JPH04286691A - Sorter equipped with stapler - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable even curled paper to be certainly brought into pressure contact with a reference wall surface to perform proper arrangement of a sheet width regularly and to enable stapling on and after to be certainly carried out by a method wherein when sheets are aligned, a side edge of the sheet housed on a bin is pushed downward with an aligning rod swinging three dimensionally to put the width aside. CONSTITUTION:A paper presser 60 is installed onto an outside surface of a stopper wall 41D. A lever 61 is freely swingingly supported with an axle 62 planted on the outside surface of the stopper wall 41D. A paper presser component 63 is provided to one side tip of the lever 61. The other end of the lever 61 is energized with a leaf spring to be pressed with a roller 72 attached to a tip of an arm 71 of a bin swinger 70. The lever 61 swings by this pushing to apply pressure to an upper surface of paper P and the paper is pressed. After stapling, the arm 71 returns to swing. The bin 41 is energized with the spring to swing and returns to an initial paper delivery position.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a sorter attached to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printing machine, or a laser beam printer for separating and storing sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus. The present invention relates to a sorter equipped with a bin and a stapler device that aligns and staples sheets stored on the bin.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a sheet post-processing device equipped with a stapler device for binding sheets discharged from a copying machine, etc. has been used together with a machine such as a circulating automatic document feeder (RDH), and a stapler device is used for each sheet. Although there is a sheet post-processing device (finisher) for stopping the sheet, it has the disadvantage that the mechanism is complicated and expensive. As a sorter equipped with a general stapler device, the following types are disclosed.

(1) A device in which a stapler device is attached to a relatively simple bin moving type sorter (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-4345
Publication No. 7) has been disclosed. This device is a sorter in which a stapler device for binding sheets stored in bins is arranged so as to be movable forward and backward relative to the bins.

(2) In other sorters, when stapling a large number of paper stacks, a fixed stapler device is provided for each bin, and each bin is moved to the stapling position to staple the paper stacks. .

(3) The sorter disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-244869 moves a bin carrying sheets to a position where staples can be driven, staples are driven,
When other bottles are to be stapled, the stapling device is moved vertically.

[0006]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Among the above-mentioned sorters with a stapler device, in the type in which the first stapler device advances and retreats, the advancing stroke differs depending on the size of the sheet, and if all the vertical intervals of each bin are wide, the sorter will not be able to move forward or backward. Larger,
There is a problem in that the mechanism becomes complicated if the stapling device only widens the interval between the bins into which it enters. Further, in this sorter, a large closed loop-shaped long hole is bored in the bin, and an alignment member common to all the bins is inserted into the long hole so that the alignment member can swing freely. However, with such a bin shape, after assembling all the bins into the sorter body, it is necessary to insert the matching member into the elongated hole and connect the matching member to the upper and lower arms, which requires assembly and disassembly. , adjustment, etc. requires a great deal of work time. Furthermore, in a sorter in which sheets of different sheet sizes are stored in bins based on the center and the bins are moved to the stapling position, the elongated holes must be enlarged, which has the disadvantage of increasing the size of the bins. .

[0007] The second sorter has problems in that the overall configuration of the sorter is complicated, and when the bin spacing is narrow, a special stapler device is required.

[0008] In the third sorter, each bin loaded with sheets is moved straight along a bin guide and horizontally to a stapling position at appropriate times, and has the disadvantage that the structure of the apparatus is complicated.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a sorter equipped with a stapler device that has a simple structure and operates reliably. The purpose of this invention is to improve sheet alignment performance during width alignment, and to enable stapling by aligning sheets reliably and stably.

A sorter equipped with a stapler device of the present invention that achieves this object includes a plurality of bins for sorting and storing sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus, and a stapler device for binding the sheets stored in the bins. In a sorter equipped with a fulcrum drive shaft, a sheet alignment member common to all bins aligns the sheets stored in the bins by bringing them into contact with a reference wall provided in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction. It is composed of an arm that can be swung, an alignment bearing provided at the tip of the arm, and an alignment rod that engages with the alignment bearing. The feature is that the ends are pressed together to align the width.

Further, a sorter equipped with a stapler device of the present invention includes a plurality of bins for sorting and storing sheets carried out from an image forming apparatus main body, and a stapler device for binding the sheets stored in the bins. In the sorter, a sheet alignment member common to all bins aligns the sheets stored in the bins by bringing them into contact with a reference wall provided in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction. The arm is held so as to be able to swing horizontally, and is supported so as to be able to swing vertically on a part of the fulcrum drive shaft, and is connected to an arm that can swing three-dimensionally and a guide shaft portion that is integrally provided at the base of the arm. It consists of a cam member fixedly attached to the sorter main body, an alignment bearing provided at the tip of the arm member, and an alignment rod that engages with the alignment bearing, and driven by rotation of the fulcrum drive shaft, At the same time as the arm is horizontally oscillated, the guide shaft portion that is integral with the arm engages with the cam member to vertically oscillate the arm, and due to this combined oscillation, the alignment rod is simultaneously oscillated horizontally. It is characterized in that it is vertically swung downward to press the sheets on the bin against the reference wall surface and against the sheet placement surface for width alignment. Furthermore, the alignment rod according to the present invention is composed of a mandrel that engages with the alignment bearing, and an elastic member that is coated on the outer periphery of the mandrel and presses against the side edge of the sheet during sheet alignment. shall be.

Furthermore, the shaft end of the alignment rod according to the present invention is supported by the arm while being biased by a spring member;
It is characterized in that the alignment rod presses the sheet side edge through the biasing force of the spring member.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a sorter connected to a main body 1 of an image forming apparatus (for example, a copying machine). The sorter of the present invention includes a base section 10, a downward conveyance section 20, and an upward conveyance section 30.
and a bin moving section 40.

The base section 10 includes casters 11, a connection means 12 to the image forming apparatus main body 1, a conveyor belt 13, a driven roller 14, a guide plate 15, a drive means (not shown), etc., and is fixed on the floor. Ru.

Further, a stay member 16 is fixed to the base portion (horizontal conveyance portion) 10 in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper in FIG. A rack gear RG is fixed to the upper surface side of the stay member 16. On the other hand, rollers 17A and 17B for moving the casing are pivotally supported within the casing of the bin moving unit 40, which will be described later.
The rollers 17A and 17B slide on rails (not shown) of the base section 10, allowing the casing of the bottle moving section 40 to move in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper.

A drive motor M1 is installed inside the housing of the bin moving unit 40, and drives and rotates a pinion gear PG via gears G1 and G2. Since the pinion gear PG meshes with the rack gear RG fixed to the stay member 16, the casing of the bin moving section 40 moves in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper due to the driving rotation of the motor M1. Note that 18 is a rotatable roller provided coaxially with the pinion gear PG, and the roller 18 rolls into contact with the stay member 16 and guides it.

The downward conveyance unit 20 is connected to the paper discharge roller 2 and paper discharge port 3 of the image forming apparatus main body 1, and carries the discharged sheet P.
is received by the guide plate 21 and conveyed downward to the base portion 1.
Conveyor belt 22 for feeding to the conveyor belt 13 in 0
and a driven roller 23. Further, a conveyance means 24 and a tray 25 are provided which branch off from this conveyance path and discharge the preceding sheet in the image forming apparatus main body 1 when a jam occurs in the ADF or the sorter. The upper part of the casing of the downward conveying section 20 swings freely to open and close.
It is possible to take out jammed paper in 0.

The ascending conveyance unit 30 has pulleys 32 and 33 rotatably fixed to the upper and lower parts of the support frame.
A plurality of endless transfer belts 31 are stretched. A plurality of rollers 34 are rotatably connected to the inner side of the conveyor belt 31 and correspond to a bottle insertion opening, which will be described later. A plurality of conveyance rollers 35 roll in contact with the outer side of the conveyance belt 31 facing the roller 34 and are driven to rotate.

Further, in the middle of the conveyance roller 35, branch guides 36 are located at the entrances of the bins and swing. These branch guides 36 are rotatably supported by a shaft 37 installed on the support frame, and are swung by a lever and a solenoid (not shown) provided at the end of the shaft 37. Therefore, by rotating the branching guide 36 clockwise, the lower end claw portion of the branching guide 36 intersects with the paper conveyance path composed of the conveyance belt 31 and the conveyance roller 35, and the paper is moved upward in the vertical direction. The branch guide 36 interrupts the advance and adjusts the paper receiving attitude. When the paper P is conveyed there, the paper P is deflected in a substantially perpendicular direction along the inner curved surface of the branching guide 36 and received into the bin 41 .

FIGS. 2 and 3 are partial cross-sectional views of the constituent members of the paper branch conveyance path and the bins, with FIG. 2 showing the vicinity of the upper part of the sorter, and FIG. 3 showing the lower part of the sorter. 4 is a perspective view of the bottle 41 and related members, and FIG. 5 is a plan view thereof.

A plurality of bins (for example, 20 bins) 41 arranged at equal intervals are swingably supported by the bin moving unit 40. That is, the bottom of the bottle 41 (left side in FIGS. 2 and 3) is slidably supported on a guide plate 48 fixed to the bottle moving section 40.

A slide piece (bearing member) 44 is fitted into a fixed shaft (support shaft) 43 that stands upright and is supported by support members 42A and 42B fixed to the top and bottom of the frame of the bin moving unit 40, and a pin 45 and It is positioned by an E-ring 43E. The slide piece 44 is located at one end of the bin 41 (
The bottle 41 is fitted into the notch hole 41G (right side in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4), making the bottle 41 rotatable. Further, pins 45 driven into the fixed shaft 43 at equal intervals serve to stop the slide piece 44 from rotating and to position the top of the bin 41.

The other end of the bin 41 has a rotatable roller 39 embedded in a part of the frame of the bin moving unit 40.
is supported by In this way, the bottle 41 is supported by the guide plate 48, the slide piece 44, and the rollers 39.
It is freely swingable around a fixed shaft 43. In addition,
Reference numeral 41A indicates three claw portions provided on the bottom side that engage with the notches of the guide plate 48. Further, 41B is a rear stopper at five locations provided on the paper introduction side of the upper surface of the bin 41, and the upper end of the upright surface has a curved claw shape to prevent the paper from escaping from the paper bin due to the rear end of the paper rising up. It is for.

On the other hand, an alignment device 50 for aligning the side edges of the sheets P discharged from the image forming apparatus main body 1 onto the bin 41 is provided in a part of the fixed frame of the upward conveyance section 30. 7 is a front sectional view of the alignment device 50, FIG. 7 is a top plan view thereof, and FIG. 8 is a detailed top sectional view of the alignment device 50.

The alignment device 50 is vertically supported at the upper and lower portions of the frame, and engages with a rotating shaft 51 that is rotated by the driving force of a pulse motor M2 shown in FIG. 8 through a transmission system of gears G3, G4, and G5. The upper arm 52B and lower arm 52A, which are swingable and rotatable, support and swing the alignment rod 54. A return spring 55 is wound around the rotating shaft 51 and biases the upper arm 52B. The upper shaft end of the mandrel 54A of the alignment rod 54 is held at the tip of the upper arm 52B by an alignment bearing 53B. In addition, the mandrel 54A of the matching rod 54
The lower shaft end of the lower arm 52A is fitted into and held by an alignment bearing 53A provided at the shaft end of the lower arm 52A.

The core metal 54A of the matching rod 54 has an outer diameter of 8 m.
It consists of a lightweight mandrel in the shape of a hollow cylinder of about m diameter, and a light alloy (for example, aluminum alloy) pipe, a lightweight reinforced plastic pipe, or the like is used. Further, the outer periphery of the mandrel 54A is covered with an elastic member 54B having a thickness of about 5 mm and made of a foamed resin material such as sponge. These mandrels 54A,
Since the alignment rod 54 made of the elastic member 54B is lightweight,
The inertia when the arms 52A, 52B swing can be reduced.

[0028] The upper arm 52B and the lower arm 52A
A leaf spring 56 is attached to each tip of the . The tip of each leaf spring 56 is connected to the core 54 of the alignment rod 54.
The shaft ends of B and 54A are pressed and biased by a spring. During sheet alignment, the aligning rod 54 is swung by the arms 52B, 52A, and when it reaches the sheet side edge, the aligning rod 54 presses the sheet side edge by the biasing force of the leaf spring 56 and the elasticity of the elastic members 54B, 54A. do.

The elastic member 54B lightly presses against the side edge of the paper P discharged onto the bin and stored therein, and presses the paper P against a stopper wall 41D provided on the side surface of the bin 41 to align the width. . During this width alignment (alignment), the arm 52A,
52B is swung by a slight overrun of, for example, 2 to 3 mm beyond the paper width dimension to ensure paper alignment. Since the sheet P is lightly pressed by the soft elastic force of the elastic member 54B, the side edges of the sheet P are protected from damage.

Furthermore, when subsequent sheets are stored on top of the stack of sheets stacked on the bin 41 and aligned in width by the alignment rod 54, the alignment rod 54 hits the side edges of the stack of sheets to align the sheets. At this time, the alignment rod 54 is aligned with the leaf spring 5.
Since the impact is absorbed and alleviated by the buffering elasticity of the pulse motor M2 and the elastic member 54B, an overload will not be applied to the pulse motor M2 and the pulse motor M2 will not be out of synchronization and the timing will not be correct.

An arcuate curved surface portion 520 protrudes from a portion of the upper arm 52B, and detects the home position of the upper arm 52B by blocking the optical path of a photointerrupter (transmissive optical sensor) 57. ing.

[0032] The upper arm 52B receives the paper P to be ejected.
The pulse motor M
The swing angle can be changed depending on the set number of pulses.

Further, a protruding shaft portion 521B is fixed to the swinging base of the upper arm 52B, making it swingable in the vertical direction about a pin 510 implanted in the rotating shaft 51. A roller 58 is rotatably fitted into the tip of the protrusion shaft portion 521B. The roller 58 is in sliding contact with a grooved cam portion 590 of a cam member 59B fixed to the frame,
When the upper arm 52B swings around the rotating shaft 51, it also slides in sliding contact with the grooved cam portion 590 and swings in the axial direction. Similarly, a roller 58 is rotatably fitted to the protruding shaft portion 521A protruding from the swinging base of the lower arm 52A, and slides into grooved cam portion 590 of the cam member 59A to swing in the axial direction. . Due to such a swinging motion, when the paper widths of the sheets P placed on the bin 41 are aligned by the swinging of the alignment rod 54, the side edges of the sheets are pressed downward and aligned.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing the swinging state of the alignment rod 54.

In the figure, the shape indicated by the broken line is the shape of the matching rod 5.
4 shows the progress from the initial position (A) to the final position (F) via intermediate positions (B) to (E).

The alignment rod 54 draws a swing locus (dotted chain line) as shown in the plan views of FIGS. 5 and 7, and also draws a composite three-dimensional locus in the horizontal and vertical directions as shown in FIG. hand,
The paper P on the bin 41 is pressed downward to align its width.

On the other hand, in order to insert the sheets P to be loaded into the stapler device, the bins 41 swing as shown by the dashed line in FIG. Since the bin 41 moves forward and backward, the bin 41 is formed with a large concave curved opening 41C as shown in the figure so that the alignment rod 54 does not interfere with the bin 41. 46 is the opening 4 of the bottle 41 in order to prevent the bottle 41 from deforming due to such a large curved opening 41C.
This is a reinforcing member that closes 1C. In addition, this reinforcing member 4
6 is screwed to the side surface of the bottle 41. At the same time, the arm portion 46A of the reinforcing member 46 closes the notch (U-shaped groove) 41G of the bottle 41 into which the slide piece 44 is inserted, and It is positioned and fixed to prevent escape.

A stopper wall 41D stands upright and is integral with one side of the bottle 41. The stopper wall 4
The inner surface of 1D is an abutment surface that abuts the side edge of the paper P to align the paper. The abutting surface is formed in a stepped shape having a plurality of uneven parts, the protruding part contacts one side edge of the paper P, and the recessed part retreats from the side edge of the paper P to form a gap. form. The air in the air layer formed between the surfaces of the stack of sheets aligned and stacked one by one on the bin 41 by the swinging of the alignment rod 54 escapes to the outside through the gap in the recess. The stack thickness of the sheets P stacked on top will not swell and increase, and the subsequent sheets P will not escape beyond the abutment surface and out of the bin, resulting in irregularities.

A paper pressing device 60 is attached to the outer surface of the stopper wall 41D. A lever 61 is swingably supported on a shaft 62 implanted on the outer surface of the stopper wall 41D. A paper pressing member 63 is provided at one end of the lever 61. The other end of the lever 61 is biased by a leaf spring and pressed by a roller 72 attached to the tip of an arm 71 of a bin swinging device 70 (see FIG. 5). This pressure causes the lever 61 to swing and press the top surface of the paper P on the bin 41 to hold the paper down.

The substrate of the bin swinging device 70 is attached to a common frame together with the substrate of the stapler device 80, and an elevating device (not shown) is driven vertically on the frame of the bin moving unit 40. The device moves and stops each bin 41, and the stack of sheets stacked on the swung bin 41 while being pressed by the paper presser member 63 enters the gap between the binding parts of the stapler device 80 and is stapled. 83 is entered.

After stapling, the arm 71 swings back, and the bin 41 is biased by the spring and swings back to the initial paper discharge position.

Next, the stapling operation of the bundle of sheets discharged into the bin 41 will be described below.

There are a centerline reference method and a one-sided reference method as reference methods for placing and positioning a document placed on the platen glass of the image forming apparatus main body 1.

The stapling operation of the bundle of sheets P discharged along the center line will be described below with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a state in which sheets are accommodated and aligned on the bin 41, and FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a state in which the bin 41 is swung for stapling.

(1) When the size of the paper (copy paper) P to be discharged from the image forming apparatus main body 1 is manually set or automatically determined, the bin moving section 40 of the sorter is electrically driven and the size of the paper (copy paper) P discharged from the image forming apparatus main body 1 is electrically driven. When it reaches a predetermined position, it is stopped by a signal from the position detection sensor and enters a standby state. The maximum amount of movement of the bin moving unit 40 varies from the maximum paper size width (for example, 17 inches) to the minimum paper size width (for example, B5 size, 25 inches).
7 mm) minus half (for example, 87.4 mm). Further, in this standby position, the stopper wall 41D of the bin 41 is located at a distance of δ (for example, about 10 mm) from the widthwise side edge of the paper P entering. (2) In this state, the paper P enters from the left side in the figure and rises along the slope of the top bin 41, and then slides down under its own weight and comes into contact with the rear stopper 41S of the bin 41 and stops. (3) After the paper P has stopped, the aligning rod 54 swings and presses one side edge of the paper P, shifting it toward the front by the shifting amount δ, and shifting the other side edge of the paper P. It is brought into contact with the stopper wall 41D. This offset amount δ is set to be approximately the same for other paper sheets of different sizes (for example, A4 size, B4 size, A3 size, etc.).

(4) Subsequently, the subsequent sheet P is discharged into the lower second bin 41 by switching the branch guide 36, and the alignment rod 54 similarly swings to press the side edge of the sheet P. Then, the paper P is brought into contact with the stopper wall 41D to align the paper.

(5) In the same manner, the originals are successively distributed and stored in the bins 41 corresponding to the number of originals.

(6) The CPU-controlled counting means detects that the set number of sheets P are stored in the topmost bin 41, and furthermore, the rear end of the last sheet P stored in the bin 41 is detected. , when it is detected that the optical path of the light detection means connecting the light emitting element LED provided at the upper part of the bottle moving part 40 and the light receiving element PTr provided at the lower part is in the open state, the first stage bin 41 The discharge is completed (see Figure 1).

(7) Similarly, immediately after the completion of discharging the paper to the second bin 41 is detected, or after a predetermined period of time, the top bin 41 is moved to the bin swinging device 70.
It is swung against the biasing force of the spring 59. That is, when a staple signal is input to the stopped bin moving unit 40, the bin swinging device 70 is first driven, the arm 71 swings, and the roller 72 at the tip moves against the paper pressing device 60.
By pressing and swinging the lever 61 counterclockwise around the shaft 62, the paper presser member 63 presses the bottle 41.
Press the top surface of the upper sheet.

(8) Subsequently, the roller 72 at the tip of the arm 71 further swings around the slide piece 44 (for example, θ=12°) to swing the bin 41 while pressing the sheet in the bin 41.

(9) The sensor of the bottle swinging device 70 detects the swinging position and the swinging of the bin 41 is stopped. (10) At this stop position, the rear end corner of the bundle of sheets is inserted into the binding gap of the stapler device 80, and the staple 83 is driven by the stapler device 80 to bind the sheets.

(11) After stapling, arm 7
1 is driven and returns to its original position, the bottle 41 is moved by the spring 5.
9 and returns to the original position, the paper presser member 63 is separated upward from the paper stack surface and presses the paper stack bin 4.
1. It can be taken out from above.

(12) When the stapling of the paper bundle stored in the uppermost bin 41 among the bins 41 is completed,
The unit in which the stapler device 80 and the bottle swinging device 70 are integrally formed is lowered by the lifting device, and almost at the same time, the bin 41 located one step below is swung, and the stapling operation is performed in the same manner as described above. During this time, the sheet is being discharged to the bin 41 one or two rows lower, and the alignment rod 54 is swung to align the widths of the sheets P.

(13) When all the paper bundles have been stapled, the unit that integrates the bin swinging device and the stapler device returns to the topmost bin position.

Note that the stapling operation described above is performed by a sorter that stores, aligns, and staples sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus main body 1 based on the center line, but the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can also be applied to a sorter that stores sheets that are discharged from the apparatus main body 1 on a one-sided basis, aligns the sheets, and staples them.

[0056]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention,
When aligning the sheets, the alignment rod that swings three-dimensionally moves the side edges of the sheets stored in the bin in a downward direction, so that even curled paper can be reliably pressed against the reference wall surface and the sheet width can be adjusted. Alignment is performed in an orderly manner, and subsequent stapling is also performed reliably. In addition, since the alignment rod is spring-biased and presses against the side edge of the paper stack when aligning the sheets, there is no impact load on the pulse motor and no timing deviation occurs, and the swinging is smooth and the driving force is reduced. It is also effective for

Furthermore, in a sorter having a structure in which a non-sorting bin that also serves as a paper ejection tray is fixed to the top of a plurality of swingable bins, the alignment rod and the arm supporting it lower to align the width of the sheets. There is no interference or contact with non-sort bins arranged at narrow intervals, and the total height of the sorter can be made low and compact.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a sorter connected to an image forming apparatus main body.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the constituent members of the paper branch conveyance path and the upper bin of the sorter.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the lower part of the sorter.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bin and alignment device.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the bin and alignment device.

FIG. 6 is a front sectional view of the alignment device.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the alignment device.

FIG. 8 is a top sectional view of the alignment device.

FIG. 9 is a front sectional view showing the swinging process of the arm and alignment rod of the bin alignment device.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing the rectilinear movement of the bin.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing the swinging process of the bottle.

[Explanation of symbols]

1... Image forming apparatus main body (copying machine main body) 10... Base section 20... Downward conveyance section
30... Upward conveyance section 40... Bin moving section
41...bin 41
D...Stopper wall (reference wall surface) 43...Fixed shaft (support shaft) 50...Alignment device
51... Rotating shaft 52A... Lower arm
52B...Upper arm 521A, 521B...Protrusion shaft part
53A, 53B... Aligning bearing 54... Aligning rod
54A... Core metal 54B... Elastic member
55...Spring 56
...plate spring
57...Photo interrupter 59A, 59B...Cam member
60...Paper presser device 63...Paper presser member
70... Bin rocking device 80... Stapler device
83... Staple P... Paper (sheet)

Claims (4)

[Claims] Claims: 1. A sorter comprising a plurality of bins for sorting and storing sheets carried out from an image forming apparatus main body, and a stapler device for stapling the sheets stored in the bins, the sheets stored in the bins; A sheet alignment member common to all bins that aligns the width of the bins by bringing them into contact with a reference wall provided in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction includes an arm that can swing around a fulcrum drive shaft, and a tip of the arm. The sheet is comprised of an aligning bearing provided at the center and the aligning rod that engages with the aligning bearing, and when aligning the sheets, the aligning rod presses against the side edges of the sheet to align the width. A sorter equipped with a stapler device. 2. A sorter comprising a plurality of bins for sorting and storing sheets carried out from an image forming apparatus main body, and a stapler device for stapling the sheets stored in the bins, the sheets stored in the bins. A sheet alignment member common to all bins that aligns the widths of the bins by bringing them into contact with a reference wall provided in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction is held so as to be horizontally swingable about a fulcrum drive shaft. An arm that is vertically swingably supported by a part of the fulcrum drive shaft and is capable of three-dimensional swing; and a cam member fixed to the sorter body that engages with a guide shaft integrally provided at the base of the arm. , is composed of an alignment bearing provided at the tip of the arm member, and an alignment rod that engages with the alignment bearing, and the arm is horizontally oscillated by drive rotation of the fulcrum drive shaft, and at the same time, the arm The guide shaft part integrated with the cam member engages with the cam member to vertically swing the arm, and due to this combined swing, the alignment rod is swinged horizontally and simultaneously vertically downwardly to move the sheet on the bin. What is claimed is: 1. A sorter equipped with a stapler device, characterized in that the stapler is pressed against the reference wall surface and pressed against the sheet placement surface for width alignment alignment. 3. The alignment rod is composed of a mandrel that engages with the alignment bearing, and an elastic member that is coated on the outer periphery of the mandrel and presses against the side edge of the sheet during sheet alignment. A sorter comprising the stapler device according to claim 1 or 2. 4. A shaft end of the alignment rod is urged by a spring member and supported by the arm, and the alignment rod presses the sheet side end through the urging force of the spring member. A sorter equipped with the stapler device according to item 1 or 2.