JPH0127941B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sorter, and more particularly to a sorter that facilitates the management of the number of copies when a jam occurs.

If a jam occurs in the sorter, if the copying machine is a high-speed copying machine, or if there is a long copy transfer distance between the copying machine and the sorter,
Even if the copying operation on the copying machine side is immediately stopped when a jam occurs, the number of subsequent copies may be as many as four or five. In this case, the operation after the jam occurs is as follows:
The jam in the sorter is removed and the copier corrects the unprocessed copies before restarting, but with conventional sorters, it simply counts the copies ejected into the sorter. However, there was a drawback in that it was not possible to know how many copies were being processed at the time of a jam, and the copying machine could not automatically correct the unprocessed copies after removing the jam.

An object of the present invention is to notify the copying machine only when a copy sheet sent from the copying machine is correctly placed in a predetermined bin, even if a jam occurs during the copying operation. To provide a sorter that can automatically and reliably correct the number of remaining copies after a jam occurs.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a control circuit independent of the copying machine, and to automatically control copy sheets sent from the copying machine to enter a predetermined bin, and to manage the copy sheets. An object of the present invention is to provide a sorter that can be attached to any copying machine and used.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an economical sorter by detecting the entry of copy sheets into each bin by a single entrance sensor commonly located at the bin entrance.

In order to achieve these objects, the sorter of the present invention has a plurality of bins arranged in parallel and guides copy sheets ejected from a copying machine to the bins in sequence. An entrance sensor 17 is arranged at the entrance of the sorter during sheet conveyance and detects passage of copy sheets.
and a bin sensor 1 that is commonly provided at the bin entrance and detects the entry of a copy sheet into the bin.
8, and mechanisms 10 to 13 for conveying copy sheets.
, a pulse generator 19 that generates pulses in synchronization with the conveyance of the copy sheet, means 41 to 47 for controlling the mechanism for conveying the copy sheet to input the copy sheet into a predetermined bin, and the input sensor means 54, 95, 114 for counting output pulses from said pulse generator in response to an output signal of said pulse generator;
means 51, 91, 111 for extracting a target number of pulses necessary for the copy sheet to reach a predetermined bin after passing the entrance sensor; means 56, 57; 67, 68; 96, for checking the output signal of the sensor and determining whether or not the copy sheet is normally placed in the predetermined bin;
97; 122, 123, and means for transmitting to the copying machine, when a copy sheet is placed in a predetermined bin, the number of the bin into which the copy sheet is placed or the number of the next bin to be placed in based on the judgment result. The present invention is characterized in that it includes a control circuit 21 having each of the above means.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a mechanical part of a sorter according to an embodiment of the present invention, where 1 indicates a sorter;
2 is a copying machine.

This copying machine 2 discharges a copy sheet 4 fixed by a fixing roller 3 from a paper discharge roller 5, and
The paper discharge state at this time is monitored by a paper discharge sensor 6, and this is a very common copying machine.

On the other hand, the sorter 1 attached to the copying machine 2 is equipped with a plurality of bins 7 and emergent trays 8, and is configured to input copy sheets 4 discharged from the copying machine 2 into these bins 7 or trays 8. It is configured. That is, 9 is a guide plate, and the copy sheet 4 discharged from the copying machine 2 is
The guide plate 9 guides the paper to the transport section. The conveying section consists of a conveying belt 10, a conveying roller 11 for driving the conveying belt 10, etc., and the conveying roller 11 is configured to be driven by a motor 13 via a speed increasing clutch 12. A first deflection cam 14 is arranged near the conveyance roller 11, and in an emergency, the copy sheet 4 is discharged onto the tray 8 by this deflection cam 14. Further, although only one deflection cam 16 is shown in the figure, a second deflection cam 16 operated by a solenoid 15 is disposed in the copy conveyance path on the conveyor belt 10 corresponding to each bin 7, and the copy sheet is 4 is discharged into the bin 7 by these deflection cams 16.

Furthermore, an entrance sensor 17 is installed on the guide plate 9 to monitor the state of the copy sheets 4 entering the sorter 1. Further, a common bin sensor 18 is provided at the entrance of each bin 7 to monitor the state of the copy sheets 4 entering the bins 7. Furthermore, the roller of the conveyor belt 10 is provided with a pulse generator 19 that generates a pulse P for each unit distance in synchronization with the movement of the conveyor belt 10.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the control section of the sorter 1, in which 20 is an I/O expander that serves as an interface with the control section of the copying machine 2;
2 is a control circuit composed of a microcomputer, and 22 is an I/O expander that serves as an interface with the mechanical section of the sorter 1.

The control circuit 21 includes a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc., and the ROM contains programs necessary to control the sorter 1, as shown in FIG.
The number of pulses P ₀ required to convey the copy sheet 4 from the entrance sensor 17 to the deflection cam of the uppermost bin 7-1, the number of pulses P ₁ from each deflection cam to the bin sensor 18, and the number of pulses between each deflection cam P ₂ , the number of pulses from the paper ejection sensor 6 to the entrance sensor 17
P ₃ and the number of pulses P ₄ from the inlet sensor 17 to the deflection cam of the lowest bin are stored.

During operation, the control circuit 21 receives a sort mode signal a, a collate mode signal b, an interrupt mode signal c, a copy end signal d, and a copy eject signal from the control unit of the copying machine 2 via the I/O expander 20. A paper signal e, etc. is input. On the other hand, the control circuit 21
from the copying machine 2 via the I/O expander 20.
A jam signal f, a bin number signal g, etc. are output to the control section. Furthermore, the control circuit 21 is connected to the motor 13 and the speed increasing clutch 1 via the I/O expander 22.
2. At the same time as each drive signal is outputted to each solenoid 15 etc., sensor signals are inputted from the inlet sensor 17, bin sensor 18, pulse generator 19 etc.

Next, the operation of the sorter 1 of this embodiment configured as described above will be explained below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 to 8.

The power of the sorter 1 is automatically turned on by turning on the power of the copying machine 2, and the control circuit 21
starts its control based on a command from the copying machine 2.

That is, the control circuit 21 first resets internal counters, registers, and flags to their initial states, and also sets n=1 in a register (not shown) (41). Next, the mode is selected as shown in FIG. 4 based on the signals a to c input from the copying machine 2 (42) to (44), and when the mode is sort mode or collate mode, the sort routine shown in FIG. 5 is performed. (45) and executes the corresponding processing. When in the interrupt mode, the routine shifts to an interrupt routine (46) shown in FIG. On the other hand, if none of the above is true, the routine shifts to the normal routine shown in FIG. 7 (47). Further, FIG. 8 shows a processing routine when a jam occurs.

Now, suppose that the sort mode signal a or the collate mode signal b is input to the control circuit 21 via the I/O expander 20. As shown in FIG. The number N of pulses from to the deflection cam of the n-th bin 7-n into which the copy sheet 4 is placed is calculated (51). As explained above in FIG.
The number of pulses required to transport the copy sheet 4 from each deflection cam to the deflection cam is P ₀ , and from each deflection cam to the bin sensor 1
The number of pulses required to reach 8 is P ₁ and the number of pulses between each deflection cam is P ₁ , so N = P ₀ + P ₁ - (n-1) P ₂
It can be expressed as In this case, in both sort mode and collate mode, copies will be stored starting from the topmost bin 7-1, so at first n=1 is set in register A in the procedure shown in Figure 4. Based on this, the number of pulses at this time is N=P ₀ +P ₁ .

Next, the copy sheet 4 ejected from the copying machine 2
When the tip of the inlet sensor 17 passes through the inlet sensor 17 and the inlet sensor 17 is turned on (52), the control circuit 21 outputs a drive signal via the I/O expander 22 to drive the motor 13 (53). At the same time, operate counter A of the program configuration,
The pulses P output from the pulse generator 19 are counted (54). Furthermore, the solenoid 15 for the deflection cam 16 corresponding to the bin into which paper is to be input is turned on (55).

As a result, when the leading edge of the copy sheet 4 reaches the entrance sensor 17, the motor 13 rotates and the conveyor belt 10 starts moving at the same speed as the copy conveyance speed of the copying machine 2.

In this embodiment, in order to make the sorter 1 compact, the conveyance path from the paper output port of the copying machine 2 to the bin 7 is made extremely short. sheet 4
Before the rear end of the bottle comes out of the copying machine 2, its leading end reaches the bin entrance. Therefore, in this embodiment, before the paper ejection sensor 6 is turned off, that is,
Before the paper discharge signal inputted to the control circuit 21 via the I/O expander 20 turns ON, it is determined whether the counter A has reached the calculated pulse number N or not.

Based on this judgment result, if the counter A reaches the specified number of pulses N, it naturally means that the leading edge of the copy sheet 4 has reached the bin sensor 18, so in step 57 the bin sensor 18 is turned ON.
If it is not turned on, it is determined that there was a jam during the process (58). bin sensor 18
If it is ON, next check whether the paper ejection sensor 6 is OFF (59).

On the other hand, if the copy sheet 4 is to be placed in the upper bin, the determination result at step 56 is NO, and it is first checked to see if the paper discharge sensor 6 is OFF (59). At this time, if the paper ejection sensor 6 is off, the clutch 12 is turned on and the conveyor belt 1 is turned on.
Speed up 0 by 4 to 5 times (60). At the same time, counter B is activated to count pulses P from pulse generator 19 (61, 62). This counter B counts the number of pulses _P2 until the trailing edge of the copy sheet 4 reaches from the paper discharge sensor 6 to the entrance sensor 17, and the result is judged in step 63. If NO, the process proceeds to step 56. Go back and repeat the above process.

If the judgment result in step 63 is YES, then the process moves to FIG. 58). On the other hand, if the entrance sensor 17 is turned off, then the counter C is activated to count the pulses P from the pulse generator 19 (66).

Thereafter, it is determined again whether the counter A has reached the specified number of pulses N (67), and if it has reached the specified number of pulses N, the state of the bin sensor 18 is checked (68). Thereby, it is determined whether or not the leading edge of the copy sheet 4 has reached the bin entrance, and if it has not, it is determined that there is a jam (58). Then, it is determined whether the counter C has reached the specified number of pulses N (70), and if it has reached the specified pulse number N, the bin sensor 18 is checked (71) to ensure that the rear end of the copy sheet 4 is at the bin entrance. It is determined whether or not it has reached the limit, and if it has not reached the limit, the bin sensor 18 does not turn off and therefore it is determined that there is a jam (58). Thereby, a jam is detected from when the copy sheet 4 reaches the bin entrance until it enters the bin.

If the copy sheet 4 enters the currently selected bin 7 without jamming on the way, the bin sensor 18 turns OFF, and the current bin number n is sent to the copying machine via the I/O expander 20. Let 2 know. As a result, if a jam occurs while copying some sheets, the copying machine 2 remembers the bin number where the sorter 1 has completed loading the paper, so it can calculate the number of copies remaining after the jam is removed. This allows for accurate correction. Thereafter, the control circuit 21 moves to the procedure shown in FIG. 5c, turns off the solenoid 15, and
Turn clutch 12 OFF (73). At this time, it is checked whether or not the copy end signal d is input from the copying machine 2 to the control device 21 via the I/O expander 20 (74). For example, depending on whether the current mode is sort mode (75), if the mode is sort mode, the content n of register A is incremented by one (76), or if it is collate mode, it is left unchanged (76). 77), after returning to the procedure shown in Fig. 4, go back to the procedure shown in Fig. 5, and repeat this process. On the other hand, if the judgment result in step 74 is YES,
Turn off the motor 13 (78). Then, if in sort mode, the content n of register A is set to 1 (79,
80), and in collate mode, register A
The content n is incremented by one (78, 81) and the process returns to the procedure shown in FIG.

In this way, in the sort mode, one copy sheet 4 is sequentially stocked one by one from the top of the bin, and is controlled to be returned to the top bin 7-1 by the copy end signal d. do.

In addition, in the collate mode, the copy sheets 4 are sequentially stored from the top of the bin until the copy end signal d is input, and when the copy end signal d is input, the copy sheet 4 is moved to the next bin. Control so that it returns to the upper stage.

On the other hand, jam detection during this period is performed by counter A,
B and C are provided to measure the state of the copy sheet from the entrance sensor 17 to the bin sensor 18, from the bin sensor 18 to the time it is stored in the bin 7, and from the paper discharge sensor 6 to the entrance sensor 17, respectively. This is done by monitoring, so
If copy sheet 4 jams in sorter 1,
The control circuit 21 can quickly detect this.

As a result, if the control circuit 21 detects a jam, it moves to the procedure shown in FIG. Input to copying machine 2 (131). Thereafter, if the jam is removed and a reset button (not shown) is pressed (132), the process returns to the procedure shown in FIG. 4 again.

Next, when the interrupt mode signal c is input from the copying machine 2 to the control circuit 21 via the I/O expander 20, the procedure shown in FIG. 6 is executed.
That is, in the interrupt mode, the copy sheet 4 to be ejected from the copying machine 2 is placed in the lowermost bin 7-n.
Since the number of pulses N=
Take out P ₁ + P ₄ from ROM and set it in RAM (91). Next, when the leading edge of the copy sheet 4 passes the entrance sensor 17 and the entrance sensor 17 turns on (92), the motor 13 is turned on (93), and the solenoid corresponding to the bottom bin 7-n is turned on. After turning on (94), activate counter A (95).

Next, by checking whether the bin sensor 18 is ON when the counter A reaches N (96, 97),
Determine whether the leading edge of the copy sheet 4 has safely reached the bin sensor 18 from the entrance sensor 17;
A jam is detected during that time (98).

After that, the paper ejection sensor 6 is turned OFF, that is, the paper ejection signal e input via the I/O expander 20 is turned off.
ON is checked (99), and if the copy sheet 4 passes through the copying machine 2, the clutch 12 is turned ON (100), the speed of the conveyor belt 10 is increased, and then the counter B is activated (101).

Next, by checking whether the entrance sensor 17 is OFF when the value of the counter B reaches _P3 (102, 103), it is possible to check the jam until the trailing edge of the copy sheet 4 reaches the entrance sensor 17 from the paper ejection sensor 6. Detect (58).

If a jam is not detected, counter C is activated (105), and by checking whether the bin sensor 18 is turned off when the value of counter C reaches N (106, 107), the trailing edge of copy sheet 4 is detected. It is checked whether or not the copy sheet 4 has reached the bin sensor 18 from the entrance sensor 17, and a jam in the copy sheet 4 from the bin sensor 18 to the bottom bin 7-n is detected (58).

In this way, in the process of putting the copy sheet 4 discharged from the copying machine 2 into the lowermost bin 7-n,
If a jam is detected, the jam processing shown in FIG. 8 is performed as described above. On the other hand, if jam is not detected,
After turning off the motor 13 and clutch 12 (109), the process returns to the procedure shown in Fig. 4, and as long as the interrupt mode signal c is input, the process moves from the procedure shown in Fig. 4 to the procedure shown in Fig. 6, and the same processing as described above is performed. The copy sheets 4 discharged from the copying machine 2 are stored one after another in the bottom bin 7-n.

On the other hand, if there is no mode designation from the copying machine 2 to the sorter 1, the normal mode is set, and the control circuit 21 executes the procedure shown in FIG. In this case, all the copy sheets 4 ejected from the copying machine 2 will be placed in the topmost bin 7-1, so the CPU will take out the number of pulses N=P ₀ + P ₁ from the ROM and set it in the RAM ( 111). In addition, the selection operation of the solenoid 15 is not performed, and the inlet sensor 1
7 is turned on (112), the motor 13 is turned on (113), counter A is activated (114), and then the paper discharge sensor 6 is turned off, that is, the I/O expander 20 is turned on.
It is checked whether the paper ejection signal e inputted via is ON (115). As a result, if the paper discharge signal e turns ON, the clutch 12 is turned ON (116), the speed of the conveyor belt 10 is increased, and then the counter B is activated (117).

Next, in the same manner as in the interrupt mode described above, jam detection is performed (58) by checking whether the entrance sensor 17 is OFF when the value of this counter B reaches _P3 (118, 119).

If a jam is not detected, after operating the counter C (121), by checking whether the bin sensor 18 is ON when the value of the counter A reaches N (122, 123), the bin sensor is detected from the inlet sensor 17. Detect jams up to 18 (58). next,
By checking whether the bin sensor 18 is OFF when the value of the counter C reaches N (125, 126), jam detection is performed until the copy sheet 4 enters the uppermost bin 7-1 from the bin sensor 18 (58). ).

Furthermore, if a jam is detected during such jam detection, the jam processing shown in FIG. 8 is performed, and if no jam is detected, the motor 13 and clutch 12 are turned off (128) and the bin number After outputting to the copying machine 2, the processes shown in FIGS. 4 to 7 are repeatedly executed, and all the copy sheets 4 discharged from the copying machine 2 are stored in the uppermost bin 7-1.

As described above, the sorter 1 of this embodiment is provided with the entrance sensor 17 and the bin sensor 18 for detecting the presence or absence of the copy sheet 4 in the copy conveyance path.
Pulse generator 1 that generates a copy transport synchronization pulse
9 is provided, and this pulse is applied at the timing when the leading edge or the trailing edge of the copy sheet 4 passes the entrance sensor 17.
The bin sensor starts counting at the timing when the bin sensor 17 is ejected, and when the counted value reaches the predetermined number of pulses between the entrance sensor 17 and the bin sensor 18 or the number of pulses between the copying machine 2 and the entrance sensor 17. Jam detection is performed without using a timer by checking the ON/OFF state of the sensor 18 or the ON/OFF state of the entrance sensor 17, and at the same time, if a jam is not detected, each copy sheet 4 is inserted into the bin. The number is notified to the copying machine 2 side.

Therefore, jams can be detected reliably and quickly without being affected by the conveyance speed of the attached copying machine as in the past. At the same time, by simply adjusting the transport speed when receiving copies to that of the copying machine, it can be easily installed on different types of copying machines. Furthermore, if a jam occurs, the copying machine 2 will memorize the bin number in which the copy sheet 4 just before the jam occurred, based on the bin number notified from the sorter 1. After removing this, you will be able to accurately correct the number of remaining copies.

In the above embodiment, the sorter 1 notifies the copier 2 of the bin number into which the copy sheet 4 is currently placed, but this may also be the bin number into which the copy sheet 4 is to be placed next.

As described above, according to the present invention, the sorter itself is equipped with a control circuit independent from the copying machine, and automatically controls the input of copy sheets sent from the copying machine into a predetermined bin, and also manages the copy sheets. This makes it possible to attach it to any copying machine and use it. In addition, since the copy sheet sent from the copier is notified to the copier only when it has entered the specified bin correctly, even if a jam occurs during copying, the jam will not occur. The number of remaining copies can be automatically and reliably corrected. Furthermore, it is economical because the entry of copy sheets into each bin is detected by one entrance sensor commonly provided at the bin entrance.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of the mechanical part of a sorter showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the control part of the sorter, and Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the copy transport path necessary for explaining the operation of the sorter. Required pulse number explanatory diagram, 4th
The figure is a flowchart for explaining the mode selection operation of the sorter, Figures 5 a to c are flowcharts for explaining the sort mode and collate mode operation of the sorter, and Figure 6 is the interrupt mode of the sorter 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the sorter in normal mode, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the sorter during jam processing. be. 1... Sorter, 2... Copying machine, 3... Fixing roller, 4... Copy sheet, 5... Paper ejection roller,
6... Paper discharge sensor, 7... Bin, 8... Emergence tray, 9... Guide plate, 10... Conveyance belt, 11... Drive roller, 12... Speed increasing clutch, 13... Motor, 14, 16...Deflection cam, 15...Solenoid, 17...Inlet sensor, 18...Bin sensor, 19...Pulse generator, 20, 22...I/O expander, 21...
...control circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a sorter that has a plurality of bins arranged in parallel and guides copy sheets discharged from a copying machine to the bins one after another, a sorter is arranged at the entrance of the sorter on a copy sheet conveyance path from the copying machine to the bins, and the copy sheets are an entrance sensor that detects passage of the
a bin sensor that is commonly provided at the bin entrance and detects the entry of a copy sheet into the bin; a mechanism that conveys the copy sheet; and a pulse generator that generates a pulse in synchronization with the conveyance of the copy sheet;
means for controlling a mechanism for transporting the copy sheet to place the copy sheet in a predetermined bin; means for counting output pulses from the pulse generator in response to an output signal from the entrance sensor; means for extracting a target number of pulses required to reach a predetermined bin after passing through an entrance sensor, and checking the output signal of the bin sensor at a timing when the count value of the output pulses matches the target number of pulses, and the copy sheet is means for determining whether or not the copy sheet has been correctly placed in the predetermined bin, and based on the result of this judgment, when the copy sheet is placed in the predetermined bin, the number of the bin in which the copy sheet was placed or the next copy sheet to be placed; 1. A sorter comprising: a control circuit having each of the above means for transmitting the number of a bin to be processed to a copying machine.