JP2002265129A - Conforming device for sheet-shaped medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a conforming device for a sheet-shaped medium provided with a displacement means for a return means of simplified constitution. SOLUTION: This conforming device comprises constitution capable of taking arrangement making in almost one line a return shaft 306d which is a rotary shaft of a return pulley 306 supporting a return means 304 and an intermediate pulley shaft 308d which is a shaft of an intermediate pulley 308 transmitting rotation to the return pulley 306 by interposing a drive side roller shaft 300a which is a shaft of a drive side roller of a pair of the rollers constituting a discharge means 3, a constitution winding three of the return pulley 306, the intermediate pulley 308, and a drive side pulley 312 coaxially integral with the drive side roller, with a common belt 304 and connecting the drive side roller 312 to a drive source M, and a constitution supporting the return pulley 306 and the intermediate pulley 308 to a common member 310 to be capable of sliding in a vertical direction to an axial line direction of the drive side roller shaft 300a integrally with the common member 310.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a sheet-like medium aligning apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With respect to a sheet-like medium discharged from a discharging means onto a stacking means, an upstream end in a discharging direction of the sheet-like medium by the discharging means is connected to an upright wall (end) provided at an alignment position. Means for stacking the sheet-like medium by abutting against a fence), applying an external force to the sheet-like medium discharged onto the stacking means (tray), moving the sheet-like medium toward the upright wall, and aligning the sheet-like medium. 2. Description of the Related Art A sheet-shaped medium aligning device provided with a returning means is known.

In this specification, sheet media handled include copy paper, transfer paper, recording paper, cover, interleaf paper (partition paper), computer foam, special paper, OHP sheets, etc. These are represented by paper names on behalf of them.

In an image forming apparatus, a punching unit for punching filing holes in an image-formed sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus, a sheet-like medium post-processing apparatus for performing post-processing such as stapling means and stamping, The paper discharged from the discharge unit is stacked on a tray called a discharge tray, a stacking tray, or the like, which is a stacking unit. The sheets stacked on the stacking means are automatically aligned for subsequent use. However, the degree of sheet alignment, that is, the accuracy of alignment is a problem.

In FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, for example, a sheet S on which an image is formed by an image forming apparatus (not shown) and which is sent along the transport direction A to the sheet processing apparatus is discharged to detect the passage of the sheet. The sheet is guided to a pair of sheet discharge rollers 3 by a lower roller 3a and an upper roller 3b as discharge means via a paper sensor.
A tray 12 as a stacking unit is located below the discharge rollers 3.

The paper is discharged from the paper discharge roller 3 in a discharge direction a (a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the lower roller 3a in a common tangent plane of the lower roller 3a and the upper roller 3b) which is an extension of the transport direction A. After the trailing end of the sheet S is separated from the sheet discharge roller 3, the sheet S is dropped in the obliquely downward drop direction B by the inertia and its own weight, and is stacked on the tray 12.

The sheet stacking surface of the tray 12 is inclined such that it becomes higher as it goes downstream in the discharge direction a, and a vertical standing wall is provided substantially below the sheet discharge rollers 3 so as to intersect the tray 12. An end fence 131 is provided.

The tray 12 is movable vertically.
By detecting the position of the upper surface of the tray 12 (the uppermost surface of the paper when the paper is stacked) by the paper surface detection filler 120, the paper is detected so that the interval of the paper discharge roller 3 from the nip portion is kept constant. It is controlled to lower as it is loaded.

A return roller 121 fixed at a fixed position on an immovable member is rotatably driven between the paper discharge roller 3 and the upper surface of the tray 12 and at a central position in the width direction of the paper. Is provided. The return roller 121 is lightly in contact with the upper surface of the tray 12 (the uppermost surface of the paper when the paper is stacked), and is rotated in such a direction that this contact surface moves upstream in the discharge direction a. Among the sheets that have fallen on the sheet 12, the sheet whose rear end is caught by the return roller is returned toward the side opposite to the discharge direction a and the end fence 1
31 is hit.

Thus, the sheet S discharged from the sheet discharge roller 3 and dropped onto the tray 12 is captured by the return roller 121 as it is, or even if the sheet S is slightly skipped in the discharge direction a than the return roller 121, By sliding under its own weight along the slope, the rear end portion is caught by the return roller 121 and hit against the end fence 131 so that the rear end portion in the discharging direction is aligned.

As described above, after the trailing edge of the sheet is separated from the sheet discharge roller 3 and separated, the distance from the sheet discharge roller 3 to the tray 12, that is, the free fall distance of the sheet until the sheet is stacked on the tray 12 by free fall. In this case, there is no regulation, and since the paper falls in a free state, the paper is slightly misaligned due to the influence of air and the like, and the alignment is deteriorated. The end fence 131 is surely abutted, and basically good matching is obtained.

However, when the paper discharged from the paper discharge roller 3 is a back curl (downward curl), the more the paper having such a curl tendency is loaded on the tray 12, the more the inclination of the loading surface becomes. The angle gradually becomes smaller than the angle of the upper surface of the tray 12.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the initial stacking surface angle of the tray 12 is α °, the angle β ° is obtained when sheets of back curl are stacked, and the relationship α °> β ° is satisfied. become. In such a relationship, the sheet S dropped on the tray 12 becomes difficult to slide along the inclination of the stacking surface, and among the sheets dropped downstream of the return roller 121 in the discharge direction, the rear end is Something that cannot be caught by the return roller 121 comes out. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 7, the sheet S 'which has protruded downstream with a vertical displacement in the discharge direction a.
Will occur.

That is, in FIG. 8, the paper S discharged from the paper discharge roller 3 falls while changing its position in the rear end along the outer periphery of the driving paper discharge roller 3a as shown by a two-dot chain line.
A state in which the sheet comes into contact with the return roller 121 and is further stacked on the loading surface on the tray 12 along the outer periphery of the return roller 121, but a large amount of back-curled paper is loaded on the tray 12 and the inclination of the loading surface is gentle. At the bottom, the rear end of the sheet that is in contact from the upper part to the side part of the return roller 121 is repelled in the discharge direction a by the rotational force of the return roller 121, and the sheet pushed out in the discharge direction a is not captured by the return roller 121. As a result, the sheet S 'which is stacked on the stacking surface of the appropriate alignment stack paper S "and partially jumps out is generated, and the alignment accuracy becomes poor.

[0015] In a copy trader or the like, a good alignment state is required in order to load the stacked sheet bundle in the next step, for example, in a punch machine. If the sheet bundle has poor alignment accuracy, the sheet bundle taken out of the tray must be re-aligned manually and set on a punching machine, resulting in waste of work efficiency. For this reason, the upper segment, for example, a so-called copy trader, demands strict alignment accuracy for the stacked sheets, and it is desired to improve the alignment accuracy.

Therefore, instead of a system in which the return roller 121 is fixedly fixed at a fixed position and driven to rotate, the rear end of the sheet S 'is grasped from a position near the discharge roller 3 shown in FIG. There has been proposed a technique relating to an unknown displacement means for displacing the return roller to a position on the downstream side of the position where the return roller can be moved.

Since the present invention corresponds to an improved invention of the technique relating to this unknown displacement means, an overview of the unknown technique will be given below. An example of another displacing means to which the return roller 121a is attached and displaced in the discharge direction will be described. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a main part of the displacing means together with the return roller in an assembled state, and FIG. 10 is a view showing the displacing means disassembled together with the return roller. In these figures, the components are attached to the frame 200 and assembled.

The return roller 121 includes a return roller 121a and a return roller 121b. The means for displacing the return roller 121a and the means for displacing the return roller 121b have exactly the same configuration in common parts. Therefore, in order to avoid the complexity of the description, regarding the configuration of this common portion, the reference numeral of the member representing the member is a
The description will be made with reference to the letter “b”, and the description of the relation of the return roller 121b will be omitted by adding the letter “b” to the reference numeral of the member.

The basic structure of the displacement means is as follows.
9 and 10, a first member (hereinafter referred to as a drive lever) 123a is a vertically long member, and is pivotally attached to a frame 200 which is an immovable member by penetrating an intermediate position thereof by a shaft 129. Have been. Here, the axis 129
Is rotatable with respect to the drive lever 123a, and the shaft 12
9 are connected to the frame 20 via bearings 520 and 521.
It is supported at 0. Shaft 1 for drive lever 123a
The portion penetrated by 29 is a pivot portion, and this portion is referred to as a first pivot portion 522a. The drive lever 123a is swingable within a range of a fixed angle around the first pivot portion 522a.

Second member (hereinafter referred to as driven lever) 1
Reference numeral 22a denotes a vertically long member, and a shaft portion 524a projecting at an intermediate position thereof is connected to a second pivot portion 523a on one free end side of the first lever portion 522a on the drive lever 123a. It is pivotally mounted by fitting. The driven lever 122a is capable of swinging around the second pivot 523a within a certain angle range.

The second pivot 523a of the driven lever 122a
A shaft portion 525a is integrally formed on an arbitrary free end side shifted from the rotation center (center of the shaft portion 524a) at
The return roller 121a is pivotally attached to the shaft 525a.

The first pivot 5 of these drive levers 123a
Swing about the center 22a and the second movement of the driven lever 122a.
The return roller 122a, which is pivotally attached to the free end side of the driven lever 122a, is displaced to a different position in the discharge direction a by a combination operation with the swinging movement about the pivot portion 523a.

The drive lever 123a is connected to the first pivot 522a.
The bracket 1 made of sheet metal is provided on the free end side opposite to the side where the driven lever 122a is provided when the
24 are fixed by screws 526a. Thereby, the drive lever 123a is integrated with the plate-shaped bracket 124.

The peripheral surface of an eccentric cam 125 for swinging the drive lever 123a is in contact with the side surface of the bracket 124 on the upstream side in the discharge direction a. The eccentric cam 125 is configured to be integrally rotated with a shaft 528 supported by a support plate 527 formed integrally with the frame 200. A torsion coil spring 529a is provided as first contact means for elastically pressing the cam surface of the eccentric cam 125 against the bracket 124. This torsion coil spring 5
One end of the torsion coil spring 529a, which loosely winds around the outer periphery of the boss-shaped first pivot portion 522a, is hung on the side of the drive lever 123a, and the other end of the torsion coil spring 529a is It is hung on a hook 530a configured as a part.

Due to the elasticity of the torsion coil spring 529a, the drive lever 123a is urged to rotate about the first pivot 522a in the direction of the arrow, and is elastically pressed by the eccentric cam 125. Therefore, by rotating the eccentric cam 125, the drive lever 123 is driven in accordance with the amount of displacement of the cam surface.
“a” swings about the first pivot portion 522a.

Since the eccentric cam 125 has an endless cam surface, a periodic displacement can be given to the drive lever 123 and, consequently, the return roller 121 by its rotational movement.

The torsion coil spring 5 as the first contact means
The first oscillating means is constituted by the eccentric cam 125 and the eccentric cam 125, and the eccentric cam 125 and the free end side of the drive lever 123a (bracket 124) are slidably contacted by the first oscillating means. Drive lever 1 according to the rotation of 125
23a can be swung at a predetermined angle according to the amount of eccentricity.

By swinging the drive lever 123a by a predetermined angle by the first swing means in this way, the driven lever 122a riding on the drive lever 123a is moved together with the return roller 121a. Displacement of a chevron or flat cam 53 in discharge direction a
An elliptical trajectory can be given depending on the shape of 7.

A shaft 528 to which the eccentric cam 125 is fixed has a shielding plate 531 in which a part of a disk is cut out in a semicircular shape fixed at its axis, and the gear 532 is at its axis. The part has been fixed. A gear 533 is meshed with the gear 532, and the gear 533 is driven to rotate by a stepping motor 126 fixed to a support plate 527. A sensor 127 is fixed to a portion of the shielding plate 531 through which the notch passes, and the eccentric cam 1 is detected based on detection information of the shielding plate 531 by the sensor 127.
The rotation stop of the stepping motor 126 can be controlled by detecting the rotation amount of the stepping motor 126. The combination of the sensor 127 and the shielding plate 531 constitutes an encoder, and the amount of rotation of the eccentric cam 125 is controlled by the encoder using the stepping motor 126 as a drive source.

The driven lever 122a is connected to the driven lever 1
22a and the second pivot portion 523a (the shaft portion 524a)
And the second swinging means provided to act on the free end side 534a opposite to the side on which the return roller 121a is provided.

The second swinging means includes a driving lever 123a
Along with the swing, the driven lever 122a is swung by a predetermined angle around the second pivot 523a. By providing the second swing means, the driven lever 122a is centered with the second pivot 523a. Follower lever 12 for drive lever 123a
By displacing the angle of 2a, the return roller 121 can be moved between desired positions along a desired trajectory. In addition, the stroke of the return roller 121 can be increased by combining the swing operation of the driven lever 122a and the swing operation of the drive lever 123a.

The second oscillating means is a projection 5 formed on a free end 534a on the driven lever 122a opposite to the side on which the return roller 121a is offset from the center of the second pivot portion.
A flat cam 53 having a trapezoidal projection 536 formed on a part of the circumferential surface having an infinite curvature.
7 and a second contact means for contacting the flat cam 537 with the projection 535a. The second contact means is configured by winding a torsion coil spring around the shaft portion 524a, hooking one end of the torsion coil spring on the driven lever 122a, and hooking the other end of the torsion coil spring on an immovable member. be able to.

Since the contact state of the projection 535a with the flat cam 537 is obtained by the second contact means, the return roller 121a can be periodically moved up and down in accordance with the swing of the drive lever 123a, and the drive is performed. The return roller 121a can be displaced in a locus of an angle by a combination of the swinging of the lever 123a and the driven lever 122a, so that the paper stacked on the tray 12 is not pushed out in the discharge direction a, and the second stop position is not pushed. Can be moved to Alternatively, an elliptical locus can be obtained depending on the shape of the flat cam 537.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the flat cam 537 is located above the free end 534a of the driven lever 122a. In such a positional relationship, the return roller 1
The tray 12 is located below 21a.

A power transmission system for driving the return roller 121a to rotate will be described. The power transmission system is mainly composed of pulleys around the respective pivot centers of the first pivot portion 522a and the second pivot portion 523a as rotation centers, and a belt wrapped around these pulleys. Here, the pulley and the belt include a gear and a chain as similar power transmission means.

In FIG. 10, a pulley 538a that rotates integrally with the shaft 129, a pulley 539a that is pivotally attached to the shaft portion 524a, the pulley 538a and the pulley 53
9a and a belt 540a wound around the belt 9a.

A pulley 541a pivotally attached to the shaft 524a and a return roller 121 pivotally attached to the shaft 525a.
a and a belt 5 wound around the pulley 541a and the pulley 542a.
There is a combination consisting of 43a. The pulley 541
When a and the pulley 539a are fitted to the common shaft portion 524a, they are integrally rotated by the meshing portions formed on the side portions meshing with each other.

A stepping motor 556 is fixed to the frame 200 via a joint 555 at the shaft end of the shaft 129, and rotates the shaft 129. Alternatively, when the stepping motor 556 is not provided, a pulley 544 is provided, and rotational power is obtained via the paper discharge roller 3 and a belt 557 that is commonly driven. In any case, by rotating the shaft 129,
The power is transmitted in the order of pulley 538a → belt 540a → pulley 539a → pulley 541a → belt 543a → pulley 542a → return roller 121a to rotate the return roller 121a and rotate for return.

As described above, the pulleys are arranged at the pivots of the driving lever 123a and the driven lever 122a, and the power is transmitted to the return roller 121a via these pulleys. Since the shaft is shared with the pivot shaft for roller displacement, the power transmission system can be easily configured, and power can be easily taken in from the outside of the drive lever 123a, so that the displacement means can be made lightweight and compact.

As described above, in FIG. 10, the power for rotating the return roller 121a is applied to the pulley 544 provided integrally with the shaft 129 concentric with the first pivoting portion 522a, and is applied to the pulley 544. Through the belt 577.

In FIG. 11, which shows a cross section of the power transmission system, the pulley 538a is fixed integrally with the shaft 129. The pulley 539a is pivotally mounted on the shaft 524a. In this example, in particular, these pulleys 538a and 53
The tension of the belt 540a stretched between the belts 9a and 9a is appropriately selected, and the pulley 539a is connected to the shaft 524a by the tension.
, An appropriate frictional force acts between the inner diameter portion of the pulley 539a and the shaft portion 540a. The rotational force of the pulley 539a is also transmitted to the shaft portion 524a by this frictional force, and the driven lever 122a is moved to the second pivot portion 523.
It is urged to rotate about a.

9 and 10, the return roller 121a
The direction of rotation for returning the sheet to the end fence 131 side is counterclockwise.
The direction of rotation of the pulley 539a when rotating the return roller 121a in this direction of rotation is counterclockwise, and the rotational biasing force given to the driven lever 122a by the frictional force during rotation in this direction is also The rotation is counterclockwise about the second pivot 523a, and the rotation biasing force causes the protrusion 535a of the driven lever 122a.
Is biased in a direction pressed by the flat cam 537.

As in the present embodiment, the protrusion 535a of the driven lever 122a is rotated by the rotational force of the driven lever 122a utilizing the frictional force between the pulley 539a and the shaft 524a due to the tension of the belt 540a and the rotational force of the pulley 539a. The function of the second urging means for pressing the flat cam 537 can be fulfilled, and the configuration can be simplified as compared with the case where a torsion coil spring is used. The tension of the belt 540a is set appropriately so that the pulley 539a and the shaft 524a slip with the projection 535a pressed against the flat cam 537 with an appropriate pressing force.

The aligning operation performed by displacing the return roller by the displacing means having the structure described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11 will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 12, the return roller 121 is located near the lower part of the discharge roller 3 of the sheet aligning device.
The return rollers 121 are arranged opposite to the central portion in the width direction of the sheet perpendicular to the discharge direction a.

A paper surface detecting filler 1 for detecting the paper surface height of the loading surface between the return rollers 121a and 121b.
When the sheet is stacked, the tray 12 is lowered by detecting the filler and the sheet surface sensor 74 (see FIG. 14). Therefore, the height of the paper on the tray 12 is always controlled to a constant height from the nip of the discharge rollers by the paper surface detection filler 120.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the sheet that has fallen on the stacking surface has been stacked like the sheet S 'that has jumped out without returning to the end fence 131, the trailing end of the sheet S' that has jumped out. It is necessary to swing the return roller 121 until it comes into contact with the rear end of the sheet and return it with a rotational force.

As described above, the return roller 121 is connected to the shaft portions 525a, 525b of the driven levers 122a, 122b.
The driven levers 122a, 122
The shaft portions 524a and 524b on the opposite side of the drive lever 1
23a, 123b and the shaft portions 524a, 524
The driven levers 122a and 122b rotate around the center b.

The drive levers 123a and 123b are inserted through a shaft 129 on the opposite side where the driven levers 122a and 122b are pivotally connected, and rotate about the shaft 129. Further, the drive levers 123a and 123
The bracket 124 is joined to the bracket b. By displacing the bracket 124 with the eccentric cam 125, the drive levers 123a and 123b swing about the shaft 129, and are further pivotally mounted on the drive levers 123a and 123b. The driven levers 122a and 122b are swung to displace the return roller 121.

As shown in FIG. 14, the return roller 1
21 is a first stop position (home position: standby position)
To the second stop position (return position) indicated by the two-dot chain line, contacts the rear end of the sheet dropped on the tray 12, pulls the sheet back to the end fence 131 by its rotational force, and Perform the matching.

An eccentric cam 125 for displacing the bracket 124 joined to the drive levers 123a and 123b in the direction of arrow J is provided by a stepping motor 126 and a gear 53.
3 and 532, the rotation is performed, and the rotation causes the above displacement.

The eccentric cam 125 has a semicircular shielding plate 531
The stop position of the eccentric cam 125 is regulated by detecting the shield plate 531 with the sensor 127, that is, the stop position of the return roller 121 is regulated. In FIG. 14, the first stop position (home position: standby position) of the return roller 121 is a position indicated by a solid line,
The second stop position (return position) is the position indicated by the two-dot chain line.

Next, the timing of the displacement of the return roller 121 will be described. Normally, the paper is at the first stop position, the paper is discharged from the paper discharge roller 3, and the rear end of the paper is
A is moved down to the second stop position immediately after dropping along the outer circumference of a and coming into contact with the return roller 121 and further falling on the tray 12 along the outer circumference of the return roller 121. Flat cam 5
The return roller 121 displaced with a mountain-shaped locus in accordance with the cam shape by 37 descends from above and contacts the rear end of the sheet, stays at that position for a certain period of time, and rotates the sheet to the end fence 131 with the rotational force. After being pulled back, the eccentric cam 125 is rotated again to be displaced to the first stop position. By the operation according to such a mountain-shaped trajectory, it is possible to reliably pull back the protruding sheet as shown by the reference numeral S ′ in FIGS. 7 and 8, thereby improving the alignment accuracy in the discharge direction a.

Next, an example of the structure of the rotation of the return roller 121 will be described with reference to FIG. A pulley 542a is formed integrally with the return roller 121a as shown in FIG. 10, and this pulley is connected to a pulley 541a on the shaft portion 524a by a belt 543a. Further, the pulley 541a
The pulley 539a is coaxial and integral with the pulley 538a on the driving side via a belt 540a.

The pulley 538a, which rotates integrally with the shaft 129 connected to the driving source, rotates the belt 540a to rotate the pulleys 539a, 541a, thereby rotating the pulley 542a via the belt 543a and returning the return roller 121. Is a mechanism that rotates. The same applies to the pulley 542b.

Here, the belt 543a is provided inside the driven lever 122a shown in FIG.
23a are housed inside. These structures are as described with reference to FIG.

In this example, the shaft 129 is connected to the lower roller 3 on the driving side.
a is rotated via a belt 557 by a stepping motor 132 rotating a. That is, the stepping motor 1 rotating the discharge rollers 3
32 also rotates the return roller 121.

The return roller 121 is made to wait at the first stop position until the sheet passes through the discharge roller 3 and falls on the tray 12, and the second stop is performed immediately after the sheet falls on the stacking surface on the tray 12. By displacing the sheet to the position, the sheet dropped on the stacking surface can be reliably caught and returned to the end fence 131. The second stop position (return position) is a position shifted in the discharge direction a with respect to the first stop position, that is, a position that reaches the rear end of the dropped sheet without touching the outer peripheral surface of the return roller 121. It is. Accordingly, the alignment accuracy of the sheets stacked on the tray 12 in the discharge direction can be improved regardless of the curl state or the stacked state of the sheets.

As described above, according to the configuration described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 15, the return roller 121, which is a return means composed of a rotating body, is started from the first position near the paper discharge roller 3, and
The trailing edge of the discharged sheet on the downstream side in the sheet discharging direction can be moved to the second position where it can be captured, and the trajectory can be moved back to the first position, which is the starting position, again.

However, such a configuration is complicated, and even as a motor as a driving source, the stepping motor 132 for rotating the return means and the paper discharge means, and the return means are passed from the first position to the second position. Two drive sources of the stepping motor 126 are required as drive sources for performing the movement of the chevron trajectory returning to the first position.

[0060]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet-like medium aligning apparatus provided with a simple means for displacing a return means.

[0061]

The present invention has the following configuration to achieve the above object. (1). For the sheet-like medium discharged onto the stacking means from the discharging means consisting of a pair of rollers, the upstream end in the discharging direction of the sheet-like medium by the discharging means,
Means for stacking by aligning the stack by abutting against a standing wall provided at an alignment position, applying an external force to the sheet-like medium discharged onto the stacking means and moving the sheet-like medium toward the standing wall to align the sheet medium; In the sheet-shaped medium aligning device provided with a return unit composed of a body, a return shaft that is a rotation shaft of a return pulley that supports the return unit, and an intermediate pulley shaft that is a shaft of an intermediate pulley that transmits rotation to the return pulley, Among a pair of rollers constituting the discharging means, a configuration in which a drive-side roller shaft, which is a shaft of the drive-side roller, can be arranged in substantially one line with the return pulley, the intermediate pulley, and the drive-side roller. A configuration in which three of the drive-side pulleys coaxially integrated are wound around a common belt, and the drive-side roller is connected to a drive source, and the return pulley and the intermediate pulley are supported by a common member It was decided to include a structure that is slidable in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the common member integrally with the drive-side roller shaft Te (claim 1). (2). (1) In the sheet-shaped medium matching device according to (1),
The drive-side roller shaft is slidably fitted in an elongated hole formed in the common member, and the intermediate pulley shaft is provided on an eccentric cam rotated by the drive source, whereby the eccentric cam is provided. The return roller is configured to perform an elliptical motion in accordance with the rotation of (2). (3). In the sheet-shaped medium matching device according to (1) or (2), a surface portion of the common belt is formed of an elastic body.

[0062]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the examples described below, members having the same functions as those described with reference to FIGS.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the same part of the main part of the sheet-shaped medium aligning device separately so as not to complicate the drawing. FIG. 1 shows the returning means in the first position and the second position.
2 mainly shows a mechanical part for cyclically moving between the positions, and FIG. 2 mainly shows a power system for driving the mechanical part in FIG.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the lower rollers 3a,
There is a pair of paper discharge rollers 3 formed by the upper roller 3b, and the tray 12 is located at a position downstream of the paper discharge roller 3 in the paper discharge direction a. The tray 12 is designed so that the height from the nip of the paper discharge roller 3 is controlled by a paper surface detection filler and a sensor (not shown) so as to maintain a constant height required for paper discharge.

The lower roller 3a corresponds to the driving roller among the pair of paper discharging rollers 3 constituting the paper discharging means.
The rotating shaft that rotates integrally with the lower roller 3a is referred to as a driving roller shaft 300a, and is rotatably supported by the main body side plate of the sheet-shaped medium matching device. A pulley 3A having the same diameter as the lower roller 3a is integrally provided coaxially with the roller shaft 300a, and is rotated by the motor M when the timing belt 302 is hung between the pulley 3A and the pulley of the motor M. It has become.

The rotating member constituting the return means is an endless belt, and the endless belt 304 is supported by being hung between the return pulley 304 and the intermediate pulley 308. A return pulley 306 supporting an endless belt 304 serving as a return means rotates together with a rotary shaft integrated with the pulley 306, and this rotary shaft is referred to as a return shaft, and is denoted by reference numeral 306d. The intermediate pulley 308 transmits rotation to a return pulley 306 via an endless belt 304. The intermediate pulley 308 rotates together with a rotation shaft integrated therewith, and this rotation shaft is referred to as an intermediate pulley shaft and indicated by a reference numeral 308d.

As shown in FIG. 1, the return shaft 306d
And the intermediate pulley shaft 308d can be arranged substantially in a line with the driving roller shaft 300a therebetween. Return pulley 30
6. The intermediate pulley 308 was supported by a plate-shaped common member 310. Specifically, the return shaft 306d and the intermediate pulley shaft 30
8d was supported on the common member 310, respectively. Common member 3
10 is composed of two opposing plate-like members, and is connected by a plurality of cross-linking members connecting the opposing surfaces of the two plate-like members to form a frame-like member, whereby stable support is possible. .

An elongated hole 304n that fits with the driving roller shaft 300a is formed in an intermediate portion of the common support member 310. In the state shown in FIG.
It has a length in the direction of an imaginary line connecting the center of 06d and the center of the intermediate pulley shaft 308d.

An eccentric cam 314 is supported at the shaft end of the intermediate pulley shaft 308d. The eccentric cam 314 has a disk shape, and an eccentric cam shaft 314d is integrally provided at the center thereof, and the eccentric cam shaft 314d is supported by the main body side plate. On the eccentric cam 314, the intermediate pulley shaft 308
d is provided at a position eccentric from the eccentric cam shaft 314d.

In FIG. 1, the drive-side roller shaft 300a and the eccentric cam shaft 314d are positioned on a horizontal line, and the eccentric cam 3
When the intermediate pulley 308d is rotated, the return pulley 306 is moved to the first position (home position) when the intermediate pulley shaft 308d is at the position farthest from the tray 12 on a horizontal line passing through the driving roller shaft 300a and the eccentric cam shaft 314d. By rotating the eccentric cam 314, the return pulley 306 moves to the second position when the intermediate pulley shaft 308d is at the position closest to the tray 12 on the horizontal line passing through the driving roller shaft 300a and the eccentric cam shaft 314d. The positional relationship between the members is set so as to be at the position (return position).

As shown in FIG. 2, the eccentric cam 314 is configured in combination with a one-rotation clutch 316, and is driven through a reduction gear train consisting of a gear G4, a gear G3, a gear G2, and a G1 meshing with the timing belt 302. The rotation clutch 316 is rotated. Here, gear G
The set of gears 3 and G4 and the set of gears G1 and G2 are coaxial two-stage gears, respectively, and are supported by the main body side plate.

With this configuration, the timing belt 30
The eccentric cam 314 is driven by the rotation of the one-rotation clutch 316 with the power from the eccentric cam shaft 314d.
Is driven around.

In FIG. 1, if the position of the return pulley 306 shown by a solid line is a first position (home position), the eccentric cam 314 rotates clockwise from the position of FIG. Accordingly, the common member 310 supporting the return pulley 306 and the intermediate pulley 308 moves in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the driving roller shaft 300a (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface), and in the clockwise direction with the driving roller shaft 300a as a fulcrum. At a position where the eccentric cam 314 rotates by 180 degrees while tilting, the return pulley 306 reaches a second position (a position where the rear end of the sheet discharged onto the tray can be captured) indicated by a two-dot chain line, When the eccentric cam 314 further rotates and rotates 360 degrees, the return pulley 306 also returns to the home position. Thus, the return pulley 306 repeats an elliptical motion having a long axis in the left-right direction.

Endless belt 304 as return means
The belt part 304a made of a resin material as shown in FIG.
And a return portion 304b formed of a sponge-like material integrally formed on the outside thereof.

In this example, one motor M is used to drive the discharge rollers 3
, The rotation of the return means, and the reciprocating drive of the return means between the first position and the second position. In contrast, the conventional technique requires two stepping motors 126 and 132.

Instead of driving the common member 310 with an eccentric cam, a suitable horizontal guide means is provided, and the common member 310 is pressed against the disc cam by an urging means. It can be reciprocated, and the return means can be reciprocated in the horizontal direction. Therefore, considering the inclination of the tray 12, it can be pressed from above onto the rear end of the paper on the tray and can be sufficiently used as the return means. The basic function of can be obtained.

Further, as shown in the drawing, the return means is made to perform an elliptical motion by using an eccentric cam, so that the operation mode in which the rear end of the sheet is more reliably pressed from above can be obtained. The advantage of not giving unnecessary shift is obtained.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the return roller 3 is used for controlling the return means to operate from the first position to the second position every time a sheet is discharged onto the tray 12. The actuator of the paper ejection sensor 318 was positioned so as to cross the paper ejection conveyance path indicated by a broken line in a portion immediately upstream of the paper ejection path.

As shown in FIG. 4, the control circuit provided with a CPU includes a motor M,
The rotation clutch 316 and the paper discharge sensor 318 are connected. With reference to FIG. 5, an example of control relating to the return means and the timing of paper ejection will be described. In FIG. 5, the motor M is constantly rotating with the activation of the sheet-shaped medium aligning device. It is assumed that the return pulley 306 is at the home position indicated by a solid line in FIG. Although the one-rotation clutch 316 is rotated by the rotation of the motor M, power is not transmitted to the eccentric cam 314 by the clutch function.

The first sheet is conveyed along the conveyance path, is fed from the leading end to the sheet discharging roller 3, and the rear end of the sheet exits the sheet discharging sensor 318 in response to a signal from the sheet discharging sensor 318. When the control unit recognizes, the time until the rear end of the paper passes the return pulley 306 can be calculated from the transport speed of the paper and the distance until the rear end of the paper pulls out of the return pulley 306. After the lapse of time, the solenoid for releasing the pin of the one-turn clutch 316 is turned on. The time T2 during which the solenoid is turned on is indicated by a rising pulse of the one-rotation clutch in FIG. 5 and is a time as a trigger for starting the clutch.

When the pin is removed, the clutch is turned on, that is, the power of the one-turn clutch 316 is transmitted to the eccentric cam 314. When the eccentric cam 314 makes one rotation, the pin is automatically inserted and the clutch is turned off. Is turned off. With one rotation of the eccentric cam 314, the return pulley 306 makes one round of the elliptical trajectory, departs from the first position, which is the home position, and returns to the second position, or returns to the first position. The time during which the one-rotation clutch 316 continues to be in the ON state is indicated by reference numeral T3 in FIG.

Before the trailing end of the second sheet passes the sheet ejection sensor 318, the return pulley 306 for the first sheet
Has completed one cycle and waits at the first position for 2
It is in a state of waiting for the trailing end of the second sheet to pass through the sheet ejection sensor 318.

The same will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In step P1, the paper discharge sensor 318 determines whether or not the paper has passed. When the sheet has passed, the process proceeds to step P2, and the timer of the control unit counts the elapse of time T1 during which the rear end of the sheet passes through the return pulley 306.

When the time T1 has elapsed, the routine proceeds to step P3, in which the solenoid of the one-rotation clutch 316 is turned on.
At the time T2 of the trigger, the pin of the one-turn clutch 316 is pulled out. As a result, the one-turn clutch 316 is turned on (in a contact state).

After the clutch is turned on, the rotation of the clutch makes one rotation, and when this one rotation time T3 elapses, the pin of the clutch is automatically inserted into the hole by the elasticity of the urging means, and the clutch is turned off ( Disconnection state) (step P5). During this one rotation of the clutch, the return pulley 306 performs an elliptical motion to return the paper dropped on the tray 12 toward the end fence 131 and align it.

If it is determined in step P6 that a predetermined number of sheets have been discharged, the process returns to the return. If it is determined that the next sheet has been discharged, the process returns to step P1 and the same process is repeated.

[0087]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the function of returning the sheet medium by the same return means as in the prior art can be obtained with a simple configuration.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, an elliptical trajectory capable of achieving the return function of the return means can be given to the return means with a simple configuration.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the surface of the endless belt is sponge-like, power transmission to the return means and the return function can be obtained by one endless belt.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a drive mechanism of a return unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a drive mechanism of a return unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial front view illustrating an example in which the return means according to the present invention is configured as an endless belt.

FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of control means for controlling operation timing of the return means.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart relating to control of a return unit.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart relating to control of a return unit.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which sheets are stacked according to the related art.

FIG. 8 is a front view illustrating a state in which sheets are stacked according to the related art.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating a main part of a conventional sheet-shaped medium aligning apparatus.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a main part of a conventional sheet-shaped medium aligning device.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of a power transmission unit illustrating a conventional rotary drive system of a return roller.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a conventional tray and return means.

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a main part of a conventional sheet-shaped medium aligning apparatus.

FIG. 14 is a front view illustrating a main part of a conventional sheet-shaped medium aligning apparatus.

FIG. 15 is a front view illustrating a conventional rotation drive system of a return roller and a discharge roller.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Discharge roller 3d Lower roller (drive-side roller) 304 Endless belt (return means) 306 Return pulley 306d Return shaft 308 Intermediate pulley 308d Intermediate pulley shaft 310 Common member

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An end portion of a sheet medium discharged from a discharge means comprising a pair of rollers onto a stacking means on an upstream side in a discharge direction of the sheet medium by the discharge means is provided at an alignment position. Means for stacking and aligning the sheet-like medium by abutting against the set up wall, and applying an external force to the sheet-like medium discharged onto the stacking means to move the sheet-like medium toward the upright wall and align the sheet-like medium. In the sheet-shaped medium aligning device provided with a means, a return shaft that is a rotation axis of a return pulley that supports the return means, and an intermediate pulley shaft that is an axis of an intermediate pulley that transmits rotation to the return pulley, form the discharge unit. A configuration in which a drive-side roller shaft, which is the axis of the drive-side roller, is interposed between the pair of rollers to form a substantially line-up arrangement; and the return pulley, the intermediate pulley, and the drive-side roller are coaxially integrated. A configuration in which three of the drive-side pulleys are wound around a common belt, and the drive-side roller is connected to a drive source; and the return pulley and the intermediate pulley are supported by a common member, and A sheet-like medium aligning device comprising a structure integrally slidable in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the driving roller shaft. 2. The sheet-shaped medium aligning device according to claim 1, wherein the driving roller shaft is slidably fitted in an elongated hole formed in the common member, and the intermediate pulley shaft is driven by the driving member. A sheet-shaped medium aligning device, wherein the return roller is provided on an eccentric cam rotated by a source to cause the return roller to perform an elliptical motion in accordance with the rotation of the eccentric cam. 3. The sheet-like medium aligning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a surface portion of the common belt is formed of an elastic body.