JPH0351260A - Sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make application to a clamshell type image formation device or an image formation device possible by supporting a sorter main body as well as making it freely rotatable with a rotation axis as the center, and providing a supporting member capable of assuming a first state that mounts this sorter main body to the image formation device and a second state that evacuates from the image formation device. CONSTITUTION:A supporting members 34 is rotated so that a sorter main body 33 assumes a first state and a second state. Because of this, for example, when a part of an image formation device is moved to the side of a sorter 32, or even when a paper feed means 19 is provided on the side of the sorter 32 of the image formation device, a sheet member discharged from the image formation device can be introduced into the sorter main body 33.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sorter, and more particularly to a sorter applied to an image forming apparatus.

In general, when clearing jams or inspecting the inside of an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copier or printer, it is desirable to open the paper path as much as possible. Therefore, conventionally, the main body of an image forming apparatus is divided into an upper main body and a lower main body with the paper path as the boundary, and the upper main body is opened upward about a fulcrum located at the center of the downstream side perpendicular to the paper ejection direction. A so-called clamshell image forming apparatus is used.

FIG. 12 schematically shows a clamshell printer. The printer shown in the figure consists of a printer main body (1) and a sorter (2), and from the front side (A) where the operation panel (not shown) of the printer main body (1) is provided,
Paper is fed by a cassette (3).

First, start with the top paper stacked in the cassette (3).
(not shown) is conveyed to a pair of registration rollers (5) by a paper feed roller (4). The paper fed into the pair of registration rollers (5) is conveyed in the direction of arrow (a), and after transferring the toner image formed on the photoreceptor drum (6), the paper is sent to the pair of fixing rollers (7) and the paper is ejected. Roller pair (8) (9)
is discharged from the discharge port (10) (arrow (b))
. In addition, the side opposite to the front side (A) of the printer body (1) (
In other words, the sorter (2) installed on the rear side (B))
), rotate the guide (11) in the direction of arrow (c). As a result, as shown by the arrow (d), the sheets are fed from the discharge port (12) to the introduction roller pair (13) of the sorter (2), and then sorted into the bin trays (17).

In FIG. 12, when the upper body (15) is rotated in the direction of arrow (e) about the fulcrum (14), the paper path (16) opens. At this time, as shown by the two-dot chain line, the upper end of the downstream side surface of the upper main body (15) in the paper ejection direction protrudes and moves in the paper ejection direction.

On the other hand, as in the printer shown in FIG. 10, both the front side (A) and the opposite side (rear side) (B) of the printer body (21) where the operation panel (not shown) is provided. Some devices are configured to feed paper from a cassette (3) (18). In addition, in the case of this Fig. 10, the cassette (18) is attached to the rear side (B) via the feeder (19), but the feeder (19)
There is also a configuration in which the cassette (18) is directly attached to the rear side (B) of the printer main body (21) without going through the printer.

FIG. 11 shows a cross section of the printer shown in FIG. When paper is fed from the front side (A), paper is fed in the same manner as in the printer shown in FIG. When feeding paper from the rear side (B), the upper paper stacked in the cassette (18) (not shown) is fed into the feeder (19).
After being conveyed (arrow (f)) from the opening (20) to the pair of registration rollers (5) (arrow (f)), the sheet is discharged from the discharge port (10) in the same way as sheets fed from the cassette (3).

Note that the cassette (18) is tilted to the feeder (1).
9), and when removing the cassette (18) from the feeder (19), remove the cassette (solid line) (
18) in the direction of the arrow (g), then pull out the cassette (--dotted chain line) (1B) in the direction of the arrow (h).

When mounting the cassette (1B) on the feeder (19), this process is reversed.

If the sorter (2) is installed on the rear side (B) of the printer main body (1), as in the printer shown in Figure 12, the upper main body (15 ), there is a problem in that the upper body (15) comes into contact with the sorter (2).

In addition, as in the printer shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, paper feeding means such as a feeder (19) and a cassette (18) are provided on the rear side (B) of the printer body (21). Even if the printer itself (21)
There are cases where it is desired to install a sorter (2) on the rear side (B) of the machine. However, as shown in FIG. 11, this printer requires a space for opening the upper body (15) of the printer (in the direction of arrow (e)) and for installing and removing the cassette (18). Therefore, there is a problem that the sorter (2) cannot be installed on the rear side (B) of the printer body (21) without coming into contact with the upper body (15) or the cassette (18).

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to
An object of the present invention is to provide a sorter that can be applied to a clamshell type image forming apparatus that moves in the direction of movement or an image forming apparatus that has a paper feeding means in the paper ejection direction.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object of "I", the sorter of the present invention includes a sorter main body that sorts sheet members discharged from a conveyance mechanism of an image forming apparatus into bin trays, and a rotating shaft that supports the sorter main body. The support member is rotatable around the center and can take a first state in which the sorter main body is attached to the image forming apparatus and a second state in which the sorter main body is retracted from the image forming apparatus.

Further, it is preferable that the shock absorbing member damps the movement of the supporting member in order to alleviate the impulse of the supporting member in at least one of the first state and the second state, and in particular, the shock absorbing member is made of gas. Preferably, it is a damper.

Further, it is preferable that the support member has a driving means for moving the support member to at least one of the first state and the second state, and it is particularly preferable that the driving means is a spring means.

According to this configuration, the support member can be rotated so that the sorter body takes the first state and the second state, so that, for example, a part of the image forming apparatus can be moved toward the sorter side, Even when the paper feeding means is provided on the sorter side of the image forming apparatus, sheet members discharged from the image forming apparatus can be introduced into the sorter main body.

叉JLM Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. Incidentally, the same parts as in the conventional example are given the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

Figure 1 shows the first embodiment of the present invention as a printer body (31).
This figure shows a state commonly used in a printer consisting of a feeder (19) and a cassette (18) installed on the rear side (B). Further, FIG. 2 shows its appearance, and FIG. 3 shows the main parts of the first embodiment. In addition, the parts drawn with two-dot chain lines in FIG. 1 show the state when each part is moved.

Regarding paper feeding, the printer main body (31) is similar to the printer main body (21) shown in FIG.
A) cassette (3) or post-stool (B) cassette (18)
) and a feeder (19). Regarding paper ejection, the state in which the paper is ejected can be selected by a guide (11) rotatable in the direction of arrow (i). That is, when the guide (11) is rotated in the direction of the arrow (i), the paper is stacked on the guide (11), and when the guide (11) is in the state shown in Fig. ) from the sorter (32
).The paper is conveyed to The printer body (31) is the same as the printer body (1) shown in FIGS. 11 and 12.
Similar to (21), move the upper body (15) in the direction of arrow (e).
It is a moving Talamusiel type.

The feeder (19) and cassette (18) have the same structure as the conventional example shown in Fig. 11, and paper is fed from the opening (20) of the printer body (31) (see Fig. , arrow (j)).

The sorter (32) of this embodiment is a sorter main body (33) equipped with a bin tray (17) as shown in FIG.

It consists of a support member (34) and a gas damper (35).

When introducing sheet materials such as paper discharged from the discharge port (12) of the printer body (31) into the sorter body (31) along the guide plate (33a) and sorting them into the bin trays (17), The sorter body (33) is attached to the printer body (31) so as to be close to the discharge port (12). The sorter main body (solid line) (33) in FIG. 1 and the sorter main body (33) in FIGS. 2 and 3 show the state at this time. Mounting here refers not only to attaching the sorter body (33) directly to the printer body (31) but also to attaching the sorter body (33) directly to the printer body (31).
1) with an appropriate space between the sorter body (33)
This also includes the case where the

When moving the upper body (15) in the direction of arrow (e) or when removing the cassette (18), move the cassette (18) in the direction of arrow (g), or place the cassette (18) in the feeder (19). When installing, the sorter body (33) will come into contact with the upper body (15) and the cassette (18) as shown in Figure 1, so please move the sorter body (33) in the direction of arrow (k). Evacuate.

As described above, in this embodiment, the support member (34) is configured to take the first state in which the sorter main body (33) is attached to the printer main body (31) and the second state in which the sorter main body (33) is retracted from the printer main body (31). is used. Support member (34
) are mainly arm (36) and cover (37).

It consists of bottles (38) (39) and a side plate (42).

As shown in FIG. 3, the arm (36) is attached to the sorter body (33) at its upper end by an arm attachment member (43), which will be described later.
The lower part is inserted into a hole (44) provided in the cover (37), and is fixed to the side surface of the cover (37) with screws (45). In addition, the arm (36) has a notch in the cover (37) instead of the hole (44),
It may be fixed to the side surface of the cover (37) with two screws.

Soak - side plate (4) to ensure that it stays in place when attached to the printer body (31).
2) has a bottle (38) that comes into contact with the arm (36).
is provided. The cover (37) is configured to be rotatable about the rotation axis (46). Therefore, when the sorter main body (33) is retracted in the direction of arrow (k) as shown in FIG. , the bottle (39) that comes into contact with the lower part of the cover (37) is attached to the side plate (4).
2) is provided inside.

4-6 illustrate a method for attaching the sorter body (33) to the arm (36) as shown in FIG. As shown in Figure 4, the tip of the arm (36) is connected to the sorter body (33) and the printer body (31).
It is bent at one point so that it can be installed at an appropriate angle with respect to the outlet (12) (Fig. 1). The distal end of the bent portion is used for attachment to the sorter body (33). As shown in the figure, a screw attachment hole (47) is formed at the distal end of the arm (36).

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, the mounting plate main body (50) is fixed by screws (53) to the mounting auxiliary plate (49), which has a U-shaped cross section and is fixed to the lower surface of the sorter main body (33).

Figure 4 shows the mounting plate body (50) attached to the sorter body (33).
is shown attached via the attachment auxiliary plate (49). In the figure, as shown by the arrow (42), the arm (
Install the arm (36) so that the screw attachment hole (47) of the arm (36) matches the screw attachment hole (48) of the attachment plate body (50).
Insert the tip of 6) into the mounting plate main body (50). At this time, the tip portion contacts the contact portion (52). The 6th article covers the mounting auxiliary plate (49), the mounting plate main body (50), and the screws (
51) and (53), the sorter body (33) is attached to the arm (36) via the arm attachment member (43). The sliding direction (arrow (S)) when inserting the tip of the arm (36) into the mounting plate body (50) and the tilting direction (arrow (S)) of the sorter body (33)
g) Considering (r)), only one screw is required as shown in Figure 6. Installation in extremely unstable conditions
- Since it can be done with a wooden arm (36) and screws in one place, the construction and installation of the mounting part becomes extremely simple.

As shown in FIG. 3, a gas damper (35) is attached to the cover (37) and the side plate (42) as a shock absorbing member via attachment members (40) and (41). The gas damper (35) operates to expand in the first state and contract in the second state. The gas damper (35) acts to damp the movement of the support member (34) in both the first and second states.

Figures 7 and 8 show the state in which the sorter body (33) is attached to the printer body (31) and the printer body (31).
) shows the state to be evacuated from. In the same figure, p
o represents the gas reaction force of the gas damper (35), and p represents its vertical component. Moreover, W represents the load of the sorter body (33). X represents the distance from the rotation axis (46) to the position where the load of the gas damper (35) is applied, and y represents the distance from the rotation axis (46) to the center of gravity of the sorter body (33). The gas damper (
Load applied in the axial direction of 35) and gas damper (35)
Set the mounting angle. In the state shown in FIG. 7, the moment due to the load on the sorter body (33) is strong, so the state in which the sorter body (33) is attached to the printer body (31) is maintained. In the state shown in Figure 8,
If you move the sorter body (33) slightly in the direction of arrow (k) (by hand), the moment relationship will be reversed, and it will naturally move to the predetermined retracted position (i.e., the lower part of the cover (37) will be moved to the pin (
39) until it touches the sorter body (33).
) moves. The movement of the sorter body (33) at this time is smooth and slow. This is due to the small spring constant of the gas damper (35). Therefore, the cover (37
) comes into contact with the pin (39), the impact is small and the sheets placed on the sorter body (33) will not fall. Also, when the sorter body (33) is attached to the printer body (31), the cover (37) comes into contact with the bin (38), but the impact is similarly small, so the paper on the sorter body (33) never falls. On the other hand, since the gas damper (35) has a property of being able to obtain a large load despite its small spring constant, it also has sufficient force to support the sorter body (33) at the predetermined retracted position. Therefore, there is almost no restriction on the amount of paper on the bin tray (17). A stopper or lever is used in a normal Talam shell type image forming apparatus to open and close the upper body, but the support member of this embodiment (
34) does not require the use of a stopper or lever.

In a sorter body generally used in an image forming apparatus, for example, the maximum length is 181 mm and the minimum length is 13111If.
fl, a stroke of 50+ns, and a gas damper with a gas reaction force of 20 Kgf/m+w at -10111 from the maximum length can be used.

FIG. 9 shows a second embodiment of the invention. Except that a spring means (spring (54)) and a stopper (55) were used as the driving means instead of the gas damper (35) (Fig. 3) used as the impact mitigation member in the first embodiment. The configuration is similar to that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. Components that are the same as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3 are designated by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in the figure, the spring (54) has one end connected to the side plate (42).
Or, since it is fixed to the bottom plate (56) and the other end is fixed to the inside of the top plate (57) of the cover (37), the rotating shaft (4
The cover (37) is urged in the direction of the arrow (s) centering on the point 6). On the other hand, a part of the cover (37) has a notch (
58) is formed, and a stopper (55) rotatable about a rotation axis (59) engages with the notch (58) by means of a spring (60) fixed at one end. It is biased in the (n) direction. The spring (54) adjusts to the load of the sorter body (33) on which the paper is placed.
By adjusting the strength of the stopper (55
) in the opposite direction of the arrow (n) and remove the stopper.
When (55) is removed from the notch (58), the sorter body (
33) enters the second state and moves to a predetermined retracted position as in the first embodiment. Therefore, in the second embodiment, simply by removing the stopper (55) from the notch (58), the sorter body (33) is automatically moved to the printer body (31).
) can be evacuated from

As explained above, according to the present invention, when the support member is rotated about the rotation axis, the sorter main body is attached to or retracted from the image forming apparatus. The present invention can also be applied to a taram shell type image forming apparatus in which the upper main body moves in the paper discharging direction or an image forming apparatus having a paper feeding means in the paper discharging direction.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing the first embodiment of the present invention applied to a printer, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of its external appearance, and FIG.
The figure is a schematic sectional view showing the main parts. 4, 5, and 6 are all explanatory diagrams showing the assembly of essential parts of the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the first embodiment is installed in a printer, and FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the first embodiment is retracted from the printer. FIG. 9 is a schematic sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is an external perspective view of a conventional example, and FIG. 11 is a schematic sectional view thereof. FIG. 12 is a schematic sectional view of another conventional example. (12) - Discharge port, (15) -- Upper body (17)
...-bin tray, (1B)-cassette. (19) - Feeder, (31) - Printer body. (32) Sorter, (33) Sorter body (34) Support member, (35) Gas damper (36) Arm, (37) Cover (38) ) (39)-m-pin, (40)(41)・
...Mounting parts. (42) - Side plate, (46) - Rotating shaft, (54)
-Spring. (55)-m-stopper

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) A sorter main body that sorts sheet members discharged from the conveyance mechanism of the image forming apparatus into bin trays, and a sorter main body that supports the sorter main body and is rotatable about a rotation axis, and that transfers the sorter main body to the image forming apparatus. A sorter comprising a support member that can take a first state in which it is mounted and a second state in which it is retracted from the image forming apparatus. (2) The first claim further includes an impact mitigation member that damps the movement of the support member in order to alleviate the impulse of the support member in at least one of the first state and the second state. Sorter as described in section. (3) The sorter according to claim 2, wherein the shock absorbing member is a gas damper. (4) The sorter according to claim 1, further comprising driving means for moving the support member to at least one of the first state and the second state. (5) The sorter according to claim 4, wherein the driving means is a spring means.