JPH0230987B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic alignment device for a plurality of sheets discharged from a copying machine or the like.

With the recent increase in the volume of copying work and the spread of light printing presses, there is an increasing need to automate sheet alignment. Conventionally, a large number of sheet alignment machines have been commercialized for this purpose, but most of them are devices that handle a large number of sheets, and are large and have complicated configurations. However, these methods are unsuitable for handling relatively small quantities of sheets, and at present there are not many simple sheet aligning devices that can be installed in small-sized copying machines.

On the other hand, one of the advantages of photocopying machines is that they can use sheets of many different sizes.
A sheet alignment device is particularly effective for a series of copying operations involving sheets of different sizes.

An object of the present invention is to provide a sorter for relatively small-sized copying machines, and to widely apply the functionality and labor-saving features of the sorter.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sorter that is small, lightweight, inexpensive, and easy to use.

Next, one embodiment of the present invention will be explained in detail using FIGS. 1 to 5.

In FIG. 1, a paper ejection section of a small electrophotographic copying machine 1 has a paper ejection tray 2 for storing processed copy materials.
A sorter 3 according to the present invention is removably installed.

In FIG. 2, guides 301 and 302 are installed close to a pair of ejection rollers 101 and 102 of an electrophotographic copying machine for guiding copy materials into either a sorter or a paper ejection tray. Guide 3
02 rotates and guides the copy material to the paper discharge tray at the position 303 and into the sorter at the position 302.The paper discharge tray is used when alignment is unnecessary or when copying only one sheet. Copy materials are stored and stacked with the copy side facing up.

A roller pair 3 is provided adjacent to the guides 301 and 302.
04, 305 are arranged, and the sheet conveying belt 30
9,310 are stretched on each, and the guide 30
2, 302 to convey the copying material upward. The other ends of the conveyor belts 309 and 310 are stretched around a pair of belt drive rollers 306 and 307 or a direction changing roller 308, and the conveyor belts 30
The copy material released from the guide 31
1,312 into the bin 321 and stored with the copy side facing down.

The bottle 317 is rotatably supported at one end by a shaft 318, and the other end is supported by a bottle holding means 322 via a roller 316 that is vertically movable along a roller guide 315. In other words, the rollers 316 determine the interval P between adjacent bins, and at the same time support the bins located above in sequence. The gear 339 is coaxially fixed to the bottle holding means 322.

On the other hand, the lowermost bin 321 is connected to a pulley 319 via a wire 320, and is reciprocated in the vertical direction as the pulley 319 rotates.
Gear 33 fixed coaxially with pulley 319
8 meshes with gear 339 via gear 340.

The stop car 341 and the gear 340 are the motor shaft 3
42, and the stop car 341 has a pin 34.
A stopper 344 rotatably movable about 3 is disposed so as to be intermittently in contact with the stopper 344. stopper 3
44 is connected to solenoid SL ₁ via plate 345.

The configuration of the bottle will be explained in detail with reference to FIG. The bin body 333 has a side plate 3 for storing copy materials.
31, a front plate 330 for aligning the tips of the stored copy materials, a notch 324 for taking out the stored copy materials, and bins 325, 334 for rotatably holding rollers 326, 335.
and protrusions 327 and 336 for holding bottles by bottle holding means 329 and 337, respectively. one or more bottle holding means 32
9,337 is fixed to the shaft 328, and the shaft 32
Each time 8 rotates 1/4, the bottles it is holding can be dropped downward one by one.

(Explanation of operation) After starting the electrophotographic copying machine main body 1, when the sorter switch SS is turned on, the guide 303 moves to 302.
At the same time as the belt drive roller 30 moves to the position of
6,307 starts rotating, belts 309,31
0 rotates.

Furthermore, the lowest bin at position 321-a moves to 321, and preparations for storing the first copy material are completed.

The first copy material of the first original is sandwiched between the sheet conveying belts 309 and 310 and moved;
Bin 321 passes between guides 311 and 312
is stored in. This crack detection element 313, 314
detects the passage of the copy material and rotates the pulley 319 and the bottle holding means 322 by a certain amount, so that the first bin 321 moves to the position 321-b by a distance P equal to the bin interval, and The two bottles are released from the bottle holding means 322 and fall to the position 321. That is, the pulley 319 and the bottle holding means 322 are connected to the gears 338 and 33.
9,340, and each rotates a certain amount synchronously by a stepping motor or the like.
Or solenoid SL1 and stop car 341,
A similar operation can be performed by intermittently transmitting power in combination with the stopper 344.

Since the third and subsequent bins are supported by the bin holding means 322, the second copy material is stored between the widely spaced bins in the same way as the first copy material.

When the copying materials are stored in the bin one by one in this way and repeated a necessary number of times, a signal from the main body of the electrophotographic copying machine causes the pulley 319 and the bin holding means 3
22 rotates in the opposite direction, the first bin 321 moves upward, and the bins return to their original positions as one. A limit switch 323 is provided above the roller guide 315, and is activated when the uppermost bottle 317 returns to its original position to stop the rotation of the pulley 319 and the bottle holding means 322.

Similarly, copy materials for the second original are sequentially stored and stacked starting from the lowest bin (first bin) with the copy side facing down, and this operation is repeated.

Generally, copy materials are discharged from an electrophotographic copying machine with the copy side facing up, so when sorting with the sorter according to the present invention, the copy material is sequentially ejected with the copy side facing down.
The second and third sheets are then stored and loaded. Therefore, the procedure for copying a manuscript is natural as it progresses from page 1 to page 2, page 3, and so on.

In addition, all the bins at positions where copy materials are to be stored form slopes that rise in the direction in which the copy materials advance, so that copy materials of different sizes can be stored continuously.

Furthermore, the sorter of the present invention has a simple structure, thus making it possible to reduce the size and weight. Also,
Since the operation is simple, there are few moving parts and the failure rate is low.

(Description of circuit operation) After starting the copying machine main body 1, when the sorter switch SS is turned on, the power supply for the control circuit of the sorter is connected.

The maximum number of continuous copies that can be set at this time is determined by the number of bins on the sorter side. If the number is set to be greater than the number of bins, a control circuit (not shown) on the main body side automatically stops copying.

When the copy button is pressed, the main unit sends a copy signal CPS that is synchronized with the main unit's operation.
Since the bin is normally at the top, the limit switch 323 is pressed "on" and the BHP signal is 1.
It's getting old.

At this time, the signal CPS is inverted by gate 4,
A trigger pulse is generated by the CR's differentiator circuit. This trigger pulse sets the flip-flop 5 and the Q output becomes 1, which is connected to the amplifier through the gate 6. By turning on relay K1 by the amplifier, the drive motor starts rotating.

When both CPS and BHP are 1, the output of gate 1 becomes 1, passes through gate 10, is inverted at gate 11, and a trigger pulse is generated by the differentiating circuit. This trigger pulse is applied to the negative trigger terminal of timer 1, and timer 1 is activated. The Q output of termer 1 is applied to the amplifier through gate 14, and SL1 is activated.

Further, the output of gate 1 which has passed through gate 10 comes to gate 12. If this signal is the first signal, flip-flop 16 is in the reset state and the output is 1. So, gate 1
Both inputs of 2 become 1, and 1 is output. This output is applied to the plus trigger terminal of timer 2, and timer 2 is activated. Q output becomes 1,
Solenoid SL2 operates through the amplifier.
The output becomes "0" and a trigger pulse is generated by the differentiating circuit, which sets the flip-flop 16. Therefore, the output becomes 0 and the input of gate 12 is closed. Thus, when flip-flop 16 is in the set state, gate 12 inhibits the signal to timer 2. Further, the Q output of timer 2 is connected through a resistor to the base of a transistor that changes the timer time of timer 1, and if the Q output is 1, the transistor is turned off and the timer time of timer 1 becomes longer.

After the operation of Timmers 1 and 2 is completed, the copy paper is detected by the lamp 313 and the detector 314,
Signal CPOS2 is generated. When the copy paper passes through the detection unit and is stored in the bin, CPOS2 becomes 0. At this time, a trigger pulse is generated by the differential circuit of CR, which is inverted by gate 17 and becomes a positive trigger pulse.
0 and 11, and is added to timer 1 as above. Since this is the second trigger pulse, timer 2 does not operate. Since the Q output of timer 2 is 0, the transistor is in an on state, reducing the charging resistance of timer 1.
Therefore, the timer time of timer 1 is shorter than the first activation time. This time corresponds to the time it takes for SL1 to lower the bin by one level.

Each time a paper passes, SL1 is activated as described above, and the bin is lowered one step at a time.

The timer 4 (18) is activated by a trigger pulse output from the gate 17, which is generated every time the trailing edge of the copy paper passes, and Q becomes 0 after the timer is activated. During continuous copying, the next CPOS2 signal comes before the timer 4 completes its operation, so both the CPOS2 signal and the Q output of the timer 4 never become 0. Therefore, the output of AND gate 19 is always 1. However, in the case of the last paper, when the Q output of the timer 4 becomes 0, the inputs of the gate 19 both become 0 and the output becomes 0.

This output signal generates a negative trigger pulse by a differentiating circuit. This trigger pulse is gate 2
0, resets the flip-flop 22, and makes the output 1. This output passes through the amplifier and turns on K2, causing the motor to rotate in reverse. Also,
This output is amplified through an OR gate and SL1
Activate. Since the Q output becomes 0, a negative pulse is generated from the differentiating circuit, and the flip-flop 16 is reset. Therefore, the output becomes 0.

When the motor starts rotating in reverse, all the bins return to their original positions. At this time, the limit switch is pressed and BHP becomes 1.

The signal BHP is inverted by the gate 21 and becomes 0.
CR generates a negative pulse. This pulse is applied to the set terminal of flip-flop 22, causing the Q output to become 0 and turning off K2 and SL1.

Also, the CPS signal becomes 0 shortly after the last copy paper leaves the device on the main unit side. When the bottle returns to its original position, BHP becomes 1 and the output of gate 3 becomes 0. This output generates a negative trigger pulse by CR, and this pulse is applied to the reset terminal of flip-flop 5, causing the Q output to become 0, turning off K1 and stopping the motor. This way everything will be back to its original state.

When the copy button is pressed again, the same operation as above is performed, and two sheets of copy paper are stored in each bin.

When copying paper is to be taken out from the bin after copying is completed, each time switch 1 is pressed, the bin moves down one level and the copying paper can be taken out.

When switch 1 is pressed, the PSB signal becomes 1. This signal is inverted by gate 7 and CR generates a negative trigger pulse. When copying is not in progress, the output of flip-flop 5 is 1. Therefore, when the trigger pulse is input, the output of the gate 8 becomes 1. This output is applied to the trigger terminal of timer 3 (9) to activate the timer. Further, the signal passes through the gate 10 and the output of the gate 10 becomes 1. As above, timers 1 and 2 operate and SL1, SL
2 is activated. And from the next operation, timer 1
only will operate.

Also, since the output Q of the timer 3 is 1, it is output through the gate 6, and the amplifier turns on K1 to rotate the motor.

After taking out the copy paper from the bin, if you want to make copies again, you need to return the bin to its original position.

When the copy button is pressed, CPS becomes 1, flip-flop 5 is set, and K1 is turned on. However, the limit switch is off so
The BHP signal is 0 and is applied to gate 2.
At this time, when a negative trigger pulse that sets the flip-flop 5 comes, the output of the gate 2 becomes 0, and this output passes through the gate 20 and is applied to the reset terminal of the flip-flop 20, so that the flip-flop 22 is reset. The output will be 1. Therefore, by operating K1, K2, and SL1, the bottle returns to its original position.

Limit switch 323 is turned on and BHP is 1
When the flip-flop 22 is set, the output becomes 0 and K2 and SL1 are turned off.

However, since flip-flop 5 is not reset, K1 remains on. The motor then starts rotating in the normal direction. Further, both the signals CPS and BHP become 1, the output of gate 1 becomes 1, and this output passes through OR gate 10 to activate timers 1 and 2. This will lower the bin and allow it to store copy paper.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sheet aligning device of the present invention installed in a copying machine, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a detailed enlarged perspective view of a bin, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are It is an electrical circuit diagram. 101, 102 are a pair of discharge rollers, 309, 31
0 is a sheet conveying belt, 311 and 312 are guides, 317 and 321 are bottles, 315 is a roller guide, 316 is a roller, 322 is a bottle holding means, and 32
0 is a wire, 341 is a stop car, and 344 is a stopper.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Sheet introduction ports 311 and 312 for guiding sheets discharged from a copying machine, etc.; a movable multi-stage bin 317 for receiving sheets guided from the sheet introduction port; and the movable multi-stage bin 317 for receiving sheets guided from the sheet introduction port. A bin is supported above the sheet introduction port, and by rotation in one direction, the seat introduction port side of the supported lowest bin is moved downward one step at a time, thereby positioning the bin at the sheet introduction port. locking rotation means 322 for enlarging the spacing between the bins; and each of the bins for maintaining the spacing between the bins when the bins are stacked above or below the bin spacing enlarging means. space holding means 316 provided on the sheet introduction port side and in contact with each other; a support moving means 321 that moves downward step by step and moves upward until the sheet inlet side of the bin located below the locking rotation means is locked with the locking rotation means rotating in the other direction; Means 320 for hanging the support moving means; Rotating means 319 for raising and lowering the hanging means; Drive means SL1, 338, 340, 3 for synchronously forwarding and reversing the rotating means and the locking rotation means.
39, 341, 344; and means for detachably supporting the apparatus main body on a copying machine or the like.