JP2557093B2 - Sorter - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sorter which is combined with a main body of an image generating apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer and sorts discharged sheets on a bin tray.

[Prior Art] FIGS. 3 and 4 show an offline sorter previously proposed by the present applicant.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the off-line type sorter, and FIG.
The figure is a partially cutaway perspective view of the sorter.

The copied paper 9 is sent from the multi-machine main body 1 between the pair of upper and lower guide plates 8 and 10. A paper input sensor 7 is attached to the center of the pair of upper and lower guide plates 8 and 10 to detect that the paper 9 has been transported. That is, the sheet 9 is turned on by hitting the probe of the sheet input sensor 7, and turned off when the sheet 9 is removed. On the other hand, the bin trays 56A, 56B, 56C, 56D, and 56E for sorting and storing the paper 9 are sequentially raised or lowered by the rotation of the ring-shaped cam 92 as shown in FIG. (Refer to 56A of the two-dot chain line and the solid line in Fig. 3). Therefore, those bin trays 56A, 56B, 5
6C, 56D, 56E are moved up and down at an appropriate timing corresponding to the paper 9 being sent, and the paper 9 that has been sent is sorted and stored on each bin tray 56A, 56B, 56C, 56D, 56E. To do.

By the way, the timing of the movement of the bin tray is performed by using the output signal of the sheet-feeding sensor 7. That is, for example, in a state where the paper 9 is sorted while moving the bin tray 56, the paper input sensor 7 turns on when the paper 9 reaches the location of the paper input sensor 7, and turns off when the paper 9 comes out. After a certain time (for example, 0.7 seconds) has elapsed from that point, it is considered that the paper 9 has been transferred and stored on one of the bin trays 56, and the bin tray 56 that is considered to be stored is moved upward, for example. It is moved to prepare for the next paper 9 discharge.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, the vertical position of the bin tray 56, which is considered to have stored the paper 9, is different for each bin tray 56. That is, for example, the top bin tray
When 56A is on standby, it waits for the paper 9 to drop at the position X shown by the solid line on the mechanism of this sorter.
On the other hand, the lowermost bin tray 56E waits for the paper 9 to drop at the position Y. Therefore, the position where each bin tray 56 waits for the discharge of the paper 9 is greatly different from the exit Z of the guide plates 8 and 10. Therefore, the time required to drop the paper 9 differs for each bin tray 56.

However, as described above, in the conventional sorter, the timing for moving the bin tray 56 to be moved next is after the elapse of a fixed period of time. Therefore, if the predetermined time is too short, especially in the bin trays 56D, 56E, etc. that stand by at the lower position, before the paper 9 has completely dropped onto the bin tray 56, the bin tray 56D, 56E, etc.
56 starts moving and jams (paper jam) occur.

On the other hand, if the above time is extended to allow a margin, especially in the bin trays 56A, 56B which stand by at the upper position, the paper 9 is completely discharged onto the bin tray 56. However, there is a problem in that the bin tray 56 is not moved and the sorting time is long.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems of the conventional sorter, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sorter which avoids such paper jam and can sort quickly.

[Means and Actions for Solving the Problem] In the present invention, the paper input sensor detects that the paper has been transferred to the sorter, and the bin tray moving means individually detects a plurality of bin trays arranged in the vertical direction. A sorter that outputs a movement instruction so that the bin tray movement instruction means causes the bin tray movement means to move a predetermined bin tray after a lapse of a predetermined time from the detection of sheet transfer based on the output signal from the paper input sensor. ,
The bin tray movement instructing means determines the predetermined time according to the position of the bin tray from which the paper is discharged.

[Examples] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings showing its examples.
explain.

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an embodiment of a sorter according to the present invention.

In the figure, the copied paper 9 is ejected from the copying machine 1. Guide plates 8 and 10 are attached to the box-shaped portion 6 of the sorter 2, and the guide plates 8 and 10 are guide means for transferring the sheet 9 into the sorter 2. The guide plate 8,
At the center of the sheet 10, there is arranged a sheet sensor 7 for detecting that the sheet 9 has been discharged. In the embodiment shown in the drawing, the paper input sensor 7 is a limit switch for detecting the paper 9 by pressing the probe, and outputs an ON signal when the paper 9 is present.
The off signal is output when the key is omitted. The paper input sensor 7 may use an optical sensor or the like. At the tip of the guide plates 8 and 10, paper 9
A pair of rollers 11, 11 for discharging the paper onto the bin tray 56 is attached.

At the downstream side position of the leading end of the guide plates 8 and 10, the paper 9
A plurality of bin trays 56A, 56B, 56C, 56D, and 56E arranged in the up-down direction are arranged to store the bins. As shown, the bin trays 56A to 56E are inclined.

A ring-shaped cam 92 as an example of the bin tray moving means.
By rotating these bin trays 56A, 56A
It is possible to move B, 56C, 56D and 56E one by one upward and downward. A rotational force is applied to the ring-shaped cam 92 by a motor (not shown).

The bin tray moving means 92, in accordance with the signal from the bin tray moving instruction means 5, sends the bin trays 56A, 56B, 56.
It moves C, 56D and 56E.

The storage means 3 includes the bin trays 56A, 56B, 56C, 56D, 56.
A unit such as a ram (RAM) memory for storing the time corresponding to each position when waiting for the discharge of the sheet 9 is attached to E. Those times are determined in consideration of the time taken for the paper 9 to drop from the guide plates 8 and 10 to the respective standby positions. For example, in the case of the bottom bin tray 56E, paper 9
Since it takes a long time to completely drop on the bin tray, in that case, it is set to a long time, and the falling time becomes shorter as it goes above that, so the predetermined time is set to be short.

The bin tray movement instructing means 5 is provided with a timer, and after a lapse of a predetermined time after the paper input sensor 7 detects the movement of the paper 9, the bin tray moving means 92 moves the bin tray storing the paper 9 upward ( A means for outputting a movement instruction so as to move the bin tray immediately above the bin tray accommodating the paper 9 downward (when performing the sorting upward). is there. The predetermined time is made different depending on the position of the bin tray 56 from which the paper 9 is discharged, while referring to the information stored in the storage means 3.

The bin tray drive instructing means 5 is usually realized by using a microcomputer, but it is of course possible to use a dedicated hardware circuit.

 The operation of the above embodiment will be described below.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation.

In the sort mode (step S1), when the paper input sensor 7 is turned on (step S2), the bin tray drive instructing means 5 resets the timer (step S13), and checks that the paper 9 has arrived. The passage flag is set (step S14).

On the other hand, when the paper input sensor 7 is turned off (step S2),
It is determined whether the paper passing flag is set (step S3). In this case, since it is set, it is next checked whether the timer is on (step S4). In this case, since it is off, it is next determined which bin tray (number) should be moved (step S
5) If it is, for example, bin trays 56A, 56B, 56C, set the timer to 0.7 (step S7), and if bin trays 56D, 56E, set the timer to 0.9 (step S7).
S6), the timer is started (step S8). Then wait until the timer times out (step
S9), the bin tray 56 to be moved is moved (step S10). Further, the bin tray 56 to be moved next is stored (step S11), and the paper passage flag is reset (step S12).

If the timer is counting in step S4, the time is waited for (step S9).

By using the sheet passage flag as described above, the sheets 9 can be stored on the bin tray 56 one by one.

In the embodiment described above, the bin trays 56 are all movable, but the lowermost bin tray can also serve as the holding plate 4 that holds each bin tray from below.

In the present invention, a copying machine is taken as an example, but it is also applicable to an image generating apparatus such as a facsimile, a laser printer, a printing machine.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, as is clear from the above description, the bin trays are moved while keeping the time interval corresponding to the position of each bin tray, so that the bin trays can be moved quickly without causing a paper jam. It is a sorter that can perform sorting.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an embodiment of a sorter according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the operation of the embodiment,
FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a sorter proposed by the present applicant, FIG.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the sorter, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a bin tray moving means used in the sorter. 1 ... Copier main body, 2 ... Sorter, 5 ... Bin tray movement instruction means, 7 ... Paper input sensor, 9 ... Paper, 56A, 56
B, 56C, 56D, 56E …… bin tray, 92 …… bin tray moving means

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of bin trays arranged in the vertical direction, a bin tray moving means for individually moving the bin trays, a paper input sensor for detecting that the paper has been transferred to a sorter, and a paper input sensor. A bin tray movement instruction means for outputting a movement instruction so that the bin tray movement means moves a predetermined bin tray after a predetermined time has elapsed from the detection of the sheet transfer based on the output signal of The means determines the predetermined time according to the position of the bin tray from which the paper is discharged.