Image formation device

• US 8,660,476 B2
• Filed: 03/29/2011
• Issued: 02/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Aoi, Yosuke
• Primary Examiner(s): Yan, Ren
• Assistant Examiner(s): PRIMO, ALLISTER O
• Application Number:
  US13/074,047
• Publication Number:
  US 20110268484A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,064 Days
• Field of Search: 399/364, 399/401, 399/397, 271/184, 271/185
• US Class Current: 399/397
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2220/01 indicating an entity as a function of which control, adjustment or change is performed, i.e. input
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2220/02 indicating an entity which is controlled, adjusted or changed by a control process, i.e. output
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2220/03 indicating an entity which is measured, estimated, evaluated, calculated or determined but which does not constitute an entity which is adjusted or changed by the control process per se
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2301/33312 forward reverse rollers pairs
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2511/20 Location in space
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2511/518 Particular portion of element
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2513/10 Speed
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2513/41 Direction of movement
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2701/1313 trailing edge
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2801/06 Office-type machines, e.g. photocopiers
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 85/00 Recirculating articles, i.e. feeding each article to, and delivering it from, the same machine work-station more than once
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/234 by inverting and refeeding the image receiving material with an image on one face to the recording member to transfer a second image on its second face, e.g. by using a duplex tray; Details of duplex trays or inverters
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2215/00438 Inverter of refeeding path
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2215/00945 Copy material feeding speed varied over the feed path

Abstract

An image formation device is configured such that a feed roller and a discharge roller are rotated in a first direction so that the sheet is fed from the fixing unit to the discharge opening at a first speed V1, in a second direction so that the sheet is fed from the discharge opening to the diverging point at a second speed V2 if the entire sheet has reached a discharge opening side with respect to the diverging point, and the feeding speed is changed to a third speed V3 if the sheet has reached a position where it is nipped by the sheet feed rollers after the sheet was started to be fed at the second speed V2.

Claims

1. An image formation device, comprising:

a housing formed with a discharge opening through which a sheet is discharged from the image formation device;

an image formation unit configured to form an image on the sheet;

a fixing unit configured to fix an image, which was transferred onto the sheet, on the sheet;

a sheet feed path which guides the sheet from the fixing unit to the discharge opening;

a sheet feed roller arranged in the sheet feed path;

a sheet discharge roller arranged at a position in the sheet feed path and between the discharge opening and the sheet feed roller;

a motor configured to drive the sheet feed roller and the sheet discharge roller;

a reverse path which diverges from a diverging point at a position in the sheet feed path between the sheet feed roller and the fixing unit; and

a controller configured to;

control the motor to rotate the sheet feed roller and the sheet discharge roller in a first direction so that the sheet is fed from the fixing unit to the discharge opening at a first speed V1;

control the motor to rotate the sheet feed roller and the sheet discharge roller in a second direction so that the sheet is fed from the discharge opening to the diverging point at a second speed V2 if the sheet has entirely reached a discharge opening side of the diverging point; and

change a feeding speed to a third speed V3 if the sheet has reached a position where it is nipped by the sheet feed roller after the sheet was started to be fed at the second speed V2,

wherein the first speed V1, the second speed V2, and the third speed V3 have the following relationships,

|V1|<

|V2|<

|V3|.

2. The image formation device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet feed roller includes a pair of rollers, and a longitudinal length of each of the pair of rollers is longer than a width of the sheet.

3. The image formation device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet feed roller includes a pair of rollers, which are made of rubber material.

4. The image formation device according to claim 1, wherein the motor is a stepping motor.

5. The image formation device according to claim 1,

wherein the controller controls the feeding speed of the sheet such that the feeding speed of the sheet is changed to a fourth speed V4 if the sheet has entirely passed through the diverging point and entered the reverse path after the sheet was started to be fed at the third speed V3, and

wherein the third speed V3 and the fourth speed V4 have the following relationship;

|V4|<

|V3|.

6. The image formation device according to claim 1, wherein the fixing unit is configured to apply heat and pressure to the sheet.

7. The image formation device according to claim 1, wherein the controller comprises a processing unit and memory storing one or more control programs executable by the processing unit.