JPH04358667A - Sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a sorter which is easily taken out from the front of a pin through simple constitution regardless of the size of a sheet. CONSTITUTION:In a sorter being of a type wherein a sheet 12 on a pin is taken out from a front, a delivery rod 20 moved in a long groove 15, formed in a given length, from the rear end surface of each pin 13 toward a front and moving the sheet 12 on the pin 13 after assortment in the direction of a front is provided. After the sheets 12 are assorted, the sheet 12 is protruded by a given amount from the front surface of the pin 13 by means of the delivery rod 20.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sorter for sorting sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus into bins arranged in multiple stages, and more particularly to a sorter having a unique mechanism for handling sheets on the bins.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, sorter bins have been provided with cut-out portions for easy removal of sheets. On the other hand, large sorters have a box-like shape, and sheets are taken out from the front (front side) of the sorter. FIG. 9 is a plan view of bins in such a sorter, where 13 is a bin and 14 is a notch. As shown in the figure, this notch 14 has a cutout shape that is wider on the front side than on the back side (widening from the back to the front), making it easy to take out the paper 12 even if it is small in size.
In addition, the paper is prevented from getting caught in the notch 14 and forming a jam.

However, if paper transport is based on the center, that is, as shown in FIG. , large size paper 1
2 is easy to take out, but even if the small size paper 12 has a widened cutout 14 on the front side, it is still necessary to reach into the machine, and the operability is still poor.

[0004] In order to compensate for such drawbacks,
Japanese Patent No. 52671 proposes a mechanism for moving a bottle. In other words, the mechanism is such that each bin comes forward with paper loaded thereon, making it easier to take out the paper.

[0005]

However, the conventional apparatus described above requires a bin moving device such as a motor, a wire drive device, a control device, etc. for each bin, making the machine complicated. It also has the drawbacks of increased cost, weight, and complicated control.

The present invention compensates for the above-mentioned drawbacks and has a simple configuration,
To provide a sorter from which sheets of any size can be easily taken out from the front of a bin.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The above object is to sort sheets ejected from an image forming apparatus into respective bins and to take out the sorted sheets from the front side. a moving means that moves within a long groove formed in a long groove and moves the sheets on the bins after sorting in the front direction; a driving means that drives the moving means; and a driving means that drives the driving means after sorting the sheets. This is achieved by providing a control means for controlling the above.

[0008]

[Operation] The moving means (feeding rod) is provided so as to pass through long grooves formed in the front-rear direction (direction from the front side to the back side) of all the bins arranged in multiple stages.
It is moved in the longitudinal direction within this long groove by a driving means (motor).

[0009] Here, when the papers are sorted on the bins,
A command is issued from the control means (CPU) to the driving means, and the driving means is driven, whereby the moving means moves forward from the rear home position and sends out the paper forward. Then, when the paper protrudes a predetermined amount from the front end surface of the bin, this is detected by the optical sensor, and the detection signal from the optical sensor is taken into the control means, so that the drive of the drive means is stopped and the paper is moved to the predetermined position. be stopped in position.

Furthermore, when the optical sensor is not used, when the sheets are sorted onto the bins, the control means issues a command to the driving means based on the sheet feeding amount data stored in the storage means (RAM), and the driving means is activated. The means moves the moving means, and even if the paper size is different, the paper is placed in a predetermined position such that the front edge surface of the paper (the side edge surface when viewed from the conveyance direction of the paper) protrudes from the front edge surface of the bin by a predetermined amount. Send it out in the front direction.

[0011]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be explained based on the drawings. FIG. 8 is an overall configuration diagram of a large-sized copying machine to which a sorter is connected. This copying machine has a copy processing section A, a large capacity paper feed section B
, and a sorter C. Copy processing section A
The automatic document feeder 101 automatically places a plurality of set documents at predetermined positions, and the automatic document feeder 10
1, a lamp 102, mirrors 103 and 104, and a lens 105 for optically scanning a document sequentially placed at a predetermined position.
an optical system consisting of; a photoreceptor belt 106 that exposes image information by this optical system; and a photoreceptor belt 10.
A charger 107 performs a charging process on the photoreceptor belt 106 before the exposure process, and a developer 10 develops the formed electrostatic latent image after performing the exposure process on the charged photoreceptor belt 106.
8, a transfer device 110 that transfers the image developed by the developing device 108 onto a transfer paper conveyed from a transfer paper supply section 109, and a transfer device 110 that transfers the image developed by the developing device 108 onto a transfer paper conveyed from a transfer paper supply section 109; A cleaning section 111 that cleans in preparation for processing, a fixing device 112 that fixes the transferred image transferred onto the transfer paper, an output tray 113 that discharges and stacks the transferred transfer paper after the fixing process, and an output tray 113 that discharges and stacks the transferred transfer paper after the fixing process. A detection unit 118 that detects the loading amount of the tray 113 (
For example, it consists of a counter).

Next, the large-capacity paper feed section B has the same mechanism as the transfer paper supply section 109, and includes a storage section 114 that stores a large amount of transfer paper in order to cope with the large consumption of transfer paper, and this storage section. 114, and a conveyance means 115 for conveying the transfer paper stored in the copy processing unit A in accordance with the timing of the transfer process in the copy processing section A.

Next, after the copy processing section A has completed a series of copy processing, the sorter C stores the ejected transfer paper in a predetermined bin 1.
It has claws 116 for conveying the transfer paper to the third side, and performs the work of sorting the transfer paper.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the bottle, and the bottle 13 is
A long groove 15 is formed with a predetermined length toward the front from the rear end face (rear side), and a long groove 15 is formed in the front face (F
) has a relatively small arc-shaped notch 16
is provided.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the main part of the sorter, in which a delivery rod 20 is erected and penetrates the long grooves 15 of all the bins 13 arranged in multiple stages vertically. This feeding rod 20 has upper and lower ends attached to support plates 23 (23a).
, 23b), and each of the support plates 23 is fixed to a part of the belt 21 (21a, 21b), and the belt 21 is supported by a pulley 22 (22a,
2b, 22c, 22d) in a direction that coincides with the longitudinal direction of the long groove 15. Pulley 22 on the back side of the machine
The upper pulley 22c and the lower pulley 22d are connected by a shaft 18, and the lower end of the shaft 18 is connected to the motor 17 by a gear 19. Rotating the shaft 18 by rotating the motor 17;
By driving the upper and lower belts 21a and 21b simultaneously, the feeding rod 20 can be moved along the longitudinal direction of the long groove 15 of the bin 13.

A predetermined amount of paper 12 (
The optical sensor 24 (light-emitting element 24a, light-receiving element 24b) is placed at a detection position that can detect the front end surface of the bottle 13 when it protrudes (jumps out) from the front end surface of the bottle 13 (for example, 10 mm).
is located. Further, at the lower part of the rear side, there is a home position sensor 25 for detecting the stop position of the feeding rod 20.

3 and 4 are plan views of essential parts of the sorter when paper is fed out, FIG. 5 is a control block diagram, and FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart when paper is fed out. In FIG. 5, 26 is a CPU provided on the sorter side, and 27 is a RAM that stores paper feed amount data, which will be described later.

When the copying operation of the copying machine and the sorting operation of the sorter are completed (S1), the motor 17 is rotated forward (S1).
2) Move the feed rod 20 toward the front of the machine (to the front). Then, the feed rod 20 hits the rear side surface (rear end surface) of the sheets 12 sorted into each bin 13, and feeds them while pushing them toward the front (the state shown in FIG. 3). Then, when the front end (front end surface) of the paper 12 protrudes from the front end of the bin 13 and reaches the detection position of the optical sensor 24, the detection light beam of the optical sensor 24 is blocked (state in FIG. 4).
. As a result, it is detected that the paper 12 has been fed to a predetermined position (S3). Then the motor 17 stops (
S4) and further reverse rotation (S5) to move the feed rod 20 toward its original position. When the feed rod 20 returns to the stop position, the home position sensor 25 is activated to stop the motor 17. In this way, the paper 12 slightly protruding from the front surface of the bin 13 is inserted into the notch 1.
6 and can be easily taken out.

Next, paper feed control when the optical sensor 24 is not used will be explained using the flowchart shown in FIG. Based on the paper size signal from the copying machine (S11),
The motor rotation amount data set and stored in advance for each paper size is read out from the RAM 27 (S12), and the motor 17 is rotated forward by the number of rotations suitable for the paper (S13). The same operation is performed, and also,
If the motor 17 is reversely rotated by the same amount as the forward rotation amount (S1
4) Return to the home position and stop (S15).

[0020]

According to the invention as set forth in claim 1, since the paper on the bin is sent to the front by the moving means, it becomes easy to take out especially small size paper, and the operability when taking out the paper can be improved. can. According to the invention set forth in claim 2, the optical sensor can always feed the paper to a fixed position regardless of the size, improving reliability.
Moreover, this structure is simple and can be realized at low cost. According to the third aspect of the invention, since the feeding amount according to the paper size is stored in advance, the paper can always be fed to a fixed position even if the paper size changes, improving reliability. Furthermore, since no sensor is required, the configuration is further simplified. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the paper stop position is set at a position where the paper slightly protrudes from the bin, it becomes easier to take out the paper and the operability is improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sorter according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of bins of a sorter according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of essential parts of the sorter according to the embodiment of the present invention when feeding out sheets.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of essential parts of the sorter according to the embodiment of the present invention when feeding out sheets.

FIG. 5 is a control block diagram of a sorter according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6: First paper feed control according to the embodiment of the present invention.
1 is a flowchart according to an example.

FIG. 7 is a second paper feeding control according to an embodiment of the present invention;
1 is a flowchart according to an example.

FIG. 8 is an overall configuration diagram of a copying machine equipped with a sorter.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of bins of a sorter according to a conventional example.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a paper conveyance state based on the center.

[Explanation of symbols]

12 Paper 13 bottle 16 Notch part 17 Motor 18 Shaft 19 Gear 20 Feeding rod 21 Belt 22 Pulley 23 Support plate 24 Optical sensor 25 Home position sensor 26 CPU 27 RAM

Claims (4)

[Claims] Claim 1: In a sorter that sorts sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus into respective bins and takes out the sorted sheets from the front side, a long groove is formed in a predetermined length toward the front from the rear end surface of each bin. a moving means for moving the sheets on the bins after sorting in the front direction; a driving means for driving the moving means; and a control means for driving and controlling the driving means after sorting the sheets. A sorter characterized by: 2. According to claim 1, an optical sensor is provided on the front side of the bin to detect the front end surface of the paper, and the control means stops the paper feeding operation of the moving means based on the detection output of the optical sensor. A sorter characterized in that it is controlled so as to 3. According to claim 1, there is provided a storage means for storing feeding amount data corresponding to the paper size for keeping the front end surface of the paper always at a constant position, and the control means is configured to read data from the storage means. A sorter characterized by taking in data and controlling the movement amount of the moving means to be changed. 4. According to claim 1 or 3, the control means controls the amount of movement of the moving means so that the front end surface of the paper protrudes from the front end surface of the bin by a predetermined amount. Sorta.