JPH086316A - Intermediate tray device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the excessive action of an alignment roller and an over- feed and prevent the damage applied to a printing face or a sheet itself by rotating the aligning roller alignment the sheet tip to a sheet tip target position only after the sheet tip reaches the position of the alignment roller until it reaches the sheet tip target position CONSTITUTION:A sheet 3 is carried in from a sheet carry-in path 5 and carried into an intermediate tray 1 from carry-in roller 6. The tip of the sheet 3 is detected by the first sensor 7 at this time. An alignment roller starts to be rotated at t1 after this detection, i.e., when the tip of the sheet 3 reaches the alignment roller 8, and the tip of the sheet 3 is conveyed toward a sheet stopper 2 at a sheet tip target position. When the tip of the sheet 3 reaches the position of a sheet detection roller 9, the sheet detection roller is driven by the movement of the sheet 3, the rotation is detected by the second sensor 12, the alignment roller 8 is stopped after t2, and the sheet 3 is stopped with its tip kept in contact with the sheet stopper 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an intermediate tray device for accommodating copy sheets copied on one side and feeding the copy sheets to an image forming section again.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, an alignment roll is used in an intermediate tray which has been configured to contain at least one sheet for printing again after printing (copying) at least once. A technique for accommodating a sheet at a predetermined position is disclosed in JP-A-60-31452 and JP-A-56-40843.
It is publicly known in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 62-203134.

Further, regarding the operation of the aligning roll provided in the intermediate tray for aligning the paper, if the operation time is too long, it adversely affects the printing surface of the paper to be stored, or the front end or the resist end of the paper. If the side edge is damaged or is too short, there is a problem that the paper cannot reach the intended storage position.When the operation timing is determined, the paper is actually repeated and the operation time is calculated from the ideal diagram. It has been optimized by taking a long time.

[0004]

However, even if the transport distance by the aligning roll is constant, it always varies depending on the type of paper, the curl amount, the charge amount, etc., and it is difficult to expect the optimum state. there were.

The present invention has been conceived in view of the above, and provides an intermediate tray device capable of minimizing damage to the printing surface or the paper itself by eliminating extra movement of the aligning rolls. That is the purpose.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an intermediate tray apparatus according to the present invention stores a single-sided copied sheet in an intermediate tray and carries the sheet out of the intermediate tray again. In the apparatus, the first detection means for detecting the paper carried into the intermediate tray and the upper surface of the paper to be carried into the intermediate tray, which is arranged on the intermediate tray, are brought into contact with the upper surface of the intermediate tray. The first detecting means includes an aligning roll that is fed toward a target position of the leading edge of the sheet, and a second detecting unit that detects that the sheet fed by the aligning roll has reached near the target position of the leading edge of the sheet. The feeding operation of the alignment roll is started at the timing when the leading edge of the paper reaches the aligning roll based on the detection signal of 1. It is configured to have a control means so as to stop the feeding operation of the alignment roll in timing.

[0007]

[Operation] When paper is loaded in the intermediate tray,
This is detected by the first detecting means, and based on this signal, the aligning roll starts the feeding operation at the timing when the leading edge of the sheet reaches the aligning roll, and feeds the sheet to the target position of the leading edge of the sheet. Then, the second detecting means detects that the leading edge of the sheet has come close to the aimed position of the leading edge of the sheet, and based on this signal, the alignment roll is stopped at the timing when the leading edge of the sheet reaches the aimed position of the leading edge of the sheet. .

[0008]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an intermediate tray having a paper stopper 2 at one end. The paper stopper 2 is rotatable in the extension direction of the intermediate tray 1 and is operated by an actuator (not shown). Further, above the one end of the intermediate tray 1, the intermediate tray 1 is carried in and the paper stopper 2
A feed roll 4 for retransmitting the sheets 3 aligned in is provided so as to be vertically movable between a feed position and a standby position.

The other end of the intermediate tray 1 has a sheet carrying path 5
Is being opposed to. At the end of this paper carry-in path 5, the paper 3
Pair of loading rolls 6 for loading the intermediate tray 1
Is provided. Then, a first sensor 7 for detecting the leading edge of the sheet carried in near the downstream side of the carry-in roll 6.
Is provided. Further, in the intermediate tray 1, there is provided an alignment roll 8 for feeding the paper 3 carried into the intermediate tray 1 from the carry-in roll 6 toward the paper stopper 2. The aligning roll 8 is provided so as to be movable up and down and urged downward. Further, the cord row roll 8 is connected to a drive source (not shown).

A sheet detecting roll 9 is provided on the front side of the sheet stopper 2 of the intermediate tray 1 so as to be movable up and down and urged downward, and the shaft of the sheet detecting roll 9 holds the cord body 10. It is connected to the encoder 11 via.
The rotation of the encoder 11 is detected by the second sensor 12.

The aligning roll 8 is adapted to be rotated intermittently. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the first sensor 7 is rotated t ₁ hours after being turned on, and is stopped t ₂ hours after the second sensor 12 is turned on. The above t ₁ and t ₂ are: t ₁ ≧ (distance from first sensor to alignment roll) ÷ (peripheral speed of discharge roll) t ₂ = (distance from second sensor to paper stopper) ÷
(Peripheral speed of aligned rolls). The rotation control of the alignment roll 8 is performed by a control device (not shown). The control device is operated by the input signals from the first and second sensors 7 and 12.

In the above structure, the paper on which the series of printing processes on the first side has been completed is carried in from the paper carry-in path 5 and carried in from the carry-in roll 6 into the intermediate tray 1. then,
The leading edge of the sheet 3 is detected by the first sensor 7. Then, after the detection of the sheet detection sensor 7, t ₁ hours later, that is,
Simultaneously with or immediately after the leading edge of the sheet 3 reaches the aligning roll 8, the aligning roll 8 starts to rotate and conveys the leading edge of the sheet 3 toward the sheet stopper 2 which is the target position of the leading edge of the sheet. When the leading edge of the sheet 3 reaches the position of the sheet detection roll 9, the sheet detection roll 9 is driven by the movement of the sheet 3, and the rotation is detected by the second sensor 12. The aligning roll 8 stops after t ₂ from the detection by the second sensor 12, and the sheet 3 stops in the state where the leading edge of the sheet 3 abuts the sheet stopper 2 which is the target position of the leading edge of the sheet, or immediately before that. To be done. These operations are performed by a control device (not shown).

With a predetermined number of sheets of paper 3 loaded in the intermediate tray 1, the paper stopper 2 is opened, and the feed rolls 4 carry the papers one by one to the carrying path 13 to the printing process side again.

In the above embodiment, one end of the intermediate tray 1, that is, the sheet stopper 3 provided at the end of the sheet 3 on the conveying outlet side is set as the target position of the leading edge of the sheet. The side wall may be the target position of the leading edge of the sheet.
In this case, the aligning roll 8 is provided toward the side wall side which is the target position of the leading edge of the sheet, and the sheet detecting roll 9 is also provided near the side wall.

Further, in the above embodiment, the re-delivery of the paper 3 in the intermediate tray 1 is extended to the intermediate tray 1 by the carry-in roll 6 and is conveyed to the printing process side from the other end side by using the field roll 4. Although an example is shown, this may be carried to the carrying-in direction side by the carrying-in roll 6, that is, in the opposite direction to the carrying-in direction using a field roll (not shown).

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, in the case of a unit having a plurality of sets of carry-in rolls 6a, 6b, 6c according to the sheet size, the first sensor 7 is provided upstream of the most upstream carry-in roll 6a. To provide. This makes it possible to support a plurality of emission gates without increasing the number of sensors.

FIG. 4 shows a paper trailing edge aligning unit for aligning the trailing edges of the paper 3 carried in the intermediate tray 1a in the carrying-in direction. The paper 3 is directed from the carry-in roll 6 to the intermediate tray 1a. When the sheet is carried in, the first sensor 7 detects the leading edge of the sheet and, after t ₁ time, the alignment roll 8 is rotationally driven in a direction for sending in the carrying-in direction.

Next, when the first sensor 7 detects the trailing edge of the sheet 3 to be carried in, timing is taken from there, and after ₃ hours, an electromagnetic clutch (not shown) for reversing the aligning roll 8 is activated. When activated, the alignment roll 8 is rotated in the reverse direction, and is conveyed in the direction of the paper stopper 2a, which is the target position of the leading edge of the paper.
After that, the same control as that shown in FIG. 1 is performed,
When the second sensor 12 detects the leading edge of the sheet, the reversing electromagnetic clutch is disengaged and the aligning roll 8 is stopped after t ₂ hours.

A time chart of each of the above parts is shown in FIG. In the figure, t ₁ , t ₂ , and t ₃ are: t ₁ ≧ (distance from carry-in roll to aligning roll) ÷ (peripheral speed of discharge roll) t ₂ = (distance from second sensor 12 to paper target position)
÷ (peripheral speed of carry-in roll) t ₃ ≧ the time from when the trailing edge of the sheet passes the first sensor 7 to when it completely passes through the sheet guide.

In each of the above embodiments, the first sensor 7
It is also possible to detect the storage failure for each sheet by monitoring the time when the second sensor 12 that detects the sheet edge before the target position of the sheet tip is turned on after is turned on for each sheet.

The feeding operation of the sheet 3 by the aligning roll 8 in each of the above-described embodiments is performed by turning on the rotation of the aligning roll 8.
Although an example of turning it off is shown, this rotation is turned on and off.
F is for directly controlling the rotation of the drive source (motor),
A clutch may be interposed between the clutch and this clutch to turn on or off. Alternatively, the aligning roll 8 may be continuously rotated so that the aligning roll 8 is moved up and down to come into contact with and separate from the sheet 3 to intermittently perform the feeding operation.

[0022]

According to the present invention, the aligning roll 8 for aligning the leading end of the paper 3 carried into the intermediate tray 1 to the target position of the leading end of the paper, and the leading end of the paper 3 for this aligning roll 8 are provided. By rotating only from the time when the position reaches the target position of the paper to the position where the leading edge of the paper is reached, excess movement of the alignment roll 8 is eliminated, and excessive feeding is eliminated and damage to the printing surface or the paper itself is prevented. Can be kept to a minimum.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration explanatory view showing a main part of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a time chart in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an installation position of a first sensor when there are a plurality of sets of carry-in rolls in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration explanatory view showing a main part of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a time chart in the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 1a ... Intermediate tray, 2 ... Paper stopper, 3 ... Paper,
4 ... Feed roll, 5 ... Paper transport path, 6 ... Loading roll,
7 ... 1st sensor, 8 ... Alignment roll, 9 ... Paper detection roll, 10 ... Assembly, 11 ... Encoder, 12 ... 2nd sensor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An intermediate tray device for storing single-sided copied paper in an intermediate tray and carrying the paper out of the intermediate tray again; The alignment roll that is placed on the intermediate tray and contacts the upper surface of the paper to be loaded into the intermediate tray, and sends this paper toward the target position of the leading edge of the paper on one side of the intermediate tray, and the paper sent by this alignment roll. A second detecting means for detecting that the sheet reaches the vicinity of the target position of the leading edge of the sheet, and the feeding operation of the aligning roll at the timing when the leading edge of the sheet reaches the aligning roll based on the detection signal of the first detecting means. And a control means for stopping the feeding operation of the alignment rolls at the timing when the leading edge of the sheet reaches the aimed position of the leading edge of the sheet based on the detection signal of the second detecting means. An intermediate tray device characterized in that