JPH0115466B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] In recent years, the trend toward speeding up and automating light printing machines, copying machines, etc. has become more and more noticeable, and the types and quantities of products aiming in this direction are increasing.
Among these, there is a great demand for an automatic processing device for originals and copy materials from the viewpoint of labor saving, and the current situation is such that a device with a higher level of perfection is desired.

For example, in an electrophotographic copying machine, a user places a document on the exposed surface, sets the number of copies, specifies document density, copy magnification, etc., and then presses a copy button. Thereafter, the processed copy materials are taken out and subjected to post-processing such as collation. These are all simple manual operations performed by an operator, and devices that automate this process include an automatic document feeder (ADF) and an automatic sorter (sorter).

A conventional automatic processing apparatus of this type is characterized by automatically and continuously executing a copying operation based on instructions such as one type of number of copies, document density, copying magnification, etc. (hereinafter referred to as a copying mode). Therefore, when this device is in a certain copying mode, unless a means such as an interrupt is used, it is necessary not only to wait for the copying mode to end, but also to remove the processed copying materials from the storage section, which results in a large amount of waste. There were limits to the ability to carry out copying operations continuously and efficiently.

The present invention was proposed in view of the above points, and
It is an object of the present invention to provide a sorting method for an image forming apparatus that effectively utilizes a tray to distinguish and automatically process copy materials of a plurality of document sets.

A detailed explanation will be given below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, on the side of a reproduction device (for example, an electrophotographic copying machine or a light printing machine) 2, there is an automatic document feeder 1, and an automatic document feeding device 1 that automatically feeds the copy material discharged from the reproduction device 2. An automatic sorting device 3 that performs processing in conjunction with the feeding device 1 is installed.

A glass member 4 serving as a reading position for placing an original is horizontally arranged on the top of the reproduction device 2.
A lamp 5 and a reflecting mirror 6 for illuminating the original are provided below. Reflected light from the original forms an image on a belt-shaped photoreceptor 9 via a lens 7 and a reflecting mirror 8. The belt-shaped photoreceptor 9 is charged in advance to a constant potential by a corona generator 15.
An electrostatic latent image is formed by imaging the document image. This electrostatic latent image is transferred to the developing station 11.
The image is developed by the corona generator 13 and transferred onto copying materials fed one by one from the copying material supply station 12. Residues and the like on the belt-shaped photoreceptor 9 are physically and electrically cleaned at the next cleaning station 14, and preparation for a new copying cycle is completed.

The copy material onto which the original image has been transferred is fixed by a pair of fixing rollers 16 and 17, and then delivered to a paper output tray 19.
Alternatively, it is selectively fed to either the automatic sorting device 3. This exit switching is performed by the guide 18. This regeneration device 2 includes a driving electric motor 2.
0 and a high-voltage power transformer 21 are also provided.

Above the automatic document feeder 1, a document feed tray 22, which serves as document loading means for stacking documents 23 with the image side facing up, is arranged with a certain inclination. There is a notch 22a in a part of the document feed tray 22, and a rotatable auxiliary roller 24 slightly protrudes from below. Further, a hollow separation roller 25 is provided at the tip of the document feeding tray 22.
is rotatably arranged perpendicular to the tray,
One end thereof is sealed and the other end is connected to a suction device (not shown). Slits 54 are provided on the surface of the separating roller 25 at intervals slightly narrower than the minimum original size, and the stacked originals 2
It acts to adsorb and separate the edge of the lowest document No. 3. Separation roller 25 is a control device (not shown)
It starts rotating with an electric signal from the machine, rotates one revolution, and then stops. Therefore, separation roller 25 is preferably driven by a one-turn clutch or the like.

As the separation roller 25 rotates, the lowest document whose leading edge has been separated by suction is transferred to the pair of rollers 26a and 26b.
further downstream roller pair 27a, 27b
will be sent to. Since the roller 26b is driven clockwise via a one-way clutch, it can freely rotate in reverse, and the roller 26a rotates as a result of the roller 26b. The roller 27a is constantly rotating counterclockwise. Since the roller 27b is driven clockwise via a one-way clutch, it is freely reversible. The surfaces of the rollers 27a and 27b are adjusted so as to maintain a minute interval, and when two or more originals are fed at the same time, they act to feed the originals sequentially starting from the lower one.

The driven rollers 26b and 27b rotate until the leading edge of the document is captured by the belt 28 and roller 29, and then rotate as the document moves. A micro switch MS1 is disposed adjacent to the document feed tray 22, and
2. Detects whether there is a document on top of the paper or not. Further, a micro switch MS2 is disposed between the roller pairs 26a, 26b and 27a, 27b to detect passage of documents and double feeding. The original is a micro switch
By actuating MS2, the belt 28 starts rotating, and the document that has reached the top of the belt 28 is further conveyed, and when the micro switch MS3 located in the middle of the path is activated, the stopper 30 is activated by the signal. Move to a position that blocks the passage,
The leading edge of the document abuts against this stopper 30 and is stopped. At this time, the belt 28 and the lower surface of the document are in a slip state.

In FIG. 9, a stopper 30 fixed to a rotatable shaft 56 closes or opens the path of the document by the action of a solenoid or the like (not shown). When the MS3 signal from the original actuates the stopper 30 and blocks the passage of the original, the leading edge of the original reaches the stopper 30 with a slight time difference.
, and here a first registration in a direction perpendicular to the document transport direction is achieved.

On the other hand, one end of a guide plate 61 disposed adjacently below the running surface of the belt 28 on which the original is conveyed forms a vertical surface above one reference line of the original exposure position on the glass member 4. A plate member 62 is provided. Below the guide plate 61 is a rotatable shaft 5.
8 is arranged, and a plurality of friction rollers 5 are mounted on the shaft 58.
7 is fixed. This friction roller 57 has its outer peripheral surface extending from the hole 61a of the guide plate 61 to the guide plate 6.
1, or slightly protrudes from the top surface. This shaft 58 is located between the plate member 62 and the belt 28, is disposed parallel to the running direction of the belt 28, and is driven by the same power source as the belt 28.

Further, above the friction roller 57 is a swingable shaft 5.
There is a slip plate 60 fixed on the shaft 59.
Due to the rocking motion of the roller 57, the roller 57 is brought into contact with or separated from the friction roller 57. The power for this rocking motion may be supplied by a solenoid or a spring force, or may be supplied from the same drive source as the belt 28 via a clutch or the like.

Immediately after the document has been registered in the direction perpendicular to the running direction of the belt 28 by the stopper 30, the slip plate 60 is moved to the friction roller 57.
By shifting to a contact state, the plate member 62 is sandwiched between the two and receives a conveying force in a direction perpendicular to the running direction of the belt 28. The slip plate 60 is pressed against the friction roller 57 for a predetermined period of time.
During this time, the original reaches the plate member 62 with a sufficient margin, and the second registration in the original transport direction is achieved.

As is clear from the above, the right end of the original in the traveling direction is conveyed along the plate member 62, and it is desirable that the lower surface of the slip plate 60 be mirror-finished for the second registration. While the slip plate 60 is in contact with the friction roller 57, the pressure of the stop plate 60 is adjusted so that the friction roller 57 is in a slip state with the bottom surface of the document that has achieved the second registration. There is.

The automatic document feeder in this embodiment can simultaneously load documents of different sizes on one document feed tray 22 and separate and convey them sequentially starting from the lowest document. After separation, the documents are reliably conveyed one by one further downstream by a pair of rollers for preventing double feeding, where registration in two directions is achieved in preparation for placement on the next glass plate 4 for exposure. That is, since the document feed tray 22 does not have a side regulating plate that can be adjusted depending on the size of the document, there is a risk that the document will be skewed before and after separation. The two-way registration performed downstream compensates for this, and at the same time, the document placement on the exposure glass 4 is achieved simply and with high precision.

Furthermore, this automatic document feeder has a reservation function by simultaneously stacking documents of different sizes on one document feed tray. Next, this reservation function will be explained in detail.

The reservation function is a function that automatically processes multiple sets of manuscripts in succession. That is, one or more document sets are stacked on one document feeding tray 22, and the copying conditions required by each document set are sequentially executed.

Therefore, multiple sets of originals can be processed continuously, so even if the first set of originals is being copied, the second set of originals can be stacked on top of the first set of originals in the document feed tray. By "reserving" the copying conditions in the instruction device, the copying operation for the second set of originals is automatically started after the copying of the first set of originals is completed. In this way, the third and fourth...
By "reserving" a set of original documents, there is no need to wait until the end of the copying operation currently in progress, and the efficiency of the copying operation can be greatly improved. Furthermore, since the originals after exposure are stored in individual original collection trays 36b, 37b, and 38b for each original set to which they belong, post-copying processing is also extremely simple.

Here, when transitioning from one set of originals to the next set of originals, the timing is instructed as an electrical signal of the control device of the electrophotographic copying machine main body,
It is necessary to set the reserved copying conditions and to select the document collection tray in which the new exposed document is to be stored. A specific embodiment of a device for automatically generating this electrical signal will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6.

The document feed tray 22 has a side plate 220, which regulates the maximum size of documents to be loaded. Therefore, small originals are stacked aligned on one side plate 220. A pair of side plates 53 (one side is omitted from the figure) are arranged on both sides of the tray 22 with an interval 71 therebetween, and an auxiliary roller 24, a separation roller 25, a pair of rollers 26a and 26b, etc. are supported by bearings on these.

One ends of arms 46 and 47 are rotatably attached to a part of the side plate 53 near the separation roller 25 by pins 44a and 44b. The other ends of the arms 46, 47 are rotatably connected to an arm 48 by pins 45a, 45b, and the arms 46, 47, 48 form one link A that is rotatable in a vertical plane. In this case, by positioning the pins 44a and 44b on a line 72 perpendicular to the tray 22, the arms 44a and 44b, which will be described later,
The surface of the tray 22 can be kept parallel to the surface of the tray 22 at all times. The upper end of the arm 48 is bent into an L-shape, and an arm 49 is rotatably attached to a part of the upper end with a pin 50. The arm 49 is always given a clockwise rotational force (in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3) by a spring (not shown), and normally, when the stopper 49b engages with the arm 48, it rotates in the document feeding direction. It stands still at almost a right angle. One end 49a of arm 49
is extended to a length sufficient to reach above the originals in the original feed tray 22, and a dowel 51 is fixed to the other end. The arm 41 is attached to the side plate 53 through an elongated hole 41a and a shaft 42 so as to be able to move in parallel, one end of which is rotatably connected to the arm 47 through a pin 43, and the other end connected to the cam 40. It is bent into an L-shape to engage with.

In the initial state, the cam 40 does not act on the arm 41, so the links A46, 47, 48 descend to the bottom dead center (the state shown in FIG. 4) under their own weight, and the tip 4 of the arm 49
9a moves below the tray 22 through the notch 221 of the original feed tray 22, and the dowel 51 engages a hook 52 attached to the solenoid SL1. The arm 47 also actuates the micro switch MS8.

When one set of originals is stacked in the original feed tray 22, a signal is obtained from a control device (not shown) by inputting information such as copying conditions and number of copies of the set of originals to be stacked. ), the SL1 is turned on and sucks the hook 52, and the hook 52 moves in the direction of the arrow accompanied by the dowel 51. Therefore arm 4
9 rotates counterclockwise, and its tip 49a reaches the outside of the tray side plate 220 and enters the space 71 (shown by chain lines in FIG. 3). At this time, the cam 40 starts rotating by a one-turn clutch (not shown), pushes the arm 41, and the link A receives the power of the arm 41 and begins to rotate toward the top dead center. When the engagement relationship between the dowel 51 and the hook 52 is completed, the arm 49 rotates until its tip 49a touches the smooth plate guide 73 attached to the outer surface of the tray side plate 220, and maintains this state thereafter. will rise. Immediately before the link A reaches the top dead center, the arm 49 becomes higher than the tray side plate 220, that is, the plate guide 73, rotates clockwise due to the spring force, and comes to rest approximately perpendicular to the document feeding direction ( the chain line state in Figure 4). When the cam 40 rotates further and stops acting on the arm 41,
Link A begins to descend towards bottom dead center due to its own weight.
The arm 49 continues to descend until its tip 49a contacts the top of the pile of stacked documents. Then cam 40
continues to rotate independently and remains at the original position.

When the tip 49a of the arm 49 reaches the top of the first document set 23a (as shown in FIG. 5), preparations for stacking the second document set 23b thereon are complete, and the control device ( (not shown) is operated to display the message "Reservation accepted".

When the separation roller 25 separates and conveys the documents sequentially downstream from the lowest document in the first document set, the link A gradually descends and approaches the bottom dead center.
When the last document is conveyed and the engagement with the tip 49a of the arm 49 is completed, the link A descends to the bottom dead center in the initial state as described above, and the arm 47 actuates the micro switch MS8 to output one electric current. Generate a signal. This electrical signal is used to change copying conditions, select a document collection tray, etc.

As is clear from the above, when there is only one arm 49 for dividing the manuscript collection into upper and lower parts as shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, two manuscript collections can be automatically and consecutively processed. It can be seen that the number of document sets that can be processed is determined by the number of arms, such as when is two, three types of document sets are processed.

7 and 8 show an embodiment in which two arms 49 ₁ and 49 ₂ are provided, and two links A ₁ and A ₂ are provided on the side plate 53.
, one end of arms 41 ₁ , 41 2 of different lengths is fixed to each link A ₁ , A ₂ , and the arms 41 ₁ , 41 ₂ are fixed to each link A 1 , A 2 .
The other end of 41 ₂ is connected to the cam surface 40 ₁ , 4 of one cam 40
This configuration corresponds to ₀₂ . Therefore, cam 40
One of the links A 1 and A 2 is rotated toward the top dead center every time the link A ₁ and A ₂ rotate half a rotation through the one-way clutch.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the movement of the original after achieving registration in two directions will be explained.

A signal from a control device (not shown) causes the stopper 30 to be disengaged, opening the path for the document, and at the same time, the belt 32 starts running, and the belt 31 that is driven by the belt 32 also starts running.
The original is conveyed onto the glass member 4 by belts 28, 31, 32. Micro switch MS3
When detecting the passage of the trailing edge of the document, a clock device in a control device (not shown) is started, and the belt 32 stops running after a predetermined time has elapsed. Since the distance between the microswitch MS3 and the document placement reference on the glass member 4 remains unchanged, the document is correctly placed on the glass member 4 regardless of its size under control by the clock device.

As soon as the document is placed, the controller generates another electrical signal to start the copying process in the electrophotographic copier body. Furthermore, the control device controls the separation roller 2.
5, and separates and conveys the next document in the same manner as described above, thereby achieving registration in two directions. At this time, if the exposure of the first original is completed, the second original is immediately fed onto the glass member 4, but if the exposure of the first original is not completed, the belt 28 is fed is stopped and the second original is placed on standby.

When the required number of document exposures are completed, the belts 32, 35 and roller pair 3 are activated by a signal from the control device.
3, 34, 71, 72, etc. start rotating to eject the original from above the glass member 4 and convey it to the original storage tray. A plurality of original document storage trays are provided at an angle (FIG. 2 shows an example of four document storage trays). This number roughly matches the number of reservations that can be accepted. Guides 36a, 37a, 38a, 39a are provided near the entrances of each document storage tray 36b, 37b, 38b and overflow document storage tray 39b, and except for guide 39a, all the others are rotatable. , guides the conveyed documents to document storage trays specific to the document collection to which each document belongs.

In the document path, there is a micro switch MS4 and an optical element pair PSa to detect document retention and jams.
PSb is installed. Also, document storage tray 36
Micro switches MS5, MS6, and MS7 for detecting whether or not a document is stored are provided at one end of each of b, 37b, and 38b, respectively.

Normally, in the order in which the documents are stacked on the document feed tray 22, the document storage tray 36b → 37b is
→ Document storage tray 3 is stored sequentially as 38b.
If at least one of the document sets in the document storage trays 36b and 37b has been removed when documents up to 8b have been stored, the document belonging to the next document set is stored in the document storage tray from which that document group was removed. Otherwise, the document is stored in the overflow document storage tray 39b. When a document is stored in this overflow document storage tray 39b, the document storage trays 36b, 37b, 38
If at least one document set b has been removed, the documents belonging to the next document set are stored there; otherwise, they are also stored in the overflow document storage tray 39b.

Next, the automatic sorting device will be explained. Although this device can generally be used in conjunction with other playback devices, its features are fully demonstrated when used in conjunction with the automatic document feeder according to the present invention.

That is, in order to guide and stack processed copy materials into a large number of copy material storage trays 70, the swingable switching guides 80a, 81a, . . . 96a provided on one side of the copy material storage trays are independently operated. The feature is that it can be turned on and off.
Therefore, each switching guide 80a, 81a...96a
It is desirable that each of them be connected to an independent drive source (such as a solenoid).

As mentioned above, the automatic document feeder of this embodiment has a "reservation function", but in the process of successively processing one or more document sets, it is possible to It is necessary to separate the copy materials belonging to other manuscript sets and sort them. Therefore, for example, if the mth manuscript set requires _n sheets of copy material for each manuscript, then the copy material is ( _n-1 〓 ^k=1 nk+1)th to _n 〓 ^k=1 nkth copy. The materials are controlled to be sorted using the material storage tray. In other words, when m-1 (first set of manuscripts),
1st to n Stored in _{the 1st} tray (specifically, when copying 3 sheets from one original, stored in the 1st to 3rd trays), m = 2 (second set of originals) When , (n ₁ + 1)th ~ (n ₁ + n ₂ )
(specifically, the 4th to 6th trays), and when m = 3 (3rd set of originals), (n ₁ + n ₂ + 1)th to (n ₁ + n ₂ + n ₃ ) This means that it is stored in the 7th to 9th tray (specifically, the 7th to 9th trays).

In addition, since the control device stores the correspondence between the exposed document set in the document storage tray of the automatic document feeder and the copy material storage tray that holds the processed copy materials belonging thereto, When the collection of manuscripts is removed, the electrical signal causes
It is determined that the copy material in the corresponding copy material storage tray has also been removed, and is stored as a usable copy material storage tray.

The above control device can be easily achieved using an electric circuit similar to that described in Japanese Patent Application No. 52-47521, for example.

As explained above, automatic document feeders have the function of automatically and sequentially processing several sets of documents, so they can not only efficiently perform large amounts of copying work, but also , the operator's waiting time can be greatly reduced. That is, regardless of whether or not the machine is in progress of another copying operation, the operator can load a document and set the copying conditions to "reserve" execution of that copying operation. The operator is then simply collecting the processed originals and copying materials, and during that time the operator is not tied down to copying work at all.

Since the sorting method of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is as described above, it is possible to sort copy materials separately for each set of documents on which images have been formed, and to make a large number of copies. This has the effect of allowing work to be carried out efficiently.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a front view of a reproduction device equipped with an automatic document feeder, Figure 2 is an internal configuration diagram of the automatic document feeder, Figure 3 is a plan view of the reservation copying device, and Figure 4 is its front view. , Figure 5 is the same figure in the reservation preparation state,
Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional side view along the line of Fig. 3, Figs. 7 and 8 are a plan view and a front view showing other examples of the reservation copying device, and Fig. 9 is a slope view of the document conveyance direction changing section. be. 1 is an automatic document feeder, 2 is a playback device, 3 is an automatic sorting device, 4 is a glass member, 22 is a document feed tray, 23 is a document, 24 is an auxiliary roller, 25 is a separation roller, 28, 31, 32 , 35 is a document conveying belt, 30 is a stop member, 36a, 37a,
38a, 39a are guides, 36b, 37b, 38
b and 39b are document storage trays, MS1 to MS7 are micro switches, and PSa and PSb are optical element pairs.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a sorting method for an image forming apparatus in which copy materials on which images have been formed are stored in a storage tray 70 of an automatic sorting device, at the end of the first sorting operation, the sorted copy materials are stored in a storage tray 70 of an automatic sorting device. This sorting method for an image forming apparatus is characterized in that when carrying out a second sorting operation with the copy materials stored in the image forming apparatus, the copying materials are stored in a storage tray after the storage tray stored in the first sorting operation.