Driving force transmission device and image-forming apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9783365-B2
Application number	US-201414498097-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 26, 2014
Priority date	Sep 30, 2013
Publication date	Oct 10, 2017
Grant date	Oct 10, 2017

Abstract

Provided is a driving force transmission device including: an actuator ( 22 ) that, in a case where one of a first annular gear ( 11 ), a second annular gear ( 14 ), and a carrier ( 16 ) is an input member, another one is an output member, and the remaining one is a rotational member, causes one of the input member and the output member to rotate integrally with the rotational member. When driving force is inputted from the drive source to the input member and input member is rotated unidirectionally, the rotation direction of the output member in the case where one of the input member and the output member rotates integrally with the rotational member is reversed with respect to that in a case where one of the input member and the output member does not rotate integrally with the rotational member.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A driving force transmission device that transmits a driving force from a drive source,
the driving force transmission device comprising:
a first annular gear;
a second annular gear rotating coaxially with the first annular gear;
a first inner gear disposed inside the first annular gear and meshing with the first annular gear;
a second inner gear disposed inside the second annular gear and meshing with the second annular gear and the first inner gear;
a carrier rotatably supporting the first inner gear and the second inner gear and rotating coaxially with the first annular gear; and
an actuator that, in a case where one of the first annular gear, the second annular gear, and the carrier is an input member, another one is an output member, and the remaining one is a rotational member, causes either one of the input member and the output member to rotate integrally with the rotational member,
wherein, when the driving force is inputted from the drive source to the input member and the input member is rotated unidirectionally, a rotation direction of the output member in a case where one of the input member and the output member rotates integrally with the rotational member is reversed with respect to that in a case where one of the input member and the output member does not rotate integrally with the rotational member.

2. The driving force transmission device according to claim 1 , wherein a gear portion of the first inner gear that meshes with the first annular gear and a gear portion of the first inner gear that meshes with the second inner gear are disposed side by side in a shaft direction of the first inner gear.

3. The driving force transmission device according to claim 2 , wherein the first inner gear is a stepped gear in which a pitch circle diameter of the gear portion that meshes with the first annular gear and a pitch circle diameter of the gear portion that meshes with the second annular gear differ from each other.

4. The driving force transmission device according to claim 1 , wherein the first inner gear and the second inner gear are gears of the same shape.

5. The driving force transmission device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an engagement portion that is held at the rotational member and can move to an engaging position in which the engagement portion is engaged with one of the input member and the output member and a disengaging position in which the engagement portion is not engaged with one of the input member and the output member;
a biasing member that biases the engagement portion to move from the disengaging position to the engaging position; and
a movable portion that can be moved by the actuator to a contact position in which the movable portion is in contact with the rotational member and a separated position in which the movable portion is separated from the rotational member, wherein,
when the movable portion is at the separated position, the engagement portion is at the engaging position in which the engagement portion is engaged with the one of the input member and the output member and the rotational member rotates integrally with the one of the input member and the output member, and
the engagement portion is moved to the disengaging position, in which the engagement portion is not engaged with the one of the input member and the output member, and the rotation of the rotational member is regulated by contacting with the movable portion that is in the contact position contacting with the rotational member.

6. The driving force transmission device according to claim 5 , wherein
the rotational member has a contacted portion that is linked to the engagement portion and is in contact with the movable portion when the movable portion is in the contact position, and
the engagement portion is moved from the engaging position to the disengaging position against a biasing force of the biasing member by a force received by the contacted portion from the movable portion.

7. The driving force transmission device according to claim 1 , wherein a rotation shaft of the first inner gear and a rotation shaft of the second inner gear are not coaxial with a rotation shaft of the rotational member.

8. An image-forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording material,
the apparatus comprising:
an image-forming unit that forms an image on one surface of the recording material;
a rotating member for conveying the recording material that has passed through the image-forming unit;
the driving force transmission device according to claim 1 , which can switch forward and reverse the rotation direction of the rotational driving force transmitted to the rotating member; and a
conveying unit that conveys the recording material to an upstream side of the image-forming unit after the conveying direction of the recording material is reversed by reversing the rotation direction of the rotating member.

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Uesugi Takuji
• Nakayashiki Yuji
• Fukita Taku
• Kuroda Akira
• Umezawa Masao
• Matsuo Yoshihiro

Classifications

• F16H3/60

  Gearings for reversal only · CPC title

• B41J29/38 Primary

  Drives, motors, controls or automatic cut-off devices for the entire printing mechanism · CPC title

• B65G13/06 Primary

  Roller driving means · CPC title