JPH0428102B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a copying machine equipped with a sorter capable of automatic double-sided copying and composite copying.

<Prior Art and Its Disadvantages> As copying machines have become more multi-functional, some copying machines are equipped with an automatic double-sided copying function. A conventional copying machine with a double-sided copying function is required for the automatic double-sided copying function, which has a conveying direction reversing device that reverses the conveying direction of paper that has already been copied on one side, and a storage device that stores the paper and conveys it to the copying process section again. A device was built into the copier itself. Therefore, a large space is required to install the above-mentioned apparatus, and the cost of the copying machine increases.

Moreover, in a copying machine equipped with a composite copying function that copies at least twice on the same side of paper, in addition to the double-sided copying function, there is a double-sided transport path that transports such paper to the copying position without reversing it. It needs to be placed separately, which makes the entire transport route complicated.

<Objective of the Invention> An object of the present invention is to provide a copying machine that can perform double-sided copying and composite copying, realizing low cost and space saving.

<Configuration and Effects of the Invention> The present invention provides a first conveying means for conveying a single-sided copied sheet to a specified tray among a plurality of stacked trays in a double-sided copying mode; A second conveyance means that reverses the conveyance direction and conveys it to the copying position, and a first conveyance means in the composite copying mode.
The present invention is characterized by comprising a third conveyance means that branches the single-sided copied paper conveyed by the conveyance means on the way to the specific tray and guides it to a conveyance position to a copying position by the two conveyance means. This is a copying machine with a sorter.

According to the copying machine having the above-described configuration according to the present invention, the conveying means provided in the sorter can be effectively utilized.
Even with double-sided and composite copying functions, it is possible to prevent the space from expanding, and it is possible to realize low cost and space saving.

<Embodiment> FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a copying machine having a sorter, which is an embodiment of the present invention.

Approximately at the center of the copying machine body 1, there is a photosensitive drum 2;
A developing device 3, a transfer charger 4, a static elimination charger 5, a cleaner 6, and a charging charger 7 are provided to constitute a copying process section. At the bottom of the right leg of the copying machine body 1 is a paper cassette 9 that stores copy paper.
is installed, and the copy sheets are conveyed one by one to the copy process section by the rotation of the paper feed roller 10 and the conveyance roller 11. Further, a paper ejection roller 13a is disposed above the right side of the copying machine main body 1.
The copy paper that has passed through the fixing roller 8 is transferred to the copy machine main body 1.
The paper is discharged to the outside from the paper discharge port 13. Further, a sorter 14 is mounted above the paper cassette 9 on the right side of the copying machine main body 1. A plurality of trays 16 are stacked inside the sorter 14, and a storage belt 15 is stretched between the paper discharge port 13 and the conveyance port 23 of the sub-conveyance path 24. A paper path is constituted by a storage roller 21 disposed in the section. A storage guide 17 for opening and closing the paper path is provided near the storage roller 21, and a storage guide 17 corresponding to a predetermined tray is provided.
7 is operated to close the paper path, thereby storing paper in the tray at that position. The bottom row of multiple stacked trays is set as a double-sided copying tray 16a for storing single-sided copied paper in double-sided copying mode, and a storage guide 18 and a stopper 2 that move slightly back and forth in the paper storage direction.
6, a paper feed roller 19 for double-sided copying, and a conveyance roller 20 for double-sided copying, which refeed the paper during backside copying. Furthermore, a sub-conveyance roller 23a and a paper detection sensor 22 are arranged in a sub-conveyance path 24 constructed in the copying machine main body 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic structure of a tray for double-sided copying of a copying machine having the sorter.

At the time of double-sided copying, the tray 16a has one end connected to the storage belt 1.
It is located near No. 5. A storage guide 18 is disposed on one side of the double-sided copying tray 16a to regulate the storage position of the single-sided copied paper. One end of this storage guide 18 is a tray 16a.
The connecting rod 18a is rotatably connected to one end of the connecting rod 18a below the connecting rod 18a. Further, the connection point 18c between the two is slidably engaged with a long hole 18d formed in the side panel. Further, the other end of the connecting rod 18a is rotatably joined to one end of an arm 18f, which rotates in the direction of arrow E about a fulcrum 18b, at a joining point 18e. With the above configuration, the rotating arm 18
When f rotates in the direction of arrow E, the connection point 18c reciprocates in the direction of arrows G and G' within the elongated hole 18d, and the storage guide 18 slightly moves back and forth in the paper storage direction within the tray 16a.

Next, in the double-sided copying mode, the first tray for sending the single-sided copied paper to the specified lowest tray 16a among the multi-tiered trays arranged in a stacked manner.
The configuration of the conveyance means will be explained. In particular, the storage belt 15 for transporting paper constituting the first transport means
Storage rollers 21b and 21a and a storage guide 17a are arranged near the storage belt 15, and when the leading edge of the single-sided copy sheet conveyed in the direction of arrow B comes into contact with the storage guide 17a, it is stored. The rotation of the rollers 21a and 21b moves between them in the direction of arrow C and is stored in the tray 16a.

The configuration of the first conveying means has been described above, and next, the configuration of the second conveying means that conveys the paper stored in the tray 16a to the copying position for backside copying will be explained. That is, a paper feed roller 19 for double-sided copying is rotatably disposed inside the tray 16a, and a conveyance roller 20 for double-sided copying is rotatably disposed below the storage roller 21a. Further, a sub-conveyance roller 25 is disposed below the storage belt 15, and the stopper end 26b moves in the direction of arrow F within the elongated hole 26a during backside copying in the double-sided copying mode, so that the stopper 26 prevents the movement of the storage paper. After the restriction is released, the double-sided copy paper feed roller 19, the double-sided copy transport roller 20, the sub-transport roller 25, and the storage roller 21a rotate to transport the stored single-sided copied paper in the direction of arrow D.

Further, in the double-sided copying mode, a composite copying guide 27 is disposed on the lower right side of the storage belt 15, which constitutes a first conveying means for conveying the single-sided copied paper to the tray 16a during double-sided copying. This composite copying guide 27 branches the conveying path in the middle without feeding the single-sided copied paper by the first conveying means to the specific tray 16a. That is,
In the composite copy mode, the copied paper transported by the first transport means in the direction of arrow B is guided between the storage belt 15 and the sub-transport roller 25 by contact with the tip of the composite copy guide 27; It guides to the conveyance port 23 of the auxiliary conveyance path 24 which constitutes the guide conveyance means to the copying position included in the second conveyance means. The composite copying guide 27, the sub-conveyance roller 25, the conveyance port 23, the sub-conveyance path 24, the sub-conveyance roller 23a, etc., which constitute the second conveyance means constitute a third conveyance means.

1A to 1C are flowcharts showing the operation of the copying machine having the above-mentioned sorter, and the flowcharts will be referred to below to control the conveyance of copied sheets to the sorter in the single-sided copy mode, and the double-sided copy mode according to the present invention. control of the first and second conveyance means for conveying the paper to the tray 16a described above and conveying the paper from the tray 16a, and further by the third conveyance means for conveying the copied paper to the copying position in the composite copy mode. Conveyance control will be explained.

When the power is turned on, step n1 (hereinafter step
ni is simply called ni. ), warming-up such as an increase in the temperature of the heat roller is started.
When warming up is completed at n2, n3
Then, the operator inputs a setting for one of the sort mode, double-sided copy mode, and composite copy mode by operating a key on an operation section (not shown). Furthermore
The number of copies m is similarly set and input in n4, and n5
Proceed to. At n5, it is determined whether or not the set mode is the sort mode, and if the sort mode is set, the process proceeds to n6. When the copy switch is turned on at n6, the contents of the counter c are set to 0 at n7 and a copying cycle is started at n8. That is, in synchronization with the rotation of the paper feed roller 10, an optical system (not shown) scans the document placed on the document table and distributes the reflected light onto the photosensitive drum 2. The photosensitive drum 2 rotates in the direction of arrow A, and the electrostatic latent image formed by the reflected light is developed by the toner supply from the developing device 3. The paper fed by the paper feed roller 10 is conveyed between the photoreceptor drum 2 and the transfer charger 4 by the rotation of the conveyor roller 11, and the toner adsorbed to the surface of the photoreceptor drum 2 is transferred by the transfer charger 4. be done. Thereafter, the copy paper passes between heat rollers 8, and the toner electrostatically attracted to the surface is fixed. During this time, the photosensitive drum 2 is electrically neutralized by the neutralizing charger 5, residual toner is cleaned by the cleaner 6, and then charged again to a single polarity by the charging charger 7. When the copying cycle is completed and the leading edge of the copy sheet passes the paper discharge roller 13a, the sorter is driven at n9 so that the storage belt 15 and the storage roller 21 rotate. Further, at n10, the contents of the counter c are incremented by one, and the process proceeds to n11. At n11, the storage guide 17 of the tray located at the position of the numerical value stored in the counter c moves from above among the stacked trays in the paper path closing direction, and the copied paper is stored in the tray at that position. At n11, the contents of the counter c and the set number of copies m are compared, and if they are not the same, the process returns to n8 and the copying cycle is repeated. As a result of the above n8, copy sheets containing copies of the same original are stored one by one from the top of the tray in the sorter to the mth stage position.
If the content of the counter c is the same as the set number m of copies at n12, the sorter is stopped at n13 and the operation is terminated.

If the mode set at n5 is not the sort mode, the process proceeds to n14, where it is determined whether or not the double-sided copy mode is set. If the set mode is double-sided copying mode, the process advances to n15, and when the copy switch is turned on, the contents of the counter c are set to 0 in n16.Then, the sorter is driven in n17, and the tray for double-sided copying is activated in n18. 1
The storage guide 17a of 6a is moved to a position that closes the paper path. After this, the copying cycle is started at n19. The copied paper that has completed the copying process is delivered to the paper ejection port 13 by the rotation of the paper ejection roller 13a.
from there to the sorter 14, and then to the storage belt 1.
5 moves downward in the sorter. At this time, the storage guides other than the storage guide 17a for the toner 16a at the bottom during double-sided copying are located in the paper path opening direction, and the single-sided copied paper is stored in the storage guide 17a.
When the two-sided copy is made, the paper is stored in the tray 16a by the rotation of the storage rollers 21a and 21b. At this time, the storage guide 18 moves back and forth in the storage direction by the rotation of the rotation arm 18f in the direction of arrow E, and the single-sided copied paper is stored uniformly between it and the stopper 26. When the copying cycle is completed, the contents of the counter c are incremented by one at n20, and then, at n21, the contents of the counter c are compared with the numerical value of the set number of copies m. If the two do not match at n21, the process returns to n19 and the copying cycle starts again. By repeating the above operations n19 to n21 for the set number of copies, a set number of single-sided copied sheets are stored in the tray 16a during double-sided copying. In n21, the content of counter c is the set number of sheets m
If they match, the process proceeds to n22, where scanning of the optical system, rotation of the photosensitive drum 2, rotation of the storage belt and storage roller are stopped, and a wait cycle is executed. During this time, the operator changes the document placed on the document table to the back side, and when the copy switch is turned on at n23, the paper feed roller 19 for double-sided copying, the transport roller 20 for double-sided copying, and
The storage belt 15 and the sub-transport roller 25 rotate, and the stopper 25 moves in the direction of arrow F. By the above operation, the conveyance direction of the single-sided copied sheet is reversed and the sheet is conveyed to the copying process section via the sub-conveyance path 24. At n25, set the contents of counter c to 0.
At n26, the copying cycle operates in synchronization with the feeding timing of the single-sided copied paper. At n27, the contents of counter c are incremented by one, and at n28, the contents of counter c and the set number of copies m are compared.
If the two do not match at n28, the process returns to n26 and the copying cycle is repeated for the set number of copies. When the contents of the counter c match the set number of copies m at n28, the drive of the sorter is stopped at n29 and the operation is completed. By the above operation, one of the trays stacked on the sorter 14 can be used as a tray for double-sided copying, and images can be formed on both sides of the copy paper.

If the mode set at n14 is not the double-sided copy mode, the process proceeds to n30, where it is determined whether the set mode is the composite copy mode. If the set mode is composite copy mode,
Proceeding to n31, the composite copying guide 27 moves in the direction to close the paper path, and when the copy switch is turned on at n32, the storage roller 21 and storage belt 15 are driven at n33. Thereafter, the copying cycle is started at n34, and the paper that has completed the copying process moves downward through the paper path between the storage roller 21 and the storage belt 15, and comes into contact with the composite copying guide 27. Due to this contact, the paper is guided between the storage belt 15 and the sub-conveyance roller 25 and is conveyed to the sub-conveyance port 23. When the leading edge of the paper reaches the position of the sensor 22 due to the rotation of the sub-conveyance roller 23a, the sensor 22 is turned on at n35 and the drive of the sorter is stopped at n36. By the above operation, the copy paper is stopped with its leading edge located in a state where the sensor 22 is turned on.
Thereafter, the wait cycle is started at n37 and remains in that state until the operator completes changing the document. Next, when the copy switch is turned on in n38, the transport roller 23 is turned on in n39.
a is rotated, and a copying cycle is started at n40 in synchronization with the rotation of the conveyance roller. By the above-described operation, a plurality of original documents can be combined and copied onto one side of a copy sheet.

If the composite copy mode is set in n30, a normal single-sheet copying process is performed in n41.

As described above, according to the present invention, not only in the sorting mode but also in the double-sided copying mode, one of the multi-stage trays constituting the sorter is used as a tray for double-sided copying, and sheets are fed into and out of the tray. , and in the composite copy mode, the copied paper can be transported to the copying position by using only part of the double-sided transport means that utilizes a sorter, which prevents an increase in the number of parts and the expansion of their installation space due to multifunctionalization. Therefore, it is possible to save space at low cost, and in particular, it is possible to equip medium-sized or popular machines with duplex and composite copying functions.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1A to 1C are flowcharts showing the operation of a copying machine having a sorter according to an embodiment of the present invention;
The figure is a schematic configuration diagram of a copying machine using the same embodiment.
The figure is a schematic diagram of the vicinity of the tray for double-sided copying used in the same embodiment. 14... Sorter, 15... Storage belt, 16a
...Double-sided copying tray, 17a...Storage guide,
19... Paper feed roller for double-sided copying, 20... Conveyance roller for double-sided copying, 21a, 21b... Storage roller, 23a... Sub-conveyance roller, 24... Sub-conveyance path, 25... Sub-conveyance roller, 27... Synthetic copy guide.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a copying machine having a sorter that sequentially stores copied sheets on a plurality of trays stacked in multiple stages near a paper output section, a double-sided copy mode or a composite copy mode is set. a mode setting means; a first conveying means for feeding the single-sided copied sheets to a specific tray among the trays in which the single-sided copied sheets are stacked; and a first conveying means for feeding the single-sided copied sheets stored in the specific tray a second conveyance means including a means for conveying the sheet in a direction opposite to the storing and conveying direction by the means and guiding and conveying the sheet to a copying position; a third conveyance means that branches and leads to a guide conveyance means for a copying position included in the second conveyance means without feeding the specific tray; and in a double-sided copying mode by the mode setting means, The conveying means is driven to send the single-sided copied paper to a specific tray, and after the single-sided copying is completed, the single-sided copied paper stored in the specific tray is driven to the copying position by driving the second conveying means. and, in the composite copying mode by the mode setting means, drive the third transport means to branch the single-sided copied sheet in the middle of transport by the first transport means and guide it to a copying position. A copying machine having a sorter, comprising: a control means; and a sorter.