JP2008308326A - Recording material feeding device and image forming device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent excessive moisture absorption of recording medium stored in a storage container and maintaining performance of the recording material, while suppressing power consumption. <P>SOLUTION: A recording material feeding device comprises: the storage container 1 on which the recording material is stuck to store a bundle of recording material; recording material guide members 2 disposed to be movable in the storage container 1 and positioning and guiding sides of the stored recording material bundle; and an air blowing member 4 movably disposed to be movable together with the recording material guide members 2, and blowing dehumidification air toward an exposed portion of the recording material bundle not facing wall surfaces of the storage container 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording material supply device that supplies recording materials one by one from a bundle of recording materials stacked and accommodated in a storage container, and an image forming apparatus using the same.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus provided with a recording material supply device, recording materials are sent one by one from the recording material bundle loaded and accommodated in a storage container in the recording material supply device to the outside of the storage container. What forms an image on top is known. However, if the recording material is left in the storage container, especially when the recording material is a paper base, the recording material itself absorbs excessively in a high humidity environment, and the surface of the recording material may be wavy. Also, problems such as jams and wrinkles occur during image formation.
For example, when an electrophotographic method is applied as an image forming method, problems such as curling of the recording material after fixing and image omission also occur.

For this reason, various methods for moisture-proofing so that the recording material does not absorb moisture excessively have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 5).
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-228688 proposes a method of providing a plurality of heating means and indirectly heating the recording material by air convection due to heat generated from the heating means. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 proposes a method in which wind is applied to the upper surface of the recording material during standby and from the side surface of the recording material during supply of the recording material. In Patent Document 3, a guide member having a heating body is brought into contact with the side surface of a stacked recording material to prevent moisture absorption by its heat conduction effect, and further, heat from the heating body is sent above the recording material by a fan. A scheme has been proposed. Patent Document 4 proposes a system in which air is blown from one side of a recording material to the entire recording material using a duct capable of moving up and down air heated by a heater at the same time as the power switch is turned on. Furthermore, Patent Document 5 proposes a method of exhausting heat from the fixing device to the upper surface or edge of the recording material.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-121090 (Example, FIG. 1) JP-A-6-32473 (Example, FIG. 2) JP 2006-27796 A (Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention, FIGS. 4 and 5) Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-352381 (second embodiment, FIG. 2) JP-A-6-83221 (Embodiment 1 of the first invention, FIGS. 2 and 4)

  A technical problem of the present invention is to prevent excessive moisture absorption of a recording material stored in a storage container and to maintain the original performance of the recording material while suppressing power consumption.

  That is, the invention according to claim 1 is a positioning guide for a storage container that can store a recording material bundle loaded with recording materials and a side surface of the recording material bundle that is movably disposed in the storage container. And a recording material guide member that is movably provided together with the recording material guide member, and an air blowing member that blows dehumidifying air corresponding to the exposed portion of the recording material bundle not facing the wall surface of the storage container. Recording material supply device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the recording material supply apparatus according to the first aspect, the air blowing member has a height dimension in which an air flow path is formed therein and exceeds a maximum capacity of the recording material bundle. Corresponding to the entire area exposed to the top surface of the recording material bundle, the spraying main body projecting above the top surface height of the recording medium, the side spraying opening opened to blow the air corresponding to the entire side surface exposed area of the recording material bundle Thus, the recording material supply apparatus includes an upper surface blowing opening that is opened to blow air.
The invention according to claim 3 is the recording material supply apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the spraying main body also serves as the recording material guide member.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the recording material supply apparatus according to the second aspect, wherein a plurality of the upper surface spraying openings are provided so as to blow air toward the recording material bundle upper surface in a plurality of directions. It is a supply device.

The invention according to claim 5 is the recording material supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the air blowing member blows air dehumidified by a dehumidifying means.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the recording material supply apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the dehumidifying means further includes a humidity detecting means capable of detecting atmospheric humidity, and the air blowing member is detected by the humidity detecting means. In the recording material supply apparatus, the air blowing is stopped when the relative humidity is equal to or lower than a predetermined value.
The invention according to claim 7 is the recording material supply apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising recording material sending means for sending the recording material in the storage container out of the recording material storage container, wherein the air blowing member is at least The recording material supply apparatus is configured to stop the air blowing when the recording material delivery means is in an operating state.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording material; and a recording material supply device according to the first aspect that supplies the recording material to the image forming unit.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent excessive moisture absorption of the recording material stored in the storage container and to maintain the original performance of the recording material while suppressing power consumption.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, air can be effectively blown onto the exposed portion of the recording material bundle.
According to the third aspect of the invention, the apparatus configuration is simplified and air can be reliably blown to the exposed portion of the recording material bundle.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to effectively blow air over the entire upper surface of the recording material bundle.

According to the invention of claim 5, the air to be blown is effectively dehumidified, and the moisture absorption of the recording material bundle can be effectively prevented even in a high humidity environment.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to stably maintain the characteristics of the recording material and reduce the power consumption without giving an excessive moisture-proofing effect to the recording material.
According to the invention which concerns on Claim 7, the increase in power consumption can further be suppressed now.
According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of preventing excessive moisture absorption of the recording material stored in the storage container and maintaining the original performance of the recording material while suppressing power consumption. become.

First, an outline of an embodiment model to which the present invention is applied will be described.
Outline of Embodiment Model FIG. 1 shows an outline of a recording material supply apparatus according to an embodiment model embodying the present invention. Here, one of typical models of the recording material supply apparatus is, as shown in FIG. 1, a storage container 1 capable of storing a recording material bundle on which recording materials are stacked, and is movable in the storage container 1. The recording material guide member 2 that positions and guides the side surface of the recording material bundle that is disposed and accommodated, and the recording material bundle that is movably provided together with the recording material guide member 2 and does not face the wall surface of the storage container 1 are exposed. An air blowing member 4 that blows dehumidifying air corresponding to the part is provided. Incidentally, reference numeral 3 in the drawing denotes a recording material delivery means for delivering the uppermost recording material of the recording material bundle in the container 1 toward the downstream side.

Here, the “exposed part of the recording material P” means a part where the recording material bundle loaded in the storage container 1 is directly exposed to the atmosphere, and excludes a part in contact with the wall surface of the storage container 1 or the like. For example, it means the side surface or the upper surface of the recording material P.
The recording material guide member 2 is only required to be able to position and guide the side surface of the recording material bundle loaded and accommodated in the storage container 1, and the number thereof is not particularly limited, but usually excludes the downstream end surface of the recording material in the feeding direction. It is preferably provided on three surfaces or two surfaces excluding one side surface in the recording material feeding direction.
Further, the air blowing member 4 may be configured separately from the recording material guide member 2 or may be configured integrally, but in the case of being configured separately, in the vicinity of the recording material. It is preferable to blow air from the viewpoint of further covering the exposed portion of the recording material with air.

From the viewpoint of effectively blowing air onto the exposed portion of the recording material bundle, the air blowing member 4 has an air flow path formed therein and has a height dimension exceeding the maximum capacity of the recording material bundle. A spraying body 5 that protrudes above the top surface height of the recording material, a side spraying opening 6 that is opened so as to blow air corresponding to the entire side surface exposed portion of the recording material bundle, and the entire top surface exposed portion of the recording material bundle. It is preferable to provide an upper surface blowing opening 7 which is opened so as to blow air correspondingly.
For example, in a mode in which the recording material bundle is placed on the bottom plate and moved in the up and down direction within the container 1, there is no bottom plate in the movable region when the recording material guide member 2 positions and guides the side surface of the recording material bundle. In this case, it is also assumed that a part of the lower surface of the recording material bundle is exposed to the atmosphere. In this case, the air blown by the side surface blowing openings 6 is rotated around the entire lower surface of the recording material bundle. There is no particular problem. Furthermore, it goes without saying that a spray opening may be separately provided on the same surface as the upper surface spray opening 7 of the spray body 5.

In particular, from the viewpoint of simplifying the apparatus configuration, it is preferable that the spray body 5 of the air spray member 4 is also used as the recording material guide member 2.
The recording material delivery means 3 only needs to be able to deliver the recording materials in the container 1 one by one. As a typical mode, the recording material is adsorbed on the upper surface side of the recording material. The structure provided with the conveyance member to convey and the raising mechanism which raises a recording material in the storage container 1 is mentioned.

In the present embodiment model, it is preferable that the air blowing member 4 blows the air dehumidified by the dehumidifying means that makes the relative humidity of the air to be blown smaller than the atmospheric humidity. As the dehumidifying means, for example, heating A source may be provided, or a dehumidifying agent may be provided.
Further, the dehumidifying means further comprises humidity detecting means capable of detecting the atmospheric humidity, and the air blowing member 4 blows air when the relative humidity detected by the humidity detecting means is not more than a predetermined value. It is preferable to stop. This is synonymous with enabling air blowing from the air blowing member 4 only when the detected relative humidity exceeds a specified value.

The air blowing from the air blowing member 4 may be always operated, but from the viewpoint of reducing the power consumption, it stops at least when the recording material sending means 3 is in an operating state. It is preferable. Here, “the recording material delivery means 3 is in an operating state” means a state in which the recording material supply from the recording material supply device is started. For example, the recording material delivery operation is stopped as a device or the recording material This means a state other than the standby state of the supply operation. This is because if the recording material is started to be sent, the storage state of the recording material itself in the container 1 may be completed in a short time, even if the recording material is exposed to a high humidity atmosphere. This is because there is almost no risk of excessive moisture absorption of the recording material in a short time.
Also, “at least” means that there is room for selection by the user, for example, when there is no recording material or when the apparatus is not used for a long time.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.
Embodiment 1
FIG. 2 shows Embodiment 1 of an image forming apparatus including a recording material supply unit as a recording material supply apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment includes an image forming unit 10 that forms an image on a recording material, two recording material supply units 30 and 40 that supply the recording material to the image forming unit 10, The conveyance unit 50 is provided between the image forming unit 10 and the recording material supply unit 30 and can reversely convey the recording material.

  In the image forming unit 10, a belt-like photoconductor 11 stretched between a plurality of stretch rolls 12 to 15 is disposed substantially at the center. For example, the stretch roll 12 is used as a drive roll so as to circulate and rotate in the direction of the arrow in the figure. It has become. Around the photoconductor 11, there are two chargers 16 and 17 for charging the photoconductor 11, an exposure device 18 for forming an electrostatic latent image on the charged photoconductor 11, and a static image formed on the photoconductor 11. A developing unit 19 that develops the electrostatic latent image with toner to form a visualized toner image, a transfer unit 21 that transfers the toner image on the photoreceptor 11 onto the recording material, and a recording material on which the toner image is transferred. A peeling device 22 that peels from the photoconductor 11, a cleaning device 23 that cleans residual toner on the photoconductor 11, and the like are appropriately arranged. Reference numeral 20 denotes a supply bottle for supplying toner to the developing unit 19.

A belt member that adsorbs and conveys the recording material from the surface opposite to the surface on which the toner image is transferred to the recording material on which the toner image is transferred downstream of the photosensitive member 11 in the conveyance direction of the recording material. For example, a suction device is installed on the back side of the belt member to suck the recording material so that the recording material can be transported as it is while adsorbing the recording material to the belt member surface. It is like that.
Further, a fixing device 25 for fixing the toner image transferred onto the recording material is provided on the downstream side of the recording material conveying device 24. For example, a combination of a heating roll and a pressure roll is sufficient for the recording material. Fixing is performed while applying proper heating and pressure. After the fixing, the recording material passes through a decurler 26 that corrects curl and is transported to a transport unit 50 at the subsequent stage. In this embodiment, the image forming unit 10 is provided with two-stage recording material supply units 27 and 28 capable of stacking and accommodating a small amount of recording material.

  Then, the recording material sent to the transport unit 50 goes to the recording material supply unit 30 at the subsequent stage as it is, or once the recording material is guided to the reversing path 51 and then the recording material is reversed, the recording material supply unit Head to the 30 side.

In particular, in the present embodiment, the two recording material supply units 30 and 40 have a characteristic point, but the two recording material supply units 30 and 40 are configured substantially the same, and thus are close to the image forming unit 10. The recording material supply unit 30 on the side will be described.
The recording material supply unit 30 stores a recording material bundle in which recording materials are stacked and accommodated at a lower position in the unit, and is provided with a recording material supply unit 31 that can supply the recording material to the downstream side. At the position, there is provided a recording material accommodating portion 32 for accommodating the recording material after fixing.

The recording material supply unit 100 (31) in this embodiment is as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4A and 4B. 3 is a perspective view of the recording material supply unit 100 (31), FIG. 4A is a schematic view of the recording material supply unit 100 (31) viewed from above, and FIG. 3B is a schematic view of the recording material supply unit 100 (31) viewed from the front. It is a figure.
In these drawings, a recording material supply unit 100 is provided in a housing (not shown) of the recording material supply unit 30. For example, a bottom frame 101 composed of a subframe or the like is provided on two sides of the bottom frame 101. A vertical wall 102 is provided along the bottom frame 101 between the bottom frame 101 and the vertical wall 102. The bottom plate 103 is movable in the vertical direction according to the amount of recording material bundle accommodated by a lifting mechanism (not shown). It is provided so that it can move to. A recording material of a predetermined size is stacked and accommodated on the bottom plate 103.

  In addition, guide members for positioning and guiding the recording material bundle so as to push the side surface of the recording material bundle loaded and accommodated on the bottom plate 103 toward the vertical wall 102 are provided corresponding to the two side surfaces of the recording material bundle. The end guide 104 guides the side surface on the upstream side in the recording material conveyance direction, and the side guide 105 guides the side surface in the direction along the recording material conveyance direction.

  In the present embodiment, these end guides 104 and side guides 105 are regulated at the side ends by a pair of guide rails 120 provided on the bottom frame 101, and move only in a direction along the guide rails 120. It can be done. Therefore, by manually moving the recording material according to the side of the recording material bundle, the recording material is positioned and guided with respect to the bottom frame 101 in accordance with the size of the recording material.

Here, the positioning guide mechanism of the end guide 104 with respect to the bottom frame 101 will be described. Since the positioning guide mechanism of the side guide 105 is the same as that of the end guide 104, the end guide 104 will be described as an example here.
FIG. 5 shows a positioning guide mechanism for the end guide 104. A slide protrusion 104a is provided at the bottom of the end guide 104 so as to protrude on both sides. The slide protrusion 104a is connected to the bottom frame 101 and the guide. A gap formed by the rail 120 can be slid. Further, a projection 104b having a circular opening is provided above the slide projection 104a of the end guide 104. On the other hand, the guide rail 120 is provided with a suitable number of dimensions corresponding to the size of the recording material used by the plurality of circular holes 120a in accordance with the sliding direction of the end guide 104.

  The rod member 121 having a shape that can be inserted into the hole 120a is provided with a hook-shaped protrusion 121a at a part below the rod member 121. Between the hook-shaped protrusion 121a and the protrusion 104b of the end guide 104 described above. A bar member 121 is passed through the coil spring 122 and provided. Therefore, the end guide 104 is positioned by the rod member 121 being inserted into the predetermined hole 120a by the biasing force of the coil spring 122. This positioning method is not particularly limited to this method, and a known method may be used.

  In addition, the end guide 104 and the side guide 105 in the present embodiment have the same structure as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and both have a substantially rectangular cross section with an air flow passage extending in the vertical direction inside. It constitutes the main body. The end guide 104 and the side guide 105 are both provided with a height that exceeds the maximum capacity of the recording material bundle and protrudes from the uppermost height of the recording material bundle. Further, side spraying openings for spraying air through the internal air flow path to the side surfaces of the end guide 104 and the side guide 105 (surfaces substantially perpendicular to the recording material side surfaces) corresponding to the recording material bundle side surfaces. 106 is provided over a length corresponding to the height of the maximum loading capacity of the recording material. On the other hand, air is blown onto the upper portions of the end guide 104 and the side guide 105 corresponding to the upper surface of the recording material bundle 3. The upper surface spraying opening 107 is provided at a location. The number of the upper surface spraying openings 107 is not particularly limited as long as air is sprayed so as to cover the upper surface of the recording material bundle.

FIGS. 6A and 6B show the respective blowing openings of the end guide 104 as an example. FIG. 6A shows the side blowing openings 106 and FIG. 6B shows the top blowing openings 107. Note that the side guide 105 is also omitted here because of the same spraying opening.
In the figure, the side spray opening 106 and the top surface spray opening 107 are both configured such that the air blown from the side surface spray opening 106 and the top surface spray opening 107 strikes the recording material at a predetermined angle. ing. The arrows in the cross-sectional view in the figure indicate the direction of air blown to the recording material bundle from the side surface blowing openings 106 and the top surface blowing openings 107.
Then, the air blown from the end guide 104 and the side guide 105 to the recording material bundle flows over the side surface and the upper surface of the recording material bundle as shown by arrows in FIGS. To cover all.

  Furthermore, the end guide 104 and the side guide 105 are respectively connected to flexible tubes 111 and 112 communicating with the internal air flow path below the end guide 104 and the side guide 105. Specifically, the tube 111 is connected to the end guide 104. A tube 112 is connected to the side guide 105. In addition, one end side of these tubes 111 and 112 is connected to a heating unit 113 as a dehumidifying means for blowing dehumidified air. Even if the end guide 104 and the side guide 105 are moved, the tubes 111 and 112 are not connected to the heating unit 113. The connection of the tubes 111 and 112 is maintained.

The heating unit 113 is also provided with a heater 114 that warms the air and a fan 115 that sucks air outside the recording material supply unit 30 and exhausts the air warmed by the heater 114 toward the tubes 111 and 112. ing.
In the figure, reference numeral 110 denotes a recording material feeding member for feeding the uppermost sheet of the recording material bundle to the downstream side. In this embodiment, a suction conveying belt is used, and the recording material is fed by a suction source (not shown). However, the recording material delivery member 110 is not limited to this, and other methods are used. You can do that.

Next, a recording material conveyance system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
Assuming that the recording material is supplied from the recording material supply unit 31 in the recording material supply unit 30, the supplied recording material passes through the recording material supply unit 30 and the conveyance unit 50 to form an image. Unit 10 is reached. In the image forming unit 10, image formation is performed in accordance with the supply timing of the recording material, and a developed toner image is produced on the belt-shaped photoreceptor 11. When the supplied recording material reaches the transfer device 21, a toner image on the photoreceptor 11 is supplied onto the supplied recording material by a transfer bias, that is, an electric field effect acting between the transfer device 21 and the photoconductor 11. Is transcribed. Thereafter, the recording material is not attracted to the photoreceptor 11 side by the peeling electric field by the peeling device 22, but is sucked and transported to the recording material transport device 24 on the downstream side.

  After that, the toner image is fixed by the fixing device 25 and the curler is corrected by the decurler 26, and then the toner image is transferred to the recording material container 32 provided at the upper part in the recording material supply unit 30 via the transport unit 50. It is accommodated with its surface facing up. Here, if the reversal path 51 in the transport unit 50 is used, the toner image surface of the recording material stored in the recording material storage unit 32 faces downward.

In such a recording material conveyance system, the operation of the recording material supply unit 100 (31), which is a feature of the present case, will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 4, the recording material supply unit 100 according to the present embodiment also blows the air heated by the heating unit 113 to the recording material bundle through the end guide 104 and the side guide 105. Covers the exposed area. At this time, since the air is directly blown from the end guide 104 or the side guide 105, the distance from the side surface blowing opening 106 or the upper surface blowing opening 107 to the recording material bundle becomes short, and the air to the recording material bundle is reduced. Is more effectively made.

  That is, the air blown to the recording material from the side surface blowing opening 106 of the end guide 104 or the side guide 105 flows along the side surface of the recording material bundle and spreads so as to cover the entire exposed side surface. The air blown from the opening 107 for spreading spreads along the upper surface of the recording material bundle and covers the surface. Therefore, a film is formed by the blown air on the exposed portion of the recording material bundle, that is, the exposed portion that is not covered by the vertical wall 102, the bottom plate 103, the end guide 104, and the side guide 105. For this reason, even if the recording material supply unit 100 is placed in a high humidity environment, it is possible to prevent the recording material from absorbing moisture, and to prevent the recording material itself from wavy and various problems during image formation. .

  Here, the area where the bottom plate 103 and the recording material come into contact with each other is assumed to be a portion where the recording material is exposed because the bottom plate 103 itself is provided with a movable region of the end guide 104 and the side guide 105. In this case, if an opening is provided over the moving range of the bottom plate 103 in the same direction as the upper surface spraying opening 107 with respect to the end guide 104 and the side guide 105, such an exposed portion is prevented. Can also be covered with air.

  Further, in the present embodiment, since air is directly blown onto the recording material bundle to form an air film that covers the recording material bundle, even if the recording material supply unit 100 is not a closed space with respect to the outside air, It becomes possible to provide a sufficiently effective moisture-proof effect. Further, since air is blown, there is almost no possibility that the moisture content of the recording material itself is unnecessarily reduced.

  As a comparative example for this, assuming that the recording material is heated by convection of air from a heating source, if sufficient closed space is required and the closed space cannot be maintained, air is more than necessary. Leakage occurs, and extra power consumption is required to heat the recording material. Also, assuming the case where a heating source is brought into contact with the recording material, the effect of suppressing moisture absorption at the portion where the heating source is not in contact is reduced, while the recording material is heated excessively at the portion where the heating source is in contact. As a result, a situation in which the moisture content changes is likely to occur.

Further, in the present embodiment, the above-described air blowing is stopped when the recording material starts to be supplied from the recording material supply unit 30 to reduce unnecessary power consumption.
Further, in this embodiment, air is constantly blown against the recording material in the recording material supply unit 100. However, the air blowing itself may be activated or stopped depending on the selection by the user. Needless to say, it is good. For example, when the recording material is not in the recording material supply unit 100 or when the recording material is made of a material that hardly absorbs moisture, the recording material is stopped or the environment where the apparatus is placed is difficult to absorb moisture. In some cases, it may be switched as appropriate.

  In the present embodiment, the shape of the side surface spray opening 106 and the top surface spray opening 107 is shown as a circular shape. However, these shapes are not particularly limited, and for example, an oval shape as shown in FIG. Or a rectangular shape as shown in (b), or a square protrusion as shown in (c). In the drawing, the shape of the side surface spray opening 106 is representatively shown, but the upper surface spray opening 107 may also have the same shape. FIG. 7 (d) shows a cross section of the side spray opening 106 in (a) and (b). Moreover, the shaded portion in the figure indicates a jet outlet through which the air blown from the side blowing opening 106 is actually jetted.

  Furthermore, if the side spray openings 106 of the end guide 104 and the side guide 105 are provided to the same height as the position of the top spray opening 107, the uppermost surface of the recording material bundle is more effectively covered with the blown air. You will be able to

  In the present embodiment, an example is shown in which air is blown by the recording material supply unit 100 (31) in the recording material supply unit 30, but for example, the recording material supply units 27 and 28 in the image forming unit 10 are used. However, the same air blowing may be performed.

Embodiment 2
In the present embodiment, a recording material supply unit configured in substantially the same manner as the recording material supply unit 30 of the first embodiment is used, and air blowing is newly controlled using a humidity sensor. Components similar to those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  FIG. 8 shows a main part of the recording material supply unit 30 in the present embodiment. Unlike the first embodiment, the recording material supply unit 30 of the present embodiment is provided with the recording material supply unit 30. A humidity detector 131 configured to detect the atmospheric humidity, for example, and a heating control device 130 for controlling the heating unit 113 in the recording material supply unit 100 based on the detection result of the relative humidity by the humidity detector 131. It has.

  The heating control device 130 according to the present embodiment operates based on, for example, the flowchart shown in FIG. 9, and when the atmospheric humidity condition detected by the humidity detector 131 is input to the heating control device 130 (step S1). The heating control device 130 determines whether the humidity condition is within a predetermined range of predetermined values (step S2), and if this is below the predetermined value, the operation of the heating unit 113 is stopped. (Step S3). On the other hand, when the specified value is exceeded, the heating unit 113 is operated and air is blown onto the recording material bundle (step S4).

In this way, by controlling the heating unit 113 with the heating control device 130, it is possible to prevent air blowing in a state where the atmospheric humidity is low and the recording material hardly absorbs moisture, and unnecessary power consumption is achieved. Is prevented, and the moisture content of the recording material itself is not changed.
In this embodiment, the humidity condition is detected, but in addition to this, the temperature condition may be taken into account.

Embodiment 3
Unlike the end guide 104 and the side guide 105 of the first embodiment, the end guide 104 and the side guide 105 of the present embodiment are simple guide members for positioning and guiding the recording material as shown in FIG. Is blown by two duct members 117 and 118 that are connected to the rear of the end guide 104 and the side guide 105. Therefore, in the present embodiment, air is blown toward the recording material from the side surface blowing opening 106 and the upper surface blowing opening 107 provided in the duct members 117 and 118.

  Therefore, if the end guide 104 and the side guide 105 are moved so as to match the positioning guide of the recording material, the duct members 117 and 118 are positioned behind the end guide 104 and the side guide 105 in accordance with the movement. Thus, effective air blowing is performed on the recording material bundle from here. Then, the air covers the exposed portion of the recording material bundle.

In this example, the temperature setting in the heating unit of the first embodiment is evaluated.
First, the heating amount necessary for reducing the relative humidity to 50% RH is set so that a good effect can be obtained even under conditions where the recording material is heavily absorbed by the recording material, for example, 28 ° C. and 85% RH. It was calculated from the wet air diagram. As a result, it was found that a temperature increase of 9.6 ° C. was necessary.
That is, when the temperature is increased by 9.6 ° C. to 37.6 ° C. in an environment of 28 ° C. and 85% RH, the absolute humidity is constant and the relative humidity is reduced from 85% RH to 50% RH.
Next, the temperature of the heating unit was set to 37.6 ° C., and the recording material supply unit was left for 24 hours in an environment of 28 ° C. and 85% RH.

As a result, no undulation in the recording material itself was confirmed, and no particular problem occurred even when the image formation was performed as it was in this recording material supply unit.
On the other hand, for comparison, a sample that was not blown with air was similarly stored in 28 ° C. and 85% RH, and confirmed after 24 hours. On the other hand, undulations reaching about several centimeters from the edge of the recording material were observed, and when an image was formed using the recording material supply unit in this state, occurrence of image omission and wrinkles was also confirmed.
From this, it was confirmed that the air layer with low humidity covered the recording material and became a barrier against the outside air by air blowing, and the characteristics of the recording material itself were stably maintained.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the outline | summary of the recording material supply apparatus which concerns on this invention. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a recording material supply unit according to the first embodiment. 2A and 2B are explanatory diagrams illustrating a recording material supply unit according to the first embodiment, where FIG. 3A is a diagram viewed from above, and FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the positioning mechanism of an end guide. (A) shows the opening for side surface spraying, (b) is explanatory drawing which shows the opening for upper surface spraying. (A)-(c) is explanatory drawing which shows the shape of the opening for various side surface spraying, (d) shows sectional drawing of (a) and (b). FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an enlargement of a main part of a recording material supply apparatus according to a second embodiment. 6 is a flowchart of heating control according to the second embodiment. (A) (b) is explanatory drawing which shows the recording material supply part of Embodiment 3. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Storage container, 2 ... Recording material guide member, 3 ... Recording material sending means, 4 ... Air spraying member, 5 ... Spraying main body, 6 ... Side surface spraying opening, 7 ... Top surface spraying opening

Claims (8)

A storage container capable of storing a bundle of recording materials loaded with recording materials;
A recording material guide member for positioning and guiding the side surface of the recording material bundle which is movably disposed in and accommodated in the storage container;
An air blowing member which is provided so as to be movable together with the recording material guide member and which blows dehumidifying air corresponding to the exposed portion of the recording material bundle not facing the wall surface of the storage container. Material supply device. The recording material supply apparatus according to claim 1,
The air blowing member is
A spraying body that has an air flow path formed therein and has a height dimension that exceeds the maximum capacity of the recording material bundle and projects above the upper surface height of the recording material bundle;
A side spray opening that is opened to blow air corresponding to the entire side exposed portion of the recording material bundle,
A recording material supply apparatus comprising: an upper surface spraying opening that is opened so as to blow air corresponding to the entire upper surface exposed portion of the recording material bundle. The recording material supply apparatus according to claim 2,
The recording material supply apparatus, wherein the spray body also serves as the recording material guide member. The recording material supply apparatus according to claim 2,
The recording material supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the upper surface spraying openings are provided so as to blow air in a plurality of directions on the upper surface of the recording material bundle. The recording material supply apparatus according to claim 1,
The recording material supply apparatus, wherein the air blowing member blows air dehumidified by a dehumidifying means. The recording material supply apparatus according to claim 5, wherein
The dehumidifying means further comprises humidity detecting means capable of detecting atmospheric humidity,
The recording material supply apparatus, wherein the air blowing member stops air blowing when the relative humidity detected by the humidity detecting means is equal to or less than a predetermined value. The recording material supply apparatus according to claim 5, wherein
Furthermore, a recording material sending means for sending the recording material in the container to the outside of the recording material container is provided,
The recording material supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the air blowing member stops air blowing at least when the recording material delivery means is in operation. Image forming means for forming an image on a recording material;
An image forming apparatus comprising: the recording material supply device according to claim 1, wherein the recording material is supplied to the image forming unit.

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