JP3071502B2 - Image forming equipment sorter - 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 which is disposed in communication with a discharge section of an electrophotographic copying machine, printer or other image forming apparatus and distributes and stores sheets introduced from the image forming apparatus. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a sorter used in an image forming apparatus such as an electrostatographic copying machine, for example, the sorter shown in FIGS.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, reference numeral 21 denotes a sorter, 22 denotes an endless transport belt provided in a vertical direction for transporting sheets introduced into the sorter 21 from an electrostatographic copying machine (not shown), and 23. Is a plurality of paper discharge rollers provided along the outer surface of the conveyor belt 22, and 24 is a roller under each paper discharge roller 23 in order to deflect or discharge the paper conveyed by the paper discharge roller 23 and the conveyor belt 22. A deflection guide disposed on the side portion is configured to swing with a solenoid (not shown) or the like in a direction closer to the transport belt 22 and in a direction farther away. 25 is a bearing roller provided for each paper discharge roller 23.

A pair of tray holders 26a and 26b stand in parallel, and support grooves 27a and 27b are formed on the opposite surfaces thereof so as to face each other and correspond to the respective deflection guides 24. . Reference numeral 28 denotes a sort tray formed of a synthetic resin or the like with a concave cross section, and has vertical walls 30a, 30b at its mounting end 29.
Outside the upper end of the support wall so that it can be inserted into the support grooves 27a and 27b.
31a and 31b are protruded. Then, the maximum width of sheets stored in the sort tray 28 is sufficiently wider than the maximum width of sheets introduced from an electrostatographic copying machine or the like,
The paper is configured to be stably stocked therein. Then, the support walls 31a, 31b are inserted into the support grooves 27a, 27b, and the sort tray 28 is mounted on the tray holders 26a, 26b.

[0005] The sorter 21 configured as described above receives paper from an electrostatographic copier or the like, and receives
When the sheet is conveyed to the upper end of the sheet 22, the sheet is conveyed downward by the conveying belt 22 and the sheet discharging roller 23. And deflection guide
If the paper 24 is swinging in a direction closer to the transport belt 22, the paper will be placed on the deflection guide 24,
The deflection guide 24 deflects the sheet traveling direction and discharges the sheet to the sort tray 28. Further, when the deflection guide 24 swings in a direction away from the conveyor belt 22, the sheet passes.

[0006]

In the conventional sorter, the maximum width of sheets stored in the sort tray 28 is sufficiently wider than the maximum width of sheets introduced from an electrostatographic copying machine or the like. Since the configuration is such that the entire width of the sheet can be accommodated in the inside of the sheet 28, there is a problem that the sorter becomes unnecessarily large.

In order to solve the problem that the sorter becomes unnecessarily large, there is a method of reducing the distance between the edge of the sheet which is deflected by the deflection guide 24 and advances and the inner surface of the upright wall 30a of the sort tray 28. However, the mounting end 29 of the sort tray 28 configured to have a concave cross section is attached to the tray holder 26a,
Since it is inserted between the tray holders 26b, the standing walls 30a, 30b are located in a state where each of the standing walls 30a, 30b is lined up on each of the opposing surfaces of the tray holders 26a, 26b, and their upper end surfaces form a step as shown in FIG. Therefore, when the distance between the edge of the paper that is sorted and advanced by the deflection guide 24 and the standing wall 30a is reduced, the edge of the paper 32 is placed on the upper surface of the standing wall 30a and the sorting tray is placed as shown by the chain line in FIG. There is a possibility that the paper may be stored in the paper tray 28, and this causes a problem that causes a paper stock defect.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to reduce the size and to prevent the edge of the sheet from being placed on the upper surface of the upright wall of the sort tray having a concave cross section. The aim is to get a sorter.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a sorter for an image forming apparatus, wherein a sorter tray is provided with a support groove opposed to a pair of tray holders which are erected in parallel and has a concave cross section. A sorter for an image forming apparatus, wherein each of the support walls protruding outside each of the standing walls of the mounting end is inserted into the support groove so that the mounting end of the sort tray is mounted between the pair of tray holders. , A guide wall for guiding the sorted sheets to the sort tray is formed by extending an upright wall of the mounting end of the sort tray upward.

[0010]

The sorter of the image forming apparatus of the present invention guides the edge of the sorted sheet on the inner side surface of the guide wall when the sorted sheet is placed on the upper surface of the upright wall of the sort tray. Is prevented from resting on the upper surface of the upright wall, and the entire width of the sheet can be accommodated in the sort tray.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of a sorter of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a sorter into which sheets are introduced from an electrophotographic copying machine or other image forming apparatus (not shown), and 2 denotes a sheet transported for sorting.
An endless conveyance belt provided vertically in order to convey it downward, a plurality of paper discharge rollers 3 provided at intervals along the outer surface of the conveyance belt 2, and a conveyance belt 2
A deflecting guide disposed at the lower side of each of the paper discharge rollers 3 for sorting or passing the paper conveyed by the paper discharge rollers 3, in a direction closer to the conveyor belt 2 and in a direction away from the conveyor belt 2. At this time, it is configured to swing with a solenoid (not shown) or the like. Reference numeral 5 denotes a bearing roller provided for each sheet discharging roller 3.

Reference numerals 6a and 6b denote a pair of tray holders which stand upright in parallel. Support grooves 7a and 7b are provided on each of these opposed surfaces so as to face each other and correspond to the position of each deflection guide 4. ing. These support grooves 7a and 7b are provided so as to be inclined so that the downstream side in the traveling direction of the sheets sorted by the deflection guide 4 becomes higher. Reference numeral 8 denotes a sort tray formed of a synthetic resin or the like,
a, 10b are erected and formed into a concave cross-section, and the support groove is formed at the mounting end 11 outside the upper end of the upright walls 10a, 10b.
Support walls 12a and 12b are protruded so as to be inserted into 7a and 7b, and a standing wall 10a on the mounting end 11 side is extended upward to guide a wall.
13 are formed. The guide wall 13 is high and has an inclined inner surface whose upper end is inclined outward (FIG. 2).
As a reference), the distance between the inner surface of the upper end portion of the guide wall 13 and the edge of the sorted sheet is increased to guide the edge of the sorted sheet, and the entire width thereof is set to the receiving plate 9 of the sort tray 8. It is configured to be put on the.

When the introduced paper reaches the upper end of the transport belt 2 driven by a drive source (not shown), the sorter 1 of the image forming apparatus transfers the paper to the transport belt 2 and the paper discharge roller 3. The sheet is conveyed downward in a clamping state. Then, the paper is sorted by the deflection guide 4 swinging in a direction approaching the conveyor belt 2 and is discharged to the sort tray 8, and the edge of the discharged paper and the inner surface of the upright wall 10a of the sort tray 8 are separated. Even if the interval between the sheets is small, the edge of the sheet is guided by the inner surface of the guide wall 13 so that the edge of the sheet is
Prevent it from resting on the top surface of a. Therefore, unlike the above-described conventional example, the end of the sheet does not rest on the upper surface of the upright wall 10a, and the sheet can be stored in the sort tray 8 with the entire width resting on the receiving plate 9, resulting in defective stock. It is possible to eliminate things.

The guide wall 13 is high and the inner surface is inclined. However, the guide wall 13 is formed such that the ends of the sheets sorted and discharged by the deflecting guide 4 are guided by the guide wall.
Even when the guide wall 13 comes into contact with the upper surface of the guide plate 13, if the guide wall 13 is raised to the extent that the paper slides on the inner surface side due to the height of the guide wall 13, the inner surface thereof is Arbitrary, such as making it almost vertical. The guide wall 13 is a standing wall.
It is also possible to provide for each of 10a and 10b.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment and relates to the guide wall. The guide wall 13a is formed by extending the upright wall 10a of the sort tray 8 upward, and it is impossible to maintain the state even if the end of the sorted paper is put on the upper end surface. To some extent, the inner side surface is inclined so that the upper end surface becomes thinner. The height of the guide wall 13a is arbitrary, such as being lower than the guide wall 13 of the first embodiment. The other configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, so that the same reference numerals are given.

In the second embodiment, since the inner surface of the guide wall 10a is an inclined surface and the upper surface is considerably thin, the edge of the sorted paper is placed on the upper surface of the guide wall 10a. Even if it does, it is impossible to maintain that state, and the paper slides on the inclined inner surface, and the entire width thereof is placed on the receiving plate 9 and stored in the sort tray 8.
Therefore, it is possible to set the difference between the maximum width of the sheets introduced from the image forming apparatus into the sorter and the maximum sheet storage width of the sort tray 8 relatively small.

[0018]

As described above, the sorter of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention has the guide wall provided by extending the upright wall at the mounting end of the sort tray upward. Then, when the edge of the sorted paper is put on the upper surface of the upright wall,
By guiding the edge of the sheet on the inner surface of the guide wall, the edge of the sheet is prevented from being placed on the upper surface of the standing wall, and the entire width of the sheet can be accommodated in the sort tray. Therefore, the sorter is reduced in size by reducing the difference between the maximum width of the paper introduced into the sorter from the image forming apparatus and the maximum paper storage width of the sort tray, and the entire width of the sorted paper is stably stocked in each sort tray. It is possible to

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side sectional view of a main part of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side sectional view of a main part of a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a front sectional view of a conventional example.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side sectional view of a main part of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

6a, 6b… Tray holder, 8… Sort tray, 10a, 10b
... standing wall, 11 ... mounting end, 12a, 12b ... support wall, 13 ... guide wall.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-58-216681 (JP, A) JP-A-2-13062 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 39/00-39/16 B65H 31/00-31/40

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A support groove is provided opposite to a pair of tray holders standing upright in parallel, and a support protrudingly provided on each outer side of an upright wall of a mounting end portion of a sort tray having a concave cross section. A guide wall for guiding sorted paper to a sort tray in a sorter of an image forming apparatus in which each of the walls is inserted into the support groove and the mounting end of the sort tray is inserted between a pair of tray holders. But,
A sorter for an image forming apparatus, wherein the sorter tray is formed by extending an upright wall of the mounting end of the sort tray upward.