JPS6127863A - Conveying apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the occurrence of a jam by forcedly curling a transported article in an intended direction before the transported article is fed into a supply portion to easily separate the transported article from a joint surface of the supply portion. CONSTITUTION:When the leading end of a copy sheet P is completely nipped between a pair of registration rollers 26A and 26B, an angle change driving motor 33 of variable means is operated in response to a signal from a detector or the like for detecting the nipping, so that the first registration roller 26A is turned in a necessary angle theta and moved to be biased. The leading end portion of the copying sheet P is curled downward by the biasing. After the leading end portion of the copy sheet P is curled extending over a suitable length, the first registration roller 26A is restored to its initial position by drive of the motor 33 to continue transporting the sheet together with the second registration roller 26B, so that the copy sheet P is fed into a transfer portion in the outer periphery of a photoreceptor which is a supply portion. After transferring, the copy sheet is transported from a transport belt to a fixing device without the occurrence of a jam.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a conveying device for paper, etc. in an electronic copying machine, facsimile machine, printer device, or the like.

[Technical background of the invention]

In the above-mentioned electronic copying machine, a paper feeding device for copy paper, which is an object to be conveyed, and the paper fed from the paper feeding device are introduced into the machine body, and a photoconductor or transfer drum, which is a target feeding section, is introduced into the machine body. A conveyance device is provided to feed the paper to the outer peripheral transfer portion of the image carrier, and the image on the image carrier is transferred to the paper fed from the conveyance device, and the paper after the image transfer is peeled off from the image carrier. The paper is then sent to the next fixing device and then ejected.

In such electronic copying machines, there are two methods for peeling the paper from the image carrier after image transfer: mechanical peeling using a peeling claw or belt, and a method that neutralizes static charges during the transfer process. There is an electrostatic peeling method and a method that uses a combination of mechanical and electrostatic methods, but if the former mechanical method is used to forcibly peel off the paper, the image carrier may be damaged. Therefore, in recent years, electrostatic methods have been increasingly used to separate paper sheets without using mechanical means as much as possible.

However, in the electrostatic method described above, the peeling performance varies greatly depending on the curl state of the paper and the stiffness depending on the material and thickness of the paper, and the paper is not peeled off from the image carrier and remains in the unit of the cleaning device. This causes problems such as jams caused by being transported to other places. For this reason, not only the performance of the copying machine itself is questioned, but also the paper that is suitable for each compensator is forced to be selected, which is disadvantageous in that the range of paper use is narrowly limited.

Describing this with respect to the electronic copying machine shown in FIG. 6, first, the general structure of the electronic copying machine is as follows: an original platen 2 made of transparent glass is mounted on the upper part of the machine body 1; and a document feeder 3 that feeds originals onto the original platen 2. An exposure device 4 is provided inside the body 1 below the document table 2, and a rotating drum-shaped photoreceptor 5 serving as an image carrier is provided further below the exposure device 4. A device 4 irradiates a document on a document table 2 with lamp light, and the reflected light is exposed onto a photoreceptor 5 through a mirror, a lens, or the like. Further, around the photoreceptor 5, developing devices 6 are arranged in order from the exposure section in the rotational direction.
．． Transfer device7. Electrostatic peeling device 8, cleaning device 9.
Static eliminator 10. A charging device 11 and the like are disposed, and a paper feed device 12 and its paper feed device 1 are arranged slightly below one side of the photoreceptor 5.
A conveyance device 13 is provided for feeding the copy paper P fed from the photoconductor 2 to the transfer section Q between the photoconductor 5 and the electrostatic transfer device @7, which is a supply section, and vice versa. A transfer belt 14 and a fixing device 15 at its tip. Furthermore, there are provided a paper ejection device 16 and a paper refeeding device 17 for double-sided copying which branches off from the paper ejection device, bypasses the lower side thereof, and returns to the transport device 13.

Then, the exposure device 4 exposes the document image on the photoreceptor 5 charged by the charging device 11 to form an electrostatic latent image;
Toner is applied thereto by the developing device 6 and developed, and the toner image is transferred to the transfer portion Q on the outer periphery of the photoreceptor 5 by the paper feeding device 12.
The toner image is transferred from the back side onto the copy paper P fed through the conveyance device 13 by corona charging with the opposite polarity to the toner by the action of the transfer device 7, and the copy paper P with the toner image transferred is transferred to the next copy paper P. The charge on the back surface is neutralized by the electrolytic peeling device 8 and the photoreceptor 5 is peeled off, and then the transfer belt 1 is removed.
4, the copy paper P is sent to a fixing device 15, where the toner image on the copy paper P is fixed, and then delivered from a paper delivery device 16 to an external paper delivery tray 18.

In the case of double-sided copying, as described above, the copied paper P is not ejected to the outside, but is returned by the refeeding device [17] and re-fed to the transfer unit Q by the conveying device 13 with the front and back reversed. Further, the residual toner on the photoreceptor 5 after the transfer is removed by a cleaning device 9, and the residual potential on the photoreceptor 5 is also removed by a static eliminator 10 in preparation for the next charging, exposure, development, etc. .

In addition, the above paper feed section! The i12 consists of an automatic paper feed section 2o and a manual paper feed section 21, and the automatic paper feed section 2゜ contains paper feed cassettes 22A and 22B set in two upper and lower stages, each containing a large number of sheets of copy paper P in a stacked state. The paper feed cassettes 22A and 22B are placed in contact with the top layer of copy paper P in the paper feed cassettes 22A and 22B, and are transported one sheet at a time by rotational friction to the conveying device 1.
It consists of paper feed rollers 23A and 23B that send out paper in three directions,
The manual paper feed section 21 includes a manual paper feed port 24 provided at a position above the automatic paper feed section 2o, and a manual paper feed port disposed at the back of the manual paper feed port 24 for feeding the manually fed copy paper P toward the conveyance device 13. -525.

Further, the conveying device 13 includes a pair of conveying members that are rotatably supported in a vertically rolling contact with each other in the middle of the conveying path for feeding the copy paper from the paper feeding device 12 to the transfer portion Q on the outer periphery of the photoreceptor 5. It is composed of a first registration roller 26A and a second registration roller 26B, which are conveyance rollers, and the copy paper P fed from the paper feeding device 12 etc. is transferred to the first and second registration rollers 26A, 268. The transfer part Q in the opposite direction is introduced so as to be sandwiched between it by its rotation.
Transport to. Furthermore, the registration roller 26A.

26B is the copy paper P fed from the paper feeder 12 etc.
The leading edges of the copy paper P are aligned and the copy paper P is conveyed to the transfer section Q by being driven to rotate at a constant timing as the photoreceptor 5 rotates.

In an electronic copying machine having such a configuration, as described above, the copy paper P fed from the paper feeder 12 etc. to the transfer unit Q via the conveyance device 13 may be subject to electrostatic charge after the toner image is transferred, depending on the curl state of the leading edge of the copy paper P. The photoreceptor 5 is not peeled off from the photoreceptor 5 by the side ml device 8, that is, it is not sent from the transfer belt 14 to the fixing device 15 after transfer, but moves into the cleaning device 9 while remaining attached to the outer peripheral surface of the photoreceptor 5. This causes a so-called paper jam. This causes the copying machine to stop operating due to a paper jam.

When considering the jam frequency due to these peeling characteristics,
If the leading edge of the copy paper P is curled toward the surface of the photoreceptor 5 as shown by the solid line in FIG.
As shown in the figure, the jam frequency becomes very high, and conversely, if the leading edge of the copy paper P is curled away from the surface of the photoreceptor 5, as shown by the broken line in FIG. As shown in the figure, the jam frequency decreases. In addition, the jam frequency described above also depends on the material and thickness of the copy paper P (firmness and rigidity), and the paper P1, which is weak as shown by the solid line in FIG.
If the paper is in the same curled state, the paper jams more frequently than the stiff paper P2 shown by the broken line.

For this reason, if the copy paper P has different curl states and different stiffnesses, it will inevitably not be peeled off from the photoreceptor 5 and jams will occur more frequently, and the paper selection is narrowly limited. There was a problem that the performance of copying machines etc. deteriorated.

[Purpose of the invention]

This invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to forcibly curl an object to be conveyed, such as copy paper, in a desired direction before feeding it into the supply section, and then to convey the object to the supply section. It is an object of the present invention to provide a conveyance device that can be easily peeled off from the joint surface of a supply section.

゛ [Summary of the Invention] In order to achieve the above object, a conveyance device of the present invention is a conveyance device that introduces a conveyed object from one side and sends it to the other supply section, in which the conveyed object is conveyed to the supply section. The structure is equipped with a curling means for forcibly curling the conveyed object midway through the conveyance path, so that inconveniences such as jamming of the conveyed object can be always prevented.

(Embodiments of the Invention) The present invention will be described in detail below. Note that here T- introduces the copy paper P sent from the paper feed device 12 of the electronic copying machine described in Section 2, and conveys it to the transfer section Q of the photoreceptor 5, which is the supply section. Although an example in which the present invention is applied to the transport device 13 will be described, various transport devices used in other facsimile machines, printers, etc. may be used.

First, FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the present invention, and is a perspective view of the main structure of a paper conveying device used in the above-mentioned electronic copying machine, and FIGS. 2 and 3 explain its operation. It is a diagram. Here, in the middle of the conveyance path for conveying the copy paper P, which is the object to be conveyed, to the transfer section Q, which is the above-mentioned supply section, as first and second members, which are curling means, are installed similar to the conventional ones, which also serve as paper conveyance members. A first registration roller 26A and a second registration roller 26B are supported by respective central shafts 26a and 26b, and are provided in a state in which they roll into vertical contact with each other. The second registration roller 26B on the lower side is always held in a fixed position by rotatably supporting both ends of the central shaft 26b on a fixed frame (not shown), and one end of the central shaft 26b. The other side is connected to a paper feeding drive motor 30 so as to be rotationally driven. Further, the first registration roller 26A on the upper side rotates as a result of rolling contact with the registration roller 526B on the lower side. Here, the center axis of the lower second registration roller 26B is used as a variable means for shifting the upper first registration roller 26A so that both registration rollers 26A and 28B function as paper curling members. A pair of left and right fan-shaped rotating levers 3132 are provided with base end portions fitted to both ends of 26b, and the re-rotating levers 31.32 are connected to both ends of the center shaft 26a of the upper first registration roller 26A. is rotatably supported, and the first registration roller 26A can turn around the second registration roller 26B at an appropriate angle about its central axis 26b.

Further, an angle changing drive motor 33 such as a pulse motor is installed on the upper part of the fixed frame (not shown), and a drive gear 34 is provided on the output shaft 33a of the motor. Rack-shaped teeth 31a formed on the outer circumferential arc surface of the lever 31 are engaged with each other, and the rotation lever 31.3 is driven by the rotation of the angle changing drive motor 33.
2, the first registration roller 26A is turned by a predetermined angle and is shifted. The left and right rotating levers 31 and 32 are connected to each other by a connecting rod 35 so as to rotate integrally with each other.

To explain the effect of the above-mentioned conveyance, the pair of first and second registration rollers 26A and 26B are normally held in the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 526B is the first roller 26A.
is located.

At this point, when copying work is completed (operating a switch on the control panel (not shown) of the electronic copying machine, the paper feeder 12
Copy paper P is selected from either the paper feed cassettes 22A, 22B or the manual paper feed section 21 and is fed. When the leading edge of the copy paper P is completely sandwiched between the registration rollers 26A and 268 as shown in FIG.
The angle change drive motor 33 of the variable means is operated in response to a signal from a detector or the like that detects this, and the first registration roller 26A is shifted by turning the required angle θ.

As a result, the leading edge of the copy paper P is curled downward. As shown in FIG. 3, once the leading edge of the copy paper P has curled over an appropriate length a, the first registration roller 26A is returned to its original position by the operation of the angle change drive motor 33, and 2 registration roller 26
Continuing the conveying action together with B, the copy paper P is sent to a transfer section Q on the outer periphery of the photoreceptor 5, which is a supply section.

In other words, the above-mentioned conveying device is capable of handling the fed copy paper P.
After the leading edge of the copy paper P is forcibly curled downward, the copy paper P is sent to the transfer section Q. The copy paper P fed in this way is directed away from the outer circumferential surface of the photoreceptor 5, which is the bonding surface, in the transfer section Q, that is, at the seventh
Since the leading edge is curled toward the −) side as shown in the figure, after the toner image is transferred onto the copy paper P, the electrostatic peeling device 8 neutralizes the electric charge on the back side of the copy paper P. By doing so, the leading edge of the copy paper P can be easily peeled off from the surface of the photoreceptor 5, and the leading edge of the copy paper P will not be carried to the cleaning device 9 while remaining attached to the photoreceptor 5, causing a jam. The image is stably fed from the conveyor belt 14 toward the fixing device W115.

The angle θ at which the angle changing drive motor 33 rotates the first registration roller 26A depends on the stiffness of the copying IP depending on its material and thickness, the diameter of the registration roller, and the copy paper P during its rotation. Depending on the tensile strength and other conditions, the leading edge of the copy paper P shown in FIG.
1 o # 11) so that it curls straight to the (-) side. As a result, the jam frequency becomes zero as shown in FIG. 8, and stable peeling becomes possible.

It should be noted that the conveying device of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and may have other configurations as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. In other words, in the case of FIG. 4, a cam 40 and a return spring 41 which are rotated by an appropriate drive means are used, and the rotation lever 42 is rotated by the operation of the cam 40 to move the upper first registration roller 26A in the same manner as described above. It has a configuration in which it is shifted by rotating.

In addition, in the case of FIG. 5, the electromagnetic lenoid 50 and the tension spring 5
1, the rotary lever 52 is rotated to pivot and shift the upper registration roller 26A, and the same effect as described above can be obtained in the case of the same embodiment.

Furthermore, the first and second registration rollers 26A, 26
Either or both of B may be shifted by a variable means to curl the copy paper P.

Further, the conveyance device of the present invention may be applied to the document feeding device 3 of an electronic copying machine in addition to the above-mentioned copy paper P. That is, in FIG. 6, the original registration roller 3A of the original feeding device 3
, 3B, one or both of them is rotated and shifted at the appropriate timing by a variable means at the tip, thereby curling the leading edge of the document, and transferring the document to the document conveying belt 3C.
The document may be easily peeled off from the leading edge of the document sheet, thereby enabling stable ejection of the document. Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to copying machines, and may be used as a conveyance device for other appropriate devices.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since this invention is made as described above, it is possible to forcibly curl an object such as copy paper in the desired direction before feeding it into the supply section, and then convey it to the supply section. so that it can be easily peeled off from the joint surface of the
This is a very practical conveying device that does not cause any inconveniences such as jams, and makes it possible to realize very stable, high-performance copying machines.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of main parts showing one embodiment of this invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are explanatory diagrams of the operation of the same embodiment, and FIGS. 4 and 5 show other different embodiments of this invention, respectively. FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a general electronic copying machine suitable for using the conveying device of the present invention, FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the curled state of paper, and FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a graph of jam frequency caused by peeling characteristics depending on the curl state. 13... Conveyance device, 26A, 268.30~35°4
0-42. 50-52... Curling means (26A. 26B... Registration roller which is the first and second conveying member, 30... Drive motor for feeding, 31-34. 40-
42.50-52... variable means), P... conveyed object (sheet-like object such as copy paper).

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) In a conveying device that introduces a conveyed object from one side and sends it to the other supply section, a curling means for forcibly curling the conveyed object midway through the conveyance path for conveying the conveyed object to the supply section. A conveying device comprising: (2) The conveyance device according to claim 1, wherein the curling means curls the leading end of the conveyed object in a direction away from the joint surface of the supply section. (3) The curling means includes a first member and a second member that face each other and sandwich the object to be transported, and one or both of the first and second members to hold the object between them. 3. The conveyance device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising variable means for shifting the conveyance device in a pinched state. (4) The conveyance device according to claim 3, wherein the first member and the second member are conveyance members such as conveyance rollers or conveyance belts that convey the object by rotation. (5) The first and second conveying members are a pair of registration rollers that roll into contact with each other, and one of the registration rollers is rotated at an appropriate angle on the circumference around the axis of the other registration roller by a variable means. 5. A conveying device according to claim 4, characterized in that the conveying device is deflectable. (6) Any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the conveyed object is a sheet-like object such as copy paper that is fed into a supply section such as a transfer section of an image carrier of a copying machine. The conveying device described in .