JP7578438B2 - SHEET CONVEYING APPARATUS, SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS, AND IMAGE FORMING SYSTEM - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a sheet transport device that transports a sheet.

In a sheet conveying device that conveys a sheet, there is a risk that the sheet may become misaligned due to various factors while being conveyed. If the sheet is conveyed to an image forming device that forms an image on the sheet while the misalignment remains, problems such as the image being misaligned with respect to the sheet may occur. For this reason, a sheet conveying device that corrects the misalignment of the sheet during conveyance is known (for example, Patent Document 1).

Patent document 1 discloses a configuration having a fixed reference guide provided on one side in the width direction intersecting with the sheet conveying direction, a conveying belt provided at an angle to the reference guide, and a sphere. In the case of the sheet conveying device described in Patent document 1, the sheet is conveyed while being sandwiched between the conveying belt and the sphere, so that the width direction edge of the sheet abuts against the reference guide. Then, the side registration (positional deviation of the sheet width direction edge) and side skew (inclination of the sheet width direction edge with respect to the sheet conveying direction) of the sheet are simultaneously corrected.

JP 2007-217096 A

In the case of the sheet conveying device described in Patent Document 1, the sheet is conveyed by an inclined conveying belt, and the widthwise edge of the sheet is abutted against a reference guide. For this reason, the sheet needs to be conveyed until it abuts against the reference guide, and there is a risk that the device will become large in size in order to ensure the length required for conveying the sheet. Therefore, a configuration can be considered in which a pair of regulating guides are provided on both sides of the sheet in the width direction in order to correct the widthwise misalignment of the sheet while preventing the device from becoming larger. In this configuration, the pair of regulating guides are moved from the retracted position to the guide position, and both widthwise edges of the sheet are guided at the guide position, thereby correcting the widthwise misalignment of the sheet.

Here, a drive member for the restriction guides is required to move the pair of restriction guides. Depending on the location of this drive member, there is a risk that the device will become large.

The present invention aims to provide a configuration that can correct the positional deviation of the sheet in the width direction while preventing the device from becoming too large.

One aspect of the present invention is a sheet conveying device comprising a conveying belt for conveying a sheet , a plurality of spheres that rotate in contact with the sheet conveyed by the conveying belt and are arranged in the direction of conveyance of the sheet by the conveying belt, a pair of guides that are arranged on both sides of the conveying belt in a width direction intersecting the conveying direction and are capable of guiding both widthwise edges of the sheet conveyed by the conveying belt, and a guide moving means that is capable of moving the pair of guides between a guide position where the sheet conveyed by the conveying belt is guided and a retracted position that is spaced apart more widely than the guide positions and away from the conveying belt, wherein the guide moving means has a drive belt that extends in the width direction to move the pair of guides in the width direction, and the drive belt is arranged so that at least a portion of it overlaps the plurality of spheres when viewed from the conveying direction, and is arranged so as to be located between adjacent spheres of the plurality of spheres in the conveying direction.

This invention makes it possible to correct the sheet's positional deviation in the width direction while preventing the device from becoming too large.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a block diagram relating to sheet conveyance control according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an intermediary transport device according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a plan view of an intermediary transport device according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a side view of the intermediary transport device according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a support structure for a conveyor belt of the relay conveyance device according to the embodiment; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an intermediary transport device according to the embodiment. 1A is a perspective view of a regulating guide according to an embodiment, FIG. 1B is a view from the left side of FIG. 1A, FIG. 1C is a cross-sectional view taken along a direction along the sheet transport direction, and FIG. 1D is a cross-sectional view taken in a direction perpendicular to the sheet transport direction. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a housing of an intermediary transport device according to the embodiment. 1A and 1B are diagrams explaining the operation of a regulating guide according to an embodiment, each showing (a) a state in which a sheet is received, (b) a state in which the trailing end of the sheet has passed the sheet detection sensor, (c) a state in which the sheet has been caught in the regulating guide and stopped, and (d) a state in which the regulating guide has been moved to a retracted position.

The embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 10. First, the image forming system of the embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 1.

[Image forming system]
1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of an image forming system including a multi-stage feeding device and an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. In the following description, an electrophotographic laser printer system (hereinafter simply referred to as a printer) will be described as an example of an image forming apparatus having an image forming section. The image forming apparatus constituting the image forming system may be a copier, a facsimile, a multifunction machine, etc., in addition to a printer. Furthermore, the image forming apparatus may be configured in a different manner, such as an inkjet type, regardless of the electrophotographic type.

The image forming system 1000 of this embodiment includes an image forming apparatus 100, a multi-stage feeding apparatus 200 as a sheet feeding apparatus connected to the image forming apparatus 100, and a feeding deck 500. As described in detail below, the multi-stage feeding apparatus 200 has a plurality of storage chambers each capable of storing a plurality of sheets, and can feed sheets from each storage chamber to the image forming apparatus 100. The feeding deck 500 also has a storage chamber capable of storing a plurality of sheets, and is disposed upstream of the multi-stage feeding apparatus 200 in the sheet conveying direction. The sheets fed from the feeding deck 500 are conveyed to the image forming apparatus 100 via a relay conveying apparatus 400 provided in the multi-stage feeding apparatus 200. Examples of sheets include plain paper, thin paper, thick paper, plastic sheets, and the like.

The image forming apparatus 100 forms a toner image (image) on a sheet in response to an image signal from a document reading device 102 connected to the image forming apparatus main body 101 or a host device such as a personal computer communicatively connected to the image forming apparatus main body 101. In this embodiment, the document reading device 102 is disposed above the image forming apparatus main body 101.

When reading an original, the original reading device 102 irradiates the original placed on the platen glass 103 with light from a scanning optical system light source, and the reflected light is input to a CCD to read the original image. The original reading device 102 also has an automatic document feeder (ADF) 104, and the original placed on a tray 105 can be automatically transported by the ADF 104 to the reading section of the original reading device 102 to read the original image. The read original image is then converted into an electrical signal and transmitted to a laser scanner 113 of the image forming section 110, which will be described later. Note that the laser scanner 113 may also receive image data sent from a personal computer, etc., as described above.

The image forming apparatus 100 includes an image forming section 110, a plurality of sheet feeding devices 120, a sheet conveying device 130, and the like. Each section of the image forming apparatus 100 is controlled by a control section 140. The control section 140 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The CPU controls each section while reading out a program corresponding to a control procedure stored in the ROM. In addition, working data and input data are stored in the RAM, and the CPU performs control by referring to the data stored in the RAM based on the aforementioned programs, etc.

Each of the multiple sheet feeding devices 120 includes a cassette 121 that stores sheets S, a pickup roller 122, and a separation and conveying roller pair 125 consisting of a feed roller 123 and a retard roller 124. The sheets S stored in the cassette 121 are separated and fed one by one by the pickup roller 122 and the separation and conveying roller pair 125, which move up and down and rotate at a predetermined timing.

The sheet conveying device 130 includes a conveying roller pair 131 and a registration roller pair 133. The sheet S fed from the sheet feeding device 120 is passed through the sheet conveying path 134 by the conveying roller pair 131 and then guided to the registration roller pair 133. The sheet S is then fed into the image forming unit 110 at a predetermined timing by the registration roller pair 133.

Note that sheets transported from the multi-stage feeding device 200 or the feeding deck 500 described below via the transport roller pair 201 are transported into the image forming device 100 via a connection path 202 with the image forming device 100. The sheets transported from the multi-stage feeding device 200 or the feeding deck 500 into the image forming device 100 are then fed into the image forming unit 110 at a predetermined timing via the registration roller pair 133, similar to the sheets transported from the sheet feeding device 120 in the image forming device 100.

The image forming unit 110 includes a photosensitive drum 111, a charger 112, a laser scanner 113, a developer 114, a transfer device 115, a cleaner 117, and the like. During image formation, the photosensitive drum 111 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in the figure, and the surface of the photosensitive drum 111 is first uniformly charged by the charger 112. Then, the charged photosensitive drum 111 is irradiated with laser light from the laser scanner 113, which is emitted in response to an image signal, to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 111. Furthermore, the electrostatic latent image thus formed on the photosensitive drum 111 is then visualized as a toner image by the developer 114.

The toner image on the photosensitive drum 111 is then transferred to the sheet S by the transfer device 115 in the transfer section 116. The sheet S onto which the toner image has been transferred is then transported to the fixing device 150 where the toner image is fixed, and is then discharged by the discharge rollers 151 onto the discharge tray 152 outside the machine.

When a toner image is formed on the back side of the sheet S, the sheet S discharged from the fixing device 150 is transported to the reversing transport path 160. Then, the sheet S is transported again to the transfer unit 116 of the image forming unit 110 in a state where it has been turned over by the reversing transport path 160. The sheet S with the toner image transferred to the back side is transported to the fixing device 150, where the toner image is fixed, and then the sheet S is discharged to the discharge tray 152 by the discharge rollers 151. Note that any residual toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 111 after transfer is removed by the cleaner 117.

[Multi-stage feeding device]
Continuing with the above, an overview of the multi-stage feeding device (sheet feeding device) 200 will be described with reference to Fig. 1. The multi-stage feeding device 200 includes a plurality of storage chambers (storage sections) 210a to 210c, an intermediary conveying device 400, and the like. In this embodiment, the three storage chambers 210a to 210c are arranged vertically in three stages, and the intermediary conveying device 400 is disposed between the bottom storage chamber 210c and the second storage chamber 210b from the top.

The sheet fed from the top storage 210a is transported to the transport path 212, the sheet fed from the second storage 210b is transported to the transport path 213, and the sheet fed from the bottom storage 210c is transported to the transport path 214. The sheet transported from the relay transport device 400 is transported to the transport path 215. The transport path 213 merges with the transport path 212 midway. The transport paths 212, 214, and 215 merge at the junction 216, and the sheet is transported to the transport roller pair 201 via the transport path 217, and is transported to the image forming device 100 via the connection path 202.

Furthermore, a multi-feed detection sensor that detects multi-feeding of sheets is disposed on the transport path 212 after merging with the transport path 213, the relay transport device 400, and the transport path 214. A sheet for which a multi-feed is detected by the multi-feed detection sensor is transported to the transport path 217. A multi-feed sheet storage section (escape tray) 218 that stores sheets for which a multi-feed is detected is disposed below the transport path 217. A sheet for which a multi-feed is detected and transported to the transport path 217 is transported to the multi-feed sheet storage section by switching the transport path by a switching member 219 provided on the transport path 217.

As shown in FIG. 2, the multi-stage feeding device 200 has a control unit 203 that controls each unit described below. The control unit 203 has a CPU 230 (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory) (not shown), and a RAM (Random Access Memory) (not shown). The control unit 203 can communicate with the control unit 140 of the image forming device 100, and controls the timing of sheet feeding by communicating with the control unit 140.

Specifically, the control board of the control unit 203 has a CPU (or ASIC) 230, a motor driver 231, and a sensor input circuit 232, as shown in FIG. 2. The CPU 230 detects the timing of sheet transport and sheet jams based on output signals from the sheet detection sensors 433, 434, 435, etc. In particular, in this embodiment, the CPU 230 controls various motors M1 to M6, which will be described later, based on the output signals from the sheet detection sensors 433, 434, 435. Motor M1 drives the transport belt 12, motors M2 and M3 move the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B, motor M4 drives the pair of transport rollers 401, motor M5 drives the pair of transport rollers 402, and motor M6 drives the pair of transport rollers 403.

The sheet fed from the upstream feeding deck 500 is transported to the relay conveying device 400 via the transport path 512. The multi-stage feeding device 200 is also capable of feeding sheets manually. The sheet fed manually is transported to the transport path 510 that merges with the transport path 512, and is transported to the relay conveying device 400 via the transport path 512 by a pair of transport rollers 511.

The relay conveying device 400 includes a misalignment correction unit 410 including a conveying belt 12, which will be described in detail below. A conveying roller pair 401 is disposed upstream of the misalignment correction unit 410 in the sheet conveying direction, and a conveying roller pair 402 is disposed downstream of the misalignment correction unit 410 in the sheet conveying direction. The sheet conveyed along the conveying path 512 is sent to the misalignment correction unit 410 by the conveying roller pair 401. The sheet is passed to the conveying roller pair 402 downstream after the side registration (misalignment of the sheet widthwise edge) and side skew (inclination of the sheet widthwise edge with respect to the sheet conveying direction) are corrected by the misalignment correction unit 410. The sheet is then conveyed to the conveying path 215 by the conveying roller pairs 402 and 403. In this way, the relay conveying device 400 corrects misalignment of the sheet conveyed from the upstream feeding deck 500, etc., and passes it to the downstream image forming device 100.

[Intermediate transport device]
Next, the relay conveying device 400 as a sheet conveying device will be described. First, a schematic configuration of the relay conveying device 400 will be described with reference to Figs. 3 to 8. The relay conveying device 400 receives and conveys a sheet conveyed by a conveying roller pair 401 as a conveying means (conveying member) that conveys the sheet in a conveying direction (a predetermined conveying direction X). That is, the sheet is handed over from the upstream conveying roller pair 401 to the above-mentioned positional deviation correction unit 410, and after the positional deviation of the sheet is corrected, the sheet is handed over from the positional deviation correction unit 410 to the downstream conveying roller pair 402.

As shown in FIG. 3, the conveying roller pair 401, 402 is composed of two roller parts, each of which is a drive roller and a driven roller, spaced apart in the direction of the rotation axis. In particular, the width (length in the width direction Y, the distance between the upper end of the upper roller part and the lower end of the lower roller part of the two roller parts aligned in the direction of the rotation axis of the conveying roller pair 402 shown in FIG. 3) of the downstream conveying roller pair 402 is larger than the width (length in the width direction Y) of the conveying belt 12. The position deviation correction unit 410 has the conveying belt 12, multiple spheres 20, a pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B, a guide movement unit 420, etc.

In addition to the motors M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, and M6 described above, the relay conveying device 400 also has motors M7 and M8 for driving a contact/separation mechanism that brings the drive roller and driven roller of the conveying roller pairs 402 and 403 into contact with and separate from each other.

The conveying belt 12 is disposed downstream in the conveying direction X of the conveying roller pair 401, which serves as a conveying means (conveying member) for conveying the sheet in the conveying direction X. The conveying belt 12 is an endless belt stretched over pulleys 11A and 11B, and has a conveying surface 12A extending in the conveying direction X. A motor M1 is connected to the pulley 11A on one side as a driving source, and the conveying belt 12 is rotated by the driving of the motor M1. Such a conveying belt 12 conveys the sheet, which has been handed over to the conveying surface 12A from the conveying roller pair 401 on the upstream side in the conveying direction X, toward the conveying direction X.

The spheres 20 are arranged in a plurality of positions in the conveying direction X facing the conveying surface 12A of the conveying belt 12. The spheres 20 are arranged so that their central positions are the central reference position of the sheet. That is, the position where the centers of the spheres 20 are lined up is the central reference position of the sheet. Here, the central reference position is the position where the first sheet and the second sheet (i.e., regardless of the size of the sheet) which have different sheet widths are both centered in the sheet width direction. More specifically, the spheres 20 are arranged in the central position of the space between the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B. Note that either one of the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B may be fixed.

The direction in which the multiple spheres 20 are lined up coincides with the guide direction of the sheet by the guide surfaces 15A (FIG. 7) of the regulating guides 14A and 14B described below. The guide direction of the regulating guides 14A and 14B and the conveying direction X of the conveyor belt 12 are approximately the same.

In this embodiment, the plurality of spheres 20 are disposed above the conveyor belt 12. The plurality of spheres 20 are capable of rotating in any direction while sandwiching a sheet between the plurality of spheres 20 and the conveyor surface 12A. For this reason, the plurality of spheres 20 are each held by a holding plate (sphere holding portion) 18 disposed above the conveyor belt 12 so as to be rotatable in any direction. That is, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the holding plate 18 is an elongated plate disposed above the conveyor belt 12 at a position spaced a predetermined distance from the conveyor surface 12A in the conveyor direction X, and has a plurality of holding holes 18A spaced apart from each other in the conveyor direction X. The holding holes 18A each hold a sphere 20 so as to be rotatable.

As shown in FIG. 5, the spheres 20 are exposed from the holding holes 18A, placed on the conveying surface 12A of the conveyor belt 12, and are rotatable in any direction. Each of the spheres 20 abuts against the conveying surface 12A by its own weight. The number of spheres 20 may be set according to the pressing force required for the sheet conveyed on the conveyor belt 12. Since the sheet is conveyed while slipping on the conveyor belt 12 as described below, the spheres 20 are preferably made of a material such as glass or plastic that has a relatively low coefficient of friction. In this embodiment, a configuration in which multiple spheres 20 are arranged in one row along the conveying direction X has been described, but multiple spheres 20 may be arranged in multiple rows, such as two rows, each in the conveying direction X.

A more detailed explanation will be given with reference to FIG. 6. The relay conveying device 400 has a holding plate 18 that rotatably holds a number of spheres 20, and a conveying belt support member 481 arranged below it. Like the holding plate 18, the conveying belt support member 481 is made of a long plate member that extends along the conveying direction X. As shown in FIG. 6, the conveying belt support member 481 has a central portion 482 in the sheet width direction that protrudes upward, forming a relatively narrow, flat conveying belt support surface 483 over substantially the entire length in the conveying direction X. The conveying belt support member 481 is arranged to face the holding plate 18 from above and below so that the spheres 20 are located at the central position in the sheet width direction of the conveying belt support surface 483.

It is desirable to position the sphere 20 at the center of the gap between the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B and at the center of the conveyor belt support surface 483 in the sheet width direction, but some misalignment is acceptable as long as it is positioned opposite the conveyor belt support surface 483.

The conveyor belt support member (belt support portion) 481 has side edge portions 484 on both sides of the central portion 482 in the sheet width direction that extend somewhat outward beyond both side ends of the conveyor belt 12 in the sheet width direction, and these outer ends are bent downward and fixed to a lower frame (support frame) 485 of the relay conveying device 400. The lower frame 485 has mounting end wall pieces 485a, 485b at both ends in the conveying direction X, each extending outward in the sheet width direction, and is fixed to the relay conveying device 400 side (for example, a housing 470 ( support frame, FIG. 9 described later)) by an appropriate fastening means such as a set screw at the mounting end wall pieces 485a, 485b. By supporting the conveying belt 12 with such a conveying belt support member 481, the central portion 12B of the conveying belt 12 is pushed up by the central portion 482 of the conveying belt support member 481, and the distance between the central portions of the endless conveying belts 12 facing each other in the vertical direction is longer than the distance between the ends of the conveying belt 12.

6, the holding plate 18 is fixed on an upper frame (support frame) 486 of the relay conveying device 400. The upper frame 486 has mounting end wall pieces 486a, 486b, 486c, and 486d extending outward in the sheet width direction at both ends in the conveying direction X, and the mounting end wall pieces 486a to 486d are fixed to the relay conveying device 400 (for example, the housing (support frame) 470) by appropriate fastening means such as set screws. As a result, the holding plate 18 and the conveying belt support member 481 maintain a positional relationship in which the plurality of spheres 20 are rotatably held on the conveying surface 12A of the conveying belt 12 at the center position in the sheet width direction of the conveying belt support surface 483.

The conveyor belt support member 481 has a plurality of blocking members 490 arranged along the conveying direction X on the side edge portions 484 on both sides in the sheet width direction. The outer ends of the blocking members 490 in the sheet width direction extend a predetermined width outward beyond both side ends of the conveyor belt 12 in the sheet width direction. An outward blocking surface 491 is provided at the outer end of the blocking members 490 in the sheet width direction, and when removing a jammed envelope, for example, the flap portion of the envelope engages with the blocking surface 491 to prevent it from getting caught on the conveyor belt 12.

A pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B are arranged on both sides of the conveyor belt 12 in the sheet width direction Y (in this embodiment, the direction perpendicular to the conveyor direction) that intersects with the conveyor direction X. The pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B can guide both ends of the sheet width direction Y of the sheet that is conveyed while being sandwiched between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20. That is, the regulating guide 14A arranged on one side (the front side of the device) in the sheet width direction Y can guide one end of the sheet width direction of the sheet that is conveyed while being sandwiched between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20. The regulating guide 14B arranged on the other side (the back side of the device) in the sheet width direction Y can guide the other end of the sheet width direction of the sheet that is conveyed while being sandwiched between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20. The one side (the front side) of the sheet width direction Y is the side where the image forming system 1000 is operated.

As shown in FIG. 7, each of the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B has a side plate portion 15, a lower plate portion 16, and an upper plate portion 17, and the end of the sheet S conveyed by the conveyor belt 12 can enter the space surrounded by these plate portions 15, 16, and 17. The pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B are supported by support shafts 421A and 421B (see FIG. 4) so that they can be moved between a guide position and a retreat position by a guide moving portion 420 described later. The support shafts 421A and 421B are each disposed approximately parallel to the sheet width direction Y, and support the end sides of the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B in the conveying direction X. The pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B can move in the sheet width direction Y along the support shafts 421A and 421B.

The side plate portion 15 has a guide surface 15A that faces the edge in the sheet width direction Y (sheet width direction edge) of the sheet S that is conveyed while being sandwiched between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20 at the guide position. The guide surface 15A is disposed parallel to the conveying direction X. The guide surface 15A is also a surface that is perpendicular to both the conveying direction X and the sheet width direction Y, and in this embodiment, is a surface that is aligned along a substantially vertical direction.

The lower plate portion 16 is disposed perpendicular to the side plate portion 15, and has a support surface 16A that supports the edge in the sheet width direction Y of the sheet S that is conveyed while being sandwiched between the conveyor belt 12 and the spheres 20 at the guide position. The support surface 16A extends in a substantially horizontal direction from the vertical lower end of the guide surface 15A. The support surface 16A is also located vertically below the conveyor surface 12A of the conveyor belt 12.

Now, let us consider a case where the support surface 16A and the conveying surface 12A are at the same height, or the support surface 16A is located vertically above the conveying surface 12A. In this case, when a sheet S having high stiffness such as cardboard is conveyed between the conveying belt 12 and the sphere 20 in a curled state (both ends in the width direction Y are lower than the center) as shown in FIG. 7, both ends in the width direction Y of the sheet S are supported by the support surface 16A. At this time, the center of the sheet S in the width direction Y is lifted (bridged), pushing up the sphere 20. As a result, the conveying belt 12 and the sphere 20 are separated, and the conveying force of the conveying belt 12 is not transmitted to the sheet S, which may cause conveying failure. For this reason, in this embodiment, the support surface 16A is arranged vertically below the conveying surface 12A of the conveying belt 12.

The upper plate portion 17 has an opposing surface 17A that is disposed opposite the support surface 16A. At the guide position, the opposing surface 17A is located above the edge of the sheet S in the sheet width direction Y that is conveyed while being sandwiched between the conveyor belt 12 and the spheres 20. The opposing surface 17A is formed approximately parallel to the support surface 16A.

Furthermore, the detailed configuration of the first and second restricting guides 14A and 14B will be described with reference to Figs. 8(a) to (d). Note that Figs. 8(a) to (d) only show the restricting guide 14A on one side, but the restricting guide 14B on the other side has a similar configuration. As shown in Fig. 7, the restricting guide 14A has a side plate portion 15 having a guide surface 15A, a lower plate portion 16 having a support surface 16A, and an upper plate portion 17 having an opposing surface 17A.

As shown in Figures 8(a) and (b), the lower plate portion 16 and the upper plate portion 17 are provided continuously over almost the entire longitudinal area of the regulating guide 14A. Since the regulating guide 14A is arranged substantially parallel to the conveying direction X as shown in Figure 3 and other figures, the range in which the lower plate portion 16 and the upper plate portion 17 are continuous in the conveying direction X is defined as the specified area A. Therefore, in this embodiment, the support surface 16A of the lower plate portion 16 and the opposing surface 17A of the upper plate portion 17 are provided continuously over the specified area A in the conveying direction X. The specified area A is substantially the entire area in which the sheet is conveyed by the position deviation correction unit 410.

On the other hand, as shown in Figs. 8(a) to (c), the side plate portion 15 is provided continuously over the guide region B, which is a region shorter than the specified region A. In this embodiment, the upstream end (upstream end in the conveying direction) B1 of the side plate portion 15 in the conveying direction X is located downstream of the upstream end A1 in the conveying direction X of the specified region A. In other words, the upstream end B1 in the conveying direction X of the guide surface 15A of the side plate portion 15 is located downstream of the upstream end A1 of the specified region A. Also, the guide surface 15A is provided continuously up to the downstream end A2 of the specified region A in the conveying direction X. Therefore, the position of the downstream end B2 in the conveying direction X of the side plate portion 15 and the position of the downstream end A2 in the conveying direction X of the specified region A are approximately the same position in the conveying direction X.

In this embodiment, a notch 19C is provided upstream of the upstream end B1 of the side plate portion 15. An outer plate portion 19 is disposed in a portion of this notch 19C, which is located outside the side plate portion 15 in the sheet width direction Y. The outside in the sheet width direction Y is the side that is farther away from the conveyor belt 12 in the sheet width direction Y. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 8(c), the inner surface 19A of the outer plate portion 19 is located outside the guide surface 15A, which is the inner surface of the side plate portion 15, in the sheet width direction Y. In addition, an inclined plate portion 19B is provided between the outer plate portion 19 and the side plate portion 15 in the conveying direction X, which is inclined so as to approach the side plate portion 15 as it moves downstream.

The pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B are configured as described above, so that the distance in the width direction Y between the inner surfaces 19A of the outer plate portion 19 on the upstream side of the conveying direction X is wider than the distance in the width direction Y between the guide surfaces 15A of the side plate portion 15. Therefore, as described in detail later, both end edges in the width direction Y of the sheet transferred from the upstream conveying roller pair 401 to the conveying belt 12 are located between the inner surfaces 19A on the upstream side of the conveying direction X, and are located between the guide surfaces 15A when conveyed downstream.

The outer plate portion 19 and the inclined plate portion 19B may be omitted. However, if the end of the sheet in the width direction Y that is transferred from the upstream conveying roller pair 401 to the conveying belt 12 is positioned within the notch 19C, there is a risk that the end of the sheet will get caught on the upstream end B1 of the side plate portion 15 when the sheet is conveyed further. For this reason, in this embodiment, the outer plate portion 19 and the inclined plate portion 19B are provided, so that even if the sheet is conveyed shifted in the width direction Y from the correct position, the outer plate portion 19 regulates the position, and the inclined plate portion 19B guides the end of the sheet to the guide surface 15A of the side plate portion 15.

3 and 4, the guide moving section 420 as a guide moving means has a first moving section 420A that moves one of the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B, the regulating guide 14A, and a second moving section 420B that moves the other regulating guide 14B. As a result, the guide moving section 420 can move the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B between a guide position that guides both ends of the sheet width direction of the sheet and a retracted position that is retracted from both ends of the sheet width direction of the sheet from the guide position. In addition, the guide moving section 420 has a motor M2 as a driving means that generates a driving force to move the regulating guide 14A, and a motor M3 as a driving means that generates a driving force to move the other regulating guide 14B.

The first moving part 420A has a pair of pulleys 422A, 423A, an endless belt 424A as a drive belt stretched between the pulleys 422A, 423A, and a connection part 425A that connects the belt 424A and the regulating guide 14A. The belt 424A is also stretched so as to pass between the multiple spheres 20. Similarly, the second moving part 420B has a pair of pulleys 422B, 423B, an endless belt 424B as a drive belt stretched between the pulleys 422B, 423B, and a connection part 425B that connects the belt 424B and the other side regulating guide 14B. The belt 424B is also stretched so as to pass between the multiple spheres 20.

3, the first moving part 420A is driven by a motor M2 as a driving means, and the second moving part 420B is driven by a motor M3 as a driving means. That is, in the case of this embodiment, the motors as driving means for moving the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B are separate, and the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B can move independently. For this reason, the pulley 422A of the first moving part 420A is connected to the pulley 427A via the connecting shaft 426A, and the pulley 427A is hung with a belt 428A between it and the pulley that is driven to rotate by the motor M2. In other words, the belt 424A is extended in the sheet width direction Y in order to move the regulating guide 14A in the sheet width direction Y. Then, the rotational drive of the motor M2 is transmitted to the belt 424A via the belt 428A, the pulley 427A, the connecting shaft 426A, and the pulley 422A. As described above, the belt 424A is connected to the regulating guide 14A via the connection part 425A, so that the regulating guide 14A moves in the sheet width direction Y along the support shafts 421A and 421B when the motor M2 is driven.

In the present embodiment, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, the belt 424A is disposed on the opposite side of the conveyor belt 12 from the spheres 20 and between adjacent spheres 20 when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the conveyor surface 12A. Also, the belt 424A is disposed such that a portion of the belt 424A on the conveyor belt 12 side overlaps multiple spheres 20 when viewed from the conveyor direction.

Similarly, the pulley 422B of the second moving part 420B is connected to the pulley 427B via the connecting shaft 426B, and the pulley 427B is stretched over the belt 428B with a pulley that is rotationally driven by the motor M3. In other words, the belt 424B is extended in the sheet width direction Y in order to move the regulating guide 14B in the sheet width direction Y. The rotational drive of the motor M3 is transmitted to the belt 424B via the belt 428B, the pulley 427B, the connecting shaft 426B, and the pulley 422B. As described above, the belt 424B is connected to the other side regulating guide 14B via the connection part 425B, so that the other side regulating guide 14B moves in the sheet width direction Y along the support shafts 421A and 421B by the drive of the motor M3.

In the present embodiment, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, the belt 424B is also arranged on the opposite side of the conveyor belt 12 from the spheres 20 and between adjacent spheres 20 when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the conveyor surface 12A. Also, the belt 424B is arranged such that a portion of the belt 424B on the conveyor belt 12 side overlaps multiple spheres 20 when viewed from the conveyor direction.

By driving motors M2 and M3 in this way, restricting guides 14A and 14B are moved to the guide position or the retracted position, respectively. In this embodiment, motors M2 and M3 are pulse motors (stepping motors), and the positions of restricting guides 14A and 14B are controlled by the number of pulses sent to the motors. In addition, restricting guides 14A and 14B each have a home position, and a sensor that detects restricting guides 14A and 14B is provided at each home position. Therefore, the positions of restricting guides 14A and 14B are detected at the home position, and then restricting guides 14A and 14B are moved to the guide position or the retracted position depending on the number of pulses sent to the motor.

In this embodiment, the home position of the regulating guides 14A and 14B is the same as the position where a sheet of the maximum width is accepted. That is, the regulating guides 14A and 14B can basically be moved to the home position, the standby position (sheet accepting position), and the guide position. The guide position is, for example, 0.5 mm from the end of the sheet in the sheet width direction Y, but this varies depending on the sheet. Normally, the distance between the regulating guides 14A and 14B narrows in the order of the home position, the standby position, and the guide position. However, in this embodiment, in the case of a sheet of the maximum sheet width (for example, a sheet width (length in the sheet width direction Y) of 330.2 mm), the home position and the standby position are the same. This allows the device size to be reduced.

That is, when accepting a sheet of the maximum sheet width, the regulating guides 14A and 14B operate as follows. First, based on the detection result of the sensor that detects the home position, the regulating guides 14A and 14B are positioned at the home position. The sheet is accepted in this state. That is, the home position and the standby position are the same. Next, the regulating guides 14A and 14B are positioned at the guide position to regulate the sheet. Furthermore, they are positioned at the standby position (= home position) to accept the next sheet, but at this time the output of the home position sensor is ignored. In other words, after passing the home position sensor for the first time, the positions of the regulating guides 14A and 14B are managed by pulse count. When all jobs are completed and a sheet of a different width is to be transported, the output of the home position sensor is checked again and the regulating guides 14A and 14B are positioned at the appropriate standby position.

In the present embodiment, the above-mentioned motors M1, M2, M3, M5, M7, and M8 serving as driving means are arranged on the other side of the regulating guide 14B. In particular, with respect to the conveying direction X, it is preferable to arrange the motors within the sheet conveying range of the misalignment correction unit 410 on the rear side (rear side, other side of the regulating guide 14B) of the conveying belt 12. This is because, in the present embodiment, jammed sheets are removed from the front side (front side, one side of the regulating guide 14A).

In the present embodiment, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, a double feed detection sensor 430 that detects double feeding of sheets is disposed between the upstream conveying roller pair 401 and the conveying belt 12. The double feed detection sensor 430 is, for example, a sensor that detects that two or more sheets are conveyed overlapping each other using ultrasonic waves. When the control unit 203 (Fig. 1) of the multi-stage feeding device 200 detects double feeding of sheets using the double feed detection sensor 430, it conveys the double fed sheets to the above-mentioned double fed sheet storage unit 218 via the relay conveying device 400 and the conveying paths 215 and 217.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, opposing members 450, 460 that face the underside of the sheet conveyed by the conveyor belt 12 are disposed between the conveyor belt 12 and the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B in the sheet width direction Y. The opposing members 450, 460 support the edge of the sheet if the edge of the sheet is conveyed without being supported by either of the regulating guides 14A, 14B.

The relay conveying device 400 thus configured sandwiches the sheet transferred from the conveying roller pair 401 upstream in the conveying direction X to the conveying belt 12 between the conveying belt 12 and the sphere 20. The sheet is then conveyed by the rotation of the conveying belt 12. At this time, as will be described in detail later, both ends of the sheet in the width direction Y conveyed by the conveying belt 12 are abutted against the guide surfaces 15A of the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B. When the sheet abuts against the guide surfaces 15A, the sheet is conveyed in a direction parallel to the guide surfaces 15A while slipping between the conveying belt 12 and the sheet with both ends aligned with the guide surfaces 15A. At this time, the sheet is sandwiched between the conveying belt 12 and the sphere 20, and since the sphere 20 can rotate in any direction, the sheet can move on the conveying belt 12 while slipping in any direction. This corrects the side registration and side skew of the sheet.

[Jam Clearance]
Next, jam processing in the relay conveying device 400 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 5 and 9. As shown in Fig. 5, the relay conveying device 400 according to this embodiment has a plurality of sheet detection sensors 433, 435, and 436 for detecting sheet jams. Note that a sheet jam is when a sheet becomes clogged in the conveying path and becomes stuck there. The sheet detection sensor 433 as an upstream detection means is disposed on the upstream side of the conveying direction X of the conveying belt 12 (upstream side in the conveying direction) and detects the presence or absence of a sheet. The sheet detection sensor 433 is disposed between the conveying belt 12 and the pair of conveying rollers 401.

The sheet detection sensor 435 serving as a detection means is disposed downstream in the conveying direction X of the conveyor belt 12 (downstream in the conveying direction) and detects the presence or absence of a sheet. The sheet detection sensor 435 is disposed between the conveying roller pair 402 and the conveying roller pair 403 disposed downstream of the conveyor belt 12. The sheet detection sensor 436 serving as a detection means is disposed downstream in the conveying direction X of the sheet detection sensor 435 and detects the presence or absence of a sheet. The sheet detection sensor 436 is disposed downstream of the conveying roller pair 403. The sheet detection sensors 435 and 436 correspond to downstream detection means.

Next, the configuration for accessing a jammed sheet in the conveying section 480 of the relay conveying device 400 will be described. As shown in FIG. 9, the relay conveying device 400 has a housing 470 that houses the above-mentioned position deviation correction section 410. The housing 470 has an opening 471 formed on one side (one side in the width direction) of the sheet width direction Y for removing a sheet inside the housing 470. The opening 471 is provided on the regulating guide 14A side (first regulating guide side) in the sheet width direction Y, and is an opening mainly for removing a sheet that has stopped (jammed) on the conveying belt 12.

Here, one side in the sheet width direction Y refers to the side where the image forming system 1000 is operated, i.e., the front side of the device. The opening 471 is formed in a side plate (side plate member) 472 on the front side of the housing 470, and has a height and width that allow an operator to insert his/her hand. In addition, the length of the opening 471 in the transport direction X is longer than the length of the opposing member 450 in the transport direction X.

As shown in FIG. 9, the opening 471 is located below the conveyor belt 12. The opening 471 is provided on the opposite side of the conveyor belt 12 to the belts 424A and 424B, and on one side of the width direction Y. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the first moving part 420A and the second moving part 420B constituting the guide moving part 420 are disposed above the conveyor belt 12. As described above, the first moving part 420A and the second moving part 420B have pulleys 422A, 423A, 422B, 423B, belts 424A, 424B, and connection parts 425A, 425B.

If the opening 471 were located on the same side of the conveyor belt 12 as the first moving section 420A and the second moving section 420B, the first moving section 420A and the second moving section 420B could get in the way when removing the sheet. For this reason, in this embodiment, the opening 471 is provided on the opposite side of the conveyor belt 12 to the first moving section 420A and the second moving section 420B.

As described above, in this embodiment, motor M1 that drives the conveyor belt 12, motors M2, M3 that move regulating guides 14A and 14B, and motors M5, M7, and M8 are arranged on the other regulating guide 14B side, as shown in FIG. 3. In other words, motors M1, M2, M3, M5, M7, and M8 are provided on the opposite side of conveyor belt 12 to belts 424A and 424B, and on the opposite side of opening 471 in the width direction Y. By providing each motor on the opposite side of opening 471 in this way, each motor does not get in the way when removing a jammed sheet from opening 471, making it easier to remove the jammed sheet.

The control unit 203 (FIG. 1) of the multi-stage feeding device 200 judges whether or not a sheet has jammed in the conveying path based on detection signals from various sheet detection sensors such as the sheet detection sensors 433, 435, and 436. If the control unit 203 judges that a sheet has jammed, it stops conveying the sheet and displays the fact that the sheet has jammed and the location of the jam on a display unit 1001 (FIG. 1) such as a liquid crystal panel provided in the image forming system 1000. At this time, it prompts an operator such as a user or a serviceman to open a door at the relevant location. The operator then opens the door at the relevant location, accesses the inside of the housing 470 through the opening 471 described above, and performs jam processing.

[Sheet Conveying Operation]
Next, a specific example of the sheet conveying operation in the relay conveying device 400 of this embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 3 to 5 and Figs. 10(a) to (d). In this embodiment, the control unit 203 controls the motors M2 and M3 according to the conveying state of the sheet to change the positions of the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B in the sheet width direction Y. As described above, the control unit 203 drives the guide moving unit 420 (Fig. 3) by controlling the motors M2 and M3 to move the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B to the guide position and the retracted position.

The guide position is a position where the guide surfaces 15A of the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B can guide the edge in the width direction Y of the sheet being conveyed while being sandwiched between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20. In this embodiment, the guide position is a position where the distance between the guide surfaces 15A of the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B (between the guide surfaces) is longer than the length in the sheet width direction Y of the sheet being conveyed while being sandwiched between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20.

Specifically, when the center position of the sheet in the width direction Y coincides with the center position of the guide surfaces 15A on both sides, and the edge of the sheet in the width direction Y is parallel to the guide surface 15A (center reference), the guide position is the position where the edge of the sheet in the width direction Y and the guide surface 15A are spaced a predetermined distance apart. This predetermined distance can be set appropriately by the device, but is a distance that allows for misalignment between the sheet and the image formed on the sheet even if the sheet is misaligned within this distance. This predetermined distance is, for example, 0.5 mm. In other words, at the guide position, the guide surfaces 15A of the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B are each 0.5 mm away from the edge of the sheet in the width direction Y. This guide position can be changed appropriately by the control unit 203 according to the sheet size.

In this way, since the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B are positioned at a position where the distance between the guide surfaces 15A of the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B is longer than the length of the sheet in the sheet width direction Y at the guide position, the conveying load of the sheet conveyed by the conveying belt 12 can be suppressed. For example, if the distance between the guide surfaces is the same as the length of the sheet in the sheet width direction Y, the sheet is conveyed while the end of the sheet rubs against the guide surface, and the conveying resistance becomes large. In particular, in this embodiment, the sheet is conveyed while being sandwiched between the conveying belt 12 and the sphere 20, so the nip pressure that sandwiches the sheet between the conveying belt 12 and the sphere 20 is small. Therefore, if the conveying resistance of the sheet is large, there is a risk that the conveying of the sheet will be delayed or that conveying failures such as the conveying of the sheet will be easily caused. For this reason, in this embodiment, the conveying resistance of the sheet is suppressed by positioning the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B at the guide position as described above.

As described above, it is preferable to transport the sheet with a central reference and correct the side registration and side skew of the sheet (perform an alignment operation) as described below. This is because in this embodiment, the sheet is slipped between the transport belt 12 and the sphere 20, and the side skew is corrected while the sheet is rotated. That is, by starting the alignment operation at a position where the center of gravity of the sheet S and the center of the regulating guides 14A and 14B approximately coincide (central reference), damage to the sheet during the alignment operation can be reduced.

On the other hand, the retracted position is a position where the guide surfaces 15A of the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B are retracted from the edge of the sheet in the width direction Y relative to the guide position. In other words, the distance in the width direction Y between the guide surfaces 15A of the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B in the retracted position is wider than the distance in the width direction Y between the guide surfaces 15A of the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B in the guide position.

In this embodiment, the retracted position is a position where the distance between the edge of the sheet in the width direction Y transported with the above-mentioned central reference is 5 mm. The sheet S is delivered to the transport belt 12 with the regulating guides 14A and 14B in the retracted position, and in this state the vertical movement of the sheet S is regulated by the support surface 16A and the opposing surface 17A. As a result, even if the sheet S is curled, both end edges of the sheet S can be contained within the area surrounded by the guide surface 15A, the support surface 16A, and the opposing surface 17A when the regulating guides 14A and 14B move from the retracted position to the guide position.

In this embodiment, the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B are positioned in the retracted position before the sheet is handed over to the conveyor belt 12. Then, after the leading edge of the sheet is handed over to the conveyor belt 12 and the trailing edge of the sheet passes through the upstream conveyor roller pair, the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B are moved from the retracted position to the guide position. Specifically, when the trailing edge of the sheet passes through a sheet detection sensor 433 disposed between the conveyor belt 12 and the conveyor roller pair 401, the pair of regulating guides start moving from the retracted position to the guide position. Then, the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14b guide the sheet at the guide position to correct the side registration and side skew of the sheet.

Now, using Figures 10(a) to (d), a specific example of the operation of the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B and the conveying belt 12 of this embodiment when two sheets S1 and S2 are continuously conveyed to the relay conveying device 400 will be described. First, as shown in Figure 10(a), when the first sheet S1 is conveyed from the upstream conveying roller pair 401 to the conveying belt 12, the control unit 203 moves the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B to the retreat position. This is because when the sheet S1 is delivered to the conveying belt 12, if the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B are in the guide position and the sheet S1 is skewed or misaligned in the width direction Y, the edge of the sheet S1 may interfere with one of the regulating guides 14A and 14B, causing a conveying failure of the sheet S1.

Next, as shown in FIG. 10B, the control unit 203 moves the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B from the retracted position to the guide position after the rear end (upstream end) of the first sheet S1 transferred from the pair of conveying rollers 401 to the conveying belt 12 passes through the sheet detection sensor 433. In this embodiment, the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B are moved from the retracted position to the guide position when the sheet S1 transferred to the conveying belt 12 is within the specified area A (within the specified area in FIG. 8B). This corrects (aligns) the side registration and side skew of the sheet S1.

That is, when sheet S1 is upstream in the transport direction X, the regulating guides 14A and 14B are located in the retracted position, and both end edges of sheet S1 are separated from guide surface 15A. Then, sheet S1 is transported further downstream, and after the rear end of sheet S1 passes through the transport roller pair 401, regulating guides 14A and 14B move to the guide position. Then, guide surface 15A is brought into contact with both end edges of sheet S1 in the width direction Y. When sheet S1 abuts against guide surface 15A, it is transported in a direction parallel to guide surface 15A while slipping between the end edge and transport belt 12 while aligning with guide surface 15A. This corrects the side registration and side skew of sheet S1.

In this embodiment, the control unit 203 moves the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B from the retracted position to the guide position while the sheet is being conveyed while being sandwiched between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20. This allows correction of sheet side registration, side skew, etc. without stopping the conveyance of the sheet, thereby improving productivity. However, it is also possible to perform an alignment operation in which the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B are moved from the retracted position to the guide position after temporarily stopping the conveyance of the sheet. In this case, productivity decreases, but it is possible to more reliably correct misalignment, etc.

Next, as shown in FIG. 10(c), it is assumed that the sheet S1 comes into contact with and gets caught on at least one of the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B, and the sheet is not conveyed even though the conveyor belt 12 is driven. If the downstream sheet detection sensor 435 does not detect the sheet even after a first predetermined time has elapsed since the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B moved to the guide position, the control unit 203 stops driving the upstream conveyor roller pair 401, 511 while continuing to drive the conveyor belt 12.

At this time, the leading edge of the second sheet S2 is transferred from the conveying roller pair 401 to the conveying belt 12, but since the sheet S2 is sandwiched between the conveying roller pair 401 and 511, even if the conveying belt 12 is driven, the conveying is stopped by stopping the driving of the conveying roller pair 401 and 511. Here, the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B are positioned at the guide position, but the sheet S2 stops at a position where it fits into the notch 19C (FIG. 8(a)) formed on the upstream side of the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B. In other words, the first predetermined time is set to a time at which the succeeding sheet S2 stops within the notch 19C of the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B. The first predetermined time (predetermined time) is, for example, 500 ms.

That is, in this embodiment, while the first sheet S1 is being guided by the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B, the second sheet S2 begins to enter the specified area A. Therefore, even if the preceding sheet S1 is caught and not being transported, the succeeding sheet S2 enters the specified area A. For this reason, even if the transport of sheet S1 stops or slows down, sheet S2 is made to stop within notch 19C.

As described above in Figures 8(a) to (d), the notch 19C has an inner surface 19A located outside the guide surface 15A. Therefore, even when the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B are in the guide position, the distance between the inner surfaces 19A is wider than the distance between the guide surfaces 15A. Therefore, even if the second sheet S2 in this state enters the specified area A while being skewed or shifted in position in the width direction Y, the edge of the sheet S2 is unlikely to interfere with the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B. Therefore, in this embodiment, even if the second sheet S2 is transported at the above-mentioned timing, sheet transport problems are unlikely to occur and productivity can be improved.

On the other hand, if the downstream sheet detection sensor 435 does not detect a sheet even after a first predetermined time has elapsed since the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B moved to the guide position, the control unit 203 moves the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B from the guide position to the retreat position while continuing to drive the conveyor belt 12. This causes the sheet S1 to leave the regulating guides and be conveyed by the conveyor belt 12, as shown in FIG. 10(d). Then, when the downstream sheet detection sensor 435 detects the sheet S1, it continues conveying the sheet as is and starts driving the pair of conveyor rollers 401, 511 to resume conveying the sheet S2.

As described above, in the case of this embodiment, even if a sheet delivered to the conveyor belt 12 comes into contact with and gets stuck on one of the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B at the guide position, the stuck state can be eliminated by moving the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B to the retracted position. Since the conveyor belt 12 remains driven, the sheet that has been freed from the stuck state is conveyed downstream. This allows the sheet to continue being conveyed without the control unit 203 determining that a jam has occurred, thereby preventing a decrease in productivity.

If the sheet detection sensor 435 does not detect a sheet even after the second predetermined time has elapsed since the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B moved to the retracted position, it is determined that the sheet is jammed, and the drive of the conveyor belt 12 and other drives related to sheet conveyance are stopped. Then, as described above, the display unit 1001 (FIG. 1) provided in the image forming system 1000 displays the fact that the sheet is jammed and the location of the jam, and the operator can follow the display and open the door at the relevant location, access the inside of the housing 470 through the opening 471, and remove the jam. The second predetermined time may be shorter or longer than the first predetermined time, or may be the same as the first predetermined time, but it is preferable to set it shorter than the first predetermined time. For example, the second predetermined time is 100 ms.

As described above, in this embodiment, the sheet is sandwiched between the conveyor belt 12 and the sphere 20 and conveyed while the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B are moved from the retracted position to the guide position to correct the misalignment of the sheet in the width direction Y. In the relay conveyor device 400 according to this embodiment, the pair of regulating guides 14A, 14B are driven by belts 424A, 424B. However, in a configuration in which the regulating guides are driven using such a drive belt, the device may become large depending on the arrangement of the drive belt. For example, when the drive belt is arranged so as to overlap with the sphere when viewed from above, it is necessary to provide a gap between the drive belt and the sphere in the vertical direction (the direction perpendicular to the conveyor surface) so that they do not interfere with each other, which results in a large device.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the belts 424A and 424B are positioned between adjacent spheres 20 when viewed from above, and are arranged so that the belts 424A and 424B do not overlap the spheres 20. This allows the belts 424A and 424B to be positioned closer to the spheres 20 in the vertical direction, thereby making the device more compact. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the belts 424A and 424B are arranged so that a portion of them overlaps the spheres 20 when viewed from the conveying direction. Therefore, the belts 424A and 424B can be positioned closer to the conveying belt 12, making it possible to make the device more compact. As described above, in this embodiment, the positional deviation in the width direction of the sheet can be corrected while preventing the device from becoming larger.

<Other embodiments>
In the above embodiment, the control unit 203 for controlling the relay conveying device 400 is provided in the multistage feeding device 200, but these controls may be performed by the control unit 140 of the image forming apparatus 100. Also, the relay conveying device 400 may be provided with a control unit for controlling each unit of the relay conveying device 400. Furthermore, the sheet conveying device may have another configuration as long as it is a sheet conveying device that can shift the position of a sheet, regardless of the above relay conveying device.

In the above embodiment, the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B start moving to their guide positions when the trailing end of the sheet passes the upstream sheet detection sensor 433. However, the pair of regulating guides 14A and 14B may also start moving to their guide positions when the trailing end of the sheet passes the pair of transport rollers 401. For example, if the sheet detection sensor 433 is omitted, or if the transport position of the sheet can be determined based on the detection results of a sensor that detects the presence or absence of a sheet provided upstream of the pair of transport rollers 401, the movement of the regulating guides 14A and 14B may start at this timing.

S: sheet / X: conveying direction / Y: sheet width direction / 12: conveying belt / 12A: conveying surface / 14A, 14B: regulating guide / 20: sphere / 400: relay conveying device (sheet conveying device) / 401: conveying roller pair (conveying means) / 420: guide moving part (guide moving means) / 424A, 424B: belt (driving belt) / 471: opening / M1, M2, M3, M5, M7, M8: motor (driving means)

Claims (6)

A conveyor belt for conveying a sheet ;
A plurality of spheres that rotate in contact with the sheet conveyed by the conveyor belt and are provided in a conveying direction of the sheet by the conveyor belt;
a pair of guides provided on both sides of the conveyor belt in a width direction intersecting the conveying direction, the pair of guides being capable of guiding both ends in the width direction of the sheet conveyed by the conveyor belt;
a guide moving means for moving the pair of guides between a guide position for guiding the sheet conveyed by the conveyor belt and a retracted position that is spaced apart from the conveyor belt and has a larger gap than the guide positions,
the guide moving means has a drive belt extending in the width direction to move the pair of guides in the width direction,
the drive belt is disposed so that at least a portion of the drive belt overlaps with the plurality of spheres as viewed from the conveying direction, and is disposed so as to be positioned between adjacent spheres among the plurality of spheres in the conveying direction.
A sheet conveying device comprising: an opening for removing a jammed sheet is provided on the opposite side of the conveyor belt from the drive belt and on one side in the width direction;
2. The sheet transport device according to claim 1 , wherein the sheet transport device is a sheet conveying device. The guide moving means has a driving means capable of moving the drive belt,
the driving means is provided on the opposite side of the conveyor belt to the driving belt and on the opposite side of the opening in the width direction.
3. The sheet transport device according to claim 2 , wherein the sheet transport device is a sheet conveying device. A belt support portion that supports the conveyor belt;
A sphere holder that rotatably holds the plurality of spheres;
A support frame supporting the belt support portion and the sphere holding portion,
The guide moving means includes the drive belt and a motor that drives the drive belt,
the support frame has a side plate member having an opening formed on a side opposite to the motor in the width direction,
2. The sheet transport device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet transport device is a sheet conveying device. A sheet conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A storage section for storing a sheet;
a feeding section that feeds the sheets stored in the storage section. The sheet feeding device according to claim 5 ;
an image forming apparatus for forming an image on the sheet conveyed from the sheet feeding apparatus;
An image forming system comprising:

Images