JPS6260755A - Upside-down storing type stacker - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To align the leading ends of sheets irrespective of the rigidity thereof, by providing a limit guide which may move along a stack guide so that the leading end of a conveyed sheet abuts against the limit guide along the stack guide. CONSTITUTION:A sheet conveying mechanism comprises a conveyer belt 10, a sheet retainer roller 13 and a sheet retainer guide 14. In a guide body 20 for storing sheets PP, there are provided a side guide 21 for guiding sheets PP at both sides of the latter and a limit guide 23 capable of vertically moving along the stack guide 2. Further, there is attached a stack roller 3 capable of rotating in the sheet conveying direction of the conveyer belt 10. Accordingly, the sheets PP are conveyed while being pressed against the conveyer belt 10 by the retainer roller 13, and then abuts against the limits guide 23 along the stack guide 2, thereby it is possible to align the leading ends of the sheets PP irrespective of their rigidity.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Table of Contents] Overview Industrial Field of Application Conventional Technology Problems to be Solved by the Invention Means for Solving the Problems (Fig. 1) Working Examples tar - Application of the Examples (Fig. 2) (bl-Explanation of the overall configuration of the embodiment (Fig. 3) (C) Description of the stack guide of one embodiment (Fig. 4, Fig. 5) (dl-Explanation of the overall configuration of the embodiment (Fig. 3) Explanation of the conveyance unit (Figures 6 and 7) telExplanation of other embodiments Effects of the invention [Summary] In an inverted storage type stacker equipped with two stages of document conveyance and a stack guide, the height of the stacked documents can be increased. By providing a limit guide that regulates the position in the width direction and a variable mechanism that changes the position of the limit guide in the height direction, the leading edge of the form can be raised 1111 times regardless of the length of the form.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to an inverted stacker that stores forms in an inverted state along a stack guide, and more particularly to an inverted stacker that can obtain stacked forms with aligned tips regardless of changes in the length of the forms.

2. Description of the Related Art In devices such as reading devices and printing devices that output a large number of processed forms, a stacker is used to temporarily store the output forms.

These stackers include horizontal storage type stackers that store forms in a lying-down state, and inverted storage type stackers that store forms in an inverted state.

The inverted storage type stacker is convenient for taking out a large quantity of forms and for taking out forms for a plurality of separate processes in units of processing.

In particular, it is often used as a T-coupling unit in high-speed print processing systems.

[Prior Art] As shown in FIG. 8, a conventional inverted stacker is provided with a stack guide 2 at the end of a conveying means (hereinafter referred to as a conveyor) 1 such as a conveyor, and a rotatable stacker on the conveyor 1. The stack roller 3 is configured to be fixed.

The paper PP is conveyed on the belt of the conveyor 1, and its leading edge abuts against the stack guide 2 and stands up, and is held upside down along the stack guide 2 by the feeding of the belt. At this time, the stack roller 3 engages and rotates with the belt of the conveyor 1 due to its own weight at a fixed position, thereby preventing the paper PP from floating off the belt.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In such an inverted stacker, the leading edge of the conveyed paper hits the stack guide 2 or the previous stacked paper, and the leading edge changes direction along the stack guide 2, resulting in an inverted state. .

Therefore, the paper is held upside down while contacting the stack guide 2 or the previous paper, and the state of this contact is not constant.

For this reason, in the conventional configuration, the leading edge of the stacked sheets is not constant, and as shown in Figure 8, the leading edge of the previously stacked sheet is at a high position, and the leading edge of the later stacked sheet lies low. The state will be as follows.

This tendency also changes depending on the stiffness of the paper.
That is, it also changes depending on the thickness and length of the paper.

Therefore, in the conventional structure, there is a problem that the leading edge becomes uneven due to changes in the thickness and length of the paper, and the amount of stacking becomes small.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an inverted stacker in which the leading edges of the sheets are aligned regardless of the thickness and length of the sheets, and the stack amount does not become small.

[Means for solving problems]

FIG. 1 is a diagram explaining the principle of the present invention.

In the figure, the same parts as those shown in Fig. 8 are indicated by the same symbols, and 23 is a limit guide, which holds down the leading edge of the paper PP that is turning upside down and regulates its position in the height direction. and provided in the stack guide 2, 2
Reference numeral 2 denotes a variable mechanism, which is provided in the stack guide 2 and is provided to vary the position of the limit guide in the height direction.

Therefore, in the present invention, the stack guide 2 includes a limit guide 23 for regulating the position of the leading edge of the paper pp in the height direction;
A variable mechanism 22 is provided to vary this position.

[Effect]

In the present invention, the limit guide 23 is provided, and the paper is conveyed by the general feeding means 1 along the stack guide 2 so as to hit the limit guide 23, so that the leading edge of the paper is aligned regardless of the stiffness of the paper. I'm trying to do that.

Conventionally, when paper is fed at such a high speed, there is a risk that the paper may fly over the stack guide 2, but in the present invention, the paper is actively fed at high speed and the leading edge of the paper is aligned using the limit guide 23. .

Further, in order to align the leading edge of the paper regardless of the paper length, a variable mechanism 22 is provided so that the position of the C'7 guide 23 in the height direction can be adjusted.

As a result, regardless of the thickness and length of the paper, it is possible to stack the sheets with the leading edges aligned and the amount of the stack does not become small.

〔Example〕

(a) Description of a system in which one embodiment of the present invention is commonly used. FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of a print processing system in which a stacker device of one embodiment of the present invention is commonly used.

In the figure, LBP is a laser printer that prints on continuous folding paper with perforations using electrophotography as is well known, and STC is a paper hopper, such as standard paper (B4
) is about 3 times the folded length (3L), and is about 10,000 m long and stacked to a height of about 1 m. Continuous folded paper CP (hereinafter referred to as "continuous paper") with a stack The lower part 6 is for supplying the TV
U is a turnover mechanism that changes the direction of printed continuous paper CP discharged from the upper part of the laser printer LBP by 90 degrees and guides it to an intermediate slitter device to be described later, and M'SU is an intermediate slitter device. P
CM is a cutting device, which cuts the edges of a pair of overlapping continuous sheets with an intermediate slitter device MSU, and cuts the perforation position of the continuous sheet CP with a burster unit to produce a single page ☆ sheet PP, The discharge device C3U is a conveyor fluffing device, which stores the paper PP cut and discharged by the cutting device PCM in an upright manner using a guide slope.

Therefore, the continuous paper (84 size) CP in the paper hopper STC is supplied to the lower part of the laser printer LBP by the paper supply device PFU, and the contents of two pages of 85 size paper are fed to the lower part of the laser printer LBP through the internal print bus of the laser printer LBP. Printed in parallel on one page of paper by electrophotography. The printed continuous paper CP is discharged from the upper part of the laser printer LBP, and its direction is changed by 90 degrees by a turnover mechanism TVC.
Guided to intermediate slitter device MSU, intermediate slitter device M
An 84-size continuous paper cp is cut in half at the midpoint using SU, and a pair of 85-size continuous paper cp are produced by overlapping each other. Furthermore, the stacked pair of continuous sheets cp are cut at the edges by the cutting device PCM, and are further cut into page units at the perforation positions, and then cut into the continuous paper stacker C3U by the cutting device PCM.
The paper PP cut and discharged is stored in an upright state.

The continuous paper CP is printed by a laser printer LBP which is a printing device, cut in half in the longitudinal direction by an intermediate slitter device MSU, cut into pages by a cutting device PCM, and then sent to a container stacker device CSU in the printing order. It will be stored.

This laser printer LBP is capable of printing at extremely high speeds, for example, 10,000 lines per minute, and therefore has a printing capacity of 200 to 300 sheets per minute.

(bl-Explanation of the overall configuration of the embodiment FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, the same parts as those shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. A pair of feed pulleys, on which a conveyor belt (10) is stretched, rotates to send the conveyor belt in the direction of the arrow in the figure to convey the paper PP, and 13 is a paper press roller, which is attached to the conveyor frame to be described later. 14 is a paper presser guide, which is rotatably provided and is rotated by the feed of the conveyor belt 10 to feed the paper PP while pressing it against the general feed heald 10, and the above-mentioned cutting device PCM (see FIG. 2) The paper presser roller 13 presses the leading edge of the paper PP from
15 is a star, a hole for attaching the stack guide 2, a hole is provided for attaching the stack guide 2 to a con-hair frame to be described later, 16 is a con-hair frame, feed pulleys 11, 12, paper holding rollers, etc. 13, a paper holding guide 14, a guide mechanism 4, etc. are attached.

20 is a guide body for holding and accommodating the paper PP; 21 is a side guide which is provided on both sides of the guide body 20 and guides the paper PP from both sides; 22
is the variable mechanism described above, and the mint guide 23 described later
23 is the above-mentioned limit guide, which makes the height of the paper P accommodated in the guide main body 20 variable and fixed.
It engages with the tip of P to align the tips, and can be moved in the height direction by the variable mechanism 22.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a roller shaft, which constitutes the rotation axis of the stack roller 3 and is provided on an arm described later. Reference numeral 40 denotes an arm, which rotatably holds the stack roller 3 through the roller shaft 30, and which is attached to an arm described later. 41 is a rotatable guide roller, which is rotatably provided on an arm shaft (described later) and movable along a guide plate (described later); 42 is a guide plate; the conveyor frame 16;
43, which is attached to the guide roller 41 and guides the guide roller 41;
is a stopper, which is provided on the guide plate 42 to engage with the arm 40 when the stack roller 3 is stored, and to separate the stack roller 3 from the conveyor belt 10; 44 is an arm shaft, which allows the arm 40 to rotate freely; The guide roller 41 rotates together with the guide roller 41.

Therefore, the stack roller 3 includes the arm 30 and the guide roller 4.
1 along the guide plate 42 in a direction parallel to the paper conveyance direction of the conveyor belt 10, and the limit guide 23 of the stack guide 2 is configured so that its position can be set in the height direction by the variable mechanism 22. has been done.

(Explanation of C1 Embodiment Stack Guide Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a stack guide according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 4 (A) is a side view thereof, and Fig. 4 (B) is a block diagram of a limit guide. , FIGS. 4(C) and 4(D) are sectional views of essential parts, and FIG. 5 is a rear view of the configuration shown in FIG. 4(A).

In the figure, the same parts as those shown in Figs. 1, 8, and 3 are indicated by the same symbols, and 22a is a guide hole of the variable mechanism, which is used for the movement of the support bar described later. It has a guide surface 22c and a number of 7-shaped positioning and fixing recesses 22b facing the guide surface 22c. still,
A pair of variable mechanisms 22 having these components are provided as shown in FIG. 20a, 20b, 20c are longitudinal holes,
Three parts provided in the guide body 20, 21a, 21b
are side guides, and paper P is placed on both sides of the guide body 20.
24a is a support bar provided for guiding P, and has knobs 24d and 24e at both ends, to which an L-shaped limit guide 23a523b is attached, and to which a fixing spring member to be described later is attached; 24b; 24
4(B) and 4(C), c is a fixing spring member, which has a roughly "C" shape and is attached to the support bar 243, and 25a is a mounting knob with a pin in the center. 25C and a fixing protrusion 25b on both sides, and a spring 25d is attached around the bottle 25c and the protrusion 25b. 15a, 15b, and 15C are each a hole for attachment, provided on the conveyor frame 16, and a fixing knob 25a. Installation of guide body 20 by t&20d
, 20e are fixedly attached to the conhair frame 16, and three stack guides are provided to change the inclination angle of the stack guide 2.

Therefore, a pair of variable mechanisms 22 are provided on the back surface of the guide body 20, and a support bar 24a is connected to the variable mechanisms 22 as shown in FIG.
The guide hole 22a is provided so as to pass through the second guide hole 22a. The support bar 243 includes a limit guide 23, fixing spring members 24b, 24C, and knobs 24d, 24e as shown in FIG. 4(B).
It is installed as follows. Therefore, the support bar 243 is urged into engagement with the four fixing parts 22b of the variable mechanism 22 by the spring members 24b and 24C, as shown in FIG. 4(C).

On the other hand, the plates 20d and 20e are attached to the conveyor frame 16 by pushing the attachment knob 25a into the holes 15a, 15b, and 15C.

The operation of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 will be explained.

The stacked sheets PP have various lengths and thicknesses. Therefore, a limit guide 23 is provided to align the leading edges of the stacked sheets, and the height position of the limit guide 23 can be varied by a variable mechanism 22 to do this depending on the length.

That is, hold the knobs 24d and 24e in your hands and
When the support bar 243 is pulled in the right direction, the spring member 24b
The support bar 24a is removed from the recess 22b against the drag force. Therefore, the support bar 242 can be freely moved to a position in the height direction along the guide surface 22c of the guide hole 22a of the variable mechanism 22. Support bar 24 to desired height
3 and when you release your hand, the support bar 24a engages with the recess at that height position by the spring member 24b, and thereby the support bar 24a1, that is, the height position '+Fl of the limit guide 23 is regulated and fixed. Ru.

At this time, since the tip of the spring member 24b is formed in a U-shape, the support bar 24. a can be smoothly moved along the guide surface 22C.

In this way, the height of the limit guide 23 can be varied according to the length and height of the paper, and the leading edge of the paper can be aligned according to the length of the paper.

On the other hand, if the paper PP is long and thin, it will be weak and it is better to store it lying down as much as possible.On the other hand, if it is short and thick, it will be stiff and it is better to store it upright. Therefore, in order to make the inclination angle of the stack guide 2 variable, the mounting holes 15a and 15b are
, 15C are provided, and the angle of inclination can be changed by adjusting the mounting knob 25a.

That is, for installation, attach the plates 20d and 20e to the hole 15c, insert the bottle 25c and the protrusion 25b through the knob 25a as shown in FIG. When it is inserted into the conhair frame 16 and fixed, it becomes a standing state with the largest angle of inclination.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 4(A), when the mounting plate 20d and 206 are mounted in the hole 15a using the mounting knob 25a, the angle of inclination is the smallest and the state is in a lying position.
When the plates 20d and 20e are attached to the plate 5b using the attachment knob 25a, the angle of inclination is intermediate between them.

In this way, the inclination angle of the stack guide 2 can be made variable, allowing optimal stacking according to the stiffness of the sheets.

(d) Description of the conveyance unit used in one embodiment FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6(A) is a top view thereof, and FIG. 6(B) is a side view thereof. be.

In the figure, the same parts as those shown in FIGS. 1, 8 and 3 are indicated by the same symbols, 10a110b, 10
c are conveyor belts, 16a116b are conveyor frames, 3a13b and 3c are stack rollers, which are provided facing the conveyor belts 10a, IOb, and IOC, and 30a, 30b, and 30c are rollers. It is a shaft, and stack rollers 3a, 3b, 3C
40a, 40b, 40C are arms that rotatably hold stack rollers 3a, 3b, 3C via roller shafts 30a, 30b, 30c, and 41a, 41b are guide rollers, respectively. is provided on both sides of the arm shaft 44 and has a flange.
4, 42a and 42b are guide plates, respectively, which are attached to the respective Conhair frames 16a and 16b and guide the guide rollers 41a and 41b.
3 is the aforementioned stopper, which is attached at both ends to the conveyor frames 16a, 16b via guide plates 42a, 42b; 4.5 a, 45b, 45C are arm support parts, which are cylindrical; 40b, 40c
is attached and rotatably provided on the arm shaft 44.

Therefore, the arms 40a, 40b140c are attached to the arm shaft 44.
The other end is rotatably held, and the stack rollers 3a, 3
b and 3c are arms 40a and 40b.

It is rotatably held at the tip of 40c.

On the other hand, guide rollers 41a and 41b are attached to both ends of the arm shaft 44, and guide rollers 4La and 41b are connected to the guide plate 4.
2a, 42b, and the stack roller 3a
, 3b, and 3c can be slid.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the configuration of the embodiment shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7(A), the stack roller 3 is always positioned so as to almost touch the right side of the stacked sheets PP when viewed from the stack guy 1!2, and as shown in FIG. 7(B), Pushed to the right in the figure by the stacked sheets PP, the guide roller 41 is rotated on the guide plate 42 via the arm 44 and slid to the right.

As shown in the figure, since the arm 44 holds the stack roller 3 with a slight downward inclination, the stack roller 3 has a slight resistance force in the direction of the paper PP, so the stack roller 3
is always near or in contact with the paper PP.

For this reason, the stack roller 3
Regardless of the amount of i), it is always located near the rising position of the paper PP and assists the next paper to rise along the previous stacked paper.

This makes it possible to stack sheets upside down regardless of the stack amount and thickness of the sheets, and to create an ideal stack with a large stack amount and aligned leading edges.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7(C), the arm 40 is manually placed in the storage position, that is, the arm 40 is set so as to come into contact with the stopper.

By doing this, the stack roller 3 is separated from the conveyor belt 10, and since the guide rollers 41 are located on both sides as shown in FIG. 6, there is no contact with the paper PP.

If the paper PP is thick and has curls, it may jam on the stack roller 3.
) and (B), so that stacking is performed in a free state.

telDescription of Other Embodiments In the above embodiments, the star roller 3 is movable, but it may be fixed in position.

Further, the variable mechanism 22 of the stack guide 2 may also be of other types, and the conveyance means 1 is not limited to the belt-conhair type.

Furthermore, the applied system is not limited to a print processing system, and may be other systems.

Although the present invention has been described above using examples, the present invention can be modified in various ways according to the gist of the present invention, and these are not excluded from the present invention.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, since the limit guide is provided, it is possible to align the leading edge of the form by abutting against the limit guide, and the height position of the limit guide is variable. This also has the effect of ensuring that the edges are aligned according to the length of the form.
This makes it possible to correctly stack the documents upside down, and it is possible to obtain an evenly stacked form without the amount of the stack becoming too small.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the principle of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a commonly used print processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 3 is an overall block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating the general configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a rear view of the configuration in FIG. 4; FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of the conveyance section in the configuration in FIG. 3; FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the configuration in FIG. 6; FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the prior art. In the figure, 1-transporting means, 2-stack guide, 22-variable mechanism, 23-limit guide,

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An inverted storage type stacker having a conveyance means for conveying forms, and a stack guide for guiding and holding the forms conveyed by the conveyance means upside down, the height of the forms being held upside down. An inverted stacker comprising: a limit guide for regulating the position in the horizontal direction; and a variable mechanism for varying the position of the limit guide in the height direction.