JPH07330226A - Paper storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify a paper resupply structure and reduce cost and space by setting a first side guide to a position where it is larger than the width of paper when paper is stored and positioning paper in the horizontal direction by moving paper to a second side guide at the time of paper resupply. CONSTITUTION:A first side guide 11 is movably provided in the orthogonal direction to a direction in which paper P is fed. When paper P is stored, a first side guide 11 is positioned at a place which is the width of paper P plug alphafrom a side registering target position of paper P. At the time of paper resupply, it is moved in the direction of a fixed second side guide 12 as shown by a solid line position from a broken line position. Paper P is discharged from a discharge roll onto an intermediate tray 1 and moved in the direction of the first side guide 11 (position of paper P') by an aligner roll 4. Paper P is moved to the side registering target position, that is, a condition in which the paper P is sandwiched by two side guides, by the first side guide 11 before the paper resupply is started.

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 such as a copying machine or a printer, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus having a function of performing image recording on the same sheet a plurality of times, and a sheet after image recording is performed. The present invention relates to a paper storage device that stores paper, aligns the paper in the lateral direction, re-feeds the paper, and sends the paper to the image forming unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A sheet accommodating device (hereinafter referred to as an intermediate tray) used in a double-sided mode and a composite mode accommodates a sheet after the first transfer, and the sheet is re-fed at a transfer timing. Be delivered to. At that time, it is known that the lateral misalignment of the paper occurs. In an image forming apparatus that feeds paper by corner registration, which aligns the paper in the lateral direction, when the paper that has been transferred and fixed in the printing unit is stored in the intermediate tray, the side of the stored paper There is some misalignment in edge registration (side registration). Conventionally, as a technique to overcome the misregistration of side registration (hereinafter referred to as side registration), the transferred paper is conveyed in an oblique direction and the side registration of the paper is once separated from the abutting member at the target position. Then, it is known that the sheet is conveyed in an oblique direction toward the abutting member or the like located at the target position of the side register.

[0003]

However, changing the side registration of the sheet as described above requires a relatively long conveyance path, which hinders lateral miniaturization of the apparatus. In addition, the paper storage position in the intermediate tray is set to a position that allows the side registration misalignment when accommodating paper in the intermediate tray, and the paper is re-fed with the side registration misalignment and conveyed to the transfer unit. There is also a method of correcting the paper by feeding it obliquely on the road, but this also requires a relatively long conveyance path, which hinders downsizing of the apparatus in the lateral direction. Further, in the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-45811, the sheet stacking unit and the side guide are integrated, the tray position is set to a position in consideration of the misregistration of the side registration of the sheet at the time of storage, and the stacking unit is set after the end of storage. It moves at a right angle to the paper conveyance direction and moves to an optimum position for re-feeding a bundle of paper before the start of re-feeding. However, this stacking unit is larger than the paper size that can be sent by the apparatus, and the mechanism required to move it is large and costly. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper storage device that simplifies the paper re-feeding structure, saves cost, and saves space.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is equipped in an image forming apparatus having a function of performing image recording on the same sheet a plurality of times, and accommodates the sheet after the image recording. In a sheet storage device that re-feeds the sheet and sends it to the image forming unit, a first side guide movably arranged in a direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction and a side edge of the sheet when storing the sheet are provided. The first side guide, means for aligning with the first side guide, a second side guide arranged at a sheet side end position at the time of re-feeding, and a first drive means for operating the first side guide, The side guide is set to a position larger than the width of the sheet when the sheet is accommodated, and the sheet is moved to the second side guide for re-feeding to align the sheet in the lateral direction.

Another aspect of the invention is characterized in that, in the invention described in claim 1, any one of the following configurations is provided. (1) The second side guide is disposed so as to be retractable with respect to the sheet placement surface, and second drive means for operating the second side guide to be retracted is provided, and the second drive means is used to drive the second side guide. The side guide is moved to a position where the side guide is sunk from the sheet mounting surface when the sheet is accommodated, and is projected to the sheet mounting surface when the sheet is re-fed so that the sheet is laterally aligned. (2) The second side guide is arranged so as to be able to move up and down with respect to the sheet placement surface, and a second drive means for moving the second side guide up and down is provided. Operates the second side guide to the folded position when storing paper,
When the paper is re-fed, it is operated to a position raised on the paper mounting surface so that the paper is laterally aligned. (3) The second side guides are movably arranged at a lateral position of the sheet at the time of re-feeding and at a position deviated from the position, and second driving means for moving the second side guides to the position is provided. At the same time, the second driving means actuates the second side guide to a position deviated from the lateral position of the paper when accommodating the paper, and to the lateral position of the paper at the time of re-feeding the paper to laterally align the paper. It is configured to do so.

[0006]

According to the above invention, the first side guide is located at a position larger than the width of the paper from the side registration target position of the paper when the paper is stored, and the stored paper is moved toward the first side guide by the paper aligning means. To be At the time of re-feeding, the first driving means is operated to operate the first side guide to move the sheet bundle in the second side guide direction.
Then, the sheet bundle is brought into contact with the second side guide to align the sheet in the lateral direction, and then the sheet is sent out. Further, in the case where the second side guide is provided so as to be movable, there is sufficient space for aligning the sheet with the first side guide at a position where the second side guide is out of the side registration target position of the sheet when storing the sheet. Can be secured. By adopting such a configuration that the side guides are moved, it is possible to bring the side registration of the re-fed sheets to the target position without the need to move a long conveyance path or a large mechanism.

[0007]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a side view of an intermediate tray for accommodating sheets to be fed to an image forming section again after image recording. FIG. 2 shows the configuration seen from above the intermediate tray. A plurality of storage rolls 2 are arranged at the entrance of the intermediate tray 1 arranged in the re-feeding transport path in the transport direction of the paper according to the length of the paper, and a storage gate 3 is provided between the storage rolls. There is. At the front of the intermediate tray in the sheet transport direction, there are an aligner roll 4 for aligning the side edges of the stored sheets against the side guides 11 and a nudger roll 5 for separating sheets one by one from the sheet bundle at the time of re-feeding. It is arranged. At the exit of the intermediate tray, a feed roll 6 and a retard pad 7 for sending the paper separated by the nudger roll 5 to the conveyance path are provided.

FIG. 3 shows the basic construction of the first embodiment relating to the alignment of the sheets stored in the intermediate tray. Inside the intermediate tray 1, there are provided a first side guide 11 arranged in a direction perpendicular to the front guide 10, and a fixed second side guide 12 arranged so as to face the first side guide 11. Has been. The first side guide 11 is movably provided in a direction parallel to the front guide 10, that is, in a direction orthogonal to the paper feeding direction, and is operated by a driving device such as a stepping motor. There is. When the mode of using the intermediate tray is selected, the first side guide moves to the home position, and from that position to the storage position of the paper width + α, the paper is stored. Meanwhile, the fixed second side guide 12
Is attached to the frame of the intermediate tray, and is provided at the side registration target position of the paper.

When the sheet is accommodated, the first side guide 11 is positioned (accommodation position) at a width + α of the sheet from the side registration target position of the sheet as shown in FIG. 3A. Further, at the time of re-feeding, it is operated in the fixed second side guide direction from the position of the broken line in FIG. 3B to the position of the solid line to move the accommodated paper to the side registration target position.

Explaining the operation of the intermediate tray according to the first embodiment, the paper P is discharged from the discharge roll to the intermediate tray and is moved to the first side guide direction (position of paper P ') by the aligner roll. The sheet is moved by the first side guide 11 to the side registration target position, that is, the second side guide 12 (a state sandwiched by the two side guides) by the time the sheet is re-fed. In this state, the paper P is sent to the feed / retard roll by the nudger roll at the time of re-feeding.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. Here, members having the same functions as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate. In the following embodiments, the first side guides of the first embodiment are applied. FIG. 4 shows the basic configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention. Second
In the embodiment, the second side guide is connected to the tray bottom 1 of the intermediate tray.
It is provided so as to be able to appear and disappear with respect to 3. The second side guide 12 is provided so as to be retractable with respect to the tray bottom portion 13, and is provided with a second drive device in accordance with a paper feed timing.
For example, the energization of the solenoid is controlled to operate. When the paper is stored, it is located below the bottom of the tray, as shown in FIG.
The submerged state shown in FIG. 4A is located on the sheet mounting table at the time of re-feeding after storing the designated number of sheets, and the projected state shown in FIG. After the second side guide is projected, the sheet bundle is moved by the first side guide to the second side guide, that is, the target position at the time of re-feeding, and is re-fed.

FIG. 5 shows the basic construction of the third embodiment of the present invention. In the third embodiment, the second side guide is provided on the side of the sheet stacking table so as to be able to move up and down. The second side guide is
It is rotatably attached to a side registration target position via a hinge, and is operated by a second drive device such as a solenoid to a raised position (vertical position) and a tilted position (horizontal position). When the paper is stored, as shown in FIG.
The side guides are positioned horizontally with respect to the sheet placement surface, and the designated number of sheets are aligned with the first side guides. At the time of sheet re-feeding, as shown in FIG.
After the side guides are vertically raised and positioned, the first drive device is operated to operate the first side guides to move the sheet bundle and abut against the second side guides to align the sheets in the lateral direction.

FIG. 6 shows the basic construction of the fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the fourth embodiment, the second side guide is provided movably in the first side guide direction by the same mechanism as the first side guide. The second side guide is movably provided between a side registration target position and a position deviated from the side registration position, and is operated by a second drive device such as a stepping motor. When the sheets are stored, as shown in FIG. 6A, the second side guides stand by at a position deviated from the side registration target position, and the designated number of sheets are aligned with the first side guides. At the time of re-feeding, as shown in FIG. 6B, the second drive device is operated to move the second side guide to the side registration target position, and then the first drive device is operated to operate the first side guide. Then, the sheet bundle is moved and abutted against the second side guide to align the sheets in the lateral direction.

Next, the position control of the first side guide will be described. For example, in an intermediate tray that aligns paper by hitting the paper against the side wall of the tray with one side guide, a sensor is provided at the home position of the side guide, and the number of pulses to the stepping motor that drives the first side guide. Adjust the space between the side guides and sidewalls by changing the according to the paper size. In that case, as shown in FIG. 7, the side guide is set to two positions depending on one paper size, that is, [accommodation position = paper size + α] and [paper feed position = paper size].

FIG. 8 shows the operation timing of the side guide and the aligner roll. When the use of the intermediate tray is selected, printing is started, and the paper size is input from the paper feed tray, the motor of the first side guide is driven to move the first side guide to the home position. When the home sensor detects the first side guide, the motor is turned off and the first side guide is stopped at the home position. After that, the motor is re-driven to move the first side guide to the storage position (sheet width + α). The paper is detected by the paper sensor near the paper roll, the aligner roll is dropped on the paper stored in the intermediate tray for a certain period of time to align the paper with the first side guide, and then the aligner roll is raised. . This operation is repeated every time one sheet is stored until the set number of sheets have been stored.

When the set number of sheets is stored, the apparatus main body (M /
C) to operate the solenoid of the second side guide to move / project the second side guide to the side registration position. Then, by driving the motor of the first side guide,
The side guide is moved to the paper feed position (paper size) by α, and the feed roll is driven to start the paper feed operation. The end of the sheet feeding operation is communicated with the apparatus main body, and the image forming process is performed on the sheet re-fed based on the communication.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, the sheet is abutted against the second side guide by the movement of the first side guide so that the sheet is laterally aligned. Therefore, the apparatus can be downsized. In addition, the lateral alignment of the sheets can be performed with a small driving force.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a side view of an intermediate tray to which the present invention is applied.

2 is a top view of the intermediate tray of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 shows an intermediate tray according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 (a) is an explanatory diagram during storage, and FIG. 3 (b) is an explanatory diagram during re-feeding.

4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating an intermediate tray according to a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4A is an explanatory diagram during storage, and FIG. 4B is an explanatory diagram during re-feeding.

FIG. 5 shows an intermediate tray according to a third embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 (a) is an explanatory diagram during storage, and FIG. 5 (b) is an explanatory diagram during re-feeding.

6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating an intermediate tray according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6A is an explanatory diagram during storage, and FIG. 6B is an explanatory diagram during re-feeding.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of position control of a first side guide.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing operation timings of a side guide and an aligner roll.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Intermediate tray, 2 ... Storage roll, 3 ... Storage gate, 4
... Aligner roll, 5 ... Najar roll, 6 ... Feed roll, 7 ... Retard pad, 10 ... Front guide, 11 ... First side guide, 12 ... Second side guide, 13 ... Tray bottom

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A sheet that is provided in an image forming apparatus having a function of performing image recording on the same sheet a plurality of times, accommodates the sheet after the image recording, re-feeds the sheet, and sends the sheet to an image forming unit. In the accommodating device, a first side guide movably arranged in a direction orthogonal to the paper feeding direction, a means for aligning the paper side edge with the first side guide when accommodating the paper, A second side guide arranged at an end position on the sheet side; a first drive means for operating the first side guide;
The first side guide is set to a position larger than the width of the sheet when the sheet is accommodated, and the sheet is moved to the second side guide when the sheet is re-fed so that the sheet is laterally aligned. Containment device. 2. A second driving means for arranging a second side guide so as to be retractable with respect to a sheet mounting surface and for operating the second side guide to be retracted and retracted. 2. The second side guide is operated to a position where it is recessed from the paper mounting surface when the paper is stored, and is projected to the paper mounting surface when the paper is re-fed to align the paper in the lateral direction. Paper storage device. 3. A second driving means for arranging a second side guide so as to be able to move up and down with respect to a sheet mounting surface, and for providing a second driving means for moving the second side guide up and down. The second side guide is moved to a position in which the second side guide is tilted when the paper is stored, and is moved to a position raised on the paper mounting surface when the paper is re-fed so that the paper is laterally aligned. The sheet storage device described. 4. A second driving means for movably disposing the second side guides at a lateral position of the sheet at the time of re-feeding and a position deviated from the lateral position, and moving the second side guide to the position. In addition, the second drive means operates the second side guide to a position deviated from the lateral position of the paper when the paper is accommodated, and to the lateral position of the paper when re-feeding the paper, so that the lateral direction of the paper is increased. The sheet accommodating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheets are aligned.