JPS63208443A - Sheet re-feed unit for image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable controlling the shift of a sheet re-feed roller with less expensive constitution by connecting a drive motor of mono-directional rotation to a rotary axis, fitting a gear having partly cutout teeth to the rotary axis and providing a gear on an operation lever or a member interlocked therewith for engagement with said gear. CONSTITUTION:When a drive motor 8 has rotated, a gear 5 with a part of teeth cut out and fitted to a rotary axis turns concurrently, thereby turning an operation lever 1 or a member interlocked therewith via a sector gear 3 engaged with the gear 5, and moving a re-feed roller to a retreat position. When the drive motor 8 has further rotated, the cutout part of the gear 5 comes to be opposite to the sector gear 3 of the operation lever 1 and said gears 3 and 5 are disengaged from each other, thereby making the operation lever 1 freely rotatable. And the re-feed roller returns to a re-feed position due to the own weight or an energizing force by a spring earlier than in the case of motor drive. Therefore, it becomes possible to control the position of the re-feed roller with a less expensive constitution simply through the control of the drive motor 8 for rotation in a one-way direction.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an image creation device such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a laser printer, and particularly to an image creation device capable of creating composite images, double-sided images, etc. This relates to a paper refeeding device.

(Prior Art) In recent years, various image creation devices have been developed that have a composite image creation function that combines different images on one side of a sheet of paper, a double-sided image creation function that creates images on both sides of a sheet, and the like. When performing this type of function, it is preferable to configure the apparatus so that the paper after image creation is once fed into the intermediate tray and then re-fed.

For example, a copying machine previously proposed by the present applicant will be described with reference to FIG. An intermediate tray unit 23 is provided. An image forming section 25 centered on the photoreceptor drum 24 is disposed in the middle section, and an optical system 26 is disposed in the upper section. Then, sheets of paper are fed one by one from the paper storage section 21 to the image forming section 25 by the paper feeding means 22, and an image is created on one side of the paper based on the image irradiated onto the photosensitive drum 24 from the optical system 26. After that, the sheet is configured to either pass through the fixing section 27 and then be directly ejected onto the sheet discharge tray 29 by the switching means 28 or fed into the intermediate tray unit 23.

The intermediate tray unit 23 includes an intermediate tray 30, a switching means 31, a conveying path 32, a reversing path 33, and a paper refeeding means 34.
The paper fed towards the image forming section 25 is transported by the switching means 31 into the intermediate tray 30 either directly or through the conveying path 32 and the reversing path 33, and then transferred to the image forming section 25 again by the sheet re-feeding means 34.
It is configured to be sent to In the paper refeeding means 34, as shown in FIG. It is supported by a rotating shaft 38 which is rotatably mounted on the holder.

This rotating shaft 38 is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow by a drive means (not shown), and the rotation is transmitted to the paper refeeding roller 35 via three pulleys, 40, and a timing belt 41. An operating lever 42 is attached to one end of the rotating shaft 38 so as to be relatively rotatable. One end of this operating lever 42 can be engaged with the holder 36, and the rotation of this operating lever 42 causes the holder 36 to swing up and down, and the paper refeed roller 35 to move up and down. The operating lever 42 is engaged with a rotating disk 44 connected to a drive path on the copying body side via an appropriate clutch (not shown), and a long hole 46 formed at the other end of the operating lever 42. The paper refeed roller 35 is rotated by a driving means 43 having a connecting bin 45 protruding from the rotary disk 44 so as to position the paper refeed roller 35 at three predetermined positions: an upper stage, a middle stage, and a lower stage. It is configured as follows.

That is, when the paper is carried in through the reversing path 33, it is positioned at the upper stage position, when it is directly carried in from the switching means 31, it is positioned at the middle stage position, and when the paper is re-fed, it is positioned at the lower stage position.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, since the drive path on the main body side is used to control the rotation of the operating lever, there is a problem that the configuration of the transmission path becomes complicated and the cost increases. .

Therefore, a configuration in which the control lever is rotated by an independent drive motor can be considered, but using a stepping motor is expensive, which increases the cost, and if a DC motor is used, the circular direction cannot be changed. A control circuit for forward and reverse rotation is required, which again poses a problem of high cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention addresses the above-mentioned problems and provides a paper refeeding device that uses a drive motor that rotates in one direction and is capable of controlling the movement of a paper refeed roller with an inexpensive configuration. purpose.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a rotationally driveable refeeding roller for refeeding paper in response to the rotation of a rotatably supported operating lever. In a paper refeeding device of an image creation apparatus configured to move paper between a refeeding position and a retreat position, a drive motor that rotates in one direction is connected to a rotating shaft via a rotational transmission means, and this rotation The present invention is characterized in that a gear with a part of the teeth removed is attached to the shaft, and a gear that meshes with the gear is provided on the operating lever or its interlocking member.

(Function) Since the present invention has the above configuration, when the drive motor is rotated, the gear on the rotating shaft rotates accordingly, and the operating lever or its interlocking member rotates through the gear meshing with this gear. Then, the paper refeed roller moves to the retracted position. Furthermore, when the drive motor is rotated, the cut-out part of the gear on the rotating shaft side faces the gear on the operating lever side, which disengages the operating lever, and the operating lever becomes rotatable, causing the paper refeed roller to move under its own weight. Alternatively, due to the biasing force of the spring, the paper can be returned to the re-feeding position more quickly than in the case of motor drive. In this way, the position of the paper refeed roller can be controlled simply by controlling the rotation of the drive motor in one direction.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

The overall configuration is shown in FIG. PA7, and the configuration of the paper refeeding means except for the operating lever and its driving means is the same as the conventional example explained in FIG. 8, so the explanation here will be based on that explanation. is omitted.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, 1 is an operating lever,
A contact portion 1 for the holder 36 is provided at one end of the holder 36.
a is provided in a protruding manner, and a suppressing portion 11 for pressing the actuator 2a of the microswitch 2 is provided in a protruding manner on the other side.

The microswitch 2 is located at the lower position of the operating lever 1.
That is, it is arranged so as to detect the paper refeeding position. An intermediate portion of the operating lever 1 is supported by the rotating shaft 38 so as to be relatively rotatable, and a sector gear 3 is formed at the other end. Reference numeral 4 denotes a rotating shaft, and a gear 5 and a worm wheel 6 that can mesh with the sector gear 3 are fixedly attached thereto. A cutout portion 5a having an outer diameter smaller than the root circle is formed in the gear 5 over an appropriate range in the circumferential direction.
When the tooth 1'l'L3 faces the corresponding tooth 1'l'L3, the meshing is released and the operating lever 1 becomes freely rotatable. Further, a worm 7 that meshes with the ohm wheel 6 is attached to the output shaft of the drive motor 8. This drive motor 8 uses a DC motor. moreover,
A pulse disk 10 having a large number of slits 9 regularly formed on its outer periphery is fixedly attached to the rotating shaft 4, and a photo ink clubter 11 is arranged to sandwich the outer periphery of the pulse disk 10 from both sides. and is configured to detect the rotation angle of the rotating shaft 4.

In the above configuration, when refeeding paper, the operating lever 1 is in a rotatable state and positioned at the lower position as shown in FIG. By pressing 2a, it is detected that the operating lever 1 is in the lower position. In this state, the contact portion 1a of the operating lever 1 does not contact the holder 36, and the paper refeed roller 35 is pressed against the paper at a predetermined paper feeding pressure due to the weight of the holder 36 or the spring pressure. By rotating the paper refeed roller 35, the paper is fed out one by one from the top.

Next, to create a composite image, change the paper to the switching means 3.
When the refeeding roller 35 is placed in the middle position as shown by the broken line in FIG. 7 in order to directly feed the paper from the sheet into the intermediate tray 30, the operating lever 1 is moved to the middle position as shown in FIG. Positioned. At that time, the drive motor 8 is driven, the rotary shaft 4 is rotationally driven via the ohm 7 and the worm wheel 6, and the teeth '115 mesh with the sector gear 3 and rotate, so that the operating lever 1 is rotated. It rotates and stops at a predetermined middle position. In this middle position, since the pulse disk 10 rotates together with the rotating shaft 4, the rotation angle can be detected by the count output from the photointerrupter 12, and when the count reaches a predetermined count, Positioning is performed by stopping the drive motor 8.

Next, to create images on both sides of the paper, the paper is passed through the conveying path 32 and the reversing path 33 to the intermediate tray 30.
When the refeeding roller 35 is positioned at the upper position as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 7 in order to carry the sheet into the paper, the operating lever 1 is positioned at the upper position as shown in FIG. In this case, positioning is performed in the same manner as in the case of FIG. 3, only by setting a large rotation angle.

Furthermore, when refeeding paper after a predetermined number of sheets have been delivered in the state shown in Figs. 3 and 4,
From the state shown in the figure, the drive motor 8 is further driven, the gear 5 is further rotated, and as shown in FIG. It becomes movable and quickly returns to the paper refeeding position shown in FIG. 2 by its own weight or the biasing force of a spring.

The control of the above operation will be explained using chart 70 in FIG. A judgment is made, and if it is not on, the drive motor 8 is activated and the control lever 1 is turned on.
Rotate tooth $5 until it returns to the lower position. next,
The count number I+, or 112, corresponding to the middle position corresponding to the composite image and the upper position corresponding to the double-sided image, respectively.
After determining which of the settings is set, the drive motor 8 is turned on, and the microswitch 2 is turned off. It is determined whether the count number n has reached a set count number or 11□, and when n=n or II=112, the drive motor 8 is stopped. In this state, the paper refeed row 23
5 is located at the middle or upper position, and then the paper is stored in the intermediate tray 30 either directly from the switching means 31 or through the conveying path 32 and reversing path 33. When the predetermined number of sheets have been stored, the drive motor 8 is turned on to return the control lever 1 to the lower reference position. When this is detected by turning on the microswitch 2, the drive motor 8 is stopped and then restarted. The series of operations is completed by rotating the paper feed roller 35 and refeeding the paper.

Alternatively, the reference position of the gear 5 may be detected by the count of output pulses from the automatic incrementer 11, and the drive motor 8 may be stopped when the tooth t15 reaches the reference position.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments; for example, an example in which the operating lever 1 is positioned at three positions has been shown;
It may also be arranged to position the fan-shaped teeth*
3 and the operating lever 1 are separated, and the operating lever 1 is connected to the rotating shaft 3.
It may be fixed to a rotatable support shaft other than 8, and a sector gear may be provided on this support shaft, and the sector gear may not be a sector gear.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the paper refeeding device of the image creation device of the present invention, as described above, it is possible to cause the operating lever to perform a predetermined operation with a simple configuration using an inexpensive drive motor, and to perform a correct operation. There is no need for a reverse rotation control circuit; instead, it is only necessary to provide a gear with a cutout in the transmission path and a gear that meshes with it.
It can be constructed at low cost. Moreover, when the operating lever returns to the lower position, it is operated by its own weight or the biasing force of the spring, so it can operate more quickly than when it is moved by a drive motor, which provides great effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 6 show an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the main parts, Figures 2 to 5 are side views showing each operating state, and Figure 6 is an operation control. 70-chart, FIG. 7 is an overall configuration diagram of a copying machine, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a conventional paper refeeding means. 1......Operating lever 3......Sector gear 4...Rotating shaft 5...Gear 5a... ..... Cutting section 8 ..... Drive motor 35 ..... Re-feeding roller. Agent Patent Attorney Masaru Ishihara Figure 1 6-7-7

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A rotatably driven refeed roller for refeeding paper is configured to be moved between a refeed position and a retreat position by rotating a rotatably supported operating lever. In the paper refeeding device of the image creation device, a drive motor that rotates in one direction is connected to a rotating shaft via a rotational transmission means, a gear with a part of the teeth removed is attached to the rotating shaft, and a gear is attached to the rotating shaft. A sheet refeeding device for an image creating apparatus, characterized in that a gear that meshes with the operating lever or its interlocking member is provided.