JPS63143170A - Sheet material storing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To satisfactorily align and stack sheet materials on a sheet material receiver with a simple structure by using both side walls of a storage unit stacking and storing sheet materials as an alignment reference and pressing an aligning member in the diagonal direction in a copying machine or the like. CONSTITUTION:When discharged sheet materials are roughly positioned on a sheet material receiver, a solenoid 47 is energized for a preset time, a plunger 47a is drawn against a spring 56, and a rotary lever 51 is rotated to the right. Then, the tip 69a of a pressing lever 69 is lifted by a sliding lever 57, when the tip 71a of a curl presser 71 hits the corner of the sheet materials, an aligning member 65 is slid by a tension spring 66 in the diagonal direction along guide pins 60a, 60b, both sides of the corner of the sheet materials are brought into contact with the inner wall of a container body by the lateral and longitudinal restricting plates 65a, 65b of the aligning member 65 to align the sheet materials. Accordingly, a good alignment state can be invariably maintained with a simple structure.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to a sheet material storage device, and more specifically, to a sheet material storage device such as a transfer paper discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a laser beam printer. The present invention relates to a sheet material storage device that includes a transport section that transports the sheets, and a storage section that sequentially stores the sheet materials transported by the transport section in a stacked state.

(B) Prior art This type of sheet material storage device is disposed adjacent to an image forming device, receives sheet materials discharged from the image forming device, and transfers the received sheet materials to a plurality of conveyance paths. A conveyance section consisting of a guide etc. is switched appropriately according to the size of the sheet materials, etc., and is sequentially stored in a storage section such as a predetermined container, so that a large amount of sheet materials that are sequentially conveyed can be accommodated. In order to place the sheet material in a substantially aligned stacked state within the storage section, the sheet material receiver is configured to descend by a predetermined amount depending on the stacking level of the sheet material accommodated in the tray.

→ Problems to be Solved by the Invention Incidentally, in the above-mentioned conventional sheet material storage device, although a large number of sheet materials are stacked and stored in a state in which the sheet material receiver is approximately aligned upward, the alignment state of the sheet materials is not correct. Since it is not perfect, when binding, stapling, or filing the sheet materials in the storage section that have been completely stored, it is necessary to manually perform the alignment work again, which is an inconvenience that requires a great deal of labor and time. there were.

Therefore, in order to deal with the above-mentioned inconvenience, a device has been developed in which the sheet material receiver measures the alignment of the sheet materials using a mechanism in which the vertical and horizontal parts of the plate materials stacked and stored on top are alternately struck by an alignment plate. However, such a device had the disadvantage of requiring a complicated mechanism.

(b) Means for solving the problem The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems,
The both side walls forming the storage section are used as alignment standards for the sheet material receiver to respectively support and regulate both sides of one corner of the sheet materials stacked and stored thereon, and the sheets are located diagonally opposite to the corner. The present invention is characterized in that it is provided with an alignment member that moves so as to press both sides of the other corner portion of the material, and a driving means that presses and drives the alignment member in the diagonal direction.

(E) Effect According to the adoption of the above means, when the sheet material is conveyed and stored on the sheet material receiver from the conveying section, the sheet material is already stacked and stored on the sheet material receiver or the sheet material receiver. While sliding on the upper surface of the sheet material due to the momentum of conveyance, one corner portion of the sheet material comes into contact with both vertical and horizontal walls forming the storage portion, and the sheet material is approximately positioned. Next, both sides of the other corner section located diagonally opposite to the one corner section are pressed in the diagonal direction by the alignment member driven by the driving means, whereby the one corner section is aligned with the alignment reference. The sheet material is properly positioned in contact with both vertical and horizontal walls of the storage section, and the sheet material is aligned.

(F) Embodiments Below, embodiments embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown at 311, the sheet material storage device 1 includes a conveying section 2 that receives and conveys the image-formed sheet material discharged from an adjacent image forming apparatus (not shown); It includes storage sections 3m and 3b that accommodate sheet materials transported via the transport section 2, and a paper discharge tray 5.

The conveyance unit 2 includes an entrance 6 that receives sheet material from the image forming apparatus, a first conveyance path 7 that conveys the sheet material supplied to the entrance 6 toward the downstream side, and a first conveyance path 7 that conveys the sheet material supplied to the entrance 6 toward the downstream side. The first switching guide 9 provided in the middle of the conveyance path 7 allows
A reversing conveyance path 10 that reverses the introduced sheet material and returns it to the first conveyance lI7, and a second switching disposed on the downstream side of the first conveyance path 7 are connected to the ID 11. The second conveyance path 12 and the third conveyance @ia, and the third conveyance 1
A fourth conveyance path 616 and a fifth conveyance path 1711 connected to the third switching guide 15 disposed on the downstream side of 113
1. Each of the above-mentioned conveyance @7, 12, 13°16.17 is provided with an appropriate number of conveyance roller pairs 19&~19b, and the above-mentioned reversal conveyance 11!110 is provided with a forward/reverse conveyance belt 20, and further , sensors 21a facing the downstream ends of the conveyances 12, 16, and 17, the upstream end of the reversing conveyance path 10, and the downstream end of the first conveyance path 7 and detecting passage of the sheet material, respectively.
21c, 21d and 21e are provided.

Moreover, the storage parts 3m and 3b have a structure in which the upper part is open and surrounded by walls on four sides, and the container bodies 22a and 22b are box-shaped and have a size corresponding to the size of the sheet material, and the container bodies 2
2m, 22b, along the inside of the wall of the container body 22m or along the inside of the wall of the container body 22b and along the partition plate 23 that is inserted and removed as a sheet material regulating member depending on the sheet material size. The lower table 26m and the upper table 26b are provided on the sides of the main body 1a of the sheet material storage device 1 and can slide in the horizontal direction.
Container bodies 22 m and 22 b are set on top of each other, respectively.
The upper open portion faces the downstream ends of the second conveyance path 12 and the fourth conveyance path 16 of the aforementioned conveyance section 2, respectively, and is located at the illustrated position where the sheet material conveyed therefrom can be accommodated, and each table 26
m and 26b are slid to the left in the figure, and each container body 22a
.

22b can be moved to a take-out position where it can be attached to or removed from tables 26m and 26b with sheet material receivers 25a and 25b disposed therein.

The hollow portion 27 of the sheet material receivers 25m and 25b
In the container bodies 22 m and 27 b, vertical grooves (
(not shown) on the top surface of the shock absorbing support member 29 such as rubber.
A pair of fork-shaped members 30 to which m and 29b are attached, respectively.
a.

30b is inserted, and as the fork-like members 30m and 30b are moved up and down along the vertical guide members 31m and 31b by a drive device (not shown),
The above sheet material receivers 25m and 25b are container bodies 22m
, 22b can be moved up and down. Furthermore, the vertical guide member 31m.

31b from below to above, the extraction position sensor 3
2m, 32b, lower limit se-/”t 33 a p 33
Upper limit sensors 35m and 35b are provided, respectively, so that the positions of the fork-like members 30m and 30b are detected, regulated and controlled. Further, as shown in FIG. 1.2, there is a rotatable structure on the side of the main body 1m of the sheet material storage device near the downstream ends of the second conveyance path 12 and the fourth conveyance path 16 of the conveyance section 2 described above. Pivotally supported level lever 36 and lever 3
A sheet material loading level sensor 39 consisting of a micro switch 37 and a safety switch 38 that are turned on and off by turning the switch 6 is disposed, and detects, for example, that a predetermined amount of sheet material is stacked on the sheet material receiver 25a that is in an activated state. When the sheet material receiver 25m is lowered, the sensor 39 detects this, and the sheet material receiver 25m is lowered a predetermined distance via the fork-shaped member 30Jl.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, the container body 22
Covers 40a and 40b can be attached to cover the upper openings of container bodies 22m and 22b, respectively.
When properly attached to the top, the cover is 40m long, 4
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tip end of 0b is connected to a detection lever 41 provided at a corresponding position on the sheet material storage device main body 1a.
A cover integrated detection sensor 4 consisting of a microswitch 42 and a microswitch 42
It is configured to come into contact with the detection levers 41 of 3m and 43b, turn on the sensors 43a and 43b, and bring the sheet material storage device 1 into a state where it can be operated.

The frame member 45 to which the sheet material loading level sensor 39 and the cover integral detection sensors 43m and 43b are mounted is a substantially rectangular long plate-like body as shown in FIGS. It is fixed to the apparatus main body 1a above the sheet material discharge end of the conveyance path 12.16 so that the sides thereof are perpendicular to the discharge direction of the sheet material discharged through the conveyance path 12.16, In the illustrated embodiment, a sheet material aligning device 46 is disposed at the right end side.

The sheet material alignment device w46 includes a solenoid (driving means) 4
7 and is retracted in operation.
It has a rotating lever 51 that is connected to the plunger 47m of No. 7 via a connecting pin 49 and rotates around a shaft 50, and as the rotating lever 51 rotates, it is lifted up from the frame member 45. A long hole 53a that engages with the provided guide pins 52m and 52b.

53b and a square hole 55 that engages one end of a presser lever 69 (described later), and a slide lever 57 with a tension spring 56 tensioned between the intermediate portion thereof and the guide bin 52b, is connected to the frame member via a connecting pin 59. The frame member 45 is slidable in the long side direction of the frame member 45.
A long hole 61 in the subject direction that engages with the upright guide pins 60m and 60b, a stopper pin 62 that contacts the rotating lever 51 on the upper surface on the rotating lever 51 side, and a roller that rolls on the frame member 45. It has bodies 63a and 63b,
Furthermore, a horizontal regulating plate 65a having a surface perpendicular to the plane of the frame member 45 and parallel to the long side of the frame member 45, and a horizontal regulating plate 65a having a surface perpendicular to the plane of the frame member 45 and parallel to the long side of the frame member 45, are provided. An alignment member 65 having an MI regulating plate 65b with orthogonal surfaces is connected to the alignment member 65 and the rotating lever 5.
For example, a normal A.

The short side of the 8th edition sheet material and its diagonal line are slid in a diagonal direction at an angle of approximately 53 degrees. A presser lever 69 is provided so as to rotate vertically about a shaft 67 through the square hole 55 as the slide lever 57 slides, and the tip 69m of the presser lever 69 is lowered. As a result of the operation, the tip 71a of the presser lever 69 is raised around the lever 70, and the tip 69 of the presser lever 69 is raised.
A curl presser 71 for the corner portion of the sheet material is provided on the lower side of the frame member 45 so that the tip portion 71a is lowered by its own weight as a result of the upward movement of the sheet material. Note that in FIG. 2, reference numerals 72m and 72b are elastic bodies such as sponges attached to the inner surfaces of the horizontal adjustment plates 65m and 91 regulating plates 65b that come into contact with the sheet materials, and What is indicated by the reference numeral 73 in FIGS. 1 and 2 is the shaft 75.
This is a sheet material presser that abuts against the top surface of the sheet material with its own weight.

The present embodiment has the above-described configuration, and prior to the operation of the sheet material storage device M1, first the sheet material storage device main body 1a is
Attachment of the container bodies 22a and 22b is performed.

At that time, the fork-like member 30a.

30b, like the upper fork-shaped member 30b shown in FIG. Since the lunch state of the tables 26a and 26b has been released and the tables 26a and 26b can be pulled out to the left in the figure, the operator places the covers 40a and 40b in predetermined positions on the pulled out tables 26a and 26b. An empty container body 22a equipped with
22b is placed and the tables 26a, 26b are pushed in, the container bodies 22-a, 22b are moved to the inner sheet material receiver 25a, like the upper container body 22b shown in FIG. , 25b hollow part 27a
, 27 b near p-') shaped members 30a, 30b are in the set state, and at the same time the cover 40a is in the set state.
, 40b by pressing the ends of the sensors 43a, 4.
3b is turned on, and the sheet material storage device 1 is ready for operation. When the power is turned on in this state, the fork-like members 30a, 30b are raised, and the sheet material receivers 25a, 2 inside the container bodies 22a, 22b are accordingly lifted.
5b is raised and the upper limit sensors 35m, 35b are turned on, the raising of the fork-like members 30a, 30b is stopped, and the container bodies 22a, 22b become ready to accommodate sheet materials. Note that the fork-shaped member 30a.

During the rising process of 30b, the extraction position sensors 32a, 3
2b is in the off state, thereby causing tables 26a, 2
6b is latched to prevent it from being pulled out inadvertently during operation. Next, a sheet material on which an image has been formed is introduced from an adjacent image forming apparatus through the inlet 6, and normally the sheet material passes through the conveyance path 7 and is conveyed downstream, but the sheet material has two sides. When reversing is required, the sheet material passes through the lower right side of the switching guide 9 by the switching guide action of the switching guide 9, and is introduced into the reversing conveyance path 10 by normal rotation of the conveyor belt 20, so that the rear end of the sheet material is When detected by the sensor 21d, the conveyor belt 20 is reversed to return to the conveyance path 7 through the lower left side of the switching guide 9. It should be noted that, at the time when the rear end of the above-mentioned reversed sheet material passes through the sensor 21s and is detected, the conveyor belt 20 is returned to the normal rotation state and stands by in preparation for the next reversal of the sheet material. The sheet material that has passed through the conveyance path 7 is then transferred to the conveyance path 12 side or the conveyance path 13.
16 side, the corresponding container body 22a,
The sheet material receivers 25a and 25b are discharged onto the sheet material receivers 25a and 25b at the elevation ms of the sheet material 22b. Then, one corner of the tip of the discharged sheet material comes into contact with the inner wall of the container body 22 a, 22 b or the partition plate 23, and the sheet material receiver 25
When the approximate positioning is performed on a, 25 b,
A sensor 21a is provided at the sheet material discharge end of the conveyance path 13°16.

Based on the sheet material passage detection function of 21b, the solenoid 4
7 is energized for a predetermined period of time, its plunger 47a is retracted against the tension spring 56, and the rotating lever 51 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 1 about the shaft 50. Then, as the rotary lever 51 rotates, the slide lever 57 moves to the first position.
, 2, the tip 6 of the presser lever 69 is slid to the left in FIG.
9a and brings the tip 71m of the curl presser 71 into contact with the corner of the sheet material, and at the same time, the alignment member 65 slides in the diagonal direction of the sheet material along the guide pins 60m and 60b via the tension spring 66. , thereby aligning member 6
Both sides of the corner portion of the sheet material are pressed by the horizontal restriction plate 65a and the vertical restriction plate 65b of No. 5, and both sides of the corner portion of the sheet material located in the diagonal direction of the pressed corner portion are the inner walls of the container bodies 22a, 22b. Alignment of the sheet material is achieved by abutting the sheet material firmly against the part. Note that the alignment member 65
When the solenoid 47 is de-energized, the stopper pin 62 is pushed by the rotating lever 51 due to the tension of the tension spring 56 and returns to its original position. Furthermore, during the alignment action, the vertical movement stroke of the curl presser 71 and the movement stroke of the alignment member 65 may be limited to a small value due to contact with the sheet material, without corresponding to the movement stroke of the plunger 47a of the solenoid 47. However, even in such a case, the curl presser 71 is moved downward by its own weight due to the movement of the tip 69a of the presser lever 69 in the direction away from the curl presser 71, and the alignment member 65 is lowered by the rotation lever 51 and the tension spring 66. Therefore, the moving stroke of the plunger 47a of the solenoid 47 is always kept constant regardless of the restraining effect of the curl presser 71 and the aligning member 65 due to contact with the sheet material, and the curl Presser foot 7
1 and the operation of the alignment member 65! There is no interference with δ. In this way, in the process of stacking the sheet materials one after another on the sheet receivers 25a and 25b, the stacking height of the sheet materials increases to a certain extent, and the sheet materials being conveyed successively are pushed up the container body 22m by the force of the conveyance. , 22b or over the partition plate 23, the sheet materials are prevented from flying out due to the presence of the covers 40a, 40b, and are properly accumulated on the sheet material receivers 25a, 25b. When the stacking height of the sheet materials on the sheet material receivers 25a, 25b reaches a predetermined height, the sensor lever 36 of the sensor 39 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is rotated by a predetermined angle. The switch 37 is turned on, and the fork-like members 30a and 30b are lowered by a predetermined amount, and the upper surface of the stacked sheet materials and the conveyance *12, 16 are lowered.
The distance from the sheet material discharge position at the downstream end is always maintained within an appropriate range, and the sheet materials are accumulated with good alignment. and,
When the sheet material receivers 25a, 25b are lowered, the presence of the integrated covers 40a, 40b prevents the careless insertion of hands into the container bodies 22a, 22b, thereby preventing unexpected accidents. Occurrence is prevented. In this way, the sheet material receivers 25a, 25b repeatedly descend intermittently, a predetermined amount of sheet material is accumulated on the sheet material receivers 25a, 25b, and the fork-like members 30a, 30
If the lower limit sensors 33a, 33b are turned on by the signal b, the conveyance of the sheet material from the image forming apparatus to the container bodies 22a, 22b is stopped, or the container body 2 is turned on.
Until the sheets 2m and 22b are taken out, the conveyance of the sheet material is switched to the discharge tray 5 side via the conveyance path 17, and at the same time, the fork-like members 30a and 30b are moved to the takeout position sensor 32.
a, 32b are further lowered to the ON position and stopped, the latches of the tables 26a, 26b are released, the container bodies 22a, 22b are taken out, and empty container bodies 22a, 22b can be newly set. state. Note that the state in which a predetermined amount of sheet material is not accumulated on the sheet receivers 25a, 25b, that is, the lower limit sensors 33a, 33b
Even before turning on the container bodies 22a and 22b, it is possible to arbitrarily replace the container bodies 22a and 22b with new ones with the above-mentioned area by turning on a container takeout switch (not shown).

(G) As described in detail, according to the present invention, the sheet material receiver is stacked and accommodated on both side walls forming the storage portion, and supports both sides of one corner of the sheet material, respectively. an alignment reference for regulating, an alignment member that moves so as to press both sides of the other corner portion of the plate material located diagonally opposite to the corner portion, and a driving means that presses and drives the alignment member in the diagonal direction. The sheet material receiver is stacked and stored above, and both sides of one corner of the sheet material are supported and regulated by the vertical and horizontal both side walls that form the sheet material storage section, and the corner portion is Since both sides of the other corners of the sheet material located diagonally opposite to each other are pressed in the diagonal direction by the aligning member, the sheet material receiver can always keep the sheet material stacked above in a good condition with a simple mechanism. It becomes possible to maintain the sheets in an aligned state, and thereby a large amount of labor can be saved when processing the sheet materials such as bookbinding after storing the sheet materials.

In addition, if a sponge-like elastic body is attached to the contact surface of the alignment member with the sheet material corner, the sheet material receiver can be used even if there is some size variation in the sheet materials stacked on top. , the alignment action will take place in the state where it is absorbed. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the vicinity of the aligning device of the sheet material storage device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing the overall structure of the sheet material storage device according to the present invention. be. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Sheet material storage device, 2... Conveyance part, 3
m, 3b--accommodating section, 25m, 25b--sheet material receiver, 47--driving means (solenoid),
65... Aligning member, 65a... Vertical regulation plate,
65 b... Lateral regulation plate, 72a, 72b...
・Sponge-like elastic body.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A conveyance section that conveys sheet materials discharged from an image forming apparatus, etc., and a storage section that stacks and stores the sheet materials from the conveyance section on a sheet material receiver that is disposed inside and gradually moves downward. In the sheet material storage device, the both side walls forming the storage section are used as alignment standards for supporting and regulating both sides of one corner of the sheet materials stacked and stored on the sheet material receiver, and the corner an aligning member that moves so as to press both sides of the other corner portions of the sheet material located diagonally opposite to each other; and a drive means that presses and drives the aligning member in the diagonal direction. Sheet material storage device. (2) The sheet material storage device according to claim 1, wherein the alignment member has a sponge-like elastic body adhered to a contact surface with a corner portion of the sheet material.