GB2253615A

GB2253615A - Sheet sorting apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2253615A
Application number: GB9121037A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jae Heon Chung; Yeon Kwan Jung
Original assignee: Sindo Ricoh Co Ltd
Current assignee: Sindo Ricoh Co Ltd
Priority date: 1991-03-12
Filing date: 1991-10-02
Publication date: 1992-09-16
Anticipated expiration: 2011-10-02
Also published as: DE4133459A1; GB2253615B; DE4133459C2; GB9121037D0

Abstract

Apparatus for sorting sheets into generally vertically movable trays, each of which has pins 5 slidable along slots 2, comprises rotatably driven transfer wheels 4 which transfer each tray through a kinked section of the slot to project the tray (leftwards as shown) towards the feed of sheets to be sorted. The apparatus also comprises racks 8 which are moved longitudinally by a transmission from the transfer wheels and continuously move the trays along the slots to and from the kinked section. The racks act at the bottom of the array of trays through a vertically movable tray support 11 having pins 10 which locate in holes at the bottom of the racks and slide in the slots. <IMAGE>

Description

222 '", 1 -,:-' COPYING SORTER WITH BIN TRAY TRANSFERRING APPARATUS The

present invention relates to a bin tray transferring apparatus of a sorter equipped with slot liners and transfer wheels adapted for transferring bin trays each having a pair of pin trays, and more particularly to a bin tray transferring apparatus of a sorter which supports and transfers the whole bin trays by a rack moving in the vertical direction by using the driving power of the transfer wheel.

Generally, a known sorter of a copying machine, which is equipped with slot liners and transfer wheels, has adopted a method of arranging and separating the copy sheets by transferring successively a plurality of bin trays.

An example of the conventional bin tray transferring apparatus, as disclosed in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,328,963 and 4,332,377, was provided with a wire of which one side was connected to the pin tray of the bin tray located at the lowest part of the sorter and the other side is connected to the spring positioned at the upper portion of the sorter. In 1 the practical products of the sorter having the transferring apparatus disclosed in the above U.S. Patents, The bin tray transferring apparatus adopted a spring instead of the wire was directly connected to the pin tray of the bin tray located at the lowest part of the sorter. However, such type of sorters should use the spring which had relatively large restoring power so that, when a pin tray was transferred downward, an instantaneous overload loaded at the transfer wheel might cause a loud noise.

There has been also proposed a known sorter using a drum cam instead of the transfer wheel. For examples, a sorter disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4, 466,609 used two drum cams and a support frame, and a sorter disclosed in United Kingdom Patent No. 2,168,037 was equipped with auxiliary bin tray supporter separately provided and having the same shape as that of the slot liner so that the bin tray could move vertically upward and downward upon providing a simultaneous moving of the inner portion of the bin tray, pin tray side, and the outer portion of that, tap side. But, It has been noted that such type of bin tray transferring apparatus using the support frame had difficulty in applying to the sorter using the transfer wheel.

Also, as disclosed in Japanese Patent laid-open publication No. sho 60232370, a transferring apparatus capable of using support frame in the construction of using 2 1 the transfer wheel has been proposed. However, such type of transferring apparatus should have an auxiliary protrusion provided at a part of the outside of the radius of gyration of the transfer wheel and more equipments such as cams and outer springs adapted to drive the transfer wheel. Furthermore, this type of transferring apparatus should have a contact surface provided at the bin tray and adapted for contacting with the pin tray during driving the transferring apparatus, and the transfer wheel should move in revolution and precipitation at the same time.

Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 91-371 disclosed a transferring apparatus of sorter adopting a method capable of reducing the noises by changing the shape of transfer wheel to have Patent Application Nos. 90-855 and 90-16620, which were applied by this applicant, there has been proposed another type of sorter having a slot liner having an inclined middle portion extending from the upper and lower vertical portions of the slot liner toward the ejecting section of the copy machine. This type of sorter could provide an advantage that the bin tray could advance closer to the ejecting section of the copy machine, thereby making it possible to receive and arrange the copies without any auxiliary guiding unit. However, it has been noted that there were a disadvantage that the sorter of this type was provided with a conventional 3 a camming mechanism. Also, as disclosed in Korean transfer wheel, that is to say, the circular transfer wheel having first and second slots arranged along the diameter of said transfer wheel and extending radially inward from the circumference of said transfer wheel, thereby spending a long time for separating and arranging the copies so that it could separate and arrange the copies only two times during one rotation of the transfer wheel. Also, there was another disadvantage that the sorter adopted the method of urging usually the bin trays upwards by upwardly biasing the base pin of the bin tray by means of the spring mounted at the upper portion of the side plate of the sorter so that the upward and downward movements of the pin tray of the bin tray could not be smoothly carried out during the rotation of the transfer wheel, and a loud noise might be generated.

In an effort for solving the above-mentioned disadvantages, the applicant of this invention has proposed a sorter having a transfer wheel provided with three slots, as disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 90-18264, instead of the above-mentioned transfer wheel provided with two slots. The sorter of this type could carry out one transferring operation for the bin tray during one third cycle of rotation of the transfer wheel as a result of the three slots each arranged at every 120 on the transfer wheel and extending radially inward from a circumference of said transfer wheel, and also transfer slowly and upwardly another lower waiting 4 bin tray according to the driving rate of the transfer wheel because the transfer wheel was also provided with involute portions each formed at sections which might contact with the pin tray of the bin tray so that a waiting pin tray could be smoothly and naturally located within the radius of gyration of said transfer wheel. Thus, this type of transfer wheel could be applied to various types of sorters provided with biasing units for urging the bin tray upwardly, said biasing units using a spring, a wire, a rack or a supporting mechanism.

However, the above-mentioned type of sorter had the transfer wheel comprising an integrally formed rotator and the three slots formed on the rotator. Therefore, there has been a disadvantage of enlarging the noise because of adding a noise generated while a bin tray seated on the upper portion of the transfer wheel was instantaneously received in a slot of said transfer wheel to the noise generated by the instantaneous overload during driving said transfer wheel in order to pick up downwardly and push upwardly the pin tray of the bin tray.

On the one hand, almost the known sorters having the conventional bin tray transferring apparatus has another disadvantage in that the bin tray transferring apparatus is provided with no device for preventing the bin trays from deviation during upward and downward movement thereof along 5 the slot liners of the side plates, thereby causing the bin trays to deviate from the sorter such as to outside force. In an effort for solving the above-mentioned disadvantage, some of known sorters include a bin tray transferring apparatus provided with an auxiliary weight bar mounted at the upper portion of the sorter so as to simply weighting the tray pins of bin trays downwards by means of its own weight. However, this type of bin tray transferring apparatus has a considerable weight, resulting in increasing the load imposed on the bin tray as the bin tray is transferred upwards by the transferring apparatus. Also, the weight bar has a simple construction for providing the downward weighting function thereof for the bin trays, so that it has no device for preventing the pin tray of the bin tray from ascending in the slot liner due to an outside force imposed on the bin tray.

Thus, this type of weight bar has a disadvantage in that one of the opposite tray pins of the bin tray in movement often ascends in the slot liner due to the outside force so that the transfer wheel picks up only one pin tray disposed in its place, while the other pin tray, ascending pin tray, can not be picked up by the transfer wheel, thereby causing a trouble of the sorter.

In an effort for solving the above disadvantage of weight bar, a sorter provided with another type of weight bar has been proposed by the RICOH company. This type of sorter is 6 3 provided with a pair of auxiliary hooks provided at the side plates, respectively, each hook upwardly disposed between the lift shaft provided at the lower end of the rack and a shaft provided at the upper portion of the uppermost bin tray and adapted for supporting the bin trays so as to prevent the bin tray from deviation. However, this type of sorter must be provided, at a vertical supporting distance by means of the hook, with a vertical space taking account of a thick of a plurality of copies (about 100 copies) which is to be received by the uppermost bin tray, so that the hook can not sufficiently weight the pin trays downwards due to the space taking account of the thick of the copies. Hence, this type of sorter only prevents the deviation of the bin trays from slot liner of the sorter, but it can not solve the abovementioned disadvantage of the weight bar. Furthermore, this sorter has to be provided at the opposite upper portions of the sorter with a pair of auxiliary shafts for supporting the upper end of the hooks.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a sorter provided with a bin tray transferring apparatus capable of transferring successively respective bin trays by using the rotation power of the transfer wheel and transferring the whole bin trays upwardly and downwardly by driving a rack to 7 1 move upwardly and downwardly.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a sorter provided with a bin tray transferring apparatus capable of maintaining the same inclination angle of the bin tray and space between the bin trays during transferring upwardly and downwardly said bin trays.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a bin tray transferring apparatus of a sorter for copy machine in which the abovementioned disadvantages can be overcome and the bin trays are not separated from the sorter at any case, thereby usually providing a safety transferring operation for the bin trays.

In one aspect, the present invention provides, in a sorter for copy machine provided with a bin tray transferring apparatus for transferring bin trays each having a pair of pin trays at both ends thereof, said bin tray transferring apparatus comprising: first and second slot liners formed on opposite side plates of the sorter, respectively, and each having an inclined middle portion extending toward an ejecting section of the copy machine, a first transfer wheel mounted at said inclined middle portion of said first slot liner and including a normally formed rounded portion having a height difference between a start point and a last point of a guide passage adapted for contacting with one pin tray of said pin trays in order to guide said pin tray, said height difference 8 being larger than a diameter of said pin tray, a second transfer wheel mounted at the inclined middle portion of said second slot liner and including a normally formed rounded portion having a height difference between a start point and a last point of a guide passage adapted for contacting with the other pin tray of said pin trays in order to guide said pin tray, said height difference being larger than a diameter of said pin tray, power transferring means connected between said first and second transfer wheels and adapted for providing the same rotation rate therefor, rack movement controlling means mounted at said opposite side plates and adapted for controlling a driving rate of racks by using a rotation power of said first and second transfer wheels, rack driving means each connected to said rack movement controlling means, a pair of racks each engaging with said rack driving means and having a lower portion fixedly connected to said pin tray of the lowest positioned bin tray, and supporting means fixedly connected to said opposite side plates and adapted for supporting said whole bin trays.

In another aspect, the present invention provides, in a sorter for copy machine provided with a bin tray transferring apparatus for transferring bin trays each having a pair of pin trays at both ends thereof, said bin tray transferring apparatus comprising: first and second slot liners formed on opposite side plates of the sorter, respectively, and each 9 having an inclined middle portion extending toward an ejecting section of the copy machine, third and fourth slot liners downwardly formed on said opposite side plates of the sorter, respectively, and each adapted for guiding the movement of tray supporter supporting means, a first transfer wheel mounted at the inclined middle portion of said first slot liner and including a normally formed rounded portion having a height difference between a start point and a last point of a guide passage adapted for contacting with one pin tray of said pin trays in order to guide said pin tray, said height difference being larger than a diameter of said pin tray, a second transfer wheel mounted at the inclined middle portion of said second slot liner and including a normally formed rounded portion having a height difference between a start point and a last point of a guide passage adapted for contacting with the other pin tray of said pin trays in order to guide said pin tray, said height difference being larger than a diameter of said pin tray, power transferring means connected between said first and second transfer wheels and adapted for providing the same rotation rate therefor, rack movement controlling means mounted at said opposite side plates and adapted for controlling a driving rate of racks by using a rotation power of said first and second transfer wheels, rack driving means each connected to said rack movement controlling means, a base pin extending between 10 respective lowest portions of said first and second slot liners, a pair of racks each engaging with said rack driving means and having a lower portion fixedly connected to each end of said base pin and bin tray supporting means fixedly connected to said opposite side plates, respectively, and forming a supporter movable upward and downward along said third and fourth slot liners in order to provide the same upward and downward movements for inner and outer portions of said bin trays at the same time during movement of the whole bin trays.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a bin tray transferring apparatus of a sorter for copy machine comprising a pair of side plates disposed at opposite sides, respectively, a slot liner formed at each said side plate and having an upper vertical portion, a lower vertical portion and an inclined middle portion extending toward an ejecting section of said copy machine, a pair of transfer wheels each rotatably mounted to each said side plate such that said inclined middle portion of said slot liner overlaps with a radius of gyration of said transfer wheel, said transfer wheel provided with three radial slots and normally formed rounded portions each formed between two slots and having two passages, a power transmitting device for providing rotational power to said opposite transfer wheels, a pair of racks each movably mounted to said side plate and adapted for 11 r 1 transferring said bin trays upwards and downwards by means of the rotational power of said transfer wheel, the bin tray transferring apparatus further comprising: a safety guide vertically mounted to each said side plate; a safety lever rotatably mounted to an upper inner portion of each said rack such that one end thereof contacts with said safety guide but the other end thereof always contacts with an upper circumferential end of said transfer wheel or a pin tray of an uppermost bin tray; and means for rotatably connecting said safety lever to said upper inner portion of said rack; wherein said bin trays are always transferred upwards and downwards without deviation from said slot liners.

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a broken schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of a bin tray transferring apparatus in accordance with the present invention; FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic right and left side views showing the bin tray transferring apparatus of FIG. 1, respectively; 12 FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a side plate provided with a transfer wheel in accordance with the present invention; FIG. 4 is a broken perspective view of an embodiment of a transfer wheel in accordance with the present invention; FIGS. 5A and 5B are side views of two embodiments of transfer wheel in accordance with the present invention, respectively; FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of a bin tray transferring apparatus of a sorter in accordance with the present invention; FIGS. 7A to 7D are views showing detailed construction of a safety lever and a rack each provided at the bin tray transferring apparatus of FIG. 6, in which:

FIG. 7A is a perspective view of the safety lever and the rack before assembling; FIG. 7B is a side view after assembling; and FIGS. 7C and' 7D are sectioned views taken along the line A-A' of FIG. 7B, respectively, but showing embodiments of a hinged connection between the safety lever and the hinge pin of the rack, different from each other; FIGS. 8A to 8D are views showing operating states of the bin tray transferring apparatus of FIG. 6, in which:

FIG. 8A is a side view showing an initial state in that the whole bin trays are disposed under the transfer wheel; 13 1 FIG. 8B is a side view showing a state in that the transfer wheel rotates in 2/3 revolution, that is two steps, from the initial state of FIG. 8A; and FIG. 8C is a side view showing a state in that the transfer wheel rotates in a revolution, that is three steps, from the state of FIG. 8B.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, FIG. 1 of a broken schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of a bin tray transferring apparatus in accordance with the present invention, FIGS. 2 of schematic right and left side views showing the bin tray transferring apparatus of FIG. 1, respectively, FIG. 3 of a perspective view of a side plate provided with a transfer wheel in accordance with the present invention, FIG. 4 of a broken perspective view of an embodiment of a transfer wheel in accordance with the present invention, and FIGS. 5 of side views of two embodiments of transfer wheel in accordance with the present invention, respectively, the bin tray transferring apparatus according to this invention is provided with a pair of transfer wheels 4 each mounted at the side plate I of sorter so that an inclined middle portion of slot liner 2 may be within the radius of gyration thereof. The side plate 1 of the sorter has a 14 surface contacting with the transfer wheel 4, said contacting surface provided with a plurality of projections 32a to 32d each having a normal shape and adapted for driving the insert wheels of the transfer wheel, as shown in FIG. 3.

As shown in FIGS. 2, the bin tray transferring apparatus has two types of transfer wheels respectively having outer shapes different from each other, a first transfer wheel mounted at a motor driving side and having a shape shown in FIGS. 4 and 5A, a second transfer wheel mounted at a rotation detecting side and having other shape shown in FIGS. 4 and 5B. The first transfer wheel 4 at the motor driving side is provided with a bevel geared shaft 4a mounted on the rear surface thereof and adapted for transferring the power from a motor (not shown) to said first transfer wheel 4, a spur gear 41 formed on the whole circumferencial surface thereof and adapted for transferring the rotation power of the transfer wheel to another driven means, said spur gear 41 engaging with a middle gear 6 controlling the upward and downward moving distances of a rack 8 according to a diameter of the pin tray, and a shaft driving gear 13 adapted for driving the second transfer wheel 4. The middle gear 6 controlling the upward and downward moving distances of the rack 8 according to the rotation of the first transfer wheel 4 comprises an idle gear 6a and a middle reduction gear 6b. The middle reduction gear 6b is integrally formed with the idle gear 6a at the center of 15 z 1 the idle gear 6a and engages with a rack driving gear 7 which comprises a rack driving reduction gear 7a engaging with said middle reduction gear 6b and a pinion gear 7b engaging with a rack gear 8. Here, the rack 8 has a linear rear portion 8b supported by the circumferencial side surface of the bevel geared shaft 4a of the first transfer wheel 4.

Now, a structure of the other side having the second transfer wheel 4 will be described in conjunction with FIG. 2B.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the structure of the other side of the bin tray transferring apparatus has the same structure as that of the one side having the first transfer wheel 4 shown in FIG. 2A and having been hitherto described except the outer shape (see FIG. 5B) of the second transfer wheel 4 and additionally comprising the rotation detecting microswitch 12. The second transfer wheel 4 will be driven by means of the shaft driving gears 13 engaging with the respective spur gears 41 of the first and second transfer wheels 4, respectively, and transferring the rotation power from the first transfer wheel 4 to the second transfer wheel 4 upon receiving the rotation power from the first transfer wheel 4 so that both pin trays of the bin tray can be transferred along the slot liners 2 at the same time.

Referring again to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the pin trays of the lowest bin tray are inserted into the lower portions of the 16 r opposite racks 8, respectively, in order to cause the whole bin trays to move upward or downward along the slot liners 2 according to upward or downward movement of the racks 8. There are provided a pair of fixed tray supporters each fixedly mounted at the lower portion of the side plate 1 and adapted for supporting the whole bin trays.

In addition, the tray transferring device according to this invention is provided with a movable tray supporter 11, as shown in FIGS. 2, positioned under the lowest bin tray and adapted for supporting the whole bin trays upwardly, thereby providing the maintenance of an inclination angle and a space for the bin trays during transferring upwardly and downwardly said bin trays. The movable tray supporter 11 has a base pin 10 seated on the lowest portions of the respective slot liners 2 by means of both ends thereof. Also, the movable tray supporter 11 is provided with a supporting pin 11b, thereby causing the movable tray supporter 11 to be supported by both ends of the base pin 10 and the supporting pin 11b and also causing the both sides of the movable tray supporter 11 to move upward or downward at the same time.

In the first embodiment of the bin tray transferring device according to this invention of FIG. 1, the device is provided a pair of bevel gears 4a and 4b, adapted for transferring the rotation power from the driving motor (not shown) to the first transfer wheel 4 at the motor driving 17 1 side, a first bevel gear 4a fixedly mounted at the rear surface of the first transfer wheel 4 and a second bevel gear 4b engaging with the first bevel gear 4a and connected to the driving motor, said second bevel gear 4b vertically transferring the rotation power from the motor to the first bevel gear 4a in order to driving the first transfer wheel 4. The rack 8 will, therefore, move slowly and upwardly upon clockwise rotation of the first transfer wheel 4 in order to transfer the bin trays upwardly, but move slowly and downwardly upon counter-clockwise rotation of transfer wheel 4 in order to transfer the bin trays downwardly. In the same manner, the other rack 8 at the rotation detecting side can simultaneously transfer the bin trays by the clockwise and counter- clockwise rotations of the second transfer wheel 4 transferred the rotation power from the first transfer wheel 4 by way of the shaft driving 13 and a driving shaft 14 extending between said two driving gears 13.

Therefore, the bin tray transferring apparatus according to this invention can provides a successive and linear movement instead of the intermittent and instantaneous movement for the pin tray. Said successive and linear movement can be provided by the structure comprising the rack 8 and the pinion 7b respectively provided in order to slowly and upwardly transfer the base pin 10 connected to the rack 8. 18 the f irst gears shaf t Thus, this bin tray transferring apparatus can smoothly transfer the bin trays because, using a gear ratio of the pinion 7b connected to the transfer wheel 4, the racks 8 can transfer the base pin 10 upwardly in order to allow each bin tray to move upwardly to a waiting position wherein the first and second transfer wheels 4 picks up a pin tray 5 of bin tray 9. Also, during the upward movement of the picked up pin tray by the transfer wheel 4, the racks 8 interlocking with the transfer wheels 4 slowly and successively transfer another pin trays 5 upwards in order to allow another pin tray 5 to be newly positioned in said waiting position.

In other words, while the first and second transfer wheels 4 are transferring the picked up pin tray 5 upwardly along the slot liners 2, the racks 8 each interlocking with each transfer wheel 4 slowly and successively transfer another pin trays 5 seated on the base pin 10 upwardly, as shown in FIG. 2A. On the contrary, while the first and second transfer wheels 4 are transferring the picked up pin tray 5 downwardly along the slot liners 2 to the lower parts of respective inclined middle portions of the slot liners 2, the racks 8 each interlocking with each transfer wheel 4 slowly and successively transfer other pin tray, positioned in said lower part of the inclined middle portion of the slot liner 2, linearly and downwardly in order to secure a space capable of receiving a new pin tray.

19 In the drawings, the reference numeral 12 designates a microswitch adapted for detecting the rotational position of the second transfer wheel 4.

Turning next to FIGS. 3 and 4 which are a perspective view of a side plate 1 provided with a transfer wheel 4 in accordance with the present invention and a broken perspective view of an embodiment of a transfer wheel in accordance with the present invention, the transfer wheel 4 of the bin tray transferring apparatus is provided with a generally circular transfer wheel body 40 provided with a spur gear 41 formed on the whole circumferencial surface thereof and three slots 44a, 44b and 44c each arranged at every 120 angle centering around a center rotating shaft hole 42 and extending radially inward from a circumference of said transfer wheel body 40, each said slot 44a, 44b, 44c provided with guide portion for guiding one pin tray of said pin trays. The transfer wheel body 40 is also provided with three pairs of insert wheels 46 and 47 each pair located and spaced apart between two slots 44a, 44b and 44c. The insert wheels 46, 47 each is inserted onto a insert wheel supporting shaft 43 formed as protruding on the surface of the body 40 and biased upwardly by a spring 45 interposed between said insert wheel 46, 47 and the wheel body 40.

Additionally, the insert wheels 46 and 47 comprise two wheelsq a first wheel 46 simply passing a first pair of circumferencial wheel driving projections 32b and 32c provided 20 spring 45 during on a wheel contacting surface 30 of said side plate 10 so that it can maintain its biased position by the spring 45 but retracted toward the wheel body 40 against the power of the spring 45 during contacting with a second pair of circumferencial wheel driving projections 32a and 32d, and a second wheel 47 simply passing the second pair of circumferencial wheel driving projections 32a and 32d so that it can maintain its biased position by the spring 45 but retracted toward the wheel body 40 against the power of the contacting with the first pair of circumferencial wheel driving projections 32b and 32c. The insert wheels 46 and 47 each has two passagesdifferent from each other and alternately contacting with the pin tray 5 in order to guide the pin tray 5 into the slot 44 in spring biased or retracted position of each insert wheel 46, 47.

In the drawings, the reference numerals 31 and 42 designate a transfer wheel supporting shaft and a center opening of the transfer wheel body 40 for receiving the rotational shaft, respectively.

Turning next to FIGS. BA and 5B which are side views of two embodiments of transfer wheels in accordance with the present invention, said embodiments of transfer wheels having outer shapes different from each other and comprising the first transfer wheel mounted at the motor driving side and shown in FIG. 5A, and the second transfer wheel mounted at the 21 rotation detecting side of the bin tray transferring apparatus and shown in FIG. 5B.

As shown in the drawings, the first transfer wheel 4 is provided with the two types of insert wheels 46 and 47 each provided with an elliptic outer surface 46a',47a' and an elliptic inner surface 46a",47a" for guiding the pin tray 5 of the bin tray 9. The first transfer wheel 4 also has a bevel gear shaft 48 integrally formed with the rear surface thereof and adapted for transmitting the rotation power from a motor (not shown) thereto, and a spur gear 41 formed around the circumferencial surface thereof for transmitting the rotation power to the mechanism for transferring the bin tray.

On the other hand, the second transfer wheel 4 is also provided with the two types of insert wheels 46 and 47 each provided with the elliptic outer surface 46a'347a' and the elliptic inner surface 46a",47a" inscribed with the slot for guiding the pin tray 5 of the bin tray 9. The second transfer wheel 4 also has a spur gear 41 formed around the circumferencial surface thereof and adapted for being transmitted the rotation power from the 4, and a rotation detecting shaft 51 first transfer wheel formed around the circumferencial surface thereof and provided with a cylindrical rotation detecting shaft 51 formed on the center of the rear surface of the wheel body 40 and including detecting slots 51a which each is formed on the outer side 22 surface and extending circumferencl.ally.

The first and second transfer wheels 4 mounted at the motor driving side and at the rotation detecting side of the bin tray transferring device, respectively, each includes outer passage 46a', 47a' at the insert wheel 46, 47, said outer passage 46a', 47a' provided in order to contact with the pin tray 5 by means of the interaction of the insert wheels 46 and 47 and the circumferencial wheel driving projections, thereby guiding the pin tray 5 into the slots of the transfer wheel 4. The outer passage 46a', 47a' has a normally formed elliptic portion having a height difference between the start point and the last point thereof, said height being relatively larger than the diameter of the pin tray. Therefore, the transfer wheel 4 can provide a smooth movement for the pin tray during the linear movement thereof by the rack.

Generally, the above-mentioned transfer wheels 46 and 47 of the two types are mounted at the opposite side plates 1 of the sorter, respectively, so that the bin tray 5 can be driven to be transferred without increasing the load instantaneously and also can be driven silently during successive transferring of the bin trays 9.

Referring now to FIG. 6 which is a schematic side view of an embodiment of a bin tray transferring apparatus of a compact sorter in accordance with the present invention, The apparatus is provided with a pair of side plates 1 disposed at 23 1 1 opposite sides of the sorter, respectively. Each side plate 1 has a slot liner 2 including an upper vertical portion, a lower vertical portion and an inclined middle portion extending toward an ejecting section of the copy machine. A pair of transfer wheels 4 each is mounted to the side plate 1 so as to result in overlapping the radius of gyration thereof with the inclined middle portion of the slot liner 2.

The transfer wheel 4 is provided with three slots radially formed, each normally formed as rounded at its opposite outer guides so that the wheels 4 each picks up each pin tray of the bin tray by means of the slot as it rotates by virtue of a driving power supplied by a conventional driving member (not shown), thereby causing the bin trays to be transferred upwards and downwards one by one. Also, a pair of racks 8 are movably mounted to the side plates I such that each rack 8 engages with the transfer wheel 4, thereby moving upwards and downwards in accordance with the rotation of the transfer wheel 4. Also, the racks 8 allow opposite ends of a base pin 10 to insert into the lowermost ends of vertical holes thereof so that the rack 8 drives the whole bin trays to move up and down in a driving rate corresponding to the rotating speed of the transfer wheel 4. In addition, each rack 8 is provided with a hinge shaft 8c mounted on an upper portion of said rack 8 as projecting inwardly. A safety lever 70 is rotationally mounted to the hinge shaft 8c, and a safety 24 1 1 guide 60 is vertically mounted to an upper portion of each side plate 1. On the other hand, the side plate 1 is provided with a vertical supporter 20 vertically mounted to the upper portion of the side plate 1 near the upper vertical portion of the slot liner 2 in order to prevent the safety lever 70 from deviation while the safety lever 70 turns upwards and downwards. The vertical supporter 20 is mounted to the side plate 1 with a space with respect to the side plate 1 taking account of projecting length of the hinge pin 8c of the rack In addition, the safety guide 60 comprises two parts, a vertical part 61 and an inclined part 62, said inclined part 62 having an angle of inclination A with respect to the vertical axial. The angle of inclination A is determined by a radius of curvature and a size of the safety lever 70 determined taking account of a diameter of each tray pin 91, 92, 93, 94, 95 and a moving rate of the rack 8, that is a moving distance of the rack 8 during 1/3 rotation of the transfer wheel 4, that is one step of the transfer wheel 4. It is desired to determine the angle of inclination A within 45 degree in order to facilitate the upward movement of the bin trays.

Turning next to FIGS. 7A to 7D which are views showing detailed construction of the safety lever 70 and the rack 8, FIG 7A is an exploded perspective view of the safety lever 70 25 and the rack 8, FIG. 7B is a side view thereof after assembling, FIG. 7C and 7D are sectioned views thereof taken along the line A-A' of FIG. 7B, respectively, but showing embodiments of a hinged connection between the safety lever 70 and the pin 8c of the rack 8 different from each other.

As shown in the drawings, the hinge pin 8c projects from the upper portion of the rack 8 as integrally formed therewith and comprises two parts, a relatively smaller diameter end part 8d and a relatively larger diameter part 8e. The safety lever 70 has a cylindrical boss 71 which is inserted onto the relatively smaller end part 8d of the hinge pin 8c in order to provide rotation for the lever 70, a guide contact end 72 integrally projecting from the cylindrical boss 71 and adapted for contacting with the inclined portion 62 of the safety guide 60 and a pin contact end 73 integrally projecting from the cylindrical boss 71 in a direction opposite to the guide contact end 72. The ends 72 and 73 of the lever 70 are gently curved in order to have a radius of curvature, while the pin contact end 73 is relatively longer than the other end 72. In addition, the radius of curvature of the pin contact end 72 is determined so that a height of a surface contacting with the upper circumferential end of the transfer wheel 4, said contacting surface of the pin contact end 73 gradually varying as the lever 70 gradually rotates, is maintained at a predetermined height while the lever 70 rotates clockwise by 26 virtue of an upward movement of the rack 8.

As shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the cylindrical boss 71 of the safety lever 70 is vertically cut in order to provide a vertical slot 71a having a width, while the small diameter end 8d of the hinge pin 8c is integrally provided with a vertical protrusion 8f having a relatively smaller circumferential thick than the width of the slot 71a of the cylindrical boss 71 of the lever 70. Thus, the safety lever 70 is efficiently prevented from rotating over a predetermined rotational angle B, thereby accomplishing the stable operation of the safety lever 70 (see FIG. 7B).

While FIG. 7C shows an embodiment of a hinged connection comprising a simple cylindrical boss 71 and a simple cylindrical hinge pin 8c, FIG. 7D shows another embodiment of a hinged connection comprising the cylindrical boss 71, a depressed slot 72 formed at a side of the lever 70 opposite to the cylindrical boss 71 and a smaller diameter end 8g of the hinge pin 8c', said end 8g having a snap flange 8h and a wedge type hole 8i in order to snap on the depressed slot 72. This another embodiment of the hinged connection shown in FIG. 7D has advantage in that it improves a stability for the hinged connection.

Turning next to FIGS. 8 which are side views showing respective operating states of the bin tray transferring apparatus according to this invention, FIG. 8A is a side view 27 showing an initial state in that the whole bin trays are disposed under the transfer wheel 4.

On the other hand, FIG. 8B is a side view showing a state in that the transfer wheel 4 rotates in 2/3 revolution, that is two steps, from the initial state of FIG. 8A. At this time, the uppermost tray pin, the first tray pin 91 is disposed at a position wherein it is just to be distributed upwards from the radial slot of the transfer wheel 4, while the second tray pin 92 is disposed at a transferring position of the transfer wheel 4 and the third tray pin 93 is disposed at a waiting position of the lower portion of the slot liner 2. Also, the rack 8 moves upwards by the clockwise rotation of the transfer wheel 4 so that the safety lever 70 also move upwards, thereby causing the guide contact end 72 contacting with the inclined portion 62 of the safety guide 60 to rotate clockwise simultaneously with sliding along the guide surface of the inclined portion 62 of the safety guide 60. At this time, the pin contact end 73 of the safety lever 70 continuously contacts with the upper circumferential end of the transfer wheel 4 at a predetermined height without change of the height even though the rack 8 moves upwards at a moving rate resulting from the rotation of the transfer wheel 4 in order to change the vertical position thereof. Thus, the first tray pin 91 is efficiently prevented from deviation from the radial slot of the transfer wheel 4.

28 1 1 Additionally, FIG. 8C is a side view showing a state in that the transfer wheel 4 rotates in a revolution, that is three steps, f rom. the state of FIG. 8B. At this time, The first, second and third tray pins 91 to 93 are already transferred to the upper portion of the slot liner 2 by means of the transfer wheel 4. Here, the rack 8 moves upwards by virtue of the rotation of the transfer wheel 4 so that the safety lever 8 also moves upwards. Thus, the guide contact end 72 of the lever 70 moves upwards along the guide surface of the vertical portion 61 of the safety guide 60 at a moving rate corresponding to the upward moving rate of the rack 8 so that the pin contact end 73 of the lever 70 always disposes closely near the first tray pin 91 even though the tray pin 91 moves upwards by virtue of the rotation of the transfer wheel 4. Therefore, the tray pin of the bin tray is efficiently prevented from deviation from the slot 2 of the side plate 1 such as due to an outside force, thereby causing a troubled operation of the bin tray transferring apparatus due to the deviation of the tray pin to be efficiently prevented.

As above -mentioned, the present invention can prevent the instantaneous increase of the load from a bin tray transferring device during the successive transferring of the bin trays so that the total load to be loaded to the bin tray transferring apparatus may be reduced, thereby causing the bin tray to be smoothly transferred. Furthermore, the present 29 A invention can provide a bin tray transferring apparatus capable of reducing the noise which may be generated from the intermittent and instantaneous movement of the bin tray, and increasing the transferring speed of the bin tray.

As described above, the a bin tray transferring apparatus of a sorter for copy machine according to this invention provides an advantage in that the bin trays can be stably transferred upwards and downwards irrespective of outside force imposed thereon so that one of the tray pins of the bin tray can be efficiently prevented from deviation, thereby accomplishing the lengthening of using life thereof and improving the operational reliability thereof.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purpose, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

1

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. In a sorter for a copying machine provided with a bin tray transferring apparatus for transferring bin trays each having a pair of pin trays at both ends thereof, said bin tray transferring apparatus comprising; first and second slot liners formed on opposite side plates of the sorter, respectively, and each having an inclined middle portion extending toward an ejecting section of the copy machine; a first transfer wheel mounted at said inclined middle portion of said first slot liner and including a normally formed rounded portion having a height difference between a start point and a last point of a guide passage adapted for contacting with one pin tray of said pin trays in order to guide said pin tray, said height difference being larger than a diameter of said pin tray; a second transfer wheel mounted at the inclined middle portion of said second slot liner and including a normally formed rounded portion having a height difference between a start point and a last point of a guide passage adapted for contacting with the other pin tray of said pin trays in order to guide said pin tray, said height difference being larger than a diameter of said pin tray; power transferring means connected between said first and 31 second transfer wheels and adapted for providing the same rotation rate therefor; rack movement controlling means mounted at said opposite side plates and adapted for controlling a driving rate of racks by using a rotation power of said first and second transfer wheels; rack driving means each connected to said rack movement controlling means; a pair of racks each engaging with said rack driving means and having a lower portion f ixedly connected to said pin tray of a lowest positioned bin tray, and supporting means fixedly connected to said opposite side plates and adapted for supporting said whole bin trays.

2. In a sorter for a3copying machine provided with a bin tray transferring apparatus for transferring bin trays each having a pair of pin trays at both ends thereof, said bin tray transferring apparatus comprising: first and second slot liners formed on opposite side plates of the sorter, respectively, and each having an inclined middle portion extending toward an ejecting section of the copy machine; third and fourth slot liners downwardly formed on said opposite side plates of the sorter, respectively, and each adapted for guiding the movement of tray supporting means; 32 1. ' % a first transfer wheel mounted at the inclined middle portion of said first slot liner and including a normally formed rounded portion having a height difference between a start point and a last point of a guide passage adapted for contacting with one pin tray of said pin trays in order to guide said pin tray, said height difference being larger than a diameter of said pin tray; a second transfer wheel mounted at the inclined middle portion of said second slot liner and including a normally formed rounded portion having a height difference between a start point and a last point of a guide passage adapted for contacting with the other pin tray of said pin trays in order to guide said pin tray, said height difference being larger than a diameter of said pin tray; power transferring means connected between said first and second transfer wheels and adapted for providing the same rotation rate therefor; rack movement controlling means mounted at said opposite side plates and adapted for controlling a driving rate of racks by using a rotation power of said first and second transfer wheels; rack driving means each connected to said rack movement controlling means; a base pin extending between respective lowest portions of said first and second slot liners; 33 1.1 a pair of racks each engaging with said rack driving means and having a lower portion fixedly connected to each end of said base pin; and tray supporting means fixedly connected to said opposite side plates, respectively, and forming a supporter movable upward and downward along said third and fourth slot liners in order to provide the same upward and downward movements for inner and outer portions of said bin trays at the same time during movement of the whole bin trays.

3. A bin tray transferring apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, wherein said first transfer wheel comprises: a transfer wheel body provided with three slots each arranged at every 120 angle centering around a center rotating shaft hole, extending radially inward from a circumference of said transfer wheel body and having a guide portion for guiding said one pin tray of the pin trays; three pairs of insert wheels, each said pair of insert wheels located and nearly spaced apart between two said slots in order to alternately pick up and push a pin tray moving along said slot liner of the side plate; insert wheel mounting means for mounting said insert wheel onto said transfer wheel body; driving means for providing a rotation power for said transfer wheel body; and 34 1 1 1 a spur gear formed around a circumferencial surface of said transfer wheel body and adapted for transmitting the rotation power to another mechanism.

4. A bin tray transferring apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, wherein said second transfer wheel comprises: a transfer wheel body provided with three slots each arranged at every 120 angle centering around a center rotating shaft hole, extending radially inward from a circumference of said transfer wheel body and having a portion for guiding said one pin tray of the pin trays; three pairs of insert wheels, each said pair of insert wheels located and nearly spaced apart between two said slots in order to alternately pick up and push a pin tray moving along said slot liner of the side plate; insert wheel mounting means for mounting said insert wheel onto said transfer wheel body; driving means for providing a rotation power for said transfer wheel body; and rotational position detecting means provided on the center of a rear surface of said transfer wheel body and including rotational position detecting slots.

guide

5. A bin tray transferring apparatus as claimed in Claim 3 or 4, wherein said power transferring means comprises: 35 1.1 a first shaft driving gear engaging with said spur gear of said first transfer wheel; a second shaft driving gear positioned in order to be opposite to said first shaft driving gear and engaging with said spur gear of said second transfer wheel; and a driving shaft extending between said first and second shaft driving gears in order to connect said first and second shaft driving gears with each other.

6. A bin tray transferring apparatus as claimed in Claim 5, wherein said rack movement controlling means comprises: first middle gears including an idle gear engaging with said spur gear of said first transfer wheel and a middle reduction gear integrally formed with said idle gear at a center of said idle gear; and second middle gears including an idle gear engaging with said spur gear of said second transfer wheel and a middle reduction gear integrally formed with said idle gear at a center of said idle gear.

7. A bin tray transferring apparatus as claimed in Claim 5, wherein said rack driving means comprises: first rack driving gears including a rack driving reduction gear engaging with said middle reduction gear of said f irst middle gears and a pinion gear provided at a center 36 1 1 t shaft of said rack driving reduction gear; and second rack driving gears including a rack driving reduction gear engaging with said middle reduction gear of said second middle gears and a pinion gear provided at a center shaft of said rack driving reduction gear.

8. A bin tray transferring apparatus as claimed in Claim 3 or 4, wherein said first and second insert wheels each includes:

an elliptic outer passage for contacting with said pin tray in order to guide said pin tray and an elliptic inner passage inscribed with said slot for guiding said pin tray, said inner and outer passages providing a normally formed outer elliptic surface portion between said slots for each said transfer wheel.

9. A bin tray transferring apparatus of a sorter for copy machine comprising a pair of side plates disposed at opposite sides, respectively, a slot liner formed at each said side plate and having an upper vertical portion, a lower vertical portion and an inclined middle portion extending toward an ejecting section of said copy machine, a pair of transfer wheels each rotatably mounted to each said side plate such that said inclined middle portion of said slot liner overlaps with a radius of gyration of said transfer wheel, said 37 1 9 1 1 transfer wheel provided with three radial slots and normally formed rounded portions each formed between two slots and having two passages, a power transmitting device for providing rotational power to said opposite transfer wheels, a pair of racks each movably mounted to said side plate and adapted for transferring said bin trays upwards and downwards by means of the rotational power of said transfer wheel, the bin tray transferring apparatus further comprising: a safety guide vertically mounted to each said side plate; a safety lever rotatably mounted to an upper inner portion of each said rack such that one end thereof contacts with said safety guide but the other end thereof always contacts with an upper circumferential end of said transfer wheel or a tray pin of an uppermost bin tray; and means for rotatably connecting said safety lever to said upper inner portion of said rack; wherein said bin trays are always transferred upwards and downwards without deviation from said slot liners.

10. A bin tray transferring apparatus of a sorter for copy machine as claimed in Claim 9, wherein said apparatus further comprises a supporter vertically mounted to an upper portion of each said side plate near said upper vertical portion of each said slot liner in order to prevent said 38 f 1 safety lever from deviation.

11. A bin tray transferring apparatus of a sorter for copy machine as claimed in Claim 9 or 10, wherein said safety guide comprises two parts for guiding upward and downward movement of said safety guide, a vertical part and an inclined part.

12. A bin tray transferring apparatus of a sorter for copy machine as claimed in Claim 11, wherein said safety lever comprises: a guide contact end movably contacting with said safety guide; and a pin contact end having a radius of curvature for maintaining a height of a surface thereof contacting with said upper circumferential end of said transfer wheel without change by virtue of rotation thereof on the basis of said means for connecting while said rack moves upwards and downwards in a distance.

13. A bin tray transferring apparatus of a sorter for copy machine as claimed in Claim 9 or 10, wherein said means for rotatably connecting said safety lever to said rack comprises: a cylindrical boss provided at said safety lever; and 39 1 a hinge shaft provided at said upper inner portion of said rack as inwardly projecting therefrom.

14. A bin tray transferring apparatus of a sorter for copy machine as claimed in Claim 13, wherein said cylindrical boss of said safety lever is vertically cut in order to provide a vertical slot having a width, while said hinge pin is provided with a vertical protrusion having a relatively smaller circumferential thick than said width of said slot of the cylindrical boss of the lever so that said safety lever rotates within a predetermined rotational angle.

15. Bin tray transferring apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.