JPH0543092A - Arranging device for form - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To avoid excessive form-advancing action in order to prevent damage to a form by arranging a detecting means for oblique delivery of the form at the place where an obliquity roller is arranged and stopping the action of the obliquity roller when a signal indicating the completion of the oblique delivery is received. CONSTITUTION:When a form is delivered toward a arranging device 1, since an delivering mode is set at an ordinary carrying mode, pinch rollers in carrying roller devices 5 to 7 are raised to nip the form, and the form is delivered along the straight direction of the form carrying passage. When the tip part of the form is detected at a part of the arranging device 1 by an oblique-delivery- starting-sensor S, the delivering mode is switched to an oblique advancing mode. Then, the nip by the carrying rollers 5 to 7 is cancelled, and the form is nipped by obliquity rollers 10, 11, so that the form is delivered obliquely toward a side guide 3. Thus, the form Pa, the side of which is pushed by the side guide 3, is detected by oblique-advancement-stopping-sensors S1, S2, which are attached to the side and cancelled guide 3, its nip by the obliquity rollers, thereby accomplishing the matching of the form by the carrying roller.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention has a skew roller device arranged in a sheet conveying path of an electronic copying machine, a printer or the like, and skews along a reference line formed on one side of the sheet conveying path. The present invention relates to a device for obliquely feeding and aligning a sheet by a roller device, and in particular, a device for detecting the completion of skewing at a position corresponding to the skew roller device and arranging a means for canceling the nip by the roller device is provided. The present invention relates to a device for preventing the effect of an oblique movement.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus such as an electronic copying machine, cut sheets stored in a sheet feeding tray or the like are sent out by using a sheet feeding device, and an image recording unit is provided by a conveying roller device arranged in a sheet conveying path. After the toner image is transferred to, the fixing action is applied to make a copy. In the image forming apparatus as described above, for example, in the state where the aligning means of the paper is arranged in the upstream portion of the image transfer portion from the photosensitive drum or the like, and the paper is aligned with the reference line set in the paper transport path, It uses a means to send it out.
Further, in an apparatus such as an electronic copying machine, even when a document is conveyed, an alignment mechanism is provided in the document conveyance path so that the document can be aligned when the document is conveyed toward a reading position. There are also cases.

As described above, as a sheet aligning device provided in the sheet conveying path, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 55-11.
A skew roller device as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 586 or the like is used. In the above-mentioned conventional example, the skew roller device is arranged at a predetermined position of the sheet conveying path, the sheet is obliquely fed by the skew roller device, and the sheet is positioned along the reference line arranged on the side of the sheet conveying path. It is carried in the state where it was. Further, as an example of the oblique feeding mechanism using the oblique roller device, for example, as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-202544, the oblique roller device is arranged in the sheet conveying path, It is known to use a means for carrying a sheet toward an image scanning position while positioning a sheet by a line roller device.

As the oblique feeding device shown in the above-mentioned conventional example, for example, a device configured as shown in FIG. 9 can be used. In the aligning device 1 shown in FIG. 9, a large number of transport roller devices 5 to 7 are arranged with respect to a paper transport path 2 for transporting paper, and a side guide 3 is provided on one side of the paper transport path. Two skew roller devices 10 and 11 are arranged as a skew roller device for obliquely feeding the sheet toward the side guide 3. In the same manner as in the case of a general roller device, the transport roller device includes a drive roller and a pinch roller so as to sandwich a paper path,
They are arranged facing each other vertically.

While the sheet is nipped between the upper and lower rollers constituting the above-mentioned conveying roller device, the sheet is conveyed, and the skew start sensor S detects the leading edge of the sheet at the aligning device. After that, the nip by the transport roller device is released, and the sheet is nipped by the skew roller devices 10 and 11, so that the sheet is obliquely fed. Then, the sheet is obliquely fed toward the side guides 3 by imparting a conveying action by the skew roller device, and the side surface of the sheet is regulated along a reference line set by the side guides 3, I will send it to the next process. Further, in order to perform the above-described operation, in the aligning device 1, the skew feeding start sensor S arranged at a position corresponding to the skew feeding roller device, and the leading edge portion of the sheet is moved by the skew feeding start sensor S. At the time of detection, the program of the control device is set so as to switch the nip between the two types of roller devices, that is, the transport roller device and the skew roller device.

[0006]

In the aligning device as shown in the prior art, the side portion of the sheet is pressed by the side guide when the sheet is obliquely fed toward the side guide by the skew roller device. Even in this state, the operation of the oblique feed is continued in the section of the matching device. In addition, for example, a state in which a sheet conveyed in the sheet conveyance path is not obliquely fed in a direction away from the reference line during conveyance, and the side portion of the sheet matches the reference line defined by the side guide. Even when the sheet is conveyed by, the aligning device gives the aligning action to the sheet. Therefore, even when the sheet is conveyed in a normal state, when the skew feeding operation is performed by the skew roller device, an unnecessary unnecessary action is applied to the sheet. become.

However, when the sheet is in a state of being strongly pressed toward the side guides by the skew roller device arranged in the aligning device, the sheet is relatively weak like airmail sheet. In such cases, the effect of the oblique feeding by the skew roller device is strongly generated. Then, in the aligning device, there arises a problem that a side portion of the sheet pressed by the side guide buckles or a corner portion of the leading edge of the sheet bends. Therefore, the above-described effect of the oblique feeding by the skew roller device is excessively added, and for a sheet whose side portion is buckled, an obstacle such as a jam of the sheet may occur during the subsequent conveyance. In addition, there arises a problem that an image to be recorded on a sheet is not formed at an accurate position.

In addition to the sheet conveying path for forming the recording sheet as described above, also in the apparatus for conveying the original document toward the image scanning section, similar to the aligning apparatus, a means for aligning the sheets is provided. When it is arranged, the same effect as in the case of recording paper occurs. In particular, in the case of an original, the original is often set in the paper feed unit of the image reading device in a state where thick paper for writing and thin paper for drawing are mixed. If the strength of the skew roller device or the like is set so that the aligning action for a relatively thick sheet can be satisfactorily performed among these originals, for thin sheets, There is a problem that the influence of such buckling appears remarkably, and a defect occurs in the image information read by the image reading device.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the problems of the conventional sheet aligning device as described above, and a means for detecting the end of the oblique feeding is arranged in the aligning device to provide the skew roller. The skew roller device as a device performs skew feeding, detects the state where the side of the paper is positioned by the side guides, and provides a means to prevent the excessive feeding action of the skew roller device to damage the paper. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device that can prevent such a situation.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a state in which a conveying roller device and a skew roller device are arranged with respect to a sheet conveying path, and these roller devices are nipped with respect to a sheet, and a nip state. The state of releasing the paper can be set arbitrarily, and the paper is guided to the side guide by nipping the paper with the skew roller device in the state of releasing the transport roller device only when the width of the paper is adjusted. The present invention relates to a device for obliquely feeding toward. In the present invention, a detecting means for detecting the oblique feeding of the paper is arranged at a position where the oblique feeding roller device is arranged with respect to the side guide, and a signal indicating that the oblique feeding is completed is obtained through the detecting means. In this state, a control means for stopping the operation of the skew roller device is provided.

Further, in the sheet aligning apparatus of the present invention, as the oblique feeding detecting means, two sensors are arranged at positions close to the side guides, and the upstream portion of the detecting means is conveyed. The sensor on the downstream side can be arranged at a position corresponding to the oblique feeding start position of the paper so that the paper can be detected. Further, in the present invention, the side guide may be formed by bending a sheet metal into a groove shape, and the end portion of the side guide may be arranged so as to extend to the position of the sensor on the downstream side.

With the above-described structure, in the sheet aligning apparatus of the present invention, for the sheet conveyed in the sheet conveying path, the side portion of the sheet is provided on the side guide at the aligning unit. Positioning can be easily detected by the skew feeding completion sensor, and the operation of feeding the sheet toward the side guide can be adjusted. Also,
Since the paper is not fed too obliquely toward the side guides, even when using weak paper, the sides and corners of the paper will not be bent and the paper will not be fed later. It is possible to prevent problems from occurring.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The sheet aligning device of the present invention will be described with reference to the illustrated example. The examples shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are:
1 shows a case in which an aligning device 1 is arranged on a sheet conveying path in an image forming apparatus. The aligning device 1 is arranged at a position just before an image recording portion of the sheet conveying path, as in the conventional example. To be done. In the aligning device 1, the transport roller devices 5 to 7 for transporting the paper are arranged at a predetermined interval with respect to the paper transport path 2 and are obliquely placed at predetermined positions between the transport roller devices. The row roller devices 10 and 11 are arranged. The transport roller device and the skew roller device are shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the drive roller and the pinch roller are combined.

The pinch rollers 5a to 7a and 10a and 11a can be moved between a position shown by a solid line and a position shown by an imaginary line by driving means (not shown). It is provided in. Then, the pinch roller is pressed against the drive roller so that the sheet can be conveyed or obliquely fed while the sheet is nipped. Further, the drive rollers provided in the transport roller device and the skew roller device may be configured as a device that is always driven, but the drive roller is driven only when the pinch roller is pressed against the drive roller. It can also be configured as a device for driving the roller.

In the aligning device 1, the pinch roller of the conveying roller device and the pinch roller of the skew roller device are interlocked with each other for each type of roller device.
It is configured to perform a nip operation with respect to a sheet. Then, the feeding operation by the conveying roller device and the oblique feeding operation by using the skew feeding roller device are performed alternately so that the feeding operation for the sheet and the diagonal feeding operation are performed separately. Configured to get. Further, in the aligning device 1 provided with the roller device as described above, the side guides 3 are arranged along the reference line of the sheet conveying path, and the skew roller devices 10 and 11 are used to direct the sheet toward the side guides. Skew feed to align the paper.

Further, in the aligning apparatus 1, the skew feeding completion sensors S1 and S2 are arranged at predetermined positions of the side guide 3, and the detection signals from the skew feeding completion sensors are used to detect the side of the sheet. The position of the section is detected. The skew completion sensors S1 and S2 are arranged at a position close to the reference line set by the side guide (for example, a position separated by about 1 to 2 mm), and a detection unit such as a photo sensor is provided. Can be used. While the detection signals for the side portions of the paper are output from the two skew completion sensors S1 and S2, the AND signals of both sensors are taken to detect the completion of the paper alignment. To do so.

In the aligning apparatus 1 of the present invention configured as described above, the operation for aligning the sheets is performed as shown in the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 3
The control steps shown in the flowchart shown in FIG. 2 and the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be described in correspondence with each other. When the sheet is sent toward the aligning apparatus 1, the normal conveyance mode is set. Therefore, as in step a-1, in the transport roller devices 5 to 7, the pinch rollers are raised to nipping the paper, and the paper is transported in the straight direction of the paper transport path. On the other hand, in the skew roller device, the pinch roller is lowered, so that the sheet is not nipped with respect to the sheet. Then, as indicated by the symbol P, the paper in the paper transport path 2 is transported in the paper transport path in a slightly skewed state, and is transported to the alignment position as it is.

In the alignment device 1, when the leading edge of the sheet is detected by the skew start sensor S (step a-2),
It is possible to switch to the mode for feeding the paper diagonally. And
In step a-3, the operation of releasing the nip of the sheet in the transport roller device, nipping the sheet in the skew roller device, and obliquely feeding the sheet toward the side guide 3 is performed. In this state, the sheet in the state indicated by the symbol P is subjected to the oblique feeding operation by the skew roller device until it reaches the position indicated by the symbol Pa. As described above, the paper Pa whose side is pressed by the side guide
Is the skew completion sensors S1 and S provided on the side guide 3.
2 is detected (step a-4). Step a-
When the two skew feeding completion sensors S1 and S2 detect the sheet at 4, the control device determines that the skew feeding of the sheet is completed by the detection signals from the two sensors. Then, as shown in step a-5, the nip of the pinch roller of the skew roller device is released, the pinch roller of the conveying roller device is raised, and the pinch roller performs the action of feeding the paper, thereby aligning the paper. The action ends.

As described above, by performing the action of aligning the sheets, a signal that the sheet is detected by the skew feeding start sensor S arranged corresponding to the aligning device 1 is provided as in the case of the conventional apparatus. Then, the conveyance of the sheet by the conveyance roller device is stopped and the sheet is obliquely fed by the skew roller device. However, in the aligning device of the present invention, when the state in which the side portion of the sheet is positioned with respect to the side guide 3 is detected by the two skew feeding completion sensors,
It is determined that the aligning action on the sheets is completed, and the operation of the oblique feeding by the skew roller device is stopped. And
After the paper is aligned along the reference line, the paper is switched to the conveyance state by the conveyance roller device so that the paper can be prevented from being excessively fed toward the side guide. Therefore, as described above, by switching the transporting action by the two types of roller devices, even when aligning a weak paper or the like, the side portion of the paper sliding on the side guide is not broken, The operations of conveying and aligning the paper can be performed in a stable state.

In the aligning apparatus of the present invention having the above-described structure, the skew feeding completion sensor S1 arranged corresponding to the side guide 3 has the sheet Pa at the skew feeding completion position T as shown in FIG. When it arrives, the trailing edge of the sheet is set to a position that can be detected by the sensor. Further, the sensor S1 needs to be set at a position where two sensors can accurately detect the minimum size sheet used in the image forming apparatus. Further, among the two skew completion sensors, the downstream sensor S2 can be arranged along the skew start line T1 set by the skew start sensor S as shown in FIG. ..

In the aligning apparatus shown in FIG. 5, the sheet P conveyed in the sheet conveying path 2 is detected immediately or after a predetermined time has elapsed by using the information detected by the skew start sensor S. After that, the driving by the transport roller device is stopped, and the oblique feeding operation by the skew roller device is started. After that, when it is detected that the alignment of the sheets has been completed by the two skew completion sensors arranged corresponding to the side guides, the operation of the skew with respect to the sheets is ended.

In the aligning apparatus 1, the side guides arranged on one side of the sheet conveying path 2 are formed by bending a sheet metal such as a thin stainless plate as shown in the sectional view of FIG. 6 or 7. You can do it. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the side guide 3 is formed in a substantially U-shape, and the side portion of the sheet is inserted into the groove 3a, and the side of the sheet is inserted in the groove set as the reference line. By pressing the side portion of the sheet, the sheets are aligned. Further, in the example shown in FIG. 7, the side guide 4 is formed by bending a sheet metal into a substantially V shape, and the sheet is inserted into the groove 4a, and the inner part of the groove is set as a reference line. , Align the paper with the reference line. The side guide used in the present invention is made of any hard metal plate having a property of being hard to be worn even when a paper is slid, in addition to stainless steel, and is formed by bending the plate member. You can

As shown in FIG. 8, the side guide used in the aligning device of the present invention can have a terminal portion located upstream of the end portion T on the side where skewing is completed. To the position downstream from the skew completion sensor S
2 can be arranged. As described above, even when the end portion of the side guide is finished upstream of the skew feeding completion sensor, the action of aligning the sheets can be performed without any trouble, and the action of aligning the sheets is completed. Can be detected by two sensors. The aligning apparatus of the present invention configured as described above is arranged in front of the image transfer section of an electronic copying machine or the like, and the image reading section of the image reading section with respect to the document feeding path of the image reading apparatus. It is also possible to provide it in the upstream part of.

[0024]

Since the sheet aligning device of the present invention is configured as described above, two types of roller devices, that is, a transport roller device and a skew roller device are provided for the aligning device portion. By arranging them and switching the transporting action by these roller devices and the action of the oblique feed to operate them separately, the aligning action with respect to the sheets can be performed in a good state. Further, in the apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to confirm that the side portion of the sheet is positioned by the side guide in the aligning device portion with respect to the sheet conveyed in the sheet conveying path.
It can be easily detected by the information from the two skew feeding completion sensors, and the operation of feeding the sheet toward the side guide can be adjusted. Further, in the aligning device of the present invention, since the paper is not excessively obliquely fed toward the side guides, even when weak paper or the like is used, the side or corner of the paper may be bent. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a trouble in the subsequent conveyance of the sheet.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a configuration of a matching device of the present invention.

2 is a side view of the device shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a control operation at the time of transporting a sheet in the aligning device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing another embodiment of the matching device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing another embodiment of the matching device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a side guide used in the aligning device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing another configuration of the side guide.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram when changing the position of the side guide in the aligning device.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a conventional matching device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Alignment device, 2 Paper conveyance path, 3 Side guides, 5-7 Conveyance roller device, 10/11 Skew roller device, S Skew start sensor, S1 and S2
Skew completion sensor.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A conveyance roller device and a skew roller device are arranged on a paper conveyance path, and a state in which these roller devices are nipped with respect to a sheet and a state in which the nip is released can be arbitrarily set. In the device for releasing the nip by the conveying roller device, nipping the sheet by the skew roller device, and feeding the sheet obliquely toward the side guide, only when performing the action of shifting the width of the sheet. At the position where the skew feeding roller device is arranged with respect to the side guide, a detecting means for detecting the oblique feeding of the paper is arranged, and the oblique feeding is performed in a state in which the signal indicating the completion of the oblique feeding is obtained through the detecting means. A sheet aligning device comprising a control means for stopping the operation of the roller device. 2. As the oblique feed detecting means, two sensors are arranged in a position close to a side guide, and an upstream part of the detecting means can detect the smallest size sheet to be conveyed. The sheet aligning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the downstream sensor is disposed at a position corresponding to a diagonal feed start position of the sheet. 3. The side guide is formed by bending a sheet metal into a groove shape, and an end portion of the side guide is arranged so as to extend to a position of a downstream sensor. The sheet aligning device described in 1.