JP6775766B2 - Sheet-like body transfer device and image forming device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a sheet-like body transport device that performs skew correction and lateral register correction of a sheet-like body to be transported along a transport path, a copier, a printer, a facsimile, or a combination machine thereof provided with the transport device. It relates to an image forming apparatus such as an offset printing machine.

An image forming apparatus such as a copier or a printer provided with a sheet-like body conveying device for skew correction and horizontal register correction of a sheet-like body such as paper, for example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-08702). Gazette) is known. This transport device moves a holding roller arranged as a resist device in the transport path of the sheet-like body in the inclined direction and the width direction with respect to the transport path to perform skew correction and lateral register correction of the sheet-like body. (Correction of misalignment in the width direction of the sheet) is performed.

In the device of Patent Document 1, the holding member that holds the holding roller is supported so as to be shift-movable and tilt-movable via a free bearing installed on the base member on the fixed side. The free bearing is a steel ball that is rotatably fitted in the recess of the pedestal in an arbitrary direction. The top of the steel ball makes point contact with the bottom surface of the holding member, so that the frictional load is extremely reduced.

On the other hand, in the sheet-like body conveying device, the correction operation of the holding member for holding the holding roller has been increased in speed in response to the recent demand for high speed. However, when the holding member shifts or tilts at high speed, an unfavorable phenomenon of rolling of the holding member occurs. When this rolling occurs, the bottom surface of the holding member is irregularly lifted from the free bearing, and the misalignment correction accuracy of the sheet-like body is lowered.

An object of the present invention is to stabilize the misalignment correction accuracy of the sheet-like body by preventing rolling even if the holding member corrects at high speed.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention conveys the sheet-like body along a predetermined transport path formed on the base member while sandwiching both sides of the sheet-like body, and the sheet-like body. In a sheet-like body transport device having a rotary transport body that corrects the positional deviation amount of the sheet-like body by moving according to the position shift amount from a predetermined transport path, the rotary transport body is held and the base A holding member movably arranged on the member, a pressing member arranged at a position facing the base member, and a first rolling element arranged between the holding member and the base member. When,
It is a sheet-like body transporting device characterized by having a second rolling element disposed between the holding member and the pressing member.

In the present invention, since the second rolling element is arranged between the holding member and the holding member arranged so as to face the base member, the holding member is lifted from the base member by the second rolling element. Since it is regulated, rolling does not occur even if the holding member corrects at high speed, and the accuracy of correcting the misalignment of the sheet-like body is stabilized.

It is an overall block diagram of the image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It shows a sheet-like body transfer apparatus which performs skew correction and lateral register correction, (a) is a plan view, (b) is a side view. It is sectional drawing of the sheet-like body transfer apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the base plate of FIG. 3A. It is a front view of the support structure by a roller. It is a side view of the support structure by a roller. It is a top view of the support structure by a roller. It is a top view of the modification of the support structure by a roller. It is the same cross-sectional view as FIG. 3A which shows the embodiment which changed the position of the support structure by a roller. It shows the state before the positional deviation correction of a sheet-like body, (a) is a top view, and (c) is a side view. It shows the state after the positional deviation correction of a sheet-like body, (a) is a top view, and (b) is a side view. (A) and (b) are side views of the support structure by the free bearing. It is a schematic side view which shows the embodiment which applied this invention to the sheet-like body transfer apparatus of an inkjet type image forming apparatus.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In each drawing, components such as members and components having the same function or shape will be described by giving the same reference numerals as much as possible, and then the description thereof will be omitted.

(Image forming device)

Hereinafter, the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described by taking an electrophotographic color copier as an example. The copying machine is a so-called tandem image forming apparatus, and adopts a dry two-component developing method using a dry two-component developing agent.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an entire image forming unit in the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus 100 receives image data which is image information from an image reading unit and performs an image forming process. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 includes yellow (hereinafter abbreviated as “Y”), magenta (hereinafter abbreviated as “M”), and cyan (hereinafter abbreviated as “C”). The photoconductor drums 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1Bk, which are latent image carriers as four rotating bodies for each color of black (hereinafter, abbreviated as "Bk"), are arranged side by side.

An optical writing device 7 for forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of each drum is arranged above the photoconductor drums 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1Bk. By exposing the surface of each drum with the light projected from the optical writing device 7, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image data is formed on the drum surface.

Below the photoconductor drums 1Y, 1M, 1C, 1Bk, there is an endless belt-shaped intermediate supported by a plurality of rotatable rollers including a driving roller 12A, an opposing roller 12B, a tension roller 12C, and a driven roller 12D, 12E. A transfer belt 8 is arranged. The photoconductor drums 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1Bk are arranged side by side in the belt moving direction so as to come into contact with the horizontal pass portion of the intermediate transfer belt 8.

Around each photoconductor drum 1Y, 1M, 1C, 1Bk, yellow Y will be used as a representative example. Electrophotographic process members such as a charger 2Y, a developing device 9Y corresponding to each color, a cleaning device 4Y, and a static elimination lamp 3Y. Are arranged in process order. Below the intermediate transfer belt 8, a paper feed unit 20 in which a large number of sheet-like bodies P are stored in a laminated state, a sheet-like body transfer device 30, a secondary transfer roller 40, and a fixing device 50 constituting a resist device are arranged. Has been done. A paper feed roller 21 and transport rollers 22 to 25 are arranged between the paper feed unit 20 and the sheet-like body transport device 30 from the upstream side.

When forming a full-color image with the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, first, the photoconductor drum 1Y is uniformly charged by the charger 2Y while being rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow in the figure by the photoconductor driving device. A Y electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoconductor drum 1Y by irradiating the light beam from the optical writing device 7. This Y electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing device 9Y with the Y toner in the developing agent. At the time of development, a predetermined development bias is applied between the developing roller and the photoconductor drum 1Y, and the Y toner on the developing roller is electrostatically adsorbed on the Y electrostatic latent image portion on the photoconductor drum 1Y.

The Y toner image developed and formed in this way is conveyed to the primary transfer position where the photoconductor drum 1Y and the intermediate transfer belt 8 come into contact with each other as the photoconductor drum 1Y rotates. At this primary transfer position, a predetermined bias voltage is applied to the back surface of the intermediate transfer belt 8 by the primary transfer roller 6Y. Then, the Y toner image on the photoconductor drum 1Y is attracted to the intermediate transfer belt 8 side by the primary transfer electric field generated by applying this bias, and the primary transfer is performed on the intermediate transfer belt 8. Hereinafter, in the same manner, the M toner image, the C toner image, and the Bk toner image are also primarily transferred so as to be sequentially superimposed on the Y toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 8.

The toner image in which four colors are overlapped on the intermediate transfer belt 8 is conveyed to the secondary transfer position as the intermediate transfer belt 8 rotates. On the other hand, the sheet-like body P unwound from the paper feed unit 20 by the paper feed roller 21 is conveyed by the transfer rollers 22 to 25 and sent to the sheet-like body transfer device 30 (resist device), and the sheet-like body is conveyed. The device 30 corrects the resist (skew and horizontal resist), and the toner image of the intermediate transfer belt 8 and the toner image of the intermediate transfer belt 8 are timed and transferred to the secondary transfer position.

Then, at this secondary transfer position, a predetermined bias voltage is applied to the back surface of the sheet-like body P by the secondary transfer roller 40, and the secondary transfer electric field and the contact pressure at the secondary transfer position generated by the bias application are applied. As a result, the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 8 is collectively secondarily transferred onto the sheet-like body P. The secondary transferred toner image is then fixed to the sheet-like body P by heating and pressurizing by the fixing device 50. The sheet-like body P on which the image is fixed is discharged from the image forming device 100 after being sent out from the fixing device 50. In this way, a series of image forming processes is completed.

(Sheet-like body transfer device)
FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) show an outline of the sheet-like body conveying device 30 constituting the resist device. The sheet-like body transfer device 30 has a holding roller 31 composed of a pair of upper and lower parts. The sheet-like body P is sandwiched between the nips of the sandwiching roller 31 and conveyed to the downstream side in that state, and at the same time, the shift correction and skew correction of the sheet-like body P are performed by the shift movement and the tilt movement of the sandwiching roller 31.

Here, the shift correction is a correction for correcting the positional deviation (horizontal registration deviation) when the sheet-like body P is displaced in the direction (width direction) perpendicular to the transport direction. The skew correction is a correction for correcting the inclination when the direction of the sheet-like body P is inclined obliquely with respect to the transport direction. The sandwiching roller 31 is configured to perform shift correction and skew correction of the sheet-like body P, and at the same time perform vertical resist correction (positional deviation correction in the transport direction).

The lower roller 31a of the sandwiching roller 31 is a drive roller 31a rotated by the drive motor 80 as described later. The upper roller 31b is a driven roller 31b that rotates following the driving roller 31a. The driven roller 31b is configured to be able to move up and down with respect to the drive roller 31a by a contact / detachment motor (contact / detachment motor 430 in FIG. 3A) for opening and closing the nip.

A transport roller 25 having a roller pair capable of opening and closing the nip is located on the upstream side of the sheet-shaped body transport device 30. Then, between the transfer roller 25 and the sheet-like body transfer device 30, a pair of upper and lower guide plates 26 that horizontally guide the sheet-like body P, and first CIS 61 and second CIS 62 attached to the guide plates 26 above the upper and lower guide plates 26 are formed. It is arranged.

Further, a pair of upper and lower guide plates 27 for horizontally guiding the sheet-like body P between the sheet-like body transfer device 30 and the secondary transfer roller 40 on the downstream side, and a third CIS 63 attached to the upper guide plate 27. Are arranged. Each CIS 61 to 63 is a rod-shaped array of light sources such as LEDs, light receiving lenses, and CMOS image sensors. By detecting the position of the edge portion of the sheet body P on one end side in the width direction, the sheet body P is formed. Detects the amount of lateral registration deviation.

The three CIS 61 to 63 are arranged in parallel, and based on the detection result of the lateral registration deviation amount of each CIS 61 to 63, the skew angle can be detected in addition to the lateral registration deviation amount of the sheet-like body P. That is, the lateral registration deviation amount and the skew angle of the sheet-like body P immediately before reaching the sandwiching roller 31 are detected by the two CIS 61s and 62s on the upstream side. Further, the two CIS 62 and 63 on the downstream side detect the lateral registration deviation amount and the skew angle of the sheet-like body P when it is sandwiched and conveyed by the sandwiching roller 31.

(Correction movement mechanism of holding roller)
The correction movement (shift movement and tilt movement) of the holding roller 31 described above is performed based on the detection results (lateral registration deviation amount, skew angle) detected by each CIS 61 to 63. 3A and 3B are mechanisms for correcting and moving the holding roller 31 based on the detection result. Hereinafter, the correction movement mechanism will be described.

FIG. 3A is a view of the holding roller 31 and its correction moving mechanism as viewed from the transport direction. In the figure, reference numeral 70 denotes a base member 70 fixed horizontally to the machine frame of the image forming apparatus 100 in a direction crossing the transport path of the sheet-like body P.

A holding roller 31 and a drive motor 80 for driving the holding roller 31 are arranged on the upper side of the base member. Further, on the lower side of the base member 70, a rotation motor 81 for rotating the holding member 95 for holding the holding roller 31 and a shift motor 82 for shifting the holding roller 31 are arranged.

The base member 70 has a pair of left and right motor mounting portions 71 mounted on the lower surface of the base member 70, and left and right pressing members 72 mounted on the upper surface of the base member 70. The motor mounting portion 71 is formed of a sheet metal having a groove-like cross section. Further, the left and right pressing members 72 are formed of a sheet metal whose cross section is bent like a crank, and the free end side thereof is a horizontal plate portion 72a.

The pressing member 72 is for pressing the small-diameter roller 221 described later from above. The pressing member 72 may be provided on the fixed side, and may be provided on a fixed side member other than the base member 70. Even with such a configuration, it is substantially the same as the pressing member 72 extending upward from the base member 70 in FIG. 3A.

Motors 81 and 82 and pulleys 83 and 84 are mounted on the left and right motor mounting portions 71. The motor 81 on the left side is the rotation motor 81, and the motor 82 on the right side is the shift motor 82. The arrangement structure of the motors 81 and 82 and the pulleys 83 and 84 is the same for the left and right motor mounting portions 71.

A rotary motor 81 is fixed to the lower side of the motor mounting portion 71 on the left side with its rotation axis vertical. The rotating shaft of the rotating motor 81 projects inside the motor mounting portion 71, and the drive pulley 83 is fixed to the upper end of the rotating shaft. Further, a driven pulley 84 having a relatively large diameter is arranged adjacent to the right side of the drive pulley 83, and a timing belt 85 is bridged between the driven pulley 84 and the drive pulley 83.

The upper and lower ends of the rotating shaft 84a of the driven pulley 84 are rotatably supported by the motor mounting portion 71 and the base member, and the upper end portion of the rotating shaft 84a protrudes above the base member 70. A rotating cam 90 is fixed to the upper end of the rotating shaft 84a as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B.

A shift motor 82 is fixed to the lower side of the motor mounting portion 71 on the right side with its rotation axis vertical. The rotating shaft of the shift motor 82 projects inside the motor mounting portion 71, and the drive pulley 83 is fixed to the upper end of the rotating shaft. Further, a driven pulley 84 having a relatively large diameter is arranged adjacent to the right side of the drive pulley 83, and a timing belt 85 is bridged between the driven pulley 84 and the drive pulley 83.

The upper and lower ends of the rotating shaft 84a of the driven pulley 84 are rotatably supported by the motor mounting portion 71 and the base member, and the upper end portion of the rotating shaft 84a protrudes above the base member 70. A shift cam 91 is fixed to the upper end of the rotating shaft 84a as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the three motors 80 to 82 are connected to the control unit 400, the motor driver 410, and the arithmetic circuit 420. Then, the detection information of the first to third CIS 145 to 147 is input to the control unit 400, and the position deviation amount (shift amount, skew angle) of the sheet-like body P is calculated by the calculation circuit 420 based on the detection information. Then, each motor is driven by the motor driver 410 for the pick-up operation and the return operation.

The roller holding member 110 that holds the sandwiching roller 33 corrects (corrects) the amount of misalignment of the sheet-like body P by performing the pick-up operation and the return operation corresponding to the amount of misalignment of the sheet-like body P. Here, the "pick-up operation" means that the holding roller 33 and the roller holding member 110 are initially moved according to the amount of positional deviation (horizontal registration deviation amount, skew angle) of the sheet-like body P to be sandwiched by the sandwiching roller 33. It refers to an operation in which the holding roller 33 faces the front end edge of the sheet-like body P by shifting and rotating from the position. Further, the "return operation" is an operation of shifting and rotating the holding roller 33 that holds the sheet-shaped body P by the pick-up operation in a direction that offsets the amount of displacement of the sheet-shaped body P to return to the initial position. Say.

In FIGS. 3A and 3B, the rotation fulcrum shaft 73 is vertically arranged at a position biased to the right side of the upper surface of the base member 70. A holding member 95 for holding the holding roller 31 is rotatably supported on the rotation fulcrum shaft 73. The position of the rotation fulcrum shaft 73 is set to be below the center of gravity position G indicated by the broken line of the holding member 95 including the holding roller 31 and the drive motor 80. As a result, the rotational movement of the holding member 95 can be made smooth and the load on the rotary motor 81 can be reduced.

The holding member 95 is composed of a horizontal plate portion 95a facing parallel to the base member 70 and vertical plate portions 95b attached to both sides of the horizontal plate portion 95a. A position slightly biased to the right of the center of the horizontal plate portion 95a is rotatably supported by the rotation fulcrum shaft 73.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the cam follower 74 is rotatably arranged on the horizontal plate portion 95a of the holding member 95 at a position separated from the rotation fulcrum shaft 73 to the left side on the shaft 74a fixed to the horizontal plate portion 95a. It is installed. The rotating cam 90 is in contact with the cam follower 74. The direction of this contact is the transport direction of the sheet-like body P.

An elongated hole 95a1 penetrating the horizontal plate portion 95a in the vertical direction is formed in a portion separated to the right from the rotation fulcrum shaft 73. The elongated hole 95a1 extends in the longitudinal direction (horizontal direction) of the horizontal plate portion 95a by a predetermined length corresponding to the shift movement distance described later of the holding roller 31.

A shaft 75a extending downward from the connecting member 97b, which will be described later, is arranged so as to penetrate the elongated hole 95a1 in the vertical direction. A cam follower 75 is rotatably arranged at the lower end of the shaft 75a. As shown in FIG. 3B, the shift cam 91 is in contact with the cam follower 75. The direction of this contact is a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the sheet-like body P.

The horizontal plate portion 95a of the holding member 95 is urged by tension springs 87 and 88 arranged between the holding member 95 and the base member 70 as shown in FIG. 3B. That is, the horizontal plate portion 95a is rotationally urged in the counterclockwise direction around the rotation fulcrum shaft 73 by the tension spring 87 on the left side, and the cam follower 74 is in contact with the rotation cam 90 at a predetermined pressure. Further, the horizontal plate portion 95a is shift-forced to the right by the tension spring 88 on the right side, and the cam follower 75 is in contact with the shift cam 91 at a predetermined pressure.

A guide rod 96 is bridged in parallel and horizontally between the left and right vertical plate portions 95b of the holding member 95 as shown in FIG. 3A. A pair of left and right shift supports 97 are held so as to be shiftable (slable) with respect to the guide rod 96.

The linear bush 97a connected to the lower ends of the left and right shift supports 97 is supported so as to slide smoothly along the guide rod 96. The left and right linear bushes 97a are connected to each other by a horizontal connecting member 97b.

The rotation shafts of the drive roller 31a and the driven roller 31b of the sandwiching roller 31 are rotatably supported by the side plate portion 97c rising from the linear bush 97a of the shift support body 97. The rotating shaft of the driven roller 31b is configured to be able to move up and down with respect to the side plate portion 97c by a contact / detaching motor.

The rotation shaft of the drive roller 31a projects further to the right from the right side plate portion 97c, and the driven gear 32 is fixed to the protruding end. A drive motor 80 is attached to the outside of the vertical plate portion 95b on the right side. The rotation shaft of the drive motor 80 projects inward of the vertical plate portion 95b, and the drive gear 86 that meshes with the driven gear 32 is fixed to the protruding end. The driven gear 32 is formed longer in the axial direction than the drive gear 86 so that the driven gear 32 does not disengage from the drive gear 86 even if the shift support 97 shifts as much as possible along the guide rod 96. Has been done.

(Support structure of holding member)
As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6A, the holding member 95 is rotatably supported on the base member 70 by the support structure 200 by rollers about the rotation fulcrum shaft 73. At least three support structures 200 by rollers are sufficient, but in the illustrated example, four are arranged at the four corners of the holding member 95 to ensure stable movement of the holding member 95.

That is, two short support shafts 210 are horizontally projected on both left and right sides (both ends in the longitudinal direction) of the holding member 95. The axial direction of the support shaft 210 is perpendicular to the transport direction of the sheet-shaped body P. A large-diameter roller 220 as a first rolling element and a small-diameter roller 221 as a second rolling element are rotatably mounted on the support shaft 210 via ball bearings, respectively.

The large-diameter roller 220 is arranged on the base end side of the support shaft 210, and the small-diameter roller 221 is arranged on the tip end side of the support shaft 210. A spacer 230 is interposed between the rollers so that both rollers can freely rotate independently without interfering with each other. A retaining ring is attached to the tip of the support shaft 210, and the axial position of the small diameter roller 221 is regulated by this retaining ring.

The large-diameter roller 220 is rotatably in contact with the upper surface of the base member 70. The roller contact region on the upper surface of the base member 70 is a smooth surface without unevenness. The small-diameter roller 221 is rotatably in contact with the lower surface of the horizontal plate portion 72a of the pressing member 72. The roller contact area on the lower surface is also a smooth surface without unevenness. Since the large diameter roller 220 has a larger diameter than the small diameter roller 221, the small diameter roller 221 is separated from the upper surface of the base member 70 and is not in contact with the base member 70.

By mounting the large-diameter roller 220 and the small-diameter roller 221 on the common support shaft 210, it becomes easy to accurately dimension the large-diameter roller 220 and the small-diameter roller 221 without rattling. By using the small-diameter elastic roller 221 as, for example, a small-diameter elastic roller, the small-diameter elastic roller 221 may be brought into constant rotational contact with the lower surface of the horizontal plate portion 72a of the pressing member 72 at a predetermined pressure.

In order to make the rotation of the holding member 95 smoother, the support shafts 210 that support the rollers may be arranged radially around the rotation fulcrum shaft 73 as shown in FIG. 6B. That is, by arranging the support shaft 210 at an angle so that the extension line of the axis of the support shaft 210 faces the rotation fulcrum shaft 73, when the holding member 95 rotates about the rotation fulcrum shaft 73, The rolling state of the rollers 220 and 221 is good with less frictional load.

(Correction of misalignment of sheet-like body)
8A and 8B show a state in which the sheet-like body transport device 30 performs skew correction and shift correction of the sheet-like body P. In this embodiment, the holding member 95 only rotates, and the shift support 97 performs the shift operation. Therefore, the pick-up operation and the return operation of the holding member 95 are the pick-up operation and the return operation in the rotation operation. Similarly, the pick-up and return operations of the shift support 97 are the pick-up and return operations in the shift operation.

FIG. 8A shows a state in which the front end of the sheet-like body P has passed the first CIS 61 and reached the second CIS 62. The position shift amount (shift amount and skew angle) of the sheet-like body P is detected by CIS 61 and 62, and the holding roller 31 picks up and operates according to the position shift amount based on the detection information. As a result, the sheet-shaped body P is received in the nip portion at the center of the sandwiching roller 31 in the width direction in a state where the holding roller 31 is parallel to the front end of the sheet-shaped body P.

In this pinched state, the pinching roller 31 returns and operates while transporting the sheet-like body P to the downstream side. When the front end of the sheet-shaped body P reaches the third CIS during this return operation, the amount of positional deviation (shift amount and skew angle) of the sheet-shaped body P from the time when the sheet-shaped body P is pinched by the pinching roller 31 to the time when the sheet-shaped body P is reached is detected. Will be done. If there is no change from the time when the sandwiching roller 31 sandwiches the sheet, the position deviation of the sheet-shaped body P can be corrected by continuing the returning operation as scheduled.

If there is a change amount from the time of sandwiching by the sandwiching roller 31, the return operation amount of the sandwiching roller 31 is corrected so as to further eliminate the change amount. In this way, the positional deviation of the sheet-like body P that occurs during the return operation while being sandwiched by the sandwich roller 31 is also detected by the second CIS 62 and the third CIS 63, and is fed back to the return operation of the sandwich roller 31. , Even a slight misalignment of the sheet-like body P is eliminated, and highly accurate resist correction is performed.

(Change the position of the support structure with rollers)
FIG. 7 shows an embodiment in which the position of the support structure 200 by the rollers is changed. In FIG. 3A, the support structure 200 by the rollers is arranged on the base member 70, but in FIG. 7, the support structure 200 is arranged at a position higher than that in FIG. 3A by using the pedestal 76.

That is, the large-diameter roller 220 comes into contact with the upper surface of the horizontal plate portion 76a of the pedestal 76. The small diameter roller 221 comes into contact with the lower surface of the horizontal plate portion 72a of the pressing member 72 arranged on the pedestal 76. Therefore, in this embodiment, the horizontal plate portion 76a of the pedestal 76 replaces the base member 70 of the embodiment of FIG. 3A.

The center of gravity position G of the holding member 95 including the holding roller 31 and the drive motor 80 is above the rotation fulcrum shaft 73 as shown by the broken line. Therefore, when the support structure 200 is arranged at a position higher than the center of gravity position G of the broken line as shown in FIG. 7, the rolling of the holding member 95 is suppressed as compared with the case where the support structure 200 by the roller is arranged as shown in FIG. 3A. It is valid.

That is, by using the length of the vertical plate portion 95b like a lever, the rolling of the holding member 95 can be effectively suppressed even with a relatively small roller contact force, and as a result, the load on the holding member 95 is small. Smooth movement and extension of roller life can be achieved. However, if the support structure 200 is made too high, the movement of the holding member 95 becomes unstable. Therefore, the height of the horizontal plate portion 76a of the pedestal 76 is 1 of the height to the center of gravity position G with respect to the base member 70. . It is better to set it in the range of 1 to 2 times.

(Inkjet image forming device)
The present invention is not limited to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 100 described above. FIG. 10 shows an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to the inkjet image forming apparatus 300. Hereinafter, the inkjet image forming apparatus 300 will be briefly described.

As shown in the figure, the sheet-like body P loaded on the paper feeding unit 310 is separated and picked up one by one by the air separating unit 312 using air. The sheet-like body P picked up by the air separation unit 312 is conveyed to the position shift correction unit 320 on the downstream side in the transfer direction toward the image forming unit 301.

The sheet-like body P conveyed from the paper feed unit 310 reaches the misalignment correction unit 320. Then, in the position deviation correction unit 320, the skew correction and the lateral register correction of the sheet-like body P are performed by the holding roller 31 of the sheet-like body transfer device 30 provided inside, as described above. The sheet-like body P corrected for misalignment by the misalignment correction unit 320 is conveyed to the image forming unit 301 at a predetermined timing.

The sheet-like body P that has been resist-corrected and conveyed to the image forming unit 301 is positioned on the surface of the cylindrical drum 303 with its tip sandwiched by the sheet-like gripper 304 provided on the surface of the cylindrical drum 303. .. Further, the cylindrical drum 303 is formed with innumerable air suction holes on its surface, and the entire sheet-like body P can be sucked by air from the back surface and held in close contact with the surface of the cylindrical drum 303. it can. Then, the sheet-shaped body P, which is positioned on the surface of the cylindrical drum 303 by the sheet-shaped body gripper 304 and is held in close contact with the air suction, is formed by rotating the cylindrical drum 303 in the direction of the arrow in the drawing, thereby causing the discharge head 302. Transported in the direction.

In the image forming unit 301, units of the ejection head 302 are sequentially arranged along the circumferential surface of the cylindrical drum 303 in a state of being filled with a predetermined ink color. The sheet-like body P held on the surface of the cylindrical drum 303 is conveyed to the lower portion of the discharge head 302 of each color, and the ink of each color is printed from the discharge head 302 at a predetermined timing to form the sheet-like body. An image is formed on the surface of P.

The cylindrical drum 303 is provided with a sheet-shaped gripper 304 that holds the tip of the sheet-shaped body P at three locations on the surface on the circumference. As a result, images can be formed on the three sheet-shaped bodies P while the cylindrical drum 303 makes one rotation.

The sheet-like body P on which the image is formed by the image forming unit 301 is conveyed to the drying unit 330. A drying unit 331 is provided in the drying unit 330, and the sheet-like body P passes under the drying unit 331 to evaporate the moisture in the ink and prevent the sheet-like body P from curling. it can.

The sheet-like body P that has passed through the drying portion 330 is conveyed to the paper discharge portion 340, and is loaded on the paper discharge portion 340 with the sheet-like bodies P arranged in an orderly manner.

The drying section 330 is provided with a sheet-shaped body reversing section 351 and a sheet-shaped body reversing transport section 350. At the time of double-sided printing, the sheet-like body P is inverted by the sheet-like body inversion portion 351 and the transfer direction is switched by the sheet-like body inversion transport section 350 to convey the sheet-like body P to the image forming section 301 again.

The sheet-like body P is subjected to skew correction and lateral register correction by the holding roller 31 before reaching the cylindrical drum 303. The sheet-shaped body P corrected for the misalignment is conveyed to the cylindrical drum 303, sandwiched between the sheet-shaped grippers 304, and held on the front surface of the cylindrical drum 303 with the back surface on which the image is not formed facing up. To. Then, in the image forming unit 301, the ejection head 302 forms an image on the back surface where the image of the sheet-like body P held on the front surface of the cylindrical drum 303 is not formed as described above.

The double-sided printed sheet-like body P that has passed through the drying section 330 is conveyed to the paper ejection section 340 in the same manner as in single-sided printing, and is loaded on the paper ejection section 340 with the sheet-like bodies P arranged in an orderly manner. To.

(Example of using free bearing as a rolling element)
FIG. 9 shows another example of a rolling element. In the above-described embodiment, a roller is used as a rolling element for supporting the holding member 95, but in carrying out the present invention, the rolling element can be used other than the roller, and a free bearing can also be used as shown in FIG. A free bearing is a steel ball fitted in a recess of a pedestal, and the steel ball can rotate in any direction.

Therefore, the holding member 95 is not limited to the case where the holding member 95 is rotatably arranged around the rotation fulcrum shaft 73, and is described in, for example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-08702, FIGS. 3 to 5). In addition, even in a configuration in which the holding member 95 can shift and rotate, it can be used as a support structure for the holding member 95. In this case, for the connection between the drive motor 80 and the drive roller 31a, a connection structure capable of supporting both shift and skew correction movements such as a two-stage spline coupling is used.

In FIG. 9A, the first free bearing 240 is arranged on the lower surface of the holding member 95, and the second free bearing 241 is placed on the support plate portion 95c as a pressing member formed so as to project horizontally from the holding member 95. It is arranged. The top of the steel ball of the first free bearing 240 is in point contact with the upper surface of the base member 70, and the top of the steel ball of the second free bearing 241 is in point contact with the lower surface of the horizontal plate portion 72a of the pressing member 72.

FIG. 9B shows a first free bearing 250 arranged on the upper surface of the base member 70, and a second free bearing 241 arranged on the lower surface of the horizontal plate portion 72a of the pressing member 72. The top of the steel ball of the first free bearing 250 makes point contact with the lower surface of the holding member, and the top of the steel ball of the second free bearing 251 projects horizontally from the holding member 95 to form a support plate portion 95c as a pressing member. Is in point contact with the upper surface of the. It is also possible to form a support structure in which (a) and (b) of FIG. 9 are combined.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention has a transport device for transporting a transfer paper or a sheet-like body as a sheet-like body P as described above, and a transport device for transporting a document as a sheet-like body P. It is also applicable to. Further, the sheet-like body transfer device of the present invention can be applied to other types of image forming devices such as an offset printing machine. Further, the rotary carrier is not limited to a holding roller composed of a pair of rollers, and can be configured by a belt such as a drive belt and a driven belt arranged vertically facing each other. It is also possible to use one of the upper and lower rotary conveyors as a roller and the other as a belt.

22 to 25: Transfer roller 30: Sheet-like body transfer device 31: Holding roller 31a: Drive roller 31b: Driven roller 32: Driven gear 40: Secondary transfer roller 61: First CIS
62: 2nd CIS 63: 3rd CIS
70: Base member 72: Pressing member 73: Rotating fulcrum shaft 74, 75: Cam follower 76: Cradle 80: Drive motor 81: Rotating motor 82: Shift motor 83: Drive pulley 84: Driven pulley 86: Drive gear 87, 88: Tension spring 90: Rotating cam 91: Shift cam 95: Holding member 96: Guide rod 97: Shift support 100: Image forming device 200: Support structure by rollers 210: Support shaft 220: Large diameter roller 221: Small diameter roller 240 , 250: 1st free bearing 241, 251: 2nd free bearing

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-08702

Claims (12)

While sandwiching both sides of the sheet-like body, the sheet-like body is conveyed along a predetermined transfer path formed on the base member, and the position of the sheet-like body is displaced from the predetermined transfer path. In a sheet-like body transfer device having a rotary carrier that corrects the amount of misalignment of the sheet-like body by moving correspondingly.
A holding member that holds the rotary carrier and is movably arranged on the base member,
A pressing member arranged at a position facing the base member and
A first rolling element disposed between the holding member and the base member,
A second rolling element disposed between the holding member and the pressing member,
A sheet-like body conveying device characterized by having. While sandwiching both sides of the sheet-like body, the sheet-like body is conveyed along a predetermined transfer path formed on the base member, and the position of the sheet-like body is displaced from the predetermined transfer path. In a sheet-like body transfer device having a rotary carrier that corrects the amount of misalignment of the sheet-like body by moving correspondingly.
It has a holding member that holds the rotary carrier and is movably arranged on the base member, and the holding member is movably supported on the base member via a first rolling element. At the same time, the sheet-like body transporting device is characterized in that the lifting from the base member is regulated by the second rolling element arranged between the pressing member extending from the base member. While sandwiching both sides of the sheet-like body, the sheet-like body is conveyed along a predetermined transfer path formed on the base member, and the position of the sheet-like body is displaced from the predetermined transfer path. The sheet-like body is conveyed by having a rotary carrier that corrects the amount of misalignment of the sheet-like body by moving correspondingly, and a drive motor for rotating the rotary carrier is attached to one end of the rotary carrier. In the device
It has a holding member that holds the rotary carrier and is movably arranged on the base member, and the holding member is movably supported on the base member via a first rolling element. At the same time, the second rolling element disposed between the pressing member extending from the base member regulates the lifting from the base member, and the drive motor is disposed at one end of the holding member. At the same time, a rotation fulcrum shaft is arranged on the base member corresponding to the position of the center of gravity of the holding member including the rotary carrier and the drive motor, and the holding member can rotate on the rotation fulcrum shaft. A sheet-like body transfer device characterized by being supported by. 3. The third aspect of the present invention is that the positions of the first rolling element and the second rolling element are arranged at positions higher than the height of the center of gravity of the holding member including the rotary carrier and the drive motor. Sheet-like body transfer device. The first rolling element has a first roller arranged on the holding member, the second rolling element has a second roller arranged on the holding member, and the first roller has the base member. The sheet-like body conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second roller is rotationally in contact with the lower surface of the pressing member. The sheet-like body transport device according to claim 5, wherein the second roller makes rotational contact with the lower surface of the pressing member at a predetermined pressure. The first roller and the second roller are attached to a common support shaft arranged on the holding member, and the first roller is configured to have a diameter larger than that of the second roller, so that the second roller is formed. The sheet-like body transfer device according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the base member is configured in non-contact with the upper surface. The first rolling element has a first roller arranged on the holding member, the second rolling element has a second roller arranged on the holding member, and the first roller has the base member. The second roller makes rotational contact with the lower surface of the holding member, and the second roller makes rotational contact with the lower surface of the pressing member.
The first roller and the second roller are attached to a common support shaft arranged on the holding member, and the first roller has a diameter larger than that of the second roller, so that the second roller is formed. It is configured to be non-contact with the upper surface of the base member.
The support shaft to which the first roller and the second roller are attached is arranged at at least three positions of the holding member at a position away from the rotation fulcrum shaft, and the axis of each support shaft is the rotation fulcrum. The sheet-like body transfer device according to claim 3 , wherein the sheet-like body is conveyed toward the shaft. While sandwiching both sides of the sheet-like body, the sheet-like body is conveyed along a predetermined transfer path formed on the base member, and the position of the sheet-like body is displaced from the predetermined transfer path. The sheet-like body is conveyed by having a rotary carrier that corrects the amount of misalignment of the sheet-like body by moving correspondingly, and a drive motor for rotating the rotary carrier is attached to one end of the rotary carrier. In the device
It has a holding member that holds the rotary carrier and is movably arranged on the base member, and the holding member is movably supported on the base member via a first rolling element. At the same time, the second rolling element disposed between the pressing member extending from the base member regulates the lifting from the base member, and the drive motor is fixedly arranged on the base member to rotate. A sheet-shaped body transporting device, characterized in that the transport body and the drive motor are coupled via a coupling that allows the holding member to move. The first rolling element has a first free bearing disposed on the holding member, and the second rolling element has a second free bearing arranged on the holding member, and the first free bearing has the first free bearing. The sheet-like body transfer device according to claim 9, wherein the second free bearing makes point contact with the upper surface of the base member and the second free bearing makes point contact with the lower surface of the holding member. The first rolling element has a first free bearing arranged on the base member, and the second rolling element has a second free bearing arranged on the holding member, and the first free bearing has the first free bearing. The sheet-like body transport device according to claim 9, wherein the second free bearing makes point contact with the lower surface of the holding member, and the second free bearing makes point contact with the upper surface of the pressed member extending from the holding member. An image forming apparatus comprising the sheet-like body conveying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11.