswitch 76 is turned on. During this time, the carriage unit 1 moves in the direction of arrow 19 shown in FIG.

The carriage roller 57 of the carriage unit 2 is stopped at the position of the microswitch 76. S9 rotates,
The sheet S is sent between conveyance rollers 72 disposed in the through path section 71. When the leading edge of the sheet S is detected by the sensor 73, the carriage unit 2 returns in the direction of arrow 19, and the first carriage unit 1 holds the sheet S in its mouth and moves in the direction of arrow 17, as shown in FIG. When the two carriage units 1.2 reach the transfer section where the microswitch 61.62 is located, the sheet S is transferred from the carriage unit 1 to the carriage unit 2.
hand over.

The sheet S conveyed from the through bus section 71 is conveyed while forming a loop between the conveyance roller 72 and the first roller 69 . When the sheets S are loaded onto the intermediate tray 183, the sheets S are temporarily in a free state, but when passing through the through-bath section 71, the sheets S are constantly restrained, so only one loop is formed. One time is enough.

Note that when image formation is performed on the sheet S or in the multiplex mode, the sheet S of any size is transferred to the carriage unit 1 without passing through the switchback path 186 due to the action of the flapper 185, as shown in FIG. It gets caught in the mouth.

Sheet S by carriage unit 1.2 explained above
The details of the transport and discharge operations are summarized in the flowcharts of FIGS. 20 to 22. In the figure, the symbol HP indicates the home position, and the first carriage unit 1
In the case of the second carriage unit 2, it is the place where the microswitch 46 is turned on, and in the case of the second carriage unit 2, it is the place where the microswitch 62 is turned on.

FIG. 20 shows half-size sheets S placed on the intermediate tray 183.
This is a flowchart of the operation of stacking documents on top of each other, and this is a case where n double-sided copies (n>1) are made from one document.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart for the case where the sheet S passes through the through bus, and FIG. 22 is a flowchart for the operation of loading large-sized sheets S onto the intermediate tray 183. 1) is a flowchart for making double-sided copies of item 1).

25, 23 and 24 show a second embodiment of the invention. The duplex unit of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 25 is equipped with a through-bath section 71 for making one copy from one original.

It is possible to configure the sheet conveyance device of the present invention without having this through-bath section 71, and in this case,
0 copies (n>
Similarly to case 1), even in the case of one-sheet copying from one original, the sheet S is ejected onto the intermediate tray 183 as shown in FIGS. 23 and 24.

Further, as shown in FIG. 23, a timer is used to determine when the leading edge of the sheet S passes under the feed roller 65, and the feed roller 65 is lowered by a solenoid (path shown in the figure), as shown in FIG. The feeding roller 65 and separation roller 66 are rotated at the same speed as the sheet S to feed the sheet S again. Since the separation roller 66 is separated by a torque limiter, there is no problem in conveying one sheet.

In the embodiment described above, the intermediate tray 1 of the copying machine main body 151
Although the case where the present invention is applied to No. 83 has been described, similar effects can be obtained when the present invention is applied to a circulation type document conveying device.

Here, a case will be described in which the present invention is applied to a circulating document feeder (hereinafter referred to as RDF).

FIG. 27 shows a longitudinal side view of the RDF. In the figure, a document 101 is placed on a document tray 102 with the document surface facing upward, and the document 101 is fed into the separation section B from the bottom by a half-moon roller 103 and a weight 105. The separation section B includes a separation belt 106
and a feeding roller 107, which separates the bottom sheet.

The separated original 101 enters a path 110 and hits a pair of registration rollers 109, and after forming a predetermined loop, is conveyed by the pair of registration rollers 109 to a platen 117 on the main body side. A belt 111 wound around a driving roller 113 and a driven roller 112 is arranged to face the platen 117, and this belt 111 is pressed against the platen 117 by a plurality of press rollers 115. Document 10 sent between platen 117 and belt 111
1 is conveyed to a predetermined position at the end of the platen 117 (the left end in FIG. 27) by the movement of the belt 111, and then stopped.

Here, the original 101 is read by a reading means such as an optical system of the main body of the copying machine (not shown). When the specified reading of the original 101 is completed, the belt 111 moves again and feeds the original 101 into the path 119.
01 is held in the large roller 120 and reversed, and the first
The document is transferred from the second carriage unit 121 to the second carriage unit 122, and is set on top of the stacked documents 101 with the document surface facing downward. Hereinafter, the same operation as above is performed for the remaining document 101,
One copy of the plurality of originals 101 is completed.

Note that bus 123 is a bus for reversing double-sided originals, and reference numeral 125 is a switching flapper thereof, which is not directly related to the present invention.

The first carriage unit 121 and the second carriage unit 122 are the carriage unit 1 described above.
．． It has a pair of rollers similar to 2, and can transport the original 101 between the pair of rollers, and at the same time can move in the forward and reverse directions shown by the arrows by being guided by a long hole 126 formed in the side plate of the RDF. It becomes. The first carriage unit 121 and the second carriage unit 122 make it possible to transport and discharge the original 101 while holding the original 101 between them.

Note that the detailed operation of these carriage units 121 and 122 is the same as the operation of the intermediate tray 183 in the above-described embodiment, and thereby the RDF jam handling performance can be improved in the same way as in the copying machine P. I can do it.

As explained above, according to the above-described embodiment, the mechanism for conveying the sheet is constituted by the carriage unit 1 (2) that can reciprocate above the intermediate tray 183. When a jam occurs, the jam condition of the sheet S is inferred based on the jam signal from the copying machine main body 151 and the jam position recognized by the sensor, and the carriage unit 1 is moved to a corresponding position and stands by. As a result, the upper part of the intermediate tray 183 is opened, allowing the user to easily process jammed sheets.

In addition, since the carriage unit 1 is configured to be able to be positioned at any position on the intermediate tray 183, the ejection position from the carriage unit 1 to the intermediate tray 183 can be adjusted to multiple positions in response to changes in the size of the sheet S, for example. This can be implemented without providing a deflection means, and the device can be simplified.

Furthermore, in terms of sheet stackability, for example, by controlling the discharge speed of the carriage rollers 20 and 23 in the carriage unit 1, it is possible to transport the carriage unit 1 in the opposite direction while the sheet S is being discharged.

Thereby, regardless of the size (length) of the sheet S, it is possible to bring the discharge position from the carriage unit 1 to the intermediate tray 183 as close as possible to the paper refeeding entrance.

Therefore, it is possible to suppress the degree of freedom of the sheet leading edge while it reaches the paper refeeding entrance, and it prevents loading failures due to stiffness, especially when loading large size (weak stiff) sheets S. At the same time, during double-sided copying, it is possible to prevent the sheet from getting caught between the leading edge of the next stacked sheet S and the toner state on the image surface of the already stacked sheets.

Furthermore, in the conventional stationary discharge path, it was not possible to change the sheet discharge action in response to information on the number of sheets S discharged to the intermediate tray 183. Therefore, when performing double-sided copying of a large number of sheets, the ejection conditions of the sheet S vary as the level of the topmost sheet stacking surface of the already stacked sheets changes, making it difficult to obtain stable stacking from a small number of sheets to a large number of sheets. However, in the configuration of this embodiment, the ejection position of the carriage unit 1 can be moved minutely in accordance with the sheet number information (physical properties of the sheets), and the carriage in the carriage unit 1 can be The angle of the rollers 20 and 23 can be varied in accordance with the number information (physical properties of the sheet), and the sheets S can always be stably fed into the intermediate tray 183 from the appropriate ejection position and ejection angle. It becomes possible. This allows the sheet S
The loading performance on the intermediate tray 183 is improved.

Furthermore, noises such as sudden mechanical sounds in the sheet conveyance/loading configuration device of the conventional stationary discharge bus and noises such as the rubbing noise between the guide plate and the leading edge of the sheets can be avoided by using the carriage unit conveyance/loading mechanism of this embodiment. By adopting this method, it will be dramatically reduced.

Furthermore, by moving the carriage unit 2 in the opposite direction to the discharging direction while discharging the sheet S to the intermediate tray 183, the productivity of the image forming apparatus is improved, and sagging of the sheet S can be suppressed. Loading performance is improved.

(G) As described in detail, according to the present invention, there is no longer a guide for feeding small-sized sheets, which was used in conventional devices, so that the user's work can be carried out above the sheet storage means (intermediate tray). Since the space is formed wide, it is possible to improve the jam handling performance of jammed sheets.

Further, when the set number of sheets is one, the productivity of sheet conveyance can be improved by passing the sheet through the through bus.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional side view of an image forming apparatus to which a sheet conveying device according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied, and FIG.
A side view showing the positional relationship between the second carriage unit and the microswitches and sensors that control its position. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the drive section of the first (second) carriage. FIG. 4 is a front view of the carriage. , Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the deflection mechanism of the carriage roller, Figs. 6 to 10 are operation diagrams when half-size sheets are stacked on the intermediate tray, and Figs. 11 to 15 are perspective views of the deflection mechanism of the carriage roller. FIGS. 16 to 19 are operation diagrams when setting a single sheet copy, FIGS. 20 to 22 are flowcharts of sheet conveyance and ejection operations, and FIG. A vertical cross-sectional side view of an image forming apparatus to which a sheet conveying device according to the second embodiment is applied, FIGS. 23 and 24 are operational diagrams, and FIG. 26 is a block diagram of sheet conveyance/discharge control of the present invention. FIG. 27 is a vertical sectional side view of a circulation type document conveyance device to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 28 is a vertical sectional side view of a conventional image forming apparatus having an S-shaped conveyance bus, and FIG. 29 is a vertical sectional side view of a conventional image forming apparatus having an S-shaped conveyance bus. FIG. 1 is a vertical side view of a conventional image forming apparatus having a bus. S... Sheet, P3... Copying machine (image forming device),
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...First carriage, 2...Second carriage unit, 3...Ejection roller, 46°47.61, 62.76...Micro switch, 51
．． 83, 85, 86.87...sensor, 71...
Through pass, 93...Carriage, 183...
・Middle tray. Outsourcer Canon Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. The sheet storage means is capable of storing sheets and includes a sheet storage means disposed in the middle of a sheet conveyance path, and a carriage roller for conveying the sheets to the sheet storage means. A sheet conveying device including a carriage unit capable of reciprocating substantially upwardly, wherein the carriage unit is movable in a direction opposite to the discharging direction while discharging the sheet to the sheet storage means. Conveyance device. 2. The carriage roller of the carriage unit has a rotational speed when discharging the sheet as follows: (peripheral speed of the carriage roller = sheet discharging speed of the carriage unit + moving speed of the carriage unit) The sheet conveying device described.