JPS6155066A - Form gathering device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a great number of forms, even if they are curved ones, to be accepted by a tray smoothly by allowing the tray to be moved up and down accompanied with the up and down movement of both No.1 and No.2 support members so as to widen the inlet space for the tray not only at the near side but also at the farther side to the outlet of a copying machine. CONSTITUTION:When No.1 and No.2 support members 5 and 8 are lifted with a drive device 10 actuated, the tip section 6a of a swing plate attached to No. support member 5 comes in contact with a guide plate 13. Accompanied with further upward movement of the support members 5 and 8, one end of the swing plate 6 is swung around a bearing center 7 to the direction as shown by an arrow head A, and its position is guided and limited as such by the guide plate 13. On the other hand, one end of a tray 11b is lifted while it is pulled horizontally accompanied with the rotation of the swing plate 6, simultaneously the other end is moved upward along the oblique cam groove 9 which is formed in No.2 support member 8 that is moving upward. Resultantly, an inlet for receiving forms is widened as much as the tray 11b moves upward allowing forms 14 to be accepted by the tray 11a without any jamming.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper collating device that can be used in copying machines and the like.

Conventional Structure and Problems In general, a paper collation unit [4] consists of a plurality of paper receiving trays and a device for distributing the paper ejected from the copying machine to these receiving trays. In order to facilitate the storage of a large number of sheets of paper and also to facilitate the storage of curved sheets, the paper collating device needs to have wide intervals between paper trays. Also,
In order to prevent paper jams, it is desirable that the paper conveying path of the device for distributing paper to the receiving tray be linear.

Conventionally, there is a method of fixing the paper tray and transporting the paper using a belt, etc., but the paper transport path becomes complicated,
This can easily cause paper jams.

Another method is to move the entire paper tray up and down with respect to the copying machine's paper ejection port while keeping the relative positional relationship of each paper tray fixed, thereby making the paper transport path linear. Since it has to be made wider, the overall space becomes larger.

Furthermore, the entire paper tray is raised and lowered relative to the copying machine's paper output port to make the paper conveyance path linear, and the gap between the paper trays in the portion where paper passes is widened, and the paper tray in the portion where paper does not pass is increased. There is a way to reduce the space by keeping the spacing narrow, but this movement of the paper tray only takes place at one end near the copying machine's paper output slot, making it difficult to accommodate large amounts of curved paper. It was unreasonable, and at the same time, it had the same drawbacks as any complex mechanism required.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to make it possible to smoothly accommodate a large amount of paper ejected from a copying machine, even in a curved state, into a receiving tray, and to enable a simple structure and miniaturization. An object of the present invention is to provide a paper collating device.

Structure of the Invention In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a first support member that moves up and down and has a rotating member supported by a shaft, a second support member that is provided with a cam mechanism, and the first support member. a rotating member that is rotatably supported on the second support member; a receiver that is supported and disposed on a cam mechanism provided on the second support member; and a guide member that abuts an end of the rotary member that is rotatably supported on the first support member. When the first and second support members move up and down, the front and rear receiving trays are lowered to enlarge the paper receiving opening.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The figure is a side sectional view of the paper collating device of the present invention, and in the figure,
Reference numeral 1 denotes a copying machine which is equipped with a paper output row 22 for copy paper.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a paper guide plate for copy paper, which is normally provided integrally with the paper collating device 4. Reference numeral 5 denotes a first support member to which a plurality of rotary plates 6 are attached so that they can be rotated in a supported manner. A second support member 8 is provided with a plurality of inclined cam grooves 9. The first and second support members can be moved up and down by a drive means 1o such as a motor.

Reference numeral 11 is a tray for storing copy paper, and one end is connected to a rotating plate 6.
The other end is pivotally connected to the pin 12 so as to slide along the cam fI'tJ9. Reference numeral 13 denotes a guide plate provided near the paper receiving opening and in contact with the other end 6a of the rotating plate 6, which is supported by the first support member. Note that 14 indicates paper.

The operation of the collating device of this embodiment having such a configuration will be described below.

When the drive means 10 is rotated to the right in order to prepare a predetermined tray for receiving the copied paper, the first and second support members 5.8 are moved upwardly. At this time, the rotation plate 6 of the first support member 6 has its A^: portion 6a aligned with the guide plate 13.
comes into contact with. When the rotating plate 6 is still pulled upward, the end 6a of the rotating plate 6 is regulated by the guide plate 13, so that one end of the rotating plate 6 rapidly moves 4.10 to 7.
It rotates around , and in this state it is guided by the guide plate 13 and its position is regulated. On the other hand, one end of the tray 11 will rise while being pulled in the horizontal direction according to the rotation of the rotating plate 6, but it will fall into the inclined cam groove 9 formed in the second support member 8 that is moving upward. Since the other end rises horizontally, they operate synchronously.

Therefore, the paper receiving opening is enlarged by the vertical movement of the tray, so that it becomes easy to accommodate the paper, and even curved paper can be accommodated without jamming. That is, in order to arrange the tray 11a of the selected predetermined stage at the paper storage position, the first tray 11a. When the second support member is raised, the former receiving tray 11b moves in the vertical direction as described above, so that the space between the paper receiving openings 114 and 11b becomes wider. The above-mentioned operation is similar to that of the trays in each stage, and the operation in the downward direction is opposite to the above-mentioned operation. The tray moving mechanism shown in FIG. 1 is provided on both the left and right sides of the collating device, and the cam mechanism provided on the second support member is not limited to this embodiment, It can also be realized by a structure in which the other end of the saucer is pivotally connected to the other end of the lever.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above description, the present invention widens the spacing between receiving surfaces for paper ejected from a copying machine not only on the side near the paper ejection port of the copying machine but also on the side far from the paper ejection port of the copying machine.
It has the excellent effect of making it possible to accommodate even curved sheets of paper smoothly, and making the paper collating device more compact by keeping the spacing between the receiving surfaces narrower in the areas where the sheets do not pass through. 7! J is done. Furthermore, a rotating part mouth is rotatably supported on the support J-shi as a rotating means. A guide member for rotating the paper was provided near the paper receiving port (by making it 1 and 4 configurations, the paper receiving port could be moved with simple machines J, L, and F). can get.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure is a side sectional view showing an embodiment of the paper collating device of the present invention. 4... Paper collating device, 5 First support member, 6...
... Rotating member, 8 - Second support member, 9 ... Cam groove, 1Q ... Drive means, 11 ... Receiver, 1
3... Guide member.

Claims (1)

[Claims] a first support member that moves up and down and has a rotary member supported thereon; a second support member that is provided with a cam mechanism; and a guide member that abuts an end of a rotary member that is rotatably supported by the first support member, the first and second support members A paper collating device characterized in that the tray is raised and lowered so as to enlarge the paper receiving opening when the tray is raised and lowered.