JPH043745A - Paper feeder for image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To satisfactorily maintain the conveying performance of a belt for sheets by arranging a polishing member for the feed means of a paper tackling mechanism, and polishing the surface of the feed means with the polishing member. CONSTITUTION:When sheets P are duplicatively conveyed by a nadir roller 2 in a paper tackling mechanism 5, only the uppermost sheet P1 is fed by a feed belt 6, the next sheet P2 below it and other sheets P are stopped by a retard roller 8, and the paper tackling action is performed. A polishing roller 11 is brought into contact with the feed belt 6 to polish the feed belt 6. The number of the sheets P delivered from a paper feeder 1 is counted, and the polishing action is performed for every fixed number of sheets P.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a device for polishing the surface of a rubber member such as a feed belt in a paper feeding device such as a copying machine, and in particular, the present invention relates to a device for polishing the surface of a rubber member such as a feed belt in a paper feeding device such as a copying machine. The present invention relates to a device that enables conveying force to be restored by polishing.

(Prior Art) In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, in order to send out the paper stored in a paper tray, a nudger roller is disposed at the end of the paper feeding side, and a paper handling mechanism is provided downstream of the roller. A device is used in which the paper is sent out by a nudger roller, the paper is sorted by a paper handling mechanism, and the paper is sent out one by one toward the paper path.

The paper handling mechanism is provided with a feeding means and a retarding means facing each other, and the feeding means uses a feed belt or a paper feeding roller, and the retarding means uses a roller means, a pad, etc. It will be done.

When sheets overlap and enter between the two members, an action is performed in which only the sheets on the feeding means side are sent out, and the other sheets are stopped by the retard means.

For example, as a paper feeding device as mentioned above,
There are some such as those shown in Publication No.-46453. In the conventional paper feeding device described above, a conveyance roller device is provided downstream of a paper feeding section that is constituted by a nudger roller and a paper handling mechanism.

The paper handling mechanism is composed of a feed belt and a tart roller, and the paper fed from the paper tray by the nudger roller is transferred between the belt driven in the feeding direction and the roller driven in the opposite direction. The function is to fan the paper. Further, in the conventional paper feeding device, means for removing paper dust is provided for both the nudger roller and the feed belt, so that the paper dust generated from the paper does not adhere to the surface of the conveying means. Measures are used to prevent the feed performance from deteriorating due to contamination.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the conventional device as described above, the roller member made of urethane foam or the like or the brush member removes paper powder, dirt, etc. that adheres to the surface of the roller, belt, etc. However, there is a problem that depending on such a member, the cleaning performance cannot be achieved satisfactorily.

In addition, rollers, belt members, etc. used in paper feeding devices are
The surface is made of rubber, and a problem arises in that the friction coefficient of the surface decreases due to natural chemical deterioration of the rubber member or the influence of ozone, etc.

However, even if the conventional cleaning means described above is used, it is not possible to restore the decreased coefficient of friction on the surface of the rubber member, and when the coefficient of friction of the paper feeding means decreases, the weight of the paper increases. There have been problems such as misfeeds occurring frequently due to feeding problems or insufficient feeding force.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention eliminates the drawbacks of conventionally used paper feeding devices as described above, and uses a member that polishes the rubber surface to arbitrarily polish the deteriorated surface of the paper feeding device. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a device that enables polishing during the period of .

(Means and effects for solving the problems) The present invention has the following features:
It is composed of a roller means for feeding out the paper stored in the paper tray from the upper part of the paper, and a paper handling mechanism disposed downstream of the roller means, and the mechanism is composed of a feed belt and a tart roller. Regarding a paper feeding device.

In the apparatus of the present invention, a polishing member is arranged with respect to the feeding means of the paper handling mechanism, and the surface of the feeding means is polished by the polishing member.

Furthermore, in the apparatus of the present invention, the polishing member is supported via a swinging mechanism, and the polishing member is intermittently pressed against the feeding means of the paper handling mechanism, thereby polishing deteriorated parts of the rubber of the feeding means. You can make it work.

With the above-mentioned configuration, the device of the present invention can be used even when the rubber surface of the feed belt becomes dirty or chemically deteriorates due to the influence of ozone, etc., resulting in a decrease in the coefficient of friction. By polishing the surface, the coefficient of friction can be restored, and the paper feeding performance in the paper handling mechanism can be improved.

In addition, in the present invention, since the abrasive member is pressed against the belt at an arbitrary time, the belt etc. are not worn out more than necessary, and the surface of the rubber member is cleaned and polished. This can be done well.

(Example) The configuration of a paper feeding device of an image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described according to an illustrated example. In the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, a paper feeding device 1 includes a nudger roller 2 and a paper handling mechanism 5. Nearby, they are brought into contact with a predetermined pressing force by a pressing means (not shown).

Further, the paper handling mechanism 5 includes a feed belt 6 that is driven in the paper feeding direction, and a retard roller 8 that is in contact with the lower surface of the belt. In the embodiment of the present invention, the retard roller 8 is held at a fixed position when paper handling is performed, but is rotated at a predetermined timing so that the roller surface is evenly distributed. It is configured so that it is in contact with the belt in a state where it is in contact with the belt.

The feed belt 6 has front and rear rollers 7 in the feeding direction.
7a, one roller is driven,
The drive is performed while a predetermined tension is applied by the other row.

In the paper feeding device 1 configured as described above, the polishing device 1o is provided with the polishing member in contact with the upper portion of the feed belt 6.

The polishing device 10 includes a polishing roller 1 pressed against a belt.
1, a support arm 13 supporting the polishing roller, and
It is composed of a solenoid 15 and a spring 17 for swinging the support arm, and is configured to swing the support arm 13 about a support shaft 14.

The solenoid 15 is of a type called a keep solenoid, and when the solenoid 15 is on,
The spring 17 acts to pull up the end of the support arm 13, biasing the support arm 13 counterclockwise about the shaft 14, and pressing the roller 11 against the feed belt 6. Further, the solenoid 15
is off, the support arm 13 is swung clockwise about the shaft by the solenoid, so the roller 11
is held at a position away from the belt 6.

As the polishing roller 11 of the present invention, any member can be used as long as it can perform a polishing action on a feed belt made of a rubber-like elastic body, such as a file or a grindstone. .

In the embodiment of the present invention, a roller-shaped grindstone is used, and the polishing roller 11 is attached to the shaft 12 via a one-way clutch means 12a. When the belt is polished by the polishing roller 11, the polishing roller is held in a state in which it does not rotate in the rotational direction of the belt.

Further, a contact member 19 is disposed above the roller in the swinging direction, and when the support arm 13 swings clockwise, the polishing roller 11 moves to the contact member 19 as shown in FIG.
The roller is slightly rotated counterclockwise about the shaft 12. Therefore, each time the solenoid is turned on and off, the polishing roller 11 is rotated little by little, and the next time the polishing roller is pressed against the feed belt, the same portion is pressed against the belt. There will be no debris, and the polishing action will be better performed.

In the paper feeding device 1 of the present invention configured as described above, when feeding paper from the paper tray, the solenoid 15 is turned off as shown in FIG. 2, and the polishing roller 11 is supported by the solenoid. support arm 13
is swayed. Then, with the polishing roller 11 separated from the feed belt 6, each drive device of the paper feeding device is activated and set to a state in which paper can be fed.

Therefore, in the above-mentioned state, the paper feeder! 1, the nudger roller 2 is used as in the conventional paper feeding device.
performs the action of sending out the paper P from the top of the tray,
When the sheets are carried out in a double-feed state, the sheet sorting mechanism 5 performs a sorting operation on the sheets.

In other words, in the paper handling mechanism 5, when the nudger roller 2 carries out the paper in a multi-feed state, only the top paper P1 is fed by the feed belt 6;
The lower paper P2 and the lower paper are stopped by the retard roller 8, and a paper sorting operation is performed. In addition, in the paper feeding device of the image forming apparatus of the present invention described above, the operation of bringing the polishing roller 11 into contact with the feed belt to perform polishing is performed, for example, by counting the number of sheets of paper fed out from the paper feeding device. This can be done every fixed number of sheets (1 to tens of thousands of sheets). Furthermore, a program can be set in the control device to polish the surface of the belt for a certain period of time after a misfeed occurs, and the polishing can be performed according to the program.

As described above, when polishing the surface of the feed belt using a polishing device, it is possible to utilize the time during which the image forming device is warmed up after the image forming device is powered on.

By continuing to press the polishing roller 11 against the feed belt 6 for a certain period of time while driving the feed belt of the paper handling mechanism, it is possible to easily remove deteriorated portions of the belt surface. Become.

Further, in the polishing apparatus of the present invention, as the polishing roller serving as the polishing member, a member that performs the same function as a file or a grindstone can be used, as described above. For example, it is possible to use a grindstone member formed into a roller shape, a roller member in which grindstone powder, etc. is dispersed in a rubber-like member, or the like.

Furthermore, as the means for rotating the polishing roller of the present invention, any drive mechanism other than that shown in the embodiments can be used. Furthermore, the driving means can be similarly applied to rubber rollers other than belts.

(Effects of the Invention) Since the paper feeding device of the image forming apparatus of the present invention has the above-described structure, by using a polishing device with a relatively simple structure, paper conveyance means such as a feed belt can be easily removed. It is possible to cope with a decrease in conveyance force, and to maintain good conveyance performance of the belt for paper.

With the above-described configuration, the device of the present invention can polish the surface of the feed belt even if the surface of the rubber has been chemically degraded or the friction coefficient has decreased due to the influence of ozone, etc. This allows for good paper feeding performance.

In addition, in the present invention, since the abrasive member is pressed against the belt at an arbitrary time, the belt etc. are not worn out more than necessary, and the surface of the rubber member is cleaned and polished. This can be done well.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the configuration of a paper feeding device of an image forming apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the state of paper feeding by the paper feeding device. Reference numeral 1 in the figure: Paper feeding device, 5: Paper handling mechanism, 6: Feed belt, 8: Retard roller, 10: ...polishing device, 11...
... Polishing roller, 15 ... Solenoid, 17
······spring. sect

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A paper feeding device comprising a roller means for feeding the paper stored in a paper tray from above, and a paper handling mechanism disposed downstream of the roller means, wherein the paper handling mechanism comprises: 1. A paper feeding device for an image forming apparatus, characterized in that a polishing member is arranged with respect to a feeding device, and the surface of the feeding device is polished by the polishing member. (2) The abrasive member is supported via a swing mechanism, and the abrasive member is intermittently pressed against the feeding means of the paper handling mechanism to polish deteriorated portions of the rubber of the feeding means. A paper feeding device for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1.