JPH10330012A - Printer, stacker unit and printer including stacker unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a stacker unit and priter which can be mounted removably at the face-up exhaust hole and face-down exhaust hole of a printer, whereby it is possible to stack the printed sheets being distinguished according to different users and can make stacking in two fashions, i.e., in face-down and face-up. SOLUTION: A recording medium 8 after printing is passed through exhaust rollers 10 and 11 and exhausted from a face-down exhaust hole 12 or a face-up exhaust hole 13. In this printer, a first mounting part 14 is provided at the face-down exhaust hole 12 while a second mounting part 15 is furnished at the face-up exhaust hole 13, and therein 14 and 15 a stacker unit 16 in which recording media 8 exhausted from the exhaust hole 12 or 13 are accumulated can be mounted in any of them removably.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper stack mechanism of a printer, and more particularly to a printer capable of detachably mounting a stacker unit having a tray to a face-up discharge port and a face-down discharge port of the printer. It relates to a stacker unit.

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, printers such as laser printers and wire dot printers have been used as output devices such as personal computers and word processors. These printers have a face for collecting printed paper with its print surface facing upward. It has an up-stacker and a face-down stacker that stacks the print surface with the print surface facing down in the page order, and also has a paper upside-down mechanism for double-sided printing.

However, recently, with the advance of office automation, a single printer is commonly used by a plurality of personal computers and the like, and printed papers can be sorted and accumulated according to users. Some printers are equipped with multiple trays so that post-processing is not required, or multiple types of printing and various types of printing can be classified. It is equipped with.

Therefore, face-up / face-down cannot be selected in single-sided / double-sided printing, and the installation direction is limited. Therefore, there is a demand for a method capable of responding to various requests for taking out a printed sheet, setting a place, and the like.

[0005]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 13 shows an internal side view of a laser printer. In the figure, 1a is a printer, 2a is a paper feed table,
2b is a paper feed cassette, 2c is a back side printing paper storage section, 3a to 3c are feeding rollers for feeding out the paper 8a, 4a to 4c are transport paths on which the paper 8a is transported, 5 is a printer section, 6 is a face down stacker, 7 Is a face-up stacker.

The transport path 4a is provided with a transport mechanism such as a feed roller 9 and discharge rollers 10a and 11a.
A switching valve 40 is provided at the branch point of 4c. Discharge roller 10
A discharges the printed paper 8a from the discharge port 12a to the face-down stacker 6. The discharge roller 11a discharges the printed paper 8a from the discharge port 13a to the face-up stacker 7 and functions as a feed roller on the transport path 4a to the face-up stacker 7, as described later.

The sheet feed table 2a is also used as a front cover of the apparatus, and is rotatably mounted on the front side of the apparatus. covers (feeding port of the paper 8a), when using the apparatus, as shown by two-dot chain line, the angle theta ₁
Open only to the pivoted position.

[0008] A paper cassette 2b and a back side printing paper storage unit 2c are provided below the apparatus. The paper feeding cassette 2b is a cassette that stores standard size paper 8a, and the back side printing paper storage unit 2c is a single side printing. The fed sheet 8a is fed into the transport path 4c in the direction of the arrow by the switching of the switching valve 40 and the reverse rotation of the discharge roller 11a, and is stored therein. The sheet 8a is fed out again for backside printing.

Paper feed cassette 2b or back side printing paper storage section
The sheet 8a fed from 2c is conveyed along the conveyance path 4b and enters the conveyance path 4a. The feed rollers 3a to 3d that feed out the paper 8a from the paper feed table 2a, the paper feed cassette 2b, and the back side print paper storage unit 2c are driven by the same drive source and rotated by the selection operation of a corresponding electromagnetic clutch (not shown). .
Which of the paper feed table 2a and the paper feed cassette 2b to feed out the paper 8a is instructed by print information (instructed in advance by an operator).

Paper 8a fed out using paper feed table 2a
Is a special paper, for example, thick paper such as an envelope or postcard, which is inappropriate for curved conveyance, or a non-standard size paper 8a.
The case is mainly.

The printer unit 5 includes a photosensitive drum 50, an optical unit 51, a cleaner 52, a charger 53, a developing unit 54, a transfer unit 55,
A photosensitive drum composed of a static eliminator 56 and a fixing device 57, cleaned by a cleaner 52, and charged by a charger 53;
The electrostatic latent image is formed by irradiating a laser beam or the like obtained by converting print information into optical data from the optical unit 51 onto the surface of the developing unit 50, and a developing device
At 54, the electrostatic latent image is developed with toner and the paper supplied
The transfer device 55 transfers the toner image from the photosensitive drum 50 to the transfer device 8a, and the fixing device 57 fixes the toner image by, for example, heating / pressing.

The face-down stacker 6 is formed on the upper surface of the apparatus, and sheets 8a are stacked with the printing surface facing down. The face-up stacker 7 is also used as a rear cover of the apparatus, is formed integrally with a part of one side of the transport path 4a (shown by hatching), and is rotatably attached to the rear side of the apparatus. I have. When the face-up stacker 7 is not used, as shown by the solid line in the drawing, the stacker is rotated in the vertical direction and positioned on the rear side surface to cover the discharge port 13a of the sheet 8a.

When the face-up stacker 7 is used, it is opened to a position rotated by an angle θ ₂ as shown by a two-dot chain line in the figure. At this time, a portion that forms a part of one side of the transport path 4a is also rotated and comes to a position for guiding the discharged sheet 8a. The paper thus discharged by the discharge roller 11a
8a is stacked on the face-up stacker 7 with the printing surface facing upward.

Accordingly, the fed sheet 8a is conveyed along the conveyance path 4a and is printed by the printer unit 5. When the face-up stacker 7 is closed, the paper 8a is discharged near the discharge port 12a at the end of the conveyance path 4a. When the face-up stacker 7 is opened by the roller 11a and the face-up stacker 7 is opened, the sheet is automatically sent from the discharge port 13a to the face-up stacker 7 by the discharge roller 11a.

Having such a configuration and function, the operation in the case of single-sided / double-sided printing and face-up / face-down integration will now be described. First, the operator specifies in advance whether to perform single-sided printing or double-sided printing (specified in the print information), and the stacking method of the paper 8a after printing is face-down (in the case of single-sided printing, page order. The face-up stacker 7 determines whether the printed face to be stacked is visible.) Or face-up (in the case of single-sided printing, the printed face to be stacked is visible. In the case of double-sided printing, the order is page order). The feed roller 9 and the discharge rollers 10a, 11
The driving of a and the switching rotation operation of the switching valve 40 are controlled, and printing and accumulation in a desired method can be performed.

When the paper 8a is returned to the transport path 4c in double-sided printing, the switching valve 40 is switched. That is, for example, when the paper 8a is fed from the paper feed cassette 2b, if the single-sided printing is specified and the face-up stacker 7 is closed, the face-down (stacked in page order) is performed.
Is specified, the sheet 8a fed from the paper feed cassette 2b by the rotation of the feed roller 3b advances to the transport path 4a from the transport path 4c, is printed by the printer unit 5, and is sent by the feed roller 9 and the discharge roller 10a. The sheet is sent out and accumulated in the face-down stacker 6.

If one-sided printing is designated and the face-up stacker 7 is opened, the face-up is designated, and the fed sheet 8a is printed by the printer unit 5, discharged by the discharge roller 11a, and discharged. It is integrated in the up stacker 7.

When the face-up stacker 7 is opened by designating double-sided printing, face-up (collecting pages in the same order) is designated, and the printer unit 5 prints one side (for example, one page, three pages, etc.). When the rear end of the sheet 8a printed on the (odd page) passes the position of the switching valve 40, a sensor (not shown) detects the sheet 8a and the sheet is discharged by the discharge roller 11a.
The feeding of 8a stops, the direction of the switching valve 40 is switched, the discharge roller 11a rotates in the opposite direction, and the paper 8a is stored from the transport path 4c into the rear printing paper storage unit 2c.

Then, the switching valve 40 returns to the original direction, and the paper 8a
Is fed by the feeding roller 3c, and the printer unit 5
On the back side (for example, even pages such as 2 pages, 4 pages, etc.)
, And are discharged by the discharge roller 11a and accumulated on the face-up stacker 7. Therefore, the odd-numbered pages face downward and are accumulated in page order.

If the face-up stacker 7 is closed after the double-sided printing is designated, the face-down is designated. As in the case of the face-up by the double-sided printing, the single-side printed paper 8a is replaced with the back-side printing paper. After being stored in the storage section 2c, it is fed out by the feeding roller 3c, printed on the back side by the printer section 5, conveyed through the conveyance path 4a, discharged by the discharge roller 10a, and discharged by the face down stacker 6c.
Will be integrated.

In the above, one page to be printed and two pages to be printed
A memory for storing two pages of print data of an odd numbered page and an even numbered page, such as a third page and a fourth page, is used to store two pages of print data. There is also a method of outputting and printing the print data of the pages, and printing and printing the print data of the odd numbered pages in the back side printing, and a method of stacking the odd numbered pages in the face-down stacker 6 in the page order.

In such a printer, an apparatus having a plurality of trays in order to sort and accumulate printed materials of a plurality of users, sort printing of a plurality of copies, etc.
JP-A-2-310248 and JP-A-5-33
8904.

The method of the (conventional example 1), as shown in FIG. 14, a plurality of trays 17 _1, 17 _2, equipped with a sorter 6A having ..., the guide member 120 provided in the vicinity of the discharge port 12A, the guide The member 120 is moved to the tray 17 with the vicinity of the outlet 12A as the center of rotation.
Rotate to the position corresponding to _1, 17 ₂ ,.
The printed paper 8a discharged by the
, And are sorted face down into trays 17 _1, 17 ₂ ,.

The method (conventional example 2) of, as shown in FIG. 15, above the face-down stacker 6B of the printer main body, a plurality of trays 17 _1, 17 _2, ..., conveying path 4A, a plurality of gate G _1, G _2, ... and the feed roller R _1, R _2, equipped with a sorter 6C consisting of distributing the ejection mechanism 170 and having a ..., conveying the printed paper 8a is discharged by the discharge roller 10B and the face-down stacker 6B The sheet 8a sent out after being switched to any one of the paths 4A, and sent out to the conveyance path 4A, has a plurality of gates G ₁ , G ₂ ,
Are guided by the trays 17 _1, 17 ₂ ,..., And the printed paper 8a is sorted face down by the feed rollers R ₁ , R ₂ ,.

[0025]

According to the above-mentioned conventional method, when one printer is commonly used by a plurality of personal computers or the like, it is necessary to sort and collect printed cut sheets for each user. There is, but cannot respond to this.

[0026] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2-310248 and 5-33 disclose those having a plurality of trays.
There is a method proposed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 8904, and both methods have a face-down sorter having a plurality of trays in order to sort a plurality of printed sheets and accumulate them in page order. Things.

Therefore, the direction in which the sheet is taken out and the direction in which the sheet is set are limited, and face-down or face-up cannot be selected. Further, different controls are required to sort the printed sheets for each user, and moreover, a plurality of trays are always provided, which makes the tray selection mechanism complicated, heavy and expensive. There is a problem.

According to the present invention, there is provided a stacker unit which has a simple mechanism, is light in weight and inexpensive, and is capable of stacking printed sheets in a face-down or face-up manner for a plurality of users. An object of the present invention is to provide a printer which can be detachably mounted, a stacker unit thereof, and a printer including the stacker unit.

[0029]

1 to 3 are explanatory views of the principle of the present invention. FIG. 1 corresponds to claim 1, and FIG.
FIG. 3 corresponds to claim 3.

1 (a) and 1 (b), reference numeral 8 denotes a recording medium, 12 denotes a face-down discharge port, 13 denotes a face-up discharge port, and 16 denotes a stacker unit (shown by a two-dot chain line in (b)). , 11 are face-down outlets for the printed recording medium 8
A discharge roller 12 for discharging from the face-up discharge port 12 is provided at the face-down discharge port 12, and a stacker unit 16 on which the recording medium 8 discharged from the face-down discharge port 12 is stacked is detachably mounted. The first mounting section 15 is provided in the face-up discharge port 13 and is a second mounting section to which a stacker unit 16 on which the recording medium 8 discharged from the face-up discharge port 13 is accumulated is detachably mounted. .

Therefore, as the face-down discharge or face-up discharge of the printed recording medium 8 is desired,
Face-down outlet 12 or Face-up outlet 13
When the stacker unit 16 is mounted on one of the first mounting portion 14 and the second mounting portion 15, the recording medium 8 can be discharged from the face-down discharge port 12 or the face-down discharge port. The recording medium 8 can be discharged from the up-discharge port 13 and accumulated in the stacker unit 16 and can be accumulated in a plurality of places including the stacker unique to the printer. They can be accumulated separately.

In FIG. 2, 1 is a printer (indicated by a two-dot chain line), 8 is a recording medium, 12 is a face-down discharge port,
13 is a face-up discharge port, 14 is a first mounting portion, 15 is a second mounting portion, 16 is a stacker unit, and 17 is a tray.

The printed recording medium 8 is discharged from discharge rollers 10 and 11.
The first mounting portion 14 provided at the face-down discharge port 12 of the printer 1 or the second mounting portion 15 provided at the face-up discharge port 13 discharges from the face-down discharge port 12 or the face-up discharge port 13. A stacker unit 16 that is detachably mounted, and is a stacker unit.
16 has at least one tray 17 and a first mounting portion 14
And the second mounting portion 15.

Accordingly, as the face-down discharge or the face-up discharge of the printed recording medium 8 is desired,
When the stacker unit 16 is mounted on one of the first mounting portion 14 and the second mounting portion 15 of the printer 1, the recording medium 8 is discharged from the face-down discharge port 12 or the face-up discharge port 13 and the stacker unit is discharged. Stackers and trays that can be stacked on 16 trays 17 and are unique to the printer 1
Since the recording media 8 can be accumulated at a plurality of 17 locations, the recording media 8 can be distinguished and accumulated for each user by an accumulation method according to the user's request.

In FIG. 3, 1 is a printer, 8 is a recording medium, 10 and 11 are discharge rollers, 12 is a face-down discharge port,
13 is a face-up discharge port, 17 is a tray, 14 is a first mounting section provided in the face-down discharge port 12, 15 is a second mounting section provided in the face-up discharge port 13, and 16 is at least one Having a tray 17, a first mounting portion 14 and a second
Print medium 8 which is common to both
The recording medium 8 ejected from the face-down ejection port 12 or the face-up ejection port 13 when attached is detachably attached to either one of the face-down ejection or the face-up ejection. Is a stacker unit.

Therefore, as the face-down discharge or face-up discharge of the printed recording medium 8 is desired,
Face-down outlet 12 or Face-up outlet 13
And the stacker unit 16 can be stacked in a stacker unique to the printer 1 and the stacker unit 16 can be mounted on one of the first mounting portion 14 and the second mounting portion 15 so that the recording medium 8 can be discharged from the face-down discharge port 12 or The paper can be discharged from the face-up discharge port 13 and collected on the tray 17 of the stacker unit 16, and can be collected on a plurality of places of the stacker and the tray 17 unique to the printer 1, so that the user can use the collecting method according to the user's request. The recording medium 8 can be distinguished and integrated every time.

Claim 4: The stacker unit 16 is provided with a switching valve for switching the discharging direction of the recording medium 8 to a plurality of directions. Therefore, by switching the switching valve, the discharge direction can be selected, the printed recording media 8 can be accumulated, and the printed matter of a plurality of users can be distinguished.

Claim 5: The stacker unit 16 is provided with a transport roller that transports the recording medium 8 by being driven by the driving force of the discharge rollers 10 and 11. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide the stacker unit 16 with a drive source for driving the transport roller, and the mechanism can be simplified and the cost can be improved.

Claim 6: The switching valve is configured to be switched by the driving force of the discharge rollers 10 and 11. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide the stacker unit 16 with a drive source for switching the switching valve, so that the mechanism is simple and the cost can be improved.

[0040]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to the laser printer described in the conventional example will be described with reference to FIGS. The same reference numerals indicate the same objects throughout the drawings.

As shown in the side view of FIG. 4, a stacker unit 16 to be described later is disposed near the discharge ports 12a and 13a of the printer 1b.
There are provided mounting portions 14a and 15a to which a can be removably mounted.

The mounting portions 14a, 15a are provided on the frames 18a, 18b, 18c, 18d on both sides of the printer 1b with positioning pins 19a, 18d, respectively.
Micro switches (hereinafter referred to as micro SW) S1, S for detecting the mounting of the stackers 19b, 19c, 19d and the stacker unit 16a.
2 are provided respectively.

The micro SWS1 and S2 are connected to a stacker unit mounting recognition section described later. FIG. 5 shows a printer 1b in which the stacker unit 16a is mounted on the mounting sections 14a, 15a.

Since the stacker unit 16a is mounted on one of the mounting portions 14a and 15a by a desired stacking method, the stacker unit 16a when mounted on the mounting portion 14a is shown by a solid line in FIG. The stacker unit 16a when attached to 15a is shown by a two-dot chain line.

Next, the configuration of the stacker unit 16a will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. The perspective side view of FIG. 6 and the front view of FIG. 8 do not show the drive mechanism (the stacker unit 16a is connected to the main body of the printer 1b to drive the stacker unit 16a) because the drawings are complicated.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the stacker unit 16a includes side frames 20a and 20b and a plurality of trays 17 mounted or supported on the side frames 20a and 20b.
a, 17b, transport rollers 21, switching valves 22, 23, paper guides 24a,
24b, delivery rollers 25a and 25b, and a drive mechanism (not shown) (see FIGS. 8 and 9).

First, the mounting mechanism of the stacker unit 16a will be described. Slide rollers 200a to 200d are provided on the lower side of the side frames 20a and 20b, and positioning pins are provided at the front of the lower side.
Notched holes 201a and 201b are formed to engage with 19a and 19b.

In the vicinity of the notches 201a, 201b, fulcrums 202a, 202
There are provided levers 203a and 203b whose intermediate positions are supported by 02b. Tongue pieces 204a, 204 are located at the center of levers 203a, 203b.
b are provided, and the tips of the tongue pieces 204a, 204b are bent to form arc-shaped long holes 205a, 205 formed in the side frames 20a, 20b.
It fits in 05b.

A notch 20 is formed at the end of each of levers 203a and 203b.
An arc and a slope along the upper arc of 1a, 201b are formed, and the other ends of the levers 203a, 203b are urged in the direction of the arrow by springs 206a, 206b.
The tongue pieces 204a, 204b are in the shape of the arc-shaped long holes 205a, 2b with the arc at the tip end slightly entering the notch holes 201a, 201b and the slope slightly protruding from the end surfaces of the side frames 20a, 20b.
It is located at the front end of 05b.

Therefore, the stacker unit 16a is
a, 15a, the slide rollers 200a to 200d are slid in the direction of the arrow on the face of the face-down stacker 6a or the face-up stacker 7a, and the stacker unit 16a is moved in the direction of the discharge port 12a or 13a. Press

Then, the tips of the levers 203a, 203b hit the positioning pins 19a, 19b, 19c, 19d, and the levers 203a, 203b
Is rotated against the elasticity of the springs 206a, 206b, and the positioning pins 19a, 19b or 19c, 19d are notched holes 201a, 201.
b into the lever 203 with the elasticity of the springs 206a and 206b.
The side frames 20a, 20b are positioned by pressing the positioning pins 19a, 19b or 19c, 19d by rotating the a, 203b in the opposite direction.

At this time, the end face of the side frame 20a presses the micro SWS1 or S2 actuator to detect the mounting. At the same time, gears, which transmit rotational driving force from the main body of the printer 1b to the stacker unit 16a, mesh with each other.

The electrical connection for driving the electromagnetic clutch of the stacker unit 16a, which will be described later, is made by connecting the connector at the end of a cable (not shown) drawn from the stacker unit 16a to the main body of the printer 1b. Micro SWS1
Alternatively, it is effective on condition that S2 is detected.

In this way, the stacker unit 16a can be mounted on any of the mounting portions 14a and 15a. Next, the driving mechanism of the stacker unit 16a will be described. As shown in the perspective side view of FIG. 7 and the front view of FIG.
21 is provided with a gear G5 coaxially, meshes with a gear G1 coaxial with the discharge roller 10a of the mounting portion 14a via the gear G3 when the stacker unit 16a is mounted, or a discharge roller of the mounting portion 15a.
The gear G2, which is coaxial with the gear 11a, meshes with the gear G2 via the gear G4, and the conveyance roller 21 rotates in the same direction by rotation of the discharge roller 10a or 11a.

The switching valve 22 is supported via a torque limiter 222 on a shaft 220 rotated by the operation of the electromagnetic clutch 221. A timing belt (hereinafter, referred to as a belt) B1 is hung between a pulley P1 provided on the shaft 220 and P2 provided on the shaft of the transport roller 21.

A stopper 22 is provided near one end of the switching valve 22.
3, a stopper 224 is arranged at a predetermined distance above the stopper 223, and the stoppers 223, 224 are fixed to the side frame 20b. The switching valve 22 is normally urged in the direction of arrow A in the figure by the elastic force of a spring (not shown) and is locked by a stopper 223.

Therefore, when the electromagnetic clutch 221 is operated while the discharge roller 10a or 11a is rotating in the forward direction, the shaft 220 rotates in the direction of arrow B, the switching valve 22 is locked by the stopper 224, and the torque limiter 222 is rotated. As a result, the shaft 220 idles, and the switching valve 22 continues to stop at the rotation position as shown by the two-dot chain line in the drawing.

Thus, switching between the normal position and the rotating position in two directions, that is, two directions, ie, the direction of the face-down stacker 6a and the conveying roller 21, or the direction of the face-up stacker 7a and the direction of the conveying roller 21 Each can be switched.

The switching valve 23 is supported via a torque limiter 232 on a shaft 230 rotated by the operation of the electromagnetic clutch 231. A belt B2 is hung between a pulley P3 provided on the shaft 230 and a pulley P2 provided on the shaft of the transport roller 21.

A stopper 23 is provided near one end of the switching valve 23.
3, a stopper 234 is arranged at a predetermined distance from the stopper 233, and the stoppers 233, 234 are fixed to the side frame 20b. The switching valve 23 is normally urged in the direction of arrow C by the elasticity of a spring (not shown) and is locked by the stopper 233 in the direction of the paper guide 24a.

Therefore, when the electromagnetic clutch 231 is operated during the forward rotation of the discharge roller 10a or 11a, the shaft 230
Is rotated in the direction of arrow D, the switching valve 23 is locked by the stopper 234, the shaft 230 idles by the action of the torque limiter 232, the switching valve 23 stops at the rotating position, and is switched in the direction of the paper guide 24b. .

The delivery rollers 25a, 25b are provided with paper guides 24a, 24
b, a pulley provided at the rear end and coaxial with the delivery roller 25a.
A vector B3 is applied between P4 and a pulley P2 provided on the shaft of the conveying roller 21, and a belt B4 is provided between a pulley P5 coaxial with the delivery roller 25b and a pulley P2 provided on the shaft of the conveying roller 21.
Is hung. Therefore, the delivery rollers 25a, 25b rotate in the same direction by the rotation of the transport roller 21.

Thus, the stacker unit 16 is attached to the mounting portion 14a.
When a is installed, switching of the stack in three directions,
That is, the direction of the face-down stacker 6a when the switching valve 22 is normal, the direction from the paper guide 24a to the tray 17a when the switching valve 22 is switched and the switching valve 23 is normal, and the direction from the paper guide 24b to the tray when the switching valves 22 and 23 are switched. The direction can be switched to three directions of 17b.

The stacker unit 16a is attached to the mounting portion 15a.
In the case where is installed, the direction of the face-up stacker 7a, the direction of the paper guide 24a to the tray 17a, and the paper guide 24b to the tray 17b
Can be switched to three directions. in this case,
When printing on both sides, the paper 8a printed on one side is
After being partially sent in the direction of the face-up stacker 7a in the normal state of 22, the sheet is fed in the direction of the transport path 4c by the reverse rotation of the discharge roller 11a.

Next, a control method when the stacker unit is mounted will be described. In the control block diagram of FIG.
PU, 27 is ROM, 28 is RAM, 29 and 30 are sensor amplifiers, 31 to 37 are drive circuits, IF is an interface unit, PC is a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a personal computer), S is a paper trailing edge sensor, C1 to C3 are 1 shows an electromagnetic clutch. M1 is a motor for rotating the feed rollers 3a to 3c, M2 and M3 are motors for rotating the discharge rollers 10a and 11a, respectively, and MG is a magnet for switching the switching valve 40.

The portion indicated by the broken line is the portion on the side of the stacker unit 16a, and the stacker unit 16a is attached to the mounting portion 14a.
Alternatively, it is assumed that the camera is mounted on 15a. MP
U26 controls each unit according to the control program stored in ROM27.

The ROM 27 stores control programs for the printer controller 270, the paper transport controller 271, the stacker unit mounting recognizer 272, the one-sided / two-sided print recognizer 273, and the stacking method recognizer 274.

The printer unit controller 270 controls the printing operation of the printer unit 5 in accordance with the designation of single-sided or double-sided printing. The paper transport controller 271 controls the feeding / transportation of the paper 8a in accordance with the presence or absence of the stacker unit 16a stored in the RAM 28 and the designation of the printing / stacking method.

The stacker unit mounting recognition section 272 outputs a signal based on the detection output of one of the micro SWS1 and S2.
The stacker unit 16a recognizes which of the mounting units 14a and 15a has been mounted, and outputs an identification signal of the mounted unit to the RAM.
28 to the stacker unit mounting storage unit 280.

The one-sided / two-sided printing recognition unit 273 is a personal computer PC
A single-sided printing or double-sided printing designation signal included in the initial information of the printing information sent from the printer is recognized, and an identification signal of the recognized method is sent to the single-sided / double-sided printing storage unit 281 of the RAM.
(Actually, if there is no designation, single-sided printing is performed.) The stacking method recognizing unit 274 determines whether to use the printer 1b with the face-up stacker 7a closed in the vertical direction or open and use the printer 1b. Or face-up stacker 6a and face-up stacker 7 when the stacker unit 16a included in the initial information of the print information sent from the personal computer PC is installed.
a, the designation of one of the trays 17a, 17b is recognized, and the identification signal of the recognized one is sent to the integration method storage unit 282 of the RAM 28, respectively.

The RAM 28 is a storage unit for mounting a stacker unit.
280, single-sided / double-sided printing storage unit 281 and integration method storage unit 28
It has two areas. Stacker unit mounting storage unit 28
“0” stores the identification signal of one of the mounting units 14a and 15a sent from the stacker unit mounting recognition unit 272.

The one-sided / two-sided printing storage unit 281 stores either one-sided / two-sided printing identification signal sent from the one-sided / two-sided printing recognition unit 273. The stacking method storage unit 282 specifies the face-down or face-up sent from the stacking method recognition unit 274, and selects one of the face-down stacker 6a, the face-up stacker 7a, and the trays 17a and 17b when the stacker unit 16a is mounted. Is stored.

With the above configuration and function, the operation will now be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. (1) The stacker unit 16a is mounted on the mounting unit 14a, the paper 8a is fed out from the paper feed table 2a, and is stacked on one of the trays 17a and 17b of the stacker unit 16a or the face-down stacker 6a by single-sided printing. The face-up stacker 7a is closed at the vertical position.) The case will be described below. (Refer to FIG. 11.) First, when the apparatus power is turned on, the stacker unit 16a is mounted on the mounting section 14a, and the print start button is pressed, the printer section 5 is activated and recognizes the mounting detection signal by the microphone SWS1. From the print information sent from the printer, the single-sided printing and the face-down stacker 6a and the tray 17a or 17b as the stacking position and the face-down instruction as the stacking method are recognized and stored in the RAM 28, respectively.

The feeding roller 3b rotates to feed the paper cassette.
The sheet 8a is fed from the sheet feeder 2b, and the feed roller 9 and the discharge rollers 10a and 11a on the transport path 4a rotate (at this time, the stacker unit).
The transport roller 21 of 16a also rotates, but does not contribute to the transport of the paper 8a. Then, the sheet 8a is transported and printed by the printer unit 5.

If the stored stacking position is the face-down stacker 6a, the printed paper 8a is guided from the discharge roller 10a to the lower side of the switching valve 22, discharged, and discharged to the face-down stacker 6a.

The stored accumulation position is the tray 17a or
In the case of 17b, prior to the operation of the electromagnetic clutch 221, the switching valve 22 is turned in the direction of arrow B and stopped by the stopper 224.

Here, the stored stacking position is the tray 17
a, the paper 8a printed above is discharged to the discharge roller 10a.
Then, the sheet is guided to the upper side of the switching valve 22, and is sent to the sheet guide 24a by the transport roller 21, and is discharged to the tray 17a.

In the above, the stored accumulation position is the tray
17b, the operation of the electromagnetic clutch 231 further activates the switching valve 23.
Is rotated in the direction of arrow D, and the switching valve 23 is stopped by the stopper 234.

The paper 8a printed above is discharged from the discharge roller 11
a to guide the transfer roller 21 upwardly from the switching valve 22.
The paper is sent to the paper guide 24b and discharged to the tray 17b. The above flow is repeated until the printing is completed, and after the printing is completed, the operation is canceled if any of the electromagnetic clutches 221 and 231 are operating. (2) Open the face-up stacker 7a, mount the stacker unit 16a on the mounting section 15a, supply the paper 8a from the paper feed cassette 2b, and perform double-sided printing on the trays 17a, 17b or the face-up stacker 7a of the stacker unit 16a. The case of integration will be described below. First, when the apparatus power is turned on, the stacker unit 16a is mounted on the mounting section 15a, and the print start button is pressed, the printer section 5 is activated and recognizes the mounting detection signal by the microphone SWS2, and the personal computer PC From the print information sent from the printer, the face-up stacker 7a and the tray 17a or 17b as the stacking position and the face-up instruction as the stacking method are recognized and stored in the RAM 28, respectively.

Then, the feed roller 3a rotates to feed the sheet 8a from the sheet feeding table 2a, and the feed roller 9 and the discharge roller 10a or 11a on the feed path 4a rotate to feed the sheet 8a and cause the printer unit 5 to feed the sheet 8a. Print on one side.

The leading end of the single-sided printed sheet 8a is sent toward the face-up stacker 7a by the discharge roller 11a, and when the sensor S detects the rear end of the sheet 8a, the discharge roller
The feeding of the sheet 8a is stopped, the switching valve 40 is switched, the discharge roller 11a is rotated in the reverse direction, and the sheet 8a is sent to the back side printing sheet storage section 2c via the transport path 4b. Then, the switching valve 40 is returned.

The rotation of the feeding roller 3c feeds the sheet 8a from the back side printing sheet storage unit 2c, prints the sheet 8a on the back side of the sheet 8a by the printer unit 5, and sends it out by the discharge roller 11a. If the stored stacking position is the face-up stacker 7a, the sheet 8a is guided from the discharge roller 10a to the lower side of the switching valve 22 and discharged.

If the stored accumulation position is the tray 17a or the tray 17b, the switching valve 22 is rotated by the operation of the electromagnetic clutch 221 and stopped by the stopper 224. Here, if the stored accumulation position is the tray 17a,
The sheet 8a is guided from the discharge roller 11a to the upper side of the switching valve 22, sent by the transport roller 21 and the delivery roller 25a, and discharged to the tray 17a. Then, the operation of the electromagnetic clutch 221 is released.

In the above, the stored accumulation position is the tray
17b, the operation of the electromagnetic clutch 231 further activates the switching valve 23.
, The switching valve 23 is stopped by the stopper 234, and the sheet 8a is guided from the discharge roller 11a to the upper side of the switching valve 23, and is sent by the transport roller 21 and the delivery roller 25b to be discharged to the tray 17b. I do. And the electromagnetic clutch 221,
Release operation of 231.

The above flow is repeated until printing is completed. In this way, the stacker unit 16a having the trays 17a and 17b is removably mounted on the mounting portion 14a or the mounting portion 15a. Since the sheets can be stacked on the stacker 7a and the trays 17a and 17b, single-sided printing and double-sided printing can be supported, and further, the sheets can be separated and accumulated for each user. Therefore, it is possible to respond to the user's request for taking out the sheet 8a, setting the sheet 8a, and the like, depending on the mounting position of the stacker unit 16a.

The transport roller of the stacker unit 16a
Since the driving of the discharge rollers 25a and 25b and the switching of the switching valves 22 and 23 can be performed by the driving force of the discharge rollers 10a and 11a of the printer 1b, a driving source is not required for the stacker unit 16a. , The mechanism is simplified, and downsizing and cost reduction can be achieved.

In the above embodiment, the case of the printer of the electrophotographic printing system has been described. However, it goes without saying that the present invention can be similarly applied to a printer of another system, for example, a wire dot printer or an ink jet printer.

The stacker unit 16a and the printer 1b
Although the case of electrically connecting the main body with a cable has been described, other methods, for example, providing contact terminals corresponding to the electromagnetic clutches 221 and 231 on the side frame 20a or 20b of the stacker unit 16a and mounting the printer 1b. At this time, a method may be adopted in which the connecting portion provided on the printer 1b side is brought into contact.

[0089]

As described above, according to the present invention, the first mounting portion is provided at the face-down discharge port of the printer and the second mounting portion is provided at the face-up discharge port, and the same stacker unit is provided for both of them. By being configured to be removably attachable, the recording medium can be attached to either one of the face-down ejection or face-up ejection according to the desired face-down ejection or face-up ejection as desired. The medium can be ejected and collected at a plurality of locations including the stacker unique to the printer.

Therefore, the recording media can be distinguished and accumulated for each user by the accumulation method according to the user's request. A printer that can respond is obtained.

If the stacker unit is mounted on one of the first mounting portion and the second mounting portion of the printer as required for face-down discharge or face-up discharge of the recording medium, the recording medium is discharged face-down. The paper can be discharged from the outlet or the face-up discharge port and accumulated on the tray of the stacker unit, and can be accumulated at a plurality of positions of the stacker and the tray unique to the printer.

Accordingly, it is possible to obtain a stacker unit or a printer including a stacker which can separately accumulate recording media for each user by an accumulation method according to a user's request. There is no need to provide a drive source for driving the transport roller and the replacement valve of the stacker unit in the stacker unit, and the stacker unit and the printer including the stacker can be obtained with a simple mechanism, miniaturization and cost reduction. . The effect is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view for explaining the principle according to claim 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the principle according to claim 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining the principle according to claim 3 of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a side view showing an embodiment of the present invention (part 1).

FIG. 5 is a side view showing an embodiment of the present invention (part 2).

FIG. 6 is a perspective side view showing the configuration of a stacker unit (part 1).

FIG. 7 is a perspective side view showing the configuration of the stacker unit (part 2).

FIG. 8 is a front view showing the configuration of the stacker unit (part 1).

FIG. 9 is a front view showing the configuration of the stacker unit (part 2).

FIG. 10 is a control block diagram of the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart (part 1) of the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart (part 2) of the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is an internal side view showing an outline of a printer to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 14 is a side view showing the configuration of Conventional Example 1.

FIG. 15 is a side view showing the configuration of the second conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 1a and 1b are printers, 6, 6a and 6B are face-down stackers, 6A and 6C are sorters,
7, 7a is a face-up stacker, 8 is a recording medium, 8a is paper, 10, 10a, 10A, 11,
11a is a discharge roller, 12 is a face-down discharge port, 12
a, 13a, 12A is an outlet, 13 is a face-up outlet, 14 is a first mounting portion, 15 is a second mounting portion, 14a, 15a is a mounting portion,
16,16a stacker _{unit, 17,17a, 17b, 17 1,} 17 2 are tray, the conveying roller 21, 22,23,40 switching valve,
25a and 25b are delivery rollers

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A printer for discharging a printed recording medium from a face-down discharge port or a face-up discharge port by a discharge roller, comprising: a first mounting portion provided at the face-down discharge port; A second mounting portion provided at the discharge port, wherein the first mounting portion and the second mounting portion include a stacker unit on which the recording medium discharged from the face-down discharge port or the face-up discharge port is accumulated. A printer characterized by being configured to be detachably attached to both. 2. A printer in which a printed recording medium is discharged from a face-down discharge port or a face-up discharge port by a discharge roller. A stacker unit detachably mounted on the second mounting portion provided, comprising at least one tray, a first mounting portion and a second mounting portion.
A stacker unit configured to be mounted on either of the mounting units. 3. A printer for discharging a printed recording medium from a face-down discharge port or a face-up discharge port by a discharge roller, comprising: a first mounting portion provided at the face-down discharge port; A second mounting portion provided at the discharge port; and at least one tray, the first mounting portion and the second mounting portion.
And a stacker unit that is removably mounted on one of the printed recording media in accordance with face-down discharge or face-up discharge of the printed recording medium. Printer. 4. The stacker unit according to claim 2, wherein the stacker unit includes a switching valve for switching a discharge direction of the recording medium to a plurality of directions. 5. The stacker unit according to claim 2, further comprising a conveyance roller driven by a driving force of the discharge roller to convey a recording medium.
And a printer including the stacker unit. 6. The stacker unit according to claim 4, wherein the switching valve is switched by a driving force of the discharge roller.