US-12625453-B2 - Transport unit and image forming apparatus

US12625453B2US 12625453 B2US12625453 B2US 12625453B2US-12625453-B2

Abstract

A transport unit includes a transport device including a loop member that turns and that has no ends, the transport device transporting a recording medium with the recording medium attracted to a surface of the loop member; a guide unit that changes a transport direction of the recording medium fed from the transport device and that guides the recording medium in one of multiple transport directions; and a controller that controls the transport device, based on the transport direction that is changed by the guide unit such that attraction force of the transport device is changed.

Inventors

Yoshiki Shimodaira
Hideki Kuge
Takayuki Ukawa
Masato Yamashita

Assignees

FUJIFILM BUSINESS INNOVATION CORP.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20230531
Priority Date: 20221117

Claims (11)

1 . A transport unit comprising: a transport device including a loop member that turns and that has no ends, the transport device transporting a recording medium with the recording medium attracted to a surface of the loop member; a guide unit that changes a transport direction of the recording medium fed from the transport device and that guides the recording medium in one of multiple transport directions; and a controller that controls the transport device, based on the transport direction that is changed by the guide unit such that attraction force of the transport device is changed.
2 . The transport unit according to claim 1 , wherein the controller exerts control such that, when the guide unit guides the recording medium such that the recording medium is transported downward with respect to a feed direction in which the recording medium is fed from the transport device, the attraction force is stronger than that in a case where the guide unit guides the recording medium in another direction.
3 . The transport unit according to claim 2 , wherein the guide unit guides the recording medium in the other direction such that the feed direction in which the recording medium is fed from the transport device is not changed.
4 . The transport unit according to claim 1 , wherein the controller exerts control such that, in a case where a basis weight of the recording medium is heavy, a degree of change in the attraction force is higher than that in a case where the basis weight of the recording medium is light.
5 . The transport unit according to claim 4 , wherein the controller exerts control such that the attraction force is stepwise changed based on the basis weight of the recording medium.
6 . An image forming apparatus comprising: a toner image forming unit that forms a toner image on a recording medium; and the transport unit according to claim 1 that transports the recording medium on which the toner image is formed.
7 . An image forming apparatus comprising: a toner image forming unit that forms a toner image on a recording medium; and the transport unit according to claim 2 that transports the recording medium on which the toner image is formed.
8 . An image forming apparatus comprising: a toner image forming unit that forms a toner image on a recording medium; and the transport unit according to claim 3 that transports the recording medium on which the toner image is formed.
9 . An image forming apparatus comprising: a toner image forming unit that forms a toner image on a recording medium; and the transport unit according to claim 4 that transports the recording medium on which the toner image is formed.
10 . An image forming apparatus comprising: a toner image forming unit that forms a toner image on a recording medium; and the transport unit according to claim 5 that transports the recording medium on which the toner image is formed.
11 . A transport unit comprising: transporting means for transporting a recording medium with the recording medium attracted to a surface of a loop member that turns and that has no ends; guiding means for changing a transport direction of the recording medium fed from the transporting means and for guiding the recording medium in one of multiple transport directions; and means for controlling the transporting means, based on the transport direction that is changed by the guiding means such that attraction force of the transporting means is changed.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-184285 filed Nov. 17, 2022. BACKGROUND (i) Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a transport unit and an image forming apparatus. (ii) Related Art In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-96822, an image forming apparatus includes a fixing unit that heats paper on a transport belt in a contactless manner by using a heat source. The transport belt inclines in a transport direction at a predetermined angle at which the paper slides down. A distance from a transfer portion upstream of the fixing unit to the heat source of the fixing unit and a distance from the heat source of the fixing unit to a discharge roller downstream of the fixing unit are greater than a maximum paper size. A fan attracts the paper to the transport belt by using air attraction force. When the paper that is transported abnormally stops, the rotation of the fan stops, the air attraction force is lost, and consequently, the paper moves to a position upstream or downstream of the heat source while sliding down on the transport belt. SUMMARY An existing transport unit includes a transport device that transports a recording medium with the recording medium attracted to a loop member that turns and that has no ends and a guide unit that guides the recording medium that is fed from the transport device in one of multiple transport directions. In some cases, the recording medium that is fed by the transport device is curved by the guide unit, and a direction in which the recording medium is transported is consequently changed. When the recording medium is thus curved, the recording medium is separated from the loop member if the attraction force of the transport device is weak. Aspects of non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the case where a recording medium that is fed from a transport device is guided in one of multiple transport directions, and a transport failure is inhibited from occurring, unlike the case where force for attracting a recording medium to a loop member is always constant. Aspects of certain non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure address the above advantages and/or other advantages not described above. However, aspects of the non-limiting embodiments are not required to address the advantages described above, and aspects of the non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure may not address advantages described above. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a transport unit including a transport device including a loop member that turns and that has no ends, the transport device transporting a recording medium with the recording medium attracted to a surface of the loop member; a guide unit that changes a transport direction of the recording medium fed from the transport device and that guides the recording medium in one of multiple transport directions; and a controller that controls the transport device, based on the transport direction that is changed by the guide unit such that attraction force of the transport device is changed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail based on the following figures, wherein: FIG. 1 illustrates the overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 2 illustrates a toner image forming unit that is included in the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a chain gripper that is included in the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 4 illustrates a cooling portion that is included in the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 5 is a front view of, for example, a fixing device that is included in the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 6 is a side view of a pre-heat member that is included in the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a heat member that is included in the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the heat member that is included in the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 9 is a plan view of a blower unit that is included in the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 10 illustrates a transport unit according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 11 illustrates the transport unit according to the first exem