Recording-material-transporting device and image forming apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11565899-B2
Application number	US-202016846418-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 13, 2020
Priority date	Dec 5, 2019
Publication date	Jan 31, 2023
Grant date	Jan 31, 2023

Abstract

A recording-material-transporting device includes a suction unit that suctions a recording material included in a recording-material stack from above, the suction unit including a movable member that moves upward when pushed from below by the recording material moving upward with the suction, the suction unit being movable in an intersecting direction intersecting a vertical direction and moving the suctioned recording material in the intersecting direction, at least a part of the movable member serving as an outside advancing part that advances to an outside of a perimeter of the recording-material stack with the movement of the suction unit in the intersecting direction; and a restricting part that restricts a downward movement of the outside advancing part when the outside advancing part is free of support by the recording material from below.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A recording-material-transporting device comprising:
a suction unit that suctions a recording material included in a recording-material stack from above, the suction unit including a movable member that moves upward when pushed from below by the recording material moving upward with the suction, the suction unit being movable in an intersecting direction intersecting a vertical direction and moving the suctioned recording material in the intersecting direction, at least a part of the movable member serving as an outside advancing part that advances to an outside of a perimeter of the recording-material stack with the movement of the suction unit in the intersecting direction; and
a restricting part that restricts a downward movement of the outside advancing part when the outside advancing part is free of support by the recording material from below,
wherein the outside advancing part moves upward when returning to an inside of the perimeter,
wherein when the outside advancing part returns to the inside of the perimeter, the movable member tilts toward an opposite side that is away from the outside advancing part by rotating on a rotation center defined at a lower end of the movable member and at a position nearer to the recording-material stack than the outside advancing part, and
wherein the tilting of the movable member toward the opposite side with the rotation of the movable member on the rotation center causes the outside advancing part to move upward.

2. The recording-material-transporting device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an interlocked part that is interlocked with the outside advancing part and extends from the outside to the inside of the perimeter of the recording-material stack,
wherein the downward movement of the outside advancing part is restricted when the interlocked part is supported by the recording-material stack from below.

3. The recording-material-transporting device according to claim 2 , wherein the interlocked part separates a depressurized space provided at the suction with the suction unit from an atmospheric space being at atmospheric pressure.

4. The recording-material-transporting device according to claim 1 , wherein the movable member separates a depressurized space provided at the suction with the suction unit from an atmospheric space being at atmospheric pressure.

5. The recording-material-transporting device according to claim 1 ,
wherein when the movable member is seen from vertically above, the movable member has an L shape including a first segment and a second segment that intersect each other,
wherein the first segment serves as the outside advancing part,
wherein the second segment is supported by the recording-material stack from below, and
wherein the second segment supported by the recording-material stack from below restricts a downward movement of the first segment advancing to the outside of the perimeter.

6. The recording-material-transporting device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the movable member has a plate shape and is one of a plurality of movable members,
wherein a first one of the movable members and a second one of the movable members each extend in one direction and partially overlap each other such that the second movable member faces a first surface of the first movable member while the first movable member faces a first surface of the second movable member, and
wherein a projecting part is provided at at least one of a position facing the first surface of the first movable member and a position facing the first surface of the second movable member, the projecting part projecting from a side away from the first surface toward the first surface.

7. The recording-material-transporting device according to claim 6 , wherein the projecting part projecting toward the first surface has a projection height greater than a thickness of the movable member different from the movable member having the first surface toward which the projecting part projects.

8. The recording-material-transporting device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the movable member has a plate shape and is one of a plurality of movable members,
wherein a first one of the movable members and a second one of the movable members each extend in one direction and partially overlap each other such that the second movable member faces a first surface of the first movable member while the first movable member faces a first surface of the second movable member, and
wherein a projecting part is provided on at least one of the first surface of the first movable member and the first surface of the second movable member.

9. The recording-material-transporting device according to claim 8 ,
wherein the projecting part provided on the first surface has a projection height greater than a thickness of the movable member different from the movable member having the first surface toward which the projecting part projects.

10. The recording-material-transporting device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a counter surface that extends in an up-and-down direction and faces the movable member or another movable member,
wherein at least a part of the counter surface is inclined in a direction away from the movable member while extending from an upper side toward a lower side.

11. The recording-material-transporting device according to claim 10 ,
wherein a member having the counter surface is attached to a receiving member in such a manner as to be elastically deformed, and
wherein attaching the member having the counter surface to the receiving member in such a manner as to be elastically deformed makes the part of the counter surface inclined with respect to the vertical direction and in the direction away from the movable member while extending from the upper side toward the lower side.

12. The recording-material-transporting device according to claim 1 , wherein when the movable member tilts toward the opposite side, a part of the lower end that is positioned across the rotation center from the outside advancing part comes into line contact with a topmost one of the recording materials included in the recording-material stack.

13. The recording-material-transporting device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a guiding part that guides the movable member or another movable member when the movable member moves upward by being pushed by the recording material positioned below the movable member,
wherein the movable member includes a center-side end positioned nearer to a widthwise central part of the recording material positioned below the movable member; and an opposite-side end positioned opposite the center-side end and nearer to one widthwise end of the recording materials,
wherein the movable member has a groove near the center-side end, the groove extending in an up-and-down direction and receiving the guiding part,
wherein two side of the groove are defined by edges, respectively, the edges each extending in the up-and-down direction and facing the groove, and
wherein one of the edges that is positioned nearer to the opposite-side end is inclined toward the opposite-side end while extending downward.

14. An image forming apparatus comprising:
an image forming device that forms an image on a recording material; and
the recording-material-transporting device according to claim 1 .

15. A recording-material-transporting device comprising:
a suction unit that suctions a recording material included in a recording-material stack from above, the suction unit moving the suctioned recording material in an intersecting direction intersec

Assignees

• Fujifilm Business Innovation Corp

Inventors

• Niwa Masahito

Classifications

• B65H3/08 Primary

  using pneumatic force {(B65H3/40, B65H3/42 take precedence)} · CPC title

• B65H2406/31

  Suction box; Suction chambers · CPC title

• G03G15/6529 Primary

  Transporting (G03G15/6555 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B65H3/0833

  and acting on the front part of the articles relatively to the final separating direction · CPC title

• B65H2406/343

  Details of sucking member · CPC title