JPS62215465A - Sheet assorting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the favourable piled state of sheets by installing an assorting roller for changing the direction of transport and a member for changing the direction of th sheets, in the captioned device which discharges the sheet in assortment onto a tray so that a part of the sheets are superposed in the different directions. CONSTITUTION:The captioned sheet assorting device 2 installed onto an image forming device is equipped with an assorting roller which changes the transport direction for a discharged sheet to a prescribed angle in order to assort the sheets into each previously set number of sheets. The assorting roller is constituted of an assorting driving roller 9 and an assorting trailing roller 6 which are axially supported onto frames 22 and 34 rotatably. The frames 22 and 34 can be turned around the supporting shafts 26 and 36 through links 29 and 39 by the operations of solenoids 31 and 41. Further, a guide pin 15 which is attached in slididing onto the side edge part of the sheet whose transport direction is changed by the assorting roller and shifts the direction of the sheet is installed onto the upstream side of the assorting roller.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a copying machine, a printing machine, and a page printer.

2. Description of the Related Art A sheet sorting device that is attached to a sheet processing device such as a facsimile machine is related to the device.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a sheet sorting device that receives sheets conveyed from a sheet processing device, distributes the sheets on a tray so that they partially overlap each other, and discharges the sheets for sorting is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-120268. The following configuration has been proposed. In other words, there is a sheet sorting device that has four sets of sheet discharge ports arranged at intervals along the length of the sheet discharge ports, each pair of rollers having an independent rotational drive source. By controlling the interlocking rotation of each pair of sheet discharge rollers, the conveying direction of the sheet is changed, and the sheets are discharged and sorted to different positions on the tray in the left and right direction. This sheet sorting apparatus has the advantage that the structure can be simplified because sheets can be sorted and discharged simply by providing a plurality of pairs of sheet discharge rollers near the sheet discharge port and controlling their rotational speeds.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in this conventional example, if the sheet is bent in its traveling direction, for example, to the right by a pair of discharge rollers,
Since the conveyance speed of the right side of the sheet is slow and the left side of the sheet is conveyed quickly, a rotational moment is applied to the sheet discharged from the pair of discharge rollers, and the sheet is discharged onto the tray without rotating clockwise. As described above, when a sheet is ejected onto a tray without being rotated by a rotational moment applied by a pair of ejection rollers, the orientation of the sheet is not determined, so there is a problem that the sheets stacked on the tray tend to be uneven. Ta.

The present invention has been made to solve this problem, and the direction of the ejected sheet is almost the same as the direction in which the ejected sheet is traveling. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet sorting device that can be used to sort sheets that are not uniform in one device.

[Means for solving problems]

Sheet sorting of the present invention'! Jli is arranged approximately in the center of the sheet conveyance path, and the sorting roller that conveys and discharges the sheet by pinching only the approximately central portion of the sheet is used, and the roller rotates on a plane approximately parallel to the sheet conveying surface. a sheet m feeding direction changing means acting on the roller supporting means to rotate the roller between at least two positions for sorting and changing the feeding direction of the sheet B of the roller for sorting; , the sorter is located upstream of the roller, and the sorter has a sheet sliding contact member that slides against the side edge of the sheet whose conveyance direction has been changed by the roller to change the direction of the sheet. be.

[For production]

With this configuration, the sheet m feeding direction changing means can sort the sheets so that the conveying direction of the rollers is at least two
The direction of the sheet has been changed and the sheet has progressed through the sheet conveyance path.Only the central portion of the sheet is held between the rollers, and the sorted sheet is conveyed in the sheet conveyance direction of the rollers, but the sheet orientation is not changed, so the sheet moves in parallel. Therefore, the sheet deviates from the sheet conveyance path and slides the side edge of the sheet into contact with a sheet sliding contact member provided at the side end of the sheet conveyance path, thereby rotating the sheet direction. The sheet is conveyed, and eventually, when the direction of the sheet matches the sheet conveyance direction of the sorting roller, the rotation of the sheet stops, and the direction of the sheet almost matches the sheet discharge direction, and the sorted sheets are discharged. Become. The sheet ejected in this way is placed on the tray because its direction matches the ejection direction! ! Since the sheets that are placed are not oriented in an irregular manner, it is possible to sort the sheets in an orderly manner.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on one embodiment shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a sheet sorting apparatus according to the present invention installed in a sheet processing apparatus 1 such as a copying machine, a printing machine, or a page printer. Reference numeral 2 denotes a sheet sorting device, which is composed of a device main body 3 and a tray 4, and is fixed to the sheet processing device 1 by a mounting bracket (not shown). In this embodiment, the sheet sorting unit W12 is configured to receive a signal from the sheet processing device 1 and control the sorting of discharged sheets. , the number of ejected sheets may be counted and sorted according to a preset number.

Fig. 2 is a partially omitted enlarged sectional view of the sheet sorting device 2. In Fig. 0, 5 is the main body frame, and the frame 2%
A sorting driven roller 6 is attached along the sheet conveyance path 10 so as to be rotatable about a support shaft 36 substantially perpendicular to the conveyance direction. On the other hand, a sub-frame 7 is rotatably attached to the main body frame 5 around a support shaft 8, and a sorting drive roller 9 is installed on the sub-frame 7 substantially perpendicular to the conveying direction of the ejected sheets. Driven roller 6
It is rotatably attached around a support shaft 26 that is coaxial with the rotation support shaft 36 of.

The sorting drive roller 9 forms a pair with the sorting driven roller 6, and the sorting rollers cooperate with each other.

An upper sheet conveyance guide 11 is provided on the subframe 7 side along the sheet conveyance path 10, while a lower sheet conveyance guide 12 is fixedly provided to the main frame 5 opposite to the upper sheet conveyance guide 11. There is.

An LED 13 and a phototransistor 14 are placed outside the reconveying guide 11°12 across the sea 1-)1 feeding path 10.
A sheet detector consisting of the following is provided so that the passage of a sheet can be detected through a through hole provided in the reconveying guide 11.12.

On both sides of the sheet carry-in side of the lower sheet conveyance guide 12, guide pins 15 as sheet sliding members are arranged so as to protrude into the sheet conveyance path 10 and are fixed to support members 16 that support the lower sheet conveyance guide 12. has been done. Note that this support member 16 is fixed to the main body frame.

In the tray 4, a tray holding portion 18, which is integrally formed with the tray 4 and is formed to protrude from a hole formed in the sheet discharge side cover 17, is inserted into a tray holding member 19 disposed within the main body frame 5. It is configured to be fixed by this. The tray holding member 19 is held movably up and down on the main body frame 5 by guide rollers (not shown), and one end is hung on the main body frame 5 and the other end is attached to the tray holding member 1.
9 is biased upward by a spring 20.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view showing a portion of the sorting roller in detail. For sorting, the driving roller 9 has both ends of the roller shaft 21 mounted on bearings 2 provided in a frame A22 serving as a sorting frame.
It is pivotally supported by fitting into 3. Frame A2
A drive motor 24 is provided on one side of the roller 2, and the rotation speed and rotation direction are adjusted by a gear train 25, and the drive roller 9 is rotated for sorting. Further, a support shaft 26 is fixed to the frame A22 as a frame support member by caulking or the like, and the support shaft 26 is rotatably attached to the subframe 7 coaxially with the shaft center aligned with a support shaft 36 described later. It is pivoted. These configurations are one of the roller support means.
This is an example.

A spring A27 is attached to the end of the arm 22a of the frame A22.
is applied, and during constant sorting, the drive roller 9 is biased to face in a certain direction.

Further, a stopper pin A28 is provided on the arm 22a, and the stopper pin A2B is passed through an arc-shaped hole provided in the subframe 7 (not shown) that regulates the swing range of the stopper pin A28. The direction of the drive roller 9 is set by abutting stopper pins A2B against both end surfaces of the large roller. Furthermore, a link 29 is attached to the arm 22a.
One end of the link 29 is rotatably attached by a pin 30, and the other end of the link 29 is attached to a plunger 31' of a solenoid 31 fixed to the subframe 7. These configurations are examples of sheet conveyance direction changing means.

The sorting driven roller 6 is disposed opposite to the driving roller 9. At both ends of the sorting driven roller 6, stiffened rollers 32 having a slightly larger diameter than the sorting driven roller 6 are provided. The driven roller 6 and the stiffened roller 32 are made of a material with a low coefficient of friction such as polyacetal, and are configured to be able to rotate between them and a shaft 33 that is disposed through them. Both ends of the shaft 33 are fitted into notches formed in a frame B34 serving as a partition frame and held by a spring 35, and are brought into pressure contact with a driven roller 6 for sorting and a drive roller 9 for sorting. The frame B34 is provided with a support shaft 36 as a frame support member whose axis is the same as the support shaft 26 provided on the frame A22, and the support shaft 36 is rotatably supported by the main body frame 5. . The above constitutes one example of roller support means.

At the end of the arm 34a of the frame B34, the frame A
22, a spring B37 and a stopper pin B38 are provided to restrict the range of swing of the driven roller 6 and to bias it in a certain direction. Further, one end of the link 39 is rotatably attached to the arm 34a of the frame B34 with a pin 40, and the link 39 is rotatably attached to the arm 34a of the frame B34.
The other end is a solenoid 4 fixed to the main body frame 5.
1 plunger °-41'. The above constitutes an example of a sheet conveyance direction changing means.

Next, the operation of the sorting roller will be explained based on FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the sheet discharging operation seen from above. Hereinafter, the term "right side" or "left side" refers to the right side or left side in FIG. 4.

At the start, the sheet processing device 1 is in an initial state in which no signal is sent for sorting, so the solenoids 31 and 41 do not operate, and therefore the springs A27 and B37 cause the rollers 6°9 to point to the right. It is now possible to In this case, assuming that the operator is on the right side, the solenoid 31.41 is placed on the right side and the spring 27.28 is placed on the left side in order to make it easier to remove the ejection sheet. If so, the arrangement of the solenoid and spring may be swapped left and right, or the solenoid may be operated from the initial state, and the roller 6°9 may be directed to the left for sorting. Furthermore, by arranging the solenoids that drive the drive roller 9 and the driven roller 6 on opposite sides, the solenoids operate alternately, making it possible to keep the peak of the operating current low, resulting in a small capacity t6). A lance can be used, making it possible to downsize the device. However, in this system, there is a risk that if the solenoid fails, it will not be possible to sort the ejected sheets or even to stack them on the right side.

In the above initial state, in this embodiment, the sorting roller 6.9 is tilted to the right by α degrees (8.5' in this embodiment). In this state, the sheet A discharged from the sheet processing device is bitten into the sorting roller 6.9, but the leading edge of the sheet remains perpendicular to the central axis 42 and moves to the right in the α degree direction.
Proceed toward the position indicated by sheet B. When the ejected sheet reaches the position of sheet B, the right edge of the ejected sheet is attached to the guide pin 15.
come into contact with. If you hit this guide pin 15, you will not be able to move to the right at α degrees.
The discharge sheet at the position of sheet B rotates around the guide pin 15.

Then, when the sheet C reaches a state where the direction of the sheet coincides with the direction of α degrees, the rotation is stopped and the sheet is discharged in the direction of α degrees. The sheet is then stored at the position indicated by sheet D on the tray 4.

By sorting the sheets using the guide pins 15 in the same direction as the conveyance direction of the rollers and discharging the sorted portions, the width of the sheet discharge port can be narrowed, and the discharge sheets can be guided by the sheet side edge of the tray 4. Since the reaction force upon contact with the member 48 is small, there is an advantage that the orientation of the sheet is less likely to be uneven.

By the way, in order for the ejected sheet to rotate from the state of sheet B to the state of sheet C, the sheet must slide at the nip of the roller 6.9 during sorting, but if it is slippery,
For example, the sheet rotates due to a load caused by friction between the conveyance guides 11 and 12 and the sheet, causing problems such as uneven stacking of discharged sheets on the tray 4.

The factors that cause the sheet to rotate include the width of the roller for sorting;
Although the material and nip pressure are different, we found the optimal conditions where the feed is stable, the roller rotates under the load of contact with the guide pin 15, and does not rotate under other loads, and the shape of the roller for sorting is as follows. It has been found that the shape shown in FIG. 5 is preferable.

First, since the driving roller 9 and the driven roller 6 are supported by separate frames, it is difficult to maintain constant line contact during operation, and the axes of both rollers may be misaligned, resulting in points. In this embodiment, in order to prevent this point contact from occurring, the diameter of the central portion of the drive roller 9 is set to be smaller than that of the outer portion. The rollers 6.9 are configured to be smaller than the diameter so that both rollers 6.9 are always in contact with each other at two points. Specifically, it is desirable that the width j2 of the drive roller 9 is 20 to 70 m, which is one-third or less of the width of the sheet 210, and the outer contact width j with the driven roller 6!
1 has a diameter of 3 to 10 times, and the diameter of the central part is made small to prevent contact.The material should be a rubber such as chloroprene rubber or ethylene propylene rubber, with a hardness of 40 to 70''.The material of the driven roller 6 is polyester. .

It is acetal, and the nip pressure is 50 to 200 g in total pressure.
was suitable.

Further, on the driven roller side, a tension roller 32 is provided in order to give a stiffness to the discharged sheets, but this tension roller 32 is arranged near both ends of the driven roller 6 for sorting, and It is formed by a roller with a slightly larger diameter. The shapes of the driven roller 6 and the waisted roller 32 form the sheet 53 in a wavy shape and prevent the sheet 53 from bending due to its own weight. It is effective for Note that disposing this stiffened roller is a technique commonly used in a discharge device of a sheet processing apparatus.

In this embodiment, the diameter Dt of the waisted roller 32 is set to be 2 to 8 mm larger than the diameter D1 of the driven roller for sorting, and the diameter Dt for sorting is j! It was optimal to arrange the end surface of the stiffening roller 32 at a position of z-5 to Low.

Now, after a series of sheets have been discharged to the right side of tray 4, that is, for example, after printing out some data,
At a time such as when moving to print out the next data, the solenoids 31 and 41 are energized by a signal from the sheet processing apparatus main body, thereby causing the plunger 31'
, 41' are sucked, and the frames A22 and B34 are rotated about the spindles 26 and 36, respectively, via the links 29.39, and the sorting rollers 6.9 move to the left at α degrees (this In the example, it is tilted 8.5'). Since the rotation angle of each frame is regulated by the stopper pins A2B and 838, even if the frame is tilted to the left, the sorting is done by the shaft 21 of the driving roller 9, and the sorting is done by the shaft 3 of the driven roller 6.
It is held parallel to 3. The solenoid remains energized until the next printout is completed, that is, while the sheet is being ejected to the left.

The mechanism for ejecting the sheet to the left side in this case is the same as that for ejecting the sheet to the right side.

When the ejection to the left side is finished and the next data is to be printed out, the power to each solenoid 31 and 41 is cut off by a signal from a sheet processing device such as a printer.
Again by springs A27 and B37 the sorting roller 6.9 is tilted to the right. This series of discharges is called a job, and the operation of sorting the jobs (in the present invention, the operation of sorting them left and right) is called job separation, and the apparatus for such sorting is generally called job separation.

The sheets sorted and discharged left and right on the tray 4 partially overlap each other on the central axis 42, so that each acts as a "bookmark" for the other. Therefore, you can tell the difference no matter how many times you zip it, making it extremely convenient to organize the ejected sheets after printing them out.

In addition, in this example, 1 minute of left and right distribution is shown as having an angle of 8.5 degrees, but the angle is not limited to this, and in order to sort, the left and right distribution is at an angle of 5 @ ~ 45 degrees. Can be set within a range of °.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes many modifications and changes.For example, the direction of the distributed sheets may be such that one direction goes straight and the other direction changes. Moreover, the distributed amount may be discharged not only in two directions but also in three or four directions. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a cylindrical roller 43 is used for sorting, and one driven ball 45 is installed in each frame C44 as a sorting frame having two circular openings thereon as a driving roller. A driven roller can be used for sorting. Furthermore, as a sheet conveyance direction changing means,
The support shafts 26 and 36, which rotatably support the support frame, can be rotated by a rotary solenoid or a stepping motor to change the direction, and can also be used as a sheet sliding contact member. For example, a semi-cylindrical guide 46 formed by raising the side end of the lower sheet conveyance guide 12 as shown in FIG. 7 may be used.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, with a simple configuration, the distributed sheets can be discharged onto the tray so that the direction of the discharged sheets is approximately in the direction in which the sheets travel. It rarely happens.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a sheet sorting apparatus according to the present invention installed in a sheet processing apparatus, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the main body of an embodiment of the sheet sorting apparatus according to the present invention.
3 is an enlarged perspective view of a part of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the sorting device shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is a plan view of the sorting roller; FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the sorting roller, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the sheet sliding member. 2-...--Sheet sorting is done by a device, 4--------1...tray, 6...---Sheet sorting is done by a driven roller,
9, 43-...- Sorting is done by driving rollers, 22-...
---Frame A. 26, 36・・−・−・−Spindle, 34・・−・−・−
Frame B131, 41...--Solenoid, 31', 41'--Plunger, 44--Frame C145--...
-... Driven ball.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] In a sheet sorting device that sorts sheets by distributing and discharging them onto a tray in different directions so that some of the sheets overlap each other, at approximately the center of the downstream end of the sheet conveying path in the sheet conveying direction. A sorting roller that conveys and discharges the sheet by gripping only the central part of the sheet, a supporting frame that pivotally supports the sorting roller, and this supporting frame rotates on a plane that is approximately parallel to the sheet conveying surface. roller support means comprising a support frame supporting member capable of supporting the sheet of the sorting roller; a sheet conveyance direction changing means for changing the conveyance direction; and a side edge of the sheet whose conveyance direction has been changed by the sorting roller, which is disposed at at least one side end of the sheet conveyance path on the upstream side of the sorting roller. A sheet sorting device comprising a sheet sliding contact member that slides into contact with a sheet to change the orientation of the sheet.