JPS6260756A - Upside-down housing type stacker - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To true up a tip end of paper irrespective of a degree of its stiffness, by installing a limit guide shiftable along a stack guide, and constituting the paper conveyed so as to cause the tip end to hit the limit guide along the stack guide. CONSTITUTION:A paper conveying mechanism consists of a conveyor belt 10, a paper retainer roller 13 and a paper retainer guide 14. In a guide body 20 for storing sheets PP, there are provided with a side guide 21, guiding these sheets PP at both sides of the latter, and a limit guide 23 capable of moving in a height direction along a stack guide 2. Also there is provided with a stack roller 3 which is shiftable in the paper conveying direction of the conveyor belt 10. Therefore, the stack roller 3 moves according to a stack quantity of the paper to be conveyed by the conveyor belt 10, and the paper PP rises along the stack guide 2, assisting it to hit the limit guide, so that a job for turning up the tip end of the paper comes easy.

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) Example of operation (a) Example of one embodiment Explanation of the applied system (Figure 2) ('b) Explanation of the overall configuration of one embodiment (Figure 3) (C) Explanation of the conveyance section of one embodiment (Figures 4 and 5) (d) Embodiment Description of stack guide (FIGS. 6 and 7) (e) Description of other embodiments Effects of the invention [Summary] In an inverted storage type stacker comprising a form conveying means, a stack guide, and a stack roller, the stack roller By providing a guide mechanism that allows the stack roller to move in a direction parallel to the document conveyance direction, the stack roller can be moved in accordance with the document stack.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to an inverted storage type stacker that stores forms in an inverted state along a stack guide, and more particularly to an inverted storage type stacker that has been improved so that a stack roller can perform an inverted operation of forms in accordance with changes in the amount of stacked 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 a horizontal storage type stacker that stores forms in a lying-down state, and an inverted storage type stacker that stores 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 single unit in high-speed print processing systems.

[Conventional technology]

In the conventional inverted stacker, as shown in FIG. 8, a stack guide 2 is provided at the tail end of a conveyance means (hereinafter referred to as a conveyor) 1 such as a conveyor, and a rotatable stack roller 3 is fixed on the conveyor 1. It is composed of

The used iPP is conveyed on the belt of the conveyor 1, and its leading end abuts against the stack guide 2, 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 a conventional inverted stacker, the stacker shown in Fig. 8 (A
As shown in >, the stack amount (capacity) is small,
When handling stiff materials such as cardboard, a good inverted storage operation can be performed.

However, as shown in FIG. 8(B), when the stack amount is large, or when handling weak paper such as thick paper, the stack roller 3 is provided at a fixed position, so that the paper PP is not pushed into the stack guide 2. Since the paper sheets PP do not stand up completely along the paper and slip and are stacked in a lying state, there is a problem that a large stack amount cannot be obtained, and there is also a problem that the leading edges of the stacked paper sheets PP are not aligned.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an inverted storage type stuffing force that can increase the stack amount regardless of the thickness of the paper and does not cause misalignment of the paper.

[Means for solving problems]

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

In the figure, the same parts as shown in FIG. 8 are indicated by the same symbols, 4 is a guide mechanism, and stack roller 3
This is provided so that the paper can be moved in a direction parallel to the document (paper) feeding direction.

That is, in the present invention, the stack roller 3 is configured to be slidable by the guide mechanism 4 in parallel to the document conveyance direction.

[Effect]

In the present invention, since the stack roller 3 can be slid by the guide mechanism 4, it moves according to the stack amount of the paper PP as shown in FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B). As a result, the stack roller 3 is positioned near the position where the paper PP rises, and assists the rise of the paper PP. That is, the stack roller 3 moves the stacked paper PP
111ffl slides in the direction of the arrow (B) and is always located near the previously stacked paper PP.

Therefore, the leading edge of the next sheet PP rises along the previous sheet PP, the middle portion is pushed and bent by the stack roller 3, and moves upwardly between the previous sheet PP and the stack roller 3.

Therefore, the stack roller 3 assists in rising,
As a result, regardless of stack amount or paper thickness,
An inverted stack is created, allowing for a thicker stack (and a stack operation with aligned tips).

〔Example〕

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

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 the length L, the folded length is about 3 times as long as 31. ), and stacks ultra-long continuous folding paper CP with feed holes (hereinafter simply referred to as continuous paper) with a length of about 10,000 m and stacked to a height of about 1 m, PFU is The paper supply device is for feeding continuous paper CP from the paper hopper STC to the lower part of the laser printer LBP, and the TVU is a turnover mechanism for feeding the printed continuous paper CP discharged from the upper part of the laser printer LBP. The MSU is an intermediate slitter device that changes the direction of the sheet by 90 degrees and guides it to an intermediate slitter device, which will be described later.The MSU is an intermediate slitter device that cuts the printed continuous paper CP from the turnover mechanism TVU in half at an intermediate portion while conveying it. , PCM is a cutting device that guides and discharges one side and the other of cut continuous paper CP so that they overlap each other,
An intermediate slitter device MSU cuts the edges of a pair of overlapping continuous sheets, and a burster section cuts the continuous sheets CP at perforation positions to produce and discharge sheets PP in page units.CSU is a conveyor stacker device. The paper PP cut and discharged by the cutting device PCM is stored upright using a guide slope.

Therefore, the continuous paper (84 size) CP in the paper hopper STC is fed 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 into the 34 size paper through the internal printing path 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'' by a turnover mechanism TVC.
guided to the intermediate slipper device MSU;
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 then cut into page units at the perforation positions, and then transferred to the conveyor stacker device CS.
The paper PP cut and discharged by U is stored in an upright state.

That is, continuous paper CP is printed by a laser printer LBP that is a printing device, cut in half in the longitudinal direction by an intermediate slipper device MSU, cut into pages by a cutting device PCM, and stored in a conveyor stacker device csU in the order of printing. Ru.

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.

(b) Description of the overall configuration of one 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 FIGS. 1 and 8 are indicated by the same symbols, and 10 is a conveyor belt, which is a belt conveyance mechanism for feeding the paper PP, and 11 and 12 are conveyor belts. A pair of conveying pulleys are used to stretch the conveyor belt 10 and transport the paper PP by rotating the conveyor belt in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure. 13 is a paper presser 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 conveyor belt 10. 15 is a stack guide mounting hole for holding the leading edge of the paper PP and guiding it to the paper holding roller 13; 15 is a stack guide mounting hole provided for mounting the stack guide 2 to a conveyor frame to be described later; 16 is a conveyor frame; Pulleys 11 and 12, a paper press roller 13, a paper press guide 14, a guide mechanism 4, and the like are attached.

20 is a guide body for holding and accommodating the paper PF; 21 is a side guide provided on both sides of the guide body 20 to guide the paper PP from both sides;
Reference numeral 2 denotes a movable mechanism, which makes a limit guide to be described later movable and fixed. Reference numeral 23 denotes a limit guide, which engages with the leading edge of the paper PP accommodated in the guide body 20 and aligns the leading edge. , can be moved in the height direction by a movable 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 that engages with the arm 40 when the stack roller 3 is stored, and moves the stack roller 3 to the llu feed belt 10.
44 provided on the guide plate 42 to separate it from the
An arm shaft rotatably holds the arm 40 and 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 sheet conveying direction of the conveyor belt 10, and the limit guide 23 of the stack guide 2 can be positioned in the height direction by the movable mechanism 22. It is configured.

(Explanation of C1 Embodiment Conveying Unit FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4(A)
is its top view, and FIG. 4 CB) is its side view.

In the figure, the same parts as those shown in FIGS. 1, 8, and 3 are indicated by the same symbols, and are 10a.

10b and 10c are conveyor belts, respectively, and 16a and 16
b are conveyor frames, 3a, 3b, 3c are stack rollers, and conveyor belts 10a, 10b.
, 10c, and 30a, 30 provided opposite to each other.
b and 30c are roller shafts, and the stack roller 3a
, 3b, 3c for rotation, 40a, 40b, 4
0c is an arm, and roller shafts 30a, 30b, 3
0c to rotatably hold the stack rollers 3a, 3b, 3c; 41a, 41b are guide rollers each having flanges, provided on both sides of the arm shaft 44, and rotating together with the arm shaft 44; , 42a, 42b
are guide plates, and each conveyor frame 16a, 1
6b to guide the guide rollers 41a and 41b, 43 is the aforementioned stopper, and the guide plate 42
The arms 40a, 40b are attached at both ends to the conveyor frames 16a, 16b via a, 42b, and 45a, 45b, 45C are arm support parts, each having a cylindrical shape.
, 40c are attached and rotatably provided on the arm shaft 44.

Therefore, the arms 40a and 40b are attached to the arm shaft 44.

The other end of 40c is rotatably held, and the stack roller 3
a, 3b, and 3c are arms 40a, 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 the guide rollers 41a and 41b are connected to the guide plate 4.
2a, 42b, and the stack roller 3a
, 3b, and 3c can be slid.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5 (A), the stack roller 3 is always positioned so as to almost contact the right side of the stacked sheets PP when viewed from the stack guide 2, and as shown in FIG. Pushed to the right in the figure by the paper 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 in the vicinity of or in contact with the paper PP.

For this reason, the stack roller 3
Regardless of the amount of paper PP, it is always located near the rising position of the paper PP, and helps 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. 5(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. 4, there is no contact with the paper PP.

Setting the stack roller 3 in this storage position is important because if the paper PP is thick and curly, it may jam on the stack roller 3.
) and (B), so that stacking is performed in a free state.

(d) Description of one embodiment of the stack guide FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a long tack guide used in one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6(A) is a side view thereof, and FIG.
B) is a configuration diagram of the limit guide, Figures 6 (C) and (D)
7 is a sectional view of the main part, and FIG. 7 is a rear view of the structure shown in FIG. 6.

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 movable mechanism, which is used for the movement of the support bar described later. It has a guide surface 22c and a large number of V-shaped positioning and fixing recesses 22b facing the guide surface 22c. still,
A pair of movable 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.
A support bar 24a is provided for guiding P, and has knobs 24d1 and 24e at both ends, an L-shaped limit guide 23a523b is attached, and a fixing spring member to be described later is attached, 24b,
24c is a fixing spring member, as shown in FIGS. 6(B) and (C).
As shown in the figure, the support bar 24
3, 25a is a mounting knob,
It has a bottle 25C in the center and fixing protrusions 25b on both sides, and a spring 25d around the bottle 25c and the protrusions 25b.
is attached, 15a.

15b and 15C are mounting holes provided in the conveyor frame 16, and the guide body 20 is mounted using a mounting knob 25a.The plates 20d and 20e are fixed to the conveyor frame 16 by means of a mounting knob 25a. Three are provided to change the

Therefore, a pair of movable mechanisms 22 are provided on the back surface of the guide body 20, and a support bar 242 is connected to the movable 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 241 includes a limit guide 23, fixing spring members 24b, 24C, and knobs 24d, 24e as shown in FIG. 6(B).
It is installed as follows. Therefore, the support bar 24a is urged into engagement with the fixing recess 22b of the movable mechanism 22 by the spring members 24b and 24C, as shown in FIG. 6(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. 6 and 7 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 made variable by the movable mechanism 22 in order to do this according to the length.

That is, hold the knobs 24d and 24e in your hands and
When the support bar 24a 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 243 can be freely moved to a position in the height direction along the guide surface 22C of the guide hole 22a of the movable mechanism 22. Support bar 24 to desired height
8 and when you release your hand, the support bar 243 engages with the recess at that height position by the spring member 24b, thereby regulating and fixing the height position of the support bar 24a, that is, the limit guide 23. .

At this time, since the tip of the spring member 24b is formed in a U-shape, the support bar 24a 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 (or thin), it will be weak and it is better to store it lying down as long as possible.On the other hand, if the paper is short and thick, it will be stiff and it is better to store it upright.For this reason, the inclination angle of the stack guide 2 The mounting is done through holes 15a and 15b so that the
, 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 pin 25C and the protrusion 25b through the knob 25a as shown in FIG. , 20e are inserted into the conveyor frame 16 and fixed, they will be in a standing state with the largest angle of inclination.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 6(A), when the mounting plates 20d and 20e are mounted in the hole 15a using the mounting knob 25a, the angle of inclination is the smallest and the state is flat.
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.

(el Explanation of other embodiments In the above embodiment, an example using a stack guide provided with a limit guide 23 was explained, but the limit guide 23 is
The stack guide 2 may have no shape or may be a fixed glue mint guide. Further, although the guide mechanism 4 has been described as having a combination shape of a guide roller and a guide rail, other mechanisms may be used, and the conveying means 1 is not limited to a belt conveyor.

Furthermore, the system in use is not limited to the print processing system, but 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 stack roller is made to be able to slide in the direction parallel to the document conveyance direction, the stack roller can always be located at the document rising position, and regardless of the stack amount, the stack roller can slide in the direction parallel to the document conveyance direction. This has the effect of assisting the rise of the sheets, increasing the amount of stacking, making it possible to stack the sheets upside down, and preventing the leading edges of the sheets from being misaligned.

[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 an explanatory diagram of the operation of an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of the stack guide configured in FIG. 3; FIG. 7 is a rear view of the configuration in FIG. 6; FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the prior art. In the figure, 1-conveying means, 2-stack guide, 3-stack roller, 4--guide mechanism, PP--paper (lfE slip).

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A conveyance means for conveying a form, a stack guide for guiding and holding the form conveyed by the conveyance means upside down, and a freely rotatable stack roller provided opposite to the conveyance means. and a guide mechanism for movable the stack roller in a direction parallel to the document conveyance direction, and the stack roller is movable by the guide mechanism according to the stack amount. .