Accommodating device and image forming apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10065821-B2
Application number	US-201715399787-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 6, 2017
Priority date	Jan 28, 2016
Publication date	Sep 4, 2018
Grant date	Sep 4, 2018

Abstract

Provided are an accommodating device that performs appropriate processing in order to discard an empty paper pack remaining in the accommodating device and an image forming apparatus including the accommodating device. The accommodating device includes an accommodating unit, a processing unit, and a discarding unit. The accommodating unit accommodates a paper pack including a bundle of stacked sheets of printer paper wrapped with wrapping paper in such a manner that the printer paper is freely taken out. The processing unit flatly crushes and conveys an empty paper pack from which all of the sheets of the printer paper have been taken out and in which only the wrapping paper has remained. The discarding unit stores a flatly crashed empty paper pack conveyed from the processing unit in order to discard them.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An accommodating device comprising:
an accommodating unit that accommodates a paper pack including a bundle of stacked sheets of printer paper wrapped with wrapping paper in such a manner that the printer paper is freely taken out;
a sheet feeder configured to individually remove sheets of printer paper from the bundle while the bundle remains in contact with the wrapping paper in the accommodating unit;
a processing unit that flatly crushes and conveys an empty paper pack which all of the sheets of the printer paper have been taken out from the paper pack and only the wrapping paper has remained; and
a discarding unit configured to discard a flatly crushed empty paper pack which is obtained by crushing the empty paper pack and is conveyed from the processing unit.

2. The accommodating device according to claim 1 , wherein the processing unit starts to crush the empty paper pack from a wall surface except for a wall surface on a paper feeding side among wall surfaces of the paper pack along a direction of stacking of the sheets of the printer paper.

3. The accommodating device according to claim 2 , wherein the processing unit starts to crush the empty paper pack from a wall surface opposing the wall surface on the paper feeding side among the wall surfaces of the paper pack along the direction of stacking of the sheets of the printer paper.

4. The accommodating device according to claim 2 , wherein the processing unit starts to crush the empty paper pack from a wall surface adjacent to the wall surface on the paper feeding side among the wall surfaces of the paper pack along the direction of stacking of the sheets of the printer paper.

5. The accommodating device according to claim 1 , wherein the processing unit moves to a position of the empty paper pack when crushing the empty paper pack.

6. The accommodating device according to claim 1 , further comprising a conveying unit that conveys the empty paper pack to a position of the processing unit when the processing unit crushes the empty paper pack.

7. The accommodating device according to claim 6 , wherein the conveying unit holds the empty paper pack having any size in a position overlapping with a minimum-size empty paper pack in which minimum-size sheets of the printer paper had been wrapped, when seen in a plan view by assuming that the minimum-size empty paper pack is mounted in the accommodating unit so as to be able to hold even the minimum-size empty paper pack, and moves to a direction of the processing unit, thereby conveying the empty paper pack to the position of the processing unit.

8. The accommodating device according to claim 1 , wherein the processing unit comprises a pair of rollers that flatly crushes and conveys the empty paper pack by rotating while sandwiching the empty paper pack.

9. The accommodating device according to claim 8 , wherein the processing unit further comprises a crushing unit that further crushes the flatly crushed empty paper pack from a direction intersecting with a thickness direction of the flatly crushed empty paper pack.

10. The accommodating device according to claim 8 , wherein the processing unit further comprises:
a curling-inclination forming unit that forms a curling inclination on the empty paper pack while flatly crushing the empty paper pack; and
a rolling unit that cylindrically rolls the empty paper pack having the curling inclination formed thereon by the curling-inclination forming unit, according to the curling inclination.

11. The accommodating device according to claim 1 , further comprising a sensor that detects a presence or absence of the printer paper in the paper pack, wherein the processing unit starts operation when the sensor detects the absence of the printer paper in the paper pack.

12. The accommodating device according to claim 1 , wherein the processing unit starts operation when a user issues an instruction to start processing for crushing the empty paper pack.

13. An image forming apparatus comprising the accommodating device according to claim 1 .

14. The image forming apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the image forming apparatus is configured to separate and convey individual sheets from the bundle of stacked sheets of printer paper while the bundle of stacked sheets of printer paper remains in the accommodating unit.

15. The image forming apparatus according to claim 13 , comprising a paper feeding roller configured to separate and convey individual sheets from the bundle of stacked sheets of printer paper while the bundle of stacked sheets of printer paper remains in the accommodating unit.

16. The accommodating device according to claim 1 , wherein the empty paper pack is crushed and conveyed at a same location as where the individual sheets are separated from the bundle of stacked sheets of printer paper.

17. The accommodating device according to claim 1 , wherein the processing unit flatly crushes the entire empty paper pack.

18. The accommodating device according to claim 1 , wherein the processing unit flatly crushes the empty paper pack so that the previously non-flat empty paper pack becomes flat.

Assignees

• Konica Minolta Inc

Inventors

• Takada Hiroaki
• Watanabe Naoki
• Kawate Daisuke

Classifications

• B65H2301/4221

  Removing package around stack · CPC title

• G03G15/6511

  Feeding devices for picking up or separation of copy sheets · CPC title

• B65H2801/06

  Office-type machines, e.g. photocopiers · CPC title

• B65H2701/1944

  Wrapping or packing material · CPC title

• B65H31/00

  Pile receivers (carriers used for associating, collating or gathering articles B65H39/00) · CPC title