JPH08119498A - Sheet registering device for image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent a noise and the like in an oscillating action of a gate member by arranging a cushioning member via an amplitude increasing means against the gate member opening/closing a paper conveying path in a paper registering device arranged in the paper conveying path of an image forming device. CONSTITUTION: In a paper guiding path 26 provided with a paper collating device, a gate member 30 is arranged matchingly with a register roller device 22, and the front end part of a paper sheet is stopped by the gate member 30, so that a registering action can be exhibited. An oscillating member 33 is arranged coaxially with the gate member 30 so as to increase an amplitude of the gate member 30, and a mechanism stopping the gate member 30 via an oscillating member 33 is constructed in such a way as arranging cushioning members 40, 41 corresponding to the end parts of oscillation of the oscillating member 33. In the terminal end part, of the oscillation of the gate member 30, the oscillating member 33 is stopped rapidly by means of an elastic member in each of the cushioning members 40, 41, so that the gate member 30 can be prevented from colliding against another member.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet aligning apparatus for an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a laser beam printer, which is arranged immediately before a position where a toner image is transferred onto a sheet, and more particularly to a sheet aligning apparatus. The present invention relates to a device provided with means for reducing noise due to rocking of the gate member by arranging cushioning members at both ends of the rocking range of the gate member arranged in the above.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a laser beam printer, a sheet sent from a sheet accommodating means such as a sheet feeding tray is placed immediately before an image transfer section from an image carrier such as a photosensitive drum. The toner images are transferred after the sheets are aligned and the sheets are positioned. The image forming apparatus is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-5-4.
A paper conveying device as shown in Japanese Patent No. 733, etc. is configured, and as shown in FIG. 12, the paper aligning device 20 is provided immediately before the position where the toner image is transferred from the photosensitive drum.
Is provided. The conventional image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 12 is configured as a front-loading type image forming apparatus in which a paper feed tray for accommodating sheets is attached and detached from the front side of the apparatus main body. 1
Is composed of an upper device 2 provided with a mechanism for forming a xerographic toner image and a lower device 3 mainly equipped with a paper feeding device.

In the image forming apparatus 1, the upper device 2
In the same manner as in a general copying machine, a scanning device 10 for scanning an image of a document and a photoconductor drum 11 for forming a toner image are made to correspond to the platen 4 arranged above. A developing device 12, a transfer corotron 13, and a cleaning device, which are arranged around it, are arranged. Further, a conveyor belt device for conveying the sheet on which the toner image is transferred from the photosensitive drum 11 toward the fixing device 17 is provided, the sheet is guided to the fixing device, and the fixing operation is performed in the fixing device 17. The completed copy is ejected toward the ejection tray 18. The upper device 2 is provided with a single paper accommodating device 5 so as to be capable of feeding paper, but the lower device 3
In this case, a plurality of sheet storage trays and other sheet storage devices 6 to 8 are arranged so that sheets of any size can be fed from the respective sheet storage devices.

The intermediate tray 9 disposed under the sheet accommodating device 7 is used for back side copying of one sided copy made through the fixing device 17. Then, a one-sided copy is introduced via the return path 19. Further, the lowermost sheet storage device 8 is
It is configured as a large capacity tray. In order to feed paper from the paper accommodating device, paper supply devices 15 ... Are arranged corresponding to the paper accommodating device. The paper feeding devices 15 ... Use a paper feeding unit having the same configuration except for the paper feeding portion from the intermediate tray. The paper feeding roller devices provided in the paper feeding devices 15 ... The sheet is carried out from the sheet accommodating device by using the, and the sheet is conveyed toward the image transfer portion by the conveying device 14 through the sheet path 16.

The sheet sent from the sheet feed tray to the sheet conveying path 16 by the sheet feeding device is the photosensitive drum 1
The aligning action is performed by the sheet aligning device 20 immediately before the position 1 to eliminate the skew feeding of the sheet and the like so that the position of the toner image transferred from the photosensitive drum to the sheet does not shift. The sheet aligning device 20 includes a pre-registration roller device 21 on the upstream side of the sheet conveying path 16, a registration roller device 22 arranged immediately in front of the photosensitive drum, and a gate member 30. Then, the leading end of the sheet conveyed in the sheet conveying path is locked by the gate member and stopped, and the pre-registration roller device 21 performs an additional feeding action to form a loop on the sheet. The leading edge of the paper is evenly pressed against the gate member by the reaction force of (1) to perform the aligning action. After that, the gate member is opened in synchronization with the position of the toner image formed on the photoconductor drum, and the registration roller device is driven at a speed corresponding to the peripheral speed of the photoconductor drum to move the paper to the photoconductor drum 11. The toner image is transferred by the discharge of the transfer corotron 13 while passing the image transfer position.

A gate member as shown in FIG. 13 is arranged in the sheet aligning device 20 arranged in the sheet conveying path of the image forming apparatus, and the position immediately before the sheet nip position of the registration roller device is arranged. Therefore, the gate member 30 is provided so as to be projected and retracted with respect to the paper transport path. FIG. 13
In the example shown in (1), the registration roller device 22 is provided with a combination of a pinch roller 25 arranged in the upper part of the sheet conveyance path and a drive roller 23 arranged in the lower part,
The upper and lower roller members are provided in the paper guide path 26 of the paper transport path.
With respect to the upper guide plate 27 and the lower guide plate 28, the openings 27a and 28a are provided so as to project into the sheet conveying path. Further, the gate member 30 arranged close to the registration roller device 22 causes the leading end portion of the gate member to project into the upper and lower openings of the paper guide path to perform the action of closing the paper transport path. The gate member 30 is driven by a driving means such as a solenoid provided on the gate shaft 31. Further, the drive roller 23 is
It is supported by a shaft 24.

[0007]

The gate member as shown in FIG. 13 is abruptly raised so as to close the sheet conveying path at the timing when the preceding sheet finishes passing through the gate position, It is necessary to lock the sheet, and when the sheet is sent out, it is required to perform an operation of rapidly descending to open the sheet transport path. So, conventionally,
A drive means such as a solenoid is provided for the gate member so that the gate member can be accurately opened and closed. However, when a driving means such as a solenoid is used in order to perform the operation of opening and closing the gate member at high speed, the gate member hits the shaft of the driving roller and the guide plate to open and close the gate member. Each time the operation is performed, noise is generated from the image forming apparatus.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, it is considered to reduce the noise caused by the collision of the gate member by, for example, attaching rubber to the gate shaft or the guide plate. However, the gap between the upper and lower guide plates forming the paper guide path in the paper aligning device is very narrow, about 1 to 2 mm, and between the two guide plates arranged with such a narrow gap. Therefore, it is technically very troublesome to provide the cushioning member. Furthermore, for the portion of the guide plate that the gate member contacts,
Arranging a member such as rubber not only complicates the structure of the paper guide path, but also causes a problem that the rubber comes off due to the strong contact of the gate member. Also,
In order to solve the problem that the gate member comes into contact with the roller shaft, it is possible to solve the problem by disposing the gate member at a position sufficiently separated from the registration roller device. When the interval is set to be large, there is also a problem that it becomes difficult to maintain the effect of aligning the sheets well.

Therefore, in order to solve the noise caused by the swing of the gate member, for example, as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-98459, a sheet aligning device without a gate member may be constructed. One solution. In the above-mentioned conventional example, a sensor for detecting a sheet is arranged on the upstream side of the photosensitive drum, and the detection information of the sensor is used to control the operation of feeding the sheet to the photosensitive drum. However, since the feeding device that does not use the gate member as described above cannot exhibit the aligning action on the paper well, if the paper is obliquely fed in the paper transport path, the copy quality is improved. Problems that cannot be maintained easily occur.

[0010]

It is an object of the present invention to solve the problem of noise of the gate member in the sheet aligning device of the conventional image forming apparatus as described above, and to arrange the rocking member interlocking with the rocking of the gate member. Provided is a device in which a cushioning member is arranged at both ends of the swinging range of the swinging member to add a cushioning action at the swinging end of the gate member and to reduce noise generated from the sheet aligning device. The purpose is to do.

[0011]

According to the present invention, a sheet aligning device is arranged in a sheet conveying path of an image forming apparatus, and a sheet fed from a sheet feeding tray is locked by a gate member to perform sheet aligning operation. The present invention relates to a device for feeding a sheet toward the next step. In the present invention, a rocking member that rocks with a width larger than the rocking width of the gate member is arranged in conjunction with a gate member arranged in the paper aligning device, and the end of the rocking range of the rocking member. A cushioning member is arranged corresponding to the portion, and a swinging member whose swing range is restricted by the cushioning member,
A means for restricting the swing width of the gate member is provided. Further, in the present invention, the swinging member that interlocks with the gate member may be provided via a unit that amplifies the swinging angle of the gate member, and can swing at a larger angle than the swinging angle of the gate member. Further, in the present invention, the swinging member interlocked with the gate member is disposed at the end of the gate shaft and is swung within a marginal space formed on the side of the sheet conveying path disposed in the image forming apparatus. It is also possible to configure a means for restricting the swinging range by the buffer member.

[0012]

Since the sheet aligning device of the image forming apparatus of the present invention is configured as described above, the gate member is arranged at a position close to the registration roller device arranged in the sheet aligning device. It is possible to configure a device capable of favorably performing the action of stopping the sheets, and it is possible to easily perform the operation of feeding the aligned sheets. Then, the gate member can be moved at a high speed in the paper passage portion of the paper guide path, so that the function of stopping the paper and the operation of releasing the stopped paper can be performed in a good state. In addition, a swing member that swings integrally with the gate member is disposed so that when the gate member swings, the gate member cushions the swing member from a position past the paper passage portion of the paper guide path. Since the member suddenly stops the operation, it is possible to prevent the gate member from colliding with the guide plate, the gate shaft, or the like and generating noise. Furthermore, in the device of the present invention,
It is possible to set the swinging angle of the swinging member to be larger than the swinging angle of the gate member, and to arrange the swinging member coaxially with the gate member or to use the swinging gear member and the pinion member. If the means for increasing the amplitude of the swing member is used by the means for increasing the amplitude of the swing member, the operation of suddenly stopping the gate member can be easily performed.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A sheet aligning device of an image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the illustrated example. The example shown in FIG. 1 shows the relationship between the registration roller device arranged in the sheet aligning device and the gate member and the configuration of the gate member in the image forming apparatus as shown in FIG. The registration roller device 22 arranged in the downstream portion of the apparatus immediately upstream of the photosensitive drum is the same as the registration roller device 22 shown in FIG.
As in the case of 3, the driving roller 23 and the pinch roller 25
Are provided in combination. Further, in the paper guide path 26 in which the registration roller device 22 is arranged, the upper guide plate 2
7 and the lower guide plate 28 are formed with openings corresponding to the roller member and the gate member, and the action of nipping and conveying the sheet between the upper and lower roller members and the operation of retracting the gate member are dealt with. As shown in FIG.
It is constructed in the same manner as in.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, the gate member 3
0 is swung via a shaft 31, and the gate shaft 3
As in the case of the conventional gate member, drive means such as a solenoid is arranged in the apparatus 1 so that the gate member can be moved in and out of the paper guide path. Further, a swing member 33 that swings integrally with the gate member 30 is connected to the gate shaft 31, and the swing member 33 is configured to be very long with respect to the gate member. With respect to the distance L1 at which the front end of the rocking member protrudes and retracts in the paper guide path, the rocking range L2 of the front end of the rocking member 33 is set to
<L2 relationship is set. Further, with respect to the tip end portion of the swinging member 33, the cushioning members 40 and 41 are arranged at the positions of the end portions of the swinging range, and the swinging member is used when swinging the gate member. The buffer member is provided with a buffering effect to prevent the gate member from abruptly colliding with the guide plate or the gate shaft. The buffer members 40 and 41 are the frame members 4
3, an elastic member 44 such as rubber is fixed in a protruding state, and the elastic member 44 is configured as a mechanism that performs a cushioning action when the elastic member is compressed by the swinging member.

As shown in FIG. 2, the gate member 30, which is arranged so as to be retractable with respect to the paper guide path 26, is provided with operation positions a1 to a4 with respect to the upper and lower guide plates 27 and 28. can do. In the example shown in FIG. 2, a position a2 on the lower surface of the upper guide plate 27 and a lower guide between a position a1 at which the gate member is stopped in a lowered state and a position a3 at which the gate member is projected and stopped. Board 2
The position a4 of the upper surface of 8 is set, respectively. In the state where the swing positions b1 to b4 of the ends of the swing member are set corresponding to the swing position of the gate member 30 and the gate member is stopped at the upper and lower positions, the swing member 33 moves to the position b1. Each of them is stopped at b3.

When the gate member 30 is raised with respect to the paper guide path to stop the paper conveyed in the direction of arrow A, the paper reaches the position of the gate member as shown in FIG. Before, the gate member 30 needs to pass the position a2 on the lower surface of the upper guide plate 27, and thereafter, the gate member 30 is lifted and fixed to the stop position a3 at the upper part of the gate member. Therefore, when the operation of raising the gate member 30 is performed, the gate member is raised at a high speed from the lower stop position to reach the position a2, and then the position a3.
It is necessary to perform the stop operation for the gate member while the temperature is being raised. Therefore, the gate member 30
With respect to the rocking member 33 that is arranged coaxially with the rocking member 33 and rocks, the position b2 is set with respect to the cushioning member 41 that is arranged below.
From b3 to b3, the action of stopping the swinging member is exerted while the projecting portion of the cushioning member is buffered in a state of being compressed from positions c2 to c3, and the gate member is raised from positions a2 to a3. To do so.

In addition to the raising operation of the gate member 30 shown in FIG. 2, in the state where the gate member is lowered to feed the sheet, as shown in FIG. 4, the operation for feeding the sheet in the direction of arrow B is performed. However, the sheet is abruptly projected from the position where it is locked by the gate member by the reaction force of the loop of the sheet, and the sheet is pushed into the nip position of the registration roller device 22. Therefore, it is necessary to lower the gate member 30 at a high speed from the state where the gate member 30 is stopped at the raised position to the position a4 on the upper surface of the lower guide plate 28, and thereafter, at the lower portion of the gate member 30. It is lowered to the stop position a1 and stopped. Further, a swing member 3 which is arranged coaxially with the gate member 30 and swings.
For 3, with respect to the cushioning member 40 arranged at the top,
Between the position b4 and the position b1, the action of stopping the swinging member is exerted while buffering the protruding portion of the buffer member 40 in a state of compressing from the position c4 to the position c1.
The gate member is lowered from the position a4 to a1.

As described above, in the present invention, the swing member is integrally provided with the shaft of the gate member, and the swing member is swung with a large amplitude with respect to the swing motion of the gate member. The gate member can be moved at high speed in the paper guide path portion by providing the rocking member with a buffering effect by the buffer member. Then, after the tips of the gate members have passed through the openings of the upper and lower guide plates,
By abruptly stopping the cushioning member of the cushioning member, it is possible to prevent generation of noise when the gate member swings. Further, the elastic member such as rubber arranged in the cushioning member can be formed in any shape using any material as long as it can exert a cushioning effect on the gate member.

[0019]

[Embodiment 2] In the embodiment of the present invention, the swing member is integrally provided with the shaft of the gate member, and the swing member is configured to be long, whereby the amplitude of the swing member is greatly amplified. With respect to a small swing angle of the gate member, it is possible to exert a cushioning action via the swing member. FIG. 1
In addition to the above apparatus, an amplitude amplifying mechanism as shown in FIG. 5 can be provided in the present invention. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the swing gear member 35 is fixedly provided on the shaft 31 of the gate member 30, and the swing amplitude of the gate member is increased as in the case of the swing member 33. Configure the mechanism. Further, the teeth 3 provided on the rocking gear member 35.
6, the pinion member 37 is arranged, and the rocking member 39 is provided coaxially with the pinion member 37 to constitute means for increasing the amplitude of the rocking gear member 35 and transmitting it to the rocking member 39. There is. Then, cushioning members 40 and 41 are arranged at both ends of the swinging range of the swinging member 39,
A mechanism for restricting the swinging of the swinging member by the cushioning member to exert a cushioning action at the stop position of the gate member is configured.

As shown in FIG. 6, the gate member 30, which is arranged so as to be retractable with respect to the paper guide path 26, is provided with operation positions a1 to a4 with respect to the upper and lower guide plates 27 and 28. can do. In the example shown in FIG. 6, a position a2 on the lower surface of the upper guide plate 27 and a lower guide plate between a position a1 at which the gate member is stopped in the lowered state and a position a3 at which the gate member is projected and stopped. 28
The position a4 of the upper surface of each is set. The swing gear member 35 fixedly provided on the gate shaft 31 of the gate member 30 swings between the positions d1 and d4 in response to the swing of the gate member 30, and the swing gear The pinion member 37 that meshes with the teeth of the member 35 is rotated via the shaft 38, and the rocking member 39 is rocked at a large angle following the rotation of the pinion member 37. The amplification / oscillation mechanism of the oscillating member can be configured by attaching the respective oscillating shafts to the frame 45 arranged corresponding to the sheet aligning device, but the frame is provided separately. Instead of this, it is possible to configure an arbitrary supporting means such as being provided separately from the frame of the sheet conveying path of the image forming apparatus.

The rocking member 39, which is rocked through the rocking gear member 35 that interlocks with the rocking angle of the gate member and through the speed-increasing gear means, is at the rocking position of the gate member 30. Correspondingly, the swing positions b1 to b4 at the end of the swing member
Is set and the gate member is stopped at the upper and lower positions, the swinging member 39 is stopped at the positions b1 and b3. Further, when the gate member 30 is lifted with respect to the paper guide path and the stop operation is performed on the paper conveyed in the paper guide path 26 in the arrow A direction, as shown in FIG. Before the paper reaches the position of the gate member,
The gate member 30 needs to pass through the position a2 on the lower surface of the upper guide plate 27, and thereafter, is raised and fixed to the stop position a3 at the upper part of the gate member. Therefore, when performing the operation of raising the gate member 30,
It is necessary to raise the gate member at a high speed from the lower stop position, raise it to the position a2, and then to stop the gate member while raising it to the position a3.

With respect to the rocking member 39 which is arranged coaxially with the gate member 30 to perform rocking motion, with respect to the cushioning member 40 arranged above, from the position b2 to the position b3, While cushioning the protruding portion of the cushioning member in a state of compressing from the positions c2 to c3, the action of stopping the swinging member is exerted and the gate member is raised from the positions a2 to a3. Further, in the case of using the amplification mechanism as described above, the angle X1 at which the gate member 30 is rocked from the position a2 on the lower surface of the upper guide plate 27 to the stop position a3 is the angle at which the rocking member 39 is rocked. X2
Can be set very large. Therefore, in the above-described embodiment, the range in which the elastic member 44 provided in the cushioning member 40 is compressed is set, and when the gate member swings from the time when the sheet conveying path is closed to the stop position, the swinging member is used. 39
By compressing the elastic body of the cushioning member while attenuating the swing speed, the swing speed of the gate member can be rapidly reduced.

In addition to the operation of raising the gate member 30 shown in FIG. 7, in the state where the gate member is lowered to feed the paper, the operation for feeding the paper in the direction of arrow B is performed as shown in FIG. However, as in the case of FIG. 8, the gate member 30 is lowered at a high speed from the state where the gate member 30 is stopped at the raised position to the position a4 on the upper surface of the lower guide plate 28. Then, the sheet is suddenly projected from the position where the sheet is locked by the gate member by the reaction force of the loop of the sheet, and the sheet is pushed into the nip position of the registration roller device 22 to drive the registration roller device 22. Thus, the paper is conveyed in the direction of arrow B. Further, after the gate member 30 is released from the lock on the paper, the gate member 30 is lowered to the stop position a1 at the lower part of the gate member and stopped, but stopped from the position a4 at which the gate member releases the lock on the paper. The swinging member 39, which is arranged coaxially with the gate member 30 and swings while reaching the position a1, exerts a compressing action on the buffer member 41 disposed below.

That is, with respect to the rocking member 39 which is arranged coaxially with the gate member 30 to perform a rocking motion, with respect to the buffer member 41 arranged below, from the position b4 to b1, While buffering the protruding portion of the cushioning member in a state of compressing from the position c4 to c1, the action of stopping the swinging member is exerted, and the gate member is lowered from the position a4 to a1. When the amplifying mechanism as described above is used, the swinging angle of the swinging member 39 is different from the swinging angle X3 of the gate member 30 from the position a4 on the upper surface of the lower guide plate 28 to the stop position a1. X4
Can be set very large.

Therefore, in the above-described embodiment, when the elastic member 44 provided on the cushioning member 41 is set in a compression range, when the gate member swings from the closing of the sheet conveying path to the stop position, The rocking speed of the gate member can be drastically reduced by damping the rocking speed while the rocking member 39 compresses the elastic member of the buffer member. As described above, in the present invention, the swing gear member is integrally provided with the shaft of the gate member, and the swing gear member is swung with a large amplitude with respect to the swing motion of the gate member. The swinging member 39 can be swung at a large angle. After the gate member is moved at a high speed in the paper guide path portion, the buffer member gives a buffering effect to the rocking member that is rocked at an angle much larger than the amplitude of the gate member. Then, by suddenly stopping by the elastic member of the cushioning member, it is possible to prevent the generation of noise during the swinging operation of the gate member.

[0026]

[Third Embodiment] When a swinging angle amplifying mechanism for a gate member and a buffering mechanism for the gate member are provided as described above, the mounting relationship between the gate member and the swinging member is as follows.
It can be configured as shown in FIGS. The example shown in FIG. 9 shows a case where the configuration is similar to the example of FIG. 1, and the gate member 30 and the swinging member 33 are arranged with respect to the gate shaft 31 connected to the driving means such as a solenoid.
The one that is integrally provided is fixed and attached. Also,
As shown in FIG. 10, the gate shaft 31 is supported by bearing members 32 and 32a on both sides of the mounting portion of the gate member, and the bearing can be arranged with respect to the frame of the gate member or the like. In the sheet aligning device, a large number of gate members are arranged at a predetermined interval with respect to the gate shaft 31, but the swing member is integrally provided for any one gate member. You can
When the gate member 30 and the swinging member 33 are integrally provided, the gate member 30 and the swinging member 33 can be arranged in an arbitrary space below the paper guide path.

Apart from the example of FIG. 10, in the sheet aligning apparatus of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 11, the bearing member 3 is used.
A swinging member 33 is attached to one of the projecting end portions 31a of the gate shaft 31 supported by the second and the second shafts 32a, and the gate member 30 is arranged at an arbitrary position of the gate shaft at a predetermined interval. be able to. Further, by disposing the swinging member so as to correspond to the space on the side of the paper guide path, even when the swinging member is largely swung, the guide plate arranged in the paper guide path and the pre-registration roller device are arranged. Can be provided in a state where the swinging of the swinging member does not hinder the above members. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the rocking gear member is arranged with respect to the gate member, and the rocking member is arranged with respect to the rocking gear member, so that the rocking member is rocked with a very large amplitude. When constructing such a mechanism, an amplitude increasing mechanism can be arranged at the end of the gate shaft, as shown in FIG.

The sheet aligning device of the present invention and the swinging device of the gate member configured as described above are not used only for the image forming apparatus shown in FIG.
It can be applied to any other image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a laser beam printer.
Then, at the position immediately before the position where the toner image is transferred from the image bearing member such as the photoconductor drum onto the sheet, it is possible to prevent the generation of impact noise due to the swing of the gate member when the aligning action is performed on the sheet. As a result, the noise of the image forming apparatus can be reduced. Further, the cushioning member used in the present invention can be made of any material as long as it can exert a cushioning action in a state where the elastic member compresses the elastic member.

[0029]

Since the sheet aligning device of the image forming apparatus of the present invention is constructed as described above, the gate member is arranged at a position close to the registration roller device arranged in the sheet aligning device. As a result, it is possible to configure an apparatus capable of favorably performing the action of stopping the sheet, and it is possible to easily perform the operation of feeding the aligned sheet. Then, the gate member can be moved at a high speed in the paper passage portion of the paper guide path, so that the operation of stopping the paper and the operation of releasing the stopped paper can be performed in a good state. Also,
A swinging member that swings integrally with the gate member is disposed, and when the gate member swings, the cushioning member acts on the swinging member from a position where the gate member has passed the sheet passing portion of the paper guide path. Since the operation of suddenly stopping is performed, it is possible to prevent the gate member from colliding with the guide plate, the gate shaft, or the like and generating noise. Further, in the device of the present invention, the swing angle of the swing member can be set larger than the swing angle of the gate member, and the swing member can be arranged coaxially with the gate member or When the means for increasing the amplitude using the dynamic gear member and the pinion member is used, and the means for greatly increasing the amplitude of the rocking member is used,
The operation of suddenly stopping the gate member can be easily performed. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the noise generated from the gate member without significantly changing the mechanism of the sheet aligning device in the conventional image forming apparatus, and it is possible to reduce the noise of the image forming apparatus.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between a gate member and a swing member.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship with a cushioning member when raising a gate member.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship with a buffer member when lowering a gate member.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the gate member and the swinging member in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship with a cushioning member when the gate member is raised.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship with a buffer member when lowering a gate member.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of the swing of the gate member and the buffer member corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of FIG.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of an example in which a swing member is arranged at an end of a gate shaft.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a general image forming apparatus.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a conventional gate member.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 image forming apparatus, 10 scanning device, 11 photoconductor drum, 16 paper transport path, 20 paper aligning device, 21 pre-registration roller device, 22
Registration roller device, 23 Drive roller, 24
Shaft, 25 pinch roller, 27/28 guide plate, 30 gate member, 31 gate shaft, 33
Swing member, 35 swing gear member, 37 pinion member, 39 swing member, 40/41 cushioning member.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A sheet aligning device is arranged in a sheet conveying path of an image forming apparatus, and a sheet fed from a sheet feeding tray is locked by a gate member to align the sheet, and the sheet is moved toward the next step. In the feeding device, in conjunction with the gate member arranged in the paper aligning device,
A swinging member that swings with a width larger than the swinging width of the gate member is arranged, and a cushioning member is arranged corresponding to the end of the swinging range of the swinging member. A sheet aligning device for an image forming apparatus, characterized in that means for regulating a swing width of a gate member is provided through a regulated swing member. 2. A swing member interlocking with the gate member,
The sheet aligning device for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet aligning device is provided through a means for amplifying the swing angle of the gate member, and swings at an angle larger than the swing angle of the gate member. 3. The swing member interlocking with the gate member,
2. A swinging range is regulated by a cushioning member while being swung within an allowance space formed at an end portion of the gate shaft and formed on a side portion of a sheet conveying path arranged in the image forming apparatus. Alternatively, the sheet aligning device of the image forming apparatus described in 2.