Patent ID: 8231126
Filing Date: 2012-07-31
Classification: B41J,B65H

Abstract:
1. A medium-directing device comprising: a first roll member that is rotatable about a first rotation shaft; a second roll member that is rotatable about a second rotation shaft; a third roll member that is rotatable about a third rotation shaft in forward and reverse directions and that respectively contacts the first roll member and the second roll member in first and second regions, which regions are at different positions, such that when the third roll member is rotated in the forward direction, a medium conveyed along a first conveyance path is nipped between the first roll member and the third roll member in the first region, and when the third roll member is rotated in the reverse direction, the medium conveyed along the first conveyance path is nipped between the second roll member and the third roll member in the second region; a directing member that has a fulcrum, a first directing surface, and a second directing surface provided with a bent portion, and that is rotatable about the fulcrum between a first position and a second position such that when the directing member is located at the first position, the medium conveyed along the first conveyance path is directed by the first directing surface toward the first region, and when the directing member is located at the second position, the medium conveyed along the first conveyance path is directed by the second directing surface toward the second region; a guiding unit that, when the third roll member is rotated in the forward direction with a medium being nipped between the second roll member and the third roll member in the second region, guides the medium conveyed by the rotation of the third roll member toward a second conveyance path that is different from the first conveyance path; and a moving unit that moves the directing member between the first position and the second position, the moving unit moving the directing member to the first position when the third roll member is rotated in the forward direction with a medium being nipped between the second roll member and the third roll member in the second region, wherein the fulcrum of the directing member is provided at a position that, when the directing member is located at the first position, is apart from the first directing surface toward a first tangential line, the first tangential line being a tangential line that passes through the first region and is tangential to each of the first roll member and the third roll member, and the directing member includes a region of the first directing surface, in which, when the directing member is located at the first position, a distance between the first directing surface and the first tangential line reduces toward the first region, and a region of the second directing surface on a side closer to the second region relative to the bent portion, in which, when the directing member is located at the first position, a distance between the second directing surface and a second tangential line increases toward the second region, the second tangential line being a tangential line that passes through the second region and is tangential to each of the second roll member and the third roll member.