Patent Application
20170121136
Technical Field
The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus, an image forming apparatus, and a sheet post-processing apparatus, and in particular, relates to a sheet conveying apparatus including a conveying path that conveys a sheet and a detecting portion that detects a sheet conveyed on the conveying path, an image forming apparatus including the sheet conveying apparatus and an image forming portion that forms an image on a sheet, and a sheet post-processing apparatus including the sheet conveying apparatus and a post-processing portion that performs post-processing on a sheet.
Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there have been widely known an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a facsimile, and a complex machine, and a sheet post-processing apparatus to perform a stapling process, a punching process, or the like on sheets on which images are formed by an image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus and the sheet post-processing apparatus described above incorporates a sheet conveying apparatus that includes a conveying path to convey a sheet and a detecting portion that detects a sheet being conveyed on the conveying path with a sensor.
In general, a conveying path is formed as a space between a pair (e.g., two) of guide members and a plurality of conveying roller pairs are arranged thereon. Such a roller pair is structured with a driving roller and a driven roller. Rotational drive force is transmitted to the driving roller from a power source such as a motor through a gear or a belt. The driven roller is arranged to be contacted to the driving roller.
A detecting portion that detects a sheet being conveyed on the conveying path is arranged at the conveying path. In general, the detecting portion includes a sensor. Various types of sensors exist and are roughly classified into contact type sensors and non-contact type sensors. Typical examples of contact type sensors include lever type sensors and typical examples of non-contact sensors include optical sensors each including a light emitting element and a light receiving element and ultrasonic sensors using ultrasonic.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 7-221934 discloses a lever type sensor that detects a sheet being conveyed with a lever moved down by being pushed by a sheet. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-64673 discloses a transmission type optical sensor and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2009-35379 discloses a reflection type optical sensor. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-104682 discloses an ultrasonic sensor that detects a sheet being conveyed using ultrasonic.
With the contact type sensor disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 7-221934, since a sheet being conveyed is detected by the lever moved down by the sheet, there have been problems that time delay occurs until the lever is moved down and detection timing is shifted as the lever is worn across the ages. Further, since the lever is contacted to a sheet, there may be a fear that a sheet is damaged and jamming occurs in a conveying path.
Meanwhile, in the non-contact type sensors disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-64673, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2009-35379, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-104682, it is required that a hole or a cutout for detecting a sheet is formed, at a position on a sensor axis or in the vicinity of the position, at a guide member that structures a conveying path. In this case, when using a transmission type optical sensor or a transmission type ultrasonic sensor, a penetration hole or a cutout is formed at each of two guide members that structure a conveying path. In contrast, when using a reflection type optical sensor or a reflection type ultrasonic sensor, a penetration hole or a cutout is required to be formed only at one of two guide members. However, area of the penetration hole or the cutout becomes large compared to the case of using a transmission type optical sensor or a transmission type ultrasonic sensor. Accordingly, with a conventional non-contact sensor, there have been problems of sheet damage and sheet jamming caused by that a sheet being conveyed is stuck to the penetration hole or the cutout formed at the guide member. Further, since paper powder is likely to be generated by frictioning of a sheet being conveyed with an edge of the penetration hole or the cutout and the paper powder adheres directly to the sensor as passing through the penetration hole or the cutout, there is a fear that sheet detection errors are caused.
The present invention provides a sheet conveying apparatus, an image forming apparatus, and a sheet post-processing apparatus that are capable of solving the above problems.
In view of the above, the present invention according to a first aspect provides a sheet conveying apparatus including a conveying path to convey a sheet as being formed between a pair of guide members to guide a sheet, and a detecting portion to detect a sheet being conveyed on the conveying path as having an electrostatic capacitance sensor. Here, the electrostatic capacitance sensor or at least an electrode member of the electrostatic capacitance sensor is fixed on a face of one guide member of the pair of guide members on an opposite side to the conveying path or on a member that is arranged in the vicinity of the face on the opposite side, and the electrostatic capacitance sensor or at least the electrode member of the electrostatic capacitance sensor and the conveying path are separated by the one guide member.
In the first aspect, it is preferable that, at the one guide member, neither a hole nor a cutout to provide communication between the face on the opposite side to the conveying path and a face on a side of the conveying path is formed at a position where the electrostatic capacitance sensor or the electrode member is fixed or in the vicinity of the position. Here, it is also possible that the electrostatic capacitance sensor or the electrode member is fixed on the face of the one guide member on the opposite side to the conveying path or on the member that is arranged in the vicinity of the face on the opposite side as having the same inclination as the conveying path. Further, it is also possible that ribs protruded from the face on the opposite side to the conveying path are formed on the one guide member along a sheet conveying direction of the conveying path, and the electrostatic capacitance sensor or the electrode member is fixed on a flat face of the one guide member between the ribs on the opposite side to the conveying path or on a flat face of the member that is arranged in the vicinity of the flat face between the ribs on a side facing the opposite side.
Further, it is also possible that the electrode member is formed of a copper foil tape with adhesive provided on one face of copper foil, and the copper foil tape is attached with the adhesive to the face of the one guide member on the opposite side to the conveying path. Here, it is preferable that the one guide member is made of resin.
Further, for detecting a sheet skew amount and a sheet size, it is also possible that the detecting portion includes a plurality of electrostatic capacitance sensors, and electrode members of the electrostatic capacitance sensors are arranged as being distanced in a direction intersecting with a sheet conveying direction of the conveying path.
Furthermore, in view of the above, the present invention according to a second aspect provides an image forming apparatus including an image forming portion to form an image on a sheet and the sheet conveying apparatus of the first aspect. The present invention according to a third aspect provides a sheet post-processing apparatus including a post-processing portion to perform a post-process on a sheet and the sheet conveying apparatus of the first aspect.
According to the present invention, since the electrostatic capacitance sensor or the electrode member is fixed on the face of the one guide member of the pair of guide members on an opposite side to the conveying path or on the member that is arranged in the vicinity of the face on the opposite side, it is possible to obtain an effect that attaching of the sensor can be easily performed and ease of assembling can be enhanced. Further, since a sheet being conveyed is not contacted to the electrostatic capacitance sensor or the electrode member, it is possible to obtain an effect that the sheet is not damaged. Furthermore, since the electrostatic capacitance sensor or at least the electrode member and the conveying path are separated by the one guide member, it is possible to obtain an effect to prevent sheet jamming caused by sheet sticking and sheet detection errors caused by adhering to the sensor of paper powder that may be generated by frictioning of a sheet.
In the following, embodiments obtained by applying the present invention to an image forming system will be described.
A sheet conveying path 26 for conveying sheets, a processing tray 27 on which sheets are stacked into a bundle shape are arranged in the post-processing apparatus B. Image-formed sheets are stacked on a sheet placement face of the processing tray 27 through the sheet conveying path 26. The processing tray 27 is provided with a regulating stopper 32 that performs positioning of sheets at front and rear sides in a sheet discharging direction and a sheet aligning mechanism that performs positioning in a direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction, so that sheets are positioned at a predetermined position in a predetermined posture.
A post-processing unit 28 (stapling unit) that performs a post-process on the stacked sheets is arranged at the processing tray 27 to bind the stacked sheets into a bundle shape. A stack tray 29 is arranged at the downstream side of the processing tray 27 to store post-processed sheets thereon. In the following, description will be provided on the image forming system of the present embodiment in the order of the image forming apparatus A and the post-processing apparatus B.
As illustrated in
The sheet feeding portion 2 includes a plurality of sheet feeding cassettes 2a, 2b, 2c (hereinafter, collectively called the feeding cassette 2a) that store sheets of different sizes, a high-capacity cassette 2d that stores generally-used sheets in large quantity, and a manual sheet feeding tray 2e. The sheet feeding cassette 2a can adopt any of various structures. In
The high-capacity cassette 2d is a sheet feeding unit that stores sheets to be consumed in large quantity as being mounted in the housing 1 or outside the housing as an option. The manual sheet feeding tray 2e feeds, in accordance with image forming timing of the image forming portion 3, sheets that are not required to be stored in a cassette or sheets that cannot be stored in a cassette such as thick sheets and specially coated sheets.
The number of the sheet feeding cassettes 2a, necessity of the high-capacity cassette 2d, and necessity of the manual sheet feeding tray 2e are freely selectable in accordance with apparatus specifications. In
A sheet feeding path 6 is arranged at the downstream side of the sheet feeding portion 2 to feed a sheet fed from the sheet feeding cassette 2a to the image forming portion 3 at the downstream side. The sheet feeding path 6 is provided with a conveying mechanism (conveying roller or the like) to convey a sheet and a resist roller 7 located just before the image forming portion 3. The resist roller 7 includes a pair of rollers pressure-contacted to each other, so that sheet leading end aligning (skew correcting) is performed while a sheet is curved into a loop shape with a leading end thereof abutted to the rollers in a stopped state.
As illustrated in
The image forming portion 3 can adopt an image forming mechanism such as an ink jet printing mechanism, a silk screen printing mechanism, an offset printing mechanism, and an ink ribbon printing mechanism. The image forming portion 3 in
The sheet discharging portion 4 includes a sheet discharging path 15 that guides the sheet having an image formed by the image forming portion 3 to a sheet discharging port 13 formed at the housing 1. A duplex path 14 is arranged at the sheet discharging portion 4, so that the sheet having an image formed on the front face thereof is guided again to the resist roller 7 after being face-reversed. Then, after an image is formed on the back face of the sheet by the image forming portion 3, the sheet is guided to the sheet discharging port 13 from the sheet discharging path 15. The duplex path 14 includes a switchback path to invert the conveying direction of the sheet fed from the image forming portion 3 and a U-turn path to face-reverse the sheet. In
The image reading portion 5 in
A document feeding device 19 is installed on the image forming apparatus A. The document feeding device 19 separates documents set on the sheet feeding tray 20 one by one and guides to the reading platen 16. The document image-read at the reading platen 16 is stored on a sheet discharging tray 21. The image forming apparatus A includes a touch panel (not illustrated) by which a sheet size an operator desires, a sheet feeding cassette for feeding, and image forming in color or black-and-while can be specified (input) while statuses and the like of the image forming apparatus A are displayed.
Further, the image forming apparatus A includes a control portion 40 (hereinafter, called a main-body control portion to be discriminated from a later-mentioned control portion of the post-processing apparatus B) that performs whole control of the image forming apparatus A and communicates with the control portion of the post-processing apparatus B.
As illustrated in
Further, the MCU 41 is connected to a plurality of (sensor control portions of) sensors that are arranged at the sheet feeding path 6, the duplex path 14, the sheet discharging path 15, and the like. Furthermore, the MCU 41 is connected to a communication control portion 46 that enables LAN connection, and a high-capacity memory 47 that functions as a buffer, as well as the abovementioned document feeding device 19 through an interface (not illustrated).
The post-processing apparatus B is arranged continuously connected to the image forming apparatus A to be connected to the sheet discharging port 13. As illustrated in
The introducing port 25 is arranged at a position continuously connected to the sheet discharging port 13 of the image forming apparatus A. The sheet discharging port 30 is arranged as forming a step above the processing tray 27. The processing tray 27 is arranged to bridge-support a sheet with the stack tray 29 that is arranged at the downstream side. That is, the stack tray 29 supports a leading end side of a sheet fed through the sheet discharging port 30 (to be exact, the uppermost stacked sheet) and the processing tray 27 supports a tailing end side thereof.
The stack tray 29 is structured with a lifting-lowering tray as being height-adjustable with a lifting-lowering mechanism (not illustrated) so that the uppermost stacked sheet is to be approximately on the same plane as the sheet supported by the processing tray 27.
The sheet conveying path 26 is formed by a gap between a pair of guide members that guide a sheet, that is, between an upper guide member 38 arranged at the upper side and a lower guide member 39 arranged at the lower side. The sheet conveying path 26 forms an approximately linear path arranged in the casing in the horizontal direction.
The guide members 38, 39 are formed of resin. A plurality of ribs 38a are formed at the upper guide member 38 protruded upward from a face thereof on the opposite side to the sheet conveying path 26 in a direction along the sheet conveying direction of the sheet conveying path 26 (see
A punch unit 28p that punches file holes in a fed sheet is arranged at the sheet conveying path 26 on the downstream side of an introducing roller 22. A plurality of conveying rollers are arranged at the sheet conveying path 26 to convey a sheet from the introducing port 25 toward the sheet discharging port 30. That is, the introducing roller 22 is arranged at the introducing port 25, the conveying roller 23 is arranged at the downstream side of the punch unit 28p in the sheet conveying direction, and a sheet discharging roller 31 is arranged in the vicinity of the sheet discharging port 30. Among these rollers, rollers 22a, 23a, 31a arranged at the lower side are driving rollers to which rotational drive force is transmitted from a motor (not illustrated) through gears and rollers 22b, 23b, 31b arranged at the upper side are driven rollers.
A first sensor (inlet sensor) Se1 that detects a sheet being conveyed to be introduced to the post-processing apparatus B is arranged at the downstream side of the introducing roller 22 and the upstream side of the punch unit 28p. A second sensor (sheet discharge sensor) Se2 that detects a sheet being conveyed to be discharged from the sheet conveying path 26 is arranged in the vicinity of the sheet discharging port 30 (at the upstream side of the sheet discharging roller 31).
A flat-type electrostatic capacitance sensor having separated electrodes (to be exact, an electrostatic proximity sensor) is used as each of the first sensor Se1 and the second sensor Se2. As illustrated in
The first sensor Se1 includes electrode members 55a, 55b (hereinafter, called an electrode member 55 when called collectively) and a sensor control portion 53. In the present embodiment, the electrode member 55 is formed as a copper foil tape obtained by providing adhesive on one face of copper foil and is connected to the sensor control portion 53 through a conductive harness (lead wire).
The sensor control portion 53 includes a noise filter 56 that eliminates noise superimposed on the harness and an electrostatic capacitance detection IC 54 that detects variation of electrostatic capacitance between the electrode members 55a, 55b. The noise filter 56 and the electrostatic capacitance detection IC 54 are mounted on a single flexible substance.
The electrostatic capacitance detection IC 54 includes an oscillation circuit, a detecting portion, and an output portion. The oscillation circuit is a high frequency CR oscillation type and is connected to the electrode members 55a, 55b through the noise filter 56. The oscillation circuit is configured so that the electrostatic capacitance between the electrode members 55 serves as an element of oscillation conditions. Based on variation of the electrostatic capacitance (voltage value) between the electrode members 55 caused by a sheet approaching the electrode members 55, the detecting portion detects the electrostatic capacitance (voltage value) between the electrode members 55. The output portion outputs the detected electrostatic capacitance (voltage value) to an MCU 51 through serial communication in accordance with instructions of the MCU 51 described later. Examples of such serial communication include an I2C communication type.
The present embodiment includes two structural lines prepared by coupling the electrode members 55a, 55b using capacitors and ground and each of the structural lines is connected to the electrostatic capacitance detection IC 54. The electrostatic capacitance detection IC 54 transmits pulsed voltage through one side and detects the electrostatic capacitance (voltage value) occurring with respect to the other side from the side through which the pulsed voltage is not transmitted.
The electrode members 55 and the sensor control portion 53 are attached with adhesive to a flat face of the upper guide member 38 between the ribs 38 on the opposite side to the sheet conveying path 26. A double-face tape is provided at a plurality of positions on the upper guide member 38 side of the flexible substrate on which the sensor control portion 55 is mounted. Then, the flexible substrate with a release paper released is attached to the flat face of the upper guide member 38 between the ribs 38a. Similarly, the electrode members 55a, 55b are attached to the flat face of the upper guide members 38 between the ribs 38a as a copper foil tape with a release paper released. In a case that the sheet conveying path 26 is curved, it is preferable that the electrode members 55a, 55b are arranged along the shape and curvature of the sheet conveying path 26 to keep a constant distance. When the sheet conveying path is curved, the guide member forming the sheet conveying path is curved as well. Since the electrode members are structured with a copper foil tape and adhesive, the electrode members are attached and fixed to follow the curvature of the guide member. Thus, the distance between a sheet being conveyed on the sheet conveying path and the electrode members is kept at constant and detection can be stably performed.
In
As illustrated in
The post-processing unit 28 illustrated in
The reversing roller 33 has a function to transfer a sheet fed through the sheet discharging port 30 to the downstream side (left side in
The reversing roller 33 is located at the above waiting position until a leading end of a sheet enters onto the processing tray 27 through the sheet discharging port 30 and is lowered onto the sheet to feed the sheet toward the stack tray 29 as being rotated in the sheet discharging direction after the leading end of the sheet arrives at a position of the reversing roller 33. After a tailing end of the sheet is dropped onto the processing tray 27 through the sheet discharging port 30, the reversing roller 33 is rotated in a direction (counterclockwise direction in
The friction rotor 34 includes a rotor that performs conveying as raking a tailing end of a sheet dropped onto the processing tray 27 through the sheet discharging port 30 and conveys the tailing end of the sheet toward the regulating stopper 32. The friction rotor 34 is structured with a flexible belt (a timing belt, a ring-shaped belt, etc.), a lifting-lowering roller axially supported by an arm member (bracket) that vertically swings, or the like. This is for vertically moving in accordance with a height position of sheets stacked on the processing tray 27.
The regulating stopper 32 includes a stopper piece having an abutting-regulating face located at a rear end of the processing tray 27. The regulating stopper 32 includes a plurality of stopper pieces as being distanced to each other in relation with moving operation of the post-processing unit (stapling unit) 28.
The sheet fed to the sheet discharging port 13 of the image forming apparatus A as described above is conveyed to the sheet conveying path 26 of the post-processing apparatus B and is stored on the processing tray 27 through the sheet discharging port 30. After a post process is performed at the processing tray 27, the sheets are stored on the stack tray 29 at the downstream side. The processing tray 27 is provided with the regulating stopper 32 that regulates a sheet end and an aligning mechanism that causes a posture of a sheet in the width direction to be aligned with a reference line.
The aligning mechanism includes a right-left pair of aligning members 36a, 36b and an aligning motor that moves the aligning member 36 in the sheet width direction. The aligning member 36 is configured to be movable among a home position defined by an initial setting process at the time of being powered, a waiting position, and an aligning position. The waiting position is defined in accordance with a sheet size at a position between the home position and the aligning position. The reason why the waiting position is determined in addition to the home position is to lessen movement distance of the aligning member 36, that is, to shorten a processing time of the aligning process. Each of the right-left pair of aligning members 36a, 36b includes an aligning face that is engaged with a sheet side edge. The aligning face is formed in parallel to a reference line (center reference or side reference). Details of such an aligning mechanism are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2014-9071.
As illustrated in
The MCU 51 of the post-process control portion 50 communicates with the MCU 41 of the main body control portion 40 so as to receive, from the MCU 41, information necessary for performing control by the post-processing apparatus B such as post-process mode information, seat size information, and job completion information.
Next, description of the image forming system of the present embodiment will be described mainly on the MCU 41 of the main body control portion 40 and the MCU 51 of the post-process control portion 50. Since individual operation of each structural member is described above, brief description will be provided on a case, as an example, that an operator specifies a staple process as a post-process mode via a touch panel.
When a start button on the touch panel is depressed by an operator, the MCU 41 reads information input via the touch panel through a touch panel control portion 44 and causes the image reading portion 5 through the image reading control portion 45 to read a document. Further, through the sheet feeding control portion 43, a pick-up roller 2x of the sheet feeding cassette desired by the operator is rotated to feed a sheet and the conveying roller on the sheet feeding path 6 is driven. Accordingly, the fed sheet is conveyed on the sheet feeding path 6 toward the resist roller 7.
A sensor is provided on the upstream side of the resist roller 7. After the sensor detects a leading end of a conveyed sheet, the resist roller 7 is kept in a rotationally-stopped state for a predetermined time. Accordingly, aligning at a leading end of the sheet is performed.
After elapse of the predetermined time, MCU 41 causes the resist roller 7 and other conveying rollers to be rotationally driven and causes, through the image forming control portion 42, respective portions that structure the image forming portion 3 to be operated so that an image is formed on a sheet and the sheet is discharged from the sheet discharging port 13 through the sheet discharging path 15. In advance of operation of the image forming portion 3, the MCU 41 obtains image information of a document as causing the document feeding device 19 and the document reading device 5 to be operated in accordance with instruction of the operator and controls the image forming control portion 42 so that an image is formed on the sheet by the image forming portion 3 in accordance with the obtained image information.
In advance of post-processing by the post-processing apparatus B, the MCU 51 receives post-process mode information and seat size information from the MCU 41. When the above information is received from the MCU 41, the MCU 51 drives, through the actuator control portion 52, conveying motors that rotate the introducing roller 22, the conveying roller 23, and the sheet discharging roller 31 arranged on the sheet conveying path 26. Further, the MCU 51 determines whether or not a sheet is introduced into the sheet conveying path 26 through the introducing port 25 by monitoring output from the first sensor Se1.
Here, in a case that a punching process is included in the post-process mode information, after the conveying motor is driven for a predetermined number of steps from the timing when the first sensor Se1 detects a sheet, driving of the conveying motor is stopped. Accordingly, the sheet is sandwiched by the introducing roller 22 and the conveying roller 23 and a punching process is performed by the punch unit 28p. After the punching process is performed (after elapse of a predetermined time), the MCU 51 causes the conveying motor to be driven again to convey the sheet on the sheet conveying path 26 toward the downstream side.
Further, when the post-process mode information and the sheet size information are received, the MCU 51 causes the reversing roller 33 to wait at the waiting portion and monitors output from the second sensor Se2. Here, the reversing roller 33 is kept waiting at the waiting position in a state that a sheet is discharged through the sheet discharging port 30. After a leading end of a sheet passes, the reversing roller 33 is pressure-contacted thereto and rotated in the sheet discharging direction. Thereafter, at the timing when a tailing end of the sheet passes through the second sensor Se2, the rotational direction of the reversing roller 33 is reversed. The above control is executed, so that vertical movement of the reversing roller 33 is controlled by a lifting-lowering motor and positive-reverse rotation thereof is controlled by a roller drive motor. Further, based on the received sheet size information, the MCU 51 causes the right-left aligning members 36a, 36b to move from the home position to the waiting position by driving an aligning motor.
Further, based on monitoring output of the first sensor Se1 and the second sensor Se2, the MCU 51 causes a sheet to be introduced onto the processing tray 27 and causes the right-left aligning members 36a, 36b to move from the waiting position to the aligning position after elapse of an estimated time for a tailing end of the sheet to arrive at the regulating stopper 32.
When the MCU 51 receives a job completion signal from the MCU 41, the last sheet on which the job is performed is then introduced to the processing tray 27 through the sheet conveying path 26 and sheets are aligned in the width direction by driving the aligning motor. Then, the MCU 51 drives a drive motor of the post-processing unit (stapling unit) 28 through the actuator control portion 52. Thus, the post-processing unit 28 performs a binding process.
Thereafter, the MCU 51 causes a sheet bundle on the processing tray 27 to be pressure-contacted by the reversing roller 33 through the actuator control portion 52 and causes the reversing roller 33 to be rotated in a direction toward the stack tray 29. With such operation, the sheet bundle on the processing tray 27 is stored on the stack tray 29 at the downstream side.
Next, description will be provided on effects and the like of the image forming system of the present embodiment mainly for the sheet conveying path 26 and the first and second sensors Se1, Se2 of the post-processing apparatus B.
As illustrated in
In contrast, it may be considered that the second sensor Se2 is fixed to the face on the sheet conveying path 26 side of the upper guide member 38 among the two guide members 38, 39, as illustrated in
Further, the second sensor Se2 (or at least the electrode member 55 in the second sensor Se2) and the sheet conveying path 26 are separated by the upper guide member 38. The above structure prevents occurrence of jamming that may occur with sticking of a sheet and occurrence of detection errors that may be occur owing to that paper powder to be generated by sheet frictioning adheres to the second sensor Se2. Compared to the related art, at the upper guide member 38, neither a hole nor a cutout to provide communication (penetration) between the face on the sheet conveying path 26 and the face opposite thereto is formed at a position where the second sensor Se2 (or the electrode member 55) is fixed or in the vicinity thereof. Accordingly, jamming that may occur with sticking of a sheet being conveyed to the hole or cutout is prevented from occurring. Further, since paper powder that may be generated by frictioning of a sheet being conveyed to the hole or cutout does not exist, detection errors that may occur with direct adhering of paper powder to the second sensor Se2 is prevented. The same is applied to the first sensor Se1 as well.
Further, the second sensor Se2 (as well as the first sensor Se1) is fixed on a flat face of the upper guide member 38 on the side opposite to the sheet conveying path 26. Accordingly, attaching operation and connecting operation with the MCU 51 can be performed from the upper side of the upper guide member 38, so that ease of assembling can be further enhanced. Furthermore, since fixing to the upper guide member 38 is performed by utilizing a flat face between the ribs 38a, strength of the upper guide member 38 is not impaired.
Further, the electrode members 55a, 55b are structured with a copper foil tape with adhesive provided on one face of the copper foil and are attached on a face of the upper guide member 38 on the side opposite to the sheet conveying path 26 after releasing a release paper attached to the adhesive of the copper foil tape. Accordingly, fixing operation of the electrode members 55a, 55b is easily performed. Further, the sensor control portion 53 is mounted on the flexible substrate and the flexible substrate is attached to the upper guide member 38 as well with a plurality of double-face tapes. Accordingly, fixing operation of the sensor control portion 53 is easily performed as well.
Further, since the upper guide member 38 is made of resin (nonconductive material), short-circuit to the ground does not occur even though the electrode members 55a, 55b formed of a copper foil tape are attached to the upper guide member 38. Similarly, short-circuit of the sensor control portion 53 to the ground does not occur as well.
In the example of the present embodiment, the second sensor Se2 (as well as the first sensor Se1) is fixed on the face of the upper guide member 38 among the pair (two) of the guide members 38, 39 on the opposite side to the sheet conveying path 26. However, the present invention is not limited to the above. For example, it is also possible to be fixed to the lower guide member 39. Further, such a guide member is not limited to a guide member that is arranged in the horizontal direction as the upper guide member 38 in the present embodiment. For example, it is also possible to be fixed to a guide member that is arranged vertically as the sheet feeding path 6 illustrated in
Further, it is also possible that the second sensor Se2 (as well as the first sensor Se1) is fixed to a member that is arranged in the vicinity of the face of one of the two guide members 38, 39 on the opposite side to the sheet conveying path 26.
Further, in the example of the present embodiment, the second sensor Se2 (as well as the first sensor Se1) is fixed on the flat face of the upper guide member 38. However, the present invention is not limited to the above. For example, it is also possible to per form positioning of the flexible substrate by fitting projections formed between the ribs 38a of the upper guide member 38 to a plurality of holes formed at the flexible substrate. Alternatively, it is also possible to perform positioning of the electrode members 55a, 55b by forming, between the ribs 38a of the upper guide member 38, a groove-shaped flat face or a protruded flat face that is slightly larger than the electrode members 55a, 55b.
Further, in the example of the present embodiment, the electrode members 55a, 55b and the sensor control portion 53 of the second sensor Se2 (as well as the first sensor Se1) are fixed on the face of the upper guide member 38 on the opposite side to the sheet conveying path 26. However, it is also possible that (at least) the electrode members 55a, 55b are fixed on the face of the upper guide member 38 on the opposite side to the sheet conveying path 26 and the flexible substrate on which the sensor control portion 53 is mounted is fixed to another member (e.g., the housing 1). Such a structure is adopted, for example, when area or arrangement of the face of the upper guide member 38 on the opposite side to the sheet conveying path 26 is restricted.
Further, in the example of the present embodiment, a copper foil tape is used for the electrode members 55a, 55b. However, since detecting a sheet to be conveyed on the sheet conveying path 26 is simply required, a size, a shape, and orientation of the electrode members 55a, 55b are arranged freely without restriction as long as being formed of conductive material.
Further, the present embodiment exemplifies a sensor having separated electrodes. However, the present invention is not limited to the above. For example, it is also possible to adopt an electrode-integrated sensor in which the electrode members 55a, 55b and the sensor control portion 53 are integrated. In such a structure, the electrode members 55a, 55b may be formed of solid-like print conductor instead of copper foil as being arranged on corners of the mounted sensor control portion 53. Further, it is also possible to attach, to a guide member, a package in which such a flexible substrate is accommodated.
Further, since electrostatic capacitance sensors are used in the present embodiment, it is also possible to detect sheet ends, overlap feeding (feeding a plurality of sheets concurrently on the sheet conveying path), foreign matters, sheet thickness, sheet quality, the number of sheet bundles, sheet electrification, and the like.
Further, since a plurality of the electrostatic capacitance sensors are used in the present embodiment, it is also possible to detect a sheet skew amount and a sheet size. Examples of the above are illustrated in
In examples illustrated in
Further, the present embodiment exemplifies two structural lines prepared by coupling the electrode members 55a, 55b using capacitors and ground. However, as illustrated in
Further, the present embodiment exemplifies an example that the present invention is applied to the post-processing apparatus B. However, not limited to the above, the present invention is applicable to an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a facsimile and a complex machine, document feeding apparatus, and the like.
As described above, the present invention contributes to manufacturing and selling of sheet conveying apparatuses, image forming apparatuses, and sheet post-processing apparatuses by providing sheet conveying apparatuses, image forming apparatuses, and sheet post-processing apparatuses that solve problems of related art. Accordingly, the present invention has industrial applicability.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-216476 which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-216476 | Nov 2015 | JP | national |
