Sheet discharging device, image forming system, and sheet discharging method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9561927-B2
Application number	US-201514952430-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 25, 2015
Priority date	Mar 2, 2012
Publication date	Feb 7, 2017
Grant date	Feb 7, 2017

Abstract

A sheet discharging device includes a shift tray 202 on which a sheet P 1 is stacked, a discharging roller 6 that discharges a sheet P 2 onto the shift tray 202 , a blowing device 230 that sends air to a lower surface of the sheet P 2 discharged by the discharging roller 6 , a blocking member 231 that blocks air sent to the lower surface of the sheet P 2 from a blowing port 230 - 2 of the blowing device 230 , and a control unit that controls the blocking amount of the blocking member 231 . The blocking amount is determined based upon sheet information including sheet-type information, sheet-size information, and sheet-thickness information, for example.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sheet stacking device comprising:
a discharging unit configured to discharge a sheet from a discharging port;
a tray unit on which the discharged sheet is stacked; and
a pair of air blowers located at respective outer lateral edges of the tray unit, the pair of air blowers being configured to send air toward a sheet discharging side while the sheet is discharged, wherein
each air blower includes a blowing duct adjacent the discharging port, wherein
each blowing duct includes a blowing port and a louver,
each blowing duct is configured to send the air toward a center from both ends in a width direction of the sheet so the air joins or crosses at a point, and
the point is located on a leading end of the sheet stacked on the tray unit or near the leading end.

2. The sheet stacking device according to claim 1 , wherein the louver is located to regulate a direction in which the air is sent from the blowing port toward the point.

3. The sheet stacking device according to claim 1 , wherein the point is at a center portion of the tray unit in the width direction of the sheet.

4. The sheet stacking device according to claim 1 , wherein each blowing duct is provided near both ends of the tray unit in a direction orthogonal to a direction in which the sheet is discharged.

5. The sheet stacking device according to claim 1 , wherein each blowing duct has an inclined inner surface so that the air is sent obliquely upward to a lower surface of the sheet being discharged.

6. The sheet stacking device according to claim 1 , further comprising a control unit configured to control the air to send the air only while the sheet is discharged.

7. The sheet stacking device according to claim 1 , further comprising an air speed adjusting unit configured to adjust a speed of the air sent by the pair of air blowers.

8. The sheet stacking device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a blocking unit configured to block at least some of the air sent to a lower surface of the sheet from the blowing port of the pair of air blowers; and
a control unit configured to control operation of a blocking unit.

9. An image forming system comprising the sheet stacking device according to claim 1 .

10. A sheet stacking device comprising:
a discharging unit configured to discharge a sheet from a discharging port;
a tray unit on which the discharged sheet is stacked; and
a pair of air blowers located at respective outer lateral edges of the tray unit, the pair of air blowers being configured to send air toward a sheet discharging side while the sheet is discharged, wherein
each air blower includes a blowing duct adjacent the discharging port,
the blowing duct includes a blowing port and a louver,
each of the pair of air blowers has an inclined inner surface so that the air is sent obliquely upward to a lower surface of the sheet being discharged,
each of the air blowers is configured to send the air toward a center from both ends in a width direction of the sheet so the air joins or crosses at a point, and
the point is located on a leading end of the sheet stacked on the tray unit or near the leading end.

11. The sheet stacking device according to claim 10 , wherein the point is at a center portion of the tray unit in the width direction of the sheet.

12. The sheet stacking device according to claim 10 , wherein each blowing duct is provided near both ends of the tray unit in a direction orthogonal to a direction in which the sheet is discharged.

13. The sheet stacking device according to claim 10 , further comprising a control unit configured to control the air to send the air only while the sheet is discharged.

14. The sheet stacking device according to claim 10 , further comprising an air speed adjusting unit configured to adjust a speed of the air sent by the pair of air blowers.

15. The sheet stacking device according to claim 10 , further comprising:
a blocking unit configured to block at least some of the air sent to the lower surface of the sheet from the blowing port of the air blower; and
a control unit configured to control operation of the blocking unit.

16. An image forming system comprising the sheet stacking device according to claim 10 .

Assignees

• Hoshino Tomomichi
• Tamura Masahiro
• Nagasako Shuuya
• Furuhashi Tomohiro
• Sugiyama Keisuke
• Nakada Kyosuke
• Yamamoto Kazuya
• Kunieda Akira
• Watanabe Takahiro
• Suzuki Junya
• Konno Kazunori
• Niitsuma Youhei
• Matsumoto Takamasa
• Goto Kiichiro
• Kitano Kazuhiko
• Fukumoto Takashi
• Niikura Yasuo
• Takano Satoru
• Kojima Hidetoshi
• Sasaki Kei
• Tsuruoka Yasushi
• Matsumoto Shintaro
• Takahashi Ryo
• Mori Yuuta
• Haga Kohjiroh
• Ricoh Co Ltd

Inventors

• Hoshino Tomomichi
• Tamura Masahiro
• Nagasako Shuuya
• Furuhashi Tomohiro
• Sugiyama Keisuke
• Nakada Kyosuke
• Yamamoto Kazuya
• Kunieda Akira
• Watanabe Takahiro
• Suzuki Junya
• Konno Kazunori
• Niitsuma Youhei
• Matsumoto Takamasa
• Goto Kiichiro
• Kitano Kazuhiko
• Fukumoto Takashi
• Niikura Yasuo
• Takano Satoru
• Kojima Hidetoshi
• Sasaki Kei
• Tsuruoka Yasushi
• Matsumoto Shintaro
• Takahashi Ryo
• Mori Yuuta
• Haga Kohjiroh

Classifications

• B65H2406/422

  Air throttling devices · CPC title

• G03G15/6555

  Handling of sheet copy material taking place in a specific part of the copy material feeding path · CPC title

• B65H29/125

  between two sets of rollers · CPC title

• B65H2406/14

  with selectively operated air supply openings · CPC title

• B65H2220/01

  indicating an entity as a function of which control, adjustment or change is performed, i.e. input · CPC title