JP2771982B2 - Paper stacking equipment such as copying machines - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transport path including a vertical portion for guiding a sheet discharged after image formation, a plurality of bins connected to the transport path, and the discharged sheet. And a sorter for storing the sheets in the plurality of bins.

2. Description of the Related Art For example, when a large number of copies are made by a copying machine, an automatic document feeder, a sorter, and the like have been widely used in order to reduce the processing time before and after collating and sorting. When such an automatic document feeder or sorter is attached, copying is performed manually, for example, in the platen mode without using the automatic document feeder, and in that case, in order to arrange the page order of the completed copy, it is necessary to use a fixed order. For example, it is necessary to start copying from the last page of the document, otherwise, the page order of the copy may be out of order. This will be described below with reference to the drawings.

8, a plurality of cassettes 2, an automatic document feeder 3, and a paper discharge unit 4 are provided in a copying machine 1, and a desktop sorter 5 is mounted on the paper discharge unit side of the copying machine 1 as a stacking device. ing. The sorter 5 is provided with a plurality of bins 6 and a deflecting / conveying means 7 for selectively leading the copied paper discharged from the paper discharge unit 4 to one of the bins 6. In this stacking apparatus, stacking of page-order copies in each bin is obtained only when copying of an original from the last page is performed by the automatic document feeder 3, and copying in page order is obtained in other document feeding orders. I can't. Therefore, in this stacking apparatus, for example, in copying in the platen mode,
Great attention is needed to align the page order of the copies on the bin. In the conventional example shown in FIG. 9, the copies on each bin are stacked upside down with respect to the apparatus shown in FIG. 8, and therefore, a completely separate stacking device having a different conveyance path is required.

Further, in order to solve the disorder of the page order of the copy, it has been proposed to provide a sheet reversing device in the main body of the copying machine. However, for this reason, the copying machine is inevitably increased in size and therefore expensive. It has also been proposed to use an automatic document feeder having a different feeding order and feed the document from the first page or the last page as necessary. However, it is necessary to arrange a plurality of document feeders. Becomes

As described above, in the conventional paper stacking apparatus, since the document feed order of the automatic document feeder is determined to be one, a copier or the like becomes large in order to obtain a desired copy page order as necessary. Or there are inconveniences that require many kinds of peripheral devices.

Aims of the present invention are to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages of a conventional stack device such as a copying machine.

Configuration According to the present invention, the sorter is arranged on a vertical portion of the transport path so that a plurality of bins are switched between a position where the bin is stored with the image surface of the paper facing upward and a position where the bin is stored with the bin facing downward. This is achieved by being able to be attached to the camera.

An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a copying machine will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, a sorter 10 having a large number of bins 6 as a stacker is connected to a paper discharge section 4 on the side of the copying machine 1 via a transport path 12 having a vertical section 11. Each bin 6 of the sorter 10 is provided with a deflecting / conveying means 7 comprising a deflecting claw and a roller as usual. Although an example in which rollers are used for the transport path 12 and the deflecting transport means 7 is shown, a belt may be used instead of these rollers. The sorter 10 is detachably fixed to the upper part of the vertical portion 11 of the transport path 12 by attaching means 13 such as a bolt. If necessary, the sorter 10 can release the attaching means 13, change the direction of the sorter 10, and attach the sorter 10 to the transport path 12 again as shown in FIG. In this case, regardless of the orientation of the sorter 10,
The paper transport path of the sorter is aligned with the paper transport path of the sorter.

The copied paper discharged from the paper discharge unit 4 of the copying machine 1
It is sent to the sorter 10 via the transport path 12. The sheet thus sent is sent to a predetermined bin by a deflecting / conveying means 7 operated according to an instruction from a control unit (not shown). This operation is continued while the copied sheet is sent from the sheet ejection unit 4 to the sorter. Or collation is performed. In this case, copy machine 1
When the copied paper to be discharged comes out from the first page with the table facing upward, the paper on the bin 6 is in page order.

When the copied paper comes out from the last page, the sheets stacked on the bin 6 can be arranged in the page order by turning the paper on the bin upside down. For this purpose, the mounting means 13 is loosened and removed, and the sorter 10 is mounted again in the opposite direction as shown in FIG. At this time, the sheets are stacked on the bin sequentially from the last page with the front side up.

FIG. 3 shows a doggytail type sorter 14, in which a single bin 15 reciprocates a predetermined distance in the width direction, that is, in the direction perpendicular to the drawing, to sort the copied paper. The sorter 14 can also be loosened and detached from the mounting means 13, changed direction, and fixed to the transport path 12 again. The embodiment shown in FIG. 4 shows the same doggy tail type sorter 16 as FIG. 3, but with one bin 17 and 18 on each of the left and right sides, and a lever 19
To operate the switching claw 20 to selectively feed the paper sent from the transport path 12 into any of the bins.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, one bin 21 is mounted so as to be swingable, and can take the position indicated by a solid line or the position indicated by a broken line. This makes it possible to obtain a simple tray that can reverse the sheet.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show an embodiment in which the transport path 22 connected to the paper discharge section of the copying machine 1 is directed vertically downward. In other respects, the embodiment of FIG. 6 corresponds to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, and the embodiment of FIG. 7 corresponds to the embodiment shown in FIG.

In the embodiment described above, it is convenient to display the change of the direction of the stacker or the tray, switching of opening and closing, and the like, and to change the display according to the switching of the direction and the switching of opening and closing. The operation description can be included in the display.

Effect The present invention can sort into a common sorter both in an apparatus in which the discharged page order of the image-formed paper is performed from the first page and in an apparatus in which the discharged page order is performed from the last page. Since it can be used, it has a feature that does not require various sorters.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1 and 2 are explanatory views of the first embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 are explanatory views of the second, third and fourth embodiments of the present invention, and FIGS. FIGS. 7 and 8 are explanatory views of the fifth and sixth embodiments of the present invention, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are schematic views showing a conventional stacking apparatus. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Copy machine 4 ... Paper discharge part 6 ... Bin 7 ... Deflection conveyance means 10, 14, 16 ... Sorter (stacker) 11 ... Vertical conveyance path 12,22 ... Conveyance path 13 ... Mounting Means 15,17,18,21 ... bottle

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ identification code FI // B65H 31/00 B65H 31/00 A (58) Investigated field (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B65H 31/00- 31/40 B65H 39/00-39/16

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A transport path including a vertical portion for guiding a sheet discharged after image formation, a plurality of bins connected to the transport path, and storing the discharged sheet in the plurality of bins. In a sheet stacking apparatus provided with a sorter, the sorter is arranged so that the plurality of bins change directions between a position where the image surface of the sheet is stored with the image surface of the paper facing upward and a position where the plurality of bins are stored with the image surface facing downward. A sheet stacking device characterized in that it can be mounted on a sheet.