JPH0683132A - Intermediate tray device for image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accurately perform both actions for accumulating paper on a tray and feeding the paper by arranging a paper feeding device on the upper part of the tray in an intermediate tray device. CONSTITUTION:The paper feeding device 10 is arranged on the upper part of a tray member 2 in the intermediate tray device 1, and paper feeding operation is performed by paper feeding members 14... through many actuating arm members 13... provided in the device 10. When the paper is inserted through an entrance roller member 5, it is stopped at a position where the trailing edge thereof is projected to the entrance roller member side. In a state where the next paper is superposed on that paper, the action for carrying the paper toward a gate member is performed, so that the paper is housed in a state where the leading edge thereof is butted on the gate member. In the case of feeding the paper from the device 1, the gate member is opened and the paper is fed toward a paper feeding path 7 by the device 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an intermediate tray for temporarily storing a sheet prepared as a single-sided copy sheet in an apparatus such as an automatic double-sided copying machine and feeding the sheet toward a back side copy. A function of arranging a sheet conveying device on the upper part of the tray and accumulating sheets by the sheet conveying device;
The present invention relates to an intermediate tray device of an image forming apparatus that is capable of performing a paper feeding operation and a paper accumulation operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a device such as an automatic double-sided copying machine, a single-sided copy sheet is created in a normal copy mode for a sheet sent from a paper feed tray, and the single-sided copy sheet is temporarily stored in an intermediate tray. It constitutes the transport path. Then, the single-sided copy sheet accommodated in the intermediate tray is sent out for the back side copy operation by the sheet conveying device provided in the intermediate tray, and after transferring the toner image as in the normal copy mode. It is fixed in and discharged as a double-sided copy. In the intermediate tray provided in the automatic double-sided copying machine, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-2
As shown in Japanese Patent No. 8160 and the like, in order to guide the sheet to the tray, a plurality of branch guide members are used. In the above-mentioned conventional example, since the leading end of the sheet is inserted in contact with the gate member provided on the tray, the sheet aligning and stacking operations can be performed in a good state.

However, in the paper feed tray as shown in the above-mentioned conventional example, since a large number of gate members and transport roller members are arranged above the tray, the structure of the paper transport device is complicated. There is a problem of becoming. Further, since a large number of gate members and the like are switched according to the paper size, the control operation is troublesome. Therefore, in place of the intermediate tray device, it has been considered to use a device that can simplify the configuration of the paper transporting device and can easily carry out the operation of accommodating and feeding paper.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, for example, JP-A-58-181063 and JP-A-2-18267.
As shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-242242, it is conceivable to use a paper transport path or a paper transport device as an intermediate tray member. In the above-mentioned conventional example, when the sheets are stacked on the intermediate tray member in a state of being displaced by a predetermined length, and when the sheets are fed toward the copy on the back side, the sheets from the leading edge of the sheet are sequentially transferred. It is made possible to send out. Therefore, as in the prior art example, by stacking the sheets in a state in which the leading end portions of the sheets are displaced, it is possible to exert the advantage that double feeding does not occur during sheet feeding.

[0005]

However, as described above, in the method in which the sheets are stacked on the intermediate tray member in a shifted state, for example, large-sized sheets such as B4 size and A3 size are used. Requires a very large space to accommodate. Therefore, providing such a tray member to a conventional device such as an electrophotographic copying machine has a problem that the device becomes large. In addition, if a general electrophotographic copying machine is equipped with the above-mentioned mechanism, there is a problem that the number of sheets of paper that can be accommodated is limited.

Further, when the paper is stored in the intermediate tray member in a state where the paper is misaligned, when the paper jam processing is performed, the storage attitude of the paper stored in the intermediate tray member is disturbed. Occurrences may occur. And
When double-sided copying is continuously performed, there is a problem that it is necessary to perform the copying work again, waste of paper occurs, and extra work is forced on the operator.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the problems of the conventional intermediate tray as described above. The sheet conveying device is arranged on the tray to simplify the attachment mechanism of the tray, and the sheet conveying device is also provided. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus capable of performing a sheet aligning operation and a feeding operation.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an intermediate tray device provided with a mechanism for aligning and storing single-sided copy sheets on one side of which an image is formed and sending them out toward the back side copy. . In the intermediate tray device of the present invention, with respect to the tray member, an inlet roller member for introducing the paper, a gate member for locking and stopping the leading end of the paper,
And a device for transporting a sheet on the tray member, and providing a control means for transporting the inside of the tray member in a state where the leading end of the sheet to be stored next overlaps the trailing end of the preceding sheet, The sheet is stacked on the tray member, and the sheet is stacked on the tray member to feed the sheet.

Further, in the intermediate tray device of the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the paper conveying device provided for the tray member is a drive shaft arranged at a predetermined interval in the paper conveying direction within the tray member. A sheet accommodated in a tray member, and an operation arm member provided so as to be swingable with respect to each of the plurality of drive shafts, and a sheet conveying member arranged at an end of the operation arm member. It is possible to configure a mechanism that conveys the sheet while aligning it toward the stop position by the gate member. Further, in addition to the above-mentioned configuration, in the present invention, the tray member is composed of two tray members, and the conveyor belt device is arranged for each of the tray members, and the tray member is separately moved up and down. It is possible to configure a mechanism that is provided with a moving mechanism to drive the tray member to move up and down in accordance with the information on the sheet size, and to perform a sheet storing operation and a sheet feeding operation.

As described above, in the present invention, the paper transporting device is arranged above the tray so that the paper stored in the tray is easily regulated and stored by the paper transporting device. The function of feeding paper can be easily performed. Further, in the intermediate tray device of the present invention, it is possible to simplify the mechanism of the sheet conveying device, and does not require a large space even for a large size sheet,
It is possible to accurately perform the accommodating operation and the sending-out even for the curled sheet.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An intermediate tray device of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the illustrated example. In the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in front of and behind the tray member 2 of the intermediate tray device 1, there are an entrance roller member 5 for accommodating single-sided copy sheets, and a discharge roller for sending out the sheets on the back side for copying. The member 6 and the member 6 are arranged so that the paper is sent out toward the paper feed path 7. The sheet conveying device 10 arranged above the tray member 2 has upper belt devices 12 and 12a for transmitting driving force, and a shaft 1 that supports pulleys of the upper belt devices 12 and 12a, respectively.
1, 11a, 11b with respect to the operating arm members 13, 1
3a ... are provided so as to be swingable.

Then, the operating arm members 13 and 13a
The sheet conveying members 14 and 14 arranged at the end portions of.
a ... constitutes a mechanism for transporting the paper along the tray member 2. In the intermediate tray device 1, a paper sensor S is arranged downstream of the entrance roller member 5 to detect the leading end and the trailing end of the inserted paper,
The conveyance of the sheet conveying device 10 is controlled. As shown in detail in FIG. 2, the sheet transporting device 10 is arranged between the shafts 11 and 11a and the shafts 11a and 11b arranged at a predetermined interval in the length direction of the tray member 2. Two upper belt devices 12 and 12a are arranged to drive respective shafts. Also, for each axis,
A plurality of actuating arm members 13, 13a ... Are provided so as to be swingable, and sheet conveying members 14, 14a.

In the illustrated example, the actuating arm members 13 ... are arranged by combining arm members each having a fulcrum with respect to the shaft 11 ... And a driving belt member. The leading end of the member is the paper transport member 14
, And the sheet conveying member 14 is brought into contact with the sheet so as to exert the conveying action. Then, while the front end portion of the operating arm member 13 ... Is pressed against the paper, it exerts a conveying action on the paper, and as the paper is accumulated on the tray member 2, the paper conveying members 14 ... Make sure that it gradually rises.
In the tray member 2 shown in FIG. 2, one side portion thereof is set as a reference line 3 and the reference line and the gate member (shown in FIG. 5) arranged at the tip of the tray are set. , When the paper is restricted, B5, A4, B4, A
Paper of each size such as three sizes is regulated in the illustrated state.

In the intermediate tray device 1 using the sheet conveying device 10 of the present invention configured as described above, the action of depositing sheets is performed in the state shown in FIGS. In the intermediate tray device 1 of the present invention, when the first sheet P1 is stored, the first sheet P1 has a rear end portion until the front end portion of the second sheet P2 overlaps by the distance L. It is stopped with the position regulated. Then, the sheet in the tray is advanced after the sheet stopped on the tray member is overlapped by the distance L. When the paper is further supplied to the tray, as shown in FIG. 4, the paper P3 and P4 are conveyed on the tray in such a manner that they are sequentially overlapped with a certain gap.

As described above, when the sheet is moved on the tray member 2 and the leading end of the sheet comes into contact with the gate member 4 as shown in FIG.
It is stopped at the position regulated by. Then, the sheet fed in after that is aligned in a state where the leading end portion is in contact with the gate member 4 even in the state where there is a predetermined gap in the middle part, and the sheet conveying member provided in the operation arm member. However, by being driven in accordance with the transport mode program set in the control device, the transport of the paper on the tray member and the stacking of the paper are performed. Therefore, by stacking the sheets on the tray member as described above, finally, as shown in FIG. 6, all the sheets are aligned with the leading end portions pressed against the gate member 4. To act.

After that, when the back side copy mode is set, the gate member 4 is retracted from the regulation position for the sheets accommodated in the intermediate tray device 1 and the sheet conveying member 1 is moved.
When 4 is driven, the sheets on the accumulated sheets are sequentially sent out toward the sheet conveying path. As described above, in the intermediate tray device 1, when the sheets are stacked on the tray member and when the sheets are sent out from the tray member, the sheet conveying device 10 can be driven to perform the conveying action on the sheets. Further, in the paper transporting device of the present invention, the operating arm members for carrying out the transporting operation on the paper are provided so as to be swingable independently of the axes.

Therefore, in any case of pressing the paper conveying member with respect to a portion where a large amount of paper is accumulated and a portion such as the entrance portion of the tray member where the paper is small, the conveyance action for the paper is performed. It can be done in good condition. In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the operation arm member 1
For example, a roller member may be used as a member for carrying a sheet at the leading end of 3 ..., and the constituent members of such a sheet carrying device may be those having an arbitrary mechanism. Further, the actuating arm member 13 of the present invention is constituted by combining the driving belt member and the acting arm member, but these members can be constituted by any mechanism.

Further, in the intermediate tray device 1 of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, the paper transporting device 10 disposed above the tray member 2 has the upper surfaces of the upper belt devices 12 and 12a as a paper transporting path. be able to. And
A sheet is guided from the entrance roller member 5 to the upper surfaces of the upper belt devices 12 and 12a via a switching gate (not shown), and a curved guide 15 provided at the end of the sheet conveying device 10.
And the tray member 2 through the pressing roller 16. In that case, each drive mechanism of the sheet conveying device is driven in the direction opposite to the case where the sheet is directly accommodated in the tray member 2 from the entrance roller member 5, and the tray member is driven in the state of reversing the sheet. It can be deposited. Furthermore, as described above, even when the sheet is accommodated in the tray member in the state of being reversed, the transport mode for the sheet on the tray member 2 is set such that the sheet accommodated in the tray member is not accommodated later. It is possible to set a mode in which the sheet is conveyed to a predetermined position by the sheet conveying member after the sheets are in a state of being overlapped by a predetermined length.

[0019]

Another Embodiment of the Present Invention In the intermediate tray device 20 shown in FIG. 7, the two tray members 21 and 22 are formed as separate members, and the tray members 21 and 22 can be independently moved up and down. It is configured to be possible. Also, the above 2
Conveying belt devices 23 and 24 are arranged above the two tray members 21 and 22 so as to carry out the function of conveying the sheets on the tray members. Further, an inlet roller member 25 and a gate member 26, and a discharge roller member and a sheet conveying path (not shown) are arranged in the front and rear portions of the intermediate tray which is a combination of the two tray members.
Then, every time a sheet is inserted into the intermediate tray, the two conveyor belt devices arranged on the tray member are driven in conjunction with each other, and the sheet is accumulated in the intermediate tray.

In the intermediate tray device, the tray members 21 and 22 for supporting sheets are provided with a tray drive device 30 as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. The tray drive device 30 shown in FIG. 8 is provided with a drive motor 31 such as a stepping motor, and a pulley 32 and a drive gear 34 with respect to the shaft of the drive motor. Then, the conductive belt 33 driven through the pulley 32.
Is used to drive the four shafts arranged in the lower part of the tray member, as shown in FIG. 9, and the shafts supporting these trays are driven in conjunction with each other to keep the tray members in parallel. Up and down.

In FIG. 8, the driven gear 35 is meshed with the drive gear 34 provided on the shaft of the drive motor, and the driven gear 35 is engaged with the screw shaft 36 which is provided so as to project below the tray member. It works to move up and down. Also,
With respect to the screw shaft 36, tray support members 38 and 39 are arranged at the upper and lower positions of the drive unit by the gear 35 to support the screw shaft. The tray support member 39
A spring 37 is arranged between the gear 35 and the gear 35, and the position of the gear 35 is regulated by the spring 37. Then, as the sheets are deposited on the tray member, the drive motor 31 is driven to gradually lower the tray member so that the sheets fed by the conveyor belt device can be stacked and accommodated. it can. Further, even when the paper is sent out from the tray member, the drive motor 31 is driven in the opposite direction to raise the tray member and feed the paper toward the back side copy.

Next, in the intermediate tray device 20 shown in FIG. 7, the operation of accommodating a large size sheet will be described with reference to FIG.
It will be described according to 0-12. In the example shown in FIG. 10, when the sheet P1 is carried in by the entrance roller member 25, the conveyance belt devices 23 and 24 are applied to the sheet P1.
Are driven in conjunction with each other, and the drive of the conveyor belt device is stopped at the position where the rear end of the sheet is detected by the sensor S.
Then, as shown in FIG. 11, the sheet P2 to be accommodated next is fed onto the preceding sheet P1 in a state where the leading end portion is overlapped by the interval L, and is advanced by the conveyor belt device. Simultaneously with the action of stacking the sheets, the two tray members 21 and 22 are simultaneously driven in the lowering direction, and the tray members are sequentially lowered in accordance with the thickness of the sheets to be stored. As described above, the sheets fed into the intermediate tray device are sequentially stacked with the leading end portion of the sheets abutting the gate member 26 as shown in FIG. 12, and the positioning action is performed.

After that, when the back side copy mode for feeding the paper from the intermediate tray is set, as shown in FIG. 12, the gate member 26 is swung to the position shown by the chain line, and the leading edge of the paper P is reached. The restrictions on the department are lifted. Then, the two conveyor belt devices 23, 24 on the tray member
Is driven in the direction for feeding the paper so that the paper on the tray member is fed from the upper one. Corresponding to the paper feeding operation, the tray members 21 and 22 are gradually raised to set a state in which the upper surface of the paper is pressed against the conveyor belt device to assist the paper feeding operation. Further, the discharge roller member 27 arranged on the feeding side of the intermediate tray device can be configured as a device which also functions as a paper separating mechanism, and even when the paper is fed out in a double feeding state by the feeding belt device, the paper feeding is performed. Only feed one sheet of paper toward the road. Further, a sensor S2 is arranged downstream of the discharge roller member 27,
When the rear edge of the sheet is detected by the sensor, the conveyor belt device is driven to perform the feeding operation for the next sheet.

[0024]

[Operation of storing and feeding small size paper] FIG. 7
In the intermediate tray device 20 of the present invention shown in FIG. 7, when accommodating a small size sheet, the operation of accommodating the sheet in the tray member is performed as shown in FIGS. When accommodating a small size sheet in the intermediate tray device, first, when the size of the sheet corresponds to one tray member, first, only the conveyor belt device 23 corresponding to the tray member 21 is driven. Then, the sheet P1 is received. Then, the first sheet P1
Stop at the position where the rear end projects to the rear by the length L,
When the next paper P2 is received and the two papers are overlapped with each other by a constant distance L, the two conveyor belt devices 23, 2
4 to drive the paper forward.

Further, when the sheets are accommodated, as shown in FIG. 14, the sheets are moved toward the gate member 26 in a state where the sheets are superposed at a predetermined interval, and the tray member is moved in parallel with the conveying action. 22 is sequentially lowered, and the paper is transferred to the tray member 22 with the leading end being locked by the gate member 26.
Deposit on top. When a large number of sheets are accommodated on the tray member 22 as described above, as shown in FIG. 15, with the tray member 22 alone supporting the sheets, the sheet gradually descends, and the last sheet of paper is received. When the sheet is positioned on the sheet 22, the operation for accommodating the sheet is completed.

When all the one-sided copy sheets are accommodated in the intermediate tray device and the automatic two-sided copying machine is switched to the backside copy mode, the gate member 26 is released as shown in FIG. . After that, the paper supported on the tray member 22 of the intermediate tray device is
By the operation of driving the conveyor belt device 24 in the direction of feeding the paper and the operation of raising the tray member 22, the action of feeding the paper toward the paper conveyance path is performed. As described above, when all the sheets placed on the tray member 22 are discharged, the two tray members 21 and 22 arranged in the intermediate tray device have the same height as shown in FIG. Then, the printer is stopped and waits for the next single-sided copy sheet to be stored.

In each of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, the sheet conveying device arranged on the tray member corresponds to the sheet size according to the program of the control device set in the intermediate tray device. The drive mode is set. And the size of the paper used for double-sided copying is
In response to the input to the control device, drive control is performed for the paper transport device provided in the intermediate tray device, and the operation of depositing paper on the tray member is performed. Further, even when the paper is sent out from the intermediate tray, when the leading edge of the sent-out paper is detected by the discharge sensor S2, the driving of the paper carrying member or the carrying belt device is stopped and the paper is sent only by the discharging roller member. Any control method such as switching to the operation can be used.

[0028]

Since the intermediate tray device of the image forming apparatus of the present invention is constructed as described above, in the present invention, the paper transporting device is arranged above the tray which constitutes the intermediate tray device. As a result, the sheets to be accommodated in the tray can be easily regulated and accommodated by the sheet conveying device, and the function of feeding the sheets from the tray can be easily performed. Further, in the apparatus of the present invention, the mechanism of the sheet conveying apparatus can be simplified, and even for a large size sheet, a space for a large intermediate tray device is not required, and a curled sheet can be removed. In contrast, the accommodating operation and the sending operation can be performed accurately.

Therefore, in the intermediate tray device of the present invention, it is possible to store the sheets and to feed the accumulated sheets by means of the sheet conveying device, the conveying belt device and the like, and the sheets of any size can be conveyed. In contrast, the control operation corresponding to the size can be accurately performed. Further, in the intermediate tray of the present invention, even if the paper is curled, it is conveyed in the tray while pressing the paper, and when accommodating the paper, stacking is performed in a state where the paper is overlapped by a predetermined distance. Therefore, it is possible to favorably handle the paper.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an intermediate tray device of the present invention.

2 is a plan view of the intermediate tray device shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of accommodating sheets in the intermediate tray device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a process in which sheets are being accumulated.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which the leading edge of the sheet is deposited in contact with the gate member.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which all sheets are stored.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a second embodiment of the intermediate tray device of the present invention.

8 is a side view of a tray driving device for the tray member of FIG. 7. FIG.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement relationship of drive members with respect to the tray member of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a first sheet has been inserted into the intermediate tray device shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which a second sheet is stored.

12 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which a sheet is sent out from the intermediate tray device shown in FIG.

13 is an explanatory diagram of a first step of accommodating a small-sized sheet in the apparatus of FIG. 7.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a process in the middle of storing a small size sheet on a tray member.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which the leading end portion of a small size sheet is regulated by a gate member and accommodated.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 intermediate tray device, 2 tray members, 4
Gate member, 5 entrance roller member, 6 discharge roller member, 10 sheet conveying device, 12 upper belt device, 13 working arm member, 14 sheet conveying member, 20 intermediate tray device, 21/22 tray member, 23/24 conveying belt device , 30 tray drive device, 31 drive motor, 33 conductive belt, 36 screw shaft.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An intermediate tray device having a mechanism for accommodating and storing single-sided copy paper having an image formed on one surface thereof, and feeding it toward a copy on the back surface, the paper is introduced into a tray member. An entrance roller member, a gate member that locks and stops the leading end of the sheet, and a device that conveys the sheet on the tray member are provided. Providing a control means for conveying the inside of the tray member in a state of being stacked on the rear end portion,
An intermediate tray device of an image forming apparatus, comprising means for depositing paper on a tray member and for feeding paper from above the paper deposited on the tray member. 2. A sheet conveying device provided for the tray member has a drive shaft arranged at a predetermined interval in the sheet conveying direction in the tray member, and a drive shaft provided for each of the plurality of drive shafts. Consists of a swingable operating arm member and a paper transport member arranged at the end of each of these operating arm members, and aligns the paper stored in the tray member toward the stop position by the gate member. The intermediate tray device of the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate tray device is conveyed while being conveyed. 3. A tray member is composed of two tray members, a conveyor belt device is arranged for each of the tray members, and a vertical movement mechanism is separately provided for each of the tray members. The intermediate tray device of the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tray member is driven to move up and down according to the information, and an operation of storing a sheet and an operation of feeding the sheet are performed.