JPH0262368A - Sorter unit with finisher - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To take out a sheet with certainty by installing a second takeout roller, which is retractable set up in a sheet takeout position, comes into contact with the other face of the sheet after having a first takeout roller contacted with one face of the sheet, contacting with the other face of the sheet after the first roller has contacted, and holds the sheet on a bin in between, in concert with the first takeout roller. CONSTITUTION:Each sheet discharged out of an image former body are distributed and housed in each bin 102 and then these bins 102 are driven in the almost vertical direction by a moving means, and set to a sheet takeout position. At this time, one face of each sheet housed in each bin 102 comes into contact with a first takeout roller 136 before each bin 102 is reached to the sheet takeout position, and it is practically pressed down there. Afterward, a second takeout roller 138 comes into contact with the other face of the sheet, thus the sheet on the bin 102 is held between these two rollers 136 and 138. This pinched sheet is taken out of top of the bin 102 by rotating and driving the takeout roller, by way of example, then it is conveyed to a finisher part 200.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a sorter device equipped with a finisher, specifically, to transfer sheets ejected from an image forming device such as an electrophotographic copying machine to a plurality of bins provided in a sorter section. After being distributed and stored, it is taken out from each bin and transported to the finisher section for finishing processing.
For example, the present invention relates to a device that performs binding processing using a stapler.

Background Art and Its Issues In recent years, due to the demand for automation of paper handling in copying machines, various options such as automatic document feeders and sorters for sorting and grouping copied sheets have been developed and put into practical use. As one of the final forms, there is a need for a sorter with a finisher that automatically stabilizes and stacks the sheets distributed and stored in the bins of the sorter, and this has already been put into practical use in some large copying machines. ing.

By the way, when a finisher is attached to a sorter, it is necessary to take out the sheets stored in each bin and convey them to the finisher. This was done by pinching the edges of the sheet (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-41360)
(see publication). However, if you simply swing a pair of rollers to clamp the edges of the sheet, if the edges of the sheet are curled, the sheet will be pushed back onto the bin, making it impossible to clamp the sheet. This problem occurs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a sorter device with a finisher that can reliably sandwich sheets on a bin between a pair of take-out rollers and take them out.

Means and Function for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the sorter device with a finisher according to the present invention has the following features: (a) Distributes sheets that have been completely discharged from the image forming device main body to a plurality of bins provided in the sorter section. In a sorter device with a finisher that takes out each bin after storing them and transports them to a finisher section for finishing processing, (b) a plurality of bins stacked in a substantially vertical direction;
) a bin moving means for moving each of the bins in a substantially vertical direction to a sheet take-out position; (d) a sheet installed at the sheet take-out position and stored in the bin immediately before the bin reaches the sheet take-out position; a first take-out roller that is in contact with one side and is movable following the movement of the bin while maintaining this contact state; A second take-out roller that comes into contact with the other side of the sheet after the take-out roller contacts one side of the sheet, and pinches the sheet on the bin with the first take-out roller. .

In the above configuration, after the sheets discharged from the main body of the image forming apparatus are distributed and housed in each bin, each bin is driven in a substantially vertical direction by the moving means and set at the sheet take-out position. At this time, just before the bin reaches the sheet take-out position, one side of the sheets stored in the bin comes into contact with the first take-out roller and is, so to speak, pressed down by the roller. Thereafter, the second take-out roller comes into contact with the other side of the sheet, and the two rollers sandwich the sheet on the bin. The sandwiched sheet is taken out from above the bin by, for example, rotationally driving the takeout roller, and is conveyed to the finisher section.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a sorter device with a finisher according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Overall Structure As shown in FIG. A finisher section (200) capable of stable processing of sheets is installed below. Further, an automatic document feeder (30) (hereinafter referred to as ADF) is attached to the copying machine main body (1).

The copying machine main body (1) forms an image on a sheet by a well-known electrophotographic method, and a charger (3) is mounted on a photosensitive drum (2) which is rotated in the direction of arrow (a). ), and the optical system (4) scans in the direction of arrow (b), resulting in A D F (3
At step 0), the original set at a predetermined position on the original platen glass (29) is exposed to slit light. In this way, the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor drum (2) is turned into a toner image by a magnetic brush type developing device (5), and then transferred to a transfer charger (6).
The image is transferred onto the paper using the .

Copying sheets are selectively fed one by one from either the nilevate-type or cassette-type automatic paper feeder (10), (11) in the copier main body (1), and are fed to the timing roller pair (19). and is sent to the transfer section at a predetermined timing. The sheet after the transfer is sent to a fixing device (21) by a conveyor belt (20), where the toner image is fixed, and then transferred from a pair of discharge rollers (22) to a sheet conveyor (50).
), and at this time, its passage is detected by a photosensor (SEI). Additionally, a paper refeeding device (25) for double-sided copying and composite copying is built into the copying machine main body (1), and a paper conveyance switching claw (26) for this purpose is located in front of the ejection roller pair (22). ) is installed.

On the other hand, the photoreceptor drum (2) continues to rotate in the direction of the arrow (a) even after the transfer, and the remaining toner is wiped off by the blade-type cleaning device (7), and the eraser lamp (8)
) to erase residual charges and prepare for the next copy operation.

The ADF (30) is well known in itself, and feeds originals placed on the original tray (31) one sheet at a time using a pair of paper feed rollers (32), and feeds the originals placed on the original tray (31) one by one using a pair of paper feed rollers (32). Rotate and set in a predetermined position on the document table glass (29). After image exposure, the original is discharged onto a discharge tray (36) through a reversing conveyance path (35) by rotation of a conveyance belt (34).

[Configuration and operation of sheet conveying section] As shown in FIG. 2, the sheet conveying section (50) includes guide plates (51) and (52) for receiving sheets discharged from the copying machine main body (1). ), drive roller (53), driven pinch roller (54), passage switching claw (55), non-sort tray (61), passage switching lever (70), other rollers (62) constituting the machine feeding passage, and guide plate. (72
) etc.

The switching pawl (55) can be rotated by a solenoid around a support shaft (56), and when this solenoid is turned off, it is set to the position indicated by the dotted chain line in Fig. 2, and the sheet is transferred to the non-sort tray (61). guide you in the direction of At this time, the sheet is attached to the top surface of the switching claw (55) and the guide plate (
57) and (58), and is guided by the discharge roller (59).
), from the driven pinch roller (60) to the non-sort tray (
61) It is discharged to the top. On the other hand, when the sorting mode or grouping mode is selected, the solenoid is turned on and the switching claw (55) moves to the position shown by the solid line in FIG.
guide you in the direction of

Sheetra sorter part (100) or finisher part (20
The conveyance path for sending the feed to
), a driven roller (62) and a driven ball (63) in contact with its upper part, a driving roller (64), (65), (6
6), (67).

(68), (69), guide plate (72), (73)
, (74), and (75). Also,
A photosensor (SE2) for detecting the conveyed sheet is installed immediately after the rollers (64) and (65). This conveyance path conveys the sheets discharged from the copying machine main body (1) one by one to the sorter section (100), and also conveys the sheets discharged from the copying machine main body (1) one by one to the sorter section (100). ) has a function of conveying the sheet taken out from the finisher section (200). Therefore, the switching lever (70) is made rotatable about the support shaft (71) by a solenoid, and when this solenoid is turned off, it can be set to the solid line position in FIG. 2. At this time, the seat is switched to the switching lever (70
) and the guide plates (72) and (73), and are completely transported to the sorter section (100).

On the other hand, the drive rollers (62), (64) to (67) can be switched between forward and reverse rotations using a clutch using the driving force from the conveyance motor, and the sheets are distributed and stored in each bin as described in detail below. When the sheet is completely taken out, the sheet is reversely driven to be conveyed to the right in FIG. At this time, the seat is connected to the top surface (70a) of the switching lever (70) and the guide plate (72).
, <73), and when the rear end of the sheet in the conveyance direction is detected by the sensor (SE2), the drive roller (
62), (64), and (65) are switched to normal rotation, and the solenoid is turned on, thereby moving the switching lever (70) to the position indicated by the dashed line in FIG. Drive roller (68), (
69) to the finisher section (200).

By the way, if finisher mode is selected,
During the sheet conveyance described above, the sheet has a thickness corresponding to the number of originals. Therefore, each roller (62) to (69
) must be constructed so that it can absorb the thickness of the sheet and transport the sheet without causing it to fluctuate.

Conventionally, rollers have been made of an elastic material such as sponge, but this has problems such as fluctuations in torsion depending on the number of sheets and deformation of the elastic material.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the rollers are made of relatively hard resin, driving force is transmitted to each roller, and the distance between the pair of rollers can be automatically adjusted. That is, the driven ball (63
) is made of steel balls, and a non-sorting tray (61
) was mounted rotatably and vertically movably on a bracket (76) provided on the back surface of the camera, and brought into contact with a fixed position driving roller (62) by its own weight. Regarding the drive rollers (64) to (69), as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the drive rollers (64) to (69)
4) is fixed in position, the other drive roller (65) can be moved toward and away from the drive roller (64), and is configured to be pressed against the biased drive roller (64) by a torsion spring (85). . In detail, the driving force is first applied to the lower drive roller (
64) is transmitted to a gear (80) fixed to the shaft (64a), and rotationally drives the drive roller (64). Gear (80)
is connected to a gear (83) fixed to the shaft (65a) of the upper drive roller (65) via gears (81) and (82), and rotationally drives the drive roller (65).

In addition, the gears (81) and (82) are connected to the shaft (81a), (
82a), and the drive roller (65) is attached to the shaft (82a).
) is held by an arm (84) that is rotatable with the fulcrum as a fulcrum,
The arm (84) is pressed against the lower drive roller (64) by being biased counterclockwise in FIG. 3 by a torsion spring (85). Therefore, the sheet (P
) is one or a small number of sheets, the paper is fed in the state shown in FIG. When there are a large number of sheets (P), as shown in FIG.
5) is retracted upward against the spring force, and paper is passed in this state. That is, the spring force of the torsion spring (85) is applied to the arm (84) that holds the drive roller (65) when the sheet bundle enters the contact portion of the drive roller (65).
is set to such an extent that it can be rotated clockwise. With this, when conveying a large number of sheets, it is possible to appropriately absorb the thickness of the sheets, apply conveyance force from the upper and lower surfaces of the sheets, and convey the sheets without causing any displacement.

Although not shown, other drive rollers (66) and (67
), (68), and (59) have the same configuration and operation as in FIGS. 3 and 4.

[Structure and operation of sorter unit] As shown in Fig. 2, the co-sorter unit (100) includes a bin unit (101) consisting of 15 bins (102) for distributing and storing sheets, a vertical conveyance path (110) , switching claws (120) and discharge rollers (125), (126) corresponding to each bin (102), sheet take-out means (13)
0) and a means for moving the bin unit (101).

The sheet receiving section includes a passage switching lever (131) that also serves as sheet ejecting means (130) and a guide plate (109).
It is made up of. The switching lever (131) is the fifth
As shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of solenoids (134) are fixed to a support shaft (132), and a coil spring (134) is connected to the end of the support shaft (132) via a lever (133).
135) in the direction of arrow (d). This switching lever (131) is set to the solid line position in FIGS. 2 and 7 when the solenoid (134) is turned off. At this time, the seat is attached to the lower surface of the switching lever (131) (
131b) and the guide plate (109), and is fed into the vertical conveyance path (110).

As shown in Fig. 2, the vertical conveyance path (110) includes a vertical guide frame (111), a guide plate (112), five conveyor rollers (115), and a pinch roller (116) that is in pressure contact with the rollers and rotates as a result. , a switching claw (120) and a guide plate (124) installed corresponding to each bin (102).
, a discharge roller (125) and a pinch roller (126) that is in pressure contact with the discharge roller and rotates as a result. Also,
As shown in FIG. 6, a photo sensor (SE3') for detecting a sheet just before being stored in each bin (102) has been installed.

The switching claws (120), except for the one facing the bottom bin (102), are connected to the spindle (
121) as a fulcrum, and when each solenoid is turned off, it is set to the solid line position in Figure 2,
The sheet is guided downward by the vertical surface (120a) and the vertical guide frame (110). The sheet is conveyed in the longitudinal direction by conveyance rollers (115), (116), and (116). On the other hand, when each solenoid is turned on, the switching pawl (120) is switched as shown in the uppermost row of FIG. 2 by the dashed line or as shown in the lower row of FIG.
b) and guide scraps on each guide plate (124) are discharged from discharge rollers (125), (126) to each bin (102). The switching operation of the switching claw (120) is performed at the timing when the trailing edge of the sheet is detected by the sensor (SE3), and the switching operation is performed sequentially starting from the upper row by the number of copies (number of copies), and the sheet is moved to the first row. It is distributed sequentially from the bin (102) to the lower bin (102). Note that when the grouping mode is selected, the set number of sheets are stored in the same bin (102), so the switching claw (120) is switched in response to the completion of the set number of copies. Further, the switching pawl (120) at the lowest stage (15th stage) is fixed at a position where its curved surface (120b) guides the sheet to the bin (102) at the lowest stage.

By the way, in recent years, with the increase in copy speed, the sheet conveyance speed in the sorter section (100) has also increased, and the sheets that can be conveyed at such high speed are transferred to the discharge roller (125).
If the sheets are discharged from (126) to the bin (102) at the same speed, the sheets will fly too far, the sheets already stored will be shifted, and the alignment of the sheets on the bin (102) will become uneven.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the rear end of the sheet is connected to the discharge roller (1
25), (126).
25) and (126), a configuration was adopted that slows down the number of rotations (conveying speed). In this case, the discharge roller (125),
(126), conveyance rollers (115), (116)
), the interval between sheets discharged from the copying machine main body (1) becomes narrower, making it difficult to switch the switching claw <120), and causing a paper jam.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the rear end of the sheet is the sensor (SE3).
The ejection roller (125) at the timing detected by the ejection roller (125).

Control was performed to reduce only the transport speed of (126).

The speed switching control described above will be explained below.

First, the drive system of the sorter section (100) will be explained with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.

In FIG. 9, drive rollers (150) to (154) are for driving the conveyance rollers (115) and (116), and are fixed coaxially with each roller (115), and tension pulleys (155) to A timing belt (160) is stretched across the belt (159). The rotational force of the transport motor (Ml) is first transmitted to the drive pulley (150), and the timing belt (160) is constantly driven to rotate in the direction of arrow (e). On the other hand, drive boolean 1 bar 161) to (1
67) is for driving the discharge rollers (125) and (126) corresponding to the 1st to 7th bins (102), and can be fixed coaxially with each roller (125). timing belt (16) via the timing belt (168)
9) is stretched out. Also, drive pulley (171)
- (178) are discharge rollers (125) corresponding to the 8th to 15th bins (102).

<126), and each roller (125
), and a timing belt (ISO) is stretched through a tension belt (179).

On the other hand, the support shaft (181) of the seventh stage drive boob 1 bar (167)
The gears (183) and (184) fixed to the support shaft (182) of the 8th stage drive pulley (171) are idle gears (
185). In addition, the support shaft (1
81) and the pulley (186) fixed to the drive booger 1 bar 15
A timing belt (190) is stretched across a pulley (188) attached to the support shaft (187) of 2) via a tension boom 189). Similarly, the support shaft (182
) fixed to the pulley (191) and drive pulley (153)
A timing belt (1) is connected to a pulley (193) attached to a support shaft (192) of
95) is stretched out. each of the pulleys (188);
(193) are the supporting shafts (187) and (192), respectively.
It is controlled by a high-speed side clutch (196) and a low-speed side clutch (197) attached to the end of the engine.

That is, when the clutches (196) and (197) are off, they are rotatable relative to the spindles (187) and (192), and when they are on, they rotate integrally with the spindles (187) and (192). It is possible. Also, Boo 1 Ba 188), (
186) have the same number of teeth, and the pulleys (193) and (
The pulley (191) has a larger number of teeth than the pulley (191), and is configured to be decelerated between them.

In the above configuration, normally the high-speed side clutch (196)
is turned on, the low speed side clutch (197) is turned off, and the timing belt (16) is first rotated by the rotation of the conveyance motor (Ml).
0) rotates in the direction of arrow (e), thereby rotationally driving each conveyance roller (115). This rotation is transmitted to the timing belt (190) via the high-speed side clutch (196), which is turned on (boot 1 bar 188), and is transmitted to the timing belt (190).
The timing belt (169) passes through the arrow (e
) direction. This rotational force is also applied to the gear (183)
gear (184) via the idle gear (185),
The signal is transmitted to the drive pulley (171) and the timing belt (
180) also rotates in the direction of arrow (e). As a result, each discharge roller (125) is rotationally driven. At this time, the rotational speed of each discharge roller (125) is 188).

(186) have the same number of teeth, so the conveyance roller (186) has the same number of teeth.
The rotation speed is the same as that of 15).

On the other hand, when the rear end of the sheet to be stored in each bin (102) is detected by the sensor (SE3), the high speed side clutch (196) is turned off and the low speed side clutch (196) is turned off.
7) is turned on. In this case, the timing belt (160) that drives the conveyance roller (115) is similarly
) direction, and the rotational speed of the conveyance roller (115) does not change.For the timing belts (169) and (180) that drive the discharge roller (125), first, the low speed side clutch is turned on. (197) pulley (1
The timing belt (195) passes through the arrow (e
) direction, and the timing belt (180) rotates in the arrow (e) direction via the pulley (191). This rotational force is simultaneously transferred from the gear (184) to the idle gear (185).
), the timing belt (169) also rotates in the direction of arrow (e). Each discharge roller (12
The rotational speed of 5) is reduced depending on the number of teeth of the pulleys (193) and (191).

The deceleration of the discharge rollers (125) and (126) returns to the original high speed after the trailing edge of the sheet is detected by the sensor (SE3) and passes through the nip between the discharge rollers (125) and (126). Until it is finished. clutch (196
), (197) and the timing for turning on and off the solenoids of each switching pawl (120) are as shown in the time chart of FIG.

By the way, in this embodiment, the drive pulley (151).

(154), (162)-(166), (172)
~(177) is each timing belt (160), (1
69) and (180) in the tangential direction, and are connected to each other by one tooth. In such a case, the timing belt causes the relief teeth to jump outward, resulting in a problem that the driving force is not reliably transmitted.

Therefore, each drive pulley (151), (154), (
162)-(166).

Timing belt (160) at (172) to (177)
, (169).

(180) and place the pressing roller (19) on the opposing part.
8) was installed. This pressing roller (198)
As shown in Figure 1, it has a flange (198a) and a support shaft (19
9) The timing belt (1) is installed so that it can rotate freely.
60) with its back toward the drive pulley (151),
This prevents it from coming off the drive pulley (151). Further, the flange (151a) of the drive pulley (151) and the flange (198a) of the press roller (198) prevent the timing belt (160) from coming off laterally.

Next, the conditions for controlling the sheet conveyance speed switching of the discharge rollers (125) and (126) will be described in detail.

First, set the sheet conveyance speed to (Vl) [corresponding to the copy speed, the sheet conveyance speed of the discharge rollers (125) and (126) when the clutch (196) is turned on is also the same], and set the sheet conveyance speed to the clutch (196). 197) is turned on, the conveyance speed at low speed by the discharge rollers (125) and (126) is (v2), the interval between sheets during conveyance is (LL), and the detection point by the sensor (SE3). The distance from the nip part of the discharge rollers (125) and (126) is (L2), and from the same detection point to the switching claw (120).
Let the distance to the sheet branching point be (L3), and the distance between the same branching points be (L4).

The trailing edge of the sheet conveyed at speed (■1) is detected by the sensor (
SE3), and at this time, as described above, the low speed side clutch (197) is turned on and the discharge roller (125) is turned on.

When the conveyance speed of (126) is switched from (■1) to (v2), the sheet is transferred to the discharge roller (125), (12
The time required for the liquid to pass through the nip section 6), that is, to be discharged into the bin (102), is (L2/V2). The next sheet is being conveyed at a speed of (Vl) and is (LL + L
2)/Vl(7) time, the discharge roller (125), (
126) returns to the speed (■1), the leading edge of the next sheet is discharged by the discharge roller (125), which is driven at a low speed (v2).
, (126), which eliminates the risk of paper jams.

Specifically, in the sorting mode, the sheet distribution operation is expressed as shown in FIG. In FIG. 15, the X-axis is the conveyance path, the origin is the detection point by the sensor (SE3), and the Y-axis is time. The line segment (Pl) shows the movement of the trailing edge of the preceding sheet, and the line segment (P2) shows the movement of the leading edge of the trailing sheet.
) is rotating at low speed is 0≦t≦L2/V2, and at this time, when the leading edge of the trailing sheet reaches the nip between the discharge rollers (125) and (126) at the speed (vl), the speed increases. Due to the difference (Vl - V2), the trailing sheet is bent, causing a paper jam. Also, the distance at which the leading edge of the trailing sheet catches up with the trailing edge of the leading sheet is Ll + L4 + L2,
The time is (LL+L2+L4)/Vlte. Speed of discharge rollers (125) and (126) (vl)
The conditions for switching to (■1) are: L2/V2<(LL+L2+L4)/Vl ・--
If −・−■ is satisfied, no problem will occur in sheet conveyance.

On the other hand, in the grouping mode, the continuously conveyed sheets can be distributed and stored in the same bin (102), so the switching timing of the discharge rollers (125) and (126) is slightly worse than in the sorting mode. Become.

That is, the sheet distribution operation in the grouping mode is the 16th sheet distribution operation.
As shown in the figure, the coordinate axes and each symbol are the same as in Fig. 15, and in the grouping mode, the distance at which the leading edge of the trailing sheet catches up with the trailing edge of the leading sheet is Ll + L2, and the time is (Ll + L2). /Vl. Follower, discharge roller (125), (126) (7) Speed (■2)
The conditions for switching to (vl) are: L2/V2< (t, t+t, z>/vt
−−・−■ should be satisfied.

In this embodiment, since the grouping mode is executed in addition to the sorting mode, the condition of formula (2) is adopted.

However, in practice, it is necessary to consider the time required for the discharge rollers (125) and (126) to rise to the speed (vl) after the high-speed side clutch (196) is turned on.

[Configuration and operation of bin unit] The bin unit (101) is composed of 15 stages of bins (102), and each bin (102) has a stopper (102a) and a notch (102b) at the tip to prevent backflow of sheets. death,
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, shafts (103) and (104) provided at both ends of each bin (102) are moved to a moving frame (105) so as to maintain a constant distance in the vertical direction.
It is held by engaging with the guide grooves (106) and (107). Also, the front shaft (103
) protrudes from the guide groove (106) and is fixed, fixed frame (
140) is engaged with a guide groove (141) provided in the guide groove (140).

The moving frame (105) can be moved up and down by a bin unit moving motor (M2) shown in FIG.

There are two guide grooves (141) at the top (Xi) and (XZ).
(See FIG. 5) are bent at intervals corresponding to the bin intervals, (x2) corresponds to the sheet take-out position, and (Xl) corresponds to the position where sliding movement to the sheet take-out position (XZ) is started. When distributing and storing sheets, the moving frame (1
05) and the bin unit (101) are located at the lowest position as shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, and are moved upward after the sorting operation is completed. At this time, the movement locus of each bin (102) is as shown by the dotted chain line (A) in FIG.
2) slides from the position (Xl) toward the sheet take-out position (XZ). This movement is carried out by the shaft (103
) is guided by the inclined portion (141a) of the guide groove (141), and the shafts (103), (1,04) are guided by the guide grooves (106), (107). At this position (XZ), the sheets on each bin (102) are taken out by a sheet taking out means (130), which will be described below.

On the other hand, the photo sensor (S
E4) is installed, and a notch (108) corresponding to each bin (102) is formed in the movable frame (105) at a position crossing the optical axis of the sensor (SE4). Each bottle (1
02) moves to the sheet take-out position (XZ), the sensor (SE4) detects this notch (108), and stops the upward movement of the bin unit (101) by the movement motor (M2) for a certain period of time. A sheet is removed from the top of each bin <102).

[Structure and operation of sheet take-out means] As shown in FIGS. 5, 7, and 8, the sheet take-out means (130) includes a take-out roller (136) attached to the tip of the aforementioned switching lever (131); It consists of another take-out roller (138) attached to the tip of a lever (137) installed directly above it.

The take-out roller (136) can be rotated in the direction of arrow <f) by the conveyance motor of the sheet conveyance section (50). The lever (137) is swingably attached to the support shaft (139), and is supported by a torsion spring (139a) in the direction indicated by the arrow (
c) is biased in the direction. This torsion spring (13
9a) has one end locked to a lever <137> and the other end locked to a vertical guide frame (111), and further has a lever (137).
A bottle (139b) is provided as a rotation stopper.

The switching lever (131) is connected to the solenoid (13) as described above.
4), it can swing about its support shaft (132) as a fulcrum, and when the solenoid (134) is off, it is set at the position shown by the solid line in FIG. Note that this position allows the sheet conveyed from the sheet conveyance section (50) to be placed on the lower surface (120b).
) and the guide plate (109) to feed the material to the sorter section (100).

In the above configuration, the movement motor (M2) is turned on,
The bin unit (101) moves up and the notch (108)
) is detected by the sensor (SE4'), that is, when one of the bins (102) reaches the sheet take-out position (x2), the moving motor (M2) is turned off and the solenoid (134) is turned on. I can do it. Just before this, bottle (10
2) The upper surface of the end of the sheet (P) stored above contacts the upper take-out roller (138), and
13B) is driven slightly upward together with the lever (137) (see No. 75!J). After that, the switching lever (131) swings upward by turning on the solenoid (134),
The lower take-out roller (136) contacts the lower surface of the sheet (P) through the notch (102b) of the bin (102).

That is, the end of the sheet (P) is the take-out roller (136).

(138). Take-out roller (
136) is the time (
tl) (see Figure 14), and then press the seat (P).
The end of the bottle (102) is lifted up to a position beyond the stopper (102a) of the bottle (102) while being completely caught between the take-out rollers (136) and (138) (see Figure 8).
tl), the transport motor of the sheet transport unit (50) starts driving, and the take-out rollers (136), (1
38) and drive rollers (62), (64) to (69)
rotates and switches the seat (P) between the upper surface (131a) of the lever (131) and the guide portion (137) of the lever (137).
The sheet is fed into the sheet conveying section (50) while being guided by a).

The conveyance of the sheet for stable processing in the sheet conveyance section (50) is as described above, and the sheet is once returned to the drive rollers (62), (64), and (65), and the rear end in the conveyance direction is When detected by the sensor (SE2),
As the switching bar (70) switches to the dashed line in Fig. 2, the drive rollers (62), (64), (65)
The rotation direction of the drive rollers (68) and (69) is switched back to the finisher section (200).
).

In Fig. 14, time (t2) is the time until the sheet (P) on the bin (102) is completely taken out and sent to the finisher section (200), and time (t3) is the time required for the sheet (P) on the bin (102) to be sent to the finisher section (200). This is the time required for processing.

These times (tl), (t2), and (t3) are each counted by a timer controlled by a microcomputer, which will be described later. When the time (t3) has elapsed, the bin unit moving motor (M2) is turned on again, and the above The sheet ejecting process is repeated.

In the sheet take-out means (130) having the above configuration, the upper take-out roller (138) is set in advance at the sheet take-out position (X2), and immediately before the bin (102) reaches the sheet take-out position (x2). The upper surface of the sheet (P) comes into contact with the top surface of the sheet (P), and the take-out roller (138) moves upward while maintaining this contact state, following the upward movement of the bin (102).

The lower take-out roller (136) picks up the sheet (P) after the upper surface of the sheet (P) comes into contact with the take-out roller (138).
) comes into contact with the bottom surface of the With the above operation, even if the edge of the sheet (P) is curled, the take-out roller (138) will first press down on the top surface of the sheet (P), so the take-out roller (136).

It becomes possible to reliably clamp at <138>.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
36), (138) simultaneously swing up and down and try to pinch the edge of the sheet (P), if the edge of the sheet (P) is curled, the sheet (P) will be If you simply shift it backwards [arrow (g)], you may not be able to secure it [see Figure 14].

[Configuration and operation of finisher section] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 12, the finisher section (200) is installed vertically so that its upper end opens facing the drive rollers (68) and (69). a stable tray (201), a stopper (202) that can open and close the lower end of this tray (201), a fixed regulation plate (203) that regulates one side of the sheet, and a movement regulation that regulates the other side of the sheet. The plate (204) is composed of an upper end regulating plate (205) that can move forward and backward and up and down on the upper part of the lay (201), and an electric stapler (206). Furthermore, a photosensor (SE5) for detecting the presence or absence of sheets can be installed at the bottom of the stable tray (201), and a cylindrical sheet discharge stacker (210) is also installed.

The sheet is fed into the stable tray (201) by the driving rollers (ss), (69), and is stored in a state where the lower end is in contact with the stopper (202) in free fall. Here, the upper end regulating plate (205) rotates counterclockwise in FIG.
1), and then the upper end (Pa) of the sheet (P).
) and align the sheets (P) vertically with the stopper (202). Further, the regulating plate (204) moves rightward in FIG. 2 to the left end (Pb) of the sheet (P), and aligns the sheet (P) laterally with the fixed regulating plate (203).

When the alignment of the sheets is completed as described above, the stapler (2
06) operates and the sheets are bound. After that, the stopper (202) moves to the second position using the spindle (202a) as a fulcrum.
By rotating slightly clockwise in the figure, the tray (2)
Open the lower part of 01). With this, the sheet is accommodated in the paper discharge stacker (210) while being guided by the guide plate (211).

The above-described sheet take-out process to finish process is repeated for the number of times that have been input in advance.

The operations of the present sorter apparatus described in detail above are controlled by a microcomputer as shown in FIG.

This microcomputer includes the various sensors (SEI) mentioned above.
) to (SE5), etc. are input, and signals for driving various motors, clutches, solenoids, etc. are output.

[Other Embodiments] Note that the sorter device with a finisher according to the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and can be variously modified within the scope of the gist thereof.

For example, the sheet take-out means (130) is a bin unit (
101), but it may be installed at the bottom.
Further, in the sheet conveying section (50), each bin (102
) The sheet taken out from the finisher section (20
0) and is fed into the stable tray (201) by a switchback method, but it may be fed directly into the tray (201) without switching back.

Alternatively, in order to improve the consistency of the sheets discharged into the bin (102), discharge rollers (125), (126)
The sensor (
In addition to being performed based on the sheet detection signal from SE3), it may also be controlled by a timer. Further, such speed control can be applied to various sheet discharge devices other than devices that discharge sheets to a sorter bin, as long as the sheets are conveyed onto a tray by rotation of a pair of rollers.

In addition, when taking out sheets from each bin <102), the sheet sandwiched by the take-out rollers (136) and (138) was further lifted up to overcome the stopper (102a), but the stopper (102a) was not allowed to swing. It is also possible to take out the sheet by tilting the stopper (102a) forward.

Furthermore, in the sheet conveyance section (50), in order to correspond to the thickness of the sheet, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, rotational force is transmitted to the upper and lower rollers (64) and (65), and one The configuration in which the roller (65) can be moved toward and away from the other roller (64) and elastically biased can be widely applied to devices other than the sorter device of this embodiment if it is necessary to convey a large number of sheets. can. Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the provision of a pressing roller (198) to prevent the timing belt (160) from coming off the pulley (151) is also applicable to a wide range of applications other than the sorter device.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, one side of the sheets stored in the bin comes into contact with each other immediately before the bin reaches the sheet take-out position, and this contact state is maintained. a first take-out roller that is movable following the movement of the bin; and a first take-out roller that comes into contact with the lower surface of the sheet after the first take-out roller contacts one side of the sheet; Since a second take-out roller is provided to pinch the sheet on the bin, the first take-out roller first presses the sheet against the bin, and then the second take-out roller pinches the sheet, so even if the edge of the sheet Even if the sheet is curled, the sheet can be reliably clamped and the sheet can be taken out.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 17 show an embodiment of a sorter device with a finisher according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram including the main body of the copying machine, FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of the sorter device, and FIG.
4 is an explanatory diagram showing the sheet passing state of the drive roller of the sheet conveying section, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the sheet take-out section, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the sheet distribution switching section, and FIGS. Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the sheet take-out means, Fig. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the drive system of the sorter section, Fig. 10 is a sectional view of the main part of the drive system of Fig. 9, and Fig. 11 is the drive system of Fig. 9. FIG. 12 is a front view of the stable tray, FIG. 13 is a time chart showing the control of the sorter section, FIG. 14 is a time chart showing the sheet take-out operation, and FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing the main parts of the system. , and FIG. 16 are graphs for explaining the sheet conveyance speed and switching control of the switching pawl in sorting and grooving, respectively, and FIG. 17 is a block diagram of the control circuit. FIGS. 18 and 19 are explanatory diagrams showing an example of an incomplete operation when taking out a sheet. (1) Copying machine main body, (50) Sheet transport section, (100) Sorter section, (101) Bin unit, (102) Bin, (103) ...Shaft, (105)...Moving frame, (130)...
・Sheet ejecting means, (131)...switching bar, (
136)...first take-out roller, (137)...
Lever, (138)...Second take-out roller, (141
>...Guide groove, (200')...Finisher section, (A)...Bin movement locus, (x2)...Sheet take-out position, (M2)...Movement motor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sorter with a finisher that distributes and accommodates sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus main body into a plurality of bins provided in a sorter unit, takes them out from each bin, and conveys them to a finisher unit for finishing processing. In the apparatus, a plurality of bins stacked in a substantially vertical direction, a bin moving means for moving each of the bins in a substantially vertical direction to a sheet take-out position, and installed at the sheet take-out position and configured to move the bins to the sheet take-out position. a first take-out roller that is movable to follow the movement of the bin while maintaining this contact state with one surface of the sheets stored in the bin being brought into contact with the sheet immediately before the first take-out roller; installed in the first
After the take-out roller contacts one side of the sheet, a second take-out roller contacts the other side of the sheet and pinches the sheet on the bin with the first take-out roller. A sorter device with a finisher.