JPS61235348A - Reverse conveying device for sheet material - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a form to be carried in or out while a conveying means such as rotors and the like continues operating to one direction by providing a device with not only a rotor which rotates reversely to the direction that a sheet material is conveyed, in a conveying direction reverse gear section, with but also a pressing means which is composed of an auxiliary body and of a rotor, and is opposite to the above side rotor. CONSTITUTION:A roller 77 which always rotates reversely to the direction that a form is carried in, is provided in a switch back section 21, and a roller 81 is also provided to be opposite to the above said roller. When the form is carried in, the convex side of a cam is engaged with a shaft 75 allowing the roller 81 to be in spaced relation to the roller 77. And when the roller is rotated reversely allowing the form which has been carried in, to be carried out, the concave side of the cam is engaged with the shaft 75 allowing the roller 81 to press the roller 77 through the carried form. So, the form is carried in to a switch back section 21 by means of conveying force of a counterrotation section 19. And the form can be carried out of the switch back section 21 by means of a combination of the roller 77 and the roller 81, each of which rotates to one direction. Accordingly, the form can be conveyed to the reverse direction with no roller 77 normally or reversely rotated allowing the device to be controlled in a simple manner.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a sheet material reversing conveyance device, and more particularly, to a sheet material reversing conveyance device, which reverses the conveyance direction of a sheet material that has been reversed after being used in an image forming apparatus, for example, to a tray. This invention relates to a reverse conveyance device for discharging and stacking sheet materials.

Hereinafter, a sheet material reversing conveyance device used in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine will be described as an example, but it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited thereto.

[Conventional technology]

When an image forming device, such as a copying machine, copies a document from the first page, the copy side of the paper that is ejected from the copying machine is facing upward, so if it is placed in the paper output tray as it is, the paper will not be copied. The pages of the paper are reversed.

For this reason, the paper ejected from the copying machine is reversed 17 in the reversing path, and the conveying direction is reversed in the switch pack path before being conveyed to the paper output tray so that the copy side faces down and the page order is correct. There is a paper transport device that prevents it from going awry.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In such a paper conveyance device, the paper that has been turned upside down is carried into a switchback path by rollers, and when the paper is carried out from this switchback path, the rollers are reversed.

Therefore, the roller requires an independent motor, which increases costs and requires forward and reverse control.

[Purpose of the invention]

This invention provides an easy-to-control and inexpensive sheet that allows the paper feed ratio to be adjusted while the conveying means such as a rotating body such as a roller, which is installed in a section where the paper conveyance direction is reversed such as a switchback path, is operated in one direction. The purpose is to obtain a material reversal conveyance device.

[Means for solving problems]

11
- In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the sheet material reversing conveyance device according to the present invention is provided with a conveying direction reversing section, and has a rotating body that rotates in a direction opposite to the conveying direction of the sheet material;
An auxiliary body that is provided facing the rotating body and is separated from the rotating body when the sheet material is carried in, a pressure contact means that presses the rotating body and the auxiliary body when the sheet material is carried out, and a space between the rotating body and the auxiliary body. and a sheet material guiding means including a guide portion that guides the sheet material so that it enters the rotating body and guides the sheet material so that the sheet material does not come into contact with the rotating body.

[For production]

According to the above configuration, if the conveyance means and the auxiliary body are separated, the sheet material can be carried in without being hindered by the conveyance means,
When the conveyance means and the auxiliary body are brought into pressure contact with each other when the sheet material has been sufficiently carried in, the sheet material is clamped and conveyed in the reverse direction.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus, for example a laser beam printer 3, is mounted on the paper conveying apparatus 1 of this embodiment. This laser beam printer 3 scans and forms an image on a photoreceptor with a laser beam modulated based on an image information signal from an image league or the like (not shown), and paper is fed from an automatic paper feed port 5 or a manual feed lower. The copy is made into a sheet, and the sheet is ejected from the sheet ejection port 9.

On the other hand, the paper conveyance device 1 has an upper cassette storage section 11 and a lower cassette storage section 13, and selectively transfers sheets of paper from paper feed cassettes 15 and 17 inserted into the cassette storage sections 11 and 13 to the automatic paper feed slot 5. supply.

Further, the copied paper discharged from the paper output port 9 is reversed in a reversing section (reversing path) 19 and supplied to a switchback section (switchback path) 21, and from this switchback section 21, it is directly switched back or The sheets are shifted in the width direction and then switched back, and are stored on the sheet discharge tray 23 with a step difference for each number of sheets.

The detailed structure of such a paper conveyance device 1 is as follows.

First, the cassette accommodating parts 11 and 13 have rotating shafts 22.
Non-circular paper feed rollers 25 and 27 with a part cut out in 24
is provided to feed out the paper in the paper feed cassette 15.17.

Motor-driven transport rollers 29, 31 are provided in front of the cassette housing section 11.13, and pressure rollers 33, 3 are provided.
5 and feed rollers 25 and 27, the paper is fed to the automatic paper feed port 5. Note that even when the paper feeding speed of the lower cassette storage section 13 is made faster than the paper feeding speed of the upper cassette storage section 11 and the paper is fed from the upper cassette 15, and when the paper is fed from the lower cassette 17, The arrival time to the automatic paper feed slot 5 is made equal. The pressure rollers 33 and 35 are rotatably provided between a plurality of ribs 39 of the side cover 37.

The side cover 37 is rotatable about the hinge 41, so that paper jammed between the rollers 29, 33 and rollers 31, 35 can be removed.

As shown in the cassette 15, a movable plate 43 supports the leading edge of the paper, a spring 45 presses the paper against the paper feed roller 25, and a separation claw 47 separates the paper into individual sheets. A pair of left and right separation levers 49 are provided.

The reversing section 19 is connected to a reversing guide 51 as shown in detail in FIG.
Zero reversal guide 5 comprising transport guides 53 and 55
1 has a bent portion 51A (curved portion), and a space 57 is provided between it and the conveyance guide 53 in which the rear end of the sheet can be biased.

A static eliminating brush 59 is provided at the upper end of the reversing guide 51.
In the middle, a lever set photosensor 61 and flange rollers 65, 67 as shown in FIG. 3 attached to the rotating shaft 63 are provided. The flange roller 65 has a sprocket-like seven flange 65L with a plurality of protrusions on one side, and a flange 65R with a smooth circumferential surface on the other side. or,
The flange roller 67 as a conveyance rotating body has flanges 67L with smooth circumferential surfaces at both ends.

It is equipped with 67R. In addition, flange 65L.

65R, 67L, and 67R are in charge of the auxiliary transport rotary bodies referred to in this invention.

A switching guide 71 rotatable about a shaft 69 is provided in front of the flange rollers 65, 67, and a pressure roller 73 as an auxiliary member that contacts the circumferential surface of the flange rollers 65, 67 is attached to the lower end. The switching guide 71 is used to select whether to invert the paper ejected from the printer 3 or to eject the paper as it is without reversing it.Normally, as shown in FIG. 2, the pressure roller 73 is connected to the flange roller 65.
Below the 0 reversing guide 51, which is biased by a spring so as to be pressed against the 0 reversing guide 51, and which is switched as shown by the broken line by rotating the shaft 69 with a lever (not shown) only when discharging straightly. Nearby there is a roller 77 on the shaft 75.
is attached so that it always rotates in the paper ejection direction. Below the roller 77 is a roller 8 attached to a shaft 79.
1 is provided, which separates from the roller 77 when the paper is reversed, and is pressed against the roller 77 when the paper is switched back.

A lever set photosensor 83 is installed on the tip side of the conveyance guide 53.
A paper ejection roller 87 attached to a rotating shaft 85 is also provided. This paper discharge roller 87 is, for example, a roller with a flange like the flange roller 65 described above. A reversing cover 9 is provided above the paper ejection roller 87 via a hinge 89.
A pressure roller 93 that contacts the circumferential surface of the paper ejection roller 87 is provided inside the 0 reversing cover 91 where the number 1 is provided, and a spring 95 presses the pressure roller 93 against the paper ejection roller 87 . Further, the reversing cover 91 is provided with a static elimination brush 97.

Therefore, when the sheet material is carried in, the sheet material is placed at the upstream bending portion 51A (the roller 81 is lower than the outer peripheral surface of the roller 77).
The sheet material is guided by the bent portion 51B (same as 51A) on the downstream side, and is prevented from coming into contact with the roller 77, which is a rotating body. Of course, as shown in FIG.
The rollers 81, which are auxiliary bodies, face the windows 53D (formed in the same number as the rollers 81).

A paper discharge tray 23 is removably attached to the reversing section 19.

The drive mechanism of the reversing section 19 is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

First, a gear 99 is provided at one end of the rotating shaft 75.

Further, a cam lO1 is attached to one end of the rotating ring 79. This cam 101 has a convex portion 101A and a concave portion 101B, and when the convex portion 101A and the rotating shaft 75 engage, the rotating shaft 79 is pushed back and lowered, and the roller 81 moves to the roller 77.
When the recess 101B and the rotary shaft 75 are engaged with each other, the rotary shaft 79 is raised and the roller 81 is pressed against the roller 77. Note that a similar cam is attached to the other end of the shaft 79, and moves the shaft 79 up and down at both ends.

An arm 105 is attached to the cam lO1 via a bottle 103, and this arm 105 is connected to a solenoid 109 via an arm 107. Further, a spring ill is attached to the cam 101. That is, axis 7
The vertical movement of 9 is caused by the suction force of solenoid 109 and spring 1.
This is done by rotating the cam 101 by the return force of the cam 11. (Details will be described later) A timing pulley 11 is attached to the rotating shaft 115 of the motor 113.
7 and a clock plate 119 are attached. Also,
Photo interrupter 1 sandwiching clock plate 119
21 is attached so that the rotation speed of the motor 113 can be detected. A timing pulley 12 is attached to the shaft 123.
5. Gears 127, 129, and 131 are attached. The pulley 125 is coupled to the pulley 117 by a timing belt 133.

A gear 137 that meshes with the gear 127 and a gear 139 that meshes with the gear 129 are integrally attached to the shaft 135, and the driving force transmitted to the pulley 125 is transmitted to the gears 127, 137, 1.
A gear 141 that meshes with the gear 131 and a timing pulley 143 are attached to one end of the zero-rotation shaft 63, which is adapted to be transmitted to the gears 129 and 131 via the gear 131. A gear 147 that meshes with the gear 99 and a timing pulley 149 are attached to the shaft 145 . Further, a timing pulley 151 is attached to the rotating shaft 85. And timing pulley 143.149.

151 are connected by a timing belt 153.

That is, when the motor 113 rotates to the left as shown in FIG. 4, the pulley 117. The pulley rotates to the left via the belt 133. For this reason, gears 127, 137, 139, 129
, 131, the gear 141 rotates clockwise. Therefore, the second
As the illustrated roller 65 rotates, pulleys 149 and 151 rotate via the pulley 143 and belt 153.

Therefore, the paper ejection roller 87 rotates and the gear 14
Gear 99 rotates via gear 7, and roller 77 rotates.

Next, details of the switchback path 21 will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 2, the switchback path 21 is provided with an intermediate tray 155. This intermediate tray 155 has 1
As shown in Figures 46 to 8, one end is attached to a hinge 15 such as a shaft.
7, and the other end is supported so as to be inclined when the cover 159 is opened as shown in FIG. That is, the rotating shaft 22
A pair of support arms 163 are fixed to a frame 161 supporting the rotation angle 24, and a pair of rotation arms 167 are attached via a shaft 165.

A link 171 is attached to one base end of the rotating arm 167 via a shaft 169, and a rotating body such as a roller 17 is attached to the tip via a shaft 173 and contacts the back surface of the intermediate tray 155.
5 is provided. In addition, the shaft 169 and the frame 161
A spring 177 is installed between the two. Link 171 is attached to cover 159 via shaft 179. The cover 159 has a handle 180 and is attached to an opening 183 of the overall cover 181 via a hinge 185 such as a shaft so that it can be opened and closed.

On the other hand, on the hinge 157 side there is a pair of levers 187 for swinging.
is rotatably mounted around a shaft 191 supported by the frame 189.

A link 195 including a pin 193 is attached to the shaft 191, as shown in FIG.

The pin 193 engages with an elongated hole 201 provided at the tip of an arm 199 that rotates about a shaft 197. and,
A spring 203 is attached between the base end of the arm 199 and the frame 189. Further, the distal end side of the arm 199 is coupled to a solenoid 207 via an arm 205. That is, the lever 187 is rotated by the solenoid 207 and returned by the spring 203.

On the surface of the intermediate tray 155, as shown in FIGS. 2, 6, and 7, there is a paper support stand 209 at the left end, a pair of first stoppers 211° at the right end, and a paper support stand 209 and a first stopper. 211, a second stopper 213A, 21
3B.

213C is provided. Note that the stopper 213A is, for example, 1. The stopper 213B is for B5 size, the stopper 213B is for A4 size, and the stopper 213C is for letter size and legal size.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, a frame 215 is provided above the intermediate tray 155, and elastic bodies 217, 219, 221 made of synthetic resin sheets such as polyester sheets are mounted on this frame 215. They are arranged as shown in FIG. Furthermore, the intermediate tray 15
5, a shaft 223 is provided above the shaft 223, as shown in FIG.
Weights 225 and 227 are individually rotatably attached. Note that a protrusion 229 is provided at the portion of the weight 225, 227 that comes into contact with the paper.

The paper conveyance device configured as described above operates as follows.

Now, B5 size paper is in the paper cassette 15 in Figure 1.
Assume that the paper feed cassette 17 contains A4 size paper.

On the other hand, when the solenoid 109 is not energized as shown in FIG. 4, the convex portion 101A of the cam 101 pushes the rotating shaft 75, so the roller 81 in FIG. 1 is separated from the roller 77.

That is, there is a space between roller 77 and roller 81 through which the paper passes. In addition, the motor 113 in FIG.
rotates and the drive mechanism operates.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained.

In this state, when a paper feed command for B5 size paper is issued, the paper in the paper feed force roller 25 is
is sent out, separated into one sheet by the separation claw 47, and held between the conveyance roller 29 and the pressure roller 33,
The paper is sent to the automatic paper feed port 5 of the laser printer 3.

Image information is copied onto the paper that has entered the laser printer 3, and the paper is discharged from the paper discharge port 9.

The ejected paper is subjected to static electricity being removed by the static eliminating brush 59 shown in FIG. At this time, the lever set photosensor 61 is turned on. The paper held between the flange rollers 65, 67 and the pressure roller 73 is attached to the flange 65L,
65R, 67L, and 67R, the paper is fed while being wavy and having stiffness. and.

When the leading edge of the paper hits the conveyance guide 53, the paper bends toward the inter-φ tray 155 and enters the switchback path 21 (arrow A). has been reversed.

After that, the leading edge of the paper is moved to the elastic body 217 shown in FIGS. 2 and 6.
, 219, 221 and the weights 225, 227 are pushed up and sent onto the intermediate tray 155 as shown in FIG. The trailing edge of the paper fed in this way is connected to the pressure roller 73.
When it comes off, the flange 65L of the flange roller 65.

65R, the trailing edge of the paper is sent out, so that the paper is completely separated from the pressure roller 73 and the flange roller 65, and the rear of the paper is transported through the space 57 by the stiffness of the paper and gravity, centering on the bent portion 51A of the reversing guide 5'1. Rotate toward the guide 53 side.

On the other hand, when the trailing edge of the paper comes off the lever set photosensor 61, the sensor 61 is turned off, so that the solenoid 109 shown in FIG. 4 is energized after a predetermined time, and the arm 107,
Cam 101 rotates to the right via 105. Therefore, the concave portion 101B of the cam 101 engages with the shaft 75, and the roller 81 shown in FIG. 2 rises and comes into pressure contact with the roller 77 through the paper. As a result, the rotational force of the roller 77 is transmitted to the roller 81 , and the sheet is reversely sent along the conveyance guide 53 toward the paper ejection roller 87 , where it is gripped by the paper ejection roller 87 and the pressure roller 93 . At this point, the lever set photosensor 83 is turned on, so the solenoid 109 shown in FIG. 4 is deenergized.

Therefore, the cam lO1 rotates counterclockwise due to the return force of the spring 111, and the convex portion 101A hits the shaft 75 and pushes down the shaft 79. Therefore, roller 81 separates from roller 77.

The paper gripped by the paper ejection roller 87 and the pressure roller 93 is ejected as is, and is stored on the paper ejection tray 23 with the copy side facing downward.

If there are multiple pages of information to be copied by the laser printer 3, the above operations are repeated until the last page is copied and transported.

On the other hand, when multiple copies of information on multiple pages are to be copied, the process is as follows.

Note that copying and transporting the first copy are the same as the operations described above.

To copy the second copy, the image information read and stored by the Image League is sent again from the first page to the printer 3 and copied onto paper.The paper for the second copy is also reversed in the same way as the first copy. The paper is sent through the path 19 and onto the intermediate tray 155 as shown in FIG.
When the lever is released and this sensor 61 is turned off, the solenoid 207 shown in FIG. 8 is instantaneously energized after a predetermined time.

Therefore, the lever 187 rotates by the amount of swing, and the left end of the paper is flipped.

Therefore, as shown in FIG.
Shift the top in the width direction (arrow B), so that the right edge of paper P is
It hits the stopper 211 of .

Therefore, the paper P tries to bounce back, but since the elastic body 221 shown in FIG. The dead paper P is removed by the stopper 21.
Uke is stopped with 3A.

On the other hand, the sensor 61 is turned off, the paper P is shifted, and after the end time (preset), the solenoid 10 in FIG.
9 is excited, the roller 81 is pressed against the roller 77, and the paper P is conveyed in the opposite direction. The paper discharged by the paper discharge roller 87 and the pressure roller 93 is stored in the paper discharge tray 23 with a shift toward the front side from the first copy. Such operations are repeated to continuously copy and transport the second copy. The third copy is transported in the same way as the first copy.

In this way, as shown in FIG.
3 has odd parts Pi, P3, P5---- and even parts P
2. P4---1 are housed alternately on different levels.

When copying multiple copies of multiple pages of information onto A4 size paper stored in the paper feed cassette 17 shown in FIG. The paper is transported to the automatic paper feeder 25 at a faster speed than the paper being sent out. Further, the distributed paper sent to the intermediate tray 155 is thrown away by the lever 187, and the paper that bounced off the first stopper 211 is stopped by the M2 stopper 213B.

On the other hand, if there is no need to reverse or separate the copied paper, use a lever not shown! @2
The switching guide 71 shown in the figure is rotated as shown by the broken line, and the paper is ejected as it is.

As described above, the sheets are conveyed and are stored in the paper ejection tray 23 in different levels, sorted by the number of copies regardless of the paper size. However, if the paper gets jammed in the reversing section 19, the reversing cover 91 can be opened on the hinge. Rotate around 89 and remove.

Also, if paper gets jammed in the switchback section 21,
As shown in FIG. 8, place your finger on the handle and rotate the cover 159 outward about the hinge 185. As a result, as the cover 159 rotates, the rotation arm 1
67 rotates counterclockwise around the shaft 165. For this reason.

The roller 175 supporting the right end of the intermediate tray 155 descends while rolling on the back surface of the intermediate tray. Therefore,
The intermediate tray 155 rotates downward around the hinge 157 and tilts toward the cover 159 side. For this reason, the switchback section 21 opens wide, and the paper conveyance device described above has the following effects.

(1) The switchback section 21 is provided with a roller 77 that always rotates in the opposite direction to the direction in which paper is carried in, and a roller 81 is provided opposite to this roller 77 so that when paper is carried in, the convex portion 101A of the cam 101 is 75 to separate the roller 81 from the roller 77, and when the conveyance direction of the paper is reversed, the solenoid 109 is energized and the recess 101 is moved.
B is engaged with the shaft 75, and the roller 81 is brought into pressure contact with the roller 77 via the paper to be carried in. Therefore, the paper is carried into the switchback section 21 by the conveying force of the reversing section 19, and the paper is carried into the switchback section 21. Unloading can be carried out by a roller 77 rotating in one direction and a roller 81 pressed against the roller 77.

Therefore, the paper conveyance direction can be reversed without reversing the roller 77 in the forward or reverse direction, which simplifies control. Therefore, there is no need for a dedicated drive motor for the roller 77, and driving force can be obtained from the drive mechanism of the reversing section 19 as in the embodiment, resulting in cost reduction.

(2) When paper is carried from the reversing unit 19 to the switchback unit 21, since the rollers 77 and 81 are not in pressure contact, it is easy to carry the paper and it is necessary to synchronize the rotational speeds of the rollers 65 and 77. do not have.

[Modified example]

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and for example, the following modifications are possible.

(1) In the embodiment described above, the roller 81 moves up and down, and the roller 81 approaches and separates from the drive roller 77, but the drive roller 77 may also approach and separate from the roller 81. Also,
Both may move toward and away from each other.

(2) The auxiliary body is not limited to the roller 81, but may be a plate-shaped one, and the auxiliary body is rotated by a solenoid or the like around an axis, and the roller 8
[Effects of the Invention] The present invention provides a sheet provided with a guide portion that allows the sheet material to enter between the rotating body and the auxiliary body without contacting the rotating body. Since the conveyance of the sheet material is guided by the material guide means, there is an effect that the conveyance of the sheet material is carried out smoothly, and an effect that the leading edge of the sheet material is not damaged.

Since the sheet material reversing conveyance device according to the present invention has the configuration as described above, it has the advantage of being extremely simple to control and inexpensive.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 8 are diagrams showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a paper conveying device shown together with a laser printer, and FIG. 2 shows a reversing section and a switchback section. 3 is a front view showing the structure of the rollers in the reversing section, FIGS. 4 and 5 are sectional views showing the drive mechanism of the reversing section, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are the intermediate trays. FIG. 8 is a plan view and a front view showing the surrounding structure, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a lever drive mechanism and an intermediate tray rotation mechanism. Fig. 9 1...Paper transport device, 3...Laser printer, 5...Automatic paper feed slot, 9...Paper discharge port,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Upper cassette accommodating part, 13... Lower cassette accommodating part, 19... Reversing part, 21... Switchback part, 23... Paper ejection tray, 51... Reversing guide,
53... Conveyance guide, 61... Lever set photosensor, 65.67... Flange roller, 71... Switching guide, 73... Pressure roller, 77... Roller, 8
1...Roller, 83...Lever set 7 Auto sensor, 8
7... Paper discharge roller, 93... El [roller, 101
...Cam, 109...Solenoid, 155...Intermediate tray, 159...Cover, 163...Support arm, 167...Rotating arm, 171...Link, 1
75...Roller, 187...Shake lever, 20
7... Solenoid, 211... First stopper, 2
13A, 213B, 213C... second stopper, 2
17,219.221...Elastic body, 225,227.
··weight. Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 9 Figure 70 Figure 11 Figure 13

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a sheet material reversing conveyance device that reverses the conveyance direction of the sheet material carried in by a conveyance direction reversing section and then conveys the sheet material, a rotating mechanism is provided in the conveyance direction reversing section and rotates in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction of the sheet material. an auxiliary body that is provided to face the rotating body and separates from the rotating body when the sheet material is carried in; a pressure contact means that presses the rotating body and the auxiliary body when carrying out the sheet material; the rotating body and the auxiliary body. A sheet material reversing conveyance device comprising: a sheet material guiding means including a guide portion that guides the sheet material so that the sheet material enters between the rotating body and the sheet material so that the sheet material does not come into contact with a rotating body.