JPH0256367A - Device for classifying and stitching sheet - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent empty stitching by prohibiting the sheet stitching operation of a bin at the time of detecting no sheet in the bin to which a stitching means is applied and carrying out the sheet stitching operation of the following bin. CONSTITUTION:When a defined number of sheets P are housed in each bin B, a stapler 17 is positioned in each bin B in order being moved from a retracted position 17b to a stitching position 17a to carry out the stitching of the sheets P in the corresponding bin B. At the time of moving to the stitching position 17a, however, if a sheet detecting means S8 fails to detect the sheet P on the bin B, a control means 100 prohibits the stitching operation of the stapler 17 for that bin B and, on returning to the retracting position 17b, the stapler 17 is moved to the following bin B to carry out the stitching operation of the sheets P in the following bin B. Thereby, empty stitching can be prevented while preventing the failing of pins in a device or the clogging of pins, etc., caused by empty stitching.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (a) Industrial Application Field The present invention is connected to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printing machine, or a printer, and distributes sheets ejected from the image forming apparatus into bins. A sheet classification/binding machine that can store and bind the stored sheets.

Regarding equipment.

(B) Conventional technology Recently, in order to eliminate the inconvenience of sheets being scattered when taking out sheets distributed to multiple bins, a sheet sorting and binding device has been devised that binds sheets in each bin (
JP-A-58-220053, JP-A-59-185
(See Publication No. 355). The sheet sorting/stapling device is, for example, a stapler or the like that can distribute and align sheets ejected from a copying machine into a plurality of bins, and move a bundle of aligned sheets to a sheet placement position on the bins in a freely advancing and retracting manner. The binding means is used to bind each bin in sequence.

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the sheet sorting and binding device described above, the sheet binding operation is automatically carried out by the binding means after the distribution of the sheets to the bins is completed.

Therefore, if the operator accidentally takes out the sheets from the bin before they are stapled, when the binding means staples the sheets, only the staples will be ejected because there are no sheets on the bin. The problem is that the staples may fall into the device, causing malfunctions, or may remain at the bends of the needles, causing staples to jam.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a configuration that prohibits the binding means from binding sheets in a bin if there are no sheets in the bin when the binding means is binding the sheets, thereby solving the above-mentioned problems. It is something to do.

(d) Means for solving the problems The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances. For example, as shown in FIG. Corresponding bin (B) among bins (B)
) is provided with a binding means (17) that moves freely forwards and backwards to the sheet loading section of the bin (B) and binds the sheets (P) stored in the corresponding bins (B). In a sheet sorting and binding device (1) that sequentially binds sheets (P) in each bin (B), when binding the sheets (P), the binding means (17) binds the sheets (P) in the corresponding bin (B). A sheet detection means (S8) that detects the presence of a control means (99) for controlling the binding and binding of the sheets (P) in the next bin (B) and prohibiting the binding of the sheets in the bin (B) when the sheets (P) are not stapled in the bin (B). That is.

(e) Effect Based on the above-mentioned configuration, the sheets 1 to (P) stored in the plurality of bins (B) are stored in the bin (B) corresponding to the binding means (17).
Each page is bound in sequence. At this time, if there is no sheet (P) in the bin (B) corresponding to the binding means, the sheet detection means (S8) detects that there is no sheet in the bin (B), and the binding means (17 For example, the bin (B) or the binding means (17) is moved so that only the sheets of the bin CB) are prohibited and the sheets (P) of the next bin CB) are bound.

Note that the symbols in parentheses above are shown for reference and do not limit equivalent configurations.

B) Examples Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the sorter 1 is a bin unit that moves up and down and includes a body 6 having a pair of front and rear side plates 2, a base 3, a cover 5, and a large number of bins B... Consists of 9.

The machine body 6 is equipped with a pair of carry-in rollers 11 near a carry-in port 10 through which sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine are carried in, and a non-sorting bus 1 is provided downstream of the pair of carry-in rollers 11.
2 and a sort bus 1 branching from the non-sort path 12.
3 is placed. The non-sort path 12 extends substantially horizontally, and a pair of non-sort paper discharge rollers 15 serving as a non-sort paper discharge port are disposed downstream of the non-sort path 12, and the sort bus 13 extends downward, and a pair of non-sort paper discharge rollers 15 serving as a non-sort paper discharge port are disposed downstream of the non-sort path 12. - A pair of sort paper discharge rollers 16 which serve as a notebook paper discharge port are provided.1.
Further, a stapler 17 faces the pair of sort paper discharge rollers 16.
is located.

Further, a flapper 19 that is displaced to switch the sheet conveyance direction and a flapper solenoid 20 that drives the flapper 19 are disposed near the pair of carry-in rollers 11. When the flapper solenoid 2o is turned on, the flapper 19
9 is displaced so that the sheet conveyance direction is changed to the non-sort paper output port 15.
Also, by turning off the flapper solenoid 20, the sheet conveyance direction is selected toward the sorting sheet discharge port 16 side.

Note that the non-sort bus 12 is provided with a non-sort bus sensor S1, and the sort bus 13 is provided with a sort bus sensor S2.

Further, the bin unit 9 is arranged downstream of the non-sort paper ejection roller pair 15 and the sort paper ejection roller pair 16, and the bin unit 9 has one end fixed to the machine body 6 and the other end hooked to the bin unit 9. The weight is carried by a spring 23 hooked to a spring 22, and it is supported so as to be able to move up and down.

On the base end side of the bin unit 9, an upper guide roller 25 is rotatably supported at the upper part, and a lower guide roller 26 is rotatably supported at the lower part.
6 fits into a guide plate 27 installed on the fuselage 6 so as to extend vertically, and when the bin unit 9 moves up and down, it rolls within the guide plate 27 and moves the bin unit 9. It is designed to guide you. Further, a bin unit drive motor 29 is disposed in the machine body 6, and a camshaft holder 30 is disposed in the vicinity of the pair of sort paper discharge rollers 16 of the machine body 6, and the camshaft holder 30 and the base A lead cam shaft 31 is rotatably supported between a thrust bearing 34 disposed on the lead cam shaft 31 and a thrust bearing 34 disposed on the lead cam shaft 31. Then, the lead cam shaft 3
A lead cam 32 is arranged above the lead cam shaft 31, and a sprocket 33 is fixedly installed below the lead cam shaft 31, and a chain 35 is stretched between the sprocket 33 and the bin unit drive motor 29. Lead cam 32
can be rotated in both forward and reverse directions by a bin unit drive motor 29 that rotates in both forward and reverse directions depending on selection.

As shown in FIG. 4, the bin unit 9 also includes a frame 36 consisting of an inclined section, a vertical section, and a horizontal section, and a vertical section provided perpendicularly to the front and back sides of the tip of the inclined section of the frame 36. Frame 37° 37 and the vertical frame 37
．． The bin unit main body 40 is constituted by a bin cover 39 supported by: 37, and on the front side of the bin unit main body 40, an alignment reference plate 41 that comes into contact with a sheet is erected. Further, the bin unit 9 has a large number of bins B, and is also equipped with an alignment rod 43 that moves around a moving central axis 42, and each bin B has a tip end, as shown in FIG. Engagement plates 46 on the front and back sides respectively
is formed, and the engagement plate 46 is connected to the vertical frame 3.
By engaging with a support plate (not shown) provided inside the bottle B, the tip side of the bottle B is supported.

Furthermore, roller support bins 47 are fixed to the front and back sides of the base end of the bin B, respectively, and a bin roller 49 is rotatably supported by the bins 47.

Furthermore, the bin B is provided with a predetermined distance from the center axis of movement 42 that is longer than the rotational distance of the alignment rod 43 and that the alignment rod 4
A long hole 50 which is sufficiently wider than the width of 3 is opened,
In addition, the base end B1 of the bin B stands up perpendicularly to the seat storage surface B2, and the bin B is inclined at a predetermined angle with the tip upward with respect to the body 6 (see Fig. 2). Due to the inclination, the seat slides on the seat storage surface B2 and its rear end contacts the base end B1, so that the seat is aligned in the front-rear direction.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the bottle B is
A bottle roller 49 protrudes from a long groove 52 provided at the base end of the bin unit main body 40 and is fitted into the guide plate 27 of the body 6, and the bottle roller 49 of the lowest bin Bn. or the lower guide roller 26, and the bin roller 49 of the bin B one level above the bottom bin Bn is placed on the bin roller 49n of the bottom bin B9, and so on. By being supported by the bin roller 49 of the upper bin B or the bin roller 49 of the lower bin B, the base end sides of the bins B... are supported by the bin unit main body 4o, respectively. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the lead cam 32 is spirally carved with a cam groove 3° 2a slightly wider than the groove 49.
When rotating, the bin roller 49 of bin B, which is located at a position opposite to the pair of sort paper discharge rollers 16, is placed on the cam groove 32a, and as shown in FIG. 6, for example, as shown in FIG. Then move the bin roller 49C of bin B0 to the intermediate position of the lead cam 32 (position 49b in the figure).
Furthermore, Tl passes through the lead cam 32 with one more rotation.
(position 49a in the figure). Then, when the lead cam 32 rotates one more time, the bin roller 49a that was in the position to pass the lead cam 32 pushes up the upper bin roller 49, and further pushes up the upper bin roller 49 or the upper bin roller 49, and the uppermost bin roller 49 pushes up the upper bin roller 49. The upper guide roller 25 is pushed up and the bin unit 9 is raised one step at a time (see FIG. 2). As the bin roller 49 moves, each bin B... is sequentially moved, and at this time, as shown in FIG. Openings X, X, which are wider than the spacing between the other bins B..., are formed between the bin B that receives the sheets from the bin B and the bin B a + bin B0 located on both the upper and lower sides of the bin B. Ru. In this way, the rotation of the lead cam 32 causes the bin unit 9 to rise or fall. A bin home position sensor S5 is arranged on the machine body 6 so as to face the hook 22 of the bin unit 9 that has been lowered to the lowest position, and the home position set to the lowest position by the bin home position sensor S5 is The bin unit 9 that has been moved is detected.

A flag 55 is arranged on the lead cam shaft 31, and a lead cam sensor S4 is arranged opposite to the flag 55. When the flag 55 of the lead cam sensor S4 is detected, one of the lead cams 32 is In addition to detecting the rotation, the stop position of the lead cam 32 is also detected.

Further, the reference numeral 53 in FIG. 7 is an O-ring press-fitted into the bin roller 49 to absorb vibrations when the bin B is raised and lowered.

Also, transmission-type bin paper detection sensors S3 are provided above and below the base end of the bin unit 9, respectively. S3 (see FIG. 2), and when all the sheets P are taken out from the bin unit 9, the bin paper detection sensor S3. In step S3, the absence of a sheet is detected, and it is determined that one work is completed.

Further, as described above, the bin unit 9 is equipped with the matching rod 43, and hereinafter, based on FIGS. 4 and 5, the matching rod 4
The alignment of the sheets P according to No. 3 will be explained.

A support plate 60 is provided on the rear side of the base end of the frame 36 of the bin unit 9, and a lower arm 6 is attached to the support plate 60.
1 is arranged, and the lower arm 61 is rotatably supported on one side by a lower rotating shaft (not shown) that projects upward from the support plate 60. On one side of the lower arm 61, the lower end of the moving center shaft 42 is fixed coaxially with the lower rotating shaft, and on the other side, the lower end of the L alignment frame 43 is fixed. Furthermore, the upper end of the alignment rod 43 and the upper end of the moving central shaft 42 are fixed to the upper arm 62, and the aligning rod 43, the moving center shaft 42, the upper arm 62, and the lower arm 6 are fixed to each other.
connected by 1.

The moving center shaft 42 is rotatably supported by an upper rotating shaft 63 projecting downward from the bin cover 39, and the alignment rod 43 is movable about the moving center shaft 42 as a fulcrum. Further, a fan-shaped gear 65 whose rotation center coincides with the movement center of the lower arm 61 is fixed to the lower arm 61, and an alignment rod drive motor 66 is disposed below the support plate 60. Output gear 6 of rod drive motor 66
7 and a fan-shaped gear 65 are engaged with each other, and the alignment rod 43 is moved by rotation of the alignment rod drive motor 66.

When aligning the sheets P, the alignment rods 43 move from the home position 43a to the width alignment position 43b determined according to the size of the sheets P, abut against the edges of the sheets P, and meet the alignment standards. The sheet P is aligned in cooperation with the plate 41, and then moved to a standby position 4:3C to stand by in preparation for alignment of the next sheet P.

Note that the matching rod drive motor 66 is a stepping motor.
The amount of movement of the matching rod 43 is determined by the given number of pulses.

Further, a light shielding plate 69 is fixed to the lower arm 61, and when the light shielding plate 69 moves together with the lower arm 61, it turns on and off the alignment rod position sensor S9 fixed to the frame 36. .

Further, as described above, near the pair of sort paper discharge rollers 16,
A stapler 17 is arranged, and below, stapler 1
7 will be explained.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the stapler 17 includes a stapler motor 71 and a gear 72 fixed to the output shaft of the stapler motor 71. A gear 73 meshes with the gear 72. are doing. A link 75 whose one end is fixed to the main body is connected to the gear 73, and a head 76 for striking a needle is disposed at a node 75a of the link 75, and a lower side of the head 76 An anvil 77 is provided for bending the needle. In addition, upper and lower guides 74.74 are arranged near the head 76 and anvil 77, and the upper and lower guides 74.74 have an open end side so that even a curled sheet can be smoothly guided. ing. Further, a one-rotation cam 78 is disposed on the gear 73, and a stapler cam sensor S10 is disposed opposite to the cam 78.
10 detects each stapling operation of the stapler 17.

Further, the stabilizer 17 is equipped with a needle cartridge 84, and a large number of connected needles are stored in the needle cartridge 84. The staple cartridge 84 is attached to and removed from the rear of the stapler 17, and is pulled out in the direction of arrow E when replacing staples.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1, 10, and 11, the stapler 17 is attached to the binding position 17.
A stapler drive section 88 is provided which drives the stapler drive section 88 to move between the retracted position 17a and the retracted position 17b (see FIG. 1).
9 is erected, and a swinging board 8o is swingably supported by the shaft 79. A staple board 81 is fixed to the swing board 80, and the stapler 17 is mounted on the staple board 81. Further, a gear box 83 containing a reduction gear group 82 is attached to the fuselage frame 2a.
3 is provided with a stapler swing motor 85. Further, a gear 86 fixed to the output shaft of the stapler swing motor 85 meshes with an input gear 82a of a reduction gear group 82, and a link disk 87 is fixed to the output gear 82b of the reduction gear group 82. has been done. And the link disk 8
Cam portions 87a and 87b are provided facing each other on the outer periphery of the fuselage frame 2a, and these cam portions 87a and 87b turn on the stayer positioning sensor S6, which is disposed on the fuselage frame 2a and operates the stayer swing motor 85. - It is configured to be turned off, and furthermore, a shaft 87c is provided upright near the outer peripheral edge of the link disk 87. Further, a link arm 89 is rotatably connected substantially horizontally to the swing base plate 80, and the link arm 89 has a shaft 89a erected thereon and a long hole 89b. Further, the shaft 87c is fitted into the elongated hole 89b, and a spring 90 is stretched between the shaft 87c and the shaft 89a. A sensor actuating arm 91 made of resin or the like is rotatably supported near the shaft 79, and one end 91a of the sensor actuating arm 91 is in contact with one end 80a of the swinging board 80. The other end 91b is in contact with the stapler operating position sensor S7. Then, the stapler 17 is driven by the stapler driving section 88.
When binding the sheets P, it moves to the binding position 17a in the bin movement area, and after the binding is completed, it moves to the retracted position 17b that allows the movement of the bin B, and waits at the retracted position 17b. There is.

Further, a stabilizer paper sensor S8 is disposed on the swing board 80 via a mounting base 92, and the sensor S8
is constituted by a transmission type sensor that has a U-shape when viewed from the side and has an element built in at a sensing position 101 at the tip.

Then, the stapler paper sensor S8 is connected to the stapler 17.
When moving from the retracted position 17b to the binding position 17a,
It moves integrally with the stapler 17, passes over the edge of the sheet P on the bin B, and detects the presence or absence of the sheet.

The stapler paper sensor S8 also includes an upper sheet guide 102 and a lower sheet guide 1, as shown in FIG.
03, and even if the sheet P on bin B is curled, the stapler paper sensor S8 detects the sheet P on bin B.
It is designed so that it can be moved without disturbing the alignment.

Note that as shown in FIG. 1, the stapler 17 is in the retracted position 1.
When the stapler paper sensor S8 moves from the binding position 17b to the binding position 17a, the element part 101 of the stapler paper sensor S8 may pass across the sheet P or remain on the sheet P, and this can be done by electrical control and arrangement of the sensor S8. It is.

Further, in this embodiment, a transmission type sensor is used as the most preferable example, but a reflection type sensor may also be used, and an actuator type reed switch may also be used.
It can be used if it is held firmly by the holding means.

On the other hand, the control device 98 has a function that, when stapling sheets P, if a sheet is not detected in the corresponding bin B of the stapler 17, it prohibits the stapling of the sheets P in that bin B, and A control means 99 is provided, which is programmed to staple the sheets P, and the control means 99 is configured to control when the sheet P is not detected in the corresponding bin B by the stapler paper sensor S8 when the sheets are stapled. , prohibits the binding of sheets in the bin B, and controls the binding of the sheets P in the next bin. This makes it possible to prevent staples from falling into the device and jamming the staples, which would otherwise occur due to blank stapling by the stapler 17.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below along the flow shown in FIG.

When the sort mode is selected, sheets P discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine are sequentially distributed to a plurality of bins B. Then, the sheet P distributed to the bin B slides on the inclined bin B and comes into contact with the base end B1, and each time the sheet P is further distributed to the bin B, it moves from the standby position 43c to the width shifting position 43b. The side ends are pressed by an alignment rod 43, and each bottle B is aligned and stored.

Then, when the storage of the sheets P in the bin B is completed and the stapling mode is selected, the stapler drive section 88 moves the stapler 17 to the retracted position in response to a stabilizing operation command signal from the image forming apparatus. from there to the binding position 17a. At this time, the stapler 1
By the stapler paper sensor S8 that moves together with 7,
It is detected whether or not there is a sheet P in the corresponding bin B, and only when the sheet P is in the bin B, the stapling operation of the stapler 17 is performed, the sheets P in the bin B are stapled, and the stapler 17 moves from the binding position 7717a to the retreat position 17b. Then, the stapler 17 is in the retracted position.
When retracting to J17b, the stapler positioning sensor S6
and is detected by the stapler operating position sensor S7, and in response to the detected signal, the bin B moves, and the same operation is repeated N times to staple the sheets P.

Further, when the sheets P stored in the bin B are being sequentially stapled, when the sheets P are removed from the bin B and the stapler 17 is moved to the binding position 17a,
If the stapler paper sensor S8, which moves together with the stapler 17, does not detect the sheet P, the stapling operation of the stapler 17 is prohibited, and the stapler 17 is moved to the retracted position 17b without performing the stapling operation, and the next bin B is The bin B is moved so that the sheets P are stapled.

In this embodiment, the stapling operation is started after all the bins have been filled with sheets and a copy end signal is received.

It is also possible to

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the transmission type sensor was configured to move together with the stapler, but as shown in FIG. 15(a),
If the bin B slides in the sheet feeding direction from the middle as shown in FIG. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 15(b), in a configuration in which the bins B do not move, sheets can be detected from the tip of each bin B using the reflective sensor Sll. In this case as well, the sensor S11 may be fixed.

Further, in this embodiment, the transmission type sensor is configured to move together with the stapler, but the invention is not limited to this, and the transmission type sensor may be arranged in a unit that moves separately from the stapler.

Alternatively, transmission type sensors may be placed at the upper and lower units of the stapler to detect the sheet when it is positioned between the upper and lower units during sheet binding. .

(g) As described in detail of the invention, according to the present invention, when the binding means binds sheets, the binding means includes a sheet detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a sheet in a corresponding bin of the binding means; Based on this, when the binding means binds sheets, if no sheet is detected in the bin corresponding to the binding means, prohibits the binding means from binding the sheets in the bin, and performs binding of the sheets in the next bin. If there are no sheets in the bin corresponding to the binding means, the binding means prevents the binding means from binding sheets in the bin, and prevents the binding of staples in the device due to saddle stitching of the binding means, for example. This prevents needles from falling or getting jammed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a view taken along the arrow 1-■ in FIG. 10 showing the movement of the stapler according to the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the sorter according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view thereof. , Fig. 4 to Fig. 13 are views showing each part thereof, Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the bin unit, Fig. 5 is a plan view of the bin, Fig. 6 is a side view of the beam, and Fig. 7 is the beam. Fig. 8 is a side view of the stapler, Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the stapler, and Fig. 10 is a plan view of the stapler.
The figure is a side view showing the moving part of the stapler, and Figure 11 is the first
12 is a diagram showing the stapler paper sensor, FIG. 13 is a block diagram of the control device (I), FIG. 14 is a flowchart, and FIG. 15 shows another embodiment. It is a side view. 1... Sheet sorting and binding device (sorter) 17... Binding means (stabler) 99... Control means, B... Bin P... Sheet S8... Sheet detection means (Stable paper sensor) Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A plurality of bins that store sheets, and a binding means that moves freely forward and backward to the sheet placement portion of a corresponding bin among these bins and binds the sheets stored in the corresponding bin. a sheet sorting/binding device that sequentially binds sheets stored in the plurality of bins bin by bin, comprising: a sheet detection unit that detects the presence or absence of a sheet in a bin corresponding to the binding means when binding the sheets; means, based on the detection by the sheet detection means, when binding the sheets, if no sheet is detected in the bin corresponding to the binding means, prohibiting sheet binding in the bin and preventing sheets in the next bin; A sheet sorting and binding device comprising: a control means for controlling the binding of sheets; and a sheet sorting/binding device.