JPH05273730A - Print accumulating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a print accumulating device where faulty carrying is prevented from being caused in the case of moving prints accumulated in an accumulating part. CONSTITUTION:The photographic print P fed through a print feeding port 14A is heated by drying processing and curled from one end to other end in a width direction. A belt-like tape is attached on a print feed part 14 through a bracket 3T so that it may correspond to a surface being the inner side of the curl of the print P. The tape is flexible and its leading edge is extended to the bottom of a housing plate, and its width is smaller than that of the print P. The print P is guided by the tape, dropped and accumulated on the housing plate in a state where the position in the width direction may be fixed. The accumulated print P is pressed by the tape 40 and its movement in the width direction is restricted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print stacking apparatus, and more particularly, to a print sent out from a print sending section to be dropped onto the stacking section so that the thickness direction of the print is horizontal or forms a predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal. The present invention relates to a print stacking device that stacks on a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a photographic processing process, an image recorded on a negative film is printed on a photographic printing paper by a printer, and a cut mark is given to each frame of the image.
A sort mark is given to each predetermined frame corresponding to the order. The printing paper on which the image or the like has been printed by the printer is subjected to processing of developing, fixing, washing with water, and drying by the processor, and then cut into individual frames based on the cut marks to form a large number of prints. Each print is grouped for each order based on the sort mark, collated with a negative film, and packaged and shipped together with the corresponding negative film.

On the other hand, recently, for example, a printer processor which automatically processes from a printing process to a collating process with a single device is becoming popular. In this printer processor, a print accommodating device (a so-called sorter) is provided with a large number of accommodating units so that a large number of prints are accommodated and stored in different accommodating units for each order so that the collation process can be easily performed. Is equipped with. The cut photographic paper is sent out as a photographic print from the print sending-out section and is dropped by the own weight into the stacking section for stacking. When the prints for one order are accumulated in the accumulating unit, the accumulated prints are moved to the accommodating unit corresponding to the accumulating unit among the many accommodating units of the print accommodating apparatus.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned stacking apparatus, the prints sent from the print sending section are sequentially dropped to collect the prints.
The prints are stacked in the stacking unit in a state where the positions in the width direction are not constant. Also, the print sent out from the print sending-out portion is curved from one end to the other end in the width direction (curled state) so that the emulsion surface side is the inside because the heating is performed in the drying process in the drying part. Has become. In this way, since the positions in the width direction are not constant and the individual prints are curled in the state where they are moved to the storage section of the sorter, conveyance failure such as catching on the storage plate that divides the storage section or the like occurs. There may be a problem in handling the print when the print is conveyed in the process.

The present invention has been made in view of the above facts, and an object of the present invention is to obtain a print stacking apparatus capable of preventing the occurrence of conveyance failure when moving prints stacked in a stacking unit. ..

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a print stacking apparatus according to the present invention is arranged such that a print sent out from a print sending section is dropped onto the stacking section so that the thickness direction of the print is horizontal or horizontal. A print stacking device that stacks at a predetermined angle with respect to the print stacking device, characterized in that a guide having flexibility and having a width smaller than the width of the print is provided from the print sending unit to the stacking unit. There is.

Further, it is preferable to further provide a pressing member for pressing the prints accumulated in the accumulating portion in the thickness direction of the print.

Further, a passage is formed so that the width of the print is gradually reduced toward the downstream side in the moving direction of the print, and a moving means for moving the print accumulated in the accumulating portion along the passage. And are preferably provided.

[0009]

The print heated by the drying process is sent out from the print sending unit and is stacked in the stacking unit so that the thickness direction of the print is horizontal or at a predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal. At this time, the emulsion layer is formed. It is often in a curled state, that is, in a curled state from one end to the other end in the width direction with the surface on the curved side as the inner side. Therefore, in the present invention, from the print sending unit to the stacking unit,
A guide having flexibility and a width smaller than the width of the print is provided.

Thus, for example, if the guide is arranged so as to correspond to the vicinity of the center in the width direction of the print on the surface on the inner side of the curl of the print, the width of the guide in the falling state of the print sent from the print sending unit. When the edge in the width direction comes into contact with the print, it is restricted that the part corresponding to the guide moves from the center of the width direction to the edge, and the vicinity of the center of the width direction maintains the state corresponding to the guide. Then, it is dropped to the stacking unit along the guide.
Therefore, since the position of the prints accumulated in the accumulating portion in the width direction becomes substantially constant, it is possible to prevent the conveyance failure when the prints accumulated in the accumulating portion are moved.

Further, the prints already accumulated in the accumulating portion may slightly move in the width direction in the accumulating state by coming into contact with and interfering with the falling prints. Therefore, it is preferable to further provide a pressing member that presses the prints accumulated in the accumulating portion in the thickness direction of the print. As a result, the movement of the prints already accumulated in the accumulating portion in the width direction is limited, and the position of the falling print in the width direction is substantially constant by the guide described in the invention of claim 1. The prints are stably accumulated in the accumulating portion with the widthwise position being constant.

[0012] Further, a passage formed so that the width of the print passes and becomes gradually smaller toward the downstream side in the moving direction of the print, and a moving means for moving the print accumulated in the accumulating portion along the passage. And are preferably provided. As a result, when the prints stacked in the stacking unit are moved by the moving unit, the prints are deformed so that the curvature in the thickness direction is reduced, that is, the degree of curl is reduced, and thus the prints are collected in the stacking unit. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of conveyance failure when moving the accumulated prints.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 show a printer processor 10 to which the present invention is applied. First, the overall configuration of the printer processor 10 will be described.

(Overall Structure) This printer processor 10
The print unit 13 is integrally provided in front of the processor unit 12, and the print sending unit 14 is integrally provided in the rear thereof. The negative film F, which has been developed in advance, is set in the printing unit 13 in a state of being wound on the reel 16.
The negative film F has its front end pulled out from the reel 16 and is transported by a transporting device (not shown), and is transported in the direction of arrow A through the negative mask 18 disposed at the printing position.

An optical system 19 is provided above the negative mask 18, and a light source section 22 is provided below the negative mask 18. Above the optical system 19, a magazine 21 for accommodating a long photographic paper wound in a roll is loaded. In the printing unit 13, the image of the negative film F positioned at the printing position is printed on the printing paper drawn from the magazine 21, and a cut mark is given for each image frame and a sort mark is given for each order.
It is carried into the processor unit 12.

In the processor section 12, a developing tank, a fixing tank, a water washing tank, a drying section and the like (not shown) are sequentially arranged.
The photographic paper that has been subjected to the processes of development, fixing, washing with water, and drying in the processor unit 12 is cut into image frames by the print sending unit 14 arranged on the downstream side of the processor unit 12 and is used as a photographic print P. It is sent out (Figure 1 arrow D
direction).

The photographic prints P sent from the print sending unit 14 are stored in the horizontal sorter 32 corresponding to the print stacking apparatus of the present invention. A first sorter 34 is arranged adjacent to the lateral sorter 32. When one order of photographic prints P is stored in the horizontal sorter 32, the horizontal sorter 32 moves the photographic prints P to the first sorter 34. The photographic print P, which has been moved to the first sorter 34, is conveyed in the direction of arrow F and is sent to the second sorter 36 adjacent to the first sorter 34.

On the other hand, the negative film F sent out from the negative mask 18 in the direction of arrow A has a plurality of guide rollers 24.
Is guided in the direction of arrow B, which is orthogonal to the direction of arrow A,
It is conveyed to the negative cut inserter 26. The negative cut inserter 26 is provided with a cutter that detects the frame position of the negative film F, cuts the negative film F into each order, and further cuts into several piece negatives (e.g., every 6 frames). The negative sheet S for accommodating the piece negative is wound around the sheet reel 28, and the piece negative is sequentially inserted into the negative sheet S pulled out from the sheet reel 28 in the negative insertion portion 102. The negative sheet S is cut by the cutting unit 104 after accommodating the negative film F for one order, and is accumulated in the sheet accumulating unit 29.

As shown in FIG. 11, the worker 25 can reach the negative sheets S accumulated in the sheet storage section 29,
At the predetermined work position where the photographic prints P accommodated in the second sorter 36 can be reached, sit down toward the collation table 30 arranged along the second sorter 36 (direction of arrow C) and perform collation work. .. That is, the negative sheets S accumulated in the sheet accumulating section 29 and the photographic prints P accommodated in the second sorter 36 are taken out and the images are collated, and the photographic prints P and the negative film F corresponding to one order are accommodated. The negative sheet S is packed in the same DP bag.

The second sorter 3 is provided near the worker 25.
A switch 27 is provided at the hand and a foot switch 31 is provided at the feet as instruction means for moving the 6 continuously. The switch 27 and the foot switch 31 are connected to the control circuit 96 (see FIG. 10). Next, the print sending unit 14, the horizontal sorter 32, and the first sorter 3
4, the details of the second sorter 36 will be described.

(Structure of Print Sending Section 14) FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the print delivery unit 14 is provided with a cut mark sensor 94 arranged near the photographic paper conveyance path for detecting a cut mark given to the photographic paper and a sort mark sensor 95 for detecting a sort mark. Has been done. The cut mark sensor 94 and the sort mark sensor 95 are connected to the control circuit 96, and the detection result is detected by the control circuit 96.
Output to. The printer processor 10 is capable of processing a plurality of types of photographic paper having different width dimensions. However, in each processing unit including the print delivery unit 14, the vicinity of the center in the width direction is substantially irrespective of the width dimension of the photographic paper. The photographic paper is conveyed so as to move at a fixed position.

Further, one of the plurality of conveying rollers arranged along the photographic paper conveying path is connected to the encoder 97, and the encoder 97 is connected to the control circuit 96. The carrying roller rotates according to the carrying amount of the printing paper,
This rotation is transmitted to the encoder 97, converted into a pulse signal having a pulse number corresponding to the rotation amount of the transport roller, that is, the transport amount of the printing paper, and output to the control circuit 96.

A pair of cutters 98 are arranged opposite to each other on the downstream side of the cut mark sensor 94, with the photographic paper conveying path interposed therebetween. The cutter 98 is connected to the control circuit 96, and cuts the photographic paper for each image frame in response to a signal from the control circuit 96. The cut photographic paper is a photo print P
5, the sheet is sent out from the print sending section 14 through the sending port 14A shown in FIG.
The photographic prints P are stacked on the sheet 2 so that the thickness direction of the photographic prints P forms a predetermined angle with the horizontal.

In FIG. 5, a support member 99 is mounted below the delivery port 14A. The support member 99 is detachable, and is mounted when the size of the photographic print P to be sent is small in the longitudinal direction, and has a role of supporting the lower surface of the photographic print P that has been sent out and stabilizing the fall to the storage plate 42. Have

(Construction of the horizontal sorter 32) As shown in FIG. 5, the horizontal sorter 32 is provided with a substantially U-shaped accommodating plate 42 opened upward. Also, the print sending unit 1
A strip-shaped tape 38 as a guide is attached to the upper part of the casing of No. 4 via a bracket 37, and the tip end of the tape 38 extends to the vicinity of the bottom of the accommodating plate 42. The tape 38 is formed of a flexible member (for example, polyester used as a base of a film) and has a width dimension smaller than that of the photographic paper having the smallest width dimension that can be processed by the printer processor 10. Further, the middle portion of the tape 38 is arranged so as to substantially follow the movement path near the widthwise center of the photographic print P when the photographic print P delivered from the delivery port 14A drops toward the storage plate 42. There is.

The photographic print P delivered through the print delivery port 14A is heated by the drying process in the processor section 12 and is in a curled state from one end to the other end in the width direction, that is, a curled state. The tape 38 is arranged so as to correspond to the inner surface of the curl of the photographic print P.

On the other hand, a plate 39 is attached to the upper side of the containing plate 42 along the diagonal direction on the side opposite to the print sending portion 14 with the containing plate 42 interposed therebetween. A band-shaped tape 40 as a pressing member is attached. Like the tape 38, the tape 40 is also made of a flexible material. The tip of the tape 40 extends near the bottom of the housing plate 42 and is in contact with the tip of the tape 38.

A guide rod 33 is attached near the end of the accommodating plate 42 on the first sorter 34 side. The guide rod 33 protrudes from the side on which the plate 39 is attached, and the guide rod 33 is attached to the print feeding portion 14 of the accommodation plate 42.
The side wall is bent so that the distance between the side wall and the side wall gradually decreases toward the first sorter 36 side (see also FIG. 3). As a result, the width of the passage of the photographic print P that is accumulated on the accommodation plate 42 and is moved by being pressed by the rod 50 described later has a width on the downstream side in the moving direction of the photographic print P, that is, the first sorter 34.
It is formed so as to gradually decrease toward the side.

As shown in FIG. 6, a shaft 43 rotatably supported by a support member (not shown) is disposed at the end of the accommodating plate 42 on the first sorter 34 side, and both ends of the shaft 43 are disposed. A pair of sprocket wheels 44A,
44B is fixed. Also, on the other end side in the longitudinal direction,
Similarly, a shaft 45 to which a pair of sprocket wheels 46A and 46B are fixed is arranged. An endless chain 47 is stretched over the sprocket wheels 44A and 46A and the sprocket wheels 44B and 46B, respectively. The chain 47 rotates by receiving the driving force of the motor 48 (see FIG. 10). The motor 48 is connected to the control circuit 96 via the driver 49, and the drive is controlled by the control circuit 96.

Two rods 5 are provided between the two chains 47.
It is fixed by multiplying 0. The U-shaped legs of the accommodating plate 42 have two rods 5 when the chain 47 is rotated.
Grooves 51 are provided along the longitudinal direction corresponding to the movement locus of zero. Therefore, when the chain 47 is rotated, the rod 50 moves inside the accommodation plate 42 through the groove 51, and when the chain 47 is further rotated, the rod 50 is circularly moved under the accommodation plate 42. The motor 48 is a rod 50
Rotate the chain 47 so that moves inside the accommodation plate 42 in the direction of arrow E. As a result, the photographic prints P accumulated in the accommodating plate 42 are pressed by the rod 50 and moved in the arrow E direction, that is, toward the first sorter 34, and are accommodated in the insertion portion 60 corresponding to the horizontal sorter 32. It is housed in a section (described later).

(Structure of First Sorter 34) First Sorter 34
Includes an upper sprocket wheel 54 arranged at substantially the same height as the lateral sorter 32, and a lower sprocket wheel 55 arranged obliquely below the upper sprocket wheel 54 so that the axes of rotation are parallel to each other. An endless chain 56 is wound around the pair of sprockets. One end of the endless chain 56 is bent at a substantially right angle so that a mounting portion 58 is formed.
A large number of accommodating plates 58 formed with A have a constant pitch PT.
It is mounted so as to project from the endless chain 56 at a right angle.

A photographic print P is provided between the opposed receiving plates 58.
When the photographic print P is inserted into the accommodation portion located in the insertion portion 60, the attachment portion 58A forming the bottom of the accommodation portion is fixed to the lower edge of the photographic print P. To support. In this state, the photographic print P arranged in the accommodating portion leans against and is supported by the accommodating plate 58 which divides the accommodating portion and the accommodating portion arranged obliquely downward, and the accommodating plate 58 is photographed. The weight of the print P causes some bending.

The endless chain 56 is moved in the direction of arrow F by the driving force of the motor 62 (see FIG. 10) being transmitted, the accommodating portion is circularly moved accordingly, and the photographic print P is inserted by the inserting portion 60. The accommodating part is moved toward the take-out part 61 corresponding to the second sorter 36. The motor 62 is connected to the control circuit 96 via the driver 63, and the drive is controlled by the control circuit 96.

As shown in FIG. 6, a guide rod 66 is arranged between the take-out portion 61 of the first sorter 34 and the insertion portion 88 of the second sorter 36. The guide rod 66 is arranged such that a longitudinal intermediate portion is fixed to a bracket attached to a frame (not shown). One end of the guide rod 66 is inserted into the take-out portion 61 of the first sorter 34, and the other end is inserted into the insert portion 60 of the second sorter 36. For this reason, a cutout portion 58B is formed in each accommodation plate 58 so that the one end and the accommodation plate 58 do not come into contact with each other. In addition,
Both ends of the guide rod 66 have a first sorter 34 and a second sorter 3
6 is extended outward from the center portion in the width direction so that the photographic print P can be reliably supported.

The accommodating plate 58 of the first sorter 34, which has reached the take-out portion 61, is inverted near the portion wound around the lower sprocket wheel 55. When the accommodation plate 58 leaning against the photographic print P is inverted, the photographic print P is delivered to the guide rod 66 in a state where the accommodation plate 58 is rotated below the guide rod 66 (see FIG. 7). As shown in FIG. 7, when the size of the photographic print P in the longitudinal direction is large, the photographic print P is also supported by the end portion of the casing 64 of the printer processor 10.

The second sorter is sandwiched by the take-out portion 61 of the first sorter 34.
A pusher 68 is arranged on the opposite side of the portion where the sorter 36 is arranged. The pusher 68 is fixed to one end of a slide bar 69, and the slide bar 69 can be moved by a roller 46 in the feeding direction (arrow G direction) of the photographic print P. The slide bar 69 is connected near the tip of the lever 70, and the intermediate part of the lever 70 is connected to the crank 71. Crank 71 is motor 7
It is attached to two drive shafts. The motor 72 is connected to the control circuit 96 via the driver 73 (see FIG. 10). When the crank 71 is rotated by the driving force of the motor 72, the lever 70 reciprocally swings and the pusher 68 reciprocates to the second sorter 36.

As shown in FIG. 9, the pusher 68 is provided with a notch 68A so as to come into contact with the photographic print P supported by the guide rod 66 without interfering with the guide rod 66, and to make the photographic print P first. It is fed in the direction of arrow G toward the 2-sorter 36. Further, the pusher 68 has a second sorter 3 on each of the side corresponding to the upper surface of the photographic print P and the side corresponding to the lower surface of the photographic print P when contacting the photographic print P.
Flange 68B, 68C protruding toward 6 is formed.

As shown in FIG. 8, slightly upstream of the take-out portion 61 of the first sorter 34, more specifically, the first sorter 34.
A limit switch 74 is provided on the upstream side of the take-out portion 61 by one pitch in the accommodating portion. The detection arm 74A of the limit switch 74 is provided with the cutout portion 58 of the accommodation plate 58.
It is inserted into a notch 58C provided on the side opposite to B, and the presence or absence of the photographic print P can be detected by contacting the end of the photographic print P supported by the accommodation plate 58. The limit switch 74 is connected to the control circuit 96 and outputs the detection result to the control circuit 96.

Further, the pusher 68 is sandwiched with the take-out portion 61 interposed therebetween.
A light emitting element 76A is provided on the side of the second sorter 36, and a light receiving element 76B is provided on the side of the second sorter 36. These light emitting elements 76A
The light receiving element 76B constitutes a sensor 76 (see FIG. 10), and is connected to the control circuit 96. Light emitting element 7
The light emitted from 6A is printed as a photo P on the take-out section 61.
Is not present, the light is received by the light receiving element 76B,
When the photographic print P exists, it is reflected by the photographic print P and does not reach the light receiving element 76B. As a result, the photo print P is taken out from the take-out section 61.
It is detected whether it exists in the.

(Structure of Second Sorter 36) Second Sorter 36
Has an endless chain 84 hung between a first sprocket wheel 82 and a second sprocket wheel 83 arranged at the same height, and a mounting portion 86A of a receiving plate 86 is fixed to the endless chain 84. A housing is formed. The endless chain 84 is a motor 78 that constitutes the driving means of the present invention.
When the driving force (see FIG. 10) is transmitted, it rotates in the direction of arrow H, and the accommodating plate 86 and each accommodating portion are circularly moved accordingly. The motor 78 is connected to the control circuit 96 via the driver 79, and the drive is controlled by the control circuit 96. The foot switch 31 described above is also connected to the control circuit 96.

These receiving plates 86 also have notches 86 corresponding to the ends of the guide rods 66 protruding toward the second sorter 36.
B is formed. The second sorter 36 is the first sorter 34.
The portion corresponding to the take-out portion 61 is the insertion portion 88, and the portion corresponding to the second sprocket wheel 83 on the opposite side in the horizontal direction is the take-out portion 89. When the photographic print P cannot be taken out from the insertion portion 88 to the take-out portion 89, the containing plate 86 is inverted around the second sprocket wheel 83 and moves downward, so that the accommodated photographic print P is placed. The part 92 (see FIG. 2) is designed to be dropped.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the first sorter 3
At the take-out portion 61 of No. 4 and the insertion portion 88 of the second sorter 36, the accommodation plate 86 stops moving while being arranged slightly below the guide rod 66, and the accommodation plate 58 is further below this accommodation plate 86. The movement is stopped in the state of being placed in. Therefore, the photographic print P placed on the guide rod 66 slides from one end 66A to one end 66B when the pusher 68 is driven by the motor 72 in the direction of arrow G,
The second sorter 36 is moved slightly above the accommodation plate 86. When the second sorter 36 moves in the direction of arrow H in this state, the photographic print P placed on the one end 66B is picked up by the storage plate 86 and transferred to the second sorter 36.

In order to smoothly carry out this delivery operation, the sprocket wheel 82 of the second sorter 36 is arranged below the sprocket wheel 55 of the first sorter 34 by a length L (see FIG. 7).

A sensor 90 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) for detecting the presence / absence of the photographic print P in each accommodating portion is provided at a necessary position such as immediately before the take-out portion 89 of the second sorter 36. The sensor 90 corresponds to the cutout portion 86B of the housing plate 86.

(Operation of this Embodiment) Next, FIG. 12 to FIG.
The operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the main routine of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. It should be noted that this main routine is executed when the leading edge of the printing paper processed by the processor unit 12 reaches the print sending unit 14.

In step 200, the flag area provided on the memory of the control circuit 96 is set to "0", and the count value of the counter described later is set to "0". In step 202, the printing paper is conveyed. Along with this conveyance, a plurality of conveyance rollers arranged along the conveyance path rotate, and the encoder 97 outputs a pulse signal of a pulse number corresponding to the conveyance amount of the printing paper. In step 204, it is determined whether or not the cut mark sensor 94 has detected a cut mark applied to the edge or the like of the printing paper. When the determination in step 204 is negative, the process returns to step 202, and the conveyance of the printing paper is continued until the determination in step 204 is positive.

When the determination at step 204 is affirmative, the routine proceeds to step 206, where it is determined whether the flag area is "0". If the determination in step 206 is positive,
In step 208, it is determined whether the count value is "0".
If the determination in step 208 is affirmative, in step 210 counting of the number of pulses of the pulse signal input from the encoder 97 is started. In step 214, the photographic printing paper is conveyed by a predetermined distance corresponding to the distance between the cut mark sensor 94 arranging portion and the cutter 98 arranging portion, and then the cutter 98 is operated to cut the photographic printing paper. At this time, the cutter 98 is operated twice so that the portion to which the cut mark is added is removed. As a result, the unnecessary portion at the leading edge of the printing paper is removed.

At step 216, it is determined whether the sort mark sensor 95 has detected the sort mark provided on the printing paper. When the determination in step 216 is negative, the process returns to step 202, and the conveyance of the printing paper is restarted. If the cut mark is detected again, step 20
The determinations at 4 and 206 are affirmative, and since the number of pulses is being counted, the determination at step 208 is negative, the counting is stopped at step 212, and the current count value is stored. The stored count value corresponds to the longitudinal dimension of the top photographic print P of one order. In step 212, the flag area is set to "1". As a result, the determination in step 206 is denied and pulse counting is not performed until the flag area is set to "0" next time.

By the cutting process in the next step 214, the leading end portion of the cut photographic paper is sent out as the photographic print P through the sending port 14A and drops toward the accommodation plate 42 of the horizontal sorter 32. At this time, the photographic print P is heated by the drying process in the processor section 12 and is in a curled state from one end to the other end in the width direction, that is, in a curled state. However, the tape 38 is arranged outside the delivery port 14A so as to extend substantially from the print delivery portion 14 to the storage plate 42 along the movement trajectory near the center in the width direction when the photographic print P falls. As shown in FIG. 16, the photographic print P is dropped in the direction of arrow D in a state that the vicinity of the center in the width direction corresponds to the tape 38.

As described above, the photographic print P is curled from one end to the other in the width direction, and the width dimension of the tape 38 is sufficiently smaller than the width dimension of the photographic print P, so the print falls. While the tape 38 is in contact with both ends of the width direction of the tape 38 in contact with the photographic print P, the photographic print P is restricted from moving in the width direction (direction orthogonal to the arrow D direction), and is approximately constant on the storage plate 42. Fall to the position. Since the processes of steps 202 to 216 are repeated until the determination of step 216 is affirmative, the print sending section 14 sends out the photographic prints P corresponding to one order one after another and drops toward the accommodation plate 42. To do.

As a result, the photographic prints P that have already dropped and accumulated on the accommodating plate 42 may come into contact with the falling photographic prints P and interfere with each other. Since the photographic print P is pressed in the thickness direction (direction of arrow I in FIG. 16) near the center in the width direction due to the bending of the flexible tape 40, the movement in the width direction is restricted. Further, even if the accumulation amount of the photographic prints P on the accommodation plate 42 gradually increases and the thickness dimension of the accumulated photographic prints P becomes large, the pressing amount is further increased due to the large bending amount of the tape 40. Therefore, the photographic prints P are stably accumulated on the accommodating plate 42 with the position in the width direction being constant.

When the photographic prints P corresponding to one order are accumulated, the sort mark sensor 95 detects the sort mark, and the determination at step 216 is affirmed.
Control goes to step 218. In step 218, it is determined whether the count value stored in step 212 is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. The predetermined value is, for example, the longitudinal dimension.
If the count value of the number of pulses in the case of 110 mm is set and the dimension of the photographic print P in the longitudinal direction is less than 110 mm (for example, E size, L size, etc.), the above determination is denied, and it is set on the memory in step 220. The area for storing the moving pitch of the first sorter 34 is set to "1". If the longitudinal dimension is 110 mm or more (for example, Brownie size, panoramic size, etc.), the above determination is affirmed,
In step 222, the area for storing the moving pitch is set to "2".

At the next step 224, a sorter drive process is performed. Details of this sorter drive processing will be described later.
In the next step 226, it is determined whether or not the photographic print P to be processed has run out, for example, by detecting the trailing edge of the printing paper. When the determination in step 226 is negative, the process returns to step 200, the flag area and the count value are set to "0", and the above process is repeated. As a result, even for the next one order, one corresponding photo print P
It cuts each sheet and detects the longitudinal dimension of the top photographic print P. If the determination in step 226 is affirmative, the processing of this main routine ends.

Next, details of the sorter drive processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When this routine is executed, the photographic prints P corresponding to one order are accumulated on the accommodation plate 42 of the lateral sorter 32 as described above, and "1" is set in the area for storing the moving pitch.
Alternatively, "2" is set.

In step 250, the limit switch 74
It is determined whether or not is on. When the limit switch 74 is off, the detection arm 74A is not in contact with the photographic print P, and the photographic print P is placed in the accommodation portion upstream of the take-out portion 61 of the first sorter 34 by one pitch.
Is not housed. In this case, in step 252, the motor 62 is driven to move the first sorter 34 to the downstream side (in the direction of arrow F) by one pitch of the accommodating portion, and then step 26
Move to 0.

On the other hand, when the limit switch 74 is on, the detection arm 74A is in contact with the photographic print P, and the photographic print P is accommodated in the accommodating portion one pitch upstream of the takeout portion 61. There is. In this case, in step 254, the first sorter 34 is moved as in step 252. As a result, the photographic print P detected by the limit switch 74 is stored in the storage plate 58.
Is moved to the take-out portion 61 and the housing plate 58 is moved below the guide rod 66 to be supported by the guide rod 66. Next step 256
Then, a lateral feeding process is performed in which the photographic print P is laterally moved from the first sorter 34 to the second sorter 36.

Details of the lateral feed processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
Then, the motor 72 is driven to reciprocate the pusher 68. As a result, in most cases, the photographic print P located in the take-out section 61 is pressed at one end in the width direction by the pusher 68, and the upper and lower surfaces are pushed by the pusher 68.
It is restricted that the degree of curl increases due to contact with the flanges 68B and 68C formed on the
It is moved to the insertion portion 88 of the sorter 36.

In step 302, it is determined whether or not the photographic print P remains in the take-out section 61 based on the signal input from the sensor 76. If the determination in step 302 is negative, the horizontal feed process ends. For example, if all the photo prints P cannot be moved and a part of one photo print P remains in the take-out section 61, and the determination in step 302 is affirmative, in step 304 Pusher 6 again as in step 300 above.
Move 8 back and forth. As a result, for example, the photographic print P remaining in the take-out section 61 is moved, and in most cases, the photographic print P is inserted into the insertion section 88 of the second sorter 36.
Moved to. In step 306, the above-mentioned step 302
Similarly, it is determined whether or not the photographic print P remains in the take-out section 61. When the determination in step 306 is negative, the lateral feeding process of the photographic print P is ended.

If the determination in step 306 is also affirmative, it is determined that the photographic print P cannot be automatically laterally fed for some reason, an alarm is issued in step 308 to notify the operator, and in step 310, the operation is restarted. Wait until there is a driving instruction. The operator detects the abnormality by the alarm, takes measures such as correcting the curl of the photographic print P located in the take-out section 61, and gives an instruction to re-drive. As a result, the process returns to step 300 where the determination in step 310 is affirmed, and the lateral feed processing is performed in the same manner as above. In this way, an alarm is issued when the photographic print P cannot be moved even if the pusher 68 is operated twice, so that the number of times the alarm is issued can be reduced and the burden on the operator can be reduced.

After the horizontal feed processing is completed, the second print of the photo print P is performed.
When the movement to the sorter 36 is completed, the process proceeds to step 258 of the flowchart in FIG. 13, the motor 78 is driven to move the second sorter 36 to the downstream side by one pitch of the accommodating portion (arrow H
Direction) and shift to step 260. In addition,
At this point in time, the processing of step 252 or step 254 is being executed, so the first sorter 34 has been moved by one pitch of the accommodating portion. In step 260, it is determined whether or not the area for storing the moving pitch is "2".

If the determination in step 260 is negative, it is determined that the photographic prints P accumulated on the accommodating plate 42 of the lateral sorter 32 are photographic prints whose longitudinal dimension is less than a predetermined value, and step 272. Move to. In step 272, the motor 4 is moved so that the rod 50 moves inside the accommodation plate 42 in the direction of arrow E and the chain 47 makes a half rotation.
Drive eight. Thereby, the accommodation plate 42 of the lateral sorter 32 is
The photographic prints P accumulated above are pressed by the rod 50 and inserted into the accommodating portion located in the inserting portion 60 of the first sorter 34.

At this time, the photographic prints P are collected on the receiving plate 42 by the tape 38 and the tape 40 so that the positions in the width direction thereof are constant, and further curved by the guide rod 33 as the photographic prints P move. Is corrected so that the degree of curl is reduced, that is, the degree of curl is reduced.
When the sheet is moved to, the curl does not cause conveyance failure. When the processing of step 272 is executed, the sorter drive processing is ended and the printing paper cutting processing of the main routine is restarted.

On the other hand, if the determination in step 260 is affirmative, the same processing as steps 250 to 258 is performed in steps 262 to 270. As a result, the first sorter 34 is further moved by one pitch of the accommodating portion. Therefore, in the next step 272, a photographic print P having a longitudinal dimension equal to or larger than a predetermined value is inserted into the accommodating portion located in the insertion portion 60. At this time, the accommodating portion obliquely below the accommodating portion is photographic print. It does not house P. Therefore, there is no inconvenience that the pusher 68 reciprocates when the accommodation section on the diagonally lower side reaches the extraction section 61 and the pusher 68 interferes with the accommodation plate 58.

Further, when the photographic prints P whose longitudinal dimension is equal to or larger than the predetermined value are continuous, the photographic prints P are stored in the storage portion of the first sorter 34 every other one, as shown in FIG. For this reason, these photographic prints P
Even if the pusher 68 is moved to move to the sorter 36, it does not interfere with the accommodation plate 58, and the first sorter 3
The movement of the photographic print P from the fourth sorter 36 to the second sorter 36 is smoothly performed.

In the sorter drive processing of FIG. 13, the second
The accommodation portion of the sorter 36 is moved intermittently. That is, only when the lateral feeding process (steps 256 and 268) for moving the photographic print P to the second sorter 36 is performed,
The second sorter 36 is moved (steps 258, 27).
0), the photographic prints P are sequentially accommodated in the adjoining accommodating portions of the second sorter 36 irrespective of the size in the longitudinal direction, so that a large number of accommodating portions provided in the second sorter 36 can be effectively used. it can. Further, since the storage portions of the second sorter 36 are arranged substantially in the horizontal direction, even if the photo print P having a longitudinal dimension of a predetermined value or more is stored in the storage portion, the bending amount of the storage plate 86 is small, It does not adversely affect the taking out of the photographic print P from the second sorter 36.

Next, the switch-on interrupt routine of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This routine is executed by interruption when the worker 25 performing the collation work turns on the switch 27 or the foot switch 31 to instruct the continuous movement of the accommodation portion of the second sorter 36.

In step 350, the motor 78 is driven to move the accommodating portion of the second sorter 36 in the arrow H direction. In the next step 352, it is determined whether the switch 27 or the foot switch 31 is on. Worker is photo print P
The switch 27 or the foot switch 31 is turned on until the accommodating portion accommodating is reached within reach. While the switch 27 or the foot switch 31 is turned on, the determination at step 352 is affirmative, and step 350 is repeatedly executed to continuously move the accommodating portion of the second sorter 36 in the arrow H direction.

Since the working position of the worker 25 is on the downstream side in the direction of the arrow H, the second position containing the photographic print P is set.
Even when the accommodation portion of the sorter 36 is out of the reach of the worker 25, the accommodation portion is continuously moved toward the reach of the operator 25. For this reason, the worker 25 interrupts the collation work, or reciprocates between a predetermined work position where the sheet storage unit 29 is reachable and a position where the storage unit storing the photographic print P is reachable. It is not necessary to perform work, and the workability of collation work is improved. Further, even if the number of storage units of the second sorter 36 is increased in order to store a larger number of photographic prints P, this does not adversely affect the collation work.

The operator turns off the switch 27 or the foot switch 31 when the containing portion containing the photographic print P is moved to a reachable area. This results in step 352
Is denied, the process moves to step 354. In step 354, of the accommodation parts located on the upstream side of the insertion part 88 of the second sorter 36, the accommodation part closest to the insertion part 88 is positioned in the insertion part 88, and the process ends.
As a result, in the next sorter driving process, the photographic print P is stored in the positioned storage portion. In this embodiment, the tape 38 serving as a guide is arranged so as to correspond to the inner surface of the curl of the photographic print P. However, for example, two tapes are used so as to correspond to both surfaces of the photographic print P. Good. Also, a plurality of tapes may be made to correspond to the inner surface of the curl.

Further, in the present embodiment, the flexible tape 40 is used as the pressing member, and the flexure of the tape 40 is used to press the photographic print P. However, a leaf spring or the like is used as the pressing member. A biasing means may be used to press the photographic print P with the biasing force of the biasing means. Further, in this embodiment, the width of the tape 40 is set to be substantially the same as that of the tape 38 (see FIG. 3 etc.), and the vicinity of the widthwise center of the photographic print P is pressed in the thickness direction. In order to limit the movement of the photographic prints P in the width direction, any part of the accumulated photographic prints P may be pressed in the thickness direction. You may make it press.

Further, in the present embodiment, the dimension of the passage of the photographic print P, which is accumulated on the receiving plate 42 and moved by being pressed by the rod 50 by the guide rod 33, in the direction corresponding to the thickness direction of the photographic print P. Was formed so as to become gradually smaller toward the first sorter 34 side, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the accommodation plate 42 having a substantially U-shaped cross section.
By changing the distance between the legs of the photo print P
May be formed as described above.

[0072]

As described above, in the present invention, since the guide having the flexibility and the width smaller than the width of the print is provided from the print sending portion to the stacking portion, the prints stacked in the stacking portion can be provided. It is possible to obtain an excellent effect that it is possible to prevent the occurrence of conveyance failure when moving.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a printer processor to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the periphery of a print takeout unit and a lateral sorter.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of each sorter.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing print transfer units of a first sorter and a second sorter.

8 is a right side view of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing print transfer units of a first sorter and a second sorter.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a connection relationship between a control circuit and each device.

FIG. 11 is a side view showing a work position of a worker who performs a collation work.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a main routine of this embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a sorter drive process.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a print lateral movement process.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an interrupt process when a continuous movement of the second sorter is instructed.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view for explaining the action of the tape of the print sending unit.

FIG. 17 is a side view of the first sorter for explaining the operation when the photographic prints P each having a large longitudinal dimension are continuous.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Printer Processor 14 Print Feeding Section 32 Horizontal Sorter 33 Guide Rod 38 Tape (Guide) 40 Tape (Pressing Member) 42 Storage Plate (Stacking Section)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A print stacking device that drops prints sent from a print sending unit to a stacking unit and stacks the prints so that the thickness direction of the prints is horizontal or forms a predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal. A print stacking apparatus comprising a guide having flexibility and a width smaller than a width of a print provided from the sending-out section to the stacking section. 2. The print stacking apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a pressing member that presses the prints stacked in the stacking unit in the thickness direction of the print. 3. A passage formed so that the width of the print passes and becomes gradually smaller toward the downstream side in the moving direction of the print, and a moving means for moving the print accumulated in the accumulating portion along the passage. 3. The print collecting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: