JPS5817063A - Sheet sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To move a tray smoothly, by forcibly restricting the adjusting action of a means for adjusting the gaps between trays at the time of moving a group of trays downwards, in a device for distributing and stacking sheets such as copying paper. CONSTITUTION:When a tray 44 is lowered, a roller 28 of an arm lever 26 (tray gap adjusting means) is separated from a cam plate 27, thereafter it comes in contact with a return cam 27a (a restricting means) and is rotated counterclockwise. Then, an inlet part of the tray 44 is moved downwards farther than the falling distance of a lift member 6 by the function of a pin 30 of the arm lever 26. Trays 41, 42, 43 other than the tray 44 are also moved in a similar manner, so that inlets to trays corresponding to feed rollers 3a, 3b are sequentially opened, whereby the sheets are sequentially stored onto each of the trays 41-44.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to the production of so-called sheet materials (hereinafter also simply referred to as sheets) called copy paper/transfer paper-recording paper that are carried out from image forming apparatuses such as copying machines, printing machines, and other recording equipment. This invention relates to a sheet sorting device (hereinafter also referred to as a sorter) that handles distribution number accumulation, etc.

In general, sorter companies have foot material accumulation tables (hereinafter referred to as trays) with 10 to 20 stages or more (hereinafter referred to as trays), which are used to sequentially convey and accumulate the material on a wind-like tray.

However, when a sorter is placed close to the sheet exit of a copying machine or the like and a group of trays are sequentially moved, the trays of conventional sorters are arranged at equal intervals. The more the paper is moved to the position where sheets are to be carried in, the more the gap between the leading edges of the sheet entrances of the tray has to be reduced. There is a known method for moving the tray so that the

However, in this case, for example, with a tray that supports each tray at six points and moves up and down to control the spacing between each tray, the center of gravity shifts when a large number of sheets are placed due to differences in sheet size, resulting in °.

There are problems such as the center of gravity of the center of gravity moving outside the center of gravity region formed by connecting each fulcrum.

Therefore, gravity does not necessarily act only downward on the fulcrum, but rather there is also a fulcrum on which force acts upward, so when the tray is lowered or raised, it may cause poor contact with the guide, or the sheet entrance There were drawbacks such as inconsistent spacing between the tips.

An object of the present invention is to provide a sorter that overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art described above.

The present invention provides a sheet sorting device in which a group of trays is moved up and down integrally by a moving means and the sheets are distributed in correspondence with the sheet conveying means, in which the gap between the corresponding tray and the tray adjacent to the tray is reduced. The present invention is characterized by comprising means for adjusting, and means for forcibly regulating the adjusting means during movement of the tray group.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a sorter showing an embodiment of the present invention. Sheet 1 ejected by ejection roller C' of copying machine C
The conveyance roller 6a is transported by the conveyance guide 2 to the conveyance inlet of the sorter S arranged opposite to the conveyance roller 6a.

This will lead you to 3b. A sheet receiving opening No. 4' of the tray 44 is arranged opposite to the nip of the conveyance rollers 3at3b.
The sheets conveyed from conveyance rollers 3m and 5b are transferred to tray 4.
4. It is stored and placed on top. Incidentally, it is of course possible to configure the ejection roller C' of the copying machine C to serve as the conveyance rollers 5m and 5b.

The tray groups 4s and 4s...40 each have 15 stages.

is attached at its side end to the tray support plate 5.

Further, since the tray support plate 5 is attached to the elevating member 6, the tray group can be raised and lowered, and the sheet receiving opening of each tray can be moved freely by the conveying roller 3m.

It can be set in a position opposite to 6b.

In other words, the lifting member 6 can move up and down at least a distance corresponding to the distance from the tray 41 to the tray 416. A chain (or wire, etc.) 8 is fixedly attached to the upper end of the elevating member 6, and an idle sprocket 9 is provided above.
9, and the other end of the chain 8 is connected to the lifting member 6 spring B.
It is fixed to the lower end of the elevating member 6 via. Therefore, if the motor 10 is rotated clockwise in the drawing, the tray group 4
1.4s/tatami mat: It rises integrally with the ore lifting member 6.

On the other hand, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the vicinity of the support column 7 of the sorter seen from above. Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the lifting member.
It shows a positioning mechanism.

In FIG. 2, inside the support column 7, a cutout plate 15 serving as a tray positioning means is fixed to the elevating member 6 so as to move up and down along the groove 12. The cutout plate 13Fi has cutouts formed at positions corresponding to the spacing between each tray, and a position detection sensor 15 having a light emitting element and a light receiving element can detect transmission through the cutout and set the position of the tray. can.

On the other hand, the elevating member 6 is also formed with a notch 16'' as shown in FIG. The claw 17' is shown in a state in which it is released from the elevating member 6. When the pawl 17 is returned to its original position using the pawl shaft 18 as a rotation support shaft, the solenoid 19 is energized to hold the pawl 17 at the position indicated by the broken line 17'.
This is done by aligning the notch 7 and the notch 16. In addition, while the tray is being raised one by one, the solenoid 1911
Must work at all! Instead, the pawl 17 bites into the elevating member 6 by a return spring 20 fixed to the sorter body. In the example shown in Fig. 3, if there is an overrun of the lifting member 6 by about 5 -, the multiple electric current 17 will be inserted into the notch 16 of the lifting member 6 by the return spring 20, and if the electromagnetic brake is not used. When the motor 10 is stopped, the elevating member 6 descends under its own weight, and the pawl 17 moves to the 31st! Since it is pressed at the position indicated by the solid line iI, the pawl 17 comes into contact with the stopper 21 and is stopped at a predetermined position, allowing for positioning. Therefore, it is sufficient to form the notch 16 in the elevating member 6 at a position where the conveyance roller 3ae5b and the tray entrance are aligned. Furthermore, it goes without saying that if the tray itself has this notch 16, the accuracy will be further improved.

Next, to explain the operation of the sorter, initially motor 1
0 counterclockwise rotation, tray groups 41, 4S@,
...When the position detection sensor 15 detects that the sheet receiving opening of the tray 41 has been lowered to the lowest position and corresponds to the position corresponding to the nip portion of the conveyance rollers 3a and 3b, an appropriate control circuit motor 10 is stopped, and
It is maintained in the lowest position by an electromagnetic brake (not shown). Alternatively, it is also possible to use a timer to rotate the motor for a fixed period of time and omit the sensor 15. If an electromagnetic brake is used, a mechanism as shown in FIG. 3 may be adopted to prevent the tray group from descending due to the weight of the tray group when electricity is not applied. Therefore, the sheet is placed in the tray 41.
When the sheet detection lever 14 and the sheet F detection sensor 22 detect that the sheet has been carried into the tray 41 by the transport rows 23 and 3b, the sheet 10 is moved clockwise in the figure after detecting the trailing edge of the sheet. The notch in the cutout plate 13 corresponding to the rotated tray 4- is detected by the position sensor 15, and the motor 101 is stopped at the corresponding position and an electromagnetic brake is applied. Then, the tray 4s is on standby to receive sheets.

After the above-mentioned operations are repeated as many times as necessary, the tray group is returned to the initial position, which is the lowest position, by a return signal. A spring B connected to the elevating member 6 and the chain 8 absorbs shock when the tray group 4 is moved. Note that when positioning is performed using the position detection sensor 15 and electromagnetic brake described in FIG. 2, the effect of the 17 claws shown in FIG. 3 is obtained. That is, there is a drawback that when the power is turned off, the electromagnetic brake is cut off and the tray group 4 falls down, but if this pawl 17 is provided, it will work as a stopper, so that even when the power is turned off, the tray group will be prevented from falling due to its own weight. Ru.

Next, the operation of the tray will be explained using FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view of the tray showing the state when the tray is moved up and down. A tray elongated hole 24 is slidably engaged with a fixed support shaft 23 on the support plate 5 that supports each tray. In addition, at the entrance of the tray, there is a support shaft 2 fixed to the tray.
There is an arm lever 26 rotatably attached to the arm lever 26, and a roller 28 is rotatably attached to the support shaft 29, which is fixed to the column 7m and comes into contact with the immovable mackerel i27. ing. Further, a bin 30 is fixedly attached to the other end of the arm lever 26 and is rotatably engaged with a hole provided in the tray. The tray is as shown in the figure (it has a slope,
It works by sliding toward the tray entrance side due to its own weight. When the tray rises, the immovable cam plate 27Kfa and the rollers 28 come into contact with it and rise. The cam plate 27
The upper tray 4 rotates downward around the LD fulcrum 25.
The ma bin 30 moves the sheet receiving opening of the lower paper tray 44 to open. Also, at this time, the tray 4 moves in the sheet conveyance direction 31, and even if the tray rotates around the fulcrum 23, the end surface 32 on the tray entrance side and the two conveyor rows 23.4
The cam plate 27 and the roller 2 are positioned according to the specifications so that the distance between them does not change.

Next, when tray No. 4 is lowered, the arm lever and the bin 50 provided on the arm lever 26 act to move the entrance portion of the tray 44 further downward than the lowering distance of the elevating member 6. Since the fulcrum 25 of the arm lever 6 moves integrally with the elevating member 6, the anchor 60 moves the tray 4 in addition to the amount by which the elevating member 6 is raised. When descending, the arm lever 26 is moved counterclockwise by the turning action of the return cam 27m in the same way as the robot.

The amount of descent of the bin 30 is applied to the tray 44 in addition to the amount of descent of the elevating member 6.

The trays other than tray No. 4 operate in the same manner, and the entrances of the trays corresponding to the conveyance rollers 3a and 3b are sequentially moved (thereby, sheets are sequentially stored in each tray). When moving downward, it is possible to forcibly restrict the adjustment action of the gap adjustment means between the trays, which eliminates problems caused by the shift of the center of gravity of the trays caused by sheets being placed on the trays. can be moved smoothly.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a side sectional view of a sorter showing an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is an enlarged upper sectional view of the 9 parts of the company support; Figure 6 is an enlarged view of the elevating member; Figure 4 is an enlarged 1111 side view of the tray. . 1...shaft/seat% 41141...411...
-...Tray, 5m, 3b...Conveyance roller (Sea 1 conveyance means), 23.25...Fully point, 26.Working...
...Arm lever. (adjustment means), 27... cam plate, 27a...
Return cam (regulating means).

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Means for adjusting the distance between the tray group and the Sea Ray, which moves the tray group up and down integrally using a moving means and distributes sheets in correspondence with the sheet conveying means; A sheet sorting device characterized by having a means for forcibly regulating.