Electrophotography – Having particular structure – Modular or displaceable
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-21
2004-02-24
Brase, Sandra (Department: 2852)
Electrophotography
Having particular structure
Modular or displaceable
Reexamination Certificate
active
06697590
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet-like object conveying apparatus which is mainly provided in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer or a facsimile and serves to convey a sheet-like object, more specifically, a plain paper, a transparent film for OHP and the like by means of a plurality of guide members.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer or a facsimile which comprises a sheet-like object conveying apparatus as a component, it is actually impossible to completely eliminate a jam of a paper to be a sheet-like object which is generated in a conveying path. For this reason, there have conventionally been proposed various image forming apparatuses constituted such that a user can process a jam generated in a paper conveying path in the apparatus, more specifically, the user can remove the jammed paper by his/her hand.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-316294 (1998) has disclosed an image forming apparatus in which when a jam is generated in an inversion path (a path for inverting a paper having an image formed on one of surfaces) provided side by side with a paper discharge section or an inversion paper discharging path, an inversion unit is pulled out from an apparatus body to expose a conveying path, thereby carrying out jam processing.
In the image forming apparatus disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-316294 (1998), as shown in
FIG. 1
, an inversion unit
2
U is slidably attached to an apparatus body
1
by means of two guide rails
201
and
202
provided on the front and rear face sides of the apparatus body
1
. Accordingly, the inversion unit
2
U is pulled out from the apparatus body
1
so that the inversion path and the inversion paper discharging path can be exposed.
In the structure of such a conventional image forming apparatus, when a jam is generated in the inversion path or the inversion paper discharging path, jam detecting means first detects the generation of the jam and the actuation of a machine is then stopped to inform a user of the generation of the jam. On the other hand, when the user knows the generation of the jam, an outer cover provided on the front face of the apparatus is opened and the inversion unit
2
U is slid from the apparatus body
1
toward the side and is thus pulled out so that the inversion path or the inversion paper discharging path is exposed. Consequently, the jammed paper can be removed easily.
The inversion unit
2
U of the above-mentioned conventional image forming apparatus is almost plate-shaped. On the other hand, the inversion unit
2
U is pulled outward on the side of the apparatus body
1
by means of the two guide rails
201
and
202
provided in a direction which is almost perpendicular to a direction of a thickness of the inversion unit
2
U on the front and rear face sides of the apparatus body
1
. More specifically, the inversion unit
2
U pulled out from the apparatus body
1
has a lower end portion supported on the two guide rails
201
and
202
.
In a structure in which a pull-out member
2
such as a unit or a door is supported on the guide rails
201
and
202
and is pulled out from the apparatus body
1
in order to process the jam in the conveying path, however, in case a direction in which the pull-out member
2
is to be pulled out, that is, the longitudinal direction of the guide rail is almost orthogonal to the direction of the thickness of the pull-out member
2
to be pulled out from the apparatus body
1
, a load (a moment) applied to a connecting portion of the pull-out member
2
and the guide rails
201
and
202
is not very great even if a downward external force F is applied to the pull-out member
2
for some reason as in the conventional art shown in
FIG. 1
, for example. With such a structure, the connecting portion of the pull-out member
2
and the guide rails
201
and
202
is formed to be comparatively long in a direction of extension of the guide rails
201
and
202
.
On the other hand, as shown in
FIG. 2
, in the case in which a longitudinal door
101
to be a pull-out member is supported on a guide rail
102
and is pulled out from an apparatus body in an almost horizontal direction to expose a conveying path in order to carry out the jam processing of a longitudinal conveying system, the guide rail
102
is set to be almost parallel with the direction of the thickness of the pull-out body
101
, for example. In this case, a connecting portion
103
of the guide rail
102
and the pull-out member
101
can be only formed to be short in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail
102
. For this reason, when an external force is applied to the pull-out member
101
, a very great load (moment) acts on the connecting portion
103
of the guide rail
102
and the pull-out member
101
. Consequently, there is a possibility that the rail might be bent or might be broken in the worst case.
In an image forming apparatus in which a pull-out member such as a door is pulled out from an apparatus body to expose the interior of the apparatus in order to carry out the jam processing of a longitudinal conveying system, an inversion unit having a complicated structure is bulky because a functional component such as a gate for switching a destination of a sheet-like object is incorporated integrally therewith in many cases, which is not shown. Accordingly, if a support state (support structure) in which such an inversion unit is exposed is unstable, various troubles might be generated. For this reason, a countermeasure has been required to be taken.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-148973 (1998) has disclosed the structure of an image forming apparatus having a branching member for switching a conveying path provided in an inversion conveying portion for inverting and conveying a paper having an image formed on one of surfaces and having an openable door for exposing the inversion conveying portion when a jam generated in the inversion conveying portion is to be processed.
In the image forming apparatus disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-148973 (1998), however, a switching gate to be one of movable branching members provided integrally with the openable door is held in a state in which an action attitude for the closing state of the door is exactly maintained with the door opened. More specifically, the tip portion of the switching gate is set in a state of upward protrusion.
In the conventional image forming apparatus above-mentioned, therefore, the switching gate is obstructive and dangerous during the jam processing. Therefore, it has been necessary to hold an extra space for avoiding the switching gate in order to maintain a sufficient space for jam processing. Accordingly, the outer dimension of the apparatus body is increased with the openable door opened. Consequently, the installation area of the image forming apparatus should be set to be large corresponding to the outer dimension so that a space cannot be saved on the user side.
In consideration of the above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet-like object conveying apparatus capable of easily carrying out the jam processing in a longitudinal conveying path.
Moreover, it is another object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus comprising a sheet-like object conveying apparatus constituted to have a conveying path switching branching member for switching a direction of conveyance of a paper which is provided in an openable door, the sheet-like object conveying apparatus having such a structure that the outer dimension of an apparatus body can be reduced when the openable door is opened and a space for jam processing in an inversion conveying portion can be sufficiently maintained to easily carry out a jamming work.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention employs t
Inoue Tatsuya
Masuda Junya
Matsui Masao
Nakazawa Shinji
Takeda Shinichi
Brase Sandra
Renner Otto Boisselle & Sklar
Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
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