JPH06340347A - Transfer material conveyor and image former - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent any conveyor failure of a transfer material from occurring by installing at least one air discharge part outside the area of a conveyor belt back face on a conveyor base. CONSTITUTION:At least one endless conveyor belt 2 with plural pieces of holes 2a and a conveyor system body 20 stretching this conveyor belt 2 rotatably both are installed there. In this connection, this conveyor body 20 is provided with a conveyor base 1 equipped with at least one air suction part 21 in a position to be opposed to a back face of the conveyor knelt 2 and a fan 7 drawing air from the air suction part 21. Especially, at least one air discharge part 22 is installed at the outside of the back face of the conveyor belt 2. With this constitution, air is discharged out of this air discharge part 22 and it is made so as to be drawn as in the past on the conveyor belt 2, so that any possible sticking of a transfer material due to an electrostatic action on the conveyor base 1 is thus prevented from occurring.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to a transfer material transporting apparatus for transporting a transfer material from an image forming apparatus to a fixing position in an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic system or an electrostatic recording system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, an image carrier formed on a rotating cylinder such as a photosensitive drum or on an endless belt is continuously run to form a toner image on the surface photosensitive layer through a predetermined process. An image forming apparatus configured to obtain an image by transferring this toner image onto a sheet-like transfer material such as paper by using a transfer means has been already proposed, and has been conventionally known in this technical field.

In such an image forming apparatus, the transfer material on which the toner image is transferred is conveyed by a transfer material conveying device to a fixing device for fixing the image transferred on the transfer material.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional transfer material conveying device. As shown in this figure, the transfer material conveying device has a transfer material conveying member having a plurality of holes 102a, for example, a conveyor belt 102 which is an endless belt-like elastic member, a pulley 103 for rotating the conveyor belt 102, and a drive pulley 104. , A carrier base 1 holding a gear 106 for transmitting rotational drive, a pulley 103 and a drive pulley 104
01, a transport fan (not shown), the transport belt 102 is continuously run, and transfer is performed by suction from a suction port 108 by a transport fan arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the transport belt 102 on the back side of the transport belt 102. A material that is held and conveyed is more frequently used than before.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the transfer surface of the transfer belt 102 and the surface of the transfer base 101 are close to each other. Therefore, as shown in FIG. Transport base 1 as well as surface
The surface 01 is also brought into sliding contact and conveyed. Therefore, the transport base 101
Since the transfer material 112 is electrostatically attached to the top and the transfer material 112 sticks to the transfer base 101, and the electrostatic attraction force on the transfer base 101 becomes stronger than the transfer force of the transfer belt 102, so that the transfer force of the transfer material transfer device is increased. Of the transfer material 11
2 may be skewed on the transfer material conveying device, or the transfer material may be delayed, resulting in conveyance failure.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a transfer material conveying device in which a transfer material conveying defect does not occur.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus in which the transfer material is not poorly conveyed.

[0008]

To achieve the above object, in the present invention, at least one endless conveyor belt having a plurality of holes and at least one conveyor belt rotatably stretched. And a conveyance base having the at least one air suction unit at a position facing the back surface of the conveyance belt, and a fan that sucks air from the air suction unit. In the transfer material transporting device including the above, at least one air discharge portion is provided on the transport base outside the region of the back surface of the transport belt.

The air suction unit has a suction port opened on the carrier base and a suction duct that connects the suction port and the fan, and the air discharge unit is on the carrier base. And at least one outlet opening outside the rear area of the conveyor belt, and an outlet duct that communicates the outlet with a fan and sends the air sucked from the suction outlet to the outlet. Preferably.

Further, it is preferable that the air suction unit includes a suction port shutter that can open and close the suction port, and the air ejection unit includes a discharge port shutter that can open and close the discharge port.

It is also possible to have such a sheet conveying device and image forming means for forming an image on a sheet and sending it to the sheet conveying device.

[0012]

According to the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, at least one air discharge portion is provided outside the area of the rear surface of the conveyor belt on the conveyor base, so that the air is discharged from the air discharge portion and the conventional conveyor belt is used. By suctioning through, the sticking of the transfer material due to the electrostatic action on the transport base is prevented.

When the air suction unit has a suction port and a suction duct, and the air discharge unit has a discharge port and a discharge duct, the air sucked from the suction port is discharged. Since it is possible to discharge the transfer material, it is possible to prevent the transfer material from sticking to the transfer base by using a fan that sucks the transfer material onto the transfer belt.

When the air suction section is provided with a suction port shutter and the air ejection section is provided with a discharge port shutter,
It is possible to adjust the amount of air for suction and discharge, which makes it possible to always maintain an optimum transport state.

[0015]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an example of an image forming apparatus in which the transfer material conveying device is used. As shown here, the transfer material conveying device 15 is located between the image forming means 16 and the fixing means 17.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a transfer material conveying device that best shows the features of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 is a transportation base. Two
Is a transfer belt which is a transfer material transfer member having a plurality of holes, and is an endless belt-like (endless) elastic member. The transport belt 2 has a plurality of holes 2a. 3 is a pulley for rotating the conveyor belt 2. Reference numeral 4 is a drive pulley. Reference numeral 5 is a drive shaft, and 6 is a gear. The drive pulley 4, the drive shaft 5, and the gear 6 rotate integrally. Reference numeral 7 denotes a conveyance fan as a fan, which is located on the back side of the conveyance belt 2. The pulley 3, the drive pulley 4, the drive shaft 5, and the transport fan 7 are held by the transport base 1. Reference numeral 8 denotes a suction port, and 9 denotes a discharge port, which are all on the transport base 1 and are connected to the transport fan 7 by a suction duct 10 and a discharge duct 11, respectively. The suction port 8 is provided in a portion where the transport belt 2 travels, and the discharge port 9 is provided at a position deviated from the position where the transport belt 2 travels. Although the discharge port 9 is sandwiched between the suction ports 2 in FIG. 1, the suction port 2 may be located at any position outside the region where the transport belt 2 travels and where the transfer material passes. It is not limited to 1.

A carrier body 20 is constituted by the carrier base 1, the pulley 3, the drive pulley 4, the drive shaft 5, the gear 6, and the carrier fan 7.

Further, the suction port 8 and the suction duct 10 constitute an air suction section 21, and the discharge port 9 and the discharge duct 11 constitute an air discharge section 22.

The transfer material on the transfer material transfer device is a transfer belt 2.
Is transported in the direction of arrow B by rotating in the direction of arrow A. On the other hand, the transport fan 7 sucks air from the suction port 8 to the transport fan 7 side. The sucked air is guided from the suction port 8 to the discharge port 9 through a discharge duct 11 provided separately from the suction duct 10 and is discharged from the discharge port 9.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view from the direction C of the transfer material conveying device shown in FIG. Air moves in the direction D from the suction port 8 and flows into the transport fan 7 side.
Air moves from the conveying fan 7 to the discharge port 9 side in the E direction, and air is discharged from the discharge port 9. Therefore, the transfer material to be transported on the surface of the transport belt 2 is attracted to the transport belt 2 by the suction force of the transport fan 7.

On the other hand, since air is ejected from the part of the transport base 1 where the discharge port 9 is located, the transfer material in that part receives a force in the direction away from the transport base 1 due to the expelling force of the air. As a result, the sliding contact between the transfer base 1 and the transfer material is eliminated, and only the transfer force of the transfer belt 2 acts on the transfer material and the transfer material is transferred to the fixing device 17 side without causing a transfer failure.

Another embodiment is shown in FIG. There are various thicknesses and materials of transfer material conveyed in the image forming apparatus.
The sticking to the above-mentioned transport base 1 is slightly different depending on the type of the transfer material. Therefore, it is preferable that the suction force and the discharge force on the transport base 1 can be adjusted by the transfer material. Reference numeral 13 is a suction port shutter, and 14 is a discharge port shutter. The suction port 8 and the discharge port 9 respectively operate independently or in conjunction with each other to open and close the suction port 8 and the discharge port 9. The drive means is driven by a motor or the like (not shown).

When the thickness of the transfer material is thin or soft, the suction force to the transport base 1 is large, so that the force is increased as the area of the suction port 8 and the discharge port 9 is smaller. Therefore, the shutters 13 and 14 move in the closing direction. The shutters 13 and 14 may be opened and closed by another means for automatically detecting the type of the transfer material, or the type of the transfer material used by the user may be appropriately selected.
You can move 4. By opening and closing the shutters 13 and 14, the air amounts of the discharge port 8 and the suction port 9 are adjusted, and the suction force and the discharge force are changed, respectively, so that the optimum conveying force is always maintained even when the transfer material type is different. Is possible.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By providing at least one air discharge part on the transfer base outside the area of the back surface of the transfer belt, air is discharged from the air discharge part and suction is applied on the transfer belt as in the conventional manner, so that the electrostatic charge on the transfer base is reduced. The sticking of the transfer material due to the action is prevented. This prevents the transfer material from being poorly conveyed.

When the air suction unit has a suction port and a suction duct and the air discharge unit has a discharge port and a discharge duct, the air sucked from the suction port is discharged. Since it is possible to discharge the transfer material, it is possible to prevent the transfer material from sticking to the transfer base by using a fan that sucks the transfer material onto the transfer belt.

When the air suction section is provided with a suction port shutter and the air ejection section is provided with a discharge port shutter,
It is possible to adjust the amount of air for suction and discharge, which makes it possible to always maintain an optimum transport state.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a transfer material conveying device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the same device.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a transfer material conveying device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus to which a transfer material conveying device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional transfer material conveying device.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of the operation of the device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Conveyance Base 2 Conveyor Belt 2a Hole 7 Conveyor Fan (Fan) 8 Suction Port 9 Discharge Port 10 Suction Duct 11 Discharge Duct 13 Suction Port Shutter 14 Discharge Port Shutter 20 Conveyor Main Body 21 Air Suction Part 22 Air Discharge Unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An endless at least one conveyor belt having a plurality of holes, and a conveyor main body for rotatably stretching the at least one conveyor belt, the conveyor main body comprising: A transfer material transporting device comprising: a transport base provided with at least one air suction unit at a position facing the back surface of the transport belt; and a fan that sucks air from the air suction unit, The transfer material transporting device is characterized in that at least one air discharge portion is provided outside the area of the back surface of the transport belt. 2. The air suction part has a suction port opened on the carrier base and a suction duct communicating the fan and the fan, and the air discharge part is on the carrier base. And at least one outlet opening outside the rear area of the conveyor belt, and an outlet duct that communicates the outlet with a fan and sends the air sucked from the suction outlet to the outlet. The transfer material conveying device according to claim 1. 3. The transfer material conveying device according to claim 2, wherein the air suction unit includes a suction port shutter that can open and close the suction port, and the air ejection unit includes a discharge port shutter that can open and close the discharge port. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: the transfer material conveying device according to claim 1; and an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet and sends the image to the sheet conveying device.