JP2003040509A - Large capacity cutform stacker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a large capacity cutform stacker capable of keeping the falling distance of cutform from a paper carrying-out port of a printer within a specified range, stacking cutform sequentially and detecting full paper state of the cutform stack without complicated operation. SOLUTION: The cutform stacker 10 has a stage 12 arranged vertically movable for loading a stack 54 of paper sheets, a first sensor 26 that detects the upper end position of the stack 54 and a second sensor 28, arranged below the first sensor 26, that detects the upper end position of the stack 54. To keep the falling distance of paper within a specified range, the stacker 10 is so structured that in the case that the first sensor 26 detects the upper end position of the stack 54, the stage 12 is drive-controlled to descend until the second sensor 28 detects the upper end position of the stack 54. The full stack sensor 30 is arranged to detect the full paper state of the above stack 54.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet stacker, and more particularly to a single-sheet stacker for stacking and storing sheets of paper printed by a printer and falling one by one from an outlet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it has been a matter of stacking and storing print-cut sheets by a printer by spontaneous dropping of the cut sheets. However, when the number of piled-up sheets becomes large, the distance of dropping of the cut sheets becomes large. Since the front and back of the single-cut sheet are reversed or the single-cut sheet rises vertically, it has been difficult to align and stack the printed single-cut sheets in order. For this reason, a method in which a stage on which a stack of single-cut sheets (hereinafter referred to as a stack) is placed can be moved up and down, the number of cut-out sheets of the printer is counted, and the stage is lowered every predetermined number of sheets is used. Was there.

[0003]

However, in this conventional method, it is necessary to interlock with the printer in order to count the number of sheets carried out from the printer, and the thickness is set in consideration of the thickness every time the thickness of the cut sheet changes. I had to change the number. Further, in order to detect the fullness of the stacker, it is necessary to provide a full counter and set the number of full sheets for each thickness of a single cut. Further, when the single-cut stack is taken out during the accumulation, the counter has to be reset, which is complicated in operation.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and keeps the drop distance of the cut sheet from the paper carry-out port of the printer within a certain range without performing a complicated operation, and the cut sheets are ordered. An object of the present invention is to provide a large-capacity single-sheet stacker that can be stacked and can detect the fullness of the single-sheet stack.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is capable of moving vertically in a single-sheet stacker for stacking and storing sheets of paper printed by a printer and falling one by one from an outlet. A stage on which the stack of the constructed and stacked sheets is placed, a first sensor for detecting the upper end position of the stack, and a second sensor provided below the first sensor for detecting the upper end position of the stack. And a controller for driving and controlling the stage so as to keep the drop distance of the paper within a predetermined range by using the detection signals of the first sensor and the second sensor. When the first sensor detects the upper end position of the stack, the stage is lowered, and the second sensor detects the upper end position of the stack. It is characterized by positioning the urchin the stage. Furthermore, a full stack sensor for detecting the fullness of the stack is provided.

According to the present invention, the stage on which the stack of sheets is placed is provided so as to be vertically movable, and the first sensor and the second sensor are provided below the first sensor to stack the sheets. When the first sensor detects the upper end position of the paper stack, the stage is lowered until the second sensor detects the upper end position of the stack, so that the drop distance of the single-cut paper is always kept within a certain range. There are no defects such as single-sided flips or vertical standing of single-cuts. Further, since it has a full stack sensor, the operation of the printer can be stopped when the stacker is full.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A preferred embodiment of a cut sheet stacker according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In each figure, the same members are designated by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of a printer incorporating the single-cut stacker according to the present invention. In the figure, a printer 60 that prints on a cut sheet and carries it out from the front side is mounted on the rear portion of the upper surface of the printer stand 65, and a cut sheet that accumulates and stores the carried-out sheets in front of the printer 60. A stacker 10 is incorporated. Printer stand 6
Four casters 67, 67, ... Are attached to the bottom surface of 5, so that the stacker built-in type printer device can be easily moved to any working position.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual side view for explaining the structure of the single-cut stacker 10 according to the present invention. As shown in FIG.
The single-sheet stacker 10 is provided with a movable table 14 which is guided by a guide (not shown) so as to be movable in the vertical direction. The stage 12 is fixed on the upper surface of the moving table 14, and the stack 54 of the single-cut sheets 52 is placed on it. Mobile stand 14
Holds a part of the timing belt 16 with a stop plate 24, and the timing belt 16 is stretched between a drive pulley 18 and a driven pulley 20 connected to a motor 22.
Necessary tension is applied by a tension applying means (not shown). With such a structure, the stage 12 is vertically moved between the front plate 34 and the rear plate 36 by driving the motor 22.

After the cut sheet 52 is printed by the printer 60,
The carry-out port 62 is driven by the driving roller 64 and the driven roller 66.
To the single-sheet stacker 10 and deposit on the stage 12 to form a stack 54.

On the rear side of the rear plate 36 (right side in FIG. 2), the first sensor 26 for detecting the upper end of the stack 54 is provided on the upper side.
And a second sensor 28 for detecting the upper ends of the stage 12 and the stack 54 at a distance of 5 mm below the first sensor 26. Further, in the lower part on the back side of the rear plate 36, there are a full stack sensor 30 which detects the stage 12 and detects that the mounted stack 54 is full, and a position several mm below the full stack sensor 30. Origin sensor 3 that detects the stage 12 and sets it as the origin of movement
2 and are installed. These sensors 26, 28, 3
0 and 32 are reflection type optical sensors in which a light emitting element and a light receiving element are combined.

Furthermore, these sensors 26, 28, 30,
There is a controller 40 that receives a signal from 32, drives the motor 22 via a motor driver 42, and controls the vertical movement of the stage 12.

Next, the single-sheet stacker 1 having the above configuration
The operation of 0 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the single-sheet stacker 10. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, when the switch of the single-cut stacker 10 is turned on, the motor 12 rotates, the drive pulley 18 and the timing belt 16 are driven, and the stage 12 rises from the origin position. The sensor 28 is stopped at the position where the light is blocked (step 102). In response to the signal to stop the stage 12, the printer 60 operates and the single-cut sheet 52 drops from the carry-out port 62 (step 104). The dropping operation of the single-cut sheet 52 is repeated, and the single-cut sheet 52 is accumulated on the stage 12, and is continued until the first sensor 26 detects the upper end of the accumulated stack (step 106). When the thickness of the stack 54 increases and the first sensor 26 detects the upper end of the stack, the stage 12 descends and the second sensor 28 stops at a position where it becomes OFF (step 108). The above operation is repeated until the stage 12 blocks the full stack sensor 30 (step 110). Full stack sensor 3
When 0 becomes ON, it is displayed that the stack 54 of the single-cut sheets 52 stacked in the single-cut stacker 10 is full and an alarm is issued (step 112). Then stage 1
2 descends to the origin position where it intercepts the origin sensor 32 (step 114). The above is a series of movements of the single-sheet stacker 10. Since the movement of the stage 12 is controlled in this way, the drop distance of the cut sheet 52 is the maximum from the second sensor 28 to the carry-out port 62 of the printer 60, and the minimum drop distance is the first sensor 28. To the carry-out port 62, and the difference is 5 mm. Since the drop distance is always within this range regardless of the thickness of the cut sheet 52, the cut sheets 52 are deposited in order and stably in the cut sheet stacker 10.

Although the drive mechanism for the stage 12 is composed of the motor 22 and the timing belt 16 in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and various mechanisms such as a screw drive mechanism can be applied. Further, although the reflection type optical sensor is used for each sensor, a transmission type optical sensor, a proximity switch or the like may be used. In addition, the distance between the first sensor 26 and the second sensor 28 is 5
However, the present invention is not limited to this. Further, although the origin sensor 32 is provided, the full stack sensor 30 and the origin sensor 32 may be used together.

[0015]

As described above, the single-sheet stacker of the present invention stacks the single-cut sheets in order without any complicated operation, keeping the drop distance of the single-cut sheets from the paper outlet of the printer within a certain range. You can do it, and the single votes are turned upside down,
There are no problems such as single-cutting chips rising vertically. Further, since the fullness of the single-cut stack can be detected, the operation of the printer can be stopped when the stacker becomes full.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a printer incorporating a cut sheet stacker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual side view illustrating the configuration of a single-cut stacker according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the single-sheet stacker 10 according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Single sheet stacker, 12 ... Stage, 26 ... First sensor, 28 ... Second sensor, 30 ... Full stack sensor, 32 ... Origin sensor, 40 ... Controller, 52 ... Single sheet, 54 ... Stack, 60 ... Printer, 62 ... Outlet

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A single-sheet stacker for stacking and storing sheets of paper printed by a printer and falling from an exit port, and a stage configured to move a stack of stacked sheets so as to be vertically movable, A first sensor that detects an upper end position of the stack, a second sensor that is provided below the first sensor and that detects an upper end position of the stack, and a detection of the first sensor and a second sensor. A single-sheet stacker comprising: a controller that controls a vertical position of the stage so as to keep a fall distance of the sheet within a predetermined range by using a signal. 2. The controller positions the stage such that when the first sensor detects the upper end position of the stack, the controller lowers the stage, and the second sensor detects the upper end position of the stack. The single-cut stacker according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A full stack sensor for detecting the fullness of the stack is provided.
Alternatively, the single-sheet stacker according to claim 2.