JPH0592864A - Sheet distribution storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] The paper storage efficiency is improved by keeping the bin spacing as narrow as possible at positions other than the sheet discharge position, and the operation during paper storage operation is smooth and noisy. (EN) Provided is a sheet distribution / accommodation device having a small number, a simple mechanism, and a low manufacturing cost. A plurality of bin trays 1 each having a stacking surface inclined in the sheet conveying direction, movably supported in the sheet conveying direction, and each storing a sheet, and a pair of discharge rollers for discharging the sheet at a fixed position. 36, a vertical moving device 3 for moving the bin tray 1 group collectively in the vertical direction, and the trunnion 13 loosely fitted to the pin 20 in association with the vertical movement.
A cam track 21 for horizontally moving the bin tray 1 at a biased position, and a slide cam 10 having rolling roller grooves 100 having bottom surfaces parallel to the upper and lower surfaces on the left and right end edges of the bin tray 1. Then, the slide cam 1 of the bin tray 1 immediately above is mounted via the rolling roller 31 so that the interval between the bin tray 1 immediately above and the slide cam 10 is always constant.
I tried to support 0.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is used as a post-processing device for an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, and is stacked in multiple stages in the vertical direction, and each of them is supported so as to be movable relative to each other in the sheet conveying direction. The present invention relates to a sheet distribution / accommodation device including a plurality of bin trays for sequentially accommodating different sheets.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a sheet distributing / storing device of this type,
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-4855 discloses a sheet collating / sorting apparatus that uses a Geneva wheel to widen the space between a bin tray for receiving paper and a bin tray above the bin tray to facilitate the storage of sheets. Kaisho 56-78769
The publication discloses an improved sorting device which similarly expands the space between bin trays by using a helical cam. Further, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-110075, a bin for receiving a sheet is made parallel to a sheet storage surface of the bin by vertically moving the bin and engaging with a cam without expanding the bin interval as in the above-mentioned conventional technique. There is disclosed a sorting apparatus which is moved to a position to form a sheet receiving port.

[0003]

In the prior art, when a sheet is stored in a bin which is normally held at a narrow bin interval like the former, a device for expanding the bin interval has an unnecessary bin interval. Since it does not store paper efficiently, it requires a mechanical expansion mechanism such as a Geneva wheel or a helical cam, so smooth expansion operation performance cannot be obtained, and there is no jarring impact noise during paper storage operation. It could not be prevented. Also, in the latter type, the bin interval is always kept constant, so there is no need for an expansion mechanism and there is little noise during operation, but it is difficult to secure a sufficient size paper receiving port. When accepting bent paper, storage problems and sorting problems could occur. Also, if you try to increase the amount of paper that can be stored by setting a large paper storage interval, it is necessary to expand all bin intervals, and it is impossible to improve the paper storage efficiency while reducing the size of the device. Was to be. The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional example. In the position other than the sheet discharging position, the bin interval is kept as narrow as possible to improve the storage efficiency of the sheet and the sheet. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet distribution / storing device that operates smoothly during storage, generates less noise, has a simple mechanism, and has a low manufacturing cost.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has a stacking surface that is vertically stacked in multiple stages and has a stacking surface that is inclined in the sheet conveying direction, each of which is movable in the sheet conveying direction. A plurality of bin trays that support and store sheets carried in from an external sheet ejection device, a sheet ejection unit that ejects sheets onto the stacking surface at a fixed sheet ejection position, and a bin tray group collectively. Vertical moving means for moving in the vertical direction, and biasing means for biasing the bin tray in the same direction as the inclined side direction of the stacking surface of the bin tray at the biased position near the sheet discharging position due to the movement in the vertical direction, and the sheet conveying direction. On the other hand, in the vicinity of the left and right end edges of the bin tray, supporting means having upper and lower surfaces having at least a supporting surface parallel to the sheet conveying direction are provided. Lifting means, so that the distance between the supporting surface of the bin tray immediately above is always constant, it is obtained so as to support the support means bin tray immediately above through the supporting surface. Preferably, on at least one of the upper and lower surfaces of the support means, a concave groove formed along the sheet conveying direction,
There is provided a rotating body sandwiched between the bottom surfaces of the groove, the supporting surface is the bottom surface of the groove, and the supporting means of the bin tray supports the supporting means of the bin tray immediately above via the rotating body. ..

[0005]

When the designated bin tray reaches the biased position by the vertical moving means collectively moving the bin trays in the vertical direction, the biasing means biases the bin tray in the same direction as the inclined side of the sheet stacking surface to cause the bias. The bin tray stacking surface interval at the position is made wider than the stacking surface interval between the bin trays at other positions, so that sheets to be discharged can be received. The support means supports the bin tray immediately above via the support surface such that the distance between the above-mentioned support surface and the bin tray immediately above is always constant. For example, the rotating body is fitted into the concave groove and is sandwiched between the bottom surfaces thereof to support the supporting means of the bin tray immediately above and facilitate the movement of the bin tray immediately above in the sheet conveying direction.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the entire sheet processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the vicinity of the bin tray, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the biasing operation of the bin tray of the sheet processing apparatus. 4 is an explanatory view showing the biased portion in an enlarged manner. The sheet processing apparatus of the present embodiment is a post-processing apparatus capable of sorting image-recorded sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and further performing a plurality of binding operations in succession. Is used by being closely attached to the image forming apparatus. First, an outline of the configuration of the sheet processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 is a bin tray whose main surface is inclined toward the paper receiving side and receives and stores the transfer paper p carried in from the right side in each drawing, 10 (a,
b) is extended to the front and rear (left and right in the paper transport direction) side edge of the paper receiving side of the bin tray 1 and the front and rear side edges downstream thereof, and the upper and lower surfaces are kept horizontal in the stacked state of the bin tray 1. It is a slide cam. The bin trays 1 are vertically stacked in multiple stages, and can be integrally moved in the vertical direction in a multi-stage stacked state by a vertical moving device to be described later. By the vertical movement, a horizontal slide mechanism including a cam track described later is used. At the biased portion B, each bin tray 1 is sequentially moved by a predetermined distance in the paper transport direction so that it can be moved between the upper stacking group 1U and the lower stacking group 1D. On the other hand, at the time of the sorting operation, at the facing position outside the front edge of the bin tray 1 located at the bottom of the upper stacking group 1U,
The paper binding device 5 and the paper moving unit 6 are arranged at fixed positions (see FIG. 2), and the paper binding device 5 completes the sorting operation and then transfers the stack of transfer papers P stacked on the bin tray 1. This is a device for binding a staple at one end, and the paper moving unit 6 holds the transfer paper bundle P, which is also aligned and stacked, by a gripping mechanism and pulls it out to the binding position of the paper binding device 5, and It is a device for pushing back to the position.

Hereinafter, each part of the sheet processing apparatus will be described in detail. First, in the bin tray 1, 100 is a rolling roller groove provided on the upper and lower surfaces of each slide cam 10 so as to extend in the left-right direction in the figure, and 13 is projectingly provided on the front and rear side edges of the slide cam 10a on the sheet receiving side. A trunnion, which is loosely fitted into the pin 12 and is freely rotatable, is provided upright on the edge of the bin tray 1 on the paper receiving side, and a trailing edge alignment fence for aligning the upstream edge with the discharged transfer paper abutting, 1
Reference numeral 5 is an insertion hole of the bin tray 1 through which the jogger wire of the sheet aligning device 4 described later is inserted in the vertical direction, and 16 is a hole piece of the jaw mechanism of the sheet moving unit 6 which is also described later, which is loosely insertable on the front edge side of the bin tray 1. It is a cutout part. A spherical rolling roller 31 is inserted into the rolling roller groove 100 by being sandwiched between the slide cams 10 of the upper and lower bin trays 1, and the bin tray 1 stacked on the upper portion thereof is slid at four positions in front, rear, left and right. It is supported by the semi-cylindrical bottom surface of the rolling roller groove 100 of the cam 10. FIG. 5 shows the section line X shown in FIG.
It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view taken along the line -X, and as shown in the figure, the rolling roller groove 100a has a semicircular cross section, so that when the bin trays 1 are stacked, the bin trays 1 are moved forward and backward. Even if a stress is applied, the spherical surface of the rolling roller 31 fitted in the rolling roller groove 100a comes into contact with the cylindrical curved surface of the rolling roller groove 100a along the above-mentioned cross-sectional shape, and moves in the front-back direction. Acts to prevent. Even if the bin tray 1 slightly swings in the front-back direction, the spherical surface of the rolling roller 31 immediately becomes the curved bottom surface of the cylindrical curved surface of the rolling roller groove 100a due to the gravity of the bin tray 1 group stacked on the upper side. Since it returns to a stable state in which it contacts along, in this embodiment,
The bin tray group 1 has an autonomous centering function of autonomously maintaining a fixed position in the front-rear direction without providing any supporting means. However, in the biased portion B, there is a possibility that the bin tray 1 slightly swings in the front-back direction as the bin tray 1 moves in the sheet conveyance direction. At that time, the swinging bin tray 1 moves in the front-back direction. The vertical movement motor 27 of the vertical movement device 3 that comes into contact with front and rear guide plates 11 provided to prevent a large swing of the bin tray 1 and receives a frictional force to provide a driving force for moving the bin tray 1 in the sheet conveying direction. In order to prevent an excessive load from being applied, a recess 11a extending in the horizontal direction is provided in the vicinity of the offset portion B of the guide plate 11,
The contact with the bin tray 1 is prevented. Next, the vertical movement device 3 and the horizontal slide mechanism for moving the bin tray 1 along the slide cam 10 by utilizing the vertical driving force of the vertical movement device 3 will be described.
Reference numerals 2f and 2r denote a front frame and a rear frame of the sheet processing apparatus, and an upper vertical portion 21U and a lower vertical portion 21 in the sheet receiving side vertical direction of the front frame 2f and the rear frame 2r.
A long cam track 21 composed of D and a biased portion 21B therebetween and a guide hole 22 extending in the vertical direction are formed on the opposite side thereof. The biased portion 21B of the cam track 21 is vertically downward from the upper vertical portion 21U lower end. Part 21
D is a skew portion that smoothly skews from the sheet receiving side toward the upper end. A trunnion 6 provided on each bin tray 1 and a supporting member of a first bin drive bar described later is loosely fitted in the cam track 21 and guided along the cam track 21. Further, a rotary shaft 23 is mounted above the lower vertical portion 21D of the cam track 21 of the front frame 2f and the rear frame 2r via a bearing.
The take-up pulleys 24 are fixed to the front frame 2f and the rear frame 2r at the both ends of the front and rear, respectively. A winding gear 25 is fixed to the rotating shaft 23 outside the winding roller 24 at the rear side, and meshes with a reduction gear 26 that constitutes a meshing gear group. A vertical movement motor 27, which is a drive source of the vertical movement device 3, is arranged at the rear portion of the rear frame 2r, and the driving force of the vertical movement motor 27 is transmitted to the winding gear 25 via the meshing gear group. Below the lower vertical portion 21D of the cam track 21 and above the guide hole 22, the first and second direction changing pulleys 28,
29 are pivotally supported outside the front frame 2f and the rear frame 2r, respectively. 17a and 17b are first and second bin drive bars, respectively, and 30 is a suspension wire. One end of the suspension wire 30 is wound around the take-up pulley 24, and the other end thereof is connected to the first and second direction change pulleys 28, 29. It is fixed to both ends 19b of the second bin drive bar 17b via, and is further fixed to both ends 19a of the first bin drive bar 17a between the winding pulley 24 and the first direction changing pulley 28. That is, the suspension wire 30 includes the first and second suspension wires.
A group of bin trays stacked in multiple stages on the bin drive bars 17a and 17b are suspended so as to be vertically movable in parallel. First and second support members 18a and 18b carrying a group of bin trays 1 are fixed near the respective ends of the first and second bin drive bars 17a and 17b. Is provided with a rolling roller groove 100 extending in the direction, and the rolling roller groove 100 is formed.
The bin tray 1 via the rolling roller 31 fitted inside
Support the flock. The trunnion 13 is also loosely fitted to the pin 20 protruding from the outer side surface of the first support member 18a so as to be rollable. The trunnion 13 of the first support member 18a is also fitted into the cam track 21 together with the trunnion 13 of each bin tray 1, and they move integrally when moving in the vertical direction along the cam track 21. Reference numeral 32 denotes a jogger arm that is driven by a drive mechanism (not shown) to rotate in a counterclockwise direction, and 33 has upper and lower ends vertically stretched through the bin tray 1 between the tips of the jogger arm 32, and the bin tray 1 is stretched. The jogger wire is a jogger wire that strikes the rear end of the transfer paper p stored above and strikes the front edge of the bin tray 1 to align the sheets. These jogger wires constitute the sheet aligning device 4 together with the drive mechanism. Reference numeral 36 denotes a pair of paper discharge rollers of the image processing apparatus provided in the preceding stage of the paper processing apparatus, 3
Reference numeral 8 denotes an upper and lower sheet conveyance guide plates that are positioned immediately upstream of the pair of sheet ejection rollers 36 and guide the transfer sheet p to be ejected. As shown in FIG. 4, the paper discharge roller pair 36 is disposed at a position facing the edge of the bin tray 1 on the paper receiving side located at the biased portion B, and is driven by the paper discharge motor 37 to transfer the image-formed transfer paper. p is discharged onto the bin tray 1 along the paper transport guide plate 38 (see FIG. 1). Numeral 39 is erected perpendicularly to the main surface at the edge of the paper receiving side of the bin tray 1.
It is a sheet locking piece made of a flexible plastic film.

The operation of the embodiment will be described below. When the print start button of the image forming apparatus (not shown) is pressed,
After the image is recorded on the transfer paper p, it is sent to the paper processing apparatus by the conveyance of the paper discharge roller pair 36. On the other hand, when a signal for selecting a predetermined bin tray 1 is sent from the image forming apparatus to the sheet processing apparatus and the sheet processing apparatus receives the signal,
The vertical movement motor 27 rotates forward or backward by a predetermined number of rotations such that the designated bin tray 1 is aligned with the biased portion B, and vertically moves the bin tray 1 group through the suspension wire 30. The bin tray 1 group vertically moves up and down by the guide along the cam track 21 of the trunnion 13 arranged at the front and rear outer edges of the slide cam 10a on the sheet receiving side. For example, the designated bin tray 1 is the lower loading group 1D
In the case of being inside, the bin tray 1 group includes the first and second bin drive bars 17a and 17b.
The vertical movement motor 27 is carried by the support members 18a and 18b, and is pulled up to the suspension wire 30 by a predetermined distance each time the vertical movement motor 27 intermittently repeats rotation. While the trunnion 13 of the bin tray 1 rolls, the biased portion 21B of the cam track 21
21B, the biased portion 21B skews toward the paper receiving side.
The vertical upward movement is prevented by the biased portion 21B.
Along the skewed edge of, the sheet receiving side is moved diagonally upward. Along with that, the pin 20 that pivotally supports the trunnion 13 also moves, so that the bin tray 1, which is supported by the rolling roller 31 rolling in the rolling roller groove 100 and is movable in the horizontal direction, is guided to the trunnion 13 and rolls. The moving roller 31 rolls to slide to the sheet receiving side. Trunnion 1
3 reaches the upper right end of the biased portion 21B, the cam track 2
1 is guided vertically upward along the upper vertical portion 21U.
Thus, in association with the movement of the trunnion 13 guided by the cam track 21, each bin tray 1 has a lower vertical portion 2
1D and the upper vertical portion 21U simply and sequentially move intermittently in the upward direction, and in the biased portion B, intermittent movement toward the diagonally upstream side along the oblique edge of the biased portion 21B is performed. Eventually, when the designated bin tray 1 reaches the biased portion B, the vertical movement motor 27 stops rotating and the preparation for receiving the transfer sheet p is completed. At this time, the sheet stacking surface distance between the designated bin tray 1 and the bin tray 1 immediately above the bin tray 1 is the lower vertical portion 2.
It is wider than the sheet stacking surface interval in 1D and the upper vertical portion 21U. In the present embodiment, the operation of expanding the distance between the bin trays 1 at the biased portion B is caused by the trunnion 13 being guided by the cam track 21 as the bin tray 1 group is vertically moved by the vertical moving device 3.
Since only the horizontal movement of the bin tray 1 is performed, the vertical positional relationship of the bin tray 1 does not change even if the bin tray 1 is biased. That is, since the slide cams 10 serving as the supporting portions between the bin trays 1 do not separate from each other but only move in parallel in the paper transport direction, the vertical gap G between the bin trays 1 is always kept constant. As shown in FIG. 3, the upper stacking group 1U is moved horizontally by the distance H to the upstream side when the bin tray 1 is moved from the lower stacking group 1D to the upper stacking group 1U.
Alternatively, with respect to the sheet stacking surface interval GV in the lower stacking group 1D, the sheet stacking surface interval GB between the bin trays 1 at the biased portion B is the horizontal moving distance H of the bin tray 1 immediately above and the offset portion 21B of the cam track 21. Enlarge according to the inclination of.
As described above, the paper discharge roller pair 36 of the image forming apparatus is disposed so as to face the edge of the bin tray 1 on the paper receiving side at this position, and as shown in FIG.
The transfer paper p conveyed in the position where the transfer paper p was at the broken line position 3
When the front end of 9 is pushed to the position indicated by the solid line and is discharged during the expanded sheet stacking surface interval GB of the bin tray 1, it falls due to its own weight and collides with the trailing edge alignment fence 14 for alignment. When the transfer sheet p passes through the tip of the sheet locking piece 39, the sheet locking piece 39 returns to the original broken line position by the elastic force, so that the transfer sheet p is transferred to the rear end alignment fence 14 of the bin tray 1.
Never jump over. If the inclination angle of the biased portion 21B is small, the interval GB of the bin tray 1 becomes large, but it becomes difficult to smoothly transition from the lower vertical portion 21D of the trunnion 13 to the upper vertical portion 21U. Further, if the inclination angle of the biased portion 21B is too large, the interval GB between the bin trays 1 of the biased portion B cannot be taken sufficiently, and therefore an appropriate angle may be set in consideration of these tradeoffs.

When the rear ends of the transfer sheets p are aligned, the drive of the sheet aligning device 4 is started, and the jogger arm 32 is swung at a predetermined angle in the counterclockwise direction (arrow s) to insert the jogger wire 33 into the insertion hole. The paper 15 is moved in an arc in the horizontal direction, and the rear end of the transfer paper p stored on the bin tray 1 is hit to align the paper (see FIG. 2). By this paper alignment operation, the transfer paper p is hit against the front edge of the bin tray 1 and the front edge is aligned. When a signal for instructing the next bin tray 1 is sent to the sheet processing apparatus in association with the ejection operation of the next transfer sheet p from the image forming apparatus, the vertical movement motor 27 rotates by a predetermined number of rotations, and And the second bin drive bar 1
7a and 17b are pulled up to move the bin tray 1, which was at the top of the lower product group 1D, to the lowest position of the upper product group 1U. Bin tray 1 by this vertical movement device 3
By the lifting operation of the group, a wide sheet stacking surface space GB is formed between the bin tray 1 which was the highest in the lower stacking group 1D and the bin tray 1 immediately below, and the maximum stacking in the lower stacking group 1D. The sheet stacking surface interval between the upper bin tray 1 and the lower bin tray 1 of the upper stacking group 1U is a narrow GV. When the discharged transfer paper p is bent, the front end of the paper locking piece 39 is pressed against the back surface of the bin tray 1 which is the lowermost part of the upper stacking group 1U, and is bent and laid down on the downstream side. Due to the recumbency of the tip of the stopper 39, the bent lower end of the transfer paper p located below is pressed and rolled. If a certain amount of the transfer sheet bundle P has already been stored, the entire surface of the transfer sheet p is pressed against the back surface of the bin tray 1 and further rolled. In this way, when the paper sorting operation is completed by the intermittent pull-up operation of the group of bin trays 1 by the series of vertical movement devices 3 and the operation of storing the transfer paper p discharged from the image forming apparatus on the bin tray 1, When the instruction to execute the binding operation of the transfer sheet bundle P is subsequently received, the sheet binding operation by the sheet binding device 5 described below is performed. First, the vertical movement motor 27 is rotated to move the bin tray 1 group upward or downward until the bin tray 1 loaded with the uppermost transfer sheet bundle P is located at the lowest position of the upper stacking group 1U. Next, the gripping piece 34 of the paper moving unit 6 causes the paper moving motor 3 to move.
5 is driven by 5 to enter the notch 16 of the bin tray 1 with the tip open, and the tip of the gripping piece 34 is closed to hold the transfer sheet bundle P and pull it out to the binding position of the sheet binding device 5. The transfer sheet bundle P is bound at one end by the sheet binding device 5 while being held by the holding piece 34.
When the binding process for the transfer sheet bundle P is completed, the sheet moving motor 35 rotates in the reverse direction to push the transfer sheet bundle P back to the original position.
The configurations of the sheet binding device 5 and the sheet moving unit 6 are the same as those of the conventional example, and thus the description thereof will be omitted.

FIGS. 6 to 8 are cross-sectional views of a main part according to a modified example of the first embodiment, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction including the rolling roller 31 of the slide cam 10. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view, and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the central portion of the slide cam 10a of the bin tray 1 group near the biased portion B in the paper transport direction. In the modified example shown in FIG. 6, the rolling roller groove 100 has a V groove in the vertical section perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction, and the rolling roller 31 is always in contact with the rolling roller 31 at only two points. Is further reduced. The modified example shown in FIG. 7 is a locking piece 1 that comes into contact with the upper surface of the slide cam 10 along the outer edge of the V groove with the front and rear upper surfaces of the rolling roller 31 with weak elastic forces.
01 is attached, and the rolling roller 31 is rolled into the rolling roller groove 100 when the bin tray 1 group is assembled or disassembled.
It is designed to prevent falling from the inside. In the modified example shown in FIG. 8, two rolling roller grooves 100 are provided along the sheet conveying direction of the slide cam 10, and the rolling rollers 31 fitted therein are stacked on the upper side thereof. Since the gravity of the group of bin trays 1 that has been dispersed is carried in a distributed manner, the stress acting on the rolling rollers 31 and the slide cam 10 is relieved, and the smooth biasing operation of the bin tray 1 due to the reduction of the elastic deformation of the slide cam 10, Of rolling frictional force and rolling roller 31 and slide cam 1
The durability of 0 is improved.

Next, in the stacked state of the group of bin trays 1, the upper and lower surfaces of the slide cam 10 (to be precise, the rolling roller groove 1)
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described in which the bottom surface (00) is supported with a slight inclination from the horizontal plane. 9, FIG. 11, FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 are schematic views showing the biasing operation of the sheet processing apparatus of the second embodiment of the present invention, respectively, and longitudinal sectional views of the slide cam 10 taken along the cutting line YY of FIG. FIG. 12 is an enlarged perspective view of the vicinity of the slide cam 10a on the sheet receiving side, and a vertical cross-sectional view of the slide cam 10a taken along the cutting line ZZ in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 9, the bin tray 1 group includes the slide cam 1
The upper and lower surfaces of 0 are stacked on the sheet receiving side with respect to the horizontal plane Ho by an inclination angle θ. Therefore, each of the bin trays 1 receives the component force of gravity × sin θ of the bin trays 1 group mounted on the bin tray 1 and the slide cam 1
It is urged to move to the sheet receiving side along the upper surface of 0. That is, the biased portion 21 of the cam track 21
When the inclination angle of B with respect to the horizontal plane Ho is Φ, the vertical movement device 3 pulls up the bin tray 1 group,
When the bin tray 1 which was at the top of the lower loading group 1D moves to the lowest position of the upper loading group 1U, the biased portion 21
In relation to the B inclination angle Φ, it is sufficient to climb at an inclination angle θ at a gentle angle, and the load on the vertical movement motor 27 can be reduced accordingly. On the other hand, the sheet stacking surface interval GB between the bin trays 1 which is expanded accordingly is narrowed by the amount of inclination corresponding to the horizontal movement distance H of the bin tray 1. Therefore, when designing the device, the bin tray 1
The tilt angle θ may be appropriately set in consideration of the load capacity of the above, the driving ability of the vertical movement motor 27, and the like. When the inclination direction of the upper and lower surfaces of the slide cam 10 is on the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction, the above situation is just opposite. 11
And as shown in FIG. 12, in this embodiment, the rolling roller groove 1
00 has a substantially rectangular cross section, and has a bottom surface 102 parallel to the top surface of the slide cam 10. The rolling roller 31 fitted in this has a substantially cylindrical shape, and a roller shaft portion 311 is provided in a protruding manner at the center of one flat surface portion thereof. The lower rolling roller groove 100D of the slide cam 10 is the upper rolling roller groove 100U.
It has a deeper depth than that of the above, and can accommodate the main part of the rolling roller 31 to be fitted therein. A communication hole 104 is provided between one end of the upper bottom surface 102U and the one of the lower bottom surface 102D so as to communicate with each other and extend along the longitudinal direction of the rolling roller groove 100. Further, at the end of the opening of the lower rolling roller groove 100D on the side of the communication hole 104, a roller pressing projection 103 is provided along the longitudinal direction of the rolling roller groove 100 so as to slightly cover the opening. However, the distance between the tip and the side wall of the lower rolling roller groove 100D facing it is formed to be substantially equal to the height of the flat portion of the rolling roller 31. Since the communication hole 104 is formed when the rolling roller 31 is fitted into the lower rolling roller groove 100D, the edge of the lower rolling roller groove 100D on the communication hole 104 side is made elastic. The opening is easily widened by pushing the opening outward, so that the roller shaft portion 311 of the rolling roller 31 can pass through the opening. Once
When the rolling roller 31 is fitted into the rolling roller groove 100D on the lower side, the roller shaft portion 311 is locked by the roller pressing protrusion 103,
At the time of stacking and assembling the group of bin trays 1, the dropout from the rolling roller groove 100D on the lower side of the rolling roller 31 is prevented. In this embodiment, the rolling rollers 31 are the upper and lower rolling roller grooves 100U, 1
The bottom surface 102U and the bottom surface 102D of 00D roll under pressure, and the front and rear movements are restricted by both side surfaces of the upper and lower rolling roller grooves 100U and 100D. Therefore, the aligning action as in the first embodiment does not work in this case.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described in which the paper tray has a bin tray 1 whose paper stacking surface is inclined downstream in the paper conveying direction. FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of the sheet processing apparatus according to the third embodiment. As shown in the figure, in this embodiment, the biased portion 21B of the cam track 21 is located in the bin tray 1
Is tilted in the opposite direction (upstream) to the paper stacking surface of
For example, when the lower stacking group 1D of the bin tray 1 moves to the upper stacking group 1U by the lifting operation of the vertical moving device 3, the trunnion 13 guided by the cam track 21 is used.
When the bin tray 1 is biased to the downstream side at the biased portion B as the paper is moved, the paper stacking surface interval is expanded from GV to GB, and the transfer paper p conveyed during that time is discharged by the paper discharge roller pair 36. To be done. Since the discharged transfer paper p slides down along the paper stacking surface of the bin tray 1 by its own weight, there is an advantage that the discharge speed of the transfer paper p by the paper discharge roller pair 36 does not need to be set to be as large as in the other embodiments. .. Other configurations and operations are similar to those of the first embodiment. As described above, in each embodiment, the suspension system using the suspension wire 30 is adopted as the vertical moving device for the group of bin trays 1. However, other moving devices may be used, and the rolling roller 31 It is not always necessary, and it may be achieved by fitting concave and convex grooves formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the cam track 10. Further, the jogger wire for aligning the transfer sheets stored in the bin tray 1 may be a rod-shaped jogger bar.

[0013]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the vertical moving means moves the bin tray group in the vertical direction, the biasing means moves the bin tray to the biased position. It is biased in the same direction as that of the bin tray to expand the stacking surface distance between the bin trays so that the discharged sheets can be received and the supporting means keeps a constant distance between the supporting surface and the bin tray immediately above. In addition, since the supporting means of the bin tray immediately above is supported via the supporting surface, the biasing operation of the bin tray for receiving the sheet is smoothly performed, and the impact sound or the like is generated when the bin tray stacking surface interval is expanded. You can almost eliminate the occurrence of noise,
The mechanism is simple and can be manufactured at low cost, and the seats can be efficiently stored. According to the second aspect of the invention, since the rotating body is provided between the supporting surfaces of the upper and lower supporting means of the bin tray, the frictional force during the biasing operation of the bin tray along the sheet conveying direction at the biasing position is provided. Since it is reduced and becomes smooth, the driving load of the biasing means is reduced. According to the third aspect of the invention, at least one of the upper and lower surfaces of the supporting means is provided with a concave groove formed along the sheet conveying direction, and the bottom of the concave groove presses the rotating body to press the rotary body directly above. Since the supporting means is supported, the rotating body rotates along the concave groove during the biasing operation, so that the biasing operation along the sheet conveying direction of the bin tray is stable without providing special guide means. .. According to the invention described in claim 4, since the rotating body is configured not to have the fixed rotating shaft, the frictional force during the biasing operation of the bin tray can be only the rolling frictional force of the rotating body. The driving load of the biasing means is further reduced. According to the invention of claim 5,
Since the contact surface between the rotating body and the groove is almost the same as the cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction, the contact surface between the rotating body and the groove becomes wider and the contact pressure decreases, so the elastic deformation of the contact part And wear can be reduced, and the stability and durability of the device can be improved. According to the invention of claim 6, the sectional shape of the concave groove perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction is V-shaped or inverted V-shaped, so that the adjustment is performed by the cooperative action with the rotating body fitted therein. Since the contact area between the rotating body and the groove can be reduced while maintaining the core function, it is possible to improve the stability of the device and reduce the driving load of the biasing means. According to the invention described in claim 7, since the rotating body is provided with the locking piece for holding the rotating body from the outside of the groove, the rotating body is prevented from falling from the groove when the bin tray group is stacked or assembled or disassembled. It can be prevented. According to the invention as set forth in claim 8, since the bin tray guide member having the concave portion along the sheet conveying direction is provided in the vicinity of the bias position of the main surface on the bin tray side, the bias occurs due to the contact between the bin tray and the guide member during the bias operation. It is possible to prevent an excessive driving load from being applied to the means.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of an entire sheet processing apparatus according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the vicinity of the bin tray of the paper processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a biasing operation of the bin tray of the paper processing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an enlarged biased portion of the sheet processing apparatus.

5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the bin tray along the cutting line XX shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction including rolling rollers of a slide cam according to a modified example of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction including rolling rollers of a slide cam of another modification.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a central portion of a slide cam of a bin tray group of still another modified example in the paper transport direction.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a biasing operation of the sheet processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the slide cam along the cutting line YY of FIG.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view of the vicinity of the slide cam on the paper receiving side.

FIG. 12 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the slide cam along the cutting line Z-Z in FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of a sheet processing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Bin Tray 3 Vertical Moving Device 4 Paper Aligning Device 10 Slide Cam 13 Trunnion 11 Guide Plate 11a Recess 17 Drive Bar 21 Cam Track 31 Rolling Roller 100 Rolling Roller Groove 101 Locking Piece 102 Bottom 103 Thin Wall 104 Communicating Hole 311 Rolling Axis Department

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A stacking device having a stacking surface vertically stacked, having a stacking surface inclined in the sheet conveying direction, movably supported in the sheet conveying direction, and carried in from an external sheet discharging device. A sheet distribution and storage device that sorts received sheets, comprising a plurality of bin trays for storing sheets and a sheet discharge means for discharging sheets on the stacking surface of the bin tray at a fixed sheet discharge position, Vertical moving means for collectively moving the group in the vertical direction, and with the vertical movement of the bin tray group by the vertical moving means, at a biased position near the sheet discharge position, in the inclined side direction of the stacking surface. Biasing means for biasing the bin tray in the same direction, and at least in the upper and lower surfaces near the left and right edge sides of the bin tray with respect to the sheet transport direction. Also includes a supporting means having a supporting surface parallel to the sheet conveying direction, and the supporting means of the bin trays is provided directly above the bin tray so that the distance between the bin tray and the supporting surface is always constant. A sheet distribution and storage device, characterized in that the support means of the bin tray is supported via the support surface. 2. A rotating body is sandwiched between supporting surfaces of the bin tray supporting means and the bin tray supporting means immediately above, and the bin tray supporting means supports the bin tray immediately above via the rotating body. 2. The sheet distribution and storage device according to claim 1, which supports the means. 3. At least one of the upper and lower surfaces of the supporting means,
3. The sheet distribution / accommodation device according to claim 2, further comprising a concave groove formed along the sheet conveying direction, wherein the supporting surface is a bottom surface of the concave groove. 4. The sheet distribution and storage device according to claim 2, wherein the rotating body does not have a fixed rotating shaft. 5. The sheet distribution and storage device according to claim 3, wherein the contact surfaces of the rotary member and the concave groove have substantially the same cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction. 6. The sheet distribution / accommodation device according to claim 3, wherein a cross-sectional shape of the concave groove perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction is V-shaped or inverted V-shaped. 7. One end is attached to an outer edge of the groove along the sheet conveying direction, the other end partially covers an opening of the groove, and the rotating body is held from the outside of the groove and locked. 4. The sheet distribution and storage device according to claim 3, further comprising a locking piece. 8. A bin tray-side main surface is provided with a concave portion in the vicinity of a biased position along the sheet conveying direction, and the concave portion is disposed in the vicinity of left and right side edges of the bin tray with respect to the sheet conveying direction, and the bin tray is a sheet. The sheet distribution and storage device according to claim 1, further comprising a guide member that guides the sheet in the conveyance direction.