JPH0335224B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Table of Contents] Overview Industrial Application Fields Conventional Technology Problems to be Solved by the Invention Means for Solving the Problems (Fig. 1) Working Example (a) One Implementation Explanation of the system to which the example is applied (Figure 2) (b) Explanation of the overall configuration of one embodiment (Figure 3) (c) Explanation of the stack guide of one embodiment (Figures 4 and 5) (d ) Explanation of the conveyance unit used in one embodiment (Figs. 6 and 7) (e) Explanation of other embodiments Effects of the invention [Summary] In an inverted storage type stacker equipped with a form conveyance means and a stack guide By providing a limit guide that regulates the heightwise position of the stacked forms and a variable mechanism that changes the heightwise position of the limit guide, it is possible to align the leading edges of the forms regardless of the length of the forms. This is what I did.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to an inverted storage type stacker that stores forms in an inverted state along a stack guide, and particularly to an inverted storage type stacker that can obtain stacked forms with aligned edges regardless of changes in the length of the forms.

2. Description of the Related Art In devices such as reading devices and printing devices that output a large number of processed documents, a stacker is used to temporarily store the output documents.

These stackers include horizontal storage type stackers that store forms in a lying-down state, and inverted storage type stackers that store forms in an inverted state.

The inverted storage type stacker is convenient for taking out a large amount of documents and for taking out documents for a plurality of separate processes in units of processing.

In particular, it is often used as a collating unit in high-speed printing processing systems.

[Conventional technology]

The conventional inverted storage type stacker uses conveyor means such as a conveyor (hereinafter referred to as conveyor) as shown in Fig. 8.
A stack guide 2 is provided at the rear end of the conveyor 1, and a freely rotatable stack roller 3 is fixed on the conveyor 1.

Paper PP is conveyed on the belt of conveyor 1,
The tip abuts against the stack guide 2 and stands up, and is held upside down along the stack guide 2 by the feeding of the belt. At this time, the stack roller 3 engages and rotates with the belt of the conveyor 1 due to its own weight at a fixed position, thereby preventing the paper PP from floating up from the belt.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In such an inverted stacker, the leading edge of the conveyed paper hits the stack guide 2 or the previous stacked paper, and the leading edge changes direction along the stack guide 2. Becomes an inverted position.

Therefore, the paper is held upside down while contacting the stack guide 2 or the previous paper, and the state of this contact is not constant.

For this reason, in the conventional configuration, the leading edge of the stacked sheets is not constant, and as shown in Figure 8, the earlier the stacked sheets are stacked, the higher the leading edge is, and the later the stacked sheets are, the lower the leading edge is. becomes.

This tendency also changes depending on the stiffness of the paper, that is, the thickness and length of the paper.

Therefore, in the conventional structure, there is a problem that the leading edge becomes uneven due to changes in the thickness and length of the paper, and the amount of stacking becomes small.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an inverted storage stacker in which the leading edges of the sheets are aligned regardless of the thickness and length of the sheets and the stack amount does not become small.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention includes a belt conveying means 1 for horizontally conveying a form, a stack guide 2 for guiding and holding the form horizontally conveyed by the belt conveying means 1, and a stack guide 2 for guiding and holding the form horizontally conveyed by the belt conveying means 1. established,
A stack roller 3 for feeding the form in cooperation with the belt conveying means 1, and an inverted apparatus for changing the direction of horizontally conveyed forms along the stack guide 2 and storing them upside down in the stack guide 2. The storage type stacker is provided with a guide mechanism for moving the stack roller 3 in a direction parallel to the document conveyance direction by the force received by the stack roller 3 from the stored document PP, and A limit guide 23 that engages with the tip of a form that is inverted along the guide 2 to regulate the position of the form in the height direction, and a variable mechanism 22 that makes the position of the limit guide 23 in the height direction variable. is provided on the stack guide 2.

[Effect]

In the present invention, since the guide mechanism is provided to slide the stack roller 3 according to the stack amount of the paper PP, the stack roller 3 is positioned near the position where the paper PP rises and assists the rise of the paper PP. ing.

As a result, an inverted stack can be created regardless of the stack amount or paper thickness, and the stack amount can be increased.

Further, in the present invention, a limit guide 23 is provided,
By conveying the paper along the stack guide 2 so as to hit the limit guide 23 using the conveying means 1 and the stack roller 3, the leading edge of the paper can be aligned regardless of the stiffness of the paper. .

Conventionally, when paper is fed at such a high speed, there is a risk that the paper will rise rapidly and fly over the stack guide 2, but in the present invention, the paper is actively fed at high speed and hits the limit guide 23. I try to align the edges of the paper.

Furthermore, in order to align the leading edge of the paper regardless of the paper length, a variable mechanism 22 is provided, and a limit guide 23 is provided.
The position in the height direction can be adjusted.

As a result, regardless of the thickness and length of the paper, a stack with uniform leading edges can be created and the stack amount will not become small.

〔Example〕

(a) Description of a system to which an embodiment is applied FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of a print processing system to which a stacker device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

In the figure, LBP is a laser printer that uses electrophotography to print on continuous folding paper with perforations, as is well known, and STC is a paper hopper, for example, the folded length of standard paper (B4). When the length is L, it has a folded length (3L) that is about three times as long,
Moreover, the length is about 1m and is piled up to about 1m in height.
Ultra-long continuous folding paper CP with feed holes, approximately 10,000 m long
(hereinafter simply referred to as continuous paper), the PFU is a paper supply device and a paper hopper.
This is to supply continuous paper CP from the STC to the bottom of the laser printer LBP, and the TVU is a turnover mechanism that changes the direction of the printed continuous paper CP discharged from the top of the laser printer LBP by 90 degrees. The MSU is an intermediate slitter device that cuts the printed continuous paper CP from the turnover mechanism TVU in half at its midpoint while conveying it to the intermediate slitter device, which will be described later. PCM is a cutting device that guides and discharges one side and the other so that they overlap each other.
The intermediate slitting device MSU cuts the edges of a pair of stacked continuous sheets, and the burster unit cuts the perforations of the continuous sheet CP to create paper PP in units of pages, which is then discharged.CSU is a conveyor. This is a stacker device that uses a guide slope to vertically store paper PP cut and discharged by the cutting device PCM.

Therefore, paper hopper STC continuous paper (B4 size)
CP laser printer by paper feeding device PFU
The contents of two B5 size pages are fed to the bottom of the LBP and passed through the internal printing path of the laser printer LBP.
Printed in parallel on one page of B4 size paper using electrophotography. The printed continuous paper CP is ejected from the top of the laser printer LBP, turned 90 degrees by the turnover mechanism TVC, guided to the intermediate slitter device MSU, and then transported to the intermediate slitter device MSU.
A B4-sized continuous paper CP is cut in half at its midpoint, and a pair of B5-sized continuous papers CP are produced by overlapping them. A pair of continuous sheets of paper stacked on top of each other
The ears of the CP are cut by the cutting device PCM,
Furthermore, the paper PP, which is cut into pages at the perforation positions and cut and discharged by the conveyor stacker device CSU, is stored in an upright state.

That is, continuous paper CP is printed by a laser printer LBP which is a printing device, cut in half in the longitudinal direction by an intermediate slitter device MSU, cut into pages by a cutting device PCM, and printed by a conveyor stacker device CSU. They are stored in order.

This laser printer LBP can print at ultra-high speeds, for example, 10,000 lines per minute, so it can print 200 to 300 sheets per minute.
It has the printing capacity of 1 sheet.

(b) Description of the overall configuration of one embodiment FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, the same parts as those shown in FIGS. 1 and 8 are indicated by the same symbols, and 10 is a conveyor belt, which is a belt conveyance mechanism for feeding the paper PP, and 11 and 12 are conveyor belts. A pair of feed pulleys,
The conveyor belt 10 is stretched and rotated to send the conveyor belt in the direction of the arrow in the figure to convey the paper PP. 13 is a paper press roller, which is rotatably provided on the conveyor frame to be described later, and the conveyor belt 14 is a paper presser guide that presses the leading edge of the paper PP from the aforementioned cutting device PCM (see Figure 2). , for guiding the paper to the paper pressing roller 13, 15
16 is a stack guide mounting hole, which is provided to attach the stack guide 2 to a conveyor frame (described later); 16 is a conveyor frame;
3. A paper holding guide 14, a guide mechanism 4, etc. are attached.

20 is a guide body for holding and accommodating the paper PP; 21 is a side guide provided on both sides of the guide body 20 to guide the paper PP from both sides; 22 is the aforementioned variable mechanism; ,
The height of the limit guide 23, which will be described later, is made variable and fixed. Reference numeral 23 is the aforementioned limit guide, which engages with and aligns the leading edge of the paper PP stored in the guide body 20, and is a variable mechanism. 22, it can be moved in the height direction.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a roller shaft, which constitutes a rotation axis of the stack roller 3 and is provided on an arm described later. Reference numeral 40 denotes an arm, which rotatably holds the stack roller 3 by the roller shaft 30 and is attached to an arm shaft described later. 41 is a guide roller, which is rotatably provided on an arm shaft, which will be described later, and is movable along a guide plate, which will be described later. 42 is a guide plate, and the conveyor frame 1
6 is a stopper that guides the guide roller 41, and 43 is a stopper that engages with the arm 40 when the stud roller 3 is stored.
A guide plate 42 for separating the
An arm shaft 44 rotatably holds the arm 40 and rotates together with the guide roller 41.

Therefore, the stack roller 3 is movable in a direction parallel to the paper conveyance direction of the conveyor belt 10 along the guide plate 42 via the arm 30 and the guide roller 41, and the limit guide 23 of the stack guide 2 is movable along the guide plate 42 via the arm 30 and the guide roller 41. The structure is such that the position can be set in the height direction by .

(c) Description of one embodiment of the stack guide Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a stack guide of one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 4A is a side view thereof, Fig. 4B is a block diagram of the limit guide, 4C and 4D are sectional views of essential parts, and FIG. 5 is a rear view of the configuration shown in FIG. 4A.

In the figure, the same parts as those shown in FIGS. 1, 8, and 3 are indicated by the same symbols, and 22a
is a guide hole of the variable mechanism, through which a support bar to be described later moves, and has a guide surface 22c and a large number of V-shaped positioning and fixing recesses 22b facing the guide surface 22c. Incidentally, a pair of variable mechanisms 22 having these are provided as shown in FIG. 20a, 20b, 20c are longitudinal holes,
The guide main body 20 has three parts: 21a,
21b are side guides, which are provided on both sides of the guide body 20 to guide the paper PP;
24a is a support bar with knobs 24d on both ends,
24e, an L-shaped limit guide 23a,
23b is attached, and fixing spring members 24b and 24c, which will be described later, are attached, and 24b and 24c are fixing spring members, which have an approximately "C" shape as shown in FIGS. 4B and C, and support bars 24a. 25a is a mounting knob, which has a pin 25C in the center and fixing protrusions 25b on both sides,
Further, a spring 25d is attached around the pin 25c and the protrusion 25b, 15a, 15b,
Mounting holes 15c are provided in the conveyor frame 16, and are used to fix the mounting plates 20d and 20e of the guide body 20 to the conveyor frame 16 using mounting knobs 25a. Three items are provided for changing.

Therefore, the pair of variable mechanisms 22
5, and a support bar 24a is provided so as to pass through the guide hole 22a of the variable mechanism 22, as shown in FIG. A limit guide 23, fixing spring members 24b, 24c, and knobs 24d, 24e are attached to the support bar 24a as shown in FIG. 4B. Therefore, the support bar 24a is supported by the variable mechanism 2 by the spring members 24b and 24c, as shown in FIG.
The second fixing recess 22b is biased and engaged.

On the other hand, the attachment plates 20d and 20e are attached to the conveyor frame 16 by pushing the attachment knob 25a into the attachment holes 15a, 15b, and 15c of the conveyor frame 16.

The operation of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 will be explained.

The stacked sheets PP vary in length and thickness. Therefore, in order to align the leading edges of the stacked sheets, a limit guide 23 is provided.
Limit guide 23 is used to do this depending on the length.
The height position of the can be made variable by a variable mechanism 22.

That is, hold the knobs 24d and 24e with your hands and
When the support bar 24a is pulled toward the right in FIG. A, the support bar 24a is removed from the recess 22b against the resistance of the spring member 24b. Therefore, the support bar 24a can be freely held at a position in the height direction along the guide surface 22c of the guide hole 22a of the variable mechanism 22. When you hold the support bar 24a to a desired height and release your hand, the support bar 24a engages with the recess at that height by the spring member 24b.
The height position of No. 3 is regulated and fixed.

At this time, since the tip of the spring member 24b is formed in a U-shape, the support bar 24a is
You can move smoothly along c.

In this way, the height of the limit guide 23 can be made variable according to the length (height) of the paper, and the leading edge of the paper can be aligned according to the length of the paper.

On the other hand, if the paper PP is long and thin, it will be weak and it is better to store it lying down as long as possible.On the other hand, if it is short and thick, it will be stiff and it is better to store it upright. For this reason, mounting holes 15a, 15b, and 15c are provided so that the angle of inclination of the stack guide 2 can be varied, and the stack guide 2 can be mounted with a variable angle of inclination using a mounting knob 25a.

That is, the mounting plates 20d, 20 are inserted into the mounting hole 15c.
Attach the knob 25a to the pin 2 as shown in Fig. 4D.
5c and protrusion 25b, and then tighten the mounting knob 2.
5a through the spring 25d to the mounting plate 2.
When 0d and 20e are sandwiched and fixed in the conveyor frame 16, they will be in a standing state with the largest angle of inclination.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 4A, when the mounting plates 20d and 20e are attached to the mounting holes 15a using the mounting knobs 25a, the mounting plates 20d and 20e are placed in a lying position with the smallest inclination angle, and the mounting plates 20d and 20e are mounted in the mounting holes 15b.
When it is attached by the attachment knob 25a, it has an intermediate angle of inclination.

In this way, the inclination angle of the stack guide 2 can be made variable, making it possible to optimally stack sheets according to the stiffness of the sheets.

(d) Description of the conveyance unit used in one embodiment FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.
Figure A is its top view, and Figure 6B is its side view.

In the figure, the same parts as those shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 8 and Fig. 3 are indicated by the same symbols.
a, 10b, 10c are conveyor belts, and 1
6a and 16b are conveyor frames, and 3
Numerals a, 3b, and 3c are stack rollers, respectively, which are provided facing the conveyor belts 10a, 10b, and 10c, and 30a, 30b, and 30c are roller shafts, and the stack rollers 3a, 3b, and 3 are roller shafts.
For rotation of c, 40a, 40b, 40c
are arms, and roller shafts 30a, 30b,
Stud rollers 3a, 3b, 3c via 30c
41a and 41b are guide rollers, which have flanges and are provided on both sides of the arm shaft 44 and rotate together with the arm shaft 44; 42a and 42b are guide plates, 43 is the above-mentioned stopper attached to each conveyor frame 16a, 16b and guides the guide rollers 41a, 41b, and the guide plate 4
Conveyor frame 16a, 1 via 2a, 42b
6b with both ends attached, 45a, 45
Reference numerals b and 45c denote arm support parts, which are cylindrical in shape, to which the arms 40a, 40b, and 40c are attached, and are rotatably provided on the arm shaft 44.

Therefore, the arms 40a, 40 are attached to the arm shaft 44.
b, 40c are held rotatably, and the stud rollers 3a, 3b, 3c are attached to the arms 40a, 40.
It is rotatably held at the tips of b and 40c.

On the other hand, the arm shaft 44 has guide rollers 41a, 4
1b are attached to both ends, and guide rollers 41a, 41
b rotatably moves along guide plates 42a, 42b, allowing the stack rollers 3a, 3b, 3c to slide.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the configuration of the embodiment shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7A, the stack roller 3 is always positioned so as to almost touch the right side of the stacked sheets PP when viewed from the stack guide 2, and as shown in FIG. As a result, the guide roller 4 is pushed through the arm 44 to the right in the figure.
1 on the guide plate 42 and slide it to the right.

As shown in the figure, the arm 44 holds the stack roller 3 with a slight downward inclination, so the stack roller 3 has a slight drag force in the direction of the paper PP, so the stack roller 3 is always in a position near or in contact with the paper PP. It is in.

Therefore, regardless of the amount of stacked paper PP, the stack crawler 3 is always located near the rising position of paper PP, and assists the next paper to rise along the previous stacked paper. .

This makes it possible to stack paper in an inverted manner regardless of the amount and thickness of the paper stack, thereby increasing the stack amount and creating an ideal stack with the leading edges aligned.

On the other hand, when the arm 40 is manually set to the storage position as shown in FIG. 7C, the arm 40 is set so as to come into contact with the stopper.

By doing this, the stat crawler 3
is separated from the conveyor belt 10, while the guide roller 4
1 are on both sides as shown in FIG. 6, so there is no contact with the paper PP at all. Setting the paper in this storage position is to prevent the stack roller 3 from operating as shown in Figure 7 A and B, as the paper PP is thick and curly and may jam at the stack roller 3. The purpose is to cause stacking to occur in a free state.

(e) Description of other embodiments Variable mechanism 2 of stack guide 2 of the above embodiment
2 may be configured in other formats.

Further, the applied system is not limited to a print processing system, and may be other systems.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to examples, the present invention can be modified in various ways according to the gist of the present invention.
These are not excluded from the present invention.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, since the guide mechanism is provided to slide the stack roller 3 according to the stack amount of the form, the stack roller 3 is positioned near the position where the form rises, and As a result, an inverted stack can be created regardless of the stack amount and the thickness of the form, and the stack amount can be increased.

In addition, since the stack guide is provided with a limiter guide, the leading edge of the form, which has been assisted in rising by the stacking roller 3, can be brought into alignment with the limit guide, and the height position of the limit guide can be changed. Therefore, there is also an effect that the tips can be reliably aligned according to the length of the form, thereby making it possible to correctly invert the stack and obtain an evenly stacked form without reducing the stack amount.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the principle of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a print processing system to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied, FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a configuration diagram of a stack guide according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a rear view of the configuration shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of the conveyance section configured in FIG. The explanatory diagram, FIG. 8, is an explanatory diagram of the prior art. In the figure, 1... conveyance means, 2... stack guide, 22... variable mechanism, 23... limit guide.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A belt conveying means for horizontally conveying a form, a stack guide for guiding and holding the form horizontally conveyed by the belt conveying means and holding it upside down, and a stack guide provided on the belt conveying means. an inverted storage type, which has a stack roller that feeds the form in cooperation with the belt conveying means, changes the direction of the horizontally transported form along the stack guide, and stores the form upside down in the stack guide; The stacker is provided with a guide mechanism for moving the stack roller in a direction parallel to the document conveyance direction by a force received by the stack roller from the stored documents, and the stack roller is inverted along the stack guide. The stack guide is provided with a limit guide that engages with the leading edge of the form to regulate the position of the form in the height direction, and a variable mechanism that changes the position of the limit guide in the height direction. An inverted storage type statsuka featuring