JPS6143270B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a collator for collating sheets sequentially and continuously fed from a copying machine or a printing machine.

Typically, a collator includes a sheet transport path, a plurality of sheet storage bins, and a movable deflection device for distributing sheets to the bins. By moving the deflection device, a collation operation is performed in which sheets corresponding to the same page of the original are stored one by one in separate bins. In this work, the number of sheet storage bins is limited, and it may be desired to collect a large number of sheets that exceeds the total number of bins. In this case, it is desirable that the input device of the collator, that is, the copying machine, produce all the copies at once without stopping operation midway. For this reason, conventionally several collator units are connected in series. However, this increases the cost and space for the additional unit, and also increases the number of jamming locations on the seat.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to enable collation of more copies than the total number of bins without providing an additional collator.

In the method of the present invention, when collating more copies than the total number of bins, the entire bin is divided into two blocks, an upper block and a lower block, at an arbitrary number of bins, and the upper block and lower block are used alternately. It collates and finally completes the collation of all the numbers. That is, while collation is being performed in the lower block or upper block, the sheets in the upper block or lower block that have already been collated are taken out. Of course, when the number of collated copies is smaller than the total number of bins, the entire bin is used continuously without dividing into upper and lower blocks like this.

The method of the present invention will be explained below with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

In FIG. 1, a conveyor belt 1 is wrapped around a drive roller 2 and a driven roller 3, and the drive roller 2 is driven by a motor 4 via a belt 5 as shown in FIG. The driven roller 3 forms a sheet receiving roller pair together with the receiving roller 6, and forms a guide roller pair together with the guide roller 7. 8 is a sheet acceptance detector, and 9 is an acceptance guide plate. A large number of trays 10 forming a seat storage bin
are arranged vertically in parallel, and the sheet insertion opening of each tray is located at a position facing the conveyor belt. Between the trays 10 and the conveyor belt 1, a deflection plate 11 is attached to each tray and arranged along the conveyor belt. Reference numeral 12 denotes a deflection device, which is mounted so as to be movable up and down along a guide rail 14 by a roll 13. Each deflection plate 11, 11' is mounted pivotably about a pivot 15, 15', and the deflection plates 11' located at substantially constant intervals have a conveying roller 16 on its pivot 15'. is provided.
The distance between the conveying rollers 16 provided on each deflecting plate 11' is smaller than the minimum size of the sheet to be used, and the conveying rollers 16 are connected to the conveying belt 1 so as to convey the sheet in cooperation with the conveying belt 1. This is what we are doing.

In FIG. 2, the deflection device 12 has a pair of discharge rollers located between the deflection plate 11 and the tray 10.
7, 18 and a discharge guide plate 19, and a deflection pin 20 in the region of the deflection plate. 21 is a sheet discharge detector. The deflection plates 11, 11' are provided with deflection cams 22 fixed thereto, the deflection plates and the deflection cams being normally in the position shown in broken lines. That is, the deflection plates 11 and 11' are located at positions that do not interfere with the conveyance of the sheet by the conveyor belt 1, and the deflection cams 22
is located outside the range of the sheet conveyance path and in contact with the deflection pin 20 of the deflection device 12. FIG. 2 shows that the deflecting device 12 includes a deflecting plate 11' having a conveying roller 16.
Indicates that it is in a position to cooperate with. When the deflection device 12 is lowered and its deflection pin 20 comes into contact with the deflection cam 22, the deflection cam 22 moves along the pivot axis 1 with the deflection plate 11'.
5' counterclockwise to the operating position shown in solid line. In this operating position, the deflection plate 11' projects into the sheet conveyance path by the conveyor belt 1,
The fed sheet is deflected away from the conveyor belt 1 and guided to a pair of discharge rollers 17 and 18. For this reason, each deflection plate 11, 11'
a, 11'a. The sheet is then fed into the tray 10, at which time the feeding into the tray is monitored by a sheet discharge detector 21. After the feeding of the sheet to the tray 10 is completed,
When the deflection device 12 descends to the next tray position, the deflection pin 20 and the deflection cam 22 come out of contact.
The deflection plate and deflection cam return to their original positions as indicated by the dashed lines.

In FIG. 3, a sprocket 23 is fixedly attached to the shaft of the drive roller 2.
and the sprocket 24 attached to the shaft of the driven roller 3.
A discharge roller drive chain 25 is hung between the two. The chain 25 passes through sprockets 26, 26 attached to the shafts of both rollers 13 of the deflection device 12, and then connects to the sprocket 2 fixed to the discharge roller 18.
7, thereby causing the ejection roller 1
8. Therefore, the discharge roller 17, which is a driven roller thereof, is constantly rotated while the conveyor belt 1 is rotating. The deflection device 12 is connected to a belt device 28 arranged in parallel with the conveyor belt 1, and is reliably moved to the position of each bin via the belt device by a pulse motor 29.

In Figure 1, the number of trays or bins is 9.
Although only one bin is shown, for the sake of explanation below, it is assumed that there are 20 bins, and when collating a large number of copies, this
Here, the 20 bins are divided into an upper block and a lower block. At this time, in order to be able to arbitrarily change the number of bins in both the upper and lower blocks, each bin is marked with or without sheets or with no sheets in the back position away from the sheet insertion opening of the tray. A sheet presence/absence detector 31 is provided to detect the number of inserted sheets. A switch 30 provided at the top of the guide rail 14 is a home position detector for detecting whether the deflection device 12 is at the home position (uppermost position).

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the control circuit of the collator. Here, the central processing unit, RAM, and ROM are collectively shown as a CPU. 10
8 and 121 are I/O ports of the sheet acceptance detector 8 and sheet discharge detector 21, 130 is an I/O port of the home position detector 30, and 131 is an I/O port of the sheet presence/absence detector 31 provided in each bin. I/O port, and 129 is the pulse motor 29
This is an I/O port of a driver circuit (not shown).
Reference numeral 110 indicates a control circuit of the main body of the copying machine, which is not shown.

The operation of this control circuit will be explained below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Collator control information is transferred from the control circuit 110 of the copier main body to the system control bus 111.
is input to the CPU (step in Figure 5).
Based on this input information, the CPU performs the following operations.

First, the CPU specifies the I/O port of the home position detector 30 and determines whether the deflection device 12 is at the home position (the highest position in this embodiment) (see FIG. 5). step). The home position detector 30 is the deflection device 1
2 is not detected, the CPU sends a deflection device rise signal (pulse motor counterclockwise rotation signal) to the pulse motor drive circuit port 129. From this, a signal is applied to the pulse motor 29 to move the deflection device by exactly one bin, and the deflection device 12 moves up by one bin (step). CPU has 1 deflection device
After each bin movement, the home position detector port 130 is designated to determine whether the deflection device is in the home position. When the home position detector 30 detects the deflection device, that is, when the deflection device reaches the top bin position, the pulse motor is stopped and the deflection device is stopped at this position.

Next, the CPU specifies the sheet presence/absence detector port 131 to check whether there is a sheet in each bin (step). If there is a sheet in any bin, the CPU inputs the bin in which the sheet is present from the sheet presence/absence detector port 131, and outputs a bin signal in which the sheet is present to the control circuit 110 of the copying machine main body ( step). As a result, the main body of the copying machine externally displays the bin in which the sheet is located using the display. Sheet feeding to the collator, ie, copy making, has not yet started. If the sheets in the bins are taken out or if there are no sheets in all the bins, the CPU reads collator control information from the copier main body. In this case, it is determined whether the specified number of pages P from the copying machine body is within the maximum number of sheets that can be stored in one bin (100 sheets in this embodiment) (step). If the specified number of pages P is 101 or more, the pages are collated twice or the rest is continued with the next stage collator, but the explanation will be omitted here. If the specified number of pages P is 100 or less, the CPU sets the specified number of pages P in the page number set register R1 inside the CPU (step). Next, the CPU determines how to use the bin, that is, sets the number of bins. Decide whether to use the entire block divided into upper and lower blocks. In this embodiment, the total number of bins is 20, so it is determined whether 20 bins are sufficient to collate the specified number of copies N, that is, whether 21 or more bins are required (step). If the specified number of copies N is less than 20 bins, the CPU sets the number N in the upper copy number register R3, which is an internal register (step). On the other hand, if the specified number of copies N is 21 bins or more, a total of 20 bins are divided into two parts, an upper block and a lower block, for use.

Here, the CPU determines the number of bins to be used in the upper and lower blocks based on the specified number of pages P. In other words, when the copying machine main body makes copies of the specified number of pages P by the specified number N, it is preferable that the number of times the document is replaced for each page is reduced as much as possible, and the maximum number of specified pages P can be accommodated in one bin. Number of sheets (100 sheets)
The closer you get to that point, the more trouble you will have to replace it and the time loss you will have. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the specified number of pages P is 6 pages or more, in order to be able to collate or sort a predetermined number of copies with a relatively small number of document exchanges, 14 bins in the upper block and 6 bins in the lower block are used. When used separately and less than 5 pages
Divide into 10 bottles and use. In this way, for example, if the specified number of pages P is 6, the total number of pages will be 20.
Up to 34 copies of collators in the bin collator,
The document can be changed 18 times in total: 6 times in the upper block, 6 times in the lower block, and 6 times again in the upper block. If this were to be divided into 10 bins, the upper block and lower block would each be used twice to collate the same 34 copies, resulting in the need to change the manuscript 24 times. Therefore, it is advantageous to increase the number of bins in the upper block so that the number of document exchanges is reduced in areas where the designated number of copies is small, which is generally a frequently used area.

Now, returning to the flowchart again, the CPU has the specified number of copies N.
If it is found that there are 21 bins or more, and if it is found in the step that the specified number of pages P is within 5 pages, the 20 bins are divided into 1/2 each, with 10 bins in the upper block and 10 bins in the lower block. do.
That is, the upper copy number of 10 copies is set in the upper copy number register R3 inside the CPU, and the lower copy number of 10 copies is set in the lower copy number register R4 (step). If the designated number of pages P is 6 or more, the pages are divided into 14 bins for the upper block and 6 bins for the lower block, and 14 is set in the upper number of copies register R3 and 6 is set in the lower number of copies register R4 (step). Of course, it is also possible to divide the bins into ratios other than this.

When the CPU determines how to use the bin, it outputs a paper feed start signal to the control circuit 110 of the main body of the copying machine (step). Upon receiving this start signal, the copying machine main body 100 starts making copies, and therefore starts feeding sheets.

The sheet copied by the copying machine main body passes through the sheet acceptance detector 8 and is transported by the conveyor belt 1, as described above. Initially, the deflection device 12 is located in the topmost first bin, so unless the sheet jams on the way, it will be deflected by the first deflection plate 11 belonging to the first bin, and the discharge roller pair 17, 1 will be deflected by the first deflection plate 11 belonging to the first bin.
8, the sheet is first discharged into the first bin of the upper block. Therefore, the CPU first specifies the receiving detector port 108 to determine the presence or absence of the received sheet (step), and after the sheet receiving detector 8 detects the sheet, the sheet discharge detector 21 provided in the deflection device detects the sheet. The sheet jam detection is performed by checking the time T until detection of the sheet jam (step). Once the sheet ejection detector 21 has detected the sheet and the sheet has been successfully ejected into the first bin, this should be confirmed by the sheet detector 31 mounted on the first bin.
The CPU specifies the sheet presence/absence detection port 131 to check this (step). Then, the time from when the sheet ejection detector 21 of the deflection device detects the sheet to when the sheet is no longer detected by the detector, that is, until the sheet is ejected, is checked, and a jam around the deflection device is also detected (step). .

When the sheet passes through the discharge detector 21 of the deflection device and the sheet is no longer detected by the detector (that is, when the sheet is stored in the first bin of the upper block), the CPU reads the number of copies from the preset upper copy number register R3. Subtract 1 (step). As mentioned above, this upper copy number register contains N if the specified number of copies N is 20 bins or less, 10 if the specified page number P is within 5 if it is 21 bins or more, and 14 if it is 6 or more. is set, so 1 will be subtracted from this value. Here, the CPU determines whether collation (distribution) of the specified number of copies N of the first page of the set number of pages P has been completed, that is, as a result of the above subtraction, the content of the upper number of copies register R3 becomes zero. (Step) If the number of copies set in the step is 1, distribution ends immediately. If the process does not end, the CPU specifies the pulse motor drive circuit port 129 and outputs a signal for lowering the deflection device by one bin (step 〓). The deflection device 12 is therefore lowered by one bin. Next, the CPU returns to the step, specifies the I/O port of the sheet reception detector 8, and detects the next sheet to be brought in.

On the other hand, the copying machine main unit prints the predetermined number of copies (N, 10,
When the sheet 14) is fed, the feeding is stopped (step).

The above steps are repeated until the contents of the upper copy number register R3 become zero. When the register R3 becomes zero, it means that distribution of the predetermined number of copies (N, 10 or 14 bins) for the first page has been completed, and the process proceeds to step ⓓ.

In step <<>, the CPU subtracts -1 from the preset page register R1. Next, it is determined whether the result of subtraction is zero (step 〓). If the designated page number P is 2 or more, the page register R1 will naturally not be zero at this point. In this case, the CPU raises the deflection device 12 to the home position (steps 〓, 〓). Once the deflection device is raised to and held in the home position,
The CPU outputs a paper feed start signal to the copying machine body (step 〓). The CPU again sets the desired number of copies (N, 10, 14 bins) in the upper copy number register R3, and prepares for distribution of the next page (step ⓓ).

When the next page is detected by the receiving detector 8, repeat the above steps to
Sheets are inserted into 10 or 14 bins. Subsequent pages are similarly distributed to the bins, and 1
Sheets are stacked in page order in two bins.

When the CPU completes collating the desired number of copies (N or upper 10 or 14 bins) for all pages P, it checks the contents of the lower number of copies register R4 (step). If the specified number of copies N is less than 20 bins, the content of the lower number of copies register R4 is zero, so collation of N copies for the number of pages P is completed at this point (step). If the lower number of copies register R4 is not zero, that is, if a large number of copies are to be collated, then collation in the lower block begins.

The CPU specifies the sheet presence/absence detector port 131 to check whether a sheet exists in each bin of the lower block (step). If a sheet is present, a signal indicating the bin in which the sheet is present is output to the copying machine main body, and the collation operation of the lower number of copies is not performed (step 〓). If there are no sheets and collation is possible, the CPU lowers the deflection device 12 by one bin and transfers it to the first bin of the lower block (Step 〓), and outputs a lower block use signal to the copying machine main body ( Step〓). Based on this, the "lower block in use" display causes the operator to take out the collated sheets from the upper block to the outside before the collating operation for the lower block is completed.

The collating operation in the lower block is performed in the same manner as in the upper block described above. The steps 〓 to 〓 in the figure correspond to the steps 〓 to 〓 of the collating operation in the upper block. however,
Rather than returning to its home position, the deflection device 12 is returned to the first bin of the lower block. Here, when it is found that the page register R1 is not zero, try raising the deflection device 12 by one bin,
As a result, it has been set. Number of lower parts (10 or 14
bin) minus -1 is not equal to 1, in such a way that the deflection device is raised one more bin;
The deflection device is returned to the first bin of the lower block (steps 〓, 〓).

In the lower block, when the set number of copies (10 bins) has been collated for all set page numbers P (steps 〓, 〓), the CPU starts copying from the specified number of copies specified from the copying machine, that is, from the contents of the specified number of copies set register R2. Perform subtraction of 20 bins (step 〓). The result of this subtraction becomes the new specified number of copies N'. The CPU returns the deflection device 12 to the home position (steps 〓, 〓).

In this way, the state in which collation is possible again with the upper block is restored. Up to this point, the collation of copies equivalent to 20 bins has been completed. However, when dividing 20 bins into an upper block and a lower block, the number of copies to be collated exceeds 20 bins, so the remaining copies are subsequently collated.

First, the CPU checks whether there is a bin with no sheets in it (step 〓), and if there are no bins with any sheets in it, it outputs a sheet presence signal to the copying machine and notifies the operator to take out the sheets. (step). If there is a bin containing no sheets, the number of empty bins is compared with the new specified number of copies N' (=N-20) (step 〓). If the number of empty bins containing no sheets exceeds the new specified number of copies, the CPU sets the new specified number of copies N' in the upper number of copies register R3 (step 〓) and proceeds to the step as indicated by symbol A. return. New specified number of copies
If the number of empty bins is less than N', the CPU determines whether the new specified number of copies N' is within the total number of bins of the collator (20 bins) in step <<. If the number is within 20 bins, the CPU sets the number of bins with no sheets in the upper number of copies register R3 (step 〓), and sets the result of subtracting the number of bins with no sheets from the new specified number of copies N' in the lower number of copies register R4. (Step) Unlike the case of steps, the reason why the blocks are divided into upper and lower blocks is to take into account the time required to take out the sheets that were previously collated and inserted into the lower block. If the specified number of copies N′ is 21 bins or more,
The number of empty bins without sheets is stored in the upper copy number register R3.
(Step 〓), and set the remaining number of bins, that is, 20.
The value obtained by subtracting the number of bins with no sheets from the bins is set in the lower number of copies register R4 (step 〓).
As above, both the upper and lower copy number register R3,
Once R4 is set, the CPU returns to step as indicated by symbol A.

As mentioned above, after the first upper and lower block division, the second and subsequent block divisions are
If this is done according to the number of bins with no sheets, the operator will be able to retrieve the collated sheets of all bins that were divided into blocks by following the rule of always picking up the collated sheets from the top. There is an advantage that collation can continue even if the paper is not taken out.

Although the collation mode has been described above, it is also possible to store several sheets in one bin and then move the deflection device to the next bin. To use this kind of sorting mode, for example 1
The sheet discharge detector 21 detects the number of sorted sheets entering the bin.
It is sufficient to detect it with a separate counter, count it with another counter, and lower the deflection device by one bin when a predetermined value is reached.

As described above, the present invention divides the entire bin into an upper block and a lower block in a continuous row when collating a small number of copies less than the total number of bins, and into an arbitrary number of bins when collating a large number of copies exceeding the total number of bins. Since the copying machine is used in the same manner as in the past, it is possible to collate a large number of copies without stopping the operation of the copying machine itself.

In the collator of the embodiment, the deflection device moves from the upper bin to the lower bin during collation, but it is clear that the deflection device may move conversely from the bottom to the top.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a collator to which the present invention is applied;
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the deflection device part, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the drive part of the deflection device, FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example of a control circuit for implementing the method of the present invention, and FIG. 5a
-d are flowcharts showing an example of the method of the present invention. 1... Conveyor belt, 8... Sheet receiving detector,
10... Tray (bin), 12... Deflection device, 2
1... Sheet discharge detector, 30... Home position detector, 31... Sheet presence/absence detector, 110
...Control circuit of the copying machine itself.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for collating a colleter comprising a sheet conveyance path, a plurality of sheet storage bins, and a movable deflection device for distributing sheets to these bins, comprising: It is determined whether the specified number of copies to be printed is less than the total number of bins, and if the specified number of copies is greater than the total number of bins, the entire bin is divided into an upper block and a lower block, and sheet distribution work is performed for each bin belonging to one of the blocks. After the sheet distribution work is completed, the sheet distribution work is started for each bin belonging to the remaining block, and after the sheet distribution work for each bin belonging to the other block is completed, the remaining collation work is started. The number of remaining copies to be printed is compared with the number of empty bins with no sheets, and if the number of empty bins is greater than the number of remaining copies, the empty bins are continuously used for sheet distribution work, and the empty bins are If the number of copies is less than the remaining number of copies, it is further determined whether the remaining number of copies is less than the total number of bins, and if the remaining number of copies exceeds the total number of bins, the sheet distribution operation is continued by dividing the sheets into the upper block and lower block again. collation method.