JP2003267587A - Sheet conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To align sheets conveyed along a plurality of conveying rows in a single row. <P>SOLUTION: An ejection device 25 has first and second conveying rows 21, 22. A pair of high-speed ejecting rollers 45, 46 are mounted on the first conveying row 21, and a high-speed ejection mechanism 50 is mounted on the second conveying row 22. The high-speed ejection mechanism 50 is composed of a pair of high-speed ejecting rollers 62, 63, a loop guide plate 64, a frame 65, and guide shafts 66, 67. The sheet 15 conveyed on the first conveying row 21 is ejected from an ejection port 44 by the pair of high-speed ejecting rollers 45, 46. The sheet 15 conveyed on the second conveying row 22 is held by the pair of high-speed ejecting rollers 62, 63, moved from a receiving position on the second conveying row 22 to an ejecting position at a lower part in the vertical direction of the pair of high-speed ejecting rollers 45, 46, and ejected from the ejection port 44. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus that conveys a sheet by an automatic developing machine such as a printer processor, and more specifically, a sheet conveying apparatus that conveys a sheet along a conveying row set in plural rows. It relates to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A printer processor used in a photofinishing laboratory uses a recording paper roll obtained by winding a photosensitive recording paper, which is formed into a long strip, into a roll. The photosensitive recording paper pulled out from the recording paper roll loaded in the loading unit is continuously fed toward the exposure unit. Then, each time the image of each frame is exposed by the exposure unit, the recording paper roll is cut into a recording paper sheet. Since the printing processing time in the exposure unit of the printer processor is extremely short compared to the development processing time to be performed after this, each recording paper sheet separated from the recording paper roll is conveyed to a plurality of rows of conveyance paths. It is distributed and sent to the developing section that performs the developing process.

In the developing section, the respective recording paper sheets distributed in a plurality of rows of conveying paths are conveyed in a plurality of rows, and a plurality of processing liquids or water containing a processing solution for color development, bleach-fixing, washing and stabilizing, etc. Development processing is performed by passing through the processing tank. In this way, by developing the plurality of recording paper sheets conveyed along the conveyance paths of a plurality of rows, the recording sheets are conveyed to the developing unit without a time interval after the printing process is completed, Since the processing can be performed in accordance with the fast processing time of, the overall processing time in the printer processor can be shortened. The recording paper sheet after the development processing is conveyed to the drying unit while being conveyed in a plurality of rows, and is subjected to the drying processing. In the drying unit, the air heated by the heater is blown by the blower to dry the recording paper sheet.

The plurality of recording paper sheets that have been conveyed along the plurality of rows of conveying paths as described above and have been subjected to the development processing and the drying processing are subjected to the baking processing in the exposure section and separated from the recording paper roll. It is fed out from a plurality of rows in a single row so as to be in the order in which they are arranged, and is collected in a sorter.
A sheet conveying device which is incorporated in such a printer processor and which conveys the recording paper sheets conveyed in a plurality of rows in a single row is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-349201.
It is described in Japanese Patent Publication No. This sheet conveying device is provided with a conveying path portion that conveys recording paper sheets in a plurality of rows along a conveying path of a plurality of rows and each recording sheet that is arranged near the exit of the conveying path portion and is conveyed on the conveying path. It is composed of a high-speed feeding means for feeding the sheet at high speed, and a feeding portion for feeding the recording paper sheets aligned in a single row by receiving the respective recording paper sheets fed by the high-speed feeding means by a moving endless belt. There is.

The mechanism for arranging the sheets conveyed in a plurality of rows in a single row is not limited to the one described above. For example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-282631, the width when the sheets are conveyed in a plurality of rows. The alignment table is described in which the width of both side walls is narrowed from the upstream side according to the above to the downstream side according to the width of a single row of sheets. Alternatively, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-167193, a conveyance direction changing unit that changes the column direction of a sheet conveyed in a plurality of columns in the vertical direction to a horizontal direction and conveys the sheet by the conveyance direction changing unit. The sheet is provided in the falling direction of the photosensitive material and has a stacking section for stacking a plurality of photosensitive materials, and the sheet discharged in the horizontal direction by the transport direction changing means is freely dropped and received by the stacking section. Describes a photosensitive material stacking device that can be aligned in a single row.
As the conveying direction changing means for changing the conveying direction, the inclined rotating roller whose axial direction is inclined at 45 ° with respect to the conveying direction of the sheet conveyed from the upstream side, and the sheet between the inclined rotating roller. And a guide means for nipping and conveying the sheet. The guide means winds the sheet around the outer peripheral surface of the inclined rotation roller to convey the sheet, and changes the conveying direction from the vertical direction to the horizontal direction.

Further, in Japanese Patent No. 2812143 and Japanese Patent No. 2765652, a high-speed delivery means is provided near the exit of a transport path that has been horizontally transported in a plurality of rows and sends each sheet at high speed. , A photosensitive material aligning device that carries a conveyor in a direction perpendicular to a plurality of rows of conveying paths, and that is provided with a conveyor for intermittently driving the sheet is described. When receiving and receiving a sheet, the conveyor is driven, and when it moves to the next row, it stops.
Accept the next sheet. The sheet is accumulated by repeating this. Further, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-95402, a pair of guides are provided at the lower part of the exit side of a conveying path that has been horizontally conveyed in a plurality of rows, are inclined downward, and guide to a conveyor that conveys in a single row. The members are aligned in a single row and sent to the conveyor while freely falling.

[0007]

However, the above-described apparatus for aligning sheets conveyed in a plurality of rows into a single row has various practical problems.
First, in the sheet conveying device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-349201 and the photosensitive material aligning device described in Japanese Patent Nos. 2812143 and 2765652, sheets conveyed in a plurality of rows are conveyed. Is discharged at high speed by the high-speed sending means, and a conveyor or roller stage for receiving the high speed is required, which requires a large space and hinders downsizing of the apparatus. In addition, large transport conveyors and roller stages also cause cost increases.

Further, in the devices described in JP-A-11-167193 and JP-A-11-95402, the alignment table or the guide plate guides the alignment in a single row. Uncertain factors such as the frictional resistance between the guide plate and the sheet, the speed of free fall, and the degree of curling of the sheet easily affect the operation of the apparatus, and it is very difficult to align them with high precision. Further, these have to be adjusted and replaced according to the width of the paper, which is not efficient.

Alternatively, in the apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-167193, when a sheet is wound between an inclined rotating roller as a conveying direction changing means for changing the conveying direction and a guide means, the sheet is scratched. Cheap.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and it is possible to align sheets conveyed in a plurality of rows in a single row along a conveyance row set in a plurality of rows, Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a compact and low-cost sheet discharging device that conveys smoothly without scratching.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention is configured so that the sheets conveyed on a substantially same conveying surface and in a plurality of rows are conveyed by a plurality of column conveying means. In a sheet conveying device that discharges the sheets arranged in a row in a direction intersecting the conveying surface, a branching unit that branches into a plurality of rows so as to have a head in the direction intersecting the conveying surface,
A first high-speed transport unit that receives a sheet in one row branched by the branching unit and discharges at a higher speed than the multiple-row transport unit, and a sheet in another column branched by the branching unit in each column A second high-speed transport means for receiving each sheet at a receiving position at a higher speed than the multi-row transport means, and moving the received sheet below or above the discharge position of the first high-speed transport means and then discharging the sheet. ing. When the number of rows by which the plural-row conveying means conveys the sheet is N rows, N is an integer of 2 or more, and the second high-speed conveying means is provided for N-1 rows. .

The second high-speed conveying means is provided with a pair of discharge rollers provided on the upstream side and the downstream side in the conveying direction, and between the pair of discharge rollers on the upstream side and the downstream side at the receiving position. It is preferable to hold the sheet. further,
The downstream discharge roller pair holds the vicinity of the leading edge of the sheet, the upstream discharge roller pair holds the vicinity of the trailing edge of the sheet, and holds the sheet in a loosened state between these discharge roller pairs. It is preferable.

It is preferable that the second high-speed transport means has a higher sheet transport speed than the first high-speed transport means. Alternatively, the distance from the branch point to the second high-speed transport means is shorter than the distance from the branch point branched by the branch means to the first high-speed transport means, or the sheet It is also effective in the present invention to control the transport speed by the first and second transport means and the discharge speed by the moving means according to the transport length or the number of transported sheets.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 schematically shows the internal structure of a printer processor embodying the present invention. Printer processor 2
Comprises a printer unit 3 and a processor unit 4. The printer unit 3 includes magazines 5, 6, a cutter 7, a back printing unit 8, an exposure unit 9, and a sorting unit 10. In the magazines 5 and 6, color printing papers (hereinafter, simply referred to as papers) 11 and 12 having different widths are wound and stored in a roll shape. The paper 11 is pulled out from the magazine 5 by the rotation of the paper feed roller 13, cut by the cutter 7 according to the print size, and as shown in FIG.
A C-size cut sheet paper (hereinafter, simply referred to as a small size sheet) 15 is formed. Similarly, the paper 12 is pulled out from the magazine 6 by the rotation of the paper feed roller 14, cut by the cutter 7 according to the print size, and made into, for example, an A4 size sheet (hereinafter, simply referred to as a large size sheet) 16. . In order to perform the developing process efficiently, a series of printing processes with the same size is usually performed for each order. Therefore, most of the print sizes are switched at each order. In addition, some of them include print sizes mixed in one order, but in this case, print processing is performed so that print sizes are continuously grouped in the same size in one order.

In the back printing unit 8, necessary information such as frame numbers and correction data are printed on the back surfaces of the papers 11 and 12. A well-known laser exposure device is built in the exposure unit 9, and an image is formed on the sheets 15 and 16 based on the image data stored in the internal image memory or the image data transferred from the image reading device. It is recorded as a latent image.
In the following description, the small size sheet 15 will be described as an example, and when it is necessary to explain the other large size sheets 16 separately, the sheet 16 will also be described.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the distribution unit 10,
The sheets 15 and 16 are distributed so as to be arranged in a single row or a plurality of rows according to their sizes. In this sorted state, the sheets 15 and 16 are sent to a developing section 18 and a drying section 19 which will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 2 (A), in the case of the small size sheet 15, the sorting unit 10 causes the first and second
The small-sized sheets 15 are distributed in a staggered arrangement to the transport rows 21 and 22 of. That is, the first small size sheet 15a is sorted to the first transport row 21, and then the second transport row 2
Next, the next small size sheet 15b is distributed to the second small size sheet 15b, and then the small size sheet 15b is sequentially arranged in the first and second transport rows 21 and 22.
c and 15d are distributed. Each small size sheet 15a
Since 15d are sequentially sent to the sorting unit 10, the next small size sheet 15b is arranged in a zigzag arrangement with a shift of half the length of the small size sheet 15 from the previous small size sheet 15a. .

As shown in FIG. 2B, in the case of the large-sized sheet 16, the sorting unit 10 does not sort the sheet, and the sheet is placed so as to straddle the first and second transport rows 21 and 22. Sent in line.

In this embodiment, the sheet 1
As for how to divide the size into 5, 16 sizes, the width is 89
Length of 82.5 mm in the transport direction between mm and 152 mm
Small size sheet 15 mm or more and 254 mm or less
And width exceeds 152 mm, or length is 254
The large size sheet 16 is the one that exceeds mm,
It is not limited to this. In addition, a special print size, for example, a test print for maintaining exposure control, a paper joining portion (splice portion), and the like are treated in the same manner as the large-sized sheet 16. In addition to the sheets 15 and 16, not only the sheets 15 and 16 but also the leading end of the paper that is first sent after setting the magazines 5 and 6 and the non-printable end paper are used for printing as products on the transport rows 21 and 22. Since this is not possible, the spoiled paper from which the leading end has been cut off is conveyed in the same manner as the large-sized sheet 16.

The respective sheets 15 and 16 which are sent out in a plurality of rows or a single row by the sorting section 10 are delivered to the downstream developing section 18 and drying section 19 while maintaining the sorted array pattern. It will be transported.

As shown in FIG. 1, the processor section 4 includes a developing section 18, a drying section 19, a discharging device 25, and a sorter section 26.
Composed of. The developing unit 18 includes a developing tank 28 in order from the upstream side (the left side in the drawing) of the sheets 15 and 16 in the conveying direction.
Bleach-fixing tank 29, first washing tank 30a, second washing tank 30
b, a third washing tank 30c, and a washing tank 30 including a fourth washing tank 30d. A developer is stored in the developing tank 28, a bleach-fixing solution is stored in the bleach-fixing tank 29, and a predetermined amount of cleaning water is stored in the washing tank 30. Sheet 1
5 and 16 are carried in the tanks 28 to 30 by the driving force of the carrying racks provided in the developing tank 28, the bleach-fixing tank 29, and the washing tank 30, respectively, and are subjected to a developing process. In addition, although the water washing tanks 30a to 30d are conveyed in the liquid in the horizontal direction by using the submerged squeeze portion, instead of this, a conveyance rack may be used.

The drying section 19 is arranged above the processing tanks 28, 29, 30 and is composed of a conveyor belt and a ventilation duct. The blower duct blows the dry air heated by the heater toward the conveyor belt and presses each sheet against the conveyor belt. Each sheet is dried by passing over the air duct in this state. The dried sheet is sent toward the discharging device 25.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show an ejecting device 25 as a sheet conveying device embodying the present invention. The discharge device 25 is a small size sheet 1 conveyed in two rows.
The branching means 31 for branching 5 and the small-sized sheets 15 branched by the branching means 31 are arranged in a single row to sorter 2
6, and first and second transport rows 21 and 22 and a special transport row 33 that discharges the large size sheet 16 to the stacking tray 32. The first and second transport rows 21 and 22 have a drying unit 19
From the entrance 34 that receives the sheets 15 and 16 conveyed from the above, it extends upward, and when it passes the first conveyance roller 35 located above the entrance 34, it gradually bends and extends in the horizontal direction.

The branching means 31 comprises a guide roller 36 and a guide 37 so that the position of the second transport row 22 with respect to the first transport row 21 has a downward drop along the vertical direction orthogonal to the transport direction. It is branched.

The discharge device 25 is controlled by a system controller 39, and a sheet sensor 40 for detecting the leading ends of the sheets 15 and 16 is arranged near the entrance 34.

In the first conveyor line 21, the first conveyor roller 35 on the upstream side extends upward to the second conveyor roller 42 on the downstream side, and the second conveyor roller 42 and the third conveyor roller 43 further downstream. Near the middle of the route, the route bends at a substantially right angle and extends horizontally. After passing through the third transport roller 43, it is transported horizontally toward the discharge port 44. Between the third transport roller 43 and the discharge port 44, a pair of first and second high speed discharge rollers 4 serving as a first high speed transport means.
5, 46 are arranged, and this high-speed discharge roller pair 4
The sheet 15 is discharged from the discharge port 44 to the sorter unit 26 by 5, 46.

A sheet sensor 47 is arranged between the first high speed discharge roller pair 45 and the second high speed discharge roller pair 46. The sheet sensor 47 includes, for example, a light source that emits light toward the sheet 15 and a photosensor that receives the light, and the sheet 1 that passes through the first transport row 21.
The rear end of 5 is detected.

In the second transport line 22, the first transport roller 35 is used.
Then, it is bent obliquely upward to the second transport roller 48, and when passing through the second transport roller 48, it extends in the horizontal direction and is discharged by the high-speed discharge mechanism 50 located on the downstream side. The high-speed discharge mechanism 50 as the second high-speed transfer means includes a pair of high-speed discharge rollers 45, 4 of the first transfer row 21.
It is located below 6 in the vertical direction.

The conveying rollers 35, 42, 43 and 48 provided in the first and second conveying rows 21 and 22 have a plurality of large-diameter roller members 53 mounted on a metal shaft rod 52 at equal intervals. Is configured. A rubber roller, for example, is used as the roller member.

The portions of the transport rollers 35, 42, 43, 48 near both ends of the shaft rod 52 are respectively side plates 54, 55.
(See FIG. 5) is attached rotatably. Although not shown in detail, a one-way clutch is arranged between the shaft rod 52 of each of the transport rollers 35, 42, 43 and 48 and the rubber roller member 53. This one-way clutch is configured to rotate integrally with the shaft member 52 only when the roller member 53 rotates in one direction, for example, by spring engagement. In addition, each of the transport rollers 35, 4
The one-way clutches provided at 2, 43 and 48 are not limited to those by spring engagement.

The shaft rod 52 of each of the conveying rollers 35, 42, 43, 48 projects from one side plate 55 and is connected to a motor 56 via a drive belt, a drive gear or the like, and the motor is controlled by the system controller 39. The rotation of 56 is transmitted. In addition, the transport rollers 35, 42, 43, 4
Each pressing roller 57 used in pair with 8 is provided. The pressing roller 57 is
Each of the transport rollers 35, 42, 43, 48 is in contact with each of the transport rollers 35, 42, 43, 48 so as to be individually idle. The pressing roller 57 is arranged so that the large-diameter outer peripheral surface portions thereof are brought into rolling contact with the roller members 53 of the conveying rollers 35, 442, 43, and 48, respectively.

In this way, the transport rollers 35, 42, 4
3, 47 are combined with each pressing roller 57 in a pair, so that the conveying rollers 35, 42, 43, 4
When the 7 is rotated, the pressing roller 57 is brought into rolling contact with this.
Is rotated so that the sheet 15 is sandwiched and fed between the conveying rollers 35, 42, 43, 47 and the pressing roller 57.

As described above, the shaft rod 52 and the roller member 5
Since a one-way clutch is provided between the roller member 53 and the roller 3, when the rotational torque is applied to the roller member 53 by an operation such as pulling the sheet 15 to the downstream side in the conveying direction, the rotational torque due to the tensile force is When the rotational torque applied to the roller member 53 from the rod 52 is exceeded, the one-way clutch operates and the roller member 53 runs idle. As a result, when the sheet 15 is forcibly pulled out to the downstream side in the conveying direction at high speed, it is possible to perform the operation of ejecting the sheet 15 without being obstructed by the conveying rollers 35 to 43 and 47 that sandwich and convey the sheet 15. Has been

The first transport rollers 35 extend from the first transport row 21 to the second transport row 22 and the two rows of sheets 15 are provided.
The roller member 53 is arranged at a position corresponding to
The sheets 15 for the rows are simultaneously conveyed, but the other conveyance rollers 42, 43, and 48 have the first conveyance row 21,
Alternatively, the roller member 53 is arranged only in one row of the second conveyance row 22, and the conveyance of one row is performed along the arranged conveyance row. A sheet sensor 58 is arranged between the second transport roller 48 of the second transport row 22 and the high speed discharge mechanism 50. The sheet sensor 58 has the same configuration as the sheet sensor 47 of the first transport row 21, and detects the rear end of the sheet 15 passing through the second transport row 22.

The first and second high-speed discharge roller pairs 45, 46 of the first transport train 21 are each constructed by fixing a plurality of large-diameter roller members at equal intervals to a metal shaft rod. Portions near both ends of the shaft rod are rotatably attached to the side plates 54 and 55, respectively. Further, the pair of high speed discharge rollers 45 and 46 are arranged so that the respective roller members are brought into rolling contact with each other.

Further, pinions 59 (see FIG. 5) of the same shape are fixed to the ends of the pair of high speed discharge rollers 45, 46 extending from the side plate 55 so as to mesh with each other. The transmission 60 is attached to one of the pinions 59.
The motor 61 is connected via. This transmission 6
Reference numeral 0 denotes a speed-increasing gear, a clutch, a speed change gear, and the like.
Communicate to. The high-speed discharge roller pair 45, 46 rotates at a higher rotation speed than the respective conveyance rollers 35, 42, 43, 48. When the rotation speed of the high-speed discharge roller pair 45, 46 is the highest speed, each conveyance roller 35 , 42, 43, 48 are set to be about 2 to 15 times the number of rotations. In addition, by controlling the transmission with the system controller 39, the transport rollers 35, 42, 43, 48
It can be controlled to rotate at the same number of rotations as.

High-speed discharge roller pair 4 thus constructed
The rollers 5 and 46 rotate at a high speed while gripping strongly with the sheet 15 sandwiched between the respective roller members and eject the sheet 15 from the ejection port 44 to the sorter portion 26. In addition, when the sheet 15 is popped out,
Each of the transport rollers 35 feeding the sheet 15 between them,
42, 43, and 48 rotate idly by the action of a one-way clutch so that the high-speed discharge roller pair 45 and 46 do not interfere with the operation of moving the sheet 15 quickly.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the high speed discharging mechanism 50 includes a first high speed discharging roller pair 62, a second high speed discharging roller pair 63, a loop guide plate 64, and a frame 65 and a frame 65 for holding them. It includes guide shafts 66 and 67 for guiding the sliding movement, a cylinder unit 68, a sheet sensor 70, and the like. First and second high speed discharge roller pair 6
Reference numerals 2 and 63 have substantially the same configuration as the high-speed discharge roller pair 45 and 46 of the above-described first transport row 21, and a pinion 70 provided at one end is connected to a motor 72 via a transmission 71.

As shown in detail in FIG. 6, the loop guide plate 64 has a horizontal guide position (state shown in FIG. 6 (A)) for guiding the sheet 15 so as to move straight in the horizontal direction, and the sheet 15 is set to the first position. It is rotatable between a high speed discharge roller pair 62 and a second high speed discharge roller pair 63 and a loop guide position (state shown in FIG. 6 (B)) that guides the slack. It is configured to be driven by the solenoid 73.

The frame 65 includes a pair of high speed discharge rollers 62,
It is formed in a box shape so as to support both ends of the loop guide plate 63 and the loop guide plate 64. Fitting holes 65a and 65b that fit into the guide shafts 66 and 67 are formed in the frame 65. The guide shafts 66 and 67 are arranged along the width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the sheet 15. The frame 65 supports the high-speed discharge roller pairs 62 and 63, the loop guide 64, the sheet sensor 70, and the like, and receives the receiving position located downstream of the second transport row 21 and the high-speed discharge roller pair 45 of the first transport row 22. It is slidable along the guide shafts 66 and 67 between a discharge position located vertically below 46. The sheet sensor 70 has the same configuration as the sheet sensors 47 and 58, and detects the leading edge of the sheet 15 that has passed through the high-speed discharge roller pair 63. When the sheet is moved from the receiving position to the discharging position, the rear end side and the front end side of the sheet 15 are moved to the first and second positions as shown in FIG. 6C.
The sheet is nipped by the pair of high-speed discharge rollers 62 and 63, and slidably moved in a state where the sheet 15 is slackened in the vicinity of the center in the conveying direction. And sheet 15
When the sheet reaches the discharge position with the sheet nipped, the high-speed discharge roller pair 62, 63 is driven, so that the sheet 15
Is discharged at high speed. As described above, the sheet 15 conveyed in the first conveyance row 21 is fed by the high-speed discharge roller pair 45,
The sheet 15 conveyed by the second conveyance line 22 by 46 is ejected from the ejection port 44 by the high-speed ejection roller pair 62, 63 after moving to the ejection position of the high-speed ejection mechanism 50. As a result, the sheets 15 are aligned in a single row and discharged to the sorter section 26. In the present embodiment, the discharging speed at which the high-speed discharging roller pair 62, 63 discharges the sheet 15 is set to the high-speed discharging roller pair 4 of the first transport row 21.
It is set to three times the discharge speed of 5,46.

The cylinder unit 68 is the high-speed discharge mechanism 5
It is used as a slide mechanism for sliding 0, and the frame 65 is linearly moved along the guide shafts 66 and 67 by controlling the air pressure. The slide mechanism of the high-speed discharge mechanism 50 is not limited to this type, but may be any one that performs linear movement such as hydraulic control, a solenoid, or an endless belt.

Incidentally, in each of the transport rows 21 and 22, as described above, the flow branches immediately after passing through the first transport roller 35,
Further, the path bends and gradually moves in the horizontal direction, and the first transport row 21 is located above and the second transport row 22 is located below. Then, the first transport row 21 and the second transport row 2
Immediately after the first conveying roller 35 where 2 is branched,
Comparing the transport distance until the high-speed discharge roller pair 45, 46 is passed through the transport row 21 and the high-speed discharge mechanism 50 after passing through the second transport row, the high-speed discharge mechanism 50 is compared. The transport distance to is shorter.

Further, the guide roller 36 and the guide plate 37 which constitute the branching means 31 are composed of the conveying rollers 35, 4 respectively.
2, 43, 48 and each pair of high speed discharge rollers 45, 46,
62 and 63 are arranged so as not to interfere with each other, and the leading end of the sheet 15 sent from each upstream transport roller or each high speed discharge roller pair is delivered to each downstream transport roller or each high speed discharge roller pair. It guides you so that it is sandwiched well.

Immediately after the entrance 34, a transfer line switching for switching between the first and second transfer lines 21 and 22 for transferring the small size sheets 15 and the special transfer line 33 for transferring the large size sheets 16 is performed. The part 77 is arranged. The transport line switching unit 77 is configured to drive the switching guide member 78 with a solenoid 79. The switching guide member 78 is formed with a first guide surface 78a that guides the sheet 15 toward the first and second transport rows 21 and 22 and a second guide surface 78b that guides the sheet 15 toward the special transport row 33.
The sheets 15 and 16 dried in the drying unit 19 are at the entrance 34.
When the sheet sensor 40 is fed from the sheet 15,
Detecting the leading edge of 16, the system controller 39 switches the transport row switching unit 77 according to the size of the sheets 15 and 16, and the small size sheet 15 is transferred to the first and second transport paths 21 and 22 to the large size. The sheet 16 is a special conveyance line 33.
Sorting is carried out so as to convey to.

The sorter unit 26 for accumulating the sheets 15 discharged from the discharging device 25 is provided with a plurality of trays 26a mounted on a conveying means having an endless track, and is sequentially fed downward from a discharging port 44 of the discharging device 25. , Is configured to be turned at the lowermost end thereof and sent again to the discharge port 44 side. Then, when the sheet 15 for one order is placed on the tray 26a immediately below the discharge port 44, the tray 26a is moved downward by one step based on the sort signal issued for each order, and the tray 26a is present. The empty tray 26a is set at the position to receive the sheet 15 to be discharged next. Further, the sheet 15 placed on the tray 26a is appropriately taken out by the operator while the tray 26a on which the sheet 15 is placed is moved to the lowest position immediately below the discharge port 44.

The large size sheets 16 sent out through the special conveying path 33 after being sorted by the conveying line switching unit 77 are discharged onto the stacking tray 32 fixed to the processor unit 12.

The operation of the above configuration will be described below.
When the power of the printer processor 2 is turned on, the operator inputs image data to be recorded on the papers 11 and 12 and image recording information such as the print size and the number of sheets, and the print start button is turned on. Start recording. Then, after the photosensitive papers 11 and 12 are pulled out from the magazines 5 and 6 and cut into sheets 15 and 16 of each print size by the cutter 7, they are conveyed in order to the back print section 8 and the exposure section 9 to form an image. Printing on the back side of the surface and exposure recording of the image on the image forming surface based on the image data are performed. The sheets 15 and 16 on which the reverse printing and the image recording are performed are conveyed to the sorting unit 10.

Sheet 1 sent to distribution unit 10
5 and 16 are the first and second transport rows 2 based on the sorting pattern preset according to their size.
The distribution to 1 and 22 is performed. The sheets 15 and 16 sorted by the sorting unit 10 are transferred to the transport row 2
1 and 22, the developing section 18 and the drying section 1 are conveyed.
It is sent to 9. The sheet 1 which has passed through the developing unit 18 and the drying unit 19 and has been subjected to the developing process and the drying process in order.
5, 16 are sent to the discharging device 25.

The discharging device 25 sorts the sheets 15 and 16 conveyed in a single row or a plurality of rows as described above, and discharges them to the sorter unit 26 or the stacking tray 32. The transport row switching unit 77 operates based on the information input in advance, and the large size sheet 16 passes through the special transport row 33 and is discharged to the stacking tray 32. Then, the small-sized sheets 15 pass through the first conveyance row 21 or the second conveyance row 22, and are aligned in a single row by the high-speed ejection roller pairs 45 and 46 and the high-speed ejection mechanism 50 to be arranged in the sorter section 26. The sheets are accumulated on the accumulation tray 26a. In the following, the sheet 1 will be handled by the high speed discharge roller pair 45, 46 and the high speed discharge mechanism 50.
The process when 5 are discharged in a single row will be described.

The sheets 15 conveyed in the first and second conveying rows 21 and 22 are arranged in the staggered arrangement as described above, and in detail, as shown in FIG. 7, they are conveyed in the first conveying row 21. The sheet 15 that has arrived is ahead of the sheet 15 that has been transported in the second transport row 22. Then, first, the leading edge of the sheet 15 conveyed in the first conveying row 21 reaches the position of the sheet sensor 47, and the system controller 39 which detects this reaches the high-speed ejection roller pair 45, 46.
Is driven to discharge the sheet 15 from the discharge port 44. The sheets 15 discharged from the discharge port 44 are stacked on the stacking tray 26a of the sorter unit 26. At this time, the system controller 39 causes the seat sensor 47 to detect the seat 1
The trailing edge of sheet 5 is detected, and it is detected that the sheet 15 is discharged. 7 to 10, in order to prevent the drawings from being complicated, the guide plate 75, the guide roller 76, and the side plate 5 are provided.
4, 55, etc. are omitted.

Sheets 1 conveyed in the first conveyance line 21
Immediately after the sheet 5 is discharged by the pair of high-speed discharge rollers 45 and 46, as shown in FIG. 8, the leading edge of the sheet 15 conveyed in the second conveyance row reaches the sheet sensor 70 of the high-speed discharge mechanism 50. To do. At this time, the sheet 15 is shown in FIG.
As in the state shown in (A), the front end is in a state of being sandwiched by the second high-speed discharge roller pair 63, and the rear end is still in the upstream second transport row 22. . When the leading edge of the sheet 15 is detected by the sheet sensor 70, the loop guide plate 64 moves from the horizontal guide position to the loop guide position and the second high-speed discharge roller as shown in the state shown in FIG. 6B. The pair 63 stops with the front end of the sheet 15 being clamped.

Even after the loop guide plate 64 has moved to the loop guide position and the front end portion of the sheet 15 has been sandwiched by the second pair of high-speed transport rollers 63, the sheet 15 remains in the second transport row 22. The conveyance is continued, and a slack (loop) is gradually formed between the first high speed discharge roller pair 62 and the second high speed discharge roller pair 63. Then, as in the state shown in FIG. 9, the rear end of the sheet 15 is the sheet sensor 5
When the position 8 is detected, the system controller 39 causes the first high speed discharge roller pair 62 to detect the sheet 1
The first high speed discharge roller pair 62
To stop.

When the sheet sensor 58 detects the rear end of the sheet 15 and stops the conveyance of the sheet 15, the rear end portion and the front end portion are discharged at the first high speed as shown in the state shown in FIG. 6C. The sheet is sandwiched by the roller pair 62 and the second high-speed discharge roller pair 63, and the loop guide plate 64 forms a slack in the vicinity of the center of the sheet 15 in the transport direction. Then, when the sheet sensor 58 detects the rear end of the sheet 15 and enters the state shown in FIG. 6C, the cylinder unit 68 of the high-speed ejection mechanism 50 operates and the pair of high-speed ejection rollers 21 and 22 holding the sheet 15 therebetween.
The frame 65 in which is held moves from the receiving position to the discharging position. Then, as shown in FIG. 10, when the sheet 15 conveyed in the second conveyance row reaches the discharge position, the high speed discharge roller pairs 62 and 63 are driven to collect the sorter unit 26 from the discharge port 44. The sheet 15 is discharged toward the tray 26a. The high-speed discharging mechanism 50 that has discharged the sheet 15 returns to the receiving position. As described above, the high speed ejection mechanism 50 includes the high speed ejection roller pair 45, 46.
It is located vertically below and can smoothly slide and discharge without interfering with each other.

When the sheet 15 is discharged by the high speed discharge mechanism 50, the next sheet 15 in the first transport line 21 is
After reaching the position of the sheet sensor 47, the sheets 15 are similarly discharged from the discharge port 44, aligned in a single row, and stacked on the stacking tray 26a. As described above, with the compact discharge device 25, it is possible to smoothly convey the sheets that have been conveyed in the plurality of conveying rows and to stack the sheets so that the sheets are aligned in a single row with high accuracy. is there. Further, when the sheet 15 is ejected, since it is in contact with only the roller member, it is not scratched and can be reliably stacked. Further, the high-speed discharging mechanism 5 that slides between the receiving position and the discharging position.
0 slides with the front end portion and the rear end portion of the sheet 15 sandwiched and with a slack, so that the dimension in the conveying direction is short, and the sliding distance is also short. A compact and low-cost configuration can be achieved.

Further, as described above, the high speed discharge roller pair 6
The discharge speeds of 2, 63 are three times the discharge speeds of the high speed discharge roller pairs 45, 46. If they have the same discharge speed, the sheet 15 is discharged according to the time chart shown in FIG. Note that in FIG. 11, the chart T ₁ shows the discharge by the high-speed discharge roller pair 62, 63, and the chart T 2 shows the discharge by the high-speed discharge roller pair 45, 4.
6 is the discharge. Reference numeral t ₁ shown in the drawing is a discharge time when the high speed discharge roller pair 62, 63 discharges the sheet 15, and reference numeral t ₂ is a discharge time when the high speed discharge roller pair 45, 46 discharges the sheet 15. Is. As described above, since the high speed discharge roller pair 45, 46 and the high speed discharge roller pair 62, 63 have the same discharge speed, the discharge speed t ₁ of the high speed discharge roller pair 62, 63 and the high speed discharge roller pair 4 are high.
The relationship of t ₁ = t ₂ is established between the discharge times t _{2 of} 5,46. Further, reference numeral tL ₁ indicates a pair of high speed discharge rollers 4
5, 46 is the elapsed time from the discharge time t ₂ of the discharge rollers 5, 46 to the next discharge time t ₂ , and the symbol tM ₁ indicates the movement from the receiving position to the discharging position, the discharging, and the return to the receiving position in the high-speed discharging mechanism 50. This is the limit time that can be accommodated within this time when performing. In this time chart, discharge by the high speed discharge roller pair 62, 63 and discharge by the high speed discharge roller pair 4
5,46 alternately performs the emissions from, and at an intermediate point of one of the elapsed time tL _1, since performing the discharge of the other, between the elapsed time tL ₁ and limit time tM _1, tM
The relation of ₁ = tL _1/2 is established.

In this embodiment, the time chart is as shown in FIG. In addition, in FIG.
The chart T ₃ is the discharge by the high speed discharge roller pair 62, 63, and the chart T ₄ is the discharge by the high speed discharge roller pair 45, 46. Reference numeral t ₃ shown in the drawing is a discharge time when the high speed discharge roller pair 62, 63 discharges the sheet 15, and reference numeral t ₄ is a discharge time when the high speed discharge roller pair 45, 46 discharges the sheet 15. Is. As described above, since the discharging speed of the high speed discharging roller pair 62, 63 is set to be three times the discharging speed of the high speed discharging roller pair 45, 46,
The relationship of t ₄ = 3 (t ₃ ) is established in the discharging time t ₃ by the high speed discharging roller pair 45, 46 and the discharging time t ₄ by the high speed discharging roller pair 62, 63. Further, reference numeral tL ₂ indicates a discharging time t ₄ of the high speed discharging roller pair 45, 46.
Is the elapsed time from to the next discharge time t ₄ , and is denoted by tM
₂ is the time limit for moving, discharging, and returning from the receiving position to the discharging position in the high-speed discharging mechanism 50. Comparing the time charts shown in FIG. 11 described above, in the present embodiment, the time difference between the discharge time t ₄ and the discharge time t ₃ (3
(T ₃ ) −t ₃ = 2 (t ₃ )), the limit time tM
It is possible to take ₂ long. That is, the time limit t
Between M ₂ and the elapsed time tL ₂ , tM ₂ = (tL ₂ /
The relationship of 2) +2 (t ₃ ) is established, and the slide movement by the high-speed ejection mechanism 50 and the ejection of the sheet 15 can be performed with a margin.

Further, in the present embodiment, the conveyance distance until reaching the high-speed ejection mechanism 50 is set after the first conveyance row 21 and the second conveyance row 22 are branched, and the conveyance distance is 45. , 46, which is shorter than the conveying distance until reaching the high-speed discharging mechanism 50, the sheet 15 reaches the high-speed discharging mechanism 50 immediately after the sheet 15 is discharged by the high-speed conveying roller pair 45, 46. It is possible to give a margin to the discharge of.

In the above embodiment, the discharging device 25 is operated according to the preset time chart, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the discharge speed of the sheet 15, the speed of slide movement of the high-speed discharge mechanism 50, the respective transport rollers are adjusted in accordance with the processing time in the developing unit 18 and the drying unit 19 which are processing upstream of the discharging device 25. It is also possible to control so as to change the conveyance speed in, or to detect the leading end and the trailing end during the conveyance of the sheet 15 and obtain the conveyance length from it, instead of preliminarily input information.
Based on this, the slide movement, the discharging speed, and the conveying speed may be controlled.

In the above embodiment, the high-speed ejection mechanism 50 slides in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction, so that the sheets 15 conveyed in the second conveying row 22 are conveyed.
Is moved directly below the first transfer line 21, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, after the first transfer line 21 and the second transfer line 22 branch, The second transport row 22 may be gradually bent from the downstream side toward the first transport row 21 side, or the sheet 15 discharged from the second transport row 22 may be received by the first transport row 21. You may In this way, by omitting the high-speed discharge mechanism 50 as a moving unit that slides from the first transport row 21 toward the second transport row 22, it is possible to reduce the number of parts and energy for driving. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the cost and improve the durability.

Further, in the above embodiment, the sheets 15 distributed to the first and second conveying rows 21 and 22 are arranged side by side in a staggered arrangement and conveyed, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the sheets 15 are arranged with their leading ends aligned. It may be arranged in line. In this case, the transport speed of the sheet 15, the discharge by the high-speed transport roller pair 45 and 46, the slide movement by the high-speed discharge mechanism 50, and the discharge of the sheet are performed based on a speed and a sequence different from the above.

Alternatively, in the above embodiment, the sheet 15 discharged from the discharge port 44 of the discharge device 25 is directly received by the stacking tray 26a of the sorter unit 26 and stacked, but the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, the sheet 15 is formed immediately below the discharge port 44 of the discharge device 25 along the width direction of the sheet 15 formed of an endless belt or the like and orthogonal to the discharge direction of the high-speed discharge roller pairs 45, 46, 62, 63.
And a sorter unit 26 is arranged downstream of the conveyer unit so that the sheet 15 discharged from the discharge port 44 is received by the conveyer unit and is conveyed toward the sorter unit 26. Good.

Further, in the above embodiment, the photosensitive material was cut into a predetermined print size by using the cutter 7 immediately after the photosensitive material was pulled out from the magazine. It is not particularly limited as long as it is on the upstream side in the photosensitive material feeding direction. Further, the cutter 7 is cut in the width direction of the photosensitive material and the print size is changed by changing the feed length thereof. To change the size of the photosensitive material in the width direction, magazines having different widths are set. Is done by selectively using
In addition to this, a slitter for cutting the photosensitive material in the feeding direction may be provided to change the width of the photosensitive material. Further, the number of magazines used is not limited to two and may be three or more.

Further, in the above embodiment, the number of transport rows is set to two, but the present invention is not limited to this, and
The number of rows may be three or more. In this case, there are N (N is an integer of 2 or more) rows for conveying the sheets 15, and N is the high-speed discharge mechanism 50 as a moving unit for sliding the sheets 15.
By providing -1 row, the sheets 15 conveyed in N rows can be aligned in a single row.

In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the processing device for developing the photosensitive material. However, the present invention may be applied to various sheet transfer devices for transferring sheets by multi-row transfer. For example, in an inkjet printer,
The present invention may be carried out when the recording sheet after printing is conveyed in multiple rows and dried.

In the above embodiment, when the sheets are conveyed in a plurality of rows, the sheet is conveyed in one of the conveying rows and is moved to the other row to be arranged as a single row. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and among sheets that have been conveyed in a single row, those that are conveyed as they are along one conveyance row and those that are moved to the other conveyance row and conveyed. The present invention can also be implemented in a sorting device that sorts into various items. If this distribution device is applied to the printer processor 2 of the above-described embodiment, for example, the present invention can be applied to the distribution unit 10 arranged upstream of the developing unit 18.

[0066]

As described above, in the sheet conveying apparatus of the present invention, branching means for branching into a plurality of rows so as to have a drop in the direction intersecting the conveying surface, and one row branched by this branching means. The first high-speed transport means for receiving the sheets of the above-mentioned sheet and discharging them at a higher speed than the multiple-row transport means, and the sheets of the other rows branched by the branch means at the receiving position for each row at a higher speed than the multiple-row transport means. Since the received sheet is moved to a position below or above the discharge position of the first high-speed transport means and discharged, the compact and low-cost structure is provided, and the sheets transported in a plurality of rows are transferred in a single row. Can be aligned with high precision.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a printer processor embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of sheet distribution by a distribution mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration around a discharge port side of the discharge device.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a discharging device.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an internal configuration of a discharging device.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a side view of an operation state of the discharging device.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the first sheet arrives in the discharge device.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a state immediately after the first sheet shown in FIG. 7 is discharged.

9 is an explanatory diagram showing a state when a second sheet next to the first sheet shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 arrives. FIG.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a state when the second sheet shown in FIG. 9 is discharged.

FIG. 11 is a timing chart when a sheet is discharged in a discharge time different from that of the present embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a timing chart when a sheet is ejected along the ejection time in the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols] 2 Printer processor 10 Sorting Department 11,12 Paper 15, 16 sheets 18 Development Department 19 Drying section 25 Ejector 26 Sorter 45,46,62,63 High speed discharge roller pair 50 High-speed ejection mechanism

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A sheet conveying device for arranging and discharging sheets conveyed by a plurality of rows in a plurality of rows on a substantially same conveying surface by a plurality of row conveying means in a line in a direction intersecting the conveying surface. A branching unit that branches into a plurality of rows so as to have a drop in a direction intersecting the plane, and a first row that receives a sheet of one row branched by the branching unit and discharges the sheet at a higher speed than the plurality of row conveying units. The high-speed conveying means and the sheets of the other rows branched by the branching means are received at a receiving position for each row at a higher speed than the plural-row conveying means, and the received sheets are discharged by the first high-speed conveying means. A sheet conveying apparatus, comprising: a second high-speed conveying unit that discharges after moving to a lower position or an upper position. 2. When the number of rows in which the plural-row conveying means conveys the sheet is N rows, N is an integer of 2 or more,
The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second high-speed conveying means is provided for N-1 rows. 3. The second high-speed transport means includes a pair of discharge rollers provided on the upstream side and the downstream side in the transport direction,
3. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet is held between the upstream and downstream discharge roller pairs at the receiving position. 4. A state in which the downstream discharge roller pair holds the vicinity of the leading edge of the sheet, the upstream discharge roller pair holds near the rear end of the sheet, and the sheet is slackened between these discharge roller pairs. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the sheet conveying apparatus holds the sheet conveying apparatus. 5. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second high-speed conveying means has a sheet conveying speed higher than that of the first high-speed conveying means.