JPH0423885Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to a bin movement control device for facilitating the removal of sorted sheets in a dictionary-type automatic collation device.

PRIOR TECHNOLOGY A dictionary-type automatic collation device stores sheets of paper into designated bins by moving up and down vertically arranged bins, and a typical example is shown in Figure 2. It is.

Support member 0 vertically erected on the top surface of base 01
A plurality of bottles 03 are supported on one surface of the container 2 in a manner that projects obliquely upward.

The inner surface of the surface on which the bin 03 is supported has an opening for receiving sheets discharged from the copying machine, and the sheets received from the opening are inserted into a predetermined bin.

Inserting paper is usually performed by increasing the vertical distance between bins that are close to each other, and the bin above the bin into which the paper is to be inserted is raised and the paper is inserted into the bin at a predetermined position.

Generally, the sorting work is performed by repeatedly inserting and lifting sheets from one bin to another, starting from the upper bin.

There is also a small automatic collation device that can be attached to a normal copying machine, an example of which is shown in FIG. 3 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 57-4855).

The collating device 06 is installed at the paper exit of the copying machine 05.
is attached, and a predetermined sorting operation is performed using an operation switch arranged on a control panel 07 located on the front side of the top surface.

As can be seen from the diagram of the same example, the dictionary-style collation device is characterized by its compactness, in which the bins arranged in vertical rows are stacked on top of each other, so that they do not take up space in the vertical direction. be.

Problems that the invention aims to solve In the case of such a dictionary-type automatic collation device, after the sorting work is completed, the operator takes out the sorted sheets from each bin, but the vertical distance between the bins is Since the paper sheets are very close to each other, when taking out a given sheet of paper, the necessary part must be opened and taken out as shown in FIG.

Generally, paper is taken out in order from the upper bin, but after taking out some of the paper, lift that bin upwards, take out the paper in the next lower bin, lift that bin again, and then take out the paper in the next lower bin. When I took out the paper, I repeated the same steps.

Therefore, it was time-consuming, and in order to take out the paper stored in the lower bin, it was necessary to lift all the bins stacked above it, which was laborious work.

Furthermore, since the intervals between the bins are narrow, when taking out sheets from a plurality of bins, there may be cases where the sheets are not taken out.

The present invention has been devised in view of the above, and its purpose is to provide a collation system that can reduce the burden on the operator by increasing the required distance between the bins using a bin moving means when taking out sheets. It provides a control device.

Means and actions for solving problems The configuration of the present invention will be explained based on FIG.

In an automatic dictionary type collation device in which each bin is vertically arranged in stages and ascends and descends, A is a bin movement instructing means for instructing the movement of one bin by one operation of an operating switch.

Reference numeral B designates a sequential movement control means that controls the bins to be moved one bin at a time each time an instruction signal from the bin movement instruction means A is received after detecting the end of the normal collation operation.

C is an automatic initialization control means that automatically controls all bottles to return to their basic positions.

Reference numeral D denotes a bin moving means for moving the bins in response to a control signal C from the sequential movement control means B and the automatic initialization control means.

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, after the sorting is completed, the upper parts of the bins containing the sheets to be removed can be sequentially opened according to instructions from the bin movement instruction means A, and the sheets can be easily taken out. be able to.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 5 and subsequent figures will be described below.

FIG. 5 shows an external view of the automatic collating device 1 according to this embodiment when it is attached to the copying machine main body 2. As shown in FIG.

An automatic collation device 1 is attached to a side surface of a copying machine 2 on the paper discharge side, and an automatic document feeder 3 is installed on the top surface of the copying machine 2.

On the front side of the top of the copying machine 2 is a control panel 4 in which various switches and displays are arranged.
The desired copy mode is set.

Further, a cord 5 extends outside the machine from the side near the floor, and a foot switch 6 is provided at the end of the cord 5.

The switch 6 is a switch for instructing to raise a plurality of bins 7 provided in the automatic collation device 1 one by one.

The internal structure of the automatic collation device 1 will be explained based on the schematic diagram shown in FIG.

As shown in the figure, there is a receptacle 9 on the right side of the cover 8, which is L-shaped when viewed from the front, for receiving the paper that is discharged from the paper outlet of the copying machine 2.

The received paper moves through a guide 10, reaches a conveyance roller 13 rotated by a conveyance motor 11 via a belt 12, and is discharged into a predetermined bin by the conveyance roller 13.

Note that a photo sensor 23 is arranged on the lower surface of the guide 10 to detect the passage of paper.

A plurality of bins 7 are supported on the left side surface of the cover 8 so as to protrude diagonally upward and are slidable in the vertical direction.

A pair of front and rear cylindrical cams 14 are fixedly supported on a vertically oriented rotary shaft 15 at the height of the exit of the transport roll 13.

The rotating shaft 15 is rotated by a pin moving motor 16 via a belt 17, and has a spiral groove 18 formed on its cylindrical surface. (See Figure 7).

As shown in FIG. 7, the rollers 19 protruding from both front and rear ends of each bottle 7 fit into the grooves 18 of the cylindrical cam 14 at predetermined positions, and the rotation of the cylindrical cam 14 causes the rollers 19 to fit into the grooves 18. move along, rise or fall;

That is, in FIG. 7, when the cylindrical cam 14 rotates clockwise, the bin 7 is raised, and when it rotates counterclockwise, the bin 7 is lowered.

By the rotation of the cylindrical cam 14, each bin is divided into an upper group and a lower group with the cylindrical cam 14 as a boundary, but one clockwise rotation of the cylindrical cam 14 moves the topmost bin of the lower group to the upper group. However, one rotation in the counterclockwise direction moves the bottom bin of the upper group to the upper group.

Note that the bottles in the lower group are always urged upward by a spring (not shown), and each bottle is positioned with its side plate in contact with the bottom surface of the upper bottle, and the topmost bottle in the group has its roller 19 cylindrical. The position is determined in contact with the lower surface of the cam 14.

In the upper group, the bins are stacked one on top of the other by gravity, and the bottom bin of the group is supported by its roller 19 in contact with the upper surface of the cylindrical cam 14.

FIG. 7 shows a state in which the cylindrical cam 14 is rotating clockwise and the bin 7a is in the middle of rising. When the bin 7a rises further, the side of the bin 7a pushes up the bottles in the upper group, causing it to rise. When the cylindrical cam 14 stops rotating, the roller 19 of the uppermost bin 7b in the lower group
b is located just before fitting into the groove 18 of the cylindrical cam 14, and the gap with the upper bottle 7a is maximum, and the gap between the bottle 7b
It is easy to carry out the paper or take out the stored paper.

Referring to FIG. 6, the rotary shaft 15 is equipped with a disk-shaped actuator 20 at the bottom, and the actuator 20 has a notch in a part of its periphery, and a transmission type photo sensor. The sensor 21 is designed to detect this.

The photo sensor 21 detects the point in time when the cylindrical cam 14 is stopped, and the motor 16 is stopped.

Further, when all the bins are located below the cylindrical cam 14 (home position), the photo sensor 22 can detect the lowest bin at a predetermined position.

In the bin moving mechanism as described above, when sheets are stored by type, the sheets are sequentially carried out one by one and moved from one bin to another and stored in each bin.

For example, when an odd number of sheets are to be collated (corresponding to an odd number of originals), a predetermined number of copies are made of the first original, and the copied sheets are raised one bin per rotation by the cylindrical cam 14. The copies are stored in each bin in sequence, and then, for the second original, the raised bins are lowered one by one, and copy sheets are stored in each bin each time.

Such raising and lowering of the bins is repeated, and when an odd number of sheets are collated (corresponding to an odd number of originals), the copying and storage operations are completed with a predetermined number of bins raised for the last original.

Further, when the number of sheets is even, the storage bins all end in a lowered state.

Next, a control device according to the present invention will be described when performing a paper retrieval operation after sorting in such an automatic collation device 1.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of the control device.

The central part of the control system is the CPU 30, and the RAM is adjusted according to the program written in the POM 31.
33, the control operation is carried out one by one.

A signal from the foot-operated switch 6 for moving the bin is input to the CPU 30 via the input interface 34, and a photo sensor 21 detects one rotation of the cylindrical cam 14 for moving the bin, and a photo sensor 21 detects one revolution of the cylindrical cam 14 for moving the bin. Detection signals from a photo sensor 22 that detects that the paper is in the paper position and a photo sensor 23 that detects that the paper is carried in are also input.

Also, from CPU30, output interface 3
A control signal for controlling the movement of the bin is outputted to the bin movement motor 16 via the motor 5 .

In addition, a non-volatile memory (NVM) is provided that allows the user to set whether or not this control is required, timer setting time, etc. in memory according to the user's requests.

The operating procedure of the control system will be explained below based on the flowchart of FIG. 9.

First, when the foot switch 6 is pressed (step), it is determined whether or not sorting has been completed based on the number of sheets that have passed, detected by the photo sensor 23. Returning to the step, the operation of the switch 6 is disabled, and if the sorting has been completed, the process proceeds to the step.

In step, it is determined whether or not the number of documents to be collated is an odd number. If the number of documents is not odd, that is, if it is an even number, the process jumps to step; if the number of documents is odd, the process goes to step, and the bin moving motor 16 is driven in reverse to move the bin. Lower everything.

The home position sensor 22 is activated by the step.
It is determined whether all the bins have descended and reached the home position depending on whether the switch is turned on or not. When the bin movement motor 16 has reached the home position,
When the cylindrical cam 14 rotates once and the photo sensor 21 detects that it has risen by one bin (step), the process proceeds to step.

When the original is an odd number, the bin is already at the home position, so the step moves directly to the step and is raised by one bin.

Then, when the topmost bin rises, it is determined whether or not the bin has risen by a predetermined number corresponding to the set number of copies (step). If the bin has reached the predetermined number, the process returns to the first step and the predetermined number is reached. If not, proceed to step and wait for the next switch 6 to be pressed.

When the switch 6 is pressed, the bin moving motor 16 is driven in normal rotation (step), and when the photo sensor 21 detects the rise of one bin,
(Step〓) Return to step, it is judged whether the number of lifted bottles has reached a predetermined number, and if it has not reached the predetermined number, wait for the next switch to be pressed (step), step, step〓 Repeat this process, and if the predetermined number has been reached, it is considered finished and the process returns to the step.

Since the above-mentioned steps are followed to perform the work, the operator can take out the sheets in order from the upper bin.

That is, if you press the foot switch 6 after taking out the paper from the bin before it goes up, the bin from which the paper was taken out will go up and the upper part of the next bin will be opened.
After taking out the paper from the bin, switch 6 again.
If you press the button, the bin will rise, making it extremely easy to take out the paper.

It is also possible to perform the work with only one hand.

In this embodiment, each time the switch 6 is pressed, a timer (formed by software) is started and starts ticking the set time written in the setting NVM 32, and the next switch 6 is turned on within this time. If no operation is performed, the main routine for paper ejection is automatically exited.

This prevents the standby state from continuing indefinitely due to forgetting to press the switch 6.

The timer setting time is an appropriate time longer than the time for raising the bin plus the time for taking out the paper.
Generally, it is set to about 3 minutes with sufficient margin.

This setting time is set according to user's request.
It can be easily changed at an appropriate time by replacing the NVM 32.

Furthermore, if the number of sheets to be collated is small and the bin elevation control as described above is not required, the NVM 32 can be set to ignore this control program, and this can be selected according to the user's preference.

In this embodiment, a foot-operated switch 6 is used, but a push-button switch may of course be used.

You can also slightly change the operating procedure so that when an odd number of sheets are collated, each time you press the switch, the bin will be lowered one by one.Doing this will save time until all the bins are moved to the home position. can.

Effects of the invention This invention moves one bin each time the bin movement instruction means is operated in a dictionary-type collating device, making it extremely easy to take out sheets and requiring almost no force, which greatly reduces the burden on the operator. It can be reduced.

In addition, it is possible to prevent injuries such as getting one's hand caught between the bins or cutting one's hand on the paper while taking out the paper, making it extremely safe.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram corresponding to claims of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an external view of a general automatic collating device, and Fig. 3 is an external view showing a conventional example in which an automatic collating device is attached to a copying machine.
Fig. 4 is a front view of a conventional dictionary-type collation device with the bin open when taking out sheets; Fig. 5 is an external view of an automatic collation device according to an embodiment of the present invention installed in a copying machine; Fig. 6 is an internal schematic diagram of the automatic collation device of this embodiment, Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing a part of the bin moving mechanism, Fig. 8 is a block diagram of the control system of this embodiment, and Fig. 9 is the same. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure by a control system. 1... Automatic collation device, 2... Copying machine, 3...
automatic document feeder, 4...control panel,
5... code, 6... switch, 7... bottle, 8
...Cover, 9...Socket, 10...Guide, 1
1... Conveyance motor, 12... Belt, 13... Conveyance roll, 14... Cylindrical cam, 15... Rotating shaft,
16...bin moving motor, 17...belt, 18
...Groove, 19...Roller, 20, 21, 22...
Photo sensor, 23...actuator, 30
...CPU, 31...ROM, 32...For settings
NVM, 33...RAM, 34...Input interface, 35...Output interface.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A dictionary-type automatic collation device in which each bin rises and descends in stages in the vertical direction, comprising a bin movement instruction means for instructing the movement of one bin by one operation of an operation switch; After detecting the end of the collating operation, sequential movement control means controls the bins to move one bin at a time each time an instruction signal from the bin movement instruction means is received, and a sequential movement control means automatically returns all the bins to their basic positions. 1. A collation control device comprising: automatic initialization control means for controlling: and bin movement means for moving bins in response to control signals from the sequential movement control means and the automatic initialization control means.