JPH02175561A - sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve a stacking property on a bin by controlling the conveying speed of a conveying device to be varied to a conveying speed suited to the stacking property of sheets of paper in a sort mode or a stack mode in accordance with an inputted mode signal. CONSTITUTION:When a sort mode or a stack mode is selected by a mode selecting button 7 provided on a copying machine body 1 and as the selected mode signal is inputted, the conveying speed control device 80 of a sorter 4 varies the conveying speed of a conveying device to a conveying speed suited to the stacking property in the sort mode or the in the stack mode in accordance with the inputted mode signal. The rotation of a driving motor 10 is controlled via a driver 83 to obtain the set conveying speed, and discharged sheets of paper are discharged on the bin of the sorter 4 with a good stacking property. Thus, the stacking property on the bin can be improved in any mode.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] This invention is a method for transporting paper discharged from the main body of a paper processing device such as a copying machine or a printing machine and sequentially sorting it into bins provided in multiple stages. Regarding sorters.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, for example, a sorter used in a copying machine has two modes: a sort mode in which transfer sheets (sheets) are ejected from the copier main body into different bins in different page order, and a sort mode in which transfer sheets of the same page are ejected in the same bin without changing the bin. A stack mode for discharging to a bin can be selectively used in normal cases.

The sort mode and stack mode are shown in Fig. 6 (
As shown in the timing charts (b) and (b), each part in the sorter 50 shown in FIG. 7 is operated at respective timings to discharge the transfer paper into a predetermined bin.

That is, the horizontal conveyance device 60 of the sorter 50 shown in FIG.
The deflection claws arranged corresponding to the bins 12 at each stage of the vertical conveyance device 65 are activated by signals from the registration sensor 66 disposed at 61 is driven by operating a bin solenoid 68, and the transfer paper is discharged into a predetermined bin according to each mode.

The respective transport speeds of the horizontal transport device 60 and vertical transport device 65 in each of the sort and stack modes are such that, in the sort mode, it is necessary to switch and discharge the sheets sequentially fed from the copying machine to different bins one after another. Therefore, by speeding up the process, the discharge of the paper onto the bin is completed quickly, and the time until the next paper is fed is lengthened, thereby increasing the bin switching processing time. and,
The stack mode is adapted to this, resulting in a fast transport speed.

That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the time T between the preceding transfer paper P1 and the subsequent transfer paper P2 fed into the sorter is
is fixed because it is determined by the ejection interval time of the copying machine, but when one sheet of transfer paper is processed in the sort mode in the sorter within the time T, for example, as shown in (A), the paper When the conveyance speed is Vl (T1 time) and the switching processing time for switching the bin to be discharged by operating the deflection claw (corresponding to 61 in Fig. 7) is T2, as shown in (B). If the conveyance speed is increased to V3 (T3 time) and the remaining switching time T4 is lengthened,
In the sort mode, the bin switching process can be sufficiently performed during the switching processing time T4.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, if the transport speed is set to a fast speed suitable for sort mode, if paper is ejected onto the bin at that fast transport speed in stack mode, then in stack mode the paper will not be delivered to the same bin. Since the paper is ejected one after another, the next paper is ejected before the paper that was ejected earlier onto the bin is in a stable stack state on the bin, so the stack position of the paper on the bin is not constant. When the copying machine is a high-speed copying machine, there is a problem in that the stacking property tends to deteriorate further.

This invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and is capable of ejecting sheets ejected from the main body of the apparatus onto a bin with good stackability, regardless of whether the mode is a sort mode or a stack mode. The purpose is to make it possible.

[Means to solve the problem]

Therefore, the sorter according to the present invention is used in a sorter that uses a conveying device to convey sheets discharged from the main body of a paper processing device such as a copying machine, and sequentially sorts the sheets into bins provided in a plurality of stages. A sort mode signal or a stack mode signal output from the main body is input, and the conveyance speed of the conveyance device is changed to a conveyance speed suitable for the stackability of the paper in the sort mode or stack mode according to each input mode signal. A transport speed control means is provided to control the transport speed.

[For production]

According to the sorter configured in this way, when a sort mode signal or a stack mode signal is output from the main body of the apparatus, each mode signal is inputted to the conveying speed control means, and the conveying device is controlled according to the input mode signal. The conveyance speed of the paper is controlled to be changed to a conveyance speed suitable for the stackability of the paper in the sort mode or stack mode.
The sheets discharged from the main body of the apparatus are discharged onto the bin with good stackability at a transport speed suitable for each selected mode.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram showing an example of a copying machine equipped with a sorter according to the present invention.

This copying machine includes a copying machine main body 1, an automatic document feeder (rADFJ hereinafter) 2, a reversing device 3 for reversing transfer paper when a sorting mode is selected, and a sorter 4.
It is composed of.

The copying operation of this copying machine is started by setting necessary copying conditions from an operation section provided on the copying machine main body 1 and pressing a print button.

Here, the ADF 2 is provided with a document tray 201, and the document placed on the document tray 201 is fed by a document feed belt 202, and is conveyed onto the contact glass 101 through a document conveyance path 203. At this point, the flash lamp 102 emits light, so that the entire surface of the document is irradiated with light at once.

The reflected light from the original is transmitted to the second mirror 104° through lens 105. Passing through the second mirror 10th, the belt photoreceptor 1
Expose 07.

A charge is uniformly applied to the belt photoreceptor 107 by a charger 108, and an electrostatic latent image is formed from the exposed areas.

This electrostatic latent image on the belt photoreceptor 107 is
9 removes the electric charge from the unnecessary portion, and then the developing device 110
Developed by

The developed document image is transferred to a transfer charger 11 in a transfer section.
The transfer paper P that is transferred to the transfer paper P (paper) by 1
The paper feed force Cera 1 to 112. IIES.

The paper is fed from either the paper tray 114 or the double-sided tray 121, passes through the conveyance path 115, and is sent to the transfer unit by registration rollers 116 in time with the original image. The transfer paper P on which the original image has been transferred is sent to the fixing device 118 by the conveyor belt 117 and is fixed thereon, and after fixing, it is conveyed to the discharge tray 119 by switching the branch claw 122, or it is conveyed straight to the reversing bag M3. Sometimes it happens.

The document on the contact glass 101 is transferred to the document conveyor belt 2.
After the light irradiation (exposure) is completed in step 04, the document is sent out, and returned to the document tray 201 by the document discharge roller 205.

Note that the paper feed cassettes 112, 115, and 114 each have their own transfer paper P stored on the cassette end face (the left end face in FIG. 2).
A light emitting element (L E
A well-known cassette size detection mechanism 9 is provided, which is equipped with an interrupter formed by D) and a light receiving element (phototransistor). The size (size of the transfer paper to be stored) can be detected.

Then, to select the size of transfer paper to be used according to the size of the original to be copied, the user can easily select the size of the transfer paper to be used by pressing a cassette selection button (not shown). .

By switching the reversing branch claw 5, the reversing device 3
The transfer paper is once sent to a switchback path 6, reversed, and then sent to a sorter 4, or the paper is allowed to go straight as it is without switching the reversal branch claw 5.

The sorter 4 includes, within a cover 11, a horizontal conveyance device 20, a vertical conveyance device 30, and a large number of bins 12 provided in multiple stages for stacking sorted transfer sheets.

As shown in FIG. 6, the horizontal conveying device 20 includes a plurality of pairs of horizontal conveying rollers 23a arranged at intervals along upper and lower horizontal guide plates 21,22.

23b, and on the downstream side of the conveyance path, there is a switching claw 24 for switching the conveyance path between the direction of directly discharging the paper to an unillustrated discharge tray indicated by arrow A and the direction of arrow B on the side of the vertical conveyance device 30. It is set up.

Each of the horizontal conveying rollers 23a and 23b has a drive-side horizontal conveying roller 23a on the lower side, and a driven-side horizontal conveying roller 2ESb on the upper side applies a predetermined pressure suitable for conveying the transfer paper P by means of a spring or the like (not shown). It is in contact with

The position of the switching pawl 24 is changed by a switching solenoid 25, and is normally located at the position shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 3. When the switching solenoid 25 is turned on, a driving lever (not shown) is activated. The transfer paper P is then conveyed in the direction of arrow B by switching to the position shown by the solid line. When the switching solenoid 25 is turned off, the switching pawl 24 is returned to the position indicated by the imaginary line by a return spring (not shown).

Note that, on the upstream side of the switching claw 24 of the horizontal conveyance device 20, a registration sensor 2, which is a reflective photosensor, is provided.
6 is provided close to the lower horizontal guide plate 22, and when it detects the leading edge of the transfer paper P, a deflection claw 3, which will be described later, is provided for each bin 12 of the vertical conveyance device 30.
I am trying to switch between 1 and 1.

The vertical conveyance device 30 is provided with vertical entrance rollers 36a and 36b and a built-in log guide 32 in close proximity to the switching claw 24, and also has vertical drive rollers 53. and a vertical vertical conveyance guide plate 34 facing thereto are provided, and every second vertical driven roller 33b on the driven side is pressed against the vertical driven roller 3i3a with a predetermined pressure suitable for conveying the transfer paper by a spring or the like (not shown). ing.

A deflection claw 31 is rotatably provided between each of the adjacent vertical drive rollers 33a and 3ESa, and the deflection claw 31 is connected to each bin solenoid 35 (simplified in FIG.
(only one is shown) via a deflection lever,
When the pin solenoid 35 is not operated (off), the deflection pawl 31 guides the transfer paper downward by a return spring (not shown) to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 3, and when it is on, it rotates to the position shown by the imaginary line. I try to do that.

Further, each vertical drive roller 33a is provided with a corresponding bin 12, and an entry sensor 37 and a bin sensor 38, both of which are transmission type photosensors, are provided on the entrance side of the bin 12. The entry sensor 37 detects the reception of transfer paper onto the bin 12 and determines the number of sheets received, and the bin sensor 38 detects the presence or absence of transfer paper on the bin 12.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the drive system of each conveyance device of the sorter 4. As shown in FIG.

The horizontal conveyance device 20 and the vertical conveyance device 30 are driven by the same drive motor 10 at the same speed.

That is, a drive pulley 13 fixed to the rotating shaft of the drive motor 10, a horizontal conveyance drive pulley 14 fixed on the same axis as the shaft to which the drive-side built-in roller 36a is fixed, and a topmost vertical drive roller 33a. A deceleration timing belt 16 is stretched between the shaft fixing the shaft and a vertical conveyance drive pulley 15 fixed on the same axis.

The pulley 1 integrated with the horizontal conveyance drive pulley 14
4a and horizontal conveyance rollers 23a on the driving side of the horizontal conveyance device 20
A horizontal conveyance timing belt 17 is passed between each pulley portion 23c which is integrated with the horizontal conveyance timing belt 17, and a tension roller 18 is rotatably provided in the middle of the horizontal conveyance timing belt 17. The tension is suitable for driving. Therefore, when the drive motor 10 rotates in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 4, each horizontal drive roller 23a rotates in the direction of the arrow at the same speed.

In addition, a pulley 15a integrated with the vertical conveyance drive pulley 15 and a pulley portion 3 integrated with each vertical drive roller 33a of the vertical conveyance device 30 are provided.
3c, a vertical conveyance timing belt 39 is passed between each belt, and a tension roller 41 is rotatably provided in the middle of the vertical conveyance timing belt 3, and the belt is tensioned with a tension suitable for driving each roller. are doing. Therefore, when the drive motor 10 rotates in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 4, its vertical drive rollers 33a rotate in the direction of the arrow at the same speed as the horizontal conveyance roller 23ia.

Note that 42 in FIG. 4 is a sub-tension roller, which is biased to the left in the figure by a spring (not shown), presses the vertical conveyance timing belt 39 against the pulley portion 33c of the vertical drive roller 33a, and presses each pulley portion. 33c are rotated in the directions of the arrows without slipping.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the related structure of the control device for the sorter 4 and the copying machine main body 1. As shown in FIG.

This sorter 4 has a control device 8 which also serves as a conveyance speed control means.
Controlled by 0.

The control device 80 inputs each mode signal of the sort mode signal and the stack mode signal, which are selected by the operator by pressing the mode selection button 7, from the copying machine main body 1, and operates according to the above-mentioned mode signals according to the input mode signals. The horizontal transport device 20 is configured to change the transport speed of the horizontal transport device 20 and the vertical transport device 30 to a transport speed suitable for the stackability of the transfer paper in the sort mode or stack mode.
In addition to controlling the rotational speed of the drive motor 10 that simultaneously drives the vertical transport device 30 and the number of copies, various signals necessary for controlling the sorter 4, such as the number of copies and the number of originals, are also input.

This control device 80 is a microcomputer that has the function of performing various judgments and processes, and includes a CPU (central processing unit) 81, an input/output unit (Ilo) 82 for various signals,
It is composed of a ROM 85 that stores the control program of this control device and the rotational speed Nl + N2 of the drive motor 10 set corresponding to the sort mode and stack mode, and a RAM 8B that stores various control data. .

The control device 80 inputs the above-mentioned various signals from the copying machine main body 1 through the input/output section (I10') 82, and also receives the leading edge detection signal of the transfer paper from the registration sensor 26 in the sorter 4. A signal for detecting the reception of transfer paper onto the bin 12 is inputted from the encoder sensor 37, and a signal for detecting the presence or absence of the transfer paper on the bin 12 is inputted from the bin sensor 38 through an input/output unit (Ilo) 82, respectively.

Then, the horizontal conveyance device 20 and the vertical conveyance device 3 of the sorter 4
A motor drive signal for driving the motor 10 is outputted via a driver 83 to the drive motor 10 that drives the 0, a claw switching signal is output to the switching solenoid 25, and a claw switching signal is output to the switching solenoid 35.
The input/output section (Ilo) receives the solenoid activation signal.
Output from 82.

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

The flowchart shown in FIG. 5 shows an example of a subroutine for controlling the rotation speed of the drive motor 10 to a conveyance speed suitable for discharging transfer paper onto the bin 12 in accordance with each mode signal of sort mode or stack mode. It is.

After turning on the main switch of the copying machine body 1, press the mode selection button 7 (Fig. 1) according to the processing content of the transfer paper sorter.
When the operator presses the button to select each mode of the sort stack, which is a mode in which the sorter is used, the control device 80 inputs a mode signal from the copying machine main body 1, and thereby executes judgment and processing according to the flowchart shown in FIG. .

First, it is determined whether or not the mode in which the sorter is used, which was entered by pressing the mode selection button 7 first, is the stack mode, and if so, the conveyance speed Vs1 is set to a value suitable for the stackability of the transfer paper in the stack mode. The driver 8 sends a motor drive signal to rotate the drive motor 10 at a rotation speed N1 of
3 to rotate the drive motor 10 at the rotation speed N1.

Further, if the input mode signal is not the stack mode, the drive motor 10 is rotated at a rotation speed NZ higher than the rotation speed N1 so that the conveyance speed VS2 is suitable for the stackability of the transfer paper in the sort mode. The motor drive signal is output to the driver 83, and when the process is completed, the process returns to the main routine.

In this way, when the sort mode and stack mode, which are modes in which the sorter 4 is used, are selected by pressing the mode selection button 7, the drive motor 10 controls the transfer paper in each mode according to the selected mode. Conveying speed Vs1. suitable for stackability on the bin 12. The rotation is controlled to a rotational speed N 1 + N 2 that is Vs2.

By the way, if the conveyance speed is increased in stack mode to match the sort mode (it is necessary to increase the speed in sort mode because it takes a long time for switching processing such as activating deflection claws, etc.), as mentioned above, in stack mode If transfer paper is ejected onto the same bin one after another and the transfer paper is ejected onto the bin at a high transport speed, the transfer paper that was ejected earlier may not be in a stable stack state on the bin. Since the next transfer paper is ejected, there is a problem in that the stack position of the transfer paper on the bin becomes disordered and the stackability deteriorates.

However, according to this embodiment, the transport speed in the stack mode of the horizontal transport device 20 and the vertical transport device 30 is
1 is the transport speed VS2 (Vst
1Vs2 is controlled later than Vl and v3 in FIG. 8), and the transfer paper discharged onto the bin 12 first is controlled after its stacking state is stabilized (the stacking is completed at a predetermined position on the bin). The conveyance speed is suitable for the stackability of the transfer paper in the stack mode when the next transfer paper is ejected, so the transfer paper can be ejected onto the bin with good stackability, and the copying machine is a high-speed type. Stackability is improved even in cases where

In the sorting mode, the conveyance speed is controlled to a high speed Vs2, so the switching processing time for switching bins can be saved. The position of 31 can be switched.

In addition, each conveyance speed V s Z , V is suitable for the stackability of the transfer paper in the sort mode and the stack mode.
Specifically, s 1 is suitably about 700 mm/see for Vsz, and about 550 mm/see for V s 1.

The control device 80 makes various judgments based on signals and information such as the sort stack mode signals, the number of copies, and the number of originals inputted from the copying machine main body 1, and operates the switching solenoid 25, sensor 26
It is determined whether or not a leading edge detection signal of the transfer paper is input from , and the bin solenoid 65 is sequentially operated as necessary to control the transfer paper to be sequentially discharged onto the bin 12.

Although an example in which the present invention is applied to a copying machine has been described above, the present invention can be similarly applied to other paper processing devices such as a printing machine.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, sheets discharged from the main body of the apparatus are transported to the bin at various conveyance speeds suitable for the stackability of the sheets in the sorting mode or the stacking mode.
Since the bins are discharged into the second bin, stackability on the bin is improved in either sort mode or stack mode.

[BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the related structure of a sorter control device and its copying machine main body; FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram showing an example of a copying machine equipped with a sorter according to the present invention; 6 is a schematic groove configuration diagram showing the conveyance system of the sorter 4 in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the drive system of each conveyance device of the sorter 4, and FIG. 5 is the control device 80 in FIG. 1. Drive motor 1
A flow diagram showing an example of a subroutine for controlling the rotation speed of 0 to a rotation speed suitable for each mode in which the sorter is used. Timing charts showing timing examples, Figure 7 is an overall schematic diagram of the sorter showing only the parts related to Figures 6 (a) and (b), and Figure 8 is a diagram showing the conveyance of the conveyor in sort mode. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the necessity of increasing the speed. 1... Copying machine main body 2... Automatic document feeder (A, DF) 3... Reversing device 4... Sorter 7...
Mode selection button 10... Drive motor 12... Bin 20...
Horizontal transport device 26...Registration sensor = 20- 30...Vertical transport device 31...Deflection claw 37...
・Entry sensor 80...Control device (conveying speed control means) P...Transfer paper (
paper)

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a sorter that transports paper discharged from the main body of a paper processing device such as a copying machine using a transport device, and sequentially sorts the paper into bins provided in a plurality of stages, the device comprises: inputting a sorting mode signal or a stacking mode signal output from the main body of the apparatus, and adjusting the conveying speed of the conveying device to a conveying speed suitable for the stackability of the paper in the sorting mode or stacking mode according to each input mode signal. A sorter characterized by being provided with a conveyance speed control means that controls the conveyance speed to change.