JP2738219B2 - Paper switching guide - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper switching guide device for selectively supplying printing paper printed by a printing device to one of a plurality of paper processing devices, and a switching method thereof.

[0002] With the recent diversification of printed matter, it is required to process printed printing paper (hereinafter abbreviated as paper) in various ways. For this reason, a paper switching guide device for selectively switching the printed paper to various paper processing apparatuses and feeding the paper has been developed. However, there is a demand for an improvement in a technology for preventing paper jam beforehand.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a conventional printing procedure for continuous paper. To facilitate understanding of the description of the configuration and operation, the same portions are denoted by the same reference symbols throughout the drawings, and redundant description will be omitted.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a printing device, which prints a sheet (an example of a continuous sheet) 2 set at a predetermined position by a printing unit 1a, and prints a sheet 2 It is fed into the paper feed port 31 of the switching guide device 3.

The paper switching guide device 3 includes a paper switching lever 32 for selectively switching the paper 2 fed from the paper supply port 31 to one of a plurality of transport paths, and a paper switching lever 32 for switching the switched paper 2 to each transport path. The paper feed guides 34-1 to 34-n are provided to relay and guide the paper, and the paper is discharged to one of the plurality of paper outlets 33-1 to 33-n.

The paper switching lever 32 has a direction regulating drum 32a rotatable in the direction of arrow R about the point P as a central axis. When the rotation of the paper switching lever 32 is switched, the direction regulating drum 32a indicated by a solid line is rotated. A state in which the sheet 2 is guided to the sheet discharge port 33-1 via the sheet feed guide 34-1 by setting the switch position is shown.

Further, by setting the switching position of the direction regulating drum 32a in the flow direction of the paper 2 indicated by the dashed line, the paper 2 is discharged through the paper feed guide 34-2 or the paper discharge port 33-2 or the paper feed guide. A state in which the sheet is guided to the paper discharge port 33-n via 34-n is shown. The switching operation is performed by an electric or mechanical operation.

Reference numerals 4-1 to 4-n denote independent paper processing devices, each of which has a built-in paper processing unit 4-1a to 4-na, and the paper 2 passing through each paper processing unit is finally converted into a solid line or The state of being integrated at a predetermined position indicated by a broken line is shown. Reference numerals 4-1b to 4-nb denote paper information sensors (for example, photo sensors) provided near the paper feed ports of the paper processing devices 4-1 to 4-n to detect the presence or absence of the paper 2.

The paper 2 supplied from the paper feed port 31 is moved in the transport direction of the paper 2 by the switching operation of the paper switching lever 32.
One of 3-1 to 33-n is selected and transported. Exit 33-
In the case of the sheet 2 conveyed to 1, the switching result can be confirmed by the output of the sheet information sensor 4-1b provided on the input side of the sheet processing device 4-1. Similarly, in the case of the sheet 2 conveyed to the outlets 33-2 and 33-n, the output of the sheet information sensors 4-2b and 4-nb provided on each input side of the sheet processing devices 4-2 and 4-n. , The switching result can be confirmed.

[0010]

The conventional paper switching guide device 3 switches the paper switching lever 32 by manual switching operation at the discretion of the operator, and outputs the switching result to each of the paper information sensors 4-1b to 4-nb. Was confirmed by the output of However, the manual switching operation determined by the operator may cause an erroneous operation.

In particular, while the paper switching guide device 3 is in operation, the power supply is temporarily turned off while the paper 2 is passing for some reason, and when the power supply is turned on again, the operator may misunderstand. For this reason, the paper switching lever 32 may be incorrectly set to a position different from the initial setting position.

The result of the erroneous operation is that the paper switching lever is moved to a position different from the position of the direction regulating drum 32a through which the paper 2 passes.
Paper jam occurs because 32 is set. Not only dozens of sheets of paper are wasted when a paper jam occurs,
There is a disadvantage that the printing efficiency is reduced due to the elimination work.

Further, since a paper information sensor is provided for each of a large number of paper processing apparatuses and these are collectively connected, there has been a problem that high reliability cannot be expected. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional drawbacks, and has as its object to provide a paper switching guide device that prevents an erroneous operation during a switching operation and improves the reliability of switching.

[0014]

A paper feed port 31 for receiving the print paper 2 and a transport path of the print paper 2 passing through the paper feed port 31 are connected to one of a plurality of paper discharge ports 33-1 to 33-n. A paper information sensor 5 for detecting the presence or absence of the printing paper 2 passing through the paper supply port 31; and a switching mechanism for each of the paper switching levers 32. A switching position detecting unit 6 for detecting a position and outputting position information, a non-volatile storage unit 7 for updating and storing the position information of the switching position detecting unit 6 when the output of the paper information sensor 5 is “absent”; When the paper information sensor 5 outputs “Yes”, a collation unit 8 that collates the position information stored in the non-volatile storage unit 7 with the output of the switching position detection unit 6, and a collation result of the collation unit 8 is In the case of a mismatch, a stop command for paper feed to the paper feed port 31 is issued. And, and consist alarm display unit 9 for displaying that it should re-set the location information stored in the nonvolatile memory 7.

[0015]

The sheet switching lever 32 is set to the initial position under the condition that the sheet information sensor 5 does not detect the passage of the sheet, and the sheet switching lever 32 output by the switching position detecting means 6 in conjunction with this.
By updating and storing the set position information in the non-volatile storage unit 7, the sheet switching guide device 3 completes the sheet receiving state, and notifies the printing apparatus 1 of the completion of the receiving state via the microprocessor 10.

Next, when the sheet information sensor 5 detects that the sheet has been fed, the collation unit 8 compares the position information stored in the non-volatile storage unit with the position information output by the switching position detection unit 6. After the comparison and collation, if they do not match, a command to stop paper feeding to the paper feeding port is issued to the printing apparatus 1 via the microprocessor 10. Thus, paper jam can be prevented.

Further, by displaying through the alarm display means 9 that the position information stored in the non-volatile storage unit 7 should be reset, the operator recognizes the erroneous setting,
After the sheet switching lever 32 is reset according to the instruction, the printing can be efficiently performed by instructing the printing apparatus 1 to resume the sheet feeding.

[0018]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a main part of a sheet switching guide device of the present invention. This drawing is different from FIG. 3 in that the description of the paper processing apparatus is omitted, and a paper information sensor 5,
It is provided with a switching position detecting means 6 including a signal source 6a, a non-volatile storage unit 7, a collating unit 8, an alarm display means 9, and a microprocessor 10.

The paper information sensor 5 is provided between the paper feed port 31 and the paper switching lever 32, and is provided between the paper feed port 31 and the paper feed port 31.
It has a function of detecting the presence or absence of the image, and is constituted by, for example, a photo sensor. The signal source 6a has a function of generating a logical value “1”, for example. The switching position detecting means 6 uses, for example, a one-stage multi-contact switch, and the movable piece thereof is interlocked with the rotation of the direction regulating drum 32a, and the position of each contact on the fixed side is determined by the sheet switching lever 32.
Are provided corresponding to the respective set positions.

The switching position detecting means 6 can also be used for detecting the set position of the paper switching lever 32 optically, magnetically or electrostatically. The nonvolatile storage unit 7 can use a shift register or the like to update and store the storage contents. The collation unit 8 has a function of comparing and collating the position information stored in the nonvolatile storage unit 7 with the position information output from the switching position detection unit 6 by a program incorporated in the microprocessor 10.

The alarm display means 9 displays that the position information stored in the non-volatile storage unit 7 should be reset via the microprocessor 10 when the collation result of the collation unit 8 does not match. A function to issue a paper feed stop command to the printing apparatus 1 via the printer. The function of issuing the paper feed stop command may be a method of issuing a paper feed stop command to the printing apparatus 1 via the microprocessor 10 directly when the collation result of the collating unit 8 does not match.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of the paper switching according to the present invention, and its operation will be described below with reference to FIG.
First, the power of the paper switching guide device 3 is turned on in a step. The process proceeds to the step under the condition that the output of the paper information sensor 5 is “absent” in the step, and the initial setting of the paper switching lever 32 is performed. That is, the paper switching lever 32 is initially set at a predetermined position, and the position information output by the switching position detecting means 6 in conjunction with this setting is stored in the nonvolatile storage unit 7 via the microprocessor 10.

Next, in a step, a notice of completion of the paper receiving state is sent to the printing apparatus 1 via the microprocessor 10 as shown by the path indicated by the arrow A. Alternatively, the operator returns to the step after performing an operation of starting paper feeding from the printing apparatus 1 directly by manual operation.

In step S5, the sheet information sensor 5 detects "YES" and proceeds to step S1. Here, the microprocessor 10 compares and compares the position information stored in the non-volatile storage unit 7 with the position information output by the switching position detection unit 6 by the matching unit 8, and returns to the step if they match.

If they do not match, the process proceeds to a step, in which the alarm display means 9 indicates that the position information stored in the non-volatile storage unit 7 should be reset via the microprocessor 10.
, And issues a paper feed stop command to the printing apparatus 1 via the microprocessor 10 as shown by the path of arrow A. Alternatively, a method of issuing a paper feed stop command to the printing apparatus 1 via the microprocessor 10 directly when the collation results of the collation unit 8 do not match may be used.

Next, the operator recognizes the erroneous operation based on the message displayed on the alarm display means 9, resets the paper switching lever 32 according to the instruction, and instructs the printing apparatus 1 to resume paper feeding.

In this flowchart, as long as the sheet information sensor 5 outputs "Yes", the present invention is intended to solve the problem even if the operator incorrectly sets the sheet switching lever 32 to a position different from the initial setting position. As described in the section, there is an effect that paper jam does not occur. Nonvolatile storage unit 7
Is not erased even if the power is turned off or a temporary power failure occurs, so that the initially set position information is maintained.

Although the above embodiment has been described with reference to the procedure using continuous paper, the present invention is not limited to continuous paper, and the same effect can be obtained with single-sheet paper. However, in the case of a cut sheet, “absent” appears intermittently in the output of the sheet information sensor 5. Therefore, if an erroneous setting is performed in a state where the output of the sheet information sensor 5 is “absent”, the sheet is only processed in the erroneously set conveyance path, and at least there is an effect of preventing a sheet jam, thereby efficiently performing the operation. Printing can be performed.

[0029]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, paper jam due to erroneous setting by the operator can be prevented beforehand, and the number of parts can be reduced, so that high reliability can be maintained. effective.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a main part of a paper switching guide device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of sheet switching according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional continuous paper printing process procedure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Print paper (paper) 5 Paper information sensor 6 Switching position detection means 7 Non-volatile storage unit 8 Collation unit 9 Alarm display means 31 Paper feed port 32 Paper switch lever 33-1 to 33-n Paper discharge port

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A paper feed port (31) for receiving printing paper (2).
And a paper switching lever (32) for selectively switching the transport path of the printing paper (2) passing through the paper feeding port (31) to one of a plurality of paper discharging ports (33-1 to 33-n). A paper information sensor (5) for detecting the presence or absence of printing paper (2) passing through the paper feed port (31); and a switching position of each of the paper switching levers (32). A switching position detecting means (6) for detecting and outputting position information; and a non-volatile storage for updating and storing the position information of the switching position detecting means (6) when the output of the paper information sensor (5) is "none". And a collation unit for collating the position information stored in the non-volatile storage unit (7) with the output of the switching position detection means (6) when the paper information sensor (5) outputs “Yes”. Unit (8), when the collation result of the collating unit (8) does not match, the paper feed port
Alarm display means (9) for issuing a feed stop command to (31) and displaying that the position information stored in the non-volatile storage section (7) should be reset. Paper switching guide device.