JP2006016200A - Sorter device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sorter device capable of reducing the number of trays. <P>SOLUTION: This sorter device 33 is composed of a tray 45, a guide rail 46, a tray holding member 47, a belt driving part 48, and a holding release piece 49. The belt driving part 48 is composed of chain belts 61, 62, a pair of sprockets 63, 64, a driving motor 66, and a tray pressing member 67. A plurality of tray holding members 47 are attached to the chain belts 61, 62. When the sorter device 33 is turned on, the chain belts 61, 62 move by predetermined amount. The tray 45 is held by the tray holding member 47 from a holding start position PS and moves together with the chain belts 61, 62 to release holding at a holding end position PE. The tray 45 is fed in through an inlet 46a of the guide rail 46 and is pushed out from an outlet 46b. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a sorter device that performs accumulation by circulating a plurality of trays.

  A printer processor used in a photographic processing laboratory continuously exposes and develops an image recorded on a photographic film on a roll-shaped photosensitive material, cuts it for each frame, and orders it by an ordering device (for example, The film is accumulated separately for each film). In addition, some recent printer processors are accumulated for each order after exposure / development processing after cutting to a print size.

  Each of Patent Documents 1 and 2 includes a plurality of trays (receiving trays) that can move in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, and each time a sheet bundle of one order is supplied to a tray set at a sheet bundle supply position. , A sorter device is described in which the tray is moved and the next tray is set at a supply position for stacking. In such a sorter apparatus, a plurality of trays are held and conveyed by a driving means such as a chain or a belt, and are circulated on the same track.

JP 2000-177924 A JP 2000-288446 A JP 2001-5163 A

  However, in the sorter apparatus described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, sheet bundles that are the objects to be stacked are stacked only on a tray that is traveling along a predetermined traveling direction, and the stacking is performed. When the tray is traveling in a direction other than the traveling direction, the inside of the apparatus is generally proceeded without being accumulated. For this reason, in the sorter as described above, even when the stacking is not performed, approximately the same number of trays or more as the stacking range are moving on the orbit. A large number of trays had to be provided, which hindered cost reduction of the sorter device. Further, when the number of trays is large, it is disadvantageous in terms of maintenance such as replacement and cleaning, and it is desired to reduce the number of trays from this point.

  The present invention reduces the number of receiving members on which the object is not placed on the receiving member on which the object is placed, and reduces the number of receiving members in the entire apparatus. An object is to provide a reduced sorter apparatus at a low cost.

  The sorter device of the present invention comprises a plurality of receiving members and endless conveying means for circulating the plurality of receiving members by moving them on an endless track, and the position of the receiving member is moved to be supplied to the receiving member. In the sorter device for accumulating accumulations, on the endless track, there are a dense section in which the receiving member moves densely and a dispersion section in which the receiving member moves more sparsely than the dense section, At least a part of an accumulation range for accumulating the objects to be accumulated is the dense section.

  In addition, it is preferable that the said endless conveyance means makes the moving speed of the said receiving member which moves the said dispersion | distribution area faster than the moving speed of the said receiving member which moves the said dense area.

  Further, the endless conveying means includes a rail member in which the receiving members proceed while adjoining each other in the dense section, and a belt driving means that holds and conveys the receiving members in the dispersion section, and the belt driving means The receiving member that has been transported in the step is sent to the rail member, and the receiving member sent to the rail member pushes the receiving member forward in the advancing direction to advance in the dense section, and is further pushed out from the rail member Is preferably fed to the belt driving means and conveyed through the dispersion section.

  The sorter device of the present invention has a dense section in which the receiving member moves densely on the endless track, and a distributed section in which the receiving member moves more sparsely than the dense section. Since at least a part of the accumulation range to be performed is a dense section, the number of receiving members in the entire apparatus is reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

  FIG. 1 shows an outline of the internal configuration of a printer processor in which the sorter apparatus of the present invention is incorporated. The printer processor 10 includes a printer 11 and a processor 12, and can handle a plurality of types of photosensitive materials having different widths. The printer 11 includes a magazine 15, a cutter 16, a back printing unit 17, an exposure unit 18, and a sorting unit 19. The photosensitive material 20 set in the magazine 15 is cut by the cutter 16 according to the print size, and becomes, for example, a cut sheet-like paper (hereinafter simply referred to as a sheet) 21 having an LC size (89 × 127 mm). The sheet 21 is conveyed toward the exposure unit 18 along a conveyance path 22 indicated by a two-dot chain line in the drawing, and a frame number, correction data, and the like are printed on the back side of the sheet 21 by the back printing unit 17 in the middle. . The exposure unit 18 exposes and records an image based on the image data on the light receiving surface of the sheet 21. The exposed sheet 21 is sent to the sorting unit 19.

  The sorting unit 19 sorts the sheets 21 so as to be arranged in a plurality of rows according to their sizes. The distributed sheets 21 are sequentially sent to a development processing unit 25, a drying unit 26, a discharge unit 27, and a sorting unit 30, which will be described later.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the sorting unit 19 sorts the sheets 21 into, for example, two transport paths (two rows) in a staggered arrangement. That is, the first sheet 21a is distributed to the first conveyance path 23, and then the next sheet 21b is allocated to the second conveyance path 24. Hereinafter, the first and second conveyance paths 23, 24 are sequentially performed. The sheet 21c, 21d is distributed in a staggered arrangement. Each sheet 21 is sent to the sorting unit 19 in order, but the next sheet 21b is arranged in a staggered arrangement with a shift of, for example, half the length of each sheet 21 with respect to the previous sheet 21a. In addition, in the case of a large size sheet such as an A4 size with respect to a small size sheet such as an LC size, the sorting is not performed, but the first and second transport paths 23 and 24 are arranged in a row. Sent.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the processor 12 includes a development processing unit 25, a drying unit 26, and a discharge unit 27. The development processing unit 25 includes a developing tank, a bleach-fixing tank, and first to fourth washing tanks in order from the upstream side (left side in the figure) of the sheet 21 in the transport direction, and a transport rack is attached to each tank. ing. The development processing unit 25 transports the sheet 21 into each tank using a transport rack, and performs development, bleach-fixing, washing with water, and the like. The developed photosensitive material 20 a is dried by receiving hot air in the drying unit 26 and sent to the discharge unit 27. The discharge unit 27 includes a conveyance path bent at approximately 90 degrees and a plurality of roller pairs provided along the conveyance path. The sheet 21 is sorted by the discharge roller pair 28 disposed in the vicinity of the discharge port 27a. Sent to the unit 30.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the sorting unit 30 includes first and second delivery conveyors 31 and 32 and a sorter device 33. The first delivery conveyor 31 is formed by winding an endless belt 36 around a pair of rollers 34, 35, and is arranged so that its conveyance path is horizontal and lower than the discharge port 27a. The sheets 21 discharged (dropped) in a staggered arrangement from the discharge ports 27a are sequentially dropped and supplied onto the endless belt 36, and the conveyance direction is changed by 90 degrees, and the sheets 21 are sent to the second delivery conveyor 32. The first delivery conveyor 31 starts to operate at the timing when the sheet 21 is supplied to the discharge unit 27, and the conveyance of the sheet 21 is stopped when feeding the plurality of sheets 21 for one order to the second delivery conveyor 32. The

  The second delivery conveyor 32 is formed by winding an endless belt 39 around a pair of rollers 37 and 38, and is arranged so that its conveyance surface is sufficiently lower than the conveyance surface of the first delivery conveyor 31. Each sheet 21 delivered from the first delivery conveyor 31 is dropped and supplied to the endless belt 39 at the accumulation position, and is stacked until it reaches one order. When the sheets 21 for one order are accumulated, the second delivery conveyor 32 is operated, and the sheet bundle 50 is delivered in the delivery direction B1 of the endless belt 39 orthogonal to the delivery direction A1.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the sorter device 33 includes a large number of trays (receiving members) 45, guide rails 46, a tray holding member 47, a chain driving unit 48, and a holding release piece 49. In FIG. 5, the holding release piece 49 is omitted in order to avoid complication of the drawing. The movement cycle of the tray 45 circulates by repeating the movement from the guide rail 46 to the chain drive unit 48 and from the chain drive unit 48 to the guide rail 46.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the tray 45 includes a bottom 51 formed in a rectangular bar shape, a plate-shaped tray 52 extending upward from the upper surface of the bottom 52, and guide pins protruding from both sides of the bottom 51. 53, 54.

  The guide rail 46 includes a bottom surface guide plate 56 and a pair of side surface guide plates 57 and 58, and a tray 45 sent by a chain drive unit 48 described later enters the guide rail 46 from an entrance 46 a of the guide rail 46. While being guided by the bottom surface guide plate 56 and the side surface guide plates 57 and 58, it is transported to the downstream side by being pushed by the tray 45 which is transported by the chain drive unit 48 and pushed out from the outlet 46b of the guide rail 46. It is. The bottom guide plate 56 is in sliding contact with the bottom 51 of the tray 45. Guide grooves 57a and 58a are formed in the side guide plates 57 and 58, and the guide pins 53 and 54 of the tray 45 are fitted into the guide grooves 57a and 58a.

  The bottom surface guide plate 56 includes bent surfaces 56d and 56e that smoothly connect the vertical surfaces 56a and 56b on the inlet 46a side and the outlet 46b side, an intermediate horizontal surface 56c, and the horizontal surface 56a and the vertical surfaces 56a and 56b. And are formed. As a result, the tray 45 guided by the bottom guide plate 56 first proceeds in the vertical direction from the lower side to the upper side, then advances straight in the horizontal direction instead of the 90 ° direction, and further changes in the vertical direction by changing the 90 ° direction. Proceed to Furthermore, the tray 45 is in sliding contact with the side guide plates 57 and 58 and proceeds in a state where the position in the width direction orthogonal to the transport direction is regulated.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the chain drive unit 48 includes endless chains 61 and 62 located on both sides of the tray 45, a pair of sprockets 63 and 64 on which the endless chains 61 and 62 are respectively hung, and a drive motor 66. And a tray pressing member 67. Further, a plurality of tray holding members 47 are attached to the endless chains 61 and 62. The endless chains 61 and 62 circulate in the circumferential direction of the endless chains 61 and 62 at the same speed by the rotation of the drive motor 66 connected to the sprockets 63 and 64. The endless chains 61 and 62 are made of metal or resin, but are not limited thereto, and endless members such as belts may be used.

  The endless chains 61 and 62 are parallel to each other at a predetermined distance, and are close to the inlet 46a of the guide rail 46 on the sprocket 63 side and close to the outlet 46b of the guide rail 46 on the sprocket 64 side. Has been placed.

  The tray holding member 47 is provided at a position spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction of the endless chains 61 and 62, and holds the tray 45 pushed out from the outlet 46b of the guide rail 46 from the holding start position PS. Then, the tray 45 is transported together with the endless chains 61 and 62, and at the holding end position PE located near the entrance 46a of the guide rail 46, the holding of the tray 45 by the tray holding member 47 is released and the tray 45 is moved to the guide rail 46. Send in. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the number of tray holding members 47 attached to the endless chains 61 and 62 is three. In the following description, the number N is assumed to be three for convenience. However, the number of tray holding members 47 is not limited to this, and may be appropriately changed according to the processing capability of the sorter device 33. In addition, since the tray holding member 47 is positioned with a predetermined distance from each other as described above, the predetermined distance D is such that the longitudinal dimension of the endless chains 61 and 62 is L, and the tray holding member 47 is. If N is N, D = N / T. In the example shown in FIG. 3, since the number N is 3, D = 3 / T. Furthermore, for convenience of explanation, an intermediate position until the tray holding member 47 goes from the holding start position PS to the holding end position PE is defined as an intermediate holding position P1.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the tray holding member 47 is connected to the endless chains 61 and 62, and is held parallel to the circumferential direction of the endless chains 61 and 62 (solid line position in FIG. 8). A main body 71 that is rotatably provided between a release position (two-dot chain line position in FIG. 8) orthogonal to the circumferential direction of the endless chains 61 and 62, and the width of the endless chains 61 and 62 from the main body 71 A pressed protrusion 72 protruding in the direction is integrally formed. The main body 71 is formed with a locking groove 71a. When the locking groove 71a is in the holding position, the locking groove 71a locks the guide pins 53 and 54 to hold the tray 45, and when it is in the releasing position, the locking groove 71a is held. 71a moves away from the guide pins 53 and 54, and the holding of the tray 45 is released. Further, between the tray holding member 47 and the endless chains 61 and 62, the main body 71 is rotated relative to the endless chains 61 and 62 in the clockwise direction in the drawing, that is, from the release position toward the holding position. A biasing spring 73 (see FIG. 8) for biasing is provided.

  The holding release pieces 49 are provided on both sides of the endless chains 61 and 62 and at positions close to the guide rail 46. The holding release piece 49 is located in the vicinity of the holding end position PE, is located in the vicinity of the first bending portion 76 that is bent from the outside to the inside of the endless chains 61 and 62, and the holding start position PS. A second bent portion 77 that is bent from the inside to the outside of 61 and 62, and a parallel portion 78 that connects between the bent portions 76 and 77 and is located at a distance parallel to the endless chains 61 and 62. .

  In the vicinity of the holding start position PS, as shown in FIG. 9, the main body 77 of the tray holding member 47 rotates from the release position to the holding position. First, when the pressed projection 72 is positioned at the bending start point 77a of the second bent portion 77, the tray holding member 47 is in the release position by contacting the holding release piece 49 (see FIG. 9A). As shown, the tray holding member 47 rotates while the pressed protrusion 72 moves along the curve of the bent portion 77 by the urging of the urging spring 73 when passing the bending start point 77a (see FIG. 9 (B)), and after passing through the end portion 77b of the bent portion 77, the tray holding member 47 is separated from the holding release piece 49 and rotated to the holding position (the state shown in FIG. 9C). ). The outlet 46b of the guide rail 46 is positioned immediately after the holding release piece 49 is separated from the bent portion 77, and the tray 45 is pushed out to the position of the tray holding member 47 that has become the holding position. The pushed tray 45 is in a holding state in which the guide pins 53 and 54 are locked by the locking groove 71 a of the tray holding member 47 and held by the tray holding member 47.

  In the vicinity of the holding end position PE, the tray holding member 47 moves from the holding position to the release position as shown in FIG. First, when the pressed protrusion 72 is positioned at the tip 76 a of the first bent portion 76, the tray holding member 47 is not pressed by the holding release piece 49 and becomes the holding position to hold the tray 45. (The state shown in FIG. 10A), when passing through the tip 76a, the pressed projection 72 receives a pressure from the holding release piece 49, and the pressed projection 72 moves along the curve of the bent portion 76. Then, the tray holding member 47 rotates against the urging force of the urging spring 73 (the state shown in FIG. 10B), and when passing the bending end point 77b of the bending portion 76, the tray holding member 47 is rotated to the release position by the holding release piece 49 (the state shown in FIG. 10C). When the tray holding member 47 moves to the release position in this way, the latching of the tray holding member 47 by the locking groove 71a is released, and the tray 45 is in the released state. The entrance 46a of the guide rail 46 is positioned immediately after passing the bent portion 76 of the holding release piece 49, and the tray 45 that has been released is fed into the entrance 46a of the guide rail 46.

  In the parallel portion 78, the tray holding member 47 is moved together with the endless chains 61 and 62 while the pressed protrusion 72 is being pressed, that is, while the tray holding member 47 is held at the release position.

  The tray pressing member 67 is positioned so as to surround the chain guides 61 and 62 and presses the guide pins 53 and 54 of the tray 45 from the periphery so that the tray 45 held by the tray holding member 47 does not come off.

  The operation of the above configuration will be described. When a plurality of sheets 21 are dropped and supplied from the discharge unit 27 to the first delivery conveyor 31, the endless belt 36 is driven, and each sheet 21 is dropped and supplied to the accumulation position of the second delivery conveyor 32. To do. The sheets 21 on the second delivery conveyor 32 are stacked in the order in which they are supplied, and when the stacked sheets 21 reach one order, the endless belt 39 is driven and the sheet bundle 50 is placed in the tray 45a at the loading position. To send. When the sheets 21 are stacked and when the stacked sheets 21 are sent to the tray 45a, the sorter device 33 is in an off state, and all the trays 45 are in a stopped state. Furthermore, in this stop state, the tray 45a in the mounting position is located at the entrance 46a in the guard rail 46. Further, the three trays 45 in the chain drive unit 48 are respectively located at the holding start position PS, the intermediate holding position P1, and the holding end position PE.

  When the sheet bundle 50 for one order is sent to the tray 45a, the chain driving unit 48 of the sorter device 33 is turned on, and a movement cycle is started in which the tray 45 moves to the position forward in the traveling direction by one. When the chain drive unit 48 is turned on, the endless chains 61 and 62 are moved by a predetermined amount by the rotation of the drive motor 66. The amount of movement of the endless chains 61 and 62 at this time is a predetermined distance D between the tray holding members 47 attached to the endless chains 61 and 62. As described above, when moving by the predetermined distance D, the tray 45 held by the tray holding member 47 at the holding start position PS is moved to the intermediate holding position P1, and the tray held by the tray holding member 47 at the intermediate holding position P1. The holding member 47 moves to the holding end position PE. Further, the tray holding member 47 located at the holding end position PE is in a released state, and moves to the holding start position PS in an empty state where the tray 45 is not held.

  Since the (empty) tray 45 conveyed to the holding end position PE as described above is sent to a position close to the entrance 46a of the guide rail 46, the tray 45a located at the entrance 46a, that is, the placement The tray 45a on which the sheet bundle 50 for one order is placed at the position is pushed into the guide rail 46, and the next empty tray 45 is set at the position of the entrance 46a, that is, the placement position where the sheet bundle 50 is sent. Is done.

  As described above, since one tray 45 is pushed in from the inlet 46a of the guide rail 46, the tray 45 in the guide rail 46 advances by the amount pushed, and one tray 45 is pushed out from the outlet 46b. The pushed tray 45 is held by a tray holding member 47 located at the holding start position PS. In this manner, one movement cycle of the sorter device 33 is completed, and the sorting apparatus 33 is turned off. Thereafter, each time a sheet bundle of one order is sent to the tray 45a at the loading position, the sorter device 33 is turned on, and the tray 45 is moved.

  In this way, the sorter device 33 can smoothly collect the sheet bundle 50, and further, as described above, a large number of trays 45 can be arranged on the guide rail 46. The chain drive unit 48 is configured to move a small number of trays 45. As a result, the sheet bundle 50 can be placed on each of a large number of trays 45 arranged on the guide rail 46, so that a large number of orders can be accommodated and only a small number of trays 45 are moved by the chain drive unit 48. Therefore, it is possible to minimize the number of trays 45 that are not stacked. In other words, since the number of trays 45 in the entire sorter 33 can be reduced, it is possible to perform maintenance such as replacement and cleaning. This is very advantageous, and the cost of the sorter device 33 can be reduced.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although a plate-shaped tray is used as a receiving member which accumulate | stacks a to-be-accumulated object, it is not restricted to this, What is necessary is just a shape which can receive a to-be-accumulated object, for example, a bottom plate The cross-sectional "U" shape which consists of a pair of side plates may be sufficient, and the box shape which consists of a side plate surrounding a baseplate and circumference | surroundings may be sufficient.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the stacked objects are accumulated using all of the multiple trays 45 positioned on the guide rail 46, and the empty tray 45 is moved without being accumulated in the chain drive unit 48. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the trays 45 may be arranged so as to move densely in at least a part of the accumulation range in which the objects are accumulated.

Note that it is possible to reduce the size of the sorter apparatus according to the above-described embodiment only by making a slight change. FIG. 11 shows a sorter apparatus that can achieve this compactness. Components and members that are the same as those in the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  A chain drive unit 81 of the sorter device 80 shown in FIG. 11 includes endless chains 61 and 62, a pair of sprockets 82 and 83 on which the endless chains 61 and 62 are respectively hung, a drive motor 66, and a tray pressing member 84. . The sprockets 82 and 83 are smaller in diameter than the sprockets 63 and 64 used in the above embodiment. Further, the tray pressing member 84 is located below the endless chains 61 and 62, and has a plate-like flat surface portion 84a parallel to the guide rail 46, and a protruding portion 84b protruding upward from an end portion of the flat surface portion 84a. 84c. The parallel portion 84a is in a position close to the endless chains 61 and 62. As a result, when the tray 45 passes below the endless chains 61 and 62, the tray pressing member 84 rotates to a substantially horizontal position and the vertical position is regulated. The protruding portion 84b regulates the position of the tray 45 when it is sent from the guide rail 46 to the chain driving portion 81 and sent downward, and the protruding portion 84c is sent upward from below the chain driving portion 81, The position of the tray 45 is regulated when it is sent to the guide rail 46. In this way, the small diameter sprockets 82 and 83 are used, and the tray 45 can be pressed down by the tray pressing member 84 to suppress the vertical dimension, so that the entire apparatus can be made compact.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer processor. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state of the distribution of the sheet | seat by a distribution mechanism. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the sheet sorting apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the sorter apparatus which implemented this invention. It is a side view of a sorter apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a guide rail and a tray. It is a perspective view of a tray holding member. It is a side view of a tray holding member It is explanatory drawing which shows the state of operation | movement when a tray holding member starts holding | maintenance of a tray. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state of operation | movement when a tray holding member complete | finishes holding | maintenance of a tray. It is a side view which shows the sorter apparatus to which another Example is applied.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Printer processor 21 Sheet | seat 27a Discharge port 30 Sorting part 31 1st delivery conveyor 32 2nd delivery conveyor 33,80 Sorter device 45 Tray 46 Guide rail 47 Tray holding member 48, 81 Chain drive part 49 Holding release piece 61, 62 Endless chain

Claims (3)

A sorter device comprising a plurality of receiving members and endless conveying means for moving and circulating the plurality of receiving members on an endless track, and moving the position of the receiving members to accumulate the objects to be supplied to the receiving members In
On the endless track, there are a dense section in which the receiving member moves densely and a distributed section in which the receiving member moves more sparsely than the dense section, and an accumulation range in which the objects are accumulated. At least a part of the sorting section is the dense section.   The sorter apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the endless conveying means makes the moving speed of the receiving member moving in the dispersion section faster than the moving speed of the receiving member moving in the dense section. The endless conveying means includes a rail member in which the receiving members advance while adjoining each other in the dense section, and a belt driving means that holds and conveys the receiving member in the dispersion section, and is conveyed by the belt driving means. The received receiving member is sent to the rail member, the receiving member sent to the rail member pushes the receiving member forward in the traveling direction to advance in the dense section, and the receiving member pushed out from the rail member further 3. The sorter device according to claim 1, wherein the sorter device is fed to a belt driving means and conveyed in a dispersion section.

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