JPH0737297B2 - Sheet material discharging device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a sheet material discharging device applied to an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile, a copying machine, and a micro device, and more specifically, depending on the size of the sheet material. The present invention relates to a sheet material discharging device in which a discharge port is switched.

(B) Conventional technology In a conventional printer, for example, a transfer material on which an original image is formed is configured to be discharged to one discharge port, and a large or small transfer material is discharged to one discharge paper. It is designed to be loaded just below the mouth.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, since transfer materials of different sizes are stacked immediately below one sheet discharge port, classification by size is difficult. Especially when creating a large amount of transfer material,
Not only does it take a lot of effort to classify, but it also has the drawback of causing problems such as misclassification.

Further, although the classification can be performed by forming the sheet discharge ports in multiple stages, there is a possibility that the size of the casing of the apparatus becomes large.

Furthermore, in order to make the size of the housing of the device as small as possible,
In the case where the paper discharge port is formed at the rear of the apparatus or at a high position, there is a drawback that labor is required to collect the transfer material.

(D) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances,
For example, referring to FIG. 1, the sheet material conveying path (1
In the sheet material discharging device (1) comprising sheet material discharging parts (20) and (21) for stacking a plurality of sheet materials (3) discharged from (7) and (19), the sheet material discharging part ( 2
0), (21) multiple sheet material discharge surface (2
0), (21) and the sheet material conveying path (9),
Further, the conveyed sheet material (3) is branched and conveyed to the plurality of sheet material discharge surfaces (20) and (21) based on the size information of the sheet material (3) conveyed to the sheet conveyance path (9). The branching means (15), (16) and the plurality of sheet material discharge surfaces are arranged in a step-like manner so that the upstream side is for the large size and the downstream side is for the small size. It is characterized by being done.

Further, the sheet material discharging surface is located on the upper surface of the apparatus.

Further, the lower sheet material discharging surface on the downstream side is formed narrower in the width direction of the sheet material than the upper sheet material discharging surface on the upstream side, and the higher sheet material discharging surface on the upstream side is correspondingly formed. Is extended.

Still further, the extension portion is movable in the width direction.

(E) Operation Based on the above configuration, the size of the sheet material (3) conveyed through the sheet material conveyance path (9) is detected by the detection means (12), and the signal transmitted from the detection means (12) is detected. The branching means (15), (16) having received the sheet material (3) guide it to a predetermined sheet material conveying path (17) or (19), and pass through the sheet material discharge port (23) or (25). The sheet material (3) is discharged onto the discharge surface (20) or (21) by size.

The reference numerals in parentheses do not limit the configuration in any way.

(F) Example Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of the printer 1. Reference numeral 2 is a tray on which the transfer material 3 is placed. A paper feed roller 5 is provided in the paper feed portion of the tray 2, and a pair of registration rollers 7a and 7b are arranged via a guide path 6 and further a guide path. 9 is arranged in parallel with the lower surface of the printer 1, a process cartridge containing a photosensitive drum 10a and the like is provided above the guide path 9, and a conveyance guide 11 is provided below the guide path 9 downstream of the cartridge 10. The conveyance guide 11 is provided with a detection means 12 for detecting the size of the transfer material 3, and the first paper discharge roller pair 13a, 13b is provided in front of the end portion of the guide path 9, and the end of the guide path 9 is provided. The portion is curved upward, and a branch portion 15 is formed at the end of the guide path 9.
In addition, a flapper 16 is provided. Further, a guide path 17 that is curved from the branch portion 15 along the front surface of the printer 1 and along the upper surface is provided, and a guide path 19 that is immediately curved and extends obliquely rearward is provided, and the guide path 19 is provided on the upper surface of the printer 1. A first-stage mounting portion 20 extending obliquely rearward is formed, and a second-stage mounting portion 21 is further formed rearward, and a step portion between the exterior cover 22 and the first-stage mounting portion 20 is formed. A paper ejection port 23 is formed, a paper ejection port 25 is formed at the step between the first-stage mounting portion 20 and the second-stage mounting portion 21, and the ends of the guide paths 17 and 19 are the respective paper ejection ports. A second paper discharge roller pair 26a, 26b and a third paper discharge roller pair 27a, 27b are provided between the ends of the guide paths 17, 19 and the paper discharge ports 23, 25 so as to face the papers 23, 25. There is.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

The transfer material 3 is driven and conveyed by the paper feed roller 5, and the transfer material 3 is printed by the registration roller pair 7a and 7b in cooperation with the device in the process cartridge 10 and transferred when passing over the conveyance guide 11. The size of the material 3 is detected by the detection means 12. Then, the flapper 16 is driven by the control unit (not shown) which receives the signal of the detection means 12.

At this time, for example, when a signal having a large size is transmitted from the detection means 12, the guide surface of the flapper 16 is positioned along the guide path 17 as shown in FIG. The second pair of discharge rollers 26a, 26b along the line 17
As a result, the paper is ejected to the placement unit 20 through the paper ejection port 23. Also,
When a small-sized signal is transmitted from the detection means 12, as shown in FIG. 3, the flapper 16 closes the opening formed by the guide paths 17 and 19, so that the transfer material 3 follows the guide path 19. Then, the sheet is discharged to the placing portion 21 through the sheet discharge port 25 by the third pair of sheet discharge rollers 27a and 27b.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the printer 1 from diagonally above.
The mounting portions 20 and 21 are formed to have the same width. Therefore, the transfer material 3 having a large size is aligned in the width direction on the mounting portion 20, but a postcard or a slip having a small size and a small width is not aligned in the width direction on the mounting portion 21. If the mounting portion 20 is further extended forward as shown by the chain line 29, the transfer material 3 having a large size and long length can be mounted without hanging down forward.

Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Tray 2
When the transfer material 3 having a wide width and the transfer material 3a having a narrow width are placed and fed at the center, the width of the placing portion 21 is narrowed and
When both sides of the transfer member 20 are extended to both sides of the mounting unit 20, the small-sized transfer material 3a having a small width is aligned with the mounting unit 21 in the width direction, and the large-sized transfer material 3 is The placement section 20 can be placed in a stable state.

Next, still another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. By arranging the extension parts 30, 30 of the mounting part 20 on both sides of the mounting part 21 in a positionally adjustable manner, the small-sized transfer materials 3a having various narrow widths are further mounted on the mounting part 21 in a lateral direction. Can be placed.

It should be noted that, in the above-mentioned embodiment, it is explained that the signal is branched by the signal of the detection means (12), but it may be branched by the signal from the tray 2.

(G) Effect of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the sheet material is discharged to the sheet material discharge surface according to size, so that the sheet material can be automatically classified and labor saving can be improved.

Further, since the discharging surface is formed in one sheet material discharging portion, it is possible to reduce the increase in the space of the sheet material discharging device and prevent the sheet material discharging surface from being dispersed.
It is possible to improve labor saving in gathering sheet materials.

Also, since the sheet material discharge surface is arranged in a stepwise manner,
The small size sheet can be stored in the storage space for the large size sheet, and the two sheets can be brought close to each other without providing a working space between the sheet material discharge surfaces. Therefore, it is possible to reduce an increase in the space of the sheet material discharging device, prevent dispersion of the sheet material discharging surface, and improve labor saving in assembling the sheet materials.

Furthermore, since the sheet material is branched and conveyed by size by the branching means and then discharged onto the sheet material discharge surface, it is possible to classify the sheets by size even when discharging sheets of different sizes in any order. Become.

Furthermore, since the sheet material discharging surface on the upstream side in the sheet conveying direction and in the high direction is for large size, and the sheet material discharging surface on the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction for lower size is for small size. It is easy to take out small size sheets even when large size sheets are stacked.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a printer to which the sheet material discharging device of the present invention is applied, FIGS. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views showing a state in which flappers are sized according to branching portions, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a sheet material discharging portion of another embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a sheet material discharging portion of still another embodiment. 3 ... sheet material (transfer material), 9,17,19 ... sheet material conveying path (guide path), 12 ... detecting means, 15 ... branching portion, 16 ... branching means (branching portion, flapper), 20,21 ... sheet Material discharge surface (placement part).

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A sheet material discharging device comprising a sheet material discharging portion for stacking a plurality of sheet materials discharged from a sheet material conveying path, comprising a plurality of sheet material discharging surfaces formed in the sheet material discharging portion. A branching unit for branching the transported sheet material to the plurality of sheet material discharge surfaces and transporting the transported sheet material based on the size information of the sheet material which is located in the sheet material transport path and is transported to the sheet material transport path; A plurality of sheet material discharge surfaces are arranged in a step-like manner so that the upstream side and the higher side are for large size and the downstream side and the lower side are for small size. Sheet material discharging device. 2. The sheet material discharging device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet material discharging surface is located on the upper surface of the apparatus. 3. The lower sheet material discharging surface on the downstream side is formed narrower in the width direction of the sheet material than the upper sheet material discharging surface on the upstream side, and the higher sheet on the upstream side is correspondingly formed. The sheet material discharging device according to claim 1, wherein the material discharging surface is extended. 4. The sheet material discharging device according to claim 3, wherein the extension portion is movable in the width direction.