JPH03182447A - Sheet loading amount detection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify a whole structure and reduce the production cost by providing an actuator operating the first detecting means and the second detecting means rotatably supported interlockingly with the transfer of sheet materials. CONSTITUTION:This device concurrently serves as an actuator 24 operating the first detecting means 26 for detecting the passage of sheet materials 10 and the actuator 24 operating the second detecting means 27 for detecting the load quantity of the sheet materials 10 loaded on a loading member 19. The whole structure is simplified, and the production cost can be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a sheet loading amount detection device for detecting the loading amount of sheet materials discharged to a paper output tray equipped in an image forming apparatus and placed on a vi. It is.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, in image forming apparatuses using an electrophotographic method such as copying machines and laser beam printers, as shown in FIG. are guided by transport guides 51a and 51b in the direction indicated by the arrow in the figure.

Next, the sheet material 50 is conveyed between a discharge roller 52a which is driven and rotated by a drive means (not shown) and a pinch roller 52b which is in pressure contact with the discharge roller 52a and rotates as a result of rotation, so that the sheet material 50 is transported to the downstream side in the conveyance direction (hereinafter simply referred to as "r downstream side 1"). They are sequentially stacked onto a housing-like discharge tray 53 attached to a casing.

In the vicinity of the ejection tray 53, there is a photo ink converter 54 for detecting whether the sheet material 50 ejected to the eject tray 53 has reached a predetermined amount, and a photo ink converter 54 for operating the photo ink converter 54. An actuator 55 is provided.

The actuator 55 is rotatably mounted around a rotating shaft 55a, and is normally urged counterclockwise by a tension spring 56 to protrude into the discharge tray 53.

When the product RN of the sheet materials 50 on the discharge tray 53 does not reach a predetermined amount as shown by the solid line, the actuator 55 moves the photo ink cleaner 54 as shown by the solid line in the figure.
Do not block light. On the other hand, the sheet material 5 of the discharge tray 53
When the loading amount of 0 reaches a predetermined amount as shown by the two-dot chain line, the actuator 55 is pushed by the rear end (left side in the drawing) of the sheet material 50 in the discharge direction and rotates clockwise to remove the photo. The ink cleaner 54 is shielded from light and the ejection tray 53 is
It detected that it was full.

Further, on the upstream side in the conveyance direction of the sheet material 50 from the photo ink printer 54 and the actuator 55 (hereinafter simply referred to as r upstream side j), the sheet material 50 after image transfer passes between the conveyance guides 51a and 51b. A photo ink printer 57 for detecting whether or not there is a jam (paper jam), and an actuator 58 for operating the photo ink printer 57 are provided.

The actuator 58 is rotatably mounted around a rotating shaft 58a, and is normally biased counterclockwise by a tension spring 59 to protrude into the conveyance path of the sheet material 50.

When the leading end of the sheet material 50 passes through the actuator 5, it is rotated clockwise against the elastic force of the tension spring 59, as shown by the solid line in FIG. At this time, the actuator 58 can detect the passage of the sheet material 10 by shielding the photo ink club 57 from light, so that it is possible to detect the occurrence of a jam.

Next, when the rear end of the sheet material 50 passes the actuator 58, the actuator 58 is rotated counterclockwise again by the elastic force of the tension spring 59, as shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure, to convey the sheet material 50. It protruded onto the road in preparation for conveyance of the next sheet material 50.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, as shown in FIG.
Since jam detection for zero is performed by separate actuators, the structure may become complicated and production costs may increase.

The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioned prior art i11! solve the problem,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet loading amount detection device which serves as an actuator for operating an MI loading amount detection means of a discharge tray and an actuator for operating a detection means for detecting passage of sheet material.

Means for Solving the Problems> Typical means for solving the problems of the prior art described above and applied to the embodiments described below include a discharge means for discharging the sheet material after recording out of the apparatus, and a discharge means for discharging the sheet material after recording out of the apparatus. a first detection means for detecting passage of the sheet material; a stacking member for stacking and accommodating the discharged sheet material; and a second detection means for detecting 81 RI of the sheet material loaded on the stacking member. The apparatus is characterized in that it includes a detection means, and an actuator for operating the first detection means and the second detection means, which are rotatably supported on a shaft in conjunction with the conveyance of the sheet material.

<Operation> According to the above means, the actuator for operating the first detection means for detecting the passage of the sheet material, and the second detection means for detecting the loading amount of the sheet material loaded on the loading member. Since it also serves as an actuator for operating the actuator, the overall structure can be simplified and production costs can be reduced.

<Example> Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, sheet area Ii to which the present invention is applied!
An example of the amount detection device will be described.

1 to 3 are cross-sectional explanatory diagrams of a sheet loading amount detection device showing a first embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a laser beam printer to which the sheet loading amount detection device is applied. be.

First, refer to Figure 4 and calculate the sheet volume S! A schematic configuration of a laser beam printer to which the amount detection device is applied will be explained.

1 is a scanner unit that irradiates and scans with laser light according to image information; 2 is a process cartridge that is an image carrier; a photosensitive drum 3; and a primary charger 4 that is a corona discharger. Developing device containing toner5. It has built-in image type warning means such as cleaner 6.

The laser beam emitted from the scanner unit 1 is irradiated onto the photosensitive drum 3 in the process cartridge 2 via the laser beam 7, and an electrostatic latent image is formed by the charger 4, and then by the developer 5. A toner image is formed and visualized.

On the other hand, the sheet materials 10 fed from the paper feed cassette 8 by the feed roller 9 are separated one by one by a separation band 11 provided opposite to the feed roller 9. The separated sheet material 10 is attached to guide plates 1 provided above and below.
A pair of registration rollers 13a guided by 2a, 12b and temporarily stopped.

+3b and the skew is corrected. Thereafter, the sheet material 10 is intermittently conveyed to the transfer section by a pair of registration rollers 13a and 13b in synchronization with the leading edge of the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 3.

14 is a transfer charger for transferring the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 3 onto the sheet material 10.

Sheet material 1 to which an image has been transferred by this transfer charger 14
0 is conveyed to the fixing device 16 by the conveyance roller 15.

The sheet material 10, on which the transferred image has been permanently fixed by the fixing device 16, is discharged to discharge trays 18 and 19 through respective transport paths selected by the flapper 17.

[First Embodiment] Next, a first embodiment of the sheet loading amount detecting device applied to the discharge tray 19 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, reference numeral 19 denotes a discharge tray which is a stacking member for stacking and accommodating discharged sheet materials IO. This discharge tray 19 is inclined so that the rear end side of the sheet material 10 in the discharge direction is lowered. On the upstream side of the ejection tray 19, a ejection roller 20 and a pinch roller 21, which are ejection means for ejecting the sheet material after recording to the outside of the apparatus, are provided. This discharge roller 20
is driven and rotated by a drive means (not shown), and the pinch roller 21 is in pressure contact with this and driven to rotate, thereby conveying the sheet materials 10 in sequence and discharging them onto the discharge tray 19.

On the upstream side of the discharge roller 20 and the pinch roller 21, conveyance guides 22 and 2 for guiding the sheet material IO are provided.
3 is provided. The conveyance guides 22 and 23 constitute a conveyance path for the sheet material 10 from the flapper 17 to the discharge roller 20 and the pinch roller 21.

An actuator 24 is rotatably attached below the conveyance guide 23 about a rotation shaft 24a. The actuator 24 is connected to the conveyance guide 23 by a tension spring 25 and biased counterclockwise, and its lower end 24c abuts against the side surface 19a of the discharge tray 19 and is restrained. Therefore, the upper end 24b of the actuator 24 is configured to protrude into the conveyance path of the sheet material 10 through the hole 23a provided in the conveyance guide 23.

Near the actuator 24, there is a photo interrupter 26, which is a first detection means for detecting the passage of the sheet material 10 to be discharged, and a stack i! of the sheet materials 10 loaded on the discharge tray 19. A photo ink printer 27, which is a second detection means for detecting the amount, is provided. The actuator 24 is connected to these photoink actuators 26.2.
It also serves as the actuator for 7.

The actuator 24 can detect the passage of the sheet material 10 by rotating in the clockwise direction and shielding the photo ink club 26 from light. Further, the actuator 24 rotates counterclockwise to shield the photo ink converter 27 from light, thereby making it possible to detect that the sheet material IO loaded on the discharge tray 19 has reached a predetermined amount. That is, the ejection tray 19 is located on the rear end side in the ejection direction (left side in the drawing).
Since the paper output tray 1 is tilted so that it is lower,
The actuator 24 protruding into the discharge tray 19
The photo ink printer 2 is pushed back by the edge of the sheet material 10 loaded on the photo ink printer 2 and rotated counterclockwise.
7 to block light.

To explain the operation of the sheet stack detection device configured as described above, the transfer image is transferred to the sheet material 10 after being fixed.
The output tray 19 is selected by the flapper 17, and the paper is transported downstream between the transport guides 22 and 23. When the tip of the sheet material lO comes into contact with the top @24b of the actuator 24 that protrudes from the hole 23a of the conveyance guide 23 into the conveyance path, it is pushed against the elastic force of the tension spring 25 and pushed onto the rotation shaft 24.
Rotate clockwise around point a. At this time, as shown in FIG. 1, since the photo ink club 26 is shielded from light by the lower fi 24c of the actuator 24, it is possible to detect that the sheet material 10 has begun to pass through the actuator 24. The tension spring 25 is charged with elastic force by the clockwise rotation of the actuator 24.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2, when the rear end of the sheet material 10 passes the actuator 24, the actuator 24 is rotated counterclockwise by the charged elastic force of the tension spring 25. The upper part 124b of the actuator 24 again protrudes into the conveyance path of the sheet material 10, and the lower part @24d
protrudes into the discharge tray 19.

In this state, it is possible to detect whether the number of sheet materials 10 stacked and accommodated on the discharge tray 19 has reached a predetermined amount.

First, the sheet material 1 stored in Mi on the discharge tray 19
0 has not reached the predetermined amount, as shown by the solid line in FIG. Light is not blocked by the lower end 24C.

When the number of sheet materials 10 stacked and stored on the discharge tray 19 reaches a predetermined amount, the lower end 24d of the actuator 24 reaches the sheet material 1 as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG.
0, the actuator 24 rotates clockwise around the rotation shaft 24a (or the counterclockwise rotation of the actuator 24 is stopped by coming into contact with the sheet material 10 and being inhibited). 2), the lower end 24c shields the photo ink printer 27 from light.

This makes it possible to detect that the number of sheet materials 10 stacked on one discharge tray has reached a predetermined amount.

In response to the detection signal, for example, the conveying operation of the sheet material 10 is stopped, and a display section (not shown) displays that the discharge tray 19 is full.

Further, the lower end 24c of the actuator 24 is rotated counterclockwise again by the elastic force of the tension spring 25, and the photo ink actuator 26 is not blocked from light, so that the sheet material 10 does not pass through the actuator 24. You can tell when it's finished.

According to the above configuration, it is possible to detect when the sheet material 10 begins to pass through the actuator 24 and when it finishes passing through the actuator 24, so it is possible to determine whether or not a jam is occurring.

Furthermore, since one actuator can detect the fullness of the discharge tray 19 and the passage of the sheet material 1O, the overall structure can be simplified.

Although this embodiment has been described with respect to the case where the sheet loading amount detection device is installed in a laser beam printer, the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to other image forming devices such as copying machines, facsimile machines, etc. It is possible.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the 1-81!5M detection device will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

In this embodiment, a photo interrupter 2 is provided on the side surface of the actuator 24 facing the discharge tray 19 in the previous embodiment.
7 is integrally attached, and the photo ink printer 2 is also attached.
A lever 24e having elasticity for operating the lever 7 is integrally formed.

To explain the operation of the sheet volume iw amount detection device configured as described above, when the sheet material IO comes into contact with the upper end 24b of the actuator 24 that protrudes from the hole 23a of the transport guide 23 into the transport path, the tension spring 25 It is rotated clockwise around the rotation shaft 24a against the elastic force of.

At this time, as shown in FIG.
Since the light is blocked by the lower end 24C of the actuator 24, it is possible to detect that the sheet material IO has started passing through the actuator 24.

Further, as shown in FIG.
protrude inward. In this state, it is possible to detect whether the number of sheet materials 10 stacked and accommodated on the discharge tray 19 has reached a predetermined amount.

First, the sheet materials 10 loaded and stored on the discharge tray 19
has not reached a predetermined amount, as shown by the solid line in FIG.
4e will not block the light.

When the number of sheet materials 10 stacked and stored in the ejection tray 9 reaches a predetermined amount, the lever 24e is pushed by the edge of the sheet material IO, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. (or because the counterclockwise rotation of the actuator 24 is stopped by the lever 24e coming into contact with the sheet material 10 and being inhibited), the actuator 24 is bent counterclockwise and the photo ink actuator 27 is shielded from light. do. As a result, the sheet material 1 stacked on the discharge tray 19
It is possible to detect that 0 has reached a predetermined amount.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, when the rear end of the sheet material lOO passes the actuator 24, the actuator 24 is rotated counterclockwise by the elastic force of the tension spring 25.
The upper end 24b projects again into the conveyance path of the sheet material IO. At this time, since the bottom @24C of the actuator 24 does not block the photointerrupter 26 from light, it is possible to detect that the sheet material 10 has finished passing through the actuator 24.

In this embodiment, when the sheet material 10 is stacked on the ejection tray 19, the lever 24e does not protrude into the ejection tray 19, so even when thin paper is used as the sheet material 10, the ejection After that, you can stack the paper with the edges aligned.

[Third Embodiment] Next, a third embodiment of the sheet loading amount detection device will be described with reference to FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b).

In the first and second embodiments, the photo ink printers 26 and 27 are used to detect the amount of sheet material IO loaded on the discharge tray 19 and to detect the passage of the sheet material IO, respectively. However, in this embodiment, sensors 28 and 29 are used instead of these. This sensor 28.29
A light source 30 is disposed between them.

The actuator 24 is connected to the conveyance guide 23 and the tension spring 2.
5 and is biased counterclockwise. Therefore, the upper end 24b of the actuator 24 is configured to protrude into the conveyance path of the sheet material 10 through the hole 23a provided in the conveyance guide 23. The lower end 24d of the actuator 24 protrudes into the discharge tray 9. Therefore, when the sheet material 10 reaches a predetermined amount in this state, the lower end 24c of the actuator 24 blocks light from the sensor 29, making it possible to detect that the discharge tray I9 is full.

The tip of the sheet material 10 is connected to the hole 23a of the conveyance guide 23.
When the actuator 24 comes into contact with the upper end 24b of the actuator 24, which protrudes further into the conveyance path, it is rotated clockwise around the rotation wheel 24a against the elastic force of the tension spring 250. At this time, as shown in FIG. 7, the sensor 28 is connected to the actuator 2.
Since the light is blocked by the lower end 24c of the actuator 24, it is possible to detect that the sheet material 10 has begun to pass through the actuator 24.

When the rear end of the sheet material 10 passes through the actuator 24, the actuator 24 rotates counterclockwise due to the elastic force of the tension spring 25, and the upper end 24b protrudes into the transport path of the sheet material 10 again, and the lower end 24d is a discharge tray which protrudes into the interior of the tray.

The above configuration also provides the same effects as the first embodiment.

In addition, instead of the photo inkliner used in the first and second embodiments, a light source 30 and sensors 2B, 2 are used.
By using 9, production costs can be reduced.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, the present invention includes an actuator for operating the first detection means for detecting passage of sheet material, and a first actuator for detecting the amount of sheet material loaded on the loading member. Since it also serves as an actuator for operating the two detection means, the overall structure can be simplified and production costs can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 3 are cross-sectional explanatory views of a sheet loading amount detection device showing a first embodiment, and FIG. 5 and 6 are cross-sectional explanatory diagrams showing a second embodiment of the sheet loading amount detection device, FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional explanatory diagram showing a third embodiment of the sheet loading amount detection device, and FIG. 8 is a conventional example. FIG. [ is the scanner unit, 2 is the process cartridge, 3
1 is a photosensitive drum, 4 is a primary charger, 5 is a developer, 6 is a cleaner, 7 is a paper feeder, 8 is a paper feed cassette, 9 is a feed roller, 1O is a sheet material, 11 is a separation pad 11.12a,
12b is a guide plate, 13a and 13b are a pair of registration rollers, 14 is a transfer charger, 15 is a conveyance roller, 16 is a fixing device, 17 is a flapper, 18 and 19 are discharge trays, 20
is a discharge roller, 21 is a pinch roller, 22 and 23 are conveyance guides, 23a is a hole, 24 is an actuator, 24a is a rotating shaft, 24b is an upper end, 24c and 24d are lower ends, 24e is a lever, 25 is a tension spring, 26 .27 is a photo ink clubter, 28.29 is a sensor, and 30 is a light source.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A discharge means for discharging the sheet material after recording out of the apparatus, a first detection means for detecting passage of the discharged sheet material, and a stacking means for stacking the discharged sheet material. a loading member for accommodating the sheet materials; a second detection means for detecting the amount of sheet materials loaded on the loading member; and a second detection means for detecting the amount of sheet materials loaded on the loading member; A sheet loading amount detection device comprising: an actuator for operating the first detection means and the second detection means.