JPH0223462B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a so-called collator in which a mechanism is disposed at each inlet end of a multi-stage tray to push and spread the trays by engagement with a paper distributor that moves along the inlet end. This invention relates to an improvement in a tray entrance expanding device.

Needless to say, expanding the entrance of the tray described above is nothing but allowing the paper discharged from the distributor to be easily inserted into the tray, but the conventional collator described above After inserting the paper into the tray, the tray is returned to its original position, and then the distributor is moved to the next tray position. Therefore, as a collator for a copying machine with a high-speed continuous copying function, there is a problem that the movement time to the tray position of the distributor is delayed. It cannot be used with copying machines that have the above-mentioned high-speed continuous copy function.

Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to keep the trays of each row wide open in the direction in which the distributor moves to insert paper into the trays of each row, and the distributor inserts paper into the trays of each row. When returning after insertion, the expanded state of each tray is returned one after another. In other words, when paper is inserted into the tray, the tray return operation by the distributor is omitted, and the distributor can move at high speed. The objective is to promote the use of a copying machine and to make it compatible with copying machines having the above-mentioned high-speed continuous copying function.

Another object is to make it possible to expand the trays of each row of trays by providing only one space for all the rows of trays, thereby reducing the size of the apparatus.

The details of the embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a copying machine main body, and this main body 1 is provided with a pair of feed rollers 2 constituting a paper ejection section.One end of a paper guide 3 is connected to the ejection side of the feed roller 2, and the other end of the paper guide 3 is connected to the ejection side of the feed roller 2. The end is connected to the inlet roller 4 of the distribution function section.

A parallel endless conveyor belt 6 consisting of several parallel belts is in pressure contact with the entrance roller 4 via pulleys 5 which are vertically mounted, and a longitudinally elongated conveyor belt 7 is interposed inside the belt 6. A large number of air suction holes 8 are provided on the surface of the chamber 7 facing the entrance roller 4 side, and the belt 6 (which has air permeability) passes closely through the surface with the suction holes 8. There is.

A deflection claw 9 rotatably supported by the machine body is provided between each strip of the belt 6 so as to be able to enter and leave it freely, and one end of a guide plate 11 is connected to this deflection claw 9. A pair of feed rollers 12 supported on two vertical axes are faced at the end, and one end of a tray 13 is connected to the discharge side of the feed rollers 12.

The trays 13 are formed in multiple stages as shown in the figure, and in this example, the upper two trays are provided with the feed roller 12 and deflection claws 9 in a fixed position, and the remaining trays are provided with a distributor 14. A deflection claw 15 provided on the tray and a feed roller 16 are arranged to coincide with each other as the distributor 14 moves intermittently for each tray. The base end of the remaining tray is rotatably supported, and a tray expanding means, which will be described later, is provided at the front end entrance end of the base end.

The distributor 14 is slidably supported by a guide rod 17 of the fuselage body, and a wire 18 is connected to the distributor 14. This wire 18 is hung on a pulley 19 that is mounted vertically, and this pulley 19 is connected to a motor M. The transport belt 6 is also connected to the motor M for continuous movement. 2
1 is a single stacker, and 22 is a switching gate that is operated when discharging sheets to the single stacker 21 and discharging them to the trays.
Reference numeral 23 denotes a paper presser which is biased downward by its own weight above the tray.

Therefore, in the operation, the copied paper discharged from the discharge section 2 of the main body 1 passes through the guide 3 to the entrance roller 4, is bitten by this roller and the conveyor belt 6, and is then attracted to the belt 6. Meanwhile, at this time, the deflection claw 9 already facing the uppermost tray intervenes between the strips of the belt 6 and pulls the paper away from the belt 6, so that the paper is transferred to the deflection claw 9.
The paper is sent to the feed roller 12 via the guide plate 11 connected to the paper, and is discharged to the uppermost tray 13 connected to the discharge side of the roller 12.

The next sheet of paper that continues to be conveyed by the belt 6 is transferred to the belt 6 in the same way as before by the action of the second deflection claw 9 from the top.
Then, the distributor 14 waits at the third tray position, and its claws 15 intervene between the strips of the belt 6 and separate the paper from the belt 6, as described above. , to the third tray through the feed roller 16, and distributed to the fourth, fifth, sixth, and so on sequentially in the same manner as described above by the distributor 14. When the distribution of the predetermined number of trays is completed, the distributor 14 moves back to the initial position, that is, the third stage position. In this state, the paper is again sorted from the top tray as described above.

Having described the above, the gist of the present invention can be explained in the second section.
Shown below.

That is, the above-mentioned pushing and spreading means is provided at the entrance end of the tray 13. This push-spreading means is provided with a push-up lever 25 whose midway portion is supported by a shaft 24 on the machine frame 35, and a tip end 25a of this lever 25 is attached to the tray 13.
The rear end portion 25b of the lever 25 is placed along the lower surface of the lever 25, and the tip portion 26a of the pressing piece 26 provided on the distributor 14 faces the moving range thereof so as to be freely pressable.

A lock cam 27 is integrally provided on the push-up lever 25, and the machine frame 35 is attached to the locking step 27a of the cam 27.
A lock lever 2 whose midway portion is pivoted by a shaft 35a
The lock lever 28 is biased by a spring 29 in a direction such that the tip 28a falls into engagement with the locking step 27a. Furthermore, the lock lever 28 has a release piece 3.
0 is pivotally supported by a shaft 28b, and the protruding piece 30a of the release piece 30 faces the rear end 26b of the pressing piece 26 in its movement range.

The pressing piece 26 has its middle part attached to the distributor 14 and the shaft 14.
a, and is urged to rotate clockwise in FIG. 2 by a spring 31, and is restricted from rotating by a stopper 32. 33 is a stopper for the push-up lever 25, and 34 is a stopper for regulating the rotation direction of the release piece 30.

The operation will be described below.

In FIG. 2, when the distributor 14 is lowered, the tip 26a of the pressing piece 26 presses the upper surface of the rear end 25b of the push-up lever 25, so that the lever 25 slides as shown in the imaginary line and the tip 25a is tray 13
Expand it like an imaginary line.

This push-up operation, that is, the push-up lever 25
The lock lever 28 follows the sliding movement of the spring 2.
9, and its tip 28a is rotated by the lock cam 2.
As a result, the push-up lever 25 is locked in its sliding state. Then, in this locked state, that is, the distributor 1 is placed in the expanded tray.
Paper from No. 4 is inserted.

After this insertion, the distributor 14 is lowered to the tray position of the next row, and when the distributor 14 is lowered, the rear end portion 26b of the pressing piece 26 on the distributor 14 is a projecting piece of the release piece 30 facing the movement area. Press 30a, but
Since the release piece 30 rotates clockwise in this pressing direction, the engagement state of the lock lever 28 is not released.

In this way, as the distributor 14 descends, each tray is sequentially pushed out and locked, and when the paper has been distributed to the trays in the predetermined final stage row, the distributor 14 begins to rise to return to its previous position. Next, the upper surface of the rear end 26b of the pressing piece 26 on the distributor will push up the lower surface of the protruding piece 30a of the release piece 30, but this pushing up direction is due to the release piece 30 regulating the rotation direction. Since the lock lever 28 is rotated in a direction in which it does not touch the stopper 34, the entire lock lever 28 is rotated counterclockwise, and the rotation of the lock lever causes the tip end 28a of the lever 28 to move away from the stepped portion 27a of the lock cam 27. As a result, the push-up lever 25 returns to the solid line shape shown in FIG.
The tray is also restored to its old position.

This operation is performed for each tray as the distributor 14 is subsequently raised, and the expanded state of each tray is successively released one after another. In this example, the push-up lever 25 and the lock lever 28 are placed in an integral relationship, but they may be placed in separate positions and interlocked to perform the above operations. . In addition, in this example, the base of the tray 13 is pivoted in order to expand, but it is also possible to fix the base of the tray and hinge the middle part of the tray so that it can be bent, so that only the entrance side can be expanded. It may be possible to do so.

As described above, according to the present invention, when the distributor moves from the first row to the last row of trays to supply paper, it pushes each tray and holds them in an open state. In other words, the time required to sort paper to each tray row is reduced because unlike conventional methods, the trays are first expanded, paper is sorted and inserted, and then returned to the original position before proceeding to the next tray row. This means that it can be shortened to a large extent, and as mentioned at the beginning, it can be effectively used as a collator for a copying machine that has a high-speed continuous copying function.

Furthermore, it is possible to expand the trays in each row by simply providing a space for one stage of all tray rows, thereby contributing to miniaturization of the apparatus.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a schematic side view of the entire device, Figure 2 is a side view of the main parts, Figure 3 is a top plan view, Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view, Figures 5 and 6 are It is an explanatory diagram.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a collator of the type in which a pushing and spreading mechanism is provided at each entrance end of the multi-stage tray 13 to push and spread the tray 13 by engagement with a paper distributor 14 that moves along the entrance end, the pushing and spreading mechanism comprises: When the distributor 14 moves from the first row to the last row, the push-up means 25 pushes up each tray 13 one after another by engagement with the distributor 14, and the push-up state by each push-up means 25 is maintained. A locking means 28 for holding the paper, and a locking means 28 for holding the paper, and a locking means 28 for distributing the sheets after the distributor 14 finishes distributing the sheets to the tray 13 on the final row side.
2. A tray entrance opening device for a collator, comprising lock release means 30 that engages said distributor 14 and releases each of the lock means 28 one after another when the tray returns.