JPS6123057A - Sheet reversing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To properly set the direction of the image on the front or back surface by turning the first absorbing transport belt by 180 deg. around the shaft in the transport direction and transport the sheet released from absorption by the second absorbing transport belt, in a copying machine. CONSTITUTION:The transcription paper copied with a toner image between a photosensitive drum 1 and a transctription part 4 is transported onto the first absorbing transport belt 7 through a transport belt 5 and a fixation roller 6, and when the transcription paper is transported to a prescribed position, the first absorbing transport belt 7 is turned by 180 deg. in the direction (e) around a shaft 8 parallel to the direction of transfer and the front and back sides are reversed and absorption is brought into stop, and the transcription paper drops onto the second absorbing transport belt 19 and absorbed, and fed into an intermediate tray 14 through the belt 9 and rollers 10-13. Then, the transcription paper is fed between the photosensitive drum 1 and the transcription part 4, and transcription is applied onto the back surface of the transcription paper, which is sent into a paper discharge tray 18 through the first absorbing transport belt 7.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a sheet reversing device for reversing the conveyance direction of a sheet-like object such as a copy paper, a manuscript, a printing paper, a plastic sheet for printing or copying, etc. be.

``Prior Art'' Conventionally, when you want to make double-sided copies using a copying machine, etc., you first need to make a copy on one side of the copy paper, then turn the copy paper over and then make a copy on the other side. If the copy paper is simply turned over, the directions of the images on the front and back sides may be reversed, so care must be taken. For example, if you make a copy on the front side of copy paper with its longitudinal direction along the conveyance direction, then reverse it in the conveyance direction using the conventional reversing method and copy on the back side, the front side and the back side will be copied. The front and back will be reversed, making it impossible to bind the book. On the other hand, if copies are made while conveying the copy paper with its longitudinal direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction, the copy paper is reversed in the conveyance direction and the gap direction as in the past, and copies are made on the back side. Even if you do this, the directions of the copied images on the front and back sides are correct, so you can conveniently bind the book as is. For this reason, conventionally, a double-sided copying method has been generally employed in which the copying operation is performed while the copy paper is transported with its longitudinal direction perpendicular to the transport direction.

``Problems with the prior art'' However, if the copy paper is arranged so that its longitudinal direction is perpendicular to the conveyance direction as described above, the photosensitive drum, fixing roller, and other rollers are all placed within the length of the copy paper in the longitudinal direction. There is no problem if you need to use a long copy paper and the size of the copy paper is small. When using long wet drums and mouthpieces, their vibration and deflection increase dramatically, and improvements in machining accuracy9 are required, resulting in extremely expensive equipment. Another drawback is that the copying machine becomes larger in the depth direction.

``Object of the Invention'' Accordingly, the present invention conveys a sheet such as copy paper in its longitudinal direction and reverses the sheet without changing its direction, thereby changing the direction of images attached to the front and back sides of the sheet. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet reversing device that can be properly operated.

"Structure of the Invention" The main means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above object are: a first suction conveyance belt for conveying the sheet while attracting it; A belt rotating means for rotating 180 degrees around an axis;
and a second suction conveyance belt for suctioning and conveying the sheet released from suction by the first suction conveyance belt; The point is that a belt elevating means is added to bring the belts closer to each other. The first and second suction conveyance belts may be ordinary suction conveyance belts made of cloth, perforated belts, etc. with a good ventilation layer, and provided with a suction device on the back side. Any device that can rotate the first suction conveyance belt and its driving means as described above by 180 drums around an axis parallel to the axis in the conveyance direction of the belt is sufficient, and its mechanism is shown in Fig. 1. In addition to the key of the embodiment shown, a rotary actuator, an eater, and various other means can be used.

The sheet, which has been conveyed to a fixed position while being attracted by the first suction conveyance belt, is turned upside down by rotating the first suction conveyance belt 180 degrees around its axis in the conveyance direction. When the suction action of the first suction conveyance belt is stopped in this state, the sheet is released from suction by the first suction conveyance belt, is transferred onto the second suction conveyance belt located below, and is then transferred to the second suction conveyance belt. By driving the conveyor belt, the sheet that has been turned upside down can be conveyed to the next process.

``Example'' Next, an example embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings to provide an understanding of the present invention. here the first
The figure is a side view of a sheet reversing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a double-sided copying machine showing an embodiment in which the same sheet reversing device is used in a double-sided copying machine.

Next, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a device for reversing copy paper in a double-sided copying machine will be described.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a photosensitive drum, and copy paper taken out from a paper feed cassette 2 using a paper feed roller 3 passes through a group of rollers such as registration rollers, as shown by arrow a, to the photosensitive drum 1 and a transfer unit 4. At that time, the toner adhering to the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 due to corona discharge transfers to the surface of the copy paper, and the toner image is transferred. The copy paper onto which the toner image has been transferred in this way is conveyed by the conveyor belt 5 in the direction of the fixing roller 6 in front as shown by arrow C.
After the toner image is heated and fixed here, it is conveyed to the first suction conveyance belt 7 as shown by arrow d.

The structure of the first suction conveyance belt 7 will be described later, but in short, a suction force is applied to a breathable belt to convey the sheet while adsorbing it to the surface of the belt. After the copy paper has been conveyed to the fixed position by the first suction conveyance belt 7, the first suction conveyance belt 7 is rotated 180 degrees about the axis 8 parallel to the conveyance direction, as shown by arrow e. The copy paper is turned upside down and is attracted to the lower surface of the first suction belt 7. In this state, the suction amount of the first suction conveyance belt 7 is stopped, and the second
When a suction force is applied to the upper surface side of the first suction conveyance belt 9, the copy paper that had been suctioned to the bottom surface of the first suction conveyance belt 7 is released from the suction force and moves downward as shown by arrow r. It falls onto the second suction conveyance belt 9 and is attracted thereto.

Next, the second conveyor belt 9 is run in the direction shown by arrow g, and the copy paper is sent out so as to be caught by the rollers 10.The copy paper sent out in this way has the original image already fixed on the underside. The copy paper is fed into the intermediate tray 14 via the following rollers 11, 12, and 13. When the copy paper is completely fed into the intermediate tray 14, a push-up device (not shown) operates to feed the first half of the copy paper. Press the paper roller 5.

Next, in order to perform a copying operation on the opposite side of the copy paper, place the original for the back side on the document table and press the copy button.This original is exposed and scanned to form an original image on the photosensitive drum 1. At a certain timing, the paper feed roller 5 starts to rotate, and the copy paper that has already been copied on one side in the intermediate tray 14 passes through the roller 16 and is transferred between the photosensitive drum 1 and the transfer section 4 as shown by the arrow. photosensitive drum 1.
The toner image formed on the front side of the copy paper is transferred to the back side of the copy paper. In this way, the copy paper with the toner image attached to the back side passes through the conveyor belt 5, is heated and fixed by the fixing roller 6 fL, is conveyed in the direction shown by the arrow d while being attracted to the first suction conveyor belt 7, and is conveyed in the direction shown by the arrow d. As shown in , the sheet is sent in the direction of a discharge roller 17 provided in front of the first suction conveyance belt 7 in the conveyance direction, and is discharged to a paper discharge tray 18 .

In the above explanation, copy paper is transferred from the first suction conveyance belt 7 to the second suction conveyance belt 9 by dropping it under its own weight. In order to eliminate instability, after rotating the first suction conveyance belt 7 in the reverse direction as shown by the broken line arrow j, the second suction conveyance belt 9 is brought into contact with its upper surface against the lower surface of the first suction conveyance belt 7. When the copy paper is sandwiched between the first and second suction conveyance belts 7 and 8, the suction force of the first suction conveyance belt 7 is stopped, and the suction force of the second suction conveyance belt 9 is increased. is applied to transfer the copy paper from the first suction conveyance belt 7 to the second suction conveyance belt 9, and then the second suction conveyance belt 9 is lowered to the home position as shown by the arrow f. It is desirable that this ensures that the copy paper is transferred to a fixed position on the second suction conveyance belt.

Next, the first and second suction conveyor belts, their rotation means, and belt lifting means will be explained with reference to FIG. 1.

- In FIG. 1, 19 is the first suction conveyance belt 7.
This is a schematic diagram of a blower for applying suction force to the upper surface 7a, and does not necessarily indicate that the blower is actually placed in this position. But that's fine. The blower 19 is configured to prevent the copy paper placed on the upper surface of the first suction conveyance belt 7 from peeling off from the upper surface of the first suction conveyance belt 7. Such a suction means is similarly provided on the second suction conveyance belt 9 provided below the first suction conveyance belt 7 (19'). The first and second suction conveyance belts 7 and 9 may be driven by rotating the drive pulleys 20, 20' by a motor (not shown);
20' may have a built-in motor.

The first suction conveyance belt 7, blower 19, etc. as described above are connected to the horizontal shafts 21, 21 . The motor 25 is supported by a frame 22 that is rotatably supported by a
By rotating the frame 22 by 180 degrees, the first suction conveyance belt 7 and the copy paper suctioned to its upper surface are driven in reverse.

The second suction conveyance belt 9 and the blower 19' are built into a frame 26 shown by two-dot chain lines, and the binions 28, 28, which are engaged with vertical ranks 27, 27 attached to the side of the frame 26, are mounted in a vertical direction. By rotating in the opposite direction, the second suction conveyance belt 9 and the blower 19' are raised or lowered, and the copy paper at the fixed position is transferred from the first suction conveyance belt 7 to the second suction conveyance belt 9. Enables accurate transfer. Note that 29 is a guide for feeding the copy paper to the first suction conveyance belt 7, 30 is a guide for copy paper taken out from the second suction conveyance belt 9, and 31 is a paper discharge tray from the first suction conveyance belt 7. This is a guide for copy paper that has been copied on both sides toward No. 18.

Therefore, at the same time as the fixing roller 6 shown in FIG. Arrow d while being sucked by the suction conveyor belt 7
The first
By stopping the suction conveyance belt 7, the copy paper is stopped at a fixed position. At this point, the motor 25 rotates, and the horizontal shaft 21 and the frame 22 attached thereto are moved through the gears 23 and 24, and the first suction conveyor belt 7 attached to the frame 22 is conveyed as shown in FIG. It rotates 180° around an axis 8 parallel to the direction. When this rotation is completed, the pinions 28 and 28 are then rotated in the forward direction to move the frame 26 and the second suction conveyance belt 9 attached thereto so that the upper surface of the second suction conveyance belt 9 is is raised to a position close to the upper surface of the suction conveyor belt 7. When the second suction conveyance belt 9 reaches the first limit position, the blower 19 is stopped and the blower 19' is activated to move the first suction conveyance belt 7 to the second suction conveyance belt 9. The copy paper is transferred to the receiver, and then the binions 28 and 28 are reversed to lower the second suction conveyance belt 9 to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. The copy paper is moved in the direction shown by arrow g in FIG. 2 and is discharged toward the intermediate tray 14.

When double-sided copying of copy paper is performed using the above-mentioned oil paste invention, the front edge of the copy paper in the transport direction always faces the paper output tray 18, so the direction of the original image on the front and back sides of the copy paper is The image is not reversed, and an image suitable for bookbinding can be obtained. However, for small-sized originals, it is advantageous to feed the copy paper so that its longitudinal direction is perpendicular to the transport direction, which reduces the copying time. It is desirable to reverse the copied paper back and forth, and such a mechanism can be used, for example, by rotating the second suction conveyor belt 9 or the intermediate tray 14 around a vertical axis.
This is achieved by configuring it so that it can be rotated by 80 degrees.

"Effects of the Invention" As described above, the present invention includes a first suction conveyance belt for conveying the sheet while attracting it, and a rotation of the first suction conveyance belt 180 degrees around the axis in the conveyance direction. This is because the sheet reversing device includes a belt rotating means for moving the belt, and a second suction conveyance belt for conveying the sheet while sucking the sheet released from the suction by the first suction conveyance belt. , can be used to transport sheets such as copy paper with their longitudinal direction aligned with the transport direction,
As a result, the direction of the images on the front and back sides of the sheet can be adjusted appropriately, contributing to the creation of easy-to-read manuscripts for bookbinding, and the length of the photosensitive drum, fixing roller, and other drums and rollers. This makes it possible to provide a very practical sheet reversing device that can be shortened.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a sheet reversing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a copying machine equipped with the same sheet reversing device. (Explanation of symbols) 1... Photosensitive drum 2... Paper feed cassette 7.
・・First suction conveyance belt 8・・Shaft 9・・Second suction conveyance belt 14・・Intermediate tray 19.19′・・Blower 20.20′・・Drive pulley 22.26・...Frame 23.24...Gear 25
...Motor 27...Rack 28...Pinion.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) a first suction conveyance belt for conveying the sheet while adsorbing it; a belt rotation means for rotating the first suction conveyance belt by 180 degrees around an axis in the conveyance direction; A sheet reversing device comprising: a second adsorption/conveyance belt for adsorbing and conveying the sheet released from the adsorption by the suction/conveyance belt; (2) a first suction conveyance belt for conveying the sheet while suctioning the sheet; a belt rotating means for rotating the first suction conveyance belt by 180 degrees around an axis in the conveyance direction; a second suction conveyance belt for adsorbing and conveying the sheet released from the suction by the suction conveyance belt; and a belt elevating means for bringing the first or second suction conveyance belt closer to each other. A sheet reversing device comprising: