JP2860837B2 - Sorter with stapler device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sorter attached to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printing machine or a laser beam printer for separating and storing sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus. The present invention relates to a sorter having a bin and a stapler device for aligning and binding sheets stored in the bin.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a sheet post-processing apparatus having a stapler device for binding sheets discharged from a copying machine or the like, a stapler is used for each sheet together with a machine such as a circulation type automatic document feeder (RDH). Although there is a sheet post-processing device (finisher) for stopping, there is a disadvantage that the mechanism is complicated and expensive.

(1) A device in which a relatively simple bin-moving sorter is provided with a stapler device (JP-A-64-43457) is disclosed. This device is a sorter in which a stapler device for binding sheets stored in a bin is disposed so as to be able to advance and retreat with respect to the bin.

(2) In other sorters, when stapling a large number of sheet bundles, a fixed stapler device is provided for each bin, and each bin is moved to the staple position to staple the sheet bundle. .

(3) The sorter disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-244869 moves a bin on which a sheet is placed to a position where staples can be driven, and drives staples.
When driving another bin, the staple device is moved in the vertical direction.

[0006]

Among the sorters with the stapler device described above, the type in which the first stapler device is advanced or retracted has a different approaching stroke depending on the size of the sheet, and if all the vertical intervals between the bins are widened, the sorter is required. Has become larger,
There is a problem that the mechanism becomes complicated when an operation of expanding only the interval between the bins into which the stapling device enters is performed.

[0007] The second sorter has a problem that the configuration of the entire sorter is complicated and a special stapler device is required when the interval between the bins is narrow.

In the third sorter, each bin on which paper is deposited is moved straightly along a bin guide at an appropriate time and is moved horizontally to a staple position, which has a drawback that the structure of the apparatus becomes complicated.

In the case where sheets of various sizes are discharged from the image forming apparatus on the basis of the center, when the sheets accommodated in the bin abut against the sheet width reference plane and are aligned,
In the case of a small-sized sheet, the alignment bar or the alignment plate of the aligning device must be largely moved, and the lateral width regulation of the sheet conveyed into the bin at high speed becomes uncertain, and the sheet width becomes uneven.

In particular, when post-processing such as stapling and punching is performed after the above-mentioned sheet alignment, the irregularity of the sheet becomes a defect.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a structure which can execute sheet alignment reliably and can be stapled at a fixed position even in a relatively simple sorter. It is intended to eliminate it.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a sorter of the present invention that achieves the above object has a plurality of sheets for aligning and storing sheets of various sizes discharged from an image forming apparatus on a center basis. And a aligner for aligning the sheets stored in the bins with the reference wall surface in a sorter. The bin unit is moved in advance by a predetermined amount according to the size of the sheet to be stored in the bin. Regardless of this, it is always characterized by being substantially constant.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a sorter connected to a main body 1 of an image forming apparatus (for example, a copying machine). The sorter of the present invention includes a base unit 10, a downward transport unit 20, an upward transport unit 30, and a bin moving unit 40.

The base 10 comprises a caster 11, connecting means 12 for connecting to the image forming apparatus main body, a conveyor belt 13, driven rollers 14, guide plates 15A and 15B, driving means (not shown), and the like, and is fixed on the floor. Is done.

The base unit (horizontal transfer unit) 10 has a structure shown in FIG.
A stay member 16 is fixed in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. A rack gear RG is fixed to the upper surface of the stay member 16. On the other hand, rollers 17A and 17B for moving the housing are rotatably supported in the housing of the bin moving unit 40, which will be described later.
17B slides on a rail (not shown) of the base part 10,
The housing of the bin moving unit 40 can be moved in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface.

A driving motor M is provided in the housing of the bin moving unit 40, and drives and rotates the pinion gear PG via gears G1 and G2. Since the pinion gear PG meshes with the rack gear RG fixed to the stay member 16, the housing of the bin moving unit 40 moves in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing by the driving rotation of the motor M.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a rotatable roller provided coaxially with the pinion gear PG.
Slide into 16 and guide.

The downward conveyance section 20 is connected to the paper discharge roller 2 and the paper discharge port 3 of the image forming apparatus main body 1, receives the discharged sheet P by the guide plate 21, and conveys the sheet P downward. The transport belt 22 for feeding the transport belt 13 in the unit 10 and a driven roller 23 are provided. Also, branching from this transport path, AD
F and a transport unit 24 for discharging the preceding sheet in the image forming apparatus main body 1 when a jam occurs in the sorter and the tray 25
Is provided. Note that the upper part of the housing of the downward transport unit 20 swings freely so that the jammed paper in the downward transport unit 20 can be taken out.

In the up-conveying section 30, several endless transfer belts 31 are stretched over pulleys 32 and 33 rotatably fixed to the upper and lower portions of the support frame. The conveyor belt
Inside the inside of 31, a plurality of rollers 34, which correspond to the insertion openings of the bins described later, are rotatably rolled. A plurality of transport rollers 35 are in contact with the rollers 34 and are outside of the transport belt 31 so as to roll and rotate.

In the middle of the transport rollers 35, branch guides 36 are located at the entrances of the bins and swing. These branch guides 36 are rotatably supported by a shaft 37 provided on the support frame, and are swung by a lever and a solenoid (not shown) provided at the shaft end of the shaft 37. Therefore, by rotating the branch guide 36 clockwise, the lower claw portion of the branch guide 36 intersects the paper transport path formed by the transport belt 31 and the transport roller 35,
The branch guide 36 adjusts the paper receiving posture by preventing the paper from traveling upward in the vertical direction. When the sheet P is conveyed there, the sheet P is deflected in a substantially right angle direction along the inner curved surface of the branch guide 36 and is received in the bin 41.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are partial cross-sectional views of the components and bins of the above-described sheet branching conveyance path. FIG. 2 shows the vicinity of the upper part of the sorter, and FIG. 3 shows the vicinity of the lower part of the sorter.

In the bin moving section 40, a plurality of bins (for example, 20 bins) 41 arranged at equal intervals are rotatably supported. That is, the bottom of the bin 41 (left side in FIG. 3) is the bin moving unit.
It is slidably supported on a guide plate 38 fixed to 40.

A slide piece 44 is fitted on a fixed shaft 43 supported upright by a support member 42 fixed above and below the frame of the bin moving section 40 and is positioned by a pin 45. The slide piece 44 is fitted into a hole at one end (upper right in FIGS. 2 and 3) of the bin 41, and makes the bin 41 rotatable. Pins 45 driven into the fixed shaft 43 at equal intervals are slide pieces.
Engage with the concave portions of 44 and hold the ends of the bins 41 in parallel arrangement at equal intervals.

The other end of the bin 41 is
And is supported by a rotatable roller 39 which is implanted in a part of the frame. In this way, the bin 41 is supported by the guide plate 38, the slide piece 44, and the roller 39, and is swingable about the fixed shaft 43. Reference numeral 41A denotes three claw portions provided on the bottom surface side engaging with the notches of the guide plate 38. Reference numeral 41B denotes five front stoppers provided on the paper introduction side on the upper surface side of the bin 41, and the upper end of the upright surface has a curved claw shape to prevent the paper rear end from rising out of the paper bin due to rising of the rear end of the paper. It is for.

On the other hand, an alignment device 50 for aligning the side edges of the paper P discharged from the image forming apparatus main body 1 onto the bin 41 is provided at a part of the fixed frame of the upward transport section 30. FIG.
Is a front sectional view of the matching device 50, and FIG. 5 is a plan view thereof.

In the aligning device 50, a lower arm 52, which is fitted to a lower support shaft 51 attached to a lower portion of the frame and is swingable, is swung by a driving force of a pulse motor (not shown). At the tip of the lower arm 52, the lower shaft end of the mandrel 54A of the alignment rod 54 is held by a centering bearing 53A. The alignment rod 54 is covered with an elastic material 54B made of a foam material such as sponge on the outer periphery of the mandrel 54A, and presses the side edge of the discharged paper P to align the width of the paper P.

The shaft end of the alignment rod 54 above the mandrel 54A is fitted and held in a centering bearing 53B provided at the shaft end of the upper arm 55. The upper arm 55 is swingable by engaging with an upper support shaft 56 attached to an upper portion of the frame.

An arcuate curved surface portion 52A protrudes from a part of the lower arm 52, and detects the home position of the lower arm by interrupting the optical path of a photo interrupter (transmission type optical sensor) 57. doing.

The swing angle of the lower arm 52 is changed according to the number of pulses set by the pulse motor so that the width of the lower arm 52 is adjusted in accordance with the size of the sheet P to be discharged.

A roller 58 is rotatably fitted to a projection shaft 52B protruding from a part of the lower arm 52. The roller 58 slides on a groove cam portion 59A of a cam member 59 fixed to the frame, and when the lower arm 52 swings about the lower support shaft 51, the roller 58 slides on the groove cam portion 59A to rotate. Also swings in the direction. By such a swinging motion, the paper P placed on the bin 41 is aligned by pressing the side edge of the paper downward when the paper width is aligned by the swinging of the alignment rod 54.

The alignment rod 54 draws a swing locus (dashed line) as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the bin 41 swings as shown by a dashed line in order to insert the sheets to be stacked into the stapler device, and the bin 41 moves back and forth as described later. As shown, a large concave curved opening 41C is formed. 46 is
It is a reinforcing member that closes the opening 41C of the bin 41 in order to prevent the deformation of the bin 41 due to such a large curved opening 41C. The reinforcing member is screwed to the side surface of the bin 41, and at the same time, the bin 41 into which the slide piece 44 is fitted.
And the slide piece 44 is prevented from getting out.

A stopper wall is provided on one side of the bin 41.
41D stands upright and unites. The stopper wall 41D
A paper press device 60 is mounted on the outer surface of the paper holder. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the bin 41 to which the paper press device 60 is attached. A lever 61 is swingably supported by a shaft 62 implanted on the outer surface of the stopper wall 41D. 41E is a guide portion for guiding the lever 61 slidably. An elongated shaft 63A is implanted at one end of the lever 61, and a pipe-shaped paper pressing member 63B is loosely fitted to the shaft 63A. The other end of the lever 61 is elastically pressed by a leaf spring 65. Also lever
A leaf spring 66 is cantilevered and supported and fixed to the bent portion below the pressed portion 61. The leaf spring 66 is provided with the second
Is pressed by the roller 72 attached to the tip of the arm 71B.

FIG. 8 shows that the bottle 41 is swung,
FIG. 3 is a plan view of a bin swinging device 70 that operates the paper press device 60.

The bin swinging device 70 is mounted on the substrate 73. A first arm 71A is mounted coaxially on a rotating shaft 74 driven via a motor (not shown) and a reduction gear train transmission system. A second arm 71B having an elongated hole is spring-biased on the first arm 71A and is slidable in the radial direction. A rubber-coated roller 72 is rotatably attached to the distal end of the second arm 71B.

A cam plate 75 is attached to the rotating shaft 74. The cam plate 75 is composed of a U-shaped groove and a circular arc having an equal radius.

On the other hand, a guide member 76 provided on a part of the substrate 73
The follower shaft 78 penetrating through the long groove of the moving member 77 which can slide and move in a straight line, the groove of the cam plate 75, and the first arm 71A and the second arm 71B is spring-biased. Supported.

The other end of the cam plate 75 has a fan-shaped closing plate portion.
75A is integrated and turns on and off through a photointerrupter (transmissive sensor) 79.

As the first arm 71A is driven to rotate rightward as shown by the broken line in FIG. 8, the follower shaft 78 moves along the groove of the moving member 77 and moves the groove of the cam plate 75 outward. After escaping from the groove, it slides on an arcuate curved surface of equal radius. Prior to this, the closing plate portion 75A at the tail of the cam plate 75 cuts off the optical path of the photointerrupter 79, turns off the power supply, and stops the driving rotation of the motor. Therefore, even if there is an overrun after the rotation of the motor is stopped, the follower shaft 78 stops by moving along the circular portion of the cam plate 75 having the same radius.
71A maintains the stop position at a predetermined angle, and bin 41 stops at a predetermined position. Further, the substrate 73 of the bin rocking device 70 includes:
Attached to a common frame 82 together with the substrate 81 of the stapler device, is driven up and down on the frame of the bin moving unit 40, stops for each bin 41, and stops the paper pressing member.
The sheet bundle deposited on the rocked bin 41 while being pressed by 63B enters the binding portion gap of the stapler device, and the staple is driven.

After the staple driving, the second arm 71
B returns and swings, and the bin 41 is urged by the spring and swings to return to the initial paper discharge position.

Next, the stapling operation of the sheet bundle discharged to the bin 41 will be described below.

There are a center line reference and a single-sided alignment reference as a reference for positioning the original placed on the platen glass of the image forming apparatus main body 1. The stapling operation based on the center line alignment reference will be described.

When the size of the paper (copy paper) P discharged from the image forming apparatus main body 1 is manually set or automatically determined, the bin moving unit 40 of the sorter is electrically driven to a predetermined position corresponding to the paper size. Is reached, the system enters a standby state where it is stopped by the signal of the position detection sensor. In this standby position, the stopper wall 41D of the bin 41 is located at a position separated by δ (for example, about 10 mm) from the widthwise side edge of the paper P to enter.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the operation of discharging the minimum size sheet P1 (for example, B5 size, 257 mm wide) from the image forming apparatus main body 1 on the basis of the center line and aligning the width. In this state, the bin moving unit 40 of the sorter is located at the home position, and the forefront of the bin moving unit 40 is the other fixed part of the sorter, for example, the base 10, the down conveyance unit 20, the up conveyance unit.
It is flush with the forefront of each of the 30.

In this state, the sheet P1 enters from the left side in the figure, rises along the slope of the bin 41, and then slides down by its own weight, stops against the rear stopper 41S of the bin 41.

After the sheet P is stopped, the alignment rod 54 swings and presses one side edge of the sheet P to shift the sheet P toward the front side by an amount of shift δ, and stops the other side edge of the sheet P1 by a stopper. Abut the wall 41D. The offset amount δ is set to be substantially the same for other sheets of different sizes (for example, A4 size, B4 size, A3 size, etc.).

FIG. 10 shows a sheet P2 of the maximum size (for example, A3
4 is a plan view showing a state in which a document (width, width 420 mm) is stored in a bin 41 on the basis of a center line and paper is aligned.

Sheet P carried out from image forming apparatus main body 1
When the size of 2 is set manually or automatically,
The bin moving unit 40 of the sorter is electrically driven to the front side, moves by a displacement amount x from a position indicated by a broken line to a position indicated by a solid line, and stops at a predetermined position (baseline) BL common to each sheet size. This movement amount x is a position where the stopper wall 41D reaches the same position as the minimum size sheet P1.

That is, the moving amount x is from the maximum size of the paper (for example, 17 inches) to the minimum size (for example, B5 size,
257 mm) minus half (for example, 87.4 mm). During this time, the side edge of the sheet bundle on the bin 41 is pressed by the alignment rod 54 and moves. Therefore, the offset amount δ for paper alignment is a fixed amount regardless of the size of the paper, and the paper alignment is performed uniformly at the same speed and pressure.

Similarly, after the medium-size sheet is moved to the stop position of the baseline BL, the width of the sheet is adjusted.

The paper P discharged from the apparatus main body 1 in this manner is pressed one by one against the stopper wall 41D by the swinging alignment rod 54, and is aligned in the paper width with the base line BL.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a bin swinging process showing a stapling operation.

When it is detected that the set number of sheets are all stored in the bin 41, the second arm 71B of the bin rocking device 70 starts rocking, and the roller 72 at the leading end thereof.
The lever 61 is swung, and the paper pressing member 63B presses the sheet bundle from above, thereby preventing the sheet from shifting.

When a staple signal is input to the stopped bin moving section 40, the bin swinging device 70 is driven first, the arm 71B swings, and the roller 72 at the leading end is moved to one end of the paper pressing device 60. Is pressed, the bin 41 swings about the slide piece 44 (about 12 °) and stops.

At this stop position, the rear end corner of the sheet bundle is inserted into the gap between the binding portions of the stapler device 80, and the stapler 83 is driven and bound by the driving of the stapler device 80.

After the stapling is completed, the arm 71B is driven to return to the original position, so that the bin 41 is urged by the spring to return to the original position, and the paper pressing member 62B is separated from the sheet bundle surface to form a sheet bundle. Can be taken out of the bin 41.

When the stapling of the sheet bundle stored in the uppermost one of the bins 41 is completed, a common frame 82 integrally formed with the stapler device 80 and the bin swinging device 70 is formed.
Is lowered by the drive source to swing the lower bin 41 by one step, thereby performing the stapling operation in the same manner as described above. During this time, the paper discharging operation is being performed on the bin 41 one or two stages lower.

Hereinafter, the stapler device 80, which is integral with the bin swinging device 70, sequentially descends or ascends to perform stapling work with the second and third bins in the same manner as the first bin, and after each stapling is completed. The number of times of stapling and the number of copies for each document are compared, and the movement and driving operation of the stapling apparatus are performed until the numbers are the same. If the comparisons match, all operations are completed and the stapler
80 returns to the stapler driving position of the first bin and enters a standby state.

At the same time, when stapling of all the sheet bundles is completed, the bin moving unit 40 returns to the home position and enters a standby state. This home position was the position where the bin moving unit 40 was most retracted, but the most advanced position is set as the home position for large-size paper, and it is selected so that the bin moving unit 40 is retracted when small-sized paper is stored. You may.

[0060]

As described above, according to the present invention,
After moving the bin moving part of the sorter body in accordance with the paper size, and then storing the paper in the bin, the amount of misalignment of the paper can always be kept constant regardless of the paper size. The pressing force of the paper by the alignment bar became constant, and the alignment of the paper was significantly improved. This makes it possible to accurately align the paper after the image forming process, and to stabilize the staple position in all the bins particularly when performing stapling or punching. By positioning, the sheet bundle can be stapled accurately and reliably.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a sorter connected to an image forming apparatus main body.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of components of a branch conveyance path of a sheet and an upper bin of a sorter.

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of a lower portion of a sorter.

FIG. 4 is a front sectional view of the matching device.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a bin, an aligning device, and a paper pressing device.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the matching device.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a bottle equipped with a paper presser.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the bin swinging device.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a bin accommodating a minimum size sheet and an aligning device.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a bin accommodating a maximum size sheet and an aligning device.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a swinging process of the bin.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus main body (copier main body) 10 ... Base part 20 ... Down conveyance part 30 ... Up conveyance part 40 ... Bin moving part 41 ... Bin 43 ... Fixed shaft 44 ... Slide piece 45 ... Pin 50 ... Alignment device 51 … Lower support shaft 52… Lower arm 54… Alignment bar 55… Upper arm 56… Upper support shaft 60… Paper press device 61… Lever 63 B… Paper press member 65… Leaf spring 66… Leaf spring 70… Bin swing device 71 A… First arm 71B Second arm 72 Roller 74 Rotating shaft 75 Cam plate 78 Follower shaft 80 Stapler device 83 Staple P Paper (sheet)

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B65H 31/38 B65H 39/11 G03G 15/00 534

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A plurality of bins for arranging and storing sheets of various sizes discharged from the image forming apparatus based on a center; and aligning means for aligning the sheets stored in the bins with a reference wall. In the sorter, the plurality of bins are housed in a unitized housing, and the housing is movable in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance in accordance with the sheet width, and the size of the sheets stored in the bins is reduced. A sorter equipped with a stapler device, wherein the bin unit is moved by a predetermined amount in advance, and the sheet shift amount by the aligning means is always substantially constant regardless of the sheet size.