JP3773593B2 - Sheet reversing device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a sheet reversing device that continuously flips up and down of continuously fed sheets, and particularly suitable for being incorporated in the middle of a conveyance path of a sheet conveyed from a copying machine to a sorter. is there.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In various office machines such as copiers, it is often necessary to invert the top and bottom of sheets such as copy paper inside the office machine. For example, when printing on both sides of a copy sheet with a copying machine or the like, the copy sheet with a predetermined print on one side is temporarily sent from the sheet conveyance path to the reverse standby path, and from this standby path By returning to the sheet conveyance path again, the front and back sides of the copy paper are reversed, and a predetermined print is made on the other surface.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The conventional sheet reversing device is designed so that the sheet can be fed only when the reversing standby path connected to the sheet conveying path is empty, so that while the sheet exists in the standby path, Therefore, it is difficult to feed a new sheet, and it is difficult to perform continuous sheet reversal processing.
[0004]
As described above, in order to cope with high-speed processing of a sheet in a copying machine or the like, it is necessary to be able to continuously invert the sheet regardless of the sheet conveyance processing speed.
[0005]
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet reversing apparatus capable of continuously reversing a sheet by feeding a new sheet into the standby path even if the sheet exists in the standby path.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A sheet reversing device according to the present invention includes a cylindrical sheet reversing drum having an inner peripheral surface serving as a sheet guide surface, and a sheet introduction guide for introducing a sheet into the sheet reversing drum from outside the sheet reversing drum. The sheet reversing drum is provided in the sheet reversing drum in a freely reciprocating manner in the vicinity of the inner peripheral surface of the sheet reversing drum, and the sheet carried into the sheet reversing drum from the sheet introduction guide is disposed in the sheet reversing drum. A reversing roller that feeds sequentially or reversely, a sheet discharge guide for feeding a sheet that is fed back in the sheet reversing drum to the outside of the sheet reversing drum, and a sheet that is fed back in the sheet reversing drum. The present invention is characterized by comprising a driving and rotating discharge roller that feeds the sheet discharge guide.
[0007]
According to the present invention, when a sheet is introduced from the sheet introduction guide into the sheet reversing drum, the reversing roller rotates forward to sequentially feed the sheets within the sheet reversing drum. When the end of the sheet comes out of the sheet introduction guide and comes into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the sheet reversing drum by the elastic force of the sheet itself, the reversing roller reverses and starts the reverse feeding of the sheet, and the leading edge is discharged The sheet is discharged out of the sheet reversing drum from the sheet discharge guide by the roller.
[0008]
When the sheet starts to be carried out by the discharge roller, the reversing roller is rotated forward again, and the next new sheet introduced into the sheet reversing drum from the sheet introduction guide is sequentially fed in the sheet reversing drum. In this case, in the sheet reversing drum, there is a state in which the sheet to be sent to the sheet discharge guide side by the discharge roller coexists. Since the sheet is located on the inner side, a new sheet comes into contact with the reversing roller, and the feeding is smoothly performed.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In the sheet reversing device of the present invention, it is desirable that the circumferential length of the inner peripheral surface of the sheet reversing drum is set to be longer than the length along the sheet conveyance direction. It is desirable that the gap with the reversing roller is set to be larger than twice the thickness of the sheet.
[0010]
Also, a first sensor that detects the end of the sheet that passes through the sheet introduction guide, a second sensor that detects the front end of the sheet that passes through the sheet discharge guide, and detection from the first sensor and the second sensor. It may further comprise a control device that switches between forward and reverse rotation of the reverse roller based on the information.
[0011]
Further, with a curved sheet that urges the reversing roller to wrap around the outer peripheral surface of the reversing roller and is positioned in the sheet reversing drum on the downstream side in the sheet feeding direction due to the normal rotation. A force guide may be further provided.
[0012]
On the other hand, the sheet introduction guide is connected to the linear sheet conveyance path, and the sheet discharge guide is connected to the sheet conveyance path on the downstream side of the sheet conveyance path from the connection portion between the sheet introduction guide and the sheet conveyance path. May be. In this case, the front end portion is provided so as to be movable forward or backward with respect to the sheet conveyance path, and further provided with a sheet introduction plate for guiding the sheet conveyed along the sheet conveyance path to the sheet introduction guide. The sheet conveyance path may be for guiding the sheet after copying by the copying machine to the sheet discharge tray.
[0013]
When the sheet introduction plate is provided, the sheet being conveyed through the sheet conveyance path may be introduced to the sheet reversing device side only when the sheet needs to be reversed.
[0014]
【Example】
An embodiment in which the sheet reversing device according to the present invention is incorporated in a sorter conveyance path attached to a copying machine will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
[0015]
As shown in FIG. 2 which shows a schematic structure of a sorter incorporating a sheet reversing device, a sorter 10 attached to a copier (not shown) conveys copy paper P fed from the copier to the multi-stage sheet tray 11 side. A sheet conveying path 12 is formed for this purpose. A pair of sheet carry-in rollers 13 for driving and rotating the sheet conveying path 12 to the end on the sheet tray 11 side of the sheet conveying path 12 while sandwiching the copy paper P delivered from the copier at the end on the copying machine side of the sheet conveying path 12 It is provided freely. A pair of sheet carry-out rollers 14 that sandwich the copy paper P and feed it onto the sheet tray 11 are rotatably provided at the end of the sheet conveyance path 12 on the sheet tray 11 side.
[0016]
The multi-stage sheet tray 11 is driven up and down via an elevating device (not shown) in conjunction with the discharge operation of the copy paper P from the sheet carry-out roller 14, and the copy paper P is sorted on a predetermined sheet tray 11. It is designed to be loaded sequentially.
[0017]
In the middle of the sheet conveying path 12 described above, the sheet reversing device 15 in this embodiment is incorporated, and the upper and lower sides of the copy paper P sent from the copying machine to the sheet conveying path 12 are reversed as necessary. It can be carried out to the sheet tray 11 side.
[0018]
As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 1 showing the schematic structure of the sheet reversing device 15 in this embodiment, the sheet reversing device 15 in this embodiment has a cylindrical shape in which the inner peripheral surface is the guide surface 16 of the copy paper P. The sheet reversing drum 17 formed, the upper sheet introducing guide 18 and the lower sheet introducing guide 19 for introducing the copy paper P into the sheet reversing drum 17 from the outside of the sheet reversing drum 17, and the inner periphery of the sheet reversing drum 17 The copy paper P, which is provided in the sheet reversing drum 17 so as to be freely reversible in the vicinity of the surface, is fed forward in the sheet reversing drum 17 from the upper and lower sheet introduction guides 18 and 19 into the sheet reversing drum 17 ( From the connecting portion of the reversing roller 20 that rotates in the clockwise direction in FIG. 1 or reversely (in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 1), the lower sheet introduction guide 19 and the sheet conveying path 12 A sheet discharge guide 21 that is connected to the sheet conveyance path 12 on the downstream side of the sheet conveyance path 12 and feeds the copy paper P fed back in the sheet reversing drum 17 to the outside of the sheet reversing drum 17, and the sheet reversing drum 17. A pair of drive-rotating discharge rollers 22 that sandwich and feed the copy paper P that is fed back to the sheet discharge guide 21, and a sheet on the downstream side in the forward feed direction of the copy paper P due to its normal rotation. A curved sheet urging guide 23 is provided in the reversing drum 17 to urge the copying paper P being fed around the outer peripheral surface of the reversing roller 20.
[0019]
The sheet reversing drum 17 is bent along the guide surface 16 by using an elastic force (so-called paper waist) possessed by the copy paper P itself, and has an inner diameter of, for example, about 130 mm to 140 mm. By setting, a sheet having a size of A4 or A3 can be stored.
[0020]
The upper sheet introduction guide 18 passes through a sheet introduction port 24 formed on the outer periphery of the sheet reversing drum 17 and is inclined in the tangential direction of the sheet reversing drum 17. At the upper end of the upper sheet introduction guide 18, a first sheet detection sensor 25 that detects the presence or absence of the copy paper P passing over the upper sheet introduction guide 18 is provided. Further, the lower sheet introduction guide 19 has an introduction position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1 where the lower end portion of the lower sheet introduction guide 19 blocks the sheet conveyance path 12 by an actuator not shown in FIG. , And can be switched to the retracted position indicated by the solid line.
[0021]
Accordingly, when the lower sheet introduction guide 19 is in the introduction position by the actuator, the copy paper P drawn into the sheet conveyance path 12 by the sheet carry-in roller 13 abuts the lower sheet introduction guide 19 and the upper sheet is in contact with the upper sheet. The sheet is fed into the sheet reversing drum 17 from the introduction guide 18.
[0022]
The reversing roller 20 is provided above the sheet reversing drum 17 with a gap of 4 to 5 mm from the inner peripheral surface of the sheet reversing drum 17. The sheet urging guide 23 is located on the opposite side of the upper sheet introduction guide 18 with the reversing roller 20 interposed therebetween, and is provided in the vicinity of the reversing roller 20. In this embodiment, each sheet has a waveform. It is formed of two plate materials.
[0023]
A sheet discharge port 26 is formed on the outer periphery of the sheet reversing drum 17 on the opposite side of the sheet introduction port 24 across the upper sheet introduction guide 18, and one end of the sheet discharge guide 21 is connected to the sheet discharge port 26. is doing. The sheet discharge guide 21 is inclined from the sheet discharge port 26 in the tangential direction of the sheet reversing drum 17, is further curved in an arc shape, and the other end is connected to the sheet conveyance path 12. The discharge roller 22 is provided on one end side of the sheet discharge guide 21 so as to return the copy paper P in the sheet reversing drum 17 from the sheet discharge guide 21 to the sheet conveyance path 12. Further, in the middle of the sheet discharge guide 21, a second sheet detection sensor 27 that detects the presence or absence of the copy paper P passing through the sheet discharge guide 21 is provided.
[0024]
At the upper end of the upper sheet introduction guide 18, there is a discharge guide plate 28 that is folded back to the discharge roller 22 side to guide the leading edge of the copy paper P in the sheet reversing drum 17 between the pair of discharge rollers 22. Is provided.
[0025]
The detection signals of the two sheet detection sensors 25 and 27 described above are output to a control device (not shown) that controls the operation of the actuator of the lower sheet introduction guide 19, the forward / reverse rotation of the reverse roller 20, and the drive of the discharge roller 22. Here, when the reversal processing signal of the copy paper P is input to the control device, the control device operates the sheet reversing device 15 in the procedure described below.
[0026]
FIGS. 3 to 5 show the conveyance state of the copy paper P by the sheet reversing device 15, and FIG. That is, in step S1, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction to reverse the copy sheet P. If it is determined that there is an instruction to reverse the copy sheet P, the process proceeds to step S2 and the lower sheet introduction guide 19 The actuator is operated to move the lower end portion of the lower introduction guide 19 forward, that is, to the introduction position. In step S3, it is determined whether or not the first sheet detection sensor 25 is on.
[0027]
If the first sheet detection sensor 25 is not turned on in step S3, that is, if the copy paper P is not fed into the lower introduction guide 19 and the upper introduction guide 18 from the sheet conveyance path 12 by the sheet carry-in roller 13. If it is determined, step S3 is repeated until the first sheet detection sensor 25 is turned on, that is, until it is determined that the copy sheet P has been fed into the lower introduction guide 19 and the upper introduction guide 18. In step S4, the reverse roller 20 is rotated forward to determine whether or not the first sheet detection sensor 25 is turned off.
[0028]
In this way, when the copy paper P is fed from the upper introduction guide 18 into the sheet reversing drum 17, its leading end abuts against the guide surface 16 of the sheet reversing drum 17 and is bent toward the reversing roller 20 side. The sheet urging guide 23 located on the upper side is pressed against the reversing roller 20, and the sheet reversing drum 17 is sequentially fed by the normal rotation of the reversing roller 20.
[0029]
If it is determined in step S4 that the first sheet detection sensor 25 is not turned off, that is, the rear end of the copy paper P is positioned in the upper introduction guide 18, the first sheet detection sensor 25 is used. Step S4 is repeated until is turned off, that is, until it is determined that the leading edge of the copy paper P is in contact with the guide surface 16 of the sheet reversing drum 17 as shown in FIG. In step S5, the reverse roller 20 is reversely rotated and the discharge roller 22 is driven.
[0030]
By the reverse rotation drive of the reverse roller 20, the copy paper P in the sheet reverse drum 17 that is in contact with the reverse roller 20 is switched to the reverse feed state and sent between the discharge rollers 22, and is sandwiched between the discharge rollers 22. The second sheet detection sensor 27 is turned on, that is, the passage of the copy paper P is detected.
[0031]
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, new copy paper P is sent from the sheet conveyance path 12 into the lower introduction guide 19 and the upper introduction guide 18 during this period. In step S7, it is determined whether or not the second sheet detection sensor 27 is switched off.
[0032]
During this time, since the leading edge of the new copy paper P passes through the first sheet detection sensor 25, the reversing roller 20 turns to normal rotation again. At this time, the copy paper carried out to the sheet discharge guide 21 side. Since P is held between the discharge rollers 22 and a gap of about 4 to 5 mm is formed between the guide surface 16 of the sheet reversing drum 17 and the reversing rollers 20, the copying paper P is in a progressive feeding state. There will be no trouble that switches to. Then, when a new copy sheet P is further fed into the sheet reversing drum 17, the sheet biasing guide located on the upper side in FIG. 23, the sheet is pressed against the reversing roller 20, and the sheet reversing drum 17 starts to be fed forward by the normal rotation of the reversing roller 20, as shown in FIG.
[0033]
In step S7, the second sheet detection sensor 27 is not switched off, that is, the terminal of the copy paper P returned from the sheet discharge guide 21 to the sheet conveyance path 12 side in the inverted state is the second sheet detection sensor 27. If it is determined that the second sheet detection sensor 27 has not passed, the step of S7 is repeated until the second sheet detection sensor 27 is turned off, that is, until the terminal of the copy paper P has passed the second sheet detection sensor 27. Then, the process proceeds to step S8 to stop the driving rotation of the discharge roller 22, and the process returns to step S1 again to determine whether or not there is an instruction to reverse the copy paper P.
[0034]
In this way, the copy paper P carried in from the sheet conveyance path 12 is continuously reversed and returned to the sheet conveyance path 12 again, and is stacked on the sheet tray 11 by the sheet carry-out rollers 14.
[0035]
If it is determined in step S1 that the copy paper P reversal command has been canceled, the process proceeds to step S9 to operate the actuator to return the lower introduction guide 19 to the retracted position shown in FIG. In step, the operation of the reverse roller 20 is stopped. In this case, the copy paper P carried into the sheet conveyance path 12 by the sheet carry-in roller 13 is stacked on the sheet tray 11 as it is from the sheet carry-out roller 14 without being sent to the sheet reversing device 15 side.
[0036]
In the embodiment described above, the discharge roller 22 is stopped in step S8. However, the drive or stop of the discharge roller 22 may be controlled in accordance with the reverse command in step S1.
[0037]
In this embodiment, the sheet reversing device 15 is incorporated in the middle of the sheet conveyance path 12 of the sorter 10 attached to the copying machine, but it is naturally possible to incorporate it in the middle of the sheet conveyance system in other various apparatuses.
[0038]
【The invention's effect】
According to the sheet reversing device of the present invention, the sheet is guided into the sheet reversing drum, and the sheet reversing is performed using the reversing roller that forwards and reverses in the sheet reversing drum. Even if the sheet exists in the drum, a new sheet can be fed into the sheet reversing drum to perform continuous sheet reversal processing.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a schematic structure of an embodiment of a sheet inverting apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a schematic structure of an embodiment in which the sheet reversing device shown in FIG. 1 is incorporated in a conveyance system of a copying machine.
3 is an operation conceptual diagram showing an operation principle of the sheet reversing device shown in FIG. 1 together with FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG.
4 is an operation conceptual diagram showing an operation principle of the sheet reversing device shown in FIG. 1 together with FIGS. 3 and 5. FIG.
5 is an operation conceptual diagram showing an operation principle of the sheet reversing device shown in FIG. 1 together with FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG.
6 is a flowchart of the embodiment shown in FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Sorter 11 Sheet tray 12 Sheet conveyance path 13 Sheet carry-in roller 14 Sheet carry-out roller 15 Sheet reversing device 16 Guide surface 17 Sheet reversing drum 18 Upper sheet introduction guide 19 Lower sheet introduction guide 20 Reversing roller 21 Sheet ejection guide 22 Ejection roller 23 Sheet Energizing guide 24 Sheet introduction port 25 First sheet detection sensor 26 Sheet discharge port 27 Second sheet detection sensor 28 Discharge guide plate P Copy paper

Claims (9)

A cylindrical sheet reversing drum having an inner peripheral surface serving as a sheet guiding surface, a sheet introduction guide for introducing a sheet into the sheet reversing drum from the outside of the sheet reversing drum, and the sheet reversing drum A reversing roller, which is provided in the sheet reversing drum so as to be freely reversible in the vicinity of the inner peripheral surface, and forwards or reversely feeds the sheet carried into the sheet reversing drum from the sheet introduction guide. And a sheet discharge guide for feeding a sheet fed back in the sheet reversing drum to the outside of the sheet reversing drum, and a drive rotation for feeding a sheet fed back in the sheet reversing drum to the sheet discharge guide. A discharge roller , and
From the first sensor that detects the end of the sheet that passes through the sheet introduction guide, the second sensor that detects the front end of the sheet that passes through the sheet discharge guide, the first sensor, and the second sensor And a control device that switches between normal and reverse rotation of the reverse roller based on the detected information . A curved sheet that is positioned in the sheet reversing drum on the downstream side in the sheet feeding direction by forward rotation of the reversing roller and urges the sheet to be wound around the outer circumferential surface of the reversing roller. The sheet inverting device according to claim 1 , further comprising an urging guide. A cylindrical sheet reversing drum having an inner peripheral surface serving as a sheet guiding surface, a sheet introduction guide for introducing a sheet into the sheet reversing drum from the outside of the sheet reversing drum, and the sheet reversing drum A reversing roller, which is provided in the sheet reversing drum so as to be freely reversible in the vicinity of the inner peripheral surface, and forwards or reversely feeds the sheet carried into the sheet reversing drum from the sheet introduction guide. And a sheet discharge guide for feeding a sheet fed back in the sheet reversing drum to the outside of the sheet reversing drum, and a drive rotation for feeding a sheet fed back in the sheet reversing drum to the sheet discharge guide. A discharge roller , and
Curved to urge the reversing roller so that the sheet being fed is wound around the outer circumferential surface of the reversing roller located in the sheet reversing drum on the downstream side in the sheet feeding direction due to the normal rotation. A sheet reversing device further comprising a sheet biasing guide . From the first sensor that detects the end of the sheet that passes through the sheet introduction guide, the second sensor that detects the front end of the sheet that passes through the sheet discharge guide, the first sensor, and the second sensor The sheet reversing apparatus according to claim 3 , further comprising a control device that switches forward / reverse rotation of the reversing roller based on the detected information. 5. The sheet reversing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a circumferential length of an inner peripheral surface of the sheet reversing drum is set to be longer than a length along a sheet conveying direction. Gap between the inner peripheral surface and the reverse roller of the sheet reversing drum, is set to be larger than twice the sheet thickness from claim 1, wherein according to claim 5 Sheet reversing device. The sheet introduction guide is connected to a linear sheet conveyance path, and the sheet discharge guide is connected to the sheet conveyance path on the downstream side of the sheet conveyance path from the connection portion between the sheet introduction guide and the sheet conveyance path. The sheet reversing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein the sheet reversing device is provided. The apparatus further comprises a sheet introduction plate that is provided so that a leading end portion thereof is movable forward or backward with respect to the sheet conveyance path and guides a sheet conveyed along the sheet conveyance path to the sheet introduction guide. The sheet reversing device according to claim 7 . 9. The sheet reversing apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the sheet conveyance path is for guiding a sheet after copying by a copying machine to a sheet discharge tray.

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