JPS60204562A - Device for putting pages in order - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily confirm the state of image formation, by discharging a series of image recording sheets onto a discharge tray in such a manner that the first and the following sheets are made opposite to each other as to the obverse and reverse positions. CONSTITUTION:When the second sheet in a series of image recording sheets is detected by a sheet detection signal circuit 21 and a signal of the detection is applied to the clock terminals of flip-flops 22, 23, an output ''1'' from the Q terminal of the flip-flop 22 is transferred to the Q terminal of the flip-flop 23 because the output has been applied to the D terminal of the flip-flop 23. As a result, an output from the Q terminal of the flip-flop 23 is changed from ''0'' to ''1'' so that a sheet front/back changeover circuit 25 is put in operation. The first and the following sheets are thus made opposite to each other in the obverse and reverse positions when the series of image recording sheets are discharged and stacked on an identical discharge tray 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Technical Field) The present invention relates to a method for aligning image recording sheets ejected from a paper ejection port in the page order of the recording order in an image recording apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer. It is related to the device.

(Prior art) In image recording devices such as copying machines and printers, image recording sheets are ejected onto a paper ejection tray with the recording side facing up due to constraints on the configuration of the device, and subsequent sheets are placed in front of the preceding sheet. Many are configured to be stacked on top of sheets. As a result, when recording is performed in the order of the pages of the original, the stacked sheets have the disadvantage that the pages are stacked in reverse order.

In response to this, a page order aligning device was proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 52-8 in which the image recording sheets are ejected with the front and back sides reversed, and the pages are stacked so that the page order is aligned.
It is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 7488. However, the device described in the publication has the disadvantage that the image recording sheet is always discharged with its front and back reversed, that is, with the image recording side facing down, making it difficult to clearly check the image formation state as it is. .

Furthermore, in addition to the page order alignment function, devices that are currently in practical use have a function to sort and eject a series of image recording sheets in units of sets when creating multiple sets of image recording sheets. Although it is called a sorter, it has drawbacks such as not only a complicated structure but also a large size.b (Object of the Invention) The object of the present invention is to In order to solve the difficulties in conventional devices, an attempt is made to provide a page order aligning device for an image forming device that is small and simple in structure and has a page order aligning function and sorting function 10, which makes it easy to check the image forming state. It is something.

(Summary of the Invention) The page order alignment device of the present invention has a sheet face-up switching mechanism that allows selection of a non-reversal ejection mode in which an image recording sheet is ejected without reversing it, and a reversal ejection mode in which it is ejected with the image recording sheet reversed. and a sheet ejection mechanism configured to eject a subsequent sheet onto the same ejection tray in a manner overlapping the preceding sheet, and for each series of image recording sheets, the first sheet and the subsequent sheet are ejected. The sheet reversing mechanism of the sheet ejecting mechanism is configured to be able to drive and control the sheet reversing mechanism of the sheet ejecting mechanism so that the sheet is ejected onto the ejecting tray with different front and back directions. .

Therefore, the ejection mode of the sheet ejection mechanism is set such that only the first sheet is ejected with the image recording surface facing upward, and subsequent sheets are ejected with the image recording surface facing downward, according to the control signal from the control means. If controlled in this way, it is possible to check and judge the quality of the recorded image using the first sheet, and it is also possible to stack the ejected sheets in page order.

In addition, by controlling the sheet ejection mechanism so that the above ejection mode is set for each of the series of image recording sheets, only the first sheet of the series of image recording sheets is placed with the image recording surface facing upward. You can arrange the pages in the same order. Therefore, if a large number of sheets stacked and discharged on a paper output tray are distinguished based on the sheets with the image recording surface facing upward, it is extremely easy to sort them into a series of image recording sheets. Not only that, but it is also possible to check the image forming state from the first sheet of each series of image recording sheets.

Further, when the present invention is implemented in a copying machine having an automatic document feeder, the operation mode of the sheet ejection device can be selectively controlled in conjunction with the operation of the automatic document feeder. By simply setting a stack of originals on the feeder, a series of image recording sheets for each bundle of originals can be easily sorted and ejected and stacked on the output tray in page order. be.

Such operations are similar even when the apparatus of the present invention is implemented in a printer to which image information is supplied in the form of electrical signals.

The apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail below based on examples.

(Example) FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the discharge state of an image recording sheet in the apparatus of the present invention in comparison with the conventional discharge state of an image recording sheet. FIG. 2A shows the most common image recording sheet discharge state in a conventional copying apparatus. Each sheet) 81 to s4 is ejected onto the paper ejection tray with the image recording surface facing upward, and the subsequent sheets) 82, 88, and 84 are stacked sequentially on top of the l#th ejected sheet S1. It shows. Each sheet) 81 to S4 is discharged in page order, but since the image recording surface is facing upward, when stacked, the sheets are arranged in reverse page order with the last page on top. This discharge state is convenient in that the image state of the discharged sheet can be checked at all times, but there is a problem in that the pages are arranged in reverse order.

Figure (b) shows a case that is often seen in image recording sheets stored in the sorter bin of an image recording device connected to a sorter. 81 and subsequent sheets 82, S3. This shows a stacked state of S4. In this case, if you take them out with the image recording side facing up, you will get a stack of image recording sheets arranged in page order, but as explained earlier, the sorter is complicated and
It is large and not common, and also has the disadvantage that it is not possible to check the image recording state during recording.

On the other hand, FIG. 3(Q) is a diagram showing an example of the state in which the image recording sheet is discharged by the apparatus of the present invention.

In the figure (0), 81 to S4 are a series of image recording sheets, of which 81 is the first sheet discharged with the image recording surface facing upward, and S2. S
8. S4 shows a state in which the subsequent sheets are sequentially discharged and stacked with the image recording surface facing down. Therefore 1
You can check the image recording status by looking at the second sheet, and at the same time, if you take out the stack of sheets and flip only the top sheet, the sheets will be arranged in page order with the image recording side facing up. This is extremely convenient.

FIG. 1 (cl) is a diagram showing another example of the discharge state of the image recording sheet by the apparatus of the present invention. In the same figure, 81~
S4 indicates a bundle X of a series of image recording sheets, and is shown in FIG.
) are arranged in the same way.

On the other hand, 85 to S8 indicate another series of N image recording sheet bundles y. Bundle y may have the same content as bundle X, or may have different content, but it indicates a unit that requires classification when bundles x and y are taken out. In the apparatus of the present invention, the first sheet S5 of the bundle y and the first sheet S1 of the bundle
2 to S4 are discharged in page order in the opposite direction to the first sheet of each bundle y, X, for example, with the image recording surface facing down. Therefore, when separating the bundles By inverting the sheets, a bundle x + y of sheets arranged in page order with the image recording surface facing up can be obtained. Furthermore, Figure 1 (d
), it is extremely convenient because it does not require a conventional large-scale structure to arrange the pages in order, and only requires a simple mechanism for redistribution.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an example of a sheet ejection mechanism in the apparatus of the present invention. The sheet reversing device using this sheet ejection mechanism was previously invented by the present inventor, and a patent application is currently being filed by the present applicant.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 indicates a part of the image recording apparatus, and a paper discharge tray 4 is attached below a sheet discharge port 8 of side covers 2 and 2'. Reference numerals 5 and 6 denote a pair of rollers that are provided facing the sheet discharge port 8 of the image recording apparatus 1 and forming a part of the sheet conveyance path within the apparatus, and the image recording sheet is placed in the nip portion thereof. It is arranged so that it is guided and sent out of the device 1. Reference numeral 7 denotes a sheet reversing device, which has an integral structure in which a frame 8 holds various parts, and a side cover 2.21 of the image recording device 1.
It is removably attached to the rollers 9 and 91 by hooks 9 and 91, and in this attached state, it operates as a sheet reversing device in cooperation with the pair of rollers 5.6.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a movable guide plate for the image recording sheet, which is attached to the frame 8 so as to be rotatable in the direction of the arrow by a shaft 11, and is driven and controlled by a drive device (not shown), such as a solenoid, to the positions shown by solid lines and dotted lines. It is configured so that That is, when the movable guide plate 10 is rotated to the position indicated by the dotted line, the image recording sheet sent out of the machine by the pair of paper ejection rollers 5.6 continues straight in the horizontal direction to the right hand side, and is placed on the fixed guide plate 18. When the movable guide plate 1o is in the position indicated by the solid line, the movable guide plate 1o
Accordingly, the sheet is guided upward so as to be held by the sheet holding plate 14 into a passage formed by the sheet holding plate 14 and the plate member 15 which are provided to be inclined upward.

Further, reference numeral 16 denotes a through roller that engages in the lateral direction of the roller 6 located below the pair of rollers 5 and 6 and rotates in the direction of the arrow;
7 is a roller that engages with the roller 16 and rotates in the direction of the arrow; 18 is a roller 1B (the roller 6 is rotated along the circumferential side of D);
and 17. In this configuration, a solenoid (not shown) is driven and controlled by a control signal obtained by a control circuit to be described later, and the movable guide plate 10 is shown as a solid line or a dotted line. By rotating it to the opposite position, it is possible to select and set the reverse discharge mode and the non-reverse discharge mode. For example, when the movable guide plate 10 is set at the position shown by the solid line, the sheet fed out horizontally to the right by the four-ra pair 5.6 with the image recording surface facing upward is moved by the movable guide plate 10. The leading end of the sheet is guided upward and rises while being held by the sheet holding plate 14. The rear end of the sheet is the roller pair 5
, 6, the trailing edge of the sheet is guided by the rotation of the roller 6 below the roller 6.16.
toward the nip.

The rear end of the sheet, which is held by the sheet holding plate 14 due to the action of gravity on the sheet, is held in the nip of the rollers 6° 16 and faces downward, and is guided by the guide plate 18 to the rollers arranged in the vertical direction. The paper is caught in the nip section 16 and 17 and sent horizontally to the right, and finally falls onto the paper discharge tray 4. The recording surface of the sheet that has passed through this path is facing down. Next, when the movable guide plate 10 is moved to the dotted line position in order to set the non-reversal discharge mode, the sheet sent out from the roller pair '+fl with the image recording surface facing upward continues in the horizontal direction to the right hand side, and the sheet moves between the elastic roller 1B and the guide plate. 12 and further sent out, and a conveying force is applied until the rear end of the sheet escapes from the elastic rollers 18.

The sheet that has passed through this path falls onto the paper discharge tray 4 with the image recording surface facing up.

The apparatus of the present invention includes a sheet ejection mechanism configured as the sheet reversing device 7 as described above, and is configured to switch the ejection mode of the first sheet and subsequent sheets for a series of image recording sheets. 111(0) and (d), and the selection of the ejection mode is as follows:
This is achieved by switching the rotation stop position of the movable guide plate 10.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a control circuit for driving and controlling a drive source, such as a solenoid, for switching the rotation stop position of the movable guide plate 10. In the figure, numeral 21 denotes a sheet detection signal circuit which includes a sheet detector and is configured to waveform the output of the sheet detector to obtain a sheet detection signal. The sheet detector is installed at the nip portion of a pair of rollers 5 and 6, for example, on the main body side of the image recording apparatus 1 so as to be able to detect the image recording sheet fed into the sheet discharge mechanism 7 explained with reference to FIG. It is located nearby.

22 is a 7 lip-flop circuit, and 28 is a D7 lip-flop circuit, which operate using the sheet detection signal for each image recording sheet obtained from the sheet detection signal circuit 21 as a clock signal, and receive a reset signal from the reset signal circuit 24. D7 lip 70 circuit 2 of which is connected to be reset by
The output of the Q terminal of a normal flip-flop circuit 22 of, for example, an R8 type in the previous stage is input to the D terminal of the circuit 8. 2fi is a sheet front/reverse switching circuit for controlling the supply current of a drive source, such as a solenoid, for rotating the movable guide plate 10 in the sheet discharging mechanism configured as shown in FIG. can be,
For example, the solenoid drive circuit is configured to operate a solenoid so that the rotational position of the movable guide plate 1O is switched in response to the presence or absence of an output from the Q terminal in the D flip-flop circuit 28.

On the other hand, the reset signal circuit 24
For example, the reset signal circuit 24 is controlled by a signal from the reset operation section 26, and a reset signal having a timing corresponding to the signal is generated by each flip-flop circuit 22. 28.

In the configuration of the control circuit as described above, the sheet detection signal circuit 2 is activated for each of a series of image recording sheets fed into the nip between the rollers 5 and 6 of the sheet ejection mechanism shown in FIG.
A detection signal is generated from 1, and each 7-lip 70-tub circuit 22
．． 23 clock terminal, input to child. In response to the detection signal of the first of these image recording sheets, the output of the Q terminal of the flip-flop circuit 22 at the front stage becomes "1", which is applied to the D terminal of the D flip-flop circuit Q8 at the rear stage. The detection signal of the first sheet is sent to the clock terminal of the D flip floor 1 circuit 2B.
Since the detection signal of the first sheet is applied to the lip-flop circuit 22 at the same timing, the D flip-flop circuit 22 is connected to the D terminal of the D flip-flop circuit 1 circuit 2B.
At the moment when the Q terminal output of D7 is applied, the Q terminal of the D7 rib-flop circuit 28 has not yet become "1". That is, the output of the Q terminal of the D flip-flop circuit 28 maintains the state of "0" even when the detection signal of the first of the series of image recording sheets is input to the clock terminal.

Next, the sheet detection signal circuit 21 detects the second sheet of the series of image recording sheets, and this detection signal is transmitted to each of the seven lip-flop circuits 22. When the clock terminals of the flip-flop circuit 22 are applied to the respective clock terminals of the flip-flop circuit 22, there is no change since the output of the Q terminal of the flip-flop circuit 22 is already "1". Since the output "1" of the Q terminal is added to the D terminal, this is transferred to the own Q terminal, and as a result, the output of the Q terminal of the D flip-flop circuit 28 changes from "0" to "
1", and the sheet front/reverse switching circuit i8 generates the signal. This state continues until each of the seven lip-flop circuits 22 and 28 is reset by a reset signal from the reset signal circuit 24. Therefore, when the output of the Q terminal of the D flip-flop circuit 28 is "0", the movable guide plate 10 in the sheet ejection mechanism illustrated in FIG. 2 moves to the position indicated by the dotted line, and its output becomes "1". If the seat front/reverse mechanism including the movable guide plate 1O and a solenoid for rotationally driving the movable guide plate 1O is constructed so as to take the positions indicated by the solid lines, the above series of The first image recording sheet and the second and subsequent sheets can be stacked on the same paper ejection tray 4 and ejected with different sides. In addition, in the configuration example of this control circuit, each of the seven flip-flop circuits 2
2. To ensure the timing relationship of the operations in 28,
The Q terminal of the 7 lip-flop circuit 22 in the previous stage and the D terminal in the next stage
A delay circuit 27 may be inserted between the D terminals of the seven-rib flop circuit 28 as shown by the dotted line.

In order to return the ejection mode of the sheet ejection mechanism to the initial non-inversion ejection mode, the reset signal circuit 24 may be driven by a control signal from the reset operation section 26 to generate a reset signal. That is, after a series of image recording sheets have been ejected as described above, the reset signal circuit 2
4 to 7 lip-flop circuits 22.2
8, the respective circuits 22 and 28 are reset, and the output of each Q terminal becomes "0", whereby the sheet front/reverse switching circuit 25 returns to its previous state and the movable guide plate 10 is moved to the position indicated by the dotted line. The sheet ejecting mechanism is switched to the non-reversing mode in preparation for ejecting the next series of image recording sheets. Therefore, the next series of image recording sheets can be discharged to the paper discharge tray 4 in the same manner as described above. Therefore, if all of the series of image recording sheets are led into the apparatus of the present invention with the recording side facing up, only the first sheet will be ejected with the recording side facing up. The second and subsequent sheets are all reversed and are ejected in the page order of the image recording sheets guided to the apparatus of the present invention.The sheets ejected onto the paper ejection tray are By turning over the first sheet, a bundle of image recording sheets arranged in page order can be obtained. Also,
By operating to generate a reset signal while all image recording sheets are being ejected, each sheet immediately after the operation can be ejected in a non-reversing mode, that is, with the image recording side facing up. Therefore, if you operate the non-inversion mode for each desired number of sheets, only the first sheet at the border will be ejected in the non-inversion mode as explained in Figure 1 (CI). Not only is it extremely easy to sort, but each category has its own page order.

In the control circuit example of FIG. 8, the reset operation section 26 is
Various forms can be used depending on the image recording apparatus to which the apparatus of the present invention is applied. FIG. 4 shows the manual reset operation section 26 as explained above.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram when a reset key 28 is used. The manual reset key 28 is provided on, for example, an operation panel, and by operating the manual reset key 28, the reset signal circuit 24 is activated.
F) It has a configuration in which it is triggered and generates a reset signal. Therefore, when discharging a large number of recorded image sheets, by operating the manual reset key 28, it is possible to discharge only the desired sheet in the non-reversing mode. For example, if you want to eject a large number of image recording sheets as a set, there is no need to operate the manual reset key 28 in principle, and you can simply check the image recording status on the first sheet that is ejected in non-reversing mode. , all subsequent sheets are ejected with the recording surface facing down and the page order aligned. In addition, if you want to eject the image recording sheets so that they can be sorted into multiple groups, by operating the manual reset key 28 each time one group of image recording sheets is ejected, only the first sheet at the boundary of each group can be ejected. All you have to do is turn it upside down and discharge it. In this way, by operating the manual reset key 28, it is possible to check the image recording state of the sheets of each group using the first sheet of each group, and it is also extremely easy to sort by phase. However, each set can be sorted with the pages in the same order.

In this embodiment, the last sheet of a series of image recording sheets forming each set is detected by the sheet detection signal circuit 2.
If the manual reset key 28 is operated before it is detected by the sheet detector 1, this will cause a malfunction, so a means is provided in the reset signal circuit 24 to delay the timing of generation of the reset signal by an appropriate amount of time. By making it built-in, 1. It is preferable to configure the device so as to prevent the above-mentioned malfunction.

FIG. 5 shows a document feeding start signal generation circuit of the automatic document feeding device (hereinafter referred to as rADFJ) as the reset operation section that is most suitable when the present invention is applied to a copying device equipped with the ADF. FIG. 29 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment in which the number 29 is used. The document feed start signal generation circuit 29 in this type of copying apparatus is configured so that when the copy start key is operated while the document is placed on the document table of the ADF, a document feed start signal is obtained. It is normal that it is configured. For this purpose, for example, a detection signal from a sheet detector that detects that a stack of originals is placed on the original platen is ANDed with an operation signal generated by operating the copy start key, and the original is fed. I'm trying to get a start signal. In this embodiment, by guiding the original feeding start signal to the reset signal circuit 24 and controlling the timing of generation of the reset signal, each flip-flop circuit in FIG. 22 and 28 are automatically reset.

In this embodiment, the ADF is automatically controlled by a control signal that maintains the start signal obtained by the document feed start signal generation circuit 29 until the document stack placed on the document table is ejected. It has become so.

According to this embodiment, when a stack of originals is placed on the ADF original table and the start key is operated, the reset signal circuit 24 is activated at the same time as copying is started, and the reset signal circuit 24 is activated as shown in FIG. The control circuit is reset to its initial state. Therefore,
For each stack of originals placed on the document table, the first image recording sheet corresponding to the first page is ejected with the recording side facing up, and the subsequent sheets are ejected with the recording side facing down. , are stacked on the same paper ejection tray 4 and ejected. Once the document is removed from the ADF's document table, if you place a new stack of documents and press the start key again,
Automatically repeat the above action. As a result, by simply placing the originals on the automatic document feeder, the ejected image recording sheets are automatically arranged in page order for each batch of originals, with only the image recording sheets at the boundaries being reversed and differentiated. Paper output tray 4
is discharged to the top.

In addition, immediately after the previous batch of originals finishes passing through the ADF,
When a new batch of originals is placed on the document table of the DF to be followed and the start key is operated, one image recording sheet corresponding to the last original of the preceding batch of originals is displayed as shown in Fig. 2. Before exiting the movable guide plate 10 and guide plate 1B portion of the sheet ejection mechanism, the sheet detector detects the first image recording sheet corresponding to the first page of the subsequent new document bundle. In order to reliably prevent such malfunctions and paper jams from occurring due to this, a delay circuit is provided in the reset signal circuit 24 to adjust the timing of generation of the reset signal, as described in the embodiment of FIG. can also be delayed until the last sheet has completely exited the guide plate 12.18.

When the device of the present invention is applied to an image recording device such as a printer in which the original information for creating a hard copy is supplied in the form of an electrical signal and the operation of the device is commanded by a host device, Based on the control signal sent to the printer, the reset signal circuit 24 of FIG.
It is best to control the

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of such an embodiment, and 80 is a printer operation command signal circuit including a control signal generation circuit for controlling the reset signal circuit 24 of FIG. The reset signal circuit 24 is used as the reset operation section 26 and is controlled by the control signal from the circuit 80.
As is well known, printers such as those mentioned above are operated by control signals transmitted in the form of electrical signals, without the operator directly operating the printer. It is composed of Therefore, in this embodiment, a reset signal circuit control signal is generated from the printer operation command signal circuit 80 of the host device in synchronization with the printer operation command signal, and the printer operation is controlled by the printer operation command signal in the same manner as before. , sends image signals corresponding to a series of multiple recorded images to the printer. On the other hand, the reset signal circuit control signal is included in the printer operation command signal and sent to the printer, and the sending timing is after sending out the image signal corresponding to the series of plural recorded images. The reset circuit control signal is configured to be applied to the reset signal circuit prior to sending out the image signal corresponding to the next series of a plurality of recorded images or simultaneously with the printer operation command signal.

According to such a configuration, similarly to the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 5, in a printer that operates according to commands from the host device, image signals corresponding to a series of recorded images on a plurality of sheets can be sequentially printed on sheets. When ejecting the image signals, the first image recording sheet is ejected for each of the series of image signals so that it is stacked on the paper ejection tray 4 with the recording surface different from the sheets. can be done.

In addition, in this embodiment as well, in the same way as explained in the embodiment of FIG. If a problem occurs because the timing of generation is too early, a delay circuit is attached to the reset signal circuit 24, or a control signal generation circuit for driving the reset signal circuit built in the printer operation command signal circuit in the host device is used. By delaying the timing of control signal generation by an appropriate amount of time, normal operation of the device of the present invention can be ensured.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the main parts of the control circuit in another embodiment of the device of the present invention.

This control circuit example is an improvement of the embodiment explained in FIG. 4, and the manual reset key 28 in FIG. - The compound command key 81 is configured to have a stop command function. That is,
The composite command key 81 is configured to generate a signal with a time width corresponding to the key operation time, and selectively issues start/stop commands and reset commands for the roller system depending on the length of the key operation time. . Such a compound command key 8
1, the number of various operation keys can be reduced and the operation panel can be simplified.

In the figure, the signal generated by the operation of the compound command key 81 is transmitted to the reset signal circuit 24 explained with reference to FIG.
Add to. The reset signal circuit 24 generates, for example, a reset signal at the timing of the leading edge of the input signal in response to the input signal, and inputs the reset signal to the reset terminal of each of the seven lip-flop circuits gg and 2a in FIG. Reset.

On the other hand, the signal discrimination circuit 82 is configured to output when the time width of the input signal is equal to or longer than a predetermined constant time. For example, in this embodiment, a timer circuit 88 is attached to the signal discrimination circuit 82 and is connected to the compound command key 81.
The own circuit 8 is activated by an AND signal of a timer signal generated after a predetermined period of time or more and an input signal from the key operation of the compound command key 81.
The T flip-flop circuit is reset by an AND signal similarly obtained by driving the T flip-flop circuit provided in the controller 2 and operating the composite command key again for a long time. Therefore, the output signal of the signal discrimination circuit 82 is generated when the composite command key 81 is operated for a long time longer than the set time of the timer circuit 88, and continues until the next key operation is performed for approximately the same time. It becomes a time width signal.

Reference numeral 84 denotes a start/stop circuit configured to use the output signal as a control signal to turn ON/OFF the drive power circuit for the roller system in the sheet ejection mechanism. The power supply circuit of the image recording apparatus to which the image recording apparatus is applied may also be controlled at the same time.

By using the composite command key 81 including such a circuit configuration, each of the seven lip-flop circuits in the control circuit of FIG. 8 can be controlled by short-time operation of the key! 2. ff18 can be reset. Therefore, every time a plurality of sheets including the first image recording sheet are ejected immediately after the key 81 is operated for a short time, only the first sheet is turned upside down and placed in the paper ejection tray 4. Paper is ejected on top. Further, by setting the key operation time to be longer than the set time of the timer circuit a8, it is possible to start the sheet conveyance function in the sheet ejection mechanism, and then press the compound command key 81 again for a long time. It can be stopped by operating it.

When applying this embodiment to an image recording apparatus, when the composite command key 81 is not operated, the image recording sheet is ejected onto the ejection tray 4 with the image recording surface facing upward. It is appropriate to set the discharge mode of the sheet discharge mechanism so that the sheet discharge mode is selected. Second
In the illustrated configuration example, the mode corresponds to the state in which the movable guide plate 10 is rotated to the position shown by the dotted line.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above in detail, according to the apparatus of the present invention, sheets can be sequentially discharged onto a discharge tray with the image recording surface facing upward. Therefore, the operator can easily observe the recording state of images by simply looking at the first sheet of each set from above, and the operator can easily observe the recording state of the image by simply looking down on the first sheet of each set. It is extremely easy to sort each set on the first page. Furthermore, in each series of image recording sheet bundles sorted in this way, the front and back sides of the second and subsequent sheets are reversed with respect to the first sheet, so after sorting into each phase, By reversing the front and back of each first sheet, each set can be arranged and sorted in the page order very easily. Also, the ejection mode of the sheet ejection mechanism can be switched manually at any timing. Therefore, it is not only easy to observe the recording state of an arbitrary number of image recording sheets, such as when discharging a large number of image recording sheets that do not need to be sorted in page order, but also
For convenience of later counting of ejected sheets, it is also possible to switch the ejection mode every predetermined number of ejected sheets. On the other hand, when implementing the present invention in an image recording apparatus such as a copying machine having an automatic document feeder or a printer controlled by a control signal from a host device, it is necessary to use a copy start signal from the automatic document feeder. Alternatively, by configuring the ejection mode of the sheet ejection mechanism to be switched for each document or image signal corresponding to a series of recorded images using a control signal superimposed on the printer operation command signal from the host device, the ejection mode can be automatically sorted and It is also possible to discharge the image recording sheets with the page order aligned.

Roughly speaking, as explained in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7, one operation key is used as the reset signal circuit operating switch in the control circuit example illustrated in FIG. 8 and the sheet ejection switch illustrated in FIG. 2. A configuration that also serves as a switch for starting and stopping the sheet conveying means of the mechanism has the advantage of simplifying the operation panel surface.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for comparing and explaining the ejection situation of image recording sheets by a conventional apparatus and the apparatus of the present invention. FIG. ,
Figures (C) and (+1) show examples of how image recording sheets are discharged into the bins of a sorter connected to a conventional image recording device, respectively. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the configuration of the main parts of the sheet ejection mechanism in the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of a control circuit for switching the ejection mode in the apparatus of the present invention. 4 to 6 are explanatory diagrams of respective embodiments of the device of the present invention in which the reset operation section for controlling the reset signal circuit of FIG. 8 is different depending on the equipment to which the device of the present invention is applied. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control circuit in another embodiment of the device according to the present invention, in which a reset command and a start/stop command for the device are issued by a composite command key. . 1... Image recording device 2... Side cover 8...
Sheet ejection port Gold... Paper ejection tray 5, 6, 16
, 17...Roller 7...Sheet discharge mechanism (sheet reversing device) 8...Frame 9.9'...Hook 10
...Movable guide plate 12, 18...Fixed guide plate 18...Elastic roller 14...Sheet holding plate 22.
...RS flip 70-tube circuit 28...D7 flip 4-tube circuit 27...Delay circuit. 1N 2N Fig. 3

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] L: A sheet reversing mechanism capable of selecting a non-reversing ejection mode in which the image recording sheet is ejected without reversing the front and back, and a Z reversal ejection mode in which the image recording sheet is ejected with the front and back reversed, and the same paper ejection tray. A sheet ejecting mechanism configured to eject a subsequent sheet overlaid on a preceding sheet, and for each series of image recording sheets, the front and back directions of the first sheet and the following sheet are adjusted. A page order alignment device characterized in that the page order aligning device is configured to be able to drive and control a sheet face-up turning mechanism of the sheet ejection mechanism so as to adopt different ejection modes in which the sheets are ejected onto the paper ejection tray. a) Drive control of the sheet face-up switching mechanism for switching to a predetermined operation mode only for the first sheet of each series of image recording sheets is performed based on a command signal generated manually. A page order alignment device according to claim 1, characterized in that the page order alignment device is configured as follows. a) By configuring the command signal and the control signal for each sheet ejection roller drive circuit of the sheet ejection mechanism to be generated and stopped separately by manually changing the key operation time of the compound command key, The page order alignment device according to claim 2, wherein the composite command key has a function of commanding switching of the discharge operation mode of the sheet discharge mechanism and a function of commanding start/stop of the sheet discharge operation. . The image recording sheet discharged from the copying machine equipped with the automatic document feeder is guided to the sheet discharge mechanism, and the sheet discharge is performed only for the first sheet of each of the series of image recording sheets. In order to switch the mechanism to a predetermined ejection mode, the sheet front/reverse switching mechanism of the sheet ejection switching mechanism is configured to be switched and controlled based on a feeding start signal from the automatic document feeder. A page order alignment device according to claim 1. The configuration is such that an image recording sheet ejected from a printer that receives an image information signal and converts it into a hard copy is guided to the sheet ejection mechanism, and that the image recording sheet is guided only to the first sheet of each of the series of image recording sheets. In order to switch the sheet ejection mechanism to a predetermined ejection mode, the drive control of the sheet front/reverse mechanism is performed based on a control signal sent to the printer from a host device that controls the operation of the printer. A page order alignment device according to claim 1.