JPS60122664A - Sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently distribute and store sheets of different sizes without mixing of sheets different in size in the same bin by setting the size of a sheet to be stored at every bin and storing a sheet in a corresponding bin. CONSTITUTION:The leading edge of a transfer sheet sent from a sheet discharge roller 20 is detected by a light emitting element 23 and a photo detecting element 24, and the size of the sheet is detected by plural pairs of light emitting elements and photo detecting elements 23', 24' and 23'', 24''. The sheet is transported between vertical guides 13, 14. On the other hand, when a control circuit is adapted to decide the size of the transfer sheet from signals of the light emitting elements and photo detecting elements 23', 24' and 23'', 24'', and select a corresponding bin, for example, a bin 1-3 of bins 1-1-1-n where the size of a sheet to be stored is previously set, a switch finger 2-3 is inclined by operation of a solenoid to store the transfer sheet in the bin 1-3 for a designated size. Thus, sheets can be distributed and stored efficiently without mixing of sheets different in size in the same bin.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field] The present invention is connected to a laser beam printer, a copying machine, etc.
Regarding the collating device that distributes and stores paper sheets such as recording materials that are conveyed by these devices, improvements have been made to enable proper sorting according to the size of the paper sheets. be.

[Prior art]

In this type of collating device, the size of the recording material (generally transfer paper) that is conveyed is fixed, and as long as the size of the recording material (generally transfer paper) is fixed, the transfer paper is continuously transferred to the storage section. However, if the size of the transfer paper changes, there is no means to change the size of each bin in the collating device, so transfer paper of different sizes may be stacked in the same bin. In order to prevent contamination, it was necessary to remove the transfer paper already loaded in the bin, which made it impossible to perform the copying process continuously. The transfer papers will be stacked in a disordered manner in the bin, which may cause a jam.

〔the purpose〕

The present invention solves the problems of the prior art and provides a collating device that can distribute and store paper sheets into valley bins without mixing paper sheets of different sizes into the same bin. It is about providing.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 does not show the configuration of a collating device (hereinafter referred to as a sorter) according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, the transfer assembler to be stored is also ejected from the paper ejection roller 20 on the printer PRT side toward the sorter SO, BT. Transfer paper A is transferred to paper ejection roller 20
When it is discharged, it is guided by the sorter entrance guide 21.
It is conveyed in the direction of arrow R while being sandwiched between them. In the transfer paper receiving portion of this sorter, a lamp 23 and a light receiving element 24 as a sensor for detecting the leading edge of the transfer paper are disposed facing each other across the transfer paper path. Also, in this acceptance part,
A plurality of sets of lamps 23' and light-receiving elements 24' are arranged as size detection sensors for the transfer paper, and the horizontal rollers 5-2, 5-3 are installed along the horizontal conveyance path defined by the conveyance path. , horizontal holding roller 6-2.6
-3, the vertical pressure guide 13 and the vertical right guide 14
The vertical transport path defined by The transfer paper conveyed vertically passes between vertical conveyance rollers 3-1 to 8 and their followers 4-1 to 4-8.

and 71-1 to 71-8. Vertical conveyance roller 3-1~
8 and horizontal rollers 5-1 to 5-3 are rotated at a constant speed via a belt 10 by a drive pulley 8 attached to the output shaft of a drive motor 9.

In order to transmit the necessary driving force to each roller by the belt 10, idler pulleys 7-1 to 7-9 are arranged to apply a predetermined tension to the belt. Bin 1-
Switching claw 2- for guiding transfer paper to each bin corresponding to numbers 1 to 8
1 to 8 are arranged, and the switching pawl 2 is operated by a solenoid to be described later.
-1 to 8 are activated. In addition, reflective sensors 19-1 to 19-8 are arranged on the vertical right guide and the vertical pressure guide as sensors for checking whether there is a jam in the vertical conveyance path and whether the product has been carried into a designated bin. . bottle 1
-1 to 8 have seven sensors 17-1 to 8 for empty detection in bin 1-1.
The inside of the bottle is illuminated with light from a fluorescent lamp 16, and the presence or absence of transfer paper is constantly checked.

FIG. 2 shows the relationship between the sorter's switching claw and the solenoid.
Only the parts related to -3 are shown and the others are omitted. In the figure, the switching pawl 2 is fitted and fixed onto the switching shaft 25. Both ends of the switching shaft are rotatably supported by bearings (not shown), and an arm 30 is fixed to the front end.

A link plate 27 is rotatably engaged with one end of the arm 30 via a pin 29, and the other end of the link plate 27 is connected to a pin 29.
It is rotatably engaged with the plunger of the solenoid 2G via. In addition to the arm 30, a return spring 2 is attached to y"4.
8 is stretched between the solenoid holder 31 and the solenoid holder 31 to ensure that the tip of the switching pawl 2 returns to a predetermined position when the solenoid 26 is not energized. When the solenoid 26 is energized, the plunger is attracted, the arm 30 is moved via the link 27, and the switching pawl 2 can be tilted by a predetermined angle.

FIG. 3 shows how transfer paper is carried into a predetermined bin by the mechanism configured as described above.

In the figure, 5 shows a case where the transfer paper A is carried into the third bin, where the transfer paper A that has descended down the vertical conveyance path passes the jam detection sensor 19-1 within a predetermined time, and the vertical conveyance roller 3 -1 and follower 4-1.

The vertical conveyance row 23 and the follower 4 are roller bodies made of gold with rubber rollers arranged on the shaft with an appropriate gap.

When the switching claw 2 is not activated, the switching claw 2 is in the gap between the 70 roller bodies, and the right side of the switching claw 2 and the guide plate 15 form a path for guiding the transfer paper vertically downward. be done. The switching claw 2-1 is set so that the transfer paper A passes the jam detection sensor 19-2.3 within a predetermined time.
and the guide plate 15-1, between the vertical conveyance roller 3-2 and the follower 4-2, and between the switching claw 2-2 and the guide plate 15-2, and between the conveyance roller 3-3 and the follower 4-2. Sent between 3. In order to carry this transfer paper into the bin 1-3, the switching claw 2-3 is rotated to a predetermined angle in the direction of the arrow by the solenoid 26-3, and the tip of the switching claw 2-3 is moved to the conveying roller 3-3.
and into the gap of follower 4-3. As a result, the vertical conveyance path is cut off, and the conveyed transfer paper is guided by the cutting claw 2-3 and conveyed by the conveyance roller 3-3.
is carried into the third bin by.

Here, if the accessed third bin 1-3 is empty, the transfer paper A is loaded in this bin, and the light that was irradiated to all detection sensors 17-3 from the fluorescent lamp 16 is Since the bottle is cut off, this sensor 17-3 detects that the bottle is no longer empty. Further, the number of transferred sheets of transfer paper is counted by a counting means (not shown), and based on the counting result, it is detected that the bottle has become a sake cup. This also detects that the bin is full. Once the bin was full, no more transfer paper was loaded into that bin.

Figure 4 shows each of the bins 1-1 to 1- on the side wall of the device housing.
Indicators 40-1 to 40-8 arranged at positions corresponding to 8
It is. This display displays the size of the transfer paper stored in the corresponding bin, and also indicates whether the bin is full or not.

4th [9LA+ shows the display mode that the transfer paper conveyance path is A4 and is full, and FIG. 4 β1 shows the display mode that the size is B4 and is not yet full.

FIG. 5 shows the control section of this embodiment. Here, CPTJ
4-100 controls the operation of the entire device. Enter Losenza 4
-1 corresponds to the lamp 23 and light receiving element 24 in FIG.
Corresponds to 8. The jam detection sensor 4-3 is disposed at a predetermined location on the transfer paper conveyance path, and detects the occurrence of a jam in the transfer paper. The full detection sensor 4-4 is the sensor 18 in FIG.
-1 to 18-8, and size detection sensor 4-5
Similarly, multiple sets of lamps 23' and light receiving elements 24'
Compatible with The signals from each of these sensors are amplified by amplifier circuits 4-11 to 4-15, respectively, and then compared with a reference voltage at a constant level by comparators 4-21 to 4-25 to be binarized. Ru. These binary signals are supplied to the input terminals of the CPUs 4-100. Further, a keyboard 4-26 is connected to the CPU 4-100, and various key inputs such as how to divide the bins are performed.

On the other hand, the output terminal side pressure of (1'PU 4-100 is connected to the display 40 via the decoder 43 and the amplifier circuit 4-41, and the output terminal side pressure of the 1'PU 4-100 is connected to the display 40 via the photocoupler 4-32. -52 is connected, and a lamp 4-53 for indicating the occurrence of a jam etc. is connected via a photocoupler 4-33 and an amplifier circuit 4-43.
This, photocoupler 4-34, switching element 4-44
A motor 4-54 is connected via.

Furthermore, the CPU 4-100 is -CP on the printer PRT side.
Data necessary for transporting the transfer paper is sent and received between the U 4-200 and the U 4-200.

In the ROM of the CPU 4-100, a control table is developed that associates each bin with the size of transfer paper to be carried there. As described later, keyboard 4
Unless there is a command from -26, the transfer paper is printed 1-1 for each size by referring to the control table read from the ROM
It is carried into a designated bin.

An example of the control table according to FIG. 6 is shown.

The CPU 4-100 compares the size information of the transferred transfer paper obtained by the size detection sensor 4-5 (lamp 23', light receiving element 24') with the control table,
Determine the bin into which the transfer paper should be delivered.

Furthermore, the waiting time T until the solenoid of the determined bin is energized is calculated. -As an example, now ml bottle 1-
It is assumed that 1 is specified. The transfer paper is the entrance sensor 4-1
The time from detection by the (lamp 23, light receiving element 24) to the entrance of the first bin 1-1, that is, the waiting time T1, is the transport path from the population sensor 4-1 to the first bin 1-1. Depends on length and transfer paper transport speed. in general,
The waiting time to the nth bin T is the waiting time to the first bin
− At T1, transfer paper transport time t from the first bin to the nth bin
It can be calculated by adding Here, there is usually a transport time t between adjacent bins. are equal, so the waiting time is:

'J゛-T +t *(n-1) 11Q Fig. 7 shows a time chart of the operation of carrying the transfer paper into the corresponding bin. In the figure, the transfer paper conveyed into the sorter 5ORT is detected by the population sensor 4-1 (lamp 23, light receiving element 24), and the sensor output changes from "O" to
1” (time 1., 12.13..)
...). CPU 4. -100, the bin in which the transfer paper is stored is specified and the waiting time T is calculated as described above. When the waiting time T has elapsed after the transfer paper is detected by the population sensor 4-1, the solenoid 2 of the designated bin is activated via the photocoupler 4-32 and the amplifier circuit 4-42.
Control No. 18 that turns on 6 (26-1 to 26-8) is output. In the figure, ): "The next transfer paper is 1st, 3rd, 6th, 4th, 2nd, 8th, 7th...
. . . is carried into each bin.

In the figure, T is set as a time width of 1 which is sufficient for the transfer paper to be conveyed into the bin and to finish cons.

FIG. 8 shows the transfer-paper size setting operation for each of the bins 1-1 to 1-8. First, in step 8-1, the power is turned on 'CfA, and the transfer paper size corresponding to each bin is set by the initial program loader (PL). If you want to make a copy using the support information read from the ROM, press the keyboard 4-26.
An input to that effect is made from . However, for example, if you want all bins to correspond to the same paper size, proceed from step 8-2 to step 8-3, and reset the correspondence between one paper size and the bin using the keyboard, which is an external input means. be done. If the input value is confirmed to be correct through command analysis, etc., RO is executed in step 8-4.
The value of the control table called from within M is updated.

Next, in step 8-5, the sorter display @40
The display (see Figure 4) switches to the set value.

FIG. 9 is a detailed flow of step 8-3 described above.
The flow of changing the value of the bin correspondence table by inputting a command from the keyboard is shown. To change the correspondence between paper size and bin, perform the following key operations.

CLJ is input, step 9-1
At , it is determined whether the command is a "C" command or not. 'C' command, step 9-2
The steps from 9-6 to 9-6 are executed sequentially, and it is determined whether the input value is normal or not. If the input value is normal, the RAM
The values in the paper information-bin correspondence table expanded in the file are rewritten as specified.

FIG. 10 shows the transfer paper storage sequence after the paper size-bin correspondence table is set as described above. First, in step 10-1, the fact that a transfer paper is being conveyed and the size of the transfer paper are detected from the detection outputs of the population sensor 4-1 and the size detection sensor 4-5.

In step 10-2, the CPU 4-100 refers to the paper size-bin correspondence table set as described above to determine whether there is a corresponding bin. In case there is none.

All the conveyed transfer paper is discharged to a dummy bin (not shown), and the operation of the printer (PRT) is stopped. However, if there is a corresponding bin, it is determined in step 10-3 whether the bin is full. If it is full, the process returns to step 10-2 and both steps are repeated until a bin that is not full is detected. In this embodiment, the search for the relevant bin is performed from the first bin 1-1 to the eighth bin 1-8.

Next, in step 10-4, it is determined whether or not time has elapsed.
This is to stop the operation if the corresponding bin is not selected for some reason while being conveyed from the position of 1.6-1 to the position of roller 5-3.6-3. Next, in step 10-5, as described above, the waiting time T is calculated, and the switching claw of the corresponding bin is driven by this time T, and the transfer paper is stacked in the corresponding bin.

In the above embodiment, as shown in step 8-3 in FIG. 8, command input via a keyboard device is used as an input means for associating one sheet of information with a bin, but the present invention is not limited to this. It's not something you can do.

〔effect〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the size of the filter paper sheets stored in each bin is set, and the paper sheets are sorted according to the correspondence relationship between the set bin and the paper sheet size. Since the paper sheets are stored in bins, even if the sizes of the paper sheets that are conveyed to each bin change, there is no possibility that paper sheets of different sizes will be mixed in the same bin, and the paper sheets will be It is possible to efficiently distribute revenue.

In particular, when the device of the present invention is connected to a copying machine, even if the transfer paper size is changed, transfer papers of different sizes will not be mixed in the same bin.
Copying operations can be performed continuously without removing the transfer paper already stored in the bin.

4. Explanation of f7i'i unit work on page 1 FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a sorter which is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the relationship between the solenoid and the switching claw; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the storage operation of the transfer paper; the fourth section and β1 are diagrams showing two modes of display on the display 40; Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing the control unit, Fig. 6 is a diagram showing the correspondence between transfer paper size and bins, Fig. 7 is a time chart showing the operation of the solenoid when bins are randomly accessed, and Fig. 6 is a diagram showing the correspondence between transfer paper size and bins. 8 to 10 are flowcharts showing the operation of the sorter of FIG. 1.

1-1 to 1-8...Bin, 2-1 to 2-8...Switching claw, 4, 5 (23', 24')...Size detection sensor, 4-26...Keyboard , 40 (40-1 to 4O-8)...Indicator, 5ORT
...Sorter, PRT...Printer.

Patent applicant: Canon Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Yoshi Tani - Figure 2 3-2' 27-2 26-2 Figure 8 Figure 9

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] l) A collating device that distributes and stores paper sheets into a plurality of storage sections, comprising: a detection means for detecting the size of filter paper sheets conveyed toward the plurality of storage sections; a designating means for specifying the size of paper sheets to be stored in each storage section; and a storage control means for storing the paper sheets in the storage section corresponding to the size detected by the detection means according to the specification of the specifying means. A collating device characterized by comprising: 2. A collating device according to claim 1, characterized in that the correspondence between the storage section specified by the specifying means and the size of the paper sheet is variable. 3) The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising display means for displaying the correspondence between the storage section designated by the designation means and the size of the paper sheet. A collating device. (Margin below)