JPH07206201A - Sheet-shaped material separating apparatus and separating method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] A sorting method that prevents the sheets from sticking due to their own weight, etc., and ensures that the sheets such as signatures and printed books can be sorted, and also the sorting of the sheets by this sorting method. It is an object of the present invention to achieve a sorting device at a small size and at low cost. [Structure] The stacking height sensors 61 and 62 detect the stacking height of the printing books P stacked on the mounting table 1, and the printing books P are moved to the third position.
When the print sheets P are stacked over the height H3 of the table, the print sheets P above the second height H2 on the mounting table 1 are lifted by the pair of hand members 31L and 31R to lift the upper and lower sides. Divide into two parts. Then, air is sent from the flat air nozzle 41 between the lower part of the book P, and at the same time, the lower part of the book P is sequentially taken out from the outlet of the mounting table 1. When the lower part of the copy book P is less and the stack height becomes lower than the first height H1, the hand member 31 is lowered and the upper part of the copy book P of the lower part is printed. Then, the stacking height of the book P on the mounting table 1 is the third.
If the height is higher than the height H3, the above processing is repeated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a separating device and a separating method used for separating a sheet-like material such as a printed book (hereinafter referred to as a printed book), for example, a book supply box of a collator. The present invention relates to a sorting device and a sorting method which are applied and are capable of reliably and automatically performing "sorting" of so-called printed books.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional sorting device, an actual flat sheet 4-3
Those described in Japanese Patent No. 1740 and the like are known. In Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-31740, the height position of an air blowing nozzle is adjusted according to the stacking height of the paper placed on a mounting table, and compressed air is blown onto the paper from this nozzle to separate the paper. What is done is described.

[0003]

However, in the sorting apparatus disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-31740, the paper stacked on the mounting table, especially the paper on the lower side, adheres to itself under its own weight. There was a problem that air could not be sent between the papers on the side portions, and sufficient separation could not be performed. In particular, when applied to a collator, etc., the collator is supplied with the prints in a tightly bound state. The above-mentioned problems are prominent and problems such as two-sheet feeding tend to occur. This invention has been made in view of the above problems, and suppresses the close contact of the printed book caused by its own weight or being strongly bound, and a sorting method capable of automatically and reliably sorting with a simple and small device, and It is an object of the present invention to provide a sorting device that realizes this sorting method.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, a sheet-like material separating apparatus according to the present invention is provided on a mounting table, and is provided with a front plate and a pair of horizontal plates to stack and stack sheet-like objects. In the lower part of the horizontal plate of the supply box to be placed, a lifting device having a lifting member that can be retracted between the horizontal plates is arranged oppositely, and on one side of the sheet-like objects stacked in the supply box. An air ejector was provided, and a back plate was provided so as to be movable back and forth so as to face the front plate.

Further, according to the method for separating sheet-like objects according to the present invention, a plurality of sheet-like objects stacked on the placing table are lifted up to a predetermined height by a lifting device having an upper member and placed on the placing table. The upper sheet and the lower section of the upper part are divided into two parts, and the lower part of the sheet part is separated and dropped due to its weight and elasticity, and it is piled up while blowing it in with an air blower. , I hit it with the backboard so that it would line up with the front board.

[0006]

According to the sheet-like material separating apparatus of the present invention, the lifting device lifts the plurality of sheet-like objects stacked on the mounting table by the lifting member to divide the sheet into upper and lower parts. However, since the back edge of the lower sheet-like material is hit with the back plate and air is sent between the lower sheet-like materials, the sheets are aligned and aligned in parallel without sticking to each other due to their own weight. Is done. Then, when the sheet-like material in the lower portion is taken out and becomes small, after lowering the sheet-like material in the upper portion onto the sheet-like material in the lower portion, it is again divided into the upper portion and the lower portion. Then, while blowing the lower part of the sheet-like material with the back plate, the air is blown in, and by repeating this process,
All sheets can be sorted and aligned reliably and automatically, which is easy to automate.

Further, in the sheet-like material separating apparatus according to the second aspect, since the air ejector is moved up and down to perform the air blowing, it is possible to sufficiently perform the air blowing between the sheet-shaped materials.
That is, since the air ejector only needs to move up and down in the range corresponding to the lower part, the moving range can be reduced, sufficient ventilation can be performed, and the size of the entire device can be reduced. Further, in the sheet material handling device according to the third aspect of the invention, since the lifting device is arranged at a position eccentric to the rear by a predetermined distance, the sheet material can be engaged with the front plate and stably lifted. Further, in the sheet-like material separating apparatus according to claim 4, the lifting member of the lifting device is inclined and retracted from the upper flat portion and the front end edge, and is subsequently formed into a wedge shape having a vertical portion, thereby forming a sheet. When the flat object is lifted, the sheet-like object sandwiched by the inclined portion and the vertical portion of the lifting member falls on the flip-flop and the sheet-like object in the lower portion, and the separation can be performed more reliably.

Further, according to the sorting method of the fifth aspect, the sheet-like material is lifted and divided into upper and lower parts, and the lower-side sheet-like material is aligned while being blown,
It is possible to prevent the sheet-like material from sticking to itself due to its own weight, and it is possible to separate it reliably. Further, according to the sorting method of claim 6, the sheet-like objects aligned with each other while being blown, that is, the sheet-like objects subjected to the sorting are sequentially taken out from the take-out port formed on the mounting table. Can be done continuously and work can be done efficiently.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 schematically show a sheet material separating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a front view, FIG. 2 is a front view in a state different from FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a side view. 4 is an enlarged side view of the main part.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a mounting surface 1a and a drawing surface 1
b is a collating machine base formed in a front and rear stepped manner, and the collating machine base 1 has a plurality of printing sheets (sheet-like objects) P on the mounting surface 1a.
Are stacked and placed, and a book drawer (not shown) having a vacuum suction pad or the like is provided on the drawer surface 1b. The book pull-out device sucks the book P stacked on the placement surface 1a by a suction pad, takes out the prints one by one from an outlet described later, and supplies the sheets to a collator (not shown). A well-known one can be used for this copy-book drawer, so a detailed description thereof will be omitted. Note that in this specification, for convenience of description, the right side in FIG. 1 is the front, the left side is the rear (back) side, and
The right side in FIGS. 2 and 3 is defined as the right side, and the left side is defined as the left side.

Further, the collator 1 is provided with a jogger 10 on the rear side of the placing surface 1a, and alignment plates (horizontal plates) 21L and 21R are erected on both left and right sides of the placing surface 1a. , The plate holding upper member 31L and the flat air nozzle 41 on the left side of the aligning plate 21L, and the plate holding upper member 31R on the right side of the aligning plate 21R.
The front plate 51 is attached by a bracket 52 so as to be tiltable so as to be separated from the front edge of the mounting surface 1a by a predetermined distance. The alignment plates 21L and 21R (hereinafter, represented by internal numbers of subscripts, if necessary) are arranged at intervals corresponding to the dimensions of the printing sheets P stacked on the mounting surface 1a. Each of the alignment plates 21L and 21R is formed with a guide portion 21a extending obliquely outward and upward at the upper part thereof, and an opening 21b having a height corresponding to that of the lifting member 31 is formed. The guide portion 21a guides the supplied book P, and a lifting member is arranged in the opening 21b as described later.

The front plate 51 extends vertically so that the front edge of the printing sheets P stacked on the mounting surface 1a can abut, and the lower end is separated from the front edge of the mounting surface 1a and the outlet 1c. Define.
The front surface of the back surface of the stacking bottommost book P is exposed at the take-out port 1c, and as described above, the print book P is taken out one by one from the take-out port 1c by the book take-out device and collated. Is supplied to. In addition, it is desirable that the aligning plate 21 and the front plate 51 described above are provided so that their positions can be adjusted in order to accommodate different sizes of the book P.

The lifting members 31L and 31R are horizontally opposed to each other at a position displaced by a predetermined distance E behind the center of gravity G of the piled up books P (front view in FIG. 1) to form a pair, It is detachably attached to the advancing / retreating cylinders 33L and 33R supported by the elevating cylinders 32L and 32R so as to be able to move up and down. As shown in FIG. 4, the lifting members 31L and 31R (hereinafter, represented by numbers without subscripts as necessary) are respectively flat upper surfaces 31a on the upper side, and obliquely downward outward from the tip of the upper surface 31a. It has an acute inverted wedge shape in which an inclined surface 31b that inclines and a vertical surface 31c that hangs vertically from the lower end of the inclined surface 31b are formed, and the tip corner portion has the mounting surface 1a.
It is arranged so that it can be inserted between the upper stacked printing sheets P. As will be described later, these lifting members 31 have a lifting upper surface 31a.
The left and right edges of the book P are placed on the top of the book P, and the book P is sandwiched between the inclined surface 31b and the vertical surface 31c. The lifting members 31 are prepared in various shapes and sizes according to the material, size, etc. of the book P, and are exchanged for use according to the size (type) of the book P.

The elevating cylinders 32L and 32R and the advancing / retreating cylinders 33L and 33R (hereinafter represented by numbers without subscripts as necessary) are connected to a pressure fluid source (not shown) so that the advancing / retreating cylinder 33 stacks the lifting member 31. Driven in the direction of approaching or separating from the printed copy P, and the lifting cylinder 32 integrally moves the lifting member 31 with the advancing / retracting cylinder 33 to the second position.
Height H2 and third height H3 are raised and lowered. The pressure fluid source has various electromagnetic valves connected to and controlled by the controller, and supplies pressure fluid such as pressure oil or compressed air to the cylinders 32 and 33 by controlling these electromagnetic valves. This pressure fluid source can use a well-known thing,
I will omit the detailed explanation.

As shown in FIG. 2, the jogger 10 is constructed by connecting a striking plate (back plate) 11 to a vibrating cylinder 12. The striking plate 11 is bent at a striking portion 11a that comes into contact with the trailing edge of the book P on the mounting surface 1a, and in a direction (rearward) above the striking portion 11a in a direction away from the book P on the mounting surface 1a. It has the formed guide part 11b, and is arranged so that the hitting part 11a is located substantially below the second height H2 described later. Like the cylinders 32 and 33 described above, the vibrating cylinder 12 is connected to the pressure fluid source and drives the striking plate 11 in the front-back direction by the action of the pressure particles supplied from the pressure fluid source, that is, the striking plate 11 Vibration with a predetermined amplitude and frequency is applied to. As is well known, the jogger 10 is arranged so that the striking portion 11a of the striking plate 11 driven by the cylinder 12 strikes the trailing edge of the printing plate P and abuts the leading edge against the front plate 51 to align the striking portion. The guide portion 11b of the plate 11 guides the copy book P.

The flat air nozzle 41 is supported by an elevating cylinder 44 so as to be vertically movable within a range from the mounting surface 1a to the second height H2. This flat air nozzle 4
1 communicates with a pressurized air source via a control electromagnetic valve or the like, and injects air from a nozzle hole. The electromagnetic valve is connected to the controller and is controlled by the controller, like the above-mentioned valves. This flat air nozzle 4
No. 1 jets compressed air from the nozzle hole toward the book P,
Air is introduced between the book P, that is, air is blown into the book P to separate the book P. These flat air nozzles 41 and the like correspond to air ejectors. In this embodiment, the flat air nozzle 41 is arranged on the side of the mounting surface 1a, but it may be arranged on the front side or the rear side.

Further, the collating machine base 1 is provided with two first and third stacking height sensors 61 and 62 for detecting the stacking height of the book P on the mounting surface 1a, which are vertically separated from each other. Is provided. These sensors 61 and 62 are configured, for example, by arranging a light emitting element and a light receiving element outside the alignment plates 21L and 21R, and these light emitting element and light receiving element are connected to the controller described above. In the first stacking height sensor 61, the copy book P is the first.
The height H1 is detected and the detection signal is output to the controller, and similarly, the second stacking height sensor 62 causes the copy book P to be higher than the first height H1. Three
It is detected that the sheet has been piled up to exceed the height H3 and the detection signal is output. In this embodiment, the sensor 61,
Although 62 is composed of optical sensors, these sensors 61, 62 should be replaced with mechanical sensors such as microswitches or electrical sensors such as ultrasonic type capable of continuously detecting the stacking height. Is also possible.

In this embodiment, the unprinted book P is supplied, and the book P is stacked and placed on the placing surface 1a. Then, the copy P has a third height H3.
If stacked above the third height, the third stacking height sensor 6
The raising and lowering cylinder 32 and the advancing / retreating cylinder 33 are driven based on the detection signal of 2, and the lifting member 31 lifts the part of the book P above the second height H2 above the third stacking height H3 ( (See FIG. 3). That is, first, each advancing / retreating cylinder 33 moves forward to insert the lifting member 31 between the printing sheets P, and then the lifting cylinder 32 operates in the rising direction to move the lifting member 31 upward to move the upper part Lift the copy book P. Here, at the time of lifting, since the lifting member 31 is arranged at a position eccentric to the rear by a predetermined distance E, the lifted book P does not fall backward.

When lifting, the upper part of the book P is lifted while being placed on the upper surface 31a of the lifting member 31, but some of the books P are lifted by the lifting members 31L, 3L.
It is sandwiched and lifted between the inclined surfaces 31b of 1R and the vertical surfaces 31c. And each lifting member 31L, 31R
As shown by the phantom line in FIG. 3, the book P that is sandwiched and lifted between the inclined surfaces 31b and the vertical surfaces 31c falls down with its own elasticity. Therefore, the printed book P is naturally dealt with by dropping and is dealt with without any special work.

On the other hand, when the book P is lifted upward and the book P on the mounting surface 1a is divided into upper and lower parts, the jogger 10 hits the hitting part of the hitting plate 11 with respect to the lower part of the book P. 11a
Then, the flat air nozzle 41 reciprocates up and down in the above range and sends air from the nozzle hole to the lower part of the printing plate P to blow air. Here, since the book P is divided into upper and lower parts, the book P does not come into close contact with itself due to its own weight, and the book P can be reliably separated even when the book P is strongly bound, and the wind It suffices that the insertion is performed only for the lower part of the book P, the reciprocating range of the flat air nozzle 41 is small, and sufficient air can be sent between the book P, so that each book P can be separated reliably. . Then, the lower part of the book P is taken out one by one from the take-out port 1c by the book drawer and supplied to the collator.

After that, when the stacking height of the lower part of the book P becomes lower than the first height H1, the first stacking height sensor 6
Based on the output of 1, the ascending / descending cylinder 32 descends, and then the advancing / retreating cylinder 33 operates backward. Therefore, the upper part of the book P that is lifted by the lifting member 31 is stacked on the lower part of the book P. At this time, the guide portion 11b is formed on the hitting plate 11 of the jogger 10,
Since the descending upper part of the book P is guided by the guide portion 11b, the upper part of the book P can be reliably placed on the lower part of the book P.

If the stacking height of the upper part of the book P is higher than the third height H3 in the state where the upper part of the book P is stacked on the lower part of the book P, the above-mentioned series of steps is repeated. Do the action,
This series of operations is repeated until the stacking height of the book P becomes lower than the first height H1. Therefore, even when the books P are piled high on the placing surface 1a, they can be separated without being adversely affected by their own weight, that is, without causing the inconvenience that the sheets P adhere to each other by their own weight. A large number of copies P can be supplied at one time, and the number of times of supply can be reduced to reduce the number of steps.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the upper part of the book P on the mounting surface 1a is lifted and divided into upper and lower parts, and the trailing edge of the lower part of the book P is hit with the jogger 10. The flat air nozzles 41, and air is sent from the flat air nozzle 41 to the lower part of the book P. That is, since the separating process is performed only on the lower part of the book P which is divided into two parts, even if the book P is piled up high on the mounting surface 1a, the book P adheres due to its own weight. Inconvenience can be prevented,
The copy book P can be reliably separated.

Further, the print sheets P having different sizes, thicknesses and materials
Even when performing the sorting, since it can be dealt with by adjusting the positions of the aligning plate 21 and the front plate 51 or exchanging the lifting member 31 with a matched shape, it is easy to switch to a different type of book P. is there. Further, in the above-described embodiment, a printed book is illustrated as the sheet-like material, but the present invention is not limited to the printed book and can be applied to various sheet-like materials.

[0025]

As described above, according to the sheet material separating apparatus of the present invention, the plurality of sheet materials placed on the mounting table are lifted by the upper device to lift the upper portion and the lower portion. The upper and lower parts are halved, and only the lower sheet is hit by a jogger and aligned, and air is blown in by an air blower, so the sheets stick to each other due to their own weight or strong binding. Can be prevented, and the alignment and separation of the sheet-like objects can be reliably performed. Further, this separating device can be achieved only by providing a pair of lifting members and the like, and the size and cost of the device can be reduced.

In particular, the apparatus of the present invention is configured so that the air blower is moved up and down to perform the air blowing, so that the air blower can be more reliably sorted, and the lifter is displaced forward by a predetermined distance. Since it is located at the position, it can be prevented from falling when lifting the sheet-like object.Furthermore, since the upper flat part and the vertical part are formed in the lifting member of the lifting device, it is sandwiched between the vertical parts when lifting the sheet-like object. The sheet-like material falls down loosely and is dealt with more effectively.

Further, according to the sheet-shaped material separating method of the present invention, a plurality of sheet-shaped materials placed on the mounting table are lifted and vertically divided into an upper portion and a lower portion, and the lower portion is When only the part of the sheet-like material is hit by a jogger and aligned, it is taken out sequentially from the outlet, and when the sheet-like material of the lower part becomes small, the sheet-like material of the upper part is placed on the sheet-like object of the lower part. After lowering, it is divided into an upper part and a lower part again, and by repeating this process, all the sheet-like objects can be aligned and sorted, and the sorting can be easily automated. Further, the sorting method of the present invention is configured such that the sheet-like material of the lower portion is sequentially taken out from the outlet formed in the mounting table while performing the air blowing and the butt alignment, so that the sorting can be performed continuously and is high. Work efficiency is achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view schematically showing a sheet material handling device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an operating state of the sheet material handling device.

FIG. 3 is a side view schematically showing the sheet handling device.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view of a main part of the sheet handling device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Collating machine base 1a Mounting surface 1b Draw-out surface 1c Exit 10 Jogger 11 Strike plate 11a Strike part 11b Guide part 12 Excitation cylinder 21,21L, 21R Alignment plate (horizontal plate) 21a Guide part 21b Opening 31, 31L , 31R Lifting member 32, 32L, 32R Lifting cylinder 33, 33L, 33R Advance / retract cylinder 41 Flat air nozzle 51 Front plate 61 First stacking height sensor 62 Third stacking height sensor E Eccentric distance G printing Center of gravity of the book P print book (sheet)

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A lower part of the horizontal plate of a supply box, which is provided on a mounting table and has a front plate and a pair of horizontal plates and on which sheet-like objects are stacked and mounted, is lifted up and down freely between the horizontal plates. A lifting device having members is arranged oppositely, an air ejector is provided on one side of the sheet-like objects stacked in the supply box, and a back plate is provided so as to be movable back and forth facing the front plate. A device for separating sheet-like objects. 2. The air ejector is provided so as to be vertically movable,
The sheet material separating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the air ejector is moved up and down to blow air between the sheet materials. 3. The sheet material separating device according to claim 1, wherein the lifting device is arranged at a position eccentric to the rear by a predetermined distance. 4. The sheet separating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lifting member is wedge-shaped and has a flat upper end portion, a rear end inclined from a front edge, and a vertical portion. . 5. A lifting device having a plurality of sheet-like objects stacked and placed on a mounting table is lifted up to a predetermined height by a lifting device, and the sheet-shaped products on the mounting table are placed on the upper part of the lifting device. Divide the lower part into upper and lower parts, separate and drop the sheet-like material of the lower part by its weight and elasticity to separate it, stack it while blowing with an air blower, hit it with the back plate and align it with the front plate. A method for separating a sheet-like material, characterized in that 6. The sheet-like material of the lower portion is sequentially taken out from an outlet formed on the mounting table while the sheet-like material of the lower portion is being blown into and aligned with the sheet-like material. 5. A method for separating a sheet-like material according to item 5.