JPH0443092A - Sorter fitted with finisher - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate needle replenishing work and to make the protective case of a stapler inexpensive and simple by mounting a control means moving a stapling means to a needle replenishing position when it is detected that a staple needle is exhausted and moving the same to a position where the staple needle is exhausted when the staple needle is supplied. CONSTITUTION:When the absence of a staple needle 226 is detected on the way of a series of staple processings by a sensor SE 5, staple processing is interrupted at that point of time and the position of a stapler is stored using the number of driving pulses up to that point of time. Thereafter, the stapler is moved to its home position and a cover is opened to replace a cartridge 227 with a new one. The completion of this needle replenishing work is detected when the sensor SE 5 is turned ON and a switch is closed. Next, the stapler is moved downwardly by the stored number of pulses and returned to the original position and staple processing is continued from said position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention is a sorter with a finisher, in particular, a sorter with a finisher, which distributes and stores image-formed sheets discharged from a copying machine, a laser printer, etc. into a plurality of bins, and then stores the stored sheets. Regarding a sorter with a finisher that binds with a stapler.

Obedience! Group (C) 1 and Mouse 2 Conventionally, in the field of copying and printing devices that form images on sheets, various sorters with finishers equipped with automatic staplers have been developed.

The automatic stapler used here usually uses a cartridge-type staple replenishment system, and has a built-in staple empty detection sensor, and when the remaining amount of staples falls below a certain amount, an empty signal is sent from the sensor. (See, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-73274)6. In a sorter finisher that staples sheets that are completely stored in a bin, if an empty staple is detected during a series of stapling processes, the following inconvenience occurs. In other words, if the stapler stops in the middle of the protective case, the task of replenishing staples becomes complicated, and since the protective case can be opened and closed along its entire length, it is necessary to increase the mechanical strength of the protective case. , it is also expensive in terms of cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a sorter with a finisher that facilitates staple replenishment work and allows a protective case for a stapler to be constructed at low cost and simplified.

In order to achieve the above object, a sorter with a finisher according to the present invention includes a sorter unit that distributes and stores sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus into a plurality of bins, a stapling unit that staples the sheets stored in the bins, and a stapling unit that staples the sheets stored in the bins. a moving means for allowing the stapling means to move along the bin and stopping the sheets stored in a predetermined bin at a position for stapling; a detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of staples stored in the stapling means; When it is detected that the staple is missing, the stapling means is moved to the staple replenishment position;
The present invention is characterized by comprising a control means for moving the stapling means to a position when the staples are exhausted when the staples are replenished.

In the above configuration, the sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus are sequentially distributed and accommodated on the pins, and are subjected to a so-called sorting process.

Thereafter, stapling processing is started as necessary. That is, the stapling means moves stepwise to a position corresponding to each bin, and sequentially staples the sheets stored in the bins. When a staple runs out during a series of stapling processes, it is immediately detected by the detection means, and the staple means moves to a predetermined staple replenishment position, for example, to the top of the moving path for convenient staple replenishment. After that, when the operator replenishes the staples, the stapling means moves to the position when the staples ran out, and the stapling process continues.
Continued.

Embodiments of a sorter with a finisher according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Overall Configuration The cosorter 100 is installed on the side of the copying machine main body 1, as shown in FIG. The copying machine main body 1 is provided with an automatic document feeder 30 (hereinafter referred to as RDH).

The copying machine main body 1 forms an image on a sheet by a well-known electrophotographic method, and a photosensitive drum 2, which is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow a, is first given a certain electric charge by a charger 3. Then, the optical system 4 scans in the direction indicated by the arrow, so that the original set at a predetermined position on the original platen glass 29 is exposed to the slit by the RDH 30. As a result, the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 2 is separated from the toner image by the magnetic brush type developing device 5, and transferred to the transfer charger 6.
The image can be transferred onto the paper by applying an electric field.

Copying sheets are selectively fed one by one from either a nilevate-type or cassette-type automatic paper feeder 10.11 in the copying machine main body l, and are delivered to the transfer section at a predetermined timing by a pair of timing rollers 19. sent to. The sheet after the transfer is sent to the fixing device 21 by the conveyor belt 2o, where the toner image is fixed, and then sent from the discharge roller pair 22 to the sorter 100, and at this time, the photo sensor SE
4, the passage can be detected. Further, a paper refeeding device 25 for performing double-sided copying and composite copying is built into the copying machine main body 1, and a paper conveyance switching claw 26 for this purpose is installed in front of the ejection roller pair 22.

On the other hand, the photosensitive drum 2 continues to rotate in the direction of the arrow a even after the transfer, and the remaining toner is wiped away by the blade-type cleaning device 7, and the residual charge is erased by the eraser lamp 8, so that it can be used for the next copying operation. Be prepared.

The RDH 30 is well known in itself, and feeds documents placed on a document tray 31 one by one using a paper feed roller 32, passes them through a reversing conveyance section 33, and transfers them to the document table glass 29 by rotation of a conveyance belt 34. Set it in the specified position above. After the image exposure, the original is discharged onto the original tray 31 from the discharge roller pair 36 through the reversing conveyance path 35 by the rotation of the conveyance belt 34.

[Structure and operation of sorter section As shown in FIG. 2, the cosorter 100 includes 20 stages of bins 102 for distributing and storing sheets, a vertical conveyance path 110,
Switching claw 120 and discharge roller 1 corresponding to each bin 102
25.126. This sorter 100 is divided into 10 upper bins and 10 lower bins.

The vertical conveyance path 110 includes a vertical guide frame 111. Four conveyance rollers 115, a pinch roller 116 that is in pressure contact with the conveyance rollers 116 and rotates as a result of rotation, a switching claw 120 and a guide plate 124 installed corresponding to each bin 102, and a discharge roller. 125 and a pinch roller 126 which is in pressure contact with the pinch roller 126 and rotates as a result of the pinch roller 125, and the intermediate portion thereof is communicated with each other by guide plates 57 and 58. At the entrance of the sorter 100, there are guide plates 51 and 52, sheet receiving rollers 53 and 54, and a vertical conveyance path 11 for conveying sheets.
Guide plates 72 and 73 are installed to guide the user to the upper part of 0. Further, as sheet detection means, transmissive type odometers SEL and SE2 detect the presence or absence of sheets on the bins 102 for each upper and lower bin group, and transmissive type photo sensors detect the sheet immediately before being stored in each bin 102. Sensor SE3 (
(see Figure 3) is installed.

The switching claws 120, except for the one facing the bottom bin 102, can be rotated around a support shaft 121 by a dedicated solenoid, and when each solenoid is turned off, the switching claws 120 are set to the solid line position in FIG. 2. vertical plane 12
0a (see FIG. 3) and a vertical guide frame 111 to guide the sheet downward. The sheet is conveyed in the longitudinal direction by conveying rollers 115 and 116. On the other hand, switching claw 1
20, when each solenoid is turned on, is switched as shown by the dashed line at the top in FIG. from there to each bin 102. The switching operation of the switching claw 120 is performed at the timing when the trailing edge of the sheet is detected by the sensor SE3, and the sheet is sequentially switched from the upper row to the lower row for the number of copies (number of copies), and the sheet is changed to 1. It is distributed sequentially from the bin 102 in the tier to the bin 102 in the lower tier. Note that when the grouping mode is selected, the set number of sheets are stored in the same bin 102, so the switching claw 120 is switched in response to the completion of storage of the set number of final copies.

Further, the switching claw 120 at the lowest stage (the 200th stage) is fixed at a position where its curved surface 120b guides the sheet to the bin 102 at the lowest stage.

[Configuration and operation of finisher unit As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the finisher unit 300 includes a stapler 220 installed on the front side and a bin 102.
Aligning means 308 for bringing the sheets accommodated in the sheet into contact with the alignment reference plate 102b on the rear side, and a stapler 2 for aligning the sheets.
Staple reference plate 102C serving as a reference for engaging with 20
extrusion means 309 for allowing contact with the extrusion means 3;
09 and the stapler 220 to a position corresponding to each bin 102 (see FIG. 6). Each bin 102 is tilted forward (in the sheet storage direction) and set vertically at a constant interval, and the alignment reference plate 102b and the staple reference plate 102c are integrally attached to each bin 102. It is formed.

Furthermore, each bin 102 has a backflow prevention plate 102a that regulates the rear end of the stored sheets, and has a notch 102 on both sides in which an alignment means 308 and an extrusion means 309 can be moved.
g, 102h, and a notch 1021 for the operator to manually take out the sheet.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the alignment means 308 has an alignment rod 303 and a support shaft 304 attached to both ends of the holding lever 302, and is rotatable on a horizontal plane using the support shaft 304 as a fulcrum. be. The alignment means 308 is divided into two parts so as to be able to process the upper bin group and the lower bin group independently, respectively, and each has a drive means (not shown) (for example,
equipped with a solenoid.

The alignment operation is performed for each sheet stored in the bin 102. That is, each time one sheet is stored on the bin 102, the aligning means 308 aligns the fourth sheet with the support shaft 304 as a fulcrum.
Rotate the sheet to the position indicated by the dotted chain line in the figure, and place the sheet on the alignment reference plate 10.
2b to align between the alignment rod 303 and the alignment reference plate 102b. That is, the sheet accommodated in position P1 indicated by the dotted line is aligned to position P2 indicated by the dashed line. Also,
With respect to the sheet storage direction, due to the inclination of the bin 102, the sheets come into contact with the backflow prevention plate 102a under their own weight and are automatically aligned.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the pushing means 309 has a pushing rod 306 and a spindle 307 attached to both ends of a holding lever 305, and is rotatable on a horizontal plane using the spindle 307 as a fulcrum. , a drive source (for example, a solenoid) not shown. This extrusion means 309 is movable to a position corresponding to each bin 102 from the uppermost bin 102 to the lowermost bin 102, and is moved up and down in synchronization with the stapler 220 by a moving means 400 described below. The sheet extrusion operation is performed for each bin 102 after the sorting operation is completed. That is, the extrusion means 3
09 is moved together with the stapler 220 to the side of the bin 102 to be stapled, and is moved to the point '5j41!' in FIG. 4 about the support shaft 307. and press the sheet against the staple reference plate 102c. As a result, the sheet moves from the alignment position P2 shown by the one-dot chain line to the stapling position P3 shown by the two-dot chain line, and is engaged with the stapler 220. The stapler 220 operates in this state and staples the sheets. Thereafter, the alignment means 308 is rotated inward again, and the stapled sheets are pressed against the alignment reference plate 102b by the alignment rod 303. That is, the stapled sheets are returned from the stapling position P3 to the alignment position P2. This is to evacuate the sheet from the stapler 22o. After that, the extrusion means 309 and the stapler 220
Move to the next bin position.

[Structure and Operation of Stapler and Its Moving Means] As shown in FIG. ) Periphery and head 2
25, and when the cam 222 is rotated in the direction of arrow g by the motor, the head 22 is connected via the arm 224.
5 moves in the direction of arrow i, and the staple needles 226 staple the aligned sheets on the bin 102. The staples 226 are straight staples arranged in a plate shape and hardened with adhesive, and a predetermined number of staples are stored in the stapler 22 in advance while being elastically pressed downward by a spring member (not shown). The sheets are then sent one by one to the head section by a conveyor belt 228 which is rotationally driven by the motor output shaft 221, starting from the lowest layer. Further, a reflective photosensor 5E5 is installed in the stapler 220 to detect the presence or absence of the staple 226, and when the last staple 226 passes through the detection point, the sensor SE5 is turned off and the staple 226 is no longer present. Detect that. Furthermore, the stapler 220 is fully equipped with a photosensor SE6 for detecting the rotational speed of the staple motor. This sensor SE6
is designed to detect a notch 209a in a disc 229 fixed to the motor output shaft 221.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the stapler 220 is connected to a protective case 310 that is installed upright on the front side of the bottle 102.
It is housed inside so that it can be moved up and down. Protective case 310
has a cover 311 at its upper end that can be opened and closed. The cover 311 is opened during needle replenishment, which will be explained below, and its open/closed state is detected by the switch sw1. Protective case 3
10, the stapler 220 is fixed to a belt 405 that is stretched endlessly around rollers 403 and 404, as shown in FIG. The belt 405 is connected to the roller 40 via the belt 402 from the old stepping motor.
The driving force transmitted to 3 can drive in the direction of arrow C or C'.

The stapler 220 moves up and down as the belt 405 moves in the direction of arrow C or C', and is set at a predetermined bin position. The extrusion means 309 also moves vertically in synchronization with the stapler 220 via a linking means (not shown).

At the initial position of the stapling process, the stapler 220 has returned to the home position corresponding to the first bin 102, and the photosensor SE7 detects that the stapler 220 is set at this home position. The stapling process is performed by the stapler 220 moving down one bin at a time corresponding to the bins 102 and binding the sheets on the bins 102 one bundle at a time. The amount of movement of the stapler 220 is detected and controlled by the number of pulses that drive the stepping motor M1. If the sensor SE5 detects that the staple 226 is missing during a series of stapling processes, the stapling process is interrupted at that point, and the position of the stapler 220 is memorized using the number of driving pulses up to that point. Thereafter, the stapler 220 is moved to the home position, the cover 311 is opened, and the cartridge 227 is replaced with a new one. The end of such needle replenishment work is detected by turning on the sensor SE5 and turning on the switch SWI. The stapler 220 is then moved downwardly by the memorized number of pulses, returns to its original position, and continues the stapling process from there.

[Operation Panel As shown in FIG. 8, the operation panel 350 of the cosorter 100 has an operation mode selection key 351 and its display portions: a non-sort mode display LED 352, a sort mode display LED 353, and a grouping mode display LED.
354, staple mode selection key 355 and its display section, staple mode display LED 356, LED 36 that indicates that the staple 226 is out
0 is set. Each time the operation mode selection key 351 is pressed, it sequentially switches between non-sort mode, sort mode, and grouping mode, and the corresponding L E
D 352.353.354 lights up.

Each time the staple mode selection key 355 is pressed, the staple mode is selected or canceled, and the corresponding LED 356 lights up when the staple mode is selected.

Staple empty display L E D 360 indicates stapler 22
The light is turned on when the sensor SE5 within 0 detects that there are no more staples 226, and the light is turned off when the staple replenishment is completed.

[Control circuit] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the control circuit, and the microcomputer (CPU) 370 that controls the sorter 100 has a microcomputer (CPU) that controls the copying machine main body 1.
380, '/-Various switches on the panel 350, LE
D, the mechanical control unit 371 of the sorter 100, various detection means such as the sensor SEI and the switch SWI are disconnected. The CPU 370 also has a built-in random access memory (RAM) 372.

[Control procedure] Next, we will explain the control procedure based on the above control circuit in the 10th section.
This will be explained with reference to the flowchart below. By the way, in the following explanation, on-edge means that a switch, sensor, signal, etc. switches from an off state to an on state, and off-edge means that a switch, sensor, signal, etc. switches from an on state to an off state. means.

FIG. 10 shows the main routine of the CPU 370.

When the CPU 370 is reset and the program is started, in step S1, the RAM 372 is cleared, various registers are initialized, and initial settings are made to put each device into an initial mode. Next, in step S2, an internal timer is started. This internal timer determines the time required for the main routine, and its value is set in advance in the initial setting at step S1.

Next, after calling each subroutine in steps 53 and 54 to execute necessary processing, the process waits for the internal timer to end in step S5 and returns to step S2.

The time length of one routine is used to count various timers in each subroutine.

Step S3 is a subroutine for distributing and storing sheets into each bin 102, and its details will be omitted. Each step is a subroutine in which sheets stored in each bin 102 are sequentially stapled by the stapler 220, and when an empty staple 226 is detected, corresponding processing is executed, and will be described below.

FIG. 11 shows the stapler 2 executed in step S4.
20 shows a subroutine for controlling 20.

In step 510, the stapler 220 performs stapling processing, that is, the stapler 220 is moved down one bin at a time from the top home position to sequentially staple the sheets. In step 511, when the stapler 226 is detected to be empty, the stapler 220 is returned to the home position, and preliminary processing is executed to return the stapler 220 to its original position after replenishing the staples. Further, in step 512, the stapler 220 is raised (moved to the home position) when the staples are empty, and in step 513, the stapler 220 is lowered (moved to the original position).

FIG. 12 shows the preprocessing subroutine executed in step 511.

In step S20, the presence or absence of the staple 226 is determined by turning on or off the sensor SE5, and in step 521, the presence or absence of the staple 226 is determined by turning on or off the switch SW1.
11 is determined, and in step 524, it is determined based on the return flag whether or not to return the stapler 220 to the home position.

Normally, when there is a staple 226, sensor SE5
maintains the on state, the determination in step 520 is NO, the determination in step 521 is also NO, and the process immediately returns to the main routine. When the staple 226 runs out, the sensor SE5 is turned off, and if the determination in step 520 is YES, it is determined in step 524 whether or not the return flag is "1". Note that the stapling operation is stopped in the subroutine of step 510 when the sensor SE5 is turned off. That is, the movement of the stapler 220 is stopped at the position where the staple empty occurs. The return flag is “0.
If the flag has been reset successfully, the flag is set to "
1°, and stepper motor M1 until that point.
The number of pulses driven is stored in the bin counter.

If the return flag has already been set to r I J (YES at step 524), the process immediately returns to the main routine.

When the return flag is set to "1", the stapler 220 is moved to the home position by a raising process in step 512, which will be described later, and the operator opens the cover 311 and replaces the cartridge 227. When a new cartridge 227 is installed, the sensor SE5 is turned on (No in step 520), and it is determined in step 521 whether the switch SWt is on. When the cover 311 is closed and the switch SWI is turned on (YES in step 521), step 52
In step 2, it is determined whether the movement flag is 11'', and if it has been reset to 0, the flag is set to 11'' in step 523, and the process returns to the main routine.

FIG. 13 shows a subroutine for controlling the lifting of the stapler 220 executed in step 512.

First, in step 530, it is determined whether the return flag is "1." If it is set to "1", step 53
1, the stapler 220 is turned on and off by turning sensor SE7 on and off.
It is determined whether the has risen to the home position. If the sensor SE7 is off, the stepping motor is rotated in the upward direction in step 534. Stapler 2
20 returns to the home position (step 531
(YES in step 532), stepper motor M1 is activated in step 532.
is stopped, the return flag is reset to r□ in step 533, and the process returns to the main routine. Needle replenishment is performed in this state.

FIG. 14 shows a subroutine for controlling the lowering of the stapler 220 executed in step 513.

First, in step 540, it is determined whether the movement flag is "1" or not. If it is set to '1', the needle replenishment work has been completed, so in step 541, the number of drive pulses of the stepping motor elbow and the The number of pulses stored in the memory is compared in step 526. Stepping motor M1 is driven in the downward direction in step 544 until the number of drive pulses reaches the memorized number of pulses, and when the former reaches the latter, stepping motor M1 is stopped in step 542, and the movement flag is set to "0" and return to the main routine. This means that the stapler 220 has returned to the position of the bin 102 that it was facing when the staples were empty, and the stapling process is continued thereafter.

[Other Examples] Note that the sorter with a finisher according to the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and can be variously modified within the scope of the gist thereof.

For example, in order to confirm the position of the stapler 220, the driving pulse of the stepping motor was used in the above embodiment, but it is also possible to provide a sensor for detecting the stapler in each bin 102 and use the on/off signal of the sensor. good. Further, if the cover 311 opens the upper end of the stapler protection case 310 to a greater extent so that the entire stapler 220 is exposed, replacement and maintenance of the cartridge 227 will be facilitated. Of course, the needle replenishment position is not limited to the upper end of the protective case 310, and the most convenient position for needle replenishment or maintenance may be selected based on the configuration of the protective case and its surroundings.

Regarding the bins 102, they do not need to be divided into two parts each having 10 bins, and are not limited to being arranged horizontally.
It may be arranged in a substantially vertical direction, and the sheets may be distributed and accommodated in a diagonally erected state.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, when it is detected that the stapler is running out of staples, the stapler is moved to the staple replenishing position and the staples are replenished. Since the stapler is moved to the position when the stapler runs out, it is possible to easily perform staple replenishment work at a fixed position at all times, and the protective case for the stapler can have a simple structure.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of a sorter with a finisher according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram including the main body of the copying machine, FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of the sorter, and FIG. 3 is a sheet diagram that is the main part of the sorter. FIG. 4 is a front view of the distribution section, FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the bin, aligning means, and extruding means, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the bin and extruding means, and FIG. 6 is a side view showing the bin, the stapler, and its moving means. , FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view of the stapler, FIG. 8 is a plan view of the sorter panel, and FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the control circuit. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the main routine of the microcomputer, FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the subroutine for controlling the stapler, and FIG.
13 is a flowchart showing a subroutine for preparatory control of staple replenishment, FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a subroutine for stapler raising control during staple replenishment, and FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a subroutine for stapler lowering control during staple replenishment. be. 1... Copying machine main body, 102... Bin, 220...
Stapler, 226... Staple needle, 300...
Finisher part, 310... Protective case, 311...
・Cover, 370...Microcomputer, 400
... Transportation means, SE5... Needle detection sensor, SE7.
...Stapler detection sensor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A sorter unit that distributes and stores sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus into a plurality of bins, a stapling unit that staples the sheets stored in the bins, and a stapling unit that moves the stapling unit along the bins. a moving means for stopping the sheets stored in a predetermined bin at a position for stapling; a detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of staples stored in the stapling means; and a detecting means for detecting the absence of staples. control means for moving the stapling means to a staple replenishment position when the stapling is carried out, and for moving the stapling means to the position when the staples are exhausted when the staples are replenished. .