JPH0537970Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] <Industrial application field> This invention relates to a sorter, and more specifically, the invention prevents the copy paper ejected from an image forming apparatus from being charged and places it on a bin (receptacle). This invention relates to a sorter that can stack copy paper evenly.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, in image forming apparatuses such as electrostatic copying machines and printers, a plurality of paper sheets arranged in multiple stages have been used for the purpose of eliminating the trouble of sorting copy sheets discharged from the apparatus after image formation. There has been provided a machine equipped with a sorter that automatically distributes the ejected copy sheets to the bins.

The above-mentioned sorter is of a fixed bin type, which sequentially feeds the copy sheets ejected from the image forming apparatus to bins that are fixedly and parallel to each other at predetermined intervals; To,
Insert the trunnions protruding from both ends of the bottle,
A large number of bin movable type bins are used, in which a plurality of vertically movable bins are sequentially moved to a copy paper feeding position, and the copy paper ejected from the image forming apparatus is fed to the moved bins. Separated. In particular, small-sized image forming apparatuses are often equipped with a bin-moving type sorter because of the advantage that the apparatus can be made more compact.

By the way, when copy paper is ejected from an image forming apparatus, the electric charge obtained from the transfer charger during transfer may not be sufficiently removed and may remain, or the copy paper may receive electric charge from rollers or belts during conveyance, so it is not ejected to the bin. When it is exposed to electricity, it is charged with a considerable amount of static electricity.

For this reason, a static elimination brush has conventionally been provided at the copy paper discharge port of the sorter along a direction perpendicular to the copy paper discharge direction. This static elimination brush is a long and thin mounting plate with brushes made of stainless steel, carbon, Al-Cu alloy, etc., and as shown in Fig. It is attached so that it can be contacted (there is also a structure that makes contact with only one side of the copy paper). Then, by bringing this charge eliminating brush B into contact with the copy paper P being discharged (see FIG. 4a), it becomes possible to remove the charge on the copy paper P.

<Problems to be solved by the invention> However, in the above-mentioned sorter, when the copy paper P is passed through the static elimination brush B many times, the brush warps in the paper transport direction, as shown in FIG. 4b. , the contact pressure to the copy paper P becomes weaker or becomes non-contact, and the static elimination effect becomes weaker.

Therefore, instead of adopting static elimination brush B,
The bottle itself is made of a conductive material, or a foil made of a conductive material is attached to the bottle, and the conductive material is electrically connected to the ground side of the image forming apparatus main body through a connecting cord or a contact terminal, It is also possible to release the electric charge from the copy paper to the ground side through the bottle.

This configuration can be adopted if it is a fixed-bin type sorter or a single-level bin that does not distribute copy paper, since the bins do not move (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-27272, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-99454). (see publication).
However, even if you try to apply it to a bin moving type sorter, the sliding surface of the slot is made of synthetic resin to improve the sliding of the trunnion, so the entire bin will be electrically insulated, and the copy paper will A problem arises in that static electricity cannot flow to the ground side.

<Purpose> This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and the object is to provide a bin moving type sorter that has a simple configuration and can keep the bins grounded at all times.

<Means for Solving the Problems> In order to achieve the above object, the sorter of this invention has at least a portion of the top surface of the bin where the ejected copy paper comes into contact with the bin, and a trunnion made of a conductive material. The sliding surface of the slot is made of a conductive material, the conductive portion of the bottle is electrically connected to a trunnion, and the conductive material is grounded.

<Operation> According to the sorter configured as described above, when copy paper charged with static electricity is discharged while the bin is moving, the charge moves to the portion where the copy paper contacts the bin. The charge in this portion is transmitted to the sliding surface of the slot made of conductive material through the trunnion, and is flowed to the ground side. In this way,
The electric charge on the copy paper also increases during the dispensing of the copy paper.
It will flow through the bottle to the ground side.

As described above, copy paper can be manufactured using a simple structure in which the area from the predetermined part of the bottle to the trunnion is made conductive, and the sliding surface of the slot is made of a conductive synthetic resin. electrification can be prevented.

<Example> Next, an example of this invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a sorter 1 of this invention. The sorter 1 is housed in a casing 4, and the casing 4 is connected to a side surface of an image forming apparatus 7, such as a copying machine or a printer, on the copy paper discharge side. A plurality of metal bottles 2 arranged in multiple stages are attached to the side of the casing 4 opposite to the image forming device 7, with one end introduced into the casing 4. Inside the casing 4, a copy paper conveyance roller 5 and a copy paper ejection roller 6 for conveying the copy paper P discharged from the image forming apparatus 7 to the bin 2 are provided.

Pin-shaped metal trunnions 21 are connected to both sides of the casing-attached end of each of the bins 2 by welding or the like so as to be electrically connectable to the main body of the bin 2 and protrude. .

FIG. 2 is a front view of the side wall 41 of the casing 4 with the decorative case removed. On the side wall 41,
Slot 3 into which the trunnion 21 is slidably inserted
A conductive resin molded body 31 having a rectangular parallelepiped shape is provided. Even when the bottle 2 is moved, the trunnion 21 is always in contact with the sliding surface of the slot 3 and can maintain electrical connection with the molded body 31.

The conductive resin used is, for example, polyacetal (Dyuracon) filled with powder of carbon, metal, etc. until it has a volume resistivity of about 8×10 ³ Ωcm. Polyacetal has good slippage, strength,
It has excellent wear resistance and is low cost, making it ideal as a slot forming member.

Further, the side wall 41 is made of a metal plate to serve as a ground electrode, and is electrically connected to the molded body 31. Therefore, the main body of the bottle 2 is electrically connected to the side wall 41 via the trunnion 21, the slot 3, and the molded body 31.

With the above structure, when the copy sheets P are sequentially discharged and distributed to the bins 2, the charge on the copy sheets P is grounded in the above-described path from the trunnion 21 via the side wall 41.

Therefore, when the copy paper P is ejected to the bin 2, it receives only a relatively weak electrostatic force between it and the stock of copy paper already stacked on the bin 2, so that the copy paper P is not evenly aligned on the bin 2. It can be piled up easily. Further, since the electrostatic force acting between the copy sheets constituting the stock of copy sheets P is weak, the copy sheets do not come into close contact with each other, and paper passing properties are improved.

Note that this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments; for example, the bottle may be made of non-conductive material such as plastic, and conductive foil may be pasted or metal plated on a predetermined portion that contacts the copy paper. You may adopt the However, in this case, it is necessary to ensure electrical connection between the conductive portion and the trunnion by soldering or the like. Various other design changes can be made without changing the gist of the invention.

<Effects of the invention> As described above, according to the sorter of this invention, even while the bins are moving, the charge on the copy paper distributed to the bins is reliably flowed to the ground side through the trunnions and slots, so that static electricity can be removed. With a simple structure that does not use brushes, it is possible to prevent copy paper from being charged and maintain good storage and paper passing properties of copy paper. Furthermore, compared to using a static elimination brush,
There is no risk that static elimination performance will deteriorate over time. Therefore, various effects such as simplification of structure, reduction in manufacturing cost, and stabilization of static elimination performance can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a sectional view showing the sorter of this invention, Figure 2 is a sectional view showing the sorter of this invention.
The figure is a front view of the same, FIG. 3 is a front view showing a state of contact between a conventional static elimination brush and copy paper, and FIG. 4 is a side view of the same. 1... Sorter, 2... Bin, 3... Slot,
7... Image forming device, 21... Trunnion, P...
...Copy paper.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] It has a plurality of bottles with trunnions protruding from both ends, which are slidably inserted into a pair of opposing slots, and each bottle is sequentially moved in the sliding direction to create an image. In a bin moving type sorter that feeds copy paper discharged from a forming device between bins, at least a portion of the top surface of the bin with which the discharged copy paper comes into contact and a trunnion are each formed of a conductive material. At the same time, the sliding surface of the slot is formed of a conductive material, and at least a portion of the top surface of the bottle is electrically connected to the trunnion, and the conductive material formed on the sliding surface of the slot is grounded. A sorter characterized by: