JPS5948381B2 - sheet sorting device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method for producing multiple copies of multi-page documents using a copying machine such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a simple printing machine, by overlapping the documents in page order and sorting and storing them one by one. It is related to a sheet sorting device that can be used.

Generally, when creating multiple copies of a multi-page document using a copying machine or printing machine, the same page is created in succession for the desired number of copies, and then other pages are created in turn, resulting in multiple copies of the same page being stacked. .

Therefore, stacking the documents in page order and arranging them one by one, so-called collating, takes time and effort, and there are many mistakes. Therefore, it is necessary to rearrange the documents in page order and at the same time, install shelves or the like so that they can be taken out one by one and placed separately on those shelves. Conventionally, a device for automatically distributing documents at the same time as copying or printing has been considered for this purpose, but the present invention makes it possible to configure this type of sheet sorting device to be extremely compact and simple. The object of the present invention is to provide an improved sheet sorting device.
Another object of the present invention is to configure the tray to have an upward slope in the direction in which the sheet travels, and at the same time to widen the gap between the tray and the tray one step above when feeding the sheet, thereby ensuring a wide entrance. The uphill configuration of the tray is advantageous for dispensing a mixture of sheets of various sizes.

That is, even if the sheets are of different sizes, they are stacked one on top of the other on a tray with their trailing edges aligned. Also, if the tray is configured on an upward slope, a rising portion will be provided on the sheet feeding side to prevent sheets from sliding, so widening the gap between the tray and the tray one step above when feeding is a problem for trays on a downward slope. It is more necessary than the case. Another object of the present invention is to increase the distance between the sheet tray and the tray one step higher when taking out the sheet from the tray, thereby making it easier to take out the sheet.

To do this, a foot switch is used to lower the tray box independently of the signal from the copying machine, increasing the interval between the trays one by one and taking out the sheets. In this case, since each tray has a take-out position at the same position, each sheet is taken out from the same height, making the operation very convenient. Referring to FIG. 1, the operation of the main body of a copying machine to which a sorting device of the present invention is attached will be explained.

The original 3 is placed on the original platen glass 2 constituting the original placing surface, is held down by the original pressure plate 2', and is illuminated by illumination lamps 6,
The optical path length is kept equal by a movable reflection mirror 4 that moves together with the movable reflection mirror 4 and a movable reflection mirror 5 that moves in the same direction at a moving speed of 1/2 of this movable reflection mirror 4, and the lens 7 and fixed reflection mirrors 8 and 9, the light is slitted and imaged onto the photosensitive drum 1.

That is, the original 3 is exposed to slit light while being scanned by an optical system (illumination section). The surface of the photosensitive drum 1 is a photosensitive surface with a photosensitive layer covered with a transparent insulating layer, and a high voltage power source 1 is connected to the surface of the photosensitive drum 1.
A brass charger 11 that is supplied with a positive high voltage current from 0
becomes positively charged.

Subsequently, when reaching the exposure section 12, the photosensitive surface is exposed with the original image and at the same time is subjected to AC charge removal by the AC discharger 13 supplied with AC high voltage current from the high voltage power supply 10. Next, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the drum surface (photosensitive surface) by full exposure by the full surface exposure lamp 14 and enters the developing device 15 .

Development is performed using powder developing iron using a sleeve method, and the electrostatic latent image is visualized.

Next, copy material 1 is fed and sent from the cassette 16.
7 is brought into close contact with the photosensitive drum 1, and the image on the photosensitive drum 1 is transferred onto the copying material 17 by being charged with a positive high voltage current from the high voltage power supply 10 by the transfer charger 18.

The copy material that has been transferred is separated from the photosensitive drum 1 by the separating section 19, guided to the fixing section 20, and fixed thereon.
3, the excess charge is removed, and the paper is discharged onto the tray 30 by the discharge roller 22.

During normal copying (single-sided copying), the copying is completed.
On the other hand, the remaining toner on the drum surface (photosensitive surface) is cleaned by the blade 21 pressed against it, and the next cycle can be repeated again. Furthermore, this copying machine can easily copy on both the front and back sides of the copy material.

That is, the copying machine that has completed front side copying (which corresponds to normal copying) is not ejected from the machine, but is guided back to the transfer device for back side copying. That is, in the first copying cycle, the copying material that passes through the fixing device 20 and is conveyed by the ejection roller 22 is removed by the static eliminator 23 while its trailing edge passes through the light receiving element 24. When the discharge roller 22 is reversed, the paper is guided to a passage 25 for copying the back side.

The guide plate 26 moves the passage 25 at the same time as the discharge port 22 is reversed.
The copy paper is then moved to a position where it guides the copy paper, and the copy paper is stopped near the register roller 29 by conveyance rollers 27 and 28. Then, in the second copy cycle, the copy paper moves to the backside copy, and is sent to the transfer device by the paper feed signal while being controlled by the register roller 29 again, and after the transfer is completed, it is discharged via the fixing device 20 and the static eliminator 23. The paper is discharged onto the tray 30 by the paper roller 22. To avoid complexity, a detailed explanation of the drive system of the copying machine and the sequence of each process will be omitted, but the photoreceptor is formed into a drum shape and rotates at a constant speed, and each process is arranged around it. A paper feed drive system that feeds paper in synchronization with the optical system, an illumination unit and a reflection mirror 5 are
Methods such as driving at a speed of 1:1 are commonly used.
FIG. 2 shows a state in which a sorting machine according to an embodiment of the present invention is connected to the copying machine of FIG. 1, with the tray 30 being removed.

This will be explained based on FIGS. 2, 3, and 6. Classifier is introduction part 1
00, a tray box 200, and a tray box up/down device 201.

The introduction section 100 is a device that guides copy paper discharged from a copying machine to a sorting machine, and is divided into two parts according to the height of the discharge port of each type of copying machine.
Adapt the height of its entrance. a pair of rollers 101,
101', belt 103, and another pair of belts 102,1
The copy discharged by the conveying device consisting of the 02' belt 104 advances while being squeezed between the belts 103 and 104 and reaches the entrance of the tray box. Roller 101 is chain 11
0 and is driven by a geared motor 109, and rotates during operation of the copying machine. The tray box 200 is a multi-stage tray 2 that can rotate slightly around a hinge 203.
02, the tray can store many sheets of copy paper, but the number of sheets is determined by the spacing between the trays, so trays with an appropriate number of stages are arranged at appropriate intervals according to the request.

The tray box up/down device 201 has a support stand 20 on the board 204.
Post 2055 and support stand 2 vertically erected by 6
The base body is a feed screw 208 which is rotatably supported by a bearing 211 on a cap 209 and a table 207 that moves up and down guided by its support.

The tray box 200 on the table 207 is detachable 1 and can be easily attached using the positioning dowel 2249225.

The table 207 is coupled by a nut 210 to a feed screw 208 which rotates in forward and reverse directions via a pinion 215, an idler 214, and a gear 212, and is moved up and down by a forward and reverse geared motor 216.

If you want to make m copies by copying a document consisting of m originals, set the first original in the copying machine, set the copy number setting device to m, and start copying. . At this time, the table 207 is at the uppermost position, that is, the lowermost tray is located above the receiving position.

Simultaneously with the start of copying, the table 207 descends, and the lowest tray comes to its receiving position and stops. When the first copy paper enters the tray and the trailing edge of the copy paper passes through the detection unit 111 consisting of the lamp 107 and the light receiving element 106, the yard motor rotates forward and the feed screw 208
is rotated in the forward direction to lower the table 207 by one tray step (referred to as one pitch). Therefore, the second sheet of copy paper is received in the second tray from the bottom.

The lead of the feed screw 208 is set equal to the pitch of the tray, and when the cam 213 fixed to the feed screw 208 makes one revolution and activates the micro switch 217 again, the geared motor 206 stops and moves the table 207 to l pitch. can only be moved. In this way, when the copying machine enters the copying cycle for the mth copy, a stop signal is issued to prevent the start of the next copying cycle (that is, the m+1th copy), but this signal causes the control circuit of the geared motor 216 to rotate in reverse. Can be switched.

When the trailing edge of the m-th copy paper passes the detection section 111, the geared motor 216 rotates in the opposite direction, and the table 207 rises due to the reverse rotation of the feed line screw 208 and stops at the uppermost position. Next, if you change to the second original and start copying, the copy paper will be distributed one by one from the bottom tray in the same way, and after copying the m-th original, the m copy paper will be distributed. M copies of copies consisting of are stacked on each tray.
When these copies are taken out, they are taken out from the take-out port 226 as shown in FIG. 3, and can be easily grasped by the notch 227 of the tray. Naturally, in order to downsize the sorting machine, it is essential to downsize the tray box 200.

Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the spacing between each tray, but it is clear that this spacing depends on the number of sheets of copy paper to be stored. In some cases, additional spacing may be required. Therefore, it is important to increase the gap or the width of the entrance only when feeding copy paper in order to miniaturize the entire tray box, and one of the inventors of the present invention has already proposed this idea in a patent application filed in 1973. -2641 is proposed. In this example, the fourth
As shown in FIG. 5, trays 202 are arranged in the tray box 200 and are arranged on an upward slope along the traveling direction of the copy paper.

The tray 202 has a hinge shaft 230 and a hinge receiver 22 on one side.
8, and the other is rotatable by pin 231 and lever 2.
32 and is supported by a receiving metal fitting 229.
When the tray approaches the receiving position, the fan cam 108 and lever
232 comes into contact with the pin 231, and each time the table descends, the relative position of the tray with respect to the tray box is displaced upwards, and when it is one pitch before the receiving position, the lever one step lower comes off the fan-shaped cam and the receiving metal fitting. Since it falls to position 229, there is a gap between it and the tray one step below.

At this time, it is in the receiving position for the tray one step below. Next, when the table is moved by one pitch, the lever 232 of the tray is disengaged from the drowning cam and falls onto the receiving metal fitting 229, reaching the receiving position, and the gap between the tray and the next higher tray is increased. After receiving the mth copy paper, the table 207 is raised by the reverse rotation of the geared motor 216 as described above, but the solenoid 105 is actuated by the same signal and the fan-shaped cam 108 is removed from the operating position.

When the table 207 reaches the uppermost position, the micro switch 2
18 is actuated and stopped by the actuating piece 221, but this signal causes the control circuit of the geared motor 216 to return to normal rotation, the solenoid 105 is deactivated, and the fan-shaped cam 10
8 returns to the operating position.

As mentioned above, the table is copied by the copy start signal. 20
7 starts to descend, but at this position micro switch 2
19 is actuated by an actuating piece 222, and while the micro switch 219 is in operation, the micro switch 217
Since the operation of is irrelevant, the descent continues. (The micro switch 219 is installed under the 1 micro switch 218.) Since the micro switch 219 is deactivated just before the lowest tray reaches the receiving position, the micro switch 217 allows the table 2
07 stops when the lowest tray reaches the receiving position. In this way, the first copy sheet of the next original is sent into the lowest tray, and at this time, the second tray from the bottom is lifted by the fan-shaped cam 108, and the interval between the feeding sections is widened. ing. When the table 207 reaches the second lowest position, the micro switch 220 is actuated by the operating piece 223 to convert the control circuit of the geared motor 216 to reverse rotation, so that the table 207 rises. This microswitch prevents table 207 from moving excessively02. The uppermost position of the table 207 is a normal stop position, and the table 207 is attached and detached at this position. At this position, the contact with the fan-shaped cam is broken, so it is easy to attach and detach. A foot switch (FS) 233 is connected to the upper and lower tray boxes 3 and the device, and the electrical circuit connections are shown in FIG.

Normally, when copying is completed, the tray box stops at the top position with the distributed copy sheets arranged.

3. Press the foot switch to remove the copy paper. When pressed, the tray box descends and stops when the lowest tray reaches the copy paper receiving position, opening a gap between it and the tray one step above. At this position, take out the copy paper, press the foot switch one by one, and place it in the tray box. Lower the machine one step at a time and take out the copy paper. After taking out all 4f copy sheets, if you keep pressing the foot switch, the tray box will go down to the lowest position, then press the micro switch MS220 to turn it around and go up. After rising, if you release the foot switch, the tray box will stop at the highest position (stop position). FIG. 7 shows an example of an electric circuit.

This electric circuit is connected to the table 207 which is the main operation of this device.
This is the part related to the vertical movement of the circuit, and other auxiliary circuits are omitted.

Also, when the table 207 is at the top position, the micro switch 21
8 is shown operating and stopped. MS is micro switch, M is motor, K is capacitor, S
L is a solenoid, R/D is a drive relay, R/S is a switching relay, D-1, D-2, D-3, S-1, S-2, S
-3, S-4 are the contacts of the respective relays, S1, S2,
S3 is a signal from another electrical circuit. table 207
The R/D is activated by the copy start signal S, and D-1 is closed and self-held, and at the same time, MS218 is released and closed, D-2 is closed, and M216 rotates normally and descends. MS219 just before the bottom tray reaches the receiving position
is released and opened, then when it reaches the receiving position, the MS
217 is activated and opens, and table 207 stops.

The first copy paper is fed into the lowest tray and detected by the detection unit 11.
R/D is activated by the signal S2 output from 1, and D-1, D
-2 closes, M216 rotates forward and descends one pitch, then M
S217 is activated and the opening table stops.

In this way, when the m-th copy cycle starts and the stop signal S5 is issued, the R/S is activated, S-1 is closed and self-maintained, S-2 and S-3 are switched, and the motor control circuit is set to the reverse side. , and S-4 is also closed.

When the mth copy paper passes the detection unit 111, a signal S2 is generated, R/D is activated, D-1 and D-2 are closed, and M
216 is reversed and table 207 is raised. At this time SL
105 is activated when D-3 closes, and table 2
07, the fan-shaped cam 108 is removed from the operating position. When the table 207 returns to the uppermost position, the MS 218 is activated and opens, R/D and R/S are released and stopped. As explained above, the present invention is an improvement of the conventional large-scale sorting machine so that it can be made smaller and at the same time easier to handle, and its features can be summarized as follows. 1. The tray box has a simple structure consisting of a tray and a box, and can be easily removed from the table, and it is also possible to transport copies together with the tray box to another location.

2. A small tray box with a small number of tiers can be prepared depending on the number of copies to be made, and these can be stacked in several tiers.

3. A simple mechanism using a fan-shaped cam allows the tray spacing to be increased only during feeding.

4. Movement is imparted to the tray by the fan cam so that the copy sheets are aligned in the tray.

The above explanation is for the case where the tray is moved each time one sheet of copy paper is fed, but after feeding many copies to the same tray, the tray is moved, and many copies are placed in each tray at once. Sometimes you may want to send it.

In such cases, the control circuit can be switched to change the operating sequence so that the tray is moved when a predetermined number of copies have been made. This is useful when a large number of sheet originals are continuously copied using an auto feeder to produce a large number of copies. This type of use is also suitable when copies of the same original are classified as one set and then sequentially passed through a collector, a folding machine, and a binding machine to be bound.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 is a sectional view of an example of a copying machine to which the sheet sorting device of the present invention can be attached; FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the copying machine of FIG. 1 connected to the sheet sorting device of the present invention; Figure 3,
4, 5, and 6 are partially enlarged views of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is an electric control circuit diagram. 100 is an introduction part, 108 is a fan-shaped cam, 200 is a tray box, 202 is a tray, 226 is an ejection port, 227 is a notch part,
228 is a hinge receiver, 229 is a receiver, 230 is a hinge shaft, and 231 is a pin.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a sheet sorting device that sequentially conveys and sorts sheets to a plurality of trays, a plurality of trays are arranged on an upward slope so as to be able to store and stack a plurality of sheets, and the plurality of trays are held. a tray holding member; a sheet feeding means positioned opposite to the entrance of the tray for feeding conveyed sheets to the entrance; and a tray moving device for supporting the sheet entrance side of the plurality of trays and moving the tray. a cam member that enlarges the entrance of the opposing tray in conjunction with the movement of the tray holding member; and a cam member that moves the tray holding member in conjunction with the passage of sheets carried into the tray. A sheet sorting device comprising a moving means.