JPH07252013A - Sheet take-out device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To place sheets accurately on a bottom surface by providing a sheet storing part provided with a bottom surface on which sheets delivered from a sheet delivery means are placed and a sheet guide mechanism to lead the lower part of the sheets being delivered to the forward side of an image forming device. CONSTITUTION:A delivery mechanism 151 of a multi-stacker 3 delivers sheets P in a bin to the forward side of an image forming device. Also the bottom part of the sheets P being delivered is led to the forward side of the image forming device by a guide member 306 projected from a slit 225a formed in a side wall 225 to a sheet conveying route 153 side so as to deliver the sheets P. Then the delivered sheets P are placed on a sheet storing part 152 provided with a bottom surface 226. Thus the sheets P can be placed well on the bottom surface 226.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet take-out apparatus, and more particularly to a sheet take-out apparatus for taking out a sheet from a bin in which a sheet conveyed from the image forming apparatus to the side of the apparatus is placed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine may be provided with a sorter for sorting the sheets on which the image forming processing has been performed, and the sorted sheets may be stapled. Sorters with stapling devices for doing have already been provided.

A conventional sorter of this type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 16-16 / 1988 in order to bind a number of copies on a sheet to be printed.
The device shown in Japanese Patent No. 5270 is used. This apparatus is provided with a stapling section for stacking and accommodating sheets and performing stapling processing in addition to a sorting section for sorting sheets. When performing the stapling process with this apparatus, the sheets sorted by the sorting section are conveyed to the stapling section, and the stapling apparatus provided in the stapling section performs the processing.

In the above apparatus, a stapling process is provided below the bin, and a stacking part for accommodating the processed sheets is arranged below the stapling process. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult for the operator to take out the processed paper. Therefore, the applicant of the present application has already proposed a copying machine equipped with a sheet take-out device for taking out the sorted and stapled sheets to the front side of the apparatus (Japanese Patent Application No. 4-1119).
No. 35). In this device, the sorted and stapled paper is taken out to the front side of the device, so that the processed paper can be taken out easily.

[0005]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application No. 4-11193
In the paper take-out device shown in No. 5, the paper dropped on the bottom is placed on the bottom with the lower part on the front side of the device and the upper part on the rear side of the device. However, for example, when the lower portion of the ejected paper faces the rear side of the apparatus, the surface of the placed paper is reversed and the paper leans on the front wall, so that the paper is not placed accurately on the bottom surface. Furthermore, when the upper part of the paper being ejected comes closer to the front side of the image forming apparatus than the lower part, the upper part of the paper falls down to the front side of the image forming apparatus, and the paper cannot be accurately placed on the bottom surface. If the paper is not accurately placed on the bottom surface, problems such as damage to the paper and deterioration of workability when taking out the paper occur.

It is an object of the present invention to accurately place a sheet on the bottom surface.

[0007]

A sheet take-out device for taking out a sheet from a bin in which a sheet placed on the side of the apparatus from an image forming apparatus is placed, the sheet ejecting means and a sheet accommodating section are provided. And a paper guide mechanism. The paper discharge means is means for discharging the paper in the bin toward the front side of the image forming apparatus. The sheet storage unit has a bottom surface that is disposed below the sheet ejection unit and on which the sheet ejected by the sheet ejection unit is placed. The paper guide mechanism guides the lower portion of the paper being ejected to the front side of the image forming apparatus.

It is preferable that the paper guide mechanism has a first member that comes into contact with the upstream end of the discharged paper in the conveying direction. It is preferable that the paper guide mechanism has a drive mechanism that disposes the first member at a first position in which the first member abuts the paper being ejected and a second position in which the first member does not abut. Further, it is preferable that the drive mechanism dispose the first member at the first position and guide the lower part of the sheet being ejected to the front side of the image forming apparatus, and then dispose the first member at the second position.

It is preferable to further include a pushing member that pushes the upper portion of the sheet being discharged toward the rear side of the image forming apparatus. Preferably, the pushing member is coupled to the driving mechanism, and the driving mechanism pushes the pushing member when arranging the first member of the paper guide mechanism in the second position. The paper guide mechanism preferably includes a second member that comes into contact with the downstream end of the discharged paper in the transport direction. At this time, it is preferable that the second member is a lid member.

The bottom surface is preferably inclined so that the rear side of the image forming apparatus is higher than the front side. Further, it is preferable that the bottom surface has a guide portion that guides the placed sheet to the upstream side in the sheet conveying direction.

[0011]

In the paper take-out device according to the present invention, the paper in the bin is ejected from the bin toward the front side of the image forming apparatus by the paper ejecting means. Since the lower part of the paper being ejected is guided to the front side of the image forming apparatus by the paper guide mechanism, the paper is properly placed on the bottom surface. When the paper guide mechanism has the first member that comes into contact with the upstream end of the discharged paper in the transport direction, the above-described action becomes more remarkable.

In the case where the guide mechanism has a drive mechanism for arranging the first member in a first position where it abuts on the sheet being ejected and a second position where it does not abut, the first member is set in accordance with the ejection state of the sheet. The members can be placed in suitable positions. When the drive mechanism disposes the first member in the second position after arranging the first member in the first position, the lower portion of the sheet being ejected is guided to the front side of the image forming apparatus, but the upper portion of the sheet is disposed to the front side of the image forming apparatus. Not guided.

If a pressing member for pushing the upper portion of the sheet being ejected to the rear side of the image forming apparatus is further provided, the upper portion of the sheet cannot fall to the front side of the image forming apparatus. When the drive mechanism pushes out the push member when the first member of the paper guide mechanism is arranged at the second position, the upper portion of the paper is pushed toward the rear side of the image forming apparatus by the push member without contacting the first member. .

In the case where the paper guide mechanism includes the second member which comes into contact with the downstream end of the discharged paper in the conveying direction,
The paper is placed on the bottom more accurately. At this time, when the second member is a lid member, the above-mentioned action becomes more remarkable. When the bottom side of the image forming apparatus is inclined to be higher than the front side, the sheet reaching the bottom side is moved to the front side of the image forming apparatus. When the bottom surface has a guide portion that guides the placed paper to the upstream side in the paper conveyance direction, the paper that reaches the bottom surface is guided to the upstream side in the paper conveyance direction by the guide portion.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Overall Structure and Copying Machine Main Body FIGS. 1 and 2 show the overall structure of a copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the copying machine is a copying machine main body 1
And a staple sorter (hereinafter, simply referred to as a sorter) 2 arranged on the left side of the copying machine main body 1, and a sheet take-out device (hereinafter, referred to as a multi-stacker) arranged on the front side (operator side) of the sorter 2. 3 and 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, the copying machine main body 1 includes a case 5 and an image forming section 6 arranged in the center of the case 5.
A document scanning section 7 arranged above the image forming section 6;
The image forming unit 6 includes a sheet conveying device 8 that supplies a sheet to the image forming unit 6 and discharges the sheet from the image forming unit 6. The image forming unit 6 includes a photosensitive drum arranged at the center,
And a charging device, a developing device, a transfer device, a paper separating device, and a cleaning device which are arranged around it.
The document scanning section 7 includes an optical system 9 arranged above the image forming section 6, a document table 10 arranged above the optical system 9, and an automatic document feeder 11 provided on the document table 10. Have The automatic document feeder 11 has a document placing portion 12 provided on the upper surface of the case and a document feeding portion 13 including a document moving belt and the like arranged inside the case. The sheet conveying device 8 has a sheet supply path arranged on the upstream side of the image forming section 6 in the sheet conveying direction, and a sheet discharge path arranged on the downstream side, and is fixed in the middle of the sheet discharge path. A device 14 is provided.

Further, on the downstream side of the fixing device 14, a discharge roller 15 for discharging the paper to the sorter 2 side and a reversing device 16 for reversing the paper are provided. At the lower part of the case 5, an intermediate conveyance path 17 for conveying the sheet that has passed through the reversing device 16 and an intermediate tray 18 for temporarily storing the sheet are provided. Below the intermediate tray 18, a plurality of paper feed cassettes 19 are arranged side by side in the vertical direction. Further, on the right side of the case 5, a paper feed deck 20 for continuously feeding paper is arranged. A manual paper feed path 21 is arranged above the paper feed deck 20. Sorter sorter 2, the bin unit 27 including a driving unit 26 for driving a plurality of bins 25 and these bins 25 vertically disposed between the copying machine main body 1 and the bin unit 27 the copier main body 1 It has a transport unit 28 for transporting the paper from the bin unit 27 to the bin unit 27, and a processing unit 29 arranged below the transport unit 28 on the upstream side of the bin unit 27 (the copying machine main body 1 side). Processing unit 29
Is provided with a stapler that staples a bundle of sheets. The bin unit 27 also includes a support frame 30 that supports the leading ends of the plurality of bins 25 on the sheet ejection side.

As shown in the plan view of FIG. 3, each bin 25 is formed of a flat plate member. A notch 25a for taking out the sheet is formed from the front end side in the discharge direction toward the inside. Further, on the rear side (the rear side of the apparatus), a width-adjusting member 31 for moving the paper to the front side is moved, and a width-adjusting hole 25 penetrating in the vertical direction is moved.
b is formed. The hole 25b extends in the direction in which the bin 25 can move in the sheet conveying direction (the lateral direction of the apparatus, hereinafter also referred to as the lateral direction), and the width-adjusting member 31 can move in the front-back direction of the apparatus. Extending in the direction. Trunnions 32 that project outward are provided on both sides of the end of the bin 25 on the paper introduction side (copier body 1 side). The trunnion 32 is a spiral cam 33 (described later) that constitutes the drive unit 26. ) Is engaged with the groove 33a. Further, projecting portions 34 projecting outward are formed on both sides of the tip of the bin 25 on the discharge side.
Is locked to a holder portion 30a formed on the support frame 30. In this way, the tip of the bin 25 in the discharge direction is supported by the support frame 30, and the introduction side is supported by the spiral cam 33. As shown in FIG. 2, the bottle 25 is inclined so that the tip on the discharge side is located above. ing.

As shown in FIG. 4, the spiral cam 33 has a spiral groove 33a on its surface, and is vertically arranged from the upper part to the lower part of the sorter 2. The upper and lower stages of each spiral cam 33 are rotatably supported by the frame 2a of the sorter 2, and the pulley 40 is fixed to the lower end. A drive pulley 41 is fixed to the lower end of the spiral cam 33 provided on the rear side of the apparatus among the pair of spiral cams 33. A drive motor 43 (see FIG. 2) is attached to the drive pulley 41 via a belt 42 or the like.
(See) are connected.

The spiral grooves 33a formed on the outer surface of the spiral cam 33 are formed at substantially the same pitch in the upper and lower portions, but for the two pitches of the portion facing the processing unit 29 (substantially the central portion). Wider than other pitches. As a result, a wide space is formed above and below the bin 25 facing the processing unit 29 as compared with other portions.

As shown in FIG. 5, a bin upper frame 27a is provided at the upper end of the bin unit 27, and a bin lower frame 27b is provided at the lower end thereof at substantially the same inclination as the bin 25. Further, a guide bin 27c is provided on the side of the bin 25 corresponding to the processing unit 29. As will be described later, the guide bin 27c serves as a bin movement guide when the bin 25 is pulled toward the copying machine main body 1 side. The tips of the bin frames 27a and 27b are fixed to the support frame 30, and pins are provided at the end portions on the copying machine body 1 side.
The pin of b is engaged with the groove of the spiral cam 33 (see FIG. 4), and the pin of the upper bin frame 27a is inserted into the trunnion guide groove 2b (see FIG. 3) of the frame to support the bin unit 27. The base end of the guide bin 27c is fixed to the tip of the sorter frame 2a. The guide bin 27c extends to the front end side in the bin paper discharge direction along the inclination of the bin 25, and a guide member 45 having a guide groove 45a is fixed to the front end portion. Further, at the end portions of the upper and lower bin frames 27a and 27b on the sheet introduction side, 1 for detecting whether there is a sheet in the bin 25 or not.
A pair of photo sensors 46a and 46b are provided.

At the front end of the sorter frame 2a, on the front side of the apparatus, a width-fixed fixed reference plate 121 and an elevating reference plate 122 are provided. These reference plates 12
1, 122 are arranged adjacent to the leading end side of the spiral cam 33 in the paper discharge direction. The elevating reference plate 122 is composed of a fixed upper reference plate 122a and a lower reference plate 122b that functions as a shutter member and can move up and down. The lower reference plate 122b can take a closed position shown by a solid line in FIG. 7 and an open position shown by a dashed line. When the lower reference plate 122b is open, the side of the lower bin 25 of the bin 25 corresponding to the processing unit 29 is opened.

At the tip of the sorter frame 2a, as shown in FIG. 6, an elevating mechanism 125 for elevating the lower reference plate 122b is provided. The lifting mechanism 125 includes a mounting frame 126 provided at the tip of the sorter frame 2a.
And the motor 127 fixed to the mounting frame 126.
And a gear train 128 rotatably supported in the mounting frame 126. The gear train 128 is a motor 127
Driven by the pinion 128a of the gear train 128 meshes with the rack 129 fixed to the lower reference plate 122b.

With this structure, by driving the motor 127, the lower reference plate 122 moves up and down together with the rack 129. The lower reference plate 122b is configured to move up and down by being guided by a slide guide 130 fixed to the sorter frame 2a. Further, in the sorter 2, a bin moving mechanism (not shown) for moving the bin 25 moved to the processing position to the processing unit 29 on the side of the copying machine main body and further returning it to the original position, and the processing unit 29. A paper pressing mechanism (not shown) for pressing the paper on the bin 25 is provided at a position opposed to.

As shown in FIG. 2, the transport unit 28 of the sorter 2 has an introduction section 28a, a sorting carry-in path 28b branched from the introducing section 28a, and a non-sorting carry-in path 28c. There is. The introduction portion 28a is provided with an introduction roller 131 and a branch claw 132. Further, the sort-in carrying-in passage 28b is provided with the introducing portion 28a and the sorting bin 2
The paper is guided to the bin 25, which is provided between the bin 5 and the bin 5 and has a vertical interval widened by the spiral cam 33. Further, the non-sort carry-in passage 28c is provided between the non-sort bin 133 arranged at the upper part of the sorter 2 and the branching part 28a, and guides the paper to the non-sort bin 133 in the non-sort mode. Multi Stacker FIGS. 7 and 8 show the overall configuration of the multi stacker 3. 7 is a front view of the multi-stacker 3, and FIG. 8 is a side view of the multi-stacker 3 as seen from the direction of arrow VIII in FIG.

The multi-stacker 3 has a case 3a, and a stacker hand mechanism 150 for gripping the processed paper in the bin 25 located at the take-out position and pulling it into the multi-stacker 3, and an apparatus by the stacker hand mechanism 150. A discharge mechanism 151 that discharges the sheet pulled toward the front side, and a stack unit 15 that stores the discharged sheet
2 and the sheet taken out from the bin 25 into the stack section 15
It is composed of a sheet conveying path 153 for guiding to the second position.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the stacker hand mechanism 150 includes a base plate 159 and a base plate 159.
A moving plate 160 that moves laterally upward, a first hand mounting plate 161 and a second hand mounting plate 162 that are movably provided on the moving plate 160 in the front-rear direction of the apparatus, and hand mounting plates 161 and 162. The first hand 163 and the second hand 164 attached to the respective hands 163, 1
A first drive mechanism 165 for moving the back and forth 64
And a second drive mechanism 166 for moving the moving plate 160 in the lateral direction. First hand mounting plate 16
No. 1 is prohibited from moving laterally on the moving plate 160, while the second hand mounting plate 162 can move laterally on the moving plate 160.

The base plate 159 is inclined and arranged at substantially the same angle as the bin 25. As shown in FIG. 10, a roller 167 is provided at the end of the moving plate 160 on the front side of the apparatus, and a slide guide 168 is laterally arranged on the other end. The moving plate 160 includes the second drive mechanism 16
6 is moved to the copying machine main body 1 side. A stopper roller 169 is provided at the end of the sorter 2 on the copying machine body 1 side.
Is provided. This stopper roller 169 has a second
The hand attachment plate 162 is adapted to abut.
Each hand 163, 164 and second hand attachment plate 16
A roller 170 is provided in the lower part of 2, and moves on the moving plate 160 in the front-back direction of the apparatus. Second hand mounting plate 16
2 is a slide guide 171 having a lateral guide groove.
Is fixed. The first hand attachment plate 161 has an engaging portion that engages with the slide guide 171.

Each hand 163, 164 has a hand frame 175. The roller 170 is the hand frame 17
It is provided at the lower end of 5. Also hand frame 175
Can move up and down along the vertical slide guides 172 provided on the hand attachment plates 161 and 162. Further, the moving plate 160 is provided with a guide member 177 for retracting the hand. Guide member 177
Is the roll 170 of each hand 163,164
Is guided downward so that the upper portions of the hands 163 and 164 can be retracted to the inside (downward) of the paper transport path 153. It should be noted that the first hand mounting plate 162 has a first
A sensor 178 for detecting that the hand 163 is separated from the second hand 164 and has a predetermined distance therebetween is fixed.

Each hand 163, 164 is shown in FIG.
As shown by, it has a pair of upper and lower grips 180, 181. The grips 180 and 181 are rotatably supported by a hand frame 175 by a pin 182.
Gears that mesh with each other are formed on the lower portion of the support portion of the upper grip portion 180 and on the upper portion of the support portion of the lower grip portion 181. The rear end of the upper grip 180 is biased by the spring 183 in the opening direction. Further, one end of a spring 184 is locked to the rear end of the lower grip portion 181, and the other end is a solenoid 185 mounted on the hand frame 175.
It is locked to the plunger tip. With this configuration, when the solenoid 185 is off, the spring 183 opens the upper grip portion 180 upward, and accordingly, the lower grip portion 181 also opens downward. On the other hand, when the solenoid 185 is turned on and the plunger is retracted, the spring 184 rotates the lower grip 181 in the closing direction, and accordingly, the upper grip 180 moves in the closing direction against the biasing force of the spring 183. Rotate.

The first drive mechanism 165 includes a motor 190,
Gear pulley 191 fixed to the shaft tip of the motor 190
And a plurality of gear pulleys 193 fixed to the connecting member 192 of the first mounting plate 161, and a timing belt 194 spanned between the gear pulleys. As a result, when the motor 190 rotates, the timing belt 1
The connecting member 192 is moved by 94, and the two hands 163, 164 are passed through the hand attaching plates 161 and 162.
Moves back and forth.

On the other hand, the second drive mechanism 166 is the base plate 1
The motor 195 is fixed to the lower surface of the motor 59, a gear train 196 (see FIG. 10) including a plurality of gear pulleys, and a timing belt 197. The timing belt 197 has a locking member 1 fixed to the lower surface of the moving plate 160.
98 are connected. In addition, on the base plate 159,
Photo interrupter 19 for detecting the position of the moving plate 160
9,200 are provided at predetermined intervals. Further, the moving plate 160 is provided with a photo interrupter 201 for detecting that each of the hands 163 and 164 is located at the home position.

The discharging mechanism 151 includes two pairs of roller devices 20.
5, 206 and a roller drive mechanism 207 for driving the roller devices 205, 206. As shown in FIG. 10, the roller devices 205 and 206 are composed of a drive roller 208 and a driven roller 209 which are arranged along the paper transport path 153. Both rollers 20
Between 8 and 209, a belt 210 for transporting the processed paper is spanned. And each roller 2
A pressing roller 211 is disposed above the 08 and 209. The pressing roller 211 is rotatably attached to the tip of the support member 212. Support member 212
Is rotatably attached to a cover 3a that covers the upper portion of the multi-stacker 3.

The roller driving mechanism 207 includes a motor 213.
And a gear pulley 21 mounted on the shaft tip of the motor 213.
4, a rotary shaft 215 connecting the respective drive rollers 208 of the roller devices 205 and 206, a gear pulley 216 fixed to the tip of the rotary shaft 215, both pulleys 214,
It is composed of a timing belt 217 that is bridged between 216.

The sheet conveying path 153 is mainly composed of a side wall 225 and a guide member 301 provided on the side wall 225. As shown in FIG. 7, the side wall 225 is inclined along the side surface of the conveyed sheet (the upstream end surface in the conveying direction of the sheet in the bin 25). That is, bin 2
It is attached at an angle that is substantially orthogonal to the inclination of 5.

The first guide member 301 is shown in FIG. 11 and FIG.
2 is a groove member having a substantially U-shaped cross section as shown in FIG.
01a and the first side wall 3 provided on both sides of the bottom portion 301a
01b and the second side wall 301c.
The first guide member 301 further has a fixing portion 301d fixed to the side wall 225. As apparent from FIGS. 11 and 12, the first side wall 301b (front side of the image forming apparatus) is higher than the second side wall 301c (rear side of the image forming apparatus). Further, the second side wall 301c is gradually lowered as it goes downward. In the first guide member 301 fixed to the side wall 225 with such a structure, as is apparent from FIG. 7, the bottom surface 301 a is inclined more than the inclination angle of the side wall 225 at a position away from the side wall 225. That is, the lower portion of the first guide member 301 is the side wall 2
It is inclined in a direction away from 25 toward the downstream side (the left side in FIG. 7) in the sheet conveying direction. In this state, the first guide member 3
A predetermined gap is secured between the lower end of 01 and the bottom surface 226 (described later). Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the first guide member 301 is inclined such that the lower end is on the front side (right side in FIG. 8) of the image forming apparatus with respect to the upper end. Further, the second side wall 301c of the first guide member 301 is inclined so that the lower end is located closer to the front side of the image forming apparatus than the upper end.

Below the first guide member 301, FIG.
The guide portion 302 shown in FIG. Guide part 30
2 is a guide mechanism 303, a pushing mechanism 304, and an interlocking mechanism 3 for interlocking the guide mechanism 303 and the pushing mechanism 304.
It is mainly composed of 05 and. The guide mechanism 303 is
A plate-shaped second guide member 306 and a second guide member 306
It is mainly composed of a support member 307 which supports slidably in one direction. The second guide member 306 and the support member 307 are connected by a coil spring 308, and the second guide member 306 is biased upward in the drawing in the state of FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the second guide member 306 protrudes from the slit 225 a formed in the side wall 225 toward the sheet conveyance path 153. As shown in FIG. 7, the second guide member 306 is inclined so that its lower end is located closer to the front side of the image forming apparatus than its upper end.

The pushing mechanism 304 is mainly composed of a pushing member 310 and a supporting member 311 which slidably supports the pushing member 310 in one direction. As shown in FIG. 8, the pressing portion 310a of the pressing member 310 has a plate 31
0b is fixed. The interlocking mechanism 305 is the substrate 312.
And a solenoid 314 fixed to the substrate 312, and a lever 315 to which a plunger of the solenoid 314 is connected. As is clear from FIG. 13, the lever 315 is L-shaped and has a first lever portion 315a and a second lever portion 315b. The lever 315 is rotatably supported on the substrate 312 by a pin 315c. The first lever portion 315a is inserted into the opening 306a of the second guide member 306 of the guide mechanism 303. Note that FIG. 13 is a developed view of the actual configuration.
The tip of the second lever portion 315b is connected to the pushing member 310. The solenoid 314 is in the off state in the state of FIG. 13, and the plunger is protruding. Solenoid 3
When 14 is turned on and the plunger retracts, the lever 31
The pin 5 rotates about the pin 315c in the clockwise direction in the figure. When the lever 315 rotates in this manner, the end portion of the first lever portion 315a is moved to the opening 30 of the second guide member 306.
By contacting the end portion 306b of 6a and interlocking with it, the second
The guide member 306 moves downward in FIG. That is, in FIG. 7, the second guide member 306 moves so as to sink into the side wall 225. At the same time, the second lever portion 315b moves the pushing member 310. That is,
In FIG. 8, the pushing member 310 moves to the rear side of the image forming apparatus and downward.

The stack portion 152 is provided in the lower portion of the case 3a, and the side wall 22 which constitutes the paper transport path 153.
5 has a bottom surface 226 that is substantially perpendicular to 5. Further, the bottom surface 226 extends toward the rear side of the apparatus and is inclined upward as shown in FIG. Further, the bottom surface 226 extends further to the front side of the image forming apparatus than the portion directly below the first guide member 301. Further, the bottom surface 226 has a guide portion 226a on the rear side of the device. The guide portion 226a is projected and inclined so as to move the sheet reaching the bottom surface 226 to the upstream side in the sheet conveying direction, that is, the side wall 225 side.

As is apparent from FIG. 1, the stack portion 3 has an opening 227 for taking out at the side. A lid member 318 shown in FIG. 14 is fixed to the upper end of the opening 227. The lid member 318 has a guide portion 318a extending in the depth direction in FIG. Guide part 31
8a is inclined so that the lower portion is on the front side of the image forming apparatus than the upper portion. The guide portion 318a guides the downstream end of the sheet being ejected in the transport direction to move the sheet to the front side of the image forming apparatus. That is, the guide portion 318a has the same function as the second guide member 306, and both form a paper guide mechanism.

In such a multi-stacker 3, since the take-out opening 227 is provided on the side of the stack section 152, the sheet can be taken out from the stack section 152 during the sheet discharging operation. In particular, when a large amount of copy processing is performed, the operation of each unit temporarily stops when the stack unit 152 is full of paper, but here, a large amount of paper can be taken out from the stack unit 152 during processing and a large amount of processing can be performed continuously. . Control Unit As shown in FIG. 1, an operation panel 250 for operating the copying machine main body 1 is provided on the upper front side portion of the copying machine main body 1. The operation panel 250 has a key for specifying a sort / non-sort mode, a key for specifying a staple / non-staple mode, a key for specifying a staple position, and a ten-key pad for setting the number of copies. And other keys are provided.

An operation panel 251 for an operator to directly input commands to the sorter 2 is arranged at the upper end of the front surface of the sorter 2. The operation panel 251 is provided with a multi-key or the like for performing the stapling process and the process for taking out the paper from the bin in parallel. In addition, by pressing this multi-key, bin 25
It is also possible to forcibly discharge the sheets inside the stack section 152.

FIG. 15 shows a schematic control block diagram of this copying machine. The copying machine main body 1 has a copying machine main body control unit 255 which controls the copying operation in the copying machine main body 1 and the operation of the automatic document feeder 11, and the sorter 2 has a sorter control unit 256.
In addition, the multi-stacker 3 has a multi-stacker control unit 257. Each control unit 255, 256, 257
Is composed of a microcomputer including a CPU, a RAM and a ROM. Each control unit 255, 256, 25
7 are connected to each other via a bus, and various kinds of information can be exchanged between the control units.

The copying machine main body control unit 255 includes the above-mentioned operation panel 251, various sensors 258, and the paper transport unit 25.
9 and a bin lateral movement unit 26 for laterally moving the bin 25.
0, a paper pressing unit 261 for pressing the paper in the bin 25, a staple and punch processing unit 262, and a bin up / down moving unit 263 for vertically moving the bin.
And other input / output units are connected. The multi-stacker control unit 257 includes various sensors 264, a first hand driving unit 265, a second hand driving unit 266, a hand front-rear moving unit 267 for moving the hands 163 and 164 in the front-rear direction, The hand lateral movement unit 268 for laterally moving the hand, the roller device driving unit 269, and other input / output units are connected. Control of Copying Machine Body On the copying machine body 1 side, in step S1 of FIG.
Initial settings such as setting the number of copies to "1" are performed. In this initial setting, the non-sort mode,
Non-staple mode is set.

Next, in step S2, a condition input process such as receiving an input for setting the number of copies is performed. In step S3, a mode selection process described later is performed. In step S4, a copy start command from the print button is accepted. When a copy start command is issued, the copy operation is performed by controlling the image forming unit and the automatic document feeder 11. During this copy operation, the paper is conveyed from the paper feed cassette 19 or the paper feed deck 20 to the image forming unit 6, the toner image is transferred to the paper in the image forming unit 6, and after the fixing device 14 performs the fixing process. The sheet is guided to the introduction portion 28 of the sorter 2 by the discharge roller 15. The processing for the sheet guided into the sorter 2 will be described later.
When the copy process in step S4 is completed, the process returns to step S2.

Details of the mode selection processing in step S3 are shown in FIGS. 17, in step S5, it is determined whether or not the sort key is pressed, in step S6, it is determined whether or not the staple key is pressed, and in step S7 of FIG. 18, it is determined whether or not the multi-key is pressed. . If you determine that the sort key was pressed,
The process moves from step S5 to step S8. If the sort mode has already been set, the process proceeds to step S9 to cancel the sort mode. On the other hand, if the sort mode is not set, steps S8 to S1
Move to 0. In step S10, it is determined whether or not the copy setting number exceeds the total number of bins (here, 20). If it exceeds, the process proceeds to step S11 to automatically set the multi mode. Also, the set number of copies is 20
If the number of sheets is less than or equal to the number of sheets, the process proceeds from step S10 to step S12, and the sort mode is set.

When it is judged that the staple key has been pressed,
The process moves from step S6 to step S13. In step S13, it is determined whether the staple mode has already been set. If it is determined that the staple mode has already been set, the process proceeds to step S14 and the staple mode is released. On the other hand, if it is determined that the staple key is pressed in the state where the staple mode is not set, the process proceeds from step S13 to step S15. In step S15, it is determined whether or not the copy setting number exceeds 20. If it exceeds, the process proceeds to step S16 to set the multi mode. If the copy setting number is 20 or less, the process proceeds from step S15 to step S17 to set the staple mode.

When it is determined that the multi-key has been pressed, the process proceeds from step S7 to step S18, and it is determined whether or not the multi-mode is already set. If it is determined that the setting has already been made, the process proceeds to step S19 to cancel the multi mode. If it is determined that the multi mode is not set, the process proceeds from step S18 to step S20, and the multi mode is set. In the sorter control sorter 2, initialization is performed in step P1 of FIG. Here, the stapling and punching device is arranged at the initial position, and the branching claw 132 is attached to the non-sorting bin 13.
Processing such as setting to the 3 side is performed.

At step P2, various modes are reset. As a result, the non-sort mode is set for the sort / non-sort mode, and the non-staple mode is set for the staple / non-staple mode. Next, in step P3, it is determined whether or not the processing condition information such as the number of processed sheets and the contents of the setting mode is sent from the copying machine main body 1 side. If the processing condition is input, the process proceeds to step P4 to set the operation mode according to the condition.

In step P5, it is determined whether the non-sort mode is selected, in step P6 it is determined whether the sort mode is selected, in step P7 it is determined whether the staple mode is selected, and in step P8. It is determined whether or not the multi mode is selected, and further, in step P9, it is determined whether or not the multi key on the operation panel of the sorter 2 is pressed.

When it is determined that the mode is the non-sort mode, the process shifts from step P5 to step P10 to execute the non-sort processing. If it is determined that the sort mode is set, the process shifts from step P6 to step P11 to execute the sort process. If it is determined that the staple mode is set, the process proceeds from step P7 to step P12 to execute the stapling process. If it is determined that the multi mode is set, the process shifts from step P8 to step P13 to execute the multi process. If it is determined that the multi-key has been pressed, the process proceeds from step P9 to step P14 to forcibly discharge the paper in the bin 25. When it is determined that the multi-processing multi-mode is set, the multi-processing shown in FIG. 20 is executed. In this multi-processing, first, the sorting processing is executed in step P50. This sort process is similar to the sort process shown in step P11 of FIG.

When the sorting process is completed, step P51
Then, all the bins 25 are moved to the initial position for stapling. Further, the elevation reference plate 122 is lowered. Then, in step P52, the stapling process is executed. The stapling process is similar to the stapling process shown in step P12 of FIG. Next in step P53
Then, it is determined whether or not the bin can be moved (lowered). For the first bin 25, it is always judged as YES, but in the second and subsequent stages, it is judged depending on whether or not the paper has been taken out from the bin 25 at the take-out position. Then step P
At 54, the bin 25 is lowered by one stage. Then, in Step P55, the multi-stacker control copying machine main body 25
A movement completion signal is sent to 7. As a result, in the multi-stacker 3, the process of taking out the paper from the bin 25 is executed.

In step P56, it is determined whether or not the sheets have been taken out of all the bins 25 on which the stapled sheets are placed. If the paper remains in the bin 25, the process proceeds to step P57. In Step P57, it is determined whether or not the stapling process has been completed for all the bins 25 to which the sheets have been transferred. If not completed, the process returns to step P52, and the processes of steps P52 to P56 are repeatedly executed. When the stapling process is completed for all the sheets, the process proceeds to step P53,
The process of steps P53 to P55, that is, the process of lowering the last bin by one step is executed.

When all the sheets stored in the sorter are taken out to the multi-stacker 3 side in this way, the process moves from step P56 to step P58, and the lifting reference plate 122 is moved.
Raise. Next, in Step P59, it is determined whether or not the sorting process, the stapling process, and the taking-out process for the set number of copies are completed. If not completed, the process returns from step P59 to step P50. In other words, when the number of copies to be set is equal to or greater than the number of bins, the sorting process and the stapling process are executed for all the bins, the paper take-out process is performed, and the same process is repeated for the remaining number of copies. Run. If the processing has been completed for all of the set number of copies, it is determined as YES in Step P59, and the process proceeds to Step P60. In Step P60, an end signal is sent out. Control of Multi Stacker FIG. 21 shows a control flowchart of the multi stacker 3.

In step Q1, initial setting is performed. In this initial setting, processing such as setting the first and second hands 163 and 164 to the retracted position and moving the moving plate 160 to the home position is performed. Next, in step Q2, it is determined whether or not a movement completion signal has been sent from the sorter control unit 256, or whether or not the multi-key on the operation panel of the sorter 2 has been pressed. If it is determined that the movement completion signal has been sent or the multi-key has been pressed, the process proceeds from step Q2 to step Q3. In step Q3, both hands 163 and 164 are projected from the retracted position shown in A of FIG. 23 to the B position. At this time, the lower reference plate 122b on the sorter 2 side is in a lowered and open state. When both hands 163 and 164 are projected, the moving table 160 moves, so that both hands 163 and 164 move to the stopper roller 169 side and stop at the C position. In step Q4, it is determined whether or not the hands 163 and 164 have reached the C position, that is, the take-out position. After waiting for both hands 163 and 164 to reach the take-out position, the process proceeds to step Q5. In step Q5, hand 1
63 and 164 are further projected to the bin 25 side and moved to the D position. In the initial state, the solenoids of the hands 163 and 164 are off, and the upper and lower grip members 180,
181 is open (the posture shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 10).

Next, in step Q6, the solenoid 185 of the first hand 163 is turned on to grip the side edge of the sheet.
Then, in step Q7, the moving plate 160 is moved to move the first hand 163 in the paper discharge direction (the direction away from the copying machine main body 1). In step Q8, it is determined whether or not the first hand 163 is separated from the second hand 164 by a predetermined distance. This is because the sensor 178 is the first
It is determined whether or not the hand 163 is turned on. At this point, the first hand attachment plate 161 that moves together with the first hand 163 becomes the second hand attachment plate 162.
It is in contact with the groove end of the slide guide 171 fixed to. At this point, the fixed reference plate 12
It is in contact with 1. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the trailing edge of the sheet from moving to the front side of the apparatus and the sheet from tilting.

If YES is determined in step Q8, the process proceeds to step Q9. In step Q9, the moving plate 160
Stop the movement of. In step Q10, the solenoid 185 of the second hand 164 is turned on to grip the trailing edge of the sheet. Next, in step Q11, the movement of the moving plate 160 is restarted, and in step Q12, the hands 163, 164 are moved.
It is determined whether or not has come to the pull-out position, that is, the position E in FIG. When it is determined that the hands 163 and 164 have reached the E position, the process proceeds to step Q13 and the movement of the moving plate 160 is stopped. In step Q14, both hands 16
3, 164 are moved to the front side of the apparatus to take out the sheet from the bin 25, and the roller apparatuses 205, 206 are driven at low speed synchronized with the moving speed of the hands 163, 164. Next, in step Q15, the hands 163, 1
It is determined whether 64 has reached the position where the grip of the sheet is released. At the grip release position, the side edge of the sheet is at the roller device 20.
5, 206 is a position gripped by the driven roller 209, and the amount of movement of each hand 163, 164 (first drive mechanism 1
No. 65 detected by the pulse detection of the motor 190). Note that this determination may be performed using the photo interrupter 230 for jam detection. Hand 16
When 3 and 164 reach the grip release position, the process proceeds to step Q16, the solenoids 185 of the hands 163 and 164 are turned off, and the grip of the paper is released. And the roller device 20
Turn off 5,206.

From this state, the hands 163 and 164 are further added.
Is retracted to the front side of the device. Then, each hand 163,
A guide roller 170 attached to the lower end of 164 is guided downward along a guide member 177, and the hand retracts inside the paper transport path 153. In step Q17,
It is determined whether or not each hand 163, 164 has moved to the retracted position shown by the solid line in FIG. Each hand 163,164
Waits for the evacuation of the process, and then proceeds to step Q18. In step Q18, the roller devices 205 and 206 are turned on again, the rollers are rotated at a higher speed than when the paper is taken out, and the paper is discharged to the stack portion 152 side.

In step Q19, the paper is stored in each hand unit 1.
It is determined whether the vehicle has passed over 63,164. After waiting for passage, the process proceeds to step Q20. Step Q20
Then, it is determined whether or not the end signal is sent from the sorter control unit 256. If the paper remains in the bin 25 on the sorter 2 side, the process proceeds from step Q20 to step Q21 in FIG. In step Q21, it is determined whether or not the stack section 152 is full of sheets. If the stack section 152 is full of sheets and it is difficult to store more sheets, the process proceeds from step Q21 to step Q22. In step Q22, a signal for displaying a message to that effect is sent to the operation panel 250 of the copying machine main body control unit 255. And step Q
23, the sorter control unit 256 and the copying machine main body control unit 2
A stop signal is sent to 55. As a result, the operation of each unit is temporarily stopped. Next, in step Q24, the sheet is removed from the stack unit 152 and the release signal is waited for. When the release signal is output, the process returns to step Q2 of FIG. 21 and the same processing as described above is repeatedly executed. If YES is determined in step Q21, the process returns to step Q2 and the same process is repeated.

When all the sheets stored in the bin on the sorter 2 side are taken out, the end signal is output from the sorter control unit 256. When the multi-stacker control unit 257 receives the end signal, YES is determined in step Q20 and the multi-process is ended. Operation during paper discharge (see FIGS. 7 and 8) When the roller devices 205 and 206 rotate at high speed to discharge the paper to the stack portion 152 side, the paper P is guided to the paper transport path 153 and moves to the stack portion 152 side. , Placed on the bottom surface 226. Paper P separated from the first guide member 301
Since the lower side of the stack hits the bottom surface 226 of the stack portion 152 substantially uniformly, the impact at the time of collision is mitigated, and the corners of the paper are prevented from being damaged. (A) Operational effect of the first guide member 301 First guides the upstream end of the sheet P being discharged in the transport direction
Since the guide member 301 is separated from the side wall 225 and the lower part is inclined so as to be separated from the side wall 225 to the downstream side in the transport direction, the paper P falls without leaning on the side wall 225. Further, since the paper P separated from the lower end of the first guide member 301 separates from the side wall 225 and falls,
The sheet P is accurately placed on the bottom surface 226 without leaning on the side wall 225. Further, the first guide member 301 is inclined toward the front side of the image forming apparatus, and further the second side wall 301 is provided.
Since the lower part of c is inclined so that it is on the front side of the device with respect to the upper part, the lower part of the paper P is guided to the front side of the device. Furthermore, since the second side wall 301c is gradually lowered as it goes downward, the upper portion of the sheet P is likely to fall toward the rear side of the apparatus. This allows the paper to be placed on the bottom surface 2 more accurately.
26. (B) Effects of Paper Guide Mechanism (Second Guide Member 306 and Cover Member 318) The upstream end of the falling paper P in the transport direction is guided by the second guide member 306 to the front side of the image forming apparatus. Also,
The end portion on the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction is the guide portion 3 of the lid member 318.
It is guided to the front side of the image forming apparatus by 18a. Since the downstream end of the sheet in the sheet conveying direction is the side not stapled, conventionally, the sheet bundle may come into contact with the bottom surface to be deformed and damaged even when the sheet bundle is not aligned, but it is arranged by being guided by the lid member 318. The bottom surface 226 is reached in the closed state. As described above, the lower portion of the sheet P is guided to the front side of the image forming apparatus, so that the sheet P is placed on the bottom surface 226 more accurately. (C) Operation and Effect of Pushing Member 310 When the upper portion of the paper P being discharged reaches the vicinity of the second guide member 306, the interlocking mechanism 305 moves the second guide member 306 in the direction in which it is retracted into the side wall 225, and the pushing member 310 is pushed.
Pushes the upper part of the paper to the rear and downward of the image forming apparatus. By pushing the upper portion of the sheet P toward the rear side of the image forming apparatus, the sheet is accurately placed on the bottom surface 226. Here, since the second member 306 is retracted into the side wall 225, the upper portion of the paper P being discharged is not guided to the front side of the image forming apparatus. (D) Effects of the guide portion 226a The dropped paper P has the guide portion 22 provided on the bottom surface 226.
It is moved to the upstream side in the paper transport direction by 6a. Therefore, the ejected paper P has the end face of the side wall 225 after dropping.
Abutting against and aligned.

[0061]

In the paper take-out apparatus according to the present invention, the lower part of the paper being ejected is guided to the front side of the image forming apparatus by the paper guide mechanism, so that the paper is properly placed on the bottom surface. When the paper guide mechanism has the first member that comes into contact with the upstream end of the discharged paper in the transport direction, the above effect becomes more remarkable. Further, when the paper guide mechanism has a drive mechanism for arranging the first member in the first position where it abuts the paper being ejected and in the second position where it abuts on the paper that is being ejected, the first member is first moved relative to the paper ejection position. The members can be placed in the proper position so that the paper will rest better on the bottom.

When the drive mechanism disposes the first member in the second position after arranging it in the first position, the lower part of the sheet being ejected is guided to the front side of the image forming apparatus, but the lower part of the sheet is in front of the image forming apparatus. The paper is better placed on the bottom because it is not guided to the side. When the pressing member that pushes the upper portion of the sheet being ejected to the rear side of the image forming apparatus is further provided, the sheet is placed on the bottom surface better.

When the drive mechanism pushes the pushing member when the first member of the paper guide mechanism is arranged at the second position, the upper portion of the sheet is moved to the rear side of the image forming apparatus by the pushing member without contacting the first member. The paper is better placed on the bottom surface because it is pushed out. When the paper guide mechanism includes the second member that comes into contact with the downstream end of the discharged paper in the transport direction, the paper is placed on the bottom surface better. At this time, when the second member is a lid member, the above effect becomes more remarkable.

When the bottom side of the image forming apparatus is inclined so that it is higher than the front side, the sheet contacting the bottom surface moves to the front side of the image forming apparatus, so that the sheet is placed on the bottom surface better. Placed. If the bottom surface has a guide part that guides the placed paper to the upstream side in the paper transport direction, the paper that reaches the bottom surface is guided rearward in the paper transport direction by the guide part, so that the paper is better at the bottom surface. Placed on.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a copying machine to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional schematic configuration diagram of the copying machine.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a bottle used in the sorter of the copying machine.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a mechanism for driving the bottle.

FIG. 5 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view of the sorter.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a drive unit of a paper reference plate used in the sorter.

FIG. 7 is a schematic vertical sectional front view of a multi-stacker of the copying machine.

FIG. 8 is a sectional side view of the multi-stacker.

FIG. 9 is a partial front sectional view of the multi-stacker.

FIG. 10 is a partial sectional side view of the multi-stacker.

FIG. 11 is a side view of the first guide member.

12 is a sectional view taken along line XII-XII of FIG.

FIG. 13 is a schematic configuration diagram of a guide unit.

FIG. 14 is a front view of a lid member.

FIG. 15 is a control block diagram of the copying machine.

FIG. 16 is a control flowchart of the copying machine main body.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of mode selection processing of the copying machine main body.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of mode selection processing of the copying machine main body.

FIG. 19 is a control flowchart of the sorter.

FIG. 20 is a control flowchart of the multi-processing of the sorter.

FIG. 21 is a control flowchart of a multi-stacker.

FIG. 22 is a control flowchart of the multi-stacker.

FIG. 23 is a plan view of a hand mechanism for explaining a paper take-out process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Multi-stacker 25 Bin 152 Paper storage unit 153 Paper transport path 302 Guide unit 303 Guide mechanism 304 Pushing mechanism 305 Interlocking mechanism 318 Lid member

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A sheet take-out device for taking out a sheet from a bin in which a sheet conveyed from the image forming apparatus to the side of the apparatus is placed, wherein the sheet in the bin is forwarded to the image forming apparatus. A paper ejecting unit for ejecting, a paper accommodating unit disposed below the paper ejecting unit and having a bottom surface on which the paper ejected by the paper ejecting unit is placed, and an image of a lower portion of the paper being ejected A sheet ejecting device including a sheet guide mechanism that guides the sheet to the front side of the forming apparatus. 2. The paper guide mechanism has a first member that comes into contact with the upstream end of the discharged paper in the conveying direction.
The paper ejection device according to claim 1. 3. The paper guide mechanism has a drive mechanism for arranging the first member at a first position where it abuts the paper being ejected and a second position where it does not abut.
The paper take-out device described in. 4. The drive mechanism arranges the first member at a first position to guide the lower part of the paper being discharged to the image forming apparatus side, and then arranges the first member at a second position. The sheet takeout device according to claim 3. 5. The sheet take-out device according to claim 1, further comprising a pushing member that pushes the upper portion of the sheet being ejected to the rear side of the image forming apparatus. 6. The pushing member is connected to the drive mechanism,
6. The drive mechanism pushes the pushing member when the first member of the paper guide mechanism is arranged at the second position.
The paper take-out device described in. 7. The paper guide mechanism includes a second member that comes into contact with the downstream end of the discharged paper in the transport direction.
The sheet takeout device according to any one of claims 1 to 6. 8. The second member comprises a lid member.
The paper take-out device described in. 9. The sheet ejecting device according to claim 1, wherein the bottom surface is inclined so that the rear side of the image forming apparatus is higher than the front side. 10. The sheet take-out device according to claim 1, wherein the bottom surface has a guide portion that guides the placed sheet toward the upstream side in the sheet conveying direction.