JPH05178528A - Sheet alignment device for sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable sheet bundles to be continuously prepared by a quantity equal to or above the number of bins, and further enable sheets to be aligned in a bin with a jogger bar, even in state where the sheet bundles are delivered onto a top tray. CONSTITUTION:A top tray separated into a delivery side tray section 24 and a takeout side tray section 25, is provided above the uppermost bin 4. Also, there is provided a carrying unit 8 for taking out and transferring upward sheet bundles stored in the bin 4, and delivering the bundles onto the top tray 5. A guide rail 26 is laid in a direction orthogonal with the delivery direction of the sheet bundles at the divided side end of one of the sections 24 and 25. Furthermore, the upper end section of a jogger bar 12 for aligning sheets fed onto the bin 4 is so engaged with the guide rail 26 as to be freely slidable.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sorter sheet aligning apparatus for sorting sheets carried in from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional sorter, it is common to manually take out and collect a bundle of sheets sent into each bin and stacked. When the number of sheets to be created by sorting is large, two same sorters are used side by side.

[0003]

The sheet bundle is taken out from each bin manually, which is troublesome. In addition, the loading of sheets from the image forming apparatus cannot be resumed until the sheet bundle is taken out from each bin, and the sorter cannot be continuously used. In addition, since a large number of sheets are created by sorting, a large installation space is required when using two identical sorters side by side.

[0004]

The invention according to claim 1 is
In a sorter in which a plurality of bins into which a sheet carried in from an image forming apparatus is fed are arranged in the vertical direction, a top formed by dividing a discharge side tray part and a takeout side tray part above the uppermost bin. A tray is provided, and a conveyance unit that takes out the sheet bundle stored in the bin and conveys it upward and discharges it onto the top tray is provided, and one of the discharge side tray section and the ejection side tray section is provided. A guide rail is formed at an end portion of the division side in a direction orthogonal to the discharge direction of the sheet bundle, and an upper end portion of a jogger bar for aligning the sheets fed onto the bin is slidably engaged with the guide rail. It was

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in a sorter in which a plurality of bins into which sheets carried in from an image forming apparatus are fed are arranged in the vertical direction, a top tray is provided above the uppermost bin. A conveying unit for taking out the sheet bundle stored in the bin and conveying it upward and discharging it onto the top tray, and providing a guide rail on the lower surface of the top tray in a direction orthogonal to the discharging direction of the sheet bundle. An upper end portion of a jogger bar provided for aligning the sheets fed onto the bin is slidably engaged with the guide rail.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the sheet bundle stored in each bin is taken out by the conveying unit, conveyed upward, and discharged onto the top tray. Therefore, the sheet bundle is taken out from the sorter. At that time, the sheet bundle collected on the top tray may be taken out. Also,
The stack of sheets in the bin is ejected onto the top tray by the transport unit, so that the inside of the bin returns to the same state as when the sort work was started. Even if is discharged, the sliding movement of the jogger bar is not hindered,
You can continue to align the sheets in the bin with the jogger bar. Further, since the guide rail is formed at one of the divided side end portions of the discharge side tray portion and the takeout side tray portion formed separately, the guide rail can be easily formed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the sheet bundle stored in each bin is taken out by the conveying unit, conveyed upward, and discharged onto the top tray. Therefore, the sheet bundle is taken out from the sorter. At that time, the sheet bundle collected on the top tray may be taken out.
Also, since the sheet bundle in the bin is discharged onto the top tray by the transport unit, the inside of the bin returns to the same state as when the sorting work was started, so that the sorting work can be continued, and moreover, the sorting work can be performed on the top tray. Even if the sheet bundle is discharged, the sliding movement of the jogger bar is not hindered and the jogger bar can continue to align the sheets in the bin. Further, since the guide rail is provided on the lower surface of the top tray, the bundle of sheets can be taken out from the top tray without touching the sliding portion of the jogger bar.

[0008]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the sorter 1 according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a vertical side view thereof. The sorter 1 is provided with an entrance guide plate 2 into which a sheet (not shown) from an image forming apparatus (not shown) such as a copying machine or a printer is loaded, and further, four spiral helical cams 3 are provided. A plurality of bins 4 whose corners are held are arranged in the vertical direction, and a top tray 5 is provided above the uppermost bin 4. Further, between the inlet guide plate 2 and the bin 4 group, there are a sheet handling 6 that clamps and takes out the sheet bundle stored in each bin 4, and a sheet bundle that the sheet handling 6 clamps and takes out. Stapler 7 for staple binding
And a transport unit 8 that feeds the sheets reaching the inlet guide plate 2 onto each bin 4, holds the bundle of sheets after staple binding, conveys the sheets upward, and then discharges them onto the top tray 5. Has been.

The bin 4 will be described below. These bins 4 are arranged in an inclined state such that the rear end side of the sheet in the sheet feeding direction is lower, and the bins 4 are vertically movable by the rotation of the spiral helical cam 3. A back fence 11 which is rotated by a solenoid 10 via a lever 9 is attached to the trailing end side of the lower sheet of the bin 4 in the feeding direction.
The back fence 11 is rotatably provided in a holding position for holding the trailing end of the fed sheet and a holding release position for releasing the held state of the sheet. Further, a jogger bar 12 and a movable side fence 13 for aligning the side surfaces of the sheets fed onto the bin 4 are provided at positions facing the group of bins 4.

Next, the transport unit 8 will be described. The transport unit 8 is provided with a transport roller 15 that is driven by a motor 14 to rotate and a discharge roller 16. Further, at a position close to the discharge roller 16, the trailing end of a sheet or a sheet bundle passing therethrough is provided. Sensor 17 to detect
Is installed. Further, the transport unit 8 is vertically slidably fitted to a guide shaft 18 provided upright with a vertical axis, and a lifting motor 19 for raising and lowering the transport unit 8 and a worm gear 20, A timing belt 21 is provided. It should be noted that at a position close to the guide shaft 18, a sensor 22 for detecting that the transport unit 8 has been raised to the highest position corresponding to the top tray 5, and that the transport unit 8 has been lowered to the lowest position. And a sensor 23 for detecting

Next, the top tray 5 will be described. The top tray 5 is divided into two parts, that is, a discharge side tray part 24 on the front side close to the guide shaft 18 and a take-out side tray part 25 on the back side separated from the guide shaft 18.
A guide rail 26 is formed at an end portion of the discharge side tray portion 24 on the division side in a direction orthogonal to the discharge direction of the sheet bundle discharged onto the top tray 5, and the guide rail 26 is provided with the guide rail 26. The upper end is slidably engaged. Further, a stepping motor 27 for sliding the jogger bar 12 is disposed below the jogger bar 12, and a pulley 29 fixed to a rotary shaft 28 of the stepping motor 27 and the discharge side tray portion. Pulley 30 attached to the substantially central portion of 24
A wire 32 is wound between the pulley 32 and a plurality of pulleys 31 arranged between the pulleys 29 and 30, and the wire 32 is connected to the upper end and the lower end of the jogger bar 12. There is.

In such a structure, the sheet carried into the entrance guide plate 2 from the image forming apparatus is conveyed by the conveying unit 8.
The sheet is delivered to the bin 4 by the transport roller 15 and the discharge roller 16 which are rotationally driven by the forward rotation of the motor 14. When the rear end of the sheet is detected by the sensor 17, the stepping motor 27 is driven according to the sheet size based on the detection result,
The wire 32 moves as the stepping motor 27 is driven. Then, as the wire 32 moves, the jogger bar 12 connected to the wire 32 slides toward the seat along the guide rail 26 to bring the seat into contact with the movable side fence 13 and align the seats. To do.

When the sheet alignment is completed, the stepping motor 27 is driven in the reverse direction, the jogger bar 12 slides in the direction away from the sheet, and when the jogger bar 12 is detected by the position sensor 33, the stepping motor 27 is moved. Is stopped. On the other hand, when the stepping motor 27 stops driving, the four spiral helical cams 3 make one rotation in the same direction, and the next bin 4 rises to a position facing the transport unit 8 and the sheet is fed into the bin 4. And sheet alignment are performed in the same manner. At the same time, the four spiral helical cams 3 make one rotation in the same direction, and the next bin 4 rises to a position facing the transport unit 8. In this way, the bins 4 are repeatedly raised and lowered by the preset number of copies, and a plurality of sheets are stored in a bundle in each bin 4.

Next, when an image formation end signal is input from the image forming apparatus, the movable side fence 13 is released and the sheet handling 6 is operated to clamp the sheet bundle stored in the bin 4 to staple the stapler 7. The stapled sheet is stapled by the stapler 7 and returned to the bin 4. During the staple binding operation by the sheet handling 6 and the stapler 7, the spiral helical cam 3 rotates every time the staple binding of the sheet bundle in each bin 4 is completed, and the sheet bundles stored in all the bins 4 are The sheets are stapled in order.

When the staple binding of the sheet bundles in all the bins 4 is completed, the motor 14 of the transport unit 8 rotates in the reverse direction to rotate the transport roller 15 and the discharge roller 16 in the opposite directions, and the solenoid 10 turns ". When the lever 9 is turned on, the lever 9 slides, and the back fence 11 of the bin 4 located opposite to the transport unit 8 is pushed as the lever 9 slides. This back fence 11 removes the stapled sheet bundle. Rotate to the hold release position to release the hold state. As a result, the stapled sheet bundle in the bin 4 slides down to the transport unit 8 side, and is fed into the transport unit 8 by the discharge roller 16 and the transport roller 15 which rotate in the reverse direction. When the sensor 17 detects the rear end of the sheet bundle fed into the transport unit 8, the rotation of the motor 14 is stopped, the sheet bundle is held by the transport unit 8, and the solenoid 10 is turned off. At the same time, the back fence 11 returns to the holding position.

When the rotation of the motor 14 is stopped, the lifting motor 19 is driven accordingly, and the lifting motor 19 is driven.
Drives the worm gear 20 and the timing belt 21.
The transport unit 8 driven via the and moves up along the guide shaft 18. Then, when the transport unit 8 moves up to a position facing the top tray 5 and is detected by the sensor 22, the driving of the lifting motor 19 is stopped, and then the motor 14 is rotated in the forward direction to cause the transport unit 8 to rotate.
The sheet bundle held by is discharged onto the top tray 5. When the rear end of the sheet bundle discharged onto the top tray 5 is detected by the sensor 17, the rotation of the motor 14 is stopped, the lifting motor 19 is driven in the opposite direction, and the transport unit 8 is lowered. Then, by repeating the above-described work process, the sheet bundle stored in all the bins 4 is sequentially discharged onto the top tray 5.

Therefore, the stapled sheet bundle in each bin 4 is automatically discharged onto the top tray 5, and when the sheet bundle is taken out from the sorter 1, the sheets gathered on the top tray 5 are collected. It is only necessary to take out the bundle, and the sheet bundle can be taken out more easily than when taking out the sheet bundle from each bin 4. Further, since the sheet bundle in the bin 4 is discharged onto the top tray 5 by the transport unit 8, the inside of the bin 4 returns to the same state as at the start of the sorting operation, so that the sorter 1 can be continuously used and the bin 4 can be used. Even if you make more copies than the number of, you can continue to sort.
Moreover, even if the sheet bundle is discharged onto the top tray 5, the sliding movement of the jogger bar 12 is not hindered and the jogger bar 12 can continue to align the sheets in the bin 4.

In this embodiment, the top tray 5 is divided into a discharge side tray portion 24 and a discharge side tray portion 25, and a guide rail 26 is formed at the divided side end of the discharge side tray portion 24. However, the top tray may have an integral structure, and the guide rail may be attached to the lower surface of the top tray in a direction orthogonal to the discharging direction of the sheet bundle discharged. In this case, it is surely prevented that the sliding portion of the jogger bar is touched by the hand when the sheet bundle is taken out from the top tray, and the sheet bundle discharged during the sheet bundle discharging operation is taken out. The safety in case of trying is high.

[0019]

According to the invention described in claim 1, a top tray divided into a discharge side tray portion and a takeout side tray portion is provided above the uppermost bin in the sorter, and the sheet bundle stored in the bin is arranged. A transport unit that takes out and transports it upwards and discharges it onto the top tray is provided, and a guide rail is provided at the split side end of either the discharge side tray section or the discharge side tray section in the direction orthogonal to the sheet bundle discharge direction. Since the upper end of the jogger bar that aligns the sheets sent onto the bin and forms the guide rail is slidably engaged with the guide rail, the sheet bundle in the bin is discharged onto the top tray by the transport unit. Since the inside of the bin returns to the same state as when the sort work was started, the sort work can be continued, and moreover, the sheet bundle is discharged onto the top tray. Even if the sliding movement of the jogger bar is not hindered, the sheets in the bin can be continuously aligned by the jogger bar. Furthermore, either one of the divided tray side of the discharge side tray and the takeout side tray side can be used. Since the guide rails are formed at the ends, the guide rails can be easily formed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a top tray is provided above the uppermost bin in the sorter, and a conveying unit for taking out the sheet bundle stored in the bin, conveying it upward, and discharging it onto the top tray is provided. Since the guide rail is provided on the lower surface of the top tray in the direction orthogonal to the discharge direction of the sheet bundle, and the upper end of the jogger bar that aligns the sheets fed onto the bin is slidably engaged with the guide rail. Since the sheet bundle in the bin is discharged onto the top tray by the transport unit, the inside of the bin returns to the same state as when the sorting work was started, so that the sorting work can be continued. Even if the jogger is discharged, the jogger bar's sliding movement is not hindered, and the jogger bar continues to align the sheets in the bin. In addition, since the guide rail is provided on the bottom surface of the top tray, the stack of sheets can be taken out from the top tray without touching the sliding part of the jogger bar, improving safety. It has the effect of being able to do so.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical side view showing a sorter.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing a sorter.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a guide rail and a jogger bar.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a mounted state of a jogger bar.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Sorter 4 Bin 5 Top Tray 8 Conveyor Unit 12 Jogger Bar 24 Ejection Side Tray Section 25 Ejection Side Tray Section 26 Guide Rail

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A sorter in which a plurality of bins into which sheets carried in from an image forming apparatus are fed are arranged in a vertical direction, and a discharge side tray part and a takeout side tray part are provided above the uppermost bin. A top tray divided into two parts is provided, and a conveyance unit for taking out the sheet bundle stored in the bin and conveying it upward and discharging it onto the top tray is provided, and the ejection side tray portion and the ejection side tray portion are provided. A guide rail is formed at one of the divided side ends in a direction orthogonal to the discharge direction of the sheet bundle, and the upper end of a jogger bar for aligning the sheets fed onto the bin slides on the guide rail. A sheet aligning device for a sorter, which is freely engaged. 2. A sorter in which a plurality of bins into which sheets carried in from an image forming apparatus are fed are arranged in the up-down direction, and a top tray is provided above the uppermost bin and is stored in the bin. A transport unit for taking out the stacked sheet bundle and transporting it upward and discharging it on the top tray is provided, and a guide rail is provided on the lower surface of the top tray in a direction orthogonal to the discharging direction of the sheet bundle, and on the bin. A sheet aligning device for a sorter, wherein an upper end portion of a jogger bar for aligning the fed sheets is slidably engaged with the guide rail.