JPH0138745B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a sorter that collates copied sheets, and more specifically, a sorter that collects sheets ejected from a copying machine, and a sorter that collects sheets by moving them into a plurality of sheets. The present invention relates to a sorter equipped with a delivery section that distributes the products into bins and sends them out.

Prior Art As the sorter mentioned above, for example,
The one shown in Japanese Patent No. 47-51413 is already known. The sorter described in the above-mentioned publication has an endless belt stretched around a stretchable structure as a sheet conveyance mechanism, and the copying machine is swung around the copying machine side as a pivot, and the conveyance mechanism is controlled by the stretchable structure. The discharge side of the bin is moved parallel to the inlet of each bin, and a floating ball cage is used for conveyance against the seat belt.

However, this sorter has a complicated structure and requires a large space to swing the structure.
Further, conveyance using a belt and a floating ball cage has a disadvantage of poor paper feeding reliability because the guide is discontinuous.

On the other hand, Utility Model Application No. 54-82638 discloses an endless rubber belt for conveying copy paper stretched between fixed position pulleys, a guide movable along the rubber belt, and a rubber belt attached to the guide. A sorter has been disclosed that has a stretchable guide belt with an end, and conveys copy sheets by sandwiching them between the rubber belt and the guide belt, and distributes them to a plurality of bins. However, in this sorter, since the rubber belt and the guide belt are provided facing each other, friction between the belts causes significant belt wear and friction noise. Further, in the sorter described above, since the rubber belt for conveying the copy sheets is fixedly disposed within the sorter, the conveyance path for the copy sheets from the receiving section to the bin is fixed along the rubber belt. For this reason, the path from the copy paper receiving section to the bottom bin is significantly longer than the path to the top bin, increasing the risk of copy paper jams and slowing down the paper storage speed. descend.

Purpose/Summary An object of the present invention is to provide a compact sorter that has a simple configuration and can perform reliable and efficient collation.

The above object is a sorter equipped with a sheet receiving section that receives sheets discharged from a copying machine, and a sending section that distributes sheets to a plurality of bins and sends them out by moving while changing the distance from the receiving section. A plurality of endless belts for conveying sheets are provided between the receiving section and the sending section, and a predetermined tension is applied to the endless belt regardless of a change in the distance between the receiving section and the sending section. a tension-applying roller that provides tension; a driving means that drives the endless belt; a plurality of belts with ends, which are attached between the receiving part and the sending part so as to be displaced integrally with the endless belt as the parts move, and guide sheets conveyed by the endless belt; , characterized by comprising a winding means for winding one end of the belt with ends so as to change the distance between the receiving part and the delivery part of the belt with ends according to the displacement of the delivery part. This is accomplished by a sorter.

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, a sorter 1 is connected to a copying machine 2, and the sorter 1 has a receiving section 3 and a bin assembly 5 having a plurality of vertical bins 4, 4'...
, a feeding section 6 which is vertically movable along the bin assembly 5, and a conveying section 9 including an endless belt 7 and an end belt 8.

A sheet discharged from a pair of discharge rollers 10 of the copying machine 2 is received by a receiving section 3, passes through a conveying section 9, and is sent from a discharging section 6 to a certain bin 4. When the sheet is detected by a sensor (not shown) provided at the delivery port of the delivery section 6 and it is confirmed that the sheet has been completely delivered, the delivery section 6 moves to face the entrance of the next bin 4'. Then, the sheet conveyed in the same manner is delivered to the next bin 4'. In this way, the sheets are distributed to the bins one after another, and when the distribution is completed, the delivery section 6 returns to the starting position facing the topmost bin 4, and is specially prepared for distributing sheets to the next document.

Regarding the receiving section 3, the conveying section 9, the sending section 6, the first
To explain in more detail with reference to FIGS. The frame body 13 is fixed at an appropriate position by screwing into a plurality of fixing holes 14, 14, . . . provided in the main body of the sorter 1. this is,
As shown in FIG. 3, a pair of discharge rollers 10 of the copying machine 2
Even if the position of the receiving part 3 is different, the position of the receiving part 3 can be adjusted and attached. In addition, as a method for adjusting the position of the receiving portion, other methods such as continuous adjustment using a long groove may be used as appropriate.

On the other hand, the delivery section 6 is composed of two shafts 21 and 22, a group of rollers provided on the shafts, and a frame 23 that holds them, and this delivery section is shown by a dashed line in FIG. It is configured to sequentially move toward the entrance of each bin via pulleys 24, 25 and a wire 26 by an intermittent drive and return mechanism, which will be described later.

A transport section 9 that connects the receiving section 3 and the sending section 6
includes three endless belts 7 and two retractable tapes 8 which are arranged alternately without overlapping. The endless belt 7 includes a roller 31 fixed to the shaft 11 of the receiving section 3 and a sending section 6.
It is stretched around a roller 32 fixed to the shaft 21 of the sorter body and rollers 35 and 36 of fixed shafts 33 and 34 of the sorter body, and is guided by a long groove 37 of the body on the outside and biased by a spring 38. A roller 40 on a shaft 39 is in contact with the belt, thereby tensioning the belt as a whole and changing the length of the belt between the receiving part and the delivering part as the delivering part 6 moves.

The retractable tape 8 is fixed at one end on a roller 41 on a shaft 12 fixed to the frame 13 of the receiving section 3, and the other end is fixed on a roller 41 on a shaft 22 of the sending section 6.
It is fixed at 2. This shaft 22 is biased by a spring (not shown) in a direction to wind up the retractable tape 8, and is adapted to change the length of the retractable tape 8 in accordance with the movement of the delivery section 6.

In the receiving section and the sending section, small-diameter rollers 43, 44, 45,
A pair of rollers 47 and 48 are provided between each endless belt and the retractable tape, and are in opposing contact with each other. In this case the shaft 1 on which the retractable tape 8 is attached
2 and 22 are fixed (the shaft 22 of the delivery section does not rotate when the delivery section is stopped), so the rollers 43, 45, 4 provided on these shafts
7 and 48 are loosely installed with respect to the shaft.

On the other hand, rollers 46 provided on the shafts 11 and 21,
47 and 48 are fixed to the shaft, and the roller 44, which contacts the retractable tape 8 when the sheet S does not pass, is loosely installed to the shaft.

The endless belt 7 arranged in this manner is rotated counterclockwise in the figure by driving a shaft 33 fixed to the main body. On the other hand, since the retractable tape 8 only guides the sheet S, it is made of a material having a smaller coefficient of friction than the endless belt 7. Specifically, the endless belt 7 is a neoprene rubber belt with a polyester core (coefficient of dynamic friction with paper 0.95),
A triacetate film (coefficient of dynamic friction with paper: 0.16) is used as the retractable tape 8.
Of course, these materials are not limited to these, and any material that satisfies the above relationship can be used as appropriate. For example, a polyester film may be used instead of a triacetate film.

As described above, the delivery unit 6 moves intermittently from the top starting position to the entrance of each bin, and returns to the starting position when it reaches a predetermined number of bins or reaches the bottom position. The drive mechanism will be explained using FIG. 4.

A wire 26 is fixed to the frame 23 of the delivery section by a fixing member 51, and the wire 26 is wound around pulleys 24 and 25 provided on the sorter body. A positioning member 53 is fixed to a drive shaft 52, which is one of the shafts of these pulleys, with a screw 54, and a forward rotation pulley 55 is rotatably fitted, allowing rotation in the direction a in the figure and preventing rotation in the direction b. A reversing pulley 57 is provided via a transmitting one-way clutch 56. These pulleys 55 and 57 are connected to pulleys 59 and 60 provided on the drive shaft of a forward/reverse rotation motor 58 via a belt (not shown).

A kick spring 6 is attached to the boss portion 53a of the positioning member 53 and the boss portion 55a of the normal rotation pulley 55.
1 is wound, and a clutch collar 62 is fitted around the outer periphery. One end of the lock spring 61 is connected to the hole 53b of the boss portion 53a, and the other end is connected to the clutch collar 62.
It is fixed to the notch 62b of.

The positioning member 53 and the clutch collar 62 have claw portions 53c and 62c formed on their outer peripheries at equal intervals, respectively, and an engaging member 63 is disposed opposite to the claw portions 53a and 62c. The engagement member 63 is the shaft 6
When the solenoid 65 is off, it is placed in an engaging position with the pawls 53c and 62c, and when the solenoid is on, it is placed in a non-engaging position by a spring 66.

In the above configuration, when the delivery section is stopped at the entrance of a certain bottle, the solenoid 65 is turned off, and the engaging member 63 locks the positioning member 53 and the clutch collar 62 and rotates in the direction a. The transmission of the normal rotation driving force of the motor 58 is interrupted.

When a signal to move the delivery section 6 to the next bin is issued, for example, a sheet trailing edge detection signal from a sensor provided on the exit side of the delivery section, the solenoid 65 is turned on for a certain period of time, thereby causing the solenoid 65 to become engaged. The locking is released by the mating member 63. As a result, first a
The boss portion 55 of the forward rotating pulley 55 rotating in the direction
a is tightened by the tension spring 61 due to friction with the tension spring 61, and then the boss portion 53a of the positioning member 53 is tightened by the tension spring 61.
The driving force that is tightened and transmitted to the normal rotation pulley 55 is transmitted to the drive shaft 52. This driving force causes the wire 26 to rotate counterclockwise in the figure to move the delivery section toward the next bin position. here,
When the tightening of the tightening spring 61 is started, the clutch collar 62 starts rotating accordingly, so that the claw portion 62c of the clutch collar 62 is slightly ahead of the claw portion 53c of the positioning member 53.

When the time elapses for the delivery portion 6 to reach the next pin position, the solenoid 65 is turned off, and the engagement member 63 enters the engagement position by turning off the solenoid 65, but as described above, the clutch collar 62
Since the positioning member 53 is ahead of the positioning member 53,
The engaging member 63 first engages the claw portion 6 of the clutch collar 62.
2c to release the tightening of the tightening spring 61, and then the claw portion 53c of the positioning member 53
Accurate positioning is achieved by engagement with the

In this way, after the delivery section 6 reaches the designated bin position or the lowest position and the last sheet is collated, the solenoid 65 is turned on and the forward/reverse rotation motor 58 is switched in direction b. As a result, the drive shaft 52 is connected to the one-way clutch 56 and the reversing pulley 5.
7, the delivery section 6 returns to the starting position.

The conveyance and distribution of sheets by the sorter having the above-described configuration will be described below.

When a sheet S arrives from the copying machine 1 while the sending section 6 is stopped at a position relative to a certain bin, the sheet S is transferred to the receiving section 3 between the endless belt 7 and the roller 43, the retractable tape 8 and the roller 44. and an endless belt 7 which is received between the rollers 47 and 47 and is constantly driven.
The tape is held between the endless belt 7 and the retractable tape 8 and conveyed toward the delivery section 6. In the delivery section 6, an endless belt 7, a roller 45, a retractable tape 8
and between the rollers 46 and 48 and 48 to the opposing bins.

When the sheet is delivered to the bin, the delivery section 6 is moved toward the next bin position by the above-mentioned intermittent drive mechanism. At this time, the endless belt 7 is pushed by the roller 40 that is pushed in the tension direction, and the retractable tape 8 is pushed by the shaft 2 that is pushed clockwise.
2, the length between the receiving section and the sending section is adjusted respectively. Then, the next sheet coming from the copying machine is guided in the same manner as described above and sent to the next bin, and the subsequent sheets are collated in the same manner.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the sheet conveyance path is constructed of the endless belt 7 whose length can be changed and the retractable tape 8, the sheet can be reliably conveyed without causing conveyance defects due to bending or loosening. Moreover, since the length of the retractable tape 8 is changed by winding it up, the sorter main body can be configured compactly. Furthermore, since the endless belt 7 is always maintained in a tensioned state, there is no inconvenience such as the loosened belt 7 coming into contact with other members and being damaged. Furthermore, since the endless belt 7 and the retractable tape 8 are arranged alternately without overlapping, the number of these conveying members can be reduced, and wear caused by sliding contact between the retractable tape 8 and the endless belt 7 can be reduced. No damage will be caused. Furthermore, by integrally moving the endless belt 7 and the retractable tape 8, the distance of the conveying section 9 from the receiving section 3 to the sending section 6 becomes the shortest according to each bin. The probability of jam occurrence can be minimized, and the time for distributing copy sheets to each bin can be minimized.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and can be modified in various ways. For example, the length of the endless belt is adjusted by pressing the roller 40 from the outside of the belt. This may be biased from the inside of the belt to the outside.

Furthermore, the retractable tape is wound up in the delivery section, but this can be done by providing only a guide roller in the delivery section, and extending the retractable tape through this guide roller to the bottom of the row of bins. It is also possible to provide a fixed winding mechanism below the lowest position of the section.

Effects of the Invention Since the sorter according to the present invention has the configuration described above, it can transport sheets reliably and efficiently with a simple configuration, and furthermore, it can provide stable transport performance over a long period of time. can be maintained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the main parts, Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram explaining the position adjustment of the receiving part, and Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the delivery part drive mechanism. It is a diagram. 1... Sorter, 2... Copying machine, 3... Receiving section, 4, 4'... Bin, 5... Bin assembly,
6... Delivery section, 7... Endless belt, 8...
...Retractable tape, 9... Conveyance section, 10...
...Discharge roller pair, 11, 12, 21, 22, 3
3, 34, 39, 31, 32, 35, 36, 4
0, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48...Roller, 37...Long groove, 38...Spring, 4
1,42...Koro.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A sheet receiving section that receives sheets discharged from a copying machine, and a sending section that distributes sheets to a plurality of bins and sends them out by moving while changing the distance from the receiving section. A sorter comprising: a plurality of endless belts for conveying sheets provided between the receiving section and the sending section; a tension imparting roller that applies a predetermined tension; a driving means that drives the endless belt; made of a material having a smaller coefficient of friction than the endless belt, and arranged in an alternating relationship without overlapping with the endless belt; A plurality of elements are installed between the receiving section and the sending section so as to be displaced integrally with the endless belt as the sending section moves, and guide sheets conveyed by the endless belt. An end belt; and a winding means for winding one end of the end belt to change the distance between the receiving part and the sending part of the end belt in accordance with the displacement of the sending part. Features a sorter. 2. The sorter according to claim 1, wherein the winding means is provided in the delivery section.