Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus configured to convey a sheet and a sheet processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus including the same.
Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, there has been known a sheet processing apparatus configured to align a plurality of sheets on which images have been formed and to perform a post-processing operation such as a binding process on the plurality of sheets. For instance, a sheet processing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-219399 is configured to stack and align sheets on which images have been formed on a processing tray, to perform a post-processing operation on the sheets to form a sheet bundle, and to push a rear edge of the sheet bundle by a bundle discharge member to discharge to a stacking tray.
Here, the bundle discharge member is attached to a discharge belt and is configured to move along with a travel of the discharge belt. Therefore, the bundle discharge member needs to be movably provided in a body with the discharge belt. Then, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-341157 has proposed a technology of providing the discharge belt with a support projection, of setting the discharge belt on a molding die, and of injection-molding the bundle discharge member on the support projection.
However, the bundle discharge member is often formed into an asymmetrical shape in a sheet conveying direction centering on the support projection such the bundle discharge member can readily push out the sheet bundle. Due to that, it is necessary to form a shape of the molding die into the asymmetrical shape centering on the support projection. Then, if the molding die is formed into the asymmetrical shape, there is a possibility that a flow rate balance of resin becomes inhomogeneous before and after the support projection when the resin is injected into the molding die. Because the support projection is held in a free condition within the molding die, the support projection is deformed so as to incline in an either direction before and after the support projection if the flow rate balance of the resin collapses before and after the support projection. Thereby, if the discharge belt is taken out of the molding die after completing the injection molding, the bundle discharge member is inclined either into a front or rear part of the bundle discharge member and a posture of the bundle discharge member is destabilized. As a result, a posture of a sheet bundle discharged by the bundle discharge member is destabilized, possibly causing conveying failure.
According to an aspect of the invention, a sheet conveying apparatus has a belt with a widthwise side portion extending in a traveling direction of the belt, the widthwise side portion including a portion defining a notch being recessed in a width direction orthogonal to the traveling direction, the notch being defined by less than an entire length, in the traveling direction, of the widthwise side portion, a contacting member arranged to be in contact with an end portion of a sheet to be conveyed, the contacting member being attached to the belt so that at least a part of the contacting member is arranged in the notch of the belt, a regulating portion configured to regulate a position of the belt in the width direction by contacting with the widthwise side portion of the belt, and a driving portion configured to drive the belt.
Additional features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
An image forming apparatus including a sheet processing apparatus having a sheet conveying apparatus of an embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings. The image forming apparatus of the embodiment of the invention includes a finisher, i.e., a sheet processing apparatus, capable of performing a process of binding a plurality of sheets (sheet bundle), such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile, and a multi-function printer. The following embodiments will be explained by exemplifying an electro-photographic laser beam printer (referred to simply as a ‘printer’ hereinafter) 900.
The printer 900 of the first embodiment will be explained with reference to
As shown in
The printer body 900A includes photosensitive drums 910a through 910d forming toner images of respective colors of yellow, magenta, cyan and black, and an intermediate transfer belt 902 carrying toner images formed on the photosensitive drums 910a through 910d. The photosensitive drums 910a through 910d are configured to be driven rotatably by a motor not shown, and a primary charger, a developer and a transfer charger not shown are disposed respectively around each of the photosensitive drums 910a through 910d. The respective photosensitive drums 910a through 910d and the primary charger, the developer and the transfer charger are unitized as process cartridges 901a through 901d, respectively. The process cartridges 901a through 901d are configured to be removable from the printer body 900A. An exposure unit 906 composed of a polygon mirror and others is also disposed below the photosensitive drums 910a through 910d.
For instance, when the image reading apparatus 950 reads the image of the document, a laser beam of yellow component color is projected at first to the photosensitive drum 910a through the polygon mirror and others of the exposure unit 906 and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 910a. Then, yellow toner is supplied from the developer to the photosensitive drum 910a, so that the electrostatic latent image is visualized as a yellow toner image. When the toner image arrives at a primary transfer portion where the photosensitive drum 910a comes into contact with the intermediate transfer belt 902 as the photosensitive drum 910a rotates, the yellow toner image on the photosensitive drum 910a is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 902 by a primary transfer bias applied to a transfer charge member 902a.
When a region carrying the yellow toner image of the intermediate transfer belt 902 moves in a direction of an arrow in
Meanwhile, the sheet P on which the image is to be formed is stored in a cassette 904 provided at a lower part of the printer body 900A and is sent out one by one from the cassette 904 by a pickup roller 908. After when a registration roller 909 adjusts timing of the sheet P sent out of the cassette 904, the sheet P reaches a secondary transfer portion 903 and the four color toner images on the intermediate transfer belt 902 are collectively transferred onto the sheet P by a secondary transfer bias applied to a secondary transfer roller 903a.
The sheet P on which the four color toner images have been transferred is then conveyed to a fixing roller pair 905 by being guided by a conveyance guide 920. The toners of the respective colors are melted and blended by receiving heat and pressure from the fixing roller pair 905 and are fixed as a full color print image. The sheet P on which the image has been fixed in an image forming portion 907 is conveyed to a finisher 100 by a discharge roller pair 918 through a conveyance guide 921.
The finisher 100 sequentially takes in the sheet P discharged out of the printer body 900A, aligns and bundles a plurality of such sheets P thus taken in as one bundle, and performs a binding process (post processing) of binding an upstream end portion (referred to as a ‘read end portion’ hereinafter) in a conveying direction of the bundled sheet bundle. It is noted that the finisher 100 will be explained in detail later.
The sheet bundle on which the post processing has been performed by the finisher 100 is discharged out of the finisher 100 and is stacked on a stacking tray 114. In a case where it is not necessary to perform the post processing by the finisher 100, the sheet P conveyed to the finisher 100 passes through the finisher 100 without undergoing the post processing and is discharged out of the finisher 100 to be stacked on the stacking tray 114.
Next, a configuration of the controller 260 controlling the printer 900 will be explained with reference to
As shown in
Based on the control program stored in the ROM 202, the CPU circuit portion 200 collectively controls a document feeder (DF) control portion 204, an image reader control portion 205, an image signal control portion 206, a printer control portion 207 and a finisher control portion 220. Based on an instruction from the CPU circuit portion 200, the DF control portion 204 drives and controls the document feeder 950A. The image reader control portion 205 drives and controls a scanner unit, an image unit and others of the image reading apparatus 950 and transfers an analog image signal outputted from the image sensor to the image signal control portion 206 based on an instruction from the CPU circuit portion 200.
The image signal control portion 206 converts the analog image signal outputted from the image sensor into a digital signal and converts a digital signal to a video signal to output to the printer control portion 207. In a case where the digital image signal is inputted from a computer 208 connected externally to the printer body 900A through an external I/F 209, the image signal control portion 206 converts the inputted digital image signal to a video signal to output to the printer control portion 207. It is noted that this processing operation performed by the image signal control portion 206 is controlled by the CPU circuit portion 200. The printer control portion 207 drives and controls the printer body 900A (the exposure unit 906 and others described above) based on the video signal thus inputted.
An operation portion 210 includes a plurality of keys for setting various functions related to an image forming operation and a display portion indicating set conditions, and outputs a key signal corresponding to an operation of each key to the CPU circuit portion 200 and displays information corresponding to a signal from the CPU circuit portion 200 on the display portion. The finisher control portion 220 drives and controls the entire finisher 100 by exchanging information with the CPU circuit portion 200 mounted in the finisher 100 through a communication IC 224.
As shown in
For instance, the finisher control portion 220 drives and controls various motors of the finisher 100 through the driver 225 based on signals inputted from various sensors of the finisher 100. The various sensors are an inlet sensor S240, a tray HP sensor S241, a tray lower limit sensor S242, a paddle HP sensor S243, an assist HP sensor S244, a bundle pressor HP sensor S245, a discharge sensor S246, and others. The various motors are a conveying motor M250, a tray lifting motor M251, a paddle lifting motor M252, an alignment motor M253, an assist motor M254, a bundle pressor motor M255, a STP motor M256 and others.
Next, the finisher 100 described above will be explained with reference to
As shown in
At this time, the discharge sensor S246 provided upstream in the conveying direction of the discharge roller 103 detects that the sheet P has been discharged to the processing tray 107, and based on this detection signal, the finisher control portion 220 controls a stapler 110 and others described later. It is noted that a time required to drop to the processing tray 107 of the sheet P discharged to the processing tray 107 by the discharge roller 103 is shortened by pushing the sheet P from an upper side thereof by the rear end dropping member 105.
As shown in
After conveying the sheet P conveyed by the paddle 106 to the rear end stopper 108 restricting the rear end portion of the sheet P, the knurling belt 117 biases the sheet P always toward the rear end stopper 108 side by conveying the sheet P while slipping with the sheet P. Due to this slip conveyance, the rear end portion of the sheet P abuts against the rear end stopper 108 and skew of the sheet P is corrected. The sheet P abutting against the rear end stopper 108 is aligned in a direction orthogonal to a sheet conveying direction and a sheet thickness direction (referred to as a ‘width direction’ hereinafter) by a pair of aligning plates 109 moved by the alignment motor M253. A sheet bundle PA aligned on the processing tray 107 is formed by repeating this series of operations (see also
After forming the sheet bundle PA composed of a predetermined number of sheets P, the STP motor M256 driving the stapler (post-processing portion) 110 is driven and the sheet bundle PA is bound in a case of executing a binding process on the sheet bundle PA by a staple. Meanwhile, in a case where no binding process is executed on the sheet bundle P, an aligned sheet bundle PA is discharged to the stacking tray 114 by a sheet conveying apparatus 501. As shown in
As shown in
It is possible to discharge a required number of sheet bundles PA on the stacking tray 114 by executing the series of operations described above. In a case where the stacking tray 114 is lowered during the operation and shades a tray lower limit sensor S242 (i.e., in a case where the stacking tray 114 is fully loaded), a full-load signal is informed from the finisher control portion 220 to the CPU circuit portion 200 and the image forming operation is stopped. If the sheet bundle PA on the stacking tray 114 is removed after that, the stacking tray 114 elevates until when the tray HP sensor S241 is shaded. Then, the stacking tray 114 is lowered and the tray HP sensor S241 is unshaded. Thereby, the position of the stacking tray 114 is determined again and the image forming operation is started again.
Next, the sheet conveying apparatus 501 described above will be explained with reference to
As shown in
The discharge belt 502 is formed of a toothed belt on which a plurality of belt teeth (teeth) is formed on an inner circumferential surface (a back surface) side thereof and is wrapped around toothed pulleys (driven pulleys) 503 and 504 and a cam pulley (driving pulley) 505. Its tension is kept by a tensioner 506. The rear end assist 112 is connected to an assist belt 507 through an intermediary of an assist slider 515, and the assist belt 507 is wrapped around pulleys 508 and 509.
A driving force of the assist motor M254 is transmitted to a driving belt 511 through an assist motor pulley 510 and is then transmitted to a stepped pulley 513 of an assist camshaft 512 located at a center of rotation of the cam pulley 505 through the driving belt 511. The driving force transmitted to the stepped pulley 513 is transmitted, through the driving belt 514, to the pulley 509 around which the assist belt 507 is wrapped. This arrangement makes it possible to drive the discharge belt 502 and the assist belt 507 by the assist motor M254, i.e., a driving portion rotationally driving the discharge belt 502.
The assist slider 515 connected to the rear end assist 112 is supported slidably on a slider shaft 516. The assist slider 515 also includes the sensor flag 515a turning OFF the assist HP sensor S244. That is, it is configured to allow a position of the rear end assist 112 to be detected by the sensor flag 515a crossing a sensor part of the assist HP sensor S244 and turning OFF the sensor S244.
Next, an internal structure of the cam pulley 505 configured to travel the discharge belt 502 will be explained with reference to
When the assist motor M254 is driven from a state in which the assist motor M254 is stopped as shown in
A pulley ratio is set such that a moving speed of the discharge claw 113 is faster than a moving speed of the rear end assist 112, and the discharge claw 113 is configured to pass the rear end assist 112 in the direction of the arrow X during the move as shown in
Next, the connection structure of the discharge claw 113 and the discharge belt 502 will be explained with reference to
As shown in
The discharge claw fixing member 517 for fixing the claw body 116 to the discharge belt 502 is disposed on a side opposite from the claw body 116 of the discharge belt 502. The discharge claw fixing member 517 enters the notch 502b of the discharge belt 502 and has a belt pinching portion (pinch unit) 517a for pinching the two belt teeth 502t on a side edge portion of the notch 502b. The belt pinching portion 517a of the discharge claw fixing member 517 has an engage portion 517b of a length of two teeth for pinching the two belt teeth 502t at the side edge portion of the notch 502b widthwise similarly to the belt pinching portion 113a of the claw body 116. It is noted that the pinching portion 520 is composed of the belt pinching portions 113a and 517a.
By constructing as described above, when the discharge claw fixing member 517 is fixed to the claw body 116 by means of a screw or the like, the belt pinching portions 113a and 517a enter the notches 502a and 502b and are fixed while pinching the side edge portions of the notches 502a and 502b. Thus, the discharge claw 113 is fixed to the discharge belt 502. At this time, belt widthwise areas of the discharge belt 502 pinched by the belt pinching portions 113a and 517a are areas x3 and x4 shown in
Here, the discharge claw 113 is configured to pass along outer circumferential surfaces of the respective pulleys (pulley curvature) of the toothed pulleys 503 and 504 and the cam pulley 505 as described above (see
Pulley flanges (flange) 503b and 503c are disposed on both sides in axial directions of the toothed pulleys 503 and 504 (in the width direction of the belt unit 500) so as to sandwich the discharge belt 502 and the discharge claw 113 to restrict the discharge belt 502 and the discharge claw 113 from moving in the axial directions. At this time, a distance between the pulley flanges 503b and 503c is set to be greater than the width of the discharge belt 502. Still further, distances between the pulley tooth portion 503a and the pulley flanges 503b and 503c are set such that the belt pinching portions 113a and 517a does not come into contact with the pulley tooth portion 503a even if the discharge belt 502 leans toward either one of the pulley flanges 503b and 503c.
In the present embodiment, the sheet P is passed by the butting surface 113e of the discharge claw 113 abutting against the rear end of the sheet P when the discharge claw 113 passes the rear end assist 112 and the discharge claw 113 conveys the sheet P as described above. Therefore, the discharge claw 113 is required to be durable against an impact load in passing the sheet P to the discharge claw 113 and against abrasion caused on the butting surface 113e by an end portion of a sheet. In the present embodiment, a resin material most suitable for the abovementioned use condition is exemplified by polyacetal resin (POM) or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resin (ABS), i.e., engineering plastics. The POM resin is characterized in that it excels in mechanical strength, abrasion resistance and slidability, and the ABS resin is characterized in that it excels in heat resistance, mechanical strength and shock resistance and has good moldability, so that the both materials can be said to be suitable materials.
Still further, the belt pinching portions 113a and 517a are configured to pinch the two belt teeth 502t to increase the fastening force when the discharge claw 113 is fixed to the discharge belt 502 as described above. The discharge claw 113 is also configured to pass along the outer circumferential surfaces (pulley curvature) of the respective pulleys of the toothed pulleys 503 and 504 and the cam pulley 505. Then, as shown in
It is noted that although the length of the engage portions 113b and 517b is that of the two belt teeth in the present embodiment, the length is not limited to that of the two teeth in a case where a pulley having a large diameter is used and the engage portion may be configured to be able to pinch three or more teeth. Still further, the curvature of the engage portions 113b and 517b is not limited to the radius of the smallest pitch circle and may be a radius of a large pitch circle as long as that will not cause rise-up of the discharge claw 113 and slip-out of the belt when the discharge claw 113 passes on the pulley. That is, the radius r of the pitch circle of the engage portions 113b and 517b is desirable to set within a range of the following equation with respect to a radius r1 of a pitch circle of the smallest pulley (smallest pitch circle) and to a radius r2 of a pitch circle of the largest pulley (largest pitch circle) among the pulleys on which the discharge claw 113 passes. That is, it is desirable to set the radius r of the pitch circle within a range of: r1≤r≤r2 (larger than a radius of the smallest pitch circle and smaller than a radius the largest pitch circle).
In the present embodiment, an elastically deformable rubber material is used as a material of the discharge belt 502 because smaller pulleys are used to downsize the finisher 100. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the discharge belt 502 from rising up from the pulley by the elasticity of the discharge belt 502 itself even if the curvature is that of the small pulley. It is noted that a more rigid urethane material may be used as the material of the discharge belt 502 if no smaller pulley is used. It is advantageous to use the belt made of the urethane material in such points that it is possible to suppress deflection and torsion of the belt itself caused by a load of a sheet being conveyed and to convey a sheet more stably.
Next, a binding job performed on the sheet bundle PA by the stapler 110 (control made by the finisher control portion 220) will be explained with reference to
As shown in
When the discharge and aligning operations of a required number of sheets P have been carried out in Step S805 (see
Specifically, when the sheet conveying apparatus 501 is driven, the rear end assist 112 moves in the sheet conveying direction and pushes the rear end portion of the sheet P (see
At this time, the bundle pressor 115 is moved to the setback position before the rear end portion of the sheet bundle PA lands on the stacking tray 114, and when the sheet bundle PA lands, the bundle pressor 115 is moved again to the bundle pressing position to be ready for a next sheet bundle in Steps S809 and S810 (see
As described above, the printer 900 can stabilize the posture of the discharge claw 113 with respect to the discharge belt 502 after fastening by fixing the discharge claw 113 to the discharge belt 502 by pinching the side edge portions of the notches 502a and 502b by the belt pinching portions 113a and 517a. This arrangement makes it possible to stabilize the posture of the discharge claw 113 in conveying a sheet and to prevent conveyance failure and the like.
Still further, according to the sheet conveying apparatus 501 of the present embodiment, the belt pinching portions 113a and 517a are located inside of the width of the discharge belt 502, so that it is possible to restrict the position of the discharge belt 502 in a thrust direction, i.e., in a pulley axis direction, by the flanges of the pulleys in the same manner with the conventional method. Thus, it is possible to avoid the apparatus from being complicated.
Still further, because the discharge claw 113 is prepared separately beforehand and is fastened to the belt without inject-molding the discharge claw by a resin material by setting the conventional discharge belt having support projections into a molding die, so that a range of options in terms of the shape and the material of the discharge claw 113 is widened. For instance, it is possible to form the discharge claw 113 into a complex shape in injection-molding the discharge claw 113 by a resin material and to select a metallic material in a case where strength of the discharge claw 113 is preferable to be strong.
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to
In the second embodiment, a pinching position where the discharge claw 113A pinches the discharge belt 502A is different from that of the first embodiment. While the discharge claw 113 is fixed to the discharge belt 502 by pinching the both widthwise sides of the discharge belt 502 by the pinching portion 520 in the first embodiment, the discharge claw 113A is fixed to the discharge belt 502A by pinching one side of the discharge belt 502A by a pinching portion 520A in the second embodiment. Therefore, an explanation will be made here centering on the discharge claw 113A and the discharge belt 502A and the other components will be denoted by the same reference numerals with those of the first embodiment and an explanation thereof will be omitted here.
As shown in
Here, the discharge claw 113A is configured to pass along the outer circumferential surfaces (pulley curvature) of the respective pulleys of the toothed pulleys 503 and 504 and the cam pulley 505. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent slip-out of the belt otherwise caused when the belt pinching portion 113Aa comes into contact with the pulley tooth portion 503d and rides up during when the discharge claw 113A passes through the toothed pulleys 503 and 504 and the cam pulley 505 as shown in
Pulley flanges 503b and 503c are disposed so as to sandwich the discharge belt 502A and the discharge claw 113A on both sides in the axial direction of the toothed pulleys 503 and 504 (in the width direction of the belt unit 500A) to restrict the axial move of the discharge belt 502A and the discharge claw 113A. At this time, a distance between the pulley flanges 503b and 503c is set to be larger than the width of the discharge belt 502A. A distance between the pulley tooth portion 503d and the pulley flange 503c is set such that the inner end portion of the belt pinching portion 113Aa does not come into contact with the pulley tooth portion 503d even if the discharge belt 502A leans toward the pulley flange 503c.
Similarly to the first embodiment, this arrangement makes it possible to stabilize the posture when the discharge claw 113A is fastened to the discharge belt 502A and allows the discharge claw 113A to smoothly pass on the toothed pulleys 503 and 504 and the cam pulley 505.
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to
The third embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a number of belt teeth 502Bt of the discharge belt 502B pinched by a pinching portion 520B of the discharge claw 113B is different. Therefore, an explanation will be made here centering on the discharge claw 113B and the discharge belt 502B and the other components will be denoted by the same reference numerals with those of the first embodiment and an explanation thereof will be omitted here.
As shown in
The discharge claw fixing member 517B for fixing the claw body 116B to the discharge belt 502B is disposed on a side opposite from the claw body 116B of the discharge belt 502B. The discharge claw fixing member 517B has the belt pinching portion 517Ba configured to enter the notch 502Bb of the discharge belt 502B and to pinch one belt tooth 502Bt of the side edge portion of the notch 502Bb. The belt pinching portion 517Ba of the discharge claw fixing member 517B includes the engage portion 517Bb of the length of one tooth for pinching one tooth of the belt teeth 502Bb at the side edge portion of the notch 502Bb widthwise similarly to the belt pinching portion 113Ba of the claw body 116B. It is noted that the pinching portion 520B is composed of the belt pinching portions 113Ba and 517Ba.
Thus, in a case where the materials of the claw body 116B and the discharge claw fixing member 517B are strong like metal, the claw body 116B may be configured to pinch one tooth of the belt teeth 502Bt. When the discharge claw fixing member 517B is fixed to the claw body 116B by a screw or the like, the belt pinching portions 113Ba and 517Ba enter the notches 502Ba and 502Bb of the discharge belt 502B and are fixed firmly while pinching the side edge portions of the notches 502Ba and 502Bb. Accordingly, it is possible to stabilize the posture of the discharge claw 113B when the discharge claw 113B is fixed to the discharge belt 502B and to obtain the similar effects with those of the first embodiment.
Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to
The fourth embodiment is different from the third embodiment in that a pinching position where the discharge claw 113C pinches the discharge belt 502C is different. While the discharge claw 113B is fixed to the discharge belt 502B by pinching the both widthwise sides of the discharge belt 502B by the pinching portion 520B in the third embodiment, the discharge claw 113C is fixed to the discharge belt 502C by pinching one side of the discharge belt 502C by a pinching portion 520C in the fourth embodiment. Therefore, an explanation will be made here centering on the discharge claw 113C and the discharge belt 502C and the other components will be denoted by the same reference numerals with those of the first and third embodiments and an explanation thereof will be omitted here.
As shown in
In the case where the materials of the claw body 116C and the discharge claw fixing member 517C are strong such as metal, the claw body 116C may be configured to pinch one belt tooth 502Ct as described above. It is possible to fix the discharge claw 113C to the discharge belt 502C by setting such that the engage portion 113Cb is slightly press-fitted into the belt teeth 502Ct and by inserting the belt pinching portion 113Ca into the notch 502Ca and by pinching the one belt tooth 502Ct at the side edge portion of the notch 502Ca. Accordingly, it is possible to stabilize the posture of the discharge claw 113C when the discharge claw 113C is fastened to the discharge belt 502C and to obtain the similar effects with those of the third embodiment.
While the embodiments of the invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the respective embodiments described above. Still further, the advantageous effects described in the embodiments of the invention are merely an enumeration of the most preferable effects brought about from the present invention, so that the advantageous effects of the invention are not limited to those described in the embodiments of the invention.
For instance, while the respective embodiments described above have been explained by exemplifying the finisher 100 having the sheet conveying apparatus 501, the present invention is not limited to that. The sheet conveying apparatus 501 may be used in the printer 900. While the post-processing portion of the finisher 100 has been also explained by using the stapler 110, the post-processing portion is not limited to that. For instance, the post-processing portion may be a staple-less binding unit, a book-binding unit or the like.
Still further, while the respective embodiments described above have been described by using the sheet conveying apparatus 501 having the rear end assist 112 for pushing the sheet bundle PA, the present invention is not limited to that. The sheet conveying apparatus 501 does not always require the rear end assist 112.
While the respective embodiments described above have been described by using the toothed discharge belt 502, the present invention is not also limited to that. It is also possible to use a discharge belt having no belt teeth if the discharge claw can be fixed to the discharge belt by the belt pinching portion.
Still further, while the CPU 221 of the finisher control portion 220 mounted in the finisher 100 controls the finisher 100 in the respective embodiments described above, it is also possible to configure such that the finisher 100 is controlled directly by the CPU circuit portion 200 provided in the printer 900. Still further, the CPU may be a CPU in an information device such as a separate personal computer and the CPU for controlling the finisher 100 is not always provided in the finisher 100 itself. In the case where the CPU is provided in the separate information device or the like, the various controls are made by transmitting/receiving signals through communication circuits or the like (regardless whether it is wired or wireless). Such mode is applicable not only to the CPU described above but also to the RAM, ROM and others.
Still further, while the respective embodiments described above have been explained by exemplifying the electro-photographic printer, the present invention is not limited to that. For instance, the present invention is applicable also to an ink-jet type printer (image forming apparatus) configured to form an image on a sheet by discharging ink droplets from a nozzle.
While the present invention has been described with reference to the exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2013-228591 | Nov 2013 | JP | national |
This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/520,594, which was filed on Oct. 22, 2014, and allowed on Jan. 18, 2017, which itself claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-228591, filed on Nov. 1, 2013, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
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Number | Date | Country |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20170217713 A1 | Aug 2017 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 14520594 | Oct 2014 | US |
Child | 15484535 | US |