JPH06156776A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the smooth jam processing by permitting a jam generation place to be confirmed by eyes, by opening a guide means and releasing the pressure supplied from a separating means, in interlocking with the opening of the upper part unit of an image forming device in the half-divided constitution. CONSTITUTION:When a transfer material 13 stops at a part of a transport passage because of a certain reason, an upper part unit 1 which is axially supported on a lower part unit 8 is opened in an crocodile clip form by a hinge 16. Then, a U-turn guide part constituted of a U-turn guide 4 and a link part 3 is opened by a projection part 2 formed on the upper part unit 1. One edge of the U-turn guide 4 is in a pulled state by a lower part unit 8 by a pulling spring 17, and the spring 17 acts in the extension direction by the projection 2 formed on the upper part unit 1. In this case, a pad supporting plate 18 pressed by the U-turn guide 4 is opened, having the supporting plate 18 as turning center, by the return force of a pad spring 7 in a compressed state, and the separating pad is separated slightly from a paper feeding roller 5. Accordingly, the jam processing can be carried out easily.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which a paper passing portion is opened in association with an operation of opening an upper unit of a main body having a two-part construction of an upper unit and a lower unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus having a two-divided structure, an upper unit as a second unit is opened for jam processing and other maintenance of a process section for image formation. Then, when the upper unit is in an open state (hereinafter referred to as an alligator open state), it is possible to remove the paper accumulated in the paper transport unit.

However, it is not possible to see the whole of the paper transport unit, and the paper is housed in the fixing unit for fixing the toner on the transfer material after forming the image in the process unit, or in the lower unit as the first unit. If the paper stays in the paper feed unit as the feeding unit or the U-turn guide unit as the guide unit that feeds the paper as the transfer material in the cassette to the transport unit, remove the cover or unit covering that part. There was a need.

For example, if it is confirmed that there is no jammed paper in the conveyance section that can be visually recognized after opening the upper unit, whether a U-turn guide for making a U-turn of the paper of the cassette is opened or there is no paper left in the cassette part I was checking.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned conventional example has the following drawbacks.

When there is no transfer material in the conveying section that is visible when the upper unit is opened, it is necessary to further open the U-turn guide or release the pressure of the sheet feeding section to perform the jam treatment, and various treatments are required. You have to do it one by one.

A tray, an overhung upper unit, and the like are arranged around the U-turn guide and the paper feed unit, and opening and closing of the guide and release of the paper feed pressure are laborious works.

The transport section is composed of a sheet feeding section, a reversing section, a transport section which can be seen by opening the upper unit, a fixing section, and the like.
Even if the transfer material jammed in the transport unit of the upper unit can be touched, the transfer material may be caught in another portion and jam processing cannot be performed smoothly. Therefore, it is necessary to open each transport unit while checking whether or not it is caught somewhere during jam clearance.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to perform processing such as separating the separating means when a jam occurs or separating the guide means from the conveying path. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that does not have to be performed one by one.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a feeding means for feeding a transfer material and a separating means for contacting the feeding means to separate a plurality of transfer materials. And a first unit that guides the transfer material fed by the feeding unit in a direction different from the feeding direction and forms a part of a conveyance path, and the first unit. And a second unit openably and closably connected to the guide unit by a connecting unit, the separation unit being separated from the feeding unit when the second unit is opened, and the guide unit. Is provided with an interlocking mechanism for separating from the conveyance path.

[0011]

In the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, the interlocking mechanism for separating the separating means from the feeding means and separating the guide means from the conveying path when the second unit is opened is provided. In the case of a jam in which the transfer material cannot be found in the transport path that is visible when the second unit is opened, the second unit does not need to perform processing such as separating the separating means or separating the guide means from the transport path one by one. The process of separating them is performed via the interlocking mechanism only by opening the.

[0012]

(First Embodiment) FIGS. 1 and 2 are sectional views showing an embodiment of the present invention. The transfer material 13 housed in the cassette 12 is fed to the paper feeding roller 5 as a feeding means, and then one transfer material separated by the paper feeding roller 5 and the separation pad 6 as a separating means is The U-turn guide 4 and the U-turn roller as guide means for guiding the transfer material 13 fed by the paper feed roller 5 and a direction (U-turn direction) different from the feeding direction of the transfer material 13 and forming a part of the conveyance path. The image is transferred between the transfer roller pair 15 while being nipped and conveyed to the image forming unit 14 and then to the image forming unit, and is conveyed by the conveying belt 10 through the conveying path 9 and the fixing unit 11 to transfer the image to the transfer material 1.
It is fixed at 3 and discharged.

At this time, when the transfer material 13 is stopped in a part of the above-mentioned transport path 9 for some reason, the jam processing is performed as follows.

A hinge 16 as a connecting means opens an upper unit 1 as a second unit pivotally supported by a lower unit 8 as a first unit into an alligator shape as shown in a sectional view of FIG. . The protrusion 2 provided on the upper unit 1 opens the U-turn guide portion including the U-turn guide 4 and the link portion 3. The U-turn guide 4 has one end pulled to the lower unit 8 by a tension spring 17 and the protrusion 2 provided on the upper unit 1 to the spring 17.
Operates in the stretched direction. At that time, U-turn guide 4
The pad support plate 18 held by is returned to the open state as shown in FIG. 2 with the support shaft 19 as the center of rotation by the returning force of the compressed pad spring 7. Then, the separation pad 6 is slightly separated from the paper feed roller 5.

When the upper unit 1 is closed again as shown in FIG. 1, the sheet feeding roller 5 and the separation pad 6 are pressed, the U-turn guide 4 is returned to its original position, and the cassette 1 as described above is used.
The transfer material 13 housed in 2 is nipped and conveyed.

Further, the U-turn guide portion constituted by the link member 3 and the U-turn guide 4 is provided with a stopper 3b made of a torsion spring or the like without the upper unit 1 being opened.
The U-turn guide 4 and the link member 3 can be moved separately by removing them from b and 4a and releasing them, and only the U-turn guide 4 can be rotated to open and close.

Incidentally, the projection 2, the link portion 3, the stopper 3
b, the spring 17, the pad spring 7, the pad support plate 18, and the support shaft 19 constitute the interlocking mechanism R. By adopting these configurations, the following effects were obtained.

The opening and closing of the U-turn guide 4 and the release of the pressure of the separation pad 6 to the paper feed roller 5 can be performed only by opening and closing the upper unit 1 during the jam processing, so that the jam processing can be performed without troublesome work. I can do it.

In particular, when the upper unit 1 is opened, the U-turn guide 4, which makes it difficult for the jam to be removed by the upper unit 1, is rotated in the downward direction close to the cassette 12 side, thereby further improving the jam removing property. .

Another embodiment of the present invention will be described below. The components designated by the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment indicate the same components as those in the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted. (Second Embodiment) FIGS. 3 and 4 are sectional views of the second embodiment. The rack 22 that meshes with the pinion gear 21 provided coaxially with the rotation axis of the upper unit 20 as the second unit moves upward as the upper unit 20 opens. Along with this, the pinion gear 23, which is coaxial with the rotation center of the U-turn guide portion and meshes with the rack 22,
Rotates and the U-turn guide 24 as a guide means opens. Further, since the pinion gear 25, which is coaxial with the rotation center of the separation pad 26 as the separation means, also engages with the rack 22, the separation pad support plate also rotates as the rack 22 moves upward, and the separation pad 26 becomes Paper feed roller 2
Go away from 5. Then, when the upper unit 20 is closed, the separation pad 26 is pressed against the paper feed roller 5 again, and the U-turn guide 24 is closed. With this configuration, the rack 22
With the simple structure of the pinion gear 25, it is possible to release the feeding pressure and open / close the U-turn guide 24 without using a spring or the like.

Here, the interlocking mechanism R is constituted by including the pinion gear 21, the rack 22, the pinion gear 23, and the pinion gear 25. It is also possible to combine the rack 22 with another separation pad portion 27b of the paper feeding portion 27a of the manual feeding portion 27 and release the pressure of the manual feeding portion 27 at the same time. (Third Embodiment) FIG. 5 shows a sectional view of a third embodiment of the present invention. Unlike the above-described embodiment, the rotation center of the upper unit 31 as the second unit is provided not on the paper feeding side but on the fixing side. When the upper unit 31 is raised, the cam 35, which has been pushed by the projecting member 31 that has been projecting from the upper unit 31 so far, retracts, so the U-turn guide arm 3
3 and the separation pad support plate 34 are retracted to the positions indicated by the solid lines in FIG. As a result, the pressure of the paper feed roller 5 and the separation pad 6 is released, and the U-turn guide 3 serving as a guide means.
4 is opened. Further, when the upper unit 31 is closed again, the projection 31 pushes the cam 32 to apply a sheet feeding pressure and the U-turn guide 34 is closed.

Here, the interlocking mechanism R is constituted by the projection member 31, the cam 32, the U-turn guide arm 33, and the cam 35.

By adopting this structure, the paper feed side, which is apt to cause a paper jam at the U-turn portion of the paper, is largely opened, and the jam handling property is further improved. (Fourth Embodiment) FIG. 6 shows a sectional view of the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Similar to the above-described embodiment, the upper unit 41 as the second unit is opened, the U-turn guide 44 as the guide means is opened to release the sheet feeding pressure, and the middle plate 42 of the cassette 12 is lowered. When the U-turn guide 44 is opened, the support plate 40 that pushes up the intermediate plate 42 pressed by the protrusion of the U-turn guide 44 is pulled by the spring 43, and the intermediate plate 42 is lowered.

With this structure, the paper feed roller 5 and
Since the pressure between the sheet feeding roller 5 and the transfer material is released in addition to the release of the pressure applied to the separation pad 6 as the separating means, the cassette 12
It is also possible to very smoothly perform the jam processing for the transfer material having the tip protruding a little from the inside and the jam processing for pulling out the cassette 12. Here, the protrusion 2,
Link member 3, spring 17, pad support plate 41a, support plate 4
0 and the spring 43 constitute the interlocking mechanism R. (Fifth Embodiment) FIG. 7 shows a partial sectional view of a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

Similar to that described in the third embodiment, the upper unit 51 as the second unit is opened and the U-turn guide 54 is opened. At this time, the pressure release lever 52, which is a part of the U-turn guide 54, pushes up the paper feed roller 55 that is urged by the main body, so that the U-turn guide 54
Before the sheet is opened, the sheet feeding roller 55, which is in pressure contact with the transfer material on the intermediate plate 56 (not shown), separates from the transfer material, and the pressure of the sheet feeding unit is released. Here, the pressure release lever 5
2, the interlocking mechanism R is composed of the spring 54 and the support portion 57.

With the above construction, the transfer material jammed in the paper feeding portion can be easily removed by separating the paper feeding roller 55 from the transfer material without pushing down the cassette middle plate 56 of a unit different from the main body construction. You can

[0028]

As described above, the guide means is opened in association with the opening of the second unit of the image forming apparatus having the two-division structure, and the pressure from the separating means of the paper feeding means is released. The location where the jam occurs can be seen at a glance, and smooth jam processing can be performed, and the jam can be reliably processed without damaging the transfer material in the invisible portion when the jam paper is pulled.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B show an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1A is an overall schematic configuration diagram of the apparatus, and FIG.
FIG.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the operation of the device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view of the same device.

5A and 5B show an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5A is an overall schematic configuration diagram of the apparatus, and FIG.
FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of a main part of an image forming apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 Paper Feed Roller (Feeding Means) 6 Separation Pad (Separation Means) 4 U Turn Guide (Guide Means) 16 Hinge (Coupling Means) 8 Lower Unit (First Unit) 1 Upper Unit (Second Unit) R Interlocking Mechanism

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location G03G 15/00 112 7369-2H

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A feeding means for feeding a transfer material, a separating means for coming into contact with the feeding means to separate a plurality of transfer materials, and a feeding means for feeding the transfer material fed by the feeding means. A first unit provided with a guide unit that forms a part of the conveyance path by guiding in a direction different from the direction in which the first unit and a second unit that is openably and closably connected to the first unit via a connecting unit. The image forming apparatus having an image, characterized in that an interlocking mechanism for separating the separating means from the feeding means and separating the guide means from the conveying path when the second unit is opened is provided. Forming equipment.