Sheet transport apparatus and image forming apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9588475-B2
Application number	US-201514954667-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 30, 2015
Priority date	Dec 2, 2014
Publication date	Mar 7, 2017
Grant date	Mar 7, 2017

Abstract

A sheet transport apparatus includes a transport guide that is included in a first transport path along which a sheet is to be transported and a flapper that selectively guides the sheet, which is transported by passing through the first transport path, to a second transport path and a third transport path. The transport guide has an air-blowing hole that is positioned further upstream than the flapper in a transport direction of the sheet. The sheet transport apparatus further includes an air-blowing fan that blows air to the flapper from outside the first transport path via the air-blowing hole.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sheet transport apparatus comprising:
a first guide portion that is included in a first transport path along which a sheet is to be transported;
a movable guide portion that is capable of moving to a first position at which the movable guide portion guides the sheet from the first transport path to a second transport path and to a second position at which the movable guide portion guides the sheet from the first transport path to a third transport path; and
an air-blowing unit that blows air into the first transport path from outside the first transport path,
wherein the first guide portion has a ventilation portion that is positioned further upstream than the movable guide portion in a sheet transport direction in which the sheet is to be transported, and the air-blowing unit blows the air into the first transport path from outside the first transport path via the ventilation portion,
wherein an order of arrangement for components, in a direction relative to the air blown by the air-blowing unit is the air-blowing unit, the ventilation portion, the movable guide portion, and the second transport path or the third transport, path
wherein the air blown by the air-blowing unit is selectively guided to the second transport path and the third transport path as a result of switching a position of the movable guide portion between the first position and the second position, and
wherein the movable guide portion and the first guide portion are arranged in such a manner that the movable guide portion and the first guide portion are capable of coming into surface contact with each other when the movable guide portion is at the first position and the second position.

2. The sheet transport apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a duct that guides the air blown by the air-blowing unit to the ventilation portion.

3. The sheet transport apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein, when a portion of the first guide portion, which has the ventilation portion, on a downstream side in the sheet transport direction is a downstream portion, and a portion of the first guide portion on an upstream side in the sheet transport direction is an upstream portion, the downstream portion is positioned closer to the air-blowing unit than the upstream portion in a direction in which a flow path of the air extends, the air being blown by the air-blowing unit.

4. The sheet transport apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein a surface of the movable guide portion and a surface of the first guide portion that come into contact with each other are plane surfaces.

5. The sheet transport apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the movable guide portion and the first guide portion come into contact with each other in a continuous manner in a direction perpendicular to the sheet transport direction.

6. The sheet transport apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein a length of a surface with which the movable guide portion and the first guide portion come into contact with each other in a direction perpendicular to the sheet transport direction is equal to or larger than a maximum length of the sheet to be transported.

7. The sheet transport apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the movable guide portion is made of a material that has a thermal conductivity larger than a thermal conductivity of a material of a second transport guide that is included in the second transport path or a material of a third transport guide that is included in the third transport path.

8. The sheet transport apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the second transport guide, which is included in the second transport path, has a first exhaust port through which the air in the second transport path is exhausted, and
wherein the third transport guide, which is included in the third transport path, has a second exhaust port through which the air in the third transport path is exhausted.

9. The sheet transport apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the movable guide portion is a flapper that has a rotation-supporting axis, which is positioned further downstream than the ventilation portion in the sheet transport direction.

10. The sheet transport apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein processing is performed on the sheet that has been transported to second transport path.

11. The sheet transport apparatus according to claim 10 ,
wherein the processing is punching to be performed on the sheet.

12. An image forming apparatus comprising:
an image-forming unit that forms an image on a sheet;
a first guide portion that is included in a first transport path along which the sheet is to be transported;
a movable guide portion that is capable of moving to a first position at which the movable guide portion guides the sheet from the first transport path to a second transport path and to a second position at which the movable guide portion guides the sheet from the first transport path to a third transport path; and
an air-blowing unit that blows air into the first transport path from outside the first transport path,
wherein the first guide portion has a ventilation portion that is positioned further upstream than the movable guide portion in a sheet transport direction in which the sheet is to be transported, and the air-blowing unit blows the air into the first transport path from outside the first transport path via the ventilation portion,
wherein an order of arrangement for components, in a direction relative to the air blown by the air-blowing unit is the air-blowing unit, the ventilation portion, the movable guide portion, and the second transport path or the third transport path,
wherein the air blown by the air-blowing unit is selectively guided to the second transport path and the third transport path as a result of switching a position of the movable guide portion between the first position and the second position, and
wherein the movable guide portion and the first guide portion are arranged in such a manner that the movable guide portion and the first guide portion are capable of coming into surface contact with each other when the movable guide portion is at the first position and the second position.

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Watanabe Kiyoshi
• Kojima Ryuichi

Classifications

• G03G21/206

  Conducting air through the machine, e.g. for cooling, filtering, removing gases like ozone · CPC title

• G03G15/6573

  Feeding path after the fixing point and up to the discharge tray or the finisher, e.g. special treatment of copy material to compensate for effects from the fixing · CPC title

• B65H5/36

  Article guides or smoothers, e.g. movable in operation · CPC title

• B65H7/16

  Controlling air-supply to pneumatic separators · CPC title

• B65H2801/27

  Devices located downstream of office-type machines · CPC title