JPH06104515B2 - Recording paper transport path opening mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a recording paper conveyance path opening mechanism in an image recording apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer.

[Prior art]

In an image recording apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, the recording paper is supplied from the recording paper storage section toward the image forming section, conveyed through the image forming section, and then discharged to the outside of the apparatus by the sheet discharging section. The recording paper passage route is required. There is a demand for a configuration that does not cause a paper jam (jam) in the recording paper passage, but at the current technical level, the occurrence of this jam is an unavoidable phenomenon. Therefore, one of the major technical problems is how to easily remove the jammed paper when a jam occurs.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of a recording paper transport path opening mechanism previously examined by the present inventors. First, the structure of the transfer unit will be described. In FIG. 1, 1 is an image carrier on which a toner image is formed, 2 is a transfer roller, which is configured so as to be pressed against or separated from the image carrier 1, and has a conductive bias roller or insulating property. Of the hard pressure roller, the toner image on the image carrier 1 is transferred to the recording paper passing through the pressure contact line when the image carrier 1 is pressed. The transfer roller 2 is rotatably supported by the transfer arm 4 via the transfer roller shaft 3, and the transfer arm 4 is rotatably supported by the pivot shaft 5 at one end 4a thereof. A through hole 4c is formed in the other end 4b of the transfer arm 4.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a bar for driving the arm 4 arranged along the transfer arm 4. One end 6a of the drive bar 6 is rotatably supported by the pivot shaft 5 or a support shaft provided in the vicinity thereof. The vicinity 6b of the other end of the drive bar 6 is formed wide and has a through hole 6c. And the through hole 6c of the drive bar 6
Also, the bolt 7 is passed through the through hole 4c of the transfer arm 4, the preload unit 8 is passed through the tip side thereof, and the preload unit 8 is locked by the nut 7 ′ screwed to the tip,
The drive bar 6, the transfer arm 4 and the preload unit 8 are integrally connected. The preload unit uses a pressure spring with a preload mechanism, and when it is necessary to compress the spring by a predetermined distance (for example, 10 mm) in order to generate the predetermined compression spring pressure (for example, 200 kg) of the pressure spring. In addition, if a unit that can hold the spring in a compressed state close to a predetermined distance (for example, 9 mm) is formed in advance, and if it is compressed for a short distance (for example, 1 mm) during the pressurizing operation, (For example, 200kg).

An eccentric cam 9 for bringing the transfer roller 2 into and out of contact with the image carrier 1 is disposed on the lower surface of the other end 6b of the drive bar 6 so as to come into contact therewith. One end of a cam shaft lever 11 and a handle 12 are fixed to the cam shaft 10 of the eccentric cam 9,
The eccentric cam 9 and the lever 11 are integrally rotated by the rotation of the handle 12.

Next, the configurations of the pre-transfer conveyance path and the recording paper passage path in the paper feed unit will be described. Reference numeral 15 is an inlet upper guide for guiding the recording paper fed from the upper paper feeding mechanism (not shown),
It is composed of a guide upper plate 15 'and a guide lower plate 15 "integrally formed with the guide upper plate 15'. 16 is a recording paper fed from a lower paper feeding mechanism (not shown). Is the lower guide of the entrance, and both of these guides 15,16
Are arranged so that one ends thereof join together, and a connecting portion 17 and a base portion 18 are integrally formed in the vicinity of the joining portion.

An intermediate upper guide plate 19 for guiding the recording paper to the vicinity of the transfer portion is attached to the connecting portion 17, and the upper guide plate 19 and the inlet upper guide 15 are configured substantially integrally.
The upper guide body 20 is formed. Further, an upper conveying roller 21 is rotatably supported by the connecting portion 17, and a pin 22 is fixedly provided at an end portion thereof.

A support portion 23 is integrally formed at the transfer side end of the intermediate upper guide plate 19, and a link 26 that rotates about a support shaft 25 is rotated by a pin 24 on the support portion 23. Connected as possible. Further, an intermediate lower guide plate 27 that cooperates with the intermediate upper guide plate 19 is rotatably attached to the supporting portion 23 by a pin 28, and a middle upper guide plate 27 is attached by a spring 29 wound around the pin 28. It is urged to keep a constant distance with 19.

On the other hand, on the base portion 18 of the entrance lower guide 16, a lower conveyance roller 30 that is pressed against and cooperates with the upper conveyance roller 21 is rotatably supported, and the roller shaft 30a of the roller 30 is It is supported by a body side plate (not shown), and the base portion 18 is rotatably supported about the roller shaft 30a.

In addition, a contact portion 31 that contacts the lower surface of the tip of the intermediate lower guide plate 27 is formed at the upper end of the base portion 18. Then, in a state where the recording paper passage path can convey the recording paper, the upper guide body 20 including the entrance upper guide 15 and the intermediate upper guide plate 19 integrally formed with the entrance upper guide 15 is supported via the link 26. The lower surface of the intermediate lower guide plate 27 is supported by the shaft 25, the upper transport roller 21 is in contact with the lower transport roller 30, and the intermediate lower guide plate 19 is held at a predetermined interval. The contact portion 31 formed on the base portion 18 of the inlet lower guide 16 is brought into contact with the lower inlet guide 16, and the inlet lower guide 16 is arranged at a predetermined position.

Reference numeral 32 denotes an arm having one end bent in a V shape and the other end bent in a V shape. The arm 32 is rotatably supported by a support shaft 33 at an intermediate portion thereof. A long hole 34 is formed in the V-shaped bent portion 32 'of the arm 32, and the pin 22 fixed to the connecting portion 17 of the upper guide body 20 is slidably inserted into the long hole 34. Has been done. Also, the V-shaped bent portion 3 of the arm 32
2 ″ has a pin 35 on which the link 3
One end of 6 is rotatably connected, and the other end of the link 36 is
It is rotatably connected to the lever 11 by a pin 37. A pin 38 is attached to an end of the V-shaped bent portion 32 ″ of the arm 32, and one end of a toggle spring 39 is suspended on the pin 38, and the other end of the toggle spring 39 is relative to the arm 32. Is suspended from a pin 40 fixed to the opposite side of the pin 38.

Next, the operation of the recording paper transport path opening mechanism thus configured will be described. FIG. 1 shows that the large-diameter cam surface of the eccentric cam 9 is in contact with the lower surface of the drive bar 6, the transfer roller 2 is pressed against the image carrier 1, and the upper inlet guide 15, the lower inlet guide 16 and the upper intermediate portion are provided. The recording paper passage path composed of the lower guide plates 19 and 27 shows a state in which the recording paper can be conveyed. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the pressure contact of the transfer roller 2 is released and the recording paper path is also opened as a result of each component rotating or moving in the direction of the arrow.

First, the operation of releasing the pressure contact of the transfer roller 2 will be described.
When the handle 12 is rotated in the arrow direction shown in FIG. 2,
The eccentric cam 9 rotates, the drive bar 6 rotates about the pivot shaft 5, and one end 6b of the drive bar 6 lowers. When the drive bar 6 is lowered, the bolt 7 that has been pulled up by the bar 6
Also goes down. As a result, the pressure spring (not shown) arranged in the preload unit 8 relaxes, but the pressure spring is configured so as to relax only a small predetermined amount as described above. Therefore, when the bolt 7 is lowered more than the loosenable distance, the transfer arm 4 is also lowered. Therefore, the transfer roller 2 supported by the transfer arm 4 is also lowered, and the pressure contact with the image carrier 1 is released.

Next, the operation of the upper guide body 20 will be described. handle
The rotation of the tip of the arrow 12 in the direction of the arrow causes the lever 11 to rotate simultaneously with the eccentric cam 9 to pull down the link 36. When the link 36 is pulled down, the V of the arm 32 connected to the link 36 is lowered.
Since the character-shaped bent portion 32 ″ is pulled down, the entire arm 32 rotates counterclockwise about the support shaft 33. Therefore, the rotation operation of the arm 32 causes the arm 32 to be bent in a V shape. The long hole 34 provided in the curved portion 32 'is the upper guide body.
The pin 22 fixed to the connecting portion 17 of 20 is lifted, and the upper guide body 20 tends to shift to the right in the figure. When receiving the displacement force, the support portion 23 of the upper guide body 20 displaces while pulling the link 26 that rotates around the support shaft 25.

On the other hand, the toggle spring 39 does not move the arm 32 before the movement of the arm 32.
Since the line of action for is on the right side of the support shaft 33,
The direction in which 32 is rotated clockwise, that is, the upper guide body 20
, But the line of action for the arm 32 is moved to the left of the support shaft 33 by the rotation of the arm 32 by the link 36, so that the arm 32 is rotated counterclockwise. That is, the upper guide body 20 is biased upward. By the rotation or displacement of each member as described above, the upper guide body 20
Is released.

Next, the opening operation of the lower entrance guide 16 will be described. When the upper guide body 20 moves upward, the intermediate lower guide plate 27 pivotally mounted on the support portion 23 of the upper guide body 20 also moves upward together as shown in FIG. This middle lower guide plate
Due to the displacement of 27, the contact portion 31 of the lower inlet guide 16 loses the object to be contacted and locked. At this time, in the present embodiment, since the tip end portion of the inlet lower guide 16 is formed to be heavier than the contact portion 31 side with respect to the lower conveyance roller shaft 30a, which is its rotating shaft, the inlet lower guide 16 is self-weighted. And turn right,
Lower the tip down.

As described above, the recording sheet path in the transfer section and the sheet feeding section can be interlocked and opened by only one handle operation, whereby the spaces S ₁ and S ₂ as shown in FIG. ₂ are formed. Runode, by inserting the hand from the space S _2, can be easily removed jam or remaining sheet in the transfer section, also intermediate upper guide plate
The recording paper or jammed paper remaining in the recording paper path in the paper feeding unit including the space between the lower guide plates 27 can also be easily removed from the space S ₁ .

In order to return to the operating state again after removing the jammed paper or the residual paper, the handle 12 is first rotated clockwise so as to press the transfer roller 2. This operation causes the eccentric cam 9 to rotate,
The transfer roller 2 is brought into pressure contact with the image carrier 1 and the upper guide body 20 is lowered to a predetermined position via the link 36 and the arm 32 by the operation opposite to the above-described opening operation. In the middle of this lowering operation, the lower surface of the tip of the intermediate lower guide plate 27 abuts against the abutting portion 31 provided on the support plate 18 of the lower inlet guide 16 and pushes it down, so that the upper guide body 20 reaches a predetermined position. At the same time, the lower entrance guide 16 is set at a predetermined position.

In this way, the transfer roller 2
The upper guide body 20 moves to a predetermined position in conjunction with the pressure contact operation of, and the entrance lower guide 16 also returns to the predetermined position in conjunction with this moving operation, so only the transfer portion return operation is performed.
Problems such as forgetting to restore the upper guide body 20 and the lower entrance guide 16 do not occur.

FIG. 3 shows an operation mode for further facilitating removal of the recording paper when the recording paper remains between the intermediate upper guide plate 19 and the lower guide plate 27. That is, as is clear from the description with reference to FIG. 2, when the upper guide body 20 is opened upward, the intermediate lower guide plate 27 also moves upward together with the upper guide plate 19, but the lower guide plate 27 does not move upward. Since the pin 28 is rotatably attached to the support portion 23 of the shaft 19 about the pin 28, the lower guide plate 27 is resisted against the spring 29 wound around the pin 28.
When you press down the free end of the tip with your finger, the space between the upper guide plate 19 and the lower guide plate 27 is easily opened, and both guide plates 1
The recording paper remaining between 9,27 can be removed more easily. When the finger is released after the residual recording paper is removed, the lower guide plate 27 is automatically returned to the predetermined position by the spring 29.

In the configuration example examined above, the upper guide body 20 including the inlet upper guide 15 rotates upward and the inlet lower guide 16 rotates downward in association with the opening operation of the transfer unit, thereby recording paper. It is designed to open the route. Further, in this case, the upper guide upper plate 15 ′ and the upper guide lower plate 15 ″ which form the inlet upper guide 15 are integrally connected to each other, and are configured to integrally rotate upward. In such a configuration, when the recording paper remains on the entrance lower guide 16, it is naturally easy to remove the residual paper, but the recording paper is used as the upper guide upper plate 15. ′
It can be removed even if it remains between the upper guide and the lower plate 15 ″ of the upper guide.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, in order to more easily remove the residual paper between the upper guide plate 15 ′ and the lower guide plate 15 ″, the upper guide upper plate 1
It is more desirable to open between 5'and the upper guide lower plate 15 ".

That is, when there is residual paper on the inlet lower guide 16, the inlet upper guide lower plate 15 ″ is displaced upward together with the upper guide upper plate 15 ′ as in the above embodiment, and the upper guide upper plate 15 ′ is moved upward.
If there is residual paper between the 15 'and the upper guide lower plate 15 ",
It is desired that the upper guide lower plate 15 ″ keeps its position as it is, and that only the upper guide upper plate 15 ′ be displaced upward.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems in the opened state of the recording paper conveyance path, which is considered in any of the image recording apparatuses having the first and second recording paper conveyance paths. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording paper conveyance path opening mechanism that makes it possible to remove residual paper very easily even when there is residual paper in the path.

[Means and Actions for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides first
And a recording paper transport path opening mechanism for selectively opening the second recording paper transport path, one guide and the other guide of the recording paper transport path of FIG. 1 and one of the second recording paper transport paths. Is provided so as to be movable integrally with the other guide of the second recording paper conveyance path, and is driven by contact with the conveyed recording paper, which is projected into the first recording paper conveyance path. An actuator is provided, and in association with the movement of the actuator, one guide of the first recording paper conveyance path, the other guide of the first recording paper conveyance path, and one of the second recording paper conveyance paths. And a connecting means for connecting and disconnecting with the guide.

In the recording paper transport path opening mechanism thus configured,
If there is residual paper in the second recording paper conveyance path, one and the other guides of the first recording paper conveyance path and one guide of the second recording paper conveyance path are moved integrally to move the first recording paper conveyance path. When the second recording paper conveyance path is opened and there is residual paper in the first recording paper conveyance path, the actuator is driven by the residual paper and the connecting means is operated to guide one side of the first recording paper conveyance path. And the other guide of the conveyance path and one guide of the second recording paper conveyance path are separated, and the first recording paper conveyance path is opened. This makes it possible to extremely easily remove the residual paper on any of the recording paper transport paths.

〔Example〕

Next, examples will be described. Figure 4 (A), (B)
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a main part of an embodiment of a recording paper conveyance path opening mechanism according to the present invention and a partially cutaway perspective view thereof, and the other parts are shown in FIGS. This is the same as the configuration example examined previously. As shown in FIGS. 4 (A) and (B),
Two supporting parts 41, 42 are formed by cutting and raising downwards on the lower surface of the side edge of the upper guide upper plate 15 'outside the recording paper running range, and pins 43, 44 are respectively formed on the supporting parts 41, 42. It is fixed in parallel to the upper guide upper plate 15 'and in a direction projecting from the upper plate 15'. On the other hand, in the upper guide lower plate 15 ″, at the intermediate position of the positions corresponding to the support portions 41, 42 of the upper guide upper plate 15 ′, the support portion is formed by cutting and raising downward on the side edge lower surface outside the recording paper running range. 45 is formed, and a supporting portion 46 is formed on the lower surface in the recording paper traveling range by cutting and raising downward.

And, in both support portions 45, 46 provided on the lower guide plate 15 ″,
A rod 47 communicates with and is rotatably mounted. rod
At one end of 47, an actuator bent almost at a right angle
The actuator 48 is formed from an opening 49 opened in the recording paper running range of the upper guide lower plate 15 ″,
It is projected so as to interfere with the running recording paper. A locking rod 50 is fixed to the other end of the rod 47 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the rod 47 and in the vertical direction. The upper end of the locking rod 50 is bent above the pin 43 provided on the support portion 41 of the upper guide upper plate 15 'toward the pin 43 and inclined downward to form a hook 51. A weight 52 is attached to the lower end of the locking rod 50 so that the actuator 48
When the recording paper does not come into contact with, the locking rod 50 is kept in the vertical state, and the hook 51 is positioned above the pin 43 so that the hook 51 can engage with the pin 43. The weight of the weight 52 is adjusted so that the locking rod 50 can be easily rotated by the contact pressure when the recording paper contacts the actuator 48.

Also, on the side edge of the upper guide lower plate 15 ″, the upper guide upper plate is
At the position where it abuts the pin 44 provided on the support part 42 of 15 ', the protrusion
53 is formed by cutting and raising. Further, the upper guide lower plate 15 ″ and the lower inlet guide formed integrally therewith
The lower guide upper plate 16 'cooperating with the 16 is configured to be supported at a predetermined operating position by support pins 54 and 55 fixedly mounted on a body side plate (not shown).

Next, the operation of the upper guide upper plate 15 ′ and the upper guide lower plate 15 ″ thus configured will be described. FIG. 5A shows the upper guide upper plate 15 ′ and the upper guide lower plate 15 ″. It shows a state where no recording paper is present in between. In this case, since the locking rod 50 is positioned in the vertical direction by the action of the weight 52, the hook 51 provided at the tip of the locking rod 50 is located above the pin 43 provided on the support portion 41 of the upper guide upper plate 15 '. Located in. Therefore, as described in the configuration example shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, when the upper guide upper plate 15 'is displaced upward by the operation of the handle of the eccentric cam, the pin 43 engages with the hook 51. Since the upper guide lower plate 15 ″ and the upper guide lower plate 15 ′ are displaced together, the upper guide lower plate 15 ″ and the lower guide upper plate 16 ′ are separated from the support pins 54 and 55, respectively. , 43 is used as a fulcrum to generate a moment in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5 (A), the projection 53 of the upper guide lower plate 15 ″ comes into contact with the pin 44 of the upper guide upper plate 15 ′. Therefore, the upper guide lower plate 15 ″ is displaced upward together with the upper guide upper plate 15 ′.

FIG. 5B shows the upper guide upper plate 15 'and the upper guide lower plate.
The recording sheet S is present between 15 ". In this case, the recording sheet S is in contact with the actuator 48 protruding from the opening 49 of the upper guide lower plate 15", and this contact pressure causes the actuator 48 to move. Since 48 is pushed down, the rod 47 is rotated in the arrow direction. By this rotation operation, the hook 51 of the locking rod 50 is retracted from above the pin 43. Therefore, if the handle of the eccentric cam is operated to perform the opening operation in this state, the hook 51 does not engage with the pin 43 when the upper guide upper plate 15 'is displaced upward, so that the upper guide upper plate 15' is not engaged. Only the upper guide upper plate 15 'and the upper guide lower plate 15 "because the protrusion 53 is disengaged from the pin 44.
The space is opened. Therefore, the recording paper S remaining on the upper guide lower plate 15 ″ can be easily removed.

Then, when the recording paper S is removed, the pressure contact force to the actuator 48 is released, and the locking rod 50 returns to the vertical state. When the handle of the eccentric cam is rotated again to perform the return operation, the upper guide upper plate 15 'descends so as to return to the predetermined position. At this time, the pin 43 abuts on the upper surface of the hook 51, but the upper surface of the hook 51 is inclined downward, so that the upper surface of the hook 51 slides while rotating the hook 51.
The hooks 51 are disposed below the pins 43 and return to their respective predetermined positions.

As described above, in this embodiment, it is possible to open the most preferable recording paper path in conjunction with the opening operation of the transfer unit according to the existing position of the residual paper with a simple configuration. The removal operation becomes easier.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above with reference to the embodiments, according to the present invention, even when the jammed paper occurs in any of the two recording paper conveyance paths arranged in parallel, the recording paper conveyance path in which the jammed paper occurs is selectively selected. The jammed paper can be removed very easily by opening to the front.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a recording paper conveyance path opening mechanism, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an opened state of the opening mechanism shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is shown in FIG. The figure which shows the opening operation aspect of the pre-transfer conveyance path in the opening mechanism shown, FIG. 4 (A)
Is a schematic plan view showing an essential part of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 (B) is a perspective view thereof, and FIGS. 5 (A) and 5 (B) are fourth views.
It is a top view which shows the operation aspect of the locking rod by the presence or absence of a residual paper in the Example shown to FIG. (A), (B). In the figure, 1 is an image carrier, 2 is a transfer roller, 4 is a transfer arm, 6 is a drive bar, 7 is a bolt, 8 is a preload unit, 9 is an eccentric cam, 11 is a lever, 12 is a handle,
15 is an inlet upper guide, 16 is an inlet lower guide, 17 is a connecting portion, 18 is a base, 19 is an intermediate upper guide plate, 20 is an upper guide body, 21 is an upper conveying roller, 22 is a pin, 26 is a link, 27
Is an intermediate lower guide plate, 30 is a lower conveyance roller, 32 is an arm, 33 is a support shaft, 34 is a long hole, 36 is a link, 39 is a spring, 41, 4
2 is a support portion, 43 and 44 are pins, 45 and 46 are support portions, 47 is a rod, 48 is an actuator, 50 is a locking rod, 51 is a hook, and 52 is a weight.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A recording paper conveyance path opening mechanism for selectively opening first and second recording paper conveyance paths arranged in parallel, wherein one guide and the other guide of the first recording paper conveyance path are provided. And one guide of the second recording paper conveyance path is provided so as to be movable integrally with the other guide of the second recording paper conveyance path, and is projected into the first recording paper conveyance path. An actuator driven by contact with the conveyed recording paper is provided, and one guide of the first recording paper conveyance path and the other guide of the first recording paper conveyance path are linked to the movement of the actuator. A recording paper conveyance path opening mechanism comprising a connecting means for connecting and disconnecting the second recording paper conveyance path with one guide.