JPH0930683A - Sheet conveying device, automatic document conveying device, and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make jam treatment easily without risk of damaging document sheet by releasing the pinching conveyance force for the document sheet certainly in the event of a jam. SOLUTION: When a sensor 60 senses a jam with document S, a latch solenoid 53 is energized by a CPU 70 so that a coupling arm 52 is rotated release the pinching conveyance force of a separated sheet feeder unit which conveys document sheets pinchedly. Thus sheet material can be removed from a conveying means without jam treating process as required in the conventional arrangement and without risk of damaging the sheet material.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet material for a sheet material conveying apparatus such as an automatic document feeder which is mounted on an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a laser beam printer or a facsimile and which feeds the sheet material during image formation. The present invention relates to a jam processing configuration of the above.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional automatic document feeder is provided, for example, on an upper surface of a platen glass as an image reading processing section of an image forming apparatus main body, and has an original placing table on which originals, which are sheet materials, are stacked and set. And a separating / feeding unit that separates and conveys the sheets one by one to the image reading processing unit.

When a document supplied from the document placing table and being conveyed is jammed, for example, in the separating / feeding unit, the outer cover normally provided in the separating / feeding unit is opened to open the document. The original is removed by releasing the holding force or by operating the lever to release the holding force of the separation feeding unit.

[0004]

However, when the original is jammed in the separating / feeding unit and is left in between the separating / feeding unit and the image forming apparatus main body while being fed to the image forming apparatus main body, If it stops, it is not possible to understand the jam handling method well or the jam handling method is complicated.For example, the clamping force of the separation feeding unit is released by operating the lever. Jam processing may be performed by forcibly pulling out the visible document, which is different from the method of removing the document. In such a case, since the document is sandwiched by the separating and feeding section, there is a problem that the information written on the document is scraped off or the document is damaged.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and when the sheet material is jammed, the clamping force of the sheet material is surely released and the sheet material is damaged. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet material conveying device, an automatic document conveying device, and an image forming apparatus that can easily perform jam processing.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a sheet material conveying apparatus according to the present invention has a conveying means for nipping and conveying a sheet material, and detects a jam of the sheet material. A detection unit for starting the control operation based on a detection signal from the detection unit, and a release unit for releasing the nip-conveying force of the sheet material by the control output of the control unit. To do.

[0007] Preferably, the conveying means is a separating / feeding means which comprises a separating member and a conveying member which is in contact with the separating member in a normal state, and which separates the sheet materials one by one and nip and convey them. .

As an example, the separating / feeding means has a rotation separating belt as a separating member, a friction coefficient larger than a friction coefficient of the rotating separating belt, and the same direction as the rotating direction of the rotating separating belt. And a feeding roller as a conveying member that rotates.

As another example, the separation feeding means rotates in the same direction as the conveying roller when a torque force of a predetermined value or less acts on the conveying roller as a separating member, and a torque force of a predetermined value or more is generated. When acting, it has a retard roller as a conveying member that rotates in a direction relatively opposite to the conveying roller.

As another example, the separating / feeding means has a conveying roller as a conveying member for conveying the sheet material, and a separating pad as a separating member facing the conveying roller.

Further preferably, the releasing means separates the separating member and the conveying member so that the control means releases the holding and conveying force of the separating and feeding means when the detecting means detects a jam. It has a mechanism for separating them.

As an example, a mechanism for separating the separating member and the conveying member separates one of the separating member and the conveying member from one end of the rotatably used connecting arm, and the other of the connecting arms. The end is connected to a connecting portion between the latch solenoid and the tension spring, and the latch solenoid rotates the coupling arm against the spring force of the tension spring to separate the separating member from the conveying member.

The automatic document feeder according to the present invention is
The sheet material conveying device according to any one of the above items 1 to 7 has a document conveying rotation belt and a sheet discharge tray.

Further, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention is a document placing table, and the sheet material feeding device according to any one of the above items 1 to 7 for feeding a document from the document placing table.
A document reading processing unit for reading a document fed from the sheet material conveying device, and an image forming unit for forming an image based on document information read by the document reading processing unit are provided.

[0015]

According to the above construction, when the detecting means detects the jam of the sheet material, the control means operates the releasing means to release the nipping and conveying force of the conveying means for nipping and conveying the sheet material. That is, for example, the control means rotates the connecting arm by the latch solenoid against the spring force of the tension spring to separate the separating member from the conveying member. As a result, it is possible to remove the sheet material from the conveying means without performing the jam treatment operation that has been conventionally used and without damaging the jammed sheet material.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of an image forming apparatus equipped with a sheet material conveying device according to the present invention.
2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of the sheet material conveying apparatus of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the separation feeding unit from above,
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a fixed supporting state of the separation feeding unit, FIG. 5 is a perspective view from above of a drive unit that drives the separation feeding unit, and FIG. 6 is a view of the separation feeding unit. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a sheet material holding force releasing configuration, and FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing control of the releasing means.

In FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus body 1 such as a copying machine or a laser beam printer includes a platen glass 2 as an image reading processing section, a light source 107, and a lens system 10.
8, a paper feeding unit 109, an image forming unit 102, and the like. The sheet feeding unit 109 is a unit in which transfer sheets are accommodated in a deck 113 arranged in the cassettes 110, 111 and the pedestal 112 which are detachable from the image forming apparatus main body 1, and a sheet feeding member is arranged in the deck 113. There is. The image forming unit 102 is provided with a cylindrical photosensitive member 114, a developing device 115 containing toner, a transfer charging device 116, a separation charging device 117, a cleaner 118, a primary charging device 119, and the like. The conveying device 120, the fixing device 104, and the discharge roller 1 are provided on the downstream side of the image forming unit 102.
05 and the like are provided.

The operation of this image forming apparatus will be described.

When a paper feed signal is output from a control device (not shown) provided on the image forming apparatus main body 1 side, a transfer sheet as a sheet material is fed from the cassette 110, 111 or the deck 113. On the other hand, the light source 107 is an original S as a sheet material placed on the platen glass 2.
And the reflected light illuminates the photoconductor 114 via the lens system 108. The photoconductor 114 is previously charged by the primary charger 119, an electrostatic latent image is formed by irradiating light, and then a toner image is formed by the developing device 115.

The transfer sheet fed from the sheet feeding unit 109 is corrected for skew by the registration roller 101, and is conveyed to the image forming unit 102 at a timed timing. In the image forming unit 102, the toner image on the photoconductor 114 is transferred to the transferred transfer sheet by the transfer charger 116, and the transferred transfer sheet is separated by the charger 1.
It is charged to the opposite polarity to the transfer charger 116 by 17 and separated from the photoconductor 114.

The transfer sheet separated from the photoconductor 114 is conveyed by the conveying device 120, and the unfixed transferred image is permanently fixed in the fixing device 104. The transfer sheet having the image fixed thereon is ejected from the image forming apparatus main body 1 by the ejection roller 106.

In this way, the transfer sheet fed from the sheet feeding section 109 is image-formed and discharged.

An automatic document feeder (hereinafter abbreviated as "ADF") 3 is mounted on the platen glass 2 on the upper surface of the image forming apparatus main body 1 as shown in FIG.

The ADF 3 is provided with an outer cover (main cover) 4a and a document tray 5 as a document placing table. The document S is loaded and set by inserting the leading end of the document S into the document inlet 20 of the document tray 5. ing.

The half-moon-shaped feed roller 6 is driven based on the document feeding start signal. This allows the document tray 5
A positive feeding force is applied to the uppermost document S. Then, a separation / feed unit having a rotation separation belt 8 and a feeding roller 7 having a friction coefficient larger than that of the rotation separation belt 8 and rotating in the same direction as the rotation direction of the rotation separation belt 8. Only the lowest document S is separated and fed one by one by the comb-teeth type separating and feeding unit 29 as a feeding means.

The separated and fed original S passes through the path of sheet path a → registration roller pair 9 → sheet path b, the platen glass 2 and the original conveying rotary belt (hereinafter abbreviated as “rotary belt”). It is transported to the station 10).

The pair of registration rollers 9 serves to temporarily receive the leading edge of each original S separately fed by the separating / feeding unit 29 in the nip portion and correct the skew of the fed original generated at the time of separation. And the timing of feeding the document S with respect to the image reading process.

The rotating belt 10 is wound between a belt driving roller 11 on the left side of the platen glass 2 on which the original S is loaded and a turn roller 12 on the right side of the platen glass 2 on which the original S is unloaded. This is a unit that is stretched around and conveys the original S on the platen glass 2, and the belt portion underneath is pressed against the upper surface of the platen glass 2 by the pressing roller 13.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rotating belt 10 rotates counterclockwise as viewed in the direction of arrow R10, and the document S conveyed between the platen glass 2 and the rotating belt 10 from the sheet path b is The sheet path c between the platen glass 2 and the rotating belt 10 is conveyed while sliding from the left side to the right side.

When the original S is conveyed to a predetermined setting position on the upper surface of the platen glass 2, the turning operation of the rotating belt 10 is stopped and controlled, and the original S is automatically set at a predetermined position on the upper surface of the platen glass 2. It will be in the state of being.

Then, the image information of the set original is read by the mechanism on the side of the image forming apparatus main body 1.

When the reading process is completed, the rotating belt 10 is again rotated counterclockwise to convey the document S to the right side of the upper surface of the platen glass 2. Next, the original S
Is discharged onto a discharge tray 16 installed between the document tray 5 and the rotating belt 10 along a path of the sheet path d → the discharge roller 14 → the discharge port 15.

In this manner, the plurality of originals S on the original tray 5 are fed one by one onto the platen glass 2, the reading processing of the originals S is performed, and the originals S are sequentially ejected onto the paper ejection tray 16. The cycle is done automatically.

Next, the structure and mounting structure of the separation / feed unit 29 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

First, the structure of the separation feeding unit 29 will be described. Front plate 21, rear plate 22, paper guide upper 2
8 are fixed by screws or the like, respectively, and form a frame of the separation feeding unit 29. The feeding roller 7 has a feeding roller shaft 7a (see FIG. 4) rotatably supported by a front side plate 21 and a rear side plate 22 via a bearing (not shown). Further, the endless annular rotation separation belt 8 is wound between a belt driving roller 8b integrally attached to the belt driving shaft 8a and a belt driven roller 8c rotatably held by the belt driven shaft 8d. It has been turned. Here, the belt driven shaft 8d is fixed to the belt side plate 26 by screws or the like, and the belt driven shaft 8d is rotatably supported by the belt side plate 26 via a bearing (not shown). Further, the rotary separation belt 8 abuts against an abutting portion (not shown) so that a predetermined intrusion amount F (see FIG. 6) can be obtained with respect to the feeding roller 7. On the other hand, a roller gear 23 and a belt gear 25 are integrally attached to one ends of the feed roller shaft 7a and the belt drive shaft 8a which penetrate the front side plate 21, respectively, and an idler gear 24 is rotatably supported by the front side plate 21 therebetween. Has been done. Here, the driving force from the ADF main body side is input to the roller gear 23, and the idler gear 2
4 is transmitted to the belt gear 25. As a result, when the feeding roller 7 is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow A (see FIG. 3), the rotary separation belt 8 is rotationally driven in the same direction. Therefore, the sheet originals are separated one by one and are fed and conveyed in the direction of arrow B (see FIG. 3).
Here, the driving force of the separation feeding unit 29 is interrupted when the trailing edge of the document S is conveyed by the rear end 3Omm of the document S in order to open the conveyance interval of the document S. Be drunk After that, the document S is conveyed by the conveying force of the registration roller pair 9 located on the downstream side of the separation / feed unit 29. In this case, the roller gear 23 has a one-way clutch, and even if the document S is conveyed only by the registration roller pair 9, the feeding roller 7
Rotates in the direction of arrow C, so that the load during conveyance does not increase.

Next, the mounting structure of the separation feeding unit 29 will be described. The front side plate 21 is provided with round holes 21a and round elongated holes 21b, and the rear side plate 22 is provided with round holes 22a and round elongated holes (not shown). Reference numerals 31 and 32 denote frame bodies of the ADF main body, and a fixed shaft 33 is fixed to one frame body 32 by caulking or the like. The fixed support unit 3 is attached to the other frame 31.
0 is fixed by screws. That is, the support unit 30 will be described in more detail.
Is a case of the support unit 30, and in this case 34,
The lid 35 is fixed with screws or the like. Reference numeral 36 denotes a slide fixed support shaft slidably supported by the case 34 and the lid 35, and a handle 37 is fixed to the slide fixed support shaft 36 by caulking or the like. Then, the lid 35 and the handle 37
The fixed support shaft 36 is connected between the
A pressing spring 38 is inserted to press in the direction of. In addition, the fixed shaft 33 and the slide fixed support shaft 36
Are inserted into the round holes 21a, 22a and the round elongated holes 21b, (one not shown), respectively, to separate and feed the unit 29.
Is supported in a state of being pressed toward the fixed shaft 33 by the slide fixed support shaft 36 which is pressed in the direction of arrow D by the pressing spring 38.

When the separation feeding unit 29 is to be replaced, the exterior cover 4a shown in FIG. 2 which covers the upper portion of the separation feeding unit 29 is rotated around the rotation shaft 4b, and then opened. By sliding the illustrated handle 37 in the direction of arrow E, the slide fixing support shaft 36 is also slid and retracted, and is pulled out from the front side plate 21. Then, the separation feeding unit 29 is slid in the direction of arrow E, the rear plate 22 is pulled out from the fixed shaft 33, and is removed and replaced upward. Further, when the separation feeding unit 29 is inserted, the separation feeding unit 29 can be attached by reversing the above procedure.

Further, the rotary drive mechanism 40 of the separating / feeding unit 29 will be described with reference to FIG. A drive gear 42 is integrally attached to a shaft 41a of the drive motor 41, and the shaft 41a is attached to the gear holder 4 via a bearing (not shown).
4 is rotatably mounted. A swing gear 43 meshing with the drive gear 42 is rotatably attached to the gear holder 44 by an idler shaft 45. Further, the shaft 41 is provided between the gear holder 44 and the frame 31.
The gear holder 44 pivots upward about a and swings the swing gear 4
3 so that the roller gear 23 meshes with the roller gear 23.
6 is stretched. As a result, the contact portion 23b of the roller gear 23 and the contact portion 43b of the swing gear 43 come into contact with each other, and the gear portion 23a of the roller gear 23 and the swing gear 43 are contacted with each other.
The gear portion 43a of the roller gear 2 meshes with the gear portion 43a of the roller gear 2 while maintaining a regular distance between the shafts, so that the driving force of the rocking gear 43 is surely applied.
3 will be transmitted.

Next, referring to FIG. 6, the structure of the mechanism for releasing the holding and conveying force when the document is jammed will be described.

The releasing means 50 comprises a tension spring 51, a connecting arm 52, and a latch solenoid 53. The connecting arm 52 is rotatably supported around the support shaft 52a, one end thereof is attached to the belt driven shaft 8d, and the other end thereof is attached to a connecting portion of the tension spring 51 and the latch solenoid 53. ing. In the normal feeding state of the document S, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 6, since the latch solenoid 53 is in the released state, the connecting arm 52 is pulled by the pulling force of the tension spring 51.
The rotation separating belt 8 is pressed and held on the feeding roller 7 side so that the intrusion amount becomes F. On the other hand, when the document S is jammed, the control means 70, which will be described later, detects this, and the control means 70 turns on the latch solenoid 53 to cause the plunger 53 to move.
By sucking a, the connecting arm 52 is rotated counterclockwise against the tensile force of the tension spring 53, as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 6, and the rotary separation belt 8 is centered on the belt drive shaft 8a. Rotate to. As a result, the rotation separating belt 8 that has entered the feeding roller 7 side is separated from the feeding roller 7, and the document S is formed by the feeding roller 7 and the rotation separating belt 8.
The gripping and conveying force of is released.

Next, based on FIGS. 1 to 7, the original S
The configuration and sequence from the detection of the jam to the control of the releasing means 50 will be described.

The sensor 60 as a detecting means for detecting the jam of the document S is a reflection type sensor arranged in the vicinity of the downstream side of the separation feeding unit 29, and the sensor 60 is connected with the CPU 70 as a controlling means. ing. CPU 70
Operates based on a signal from the sensor 60 that constantly detects the passage timing of the document S. The period from when the document S is driven by the paper feed roller 6 until a predetermined time elapses, in other words, When the document S does not reach the position of the sensor 60 while the distance from the stacking position of the document S to the position of the sensor 60 is added to the time required for transporting at a predetermined transport speed with some margin time, It is determined that the document S is jammed near the separation feeding unit 29. Thereby, the latch solenoid 53 of the releasing means 50
Is excited, and the connecting arm 52 is connected by the plunger 53a.
Is rotated to move the rotation separating belt 8 upward so as to be separated from the feeding roller 7, and the sandwiching and conveying force of the document S is released.

Since the latch solenoid 53 has a self-holding circuit for attracting the plunger 53a by a magnetic force, even if the power of the main body of the automatic document feeder is shut off during the jam clearance operation, the latch solenoid 53 is latched. The solenoid 53 is held in a suction state. Therefore, even if the power of the main body of the automatic document feeder is cut off, the document S
The releasing means 50 does not release the jammed jam. (Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment, a description has been given of the configuration in which the comb-shaped separation feeding unit is used as the separation feeding means of the automatic document feeder, but the present invention is not limited to this. The separating / feeding means is not limited, and may be, for example, a conveyor roller 81 as shown in FIG. When the above torque force acts, a retard type separation feeding unit unit 80 including a retard roller 82 that rotates in a direction opposite to the conveying roller 81 may be used. Even if the releasing unit 50 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 for releasing the nipping and conveying force when the sheet material is jammed is applied to the retard type separation feeding unit unit 80, the same as in the first embodiment. Can be effective That. (Third Embodiment) Further, as the separating / feeding means, for example, a conveying roller 9 having a large friction coefficient as shown in FIG.
1 and a separation pad 92 having a friction coefficient smaller than that of the conveyance roller 91 may be used as the separation pad type separation feeding unit unit 90. The releasing means 5 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 for releasing the nipping and conveying force when the sheet material is jammed.
Even if 0 is applied, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained.

[0044]

As described above, the detection means detects the occurrence of a jam in the sheet material being conveyed, and the control means causes the sheet material to be nipped and conveyed based on the detection signal from the detection means. Since the gripping and conveying force of the conveying means is released, even when attempting to remove the jammed sheet material by a method different from the conventionally used jam treatment method, the sheet material is not damaged,
Jam processing can be performed easily and reliably.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an example of an image forming apparatus including a sheet material conveying device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of the sheet material conveying device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a separating / feeding unit of the sheet material conveying device.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a separate feeding unit as well.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a rotary drive mechanism of the separate feeding unit as well.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a mechanism for releasing a sheet material nipping / conveying force of the separating / feeding unit similarly.

FIG. 7 is a control block diagram showing a releasing means.

FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a second embodiment of a sheet material conveying device according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a third embodiment of a sheet material conveying device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Image Forming Apparatus Main Body 3 Automatic Document Conveying Device 5 Document Placement Table (Document Tray) 7 Conveying Member (Feeding Roller) 8 Separation Member (Rotating Separation Belt) 16 Paper Ejection Tray 29 Separation Feeding Unit (Separation Feeding Unit Unit) ) 50 release means 51 tension spring 52 connecting arm 53 latch solenoid 60 detection means (sensor) 70 control means (CPU) 80 separation feeding means (separation feeding unit unit) 81 conveyance member (conveyance roller) 82 separation member (retarded roller) ) 90 separating and feeding means (separating and feeding unit) 91 conveying member (conveying roller) 92 separating member (separating pad) S sheet material (original)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location H04N 1/00 108 B41J 3/00 D

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A sheet material conveying apparatus having a conveying means for nipping and conveying a sheet material, a detecting means for detecting a jam of the sheet material, and a control means for starting a control operation based on a detection signal from the detecting means. A sheet material conveying device, comprising: a releasing means for releasing a nipping and conveying force of the sheet material by a control output of the control means. 2. The conveying means is a separating and feeding means that includes a separating member and a conveying member that is in contact with the separating member in a normal state, and separates the sheet materials one by one to sandwich and convey the sheet material. The sheet material conveying device according to claim 1, wherein 3. The separating / feeding means has a rotation separating belt as a separating member, a friction coefficient larger than a friction coefficient of the rotating separating belt, and in the same direction as the rotating direction of the rotating separating belt. The sheet material general feeding device according to claim 2, further comprising a feeding roller as a rotating feeding member. 4. The separating / feeding unit rotates in the same direction as the conveying roller when a torque of a predetermined value or less acts on the conveying roller as a separating member, and when a torque force of a predetermined value or more acts on the separating roller. 3. The sheet material general feeding device according to claim 2, further comprising: a retard roller as a conveying member that rotates in a direction opposite to the conveying roller. 5. The separating / feeding unit has a conveying roller as a conveying member that conveys a sheet material, and a separating pad as a separating member facing the conveying roller. Sheet material general feeding device. 6. The releasing means separates the separating member and the conveying member so that the control means releases the holding and conveying force of the separating and feeding means when the detecting means detects a jam. It has a mechanism, The sheet material conveying apparatus in any one of Claim 1 thru | or 5 characterized by the above-mentioned. 7. A mechanism for separating the separating member and the carrying member from each other is such that one of the separating member and the carrying member is attached to one end of a rotatably used connecting arm and the other end of the connecting arm is provided. Is connected to a connecting portion between the latch solenoid and the tension spring, and the coupling arm is rotated by the latch solenoid against the spring force of the tension spring to separate the separating member from the conveying member. The sheet material conveying device according to claim 1 or 6. 8. An automatic document feeder according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising a document feeding rotation belt and a paper discharge tray. 9. An original placing table, a sheet material conveying device according to claim 1, which conveys the original document from the original placing table, and an original sheet fed from the sheet material conveying device. An image forming apparatus comprising: a document reading processing unit for reading; and an image forming unit for forming an image based on document information read by the document reading processing unit.