JP2006008382A - Sheet sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To carry out sort processing to a large number of orders. <P>SOLUTION: Sheet bundles 30 are successively sent out to a receiving position and sorted into each tray 44 of a first sort conveyer 23a. When ten sheet bundles 30 by ten orders are sorted and the first sort conveyer 23a becomes full, an arm 48 is rotated by driving of a motor 50, and a second sort conveyer 23b is set at a supplying position P1. The sheet bundle 30 by an eleventh order is sorted to the tray 44 in the second sort conveyer 23b, and then, the sheet bundles 30 are sorted to the tray 44 until the second sort conveyer 23b becomes full. At the supplying position P1, a third sort conveyer 23c, a forth sort conveyer 23d are set after the second sort conveyer 23b. Sort processing is carried out until each of the sort conveyers 23c, 23d become full. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet sorter that accumulates and sorts a plurality of sheets for each order.

  In a printer processor used in a photographic processing laboratory, an image recorded on a photographic film is continuously printed on a roll-shaped recording paper, developed and then cut for each frame, and one order (for example, film 1) is obtained with a sheet sorter. This unit is collected separately. In addition, recently, after cutting into a print size, printing and developing processing is performed to accumulate each order.

  For example, as shown in Patent Document 1, a sheet sorter used in combination with a printer processor forms a sheet bundle by stacking photographic prints (hereinafter referred to as sheets) discharged from a processor unit for each order. And a sort conveyor for rotating a plurality of trays including a tray at a receiving position. The sort conveyor is formed by winding an endless belt supporting a plurality of trays around a pair of rollers. After the sheet bundle from the feed conveyor is supplied to the tray at the receiving position, the endless belt is rotated by one tray, whereby the sheet bundle is sequentially sorted into each tray.

JP 2004-115248 A

  However, since the sort conveyor as described above can sort only the sheet bundle as many as the number of trays, there is a problem that it cannot cope with a large number of orders concentrated. In particular, when orders are concentrated automatically when unattended at night, when the tray is full, no more orders can be printed, and the sort processing ability to sort the sheet bundle is limited. There was a problem that.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet sorter that can easily cope with a large number of orders concentrated and can perform a large amount of processing even when printing is performed unattended.

  The sheet sorter of the present invention collects and sorts a plurality of sheets for each order based on order information, and has a plurality of trays for receiving sheets, and a plurality of sorter main bodies for storing sheets for one order in each tray And a sorter main body moving part for selectively setting the sorter main body at the sheet receiving position.

  It is desirable to classify a plurality of orders in correspondence with a plurality of sorter bodies based on the order information, and to store sheets in the sorter bodies corresponding to each classification.

  The tray of each sorter body is specified by the tray specifying information, and the order information of the sheets stored in the tray specified by the tray specifying information is associated with the tray specifying information, and the order information or the tray specifying information is input. It is desirable to display the corresponding tray identification information or order information.

  According to the present invention, since the plurality of sorter bodies are provided and selectively set at the sheet receiving position, the sorting process can be continued with the other sorter even when one sorter is full. As a result, it is possible to easily perform sort processing for a large number of orders regardless of the human situation at the time of printing.

  At a street DP (simultaneous print) reception store (hereinafter simply referred to as a DP store), when a customer orders a photo film print, fill in the required information such as the customer's name and contact information in the designated DP bag reception slip. Then, the first sheet of this reception slip is peeled off and given to the customer. The received photographic film is stored in the DP bag. In this way, a plurality of orders are received and, for example, DP bags for that day are sent to the print center.

  Order identification information and a bar code indicating this are printed on the DP bag. The order identification information is composed of, for example, DP shop identification information and reception identification information. In the case of 12-digit order identification information, the upper 4 digits represent the DP store identification information, and the remaining lower 8 digits. Represents reception information. Such order identification information is also printed on a check tape affixed to the photographic film, and can be obtained from the photographic film.

  FIG. 1 shows an outline of the configuration of a printer processor installed in the print center according to the present invention. The printer processor 1 includes a printer 2 and a processor 3 and can handle a plurality of types of photosensitive materials having different widths. The printer 2 includes a magazine 5, a cutter 6, an exposure unit 8, and the like. The photosensitive material 4 set in the magazine 5 is cut by a cutter 6 according to the print size to become a cut sheet-like paper (hereinafter simply referred to as a sheet) 10 and exposed along a conveyance path 11 indicated by a two-dot chain line in the figure. It is conveyed toward the section 8. The exposure unit 8 exposes and records an image based on image data input from an image reading device (not shown) on the light receiving surface of the sheet 10. The exposed sheets 10 are sorted by the sorting unit 9 in, for example, two rows in a staggered arrangement, and sequentially sent to each part of the processor 3 in this sorted state.

  The processor 3 includes a development processing unit 12, a drying unit 13, a discharge unit 14, and a sheet sorter 15. The development processing unit 12 includes a developing tank, a bleach-fixing tank, and first to fourth washing tanks, and conveys the sheet 10 into each tank, and performs development, bleach-fixing, washing with water, and the like. The developed photosensitive material 4 a is dried by receiving hot air in the drying unit 13 and sent to the discharge unit 14. The discharge unit 14 includes a conveyance path bent at approximately 90 degrees and a plurality of roller pairs provided along the conveyance path, and the discharge roller pair 17 disposed in the vicinity of the discharge port 16 causes the sheet 10 to be removed. The sheet is sent to the sheet sorter 15.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the sheet sorter 15 of the present invention includes first and second delivery conveyors 21 and 22, four sort conveyors (sorter main bodies) 23a to 23d (see FIG. 3), and these sort conveyors 23a. To 23d intermittently rotating. The first delivery conveyor 21 is formed by winding an endless belt 26 around a pair of rollers 24 and 25, and is disposed, for example, so that the conveyance surface is horizontal and lower than the discharge port 16 of the discharge unit 14. Yes. Each sheet 10 discharged (dropped) one by one in a staggered manner from the discharge port 16 is sequentially dropped and supplied onto the endless belt 26, and the conveyance direction is changed by 90 degrees, and the sheet 10 is conveyed toward the second delivery conveyor 22. It is sent out in the direction A1. The first delivery conveyor 21 starts to operate at the timing when the sheet 10 is supplied to the discharge unit 14, and is controlled to stop when a plurality of sheets 10 for one order are sent to the second delivery conveyor 22.

  The second delivery conveyor 22 is formed by winding an endless belt 32 around a pair of rollers 31. For example, the second delivery conveyor 22 is disposed so that the conveyance surface is sufficiently lower than the conveyance surface of the first delivery conveyor 21. Each sheet 10 sent from the first delivery conveyor 21 is dropped and supplied onto the endless belt 32 at the accumulation position, and is stacked until it reaches one order. When the sheets 10 for one order are stacked, the second delivery conveyor 22 is activated, and the sheet bundle 30 is delivered in the delivery direction B1.

  On the side of the endless belt 32 opposite to the first delivery conveyor 21, a conveyance guide 33 that partially covers the side and upper side of the endless belt 32 is disposed. Further, an alignment plate 34 that is rotatable via a shaft is attached to the inner side of the upper wall of the conveyance guide 33, and is normally held vertically by its own weight or by the bias of a weak spring. The alignment plate 34 aligns the side edges of the sheets 10 stacked on the endless belt 32 when the width of the sheets 10 is small. On the other hand, when the width of the sheet 10 is large, the alignment plate 34 is pushed by the sheet 30 so as to escape to the conveyance guide 33 side, thereby preventing the sheet 10 from being poorly stacked.

  In the sort conveyors 23a to 23d that are configured identically, the sort conveyor 23a will be described as an example. The sort conveyor 23a is formed by winding an endless rotation band 43 such as an endless chain or an endless belt around a pair of rollers 41 and 42, and the rollers 41 and 42 are separated from each other in a substantially vertical direction and horizontally on a support base 45. And is rotatably attached. In the endless rotation band 43, for example, ten trays 44 are supported on the sheet bundle placement side in order to enable sorting of ten bundles of sheets. One of the ten trays 44 (reference numeral 44 a) is set at a receiving position following the conveyance path of the second delivery conveyor 22. After the sheet bundle 30 from the second delivery conveyor 22 is transferred to the tray 44a, the endless rotation band 43 is rotated by one tray in the circumferential direction C1 through the roller 42 by driving the motor 46. By this rotation, the next tray 44b is set at the receiving position, and the next sheet bundle 30 is transferred to this.

  The four sort conveyors 23 a to 23 d are connected via an arm 48 attached to each support base 45. A support shaft 49 is fixed at the center of the arm 48, and a support shaft of the motor 50 is connected to the support shaft 49 via a gear (not shown).

  In the sorting process for sorting a plurality of sheets 10 for each order, the sheet bundle 30 is stored in each tray 44 in the order of printing. In this embodiment, each tray 44 of the receiving sort conveyor is filled with the sheet bundle 30. Then, another sort conveyor is set as a receiving destination by the moving mechanism 40, and thereafter, the sort process can be continued by storing the sheet bundle 30 in each tray 44 of the set sort conveyor.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the moving mechanism 40 is configured in a turntable system. The system controller 52 that controls each part of the moving mechanism 40 drives the motor 50 to rotate the sort conveyors 23a to 23d around the support shaft 49 in the circumferential direction E1, thereby four sort conveyors 23a to 23d. Is selectively set at the receiving position. On the circulation track of each of the sort conveyors 23a to 23d, a supply position P1 that is laterally attached to the second delivery conveyor 22 and a standby position apart from the supply position P1 are set corresponding to the receiving position. When the sort conveyors 23a to 23d are set at the supply position P1, the sort bundles 23a to 23d receive the sheet bundle 30 from the second delivery conveyor 22 by the tray 44a at the reception position, and then rotate the endless rotation belt 43 by one tray. Then, a sorting process for sequentially sorting the sheet bundle 30 into each tray 44 is performed.

  The operation of the above embodiment will be described. At each DP store, when receiving an order for a photo print, the photo film from the customer is stored in a DP bag in which the name of the customer is written. After that, DP bags for all orders received on that day are sent to the print center. In the print center, the photographic film in the DP bag from each DP store is sequentially set in the image reading apparatus, and the printer processor 1 performs the printing process. In the print processing, image data is read, exposed, and developed for each frame image, and a plurality of sheets 10 for one order are output. The sheets 10 sequentially output by the printing process are dropped and supplied onto the first delivery conveyor 21 of the sheet sorter 15 in a zigzag arrangement, and at the same time, sent out in the delivery direction A1 by the rotation of the endless belt 26, and the second delivery conveyor 22 is supplied. Supplied falling down. The sheet bundle 30 formed by being stacked on the second delivery conveyor 22 until reaching one order is delivered to the receiving position by the rotation of the endless belt 32. At this time, it is assumed that the first sort conveyor 23a is set at the supply position P1.

  The sheet bundle 30 is sequentially sent out to the receiving position and sorted into each tray 44 of the first sort conveyor 23a. When 10 sheet bundles 30 corresponding to 10 orders are sorted and the first sort conveyor 23a is full, the arm 48 is rotated by the drive of the motor 50 immediately after that, and the second sort conveyor 23b is set at the supply position P1. Is done. The sheet bundle 30 according to the eleventh order is sorted into the tray 44 of the second sort conveyor 23b. Thereafter, the sheet bundle 30 is sorted into the tray 44 until the second sort conveyor 23b is full. After the second sort conveyor 23b, the third sort conveyor 23c and the fourth sort conveyor 23d are set at the supply position P1, and the sort process is performed until the sort conveyors 23c and 23d are full. In this way, when the sort conveyor at the supply position P1 becomes full, other empty sort conveyors are sequentially set at the supply position P1, so that the sorting process is not interrupted and a large number of orders can be handled.

  In the above embodiment, when each tray of the receiving destination sort conveyor is full of sheet bundles, next, another empty sort conveyor is set as the receiving destination, and the sheet bundle is sequentially stored in each sort conveyor tray. However, in the second embodiment, a plurality of orders are classified according to a plurality of sort conveyors based on the order identification information, and a sheet bundle is stored in the corresponding sort conveyor for each order of the same classification. .

  In the second embodiment, a case will be described in which the classification standard is, for example, DP store identification information in order identification information, and sheet bundles having the same DP store identification information are stored in different trays of the same sort conveyor. . The first sort conveyor 23a corresponds to the DP store A, the second sort conveyor 23b corresponds to the DP store B, the third sort conveyor 23c corresponds to the DP store C, and the fourth sort conveyor 23d corresponds to all other DP stores. The system controller 52 reads the order identification information from the check tape affixed to the photographic film, and extracts the DP store identification information from this order identification information. Then, based on the extracted DP store identification information, the motor 50 is driven to selectively set one of the four sort conveyors 23a to 23d at the supply position P1. In the case of printing at the DP store A, the sort conveyor 23a is set at the supply position P1, and the sheet bundle 30 is sequentially sorted into the tray 44. In the case of printing at DP store B, the sort conveyor 23b is set at the supply position P1, and the sheet bundle 30 is sequentially sorted into the tray 44. Further, in the case of printing at DP store C, the sort conveyor 23c is set at the supply position P1, and the sheet bundle 30 is sequentially sorted into the tray 44. In the case of printing other than that, for example, at DP store D or DP store E, the sort conveyor 23d is set at the supply position P1, and the sheet bundle 30 is sequentially sorted into the tray 44. As described above, by sorting the sheet bundle 30 on the sort conveyor corresponding to each DP store, the sheet bundle 30 can be accumulated for each DP store, and the sheet bundle 30 can be easily inserted into the DP bag. .

  The sort processing of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Before the print processing of each order is started, the order identification information is read from the photographic film, and the DP store identification information is extracted from this order identification information. Thereafter, before the sheet bundle 30 is delivered to the receiving position by the second delivery conveyor 22, a sort conveyor corresponding to the DP store where each order has been received is set at the supply position P1. It is assumed that the first and second orders are received at DP store A, the third and fourth orders are received at DP store B, and the fifth order is received at DP store C. When the printing process is performed in the order of the first to fifth orders, first, it is detected whether or not the first sort conveyor 23a corresponding to the DP store identification information of the first order exists at the supply position P1. When there is no first sort conveyor 23a at the supply position P1, the motor 50 is driven based on the DP store identification information, and the first sort conveyor 23a is set at the supply position P1. The first-order sheet bundle 30 is sent to the receiving position and sorted into the tray 44 of the first sort conveyor 23a. Next, the second order sheet bundle 30 is sorted from the DP store identification information into the tray 44 of the first sort conveyor 23a in the same manner as the first order sheet bundle 30. Based on the DP store identification information, the third-order sheet bundle 30 is set in the supply position P1 with the second sort conveyor 23b and sorted into the tray 44. From the DP store identification information, the fourth order sheet bundle 30 is sorted into the tray 44 of the second sort conveyor 23b in the same manner as the third order sheet bundle 30. The fifth order sheet bundle 30 is sorted into the tray 44 by setting the third sort conveyor 23c at the supply position P1 based on the DP store identification information. In this way, the sheet bundle 30 having the same DP store identification information is sorted into the same sort conveyor.

  In the second embodiment, the orders are classified based on the DP store identification information, but the classification standard is not limited to this. For example, when the print center receives a print order directly from the customer and performs a service for delivering the output print to the customer's home, the order may be classified for each delivery area specified from the customer's address. Further, when the customer comes to pick up the output print, the order may be classified according to the date and time of picking up.

  In the second embodiment, the sort conveyor is associated with each DP store, and the sheet bundle is sorted into the sort conveyor corresponding to each DP store so that the work of taking out the sheet bundle after the sort processing is facilitated. In the third embodiment, the tray specifying information for specifying the tray and the order identification information of the sheet bundle to be sorted into this tray are stored in correspondence with each other, and the tray for sorting this sheet and Clarify the relationship.

  In the third embodiment, tray specifying information for specifying these is added to the trays 44 of the sorter conveyors 23a to 23d. As the tray specifying information, for example, “1-1” for the first tray of the first sort conveyor 23a, “1-2” for the second tray, and for the first tray of the second sort conveyor 23b. “2-1”, “4-1” is added to the first tray of the third sort conveyor 23c, “4-1” is added to the first tray of the fourth sort conveyor 23d, and so on. The moving mechanism 40 includes a sort information memory 54 that stores the tray specification information and the order identification information of the sheet bundle sorted into the tray specified by the tray specification information in association with each other. Further, the operation panel 55 is used as an input means for inputting tray identification information or order identification information, and a display means for displaying corresponding order identification information or tray identification information based on the input tray identification information or order identification information. I have. The operation panel 55 is a color LCD, for example, and adopts a touch panel method.

  The operation of the third embodiment will be described. Before the printing process for each order is started, the order identification information is read from the photographic film and stored in the sort information memory 54. Thereafter, the sheet bundle 30 is sent from the second delivery conveyor 22 to the tray 44a at the receiving position, and at the same time, the tray specifying information of the tray 44a is stored in the sort information memory 54 corresponding to the order identification information of the sheet bundle 30. . Thereafter, the printing process and the sorting process for a large number of orders are performed in the same manner. When the print processing for all orders is completed, the operator touches the operation panel 55 to input the tray specifying information, searches the sort information memory, and displays the corresponding order information on the operation panel 55. On the contrary, when the order identification information is input from the operation panel 55, the corresponding tray specifying information is displayed.

  In the third embodiment, the tray specifying information is displayed on the operation panel 55. Instead of displaying the tray specifying information, or additionally, display means such as a light emitting diode is displayed on the tray specified by the tray specifying information. By turning on the display means, the operator may be informed that the tray is a corresponding tray.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although each sort conveyor 23a-23d was set to the supply position P1 (receiving position) by the turntable system, as shown in FIG. Each sort conveyor 61a to 61f may be set, and the sort conveyors 61a to 61f may be sequentially set to the receiving position by a self-propelled type or by a separate shift device. Instead of the rectangular rail, the sort conveyor may be set on rails arranged in a matrix.

  In the above embodiment, each tray 44 is circulated and moved. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 6, a box 72 partitioned by a plurality of trays 73 may be moved vertically. good. Note that a plurality of the box-type sorter bodies may be used, and the sheet sorter may be configured to sequentially set them at the receiving position by a turntable method or the like.

  In the above embodiment, the sheet output from the printer processor 1 has been described as an example. However, the sheet sorter of the present invention may be used for sorting the sheets output from other recording apparatuses, copying apparatuses, and the like.

  In addition to printing image data read from a photographic film or image data recorded on a medium by a digital camera or the like, the sheet sorter of the present invention is also used for printing net order data sent via the Internet or the like. May be used.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer processor embodying the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a sheet | seat sorter. It is a functional block diagram of a moving mechanism. It is a flowchart of a sort process. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other form of a moving mechanism. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other form of a sorter main body.

Explanation of symbols

10 sheets 15 sheet sorters 23a to 23d sort conveyor 30 sheet bundle 40 moving mechanism 44 tray 52 system controller 54 sort information memory 55 operation panel P1 supply position

Claims (3)

In a sheet sorter that collects and sorts multiple sheets for each order based on order information,
A plurality of sorter main bodies each having a plurality of trays for receiving the sheets, and storing one order of sheets in each tray;
A sorter main body moving unit that selectively sets the sorter main body at the sheet receiving position.   2. The sheet sorter according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of orders are classified according to the plurality of sorter bodies based on the order information, and the sheets are stored in the sorter bodies corresponding to the classifications.   The tray of each sorter body is specified by tray specifying information, and the order information of the sheets stored in the tray specified by the tray specifying information is associated with the tray specifying information, and the order information or the tray specifying information 3. The sheet sorter according to claim 1, wherein corresponding tray specifying information or order information is displayed by input.

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