JP2014034450A - Paper sheet sorting device, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper sheet sorting device and an image forming apparatus capable of assisting a sorting operation by a user with a simple structure and simplified efforts.SOLUTION: There is provided a sorting device for sorting paper sheets of a predetermined size from sheet bundles in which sheets of a plurality of sizes are mixed. The sorting device comprises: a pair of guide members 10 which are positioned on both side parts in a direction orthogonal to a sheet feeding direction A, have an opening part between both side parts, can be slidably moved in the orthogonal direction and can change the opening width in the orthogonal direction; and a first sheet storage part 31 for storing a sheet guided by a pair of guide members 10 without falling from the opening part.

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet sorting apparatus, and more particularly to a sorting apparatus for sorting sheets of a predetermined size from a bundle of sheets in which a plurality of sizes are mixed, and an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine equipped with the sorting apparatus.

  In general, in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine, printed paper is discharged onto a predetermined paper discharge tray. The discharged paper may be left on the tray as it is judged to be unnecessary by the user or may be left on the tray as it is, or the user may forget to remove it, causing multiple sizes of paper to be mixed and stacked on the tray. . When such paper is reused for printing as so-called backing paper, it must be sorted by size. Sorting for each paper size is a tedious task, eventually being discarded and wasteful of resources.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-151858 proposes a method for preparing a box for storing a bundle of sheets for the purpose of reuse and for promoting manual sorting by a user. However, complicated sorting by manual work is not solved, and a size identification error may occur.

  In Patent Document 2, a tray for stacking a stack of paper sheets in which a plurality of sizes are mixed is prepared, the paper is transported one by one from the paper bundle, the size is detected, and the size is discharged to a movable multi-stage tray for each size. An image forming apparatus has been proposed. However, in this case, since the multi-stage tray is used, the apparatus itself is increased in size and the paper is passed by a roller or the like, so that there is a possibility that the paper is wrinkled or folded due to wear of the paper passing path or a paper passing error.

JP 2007-084335 A JP 2005-062264 A

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet sorting apparatus and an image forming apparatus that can assist a sorting operation by a user with a simple configuration and simplified labor.

The paper sorting apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention is:
In a sorting apparatus for sorting sheets of a predetermined size from a bundle of sheets in which a plurality of sizes are mixed,
A pair of guide members that are located on both sides in the direction perpendicular to the paper passing direction and have an opening portion between them, are slidable in the direction perpendicular to each other, and have a variable opening width in the direction perpendicular to each other;
A first paper storage portion for storing paper guided by the pair of guide members without falling from the opening portion;
It is provided with.

  An image forming apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention includes the paper sorting apparatus.

  In the paper sorting apparatus, a sheet of a predetermined size is guided by the pair of guide members by feeding the sheets one by one from a bundle of sheets of a plurality of sizes between the pair of guide members, and the first sheet storage Housed in the department. A sheet having a size larger than the predetermined size is blocked by the pair of guide members and stopped upstream thereof. A sheet having a size smaller than the predetermined size falls from an opening located between the pair of guide members. As a result, only paper of a predetermined size is sorted into the first paper storage unit.

  Note that the paper sorting apparatus preferably further includes a second paper storage portion that is positioned at the opening portion of the pair of guide members and that stores the paper falling from the opening portion.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to sort sheets of a predetermined size with a simple configuration of providing a pair of guide members and a simplified operation of feeding the sheets into the guide members.

It is a perspective view which shows the basic composition of the paper sorting apparatus which is one Example. It is a top view which shows the basic composition of the said paper sorter. It is a perspective view which expands and shows the guide member which comprises the said paper sorting apparatus. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which a sheet of a predetermined size is passed through the sheet sorting apparatus. FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a sheet having a size larger than a predetermined size is passed through the sheet sorting apparatus. FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a paper having a size smaller than a predetermined size is passed through the paper sorting apparatus. FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which the paper sorting device is attached to a paper storage unit. FIG. 3 is a front view showing a state in which the paper sorting apparatus is attached to a paper storage unit. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus including the paper sorting apparatus. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram (an enlarged view of a portion X) illustrating a conveyance path for sorting sheets in the image forming apparatus.

  Embodiments of a paper sorting apparatus and an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same member and part in each figure, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

(Basic configuration of paper sorting device, see FIGS. 1 to 3)
A basic configuration of a sorting apparatus for sorting sheets of a predetermined size from a bundle of sheets in which a plurality of sizes are mixed will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The sheet sorting apparatus 1 is composed of a pair of guide members 10. The guide member 10 is located on both sides of the direction B orthogonal to the sheet passing direction A and is slidable in the orthogonal direction B, and the opening width W1 in the orthogonal direction B of the opening portion 5 positioned therebetween is variable. Has been. Specifically, the guide member 10 includes a first guide member 11 and a second guide member 15 that extend in the sheet passing direction A, and can be expanded and contracted in the sheet passing direction A.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the first guide member 11 includes a guide portion 11 a that presses the upper surface of a predetermined size paper, and a first horizontal extension that guides both sides of the predetermined size paper. It has a guide surface 11b and a second guide surface 11c extending in a substantially vertical direction for guiding both sides of the paper having a size smaller than a predetermined size, and the guide surfaces 11b and 11c are branched at the portion a. . The first guide member 11 further includes a guide portion 11d that holds the lower surface of the paper that is smaller than a predetermined size.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the second guide member 15 has a U-shaped cross section, and is disposed outside the first guide member 11, and the upper guide portion 15 a is the guide portion 11 a of the first guide member 11. The lower guide portion 15 b is in contact with the upper surface, and is in contact with the lower surface of the first guide surface 11 b of the first guide member 11. 1 and 2 are connected to each other in a state where the first and second guide members 11 and 15 are extended to the maximum, and are connected in a stretched state corresponding to the size of the paper to be sorted. In addition, the 1st and 2nd guide members 11 and 15 are connected so that it may have a required full length using the screw etc. which are not shown in figure.

  A rack 21 extending in the orthogonal direction B is fixed to each of the first and second guide members 11 and 15 so that the tooth portions thereof are opposed to each other, and the bracket is disposed at a substantially central portion in the orthogonal direction B. A pinion 23 rotatably attached to 22 is meshed. That is, the first and second guide members 11 and 15 move in the orthogonal direction B as the rack 21 meshes with the pinion 23 and moves in the orthogonal direction B, and the opening width W1 is variable.

(Paper sorting mode, see FIGS. 4 to 6)
Here, the sorting mode performed using the sheet sorting apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. The first and second guide members 11 and 15 are set in advance by matching the opening width W1 with the width dimension of the paper having a predetermined size. Incidentally, a sheet having a size smaller than the opening width W1 falls from the opening portion 5 (see FIG. 1), and a sheet having a size larger than the opening width W1 is prevented from being conveyed on the entrance side of the first guide member 11. 4 to 6 show only the first guide member 11 for convenience. Further, the sheet is placed by hand at the end of the first guide member 11 one by one, is fed between the first guide members 11 by its own weight, and is conveyed while sliding in the direction of arrow A.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, the sheet S1 of a predetermined size is guided on both sides by the guide member 11, and is conveyed in the direction of the arrow A as shown in FIG. 4B. In this case, the sheet S <b> 1 is conveyed with both side portions held by the first guide surface 11 b of the guide member 11. As shown in FIG. 5, the sheet S2 having a size larger than the predetermined size comes into contact with the end of the guide member 11 and is prevented from being conveyed. The sheet S3 having a size smaller than the predetermined size falls between the guide members 11 as shown in FIGS. 6 (A) and 6 (B). In this case, the sheet S3 falls into the opening portion 5 from the end of the guide portion 11d while both sides are held by the guide portion 11d of the guide member 11.

  As a result, the sheets S1 of a predetermined size can be collected semi-automatically in one place (first storage box 31 described below), and there is no need to sort one by one at the user's discretion.

  Here, Table 1 below shows a predetermined sheet to be sorted, a guide width W3 set in accordance with the sheet, and an opening width W1 of the opening portion 5. For example, if A4 size paper (210 mm × 297 mm) and letter size paper (215.9 mm × 279.4 mm) are sorted based on the long side direction, the one-side dimension W3 of the guide member 11 is approximately 9 mm, and the opening portion. The dimension W1 of 5 is set to approximately 279 mm. The width dimension W2 shown in FIG. 2 corresponds to the length in the long side direction of a predetermined size sheet.

  As shown in Table 1, since the guide member 11 is set to various opening widths W1, it is desirable to provide a paper size display portion that serves as a guide when the guide member 11 is slid in the orthogonal direction. For example, a groove portion with a size added may be formed on the upper surface of the rack 21 to form the display portion.

  Further, in the sheet sorting apparatus 1, the opening width W1 can be adjusted steplessly by the rack 21 and the pinion 23. In addition, by forming a notch in the rack 21 in accordance with the paper size and providing the bracket 22 with a projection that fits into the notch, the opening width W1 may be adjusted in multiple steps for each of a plurality of sizes.

(Other configuration of paper sorting device)
In the paper sorting apparatus 1 described above, the opening portion 5 may be provided with a holding member that supports the lower surface of the paper immediately below the paper. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a resin film 24 may be attached to the tip of the bracket 22 to form a holding member. The resin film 24 can prevent thin paper having a small basis weight from dripping down. On the other hand, a pressing member (not shown) that comes into contact with the upper surface of the sheet may be provided immediately above the sheet in the opening portion 5. It is possible to help the cardboard having a large basis weight to fall from the opening portion 5.

  Each of the pair of guide members 10 is configured linearly with respect to the paper passing direction A, but may be curved on a substantially vertical plane with respect to the paper passing direction A. In this case, the guide member 10 needs to be curved in a direction for guiding the sheet downward.

(See FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 for the specific configuration of the paper sorting apparatus 1)
Specifically, the sheet sorting apparatus 1 having the basic configuration described above is configured as shown in FIGS. That is, a first storage box 31 that stores paper of a predetermined size guided by the pair of guide members 10 and a second storage box 35 that stores paper of a size smaller than the predetermined size are juxtaposed, and the guide member 10 is attached to the first storage box 31 so as to maintain the angle θ. A cover member 32 is installed in the first storage box 31. The cover member 32 is for preventing the unsorted paper from entering the first storage box 31 inadvertently.

  In the paper sorting apparatus 1, a predetermined size of paper is guided by the guide member 10 and stored in the first storage box 31 along the arrow C as shown in FIG. 8. A sheet having a size smaller than the predetermined size falls from between the guide members 10 and is stored in the second storage box 35 along the arrow D. The second storage box 35 is preferably provided with a slope 36 that urges the sheet in the sheet passing direction. Instead of the slope 36, an elastic member that urges the sheet in the sheet passing direction may be provided. Specifically, a paddle 37 made of an elastic resin film may be provided at the corner where the inclined surface 36 is provided, and may be rotationally driven in the direction of arrow b.

  The angle θ for installing the guide member 10 needs to be an angle at which the paper slides under its own weight. If the support shaft 19 is attached to the distal end portion of the second guide member 15 and the support shaft 19 is pivotally installed on the cover member 32 or the first storage box 31 with the support shaft 19 as a fulcrum, it can be attached at an arbitrary angle θ. it can. In this case, the angle θ may be adjusted steplessly or may be adjusted in multiple steps.

(Incorporation into image forming apparatus, see FIGS. 9 and 10)
The paper sorting apparatus 1 has been shown to be used alone by a user. On the other hand, the sheet sorting apparatus 1 may be disposed in a sheet feeding unit of an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic printer.

  For example, the image forming apparatus 50 shown in FIG. 9 includes a first paper feeding unit 61, a second paper feeding unit 62, a third paper feeding unit 63, and a fourth paper feeding unit in a color image forming unit 51 of a conventionally known tandem method. The paper is selectively fed from 64 and discharged to the tray 52 through the fixing unit 70. Further, it is configured to be able to feed sheets one by one from the manual feed tray 65.

  The paper sorting apparatus 1 is set in the first paper feed unit 61 as shown in FIG. 10 (FIG. 10 shows an enlarged portion X in FIG. 9), and the paper to be sorted on the manual paper feed tray 65. A bundle S is placed. A pick-up roller 66, a paper feed roller 67, and a separating roller 68 are disposed in the manual paper feed unit. The first paper feed unit 61 includes a pip-up roller 71, a paper feed roller 72, and a separating roller 73, and a transport roller pair 74 is disposed immediately above them. The sheet S is sent out to the conveying roller pair 74 by the pickup roller 66 and the sheet feeding roller 67, and the sheet S is conveyed between the guide members 10 along the path indicated by the arrow E by rotating the rollers 71 to 74 in the opposite direction. Is done. The sorting mode is as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, a sheet of a predetermined size is stored in the first storage box 31, and a sheet of a size smaller than the predetermined size is stored in the second storage box 35. .

  In this way, after the sorting is completed, the sheet sorting apparatus 1 is taken out from the first paper feed unit 61, the first storage box 31 is separated and set in the first paper feed unit 61 again. Paper can be fed from the first paper feed unit 61 and an image can be formed by the image forming apparatus 50.

(Other examples)
The sheet sorting apparatus and the image forming apparatus according to the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be variously modified within the scope of the gist.

  In particular, the detailed configuration of the guide member 10 and the storage boxes 31 and 35 is arbitrary. Further, the form in which the paper sorting apparatus 1 is incorporated in the image forming apparatus 50 is also arbitrary.

  As described above, the present invention is useful for a paper sorting apparatus, and is particularly excellent in that a user can assist sorting work with simplified labor.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Paper sorter 5 ... Opening part 10 ... Guide member 11 ... 1st guide member 11a ... Guide part 11b ... 1st guide surface 11c ... 2nd guide surface 15 ... 2nd guide member 21 ... Rack 23 ... Pinion 31 ... First storage box 35 ... Second storage box 36 ... Slope 37 ... Paddle 50 ... Image forming apparatus A ... Conveying direction B ... Orthogonal direction a ... Branching portion W1 ... Opening width S, S1, S2, S3 ... Paper

Claims (16)

In a sorting apparatus for sorting sheets of a predetermined size from a bundle of sheets of a plurality of sizes mixed,
A pair of guide members that are located on both sides in the direction perpendicular to the paper passing direction and have an opening portion between them, are slidable in the direction perpendicular to each other, and have a variable opening width in the direction perpendicular to each other;
A first paper storage portion for storing paper guided by the pair of guide members without falling from the opening portion;
A paper sorting apparatus comprising:   The sheet sorting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second sheet storage portion that is positioned at an opening portion of the pair of guide members and that stores a sheet falling from the opening portion.   3. The sheet sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the pair of guide members includes a guide portion that presses an upper surface of a sheet having a predetermined size.   The pair of guide members respectively guide a first guide surface extending in a substantially horizontal direction for guiding both sides of a sheet having a predetermined size, and guide both sides of a sheet having a size smaller than the predetermined size. The sheet sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet sorting apparatus branches to a second guide surface extending in a vertical direction.   5. The paper sorting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a paper size display unit that serves as a guide when the pair of guide members slide and move in a direction orthogonal to the paper passing direction. .   6. The sheet sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pair of guide members are slidable in a stepless manner or in a multistep manner in a direction orthogonal to the paper passing direction. .   The pair of guide members are constituted by a first guide member and a second guide member extending in the sheet passing direction, and can be expanded and contracted in the sheet passing direction. The paper sorting apparatus according to any one of the above.   The sheet according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the pair of guide members can be adjusted steplessly or in multiple stages with respect to the first sheet storage portion. Sorting device.   9. The sheet sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pair of guide members are linear with respect to a sheet passing direction.   9. The sheet sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pair of guide members are curved on a substantially vertical plane with respect to a sheet passing direction.   11. The holding device according to claim 1, further comprising a holding member that supports the lower surface of the sheet immediately below the sheet passing through the opening portion of the pair of guide members. Paper sorting device.   11. The pressing member according to any one of claims 1 to 10, further comprising a pressing member that is in contact with the upper surface of the sheet, just above the opening of the pair of guide members, and just above the sheet. Paper sorting device.   13. The paper sorting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a cover member at an upper portion of the first paper storage unit.   14. The paper sorting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a slope or an elastic member that urges the paper in the paper feeding direction is provided in the second paper storage unit.   An image forming apparatus comprising the sheet sorting apparatus according to claim 1.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the sheet fed from the manual sheet feeding unit is conveyed to the upstream side of the pair of guide members in the sheet passing direction.

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