SHEET CONVEYANCE APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS

Abstract

An object of the invention is to provide a construction wherein a trouble caused by contact between a conveyed sheet and a charge removing member can be prevented and charge of the sheet can effectively be removed at low cost while the charge removing member does not interfere with the sheet conveyance. A sheet conveyance apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention includes a discharge roller pair, an electro conductive nonwoven fabric, and a flag. The discharge roller pair conveys the sheet, and the nonwoven fabric removes charge in the sheet. The flag has a flag surface which comes into contact with the sheet conveyed by the discharge roller pair, and the f lag can turn about a pivot by contact with the sheet. In the sheet conveyance apparatus, the nonwoven fabric is provided in the flag within a range where the charge in the sheet S can be discharged to the nonwoven fabric while the nonwoven fabric is not in contact with the sheet.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional perspective view in which a part of a top cover of a discharge portion according to a first embodiment is removed.

FIG. 2 is a partially sectional view illustrating a conveyance state of the discharge portion according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view schematically illustrating a charge removing state in the case where a sheet is in contact with a flag at a leading end of the flag in the discharge portion according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a partially sectional perspective view schematically illustrating a state in which the sheet ripples in the discharge portion according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view schematically illustrating a charge removing state in the case where the sheet is not in contact with the flag at the leading end of the flag in the discharge portion according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a partially sectional perspective view in which a part of a top cover of a discharge portion according to a second embodiment is removed.

FIG. 7 is a partially sectional perspective view in which a part of the top cover of the discharge portion according to the second embodiment is removed.

FIG. 8 is a partially sectional view illustrating a conveyance state of the discharge portion according to the second embodiment.

FIGS. 9A to 9C are side views illustrating movement of a flag according to the second embodiment and a positional relationship between a shielding portion and a photointerrupter.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus including a sheet conveyance apparatus.

Claims

1. A sheet conveyance apparatus comprising: a conveyance portion which conveys a sheet;a charge removing member which removes charge in the sheet; anda moving member which is formed by an electro conductive member, and which is able to move by contact with the sheet conveyed by the conveyance portion;wherein the charge removing member is moved with the moving member, the charge removing member being not in contact with the conveyed sheet, and being within a range where the charge in the sheet can be discharged into the charge removing member.

2. A sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the moving member has a flat and smooth surface for contact with the sheet.

3. A sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the charge removing member is provided at a position on a leading-end side of the moving member, which is brought closest to the conveyed sheet, the charge removing member keeping a constant distance from the conveyed sheet in a contactless manner at the position.

4. A sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the charge removing member is a nonwoven fabric made of electro conductive fiber.

5. A sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyance portion has a conveyance roller which discharges the sheet toward a stacking portion, and the moving member contacts the conveyed sheet at a downstream side of the conveyance roller in a sheet discharge direction.

6. A sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the moving member is a detection member which abuts on the sheet stacked on the stacking portion to detect a predetermined stack amount of the sheets.

7. A sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyance portion has a conveyance roller which can be rotated normally and reversely.

8. A sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the moving member constitutes a part of a ground path of the charge removing member.

9. A sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the moving member is formed by an electro conductive plastic member in which an electro conductive material is added to a plastic member, and the moving member constitutes a part of a ground path of the charge removing member.

10. A sheet conveyance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the moving member includes a shielding portion which turns on and off an optical sensor.

11. An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming portion which forms an image on a sheet; anda sheet conveyance apparatus conveys the sheet on which the image is formed by the image forming portion, including:a conveyance portion which conveys a sheet;a charge removing member which removes charge in the sheet; anda moving member which is formed by an electro conductive member, and which is able to move by contact with the sheet conveyed by the conveyance portion;wherein the charge removing member is moved with the moving member, the charge removing member being not in contact with the conveyed sheet, and being within a range where the charge in the sheet can be discharged into the charge removing member.

12. An image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the charge removing member is provided at a position on a leading-end side of the moving member, which is brought closest to the conveyed sheet, the charge removing member keeping a constant distance from the conveyed sheet in a contactless manner at the position.

13. An image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the charge removing member is a nonwoven fabric made of electro conductive fiber.

14. An image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the moving member is a detection member which abuts on the sheet stacked on the stacking portion to detect a predetermined stack amount of the sheets.

15. An image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the moving member constitutes a part of a ground path of the charge removing member.