JP2010277129A - Sheet delivery device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet delivery device with a mechanism which surely ejects a sheet from a rack. <P>SOLUTION: This sheet delivery device includes a support face for supporting a sheet bundle configured by piling up sheets; an input unit for extruding the sheet bundle to one direction; a rack equipped with a reservoir chamber for receiving and storing the sheet bundle; and an extruding unit for extruding the sheet bundle to the outside. The extruding unit includes an extruding plate butted to one end of the sheet bundle stored in the reservoir chamber, and each of a pair of reservoir chambers is formed with protrusions extended toward the inside of the reservoir chamber and extended toward the extruding direction of the extruding unit, and the dimension of the extruding plate to the thickness direction of the sheet bundle is set to be larger than the maximum storage possibility thickness dimension of the sheet bundle determined by the top end of the first protrusion formed on one face and the top end of the second protrusion formed on the other face between a pair of faces of the reservoir chamber. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet delivery apparatus that delivers a sheet bundle, and more particularly to a sheet delivery apparatus that delivers a sheet that has been subjected to predetermined processing to a customer in response to a customer request.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-133867 discloses a photo delivery apparatus including an input interface through which a customer inputs his / her order and a delivery unit that delivers a photograph developed according to the customer's order.

  The photo delivery device of Patent Document 1 includes a rack having a plurality of compartments, accommodates photos stacked in the compartments in the rack, and starts a photo delivery operation when a customer performs a receipt operation. Has a function of extruding to the outside of the rack.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-21002

  When a photograph is developed, an ink application and drying process is performed, which tends to warp the substrate of the photograph. In addition, the bending of the print paper transport path before cutting the long photographic base material (print paper) before the development process and the photo transport path after the cutting process after developing the print paper is also a photographic base material. It becomes a factor to apply bending stress to the surface. The direction of warping of the photographic substrate is not constant, and is curved in a direction in which the photographic development surface protrudes or is curved so as to be recessed.

  When a curved photograph is in the upper or lower layer of a photo bundle housed in a section formed in the rack of the photo delivery device of Patent Document 1, a situation occurs in which the photograph in the upper or lower layer of the photo bundle is not extruded. It becomes. The above problems can occur in the same way for sheet materials other than photographs. For example, in the manufacturing process or the printing process of a sheet material such as a postcard or a poster, the above-described problem relating to the warpage of the sheet material may occur.

  In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet delivery apparatus including a mechanism that can reliably eject a photograph from a rack.

  A sheet delivery apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes a support surface that supports a sheet bundle formed by stacking sheets, a loading unit that extrudes a sheet bundle supported by the support surface in one direction, and the loading unit. A rack having a storage chamber for receiving the sheet bundle pushed out by the storage chamber, and an extrusion unit for extruding the sheet bundle accommodated in the storage chamber to the outside. An extrusion plate that abuts one edge of the sheet bundle housed in the chamber, and protrudes toward the storage chamber on each of the pair of surfaces of the storage chamber facing the surface of the sheet in the storage chamber; A protrusion extending in the extrusion direction of the extrusion unit is formed, and the top of the first protrusion formed on one of the pair of surfaces of the storage chamber and the second protrusion formed on the other Top The dimensions of the pushing plate in the thickness direction of the sheet bundle than Max possible thickness of the sheet bundle is defined being greater (claim 1).

  According to this configuration, even when the sheet bundle includes a warped sheet, all the sheets stored in the storage chamber can be reliably discharged to the outside.

  In the above configuration, various forms can be adopted, but in a specific configuration, the extruded plate is composed of a plurality of contact plates spaced apart from each other, and the one contact plate, The first protrusion and the second protrusion extend between other contact plates adjacent to one contact plate (Claim 2). In another specific configuration, at least one of the first ridge and the second ridge extends in parallel to the extrusion direction of the extrusion unit (Claim 3). In still another specific configuration, at least one of the first protrusion and the second protrusion extends in an inclined manner with respect to the extrusion direction of the extrusion unit (claim 4). When the protrusion is inclined with respect to the extrusion direction of the extrusion unit, the contact position between the sheet sliding in the rack and the protrusion is changed, and the quality of the sheet is prevented from being impaired.

  In the above configuration, it is possible to use various types of protrusions. However, in a specific configuration, at least one protrusion amount of the first protrusion and the second protrusion is the input unit. (Claim 5). These ridges can be formed on the surface of a shelf board that traverses the inside of the rack (claim 6).

  As described above, the sheet delivery apparatus according to the present invention can reliably discharge all the sheets requested by the customer and deliver the sheet bundle to the customer.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a photo print system including a sheet delivery apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic block diagram of the reception apparatus shown in FIG. It is a schematic block diagram of the sheet delivery apparatus shown in FIG. It is a schematic block diagram which expands and shows a part of sheet delivery apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic external view of the printer shown in FIG. 3. It is a figure for demonstrating the unnecessary part of print paper. It is a perspective view which shows roughly the internal structure of a sheet delivery apparatus. It is the schematic of the drive system of the raising / lowering unit shown in FIG. It is the schematic of the drive system of the raising / lowering unit shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a drive system for the tidy plate shown in FIG. 7. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a drive system for the tidy plate shown in FIG. 7. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of an injection | throwing-in unit. It is a perspective view which shows a raising / lowering rack and its drive system. It is a schematic block diagram of an extrusion unit. It is a figure explaining an example of an extrusion board. It is a figure which shows the process of extruding a photo bundle using the extrusion board shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the positional relationship of the drive area | region of an extrusion board, and a protrusion by projecting a protrusion on one plane. It is a figure explaining the positional relationship of the drive area | region of an extrusion board, and a protrusion by projecting a protrusion on one plane. It is a figure which shows the deformation | transformation embodiment of a protrusion.

  Hereinafter, a sheet delivery apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, as an example to which a sheet delivery apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied, a photo print system is illustrated, and the sheet delivery apparatus functions as a photo delivery apparatus in the embodiment described below. Therefore, in the following description, the sheet delivery device is referred to as a photo delivery device, but the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to various devices that handle other sheet-like materials. This exemplary photo print system is installed in a photo developing store or the like and used to print a photo image.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a photo print system 1.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the photo print system 1 includes a photo delivery device 30, a reception device 10, and an information processing device 20.

  The receiving device 10 is a dedicated device for receiving a photographic print order request from a customer. The information processing device 20 is a device that transmits information on the order request received by the receiving device 10 to the photo delivery device 30. Based on the order request information transmitted from the information processing device 20, the photo delivery device 30 prints the image data included in this information to generate a photo, and automatically receives the generated photo to the customer. It is a handing device. The receiving device 10, the information processing device 20, and the photo delivery device 30 are connected to be communicable via, for example, a LAN.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the receiving apparatus 10.

  The accepting device 10 includes, for example, a control unit 14 that is configured by a CPU and controls the entire accepting device 10, a display 11, a media drive 12, a connector 13, and a receipt printer 15.

  The media drive 12 is a part that acquires image data from the medium M. As the medium M, semiconductor media MS such as CompactFlash (registered trademark), SD memory card (registered trademark) and Memory Stick (registered trademark), compact disc, CD-R (CD-Recordable), MO (Magnet Optical Disk), etc. The disk-shaped medium Md can be employed. The media drive 12 includes media drives corresponding to these media M.

  The connector 13 is a connector for connecting the camera-equipped mobile phone T, and acquires image data photographed by the mobile phone T. Each image data acquired using the medium M and the mobile phone T is input to the control unit 14.

  The display 11 is configured by, for example, a liquid crystal display device in which a touch panel is formed on the display surface. The display 11 displays image data acquired from the media M and the mobile phone T input to the control unit 14. The customer operates the display 11 while confirming the display on the display 11 to specify image data to be printed, a desired number of prints, and a desired print size, and request a photo print.

  The control unit 14 receives an order request according to the operation of the display 11. Upon receiving the order request, the control unit 14 determines the order number and transmits order request information including the designated image data, the number of prints, and the print size to the information processing apparatus 20.

  The receipt certificate printer 15 is a part that issues a receipt V for proving that the order request has been accepted. Upon receipt of the order request, the receipt certificate printer 15 issues a receipt V based on a signal from the control unit 14. On the receipt V, a barcode indicating the order number is printed.

  Reference is again made to FIG.

  The information processing device 20 includes a processing device 24 and a film scanner 22.

  The processing device 24 controls the photo delivery device 30 and realizes print processing based on the order request information transmitted from the receiving device 10. The processing device 24 can be constituted by a general-purpose computer, for example. The processing device 24 performs correction processing on the image data included in the order request information transmitted from the receiving device 10 as necessary, and also stores the disc-shaped media Md such as CD, MO, FD, or the semiconductor media Ms. Corresponding to each structure, image data is stored in a disc-shaped medium Md or a semiconductor medium Ms set in the media drive 27 to create an electronic album.

  The information processing apparatus 20 is configured to print an image on the photographic film F in addition to an image from the medium M or the like. The film scanner 22 is a device for converting a frame image of the photographic film F into a digital signal by photoelectric conversion, and a frame image captured as image data using the film scanner 22 is transmitted to the processing device 24.

  Reference is now made to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of the photo delivery device 30.

  The photo delivery device 30 includes a housing 32 having a door portion 34 on the front surface, a printer unit 40 accommodated in the housing 32, a chip collection box 50 and a delivery unit 60.

  The door unit 34 is provided with a barcode reading device 36 for reading the barcode printed on the receipt V. The door section 34 is provided with a photo discharge section 37 for delivering a photo discharged from the housing 32 to the customer.

  When the bar code indicating the order number is read using the bar code reader 36, the photo delivery device 30 discharges the photo corresponding to the order number to the photo discharge unit 37 and receives the photo designated by the customer. It becomes possible.

  Under the control of the processing device 24, the printer unit 40 prints the image data transmitted from the processing device 24 on a print paper, and generates a specified number of prints of a photo (printed product) having a specified print size.

  The delivery unit 60 accumulates the photos generated by the printer unit 40 for each order number, and discharges the photos corresponding to the order number to the photo discharge unit 37.

  The chip collection box 50 stores chips (described later) generated by the printer unit 40.

  Please refer to FIG. 3 to FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of the inside of the printer unit 40, and FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of the printer unit 40.

  The printer unit 40 includes a housing 41, an external magazine (print paper storage unit) 42a, and a manual feed plate 42c. Inside the housing 41, a built-in magazine 42 b (print paper storage unit), a printer main body 44, a cutter (cutting unit) 45, a drying device 46, and a plurality of rollers (conveying units) 47 are provided.

  The external magazine 42 a is disposed at the lower front portion of the housing 41 and is connected to the front surface of the housing 41. On the rear surface of the housing 41, a discharge port 49 that communicates the inside and outside of the housing 41 is opened.

  The external magazine 42a and the built-in magazine 42b are portions that accommodate the print papers P1 and P2, respectively. In these magazines 42a and 42b, the print papers P1 and P2 are accommodated in the state of being wound around the winding cores 43a and 43b, respectively. One of the print papers P1 and P2 is reserved, and is used when the other print papers P1 and P2 run out. The built-in magazine 42 b is disposed at the lower front side of the housing 41.

  The roller 47 plays a role of transporting the print papers P1 and P2 from the magazines 42a and 42b toward the discharge port 49. These rollers 47 are rotationally driven by a driving means (not shown) such as a motor, and after the print papers P1 and P2 are drawn upward from the magazines 42a and 42b, respectively, are conveyed substantially horizontally toward the discharge port 49. . The rollers 47 convey the print paper P3 from the manual feed plate 42c toward the discharge port 49 substantially horizontally.

  The printer main body 44 performs print processing on the print papers P1 and P2. The printer main body 44 sequentially prints the image data transmitted from the processing device 24 on the print paper P <b> 1 and P <b> 2 conveyed by the roller 47.

  The printer main body 44 is provided on the transport path of the print papers P1 and P2 and on the downstream side in the transport direction with respect to the magazines 42a and 42b. For example, an ink jet printing mechanism can be employed for the printer main body 44.

  Please refer to FIG. 4 and FIG. FIG. 6 is a plan view of print papers P1 and P2 schematically showing a print target area on which an image is printed and a portion unnecessary after cutting.

  The printer main body 44 performs print processing by scattering ink from the printer head 44a to the print target area R corresponding to the designated print size on the surface of the print paper P1, P2.

  The cutter 45 is a portion that cuts unnecessary portions around the print target region R of the print papers P1 and P2 to generate a photo of a designated print size. The cutter 45 includes two cutter blades 45a and 45b that sandwich the print paper P1 and P2 up and down, and the upstream end and the downstream end of the print target region R are conveyed to a position between the cutter blades 45a and 45b. Then, the upper and downstream ends are cut by sliding in the vertical direction. By this cutting, the print papers P1 and P2 are divided into a photograph composed of the print target region R and other unnecessary portions.

  The unnecessary portion includes an unnecessary portion Q1 between the continuous print target regions R and an unnecessary portion Q2 between the downstream end of the print target region R and the winding end E of the print papers P1 and P2. Here, the periphery of the winding end E of the print papers P1 and P2 has strong curl, and the vicinity of the winding end E of the print papers P1 and P2 is an unnecessary portion Q2 where a relatively long portion in the transport direction is not subjected to print processing. Is set as Therefore, in this cutter 45, the 1st chip which consists of unnecessary part Q1 between printing object fields R, and the 2nd chip which consists of unnecessary part Q2 and whose length of a conveyance direction is longer than the 1st chip are generated. Is done.

  The chip recovery box 50 stores the first chip and the second chip inside thereof. The chip collection box 50 is a box-like member that extends from the lower side of the cutter 45 to the lower end of the reverse unit 62 of the single wafer transport unit 61, and the first and second chips are fed from the upper opening. The

  Here, the print papers P1 and P2 are held by a roller 47 provided on the upstream side and the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the cutter 45, and the two of the unnecessary parts Q1 are separated by the cutter 45 at the downstream part and the upstream part thereof. Cutting operations are applied. The first chips generated by this cutting operation fall directly below and are discharged to the chip collection box 50. On the other hand, the unnecessary portion Q2 is generated by cutting the upstream portion of the last print target region R. As will be described later, the second chips generated by this cutting are conveyed to the downstream side by the roller 47 in the same manner as in the photograph, and are discharged to the chip collection box 50 through the reverse unit 62.

  The drying device 46 promotes drying of the ink attached to the print papers P1 and P2. The drying device 46 is provided on the downstream side of the cutter 45 in the transport direction, and blows the drying air W on the print paper P1, P2, that is, the photograph that has passed through the cutter 45, and promotes the drying of the ink attached to the photograph.

  In this way, a photo of a predetermined size on which predetermined image data is printed by the printer unit 40 is conveyed from the discharge port 49 to the delivery unit 60 side.

  The printer unit 40 is provided with a manual feed plate 42c. The manual feed plate 42c is a portion into which the print paper P3 is inserted by an operator or the like. For example, a print paper P3 having a different size from the print papers P1 and P2 accommodated in the magazines 42a and 42b is inserted into the manual feed plate 42c. Then, according to the designated print size, the same print processing as the print papers P1 and P2 is performed on the print paper P3 inserted into the manual feed plate 42c by using the printer main body 44. However, this print paper P3 does not have a roll shape, and when the print process is performed on the print paper P3, the above-described second chips are not generated.

  Please refer to FIG. 3 again.

  The delivery unit 60 includes a single wafer transport unit 61, a mass stocker 64, an elevating unit 65, an input unit 66, an extrusion unit 67, and an elevating rack 68.

  The sheet transport unit 61 transports the photograph discharged from the discharge port 49 of the printer unit 40 to an elevating unit 65 provided above the printer unit 40. The sheet transport unit 61 is connected to the rear surface of the casing 41 of the printer unit 40 and has a shape extending in the vertical direction from the vicinity of the discharge port 49 toward the lifting unit 65. The single wafer transport unit 61 has a plurality of rollers 61 a along a transport path extending in the vertical direction from the vicinity of the discharge port 49 toward the lifting unit 65. As the rollers 61a are driven to rotate, the photograph is conveyed upward.

  In the present embodiment, the roller 61 a of the single wafer transport unit 61 is arranged on the front side as the lower roller 61 a, and is configured to be inclined forward as the transport path along these rollers 61 a goes toward the discharge port 49. . Therefore, compared to the case where the sheet transport unit 61 is not inclined, the printer unit 40 connected to the front side of the sheet transport unit 61 can be positioned on the front side, and the printer unit 40 can be taken out from the door unit 34 side. It has become easier.

  A reverse unit 62 is provided below the single wafer transport unit 61. The reverse unit 62 is a part that, after transporting the photograph downward at one end, performs switchback transport upward while maintaining the orientation of the photograph. In the single-wafer transport unit 61, after the photograph discharged backward from the discharge port 49 is guided upward, it is guided forward again at the upper end thereof. In the case where such a switchback transport mechanism is not provided (when a mechanism for transporting photos in the order of rear, upper, and front is used), the front and back of the photos are inverted, and the upper surface of the discharge port 49 is the upper surface. The print surface to which the ink has adhered is directed downward at the upper end of the transport unit.

  In the present embodiment, the reverse unit 62 conveys the photograph downward at one end, and then conveys the photograph upward while maintaining its posture, so that the print surface of the lift unit 65 is on the upper side.

  The reverse unit 62 includes a plurality of rollers 62a that guide the photograph in the vertical direction. These rollers 62a are rotationally driven by a rotational drive device (not shown), and the rotational direction thereof can be switched. The rotation driving device rotates these rollers 62a forward to convey the photograph downward at one end, then reversely rotates the roller 62a to reverse the front and back of the photograph and conveys the photograph upward.

  Here, as described above, the second chips are discharged from the discharge port 49 together with the photograph, and the second chips are discharged from the lower end of the reverse unit 62 to the chip collection box 50. That is, when the second chip is conveyed, the rotation driving device does not switch the rotation of the roller 62a, and conveys it downward until the second chip is separated from the roller 62a. As a result, the second chips are discharged downward. Thus, in this embodiment, the lower end part of the reverse part 62 will function as a 2nd discharge part which discharges a 2nd chip to the chip collection box 50. FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a perspective view schematically showing the positional relationship in the width direction of each configuration of the photo delivery device 30 used for accumulating and storing the photos in the photo delivery device 30 after being discharged from the sheet transport unit 61. is there. FIG. 8 schematically shows a drive system of the elevating unit 65 that accumulates photographs immediately after being discharged from the sheet transport unit 61. Here, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 will be referred to together with FIG.

  The elevating unit 65 accumulates the photographs conveyed by the single-wafer conveying unit 61 in an orderly manner. The elevating unit 65 has elevating plates (support surfaces) 65a and 65b having a substantially L-shaped cross section extending in the horizontal direction from the front side to the back side of the photo delivery device 30. The elevating plates 65a and 65b are connected to the elevating bracket 651. The elevating bracket 651 includes a plurality of rollers 652, and the plurality of rollers 652 sandwich a rail member 653 extending in the vertical direction. A drive belt 654 is arranged in parallel with the rail member 653, the lower end of the drive belt 654 is connected to the rotating shaft of the drive motor 655, and the upper end is connected to an idle shaft 656 extending in the width direction of the photo delivery device 30. The lifting bracket 651 and the lifting plates 65a and 65b are connected to the drive belt 654. The elevating plates 65 a and 65 b are driven up and down by a drive motor 655 from a position substantially the same as the upper end of the single wafer transport unit 61 to a predetermined position above the upper end. The height position of the elevating plates 65a and 65b is controlled using a position sensor (not shown). The elevating unit 65 accumulates the photos for each order, and when the photos included in one order are accumulated, the elevating plates 65 a and 65 b rise toward the input unit 66.

  The lifting unit 65 can move in the width direction of the photo delivery device 30 in addition to the vertical movement. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a drive system for operating the lifting unit 65 in the width direction of the photo delivery device 30. Here, FIG. 9 and FIG. 7 are also referred to. Note that FIG. 9 does not show a tidy plate described later.

  Front end portions of the lifting plates 65 a and 65 b of the lifting unit 65 are supported on a frame 656 extending in the width direction of the photo delivery device 30. A pair of belts 657 are disposed on the front side of the frame 656. The belt 657 extends parallel to the extending direction of the frame 656. In the example shown in FIG. 9, the belt 657a disposed on the upper side of the pair of belts 657 is connected to the lifting plate 65a, and the belt 657b disposed on the lower side is connected to the lifting plate 65b. The right end of the belt 657a located above is connected to the drive motor 658a, and the left end is connected to the idler shaft 659a. Further, the left end of the belt 657b located below is connected to the drive motor 658b, and the right end is connected to the idler shaft 659b. By providing independent drive systems for the elevating plates 65a and 65b, the distance between the elevating plates 65a and 65b can be suitably adjusted, and various types of photo width dimensions can be accommodated. The position control of the lift plates 65a and 65b is executed using a suitable position sensor.

  Referring to FIG. 7, a tidy plate 660 that protrudes upward is shown between the pair of elevating plates 65a and 65b. FIG. 10 shows a drive system of the tidy plate 660, and the lifting plates 65a and 65b are omitted. FIG. 10 also shows the state in which the photograph S is discharged from the single-wafer transport unit 61 to the lift unit 65.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 10, the tidy plate 660 is located on the front side of the photo delivery device 30 with respect to the sheet transport unit 61 and is disposed between the lift plates 65 a and 65 b. The upstream edge of each photograph discharged from the sheet transport unit 61 abuts on a tidy plate 660 erected upward between the pair of elevating plates 65a and 65b. Therefore, the photographs on the lifting plates 65a and 65b are stacked with the upstream end edges aligned.

  The ordering plate 660 is erected upward from the movable base 661. The movable base 661 is connected to a rail member 662 extending in the depth direction of the photo delivery device 30 and is movable along the rail member 662. A belt 663 is provided in parallel with the rail member 662. The movable base 661 is connected to the belt 663. The depth side end of the belt 663 is connected to the drive motor 664, and the front side end of the belt 663 is connected to the idler shaft 665. By operating the drive motor 664, the ordering plate 660 moves along the rail member 662. Note that the position of the tidy plate 660 is controlled using an appropriate position sensor.

  The ordering plate 660 can move the photo delivery device 30 in the width direction. FIG. 11 shows a schematic diagram of a drive system for operating the tidy plate 660 in the width direction of the photo delivery device 30. Here, FIG. 11 and FIG. 7 are also referred to. Note that FIG. 11 does not show the lifting unit 65 described above.

  A rail member 662 for guiding the tidy plate 660 to the front side or the back side is fixed on the base portion 666. The base portion 666 is placed and fixed on the movable base 640. As clearly shown in FIG. 11, a pair of mass stockers 64 a and 64 b are placed on the movable base 640. A wheel 641 is disposed on the bottom surface of the movable base 640, and the wheel 641 rolls when the movable base 640 moves. An idler shaft 642 is disposed inside the movable base 640 independently of the movable base 640. The idler shaft 642 extends in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the movable base 640. A drive motor 643 is disposed outside the movable base 640, and a belt 644 extends in the width direction of the photo delivery device 30 between the idler shaft 642 and the drive motor 643. A part of the peripheral wall of the movable base 640 is connected to a part of the belt 644, and the operation of the drive motor 643 causes the movable base 640 to reciprocate in the width direction of the photo delivery device 30. As the movable base 640 moves, the ordering plate 660 and the mass stockers 64a and 64b arranged on the movable base 640 move integrally.

  In order to prevent interference with the elevating plates 65a and 65b due to the movement of the tidy plate 660 in the width direction, the drive system for moving the tidy plate 660 in the width direction and the movement of the elevating plates 65a and 65b in the width direction The drive systems for are synchronized with each other. The photos discharged from the single-wafer transport unit 61 are stacked on the lifting unit 65. Thereafter, the elevating unit 65 moves in the width direction of the photo delivery device 30 and moves directly below the input unit 66 described later. At this time, the tidy plate 660 moves in the width direction of the photo delivery device 30 in synchronization with the elevating unit 65.

  In addition, by making the movable base 640 movable in the width direction of the photo delivery device 30, the elevating unit 65 is positioned so as to correspond to the photo discharge port of the sheet transport unit 61, and the mass stocker 64 is It is possible to select the position corresponding to the photo discharge port of the single-wafer transport unit 61.

  The mass stocker 64 can store these photographs when the number of photographs included in one order is larger than a predetermined number. When the number of photos is large, the mass stocker 64 is moved to a position facing the sheet transport unit 60 instead of the lifting unit 65. The photos transported by the single-wafer transport unit 60 are stored in the mass stocker 64. The mass stocker 64 is discharged from the door unit 34 by an operator or the like, and a photograph stored in the mass stocker 64 is delivered to the customer.

  FIG. 12 shows a schematic structure of the charging unit 66. Here, FIG. 12 will be referred to in conjunction with FIG. Note that a plurality of input units 66 shown in FIG. 12 are installed side by side in the width direction of the photo delivery device 30 in accordance with a storage section of a lifting rack 68 described later.

  As described above, the elevating unit 65 moves in the width direction of the photo delivery device 30, is positioned directly below the input unit 66, and then rises toward the input unit 66. FIG. 12 shows a lifting plate 65 a of the lifting unit 65 in the raised position and a photograph S stacked on the lifting unit 65.

  The input unit 66 includes a frame 667 extending from the front side to the back side of the photo delivery apparatus 30, a motor 668 fixed to the depth side end of the frame 667, and a front side end of the frame 667. An idler shaft 669, a belt 670 extending between the motor 668 and the idler shaft 669, and an input plate 66a fixed to the belt 670. The input plate 66a is located between the pair of elevating plates 65a and 65b of the elevating unit 65 in the raised position. By the operation of the motor 669, the feeding plate 66a moves along a linear space between the pair of lifting plates 65a and 65b, and pushes out the photos S stacked on the lifting unit 65 in the front direction. As a result, the photograph S is input to the lifting rack 68 located on the front side of the input unit 66. The lift plates 65a and 65b are formed in an L-shaped cross section as described above, and the distance between the lift plates 65a and 65b can be adjusted according to the photographic dimensions. The photograph S moving toward the camera 68 can be appropriately guided.

  FIG. 13 shows an outline of the lifting rack 68 and its drive structure.

  FIG. 13 shows two lifting racks 68 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole. In FIG. 13, the lifting rack 68 </ b> A shown on the left side includes a partition plate 680 extending in the vertical direction inside the lifting rack 68 </ b> A, and includes two receiving sections 681 and 682. In addition, in FIG. 13, the lifting rack 68 </ b> B arranged on the right side includes one receiving section 683. When the system of the lifting rack 68 shown in FIG. 13 is used, three input units 66 are installed in the photo delivery device 30. In each of the accommodating sections 681, 682, 683, a plurality of shelf boards 684 are arranged continuously in the vertical direction. Thereby, a plurality of storage chambers 68a are formed in each of the storage sections 681, 682, 683. The photo bundle pushed out by the input unit 66 is accommodated in the storage chamber 68a.

  A drive motor 671 is disposed below the drive system of the lifting rack 68 shown in FIG. A speed reduction mechanism 672 is connected to the drive motor 671. The drive shaft 673 is extended in the width direction of the photo delivery device 30 via a speed reduction mechanism 672. Drive pulleys 674 are fixed to both ends of the drive shaft 673.

  An idler shaft 675 is disposed above the drive system of the lifting rack 68 shown in FIG. The idler shaft 675 is located immediately above the drive shaft 673 and extends in parallel to the drive shaft 673. Support pulleys 676 are attached to both ends of the idler shaft 675. Belts 677A and 677B are extended between the drive pulley 674 and the support pulley 676, and the drive pulley 674 and the support pulley 676 are wound around. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, the lifting rack 68A is connected to the belt 677A located on the left side, the lifting rack 68B is connected to the belt 677B located on the right side, and one of the pair of lifting racks 68 moves up. When the other is configured to move downward.

  An intermediate belt 677C is disposed at an intermediate position between the drive shaft 673 and the idler shaft 675. The intermediate belt 677C is connected to the drive shaft 673 and the idler shaft 675 in the same manner as the belts 677A and 677B. The intermediate belt 677C forms a pair of belt bands and extends vertically between the pair of lifting racks 68. A lift rack 68A is connected to one of the belt bands of the intermediate belt, and a lift rack 68B is connected to the other belt band. Thereby, the driving force from the drive motor 671 is transmitted from both side surfaces of the lifting rack 68, and the lifting rack 68 can be moved up and down stably. In addition, it is preferable to arrange a rail mechanism on the side surface of the lifting rack 68 and guide the lifting rack 68 using the rail mechanism.

  When the elevating unit 65 rises in a state where photographs are accumulated, the elevating rack 68 is moved up and down so that an empty storage chamber 68a in which no photos are still stored is arranged near the upper end position of the elevating unit 65. Then, when the photos are input by the input unit 66, these photos are stored inside the storage chamber 68a. At this time, in which storage room 68a which order of photographs is stored is stored in the processing device 24.

  When the barcode reading device 36 reads the barcode of the receipt V in the lifting rack 68, the storage chamber 68a corresponding to the order number included in the barcode information is arranged at the position of the photo discharge unit 37. Go up and down.

  FIG. 14 is a schematic configuration diagram of the extrusion unit 67. As shown in FIG. 3, the extrusion unit 67 is located above each input unit 66 and is disposed at a position corresponding to the height position of the photo discharge unit 37 formed on the door portion 34. The push-out unit 67 plays a role of pushing the photos stored in the respective storage chambers 68 a of the lifting rack 68 from the storage chamber 68 a to the photo discharge unit 37.

  The extrusion unit 67 includes a base 691 fixed above the charging unit 66. The base 691 is provided with support brackets 692 extending from the front side to the back side of the photo delivery device 30 and projecting upward at both ends of the base 691. A drive motor 693 is fixed on the base 691 via a support bracket 692 positioned at the depth side end of the base 691, and an idler shaft 694 is mounted on the base 69 via a support bracket 692 positioned at the front end. 691 is fixed. A belt 695 extends between the drive motor 693 and the idler shaft 694. A rod-like arm member 696 is attached to the belt 695, and the arm member 696 is extended in the front direction of the photo delivery device 30 with a connection portion with the belt 695 as a base end. In FIG. 14, the state indicated by the solid line is a state where the arm member 696 is in a home position where it no longer moves to the back side of the photo delivery device 30, but the arm member 696 has the front side end of the base 691. It extends beyond. An extrusion plate 67 a is attached to the distal end portion of the arm member 696.

  By driving the drive motor 693, the push plate 67 a enters the storage chamber 68 a formed in the lifting rack 68. Thereby, after the bar code is read, the push-out plate 67a slides forward when the storage chamber 68a corresponding to the order number is arranged at the position of the photo discharge section 37, and in the storage chamber 68a on the front surface thereof. These photos are pushed out to the photo discharge unit 37. A shutter 69 is provided between the photo discharge unit 37 and the lifting rack 68. The shutter 69 opens when the push-out unit 67 pushes the photo to the photo discharge unit 37, and allows the photo to move to the photo discharge unit 37 side.

  FIG. 15 schematically shows an example of the structure of the extruded plate 67a. FIG. 15A is a view of the extruded plate 67a as viewed from the contact surface side in contact with the photograph, and FIG. 15B is a plan view of the extruded plate 67a.

  The push-out plate 67a shown in FIG. 15 is arranged from four contact plates 679 that are arranged in the width direction of the photo delivery device 30 and are spaced apart from each other, and a connecting plate 689 that connects these contact plates 679. Become. The connecting plate 689 is fixed to the tip of the arm member 696 of the extrusion unit 67. The height dimension of the contact plate 679 is made larger than the height dimension of the connecting plate 689.

  FIG. 16 is a front view of one storage chamber 68 a formed in the lifting rack 68. In FIG. 16, photographs S stacked inside the storage chamber 68a are stored, and a bundle of the photographs S is extruded using an extrusion plate 67a including a plurality of contact plates 679 shown in FIG. Embodiments are shown.

  As described above, the storage chambers 68a in the lifting rack 68 are partitioned vertically by the shelf plate 684. FIG. 16 shows a pair of shelf boards 684. A plurality of first protrusions 841 are formed on the top surface of each shelf plate 684. In addition, a plurality of second protrusions 842 narrower than the first protrusions 841 are formed on the lower surface of each shelf plate 684. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 16, the first ridge 841 and the second ridge 842 extend straight from the front side of the lifting rack 68 toward the back side.

  The height dimension H of the contact plate 679 is a vertical distance D between the top of the first protrusion 841 and the top of the second protrusion 842 (the distance D is a photo bundle that can be accommodated in the storage chamber 68a. It is made larger than the maximum dimension of thickness (maximum accommodating thickness dimension).

  17 is a plan view for explaining the positional relationship in the width direction between the first protrusions 841 and the second protrusions 842 of the shelf board 684 shown in FIG. 16, and the first protrusions 841 shown in FIG. A second ridge 842 is shown projected onto one plane. In FIG. 17, a hatched region M corresponds to a path along which the contact plate 679 shown in FIG. 16 moves. The first protrusions 841 and the second protrusions 842 extend between the regions M in which the contact plates 679 move.

  The arrangement of the first protrusions 841 and the second protrusions 842 in the width direction can be freely determined as long as the movement of the contact plate 679 that moves straight from the back side to the front side in the storage chamber 68a is not hindered. Can do. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 18, the first protrusion 841 and the second protrusion 842 are inclined from the front side of the lifting rack 68 toward the back side with respect to the moving direction of the contact plate 679, It is also possible to extend it.

  In this way, by projecting the first and second protrusions 841 and 842 up and down in the storage chamber 68a, even if the photograph S is warped downward or upward, the bundle of the photographs S is reliably photographed. It can be sent out to the discharge unit 37.

  The first protrusion 841 is extended in parallel with the moving direction of the contact plate 679, while the second protrusion 842 is inclined and extended with respect to the moving direction of the contact plate 679. It is also possible to adopt a form, and conversely, while extending the second protrusion 842 in parallel with the moving direction of the contact plate 679, the first protrusion 841 of the contact plate 679 is extended. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which it is inclined and extended with respect to the moving direction.

  FIG. 19 is a side view of the storage chamber 68a and shows a further modified embodiment of the first and second protrusions 841 and 842. FIG.

  The first protrusions 841 and the second protrusions 842 shown in FIG. 16 had a uniform height, but as shown in FIG. 19, the first protrusions 841 and the second protrusions 842 gradually gradually near the rear side end of the storage chamber 68a. It is preferable to form the first protrusions 841 and the second protrusions 842 so as to reduce the height dimension. As a result, it is possible to more smoothly carry the photo bundle into the storage chamber 68a using the making unit 66.

  In addition, it is also possible to employ | adopt the form which reduces the height dimension of any one among the 1st protrusion 841 and the 2nd protrusion 842. FIG.

  Although the above embodiment has been described using an apparatus that executes photo development processing, storage, and delivery within one housing, the present invention is also suitable for an apparatus that performs photo development processing using another apparatus. Is available. Furthermore, the present invention can be suitably used for many other devices that deliver various sheets other than photographs (for example, postcards, paper sheets, posters, etc.) according to customer orders.

30... Photo delivery device 65... Elevating plate 66... Loading unit 67... Extruding unit 679. ... Storage chamber 684 ... Shelf plate 841 ... First ridge 842 ... Second ridge

Claims (6)

A support surface for supporting a sheet bundle formed by stacking sheets;
An input unit for extruding the sheet bundle supported by the support surface in one direction;
A rack provided with a storage chamber for receiving the sheet bundle extruded by the charging unit and storing the sheet bundle therein;
An extrusion unit for extruding the sheet bundle accommodated in the storage chamber to the outside;
The extrusion unit includes an extrusion plate that comes into contact with one edge of the sheet bundle accommodated in the storage chamber,
Each of the pair of surfaces of the storage chamber facing the surface of the sheet in the storage chamber is formed with a protrusion that protrudes toward the storage chamber and extends in the extrusion direction of the extrusion unit,
More than the maximum accommodating thickness dimension of the sheet bundle defined by the top of the first ridge formed on one of the pair of surfaces of the storage chamber and the top of the second ridge formed on the other. A sheet delivery apparatus, wherein a size of the extrusion plate in a thickness direction of the sheet bundle is large. The extruded plate is composed of a plurality of abutting plates arranged apart from each other,
2. The first protrusion and the second protrusion extend between one contact plate and another contact plate adjacent to the one contact plate. The sheet delivery device described.   3. The sheet delivery device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first ridge and the second ridge extends in parallel to an extrusion direction of the extrusion unit.   3. The sheet delivery device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first protrusion and the second protrusion is inclined and extended with respect to an extrusion direction of the extrusion unit. .   5. The sheet delivery device according to claim 1, wherein a protrusion amount of at least one of the first protrusion and the second protrusion decreases as the input unit approaches. . The rack includes a plurality of shelves crossing the internal space of the rack;
The shelf plates form the pair of surfaces of the storage chamber;
6. The first protrusion is formed on one surface of the shelf, and the second protrusion is formed on the other surface of the shelf. The sheet delivery device described in 1.

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