JPH0581508B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a sorter connected to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, and particularly to a sorter equipped with a stapling device.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a copying apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-64262 has been proposed.

The finishing station of this copying apparatus includes a bin unit that has a plurality of storage bins and moves up and down, a sheet gripping means that grasps a bundle of sheets stored in each storage bin, takes them out from the storage bins, and conveys them to a stapling position. A stapling means for stapling the sheet bundle taken out by the sheet gripping means, a tightening means for taking out the sheet bundle stapled by the stapling means from the stapling means, and a stapling means for stapling the sheet bundle discharged by the tightening means. It is equipped with an elevating means for elevating and lowering while sequentially loading.

At this finishing station, while storing sheets in one storage bin, a sheet bundle is also grabbed and taken out from another storage bin. The number of sheets to be taken out from this storage bin is 1.
For example, while the bin unit is lowered, a sheet bundle is taken out from a storage bin with an odd number, and then the bin unit is raised to take out a sheet bundle from a storage bin with an even number. Therefore, the sheet bundle is taken out separately when the bin unit moves forward and when it moves backward.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, this copying machine is configured to grasp a bundle of sheets stored in each storage bin, take them out of the storage bin, and transport them to the stapling position, so there are cases where sheets are missed or grasped incorrectly, and especially when the number of sheets is When the number of sheets is as small as 2 to 4 sheets, failure to grip or gripping failure often occurs, and the sheets may remain in the storage bin without being stapled or may not be conveyed in an appropriate posture.

Further, while the sheet is being taken out from the storage bin by the sheet gripping means and conveyed to the stapling position, the sheet may get caught on other members within the apparatus, causing the sheet to become slanted. If the sheet is gripped incorrectly or becomes slanted during conveyance as mentioned above,
The staples may be misaligned, or in extreme cases, it may not be possible to staple.

Furthermore, since the operation of storing sheets in the storage bin and the operation of taking out the sheet bundle from the storage bin are performed in parallel, the bin unit cannot be moved until the sheet bundle is securely gripped and completely removed from the storage bin. do not have. Therefore, the timing of discharging the paper to the storage bin is limited, and as a result, the time efficiency from image formation to stapling is not good.

Furthermore, a sheet gripping means, a tightening means, an elevating means, etc. are required, and a conveying path for conveying the sheet bundle from the bin unit to the stapling means and a conveying path for conveying the sheet bundle from the stapling means to the elevating means must be formed. However, there are drawbacks such as not only the size of the entire device increases, but also the complexity of the structure, which increases the occurrence of failures.

Further, a sorter finisher as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-220053 has been proposed.

This sorter finisher has a group of storage bins with multiple tiers of sheet storage bins in between, and an indexer on one side that sorts the sheets into each storage bin.
A stapling device is arranged on the other side.

The storage bin group is fixed without moving in the vertical direction, and collation and stapling operations are performed by moving the indexer and stapling device in the vertical direction.

However, this sorter finisher has the following problems. That is, since both the indexer and the stapling device are moved, the mechanism becomes complicated and heavy, and since a space for moving both is required, the device inevitably becomes large.

Since the stapling device moves both vertically and horizontally, its driving mechanism becomes complex.

In collation mode, the indexer moves intermittently relative to the storage bin group, and during stapling operation, the stapling device moves relative to the storage bin group, so the indexer operation and stapling device operation are separate. Therefore, the control operation is complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the prior art, and to provide a sorter that can perform stapling accurately and reliably, has good sheet processing efficiency, is small in size, and is less likely to malfunction.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a bin unit in which a plurality of storage bins are vertically arranged, and a bin unit elevating means that moves the bin unit intermittently in the vertical direction so that each storage bin sequentially corresponds to a sheet discharge port. , a sheet discharge means for discharging the sheet through the sheet discharge port into a corresponding storage bin; a stapling device corresponding to the storage bin for stapling the sheets while stored in the storage bin; and the bin unit and the stapling device. and reciprocating means for relatively reciprocating between the stapling standby position and the stapling position.

and intermittent movement of the bin unit by the bin unit lifting means with the sheet stored;
It is characterized in that the sheets stored in each storage bin are sequentially stapled while the reciprocating means alternately repeats relative reciprocating movement between the bin unit and the stapling device. It is something.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a sorter equipped with a stapling device according to an embodiment, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the main parts centering on the lifting member, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the stapler unit, and FIG. 4 is a stapler unit. side view, fifth
The figure is a plan view of the storage bin, and FIG. 6 is a control block diagram.

As shown in FIG. 1, a sorter 2 is connected to the rear of a printer 1 such as a copying machine, and paper P on which an image has been formed by the printer 1 is sent to the sorter 2 side by paper ejection rollers 3a and 3b. It will be done. On the sorter 2 side, paper P is received by receiving rollers 4a, 4b, transported by guide plates 5a, 5b, sorter paper discharge rollers 6a, 6b, and stored in storage bins 7 (7a...
7n). Multiple storage bins 7a...
7n are vertically arranged at regular intervals to form a bin unit, which is fixed to a lifting member 8 movable along a vertically extending guide rod 9.

A sprocket 11 is attached to a motor 10 that drives the lifting member 8.
An idler 12 is arranged to face the sprocket 11 and the idler 12, and both ends of a chain 13 that is stretched between the sprocket 11 and the idler 12 are connected to the elevating member 8. Therefore, the elevating member 8 (bin unit) is driven by the motor 10 to move up and down (vertical movement) along the guide rod 9.

At that time, in order to control the position of the elevating member 8,
Position detection member 1 corresponding to storage bins 7a...7n
4a...14n are provided in a protruding manner on the elevating member 8.
A position detection sensor 15, a staple position detection sensor 16, and a home position sensor 17 detect the position detection members 14a...14n.
are fixed at predetermined positions on the sorter 2, respectively.

A stapler 18 is mounted above the sorter discharge rollers 6a, 6b and facing the storage bin 7 at an interval that is an integral multiple of the bin pitch of the storage bin 7, so as to be able to reciprocate in the horizontal direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, paper ejection sensors 21a and 21b detect the storage of paper P in the storage bin 7;
Bin sensors 22a and 22b for detecting the presence or absence of paper P in the storage bin 7 are provided with the bin unit in between.

As shown in FIG. 3, the stapler 18 is placed on a guide rail 27 and connected to a spring 28, thereby being elastically biased toward the standby position (the position shown in FIG. 3). Also stapler 1
A cam surface of a cam 20 attached to a stapler motor 19 is in contact with the rear portion of the stapler 8 . The stapler 18 is adapted to reciprocate between a standby position (the position shown in FIG. 3) and a stapling position, and this reciprocating movement is achieved by the cooperation of a cam 20 and a spring 28. That is,
A half turn of the cam 20 pushes the stapler 18 from the standby position (the position shown in FIG. 3) to the stapling position, and the remaining half turn of the cam 20 pushes out the stapler 18.
8 pulls the stapler 18 back from the stapling position to the standby position (the position shown in FIG. 3). Note that the rotation of the cam 20 is determined by the cam sensor 26.
monitored by

In order to prevent the paper P from shifting in the storage bin 7 during stapling, the paper press members 23a, 23
b is rotatably attached to the frame of the sorter 2 together with a connecting member 24, and is operated by a solenoid 25.

The stapler 18, as shown in FIG.
2 is formed into a band shape so that it can be continuously supplied, and is sent out along a guide lever 33 to a position of a hammer 34. A hammer 34 is fixed to the hammer lever 35, and the hammer lever 35 is connected to the support shaft 3.
6, and a plunger of a solenoid 37 is connected in the middle. A spring 38 is interposed between the guide lever 33 and the hammer lever 35.

The guide lever 33 is also rotatably supported around a support shaft 36, and has a spring 40 between it and the base 39.
is mediated. The spring constant of the spring 38 is designed to be larger than that of the spring 40. Paper detection sensors 41a and 41b are provided on the paper entrance side of the stapler 18.

As shown in FIG.
It is installed at an angle so that the base side attached to it is facing down, while the side opposite to the base is slightly up. A sheet edge aligning section 62 for aligning the edges of the stored sheets P is protrudingly provided on the base side of the storage bin 7, and a stapler 18 is attached to the side where this sheet edge aligning section 62 is provided as shown in FIG.
A notch 29 is formed into which the guide rail 27 is inserted, and the tip of the guide rail 27 is located near the inside of this notch 29, as shown in FIG. In addition, the storage bin 7 has a recessed part 61 for gripping paper in order to facilitate the removal of the stored paper P. formed on the opposite side).

As shown in FIG. 6, the control section of this embodiment includes an operation keyboard 50, a key input control circuit 51, a printer control circuit 52, a comparison calculation circuit 53, a bin unit drive circuit 54, a stapler drive circuit 55, a stapler movement circuit 56, bottle. Sheet detection circuit 5
7, bin position detection circuit 58, bin. It is equipped with a seat counter 59, etc.

Next, the collating operation will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The storage bins 7a, . . . , 7n are on standby, with the uppermost storage bin 7a at its home position corresponding to the sorter paper discharge rollers 6a, 6b. The home position sensor 17 detects whether the storage bin 7a is at the home position.

When the sort key is turned on on the operation keyboard 50 of the printer 1 and the collation mode is selected, the bin sensors 22a and 22b detect whether or not there are any sheets remaining on the storage bin 7. If there are any sheets left on the storage bin 7 (the bin sensor 22 is on), the collation operation is prohibited. After confirming that no paper remains on the storage bin 7 (bin sensor 22 is off), collation operation is permitted.

When the set number m of sheets is set (this set number m corresponds to the set number of bins _nB ) and the printing operation is started, a drive means (not shown) moves the receiving rollers 4a, 4b on the sorter 2 side, the sorter ejection Paper rollers 6a and 6b rotate. When the first sheet of paper is stored in the uppermost storage bin 7a, the paper ejection sensors 21a and 21b detect the trailing edge of the paper P, and the motor 10 starts to rotate by the bin unit drive circuit 54, and the elevating member 8 rises.

At that time, the movement of the elevating member 8 is controlled by the position detecting members 14a...14n provided on the elevating member 8 and the storage position sensor 15, and the next second stage storage bin 7b is moved to the sorter discharge rollers 6a, 6b. When the paper P reaches the corresponding position, the motor 10 stops and the paper P can be stored in the storage bin 7b.

By repeating this operation m-1 times, the set m sheets of paper P are sequentially stored from the topmost storage bin 7a to the n _Bth storage bin 7, and the rear end of the first m-th sheet of paper is The paper ejection sensor 21a, 21b
When this is detected, the motor 10 reverses, lowering the bin unit (elevating member 8) to the home position and returning to the initial state. A collating operation is performed by repeating the above operations.

The bins are counted by the bin position detection circuit 58 and the discharge sensor 21 corresponding to each storage bin 7a...7n. A sheet counter 59 is provided to count and store the number of sheets P stored in each storage bin 7a...7n.

Next, the stapling operation will be explained. In the collation mode, the stapler 18 is in the standby position as shown in FIG. 7a, and the paper pressing member 23 is in the standby position as shown in FIG. 8a.
It is in the standby position as shown in . Since the stapler 18 and the paper pressing member 23 are in the standby state after being retracted in this way, the bin unit (elevating member 8)
can be moved up and down freely.

As mentioned above, since the storage bin 7 is inclined with the paper edge aligning portion 62 facing down, the sorter paper ejection roller 6
The sheets P sequentially fed from a and 6b collide with the sheet edge aligning section 62, and the edges of the sheets are neatly aligned. When the stapler motor 19 rotates after the collating operation is completed, the stapler 18 is moved to the seventh position by the cam 20.
It moves along the guide rail 27 from the standby position in Figure a to the stapling position in Figure b.

By turning on the solenoid 25, the paper holding member 23 moves from the standby position shown in FIG. 8a to the state shown in FIG. The bottom plate 63 of the storage bin 7 and the paper edge alignment part 6 are
It is held between the tip of 2.

For stapling, the paper detection sensor 41a,
41b detects the paper P, the solenoid 37 is turned on, and its plunger is activated by the hammer lever 3.
Push 5 downward.

When the hammer lever 35 is pushed downward, the spring 40 is first compressed and deformed due to the difference in spring constant between the two springs 38 and 40, so the guide lever 33 is pushed downward and inserted between it and the base 39. pinch the edge of the paper P.

When the spring 40 is compressed and deformed and the guide lever 33 finishes rotating, the spring 38 begins to be compressed and deformed, and the hammer lever 35 continues to rotate further. At this time, the hammer 34 fixed to the hammer lever 35 is
The staples 32 are pushed out and slammed against the base 39 side.

At this time, the legs of the staple 32 are buckled by the guide holes 42 formed in the base 39, thereby binding the sheets P. Since the solenoid 37 is turned on instantly, the above stapling operation is completed instantaneously.

As mentioned above, the notches 29 are formed at predetermined positions in each of the storage bins 7a...7n, and the stapler 18 enters into the cutouts 29 to staple each paper P, regardless of the paper size. The positions are aligned. When stapling is completed, the guide lever 33 and hammer lever 35 return to the standby state due to the restoring force of the springs 38 and 40.

As the stapler motor 19 continues to rotate, it moves backward along the cam surface of the cam 20 due to the tension of the spring 28, and when the cam sensor 26 detects that the cam 20 has returned to the standby position, the rotation of the stapler motor 19 is stopped. Stop.

As shown in FIG. 10, such a stapling operation is activated when the stapling mode is selected by the stapling key on the operation keyboard 50. The staple mode is the bin sensor 22a,
22b detects that there is paper P in the storage bin 7 (bin sensor 22 is on), and when there is no paper P in the storage bin 7 (bin sensor 22 is off), the stapler is selected. mode is now prohibited.

When the stapling mode is selected, the uppermost storage bin 7a moves to the position of the stapler 18 (stapler home position). Storage bin 7a
The position detection member 14a provided on the elevating member 8 determines whether or not the stapler is in the home position.
...14n is detected by the staple position sensor 16.

When it is detected that the storage bin 7a is at the stapler home position, the stapler motor 19
begins to rotate, and the stapler 18 begins to move from the state shown in FIG. 7a to the position shown in FIG. 7b, as described above. At the same time, the solenoid 25 is turned on, and the paper pressing member 23 presses the paper P in the storage bin 7.

When the stapler 18 is in the state shown in FIG. 7b, the sensor 41 inside the stapler 18
a, 41b detects the paper P in the storage bin 7 and performs stapling, and then the stapler 18 returns to the standby position. When the cam sensor 26 detects that the stapler 18 has returned to the standby position, the rotation of the stapler motor 19 is stopped, and at the same time, the solenoid 25 is turned off and the pressure on the paper pressing member 23 is released. In addition, the bin unit drive circuit 54 operates, the motor 10 rotates, and the bin unit
Increases by the amount of bottles.

Thereafter, the storage bins 7 are controlled in the same manner as the collation mode and are raised one bin at a time, and each storage bin 7
The paper P inside is stapled. storage bin 7
The number of times the bin. Since the calculation process is performed by checking the contents of the sheet counter 59 (the number of bins n _B ), there is no need to re-enter the information, and the process is performed automatically, and the problem of excess or deficiency of staples due to a re-input error is eliminated. Ru.

The device of the present invention can perform online processing with an image forming device such as a printer, so by linking with an automatic document feeder (ADF), image forming processing and printing can be performed simply by setting a series of documents in the ADF. A series of operations from combining processing to subsequent stapling processing can be automatically processed, thereby significantly reducing processing time.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As mentioned above, the present invention staples the sheets while they are stored in the storage bin, so there is no need to move the sheets, and unlike the conventionally proposed methods, there are problems such as failure to grasp the sheets, poor grasping, and pulling of the sheets. There is no catch, and it is possible to staple properly and reliably.

In addition, since stapling is performed after the sheets to be collated are stored in the storage bin, the various processes from image formation to sheet storage are not affected by the stapling operation, unlike in conventional proposals. Various processes up to storage can be sped up. Further, steps such as taking out the sheet from the storage bin, conveying the sheet, and discharging the sheet from the stapling means can be omitted. As a result, the sheet processing efficiency can be greatly improved, and the structure is simplified, there are fewer failures, and the device can be made smaller.

Furthermore, in the present invention, by intermittently moving only the bin unit in the vertical direction without moving the stapling device and the sheet ejection means in the vertical direction,
A collating operation and a stapling operation are performed. Therefore, since only the bin unit moves in the vertical direction, the mechanism is simple, lightweight, requires less space for movement, and can be downsized.

Since the stapling device simply moves back and forth, its mechanism is simple.

Since the movement of the bin unit during stapling operation is the same as the collation mode, there is no need to re-enter the number of bin movements during stapling operation, which improves operability and prevents excess or deficiency of staples due to re-input errors. It will be resolved.

Since the intermittent movement of the bin unit during the stapling operation is performed at the same intervals as in the collation mode, it is easy to control the movement of the bin unit during the stapling operation.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a sorter according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the main parts centering on the elevating member, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the stapler unit, and FIG.
The figure is a side view of the stapler, Figure 5 is a plan view of the storage bin, Figure 6 is a control block diagram, Figure 7 is a diagram for explaining the movement of the stapler, and Figure 8 is for explaining the movement of the paper holding member. FIG. 9 is a flowchart for the collation mode, and FIG. 10 is a flowchart for the staple mode. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Printer, 2... Sorter, 6... Sorter paper discharge roller, 7... Storage bin, 8... Lifting member, 14... Position detection member, 15... Storage position sensor, 16... Staple position sensor , 17
... Home position sensor, 18 ... Stapler, 19 ... Stapler motor, 20 ... Cam, 22 ... Bin sensor, 23 ... Paper holding member, 27 ... Guide rail, 28 ... Spring, 29 ... ...Notch, 23... Staple,
62...paper edge presser, 63...bottom plate of storage bin, P...paper.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A bin unit in which a plurality of storage bins are vertically arranged; a bin unit elevating means for intermittently moving the bin unit in the vertical direction to sequentially make each storage bin correspond to a sheet discharge port; a sheet discharging means for discharging sheets through a sheet discharging port into a corresponding storage bin; a stapling device corresponding to the storage bin for stapling the sheets while stored in the storage bin; It has a reciprocating means that relatively reciprocates between a standby position and a stapling position, and the bin unit is moved intermittently by the bin unit elevating means with the sheet stored, and the bin unit and the stapling device are moved by the reciprocating means. 1. A sorter equipped with a stapling device, characterized in that the sorter is configured to sequentially staple sheets stored in each storage bin while alternately repeating reciprocating movement relative to the stapling device. 2. The stapling according to claim 1, wherein the bottom of each storage bin is provided with an area where the lower surface of the stored sheets is sandwiched between the stapling devices without contacting the bottom. Sorter with equipment. 3. The stapling device as set forth in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a sheet edge aligning portion for aligning the edges of the sheets is provided on the side of each of the storage bins facing the stapling device. Sorter with. 4. A sorter equipped with a stapling device as set forth in claim 1, further comprising sheet pressing means for pressing the sheets in the storage bin during the stapling operation.