JP2005075631A - Sheet body carrying device and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet body carrying device and its control method capable of correcting an attitude of a photosensitive material, or capable of intentionally skewing the photosensitive material, by adjusting a carrying speed of the photosensitive material. <P>SOLUTION: This sheet body carrying device carries a sheet body in a single row or a plurality of rows in response to a width of the sheet body, and has a plurality of carrying parts mutually arranged in parallel for mutually and independently carrying the sheet body, and a control part for respectively adjusting the carrying speed of the respective carrying by increasing or reducing the carrying seed of the sheet body in at least on carrying part among the plurality of carrying parts, when carrying the sheet body having a width over the plurality of carrying parts in the single row. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet transport apparatus that transports a sheet body in a single row or a plurality of rows according to the width thereof, and a control method thereof, and in particular, adjusts the transport speed of the sheet body and adjusts the orientation of the sheet body and the like. The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus to be adjusted and a control method thereof.

  In recent years, a printing apparatus using digital exposure, that is, an image recorded on a film is photoelectrically read, the read image is converted into a digital signal, and various image processing is performed to obtain image data for recording. A digital photo printer that scans and exposes a photosensitive material with a light beam modulated according to image data, records an image (latent image), performs development processing, and outputs the image as a print (photograph) has been put into practical use.

This digital photo printer basically includes an input device having a scanner (image reading device) and an image processing device, and an output device having a printing device (image recording device) and a processor (developer).
In the scanner, the projection light of the image photographed on the film is photoelectrically read by an image sensor such as a CCD sensor and sent as image data (image data signal) of the film to the image processing apparatus. The image processing apparatus performs predetermined image processing on the image data, and sends the image data to the printing apparatus as image data (exposure conditions) for image recording.

  If the printing apparatus is an apparatus that uses light beam scanning exposure, it conveys a cut sheet-like photosensitive material that is cut out by pulling out a predetermined length from a long photosensitive material wound in a roll shape to an exposure position. On the other hand, by deflecting the light beam modulated according to the supplied image data in the main scanning direction orthogonal to the conveying direction (hereinafter also referred to as the sub-scanning direction), and scanning and conveying the photosensitive material in the sub-scanning direction. The photosensitive material is scanned and exposed with a light beam to form a latent image. In the processor, the exposed photosensitive material is subjected to a predetermined development process or the like to obtain a print in which an image photographed on a film is reproduced.

Such a digital photo printer needs to scan and expose a photosensitive material within a short period of time in order to efficiently output a large number of prints. For this reason, it is necessary to improve the processing efficiency of the development processing, and various sorters have been proposed in which the photosensitive material is distributed and transported in a plurality of rows in order to perform the development processing while transporting the photosensitive material in a plurality of rows.
In particular, in a digital photo printer that scans and exposes a photosensitive material to be conveyed while oscillating a light beam in a predetermined range, an image to be recorded is recorded on the photosensitive material with an inclination or offset. From this point, it is desired to perform post-exposure sorting in which a photosensitive material is subjected to exposure recording and then sorted and conveyed in a plurality of rows.

  After the photosensitive material is sorted, an independent carry-out unit is provided corresponding to each sorted row, and this carry-out unit supplies the photosensitive material to the processor by adjusting the carrying speed.

Patent Document 1 discloses a transport mechanism that transports exposed photosensitive materials in multiple rows as a carry-out unit. FIGS. 16A to 16C are schematic views showing the transport mechanism disclosed in Patent Document 1 and its transport state.
A conventional transport mechanism 300 shown in FIGS. 16A to 16C transports a photosensitive material distributed in four or two rows by a sorting device or a photosensitive material having a size that cannot be distributed to a processor. It is.
The conventional transport mechanism 300 includes four transport lines 310, 312, 314, and 316. Each of the transport lines 310, 312, 314, and 316 includes a stepping motor 320, 322, 324, and 326, and a driver circuit. 330, 332, 334, 336, control circuits 340, 342, 344, 346, a main control unit 350, a clock distribution circuit 352, and a distribution control circuit 354.

In the conventional transport mechanism 300, based on a transport system switching signal output from the main control unit 350 to the distribution control circuit 354, the distribution control circuit 354 receives predetermined control signals S ₁ , S ₂ , S _3. Is output to the clock distribution circuit 352. The clock distribution circuit 352 receives drive clocks from the control circuits 340, 342, 344, and 346, and also supplies the drive clocks to the carrier series 310, 312, and 312 based on the control signals S ₁ , S ₂ , and S ₃ . 314 and 316 are output to the stepping motors 320, 322, 324 and 326.

As shown in FIG. 16 (a), for example, to convey a photosensitive material distributed to the four columns, the control signals by S _1, the drive from the control circuit 340,342,344,346 clock C _L is a driver circuit 330, 332, 334, and 336, and the photosensitive materials Pa are conveyed in four rows by the respective conveying systems 310, 312, 314, and 316.

Also, as shown in FIG. 16B, for example, when transporting photosensitive materials distributed in two rows, the drive clock C _L1 output from the control circuit 340 to the clock distribution circuit 352 is the control signal S _2. As a result, the light is output to the driver circuits 330 and 332, and the two transport lines 310 and 312 cooperate to transport the photosensitive material Pb. Similarly, the drive clock C _L2 output from the control circuit 344 to the clock distribution circuit 352 is output to the driver circuits 334 and 336 by the control signal S ₂ , and the two transport lines 314 and 316 cooperate to make the photosensitive material. Pb is conveyed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 16C, for example, when transporting in a single row without sorting, the drive clock C _L3 output from the control circuit 340 to the clock sorting circuit 352 is represented by the control signal S ₃ . Output to the driver circuits 330, 332, 334, 336, and the four transport lines 310, 312, 314, 316 cooperate to transport the photosensitive material Pc.
The magnitude relationship among the photosensitive material Pa, the photosensitive material Pb, and the photosensitive material Pc is photosensitive material Pa <photosensitive material Pb <photosensitive material Pc.

  In the conventional transport mechanism 300, when a plurality of transport systems cooperate to transport a photosensitive material, the cooperative transport system is driven by a single drive clock, so that variations in elements or variations in software command timing occur. Thus, even if the photosensitive material is conveyed across a plurality of rows, the occurrence of meandering of the photosensitive material can be suppressed.

JP 2001-194733 A

However, the standard is different between the printer and the processor, and the transport mechanism after the distribution is required to absorb the deviation between the printer and the processor.
However, this shift is absorbed by improving the design accuracy of the printer and the processor at present, and the manufacturing cost is increased. Also, if the position of the printer and processor deviates from the reference position, and the vertical position in the printer and the vertical position in the processor are deviated, the conveyance mechanism intentionally skews the photosensitive material to an appropriate angle. It must be transported to the processor. In particular, a photosensitive material of a size that is not sorted may cause image degradation during development processing unless it is properly conveyed to a processor.

  Although the conventional transport mechanism described above can suppress the meandering of the photosensitive material, there is a problem in that it cannot be transported properly to the processor in consideration of processing errors.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and adjusts the conveyance speed of a photosensitive material and corrects the posture of the photosensitive material or intentionally skews the photosensitive material. And it aims at providing the control method.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a first aspect of the present invention is a sheet body transporting apparatus that transports a sheet body in a single row or a plurality of rows according to the width of the sheet body, wherein the sheet bodies are mutually connected. A plurality of conveyance units provided in parallel with each other, and a control unit that adjusts the conveyance speed of each conveyance unit, and the control unit further includes a sheet having a width across the plurality of conveyance units. When conveying a body in a single row, the sheet is characterized in that the orientation of the sheet body is adjusted by increasing or decreasing the conveyance speed of the sheet body in at least one of the plurality of conveyance units. A body conveyance device is provided.

In this invention, the said conveyance part is connected to the inlet_port | entrance of another apparatus, the adjustment conveyance part which adjusts the conveyance speed of the said sheet body is provided in the exit vicinity of the said sheet body of the said conveyance part, The said adjustment conveyance part Is preferably controlled by the control unit.
In the present invention, the other device is, for example, a processor.

  In the present invention, each of the conveyance units includes a nip conveyance roller pair and a conveyance roller pair provided on the downstream side in the conveyance direction with respect to the nip conveyance roller pair, and the nip conveyance roller pair is nipped and released. Is controlled by the control unit, and the conveyance roller pair is controlled to be conveyed by the control unit, and the control unit clamps the nip conveyance roller pair when adjusting the orientation of the sheet member by the conveyance roller pair. Is preferably opened.

  Moreover, the second aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of conveyance units that are provided in parallel to convey the sheet bodies independently of each other, each of which is capable of adjusting a conveyance speed, and the sheet bodies are arranged on the sheet bodies. A method for controlling a sheet conveying apparatus that conveys a single row or a plurality of rows according to a width, the step of detecting the width of the sheet, and a direction with respect to an orthogonal direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the sheet As a result of detecting the width of the sheet and the process, when the sheet is conveyed in a single row across the plurality of conveyance units, a plurality of detection results are obtained based on the detection result of the width of the sheet and the direction with respect to the orthogonal direction. A step of adjusting the orientation of the sheet body by increasing or decreasing the conveyance speed of the sheet body in at least one of the conveyance sections. There is provided a control method of the transport apparatus.

  According to the sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to adjust the conveying speed of the photosensitive material and to correct the posture of the photosensitive material or to intentionally skew the photosensitive material.

  Further, according to the control method of the sheet transport apparatus of the present invention, when transporting the sheet bodies in a single row, for example, based on the detection results of the sheet body width and the direction with respect to the orthogonal direction orthogonal to the transport direction, By increasing or decreasing the conveyance speed of the sheet body in at least one conveyance section among the conveyance sections, the attitude of the sheet body is adjusted to adjust the conveyance speed of the photosensitive material, and the attitude of the photosensitive material is corrected, or the photosensitive material Can be intentionally skewed.

Below, based on the preferred embodiment shown in an accompanying drawing, the sheet conveyance device of the present invention and its control method are explained in detail based on an accompanying drawing.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an image recording apparatus using a sheet conveying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image recording apparatus 10 includes a scanner 12, an image processing apparatus 14, and a processor 16, and constitutes a digital photo printer. The image recording apparatus 10 is a recording apparatus that exposes and records a photosensitive material using light beam scanning exposure. The image recording apparatus 10 is drawn and cut by a predetermined length from a long photosensitive material A wound in a roll shape. The cut sheet-shaped photosensitive material (sheet body) is conveyed to the exposure position, while the light beam L modulated in accordance with the image data supplied from the image processing device 14 is deflected in the main scanning direction and in the sub scanning direction. By scanning and conveying the photosensitive material, the photosensitive material is scanned and exposed by the light beam L to form a latent image.

  The image recording apparatus 10 is connected to the image processing apparatus 14, and the image processing apparatus 14 is connected to the scanner 12. On the other hand, the processor 16 is connected adjacent to the printer so as to receive the exposed photosensitive material carried out from the image recording apparatus 10. The image recording apparatus 10 includes a control unit 34 that controls the operation of the image recording apparatus 10.

The scanner 12 photoelectrically reads the projection light of the image photographed on the film with an image sensor such as a CCD sensor, captures the image data (image data signal) of the film, and sends it to the image processing device 14.
The image processing device 14 performs predetermined image processing on the image data, and sends the image data to the printing device as image data (exposure conditions) for image recording. The image processing device 14 may be configured to send image data obtained by photographing with a digital still camera or the like to the printing device.
The processor 16 performs a predetermined development process or the like on the photosensitive material on which the exposed latent image is recorded, thereby obtaining a print in which the image photographed on the film is reproduced.

  The image recording apparatus 10 is configured to perform each processing while conveying a cut sheet body obtained by cutting a long photosensitive material wound in a roll shape into a predetermined length. The image recording apparatus 10 includes a supply unit 20, a back printing unit 22, a resist unit 24, an exposure unit 26, a sub-scanning receiving unit 28, a sorting unit 30 and a carry-out unit 32 from the upstream side in the transport direction. A plurality of roller pairs including a roller or a driving roller and a nip roller paired with the driving roller are provided along the conveyance path.

The supply unit 20 is a portion into which magazines 20a and 20b in which a long photosensitive material A wound in a roll shape with the recording surface facing outside is housed in a light-shielding housing are loaded.
Magazines 20a and 20b usually store different types of photosensitive material A such as the size (width) of photosensitive material A, the type of photosensitive surface such as silk and mat, and the specifications (thickness and type of base). The In the present embodiment, two magazines 20a and 20b are provided. However, in the present invention, the number of magazines is not particularly limited. In the present invention, the number of magazines may be one, or three or more.

The magazines 20a and 20b are provided with pull-out roller pairs 38a and 38b for pulling out and transporting the photosensitive material A accommodated therein.
Further, cutters 40a and 40b are provided at positions separated by a predetermined length from the outlets of the magazines 20a and 20b. The extracted photosensitive material A is cut into a predetermined length to form a cut sheet body.
The drawing roller pairs 38a and 38b draw the photosensitive material A by a predetermined length according to the print length in order to obtain a cut sheet body having a predetermined length by the cutters 40a and 40b, and then stop the drawing.

  The cutters 40a and 40b cut the photosensitive material A drawn out from the magazines 20a and 20b based on a control signal sent from the control unit 34 of the image recording apparatus 10. The cut sheet body cut to a predetermined length by the cutters 40 a and 40 b is sent to the back printing unit 22.

  The back printing unit 22 includes a photographed date, a print printing date, a frame number, a film ID number (symbol) on the non-recording surface (non-emulsion surface = back surface) of the cut sheet body, the ID number of the camera used for photographing, Various types of information such as the ID number of the printer, so-called back printing, is recorded (back printing) based on a control signal from the control unit 34, and a pair of transport rollers 42a to 42f for transporting the cut sheet body, and back printing. And a head 44.

  While the cut sheet member is conveyed upward by the roller and the roller pair, the back print head 44 records the back print on the non-recording surface. As the back print head 44, a known print head such as an inkjet head, a dot impact print head, or a thermal transfer print head is used. The back print head 44 corresponds to a new photo system (Advanced Photo System), and prints of two or more lines are recorded.

The resist unit 24 is configured to skew the cut sheet body so that the cut sheet body that is cut to a predetermined length and conveyed is disposed at a predetermined position in the width direction in the conveyance path without being inclined with respect to the conveyance path. Alternatively, the position in the width direction is adjusted. The registration unit 24 includes a registration roller pair 46, a conveyance roller pair 48a, and nip roller pairs 48b and 48c. The registration roller pair 46 is provided adjacent to the back printing unit 22. The nip roller pairs 48b and 48c convey the cut sheet body whose position in the skew or width direction is adjusted so as not to give an impact so that the skew or position is not shifted. Thereby, scanning exposure recording can be performed at a predetermined position of the cut sheet body in the exposure recording in the exposure unit 26 which is a subsequent process. It should be noted that a known method can be used to adjust the skew or width direction position of the cut sheet body in the resist portion 24, for example, disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 60-153358 and 11-349191. A skew adjustment method and a width direction position adjustment method can be used.
As shown in FIG. 1, the cut sheet body that has passed through the resist unit 24 changes its transport direction from upward transport to horizontal transport, and is transported to the exposure unit 26.

  The exposure unit 26 is upstream and downstream in the transport direction so as to sandwich an exposure unit 36 connected to the image processing apparatus 14 and an exposure position r for scanning and exposing the cut sheet body with the light beam L emitted from the exposure unit 36. Is provided between the sub-scanning roller pair 50 and 54 for carrying out the sub-scanning by conveying the cut sheet body at a predetermined speed, and between the exposure position r and the sub-scanning roller pair 50 to detect the passage of the cut sheet body. And a position detection sensor 52 that is configured. The position detection sensor 52 is an optical sensor that detects the presence or absence of an object by shielding light, and is configured by a pair of a light emitting element and a light receiving element. The light emitting element and the light receiving element are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance path, and the light emitting element is arranged on the non-recording surface side of the photosensitive material P. In the present embodiment, since the detection target is the photosensitive material P, the position detection sensor 52 is preferably one that uses wavelength light that does not cause fogging, such as a flashing infrared sensor.

  The exposure unit 36 is a known light beam scanning device that uses, for example, a light beam such as a laser beam as recording light, and performs red (R) exposure, green (G) exposure, and blue (B) exposure of the cut sheet body. A light source that emits a corresponding light beam L, and an AOM (acousto-optic modulator) that modulates the light beam L emitted from the light source according to image data after image processing supplied from the image processing device 14 Modulating means such as a light deflector such as a polygon mirror that deflects the modulated light beam L in an orthogonal direction (hereinafter also referred to as main scanning direction) orthogonal to the transport direction, and a light beam L deflected in the main scanning direction Is formed with a mirror for adjusting an optical path of an fθ (scanning) lens that forms an image at a predetermined position on the exposure position r with a predetermined beam diameter.

Also, transport directions of PDP (plasma display) array, ELD (electroluminescent display) array, LED (light emitting diode) array, LCD (liquid crystal display) array, DMD (digital micromirror device, registered trademark) array, laser array, etc. Digital exposure means using various light emitting arrays or spatial modulation element arrays extending in the main scanning direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction may be used.
The main scanning width of the light beam L performed at the exposure position r of the exposure unit 36 is set to correspond to the width of the cut sheet body.
The above operation of the exposure unit 36 is controlled by a control signal from the control unit 34.
In the present invention, as described above, image recording by the exposure unit 36 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be, for example, an ink jet recording system. Good.

The light beam L, which is recording light, is deflected in the main scanning direction (in FIG. 1, the direction perpendicular to the paper surface), while the cut sheet member is conveyed by the sub-scanning roller pair 50, 54, and is modulated according to the image data. The cut sheet body is two-dimensionally scanned and exposed by the light beam L, and a latent image is recorded.
Instead of the sub-scanning roller pairs 50 and 54, scanning conveyance using an exposure drum that conveys the cut sheet body while holding the cut sheet body at the exposure position r and two nip rollers that contact the exposure drum across the exposure position r. A mechanism may be used. The configuration is not particularly limited as long as the image is recorded on the cut sheet member being conveyed by performing scanning recording at least in the main scanning direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the cut sheet member.

  The sub-scan receiving unit 28 is transported during recording in the exposure unit 26 and supports two pairs of rollers 56 (56a, 56b) and 58 (58a, 58b) that support the leading end of the cut sheet member protruding from the exposure unit 26. The two roller pairs 56 and 58 include drive rollers 56a and 58a and nip-releasable nip rollers 56b and 58b that move freely with respect to the drive rollers 56a and 58a, respectively. The cut sheet body is conveyed by the roller pairs 56 and 58 at the same speed as the conveyance speed of the sub-scanning roller pairs 50 and 54.

  As will be described later, the nip rollers 56b and 58b are separated from the drive rollers 56a and 58a during exposure recording so as not to nip the cut sheet body, and when the exposure recording of the rear end portion of the cut sheet body is completed, the drive roller 56a. , 58a is controlled to nip and convey the cut sheet body. This is because during the exposure recording of the cut sheet body, the nip rollers 56b and 58b come into contact with the cut sheet body and the nip is started, so that minute vibration occurs, and the position of the exposed position of the cut sheet body is shifted. This is to prevent exposure unevenness from occurring. Of course, the operation of the sub-scan receiving unit 28 is controlled by a control signal supplied from the control unit 34. Details will be described later.

The allocating unit 30 does not stop the cut sheet body that has been conveyed in one row in accordance with the size such as the width or length of the cut sheet body, and stops the cut sheet body in the main scanning direction, for example, 2 It sorts and conveys in a row. In the present embodiment, for example, whether or not to sort is determined by the width of the cut sheet body.
This distribution part 30 is equivalent to the sheet | seat body distribution apparatus of this invention. The distribution unit 30 will be described in detail later.
Position detection sensors (detection means) 64, 66, and 68 are provided between the distribution unit 30 and the carry-out unit 32.
The position detection sensors 64 to 68 are fixed to the moving table (not shown) immediately after the arrangement position of the roller pair 62 on the downstream side in the transport direction so as to move with the movement of the moving table (not shown). The tip of the cut sheet body that has passed the pair 62 is detected immediately after this passage. Details will be described later. Note that the position detection sensors 64 to 68 may have the same configuration as the position detection sensor 52.

  Further, the sorting unit 30 transports the image recording apparatus 10 so that the direction of the transport direction changes from the horizontal direction to the downward direction (out-of-plane direction of the recording surface of the cut sheet body) during the sorting of the cut sheet bodies. It is provided at the corner of the road. As a result, the cut sheet body can be curved in the out-of-plane direction of the recording surface of the cut sheet body, the strength of the cut sheet body is softened, paper jams are suppressed, and sorting is performed smoothly. Can do.

Next, the distribution unit 30 of this embodiment will be described in detail.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the distribution unit of the present embodiment.
The sorting unit 30 includes a moving body 108 that distributes the cut sheet body, a driving unit (driving unit) 120 that moves the moving body 108 to the left and right, and a nip releasing unit 140.
As for the distribution part 30, the moving body 108 and the drive part 120 are provided in the frame 92 which has window part 92a, 92b.
As for the distribution part 30, the moving body 108 and the drive part 120 are provided in the frame 92 by which the window parts 94a and 94b were formed in the side plates 92a and 92b separately.
A support shaft 96 is fixed to the side plates 92a and 92b, and a guide shaft 104 through which a slide bearing 106 provided in a nip releasing means 140 described later is inserted is fixed.

As will be described later, the moving body 108 is provided with a pair of conveying rollers 113. The conveyance roller pair 113 includes conveyance rollers 114a and 114b and nip rollers 115a, 115b, 117a, and 117b.
The moving body 108 is provided on a seamless pipe slide (hereinafter also referred to as a pipe slide) 130 that is a rotational movement mechanism that moves the conveyance rollers 114a and 114b to the left and right in a rotated state, and the conveyance rollers 114a and 144b. And nip releasing means 140 for controlling the nipping and releasing of the nip rollers 115a, 115b, 117a, 117b.

The moving body 108 has a long casing 110 provided at a position aligned with the window portions 94a and 94b of the side plates 92a and 92b. The casing 110 has a gap into which the cut sheet body is carried. A pair of guide plates 110a and 110b are provided.
Further, the housing 110 is provided with a support shaft 112 to which transport rollers 114a and 114b and a gear 116 are attached in the longitudinal direction. The support shaft 112 is parallel to the guide shaft 104.

  Furthermore, the drive unit 120 moves the moving body 108 in the main scanning direction (hereinafter also referred to as a sorting direction), and does not move in the sorting direction together with the moving body 108. The drive unit 120 includes a pair of pulleys 122 and an endless belt 124 wound around the pulleys 122. The pulley 122 is connected to the housing via a rotation transmission mechanism including a gear and a rotation shaft. As the pulley 122 rotates, the moving body 108 moves in a distribution direction that is parallel to the guide shaft 104.

  A motor 150 is connected to the other pulley (not shown). By moving the motor 150 forward or backward, the moving body 108 can be moved in the main scanning direction. The motor 150 is also connected to the control unit 34, and the rotation is controlled by the control unit 34.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view schematically showing the configuration of the moving body of the distribution unit of the present embodiment. In FIG. 3, the same components as those shown in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.
As shown in FIG. 3, a pipe slide 130 is provided on the lower surface 110c of the housing 110, as will be described later. The pipe slide 130 allows the casing 110 to protrude from the window portions 94a and 94b by sorting during sorting. Hereinafter, the configuration of the pipe slide 130 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the seamless pipe slide of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the pipe slide 130 is provided on flanges 111 a and 111 b erected on the lower surface 110 c of the casing 110 of the moving body 108 via, for example, a pair of ball bearings 136.
The pipe slide 130 includes a sleeve 132, at least one pair of slide bearings (slide bearings) 134, and a rotating shaft 138.

The sleeve 132 has a cylindrical shape, and a pair of elongated holes 132a extending in the longitudinal direction (axial direction) are formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof so as to face each other. The sleeve 132 is provided on the flanges 111a and 111b via a pair of ball bearings 136, for example. The sleeve 132 is provided with, for example, a pair of slide bearings 134 on the inner peripheral surfaces of both ends thereof. Further, as will be described later, a gear 160 (see FIG. 3) is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the sleeve 132.
The ball bearings 136 may be at least one pair and may be one or more pairs.

The slide bearing 134 is provided with a rotating shaft 138. The rotation shaft 138 is fixed to the side plates 92 a and 92 b, and a rotation transmission member 139 is provided at a position aligned with the elongated hole 132 a of the sleeve 132. The rotation transmission member 139 includes a bearing 139a and a shaft portion 139b provided at the center of the bearing 139a. A screw is formed at the end of the shaft portion 139b.
The slide bearing 134 may be at least one pair, and may be one or more pairs.

When the rotation shaft 138 moves relative to the sleeve 132, the rotation transmitting member 139 moves in the long hole 132a in the longitudinal direction, abuts the end of the long hole 132a, and the rotation shaft 138 is regulated. It will stop. Further, when the support shaft rotates, the rotation transmission member 139 pushes the elongated hole 132 a, and the rotation of the rotation shaft 138 is transmitted to the sleeve 132. Since the sleeve 132 is supported by the ball bearing 136, the sleeve 132 also rotates. Thereby, the rotation of the rotation shaft 138 is transmitted to the sleeve 132.
The rotating shaft 138 is provided with a gear 154 at the end thereof, and a motor 152 is connected to the gear 154. The motor 152 is also connected to the control unit 34, and the control unit 34 controls the rotation of the motor 152 to control the rotation of the transport rollers 114a and 114b.

FIG. 5 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing an arrangement state of the seamless pipe slide and the nip releasing means of the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 5, a gear 160 is provided on the sleeve 132 of the pipe slide 130. The gear 160 is connected to the gear 116. Thereby, the rotation of the rotation shaft 138 is transmitted to the support shaft 112 via the gear 160 and the gear 116, and the conveyance roller pair 113 rotates.

On the other hand, nip releasing means 140 for controlling the nipping and releasing of the nip rollers 115a, 115b, 117a, and 117b provided on the transport rollers 114a and 114b, respectively, is provided on the upper portion of the casing.
FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing the nip release mechanism of the distribution unit of this embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the nip release mechanism shown in FIG.

The nip releasing unit 140 includes a releasing member 142 and a fixing member 145 that fixes the releasing member 142 to the moving body 108.
In the release member 142, one end portion of a rectangular base body 142a is bent in a hook shape, and a driven member 144 is provided in the most advanced bent portion 142b.
A guide member 156 is provided below the driven member 144. The guide member 156 is an elongated flat plate member, and an inclined surface 156a is provided at an end portion thereof. The position of the slope 156a is provided at a position away from the distribution width. The driven member 144 and the guide member 156 constitute a linear cam mechanism. The nip releasing means 140 is controlled to be held by the nip roller by this linear cam mechanism. As will be described later, the nip is not released with the normal distribution width. In this embodiment, the driven member 144 is always in contact with the guide member 156, but is not limited to this, and is only in contact with the guide member 156 when releasing the nip. Also good.

Further, in the release member 142, one end side is bent in a hook shape, and below the standing portion 142c perpendicular to the base body 142a, the support members 143a and 143b are opposed to each other from the long sides of the base body 142a. It stands up toward the side where the member 144 is provided. A shaft 147 is rotatably provided on the support members 43a and 143b. As will be described later, this shaft 147 is connected to the fixing member 145.
Further, shaft support members 143c and 143d are erected on the long sides on the other end side of the base body 142a so as to face each other on the side opposite to the side where the driven member 144 is provided. On the shaft support members 143c and 143d, the rotation shaft 119a of the nip rollers 115a and 117b and the rotation shaft 119b of the nip rollers 115b and 117a are arranged in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the base body 142a.

The fixing member 145 includes a pair of L-shaped side members 145a and 145b, and a rectangular connecting member 145c that connects one ends of the side members 145a and 145b. In the fixing member 145, the other ends of the side members 145a and 145b are open, and the length of the connecting member 145c is longer than the length of the short side of the base body 142a. The other end of the fixing member 145 is connected to the release member 142. Thereby, the release member 142 and the fixing member 145 do not contact each other.
Further, a guide shaft 158 is inserted into the side members 145 a and 145 b of the fixing member 145 so as to be parallel to the long side of the connecting member 145. The guide shaft 158 is an axis parallel to the support shaft 112. Sliding bearings (not shown) are provided between the side members 145a and 145b and the guide shaft 158.

  In the nip release mechanism 140, when the movable body 108 is moved in the distribution direction beyond the distribution width, and the driven member 144 moves up the slope 156a of the guide member 156, the rotation shaft 147 serves as a support shaft, and the release member 142 serves as a guide shaft. The nip rollers 115a, 115b, 117a, and 117b are separated from the conveying rollers 114a and 114b. Thereby, the conveyed cut sheet body is conveyed as it is, without being distributed.

In the present embodiment, a linear cam mechanism is used as the nip releasing means 140, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. Instead of the guide member 156, a guide groove similar to the cross-sectional shape of the side surface of the guide member 156 is formed in the plate material. When a driven member provided with a bar-shaped guide member is inserted into the guide groove and the release member 142 moves, the position of the guide bar may change and the nip may be released.
In addition, the guide member 156 is configured to have one inclined surface 156a, but the present embodiment is not limited to this. Slopes may be provided at both ends of the guide member 156. In this case, since the slopes are respectively provided at both ends of the guide member, when the nip is released, the guide member may be moved to the near slope side. Thereby, the time required for nip release can be shortened.

In the present embodiment, the sorting unit 30 is provided at a position farther from the exposure unit 26 than the length of the cut sheet that does not need to be sorted. For this reason, when there is no need to sort, the moving body 108 is moved to the slope 156a side, and the nip rollers 115a, 115b, 117a, 117b are separated from the conveying rollers 114a, 114b to release the nip, and the cut is performed. Allow the sheet to pass through.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, although the distribution part 30 which distributes the cut sheet body conveyed by a single row into 2 rows was demonstrated to the example, this invention is not limited to this. For example, the cut sheet bodies conveyed in a plurality of rows may be used for conveying a single row, or the cut sheet bodies conveyed in two rows may be conveyed in one row.

As shown in FIG. 1, the carry-out unit 32 conveys the cut sheet bodies distributed into two rows by the distribution unit 30 independently in each row. In FIG. 1, the transport paths F and R of the carry-out section 32 are shown in parallel in the left and right for convenience of illustration. However, as shown in FIG. 8, actually, the rollers in the transport paths F and R are arranged in parallel with their axes aligned. FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view schematically showing the transport unit, FIG. 9A is a schematic side view showing the configuration of the transport path F shown in FIG. 1 in an enlarged manner, and FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing an enlarged configuration of a transport unit R shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 8, nip roller pairs 70 and 72 and speed control roller pairs 74 are provided on the transport path F from the upstream side in the transport direction, and nip roller pairs 71 and 73 and speed control are provided on the transport path R. A roller pair 75 is provided. Further, a pair of carry-out rollers (adjustment conveyance unit) 76 is provided across the conveyance paths F and R in the vicinity of the outlets of the conveyance paths F and R.
In the conveyance path F and the conveyance path R, the nip roller pairs 70 to 74 and the speed control roller pairs 74 and 75 are connected to the control unit 34. The rotation of the nip roller pairs 70 to 74 and the speed adjusting roller pairs 74 and 75 and the nipping and releasing of the nip are controlled independently of each other, and the cut sheet body is conveyed independently.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9A, in the transport path F of the carry-out portion 32, the nip roller pair 70, 72 has drive rollers 70a, 72a and nip rollers 70b, 72b. The nip roller pair 70, 72 is provided with an opening / closing means 78a for clamping and opening the nip rollers 70b, 72b. The opening / closing means 78a makes the nip rollers 70b and 72b contact or separate from the driving rollers 70a and 72a. The opening / closing means 78a is driven by the control unit 34 based on a detection signal output from the position detection sensor 80a described later to the control unit 34.

A position detection sensor 64 is provided on the upstream side of the nip roller pair 70.
On the downstream side of the nip roller pair 72, a speed regulating roller pair 74 is provided. The speed control roller pair 74 adjusts the sheet body conveyance speed to be increased or decreased, and does not sandwich and release. In the present embodiment, the speed control roller pair 74 reduces the conveyance speed.
A carry-out roller pair 76 is provided downstream of the speed control roller pair 74, and a position detection sensor 80 a is provided between the speed control roller pair 74 and the carry-out roller pair 76.

The position detection sensor 80 a detects a cut sheet body and is connected to the control unit 34. When the cut sheet body is detected by the position detection sensor 80a, a detection signal is output to the control unit 34, and the nip roller 70b is separated from the drive roller 70a.
The carry-out roller pair 76 carries the cut sheet body, the conveyance speed of which has been adjusted, into the processor 16 at a predetermined conveyance speed.

  Since the conveyance path R shown in FIG. 9B has the same configuration as the conveyance path F shown in FIG. 9A, detailed description thereof is omitted. In the conveyance path R shown in FIG. 9B, the nip roller pairs 71 and 73 correspond to the nip roller pairs 70 and 72 (see FIG. 9A), and the speed control roller pair 75 corresponds to the speed control roller pair 74 (FIG. 9). The opening / closing means 78b corresponds to the opening / closing means 78a (see FIG. 9A), and the position detection sensor 80c corresponds to the position detection sensor 80a (see FIG. 9A). is there.

  As the position detection sensors 80a to 80c, those having the same configuration as the position detection sensor 52 can be used. The position detection sensor 80b also detects the position of the cut sheet body.

As shown in FIG. 8, in the carry-out portion 32, the cut sheet bodies P distributed in two rows by the nip roller pairs 70 and 72 and the nip roller pairs 71 and 73 in the transport paths F and R are independent of each other. Be transported. Further, the cut sheet body P _L transported in a single row having a width that is not distributed is transported across the transport path F and the transport path R.
In the carry-out unit 32, when the leading end position of the cut sheet P is detected by the position detection sensors 80a to 80c, the conveyance speed is reduced by the speed control roller pairs 74 and 75. That is, in the image recording apparatus 10, conveyance to the nip roller pairs 70 and 72 and the nip roller pairs 71 and 73 in the back printing unit 22, the registration unit 24, the exposure unit 26, the sub-scanning receiving unit 28, the sorting unit 30, and the carry-out unit 32. In the road, the cut sheet body P is conveyed at a constant speed of, for example, 100 (mm / second), and the conveying speed of the cut sheet body P is 100 (mm / second) by the pair of speed control rollers 74 and 75. ) To 45.3 (mm / sec). At that time, the nip roller pairs 70 to 73 are controlled so that the nip roller is separated from the drive roller and the nip is released immediately before the deceleration by the speed control roller pair 74 and 75 is started. This deceleration is to correspond to the processing speed of the developing process in the processor 16 as the post-processing.
The cut sheet bodies P conveyed in parallel in two rows are discharged from the carry-out port 11a by the conveyance roller pair 76 and supplied to the adjacent processor 16. As for the cut sheets P _L to be conveyed in a single row, the pair of conveying rollers 76, is discharged from the outlet port 11a, it is supplied to the adjacent processor 16.
Of course, the operation of the carry-out unit 32 is controlled by a control signal supplied from the control unit 34.

  The control unit 34 is connected to a plurality of sensors (not shown) including the position detection sensor disposed in the image recording apparatus 10 described above, and receives the detection signals of these sensors, thereby supplying the supply unit 20, the cutters 40 a and 40 b, and the back side. A control signal for controlling the operation and processing of each part of the printing unit 22, the registration unit 24, the exposure unit 26, the sub-scanning receiving unit 28, the sorting unit 30 and the carry-out unit 32 is generated, and the control signal is transmitted to each part. To send. For example, as described later, a detection signal sent from the exposure unit 26, the distribution unit 30, and the conveyance unit 32 is received, and a series of operations of exposure, conveyance, and distribution are controlled. In addition, in FIG. 1, illustration of the connection by the wiring of the control part 34 and each part is abbreviate | omitted.

A processor 16 is provided on the downstream side of the carry-out unit 32, and the exposed cut sheet body P is developed by the processor 16.
FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of the processor of the image recording apparatus of the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 10, the processor 16 includes a development processing unit 18 and a drying processing unit 19, and the cut sheet P is developed and dried to form a print. Examples of the processor 16 include an automatic developing device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-55422. This automatic development processing apparatus has a photosensitive material submerged conveyance structure that can reliably prevent liquid leakage between processing tanks with a small number of parts.
As shown in FIG. 10, in the development processing unit 18, the developing tank 200, the fixing bleaching tank 202, the first water washing tank 204, the second water washing tank 206, and the third water washing are sequentially performed from the upstream side in the transport direction of the cut sheet P. A tank 208 and a fourth washing tank 210 are provided in the horizontal direction. The drying processing unit 19 is provided on the downstream side of the fourth water washing tank 210.

  A developing solution is stored in the developing tank 200, and a predetermined amount of fixing bleaching solution is stored in the fixing bleaching tank 202.

  Inside the developing tank 200 and the fixing bleaching tank 202, there is provided a conveying device 212 composed of a plurality of rollers for conveying the cut sheet P in a substantially U shape within the tank.

  Above the developing tank 200, there are provided a sandwiching roller 214 for transporting the cut sheet body P into the developing tank 200 and a sandwiching roller 216 for transporting the developed cut sheet body P to the fixing bleaching tank 202 side.

  Further, above the fixing bleaching tank 202, the nipping roller 218 that conveys the cut sheet body P conveyed from the developing tank 200 side into the fixing bleaching tank 202 and the cut sheet body P that has been subjected to the fixing process are washed in the first washing tank 204. A sandwiching roller 220 is provided for transporting to the side.

  A predetermined amount of flush water is stored in the first flush tank 204, the second flush tank 206, the third flush tank 208, and the fourth flush tank 210.

  A nipping roller 222 is provided above the first water rinsing tank 204 to convey the fixed cut sheet P to the inside of the first water rinsing tank 204.

  Further, a partition wall 224a between the first water washing tank 204 and the second water washing tank 206, a partition wall 224b between the second water washing tank 206 and the third water washing tank 208, a third water washing tank 208 and a fourth water washing tank 210, In the partition wall 224c, photosensitive material passage members 226a, 226b, and 226c that allow passage of the cut sheet body P and prevent passage of the liquid are provided. The photosensitive material passage members 226a, 226b, and 226c have blades, and after the cut sheet body P has passed, the passage of the liquid is blocked by the blades.

  Further, the first water washing tank 204, the second water washing tank 206, the third water washing tank 208, and the fourth water washing tank 210 are provided with nip rollers 228a, 228b, 228c as conveying means for conveying the cut sheet body P, respectively. Yes. The second flush tank 206 and the third flush tank 208 are provided with guide plate pairs 230a and 230b.

  In addition, a clamping roller 232 that conveys the water-washed cut sheet body P to the drying processing unit 19 is provided above the fourth washing tank 210.

  In addition, an end portion of a pipe 236 for supplying a fresh water washing treatment liquid stored in the replenishing tank 234 to the fourth water washing tank 210 is disposed above the fourth water washing tank 210. The pipe 236 is provided with a pump 238 for supplying the washing treatment liquid in the replenishing tank 234 to the fourth washing tank 210.

  A pump driving device 240 is connected to the pump 238 so that the pump 238 operates at a predetermined timing.

  Further, the first flush tank 204 is provided with an overflow pipe 243 for discharging a predetermined or greater quantity of flush treatment liquid, and the overflow flush process liquid is stored in the storage tank 244 via the overflow pipe 243.

  In the processor 16, the cut sheet P immersed in the developer in the developer tank 200 is then immersed in the fixer in the fixing bleach tank 202 and conveyed to the first washing tank 204. In the present embodiment, the cut sheet P is conveyed with the recording surface (emulsion surface) on the upper side and the non-recording surface on the lower side.

  The cut sheet body P sent to the first water washing tank 204 is washed with the washing water stored in the first water washing tank 204.

  The cut sheet P washed with water in the first washing tank 204 is conveyed toward the second washing tank 206 by the nip roller 228a, passes through the photosensitive material passage member 226a, and is carried into the second washing tank 206.

  Thereafter, the cut sheet P similarly passes through the photosensitive material passage members 226b and 226c in the same manner, and is washed with the respective washing water in the second washing tank 206, the third washing tank 208, and the fourth washing tank 210, and is sandwiched between them. It is conveyed to the drying processing unit 19 by the roller pair 232. The cut sheet P is dried by the drying processing unit 19.

  In the processor 16 of the present embodiment, the flush water is replenished by a so-called cascade method, and, for example, the most downstream side in the transport direction of the cut sheet body P according to the processing amount of the cut sheet body P The fourth washing tank 210 is replenished with fresh washing water.

Next, the operation of the image recording apparatus 10 of this embodiment will be described.
In the image recording apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, first, the photosensitive material A is pulled out by a predetermined length from the magazines 20a and 20b loaded in the supply unit 20, and is cut by the cutters 40a and 40b. can get.
A back print is recorded on the cut sheet body by the back printing unit 22. Thereafter, the cut sheet body is lifted and transported along the transport path, and is transported to the resist unit 24. The registration unit 24 adjusts the skew of the cut sheet body and the position in the main scanning direction so that the cut sheet body is arranged at a predetermined position in the width direction in the conveyance path without being inclined with respect to the conveyance path. The cut sheet body that has passed through the resist unit 24 is transferred from the upper side to the horizontal direction and is transferred to the exposure unit 20.
In the exposure unit 20, when the leading end of the cut sheet passes through the position detection sensor 52, a detection signal from the position detection sensor 52 is sent to the control unit 34, the light beam L of the exposure unit 36 is turned on, and exposure recording starts. Is done.
The exposed cut sheet body is conveyed to the allocating unit 30 by the nip rollers 56a, 56b, 60a, 60b without impacting the cut sheet body.

In the sorting unit 30, the transport rollers 114a and 114b are always rotating. If the cut sheet body to be conveyed has a width to be distributed, the drive motor is rotated and distributed to either the conveyance path F or the conveyance path R. At this time, in this embodiment, since the pipe slide is used, the conveyance in the main scanning direction (orthogonal direction) and the conveyance in the sub-scanning direction (conveyance direction) can be performed simultaneously. Moreover, since the pipe slide is not provided with a driving means such as a motor, the mass can be reduced, the moving speed of the moving body in the main scanning direction can be improved, and problems such as step-out are caused. Can also be avoided.
When cut sheet bodies having a width to be distributed are continuously conveyed, the cut sheet bodies are alternately distributed and conveyed with respect to the conveyance path F or the conveyance path R. Since the conveyance rollers 114a and 114b are always rotating, the cut sheet body is not stopped, and a decrease in the conveyance speed can be suppressed, so that the conveyance efficiency can be improved. In this case, since the position of the slope is farther than the amplitude, the nip is not released.

The carry-out unit 32 independently conveys the cut sheet body distributed to each of the transport paths F and R by the distribution unit 30, or conveys the cut sheet body that has not been distributed by the distribution unit 30 in a single row. Is.
FIGS. 11A to 11J are timing charts of cut sheet bodies distributed in two rows in the carry-out portion, and the horizontal axis indicates time. 11A shows the position detection sensor 68, FIG. 11B shows the position detection sensor 64, FIG. 11C shows the position detection sensor 66, FIG. 11D shows the opening / closing means 78a, FIG. 11E shows the opening / closing means 78b, and FIG. Is a speed control motor 74, (g) is a speed control motor 75, (h) is a position detection sensor 80a, (i) is a position detection sensor 80b, and (j) is a timing chart of the position detection sensor 80c.

First, distribution unit 30 is conveyed cut sheet P is (see FIG. 8), as shown in FIG. 11 (c), at time alpha _1, the cut sheet P is a position detection sensor 66 (see FIG. 8) To detect the tip. Next, the sheet is distributed to the conveyance path R by the distribution unit 30 and, as shown in FIG. 11A, at the time β, the position detection sensor 68 (see FIG. 9) detects the leading end of the cut sheet P. The other position detection sensors 64 and 66 do not detect the tip portion.
The cut sheet P passes through the nip roller pairs 71 and 73 (see FIG. 9), and further passes through the speed regulating roller pair 75 (see FIG. 9). At this time, as shown in FIG. 11G, the speed control roller pair 75 rotates in advance at a predetermined timing.

Next, when the cut sheet P passes through the speed control roller pair 75 and the leading end thereof is time δ as shown in FIG. 11 (j), it is detected by the position detection sensor 80c (see FIG. 9), and position detection is performed. A detection signal is output from the sensor 80c to the control unit 34, and as shown in FIG. 11E, the control unit 34 drives the opening / closing means 78a for a predetermined time, and the nip roller 71b of the nip roller pair 71 is moved from the drive roller 71a. Spaced apart. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 11G, the rotational speed of the speed adjusting roller pair 75 is delayed from the time δ by the time t, and decelerated to the conveying speed of the processor 16.
In this way, the rotational speed of the speed control roller pair 75 is reduced in a state where the nip of the rear end portion of the cut sheet body P is released, adjusted to the transport speed in the processor 16, and the cut sheet body P ( 8) and further to the processor 16.

Next, as shown in FIG. 11 (c), at time α ₂ , the cut sheet body P detected by the position detection sensor 66 (see FIG. 8) is distributed to the conveyance path F. In the same manner as the conveyance path R, the conveyance speed is adjusted and conveyed to the processor 16. In this case, at the time γ, the position detection sensor 64 (see FIG. 9) detects the leading end of the cut sheet P, and the other position detection sensors 66 and 68 do not detect the leading end.
Then, the cut sheet body P passes through the nip roller pairs 70 and 72 (see FIG. 9), and further passes through the speed regulating roller pair 74 (see FIG. 9). At this time, as shown in FIG. 11F, the speed control roller pair 74 is rotated at a predetermined timing in advance.

  Next, when the cut sheet body P passes through the speed adjusting roller pair 74 and the leading edge thereof is detected by the position detection sensor 80a (see FIG. 9) as shown in FIG. A detection signal is output from the position detection sensor 80a to the control unit 34, and the control unit 34 drives the opening / closing means 78a for a predetermined time as shown in FIG. 11D, and the nip roller 71b of the nip roller pair 71 is driven roller. It is separated from 71a. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 11 (f), the rotation speed of the speed adjusting roller pair 74 is delayed by the time t and decelerated to the conveying speed of the processor 16.

  In this way, in the carry-out unit 32, the cut sheet bodies P to be distributed are alternately distributed to the conveyance path F and the conveyance path R, and the conveyance speed is adjusted and conveyed to the processor 16. For example, the conveyance speed of 100 (mm / second) is reduced to 45.3 (mm / second). That is, the carry-out unit 32 adjusts the conveyance speed according to the conveyance speed of the processor 16.

Next, a case where the cut sheet body P _L (see FIG. 8) having a width that is not distributed in the distribution unit 30 is conveyed in a single row will be described. Note that the cut sheet body P _L has no skew (see FIG. 8), and the cut sheet body P _L is transported across the transport path F and the transport path R. At this time, the nip of the sorting unit 30 is released as described above, and the cut sheet body P _L passes through the sorting unit 30. The width of the sheet body P _L can be detected by the number crossing the position detection sensors 64 to 68.
12A to 12J are timing charts of the cut sheet body conveyed in a single row in the carry-out portion, and the horizontal axis represents time. 12 (a) is a position detection sensor 68, (b) is a position detection sensor 64, (c) is a position detection sensor 66, (d) is an opening / closing means 78a, (e) is an opening / closing means 78b, (f). Is a speed control motor 74, (g) is a speed control motor 75, (h) is a position detection sensor 80a, (i) is a position detection sensor 80b, and (j) is a timing chart of the position detection sensor 80c.

First, as shown in FIGS. 12A to 12C, the cut sheet body P _L (see FIG. 8) that cannot be sorted is detected at time α by the position detection sensors 64 to 68 (see FIG. 8). In this case, since it is detected at the same time α in the position detection sensor 64 to 68, it can detect the width of the cut sheet P _L.

The cut sheet body P _L passes through the nip roller pair 70, 72 (see FIG. 9) and the nip roller pair 71, 73 (see FIG. 9) of each conveyance path F, R, and further, the speed regulating roller pair 74, 75 (see FIG. 9). See also). At this time, as shown in FIGS. 12 (f) and 12 (g), the pair of speed control rollers 74 and 75 are rotated in advance so as to be conveyed at a conveyance speed at a predetermined timing.
When the cut sheet body P _L passes through the pair of speed control rollers 74 and 75 and the leading ends thereof are at time δ, as shown in FIGS. 12H to 12J, position detection sensors 80a to 80c (see FIG. 8). ), Detection signals are output from the position detection sensors 80a to 80c to the control unit 34, and the control unit 34 opens and closes the opening / closing means 78a and 78b as shown in FIGS. 12 (d) and 12 (e). By being driven for a time, the nip rollers 70b and 71b of the nip roller pair 70 and 71 are separated from the drive rollers 70a and 71a. At the same time, when the leading ends are detected by the position detection sensors 80a to 80c, as shown in FIGS. 12 (f) and 12 (g), the rotational speeds of the speed control roller pairs 74 and 75 are delayed by time t, and the processor 16 is transported. Decelerated to speed.

In this way, the rotational speed of the pair of speed control rollers 74 and 75 is reduced while the nip of the rear end portion of the cut sheet body P _L transported in a single row is released, thereby adjusting the transport speed in the processor 16. conveying the cut sheet P _L to the transport roller pair 76, further conveyed to the processor 16.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method of taking a skew in the carry-out unit of the present embodiment.
Then, when the single-line transport the unloading unit 32, as shown in FIG. 13, a description will be given of a method of taking the skew when the conveyed skewed cut sheet P _L from the upstream side.
First, as shown in FIG. 12A, the position detection sensor 68 detects the tip portion earlier than the position detection sensor 66 by the time f, and then, as shown in FIG. 12C, the position detection sensor 66. Detects the tip at time α, and finally, the position detection sensor 64 detects the tip after a time g from the position detection sensor 66 as shown in FIG. The skew of the cut sheet body P _L is known from the difference in detection timing of the position detection sensors 64 to 68. In this case, since the distal end portion is detected by the position detection sensor 64 to 68, it can detect the width of the cut sheet P _L.

Next, the cut sheet body P _L passes through the nip roller pair 70 and 72 and the nip roller pair 71 and 73 of each conveyance path F and R, and further passes through the speed adjusting roller pair 74 and 75. At this time, as shown in FIGS. 12 (f) and 12 (g), the pair of speed control rollers 74 and 75 are rotated in advance so as to be conveyed at a conveyance speed at a predetermined timing. However, when the cut sheet body P _L is skewed, as shown in FIG. 12 (f), the timing for increasing the rotation of the speed control roller pair 74 is delayed by time h.

When the cut sheet body P _L passes through the pair of speed control rollers 74 and 75 and the leading end is detected by the position detection sensor 80c, a detection signal is output from the position detection sensor 80c to the control unit 34. As shown in FIG. 12E, the opening / closing means 78b is driven for a predetermined time, and the nip roller 71b of the nip roller pair 71 is separated from the drive roller 71a. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 12G, the rotational speed of the speed control roller pair 75 is reduced.
As shown in FIG. 12 (i), by the position detection sensor 80b, the distal end portion of the cut sheet P _L with a delay time k from the position detection sensor 80a is detected, further, as shown in FIG. 12 (h), the position The position detection sensor 80c detects the leading end of the cut sheet body P _{L after} a time j from the detection sensor 80a. At this time, as shown in FIG. 12 (d), a detection signal is output from the position detection sensor 80c to the control unit 34 with a delay of time j, and the control unit 34 drives the opening / closing means 78a for a predetermined time. The 70 nip rollers 70b are separated from the drive roller 70a. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 12 (f), the rotational speed of the speed control roller pair 74 is decelerated with a delay of time h.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 13, the cut sheet body P _L rotates in the θ direction, and the cut sheet body P _L can be skewed. The body P _L can be transported. Furthermore, conveying the cut sheet P _L to the transport roller pair 76 by adjusting the conveying speed in the processor 16, and further can be conveyed at a predetermined conveying speed in the processor 16.

In the present embodiment, the timing of the deceleration of the speed governor roller pairs 74 and 75, has been described how to adjust the skew of the cut sheets P _L, the present invention is not limited thereto. Other than this, by adjusting the degree of rotational speed or acceleration or deceleration, the speed governor roller pairs 74 and 75 may fix the skew cut sheet P _L.

If the leading end of the cut sheet body P _L on the transport path F side is upstream of the transport path R side with respect to the transport direction, the rotational speed of the speed control roller pair 75 is increased. Alternatively, the skew of the cut sheet body P _L is corrected depending on whether the rotational speed of the speed control roller pair 74 is decreased. Also in this case, the nip rollers 70b and 71b are separated from the drive rollers 70a and 71a.

Thus, in the carry-out part 32, when there is a skew in the cut sheet body P _L having a width to be conveyed in a single row, the speed can be adjusted and the skew can be corrected. For this reason, even the cut sheet body P _L having a small margin with respect to the processor 16 can be conveyed to the processor 16 at an appropriate conveyance speed and in an appropriate posture (orientation).
In the carry-out unit 32, the processor 16 may be in a skewed state even if there is no skew in the carry-out unit 32 due to the positional relationship between the image recording apparatus 10 and the processor 16, as described above. is there. At this time, the cut sheet body P _L is intentionally skewed to adjust the posture of the cut sheet body P _L and adjust the speed so that the processor 16 is not skewed.

The carry-out unit 32 of the present embodiment corrects the skew of the cut sheet body caused by the assembly accuracy of the image recording apparatus 10, the accuracy of parts, and machine differences such as the cut sheet body. Furthermore, even in the image recording apparatus 10 using a plurality of types of cut sheet bodies, the adjustment and skew of the cut sheet body conveyance speed can be corrected without depending on the types of the cut sheet bodies.
In the carry-out unit 32 of the present embodiment, cut sheet bodies that are not sorted may be conveyed in advance, and the skew of the cut sheet bodies may be obtained by the position detection sensors 64 to 68. Accordingly, when the cut sheet body having a width that is not allocated is conveyed, the skew may be corrected by controlling the speed control roller pair 74 and 75.
In Patent Document 1, since it is transported in synchronization with hardware, skew cannot be taken as in this embodiment. Thus, it is obvious that the image recording apparatus 10 using a plurality of types of cut sheet bodies is not suitable.

  As described above, according to the image recording apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the cut sheet body conveyed in a single row or two rows by the distribution unit 30 is adjusted to the conveyance speed of the processor and conveyed. For cut sheet bodies conveyed in a row, the skew can be corrected and the conveyance speed can be adjusted by measuring the skew with a position detection sensor. Further, the posture of the cut sheet body (orientation in the orthogonal direction) can be adjusted according to the positional relationship between the processor 16 and the image recording apparatus 10 and conveyed.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 14 is a schematic perspective view showing a distribution unit according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the distribution unit of the present embodiment as viewed from the discharge direction side. In FIG. 14, illustration of the slide mechanism shown in FIG. 15 is omitted. Moreover, the arrow a shown in FIG. 14 shows the carrying-in direction of a cut sheet body, and the arrow b shows a discharge direction.
In the present embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 13 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. The distribution unit of this embodiment is also applied to the image recording apparatus as in the first embodiment.

Compared with the allocating unit 30 of the first embodiment, the allocating unit 30a of the present embodiment is configured such that the drive mechanism of the moving body 108 is not the pipe slide 130 but the spline mechanism 170, as shown in FIG. The difference is that it has a slide mechanism 180, and the other configuration is the same as that of the allocating unit 30 shown in the first embodiment, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.
In the distribution unit 30a of the present embodiment, the spline mechanism 170 is provided at the end of the spline shaft 172, a gear (rotation transmission member) 174 slidably provided on the spline shaft 172, and the spline shaft 172. Drive gear 176.
The spline shaft 172 is fixed to the side plates 92a and 92b, and the spline shaft 172 is provided with a spline groove 172a on the outer peripheral surface thereof along the axial direction.

  The gear 174 has a fitting portion (not shown) that fits into the spline groove 172 a of the spline shaft 172, and this fitting portion can move in the axial direction of the spline shaft 172. The rotation of the spline shaft 172 is transmitted to the gear 174 through the fitting portion. The gear 174 is meshed with a gear 118 that rotationally drives the support shaft 112 of the transport rollers 114a and 114b. Further, the spline shaft 172 is provided with a drive gear 176, and a transmission gear (not shown) is engaged with the drive gear 176. The spline shaft 172 is rotated by the transmission gear. Since the gear 174 is provided on the spline shaft 172, following the movement of the moving body 108 in the main scanning direction (distribution direction), the gear 174 moves in the axial direction of the spline shaft 172, and rotates the conveyance roller 114 a. , 114b.

As shown in FIG. 15, the slide mechanism 180 is fixed to the side plates 92a and 92b, and the guide shaft 182 and the guide shaft (guide shaft) 182 are provided to be movable in the longitudinal direction. And a guide member 184. The guide member 184 is connected to the moving body 108, and the guide member 184 moves on the guide shaft 182 as the moving body 108 moves. By the slide mechanism 180, the moving body 108 can be smoothly moved in the main scanning direction.
In addition, the guide member 184 consists of a slide bearing, for example, and in this embodiment, one pair is provided. However, the guide member 184 is not particularly limited as long as one or more pairs are provided.
The slide mechanism 180 is not necessarily provided. If the spline shaft 172 has sufficient strength, it is not particularly necessary to provide the slide mechanism 180. The guide member 184 is, for example, a sliding bearing.

  Also in the distribution unit 30a of the present embodiment, since the moving body 108 is not provided with a driving unit such as a motor, the weight can be reduced. Therefore, the same effect as the distribution unit 30 of the first embodiment can be achieved. Can be obtained.

  Further, since the operation of the allocating unit 30a is the same as the above-described operation, detailed description thereof is omitted. Also in the present embodiment, the driving roller is always rotating, and in this state, the moving body 108 is moved in the main scanning direction, and the cut sheet bodies are divided into, for example, two rows. When the cut sheet body has a width that does not need to be distributed, the movable body is retracted and the nip is released to pass the cut sheet body through the distribution portion. In the present embodiment, the operation is the same as that in the first embodiment described above, and the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

  In any of the above-described embodiments, the skew (inclination) of the sheet body is detected by the position detection sensor and the skew is corrected. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the skew can be corrected by checking the device-specific skew in advance and controlling the pair of speed control rollers according to the skew. For this reason, it is not always necessary to provide the position detection sensor. For example, the skew can be corrected by setting the conveyance timing of the cut sheet body in the control unit.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an image recording apparatus using a sheet conveying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the distribution part of this embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows typically the structure of the moving body of the distribution part of this embodiment. It is typical sectional drawing which shows the structure of the seamless pipe slide of this embodiment. It is a typical disassembled perspective view which shows the arrangement | positioning state of the seamless pipe slide and nip cancellation | release means of this embodiment. It is a typical perspective view which shows the nip cancellation | release mechanism of the distribution part of this embodiment. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the nip release mechanism shown in FIG. It is a schematic plan view which shows a conveyance part typically. (A) is a schematic side view showing an enlarged configuration of the transport path F shown in FIG. 1, and (b) is a schematic side view showing an enlarged configuration of the transport section R shown in FIG. It is a typical sectional view showing typically the composition of the processor of the image recording device of this embodiment. (A) thru | or (j) are the timing charts of the cut sheet | seat body sorted into 2 rows in the carrying-out part, and a horizontal axis shows time. (A) thru | or (j) are timing charts of the cut sheet | seat body conveyed in a single row in a carrying-out part, and a horizontal axis shows time. It is a schematic diagram which shows the method of taking the skew in the carrying-out part of this embodiment. It is a typical perspective view which shows the distribution part which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the perspective view which looked at the distribution part of this embodiment from the discharge direction side. (A) thru | or (c) are the schematic diagrams which show the conveyance mechanism disclosed by patent document 1, and its conveyance state.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image recording apparatus 11 Housing | casing 12 Scanner 14 Image processing apparatus 16 Processor 20 Supply part 22 Back printing part 24 Registration part 26 Exposure part 28 Subscanning receiving part 30 Sorting part 32 Unloading part 34 Control part 36 Exposure unit 108 Moving body 110 Case 110a, 110b Guide plate pair 111a, 111b Flange 112 Support shaft 114a, 114b Conveying roller 115a, 115b, 117a, 117b Nip roller 120 Drive unit 130 Seamless pipe slide (pipe slide)
132 Sleeve 132a Groove 134 Slide bearing 136 Ball bearing 138 Rotating shaft 139 Rotation transmitting member 140 Nip releasing means 142 Release member 145 Fixing member

Claims (4)

A sheet transport apparatus that transports a sheet body in a single row or a plurality of rows according to the width of the sheet body,
A plurality of conveying units provided in parallel to convey the sheet bodies independently of each other;
A control unit that adjusts the conveyance speed of each of the conveyance units,
The control unit further increases or decreases the conveyance speed of the sheet body in at least one conveyance unit among the plurality of conveyance units when conveying the sheet body having a width over the plurality of conveyance units in a single row. A sheet body conveying apparatus that adjusts the direction of the sheet body. The conveyance unit is connected to an inlet of another device, and an adjustment conveyance unit that adjusts the conveyance speed of the sheet body is provided in the vicinity of the outlet of the sheet body of the conveyance unit,
The sheet conveyance device according to claim 1, wherein the adjustment conveyance unit is controlled by the control unit. Each transport unit includes a nip transport roller pair, and a transport roller pair provided on the downstream side in the transport direction from the nip transport roller pair,
The nip conveyance roller pair is controlled to be held and released by the control unit, and the conveyance roller pair is controlled to be conveyed by the control unit,
3. The sheet conveyance device according to claim 1, wherein the controller releases the nipping of the nip conveyance roller pair when adjusting the orientation of the sheet by the conveyance roller pair. Provided in parallel with each other for conveying sheet bodies independently of each other, each having a plurality of conveyance sections whose conveyance speeds can be adjusted, and conveying the sheet bodies in a single row or a plurality of rows according to the width of the sheet bodies A method for controlling a sheet conveying apparatus that performs
Detecting the width of the sheet body;
Detecting a direction with respect to an orthogonal direction orthogonal to a conveying direction of the sheet body;
As a result of detecting the width of the sheet body, when the sheet body is transported in a single row across the plurality of transport sections, the plurality of transport sections are based on the detection result of the width of the sheet body and the direction with respect to the orthogonal direction. And a step of adjusting the orientation of the sheet body by increasing or decreasing a sheet body conveyance speed in at least one conveyance unit.

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