JPS6139721Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention is a device used mainly between a copying machine and a collator to transfer sheets between two conveyance devices, especially a device in which the latter conveyance device is faster than the first conveyance device. The present invention relates to a sheet delivery device having a high speed.

In order to make several copies of an original, modern copying machines are often equipped with a storage unit that includes storage shelves for distributing copies of the original one by one and storing them in separate compartments. Such a storage body is called a sorter or collator, and the storage shelves are called bins, but in order to distribute copies one by one to each bin of this collator, a distribution machine that distributes the copied sheets to each bin is required. Either move the sheets one by one onto each bin as they come out of the copier, or move the collator bins so that the sheets are fed into each bin in turn as they come out of the copier. need to be moved. By the way, sheets are sent out from a copying machine at relatively short intervals, so the movement of the bin of the distributor or collator takes place very quickly from the time a sheet is sent until the next sheet is sent. It needs to be done in a short period of time. As a solution to this problem, it is conceivable to feed the sheets discharged from the copying machine into the bin of the collator at a speed faster than the sheet discharge speed of the copying machine, thereby allowing more time for the movement of the distributor or the bin. In this case, if the sheet conveyance device on the ejection side of the copying machine and the sheet conveyance device on the introduction side to the collator grab the sheet at the same time, the sheet will be damaged due to the difference in conveyance speed. The distance between the sheet grasping sections of the conveying devices must be set at a distance greater than the maximum length of the sheet, and a method for transferring sheets between the separated conveying devices is required. For this reason, conventionally, in this type of apparatus, a separate auxiliary transport device was provided between these transport devices.

An example of such a conventional device will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The sheet 3 discharged by the sheet conveyance device 2 provided on the copy sheet discharge side of the copying machine 1 is transferred to the sheet conveyance device 6 provided in the collator 5 by a plurality of conveyance rollers 4 having a faster conveyance speed than the sheet conveyance device 2. The sheet is transported to the sheet introduction port.
When transferring the sheet 3 from the sheet conveyance device 2 to the conveyance roller 4, if the leading edge of the sheet 3 is on the conveyance roller 4 and the rear end of the sheet 3 is still gripped by the sheet conveyance device 2, the sheet 3 is transferred to the conveyance roller 4. Since it slides on the sheet 4, the sheet 3 will not be damaged at this time. The sheet conveying device 6 has a faster conveying speed than the sheet conveying device 2, and the sheet 3 sent to the inlet of the sheet conveying device 6 is transferred to the belt 7 of the sheet conveying device 6.
The distributor 8 distributes the pins 9 along the
will be transported to. The belt 7 has a large number of holes, and a suction box 11 equipped with a suction device 10 sucks air from behind the belt 7 to bring the sheet 3 into close contact with the belt 7 and move the sheet 3 to a predetermined bin 9. Can be transported. When making several copies of several originals, place sheet 3 in the first bin.
After accommodating the bins, the distributor 8 is moved to the next bin, and in this way, the sheets 3 are distributed one by one to the bins 9.

This device has a drawback in that the sheet is unstably fed over the rollers in the delivery section, which tends to cause the sheet to be in a bad position, such as becoming slanted, and this tends to cause jams in the collator.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve this drawback and to ensure that the subsequent conveying device has a faster conveying speed than the earlier conveying device.
To provide a sheet transfer device capable of accurately transferring sheets in a correct posture between two conveyance devices.

In order to achieve this object, the sheet transfer device of the present invention includes a first conveyance device that conveys the sheet, and a second conveyance device that conveys the sheet at a faster conveyance speed than the sheet conveyance speed of the first conveyance device. A guide member having an effective guide length longer than the maximum length of the sheet is provided between the sheet discharge port of the first conveyance device and the sheet introduction port of the second conveyance device, and the guide member allows the In a sheet transfer device that transfers a sheet discharged from a sheet discharge port to the sheet introduction port, a pair of rollers having a weaker gripping force than the first and second conveyance devices is provided in the sheet guide path of the guide member, and the The present invention is characterized in that sheets are transferred from the first conveyance device to the second conveyance device.

In addition, sheets copied in a copying machine tend to be charged with static electricity, and a static eliminator using a conductive brush is usually installed in the sheet conveyance path in the copying machine.
Although this brush is brought into contact with the sheet being conveyed to remove static electricity from the sheet, it is still insufficient to completely remove static electricity.

In order to solve such problems, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a pair of rollers with a weak gripping force provided in the sheet guide path is made of a conductive material, and this pair of rollers removes static electricity from the sheet. Make sure to do the following.

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

The conveyance roller 21 provided in the copying machine 20 carries the sheet 2
2 from the copying machine 20.
Conveying rollers 24 and 25 provided on the collator 23 are for feeding the sheet 22 discharged from the copying machine 20 directly or via a distributor into a bin (not shown). The conveying rollers 24 and 25 feed the sheet 22 into the bin at a faster conveying speed than the conveying roller 21. The movement of the bin or the distributor must be carried out while the sheets 22 are being fed intermittently one after another. This allows for more time to be moved. Guide plates 26 and 2 for guiding the sheet 22 from the sheet discharge section of the copying machine 20 provided with the transport roller 21 to the sheet introduction section of the transport rollers 24 and 25 provided on the collator 23;
7 will be provided. The effective length of the guide passage 28 formed by the guide plates 26 and 27 is set to be greater than or equal to the maximum length of the seat 22. The conveyance roller 25 is the guide plate 2
7, the guide plate 27 is attached so that it can rotate around the rotation axis 29, and the mounting screw 30
so that it can be fixed by Information boards 26, 27
Auxiliary conveyance roller accommodating portions 31 and 32 are provided in the accommodating portions 31 and 32, respectively, and auxiliary conveyance rollers 33 and 3 each made of a drum-shaped conductive brush are provided in the accommodating portions 31 and 32, respectively.
4 will be provided. The auxiliary conveyance roller 34 is integrally attached to the guide plate 27 so that it can rotate together with the guide plate 27 about the rotation shaft 29. The distance of the guide path 28 between the sheet inlet of the auxiliary conveyance rollers 33, 34 and the sheet discharge port of the conveyance roller 21, and the sheet discharge port of the auxiliary conveyance rollers 33, 34 and the sheet inlet of the conveyance rollers 24, 25. The auxiliary transport rollers 33, 3 are arranged so that the distance of the guide path 28 between the
Place 4. The conveyance speed V of the auxiliary conveyance rollers 33 and 34 is V1, where the conveyance speed of the conveyance roller 21 is _V1 , and the conveyance speed of the conveyance rollers 24 and 25 is _{V2 .}
Set so that the relationship is <V≦V ₂ . The conductive brushes of the auxiliary conveyance rollers 33, 34 are connected to the ground wire, and the sheet 22 is connected to the auxiliary conveyance rollers 33, 34.
34, insufficient static electricity is removed from the sheet within the copying machine. A light source 35 and a light receiving element 3 are installed immediately before the sheet introduction ports of the conveyance rollers 24 and 25.
6, and in order to confirm the passage of the sheet 22, detection holes 3 are provided in the guide plates 26 and 27, respectively.
7 and 38 are provided.

Next, the operation of this device will be explained.

The sheet 22 sent out by the conveyance roller 21 of the copying machine 20 is guided downward along a guide path 27, and is grasped by auxiliary conveyance rollers 33 and 34 before being completely discharged from the conveyance roller 21. When the leading edge of the sheet 22 is gripped by the auxiliary transport rollers 33 and 34 and the rear end of the sheet 22 is still gripped by the transport roller 21, the gripping force of the auxiliary transport rollers 33 and 34 is weak, so the auxiliary transport rollers 33 and 34 conveys the sheet 22 by lightly rubbing and slidingly contacting the surface of the sheet 22. Therefore, even if the conveyance speed of the auxiliary conveyance rollers 33 and 34 is faster than the conveyance speed of the conveyance roller 21, the sheet 22 can be transferred from the conveyance roller 21 to the auxiliary conveyance rollers 33 and 34 without damaging the sheet. sheet 22
When the rear end of the sheet 22 is discharged from the discharge port of the conveyance roller 21, the sheet 22 is conveyed along the guide path 28 of the guide plates 26, 27 at the conveyance speed of the auxiliary conveyance rollers 33, 34, and the sheet 22 is conveyed by the conveyance rollers 24, 25. Reach the inlet. The conveying rollers 24, 25 have a conveying speed that is the same as or faster than that of the auxiliary conveying rollers 33, 34, but the conveying rollers 24, 25
If the sheet conveyance speed is faster than the sheet conveyance speed of the auxiliary conveyance rollers 33 and 34, the leading edge of the sheet 22 is grasped by the conveyance rollers 24 and 25, and at the same time the sheet 22 is conveyed at the conveyance speed of the conveyance rollers 24 and 25. However, the auxiliary conveyance roller 3 of the sheet 22
3 and 34 are fed so as to come into sliding contact with the conveyance surfaces of the auxiliary conveyance rollers 33 and 34 at a speed faster than the conveyance speed of the auxiliary conveyance rollers 33 and 34, so that the sheet 22 is not damaged in this case as well. Never. The sheet 22 discharged from the conveyance rollers 24 and 25 is fed into a bin (not shown) via a distributor (not shown) or directly.
When making multiple copies of the original, the distributor or the bin is moved by detecting the sheet 22 passing through the guide path 28 just in front of the sheet inlet of the conveyance rollers 24 and 25 using the light source 35 and the light receiving element 36. Do it by doing this. This operation will be explained with reference to FIG.

When the sheet 22 has not reached the sheet detection position by the light source 35 and the light receiving element 36, the detection circuit 40 outputs a low level signal to the motor drive circuit 41,
When the sheet 22 reaches the sheet detection position, the detection circuit 40 outputs a high-level sheet detection signal to the motor drive circuit 41. When the rear end of the sheet 22 passes the sheet detection position and the signal output from the detection circuit 40 becomes low level again, the motor drive circuit 41 detects the fall of this sheet detection signal,
After detecting the trailing edge of the sheet 22, and after a necessary and sufficient time for the sheet 22 to pass through the transport rollers 24, 25 and be fed into the bin, the drive motor 42 for moving the distributor or the bin row is activated for a predetermined period of time. It is driven and placed at the entrance of the next bin after the distributor, or the entrance of the next bin is moved to the sheet exit of the transport rollers 24,25. This movement of the bin or the distributor must be carried out while the sheets 22 are being fed one after another, but in this device, the feeding speed of the feeding roller 24 is faster than the feeding speed of the feeding roller 21.
Since the feed speed of 25 is increased, it is possible to have time margin for moving the bin row or the distributor, so that the bin row or the distributor does not have to be moved extremely fast. Therefore, the output of the drive motor 42 may be correspondingly weak.

Furthermore, the light source 35 and the light receiving element 36 can also serve as a detector for a paper jam, which is generally called a jam.
For example, a normal circuit configuration may be used, such as sending a jam signal when detecting the presence of the sheet 22 for a long time, or sending a check signal when the sheet is not supposed to be present, and issuing a jam signal when the sheet is present. A jam signal can be issued by When this jam signal is issued, all or part of the driving of the copying machine or collator is stopped, or a jam is displayed. This information board 2
The jam sheet between 6 and 27 can be taken out by removing the mounting screw 30 and rotating the guide plate 27, to which the conveying roller 25 is integrally attached, around the pivot shaft 29.

This device uses an auxiliary conveyance roller 33 with a weak gripping force,
34 is provided between the conveyance roller 21 and the conveyance rollers 24 and 25 to transfer the sheet 22, the sheet 22 can be grasped and transferred reliably, which prevents instability at the transfer section. The sheet 22 can be sent to the conveying rollers 24 and 25 while maintaining its correct posture.

FIG. 4a is a diagram showing an example of the auxiliary conveyance roller shown in FIG. 2. This brush roller has a drum-like structure in which a large number of brushes 45 are embedded in a roller body 44, but when the brushes are used to simply transfer sheets without removing static electricity, conductive materials are recommended. Other materials may also be used. An example of a brush in such a case is one in which a large number of organic fibers made of rayon, acrylic, vinylon, Teflon, or polyester and made of about 300 denier/30 filler are embedded around the roller body 44. However, other than these, metallic fibers may also be used. When removing static electricity with a brush, examples include a brush made of organic fibers whose surfaces are conductively treated, a brush made of carbon fiber, and a brush made of stainless steel fiber.
Examples of grounding means include grounding through a conductive shaft.

FIG. 4b is a diagram showing another embodiment of the auxiliary conveyance roller. In this example, instead of the brush 45, a flexible conductive rubber roller 4 with numerous protrusions on its surface is used.
6 is formed around the roller body 44. Even with such a roller, it is possible to remove static electricity from the sheet. If such static electricity removal is not required, a roller made of a flexible material such as sponge or rubber with a low friction material such as Teflon or cloth on the surface may be used; Any material may be used as long as it can reliably grasp and convey the sheet with a weak grasping force. It is also possible to use other metal rollers as rollers for removing static electricity, but no matter what type of drum is used, it is important that the sheet gripping force on the surface of the drum is small.

The rollers configured as explained in FIGS. 4a and 4b are as shown in FIG.
Alternatively, the auxiliary conveyance roller may be driven by one of the conveyance rollers connected to the motor, and the other roller may be made of a hard material.

FIGS. 5a and 5b show other embodiments of the arrangement of the auxiliary conveyance rollers. In this embodiment, a plurality of roller rows 47 and 48 are arranged so that the respective rollers enter the rollers alternately. In the case of such a roller arrangement, rollers made of a hard material may be used, but it goes without saying that rollers having the structure and material as described with reference to FIGS. 4a and 4b may also be used.

The sheet transfer device of the present invention configured in this manner is between two transport devices separated by a transport path having a length greater than or equal to the maximum length of the sheet to be transported, and can transfer a sheet discharged from the sheet discharge port of the first transport device to the second transport device while maintaining it in the correct posture and without damaging it, and can almost completely remove static electricity charged to the sheet during this sheet transfer, which could only be removed insufficiently by the static electricity removal device within the copier.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiment is merely an example of the present invention, and the present invention can be modified in various ways within the scope of the claims for utility model registration. For example, if two conveyance devices are separated by a considerable distance, a plurality of auxiliary conveyance rollers may be provided between them to transfer sheets. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the latter conveying device is placed below the first conveying device, but the device of the present invention can be applied even if the first conveying device and the second conveying device are placed at the same height or slightly above. Of course. In addition, when removing static electricity from a sheet using an auxiliary conveyance roller, it is preferable that the surface shape of the auxiliary conveyance roller be discontinuous. A roller of any shape, such as porous or mesh, may be used as long as it does not damage the sheet.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing the structure of a conventional sheet delivery device, FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing the structure of the sheet delivery device of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is the structure of the sheet detection circuit of the device shown in FIG. FIG. 4a is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an example of the structure of the auxiliary conveyance roller of the device of the present invention, and FIG. 4b is a block diagram showing another example of the structure of the auxiliary conveyance roller of the device of the present invention. FIG. 5a is a schematic sectional view showing another embodiment of the device of the present invention, and FIG. 5b is a plan view of the auxiliary conveyance roller of the device of FIG. 5a viewed from above. be. 1... Copying machine, 2... Sheet paper conveyance device, 3...
... Sheet paper, 4 ... Conveyance roller, 5 ... Collator, 6 ... Sheet paper transport device, 7 ... Belt, 8
... Distributor, 9 ... Bottle, 10 ... Aspirator, 11
... Suction box, 20 ... Copying machine, 21 ... Conveyance roller, 22 ... Sheet, 23 ... Collator, 24,
25... Conveyance roller, 26, 27... Guide plate, 2
8... Guide passage, 29... Rotating shaft, 30... Mounting screw, 31, 32... Auxiliary conveyance roller housing section,
33, 34...Auxiliary conveyance roller, 35...Light source,
36... Light receiving element, 37, 38... Detection hole, 40
...Detection circuit, 41...Motor drive circuit, 42...
... Drive motor, 44 ... Motor body, 45 ... Brush, 46 ... Rubber roller, 47, 48 ... Roller row.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] a first conveying device that conveys a sheet;
a second conveyance device that conveys the sheet at a conveyance speed faster than the sheet conveyance speed in the conveyance device, and a sheet discharge port of the first conveyance device and a sheet introduction port of the second conveyance device. A sheet delivery device in which a guide member having an effective guide length longer than the maximum length of the sheet is provided between the sheets, and the sheet discharged from the sheet discharge port is delivered to the sheet introduction port by the guide member. A pair of rollers having a weaker gripping force than the first and second conveying devices is provided in the sheet guiding path, and the sheet is transferred from the first conveying device to the second conveying device. Delivery device.