JPH0739306B2 - Branching device for paper transport path - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet conveying path branching device, for example, a sheet conveying path branching device in a double-sided copying machine.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional copying paper used for copying an object to be copied, such as an original, is copied only on one side during copying, so that copying paper is saved and when a large amount of copying paper is consumed. The need for double-sided copying has arisen because the usage amount is half and the storage of copy paper becomes efficient.

Therefore, various types of double-sided copying machines have been developed,
In both cases, the copying machine incorporates a mechanism such as a paper feeding unit, a transfer unit, a fixing unit, and a discharging unit, and a reversing branching device for reversing the front and back of the copy paper. In order to reverse this copy paper, the path of the copy paper fed from the paper feed unit of the copying machine, transferred and fixed, and then advanced to the discharge unit is branched and moved backward to be returned to the paper feed unit. A branching device is required.

This conventional branching device will be described with reference to FIG. 3. Copy paper fed from a paper feed cassette (not shown) mounted on the copying machine is transferred by a transfer unit (not shown) to a fixing roller. Transported to 58, 58 '. The copy paper, one side of which is fixed by the fixing rollers 58, 58 ', is guided by guide rollers 59, 60, 61.
It is conveyed to the conveyance direction control rollers 66 and 66 'by 62 and 63.

In this case, the guide rollers 62 and 63 and the conveyance direction control rollers 66 and 66 '
Since the transport direction branching plate 74 interposed between and is located at the position of the broken line, the copy paper is transported to the transport direction control rollers 66, 66 'without being disturbed by the transport direction branching plate 74. At the same time, the conveyance direction control roller 66 is always rotated clockwise, but the conveyance direction control roller 66 'is in the position indicated by the solid line.

Then, although the leading edge of the copy paper transported to the transport direction control rollers 66, 66 'advances along the guide plate 65 and is in contact with the sponge roller 67, the trailing edge of the copy paper is transported by the transport direction control roller 66.
While it is in contact with the conveyance direction control roller 66 ', the conveyance direction control roller 66' shifts from the position indicated by the solid line to the position indicated by the broken line, contacts the conveyance direction control roller 66, and nips the rear end of the copy sheet with the conveyance direction control rollers 66, 66 '. To do. When this copy sheet is nipped, the copy sheet is guided by the conveyance direction control roller 66 in the clockwise direction and the conveyance direction control roller 66 'in the counterclockwise direction, so that the copy sheet is guided by the guide plate 60' and the conveyance direction branch plate 74 '.
And is passed backward to the guide rollers 63 and 72. In this way, the copy paper that has been reversely branched and copied on one side is a guide plate 71.
While passing through a return path (not shown), the sheet is reversed and is fed back to the sheet feeding section.

The reversed copy paper, which has not been copied yet and whose back side is the upper surface, is re-fed. The re-fed copy paper is transferred by a transfer unit (not shown) and conveyed to the fixing rollers 58, 58 '. The copy paper fixed by the fixing rollers 58, 58 'is guided to the guide plates 68, 69 by the guide rollers 62, 63 via the guide plates 59, 60, 61 and is conveyed to the discharge rollers 70, 70'. In this case, the transport direction branching plate 74 has been rotated in advance from the position indicated by the broken line to the position indicated by the solid line with the pivot shaft 73 as the axis by a command signal.
The copy sheet conveyed from the guide rollers 62, 63 comes into contact with the conveying direction branching plate 74 and is conveyed to the discharge rollers 70, 70 '. The double-sided copy of the copy paper conveyed to the discharge rollers 70 and 70 'is completed and is discharged to a copy tray (not shown).

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

By the way, in such a reversing branching mechanism, when one side is transferred and fixed and the copy paper is moved in the reverse direction toward the guide rollers 63 and 72 by the rotation of the conveyance direction control rollers 66 and 66 'to copy the back side, The distance between the branch plate 74 and the guide plate 69 is inevitably wide. As a result, it becomes difficult to regulate the copy paper, and the backward moving copy paper is not smoothly conveyed to the guide rollers 63 and 72, and the conveyance direction control rollers 66 and 66 'and the guide rollers 63 and 72
There is a problem that a paper jam phenomenon occurs with 72.
In particular, the copy paper may be curled in a U shape during the conveyance between the conveyance direction control rollers 66 and 66 'and the guide rollers 63 and 72. Controlling this curled copy paper was difficult.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and is a conveyance direction switching device B for switching the conveyance direction of a sheet conveyed from a predetermined direction, and a sheet feeding device for the conveyance direction switching device B. A forward path A for transporting through the apparatus F, a reversing temporary receiving reverse section C for temporarily receiving and then reversing the sheet transported through the transport direction switching apparatus B, and this reversing A first ejecting device D having an inlet part close to the inlet / outlet part of the temporary receiving and reversing part C for ejecting the sheet conveyed through the conveying direction switching device B to the outside of the conveying device; It is arranged at the exit of the path A,
The sheet is sent from the sheet feeding device F to the sheet feeding direction switching device B, and the sheet feeding device F has an inlet portion close to the outlet portion of the sheet feeding device F. A second ejecting device E for ejecting the ejected sheet, and the conveying direction switching device B is configured to convey the sheet sent from the feeding device F toward the reverse portion C. The reverse portion C with the support shaft 41 as a fulcrum
In order to rotate the sheet toward the first ejecting device D and to convey the sheet sent from the feeding device F toward the first ejecting device D, the first ejecting device D with the pivot shaft 41 as a fulcrum. The conveyance direction switching substrate 39, which can be rotated toward, is opposed to the conveyance direction switching substrate 39 so as to be spaced apart from the conveyance direction switching substrate 39, and a copy sheet conveyance path s is provided between the conveyance direction switching substrate 39 and the conveyance direction switching substrate 39.
And a conveyance direction switching follow-up plate 40 that rotates integrally with the conveyance direction switching substrate 39 while forming a sheet, and a base end portion of the conveyance direction switching follow-up plate 40 that faces the conveyance direction switching follow-up plate 40 while being spaced apart from the main body. It is rotatably supported, and the forward path A is
The sheet sent from the feeding device F is sent to the reverse section C, and the sheet sent from the reverse section C is blocked by closing the exit of the forward path A to the second section. And a regulating plate 43 formed so as to guide it to the entrance of the discharging device E, the paper conveying path branching device in the paper conveying device is provided. The purpose is to resolve.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, how the structure of the present invention is actually embodied will be described with reference to the drawings according to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a copying machine in which a branching device for a copying paper conveying path in a copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention is incorporated, in which K is a copying machine conveying path. Along the copying machine base X and the upper copying machine upper swinging section Y, the copying machine upper swinging section Y is normally divided into two parts.
However, when an accident such as a paper jam occurs in the copying machine, the upper swinging part Y of the copying machine is placed.
Is tilted about the pivot shaft 67 as an imaginary line with respect to the copying machine base X to open the inside of the copying machine.

A paper feed cassette 1 containing copy paper p is mounted on the right end side of the copying machine stand X, and a paper feed roller 2 for feeding the copy paper p is provided above the paper feed cassette 1. ,
The copying machine fed by the paper feed roller 2 is guided by the guide plates 3, 4, 5 and guided to the guide rollers 6, 6 ', and reaches the guide rollers 8, 8'through the guide plates 7, 7'. . A photosensitive drum 9 having a photosensitive layer (not shown) coated on its entire peripheral surface is rotatably mounted in a substantially central portion of the copying machine.
The light projected on the document on 14 is reflected by the reflecting mirror 16 and the movable reflecting mirrors 17, 1.
8, the lens 20 and the movable reflecting mirror 19 are projected onto the photosensitive layer to form an image of the document, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive layer. Around the photosensitive drum 9, a charging corona discharger 11 that sequentially charges the photosensitive layer along the rotation direction thereof, and a developing process that visualizes the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive layer into a toner image Apparatus 12, transfer corona discharger 10 for transferring toner image formed on photosensitive layer to copy paper, separation corona discharger 10 'for separating copy paper from photosensitive drum 9, photosensitive layer after transfer Devices such as a cleaning device 13 for removing the toner remaining on the top are arranged.

21 and 22 are a pair of belt rollers.
A belt 23 that stretches the copy paper transferred from the photosensitive drum 9 to the fixing rollers 25 and 25 'via the guide plate 24 is stretched between them.

The copy paper heated and fixed by the fixing rollers 25 and 25 'is guided to the conveyance direction switching device B by taking the progressive path A.
The guide rollers 27 and 28 convey the copy paper to the transfer rollers 27 and 28, and the guide rollers 30 and the free rotation rollers 29 of the reversing temporary receiving reverse portion C in which the copy paper is temporarily received and then moved backward.
The first passage towards and the guide rollers 27, 28 of the feeder F
First ejecting device D for ejecting copy paper directly from the copying machine to the outside of the copying machine
Discharge roller 33 and discharge roller 30 that also serves as the guide roller
It is transported according to a second guiding furnace towards and.

The conveying direction switching device is branched into two guide paths, that is, a first guide path for copying the opposite side of a copy sheet having one side fixed and a second guide path for copying both sides. B. As shown in FIG. 2, the transport direction switching device B includes a transport direction switching substrate 39 that can be rotated about a pivot shaft 41 with respect to the copying machine body, and a copy paper transport surface of the transport direction switching substrate 39. A conveyance direction switching follow-up plate 40 which faces away from the conveyance direction switching substrate 39 and rotates integrally with the conveyance direction switching substrate 39 while forming a copy paper conveyance path s between the conveyance direction switching substrate 39 and the copying direction.
And a regulating plate 43, which is spaced apart and opposed to the transport direction switching follow-up plate 40, and whose base end is rotatably supported with respect to the main body of the copying machine.

Although not shown, an actuator such as a solenoid is attached to the transfer direction switching board 39, and when the actuator is energized, it is positioned at the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. When the transport direction switching board 39 is located at the position indicated by the solid line, the transport direction switching follow-up plate 40 is always located at the position shown by the solid line in FIG. To position. That is, the transport direction switching follow-up plate 40 cooperates with the transport direction switching substrate 39 to connect the outlet of the forward passage A and the inlet of the second discharging device E to the inlet / outlet of the reversing temporary receiving / reverse portion C. The rotation position is 1. When the actuator is de-energized, the transfer direction switching board 39 and the transfer direction switching follow-up plate 40 shift from the position indicated by the solid line to the position indicated by the virtual line. That is, the second rotation position is established in which the outlet of the progressive passage A communicates with the inlet of the first discharging device D.

The guide roller 30 of the reversing temporary receiving reverse portion C is always rotating in the clockwise direction. Although not shown, an actuator such as a solenoid is attached to the free-rotating roller 29 facing the guide roller 30, and when the actuator is energized, the actuator comes to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. Contact and rotate counterclockwise. When the energization of the actuator 51 is released, the free rotation roller 29 is displaced from the position indicated by the solid line to the position indicated by the virtual line, and the guide roller 30 and the free rotation roller 29 are disengaged. When the free-rotating roller 29 is separated from the guide roller 30 at the position of the imaginary line, the leading end portion of the copy paper sent from the guide rollers 27 and 28 passes and the reverse guide plate 31, Accepted to 32. When the trailing edge of the copy paper is still in contact with the guide roller 30 or in the vicinity thereof, the actuator (not shown) is energized to move the free rotating roller 29 from the virtual line position to the solid line position. Then, the rear end of the copy sheet is nipped, and the copy sheet is guided to the guide rollers 28 and 38 which are the second ejecting device E by the clockwise rotation of the guide roller 30 and the counterclockwise rotation of the free rotation roller 29. It will be reversed towards. The copy sheet conveyed to the guide rollers 28, 38 is conveyed to the guide rollers 46, 46 'via the guide plates 45, 45' shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the restricting plate 43 has its base end rotatably supported by the main body of the copying machine by a pivot shaft 42, and the bracket 44 projects from the substantially central part thereof to the free rotating roller 29. The bracket 44 is provided and fixed to the free rotation roller 29, and when the free rotation roller 29 is apart from the guide roller 30 and at the position of the virtual line, the regulation plate 43 is also at the position of the virtual line, and When the free rotating roller is in the position of the solid line engaging with the guide roller 30, the regulating plate 43 is also in the position of the solid line. That is, the transfer direction switching board 39 and the transfer direction switching follow-up plate
When the copy sheet 40 passes through the guide rollers 27 and 28 of the feeding device F through the forward feed path A when 40 is in the first rotation position, the leading end of the regulation plate 43 causes the forward feed path A. The outlet of the sheet is closed to guide the copy paper sent from the reversing temporary receiving and reversing section C to the inlet of the second discharging device E. Moreover, the regulation plate 43
Is in the position of the virtual line, the transfer direction switching board 39
And when the conveyance direction switching follow-up plate 40 is in the second rotation position, at that time, the front end portion of the regulation plate 43 opens the outlet of the progressive passage A and is fed from the progressive passage A. The copy paper is sent to the first discharge device D.

The copy paper conveyed to the guide rollers 46, 46 'through the guide plates 45, 45' is the guide plates 47, 47 ', the guide rollers 48, 48', and the guide plates 49, 49 'shown in FIG. Through guide rollers 50,5
Transported to 0 '. Reference numeral 51 is a copy paper aligning tool for aligning the paper widths of the copy papers conveyed from the guide rollers 50 and 50 '. The copy papers whose widths are aligned here are brought into contact with the stopper 53 by the transport roller 52, and the leading ends thereof are provided. Are aligned. Reference numerals 54 and 54 'denote paper feed rollers for re-feeding the copy paper that is in contact with the stopper 53. The copy papers fed here are guide plates 55 and 55', guide rollers 56 and 56 ', and guide plates 57 and 57, respectively. It is guided to the guide plate 5 via 57 '.

Next, the operation of the branching device for the copy sheet conveying path in the copying machine having the above configuration will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 1, the copy sheet p stored in the sheet feeding cassette 1 is fed by the feeding roller 2. Feed it.

The fed copy paper is guided by the guide plates 3, 5, the guide rollers 6,
6 ', the guide plates 7, 7', and the guide rollers 8, 8'are sent so as to be in close contact with the photosensitive layer of the photosensitive drum 9, and one side thereof is transferred.

The copy sheet having one side transferred is conveyed by the conveyor belt 23 to the fixing rollers 25 and 25 'via the guide plate 24. The copy paper fixed by the fixing rollers 25, 25 'is guided by the guide plate 26 as shown in FIG. The copy paper having one side transferred and fixed to the guide rollers 27, 28 is conveyed by the guide rollers 27, 28 toward the guide roller 30 and the free-rotating roller 29 of the reversing temporary receiving reverse portion C.

The transport direction switching substrate 39 and the transport direction switching follow-up plate 40 of the transport direction switching device B interposed between the guide rollers 27, 28 and the guide rollers 30 and the free rotation rollers 29 are at the positions indicated by solid lines, Since the regulation plate 43 is at the position of the imaginary line, the copy sheet is smoothly conveyed toward the guide roller 30 and the free rotation roller 29.

At the same time, since the free rotating roller 29 is in the position of the imaginary line by previously deenergizing the actuator (not shown), the guide roller 30,
The leading end of the copy paper conveyed to the free rotation roller 29 passes through the gap between the guide roller 30 and the free rotation roller 29 and is received by the guide plates 31 and 32 of the reversing temporary receiving reverse portion C. It will be.

Then, when the trailing edge of the copy paper passes the guide rollers 27, 28 and is in contact with the guide roller 30, or is located between the guide roller 30 and the free rotation roller 29, an actuator (not shown) ), The free rotation roller 29 moves from the position of the phantom line to the position of the solid line, and the trailing edge of the copy paper is guided by the guide roller.
Hold with 30. When the trailing edge of the copy paper is pinched, the guide paper 30 is rotated in the clockwise direction and the free rotation roller 29 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction. And is conveyed to the guide rollers 28 and 38.

In this case, when the free rotation roller 29 engages with the guide roller 30, the regulation plate 43 is displaced from the position of the imaginary line to the position of the solid line, so that the tip end portion of the regulation plate 43 is positioned near the guide roller 28. As a result, the leading end of the regulation plate 43 can block the entrance of the progressive path A and guide the copy paper sent from the reverse section C to the entrance of the second ejection device E. In particular, the presence of the regulation plate 43 allows the copying paper, which is moving backward from the reverse moving portion C, to be forced to move backward to the entrance of the second discharging device E when the copying paper is curled in a U shape. Possible and effective.

In this way, the copy paper which has been reversed to the guide rollers 28, 38 is guided by the guide plates 45, 45 ', the guide rollers 46, 46' shown in FIG.
It is conveyed to the copy paper width aligning tool 51 via the guide plates 47, 47 ', the guide rollers 48, 48', the guide plates 49, 49 ', and the guide rollers 50, 50'. The copy papers whose widths have been aligned by the copy paper width aligning tool 51 are transported by the transport rollers 52, and the leading ends of the copy sheets abut on the stoppers 53 to align them.

The copy paper whose leading ends are aligned passes through the guide plates 55, 55 'by the paper feed rollers 54, 54', and the guide plate 5 by the guide rollers 56, 56 '.
It is conveyed to the guide rollers 6,6 'through 7,57'. Then, the copy paper whose one side has been copied has the paper feed rollers 54, 54 ', the guide plate 55,
While being passed through 55 'and the guide rollers 56, 56', they are reversed and conveyed with the back side not copied yet facing up. The inverted copy paper is guided from the guide rollers 6, 6'to the guide plates 7, 7'and conveyed to the guide rollers 8, 8 '.

The copy paper, which has been conveyed to the guide rollers 8 and 8'and whose back side is not copied yet, is fed so as to be in close contact with the photosensitive layer of the photosensitive drum 9 facing the transfer corona discharger 10 and is not yet copied. The back side that has not been printed is transferred. After the transfer is completed, the copy paper is sent to the fixing rollers 25, 25 'via the guide plate 4 by the conveyor belt 23 and fixed.

The copy paper fixed by the fixing rollers 25, 25 'is discharged from the guide rollers 27, 28 to the discharge rollers 30, 33 via the guide plate 26,
It is discharged from the discharge port 36 to the copy tray 37 through the guide plates 34 and 35. Thus, double-sided copying of copy paper is completed. In this case, the transport direction switching board 39 and the transport direction switching follow-up plate 40 of the transport direction switching device B are set to the positions of the phantom lines by previously deenergizing the actuator (not shown) as shown in FIG. Second
In addition to being displaced to the rotational position, the free rotating roller 29 is previously deenergized to the actuator (not shown) to be displaced to the position of the virtual line, and the regulating plate 43 is also displaced to the position of the virtual line. Therefore, the copy paper delivered from the guide rollers 27, 28 smoothly passes between the transport direction switching substrate 39 and the transport direction switching follow-up plate 40 and is transported to the discharge rollers 30, 33.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the transport direction switching substrate and the transport direction switching follow-up plate are provided, and at the first rotating position, the outlet of the forward path and the inlet of the second discharging device are temporarily received for reversing and reverse. In addition to communicating with the inlet and outlet of the sheet, the outlet of the forward path is communicated with the inlet of the first discharging device at the second rotation position, so that the sheet is smoothly branched and conveyed.

Further, since the transport direction switching substrate, the transport direction switching follow-up plate and the regulation plate are provided, the paper is curled when the copy paper moves backward between the transport direction switching substrate and the transport direction switching follow-up plate. However, since it is forcibly guided by the regulation plate and guided to the second discharging device, there is an advantage that the sheet is stably conveyed without causing a trouble such as a paper jam when moving backward. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of a copying machine equipped with a sheet conveying path branching device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of an essential part of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a conventional sheet conveying path. FIG. 3 is a front cross-sectional view of a main part of the branching device for use. A ... Progressive path, B ... Conveying direction switching device, C ... Reversing temporary receiving / reverse part for reversing, D ... Ejecting device, E ... Second ejecting device, F ... Feeding device, 25, 25 '... Fixing roller, 27, 28 ... Guide roller, 39 ... Transport direction switching board, 40 ... Transport direction switching follow-up plate, 43 ... Regulation plate.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A transport direction switching device B for switching the transport direction of a sheet transported from a predetermined direction, and a forward transport path A for transporting a sheet toward the transport direction switching device B via a feeder device F. And a reversing temporary receiving and reversing section C for temporarily reversing after receiving the sheet conveyed through the conveying direction switching device B, and a retreating section of the reversing temporary receiving and reversing section C close to A first ejecting device D having an inlet part for ejecting the sheet conveyed through the conveying direction switching device B to the outside of the conveying device; Forward path A
The sheet is sent from the sheet feeding device F to the sheet feeding direction switching device B, and the sheet feeding device F has an inlet portion close to the outlet portion of the sheet feeding device F. A second ejecting device E for ejecting the ejected sheet, and the conveying direction switching device B is configured to convey the sheet sent from the feeding device F toward the reverse portion C. The reverse portion C with the support shaft 41 as a fulcrum
In order to rotate the sheet toward the first ejecting device D and to convey the sheet sent from the feeding device F toward the first ejecting device D, the first ejecting device D with the pivot shaft 41 as a fulcrum. The conveyance direction switching substrate 39, which can be rotated toward, is opposed to the conveyance direction switching substrate 39 so as to be spaced apart from the conveyance direction switching substrate 39, and a copy sheet conveyance path s is provided between the conveyance direction switching substrate 39 and the conveyance direction switching substrate 39.
And a conveyance direction switching follow-up plate 40 that rotates integrally with the conveyance direction switching substrate 39 while forming a sheet, and a base end portion of the conveyance direction switching follow-up plate 40 that faces the conveyance direction switching follow-up plate 40 and is spaced apart from the main body of the copying machine. It is rotatably supported, and the forward path A is
The sheet sent from the feeding device F is sent to the reverse section C, and the sheet sent from the reverse section C is blocked by closing the exit of the forward path A to the second section. And a regulation plate 43 formed so as to guide it to the entrance of the discharge device E of FIG.