Sheet conveyor and image forming apparatus incorporating the sheet conveyor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9348284-B2
Application number	US-201514610121-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 30, 2015
Priority date	Feb 4, 2014
Publication date	May 24, 2016
Grant date	May 24, 2016

Abstract

A sheet conveyor, which is incorporated in an image forming apparatus, includes a first conveyor to convey a sheet via a first sheet conveying path and move in a direction intersecting a sheet thickness direction, a second conveyor to convey the sheet via a second sheet conveying path and include a third conveyor and a fourth conveyor bringing either one close to and away from the other via the second sheet conveying path in the sheet thickness direction, a first attaching part provided to the first conveyor to attach the first conveyor to the sheet conveyor, and a state changer to change a state of one of the first attaching part to a movement allowed state and the second conveyor to a sheet releasing state in conjunction with a releasing action of the other of the first attaching part and the second conveyor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sheet conveyor, comprising:
a first body including a first conveyor including a first sheet conveying path therein to convey a sheet via the first sheet conveying path, the first body including a first attaching part to retain a position of the first conveyor;
a second body including a second sheet conveying path to convey the sheet, the second body including:
a second conveyor; and
a third conveyor disposed facing the second conveyor via the second sheet conveying path, the second conveyor and the third conveyor separated from each other in a sheet releasing state, and

a state changer to change a state of the second body from a sheet holding state to the sheet releasing state by a releasing action of the first attaching part.

2. The sheet conveyor according to claim 1 ,
wherein the first attaching part has a shaft,
wherein the state changer comprises:
a movable frame fixed to the shaft of the first attaching part; and
an elevation plate to move vertically in conjunction with movement of the movable frame, and

wherein, as the first attaching part and the movable frame rotates, the elevation plate moves and the second conveyor changes from the sheet holding state to the sheet releasing state.

3. The sheet conveyor according to claim 2 ,
wherein the state changer further comprises a swing member,
wherein the second body includes a second attaching part which comprises:
a lever shaft; and
a locking member fixed to the lever shaft, and

wherein, as the elevation plate lifts the swing member, the swing member pushes up the locking member to change the state of the second conveyor from the sheet holding state to the sheet releasing state.

4. The sheet conveyor according to claim 2 ,
wherein the state changer further comprises:
a rotational shaft; and
a rotation arm rotatable about the rotational shaft,

wherein the rotation arm comprises:
a first member disposed on one end to the rotational shaft and contacting the movable frame; and
a second member disposed on the other end to the rotational shaft and contacting the elevation plate.

5. The sheet conveyor according to claim 2 ,
wherein the state changer further comprises:
a first swing member to contact and swing the elevation plate at a lifted position; and
a second swing member to contact and swing the first swing member swung by the elevation plate, and

wherein, as the second swing member swings, the state of the second conveyor changes from the sheet holding state to the sheet releasing state.

6. The sheet conveyor according to claim 1 ,
wherein the first attaching part includes a lever connected to a shaft,
wherein the shaft includes a stopper extending in a direction intersecting the shaft,
wherein the stopper is to be inserted through a slit between rear side members of an apparatus body of the image forming apparatus.

7. The sheet conveyor according to claim 1 , further comprising a cooler to cool the sheet.

8. An image forming apparatus comprising:
the sheet conveyor according to claim 1 ; and
an image forming part to form a toner image on the sheet,
wherein the first body includes a fixing device to fix the toner image formed in the image forming part.

9. A sheet conveyor, comprising:
a first body including a first conveyor including a first sheet conveying path therein to convey a sheet via the first sheet conveying path, the first body including a first attaching part to retain a position of the first conveyor;
a second body including a second sheet conveying path to convey the sheet, the second body including:
a second conveyor; and
a third conveyor disposed facing the second conveyor via the second sheet conveying path, the second conveyor and the third conveyor separated from each other in a sheet releasing state, and

a state changer to change a state of the first attaching part from a movement restricted state to a movement allowed state by a separating action of the second conveyor and the third conveyor.

10. The sheet conveyor according to claim 9 ,
wherein the second body further comprises a second attaching part to attach the second conveyor and the third conveyor at a position where the second conveyor and the third conveyor face each other,
wherein the state changer changes the state of the first attaching part from the movement restricted state to the movement allowed state by a change of the second attaching part from a locked state to an unlocked state.

11. The sheet conveyor according to claim 10 ,
wherein the first attaching part includes a shaft,
wherein the state changer further comprises:
a movable frame fixed to the shaft of the first attaching part; and
an elevation plate to move vertically in conjunction with movement of the movable frame,

wherein the second attaching part comprises:
a lever shaft;
a rotary member fixed to the lever shaft; and
a lock lever fixed to the lever shaft,

wherein, as the lock lever is rotated and secured, the rotary member rotates and fits to the elevation plate and a position of the state changer changes from a movement allowed position to a movement restricted position.

12. The sheet conveyor according to claim 11 ,
wherein, when the first attaching part and the movable frame are rotated, the first body is released and allowed to move.

13. The sheet conveyor according to claim 9 ,
wherein the second body further comprises a stopper,
wherein, as the stopper biases the state changer disposed to the first conveyor in a closing direction of the second conveyor in a sheet thickness direction when the second conveyor is closed, a position of the state changer changes from a movement allowable position to a movement restricted position.

14. The sheet conveyor according to claim 9 ,
wherein the second body further comprises a second attaching part to fix the second conveyor and the third conveyor at respective positions facing each other,
wherein the first attaching part includes a shaft,
wherein the state changer comprises
a movable frame fixed to the shaft of the first attaching part;
an elevation plate to move vertically in conjunction with movement of the movable frame; and
a swing member to swing to either approach or separate with respect to the elevation plate,

wherein the second attaching part has a pressing portion to press the swing member,
wherein, by unlocking the second attaching part, the pressing portion and the swing member separate from each other,
wherein, by raising the elevation plate due to swing of the swing member, movement of the first attaching part changes from the movement restricted state to the movement allowed state.

15. The sheet conveyor according to claim 14 ,
wherein the swing member comprises a restriction part to restrict movement of the swing member after the swing member has swung due to release of the second attaching part,
wherein the third conveyor includes a frame to restrict movement of the restriction part.

16. The sheet conveyor according to claim 14 ,
wherein, in conjunction with change of the second attaching part from the locked state to the unlocked state, movement of the first attaching part changes from the movement restricted state to the movement allowed state and the elevation plate is lifted,
wherein, by rotating the movable frame in the movement allowed state, the elevation plate is lowered to a position lower than a bottom dead center of the swing member.

17. The sheet conveyor according to claim 9 ,
wherein, after the second conveyor and the third conveyor of the second body have

Assignees

• Watanabe Takeshi
• Ishii Kenji
• Karikusa Yuji
• Shirakawa Junji
• Ricoh Co Ltd

Inventors

• Watanabe Takeshi
• Ishii Kenji
• Karikusa Yuji
• Shirakawa Junji

Classifications

• B65H5/023 Primary

  between a pair of belts forming a transport nip · CPC title

• B65H29/58

  Article switches or diverters · CPC title

• B65H1/28

  compartmented to receive piles side-by-side · CPC title

• G03G15/2085 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• B65H2601/11

  Clearing faulty handling, e.g. jams · CPC title