JP2000191213A - Sheet storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make smooth and correct alignment of sheets to be discharged while controlling the influence of curling on sheets previously discharged and already stored, efficiently store the sheets and avoid the larger size of a whole structure. SOLUTION: A sheet storage device SA' includes a treatment tray 10 movable between a sheet receiving position where sheets to be discharged are received and their lower faces are supported and an escape position and providing for sheet alignment at the sheet receiving position and a stacking tray 12 arranged under the treatment tray for stacking the sheets moving from the treatment tray by their own weight with the movement of the treatment tray back to the escape position. The treatment tray includes first small trays 8 for supporting the discharge sheets at their front ends escaped in different directions and a second small tray (treatment tray) 11 for supporting the sheets at their rear ends. The first small trays are formed by a plurality of separate trays 81 and the separate trays are stored in the stacked condition when the first small trays are escaped to the escape position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet accommodating apparatus for accommodating sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer or other sheet processing apparatuses.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A sheet storage device for storing sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer or other sheet processing apparatuses usually includes a tray capable of successively storing discharged sheets one after another. Further, there is a device in which a sheet aligning device, a device for binding a plurality of sheets, and other post-processing devices are combined with the tray.

[0003]

However, the sheet discharged from the sheet processing apparatus is often partially or wholly curled under the influence of heat, pressure and the like applied by the sheet processing apparatus. A state in which all or a part of the next sheet is discharged and placed on a sheet bundle or a sheet bundle composed of a plurality of sheets previously placed on the tray, and is aligned with a predetermined alignment position, When performing post-processing, if the lower sheet or sheet bundle already placed on the tray is curled, the sheet placed thereon becomes unstable, and the upper sheet cannot be aligned properly. .

Accordingly, the present invention provides a sheet storage device capable of smoothly and accurately aligning a sheet discharged from a sheet processing apparatus by suppressing the influence of the curl of the sheet discharged and stored. The task is to In addition, the present invention can smoothly and accurately align a sheet discharged from a sheet processing apparatus by suppressing the effect of curling of a sheet that has been discharged first and has been stored, and
It is an object to provide a sheet storage device that can efficiently store sheets.

According to the present invention, a sheet discharged from a sheet processing apparatus can be smoothly and accurately aligned by suppressing the influence of curling of a sheet which has been discharged first and has been completely stored. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet storage device that does not cause a particularly large configuration.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a sheet receiving position for receiving a sheet discharged from a sheet processing apparatus and supporting the entire lower surface of the sheet, and a sheet receiving position. A processing tray that can be moved between a retreat position and a processing tray provided for sheet alignment at the sheet receiving position, and is disposed below the processing tray, and the processing tray is retracted to the retreat position to perform the processing. And a stacking tray for stacking sheets moving from the tray by its own weight.

According to this sheet storage apparatus, the sheet discharged from the sheet processing apparatus is placed on a processing tray previously arranged at a sheet receiving position, and the lower surface of the sheet is entirely supported. Post-processing such as the above-described alignment or binding processing is performed. Thereafter, when the processing tray is retracted to the retreat position, the processing tray moves to the lower loading tray by its own weight, and is loaded and accommodated in the loading tray. Thereafter, the processing tray is placed again at the sheet receiving position before the next sheet is discharged.

The sheet discharged from the sheet processing apparatus is first placed on a processing tray in a state where the lower surface of the sheet is entirely supported, and more specifically, the sheet is already placed on a lower loading tray. Sheets are stacked and stored, and even when the sheets are curled, they are placed on the processing tray without touching the curled lower sheet, and are aligned there, so that they are aligned smoothly and accurately. . And
Thereafter, the processing tray is retracted to the retreat position, and is loaded and accommodated in the loading tray.

Such a sheet storage device is designed to reduce the time required for the retreating operation of the processing tray to the retreat position or the time required for the return operation to the sheet receiving position, so that sheets can be efficiently stored. It may be configured as follows. That is, the processing tray may be constituted by a plurality of small trays that can be retracted in different directions.

For example, the processing tray may be constituted by a first small tray supporting a leading end of a sheet discharged from the sheet processing apparatus and a second small tray supporting a trailing end of the sheet. it can. In this case, the first and second small trays may be provided such that the second small tray is retracted after the first small tray is retracted. Accordingly, if the second small tray is retracted first, the rear end of the sheet is likely to be caught by the member facing the same while the rear end of the sheet moves to the stacking tray, and the occurrence of such a situation is suppressed. .

When the first small tray and the second small tray are retracted, for example, the first small tray retracts downstream in the sheet discharging direction from the sheet processing apparatus, and the second small tray stores the sheet discharging. It can be provided so as to retreat upstream in the direction. In such a case,
In particular, when the first small tray is installed so as to be inclined upward in the sheet discharging direction, it is desirable that the second small tray be retracted after the first small tray is retracted as described above.

After the first small tray is retracted, the second
When the small trays are provided such that the small trays are retracted, the retracted amount of the first small tray is completely retracted from the lower surface of the sheet supported by the first small tray at the sheet receiving position to shorten the retracting time. Instead, it may be set to an amount that does not retreat for a part of the sheet lower surface portion. In this case, the retracted amount of the first small tray finally becomes the first and second small trays.
It is sufficient if the retracted amount is such that the sheet can be moved from the small tray to the stacking tray by its own weight. For example, the sheet portion supported by the first small tray by its retreat to the retracted position of the first small tray has its own weight. The retreat amount can be set so as to be able to drop and move while being bent from the first small tray to the loading tray.

In any case, in order to reduce the time from when the sheets on the processing tray can be moved to the stacking tray to when the processing tray is completely retracted, the processing tray is provided with a sheet receiving tray. After one or more predetermined number of sheets are discharged from the sheet processing apparatus onto the processing tray disposed at the position, the predetermined number of sheets are preliminarily retracted within a range where post-processing of the sheets can be performed, and then the main retraction is performed. May be provided. In this case, the preliminary retreat amount may be set according to the sheet size.

In any of the above-mentioned sheet storage apparatuses, at least a part of the processing tray is constituted by a plurality of divided trays in order to reduce the space for retreating the processing tray and to avoid an increase in the size of the apparatus. When the processing tray is retracted to the retracted position, the plurality of divided trays may be stored in a stacked state. Also in this case, for example, the processing tray includes a first small tray that supports the leading end of the sheet discharged from the sheet processing apparatus, and a second small tray that supports the trailing end of the sheet. One small tray may be composed of a plurality of divided trays, and when the first small tray is retracted to the retreat position, the plurality of divided trays may be stored in a stacked state.

The first small tray and the second small tray retract when the trays are retracted. For example, the first small tray retracts downstream in the sheet discharge direction from the sheet processing apparatus, and the second small tray stores the sheet discharge. It can be provided so as to retreat upstream in the direction. In any case,
When the processing tray is at the sheet receiving position, the plurality of split trays are arranged such that a downstream end upper surface of an upstream split tray in a sheet discharging direction from the sheet processing apparatus is an upstream end upper surface of a downstream split tray. It can be configured to be located above. By employing such a split tray, sheets from the sheet processing apparatus can be discharged and placed on the split tray without being caught on the split tray.

In this case, the divided trays can be moved from the sheet receiving position to the retracted position along separate guide rails. In that case, when the divided tray moves from the sheet receiving position to the retracted position,
Between each adjacent divided tray, one divided tray can be moved by receiving a moving force from the other divided tray.

For example, when the divided tray moves from the sheet receiving position to the retracted position, the divided tray on the downstream side in the moving direction to the retracted position between the adjacent divided trays exerts a moving force from the upstream divided tray. It can be moved by receiving it. In order to simplify the retracting mechanism of the divided trays, the divided trays may be movable from a sheet receiving position to a retracted position along a guide rail common to them.

In this case, when the divided tray is moved from the sheet receiving position to the retracted position, it can be moved in the same direction as the sheet receiving surface formed by the entire processing tray disposed at the sheet receiving position. Further, when the divided tray moves from the sheet receiving position to the retracted position, one of the divided trays may be moved between the adjacent divided trays by receiving the moving force from the other divided tray. For example, when the split tray moves from the sheet receiving position to the retreat position, between the adjacent split trays, the split tray on the downstream side in the moving direction to the retreat position moves by receiving the moving force from the upstream split tray. You may make it.

Further, at the retracted position of the divided tray, an urging device composed of, for example, a spring or the like for urging the divided trays stacked and accommodated at the retracted position in the direction for moving to the sheet receiving position may be provided. . Note that the features of the sheet storage device described above can be appropriately combined and adopted as long as there is no problem.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an example of a sheet processing apparatus to which an example of a sheet storage apparatus according to the present invention is connected. FIG. 2 is a view schematically showing the internal structure of the sheet storage device shown in FIG. 1 from a side.

The sheet processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is a digital copying machine 9, and a printing unit 91 and a printing unit 9 for forming an image on a sheet by electrophotography according to image information.
An image reading unit 92 provided above the image reading unit 1 and reading a document image; an openable and closable automatic document feeder 93 mounted on a document mounting glass (not shown) of the image reading unit 92;
A sheet supply unit 94 and the like below the print unit 91 are provided.

In the copying machine 9, a document is set on the automatic document feeder 93 and sent to the document placing glass, or the device 93 is opened and the document is set directly on the document placing glass. The image of the original set on the original placing glass is read by the image reading unit 92. The image information thus read is sent to the print unit 91. The printing section 91 forms an image corresponding to the document image on the sheet sent from the sheet supply section 94 by the electrophotographic method known per se based on the sent image information.

The sheet on which an image has been formed in this manner is
The sheet is discharged from the copying machine 9 to the sheet storage device SA according to the present invention. The sheet processing apparatus to which the sheet accommodating apparatus of the present invention is connected and used is not limited to a copying machine, and a printer, a facsimile machine for forming an image by transmitting image information from a separately prepared image reading apparatus, a computer or the like. Machine, or a multifunction machine combining one or more of them.

The sheet storage device SA has the following. (1) A sheet loading tray A, which is a first sheet storage section for loading sheets discharged from the copying machine 9, and (2) a sheet feeder (here, sheet alignment) provided for the sheet loading tray A. (3) A third feeding device (here, a sorting feeding device for sorting sheets) provided for the sheet mounting tray A, (4) One end of the processing tray 11 Stapler D installed at
(5) a sheet pressing device E for holding the sheet on the processing tray 11; (6) a guide / cumulative pressing member 61 for guiding the sheet to the stapler D and its urging device 62; The mail bin device F, which is the second sheet storage unit, (8) the upper tray T installed above the sheet loading tray A, (9) the sheet is discharged from the sheet processing device (the copying machine 9 in this example). Conveying device G for guiding a sheet to be placed to the sheet mounting tray A, the mail bin device F or the tray T.

The components (1) to (9) will be described below. (1) Sheet Loading Tray A (See FIGS. 1 to 4 and the Like) The sheet loading tray A is not limited to this, but here includes a processing tray 11 and a sheet loading tray 12 as shown in FIG. ing.

The processing tray 11 has a sheet receiving position P1 (see FIG. 3 and the like) for receiving the sheet S discharged from the sheet processing apparatus (the copying machine 9 in this example), and a retreat position P2 (see FIG. 3) which is retracted from the position P1. 4 and the like, and is provided at a position P1 for sheet alignment, which will be described later, and for predetermined post-processing (sheet binding processing in this example) as necessary.

The processing tray 11 is installed in a substantially horizontal posture in the main body case CA of the sheet storage device SA, and moves between the positions P1 and P2 along a guide (not shown).
The sheet can be reciprocated in the same direction as the sheet discharging direction from the sheet processing apparatus 9 (hereinafter, referred to as “sheet discharging direction X”). The processing tray 11 can be reciprocated by a rack and pinion mechanism and a driving unit (here, a belt transmission device and a motor for rotating the same) that reciprocates the pinion via a clutch.

That is, a rack 111 is fixed to the lower surface of the side of the processing tray 11, and a pinion gear 11
Two are engaged. Pinion gear 112 is case CA
It is supported rotatably. The gear 112 is connected to a shaft of a motor M1 that can be driven in a normal or reverse direction via a clutch 113 having a predetermined play. Thus, the motor M1
Is operated at a predetermined timing, so that the processing tray 11
Is disposed at the sheet receiving position P1 or the retreat position P2.

More specifically, when the processing tray 11 is moved backward from the sheet receiving position P1 to the retracted position P2, the motor M1 is started to operate in the direction for that.
With a slight delay, the clutch 113 engages and the processing tray 11
Begins to retreat. Further, when the motor M1 is started to move in the direction for the movement from the retreat position P2 to the sheet receiving position P1, the clutch 113 is engaged after a short time, thereby moving the processing tray 11 to the position P1. It's getting started. The reason why the clutch 113 has play as described above will become clear later.

The motor M1 operates based on an instruction from the control unit CONT for controlling the operation of the sheet storage apparatus as shown in FIG. The control device CONT includes a computer, and although not shown, can communicate with a control device of the copying machine which controls the operation of the copying machine 9. When the sheet processing device is a printer, the control device CONT includes the printer. Means for communicating with a computer connected to the

As shown in FIG. 4, when viewed from the front side, the processing tray 11 has an uneven upper surface for receiving a sheet. Here, it is formed in a wave shape. This is to reduce the frictional resistance between the upper surface of the processing tray and the sheet when the sheet is moved on the processing tray in a direction crossing the sheet discharge direction (in this case, a direction orthogonal to the sheet discharging direction) in performing the sheet alignment as described later. is there.

As shown in FIG. 2, the sheet stacking tray 12 is located below the processing tray 11 and the sheet storage case C.
A is provided at a predetermined height position at a predetermined timing by a driving device 121 including a motor M2 rotatable in the forward and reverse directions and a transmission device for transmitting the power of the motor to the tray 12 to move the tray up and down. Move settings are made. Motor M
2 operates based on an instruction from the control device CONT.

The stacking tray 12 is provided with a case CA in the sheet discharging direction to prevent the sheets stacked thereon from falling off.
It is inclined upward toward the tip of the tray, which moves away from the tray. In other words, the downstream end is located above the upstream end in the sheet discharge direction. The length of the tray 12 from the case CA to the leading end is longer than the length of the processing tray 11 in the sheet discharging direction, and is set to a length capable of supporting the entire sheet.

Although the loading tray 12 is inclined as described above, the degree of the inclination depends on the material of the upper surface of the tray, the degree of unevenness, and the like.
The sheet placed on top is aligned with the sheet discharging direction.
4 (see FIG. 3) so as not to slide. Further, although not shown in other drawings, as shown in a schematic perspective view in FIG. 15, the stacking tray 12 has a corner portion S1 of the sheets S stacked thereon bound by staples ST and a sheet continuous to the portion S1. The portions 12a and 12b corresponding to the side portions S2 are recessed. Thus, even if the portion S1 of the sheet S bound by the staples ST and the portion S2 following the portion S1 become thicker, those portions are not stacked on the stacking tray 12.
In this manner, the sheet is locally swelled, thereby suppressing deterioration of the sheet stacking and accommodation state on the tray 12 due to disturbance or the like, so that the sheets can be stacked and accommodated smoothly.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.
A switch actuating member 116 is provided at the front end of the lower part 1 so as to be able to move up and down at the center of the lower surface side, and a detection unit (here, mechanical detection switches SW1 and SW2) is provided for the member. Is provided. When the tip of the activation member 116 is pushed up by a predetermined amount, the switch SW1 is turned on.
Is activated, and if it is further pushed up, the switch SW
2 operates.

The switch SW1 is a switch for stopping the stacking tray 12 to be stopped at a predetermined sheet receiving position, and the switch SW2 is a lift prohibition switch (safety switch) for preventing the stacking tray 12 from being further raised. The switches SW1 and SW2 are connected to the control device CONT for controlling the lifting and lowering of the loading tray 12. These constitute each example of a stacking tray height position adjusting device and a stacking tray elevation inhibiting device.

In relation to the sheet loading tray A, the sheet alignment reference portion 13 and the stacking tray 12 for regulating the position of the rear end (upstream end) of the sheet discharged on the processing tray 11 in the sheet discharging direction. A sheet alignment reference portion 14 that regulates the position of the side of the rear end (upstream end) in the sheet discharging direction of the sheet placed thereon is provided (see FIGS. 2 to 4 and the like).

The alignment reference portion 13 is in the form of a standing wall extending along the front surface of the case CA that crosses the sheet discharging direction, and extends vertically above the rear end of the processing tray 11 disposed at the sheet receiving position. I have. Matching reference part 14 is also case C
A is in the form of a standing wall along the front surface crossing the sheet discharge direction of A, is installed on the same vertical plane as the alignment reference portion 13, and extends vertically below the processing tray 11. Loading tray 12
The alignment reference portion 14 extends to a position slightly lower than the rear end of the upper surface of the stacking tray 12 arranged at a position for receiving sheets from the processing tray 11.

A part of the alignment reference section 14 is constituted by a sheet side (here, the rear end side of the sheet) moving device 15. That is, the sheet side moving device 15 is provided with the upper and lower pulleys 1.
An endless belt 153 wrapped around 51, 152 and forming part of the alignment reference 14 is included. The driven pulley 1 is connected to the lower pulley 152 via a one-way clutch 154.
14 is connected, and a drive pulley 115 is provided on the shaft of the motor M1. An endless belt 116 'is wound around the pulleys 114 and 115.

Thus, when the processing tray 11 retreats from the sheet receiving position P1 to the retreat position P2 by the operation of the motor M1, the one-way clutch 154 does not engage,
The belt 153 does not rotate, and only the processing tray 11 moves to the retreat position P2. However, when the processing tray 11 is sent from the retreat position P2 to the sheet receiving position P1 by operation in the opposite direction of the motor M1, the operation of the motor M1 is performed. At the same time as the start, the clutch 153 is engaged, and the endless belt 153 is
The rotation starts in the counterclockwise direction CCW, and after a short time, the processing tray 11 starts moving to the position P1.

The tray indicated by reference numeral 16 in FIG. 12 and the like is a side tray, which will be described later in conjunction with the description of the operation of the sheet storage device SA. (2) A sheet feeder (here, an alignment feeder for sheet alignment) B provided for the sheet mounting tray A
(See FIG. 2, FIG. 4 to FIG. 7, FIG. 12 to FIG. 14, and the like.) The alignment feeding device B is a device for feeding the sheet discharged from the sheet processing device (here, the copying machine 9) and placed on the sheet placing tray A. It is moved toward a predetermined position (here, a predetermined alignment reference position) along the tray A, and as shown in FIG. 4, a first feeding device (here, a first alignment device for sheet alignment).
An alignment feeding device 21 and a second feeding device (here, a second alignment feeding device for sheet alignment) 22 are included.

The first aligning and feeding device 21 sends a signal from the copying machine 9 to
First alignment in which the sheet discharged onto the processing tray 11 of the sheet mounting tray A, which is disposed at the position P1, is moved toward the opposite alignment reference position along the processing tray 11 while being in contact with one end thereof. It includes a feed member 211 and a drive 212 that drives the feed member in such a manner. The feeding member 211 has a home position in one side area with an initial position on the tray of the sheet discharged from the copying machine 9 to the sheet placing tray A, in other words, an initial position of the tray A in the processing tray 11 therebetween. A member, here formed of a plate, on which the sheet can be pushed.

The feeding member 211 is supported so as to reciprocate along a guide shaft 213 extending in a direction Y orthogonal to the sheet discharging direction. The driving device 212 includes a motor M3
And a transmission device for transmitting the power of the motor to the feed member 211. The feed member 211 is operated by the motor M3 to take over the sheet to a home position P3 at a predetermined timing and a second feed member 221 to be described later.
The sheet is reciprocated between the sheet takeover position P4 according to the sheet size. Further, an operation for a sorting process described later is performed.

The motor M3 operates based on an instruction from the control unit CONT. The second alignment feeding device 22 includes:
In addition to the second alignment feeding member 221 that takes over the sheet sent by the first feeding device 21 and rotates while abutting on the sheet surface to move the sheet to the alignment reference position, a rotation driving device for the member 221 , A second feeding member retreating device for moving the member 221 to a retreating position separated from the sheet, a second feeding member urging device, a device for maintaining a constant distance between the rotation center of the second feeding member and the sheet surface, etc. Contains examples substantially.

As the second feeding member 221, various types such as an elastic roller having a surface layer made of an elastic material, which can abut on a sheet and convey the sheet, can be employed. This is a rotary paddle in which a plurality of flexible paddles made of an elastic material are projected radially around the rotary shaft in order to ensure stable and reliable transport. The rotary paddle 221 is arranged at a position on the processing tray 11 that is deviated from the sheet initial position toward the alignment reference position. That is,
When the sheet discharged from the copying machine 9 is placed on the sheet tray A, the sheet is arranged at a position where the sheet does not collide. As a result, the sheet storage device SA
Sheet can be efficiently stored.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the rotary paddle 2
21, a paddle shaft 221a is fixed.
a is rotatably supported by one end of the lower arm 223. A pitch ring R having an outer diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the rotary paddle is rotatably supported on the shaft 221a. This pitch ring R is a distance d between the upper surface of the sheet S to be aligned on the processing tray 11 and the center of the rotary paddle (see FIG. 6).
Is to be kept constant.

The lower arm 223 has an upper arm 224 at the other end.
Is connected to one end of the shaft by a shaft 223a. The shaft 223a is rotatable with respect to any of the arms. Upper arm 2
The other end 24 is connected to the support member 200 at a fixed position by a shaft 224a. The shaft 224a also supports the support member.
The arm 224 can also be rotated. Thus, one end of the upper arm 224 can swing up and down around the shaft 224a, and one end of the lower arm 223 can swing up and down with respect to the arm 224 around the shaft 223a. R can also move up and down with respect to the arm 224.

The arm connecting shaft 223a is a revolving shaft of the rotary paddle 221, so to speak, the sheet aligning and feeding direction Y is larger than the rotary paddle shaft 221a which can be said to be the rotation axis of the rotary paddle.
Is located downstream. Also, rotating paddle 2
A spring 226 for urging the lower arm 223 downward is provided between the lower arm 223 and the upper arm 224 at the arm connecting shaft 223a as an urging device for urging the lower arm 223 toward the sheet to be aligned and fed. .

The arms 223 and 224 have the shaft 221
A gear train 225 including gears having the gear shafts a, 223a, and 224a is mounted. Among the gears in the gear train, a gear 225a having a shaft 224a as a gear shaft is meshed with a worm gear 225b, and the worm gear 225b can be driven forward and reverse by a motor M4 installed at a fixed position. Further, a torque limiter Tr1 operable in both forward and reverse rotation directions is interposed between the gear 225a and the upper arm 224.

According to the second alignment feeding device 22 described above, the motor M4 is operated in the arm raising rotation direction, whereby the gear 225a at the end of the upper arm 224 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 5 via the worm gear 225b. be able to.
In conjunction therewith, the upper arm 224 and thus the lower arm 223 can also be raised. Thus, the rotary paddle 221 can be lifted away from the position for feeding the sheet and retracted. This paddle evacuation position is
It is set by the upper limit stopper 227 with which the upper arm 224 contacts. When the upper arm 224 comes into contact with the upper limit stopper 227, the torque limiter Tr1 operates to avoid damage to the members.

By operating the motor M4 in the arm lowering rotation direction, the gear 225a at the end of the upper arm 224 can be turned counterclockwise in FIG. 6 via the worm gear 225b. Furthermore, the upper arm 224 is linked with it.
Therefore, the lower arm 223 can also be lowered.
Thus, the rotary paddle 221 can be arranged at a position for feeding the sheet. Thus, the upper arm 22
4 contacts the lower limit stopper 228, the torque limiter Tr1 operates, and the arm is prevented from further descending without being destroyed. However, by continuously operating the motor M4, the gear train 225 is driven. Thus, the rotary paddle 221 is driven to rotate in the sheet alignment feed direction. In addition,
Motor M4 operates based on an instruction from control device CONT.

The rotary paddle 221 is driven to rotate so that the sheet feeding speed thereby becomes higher than the sheet feeding speed by the first alignment feeding member 211. Thus, when the sheet is fed by the first feeding member 211 and is taken over by the paddle 221, the sheet is pulled by the paddle 221, thereby causing a severe collision between the sheet and the paddle, buckling and bending of the sheet, and further damage such as wrinkles. Occurrence is avoided.

When the rotary paddle 221 is arranged at the sheet feeding position and abuts on the sheet S to be aligned and fed, the pitch ring R also abuts on the upper surface of the sheet, thereby allowing the rotation between the upper surface of the sheet and the rotation center of the rotary paddle 221. Is maintained constant, so that the amount of deformation of the rotary paddle 221 is constant, and the conveying force by the rotary paddle 221 can be constant.

The rotary paddle 221 is connected to the urging spring 2.
Since the sheet 26 is urged toward the sheet side, the sheet can be aligned and fed with a constant conveying force without being affected by the sheet stacking amount. Also, since the rotation shaft 221a of the rotary paddle 221 is located upstream of the revolution shaft 223a in the sheet feeding direction, even if the paddle receives a reaction force moment from the sheet surface due to the sheet feeding rotation, as shown in FIG. , The paddle 221 can be raised and turned around the revolving shaft 223a,
Biting into the sheet is avoided, and the sheet can be transported safely and smoothly.

As a device for maintaining a constant distance between the rotation center of the second feeding member and the sheet surface, a sensor for detecting the distance between the rotation center of the second feeding member and the sheet surface in addition to the pitch ring R. And the second arm 223, 224 is moved downward by the lower rotation based on the distance detected by the sensor.
An electric or electromechanical method such as controlling the amount of lowering of the feed member to maintain the distance constant may be employed. (3) Third feeder (here, a sorter for sorting sheets) C provided for the sheet tray A
(See FIGS. 4, 12 to 14, etc.) The sorting and feeding device C is configured to transfer the sheets aligned to the alignment reference position by the sheet alignment and feeding device B to the first position Q <b> 1 or the second position on the sheet placing tray A. Position Q2 (FIGS.
(See FIG. 14).

The sorting and feeding device C includes a sheet placing tray A
An alignment reference member 31 having a home position in a region opposite to the first alignment feeding member 211 (on the side where the alignment reference position is located) with the initial position of the upper sheet therebetween, and a driving device 32 for driving the member. Contains. Matching reference member 31
Is in agreement with the matching reference position Qo.

The alignment reference member 31 is supported so as to reciprocate along a guide shaft 213 extending in a direction Y perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction. Here, the member is formed of a plate body, and a sheet can be abutted and aligned on the plate surface,
Further, the sheet can be pushed and moved from the alignment reference position Qo to the first position Q1 or the second position Q2 on the plate surface.
The drive device 32 includes a motor M5 and a transmission that transmits the power of the motor to the member 31.

When the motor M5 is operated, the member 31 is moved to a home position (alignment reference position) Q at a predetermined timing.
and is reciprocated between the first position Q1 and the second position Q2. Note that the motor M5 operates based on an instruction from the control device CONT. (4) Stapler D provided at one end of processing tray 1 (see FIGS. 4, 8 to 10, 12 to 14, etc.) This stapler D is the processing tray 1 of the sheet placing tray A.
1 and the case CA of the sheet storage device SA constitute a sheet post-processing device. Stapler D is one of the post-processors.
It is an example. The stapler D includes a sheet aligning portion having a sheet aligning gap.

Hereinafter, these will be described in detail. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the stapler D has a main body 41 formed in the form of a block, and a handle 42 extending upward.
Is provided. The main body 41 can hold staples, which are consumables, can also be replaced, replenished, and the like, a staple holding unit 411, a post-processing unit 412 that binds a sheet bundle using staples, and supplies power to the post-processing unit 412. Power supply 400 is provided. In addition, a manual switch SW that can start the operation of the post-processing unit 412 is provided on the upper surface of the main body 41, and on the lower surface of the main body 41,
A mounting pin 414 and an electric plug 415 are provided.

The post-processing section 412 includes a portion 412A forming a gap 412a for inserting a portion of the sheet to be bound. The gap 412a also serves as a sheet alignment gap, and the portion 412A also serves as a sheet alignment section. The gap 412a is surrounded by a ceiling surface a1, a bottom surface a2 facing the ceiling surface a1, and a back surface a3 connected to these surfaces.

An index In is provided on the sheet introduction shelf a4, which is continuous with the bottom surface a2, for smoothly introducing and adjusting the fed sheet to a post-processing position (here, a staple position) in the gap. Further, the main body 41 is provided with a detection unit 43 for detecting when a sheet is disposed at a post-processing position in the gap 412a in order to prevent the staple from being hit, and the post-processing unit 412 has a detection unit. A stapling operation can be performed only when a sheet is detected.

As shown in FIG. 9, the stapler D holds the handle 42 from above the sheet storage device SA into the stapler mounting space Es of the sheet storage device case CA.
It can be fitted and mounted integrally and fixed, and can be pulled out upward from that state. It is usually placed in a mounted state. In the state of being fitted and mounted in the space Es, the mounting pin 414 and the electric plug 415 are connected to the connector 416 at the bottom of the space. In this state, the power supply 400 is charged. Further, in this state, the aligning portion 412A faces one end of the processing tray 11 and the one corner portion of the rear end of the sheet which is brought into contact with and aligned with the alignment reference member 31 arranged at the alignment reference position. Take a position that can be aligned. further,
A display device (in this case, a lamp La provided in the case CA) for indicating that it is fitted is turned on. The lamp La is turned on when the main body 41 activates the switch 44 provided in the space Es.

The detection section 43, the lamp La and the switch 44 are connected to a control unit CONT. By attaching the stapler D to the space Es of the case CA, the stapler D is ejected from the copier 9, placed on the sheet placing tray A, and can be subjected to the binding process on the aligned sheet. .

Since the stapler D can be integrally attached to and detached from the case space Es of the sheet storage device SA, maintenance, that is, replacement and replenishment of staples, and the like can be performed.
The stapler D can be easily taken out of the case space Es for repairing a failure, performing periodic inspection, and the like. The stapler D can be taken out of the sheet storage device SA, so that it can be used away from the sheet storage device, which is more convenient. When it is taken out and used, it can be operated by the power supply 400 and can be bound by operating the manual switch SW.

When the sheet is taken out and used, the sheet can be correctly inserted into the sheet alignment gap 412a using the sheet insertion index In. (5) Sheet Pressing Apparatus E for Holding Sheets on Processing Tray 11 (See FIG. 4) The sheet pressing apparatus E is discharged from the copying machine 9 to the sheet loading tray A as shown in FIG. And a plurality (four in this case) of pressing members 51 for pressing the sheet rear end (upstream end in the sheet discharging direction X) placed on the tray 11 toward the tray 11.

Each holding member 51 is supported by a horizontal rod 52 extending in the sheet alignment feed direction. Both ends of the rod 52 are rotatably connected to one end of a pair of parallel arms 53 by a shaft 54. Each arm 53 has a portion slightly closer to one end than the other end is rotatably connected to a fixed position member (not shown) by a shaft 55. Right side as viewed from the front side (Fig. 4
The shaft 55 on the other end side of the arm 53 is fixed to the arm 53 and connected to a gear 571 via a torque limiter 56 that works in both forward and reverse rotation directions. The worm gear 572 driven by the possible motor M6 is engaged.

By operating the motor M6 at a predetermined timing, a link mechanism including a pair of arms 53, a horizontal rod 52, and the like is driven. , And can be moved up and down between a sheet holding position where the sheet moves down and holds the sheet. At the position P5, the right arm 53 comes into contact with the upper limit stopper 530.

Here, each time a sheet is discharged from the copying machine 9 and placed on the sheet placing tray A (processing tray 11), the holding member is moved prior to the start of the alignment feeding of the sheet by the alignment feeding device B. 51 is disposed at the sheet pressing position, whereby the rear end of the sheet is pressed against the processing tray 11 and is extended even when the sheet is curled, so that alignment can be performed accurately and easily. After the completion of the alignment, it retreats to the retreat position P5.

The motor M6 is also connected to the control unit CONT, and is operated based on an instruction from the control unit CONT. Each of the pressing members 51 is in the form of a lever, and the two pressing members 51 on the left side when viewed from the front side are rotatably pin-connected to the horizontal rod member 52 at a portion closer to the right, and when lowered from the retreat position P5. As shown by a chain line in FIG. 4, the left end is inclined by its own weight. Further, the two right pressing members 51 as viewed from the front side are rotatably pin-connected to the horizontal rod member 52 at leftward positions, and when descending from the retracted position P5, as shown by a chain line in FIG. To take an inclined posture with the right end lowered.

When the two pressing members 51 on the left side move up to the retreat position P5, the right ends of the two pressing members 51 abut against a stopper (not shown) at a fixed position, and assume a substantially horizontal posture. The two pressing members 51 on the right side take a substantially horizontal posture with their left ends abutting on stoppers (not shown) at fixed positions. Further, the right arm 53 comes into contact with the upper limit stopper 530. As a result, the torque limiter 56 operates to prevent damage to the members.

Each pressing member 51 moves from the retracted position P5 to the sheet pressing position and contacts the sheet on the processing tray 11, when pressing the sheet S toward the processing tray 11, and by the action of the link mechanism. The sheet moves slightly in the sheet alignment feed direction Y toward the alignment reference position Qo. More specifically, in this example, when each holding member 51 descends from the retreat position P5 to the sheet holding position, the holding member 51 once assumes an inclined posture as described above and starts contacting the sheet on the processing tray 11 on the way. By further descending, the sheet S is pressed toward the processing tray 11 while receiving a reaction force from the sheet and rotating toward a horizontal position, and the sheet is moved in the sheet alignment feed direction Y by the action of the link mechanism. It moves slightly in the alignment feed direction so as to move toward the position Qo. When the two right and left holding members 51 take the inclined posture, the inclination directions are different, and when viewed from the front side, "c"
When the sheet comes into contact with the sheet, the sheet is pushed toward the processing tray 11 and slightly moved in the alignment feed direction while acting to extend the sheet to the left and right.

The sheet pressing force of the pressing member 51 is
The pressing force increases as the pressing member 51 descends toward the sheet, but the pressing force is limited to a predetermined force by the action of a torque ritter 56 interposed between the shaft 55 of the right arm 53 and the driving gear 571 in the link mechanism. This is limited to such a degree that the sheet can be aligned and fed even when the pressing member 51 presses the sheet. (6) A guide member / sheet pressing member 61 for guiding a sheet to the stapler D and its urging device 62 (see FIG. 4). As shown in FIG. 4, the sheet moved toward the alignment reference position Qo by the alignment feeding device B. A guide member 61 for guiding the front end portion in the moving direction to the gap of the matching portion is provided.
Generally, the alignment section is not particularly limited as long as it can be used for sheet alignment, and the gap between the alignment sections may be any as long as it has a predetermined size in the sheet stacking direction (for example, up and down direction). However, here, the aligning unit is the aligning unit 412A in the post-processing unit 412 of the stapler D, and the gap is the portion of the aligning unit 412A to be bound by the sheet (here, the rear end corner of the leading end in the sheet moving direction). Is a gap 412a for inserting

In this case, the guide member 61 is a lever-shaped member and also serves as a sheet pressing member. In the moving direction Y of the sheet on the processing tray 11 by the aligning and feeding device B, the guide member 61 is located upstream from the aligning portion 412A of the stapler D. It faces the matching portion gap 412a. The guide member / pressing member 61 has its upstream end in the alignment feeding direction Y of the sheet connected and supported by a shaft 611 to a fixed position member (not shown), whereby the end 612 on the alignment portion side (downstream side) is connected. It can be swung up and down.

An apparatus 62 for urging the guide member 61 in the sheet pressing direction is also provided. The urging device 62 moves the guide member 61 in the sheet pressing direction with the two rods 621 and 622 connected to the arm 53 on the left side in FIG. 4 constituting a link mechanism for moving the pressing member 51 up and down. And a torsion coil spring 623 for biasing.

One end of the longer rod 621 is rotatably pin-connected to the other end (upper end in the figure) of the arm 53, and the other end is rotatably pin-connected to one end of the shorter rod 622. Have been. The other end of the rod 622 is rotatably connected and supported by a fixed position member (not shown) around a shaft 624. The spring 623 is provided between the rod 622 and the guide member / pressing member 61, and the guide member / pressing member 61 is provided.
Is always urged in the sheet pressing direction.

As shown by the solid line in FIG.
Is retracted to the retreat position P5, the guide member 61
Is a state in which the rods 621 and 622 of the urging device 62 are moved leftward and downward in FIG. 4 by the left arm 53 of the link mechanism for lifting and lowering the pressing member 51, so that the spring 623 exerts a strong spring force. Put in. The guide member 61 is strongly urged in the sheet pressing direction by this spring. When the sheet tip corner is already inserted into the alignment portion gap 412a, the guide member / pressing member 6
1, the sheet is pressed so that the curl is extended, even when that part of the sheet is curled, thereby clearing the space above the sheet in the alignment gap 412a with the next sheet. Can be slightly increased so as to be easily accepted. Also,
By the pressing, the binding process by the staple of the sheet can be easily and accurately performed.

Further, in order to align the sheets discharged from the copying machine 9 and placed on the processing tray 11, when the pressing member 51 presses the rear end thereof, that is, the pressing member 51 takes the sheet pressing position. When the urging device 62
Are moved rightward and upward in FIG. 4 by the left arm 53 of the link mechanism for lifting and lowering the pressing member 51, the spring 623 is set to have a weak spring force, and The sheet pressing force is weakened, and the sheet fed in alignment is guided to the gap 412a by the member without any trouble.

Since the pressing member 51 of the sheet pressing device E performs the sheet pressing operation for each sheet, the guide member / pressing member 61 also performs the sheet guiding / pressing (pressing) operation for each sheet. In other words, when the pressing member 51 is pressing the sheet, the urging device 62 operates the pressing member 51 so that the amount of force by which the guide and pressing member 61 presses the sheet is smaller than at other times. This is an example of a device that sets the amount of force of the guide member / pressing member 61 in conjunction with.

The guide and pressing member 6 described above is used.
Instead of 1 or separately with the member 61, a member dedicated to sheet guidance as schematically illustrated in FIG. 16 may be provided. The guide member 63 shown in FIG. 16 is a lever-shaped member, and faces the alignment portion gap 412a from the upstream side of the alignment portion 412A of the stapler D in the moving direction Y of the sheet on the processing tray 11 in the moving direction Y by the alignment feeding device B. .

The guide member 63 is a leading end (downstream end) S in the moving direction of the sheet S moved by the alignment feeding device B.
From the sheet guide position (elevation position) P9 for guiding the sheet tray 1 to the matching portion gap 412a.
1) It is possible to move between a sheet holding position (down position) P10 for holding the sheet toward the tray toward the side. This movement is performed by the guide member moving device 64.

The guide member 63 has a shaft member 6 whose end on the upstream side in the sheet feeding direction is a fixed position member (not shown).
31, the end portion 632 on the alignment portion side (downstream side) is swung up and down to take the guide position P9 or the holding position P10. Seat guide position P
9, the leading edge S1 of the sheet S in the moving direction can be smoothly guided to the matching portion gap 412a. When the sheet is positioned at the sheet holding position P10, when the corner of the sheet tip is already inserted into the alignment portion gap 412a, the strong pressing operation by the guide member allows the sheet to curl even when that part of the sheet is curled. The sheet is pressed in such a way that its curl is stretched, whereby the alignment gap 4
The space above the sheet at 12a can be made slightly larger so that the next sheet can be easily received. In addition, the pressing makes it easy to bind the sheets with staples,
You will be able to do it accurately.

The guide member moving device 64 includes, but is not limited to, a spring 641 for constantly urging the guide member 63 toward the sheet guide position P9 as shown in the figure, and pressing the guide member 63 against the sheet holding position against the spring. It can be constituted by a cam device 642 acting on the guide member so as to be arranged at P10. A solenoid or the like may be used instead of the cam device.

Further, based on an instruction from the control device CONT, the guide member moving device 64 places the guide member 63 at the sheet holding position P10 every time the alignment feeding device B aligns a predetermined number of sheets with the gap 412a. You may do so. Further, as indicated by a chain line in FIG. 15, a mechanical, electrical or mechanical / electrical or the like for detecting the size Sz of the empty space above the uppermost sheet in the matching portion gap 412a in the sheet stacking direction (in this case, the direction). Detection device 6
5 is connected to the control device CONT, and when the size of the empty space detected by the detection device becomes equal to or smaller than a predetermined size, the guide member moving device 64 operates the control device C
The guide member 63 may be moved to the holding position P10 based on an instruction from the ONT. (7) Mail bin device F, which is a second sheet storage unit disposed below sheet placement tray A (see FIG. 2, etc.) An example of a second sheet storage unit below sheet placement tray A Is provided.

The mail bin device F has a five-stage bin 10 so that sheets discharged from a sheet processing device (here, the copying machine 9) can be accommodated in a predetermined bin corresponding to a distribution destination.
1 is provided. In addition, each bin 1 except the bottom bin 1
In contrast to 01, a sheet discharge switching claw 102 driven by a solenoid SOL is provided. A common sheet conveyance path 103 is also provided for the five-stage switching claw 102.

Each solenoid SOL is connected to the control device CONT. Based on an instruction from the control device CONT, the switching claw 102 corresponding to the bin 101 from which the sheet is to be discharged is set to the sheet discharge position. Is set to the sheet discharge position, the solenoid SOL is turned on. In any of the upper four stages, when the solenoid SOL is off, the claw 102 is set to the sheet non-discharge position. When discharging sheets to the lowermost bin 102, all solenoids SOL are turned off. (8) Upper Tray T Installed Above Sheet Loading Tray A (See FIGS. 1 and 2 etc.) The sheet loading tray A described above mainly executes a sheet binding process by staples and sorts sheets. The upper tray T is provided above the tray A only when sheets are simply stored. (9) A transport device G (see FIG. 2) for guiding the sheet discharged from the sheet processing device (the copying machine 9 in this example) to the sheet placing tray A, the mail bin device F or the tray T (see FIG. 2). The first transport path 71 is provided in the main body case CA of the storage device SA, receives a sheet discharged from the sheet processing device (here, the copying machine 9), and guides the sheet to the sheet loading tray A as the first storage portion. , Transport path 71
A pair of rollers 72 provided at the entrance for receiving and pulling in the sheet, and a pair of rollers 73 provided at the exit for discharging the sheet. Further, a second conveyance path 74 for guiding the sheet to the mail bin device F from the middle of the first conveyance path 71 and a third conveyance path 75 for guiding the sheet to the upper tray T are provided.

An intermediate conveyance roller pair is also provided at an appropriate position in these conveyance paths. A sheet conveyance direction switching claw 76 is provided for the second conveyance path 74, and a sheet conveyance direction is provided for the third conveyance path 75. Direction switching claws 77 are provided, respectively. Each switching claw is urged by a spring (not shown) and is normally set to a position where the sheet is fed through the first conveyance path 71. FIG. 2 shows such a claw position state. The switching claw 76 is driven by the solenoid SOL1 being turned on, whereby the sheet can be guided to the second conveyance path 74. The switching claw 77 is connected to the solenoid SOL2
When the sheet is turned on, the sheet can be guided to the third conveyance path 75.

The rollers 72, 73 and the like are driven by a motor M7 which is operated based on the support from the control unit CONT. In addition, immediately downstream of the sheet receiving pair roller 73, a punch unit U for punching a hole in the sheet as necessary is provided.
Below this, a waste receptacle Ur is installed. The solenoids SOL1 and SOL2 and the punch unit U are respectively connected to the control unit CONT, and are turned on at predetermined timing based on an instruction from the control unit CONT as needed.

The second transport path 74 penetrates the retreat area of the processing tray 11. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a member 741 having a sheet passing hole h is provided in a part of the area including the retreat position of the processing tray 11, and is provided at a rear end of the processing tray 11 by a spring 742. Are linked. When the processing tray 11 is located at the sheet receiving position P1, the member 741 is pulled by a spring 742 and moved so that its hole h is located in the second transport path 74. The contact is fixed. Processing tray 11
Is retracted to the retreat position P2, it is pushed through the spring 742 and retreats by a necessary minimum amount along a guide (not shown). When the sheet is guided to the mail bin F, the processing tray 11 may be arranged at the sheet receiving position P1.

The processing tray 11 may be provided with a hole through which a sheet conveyed through the second conveyance path 74 can pass when the processing tray 11 is retracted to the retreat position P2. In any case, since the second transport path 74 is formed so as to penetrate the retreat area of the processing tray 11, the sheet storage device SA can be made smaller and more compact.

Next, the operation of the entire sheet storage device SA described above will be described. First, a case will be described in which a sheet discharged from the copying machine 9 via a sheet conveying device G described later is stored in the sheet mounting tray A. The use of the sheet placing tray A is specified by a copier operation panel (not shown) connected to the copier controller.

At first, the processing tray 11 is arranged at the sheet receiving position P1, is detected and stopped by the sensor S1 (see FIG. 3), and the stacking tray 12 is mounted on the sensor S2 (see FIG. 3), and is located and stopped at an initial downward evacuation position that is lowered a predetermined distance from the position where the ascent is stopped. In addition, the alignment feeding device B
In, the first alignment feed member 211 is disposed at the home position P3, is detected and stopped by the sensor S3 (see FIG. 4), and the second alignment feed member (rotary paddle) 22
1 has been lifted and stopped until the arm 224 supporting the first abutment contacts the upper limit stopper 227, whereby the rotary paddle 221 has also stopped at that position.

In the sorting and feeding device C, the alignment reference member 31 is positioned at the alignment reference position Qo which is the home position.
And stopped by being detected by the sensor S4 (see FIG. 4). Further, in the sheet pressing device E, the pressing member 51 is disposed at the raised / retracted position P5, and the arm 53 supporting the pressing member comes into contact with the stopper 530 and stops (see FIG. 4). Accordingly, the guide and pressing member 6 facing the gap 412a of the alignment portion of the stapler D
1 is a spring 62 set so as to maintain a strong spring force.
3 is urged in the sheet pressing direction.

In the sheet conveying apparatus G, a first conveying path 71 is secured. The sheets S ejected one by one from the copying machine 9 are guided to the first transport path 71, and when specified by the operation panel on the copying machine side, are punched by the punch unit U and placed on the sheet loading tray A. It is sent out one by one. A sheet passage sensor S7 (see FIG. 3) is provided near the discharge roller pair 73 in the transport path 71, and is used for sheet discharge and detection of the number of discharged sheets.

When the first single sheet S is discharged onto the tray A, as shown in FIG. 12A, the sheet is moved to the rear end (upstream end) S3 in the sheet discharge direction and to the rear end S3. A subsequent portion is placed on the processing tray 11, and the remaining portion S 4 protruding from the processing tray 11 is placed on the loading tray 12.
Placed on Thus, the sheet S is placed at the initial position on the tray A. After a predetermined time, the pressing member 5 in the sheet pressing device E is instructed by the control device CONT.
1 descends toward the sheet pressing position, and presses the rear end portion S3 of the sheet toward the processing tray 11. As a result, even when the rear end of the sheet is curled, this is extended,
A smooth and accurate alignment process can be performed. Further, with the pressing member 51 descending to the sheet pressing position, the guide member 61 is set in a state where the guide member 61 is weakly urged in the sheet pressing direction by the spring 623 whose spring force is weakened. Further, the rotary paddle 221 descends to the sheet feeding position and starts rotating.

While the pressing member 51 is pressing the rear end S3 of the sheet S, the first alignment feeding member 211 is fed in the alignment direction, whereby the member 211 divides the sheet S into the alignment reference member 31 and the stapler D. To the matching portion gap 412a. The feed member 211 is a control device CON.
Based on the instruction from T, when the sheet 211 reaches the sheet feeding handover position P4 (for example, the position P4 shown in FIG. 4) corresponding to the sheet size, the member 211 returns to the home position P3. As described above, since the feeding member 211, which cannot move at a high speed, moves a short distance and returns to the home position, the time until the next sheet can be received is shortened accordingly, and the sheet accommodating operation can be performed more efficiently.

The sheet S is continuously fed by the rotary paddle 211 and is brought into contact with and aligned with the alignment reference member 31. At the same time, the rear end corner S1 of the sheet is guided by the guide member 61,
The stapler D is smoothly and accurately arranged and aligned in the alignment portion gap 412a. The pressing member 51 returns to the raised and retracted position after the sheets are aligned (after the time required for completing the sheet alignment) based on the instruction of the control device CONT, and the right arm 53 is moved to the stopper 530 (see FIG. 4). After the contact, the pressing member drive motor M6 stops.

As the pressing member 51 rises to the retracted position and retreats, the guide member 61 is strongly urged by the spring 623 which has been strengthened, and the leading end S1 of the sheet rear end inserted into the stapler alignment portion gap 412a. Press firmly.
Thereby, even when the sheet portion is curled,
The curl is extended, the space above the sheet in the gap 412a is widened, and the next sheet can be easily and smoothly received.

In this way, the sheets discharged from the copying machine 9 are placed one by one on the sheet placing tray A and aligned. During this time, the paddle 221 is at the sheet feeding position and continues to rotate. For the last sheet of the predetermined number of sheets, the first alignment feeding member 211 interposes the sheet with the alignment reference member 31 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit CONT based on the size of the sheet P (see FIG. (B)), stop and wait at that position for the subsequent sorting process.

When the alignment of the last sheet is completed in this way, the rotary paddle 221 also moves up and retreats, and the paddle 221
The paddle drive motor M4 is stopped after the arm 224 supporting the arm 224 contacts the upper limit stopper 227 (see FIG. 5).
As shown in FIGS. 12B and 12C, when a predetermined number of sheets are placed on the sheet placing tray and their alignment is completed, a stapling process using the staple D is designated on the copier-side operation panel. Is set, the predetermined number of sheets are stapled by the stapler D. If no stapling process is specified, after the sheet alignment is completed, the alignment reference member 31 in the sorting / feeding device C sets To the tray A based on the instruction of the control unit CONT.
Push back to upper first position Q1. At this time, the first alignment feeding member 211 is located on the opposite side of the sheet and retreats toward the home position P3 together with the sheet. As described above, since the sheet moves while being sandwiched between the alignment reference member 31 and the feed member 211, problems such as disturbance in the posture of the sheet and unevenness of the sheet bundle are avoided.

After the sheet has moved to the first position Q1,
As shown in FIG. 13A, the processing tray 11 retreats to the retreat position P2 in accordance with an instruction from the control device CONT, whereby the sheet bundle drops and moves on the stacking tray 12 by its own weight.
The alignment reference member 31 returns to the alignment reference position Qo, and is stopped by being detected by the sensor S4. Here, the operation of the stacking tray 12 will be described. After the predetermined sheet processing operation is started (here, after the pruning operation in the sheet processing apparatus 9 is started), while the processing tray 11 is still at the sheet receiving position P1. Then, the ascending operation is started by an instruction from the control device CONT, and the ascending operation is performed to the sheet stacking position.

When the stacking tray 12 reaches the sheet stacking position, the switch activation member 1 provided on the processing tray 11
16 is pushed by the loading tray 12 and rotated, whereby the switch SW1 is operated and the loading tray drive motor M2 is stopped. If the loading tray 12 rises further and tray 1
If there is a risk that the sheets 1 and 12 may be damaged, or that sheets are already stacked on the tray 12 and may be damaged,
Further rotation of the switch activation member 116 activates the switch SW2, thereby stopping the motor M2 and inhibiting the loading tray 12 from rising.

After the height position of the stacking tray 12 has been adjusted to the predetermined sheet stacking position in this way, FIG.
As shown in (A), the processing tray 11 is retracted to the retreat position P2 and stopped. By the retreating operation of the processing tray 11, the sheet rear end S 3 on the processing tray 11 is moved to the stacking tray 12.
It falls and moves under its own weight. At this time, the sheet is short and moves a fixed distance, so that the disturbance of the posture of the sheet, the irregularity, and the like are suppressed accordingly, and the sheet loading state on the loading tray 12 is stabilized.

When the sheet on the processing tray 11 is moved to the stacking tray 12, the pressing member 51 is lowered again to press the sheet rear end S3 toward the stacking tray. As a result, the sheets can be stacked more smoothly on the loading tray 12.
Can be moved to The pressing member 51 then moves up and away to prepare for the next sheet alignment. The stacking tray 12 is inclined as described above, and the degree of the inclination is such that the sheet placed on the stacking tray 12 slides toward the alignment reference portion 14 (see FIG. 3) in the sheet discharging direction. Is set so that the sheet is not caught by the alignment reference portion 14 in that state.
From the storage tray 12 to the loading tray 12.

After the processing tray 11 has retreated to the retreat position P2, the loading tray 12 moves down to a retreat position below by a predetermined fixed distance based on an instruction from the control unit CONT. After the loading tray 12 has been lowered to the retreat position,
The processing tray 11 advances to the sheet receiving position P1 again. At this time, slightly before the start of the movement of the processing tray 11, the belt 1 forming a part of the alignment reference portion 14 is moved.
53 is rotated in a direction in which the trailing edge of the sheet on the loading tray 12 can be driven downward, so that the trailing edge of the sheet on the loading tray 12 is curled upward. The rear end portion is drawn downward, and the processing tray 12 can move to the receiving position P1 without colliding with the sheet. The belt 153 stops simultaneously when the processing tray 11 stops at the receiving position P1.

The sheet trailing edge alignment reference portion 13 for the processing tray 11 and the sheet trailing edge alignment reference portion 14 for the stacking tray 12 are arranged on the same vertical plane.
Alternatively, the alignment reference portion 14 on the rear edge of the sheet may be retracted upstream from the upper alignment reference portion 13 in the sheet discharging direction so that the rear edge of the sheet is not easily caught on the alignment reference portion 14. In this case, the rotating belt 153 may not be provided.

As described above, in the state where the first predetermined number of sheets are placed on the stacking tray 12 and the processing tray 11 is again placed at the sheet receiving position P1, FIG.
As shown in (B) and (C), the next predetermined number of sheets are received one by one in the sheet placing tray A in the same manner as described above, and the sheet trailing edge is held for each sheet by the pressing member 51 of the sheet pressing device E. While holding down the guide member 6
1 can be aligned by the alignment feeding device B while guiding the sheets. When the predetermined number of sheets have been aligned, the staple binding process is also performed, if specified, and then executed.
As shown in FIG. 4 (A), the sheet is moved to the second position Q2 on the tray A with the alignment reference member 31 and the first alignment feed member 211 of the sorting and feeding device C sandwiching the sheet.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 14B, the processing tray 11 is retracted to the retreat position P2 and the sheet is moved to the stacking tray 12 by its own weight. Prior to this, at the same timing as described above. The stacking tray 12 is raised to the sheet stacking position. When the stacking tray 12 is raised to the sheet stacking position, unlike the case where the first predetermined number of sheets are stored, as shown schematically in FIG. 17, the leading end of the processing tray 11 (the downstream end in the sheet discharging direction).
11a contacts the upper surface of the sheet S previously placed on the stacking tray 12, and presses the sheet. The degree of the pressing is determined by the switch activation member 11 on the processing tray 11.
6 is rotated by receiving a reaction force from the lower seat, and the switch SW1 is thereby activated. The operation of the switch SW1 stops the lifting of the loading tray 12, and the tray 12
The predetermined sheet stacking position is secured, and even when the sheet on the tray 12 is curled, the curl can be pressed and extended by the processing tray 11, and the processing on the processing tray 11 can be performed accordingly. Easy and accurate.

As shown in FIG. 14B, the loading tray 12
After the second predetermined number of sheets are placed on the stacking tray, the stacking tray 12 is moved to the lower retreat position, and the processing tray 12 is again placed at the sheet receiving position as shown in FIG. Prepare for work. The lowering distance of the tray 12 at this time is the same as the distance of lowering the tray after the first predetermined number of sheets are placed on the tray 12. Therefore, since the first sheet is placed on the tray 12 and has been raised only until it comes into contact with the processing tray 12, the retreat position is lower than the first retreat position. When lowering the stacking tray 12 to the retreat position, the control device CONT lowers the stacking tray 12 by a predetermined distance.

By repeating the above-described operation as necessary, the sheets sorted on the stacking tray 12 can be stacked in a predetermined amount in order and neatly. In addition,
Here, the processing tray 11 for sheets on the stacking tray 12 is used.
The switch actuating member 116 and the switch SW1 are employed as a device for detecting the height of the sheet upper surface at the portion pressed by the switch or at a portion in the vicinity thereof. A sensor (for example, a distance measuring sensor) for detecting the height of the sheet surface at such a portion
And the sensor is connected to the control device CONT, and based on the detection result by the sensor, the loading tray drive motor M2
May be adjusted to control (control) the height position of the tray 12.

Further, when the tray 12 is raised to the sheet stacking position in a state where the sheets are pre-loaded on the stacking tray 12, the position of the previously mounted sheets is adjusted by the sorting and feeding device C. Since the position is returned to the original position, the upper surface of the stacking tray 12 may be lowered from the alignment reference position on the alignment reference position side of the preceding sheet stored on the stacking tray 12. For this reason, a side tray for supporting the end of the sheet to be aligned with the alignment reference position on the alignment reference position side may be provided. Here, although not shown in other drawings, FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 4, such a side tray 16 is provided.

The sheet transport direction switching claw 7 in the transport device G is specified by the operation panel of the copying machine.
The position of 6 or 77 can be switched to use the mail bin device G or the upper tray T. Next, a sheet storage device SA 'according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 18 is a diagram schematically showing the internal structure of the sheet storage device SA ′ from the side.

The sheet storage device SA 'is a sheet storage device having the same configuration and operation as the sheet storage device SA except for the sheet stacking tray A', and the sheet storage device SA 'described with reference to FIG. Feeder B, sorting feeder C, stapler D, sheet presser E, guide member / sheet pressing member 6 for guiding a sheet to stapler D
1, the urging device 62, the mail bin device F, the upper tray T, the transport device G, etc. are provided as they are, and the device S
The operation is the same as in the case A. The same components as those of the device SA, parts, and the like are denoted by the same reference numerals as the device SA. .

Hereinafter, the sheet placing tray A 'will be mainly described. As shown in FIG. 18, the sheet placing tray A ′
A sheet ejected from a sheet processing apparatus (here, the copying machine 9) is received, and the sheet can be moved between a sheet receiving position for fully supporting the lower surface of the sheet and a retracted position retracted from the position. It includes a processing tray 10 provided for alignment at a position and a sheet stacking tray 12.

The processing tray 10 comprises a first small tray 8 and a second small tray 11, which can be retracted in different directions. Here, the second small tray 11 is the same tray as the processing tray 11 in the sheet storage device SA, and has the same operation and function. The first small tray 8 is composed of a plurality of divided trays 81, and these divided trays 81 are stored in a stacked state when the retracted position is set.

The stacking tray 12 is the same as the stacking tray 12 in the sheet storage device SA, and has the same operation and function. The first small tray 8 will be described further.
The small tray 8 is a so-called auxiliary processing tray.
18 and 19, four separate but parallel guide rails 821, 822, 823 that are inclined upward from the upstream side to the downstream side in the sheet discharge direction X, as shown in FIGS. , 824 from the respective sheet receiving position to the retracted position.

These guide rails are formed on the left and right inner surfaces when viewed from the front side of the tray support frame 83 projecting from the main body case CA of the apparatus SA '. 18 and 19 show only the left guide rail when viewed from the front side.
The guide rails provided in four stages are formed so as to be sequentially longer from the lowermost rail 821 to the uppermost rail 824, and the positions of the downstream ends (upper ends) in the sheet discharge direction X are aligned, and the uppermost guide rail is provided. From 824 to the lowermost guide rail 821, the length of each adjacent rail is slightly shorter than the length of one divided tray 81 in the sheet discharging direction.

Each of the divided trays 81 which can be moved up and down along the guide rails 822, 823 and 824 has engaging portions 811 and 812 on the lower surfaces at both ends in the sheet discharging direction. The split tray 81 that can move up and down along the guide rails 821, 822, and 823 has an engagement protrusion 813 on the upper surface of the upstream end in the sheet discharging direction. Fig. 1
8. When the sheet is at the sheet receiving position as shown in FIG. 19, the upstream divided tray (upper divided tray) in the sheet discharge direction X between the adjacent divided trays 81 so that the discharged sheets are not caught. The downstream end of the downstream split tray (lower split tray) 81 is disposed so as to overlap the upstream end of the downstream split tray 81. At this time, the downstream engaging portion 811 of the upper divided tray 81 is engaged with the upper surface engaging projection 813 of the lower divided tray 81.

A driving device 84 for these divided trays 81 is provided, which includes a motor M8 rotatable in forward and reverse directions, and a transmission device for transmitting the power of the motor to the uppermost tray 81U. When the divided tray 81 moves from the sheet receiving position to the retracted position, one of the divided trays 81 is placed between the adjacent divided trays.
It moves by receiving the moving force from 1.

That is, when the motor M8 is operated to drive the uppermost (uppermost) tray 81 (81U) upward from the sheet receiving position along the guide rail 824, the upstream engaging portion 812 of the tray 81U is activated. The lower tray 81 is engaged with the upper surface engaging projection 813 of the lower tray 81, and is driven by the upper tray 81 to move up to the retreat position along the guide rail 823.

In this manner, the lower tray 81 of each adjacent tray 81 can be moved to the retreat position by being driven by the upper tray 81, and when all the trays 81 retreat to the retreat position, the plurality of trays 81 are moved to the retreat position. , FIG. 20 (E)
As shown in FIG. 3 and the like, the storage device is housed in a stacked state, and takes a compact retreat position that can avoid an increase in the size of the device.

The trays 81 stored in the stacked state can be arranged at the sheet receiving position by rotating the motor M8 in the reverse direction. That is, by driving and lowering the uppermost tray 81U, the lower trays 81 start to descend sequentially by their own weight. At this time, even if the lower tray may not be easily lowered by its own weight, the lower end of the upper tray 81 is engaged with the upper surface engaging protrusion 813 of the lower tray 81 by the engaging portion 811 of the lower end. , Driven by the upper tray. Thus, the small tray 8 (divided tray 81) can be arranged at the sheet receiving position.

When such a small tray 8 is employed, the motor M8 is operated based on an instruction from the control unit CONT as shown in FIG. 18, the sheet can be arranged at the sheet receiving position shown in FIG. 19 or the retracted position of the divided tray stacked storage state shown in FIG. Split tray 8
When 1 moves from the retreat position side and reaches the sheet receiving position, the uppermost tray 81U is detected by the sensor S5 (see FIG. 19), and the entire small tray 8 stops. Also, when the upper tray 81U moves from the sheet receiving position to the uppermost retract position, the uppermost tray 81U detects the sensor S6 (FIG. 19).
), And the whole stops.

In the sheet loading tray A ′, when the processing tray 10 is placed at the sheet receiving position, ie, when the processing tray 11 and the small tray 8 (divided tray 81) are used.
18 and 19, respectively, the interval between the processing tray 10 and the stacking tray 12 increases in the sheet discharging direction X (as the position moves downstream in the sheet discharging direction). ing.

The operation of the sheet storage device SA ′ described above is similar to the operation of the sheet storage device SA described above.
Since only the operation of the small tray 8 is added, the operation of the processing tray 10 will be mainly described, and the description of the other operations will be omitted. The processing tray 10 is initially arranged at the sheet receiving position shown in FIGS. 18, 19 and 20A. At this time, the small tray 8 is placed in the uppermost (upstream) tray 8.
1U is detected by the sensor S5 and stopped at that position.

Next, as shown in FIG. 20B, the sheets S discharged from the sheet processing apparatus 9 are placed one by one on the processing tray 10 and the rear end of the sheet is placed on the processing tray 1.
1 and the rest is placed on the small tray 8. Then, as in the case of the device SA, the alignment process is performed one by one. When the alignment of the predetermined number of sheets is completed, the sorting process is performed in the same manner as in the apparatus SA, or the sorting process is performed after the staple D binding process.

The sheet processing on the processing tray 10 is performed in a state in which the sheet to be processed is entirely supported by the processing tray 10 on its lower surface.
Even if there is a preceding sheet, the sheet on the processing tray 10 can be smoothly and accurately aligned. Also,
The stacking tray 12 is provided so as to increase the distance from the processing tray 10 arranged at the sheet receiving position in the direction X in which the sheet is discharged from the sheet processing apparatus. Even if the sheet is curled up toward the processing tray 12 and floats up, the contact between the processing tray 12 and the sheet is avoided, or even if the contact is negligible. The sheet on the stacking tray 12 is not disturbed, and the operation of the processing tray 10 is not hindered.

After a predetermined number of sheets have been discharged to the processing tray 10, as shown in FIG. 20C, a part of the small tray 8 is divided within a range that does not hinder the post-processing such as the sorting process. The tray 81 is preliminarily retracted based on an instruction from the control device CONT according to the sheet size. By performing the preliminary retreat, the time from when the sheet can be moved from the processing tray 10 to the stacking tray 12 to when the retreat of the processing tray is completed can be shortened, and the sheets can be efficiently stored.

The sheet S on which the predetermined processing has been completed on the processing tray 10 is, as shown in FIGS. 20D and 20E,
First, the small tray 8 already in the preparatory evacuation state is
By moving to the evacuation position based on the instruction of the ONT, it falls from the small tray 8 onto the loading tray 12 by its own weight. At this time, the retreat amount of the small tray 8 does not completely retreat from the lower surface of the sheet supported by the small tray 8, and the retreat amount shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, the amount does not retreat to a part of the lower surface of the sheet according to the sheet size. Even if the small tray 8 retreats to the state shown in FIG. 20E, the sheet is bent by its own weight and falls onto the tray 12 as shown in FIG. However, since the rear end of the sheet still remains on the processing tray 11, the processing tray 11 then retreats to the retreat position P2 according to an instruction from the control unit CONT, as shown in (F) to (H) of FIG. . As a result, the sheet rear end is also placed on the stacking tray 12.

After that, the small tray 8 and the processing tray 11 are again placed at the original sheet receiving position, and are prepared for the next predetermined number of sheets to be aligned. In moving the sheet portion on the small tray 8 to the tray 12, as shown in FIG. 20 (E), not completely retreating from the sheet shortens the retreating time, and then the small tray 8 receives the sheet. This is for shortening the time required to return to the position and efficiently storing the sheets.

After the small tray 8 is retracted, the processing tray 11 is retracted when the processing tray 11 is first retracted to the retracted position while the sheet rear end moves to the stacking tray. This is because the rear end portion is easily caught by a member facing the rear end portion (here, the alignment reference portions 13 and 14). In any case, since the processing tray 11 and the small tray 8 are retracted in different directions, the evacuation time can be shortened also in this respect, and sheets can be efficiently stored.

In the small tray 8 described above, the plurality of divided trays 81 move along different guide rails. However, the plurality of divided trays may move along a common guide rail. FIG. 21 shows an example thereof. The small tray 8 'shown in FIG. 21 includes a plurality of divided trays 81'. Each tray 81 'has a common pair of parallel guide rails 8
Can move along 2 '. In the figure, only one rail is shown, and the other one is omitted.

A guide rail 82 'is a portion 821' bent at a portion 80 'for storing the divided trays 81' in a stacked state.
And a branch guide portion 822 ′ parallel to this. An upward biasing device 83 'made of a spring is provided below the storage portion 80'. Two short and long pins 81a and 81b are provided on both ears of each divided tray 81 'so as to protrude laterally. As shown in FIG.
Both pins are fitted on the guide rail 82 'and can move along it, but in the storage area 80', the long pins 81
a moves at the bent portion 821 ', and the short pin 81b moves at the branch guide 822'.

Further, the divided tray 81 'drives the uppermost tray 81' from the stacked and stored state at the retracted position shown in FIG. 21A to the sheet receiving position shown in FIG. 21B. When moving, each adjacent tray 8
Between 1 ′, an engaging portion 81c is provided so that the tray 81 ′ that exits later is hooked and driven by the tray 81 ′ that exits earlier. Note that FIG.
In (C), the engaging portion is not shown.

According to the small tray 8 'described above, FIG.
The divided tray 81 'retracted to the storage portion 80' as shown in FIG. 1 (A) drives the uppermost tray 81 ', and is assisted by the pushing-up force of the urging device 83' to guide rails. The remaining tray 81 ′ is sequentially pulled out while being pushed up by the urging device 83 ′, and takes a flat sheet receiving position shown in FIG. 21B. Can be. Further, the sheet can be stacked in the retracted position by being driven in the opposite direction from the sheet receiving position, against the urging device 83 '.

In addition to the above, as shown in FIG. 22, a corrugated plate member 81 ″ that can make adjacent ends engage with each other can be used as a split tray.

[0136]

According to the present invention, a sheet accommodating apparatus capable of smoothly and accurately aligning a sheet ejected from a sheet processing apparatus by suppressing the influence of the curl of the sheet ejected first and accommodating the sheet. Can be provided. Further, according to the present invention, the sheet ejected from the sheet processing apparatus can be smoothly and accurately aligned by suppressing the influence of the curl of the sheet which has been ejected first and has been stored, and the sheet can be efficiently processed. It is possible to provide a sheet storage device that can store well.

Further, according to the present invention, the sheet discharged from the sheet processing apparatus can be smoothly and accurately aligned by suppressing the influence of the curl of the sheet which has been discharged first and has been stored. It is possible to provide a sheet accommodating apparatus that does not cause a particularly large overall configuration.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an example of a sheet processing apparatus to which an example of a sheet storage apparatus according to the present invention is connected.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the internal structure of the sheet storage device shown in FIG. 1 from a side.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of a processing tray and a peripheral portion thereof.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a processing tray, an alignment feeding device, a sheet pressing device, a sorting device, and the like.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the rotary paddle and its driving device in a sheet non-feeding state.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the rotary paddle and its driving device in a sheet feeding state.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a relief operation of the rotary paddle.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a stapler.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the stapler is mounted on the sheet storage device.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a state where the stapler is mounted on the sheet storage device.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a control circuit of the sheet storage device.

FIGS. 12A to 12C are views showing a part of a sheet processing step by the sheet storage device shown in FIG. 1;

13 (A) to 13 (C) are views each showing a part of a sheet processing step by the sheet storage device shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 14A to 14C are views showing a further part of the sheet processing step by the sheet storage device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 15 is a schematic perspective view of a sheet stacking tray.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating another example of sheet guidance to an alignment unit.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a processing tray presses a preceding sheet on a stacking tray.

FIG. 18 is a side view schematically showing the internal structure of another example of the sheet storage device according to the present invention.

19 is an enlarged view of a processing tray in the sheet storage device of FIG.

20 (A) to 20 (H) are views showing a sheet processing step using the processing tray of FIG. 18;

21A and 21B show another example of the small tray, in which FIG. 21A is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state where the divided trays are stacked and stored, and FIG. FIG. 7C is a schematic plan view showing a state where the divided trays are stored at the retreat position.

FIG. 22 is a perspective view showing another example of the split tray.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 9 copying machine (one example of sheet processing apparatus) 91 printing section 92 image reading section 93 automatic document feeder 94 sheet feeding section SA sheet storage device CA body case of sheet storage device X sheet discharge direction Y sheet alignment feed direction S sheet S1 Back end corner of sheet S2 Side edge of sheet S3 Back end of sheet S4 Remaining sheet A Sheet loading tray 11 Processing tray 111 Rack 112 Pinion gear 113 Clutch 116 Switch activation member 114, 115 Pulley 116 'Endless belt SW1, SW2 detection Switch P1 Sheet receiving position P2 Evacuation position M1 Processing tray drive motor CONT control device 12 Loading tray 121 Drive M2 Loading tray drive motor 13, 14 Sheet alignment reference portion 12a, 12b Loading tray portion 15 Sheet edge moving device 51, 152 Pulley 153 Endless belt 154 One-way clutch 16 Side tray B Alignment feeder 21 First alignment feeder 211 First alignment feeder 212 Drive 213 Guide shaft M3 Motor P3 Home position P4 Sheet takeover position 22 Second alignment feed Device 221 Rotary paddle (second feed member) 221a Rotary paddle axis R Pitch ring d Distance 223 Lower arm 224 Upper arm 223a, 224a Shaft 226 Spring 225 Gear train 225a Gear 225b Worm gear M4 Motor Tr1 Torque limiter 227 Upper limit stopper 228 Lower limit stopper C Third feeder (sorting feeder Qo alignment reference position Q1 first sorting position Q2 second sorting position 31 alignment reference member 32 driving device M5 motor D stapler ST station Pull 41 Main body 42 Handle 411 Staple holding section 412 Post-processing section 400 Power supply SW Manual switch SW 414 Mounting pin 415 Electrical plug 412A Matching section 412a Matching section gap a4 Sheet introduction shelf In index 43 Sheet detecting section 44 Switch La lamp Es space E Sheet pressing device 51 Pressing member 52 Horizontal rod 53 Arm 54, 55 Shaft 56 Torque limiter 571 Gear 572 Worm gear M6 Motor P5 Ascending and retracting position 530 Upper limit stopper 61 Sheet guide member and sheet pressing member 611 Shaft 612 On the alignment part side (downstream side) End 62 Urging device 621, 622 Rod 623 Torsion coil spring 63 Guide member 631 Shaft P9 Sheet guide position (up position) P10 Sheet press position (down position) 632 Alignment section side (downstream side) End 64 guide member moving device 641 spring 642 cam device 65 detecting device for empty space size Sz of gap 412a F mail bin device T upper tray G sheet transport device 101 bin SOL solenoid 102 sheet discharge switching claw 103 common sheet transport path 71 First transport path 72 Roller for receiving and pulling in sheet 73 Roller for discharging sheet 74 Second transport path 741 Member having sheet passage hole h 742 Spring 75 Third transport path 76, 77 Switching of sheet transport direction Claw SOL1, SOL2 solenoid M7 Motor U Punch unit S1 to S6 S7 Sheet passage detection sensor SA 'Sheet storage device A' Sheet placing tray 10 Processing tray 8 First small tray 81 Split tray 81U Uppermost split tray 821 to 824 Guide rail 11, 812 engaging portion 813 engaging protrusion 84 drive device M8 motor S1 to S7 sensor 8 'small tray 81' divided tray 82 'guide rail 821' bent portion 822 'branch guide portion 80' storage site 83 'biasing device 81a , 81b Pin 81c Engagement portion 81 "Corrugated plate member

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Motoki Takada 2-3-13 Azuchicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi Osaka International Building Minolta Co., Ltd.

Claims (15)

[Claims] A sheet receiving device that receives a sheet discharged from a sheet processing apparatus and moves between a sheet receiving position for completely supporting a lower surface of the sheet and a retracted position retracted from the sheet receiving position; A processing tray provided for sheet alignment at a receiving position, and a loading tray disposed below the processing tray and for loading a sheet which moves by its own weight from the processing tray when the processing tray retreats to the retracted position. And a sheet storage device. 2. A sheet storage apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said processing tray is constituted by a plurality of small trays which can be retracted in different directions. 3. The processing tray includes a first small tray supporting a leading end of a sheet discharged from the sheet processing apparatus, and a second small tray supporting a trailing end of the sheet. 3. The sheet storage device according to claim 2, wherein the first and second small trays are retracted, and the second small tray is retracted after the first small tray is retracted. 4. The retracted amount of the first small tray is not completely retracted from a sheet lower surface portion supported by the first small tray at a sheet receiving position, but is retracted to a part of the sheet lower surface portion. The sheet storage device according to claim 3, wherein the sheet storage device is set to an amount not to be set. 5. A processing tray according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined number of sheets are discharged from said sheet processing apparatus onto said processing tray disposed at a sheet receiving position, and then a predetermined amount of said sheets is reserved within a range in which post-processing of said sheets is possible. The sheet storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the sheet is retracted, and then is fully retracted. 6. The sheet storage device according to claim 5, wherein the preliminary retreat amount is set according to a sheet size. 7. The processing tray according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the processing tray is composed of a plurality of divided trays, and when the processing tray is retracted to a retracted position, the plurality of divided trays are stored in a stacked state. The sheet storage device as described in the above. 8. The processing tray includes a first small tray for supporting a leading end of a sheet discharged from the sheet processing apparatus, and a second small tray for supporting a trailing end of the sheet. 2. The sheet storage device according to claim 1, wherein the first small tray is composed of a plurality of divided trays, and the plurality of divided trays are stored in a stacked state when the first small tray is retracted to the retracted position. . 9. When the processing tray is at the sheet receiving position, the plurality of split trays are arranged such that the upper surface of the downstream end of the upstream split tray in the sheet discharging direction from the sheet processing apparatus is the downstream split tray. 9. The sheet storage device according to claim 7, wherein the sheet storage device is located above the upper surface of the upstream end portion. 10. The sheet storage device according to claim 9, wherein said divided trays can be moved from a sheet receiving position to a retracted position along separate guide rails. 11. When the divided trays move from the sheet receiving position to the retracted position, one of the divided trays moves by receiving a moving force from the other divided tray between the adjacent divided trays. Sheet storage device. 12. A sheet storage apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said divided trays can be moved from a sheet receiving position to a retracted position along a guide rail common to them. 13. The sheet according to claim 12, wherein the divided tray moves in the same direction as a sheet receiving surface formed by the entire processing tray disposed at the sheet receiving position when moving from the sheet receiving position to the retracted position. Housing equipment. 14. When one of the divided trays moves from a sheet receiving position to a retracted position, one of the divided trays moves between adjacent ones of the divided trays by receiving a moving force from the other divided tray. 14. The sheet storage device according to claim 13. 15. An urging device is provided at a retracted position of said divided tray in a direction for moving the divided trays stacked and stored at said retracted position to a sheet receiving position. Sheet storage device.