JP2680437B2 - Image forming device with sorter - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a sorter-equipped image forming apparatus such as a copying machine having a plurality of sorters.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, for example, in a copying machine equipped with three sorters,
When copying one document, you may want to interrupt and copy another document. By the way, when the new copy wants to use the sorter, the sorter is conventionally used as follows so as not to confuse the use of the sorter.

One of them is a method of prohibiting the use of the sorter during the interrupt when the sorter is used before the interrupt.

The other one is using the sorter before interrupt,
It is a method to find empty bins and sort using the empty bins.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the former method has a problem in that if even one sheet is sorted, sorting cannot be performed during interruption even though most of the bins are empty.

In the latter method, an empty bin is found and used, so that, for example, 5 in the first sorter is used.
If the bins up to the bin are used before the interrupt and the second sorter is not used at all, the sort during the interrupt is performed by first sorting the remaining bins after the bin 6 of the first sorter. Since the second sorters are used after that, the required number of the second sorters are used, so that copies of different kinds of originals are mixed in the first sorter, which causes a problem that the operator is easily confused. There is also a problem that the control mechanism becomes complicated.

An object of the present invention is to solve such problems of the related art.

[Means for Solving the Problem] According to the present invention, in an image forming apparatus having a plurality of sorters and having an interrupt function, pre-interruption information such as a sorter in use before interruption is displayed in accordance with an interruption instruction from an interruption instruction means. In response to the stored storage means, the instruction from the interrupt instruction means and the sort instruction during interruption,
If there is a sorter other than the sorter in use stored in the storage means, a permission signal that permits the use is output, and if all sorters are in use, a prohibition signal that inhibits the use of the sorter is output. It is an image forming apparatus with a sorter, which is provided with a determining means for outputting.

[Operation] According to the present invention, in an image forming apparatus having a plurality of sorters and having an interrupt function, when sorting is performed during an interrupt, if there is a sorter other than the in-use sorter before the interrupt, use of the sorter is permitted. However, if all sorters are in use, the use of sorters is prohibited.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The operation unit 1 is various instruction keys such as a print start key, a numeric keypad, a density instruction key, an interrupt instruction key 1a, a magnification change instruction key, a sort mode selection key 1b, and a paper size selection key. The display unit 2 is a liquid crystal display. , Means for displaying the number of copies, density, scaling ratio, paper size, interruption, selection of sort mode, and the like by using an element such as an LED. The operation unit 1 and the display unit 2 are attached to a panel that is usually provided in front of the contact glass on which the original of the copying machine body is placed.

The CPU 4 is a central processing unit of a microcomputer, and is a means that uses a read-only memory ROM 5 and a rewritable memory RAM 6 to implement the functions described below by software. The first, second, ..., Nth sorter 7,
8 and 9 are independent sorters, for example,
As shown in FIG. 2, two units are provided in front of the copy sheet discharge side of the copying machine main body 30. The sorter 7 immediately in front of the sorter 7 is provided with a transport path 10 for guiding the ejected copy paper inside, and a switching claw 11 is rotatably attached to the downstream thereof, and the claw 11 is upward in the drawing. By moving to, the copy sheet is transported downward.

The copy paper that has been conveyed downwards has switching claws 12,
.. are sorted into bins 14, 15, .. In the non-sort mode, copy paper is ejected onto the non-sort bin 16.

Further, when the switching claw 11 is moved downward, the copy sheet that has passed through the transport path 10 does not go downward as it is, but is carried into the transport path 22 in the adjacent second sorter 8. . Then, the switching claw 17 is guided downward due to the upward movement, and is distributed to the bins 20 and 21 by appropriate switching of the switching claws 18 and 19. In the non-sort mode, copy paper is ejected onto the non-sort bin 23.

As described above, the first sorter 7 and the second sorter 8 can be properly used according to the control signal from the CPU 4 of the copying machine main body 30.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be described according to the above embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation.

It is assumed that 5 bins (14, 15, ...) Are used for sorting from the top of the first sorter 7.

Then, it is assumed that the interrupt key of the operation unit 1 is pressed and an interrupt occurs while the copy paper is being discharged from the top to the two bins 14 and 15 (step S1). In that case, CP
U4 is the number of the sorter in use before the interruption until then,
The states of the bottles in use, the copy density, the number of copies, and the copy state such as the scaling factor are stored in the storage means 6 of the RAM (step S
2).

Furthermore, when interrupting and copying, press the key to select the sort mode because you want to sort (step S
3) The CPU 4 (judgment means) checks the contents of the storage means 6 to see if the pre-interruption sort mode is encountered (step
S4). If the pre-interrupt sorter is used, it is checked whether it is the first sorter 7 (step S5). In the present embodiment, since it is being used, it is checked whether another second sorter 8 is being used although there is an empty bin (sixth and subsequent bins) (step S6). Since the second sorter 8 is not used, the second sorter 8 is used, so a control signal to that effect is sent to the first and second sorters 7 and 8 (step S15). That is, the switching claw 11 of the first sorter 7 is moved downward, the switching claw 17 of the second sorter 8 is moved upward, and the bins 20, 21, ...
・ To sort the copy paper as appropriate.

If the first sorter 7 is not used, the first sorter 7 is used (step S14).

If the second sorter 8 is also in use, it is checked whether or not all the other sorters are in use.
If the nth sorter is not used (step S7),
The nth sorter is used (step 16). To prevent sorting when all sorters are in use,
The prohibition signal is sent to the first sorter 7 (steps S8, S
9). As a result, the switching claw 11 moves upward, all the switching claws 12, 13, ... Move upward, and all copy sheets are discharged to the non-sort bin 16 at the lowermost position.

If the sort mode is not set before the interruption in step S4, the sort can be freely performed without selecting a sorter (step S13).

In step S3, when the sorter is not used during the interruption and the pre-interruption is in the non-sort mode, the sort bin other than the non-sort bin that has been used is used for the processing (step S11). If the mode before the interruption is the sort mode, processing is performed using the non-sort bin (step S12).

In the above embodiments, the copying machine was described as an example, but the present invention can be applied to other image forming apparatuses.

In the present invention, the sort mode includes a so-called group mode as well as a narrowly defined sort mode.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, when the image forming apparatus with a sorter according to the present invention uses the sorter before the interruption, sorting is performed using the sorter that is not used,
If there is no empty sorter, the use of the sorter is prohibited and images are formed in non-sort mode, so the empty sorter can be used effectively and different copy papers are mixed in the same sorter. It can be lost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical sectional view of a sorter portion of the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is an operation of the embodiment. 4 is a flowchart for explaining 1 ... Operation part, 2 ... Display part, 4 ... CPU 6 ... Storage means, 7, 8, 9 ... Sorter

Continuation of front page (56) Reference JP-A-59-7380 (JP, A) JP-A-63-87478 (JP, A) JP-A-60-252563 (JP, A) JP-A-62-63947 (JP , A) JP 58-174966 (JP, A) JP 1-227169 (JP, A) JP 63-87433 (JP, A) Actually open 2-81539 (JP, U) Actually open 62-68968 (JP, U) Actually opened 62-68970 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus having a plurality of sorters and having an interrupt function, storage means for storing pre-interruption information such as a sorter in use before interruption in accordance with an interrupt instruction from the interrupt instruction means, and the interrupt. In response to the instruction from the instruction means and the sorting instruction during interruption,
If there is a sorter other than the sorter in use stored in the storage means, a permission signal that permits the use is output, and if all sorters are in use, a prohibition signal that inhibits the use of the sorter is output. An image forming apparatus with a sorter, comprising: an output determining unit.