JP2001213571A - Sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sorter having convenience in use by changing the locations of bins, namely, the intervals of the bins in the bin moving sorter corresponding to the mode of the sorter, the position of an orientation port of a copying machine body and the wish of an operator. SOLUTION: The sorter comprises movable bins arranged neighboring each other and spiral cam bodies having cam grooves to be engaged with the bins and rotated once each around a shaft for moving the bins in sequence. With plural cam groove leads for the spiral cam bodies, plural stop positions per rotation of the spiral cam bodies are provided for differentiating the intervals of the bins at each of the stop positions.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bin-moving sorter having a bin which is movable with respect to an orientation port for receiving a sheet supplied from a sheet supplying device such as a copying machine and for orienting each of the bins. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, for example, in a copying apparatus as a sheet supply apparatus, a plurality of originals are collectively supplied and set, and sheets processed corresponding to these originals are automatically arranged in page order (collated or collated). Sorters for sorting or sorting (sorting or grouping) for each page have come to be used frequently.

On the other hand, the size of the copying apparatus has been reduced year by year, and accordingly, the sorter has been required to be further compact.

In order to respond to such a demand, recently, for example, a plurality of bins are movably arranged adjacent to each other, and an orientation opening for receiving a sheet supplied from a copying apparatus and orienting each of the bins is provided. A spiral cam body having a vertical position, moving the bins along the cam grooves, rotating the spiral cam body once around the axis, guiding each bin to the orientation port sequentially, and storing sheets. Has come to be used.

In such a sorter, generally, a cam groove of a spiral cam body is formed to have a plurality of different inclination angles, and the spiral cam body is rotated once around an axis to set a bin interval between each bin. It is made different according to the spiral groove.

[0006]

However, in such a conventional sorter, for example, a sheet supplied from a copying machine main body is received, and each bin is opposed to an alignment port for aligning the sheet. The bin at the position (sheet storage position) is always kept wider than the other bins without distinction between the sheet storing operation and the taking-out operation of taking out the stored sheets from each bin. The other bins had the same bin interval in both operations. Therefore, conventional sorters include, for example,
A wide bin interval at the sheet storage position during the sheet storage operation is wasteful when taking out the sheet. On the other hand, during the take-out operation, the take-out efficiency is improved by widening the bin interval at the take-out position, or by increasing the number of bins that can be taken out at once by narrowing the bin interval at the time of take-out. In other words, it is possible to change the arrangement of the bins, in other words, to change the bin interval between the bins according to the mode of the sorter, the position of the orientation port of the copying machine main body, the preference of the operator, etc. There was a problem in using it because it could not be done with -ta.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a bin-moving type sorter in which the bins are arranged according to the mode of the sorter, the position of the orientation port of the copying machine body, the preference of the operator, etc. An object of the present invention is to provide a user-friendly sorter by changing the bin interval between bins.

[0008]

The above object is achieved by the following sorter according to the present invention. In a sheet storage device having a plurality of bins arranged adjacent to each other and bin moving means for sequentially moving the bins when storing the sheets in the bins, the sheets are stored in the bins. Sheet
At the bin where the sheet is stored when storing
The interval between a certain bin and the sheet for taking out the sheet from the bin
-Seat storage device characterized by narrowing when taking out the seat
Place.

[0009]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In this embodiment, a copying apparatus A is used as a sheet feeding apparatus, and a sorter 10 is used as a classifying and storing means for copied sheets discharged from the copying apparatus A.

The main part of the copying apparatus A has a well-known structure, and a copy-processed sheet (hereinafter simply referred to as a sheet) processed inside is sent from a sheet discharge port 1 to a sorter 10.

The sorter 10 is provided with a plurality of bins 30 inside a pair of frame side plates 15 and 16 erected on a base 14 as shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, the cover body 11 is not shown. Further, the frame side plates 15 and 16 are
a, 19b.

A mounting slot 15 formed in the frame side plate 15
A support member 17 for rotatably supporting a spiral cam body 51 constituting a bin moving means 50 described later is fitted and fixed to a.

One of the frame side plates 16 is provided with two mounting slots 16a and 16b.
8b is fitted and fixed.

In FIG. 1, a feed path 20 for receiving and sending a sheet from the sheet discharge port 1 is provided on the front surface facing the copying apparatus A, and the outlet of the feed path 20 on the bin 30 side is an orientation port. 20a.

A pair of receiving rollers 21 are arranged on the entrance side of the feeding path 20, and a pair of orientation rollers 22 are arranged on the orientation port 20a. These roller pairs 21 and 22 are driven by a feed motor 23 and a series of belts, gear trains and the like. The feed motor 23 has a speed sensor S1.
A paper feed / discharge sensor S2 is provided in front of the orientation roller pair 22. The sheet supply / discharge sensor S2 also functions as a sheet counter for the number of sheets to be oriented through the orientation opening 20a.

In this embodiment, ten bins 30 are arranged vertically adjacent to each other. Therefore, here, the bins are referred to as bins 301, 302,...

As shown in FIG. 4, each bin 30 includes a mounting portion 31 having a notch 31a which is deeply cut, and a receiving plate 32 which receives and aligns the leading edge of a sheet. Swing lever 4 constituting detection sensor S10
A notch 35 for 1 is drilled. As shown in FIG. 4, engagement pins 33, 34a, and 34b that engage with cam grooves 51A, B, C, and D of a spiral cam body 51, which will be described later, protrude from side edges of the mounting portion 31. Have been.

FIG. 1 shows a sheet presence / absence detection sensor S10 for each bin.
And a swing lever 4 pivotally supported in a vertical plane about a fulcrum 42 as a photocoupler.
1. It comprises a sector 43 fixed to the base of the swing lever 41 and cutting the optical axis of the photocoupler.
When there is a sheet in the bin 30, the notch 35 is closed, the swing lever 41 is lifted, and the sector 43 cuts the optical axis of the main body 40 of the photocoupler, and detects the presence of the sheet. If no sheet is stored in the bin 30, the swing lever 41 falls into the notch 35, the sector 43 opens the optical axis of the sensor body 40, and detects the absence of a sheet.

Here, the leading and trailing ends of the sheet and the leading, trailing and trailing ends of the bin 30 in the present embodiment are defined.

When the sheet is traveling along the feeding path 20, the leading and trailing ends of the sheet are determined in the traveling direction. From the moment when the trailing edge of the sheet leaves the orientation roller pair 22, Hereinafter, the front end and the rear end are reversed, and the previous end is referred to as a rear end or a rear portion, and the rear end is referred to as a front end or a front end portion. In accordance with the definitions of the front end and the rear end of the sheet, the bin 30 is also referred to as the front end, the front or front part, and the opposite side is referred to as the rear or rear part. Such a definition can be applied to the entire sorter. The side facing the copying apparatus A is defined as the front side, and the opposite side is defined as the rear side. This is based mainly on the sorter 10 and is based on the idea that the copying apparatus A is an auxiliary device. FIG. 1 shows a sheet storage mode for storing sheets discharged from the copying apparatus A in each bin 30.
FIG. 4 is a view showing the state of the sorter at the time of loading, and the bin 30 has an inclination angle α in which the mounting portion 31 is raised upward with the receiving plate 32 side, that is, with the front portion down, as shown in the drawing. are doing.

Thus, the bin 30 is moved by the bin moving means 50.
It is configured to be freely controlled by the
The bin moving means 50 includes support members 17, 18a, 18b.
Three spiral cam bodies 51 rotatably supported upright
And a drive device 60 including a drive motor 61, a drive transmission member 62, and the like.

The spiral cam body 51 is provided on the outer periphery of the cylindrical body as shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 15, spiral cam grooves 51A, 51B, 51C and 51D having four kinds of different lead angles.
The cam grooves 51A to 51D are all right-handed, so that the bin 30 rises when rotated clockwise and descends when rotated left. The inclination angles of the cam grooves from the bottom are θ1 at 51A, θ2 at 51B,
51C is θ3 and 51D is θ4. Among them, the cam groove 51C is a composite of two different inclination angles θ31 and θ32, and θ3 = θ31 + θ32.
In the present embodiment, θ31 = 0 ° when the spiral cam body 51 rotates half a turn (180 °).

Then, between the inclination angles, θ2 ≒ θ32> θ
1 ≒ θ4. Accordingly, the interval L between the bins 30 when the spiral cam body 51 is engaged with each cam groove having a rotation angle of 0 degree in the sheet storage mode is L2>L3> L.
1 ≒ L4.

As described above, the lead angle θ1 of the cam groove 51A
Is small, the interval between the bins 30 is set to the minimum interval L1 in consideration of the maximum number of sheets to be accommodated, and the number of cam grooves matches the number of bins 30 (10 in this embodiment) as shown in the figure. The position of the cam groove 51A is referred to as the home position of the bin 30.

The inclination angle θ2 of the next cam groove 51B is large.
The bin interval L2 is maximized as shown in FIG. The sheet receives the sheet orientation when the bin 30 is in this position. This position is referred to as a sheet storage position. It should be noted that the cam groove 51B at this sheet storage position has only one cam groove, that is, only one rotation.

As described above, the cam groove 51C has a compound inclination angle, and θ3 of θ3 is not changed until the spiral cam body 51 rotates 180 degrees as shown in FIGS. 6 (b) to 15 (b).
The inclination angle of 0 degrees is maintained. For this reason, the cam groove 51
Due to the difference between the inclination angle of C and the inclination angle of the adjacent cam groove 51B, the interval between the bins on both cam grooves is changed to the spiral cam body 51.
It will narrow with the rotation of. Therefore, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 14B, when the rotation angle at which the spiral cam body 51 stops is 0 degree and when it is 180 degrees, within the same space X, the stop rotation angle 180
The higher the degree, the more bin γ can be added as a bin for taking out the sheet, and the number of bins for taking out the sheet increases by one. Therefore, in this embodiment, the sheet storage mode is set to "when the rotation angle of the helical cam body 51 is 0 degree" in which the interval between the bins storing the sheet is widened, and the number of bins for extracting the sheet is set. "When the rotation angle of the spiral cam body 51 is 180 degrees" is used as a sheet take-out mode, and the details of each mode will be described later.

On the cam groove 51C, a cam groove 51D having an interval between the bins 30 substantially equal to that of the cam groove 51A is set.

In this embodiment, the spiral cam body 51 has three
The reference position for starting and stopping when rotating by 60 degrees (hereinafter referred to as "stop position") is set at 2 per rotation of the spiral cam body 51 in accordance with the sheet storage mode and the sheet removal mode. There are three places, which allow the seat storage mode
The stop position around the axis of the helical cam 51 can be made different between the mode and the take-out mode for taking out the sheet from each bin 30.

More specifically, in the present embodiment, as one example, as described above, after the sheet storage mode is completed, the spiral cam 51
Is rotated a half turn, that is, 180 degrees from the stop position in the sheet take-out mode, that is, the stop position of the spiral cam body 51 in the sheet storage mode. After setting the reference of the stop position as the mode, the spiral cam body 51 is changed by 360 degrees at a time when the sheet is taken out.
By controlling the rotation and stop of the bin, the bin interval at the sheet storage position in the sheet storage mode is set to the sheet take-out mode.
At the time of loading, thereby substantially increasing the number of bins for taking out. Therefore, the spiral cam body 51 is stopped at the sheet storage mode (hereinafter, this position is referred to as the origin position).
It is necessary to discriminate whether the vehicle departed from the seat or from the sheet take-out position. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, a half-moon-shaped cam plate 52 and a phase discrimination sensor S7 serving as a photocoupler are provided on one of the spiral cam bodies 51 as shown in FIGS. ing. According to the phase discrimination sensor S7, for example, a position of 180 degrees can be determined from the origin position (stop angle position 0 °) or the origin position as follows. When bin rises (motor 61 forward rotation) Sensor S7 ON → OFF 0 ° Sensor S7 OFF → ON 180 ° Bin lowering (motor 61 reverse rotation) Sensor S7 ON → OFF 180 ° Sensor S7 OFF → ON 0 ° Alternatively, as one method, 1 is set on the rotation axis of the spiral cam body 51.
Two projections provided with a phase of 80 degrees are provided. Of these, the projection detected when each bin is at the home position is set as a starting point. The rotation of the helical cam 51 in the sheet storage mode and the sheet take-out mode is stored by always storing the number of times of detection as the position of the degree and the projection detected at the even number as the origin position. The control may be performed.

Each of the spiral cams 51 is provided to provide an inclination angle α.
Are the same in rotation phase, and are slightly shifted from each other in the vertical direction, so that the support members 17, 18a, 18b
Each is rotatably supported.

The drive transmission member 62 includes a drive pulley 63 attached to an output shaft of the drive motor 61 and the respective spiral cams 5.
1 belt pulleys 64 fixed to the lower shaft end
, And a toothed belt 65 wound around each of the pulleys 63, 64,.

The drive motor 61 is further provided with a rotation sensor S3 for detecting the number of rotations of the spiral cam body 51. The rotation sensor S3 also serves as a counting means for counting the number of the bins 30 that rise or fall by sending a rotation signal of the spiral cam body 51 to a control device (not shown).

It should be noted that all the bins 30 move down to the home position P
1, the home position sensor S5 for detecting the lowermost bin 3010 and the upper limit sensor S6 for detecting the upper limit position when all the bins 30 are raised are provided as shown in FIG. S4 is a sheet presence / absence detection sensor for detecting the presence / absence of a sheet in all the bins 30, and is constituted by light receiving and light emitting elements passing through each bin 30.

FIG. 16 shows another example of the configuration of the sheet take-out detection sensor S10 which is different from the above-described embodiment.

In the above embodiment, although the swing lever 41 has a roller at the tip, if the sheet once removed from the bin 30 is to be returned to the original position for some reason, the sheet tip is caught on the swing lever 41. Would.

In this embodiment, the above problem has been improved. In this embodiment, a sheet guiding portion 71a is provided at the tip of the swing lever 71 as shown in FIG. The roller 74 is attached to the base of the guide 71a.

With the above-described configuration, when a sheet that has been taken out is to be returned to its original position, the sheet is guided by the guiding portion 71a, and can be safely returned below the swing lever 71.

Next, a modification of the bin position sensor will be described with reference to FIGS.

The position sensor S12 is intended to form the logic of the home position, the upper limit position, and the lower limit position by a pair of photocouplers 81 and 82.
For example, a lever 80 coupled to the lowermost bin 3010, a home position shield plate 80a, a lower limit position shield plate 80b, an upper limit position shield plate 80c fixed to the lever 80, an upper photocoupler 81 and a lower photocoupler 82 It is composed of

FIG. 17 shows the state of the home position.
The home position shield plate 80a cuts the lower photocoupler 82, but the lower limit position shield plate 80b has not yet shielded the upper photocoupler 81. On the other hand, at the lower limit position in FIG. 19, the home position shielding plate 80a is
2, and the lower limit position shielding plate 80b also cuts the upper photocoupler 81. That is, the lower photocoupler 82 alone indicates the home position, and the upper and lower photocouplers 8
The lower limit position is indicated by a product logic that simultaneously cuts 1 and 82. Based on this information, it is possible to form a logic in which the movement of the bin 30 is thereafter directed upward.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 18, the upper limit position shielding plate 80c cuts the upper photocoupler 81 to indicate the upper limit position. This information is not confused with any of the above information, Oriented logic.
Next, the operation will be described. First, the storing operation will be described.

The sorter 10 can be adapted to select the non-sort mode and the sort mode on the main unit side. It is well known that the sort mode further includes collating (sorting) for aligning pages, and sorting (collating or grouping) for aligning predetermined pages for bins.

Initially, it is assumed that the bin 30 is at the home position shown by the cam groove 51A in FIG. In this case, the uppermost first bin 301 is located at the sheet storage position shown by the cam groove 51B so as to receive the sheet from the alignment roller pair 22, and the upper portion is widely open.

Therefore, if the non-sort mode is selected, the sheets are stored in the first bin 301 as they are. If only the first bin 301 is insufficient, the spiral cam body 51 is automatically or manually operated by a manual button (not shown).
When the first bin 301 is moved upward by rotating the first bin 301 and the first bin 301 is moved upward, a portion below the second bin 302 slightly rises, and the second bin 302 comes to the sheet storage position. What is necessary is just to continue sheet orientation.

Next, the case of the sort mode in the storing operation will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, in the case of sorting (grouping), the feeding of the bins 30 manually specified in the non-sort mode is automatically sent by the number of pages.

Each of the bins 301 to 3010 is at the home position as shown in FIG. In this case, the spiral cam body 51
Engaging pin 3 provided in each bin to engage with each cam groove
3, 34a and 34b are spiral cam bodies 5 as shown in FIG.
1 is engaged with each cam groove when the rotation angle is 0 degrees.

Then, the sheet sent from the copying apparatus A is detected by the sheet supply / discharge sensor S2 in front of the orientation roller pair 22, the feed motor 23 is started, and the sheet is sent to the first bin 301 by the orientation roller pair 22. Sent in.

When a predetermined number of sheets are fed into the first bin 301, the drive motor 61 of the bin moving means 50 is started by a signal from the sheet supply / discharge sensor S2 as a sheet counter, makes one rotation (360 °), and makes a first rotation. The bin 301 is moved up, the second bin 302 comes to the sheet storage position as shown in FIG. 7A, and the sheet of the second page is fed. Engagement pins 33, 34a, 34 of each bin 30 with the helical cam body 51
The fact that the engagement position b is engaged with each cam groove when the rotation angle of the spiral cam body 51 is 0 degree does not change. on the other hand,
The first bin 301 rises along the maximum cam groove 51B inclination angle θ2.

When a predetermined number of sheets have been fed into the second bin 302, the spiral cam body 51 rotates counterclockwise by the signal, and sends the second bin 302 upward, and instead, the third bin 3
03 comes to the storage position. On the other hand, the first bin 301 has the cam groove 5
Move to a higher rank along 1C. At this time, it should be noted that the inclination angle θ3 in the cam groove 51C is actually a composite of the inclination angles θ31 and θ32 at every rotation angle of 180 °. Until the cam body 51 rotates by 180 degrees, the inclination angle of 0 degree is maintained. Therefore, adjacent bins, for example, the first bin 301 and the second bin 302, and the second bin 302 and the third bin 3 when shifting from the cam groove 51B to the cam groove 51C.
The interval such as 03 is narrow. This is the cam groove 51C
And the inclination angle of the adjacent cam groove 51B.

When the storage to the fourth bin 304 is completed in the same manner, the fifth bin 305 comes to the storage position by making one more rotation in the same manner as described above.
As shown in (a), the position reaches the position where it engages with the cam groove 51D, and the bin interval with the second bin 302 is very small like the home position.

When the sheet of the predetermined page is fed in this way, the sorting is completed. The bins 30 not used for the sorting operation rise by the number of revolutions of the spiral cam body 51 (an integer number of times), and the top bin 30 among the remaining bins 30 is stopped at the home position with the sheet storage position.

When the sorting is completed, the process proceeds to a take-out operation for taking out the sheets stored in the bins 30, which will be described later.

Next, the collating (sorting) operation of the storing operation will be described.

In the case of collation, since the sheets are aligned for each page, the bin corresponding to the desired number of copies, for example, the fifth bin 305 from the first bin 301 is the first sheet, that is, the first page. Store the eye sheets sequentially. The ascending operation of each of the bins 301 to 305 at this time is the same as the above-described sorting operation, but the fifth bin 305 remains at the sheet storage position as it receives the sheet.
At that position, the sheet of the second page is oriented.

First, the trailing end of the first sheet of the first page is detected by the sheet supply / discharge sensor S2, and after a short time, the signal from the sensor S2 causes the drive motor 61 to rotate forward to move the first bin 301 to the spiral cam 51C. To the position where it engages with the second
The bin 302 is raised to a sheet storage position where it engages with the spiral cam 51B. Then, the second sheet of the first page is stored here, and the sheets are oriented to each bin 30 in the same manner.

Next, in the orientation of the second page of the sheet, the second page
A short time after the trailing edge of the first sheet of the page is detected by the sheet supply / discharge sensor S2, the drive motor 61 rotates in reverse according to the signal of the sensor S2, and the bins 30 below the fifth bin 305 move downward. At the same time, the fourth bin 304 comes down to the sheet storage position. And the second on the second page
The sheet is oriented to the fourth bin 304.

When the sheet of the second page is oriented up to the first bin 301 in this way, then, similarly to the operation of orienting the sheet of the first page, the sheet of the first page is moved from the first bin 301 to the third page. Are sequentially oriented.

When the number of the stored sheets is an odd number, the bins 30 storing the sheets are above the sheet storing position except for the lowest bin (301 to 304). Only in the seat storage position.

During the above operation, the spiral cam body 51
It goes without saying that every time the bin is shifted, it is rotated by 360 degrees.

During the storing operation, the sheet take-out detecting sensor S10 is not operated.

Next, each of the figures, particularly FIGS. 6 (a) and 7 (a) to
10 (a), 11 (b), 12 (b) to 15
The sheet take-out operation will be described with reference to FIG.

First, at the time of completion of the sheet storing operation,
In the sorter of the present embodiment, the transition from the sheet storage mode to the sheet take-out mode up to that time is performed by switching from the sheet storage mode to the sheet take-out mode. It is based on signals. This signal may be a signal from the copying apparatus A or a signal from an unillustrated extraction switch provided on the sorter 10 side. It should be noted that information indicating which bin the sheets are stored in is stored by a control device (not shown) based on a signal from the rotation sensor S3 of the drive device 60 side. Note that the sheet take-out detection sensor S10, which has stopped its function in the sheet storage mode, also functions in the sheet take-out mode.

When the number of sorted sheets is odd (the number of copies is 2)
), Each storage bin at the end of the sheet storage mode is stopped at the upper part of the sorter as shown in FIGS. 8 (a) to 10 (a). I have. Therefore, when a take-out signal is issued by a signal from the copying apparatus A or the take-out switch, the signal is used as a trigger to
First, the spiral cam body 51 is rotated half a turn (180 degrees) by the drive motor 61. Then, starting from the position rotated by 180 degrees, 360 degrees × N (N = integer) until no sheet is detected by the sheet take-out detection sensor 10.
The rotation of the spiral cam body 51 is stopped when the sheet take-out detection sensor 10 detects that no sheet is present. Then, after the rotation amount overrun at the time of the stop is rotated again to raise each bin, the spiral cam body 5 is rotated in the state of FIGS. 13 (a) and 13 (b).
1 stops. As described above, when the number of sorted sheets is an odd number (except when the number of copies is less than 2), all the bins are not returned to the home position at the time of shifting to the sheet take-out mode. Since the mode can be shifted to the sheet take-out mode, there is no time loss. In this state, since the leading three bins are all provided with appropriate spaces above and below, the sheets stored in these bins are extremely easy to take out. When the number of printing copies is three or more, it is possible to take out three bins at a time. When the sheet is taken out, the swing lever 41 of the sheet take-out detection sensor S10 is moved to the notch hole 3 of each bin.
5 and the sensor body (photocoupler) 40 is turned off.
→ Switch to ON. At this time, if the sheet presence sensors S4 of all the bins still indicate that there is a sheet, it indicates that there is a sheet inside the other bins, and the spiral cam body 51 is divided by a positive multiple of 360 degrees. The rotation is rotated to raise the bin 30 holding these sheets to a position where the bin 30 holding the sheet is detected by the sheet removal detection sensor S10. At this time, the number of rotations of the spiral cam body 51 is determined according to the bin from which the sheet is taken out and the number of sheets taken out. Thereafter, this operation is repeated.

When all the sheets are taken out from each bin, the spiral cam body 51 is moved rightward (downward) in order to return all the bins to the home position based on the signal of the sheet presence / absence sensor S4 of all the bins. After the rotation of 180 degrees, the bin is rotated by (number of sorting units -1) .times.360 degrees, and all the bins 30 are placed in the home position to complete the operation. The number of sorting units used at this time is derived from the sorter itself or a control device provided in the main unit.
The number of copies is stored by the control device at the end of sorting.

When the number of sorted sheets is even and when the number of sorted sheets is odd and the number of copies is less than two, the sheet
The storage bins at the end of the storage mode are shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIGS. 7 (b), 7 (a) and 7 (b), the sheet storage bin is stopped at the lower part of the sorter. And Saw
Similarly to the case where the number of sheets is odd, when a take-out signal is generated by a signal from the copying apparatus A or the take-out switch, the signal is used as a trigger, and the spiral cam 51 is first rotated half a turn (180 degrees) by the drive motor 61. ). The rotation position control of the spiral cam is the same as that for the odd-numbered sheet described above, and the presence of the sheet is detected by the sheet take-out detection sensor 10 starting from the position where the spiral cam body 51 is rotated by 180 degrees. 13 (a) and 13 (b), and the spiral cam body 51 stops in the state of FIGS. 13 (a) and 13 (b). In this state, since the leading three bins are all provided with appropriate spaces above and below, the sheets stored in these bins are extremely easy to take out. When the number of printing copies is three or more, it is possible to take out three bins at a time. Thereafter, the bin movement control according to the sheet take-out is the same as in the case of the odd-numbered sheets described above. If the number of sorting copies is 2 or less and the number of sheets is an even number, the storing operation ends in the state shown in FIGS. In this case, after the storage mode is completed, the number of sheets at the take-out position does not change even if the mode shifts to the take-out mode shown in FIGS. Is even,
After the storage mode is completed, the sheet may be taken out without shifting to the take-out mode. Normally, when the sheet is taken out, the bin is stopped at the sheet take-out detection position by the take-out detection sensor S10, that is, at the state shown in FIG. 13, and every time the sheet take-out is detected by the take-out detection sensor S10. When the number of sheets to be sorted is 5 or less and the number of sheets is an even number, after the storage mode is completed, the mode is shifted to the take-out mode. Instead of stopping at the position 13, the state may be shifted directly to the state of FIG. 14. That is, in the state shown in FIG. 14, since the upper five bins of the bin group are paper-leaved, there is sufficient space above the uppermost bin 301 at the non-ejection position, and the bin 301 can be used as an ejection bin. .
Furthermore, the lowest bin 3 in the bin group storing the sheet
Since sheets are not stored in each bin under 05,
There is sufficient space below the bin 305 through the notch 31a shown in FIG. Therefore, if the number of sheets to be sorted is 5 or less and the number of sheets is an even number, after the storage mode is completed, the mode is shifted to the take-out mode, and the apparatus does not stop at the position shown in FIG. By shifting to the state, five sheets can be taken out at once. When the number of sheets to be sorted is 3 or less and the number of sheets is an even number, after the storage mode ends, FIG.
Without stopping at the position shown in FIG. 11 and FIG.
The sheet may be taken out at the time of shifting to the mode, so that the time required for taking out the sheet may be shortened. In the sorter according to the present embodiment, in the sheet storage mode, the bin is moved after counting the timer for a predetermined time after detecting the sheet removal by the removal detection sensor S10. Accidents such as the operator's hand being pinched by the bin due to the urgent movement of the bin are prevented. However, waiting for the timer count of the sorter while the operator is ready to take out the sheet inside the bin and take out the next sheet easily will cause discomfort to the operator. Separately, a manual bin move button is provided, and when this button is pressed by the operator, the timer of the sorter is started.
Even when the counting is not completed, the next bin may be moved to the take-out position. In this embodiment,
Although the bin is moved using three spiral cams, it is also possible to use two spiral cams.

In this embodiment, since one bin is provided for one pitch of the spiral groove, a plurality of stop positions are provided for one rotation of the spiral cam body. For example, when a plurality of stop positions are provided, a plurality of stop positions may be provided for a plurality of rotations of the spiral cam body. <Modification> In this embodiment, the rotation angles of the spiral cam body 51 are shown as 0 degree and 180 degrees in FIGS.
The position was set as the stop position of the spiral cam body 51.
Needless to say, a plurality of stop positions may be provided, the inclination angles of the adjacent cam grooves may be different for each stop position, and the intervals between the bins may be different. Further, as the stop position increases, the number of protrusions of the rotation control means of the spiral cam body 51 may be increased to detect a rotation stop position of the spiral cam body 51 of less than 180 degrees. In this embodiment, since the bin interval at the sheet storage position is wide, the sheet storage mode and the sheet storage mode are different.
The bin interval in the sheet removal mode was different as follows, but the bin interval in the sheet storage mode> the bin interval in the sheet removal mode was reversed. The bin interval at the time <the bin interval at the time of the sheet extracting mode may be set to improve the sheet extracting property.

In the present embodiment, the bin interval of the bin which should be in the storage position in the sheet storage mode is changed in the sheet take-out mode. It is not necessary to be limited to the bin in the position,
For example, the bin interval for take-out is made wider in the sheet take-out mode than in the sheet storage mode, so that the sheets can be taken out easily, and the bins other than the storage position can be taken out. The interval may be changed, or the interval of all bins may be widened in the sheet take-out mode, and all bins may be used as sheet take-out bins. And see
The interval between all the bins may be changed between in the take-out mode.

In this embodiment, the bin interval at the sheet storage position is narrowed in the take-out mode, so that
Although the number of bins for taking out is increased to improve the efficiency of sheet taking out, deformation such as widening the interval between the bins for taking out sheets in taking out mode to facilitate sheet taking out, etc. Is also possible.

Further, according to the sorter using the present invention which can change the bin interval for each predetermined stop position, a wide bin is provided above the sorter at a certain stop position while using the same spiral cam. A sheet storage position having an interval can be set, and a sheet storage position can be provided at the center or lower portion of the sorter at another stop position, so that a plurality of types of main units such as copying machines can be provided. It can be easily adapted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a sorter.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an assembled state of a spiral cam body and a bin.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a bin, a spiral cam body, and a driving device.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a bottle.

FIG. 5 is a cam plate for a spiral cam body for a phase discrimination sensor.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a bin moving state during a sheet storing operation.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a bin moving state during a sheet storage operation.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a bin moving state during a sheet storing operation.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a bin moving state during a sheet storing operation.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a bin moving state during a sheet storing operation.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a bin moving state during a sheet removing operation.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a bin moving state during a sheet taking-out operation.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a bin moving state during a sheet removing operation.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a bin moving state during a sheet removing operation.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a bin moving state during a sheet removing operation.

FIG. 16 is another structural example of a bin-by-bin sheet presence / absence sensor.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing position detection of a bin.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing position detection of a bin.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing position detection of a bin.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Sorter 20a Orientation port 30 Bin 51 Spiral cam body 51A-51D Cam groove θ1-θ4 Lead angle of cam groove S3 (Drive motor) Rotation sensor (counting means of the number of bins) S7 (Spiral cam body) phase discrimination sensor (Spiral) Cam body rotation control means) n Number of bins at the set position

Claims (1)

[Claims] A plurality of bins arranged adjacent to each other;
Sheet and a bin moving means for sequentially moving said bins during slot housing - - sheet of the each bin in preparative storage device, shea
-The sheet is stored in the bin when the sheet is stored.
The distance between the bin at the position
Take out the sheet from the bottle.
A sheet storage device.