JP2779455B2 - Paper media ejection device of input / output device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an input / output device of an information processing apparatus, and more particularly to a means for switching a paper medium discharge path in an input / output device using a paper medium. .

<< Prior Art >> In a device for printing or reading information on a paper medium, it is known that a medium that has not been processed normally is discharged to a stacker different from a normally processed medium.
In such an apparatus, there are provided two stackers, an accept stacker for discharging a normally processed medium and a reject stacker for discharging an unprocessed medium. The switching of the discharge path to the accepting stacker and the reject stacker in the conventional apparatus usually has a structure in which the medium path 20 is branched by the switching guide 50 and the medium is distributed while being sent in the same direction, as shown in FIG. In Fig. 13,
A is a paper feeding unit, B is a processing unit, C is a paper discharging unit, and D is a medium passage 20.
, And 21 and 22 are accept and reject stackers.

<< Problems to be Solved by the Invention >> Whether the processing of the medium is normally performed is determined by the main unit of the information processing apparatus, and when the normal processing is performed, an accept signal is sent from the main unit to the input / output device. Is output. In the apparatus shown in FIG. 13, when the input / output device does not receive the accept signal, the switching guide 50 is operated to switch the medium path 20 to the reject stacker 22 side.

Whether or not the medium has been processed normally can be determined only after the medium has passed through the processing unit B. Therefore the
In the apparatus shown in FIG. 13, when the rear end of the medium passes through the processing section B, it is necessary that the front end of the medium does not reach the position of the switching guide 50. That is, in the conventional apparatus having a structure as shown in FIG. 13, the medium path 20 from the processing section B to the switching guide 50 needs to be longer than the maximum length of the medium to be processed. There has been a problem that the apparatus becomes large, and a large number of paper feed rollers must be arranged along the medium path, so that the structure becomes complicated and the apparatus becomes expensive.

The present invention provides a technical means capable of switching a discharge path even for a medium longer than the length of a medium path from a processing unit to a paper discharge unit, thereby reducing the size of the apparatus and simplifying the structure of the apparatus. As a first problem, and a second problem is to realize the first problem without lowering the throughput of the medium.

<< Means for Solving the Problems >> The paper medium ejection device of the input / output device of the present invention includes a processing unit B
Stacker 21 disposed on an extension of the medium passage 20 extending from the printer to the discharge section C, a discharge roller 11 that can be driven in reverse rotation disposed immediately before the accept stacker, and a discharge roller
A reject stacker 22 having a medium receiving side facing the accept stacker 21 with the medium 11 interposed therebetween and arranged on substantially the same plane as the accept stacker 21, and a discharge end for detecting the rear end of the medium disposed immediately before the discharge roller 11. And a paper sensor 14.

The discharge roller 11 and the reject stacker 22 are switched between the two by providing a switching guide 50 and synchronizing the forward and reverse rotation of the discharge roller 11 or by providing the reject stacker 22 movably. When the reject stacker is moved in the reverse direction, the reject stacker is moved to a position for receiving the medium from the paper discharge roller 11, or an angle is formed between the medium holding surface of the paper discharge roller 11 and the medium passage 20, so that the paper discharge roller 11 is rotated in the reverse direction. Causes the medium to be discharged toward the reject stacker 22.

When the paper ejection sensor 14 detects the rear end of the medium at the time of ejecting the medium (when the output of the sensor switches from medium detection to non-detection), the presence / absence of the accept signal from the main unit is referred to. If not, the paper discharge roller 11 is rotated reversely, and if an accept signal is present, the paper discharge roller 11 is rotated forward as it is.

In order to achieve the second object, in addition to the configuration for achieving the first object, a roller element of a paper discharge roller is provided.
31 and 36 are provided so as to be able to contact and separate from each other, and a reverse feed roller 13 is provided between the paper discharge roller 11 and the reject stacker 22. The medium reversely fed from the paper discharge roller 11
Is provided with a detecting means 15 for detecting that the sheet has been pinched.
When the paper discharge roller 11 rotates in the reverse direction, the medium is
When it is detected that the sheet has been nipped, the roller elements 31 and 36 of the sheet discharging roller 11 are separated from each other.
The structure to discharge to 22 is adopted.

As means for detecting that the medium is nipped by the reverse feed roller 13, a sensor 15 (hereinafter referred to as a “second sensor”) is provided between the reverse feed roller 13 and the reject stacker 22, and the output of the sensor is provided. That the medium is switched from non-detection to detection, or that the paper ejection roller 11 has rotated by an amount corresponding to the interval between the paper ejection roller 11 and the reverse feed roller 13 since the paper ejection sensor 14 switched from medium non-detection to detection. It can be realized by detecting. When the second sensor 15 is provided, the rotation of the reverse feed roller 13 may be stopped when the sensor switches from medium detection to non-detection (when the rear end of the medium is detected). After the roller elements 31 and 36 are separated from each other, the discharge roller 11 may be rotating in either the forward or reverse direction, or may be stopped. The roller elements 31 and 36 of the paper discharge roller 11 return to the contact state at a timing after the rear end of the medium that is being reversely fed by the reverse feed roller 13 comes off the paper discharge roller 11. When returning to this contact state, the paper discharge roller 11 must be switched in the normal rotation direction.

The timing at which the rear end of the medium that is being reversely fed deviates from the paper discharge roller 11 has a certain time delay.
The timing at which the output of the sensor 15 switches from medium detection to non-detection can be substituted. In addition, when the output of the discharge sensor 14 is switched from non-medium detection to detection to the non-detection again when the output of the discharge sensor 14 is switched to non-detection during the normal rotation of the discharge roller 11, the rotation amount of the discharge roller 11 is stored. Sometimes, after the output of the paper ejection sensor 14 switches from non-medium detection to detection,
It can also be detected by detecting the point in time when the discharge roller 11 has rotated by the stored amount.

<< Operation >> According to the above configuration, even if the front end of the medium is sent to the accept stacker 21 when the rear end of the medium passes through the processing section B, the rear end of the medium is The medium can be discharged to the reject stacker 22 by reversing the paper discharge roller 11 after reaching just before, so that the medium can be sorted even if the medium path 20 is shorter than the medium length. .

In a configuration in which the paper discharge roller 11 is not separated when the medium is reversely fed (hereinafter, the medium being reversely fed is referred to as a “reject medium”), the next medium is transferred as long as the rejected medium does not separate from the paper discharge roller 11. The paper cannot be sent to the paper discharge roller 11. Therefore, when the rejected medium is large, the processing of the next medium must be waited until the medium is ejected, which is a limitation on a request to improve the throughput of the medium.

On the other hand, according to the configuration in which the reverse feed roller 13 is provided and the discharge roller 11 is separated after the roller nips the reject medium, the leading end of the next medium even before the reject medium separates from the discharge roller 11 Can be fed to the discharge roller, and the reject medium and the succeeding medium can be simultaneously passed between the separated roller elements 31 and 36 in opposite directions. After the rejected medium is disengaged from the discharge roller 11, the discharge roller 11 is brought into contact with the medium, so that the trailing edge of the succeeding medium is pinched by the discharge roller 11 before passing the position of the discharge roller 11. Then, the discharging process for the medium can be performed. That is, in this case, there is no need to wait for the processing of the succeeding medium until the ejection of the reject medium is completed, and the restriction on increasing the throughput can be removed.

<< Embodiment >> FIGS. 1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1 schematically showing the apparatus, A
Denotes a paper feeding unit, B denotes a processing unit, and C denotes a paper discharging unit. In the paper supply unit A, a paper supply table 1, a pickup roller 2, a separation roller 3,
The medium leading edge detection sensor 4 is shown. The paper feed table 1 can move up and down, and the pickup roller 2 is in contact with the top end of the paper medium 5 loaded on the paper feed table 1, and the paper medium pulled out to the left in FIG. The sheet is separated into one sheet by passing between the rollers.

The processing unit B includes a processing head 6 such as a print head or a reading head, a backing material 7 facing the processing head 6 across the medium passage, and paper feed rollers 8 and 9 arranged before and after the processing head. Is shown. The structures of the paper feeding unit A and the processing unit B do not characterize the present invention.

The paper discharge section C is composed of a paper discharge roller 11, a guide roller 12, a reverse feed roller 13, a paper discharge sensor 14, and a second sensor 15, and the guide roller 12 and the reverse feed roller 13 are one roller element therebetween. Sharing. Reference numeral 17 denotes a fixed guide for guiding the medium coming out of the processing section B to the nip section 16 of the guide roller 12. The nip portion 18 of the discharge roller and the nip portion 19 of the reverse feed roller are located on substantially the same plane, and the nip portion 16 of the guide roller nips the medium sandwiched between the nip portions of the discharge roller from obliquely below. It is located to feed into 18. Reference numeral 20 denotes a medium passage from the processing section B to the paper discharge section C.

The accept stacker 21 is arranged on the medium feeding side of the paper discharge roller 11, and the reject stacker 22 is arranged on the opposite side of the accept stacker 21 with the paper discharge section C interposed therebetween and is adjacent to the reverse feed roller 13. The guide roller 12 is connected to the paper feed roller 9 of the processing section by a chain 23, gears, and the like and is synchronously driven in the same direction as in this type of conventional apparatus (FIG. 2). The reverse feed roller 13 is moved in the opposite direction to the guide roller 12 by intermeshing gears 27, 28 and 29 provided on the side of roller elements 24, 25 and 26 constituting the guide roller and the reverse feed roller. Being driven.

As shown in FIG. 2, the discharge roller 11 has one roller element 31 mounted on the tip of an arm 33 pivotally supported by a stationary shaft 32, and the arm 33 is interposed between the arm 33 and a solenoid. Compression spring 35
As a result, the roller element 36 is urged toward the other roller element 36 which is axially fixed at a fixed position. When the solenoid 34 is excited, the operating rod 37 is retracted and the roller elements 31 and 36 are separated.

The paper discharge roller 11 has a roller element 36 on the fixed position side as a drive roller, and this drive roller is connected to the guide roller 12 via a forward / reverse rotation mechanism 38. The forward / reverse rotation mechanism 38 shown in the figure is a swing frame having two arms 40 and 41 that can swing around an immovable shaft 39.
Two arms 43 and 44 mesh with each other are provided on one arm 40 of 42, and one gear 45 is provided on the other arm 41, and the gear 27 on the guide roller side and the gear 46 on the discharge roller side are connected. The gear train is switched by the swing operation of the swing frame 42. 47 is a solenoid for swinging the swing frame 42. In the steady state shown in the figure, the gear 27 on the guide roller side and the gear 46 on the discharge roller side are connected via a single gear 45, so that the rotation directions of the guide roller 12 and the discharge roller 11 are the same. Direction. When the solenoid 47 is excited and the swing frame 42 is switched in the opposite direction, the gear 27 on the guide roller side and the gear 46 on the discharge roller side are connected via two gears 43 and 44, and the guide roller 12 And the rotation direction of the paper discharge roller 11 is reversed.

Next, the operation of this device will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3 and the operation explanatory diagram of FIG. The medium processed by the processing unit B is successively nipped by the guide roller 12 and the paper discharge roller 11 and sent out to the accept stacker 21.
When the paper ejection sensor 14 detects the trailing edge of the medium, the presence or absence of an accept signal from the main device is referred to. If an accept signal has been received from the main unit,
11 continues to rotate and discharges the medium to the accept stacker 21. On the other hand, when the accept signal has not been received from the main unit, the solenoid 47 is immediately excited and the paper discharge roller 11 rotates in the reverse direction (FIG. 4A). When the medium nipped by the paper discharge roller 11 is sent out to the reverse feed roller 13 by the reverse rotation operation, and the second sensor 15 detects the medium after the reverse feed roller 13 has nipped the medium,
When the solenoid 34 is excited, the roller element 31 of the discharge roller,
36 is separated (FIG. 4 (b)), and then the excitation of the solenoid 47 is released, and the discharge roller 11 is switched to normal rotation. In this state, processing on the next medium is started, and the leading end of the medium processed by the processing unit B is sent to the paper discharge roller 11 via the guide roller 12.

If the size of the reject medium reversely fed by the reverse feed roller 13 is large, the rear end of the reject medium does not come off from the paper discharge roller 11 at this time. However, since the paper discharge roller 11 is open, the leading end of the succeeding medium passes under the reject medium and the accept stacker.
Sent to 21. Then, the rejected medium comes off the paper discharge roller 11 (at this time, the paper discharge sensor 14 cannot detect the rear end of the medium), and also detaches from the reverse feed roller 13 to detect the rear end of the medium by the second sensor 15. Then, the excitation of the solenoid 34 is released, and the paper discharge roller 11 holds the succeeding medium (FIG. 4C). By repeating the above operation, the processing for the media sequentially fed from the paper feeding unit A is performed.
In addition, those which have not been processed normally are distributed to the reject stacker 22 and discharged.

FIGS. 5 to 7 show a second embodiment of the simplest structure of the present invention. In the second embodiment, the guide roller, the reverse feed roller, the fixed guide plate and the second sensor of the above embodiment are not provided, and the arrangement of the accept stacker 21 and the reject stacker 22 is reversed. Media communication from paper feeder A to accept stacker 21
20 are formed linearly. The discharge roller 11 does not have a contact / separation mechanism, and the two roller elements 31, 36 are always in contact.

The paper discharge roller 11 is connected to the paper feed roller 9 of the processing section by a drive system having a normal / reverse rotation mechanism 38 as shown in FIG. A switching guide 50 that is switched by a solenoid 49 is provided immediately before the discharge roller 11. This switching guide is normally at an upper position as shown by a solid line in the figure, and guides the medium fed from the processing section B to the nip section 18 of the paper discharge roller. solenoid
When 49 is excited, the switching guide 50 moves down, and the discharge rollers
The medium fed backward from 11 is guided to the reject stacker 22.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the operation of the second embodiment. When an acceptance signal from the main unit is not received when the paper ejection sensor 14 detects the rear end of the medium, the solenoid 49 is excited to switch. The guide 50 is switched, and then the solenoid 47 is excited, and the paper discharge roller 11 rotates in the reverse direction, and discharges the medium that has not been processed normally to the reject stacker 22. Then, when the trailing end of the rejected medium is detected by the paper ejection sensor 14, that is, when the output of the paper ejection sensor 14 switches from medium detection to non-detection, processing for the succeeding medium is started. As described above, according to the second embodiment, when the previous medium is reversely fed, the processing for the next medium is not performed until the rejected medium comes off the paper discharge roller 11, so that the ratio of the medium to be reversely fed is If the number is large, the throughput of the medium will decrease. When the ratio of the reject medium is small, this decrease in the throughput does not cause much problem.

FIGS. 8 to 12 show several embodiments more specifically when the paper medium discharge device of the present invention is employed in an optical information reading device. In these figures, reference numeral 51 denotes an information reading unit arranged on the upstream side of the processing section B, which is composed of a light source lamp 52, a rod array lens 53, a one-dimensional image sensor 54, a reversible roller 55, and a medium feed sensor 56. . Reference numeral 57 denotes an information output unit arranged downstream of the processing unit B, which includes a print head 58 and a platen.
It consists of 59. Reference numeral 60 denotes an intermediate roller disposed between the reading unit 51 and the output unit 57. The operation of these members is no different from the conventional input / output device.

FIG. 8 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, in which a reject stacker 22 is pivotally supported by an apparatus frame so as to be swingable. In a normal state, as shown by a solid line in FIG. It is located above the nip 18 of the discharge roller,
The medium sent from the processing section B is guided to the nip section 18 of the paper discharge roller 11. When the paper ejection sensor 14 detects the trailing end of the medium and does not receive an accept signal from the main unit, the reject stacker 22 is swung by a cam or the like (not shown), and the leading edge of the reject stacker 22 is moved to the nip portion 18 of the paper ejection roller 11. Position it below (the position of the imaginary line). Thereafter, the paper discharge rollers rotate in the reverse direction, and discharge the medium that has not been processed normally to the reject stacker 22. When the trailing end of the rejected medium is detected by the paper ejection sensor 14, the cam or the like is operated to rotate the reject stacker 22 to the left in the drawing, and the leading edge of the ejected stacker 22 is ejected by the ejection roller
Move it above the nip 18 of 11 to open the nip 18,
The discharge roller is switched to the normal rotation, and the processing for the succeeding medium is started.

FIG. 9 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention, in which a reject stacker 22 is disposed immediately after a paper feed roller 9 on the downstream side of a processing unit B provided in a straight line, and a switching guide 50 and a paper feed A swing guide 61 that can swing freely is arranged between the roller 9 and the roller 9. In the normal state, the swing guide 61 and the switching guide 50 open in a direction away from each other to form an arcuate surface, as shown by the solid line in the drawing, and the medium fed from the processing section B is fed to the nip of the paper discharge roller 11. Guide to part 18. When the paper ejection sensor 14 detects the rear end of the medium and does not receive an accept signal from the main unit, the paper ejection roller 11 rotates reversely after the switching guide 50 rotates rightward in the drawing, and the processing is not performed normally. The medium is discharged to the reject stacker 22.
When the trailing end of the reject medium is detected by the paper ejection sensor 14, the switching guide 50 is rotated left in the figure to return to the original position. In the present embodiment, the swing guide 61 is rotated leftward in the drawing by the operation of the operator and the medium passage 20 is switched in advance, so that it is possible to perform processing without applying a bending force to a medium that the user does not want to bend, such as cardboard. it can.

FIG. 10 shows a fifth embodiment of the present invention, in which a roller element 31 above a discharge roller is provided at the tip of an arm 33 supported by the shaft of a reverse feed roller. 31, 36
Can be separated from each other. A swingable swing guide 61 is provided between the paper feed roller 9 of the processing section B and the guide roller 12 of the paper discharge section C, and a third stacker 62 is provided immediately after the paper feed roller 9. Is arranged. 63 is a reading unit
An imprint reading unit 64 provided between the output unit 57 and the output unit 57 is a detection sensor provided immediately before the paper feed roller 9.

Since the sheet discharging operation of the fifth embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description is omitted here. The difference from the first embodiment is that a swing guide 61 and a third stacker 62 are provided. As in the fourth embodiment, the swing guide 61 is used when processing a medium such as cardboard that is not to be bent. Is rotated left in the figure to discharge the medium to the third stacker 62.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show a sixth embodiment of the present invention, in which the roller elements 31, 36 of the paper discharge roller 11 are linked by a link 67 pivotally supported by immovable shafts 65, 66 provided on the apparatus frame. , 68, the roller elements 31, 36 are alternately swung to abut and separate. The links 66 and 67 are independently swung by solenoids provided separately. The operation of the discharge roller will be described with reference to FIG. 12. In a normal state, the roller elements 31 and 36 are in contact with each other, and the nip portion 18 and the nip portion 16 of the guide roller are opposed to each other (a). Paper ejection sensor 14
When the printer does not receive an accept signal from the main unit when the rear end of the medium is detected, the entire discharge roller 11 moves upward to make its nip portion 18 face the nip portion 19 of the reverse feed roller 13 (b). The paper discharge roller 11 is rotated in the reverse direction, and the medium that has not been processed normally is pinched by the reverse feed roller 13. Thereafter, the lower roller element 36 returns to the original position, and the discharge roller 11
Roller elements 31, 36 are separated from each other (c). Next, the succeeding medium nipped by the guide roller 12 is sent out to the accept stacker 21, and when the trailing end of the reject medium is disengaged from the paper discharge roller, the upper roller element 31 is moved down to clamp the subsequent medium (d ).

<< Effects of the Invention >> As described above, the paper medium ejection device of the present invention reverses the paper ejection roller after the trailing end of the medium sent to the accept stacker reaches just before the ejection roller, so that the paper ejection device can operate normally. Since the media that has not been processed is discharged to the reject stacker, media can be sorted even if the media is longer than the length of the media path from the processing unit to the paper discharge unit, and the input / output device can be downsized. In addition, the structure of the device can be simplified.

In addition, the above-mentioned paper discharge roller is provided so as to be able to contact and separate, and a reverse feed roller is provided between the paper discharge roller and the reject stacker. After the reject medium is held between the reverse feed rollers, the paper discharge roller is separated and the following medium is separated. If the leading end is sent to the paper discharge roller, it is possible to prevent a decrease in throughput.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall side view, FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view showing a drive system, FIG. 3 is a flowchart, FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a sheet discharging operation. 5 to 7 show the second embodiment. FIG. 5 is an overall side view, FIG. 6 is an enlarged side view showing a drive system, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart. FIG. 8 is a side view of the third embodiment, FIG. 9 is a side view of the fourth embodiment, and FIG.
FIG. 11 is a side view showing the fifth embodiment, and FIGS.
It is the side view and operation | movement explanatory drawing which show an Example. FIG. 13 is a side view of a conventional device. In the figure, B: processing unit, C: paper discharge unit 11: paper discharge roller, 13: reverse feed roller 14: paper discharge sensor, 15: second sensor 20: medium path, 21: accept stacker 22: reject stacker, 31 , 36: Roller element

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B65H 29/58

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A paper feeder (A), a processing part (B), and a paper discharge part (C), and the paper discharge part (C) has an accept stacker (2).
In an input / output device provided with 1) and a reject stacker (22), an accept stacker (21) arranged on an extension of a medium path (20) from a processing section (B) to a paper discharge section (C). And a discharge roller (11) that can be driven in reverse and is disposed immediately before the accept stacker;
1) a reject stacker (22) having the medium receiving side opposed to the accept stacker (21) with the intermediary side therebetween and arranged on substantially the same plane as the accept stacker (21); A paper medium ejection device for an input / output device, comprising: a paper ejection sensor (14) for detecting the rear end of the medium. 2. A roller element (3) of said discharge roller (11).
1) and (36) can be contacted and separated, and the discharge rollers (1
The reverse feed roller (13) disposed between 1) and the reject stacker (22) and the detection that the medium reversely fed from the paper discharge roller (11) is nipped by the reverse feed roller (13) Detection means (15) for detecting the discharge rollers (1
(1) separating the roller elements (31) and (36) of the paper discharge roller (11) when it is detected that the medium is pinched by the reverse feed roller (13) during the reverse rotation of 1); The paper medium ejection device according to claim 1.