SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING SYSTEM
There are provided a sheet feeding apparatus and an image forming system that can horizontally maintain a posture of the topmost envelope in stored envelopes, by a simple configuration. The sheet feeding apparatus includes: a stacking portion; a conveying portion; and lifting members. A length of the stacking portion in a width direction perpendicular to a conveying direction of envelopes and also perpendicular to a vertical direction thereof is shorter than a length of each of the envelopes. The lifting members lift end portions of the upstream side of the envelopes in the conveying direction, upward in the vertical direction.
The present invention claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Japanese Application No. 2015-005433, filed Jan. 14, 2015, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet feeding apparatus that feeds sheets to an image forming apparatus, and an image forming system that has the sheet feeding apparatus and the image forming apparatus. Particularly, the present invention relates to a sheet feeding apparatus that stores envelopes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been known a sheet feeding apparatus that feeds sheets to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer apparatus, a facsimile apparatus, a printing machine, and a composite machine. The sheet feeding apparatus is connected to the image forming apparatus when used as an image forming system.
In recent years, there has been known an image forming system that stores, in a sheet feeding apparatus, envelopes as sheets, and forms an image on the envelopes. Since the envelope is formed in a bag shape, a pasted portion in which the sheet is overlapped and stuck is formed not only on a bottom side opposite to an opening side on which a flap portion is formed, but in the center in a width direction perpendicular to a conveying direction in the envelope (so-called center pasting) or on one side in the width direction (so-called corner pasting).
Therefore, when a number of envelopes are stored in the sheet feeding apparatus, and the envelopes are stacked, a pasted portion side in the envelopes becomes higher than a non-pasted part, and a topmost envelope inclines with respect to a horizontal surface. As a result, there is caused an disadvantage that the envelopes cannot be accurately conveyed to a conveying portion that conveys the envelopes to the image forming apparatus.
In order to solve such an disadvantage, there is disclosed in the sheet feeding apparatus described in Patent Literature 1, for example, a sheet feeding apparatus including a sheet feeding auxiliary plate that can be deformed in accordance with an inclination of the stacked envelopes. In the sheet feeding apparatus described in Patent Literature 1, the sheet feeding auxiliary plate including a pair of triangular plates is deformed using a plurality of cylinders.
RELATED ART DOCUMENT Patent Document
- Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2013-155003
However, a plurality of cylinders for deforming the sheet feeding auxiliary plate, and a plurality of detecting sensors for detecting a state of a posture in the topmost envelope are required for a technology described in Patent Literature 1. As a result, the technology described in Patent Literature 1 has problems in which not only the number of components increases due to the plurality of cylinders and the plurality of detecting sensors, but also a structure for horizontally keeping the posture of the topmost envelope becomes complicated.
The present invention has been made in view of conventional problems described above, and an object thereof is to provide a sheet feeding apparatus and an image forming system which can horizontally maintain a posture of the topmost envelope in stored envelopes, by a simple configuration.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn order to solve the above-described problems and to achieve the object of the present invention, the sheet feeding apparatus of the present invention includes: a stacking portion; a conveying portion; and a lifting member.
A plurality of envelopes with a predetermined size can be stacked on the stacking portion, and a length of the stacking portion in a width direction perpendicular to a conveying direction of the envelopes with the predetermined size and also perpendicular to a vertical direction thereof is shorter than a length of each of the envelopes with the predetermined size. The conveying portion conveys the envelopes with the predetermined size arranged at a top of the plurality of envelopes with the predetermined size in the vertical direction, the envelopes being stacked on the stacking portion. The lifting member lifts end portions of the upstream side of the envelopes with the predetermined size in the conveying direction, upward in the vertical direction, the envelopes being stacked on the stacking portion.
In addition, the image forming system of the present invention includes: an image forming apparatus that forms an image on envelopes; and a sheet feeding apparatus that feeds the envelopes to the image forming apparatus. The above-described sheet feeding apparatus is used as a sheet feeding apparatus.
Effects of the InventionAccording to the sheet feeding apparatus and the image forming system having the above configuration, a horizontal posture of the topmost envelope in the stored envelopes can be favorably maintained by the simple configuration.
Hereinafter, modes for carrying out a sheet feeding apparatus and an image forming system of the present invention will be explained with reference to
First, an image forming system and a sheet feeding apparatus according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to
As shown in
First, the image forming apparatus 2 will be explained.
The image forming apparatus 2 forms an image on sheets by using an electrophotographic system, and has: an apparatus body 201; a document conveying portion 210; an image reading portion 220; a sheet storing portion 230; an image forming portion 240; a fixing portion 250; a sheet conveying portion 260; and a not-shown control portion.
The apparatus body 201 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped box shape. Additionally, the image reading portion 220, the sheet storing portion 230, the image forming portion 240, the fixing portion 250, the sheet conveying portion 260, and the control portion are disposed inside the apparatus body 201, and the document conveying portion 210 is arranged at an upper portion of the apparatus body 201.
The document conveying portion 210 has: a document feeding base 211 on which documents G are set; a plurality of rollers 212; a conveying drum 213; a conveying guide 214; a document ejecting roller 215; and a document receiving tray 216. The documents G set on the document feeding base 211 are conveyed to a reading position of the image reading portion 220 one by one by the plurality of rollers 212 and the conveying drum 213. The conveying guide 214 and the document ejecting roller 215 eject the documents G conveyed by the plurality of rollers 212 and the conveying drum 213 to the document receiving tray 216.
The image reading portion 220 reads an image of the document G conveyed by the document conveying portion 210 or an image of the document placed on a document base 221, and generates image data. An image of one surface of the document G conveyed to the image reading portion 220 or images of both surfaces thereof is (are) exposed by an optical system, and is (are) read by an image sensor 222.
In an image processing portion 223, various processing such as analog processing, A/D converting processing, shading correcting processing, and image compressing processing, is performed on an analog signal photoelectrically converted by the image sensor 222. The image signal on which various signal processing have been performed is then sent from the image processing portion 223 to the image forming portion 240.
Note that an image signal sent to the image forming portion 240 is not limited to the image signal output from the image reading portion 220, and may be received from an external apparatus such as a personal computer connected to the image forming apparatus 2, and other image forming apparatuses.
The sheet storing portion 230 is arranged at a lower portion of the apparatus body 201, and has a plurality of sheet feeding cassettes 231 provided in accordance with a size and a type of sheets S. The sheets S stored in the sheet feeding cassette 231 are each fed and sent to the sheet conveying portion 260, by the sheet feeding portion 232, and are each conveyed to a transfer portion 245 having a transferring position by the sheet conveying portion 260.
The image forming portion 240 and the fixing portion 250 are arranged between the image reading portion 220 and the sheet storing portion 230. The image forming portion 240 includes: a photoreceptor 241; a charging portion 242; an exposure portion 243; a development portion 244; the transfer portion 245, a cleaning portion 246, and the like.
The photoreceptor 241 is an image carrier, and rotates due to the drive by a not-shown driving source. The charging portion 242 uniformly charges a surface of the photoreceptor 241 by giving a charge to the photoreceptor 241. The exposure portion 243 forms an electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 241 by exposing the surface of the photoreceptor 241 on the basis of an image signal received from the image reading portion 220 or an image signal received from an external apparatus.
The development portion 244, for example, develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor 241 using a two-component developer including a toner and a carrier to thereby form a toner image. The transfer portion 245 transfers the toner image on the photoreceptor 241 to the sheet S conveyed by the sheet conveying portion 260 or the envelope P fed from the sheet feeding apparatus 3. The cleaning portion 246 removes toner remaining on the photoreceptor 241, i.e., cleans the surface of the photoreceptor 241.
The fixing portion 250 pressurizes and heats the sheet S or the envelope P to thereby fix the transferred toner image to the sheet S or the envelope P. The fixing portion 250, for example, has a fixing upper roller 251 and a fixing lower roller 252, which are a pair of fixing members. The fixing upper roller 251 and the fixing lower roller 252 are arranged in a pressure-contact state with each other, and a pressure-contact portion of the fixing upper roller 251 and the fixing lower roller 252 is a fixing nip portion that pressurizes and heats the sheet S or the envelope P.
A heating portion is provided inside the fixing upper roller 251. An outer circumference of the fixing upper roller 251 is warmed by radiant heat from the heating portion. Additionally, heat of the outer circumference of the fixing upper roller 251 is then transferred to the sheet S or the envelope P, and thereby the toner image on the sheet S or the envelope P is heat-fixed.
The sheet S or the envelope P is conveyed so that a surface (a fixing target surface) to which the toner image has been transferred by the transfer portion 245 faces the fixing upper roller 251, and passes through the fixing nip portion. Accordingly, pressurization by the fixing upper roller 251 and the fixing lower roller 252, and heating by the heat of the outer circumference of the fixing upper roller 251 are performed on the sheet S or the envelope P that passes through the fixing nip portion.
The sheet conveying portion 260 has: a resist roller 262; a sheet ejecting portion 263; a conveying path switching portion 264; a sheet reversing and conveying portion 265; and a circulation refeeding portion 266. The sheet conveying portion 260 receives the envelope P fed from the sheet feeding apparatus 3.
The resist roller 262 corrects a bend of the sheet S or the envelope P with respect to a conveying direction, and also sends the sheet S or the envelope P to the transfer portion 245 in synchronization with rotation of the photoreceptor 241. The sheet ejecting portion 263 ejects, to an outside of the apparatus body 201, the sheet S or the envelope P to which the toner image has been fixed by the fixing portion 250.
The conveying path switching portion 264 is arranged closer to a downstream in a sheet conveying direction than the fixing portion 250. The conveying path switching portion 264 switches a conveying path of the sheet S or the envelope P that has passed through the fixing portion 250. Namely, the conveying path switching portion 264 makes the sheet S or the envelope P go straight, when the sheet S or the envelope P is ejected with the image side facing up, i.e., the sheet S or the envelope P is ejected with an image formation surface in one-side image formation being directed upward. Thereby, the sheet S or the envelope P is ejected by the sheet ejecting portion 263. In addition, the conveying path switching portion 264 guides the sheet S or the envelope P downward, when the sheet S or the envelope P is ejected with the image side facing down, i.e., the sheet S or the envelope P is ejected with the image forming surface in the one-side image formation being directed downward, and when both-side image formation is performed.
When the sheet S or the envelope P is ejected with the image side facing up, the sheet S or the envelope P is guided downward by the conveying path switching portion 264, and after that, the front and back of the sheet S or the envelope P are reversed by the sheet reversing and conveying portion 265 and the sheet S or the envelope P is conveyed upward. Thereby, the sheet S or the envelope P in which the front and back are reversed and thus the image forming surface faces downward is ejected by the sheet ejecting portion 263. When both-side image formation is performed, the sheet S or the envelope P is guided downward by the conveying path switching portion 264, and after that, the front and back of the sheet S or the envelope P are reversed by the sheet reversing and conveying portion 265 and the sheet S or the envelope P is sent to the transferring position again by the circulation refeeding portion 266.
[Sheet Feeding Apparatus]Next, the sheet feeding apparatus 3 will be explained.
The sheet feeding apparatus 3 has: an apparatus body 301; and a plurality of sheet storing portions 302 provided according to a size and a type of the envelopes P. The apparatus body 301 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped box shape. The plurality of sheet storing portions 302 is disposed inside the apparatus body 301.
Additionally, the plurality of sheet storing portions 302 is disposed along a vertical direction of the apparatus body 301. The envelopes P stored in the sheet storing portion 302 are conveyed to the image forming apparatus 2 by a conveying portion 312 provided at the sheet storing portion 302. The sheet storing portion 302 is configured to be extractable from the apparatus body 301 by being moved along a not-shown guide rail. [Sheet storing portion 302]
Next, a detailed configuration of the sheet storing portion 302 will be explained with reference to
As shown in
The elevating plate 304 showing one example of an elevating portion is elevatably supported by the elevation driving portion 308 (refer to
The two side restricting members 305A and 305B are arranged on both sides of the supporting base 303 in a width direction, and on a downstream side of the supporting base 303 in the conveying direction. The two side restricting members 305A and 305B are erected substantially perpendicular to the one surface of the supporting base 303. In addition, the two side restricting members 305A and 305B are supported by the supporting base 303 so as to be able to move in the width direction by the guide rail. The two side restricting members 305A and 305B are inserted in the notched portions 304a provided in the elevating plate 304. The interval between the two side restricting members 305A and 305B corresponds to a length of the envelopes P, in the width direction, stacked on the sheet storing portion 302. Additionally, the two side restricting members 305A and 305B restrict a position of the envelopes P in the width direction by slightly pressing the envelopes P from both sides of the envelopes P, in the width direction, stacked on the sheet storing portion 302.
The air blowing portions 309 are stored in the two side restricting members 305A and 305B, respectively. In addition, blowout ports 305a are formed at upper portions in the vertical direction in one surfaces facing to each other in the two side restricting members 305A and 305B, respectively. Air sent from the air blowing portions 309 is blown out of the blowout ports 305a (refer to
As shown in
The conveying portion 312 conveys an envelope located at the top of the envelopes P in the vertical direction (hereinafter, referred to as a topmost envelope) P1 to the image forming apparatus 2, the envelopes P being stored in the sheet storing portion 302. As shown in
The upper guide 314 and the lower guide 315 are arranged on the downstream side of the sheet feeding roller 313 in the conveying direction. The lower guide 315 is continuous with one surface of the tip restricting member 306 of the elevating plate 304 side. The upper guide 314 is arranged at an upper portion of the lower guide 315 in the vertical direction, with a predetermined interval. The upper guide 314 and the lower guide 315 guide the envelope P conveyed from the sheet feeding roller 313 to the pair of conveying rollers 316. The plurality of conveying rollers 316 then sends out the conveyed envelope P to the image forming apparatus 2 (refer to
Next, the stacking base 307 will be explained.
As shown in
In addition, as shown in
Outer flange portions 324 bent toward both sides in the width direction are formed at end portions of the two side surface portions 322 and 322, the end portions being located on the opposite side of the stacking surface portion 321, namely, at the end portions of the lower side in the vertical direction, respectively. As shown in
In addition, as shown in
A length of the front surface portion 323 in the vertical direction is set to be longer than each length of the two side surface portions 322 and 322 in the vertical direction. In addition, as shown in
Note that a method for attaching the stacking base 307 to the elevating plate 304 is not limited to the above-described method, and that other various attaching methods such as fixing screws and engaging pins can be used. Furthermore, the stacking base 307 may be fixed to the elevating plate 304.
In addition, a length of the stacking surface portion 321 in the width direction is set to be shorter than a length of the envelopes P to be stacked in the width direction. As shown in
As shown in
The rear end restricting member 341 has: a slider 342; and a rear end restricting portion 343. The slider 342 is slidably supported by the guiding groove 321a. The rear end restricting portion 343 is formed in a rod shape. The rear end restricting portion 343 is erected from the slider 342 along the vertical direction.
As shown in
Note that, although in the exemplary embodiment, there has been explained the example in which the rear end restricting portion 343 is formed in a rod shape, the present invention is not limited to this, and the rear end restricting portion 343 may be formed in other various shapes such as a flat-plate shape and a prismatic shape. In addition, although there has been explained the example in which the rear end restricting member 341 is provided at the stacking base 307, the present invention is not limited to this, and a rear end restricting member may be provided at a side restricting member.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Note that, although in the exemplary embodiment, there has been explained the example in which the lifting members 331 are provided on the stacking surface portion 321, the present invention is not limited to this. The lifting members 331 may lift the end portions of the upstream side of the envelopes P in the conveying direction, upward in the vertical direction, the envelopes P being stacked on the stacking surface portion 321. Therefore, lifting members may be provided at the elevating plate 304, or they may be configured to be provided at the side restricting members 305A and 305B, and to be able to be elevated in the vertical direction together with the elevating plate 304 and the stacking base 307.
Furthermore, although, in the exemplary embodiment, there has been explained the example in which the stacking base 307 is detachably attached to the elevating plate 304, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in the case of a sheet storing portion that exclusively stores the envelopes P, the elevating plate 304 and the stacking base 307 may be integrally formed.
In addition, although, there has been explained the example in which the stacking surface portion 321 being one surface of the stacking base 307 is applied to the stacking portion on which the envelopes P are stacked, the stacking portion is not limited to this. As to the stacking portion, for example, the stacking portion may be configured to include a rod-shaped member substantially perpendicularly erected from the main surface portion 304c of the elevating plate 304. Alternatively, the stacking portion may be configured to include a rod-shaped member or a plate-shaped member that extends along the conveying direction from the tip restricting member 306. Namely, the stacking portion may be arranged closer to the upper portion in the vertical direction than the main surface portion 304c of the elevating plate 304. Note that, even in any of the above-described cases, the stacking portion is elevated in synchronization with an elevating operation of the elevating plate 304.
[Configuration of Control System]Next, a configuration of a control system of the sheet feeding apparatus 3 will be explained with reference to
As shown in
The detecting sensor 310 detects a height of the envelopes P stacked on the stacking surface portion 321 in the sheet storing portion 302. Additionally, height information of the envelopes P detected by the detecting sensor 310 is transmitted to the control portion 351.
The elevation driving portion 308 elevates the elevating plate 304 and the stacking base 307 on the basis of a signal transmitted from the control portion 351. In addition, the air blowing portions 309 are driven on the basis of the signal transmitted from the control portion 351, and adjust air quantities to be blown out.
Note that, although in the exemplary embodiment, there has been explained the example in which the control portion 351 is provided in the sheet feeding apparatus 3, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the air blowing portions 309 and the elevation driving portion 308 may be driven by a control portion provided in the image forming apparatus 2 without being provided in the sheet feeding apparatus 3, and information detected by the detecting sensor 310 may be transmitted to the control portion provided in the image forming apparatus 2.
Comparison of Conventional Example and the Exemplary EmbodimentNext, comparison between the sheet feeding apparatus 3 of the exemplary embodiment and a conventional sheet feeding apparatus will be explained with reference to
As shown in
In contrast to this, in the sheet feeding apparatus 3 of the exemplary embodiment, the stacking base 307 is provided at the elevating plate 304, and the envelopes P are stacked on the stacking surface portion 321. As shown in
Therefore, both end portions of the envelopes P in the width direction, stacked on the stacking surface portion 321, project toward both sides in the width direction from the stacking surface portion 321. Namely, the both end portions of the envelopes P in the width direction are brought into a state of floating up since they are supported by nothing from the lower portion in the vertical direction. Additionally, the envelopes P stacked on the stacking surface portion 321 droop downward in the vertical direction due to their own weight.
Thereby, the one surface of the topmost envelope P1 can be corrected substantially in parallel with the horizontal surface H, and a horizontal posture of the topmost envelope P1 can be favorably maintained. As a result, when the topmost envelope P1 is conveyed to the upper guide 314 and the lower guide 315 by the sheet feeding roller 313, the topmost envelope P1 can be smoothly inserted between the upper guide 314 and the lower guide 315.
As shown in
In contrast to this, in the sheet feeding apparatus 3 of the exemplary embodiment, the lifting members 331 are provided on the upstream side of the stacking surface portion 321 in the conveying direction. Additionally, as shown in
As shown in
In contrast to this, in the sheet feeding apparatus 3 of the exemplary embodiment, the lifting members 331 are provided on the upstream side of the envelopes P in the conveying direction. Therefore, as shown in
As shown in
In addition, the lifting members 331 have the elastic portions 333 that are elastically deformed, respectively. Therefore, the elastic portions 333 are elastically deformed according to the stacked number of envelopes P, and thus a lifting height of the envelopes P by the lifting members 331 can be changed. As a result, a radius of curvature of the curvature of the envelopes P in the longitudinal direction by the lifting members 331 can be changed according to the stacked number of envelopes P.
As described above, according to the sheet feeding apparatus 3 of the exemplary embodiment, the posture of the stored envelopes P can be horizontally maintained by a simple configuration of the stacking surface portion 321 and the lifting members 331.
[Operation of Air Blowing Portion]Next, an operation of the air blowing portions 309 in the sheet feeding apparatus 3 of the exemplary embodiment will be explained with reference to
First, as shown in
Here, as shown in
Therefore, as shown in
In addition, in step S12, when a determination is made that the number of stacked envelopes P is not more than the predetermined number (YES determination of step S12), the control portion 351 controls the air blowing portions 309 to thereby reduce the air quantities (step S13).
As shown in
Next, a sheet feeding apparatus according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to
Points in which the sheet feeding apparatus according to the second exemplary embodiment differs from the sheet feeding apparatus 3 according to the first exemplary embodiment are configurations of a stacking base, a lifting member, and a rear end restricting member. Therefore, the stacking base, the lifting member, and the rear end restricting member will be explained here, and the same symbols are attached to portions in common with the sheet feeding apparatus 3 according to the first exemplary embodiment; and overlapping explanation thereof is omitted.
As shown in
A sliding groove 422a is formed in an upper portion of the side surface portion 422 in a vertical direction, along the conveying direction. The sliding groove 422a inclines upward in the vertical direction from the downstream side to the upstream side in the conveying direction. A lifting member 431 is slidably attached to the sliding groove 422a.
As shown in
The lifting member 431 has: a pair of lifting pieces 432; a coupling portion 451; and a supporting member 452. The pair of lifting pieces 432 are each formed in a flat-plate shape. Additionally, the pair of lifting pieces 432 are coupled to each other by the coupling portion 451.
The coupling portion 451 is formed in a rod shape. The coupling portion 451 is slidably slid to the sliding groove 422a formed in the side surface portion 422. The coupling portion 451 penetrates the two side surface portions 422 and 422 in the stacking base 407 from one side to the other side in the width direction. Additionally, the coupling portion 451 is arranged so that an axial direction thereof is parallel to a width direction of the stacking base 407. The lifting pieces 432 are fixed to both end portions of the coupling portion 451 in the axial direction, respectively. Therefore, the lifting pieces 432 are arranged on both sides of the two side surface portions 422 and 422 in the width direction, respectively. Additionally, the lifting pieces 432 project closer to the upper portion in the vertical direction than the stacking surface portion 421.
In addition, the supporting member 452 is provided at an intermediate portion of the coupling portion 451 in the axial direction. The supporting member 452 is fixed to the connecting member 453. Therefore, the lifting member 431 moves to the stacking base 407 along the conveying direction interlockingly with the rear end restricting member 441.
As described above, the sliding groove 422a to which the coupling portion 451 is slid inclines upward in the vertical direction, from the downstream side to the upstream side in the conveying direction. Accordingly, a projection height of the lifting pieces 432 coupled to the coupling portion 451 can be changed along the conveying direction. Thereby, a curvature of a corrugation in a longitudinal direction given to the envelopes P can be changed according to the size of the envelopes P to be stacked.
Note that, although there has been explained the example in which the lifting member 431 is connected to the rear end restricting member 441 to thereby be interlocked with the rear end restricting member 441, the present invention is not limited to this. The lifting member 431 and the rear end restricting member 441 may be moved independently from each other without being connected to each other.
Since other configurations are similar to those of the sheet feeding apparatus 3 according to the above-described first exemplary embodiment, an explanation thereof will be omitted. Actions and effects similar to those of the sheet feeding apparatus 3 according to the above-described first exemplary embodiment can be obtained also by the sheet feeding apparatus having the stacking base 407, the lifting member 431, and the rear end restricting member 441, having such a configuration.
Hereinbefore, the exemplary embodiments of the sheet feeding apparatus and the image forming system have been explained also including the working effects. However, the sheet feeding apparatus and the image forming system of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be carried out within a scope not departing from the purport of the invention described in claims.
Although, in the above-described exemplary embodiments, there has been explained the example in which the sheet feeding roller 313 is used in the conveying portion, the present invention is not limited to this. There may be applied, to the conveying portion, an air-type conveying method of conveying the topmost envelope P1 to the upper guide 314 and the lower guide 315 by, for example, sucking the topmost envelope P1, and other various conveying methods may be used.
Claims
1. A sheet feeding apparatus comprising:
- a stacking portion on which a plurality of envelopes with a predetermined size can be stacked, the stacking portion having a length in a width direction perpendicular to a conveying direction of the envelopes with the predetermined size and also perpendicular to a vertical direction thereof being shorter than a length of each of the envelopes with the predetermined size in a width direction;
- a conveying portion that conveys the envelopes with the predetermined size arranged at a top of the plurality of envelopes with the predetermined size in the vertical direction, the envelopes being stacked on the stacking portion; and
- a lifting member that lifts end portions of the upstream side of the envelopes with the predetermined size in the conveying direction, upward in the vertical direction, the envelopes being stacked on the stacking portion.
2. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an elevating portion that can be elevated in the vertical direction, wherein
- the stacking portion is detachably provided at the elevating portion.
3. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lifting member is provided at the stacking portion.
4. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the lifting member is movably supported by the stacking portion along the conveying direction.
5. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a height of the lifting member in the vertical direction changes corresponding to the conveying direction in the stacking portion.
6. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a height of the lifting member in the vertical direction changes in accordance with the number of the plurality of envelopes with the predetermined size stacked on the stacking portion.
7. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 6, wherein
- the lifting member includes: a supporting portion that comes into contact with the envelopes; and an elastic portion that is elastically deformed due to self-weight of the plurality of stacked envelopes with the predetermined size.
8. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an air blowing portion that blows air to the plurality of envelopes with the predetermined size stacked on the stacking portion, from both sides in the width direction.
9. The sheet feeding apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a control portion that controls an air quantity of the air blowing portion in accordance with the number of the envelopes stacked on the stacking portion.
10. An image forming system comprising:
- an image forming apparatus that forms an image on envelopes with a predetermined size; and
- a sheet feeding apparatus that feeds the envelopes to the image forming apparatus, wherein
- the sheet feeding apparatus includes: a stacking portion on which a plurality of the envelopes with the predetermined size can be stacked, the stacking portion having a length in a width direction perpendicular to a conveying direction of the envelopes with the predetermined size and also perpendicular to a vertical direction thereof being shorter than a length of each of the envelopes with the predetermined size in a width direction; a conveying portion that conveys, to the image forming apparatus, the envelopes with the predetermined size arranged at a top of the plurality of envelopes with the predetermined size in the vertical direction, the envelopes being stacked on the stacking portion; and
- a lifting member that lifts end portions of the upstream side of the envelopes with the predetermined size in the conveying direction, upward in the vertical direction, the envelopes being stacked on the stacking portion.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 13, 2016
Publication Date: Jul 14, 2016
Inventor: KAZUYOSHI KIMURA (Tokyo)
Application Number: 14/994,615