JP3397562B2 - Sheet storage device and image forming 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 sheet storage device and an image forming apparatus having a plurality of trays for storing sheets.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a sheet storage device for storing sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus, an image is stored in a bin moving type sorter having a plurality of movable bins, or in a plurality of fixed bins. There is a bottle fixed sorter that sorts the sheets after they are formed.

[0003]

However, when the image forming apparatus equipped with the sorter as described above is a color copying machine, for example, there are the following problems.

That is, generally, an image such as a photograph is often used as an original to be copied by a color copying machine, and the surface of the sheet after passing through the fixing device after the image is transferred,
The toner is fixed on the entire surface of the sheet.
The thermally expanded toner immediately after the fixing is cooled with the passage of time, the toner shrinks on the sheet, and the sheet largely curls. As the sheet cools, the amount of curl increases. When the curled sheet is discharged from the color copying machine onto the bin of the sorter, there is a problem in that the trailing edge of the sheet blocks the sheet discharge port of the sorter, resulting in a jam.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a sheet storage device according to the present invention is provided with a plurality of trays for storing sheets conveyed by a conveying means, and sheets in each of the plurality of trays. To move the positions of the plurality of trays with respect to the transporting means and to increase the distance between the tray to be stored and the adjacent tray, and to move the positions of the plurality of trays with respect to the conveying means. A detection unit that detects the presence or absence of a sheet; a measurement unit that measures the continuous opening time of the tray in which the interval between the trays is widened by the moving unit while the presence of the sheet is detected by the detection unit; When the time measured by the measuring means is more than a predetermined time, widen the intervals of the trays that do not contain the sheets, and Narrowing the interval, and having a control means for controlling the tray moving means so as to press the sheet on the tray, the.

[0006]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a color image forming apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention. In this example,
A digital color image reader unit 201 (hereinafter abbreviated as “reader unit”) on the upper portion, a digital color image printer unit 202 (hereinafter abbreviated as “printer unit”) at the lower portion, a reader unit 2
The image processing unit 203 is provided between the printer 01 and the printer unit 202. RDF Control Unit (900) FIG. 9 shows an RDF control unit 90.
It is a block diagram which shows the circuit structure of 0. This device includes a central processing unit (CPU) 901, a read-only memory (ROM) 902, and a random access memory (RAM).
The controller 900 includes a control unit 903, an output port 904, an input port 905, and the like. The ROM 902 stores a control program, and the RAM 903 stores input data and work data. Also output port 904
Is connected to various motors such as the above-described separation motor and solenoid driving means, a paper feed sensor is connected to the input port 905, and the CPU 901 connects each unit connected via a bus according to a control program stored in the ROM 902. Control. Further, the CPU 901 has a serial interface function, performs serial communication with the CPU of the reader control unit 700 (FIG. 2), and exchanges control data with the reader control unit. The data transmitted from the RDF control unit 900 to the reader control unit 700 is a paper feed completion signal or the like indicating the completion of feeding the original onto the platen glass.

Sorter Control Unit (1000) FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the sorter control unit 1000.
This device includes a control device 1000 including a central processing unit (CPU) 1001, a read only memory (ROM) 1002, a random access memory (RAM) 1003, an output port 1004, an input port 1005, etc. Control program is stored,
Input data and work data are stored in the RAM 1003. Further, various motors such as the shift motor 421 are connected to the output port 1004, and the input port 1004
5, sensors and switches from S401 to S406 such as the non-sorted path sensor S401 are connected,
The CPU 1001 controls each unit connected via the bus according to the control program stored in the ROM 1002. Further, the CPU 1001 has a serial interface function, performs serial communication with the CPU of the printer control unit 701, and controls each unit by a signal from the printer control unit 701.

Next, the sorter control unit 1 in this embodiment
000 control flow will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 11 to 31 and the apparatus schematic diagrams of FIGS. 27 and 28.

(1) Mode Processing First, the mode processing, which is the overall processing of the present embodiment, will be described with reference to FIG. In step 101,
The presence or absence of a "sorter start signal" indicating that sheet ejection from the copying machine body is started is determined.
Proceed to step 103. If there is no "sort start signal" at step 101, the manual staple key is checked to be turned on at step 125, and if it is on, a tray or bin (hereinafter, referred to as a bin) is selected according to a retract sequence (step 2050: described later) (FIG. 23). After curling the sheets stacked on the sheet, the sheet is returned to the original bin by the return sequence (step 2100: described later) (FIG. 14), and the manual stapling process (step 80) is performed.
0: described later) (FIG. 18), and the save sequence (s
The curl of the sheets stacked in the tray, that is, the bin is suppressed by step 2050: described later. S if off
The stacking state monitoring process of step 900 (FIG. 19) (described later) is performed, and then it is determined that there is no paper through all the bins (st
ep131), if not present, the process is returned to step 101. If yes, the bin position is initialized (step 1
33) and then the process is returned to step 101.

At steps 103 to 107, the mode relating to the storage of the sheets discharged from the copying machine is discriminated, and the process proceeds to each process described later. That is, in the non-sort mode, a non-sort process (step 1) described later is performed.
03, step 200), sort processing described later in the case of sort mode (step 105, step 300), group processing described later in the case of group mode (step)
107, step 400), and in cases other than the above, the process proceeds to stack processing (step 500) described later. After each of the above processing, curl of the sheets stacked in the bin is suppressed by a retreat sequence (described later), and if the staple mode is then set (step 117), the sheet is returned to the original bin position by a return sequence (described later). Then, a stapling process (step 600) described later is performed, and after curl of the sheet in the bin is suppressed by a retracting sequence (described later), the process is returned to step 101.

(2) Non-sorting process Next, the operation of the above-mentioned non-sorting mode will be described with reference to FIG. First, in order to store the sheets in the uppermost bin, the bin unit is lowered to the non-sort home position for initialization of the bin (step 201). Then, the conveyance path 4 is used as a sheet conveyance path inside the sorter.
The flapper 409 is switched to select 06 (s
(Step 203). The flapper 409 has a drive solenoid (not shown) for switching it, and when it is normally off, it is at a position where the transport path 407 is selected, and when it is on, the transport path 406 is selected. . After step 203, in step 205, the conveyance motor for conveying the sheet is turned on, the pass sensor is turned on,
Check off (step 207), step1
The process proceeds to the stored number counting process (described later) of 050 (FIG. 20). In other words, this is to count the number of sheets that will be stored in the bin after passing through the transport path. After that, after performing the overload monitoring process (step 1100: described later) (FIG. 21), the presence or absence of the “sorter start signal” is checked (s
Perform step 209). If the "sorter start signal" is on, the process returns to step 207, and if it is off, the transport motor is stopped at step 211, and then step 2
At 13, the flapper is turned off and the non-sorting process ends.

(3) Sorting Process Next, the operation of the sort mode described above will be described with reference to FIG. First, it is determined whether the bin position to start the operation is designated (step 327), and if it is designated, the bin is moved to that position (step 329). If not specified, check whether there is a "bin initial signal" for storing sheets from the top bin (step).
301), if there is no "bin initial signal", ste
p305, and if there is, go to step 303. step
In 303, the bin unit is lowered to the non-sort home position as the bin initialization. step305
Then, the carry motor is turned on, and then the pass sensor is checked to be turned on (step 307). If the pass sensor is not turned on in step 307, the process proceeds to step 323, and if it is turned on, in step 309, the aligning rod is retracted to perform the aligning operation on the discharged sheet later. After that, when it is detected that the pass sensor is off, an alignment operation with respect to the stored sheets is performed (step 313), a number of sheets counting process (step 1050) (FIG. 20), and an overload monitoring process (step 1100) (FIG. 21) are performed. Then, in step 315, the matching rods are saved according to the presence or absence of the shift direction inversion signal (step 317), 1-bin shift (step 319) and inversion processing (step 32).
Perform 1). In the inversion process, the subsequent process for inverting the bin shift direction is performed, and the bin shift operation is not performed. If the "sort start signal" is turned on in step 323, the process is returned to step 307, and if the "sort start signal" is turned off, the carry motor is stopped in step 325 and the sorter process is ended.

(4) Group Processing Next, the operation of the above-mentioned group mode will be described with reference to FIG. First, it is determined whether the bin position for starting the operation is designated (step 427), and if it is designated, the bin is moved to that position (step 429). If not specified, check whether there is a "bin initial signal" for storing sheets from the top bin (step
p401), if there is no "bin initial signal", st
ep405, and if there is, go to step403. ste
In p403, the bin unit is lowered to the non-sort home position for bin initialization. step40
In 5, the conveyance motor is turned on, and then the pass sensor is checked to be turned on (step 407). If the pass sensor is not turned on in step 407, the process proceeds to step 423, and if it is turned on, in step 409, the aligning rod is retracted to perform the aligning operation on the discharged sheet later. After that, when it is detected that the pass sensor is off, the alignment operation to the sheet is performed (step 413), the number of sheets is counted (step 1050) (FIG. 20), and the stacking over-monitoring process (step 1100) (FIG. 21) is performed. Then, if there is a bin shift signal in step 415, if there is a bin shift signal, the matching rod is retracted (step 417) and shifted by 1 bin (step 419).
Go to 3. If the "sorter start signal" is turned on in step 423, the process is returned to step 407, and if the "sorter start signal" is turned off, st
At ep425, the carry motor is stopped and the sorting process is ended.

(5) Stack Processing Next, the operation of the above-mentioned stack mode will be described with reference to FIG. First, it is determined whether the bin position for starting the operation is designated (step 527), and if it is designated, the bin is moved to that position (step 529). If there is no designation, first check whether there is a "bin initial signal" for storing sheets from the top bin (s
Step 501), if there is no "bin initial signal", go to step 505, and if there is, go to step 503. s
At step 503, the bin unit is lowered to the non-sort home position for bin initialization. step
In 505, the carry motor is turned on, and then the pass sensor is checked to be turned on (step 507). step507
If the pass sensor is not turned on at step 523, the process proceeds to step 523, and if it is turned on, at step 509, the aligning rod is retracted because the aligning operation is performed later on the discharged sheet. After that, when it is detected that the pass sensor is off (step 511), the alignment operation to the sheet is performed (st
ep513), number counting process (step 1050)
(FIG. 20), overload monitoring process (step 1100)
(FIG. 21) is performed. Then, in step 515, if the number of stored bins that have been stored does not reach the upper limit, step
p523, if it has reached, retreat the matching rod (step5
17) and 1-bin shift (step 519). Then, if the "sorter start signal" is turned on in step 523, the process is returned to step 507, and if the "sorter start signal" is turned off, the carry motor is stopped in step 525 to end the stack process.

(6) Stapling Process Next, the stapling process will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the flow of stapling processing. First, in step 601, the bin position is initialized for a series of stapling processes. The bin position initialized is the position of the uppermost or lowermost bin in use. When the movement is completed, the shift direction is set downward when the position is at the upper side, and the shift direction is set upward when the position is at the lower side.
Then, the process proceeds to step 700 to perform the stapling operation process. Details of the staple operation processing step 700 will be described later. When the stapling process is completed, the program
In step 609, it is determined whether or not the stapled bundle is the final bundle in a series of stapling processes. If it is the final bundle, the stapling process is ended, but if it is not the final bundle, it is shifted by 1 bin and then the process returns to step 700 to continue the process.

Details of the stapling operation process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, in step 901, it is determined whether or not the stapler has staples for stapling. If there is a needle, the program proceeds to step 903, and the bundle is held by the aligning rod so that the bundle does not shift. Next, the process proceeds to step 905, stapling is performed, and st
At ep907, the aligning rod is retracted, and the stapling process at one place is completed. When it is determined that there is no needle in step 901, the process proceeds to step 913, the needleless alarm is output to the main body, and the process ends.

(7) Manual stapling process Next, the manual stapling operation will be described with reference to FIG. Manual staple is a stack of paper on the bin,
Alternatively, it is a mode in which the user staples a bundle of paper inserted in the bin, and staples only one bin.
First, at step 801, the stapler is moved to the staple position. When the movement is completed, the stapler paper sensor a near the stapler determines whether or not there is paper in the stapler portion (step 803). If there is paper, the program proceeds to step 805 and staples with stapler a. If it is determined in step 803 that there is no paper in the stapler a portion, or after stapling with the stapler a is completed in step 805, the program is
Proceed to step 811. Then, the stapler is moved to the retracted position, and the process ends.

(8) Loading State Monitoring Process Next, the loading state monitoring process will be described with reference to FIG. First, the counter on the program: i is cleared (step 901). Then, at step 903, the counter is incremented by 1, the sheet detection sensor is checked from the uppermost bin to the i-th bin (step 905), the process proceeds to step 909 if there is no paper, and if there is no paper, then for each bin. Set load counter: Ni 0
To clear (step 907). After that, the same processing is performed for all the bins (step 903 to step 903).
909), after the end of the final bin (step 909), the processing is completed.

Next, the stored number counting process will be described with reference to FIG. In step 1001, the counter on the program: i is set to the bin number from which sheets are to be discharged, and in step 1003, the stacking sheet counter corresponding to the i is incremented by 1, and the process ends.

Next, the overload monitoring process will be described with reference to FIG. In step 1103, it is determined whether or not the number of sheets currently stored in the bin is larger than the preset maximum number of sheets to be stacked. If the number of stacked sheets is not more than the upper limit number, the process is terminated, and if the number of stacked sheets is more than the upper limit sheet, an overload alarm is output to the printer body (step 1105).
This overload alarm is communication data that informs the printer that more than the set number of sheets have been stored in the sorter. When the printer receives this data, the sheet for image formation is promptly sent. To stop the sheet feeding to the sorter (to continue the operation after releasing the alarm).

Next, the storing process will be described with reference to FIG. 22. First, it is judged whether or not the output is by copying (step 1201).
3, the process proceeds to step 1221 if the determination is negative. s
At step 1203, the bin counter k is initialized to 0.
In step 1205, the counter k is incremented by 1, and it is determined whether or not a sheet is stored in the kth bin (st
ep1207). At this time, if stored, step1
Returning to 205, if not stored, store in the kth bin (step 1209). If the stored sheet is the final sheet, the process is terminated. If not, it is determined whether there is a storage bin change request (step 1213). If there is no request, the process returns to step 1209, and if there is a request, the bin counter k Is incremented by 1 (step121
5) Return to step 1209.

In step 1221, the bin counter k is initialized to N + 1. In step 1223, the counter k is decremented by 1 and it is determined whether or not the paper is stored in the kth bin (step 1225). At this time, if it is stored, the process returns to step 1223, and if it is not stored, it is stored in the kth bin (step 1227). Then, if the stored paper is the final paper, the processing is terminated, and if not, it is determined whether or not there is a storage bin change request (s
If there is no request, the process returns to step 1227. If there is a request, the bin counter k is decremented by 1 (step 1233), and the process returns to step 1227.

Next, the save sequence processing will be described with reference to FIG. In step 2051, a target evacuation position is calculated, and if the result (step 2053) is the same as the current bin, evacuation is not necessary, so an evacuation alarm is set (step 2061) and processing is terminated. Is the current bin position (BIN_PO
S) is stored in the return position (RET_BIN) (step
(p2055), the moving operation is performed to the retracted position (ESC_BIN) (step 2057). Then, after the moving operation is completed, the evacuation alarm is cleared and the evacuation state flag is set (step 2059).

Next, the return sequence process will be described with reference to FIG. At step 2101, it is checked whether the evacuation state is set, and if it is not the evacuation state, it is not necessary to recover. Therefore, an evacuation alarm is set (step 2
109) to end the processing, and if it is in the retracted state, move to the return position (RET_BIN) (step).
2103, step 2105). Then, the evacuation alarm is cleared and the evacuation status flag is set (step 2
107).

Next, the movement operation will be described with reference to FIG. First, the current bin position (BIN_POS) and the movement destination (MOV_BIN) are compared (step 2201),
If they are the same, the process is terminated, and if they are different, step2
The processing is moved to 203. In step 2203, the magnitude relationship between the current bin position (BIN_POS) and the movement target position is determined, and if the movement target bin is smaller, it is shifted down by 1 bin (step 2205) and the current position counter is decremented by 1 (step 2207). To do. If the moving target bin is larger, the bin is shifted up by 1 bin (step 2209) and the current position counter is incremented by 1 (step 2211).

Next, the calculation of the retracted position will be described with reference to FIG. First, the bin position counter (BIN_C
N (20) (the number representing the position of the bottom bin in this configuration) is set in N) (step 2301). Then, the number of sheets (VOL (BIN_CN)) stacked in the bin indicated by the bin position counter (BIN_CN) is confirmed, and if the number is “0”, the process is moved to step 2309 and the bin at that time is checked. The position counter (BIN_CN) is stored in the retracted position (ESC_BIN). If the number of stacked sheets is other than "0", it is confirmed whether the bin position counter is "1" (step 2305). If it is not "1", the bin position counter (BIN_CN) is decremented by 1 and the processing is performed. Return to step 2303 and continue the process, "1"
In the case of, the processing is moved to step 2309 and the calculation processing is ended.

Next, the evacuation sequence will be schematically described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, the original 3
The following shows the sort mode with the number of sheets and the numeral number 3. FIG. 27 shows the bin state and the stacking state of the sheets at the time when the sort mode process is finished. The bin II-III between the bin in which the paper III-is finally discharged and the bin above it is II-III. Wider than between bins. Therefore, the above-mentioned paper III- is bins II and III.
Does not receive the clamping force from. For this reason, the paper curls in the process of cooling the heated toner on the paper. On the other hand, FIG. 28 shows the bin state and the sheet stacking state at the time when the evacuation sequence is performed to retract the bin from the state in which the bin storing the paper in the end of FIG. 27 corresponds to the sort path. The space between the bins is constant and the paper is sandwiched. As a result, since the paper is pressed while the toner on the paper cools, the occurrence of curling can be reduced. In addition, when storing the seat,
As shown in 7, the bin is returned so that the bin in which the paper is stored last corresponds to the sort path, which will be described later.

Next, the opening time management will be described with reference to FIG. At step 2401, the current bin position is stored in the counter i and the release time measuring timer Tk other than the i-th bin is reset (step 2402). here,
When the number of loaded sheets Ni of the i-th bin is not 0 (step
2403), it is confirmed that the opening time measuring timer for the i-th bin is in operation (step 2405), and if it is not in operation, the measurement by that timer is started (step 2407), and the process proceeds to step 2409. If Ni is 0, the process is returned to step 2401. step2409
Then, it is determined whether or not Ti has timed out, and if Ti has timed out, it is confirmed whether or not the save request flag is set (step 2411), and if not set, it is set (step 2413) and the timer is reset. . If the time is not up, the process is st
Return to ep2401.

Next, the evacuation management will be described with reference to FIG. In step 2501, it is confirmed whether or not the save request flag is set. If not, the process is returned to step 2501. If set, check whether the sheet is being conveyed (step 250
3) If it is not being carried, the process is moved to step 2505, and if it is being carried, the process is returned to step 2501. s
In step 2505, the save sequence is performed, and the save request flag is reset after the sequence ends (step 250
7) and returns the processing to step 2501.

Next, recovery management will be described with reference to FIG. In step 2601, when image formation is started when the evacuation state flag is set (st
ep2603), a recovery sequence is performed (step26
05). If a negative determination is made in steps 2601 and 2603, the process is returned to step 2601.

A curl motor driver 763 drives a curl motor which is a drive source of a curl correction unit 500 (not shown) and an eccentric cam motor 507 shown in FIG.

Next, the curl correction unit 50 in this embodiment.
The control method for 0 and the sorter 400 will be described in detail. First, an outline of curl correction control in the curl correction unit 500 will be described, and details will be described using a flowchart.

As shown in FIG. 3, the single-sided output paper is often discharged from the heat roller fixing device 9 in a normal curl (convex downward) state. It is known that the positive curl of the paper is caused by the toner heated and melted by the heat roller fixing device 9 and contracted by the air cooling after the discharge, but the curl amount is the image density (toner amount), It is also known that the type of paper (material, rigidity, thickness, size, crease direction, etc.) and the surrounding temperature and humidity environment change, and there is a correlation between the above-mentioned change factors and the curl amount.

In the present invention, in addition to the above factors, the sorter 40
By providing the optimum curl correction control by comprehensively judging the 0 operation mode, the presence / absence of stapling, and the partial image density (toner amount), the quality of the output paper in the final form can be improved. To achieve.

First, a method of calculating the partial image density (toner amount) in the first embodiment will be described. To simplify the description, the partial image density (toner amount) will be described as an example in which the partial image density (toner amount) is divided into two, and the intrusion amount x in FIG. 3 that determines the curl correction amount can be switched to three levels. To do.

The following is a description with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 4 and FIG. FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the curl correction control, and the control is started when the image formation of the final color is completed (S6000).

The image density (toner amount) is converted into a toner amount based on the relationship between the potential amount and the toner amount obtained by an experiment after the potential at the time of image formation is suppressed by the potential sensor 12 and averaged. The toner amount here indicates the same numerical value even if the paper size is changed, as long as the toner amount per unit area is a uniform density. Color image (4
When forming (color), the toner amount is expressed by the sum of the magenta toner amount, the cyan toner amount, the yellow toner amount, and the black toner amount.

This toner amount calculation operation is performed after the image formation of the final color black is completed, and the former half average toner amount TNRtop, the latter half normal toner amount TNPbottom,
Three toner amounts of the total average toner amount TNRtotal are calculated (S6001). Next, the calculated toner amount is selectively used according to the stacking mode for the sorter 400. In the non-sort mode (S6002),
Since there is no matching operation, the load amount is more important than the load quality. Therefore, the total average toner amount TNRtotal is used as the toner amount for determining the intrusion amount (S6004).

Next, in the sort mode and the staple sort mode in which stapling is performed at the end of the job (S600
3) Since the portion to be stapled is the latter half of the sheet, the latter half average toner amount TNRbottom is used as the toner amount for determining the intrusion amount (S6005).

Next, when neither the non-sort mode nor the staple sort mode is in effect, that is, the sort mode or the group mode, the first half average toner amount TNRtop and the second half average toner amount TN are used to improve the stacking quality.
The one having the larger Rbottom is used as the toner amount in order to make the penetration amount a defect (S6006). In this case, the curl correction quality particularly when the toner amount has a deviation is significantly improved as compared with the case where the total average toner amount TNRtotal is used.

With this, the toner amount for determining the intrusion amount that determines the curl correction performance is determined. A method for determining the toner amount and the intrusion amount X will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, the intrusion amount x can be switched among three levels, which will be expressed as small intrusion amount, medium intrusion amount, and large intrusion amount. Since the curl amount is proportional to the toner amount as described above, when the total toner amount is taken on the horizontal axis, the switching point data 1 for small intrusion amount and medium intrusion amount and the switching point data for medium intrusion amount and large intrusion amount There are two. Further, since the curl amount depends on the paper size and the grain size, the data 1 and the data 2 are determined according to each paper size. The diagram in FIG. 5 expresses this. Further, since the curl amount also depends on the paper type, thickness, etc., corresponding data is prepared as shown in FIG. 5 depending on the type of paper on which an image can be formed, the OHP paper type, and the thick paper. The intrusion amount switching data for each paper size is determined from this chart, and the intrusion amount is determined from the intrusion amount determining toner amount described above (S6006).

In FIG. 1, in the reader unit 201, the original 30 is placed on the original table glass 31 and exposed and scanned by the exposure lamp 32, so that the reflected light image from the original 30 is converted into RGB three color separation filters by the lens 33. The full color sensor 34, which is integrally formed, collects the light and obtains a color separation image analog signal. The color-separated image analog signal is digitized through an amplifier circuit (not shown), processed by the image processing unit 203, and then sent to the printer unit 202.

In the printer unit 202, the photosensitive drum 1 as an image bearing member is rotatably supported in the direction of the arrow, and the pre-exposure lamp 11, the corona charger 2 and the laser exposure optical system 3 are arranged around the photosensitive drum 1. The potential sensor 12, the developing device 4 (developing devices 4y, 4c, 4m, 4Bk), the on-drum light amount detection sensor 13, the transfer device 5, and the cleaning device 6 are arranged.

In the laser exposure optical system 3, the reader unit 2
The image signal from 01 is converted into an optical signal by a laser output section (not shown), the converted laser light is reflected by the polygon mirror 3a, passes through the lens 3b and the mirror 3c,
It is projected on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1.

During image formation by the printer unit 202,
Rotate the photosensitive drum 1 in the direction of the arrow to move the pre-exposure lamp 11
The photosensitive drum 1 after the charge is removed in step 1 is uniformly charged by the charger 2, and then a light image E is emitted for each separated color to form a latent image.

Next, a predetermined developing device is operated to develop the latent image on the photosensitive drum 1, and a toner image based on resin is formed on the photosensitive drum 1. The developing device is an eccentric cam 2
By the operations of 4y, 24c, 24m, and 24Bk, the photosensitive drum 1 is selectively approached in accordance with each separated color.

The developed toner image on the photosensitive drum 1 is recorded on the recording material cassettes 7a, 7b, 7c and the intermediate tray 22.
Alternatively, the image is transferred from the recording material tray 7m to the recording material supplied to the position facing the photosensitive drum 1 via the transport system and the transfer device 5. The transfer device 5 of this example includes a transfer roller 5a serving as a recording material holding unit, a transfer charging device 5b, and a suction roller 5 facing a suction charging device 5c for electrostatically sucking a recording material.
g, an inner charging device 5d, and an outer charging device 5e, and a recording material carrying sheet 5f made of a dielectric material is cylindrically integrated in the peripheral opening area of the transfer drum 5a that is rotatably supported. It has been stretched. A dielectric sheet such as a polycarbonate film is used as the recording material carrying sheet 5f (hereinafter referred to as "transfer sheet 5f").

In this embodiment, since electrostatic attraction is used as the recording material carrying means, 1 / of the entire circumference of the transfer sheet 5f is used.
When the recording material is 2 or less (250 mm), images can be formed on two recording materials at the same time. The case of simultaneously forming images on these two recording sheets is referred to as "two-sheet attachment control", and the case of performing image formation by electrostatically attracting one recording material to the transfer sheet 5f is referred to as "one-sheet attachment control". ".

As the drum-shaped transfer device, that is, the transfer drum 5a is rotated, the toner image on the photosensitive drum 1 is transferred onto the recording material carried on the transfer sheet 5f by the transfer charger 5b. In this way, the transfer sheet 5
A desired number of color images are transferred to the recording material that is adsorbed and conveyed to f, and a full-color image is formed. In the case of forming a full-color image, the recording material on which the four color toner images have been transferred in this way is separated from the transfer sheet 5f from the transfer drum 5a by the action of the separation claw 8a, the separation push-up roller 8b and the separation charger 5h. After being subjected to curl correction control by a paper ejection curl correction unit 500, which will be described later, via the heat roller fixing device 9, the paper is sent to a paper ejection post-processing unit (sorter) 400 and subjected to desired post-processing such as collation and stapling. It

On the other hand, after the transfer, the photosensitive drum 1 is subjected to the image forming step again after the residual toner on the surface is cleaned by the cleaning device 6.

When images are formed on both sides of the recording material,
After the recording material having an image formed on one surface is discharged from the fixing device 9, the transport path switching guide 19 is immediately driven to guide the recording material through the transport vertical path 20 and then to the reversing path 21a. By the reverse rotation of the reversing roller 21b, the rear end of the fed-in roller is ejected in the direction opposite to the fed-in direction, and the trailing end is stored in the intermediate tray 22. After that, an image is formed on the other surface by the above-described image forming process. When images are formed on both the front and back sides of the recording material in this way, the first side of the recording material on which the image is first formed is the “first side of both sides”, and the second surface on which the image is formed is the “second side”. Both sides are second side. "

Further, in order to prevent scattering of powder on the recording material carrying sheet 5f of the transfer drum 5a and adhesion of oil described later on the recording material, a fur brush facing the recording material carrying sheet 5f is provided. 14 and a fur backup brush 15, an oil cleaning roller 16 and an oil cleaning backup brush 17 which face each other via the recording material carrying sheet 5f, and a polishing roller 18 and a polishing roller backup brush 19 which face each other via the recording material carrying sheet 5f. Use to clean. Such cleaning is performed before or after image formation, and at any time when a jam (paper jam) occurs.

Further, in this example, the eccentric cam 25 is operated at a desired timing, and the cam follower 5i integrated with the transfer drum 5a is operated, so that the gap between the recording material carrying sheet 5f and the photosensitive drum 1 is reduced. It has a configuration that can be set arbitrarily. For example, during standby or when the power is off, the transfer drum 5a and the photosensitive drum 1 are separated from each other.

Next, the curl correction unit 500 will be described. It is known that the paper curls when the toner image formed by the electrophotographic method is fixed on the paper. It is also well known that this curl adversely affects the alignment quality when performing post-ejection processing. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the curl correction unit 500 corrects the curl, and the paper ejection post-processing unit 4
00 is post-processed so that 00 is not adversely affected.

FIG. 3 is a curl correction unit 500 shown in FIG.
Shows the main part of. In FIG. 3, the curl portion 501 is composed of a soft large-diameter upper roller 502 and a metallic small-diameter lower roller 503 made of an elastic material such as silicon sponge.

The metal lower roller 503 is replaced by the elastic upper roller 502.
By pressing against, a convex nip is formed along the outer diameter of the metal lower roller 503, and the positive curl (convex downward) of the paper P passing through the nip is corrected.

The curl correction ability can be adjusted by changing the intrusion amount x of the metal lower roller 503 with respect to the elastic upper roller 502, and the change of the intrusion amount x can be changed.
The pressing arm 504 supporting 03 is pivoted about the support shaft 505 by the rotation of the eccentric cam 506. To rotate the eccentric cam 506, an eccentric cam motor 507 including a stepping motor or the like is driven. B. RDF (Circulating Automatic Document Feeder) (600) As shown in detail in FIG.
Stacking tray 61 as a first document tray for setting
0 is equipped. The stacking tray 610 is equipped with a feeding unit 300 that constitutes one part of the document feeding unit. This feeding means includes a half-moon roller 631, a separation conveyance roller 632, and a separation motor SPRMTR (not shown).
A registration roller 635, an entire belt 636,
Belt motor BELTMTR (not shown), conveyance large roller 637, and conveyance motor FEEDMTR (not shown)
, Paper discharge roller 640, flapper 641, recycle lever 642, paper feed sensor ENTS, reversal sensor T
It is composed of an RNS, a paper ejection sensor EJTS_ (not shown), and the like.

Here, the half-moon roller 631 and the separation / conveyance roller 632 are rotated by the separation motor SPRMTR,
The originals are separated one by one from the bottom of the sheet S on the stacking tray 610.

Further, the registration roller 635 and the entire surface belt 636 rotate the original separated by the belt motor BELTMTR to the exposure position (sheet path c) on the original table glass 101 via the sheet paths a and b. Transport. The conveyance large roller 637 is rotated by the conveyance motor FEEDMTR to move the document on the platen glass 31 to the sheet path c.
To the sheet path e. The document conveyed to the sheet path e is returned onto the document stack S of the stacking tray 610 by the discharge roller 640.

The recycle lever 642 detects one circulation of the original document. When the original document feeding is started, the recycle lever 642 is placed on the upper part of the original document bundle S, and the original documents are sequentially fed.
When the trailing edge of the final document falls through the recycle lever 642, it falls due to its own weight to detect the circulation of the document.

In the above-mentioned feeding means 630, when a double-sided original is used,
The original is once guided from the sheet paths a, b to c, then the conveyance large roller 637 is rotated, the flapper 641 is switched to guide the leading edge of the original to the sheet path d, and then the registration roller 635 passes the sheet path b. The original is inverted by being conveyed by the rear full-face bell 636 onto the original table glass 31 and stopped. That is, the document is reversed on the path of the sheet paths c-d-b.

The originals of the original stack S are passed through the sheet paths a to b to c to d one by one, and the recycle lever 64 is used.
The number of originals can be counted by transporting the sheet until it is detected that the sheet has made one circulation in step 2.

C. Sheet processing device (sorter) (40
0) Next, the sorter unit will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. In both figures, the sorter unit 400 comprises a machine body 402 and a bin unit 403.
A carry-in roller pair 405 is provided in the vicinity of. A transport path 406 or 407 is provided downstream of the carry-in roller pair 405.
A flapper 409 for switching the sheet conveying direction is provided. One of the transport paths 406 extends in a substantially horizontal direction, and the transport roller pair 408 is disposed downstream thereof, while the other transport path 406 extends in the downward direction and the transport roller pair 411 is disposed downstream thereof. And a stapler 412 (a, b) near the roller pair 411.
Is provided.

A pair of carry-in rollers 405 and a pair of carry rollers 40
8, 411 are driven by a conveyance motor 413 (not shown). A non-sort path sensor S401 that detects the passage of a sheet is provided on the transport path 406, and a sort path sensor S402 is provided on the transport path 407. Further, a bin unit 403 having a large number of bins B is arranged on the downstream side of the pair of transport rollers 408 and 411. One end of the bin unit 403 is engaged with a hook of the bin unit 403 and the other end is attached to the machine body 402. By holding the weight with a fixed spring, the bin unit 403 is supported so as to be able to move up and down.

Guide rollers 417 and 419 are rotatably supported on the upper and lower portions of the base side of the bin unit 403, and the guide rollers 417 and 419 are connected to the machine body 4 described above.
02 is provided with a guide groove 420 extending vertically.
It is configured to roll inside and guide the bin unit 403. In addition, the shift motor 4
21 are provided. A lead cam 423 is fixed to a rotary shaft 422 pivotally supported by the machine body 402. A chain 426 is stretched around the output shaft of the shift motor 421, whereby the rotation of the motor 421 is transmitted to the rotary shaft 422 via the chain 426.

Further, the bottle unit 403 is supported by a bottom frame 427 composed of an inclined portion and a vertical portion, and a pair of frames 429 and 429 vertically provided on the front side and the rear side of the bottom frame 427. Unit body 43 constituted by the covered cover 430
Have one. On the front side of the unit main body 431, a reference plate capable of abutting against the sheet S and aligning it is provided.

Although not shown, a lower arm that is rotated by a matching motor a is rotatably supported on the inner side of the base end of the bottom frame 427. Further cover 43
The upper arm a is fixed to a shaft rotatably supported by the cover 430 at a position facing the lower arm a of 0, and the rotation center of the upper arm a and the rotation of the lower arm a. A shaft a is installed at the center. A matching rod 439a is installed between the tip of the lower arm a and the tip of the upper arm a, and the aligning rod 439a is configured to be rotated by an aligning motor. Is adapted to match the front side.

Similarly, a lower arm b which is rotated by a matching motor b (not shown) is rotatably supported on the front side of the base end of the bottom frame 427. Further, the upper arm b is placed at a position facing the lower arm b of the cover 430.
Is fixed to a shaft b rotatably supported by the cover 430. The tip of the lower arm b and the upper arm b
An alignment rod 439b is installed on the tip of the alignment rod 439b. The alignment rod 439b is configured to rotate by an alignment motor, and aligns the sheet S on the bin B to the back side. .

The alignment motors a and b are stepping motors, and the positions of the alignment rods 439a and 439b can be accurately controlled by the number of pulses given to the stepping motor.
Further, reference numerals S403a and S403b (not shown)
A matching rod home sensor for detecting the positions of the matching rods 439a and 439b. The positions of the matching rods 439a and 439b can be controlled by the number of pulses given to the matching rod home sensor and the matching motors a and b.

Engagement plates are formed on the front and back of the tip of the bin B, and the engagement plates are formed on the frame 42.
By engaging with a support plate provided on the inner side of 9, the bottle B is supported at the tip side. Further, in the bin B, a long hole 443a which is longer than the rotation distance of the alignment rod 439a at a predetermined distance from the axis a and is sufficiently wider than the width of the alignment rod 439a, and the rotation of the alignment rod 439b at a predetermined distance from the axis b. A long hole 443b that is longer than the distance and is sufficiently wider than the width of the alignment rod 439b is provided. The base end portion Ba of the bin B stands upright with respect to the sheet storage surface Bb. The tip of the bin B is inclined upward with respect to the body 402 by a predetermined angle, and the sheet S is inclined by this inclination.
The rear end is brought into contact with the base end portion Ba by sliding on the sheet storage surface Bb so that the front-back direction is aligned.

The bin B is provided with a notch at the portion where the stapler 412 enters, so that it does not interfere with the stapler 412. The alignment rod 439a is inserted into the long holes 443a of the bins B1, B2 ... And the alignment rod 439a rotates in the long holes 443a.
It is configured to align the sheet S on the bin B to the front side. Similarly, the alignment rod 439b is inserted into the elongated holes 443b of the bins B1, B2 ...
b is configured to rotate in the long hole 443b to align the sheet S on the bin B to the back side.

The lead cam 423 engages with a part of the bin, and the rotation of the lead cam 423 causes the bin unit to move up and down along the groove 423a. In addition, one rotation of the lead cam 423 is equivalent to one rotation of the lead cam 42.
3 is detected by a lead cam sensor S404 arranged near the position 3. The position of the bin unit 403 is detected by the bin home position sensor S405.

The presence of the sheet S on the sort bin B can be detected by a sort tray paper presence / absence detecting sensor (sheet post-processing position selecting means) S407.

An electric stapler 4 for binding the sheets S stored in the bin B is fixed in the vicinity of the lower paper discharge roller pair 411.
12 is disposed so as to be able to move forward and backward by a drive means at a position orthogonal to the sheet S carrying-in direction, and is normally retracted to the position B so as not to interfere with the vertical movement of the bin B.
When binding the bundle of sheets S on the upper side, the stack of sheets S is moved to the position B to bind the bundle of sheets S. After the binding is completed, the electric stapler is returned to the position a by the driving means (not shown).

The electric stapler 412 performs a stapling operation by the rotation of a motor (not shown), and when binding the sheets S of a plurality of bins B ... After the stapling operation of the sheets S of one bin B is completed, the bin unit 403 is The sheet S stored in the bin B is moved to a predetermined bin position to be bound.

Note that S406 is a manual stapling key, and when the manual stapling key S406 is pressed after the sorting is completed, the stapling operation is performed.

Further, a matching rod 439 on the back side of the sorter 400 is provided.
The position of the sheet bundle on the bin can be pushed out by the rotation operation of a.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control system in the color image forming apparatus of one embodiment of the present invention. The color image forming apparatus is roughly divided into two blocks for control purposes. One is mainly the reader unit 201 and the image processing unit 2.
03 is a reader controller 700, and the other one is a printer controller 701 that controls the printer unit 202.

Reference numeral 702 denotes the scanning mirrors 32a, 32b, 3
2c, an optical motor driver for driving an optical motor (not shown) for moving the exposure lamp 32, 703, an RDF controller for controlling an automatic document feeder RDF600 for automatically exchanging documents, and 900 for a color image An operation unit for setting the operation mode of the forming apparatus, 705 is an R storing the control program of the reader controller 700.
OM and 706 are RAs for storing data such as control values
M and 707 are I / Os for driving loads such as the exposure lamp 32. The RAM 706 is backed up by a battery so that the data can be retained even when the power is turned off.

[0080]

As described above, according to the present invention,
If the same bottle is opened for more than a predetermined time,
Since the control is performed so that the space between the tray that does not contain the sheets and the adjacent tray is widened and the space between the tray that contains the sheets and the adjacent tray is narrowed, the tray that contains the sheets and the adjacent tray It is possible to prevent the curl of the sheet from growing with the gap between and kept wide.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a color image forming apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control system of the color image forming apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a curl correction unit.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of curl correction.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating control of curl correction.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of an automatic document feeder.

FIG. 7 is a schematic side view of a sorter unit.

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view of a sorter unit.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an RDF control unit.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a sorter control unit.

FIG. 11 is a mode processing control flowchart.

FIG. 12 is a non-sorting processing control flowchart.

FIG. 13 is a sort processing control flowchart.

FIG. 14 is a group processing control flowchart.

FIG. 15 is a stack processing control flowchart.

FIG. 16 is a staple processing control flowchart.

FIG. 17 is a staple operation processing control flowchart.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of a manual stapling process control.

FIG. 19 is a control flowchart of a loading state monitoring process.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart for controlling the number of stored sheets.

FIG. 21 is a control flowchart of overload monitoring processing.

FIG. 22 is a storage control flowchart.

FIG. 23 is a save sequence control flowchart.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart of a recovery sequence control.

FIG. 25 is a flow chart of a bottle moving operation control.

FIG. 26 is a retracted position calculation flowchart.

FIG. 27 is a schematic diagram showing a bin state when the sort mode processing is completed.

FIG. 28 is a schematic diagram showing a bin state when the evacuation sequence is performed.

FIG. 29 is an opening time management flowchart.

FIG. 30 is an evacuation management flowchart.

FIG. 31 is a restoration management flowchart.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Photosensitive drum 3 ... Exposure optical system 4 ... Developing device 5 ... Transfer device 6 ... Cleaning device 201 ... Reader unit 202 ... Printer unit 203 ... Image processing unit 400 ... Sorter B ... Bin

Front page continuation (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 39/11 G03G 15/00 G03G 21/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of trays for accommodating sheets conveyed by a conveying unit, and a sheet for accommodating sheets in each of the plurality of trays.
A tray moving unit that moves the positions of the plurality of trays with respect to the conveying unit and widens the space between the tray in which the trays are stored and an adjacent tray; And a detection unit that detects the presence of a sheet by the detection unit,
A measuring unit that measures the continuous opening time of the tray whose tray is widened by the moving unit, and an interval between the trays in which no sheets are stored when the time measured by the measuring unit is a predetermined time or more. A sheet storage device, comprising: a control unit that controls the tray moving unit so as to spread the sheet, reduce a space between the trays in which the sheets are stored, and press the sheet on the tray. 2. The sheet storage device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit prohibits the control by the control unit while the sheet is being conveyed by the conveying unit. 3. The sheet storage device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the tray to return to the original position before the next sheet is conveyed by the conveying unit. . 4. An image forming means for forming an image by an electrophotographic process, and the sheet storage device according to claim 1 for storing a sheet discharged from the image forming means. Image forming apparatus.