JPH0777938B2 - Paper registration device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a registration device for a sheet conveyed in a sheet conveyance path in an apparatus such as a copying machine.
When a skew force is applied to the paper by the oblique rollers, the feed roller device that holds the paper is configured to be movable in the axial direction, and it is possible to prevent an extra force from being applied to the paper. The present invention relates to a sheet registration device.

(Prior Art) In an apparatus such as a copying machine which has been generally used conventionally, a registration roller device is provided in a sheet conveyance path in a portion in front of a toner image carrier such as a photosensitive drum,
The toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum is fed out at the front end of the paper so that the toner images are formed at the same timing, and the toner image is transferred to the photosensitive drum by discharge of a transfer corotron provided in the image transfer unit. A method of transferring from a sheet to a sheet is used.

Further, in the copying machine as described above, the paper fed from the paper feeding cassette or the paper tray of the paper feeding device by the paper feeding roller and conveyed in the paper conveying path is aligned with the reference line guide. Therefore, a positioning mechanism is provided in front of the registration roller or the reference stopping member, and the side surface of the sheet is aligned with the reference line guide by the oblique roller of the positioning mechanism. Is often corrected.

As a positioning mechanism used for the above-mentioned purpose, for example, a mechanism as shown in FIG. 4 is provided in a part of the paper transporting path of the copying machine before the paper stopping position.

The conventional alignment mechanism 1 shown in FIG. 4 has a drive shaft 11a.
.. and a plurality of slanting rollers 5, 5 ... The oblique roller 5 is provided on the drive shaft 6 via the universal joint 7, and the shaft of the roller is inclined, so that the oblique roller causes the sheet P to be skewed toward the reference line guide 2, The sheet P is configured to be registered.

As a specific example of the above-mentioned alignment mechanism, for example,
There are some such as those disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 55-11586.
In this device, the feed roller and the diagonal roller are
Each of them is constituted by a roller device provided so as to oppose the upper and lower portions of the paper transport path, and the transport and skew operations can be performed while the paper is nipped by the roller device.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the conventional alignment mechanism as described above, a state in which a feed roller provided in a portion in front of the alignment mechanism holds a sheet by a constant nip force Since the paper is conveyed, even if the leading end of the paper reaches the diagonal roller, while the trailing end of the paper is sandwiched by the feed rollers,
Skew due to the diagonal rollers will not occur.

Also, in that case, the diagonal feeding force of the diagonal rollers is applied to the leading edge of the paper, so that a force in the twisting direction is applied to the paper, and when the paper is thin or weak Is likely to cause wrinkles on the paper.

Then, the skew action by the oblique roller is actually performed only after the trailing edge of the sheet has passed through the nipping portion by the feed roller, so that the sheet cannot be registered along the reference line guide. It is necessary to lengthen the alignment mechanism part. Therefore, in the conventionally used copying machine, it is required to form the paper transport path long for the above-mentioned reason, which causes the copying machine to become large.

In addition, in the alignment mechanism, since a mechanism that causes the paper to slide with respect to the roller is used, slipping may occur between the roller and the paper when the paper is skewed. Therefore, it is necessary to set a long distance required for registration.

However, when the paper transport path is formed long, the transport time of the paper tends to vary, and when the transfer timing of the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum is set, the paper delay occurs. , The efficiency of copying decreases,
Defects such as displacement of the position of the image transferred to the sheet may occur.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention solves the above-described drawbacks of the conventionally used apparatus. The feed roller is configured to be movable in its axial direction, so that the leading end portion of the paper is slanted. When it gets skewed by the rollers,
An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus capable of performing registration by moving the feed roller in the axial direction in accordance with the diagonal feeding by the diagonal roller so that an unreasonable force is not applied to the paper.

(Means and Actions for Solving Problems) The sheet registration apparatus of the present invention is composed of a plurality of diagonal rollers provided in the sheet conveying path and a feed roller provided in front of the diagonal rollers. The present invention relates to a device for performing registration by skewing a sheet fed through a feed roller with an oblique roller.

In the paper registration apparatus of the present invention, an axis for supporting the feed roller is provided so as to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the paper conveyance direction, and when the paper is skewed by the oblique rollers, it is added to the paper obliquely. The feeding roller can be moved by a directional force.
Further, in the apparatus of the present invention, the feed roller is moved by the oblique roller through the sheet, and when the sheet has finished passing, a return member is provided so as to return the position of the feed roller to the original position. The roller can be automatically returned.

Further, in the apparatus of the present invention, a spiral portion is provided on one of the shaft and the bearing of the feed roller so that the feed roller can be moved in the axial direction by a weak force when the paper is skewed. It is possible to configure, and further, a taper roller is provided on the shaft of the feed roller,
A pinch roller is provided corresponding to the taper roller in a state of being pressed by its own weight, and is provided slidably in the axial direction with respect to a bearing supporting the shaft so that the feed roller can be moved in the skew direction. It is also possible to configure.

Therefore, in the paper registration apparatus of the present invention, for the paper fed by the feed roller,
Even if the sheet is nipped by the feed roller, the feed roller is moved together with the sheet when a force is applied in the skew direction by the diagonal roller.

Further, as described above, in the apparatus of the present invention, since the registration action is performed immediately when the leading end portion of the paper reaches the position where it is skewed by the diagonal roller, the alignment mechanism can be made short. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the paper transport path.

(Embodiment) The configuration of the sheet registration apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the illustrated embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the alignment mechanism 1 of the present invention is
It is composed of a plurality of slant rollers 5, 5 ... Arranged at a predetermined interval along the paper transport path whose both sides are regulated by the frames 3 and 3 of the copying machine, and the reference line guide 2. A feed roller 10 is provided in a state of being supported by a drive shaft 11 at a front portion of the position adjusting mechanism 1 in the transport direction.

The oblique roller and the feed roller in the apparatus of the present invention are arranged such that the upper and lower rollers face each other so as to sandwich the sheet conveying path. It is configured to perform the function of skew.

In this embodiment, the oblique roller 5 is supported by the drive shaft 6 and is driven via a joint as in the case of the conventional example. The shaft of the oblique roller 5 is a paper conveyance path. Is provided at a predetermined angle with respect to the longitudinal direction.

Therefore, the paper P nipped by the diagonal roller is
When an oblique conveying force is applied, the position of the sheet P in the state shown by the solid line in the figure is moved to the state of the sheet P'shown by the chain line.

In addition, in the illustrated example, the oblique roller 5 is provided to be inclined at the same angle, but as the inclination angle of the oblique roller increases from the feed roller,
It is possible to set the value gradually larger as in the case of the conventional device.

The drive shaft 11 that supports the feed roller 10 of the present invention has bearings 12, 3 on the frames 3 and 3 for restricting both sides of the paper transport path, respectively.
The drive shaft 11 is provided so as to be slidable in the axial direction with respect to the bearing.

A driven gear 13 is provided at the end of the shaft 11 so that the driven gear 13 meshes with a wide drive gear 14.
Even if 11 slides in the axial direction, the meshing of gears can be maintained normally.

Since the thin sheet registration device is configured as described above, the sheet is conveyed in the sheet conveyance path and is moved from the nip portion by the feed roller 10 to the alignment mechanism 1 and the oblique roller. When the sheet P reaches the nip portion, the sheet P is subjected to an oblique conveying force that approaches the reference line guide 2.

That is, since the skew force in the oblique direction with respect to the paper P as described above becomes the force for moving the paper P to the position P ′ by the oblique roller 5, in the case of the device of the present invention, the rear end portion of the paper P is The feed roller 10 nipping the sheet moves in the axial direction by the force so that an unreasonable force is not applied to the paper.

Therefore, in the paper registration apparatus of the present invention, the registration operation is performed on the paper even when the paper is nipped by the feed roller.

In another embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2, a spiral shaft 20 is formed by forming a spiral portion at one end of a drive shaft 11 that supports the feed roller 10. Then, the spiral shaft 20 is configured to be supported by the bearing 21.

In this embodiment, the helical shaft 20 is provided so that the shaft can be easily moved in the direction of its spiral. In addition to the above-described example, it is possible to support a shaft having no spiral groove by a bearing having a spiral groove on its inner surface. However, in the description of FIG. The case where it is provided will be described.

In the apparatus shown in FIG. 2, the feed roller 10 and the pinch roller 35 are arranged in the upper and lower portions of the sheet conveying path in a state of protruding from the holes provided in the upper and lower guide plates 30 and 33, and both rollers are arranged. The paper is conveyed so that the paper is nipped between them.

The shaft 36 of the pinch roller 35 is supported via a bearing 37 provided on the upper guide plate 30, and a spring 38 is provided between the shaft 36 and the bearing 37 to drive the feed roller 10. axis
After the 11 has moved, the spring 38 urges it back to its original position.

Therefore, when a skew force is applied to the sheet conveyed between the upper and lower guide plates 30 and 33 by the oblique roller, the spiral shaft 20 moves in the direction of the spiral groove of the drive shaft,
The shaft is moved so that the force applied to the paper by the oblique roller is canceled by the movement of the feed roller.

Therefore, the drive shaft 11 that supports the feed roller 10 is moved in the axial direction, and the movement of the drive shaft is continued until the stop ring 15 is stopped by the bearing. By these actions, the sheet is skewed in that direction, and the registration action is performed toward the reference line guide. After that, the side surface of the sheet is guided along the reference line guide, and the image transfer unit Will be transported to.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the axis of the feed roller 10
11 is provided with a taper roller 22. Further, a pinch roller 35a having a surface curved in the width direction is provided on the taper roller 22. The pinch roller 35a is the third
As shown in the figure, the shaft 36 is supported through the elongated hole 32 in the bracket 31 protruding from the upper guide plate 30,
The pinch roller 35a can move up and down following the movement of the taper roller 22 in the axial direction.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the feed roller 10
When the skewing force is applied to the sheet by the diagonal roller in the state where the end portion is nipped, the feeding roller 10 is moved laterally by the force, but in that direction, the taper diameter of the taper roller 22 is changed. It is set to change.

Therefore, in this embodiment, as in the case of the other embodiments described above, the feed roller is easily moved in the direction of the skew due to the oblique rollers, and an unreasonable force is not applied to the paper. become.

In the paper registration apparatus of the present invention, when the paper is moved by the diagonal rollers, the feed roller is configured to move along with the drive shaft in the axial direction of the paper when the paper is moved. However, the mechanism for supporting the feed roller of the present invention can easily follow the movement of the sheet by the oblique roller, and Other conventionally known mechanisms can be used as long as the mechanism allows the feed roller to easily return to its original position after the registration action is released.

(Effect of the Invention) Since the paper registration apparatus of the present invention has the above-described configuration, it is possible to set a short distance for paper registration,
Enables downsizing of copiers including the paper transport path.

Further, by shortening the paper transport path, it is possible to shorten the paper transport time and eliminate variations in the paper transport time, and it is possible to obtain a copy in which the image position does not shift. Become.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the construction of a sheet registration apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the construction of another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a construction of another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3a is a side view taken along the line AA of FIG. 3, and FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the structure of a conventional registration device. Reference numeral 1 in the drawing 1 ... Positioning mechanism, 2 ... Reference line guide, 3 ... Frame, 5 ... Oblique roller, 6 ... Shaft, 7 ... Universal joint, 10 ... Feed roller, 11 ... Drive Axis, 12 ...
… Bearing, 13 …… driven gear, 14 …… driving gear, 15 …… stop ring, 20 …… helical shaft, 21 …… bearing, 22 …… taper roller, 30 …… upper guide plate, 31 …… bracket, 32 ...... Long hole, 33 ...... Lower guide plate, 35 ...... Pinch roller, 36 ......
Shaft, 37 ... Bearing, 38 ... Spring.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of slant rollers provided in a sheet transport path and a feed roller provided in front of the slant rollers, wherein a sheet fed through the feed roller is used as a reference line guide by the slant rollers. In a device for moving and registering the feed roller, a shaft supporting the feed roller is provided so as to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction, and the force in the movement direction on the feed roller is released. A sheet registration device characterized in that a returning member for returning the roller to the original position is provided later, and the feeding roller can be moved by a force of skewing the sheet by the oblique roller. 2. A structure in which the end of the shaft of the feed roller is formed as a spiral portion, and the spiral portion is supported by a bearing so that the shaft can be moved with a weak force when the sheet is moved. The sheet registration device according to claim 1, wherein 3. A sheet registration according to claim 2, wherein a spiral groove is formed on an inner surface of a bearing for supporting the shaft of the feed roller so that the shaft can be guided. apparatus. 4. A taper roller is provided on the shaft of the feed roller, and a pinch roller is provided corresponding to the taper roller in a state of being pressed by its own weight and slidable in the axial direction with respect to a bearing supporting the shaft. The sheet registration device according to claim 1, wherein the feed roller can be moved in the skew direction by being provided in the sheet registration device.