JPH02193861A - Device for neatly arranging sheet - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To neatly conduct bidirectional sheet arrangement with a high precision by means of one member for neatly arranging sheets by bringing sheets received in a bin into contact with both a first stopping member and a second stopping member by the member. CONSTITUTION:When sheets are received on a bin 2, a size motor 113 is driven according to the size information from an image forming device, and a plurality of pressing members 102 mounted on a main shaft 101 through timing belts 105, 106 are moved to the bin fence 210 side until the corresponding notch of a size detecting plate 114 is detected by a size detecting means 115. Then, an oscillating motor 116 is driven to oscillate the pressing member 102 to the right through the main shaft 101, and the sheets are pushed to the bin fenced 210 and a bin rear end standing part 205 right-angled thereto by the elastic pressing member 102 to conduct jogging. Hence, a bidirectional sheet arrangement can be conducted with a high precision by means of one member (pressing member) for arranging sheets neatly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet aligning device that brings a swinging sheet aligning member into contact with the end face of a sheet placed on a sheet receiving container to align the sheets to an aligned position. In particular, the present invention relates to a sheet alignment device that aligns recording sheets ejected from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, facsimile machine, printer, or printing machine.

2. Description of the Related Art A sorter that conveys sheets processed by a copying machine or the like, places them in a plurality of bins, and collates or sorts the sheets is conventionally known.

If the sheet bundles stacked on such a sheet receiving container can be aligned so that their four sides coincide with each other, it will be convenient for handling the sheet bundles. It is also possible to perform post-processing such as stabilization processing in which a needle is driven into a sheet bundle to bundle it, and punching processing in which holes are punched with a puncher.

As shown in FIG. 20, for example, such a sheet alignment device brings rotating alignment rods into contact with both end surfaces of the sheets, and aligns the sheets in the direction of contact (X direction in the figure) using the force of the contact. A device has been proposed that aligns sheets in a direction perpendicular to the direction of contact (Y direction in the figure) using the tangential frictional force generated by the rotation (JP-A-59-1999).
(See Publication No. 177251).

However, in such a device, it is necessary to provide sheet aligning means (aligning rods) on both sides of the sheet, and since multiple means rotate each other to align the sheets, it is difficult to accurately align the sheets at predetermined positions. There is a problem that it is difficult to obtain high alignment accuracy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art and to accurately align sheets in two directions using one sheet aligning member.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a sheet alignment device that aligns the sheets to alignment positions by bringing a swinging sheet alignment member into contact with the end surface of the sheet placed on a sheet receiving container. a first stop member that stops movement of the sheet in one direction; and a second stop member that stops movement of the sheet in a direction perpendicular to the one direction;
The sheet alignment member is brought into contact with the sheet in a direction in which it is pressed against both the stop member and the second stop member.

According to the present invention, first and second sheet stopping members are provided which are perpendicular to each other to stop the movement of the sheet, and the sheet aligns in the direction in which the sheet aligning member is swung to contact the sheet. Since the sheet is set in the direction in which it is pressed against the second sheet stop member, the contact force applied to one end surface of the sheet by one sheet aligning member can align the sheets to a position where the sheets contact both the first and second stop members. can.

In the embodiment, the suppressing member 102. shown in FIG. 1 is used as an example of the sheet aligning member, the first stopping member, and the second stopping member, respectively. Bin fence 210 and bottle rear end rising part 20
5 is set. The direction in which the pressing member 102 comes into contact with the sheet by swinging and applies a contact force to the sheet is the direction A shown in FIG. .

Further, in the embodiment, in order to bring the pressing member 102 into contact with the pressing member 102 in such a direction, the swinging unit including the pressing member 102 is moved by a moving device such as a size moving motor 113, and a predetermined size is moved for each sheet size to be introduced. The swing unit is set at the appropriate position.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the sheet aligning device of the present invention, and is a perspective view showing the general structure of the entire device and its relationship with a sorter bin. In this embodiment, the sheet alignment device is attached to a sorter 1 of a copying machine shown in FIG. 2, and copies, which are an example of sheets discharged from the copying machine, are introduced into a sorter bin 2, which is an example of a sheet receiving container. Then, align the copies on top of that. Thereafter, in the sorter 1, the aligned copy bundle is chucked and moved to the stapling position, where the stapling process is performed.

First, the overall structure of a sorter including the sheet aligning device of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

In FIG. 2, inlet guide plates 4 and 5 are provided at an inlet for receiving copies ejected from a copying machine (not shown), followed by guide plates 7 and 9 for conveying the copies upward.
10, 11, conveyance roller 6゜8.12, 13, switching claw 1
5 is provided.

A pair of paper ejection rollers 16 and 17 and a paper ejection tray 3 are provided on the upper path that is switched by the switching claw 15.
The lower path switched by 5 continues to the copy vertical feeding path along the copy insertion side of a bin 2 of a plurality of sheets (20 sheets in the illustrated example) provided vertically parallel to the bottom.

A pair of rollers including a deflection claw 18, a conveyance roller 19, and a discharge roller 20 are provided at a position corresponding to each bin on the paper feeding path. 21 is in pressure contact.

Conveyance rollers 6.8, 12, 13. Paper ejection roller 16.17
, conveyance roller 19. The discharge roller 20 is driven by a drive motor 2
2.

On the side of the bin group, as shown in FIG. 3, there are a stapler 301 for stapling the copy bundle, a chucking unit 302 for bringing the sheets together to the stapler, and a vertical movement mechanism for moving the chucking unit 302 to each bin. A stapler device 300 configured as shown in FIG.

Also, on the side of the bin group on the opposite side where the stapler device is located,
A sheet alignment device 100 is disposed, which includes a unit for aligning sheets before stapling and a device for moving the unit to a location appropriate for the sheet size.

FIG. 4 is a view of the sorter 1 seen from the opposite side of FIG. 2.

What could not be expressed in FIG. 2 will be explained using this diagram.

Sorter 1 is a 20-bin sorter, and is divided into two blocks of 10 bins each.The upper block has bin sensors 30, 31 and paper ejection sensors 32, 33, and the lower block has bin sensors 34, 35 and paper ejection sensors. Sensors 36, 37
There is. These sensors are transmission type optical detection sensors consisting of an LED and a phototransistor. The paper ejection sensor detects whether a copy has been ejected, and the bin sensor determines whether there are copies in the bin. Such a bin sensor makes it possible to use the lower block if there is a copy on the upper block.

Reference numeral 100 indicates a sheet alignment device.

Returning to FIG. 2, the copies discharged from the copying machine are inserted through the entrance guide plates 4 and 5, and are conveyed to the upper part of the sorter 1 by the guide plates and a pair of conveyance rollers.

Currently, normal paper ejection mode (mode for ejecting paper to paper ejection tray 3)
If this is the case, the switching claw 15 is lowered and the copy is moved along the guide plate 14 to the paper ejection tray 3 by the paper ejection roller pair.
is discharged.

Furthermore, if the mode is sort mode (mode for sorting pages in order) or stack mode (mode for sorting pages by page), the switching claw 15 is raised and the copies are conveyed downward along the switching guide plate 23. Conveyance roller 1
The copy conveyed by the roller 9 and the driven roller 21 is discharged into the bin 2 at the location where the deflection claw 18 is activated. The deflection claw 18 moves according to the mode (sort or stack).

In the sort mode, the deflection claw 18 of the first bin operates to eject the first copy of the first page of the original into the first bin 2, and the second copy of the first page of the original is ejected into the first bin 2. The bin number deflection claw 18 operates to discharge the waste into the second bin 2. Further, the first copy of the second page of the original is discharged into the first bin 2, and the second copy is discharged into the second bin 2, respectively. In this way, when in sort mode, copies 1.2.3.
... are output in page order.

In the stack mode, the deflection pawl 18 operates to eject all copies of the first page of the document into the first bin, and eject all copies of the second page into the second bin. In this way, in the stack mode, copies of the same page are ejected into one bin and sorted by page.

In order to staple the copies sorted in this way, the plurality of copies discharged into each bin must be aligned. Therefore, the sorter 1 is equipped with a sheet aligning device to which the present invention is applied, which will be described below.

First, the structure of the sheet alignment device will be explained based on FIG. 1.

A bin fence 210 is provided upright on one side edge of each bin 2, and this bin fence 2
A bottle rear end rising portion 205 is provided upright on the other side edge that is perpendicular to the edge where the bottle 10 is provided. Also, from the edge opposite to the edge where the bin fence 210 is provided,
A notch 207 is provided in the right angle direction. This notch 207 extends toward the bin fence 210 over a predetermined length. A main shaft 101 having a rectangular cross section is provided vertically through a notch 207 provided in each of these bottles 2 . Main shaft 10
A pressing member 102, which is an example of a sheet aligning member that comes into contact with the end face of the sheet bundle to align the positions, is attached to a midway portion of the sheet stack 1 at a position corresponding to each bin 2.

Each of these pressing members 102 has a pressing elastic member 102 on the surface facing the bin fence 210, as shown in FIG.
a and 102b are provided.

The pressing elastic member 102a is made of a spring plate and is attached to partially overlap the free end of the suppressing member 102, and its elasticity allows the attachment of the pressing member 102 and the bottle 2 to absorb variations in the above. . or.

The pressing elastic member 102b is attached perpendicularly to the surface of the pressing member 102, and has a V-shaped cross section with a large included angle with the center portion downward, so that when the sheet curls upward and is introduced, the sheet curls. The pressing and suppressing member 102 can reliably contact the end face of the copy bundle to align the copy bundle.

L-shaped brackets 103 and 104 are attached to the upper and lower ends of the main shaft 101, respectively, and notches 207 are provided in the upper and lower regions of the bottle group 2. Toothed belts 105 and 106 are arranged, respectively, extending in substantially the same direction as the extending direction. And each of these toothed belts 105
and 106, each other side of each bracket 103, 104 is fixed to 5, each toothed belt 105
and 106 respectively hung on the pulleys 107.
Of the pulleys 108, 109, 110, and 111, the drive-side pulleys 107 and 109 are respectively fixed to both ends of a sliding shaft 112 extending in the vertical direction. The lower toothed belt 106 is.

Pulley 1 provided on the output shaft of the size movement motor 113
It is hung on 11.

A size detection plate 114 is fixed to the sorter 1, and a size detection sensor 115 is attached to the lower bracket 104, so that the position of the pressing member 102 can be detected.

A swing motor 116 is installed on the lower bracket 104, as also shown in FIG. This swing motor 1
An eccentric shaft 116a is provided on an arm 116b fixed to the output shaft of No. 16 so as to protrude upward. On the other hand, a swing arm 117 is attached to the lower end of the main shaft 101 so as to protrude toward the swing motor 116 .

An eccentric shaft 116a is loosely fitted into a long groove 117a formed in the swing arm 117.

With such a structure, when the swing motor 116 is immediately rotated, the swing arm 117 swings, and this swing motion is transmitted to the suppressing member 102 corresponding to each bin 2 via the main shaft 101, and presses it. Each pressing elastic member 102a of the member 102 is swung sinusoidally between the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 5 and the position shown by the dashed-dotted line as shown in FIG.
The swinging speed becomes slow at the top dead center, which is the position where the sheets are aligned.

The position indicated by the dashed line in FIG.
In order to reliably press against the sheet 10, the suppressing elastic member 102a is set to have a certain amount of penetration from the sheet end surface.

As described above, the swinging section is unitized, and the entire swinging unit can be moved by the size movement motor 113.

Next, the operation of the sheet aligning device will be explained.

When the sheet size signal sent from the copying machine is received, the size movement motor 113 moves the upper and lower toothed belts 1.
05 and 106 are conveyed, and thereby the pressing member 102 attached to the main shaft 101 is moved forward toward one end surface of the sheet bundle.

And size detection plate 114 and size detection sensor 115
The swing unit is moved to a predetermined position according to the seat size.

Next, the swing motor 116 rotates nearly half a turn (180'') in the normal direction, and then reverses and returns to the home position, thereby swinging the swing arm 117 once, and the swinging force is transmitted through the main shaft 101 to each This is transmitted to the pressing member 102. As a result, the suppressing elastic member 102a is swung from the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 5 to the position shown by the dashed line.

As shown in FIG. 9, the swing motor 116 can be easily rotated twice in one process by rotating the swing motor 116 in the normal direction up to about 250° and then reversing it to return to the home position.

Due to such rocking movement of the pressing member 102, the pressing elastic member 102a is brought into contact with one end surface of the sheet bundle, and the sheet bundle is moved from the position where it was introduced onto the bin 2 shown by the solid line in FIG. The end surface on the opposite side is pressed against the fence 210 and moved to the alignment position shown by the dashed line, thereby aligning the one end of the sheet bundle. At the same time, the suppressing elastic member 102a is swung in the six directions of the arrows in FIG. The other end is pressed against the rising portion 205 of the bottle 2, and alignment on this side is also performed at the same time.

As shown in FIG. 9, the swing motor 116 swings forward and backward, so even if the seat cannot be pushed completely with forward rotation, the swing motor 116 can easily return to the home position by reversing. It can be returned.

By the above-described operation, the copies discharged onto the bin 2 are properly aligned to the end of the bin 2.

The aligned sheet bundle is subjected to post-processing such as stapling, and then taken out in the direction of arrow X shown in FIG. Since there is no obstacle to taking out the sheet in the east sheet passing range in the taking-out direction, the sheet can be taken out easily.

Fig. 10(a) to Fig. 10(c) and Fig. 11(a) to
FIG. 11(p) shows the detailed structure of the whole and part of the bin 2, respectively.The bin 2 has been designed in various ways to facilitate sheet alignment and stapling. These will be explained below based on the above drawings.

FIG. 10(a) shows a plan view of the bottle 2, and FIG. 10(b) shows a side view thereof.

As described above, the notch 207 through which the main shaft 101 of rocking passes is extended approximately in the center of FIG. 10(a). The main shaft 101 is moved according to the sheet size. Two protrusions 201 extend parallel to the notch 207 in the vicinity thereof, forming a groove into which the pressing member 102 attached to the main shaft 101 of swing is inserted. 11th
As shown in Figure (c), by providing the convex portion 201,
The sheet S discharged onto the bin 2 is lifted and the sheet is reliably brought together when the pressing member 102 swings. A similar effect can also be produced by providing a recess in the bottle 2 as shown in FIG. 11(d). Also, the first
As shown in FIG. 1(c), the convex portion 201 also plays the role of bending and stiffening the discharged sheet S, and also exhibits the effect of making the sheet S swing and align well.

In FIG. 10(,), a rib 202b is provided on the bottle 2. The rib 202b also has the function of preventing the ejected sheet from slipping into the notch 207. FIG. 11(a) shows the rib 202b near the notch 207.
The cross-sectional shape of is shown.

As can be seen from the figure, the ribs 202 protrude above and below the bin 2 to prevent the sheets to be stacked from going under and into the notch of the upper bin. The arrangement of the ribs 202b is set so that when a sheet of each size is introduced, the ribs 202b are located approximately 10 mm inward from the edge of the sheet, and in particular, the ribs 202b are arranged at the notch portion 207.
It is designed to reliably guide the edge of the sheet, which easily enters the sheet.

In the same figure, the rib 202b on the upper side of the bin 2 has a triangular shape with one side gentle. This is due to the fact that the chucked sheet bundle is discharged into the bin after being stapled. This is to guide the sheet bundle so that it does not get caught on the ribs 202b. Moreover, the rib 202b is the 10th
In the vicinity of the rising portion 205 of the rear end of the bottle shown in FIG.
As shown in Fig. 1(b), it is lowered and gradually becomes higher up to the notch. This is to ensure a large number of sheets can be loaded.

In order to increase the number of copies loaded in bin 2, the 11th
As shown in FIG.
To prevent the risk of getting caught in 11 and having an adverse effect on stackability and alignment.

Ribs 202c are provided, and the ejected sheet is reliably guided so as not to be caught by the static elimination brush 211. The ribs 202c are also arranged so as to press both ends of the sheets of each size.

In FIG. 10(b), the rib 202e protruding on the lower side
serves to hold down the end surface of the sheet S as shown in Fig. 11(f), so that when the chucking unit moves forward against a highly curled sheet as shown in Fig. 11(g), This means that the sheets can be reliably chucked without hitting the east end surface of the sheets stacked on the sheet.

The guide member 212 attached to the bottom surface of the stapler side end of the bin 2 shown in FIGS. This is a member that guides the sheet bundle to ensure that it enters the opening of the stapler section. Without this guide member 212, as shown in FIG. 11(j), when the sheet bundle moves from ■ to ■ in the same figure, there is a risk that the sheet bundle will be caught in the stapler opening. This problem often occurs especially when the curl of the sheet is large or when the number of sheets stacked is large. If the guide member 212 is provided, the sheet bundle will be moved in the manner of ■, ■, ■ and will be reliably guided to the stapler opening, as shown in FIG. 11(i), and the above-mentioned problem will not occur.

The convex portion 204 protruding from the bottom of the bin 2 in FIG. 10(b) is a sheet curl presser. The sheets discharged onto the bin 2 are aligned in one direction, but sheets with large curls may climb over the bin fence 210 provided on the side of the bin, resulting in poor alignment. For this reason, the convex portion 204 is provided so as to suppress the curling of the sheet and to properly align the sheet. 11(k) and (1) show model cases with and without the curl presser convex portion 204; ■ and ■ of the sheet in Figure 0 indicate the state over time when the alignment was performed. The sheets are shown step by step, and in FIG. 3(k), the curling of the sheets is suppressed by the curl presser convex portion 204 and the sheets are stacked well.

A cutout 206 shown in FIG. 10(a) is a cutout for the chucking unit to chuck the sheet bundle arranged on the bin 2.

The bin 2 is attached to the sorter main body at an angle with respect to a horizontal plane in the sheet discharge direction. This is to align the ejected sheets in the ejecting direction by the rocking movement of the pressing member 102 and the falling of the sheets due to their own weight. In this example, bin 2 has an inclination of 25°.

In order to improve alignment accuracy in the discharge direction and stackability, the shape of the rising portion 205 of the bin 2 is as shown in FIG. 11(m).
It looks like (n). That is.

An arbitrary vertical part is provided with respect to the bottom surface of the bottle 2, and a part inclined inward from the perpendicular surface with respect to the bottom surface of the bottle 2 is provided as an extension of the vertical part. This is because when the sheets are stacked on the rising portion 205, curls and the like are suppressed by the bent portion 205a, and the sheets are stacked in good alignment as shown in FIG. 11(o) and (p) show a shape in which the rising portion only extends vertically and a state in which sheets are stacked on it. In this shape, when a curled sheet is discharged, The sheet will not be able to hold back the curl and will start riding up on the rising section, causing problems such as jams.

FIG. 10 (Q) is a right side view of the bottle 2, showing its installed state, 209a and 209b indicate side plates, and 208a
, 2.08b is a bottle holder.

The bottle 2 is fixed by the bottle holder 208a on the side of the bottle fen 210, and the bottle holder 208b on the other side supports the bottle 2 with a slight gap therebetween.

By fixing the bin fence 210 side, the position of the staple does not vary. Also, bottle holder 2
The thermal expansion of the bottle 2 can be absorbed by the small gap provided on the 08b side.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the control system in this embodiment. The six control systems are centered around the CPU 400, ROM 401, and RAM.
402, I10 ports 403, 406, clock timer controller (CTC) 404, universal asynchronous receiver transceiver (UART)
This is a microcomputer control system consisting of 405.

The RA
Using the M402, each load is controlled via various drivers by receiving input signals from the I10 port 406 and output signals from the I10 port 403 and CPU 400. Further, various status instruction signals are exchanged with the copying machine via a receiver 412 and a driver 413 using a UART 405. Of the signals exchanged with the copier,
Signals sent from the copying machine to this control circuit include a sorter start signal, copying machine ejection signal, mode signal, paper size signal, staple start signal, staple end signal, and service call reset signal (S, C, reset). and so on.

The signals sent from this control circuit to the copying machine include an ejection signal, each door cover open signal, a JAM signal, a bin number over signal,
Abnormal signal, no staple signal, stapling end signal, stapling permission signal.

There are sort permission signals, etc.

The operation and control flow of this embodiment will be explained below according to a flowchart.

FIG. 13 shows the main flow. CPU 400 first receives an operation mode signal sent from the copying machine. Similarly, it receives a set number signal sent from the copying machine. After the copying machine starts copying, the copying machine sends a sorter start signal, and when that signal is received, the drive motor 22 starts. When the sorter start signal is not sent, the flow is in a wait state. After that, according to the received operation mode, one of sort mode, stack mode, and normal paper ejection mode is executed. 0Normal paper ejection mode is a mode in which paper is continuously ejected to the paper ejection tray 3. .

The sort mode will be explained below based on FIG. 14.

A little later than the sorter start signal, a paper size signal indicating the size of the paper to be fed from the copying machine is transmitted from the copying machine. When the paper size signal is received, it is determined whether swinging is possible (see Figure 19 for details), and if swinging is possible,
The process moves to the size counter preset routine and swing unit movement routine. In these subroutines, processing is performed to move the swing unit, that is, the pressing member 102, etc., to a position corresponding to the received paper size signal.

FIG. 15 shows the size counter preset routine. If a size signal has been received, size position data is set in the size counter preset routine based on the received size signal, a swing unit movement instruction is given, and the process returns. If the size signal is not received, it returns as is.

FIG. 16 shows a swing unit movement routine.

In this routine, if the swing unit does not move, the routine returns directly. If the swinging unit is to move, it is determined whether swinging is possible or not, and if swinging is possible, the size movement motor 113 is rotated clockwise at high speed. Thereafter, it is determined whether the size detection sensor 115 has changed from off to on. If this has not changed from off to on, it returns as is. If it has changed, the size counter is decremented by 1. Thereafter, the value of the size counter is read, and if it is 1, the speed of the size movement motor 113 is changed to low speed and the process returns.

If the value of the size counter is 0, size movement motor 1
13 to end the movement of the swing unit and return.

When the swing unit movement routine is completed, the paper discharge signal from the copying machine main body is checked in FIG. 14. When the paper discharge signal is received, the electromagnetic clutch CL (FIG. 2) is turned on. When the electromagnetic clutch CL is turned on, the power of the drive motor 22 is transmitted to the conveyance rollers 19 at the bin entrance, and these conveyance rollers rotate.

Next, the copy paper is fed into the sorter from the copying machine.

At this time, the copy paper is detected by the population sensor S (FIG. 2). When the sensor S detects the introduction of copy paper, the switching solenoid S○L (FIG. 2) is turned on. When the switching solenoid is turned on, the switching claw 15 is switched to the side that conveys the paper toward the bin.

In the "sort operation" step in FIG. 14, processing is performed to discharge the fed copy paper into a desired bin. For example, only the deflection claw 18 corresponding to a desired bin is switched so that the copy paper is deflected toward the desired bin by the deflection claw.

After a suitable period of time until the copy paper is completely discharged onto the bin by the conveyance roller 19 and the discharge roller 20, in this embodiment, after 300 mg (Step A in FIG. 14), the rocking routine is executed. In this swinging routine, the copy bundles discharged onto the bins are aligned by swinging the pressing member 102 shown in FIG.

FIG. 17 shows the swing routine. When the copy paper is discharged onto the bin, the paper discharge sensor 32, 33 or 36
．． 37 (Fig. 3) is first turned on. Next, when the paper ejection is completed, the paper ejection sensor changes from on to off. The place where this change from on to off is at the trailing edge of the paper. A timer provided in the CPU 400 is started at the timing when the discharge sensors 32, 33, etc. change from on to off. Next, check the timer value. When this value reaches a predetermined time, which is 300 m5 in this embodiment, the timer stops counting. At this time, if the swinging is possible, the swinging motor 116 is started, and the main shaft 101 and therefore the pressing member 1 are rotated.
Start rocking 02.

This operation is performed every time copy paper is discharged, and the copy paper stack is aligned each time.

When the swing processing routine ends, the flow shifts to a swing unit retraction routine. If the number of copy sheets stacked in the bin exceeds the number of sheets that can be stapled (30 sheets in this embodiment), stapling cannot be performed in practice.
In such a case, this routine prohibits the stapling process, stops the swinging of the pressing member 102 that interferes with the copy paper ejection operation, and also performs processing to retreat the swinging unit to the home position. It is something to do.

FIG. 18 shows the swing unit retraction routine. The number of sheets of copy paper stacked on a bin is detected by counting the number of copies discharged to the first bin. When it is determined that the paper ejection count value of the first bin exceeds the number of sheets that can be stapled, the swinging operation of the pressing member 102 is stopped, and the swinging unit is retracted to the home position, and the copy paper that is ejected thereafter is stopped. I decided not to perform paper alignment. At the same time, stapling of previously ejected stacks of copy paper is prohibited.

After the above processing is completed, in step B of FIG. 14, it is checked whether a stapling start signal has been issued from the copying machine, and if so, a stapling operation is performed. In this step of stapling operation J, processing for the following operation is performed.
The stapler 301 and the chucking section 3.2 shown in FIGS. 3 and 3 move together while stopping for each bin. A stack of copy paper in each bin is collected by a chucking unit 30.
2 to the stapler 301, and the stapler 301 staples the pulled copy paper bundle.

Note that the bin fence 210 in FIG. 1 serves as a reference on one side end side when aligning sheets by swinging the pressing member 102, but when performing stapling processing with the stapler 301, the bin fence 210 This obstructs the movement of the copy paper stack.

Therefore, when the stapler 301 and the chucking unit 302 reach the target bin, the bin fence 210 automatically rotates downward as shown by the arrow Q and is retracted to a position where it does not interfere with the loading and unloading of the stack of copy sheets. It has become.

In FIG. 14, when the stapling operation processing routine ends, the flow shifts to the rocking prohibition processing routine. This routine is a routine that performs processing to prohibit the swinging of the suppressing member 102 when it is thought that the swinging of the suppressing member 102 would actually disturb the stack of copy sheets.

FIG. 19 shows the rocking prohibition processing routine.

First, it is checked whether the stapling operation is being performed or not. If the stapling operation is not being performed, the bin fence 210 is not opened, and there is no problem in swinging the suppressing member 102, so the swinging is permitted.

When a stapling operation is being performed, check whether the chuck solenoid is turned on. The chuck solenoid is included in the chucking section 302.

If this solenoid is on, the chucking part 3
A chucking operation of a stack of copy sheets is being performed by No. 02.

During the stapling operation, the stapler 301 and the chucking unit 302 are moving along each bin, so it is considered that the bin fence 210 of any bin is open. In this case, if the pressing member 102 swings when the chuck solenoid is off and the copy paper stack is not chucked, the copy paper stack will be disturbed. Therefore, when the chuck nozzle is off (step C), swinging is prohibited. When the chuck tear solenoid is on, it is checked whether 0.3 seconds or more have passed since the chuck that grips the stack of copy sheets moved to its home position.

If 0.3 seconds or more have elapsed, the stapler 301 and the like will resume descending and the lower bin fence 201 will be opened, so swinging is prohibited. If it is within 0.3 seconds, the bin fence 201 is completely closed (standing).
Therefore, rocking is allowed.

When the rocking prohibition processing routine ends, in FIG.
Check step D) to see if stapling has been completed for all bins, and if it has been completed, return the stapler 301 etc. to the home position and complete all operations.

As described above, according to the present invention, the sheet aligning member is swung and brought into contact with the sheet in the direction in which the sheet is pressed against both the first stop member and the second stop member.
Sheet alignment in two directions can be performed with high precision using the two sheet alignment members.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example of a sheet alignment device, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of an example of a sorter to which the sheet alignment device is applied,
3 is a top plan view of the sorter shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of the sorter shown in FIG. The figure is a perspective view of the main part of Fig. 1, Fig. 7 is a plan view of the opening device which is the other main part of Fig. 1, and Figs. 8 and 9 are the operating states of the active device shown in Fig. 7. 10(a) to 10(Q) are diagrams showing the sheet receiving container in detail, and FIG. 11(a) to 1
Figure 1 (p) is a diagram for explaining the structure of each part of the sheet receiving container, Figure 12 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a control circuit, and Figures 13 to 19 are controls executed by the control circuit. FIG. 20 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a conventional sheet aligning device. 2... Bin (sheet receiving container) 102... Pressing member (sheet alignment member) 205...
Bottle rear end rising portion (second stop member) 210...Bin fence (first stop member)) Fig. 5 Fig. 8 Fig. 9 Figure 10 (2) (c) Figure 11 (1) (d) (e) (k) 05b Figure 11 (3)

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] In a sheet aligning device that aligns the sheets to an aligned position by bringing a swinging sheet aligning member into contact with the end surface of a sheet placed on a sheet receiving container, movement of the sheet in one direction is stopped. and a second stop member that stops movement of the sheet in a direction perpendicular to the one direction, and the sheet is pressed against both the first stop member and the second stop member. A sheet aligning device characterized in that the sheet aligning member is brought into contact with the sheet in the direction.