JP2764089B2 - Movable bin collator - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sorter which is attached to a laser printer or other printing device and distributes and stores sheets fed from the printing device into selected bins. Related to the collation device of
In particular, the present invention relates to a bin collating device in which a plurality of bins arranged in a stack are movable in a direction in which the bins are separated from and contacted with a sheet receiving position.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a sorter such as a sorter for distributing and storing a large number of recording sheet groups printed by a laser printer or other printing machine in a plurality of bins for each page or while aligning the pages is known. In this type of apparatus, a bin movable type apparatus for distributing recording sheets to each bin while sequentially moving the entrance end of the stacked bins to one sheet receiving position side and maintaining the bin interval In this state, a plurality of bins are substantially fixed, and the recording sheet is guided on a conveyance path formed along a direction parallel to an imaginary line connecting the entrance ends of the bins. The recording sheet is distributed to each bin while diverting the sheet from the conveyance path to the bin entrance end by using the diverting means provided in the bin. Is chain-like through the connecting member The advantage of this is that the area can be easily saved because the bins can be stored in a stacked state when not in use when not in use.

However, in the above-mentioned bin movable type apparatus, the sheet distribution must be performed while sequentially moving the stacked bins to one sheet receiving position side every time the sheet is fed, so that the sheet feeding speed, in other words, For example, as the feeding cycle becomes shorter, the bin moving speed must be increased correspondingly, and the bin sorter has a bin return process for returning the starting bin to the sheet receiving position every time a page is changed. As the number of bins increases, the moving speed at the time of the return becomes extremely high. As a result, vibration and noise at the time of the return step increase, and the rotation and wear of the sliding member incorporated in the sorter are reduced. There have been various problems such as intensification and a significant decrease in durability.

In recent years, instead of sequentially storing recording sheets for each lower or upper bin adjacent to the uppermost or lowermost bin, a bin that is randomly stacked is selected,
A random access sorter has been developed in which recording sheets are distributed to the bins while moving the bins selected at random to the sheet receiving position. However, even in such sorters, the maximum interval between the bins is moved. Unless the bin moving speed is set to be equal to or less than the feed cycle time, random access becomes impossible, and the same problem as described above occurs.

In order to solve such a drawback, the inventor first varies the bin movement (return) speed in inverse proportion according to the interval difference between the bins located farthest from the bin located at the sheet receiving position. By doing so, it is possible to move the bottle at the optimum moving speed without moving the bin at unnecessary high speed,
Thus, an apparatus has been proposed that can significantly reduce average noise and vibration (accumulation of vibration and noise within a predetermined time) generated when the bin moves. (Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, such a conventional technique presumes that the number of bins used relatively frequently is small, and significantly reduces the moving speed of the bins. Conversely, devices that use most of the number of bins stored in the sorter have the same drawbacks as the prior art, assuming that this is possible.

In view of the drawbacks of the prior art, the present invention is configured to greatly reduce the bin moving speed regardless of the number of frequently used bins, thereby reducing the noise and vibration generated during bin moving and improving the durability. It is an object of the present invention to provide a collating device of a bin movable type which improves the operability.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above technical object, the present invention provides a method of receiving a plurality of sheets disposed at least at intervals of adjacent bin intervals S so as to be able to face the entrance end of the bin 40a. The main feeding path 13 for feeding the recording sheet 10 from the printing apparatus C discharge port 20 to the one receiving section 11, and a branch from an intermediate position of the main feeding path 13. A branch feeding path 14 for guiding the recording sheet 10 to another receiving section 12, and the one receiving section 11 is connected to the other receiving section 12.
A point located farther away, the feed path switching means 15a,
The difference between the time when the recording sheet 10 reaches the respective sheet receiving units 11 and 12 selectively via the switching means 15a and 15b is smaller than the movement time between the adjacent bins 40a. When the time difference is between (N-1) the feed cycle and the N feed cycle time, where N is an integer, A bin 40a... Movable collating device characterized in that N recording sheets are set to be fed first with priority given to feeding from the feeding path.

[Operation] The above item and the control of the item will be described in detail.

According to the present invention, the recording sheet 10 fed into the main feeding path 13B from the printing apparatus discharge port 20 at a predetermined paper feeding interval is alternately switched by the switching units 15a and 15b (when performing page alignment). In the case where two paper receiving units 11 and 12 are provided as a result of being distributed to the branch feeding path 14 and the main feeding path 13A, each of the sheet receiving units 11 and 12 is compared with the sheet discharging cycle of the printing apparatus discharge port 20 side. The sheet arrival cycle in which the recording sheet 10 reaches the recording sheet 12 is halved. At this time, the sheet arrival cycle reaching the one receiving section 11 and the sheet reaching the other At the time point, the passing time points passing through the switching means 15a and 15b are different from each other by one sheet feeding cycle time, and therefore naturally arrive at a time difference.

In this case, the distance from the main feeding path 13A to the position of the receiving section 11 downstream of the switching means 15a, 15b and the distance to the position of the receiving section 12 on the branch feeding path 14 generally do not match. To
The sheet arrival time in each of the receiving units 11 and 12 is “one sheet feeding cycle time + time proportional to the distance”, and is delayed by “time proportional to the difference between the distances”.

Each of the movable bins 40a ...
Since they are integrally connected via 1a, for example, in a chain shape, their moving speeds depend on each other and cannot be controlled independently.

For this reason, when the first discharged sheet is sorted to the branch feeding path 14 having the shorter distance, the sheet is transferred to the longer receiving section 11 even though the sheet has reached the receiving section 12. Arrives later than one sheet feeding cycle time, and as a result, the first bin 40a is skipped.

Therefore, in this case, in other words, when the time difference is equal to or less than one sheet feeding cycle time, first, the main feeding path 13 having a long distance is used.
Allocate to A side.

Also, if the number of bins is large and the feeding distance on the main feeding path 13A side is long, or if the feeding cycle is accelerated like a laser printer, the difference in the arrival time at the pickup position is one feeding cycle time. In the case described above, the sheet is first fed to the main feeding path 13 by the number of sheet feeding cycles corresponding to the time difference, then is sorted to the branch feeding path 14, and the sorting operation is alternately performed. .

Therefore, it is necessary to perform the switching control of the switching units 15a and 15b so that the time difference is shorter than the moving time between the adjacent bins 40a.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be illustratively described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, unless otherwise specified, dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like of the components described in this embodiment are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention thereto, but are merely illustrative examples. It's just

FIG. 1 shows a bin vertical type sorter according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a main unit A having a plurality of bins 40a stacked vertically and a bin 40a. Established
The sheet feeding section B includes a main feeding path 13 and a branch feeding path 14, and an entrance end of the main feeding path 13 of the sheet feeding section B is connected to the printing apparatus discharge port 20.

The main body portion A movably stacks a large number of bins 40a along a vertically standing bin guide 42, and swingably supports link members 41a between the bins 40a. The link members 41a located at the uppermost end of the link members 41a are connected to a driving force transmitting member 43 that can move up and down by the reversible motor 7, so that the link members follow the up and down movement of the transmitting member 43. The bins 40a controlled by 41a can be sequentially moved up and down while maintaining a predetermined bin interval S.

As described above, the main feeding path 13 and the branch feeding path 14 are formed in the sheet feeding section B. The main feeding path 13 extends vertically from the printing apparatus discharge port 20 and ( Bin interval S ×
At the length position substantially corresponding to the number of bins t), the sheet is curved in an R shape and horizontally, and a sheet receiving portion 11 facing the bins 40a... The branch feeding path 14 is curved in the same manner as described above from an intermediate position of the main feeding path 13, and the second sheet receiving section 12 is formed at the end side thereof. Photointerrupters 9a and 9b are provided near the bin receiving ends 11 and 12 toward the bin entrance end, and the photointerrupters 9a and 9b are mounted on the front side of the bins 40a by using the reflection plate 44. The count value set in the counter circuit 8 shown in FIG. 2 is decremented every time the bins 40a pass on 9a and 9b.

The first sheet receiving unit 11 is located at a height corresponding to (bin interval S × bin number t), and the second sheet receiving unit
12 is set to 1/2 of the height position, for example, as shown in the drawing, when the stacked bins 40a are 20 bins and the uppermost bin 40a is matched with the first sheet receiving unit 11 And the second
Is set so that the twelfth bin 40m matches the sheet receiving unit 12.

The reason why the twelfth bin 40m is set to match the second sheet receiving unit 12 is that the arrival time difference between the receiving positions is within 1 to 2 feeding cycle times as described later.
As described later, at the start of the sorting operation, two sheets are first fed to the main feed path 13 side, and then the solenoids are alternately switched.
If the arrival time difference is less than one feeding cycle time, the second sheet receiving unit 12 is placed in the 11th bin 401, and if the arrival time difference is in the 2-3 feeding cycles, the 13th bin 40n
Should be matched.

Switching means 15a, 15b composed of a pair of solenoids are provided at the branch positions of the two feeding paths 13, 14, and the printing apparatus C outlet 20 is provided by ON / OFF operation of the solenoids 15a, 15b.
The recording sheet 10 fed into the main feeding path 13B at a more predetermined feeding interval can be alternately distributed to the branch feeding path 14 and the main feeding path 13A. A sheet detection sensor 16 is provided on the main feed path 13 on the upstream side of the mounting positions of the solenoids 15a and 15b, and is configured to be able to detect the presence or absence of sheet feeding and the sheet feeding interval.

FIG. 2 shows a control circuit used in the present embodiment.
U (central processing unit) drives and controls the feed path switching solenoids 15a and 15b based on the signal from the detection sensor 16, sets the count value of the counter circuit 8 to the number of sheets to be sorted, and sets the count value to Photo interrupter 9
When subtracted based on the signal from a and 9b to become 0,
The reversible motor 7 is reversed via the CPU 1 and the stacking bin 40a
Switch to the ascending or descending step. Reference numeral 6 denotes a motor control circuit for controlling normal rotation and reverse rotation of the motor.

According to this embodiment, if the arrival time difference between the pickup positions is between 1 and 2 feeding cycle times, first, the detection sensor
16 and the CPU 1 so that the uppermost bin 40a reaches the position of the receiving unit 11 when the sheets reach the position of the receiving unit 11. The driving start timing of the motor 7 is controlled by the signal of
40a ... ascent operation is started.

After the two sheets are fed to the main feed path 13 side,
The solenoids 15a and 15b are operated each time the sheet passes, and are alternately distributed to the branch feed path 14 side and the main feed path 13 side. Then, the motor 7 causes the bin to correspond to the sheet arrival cycle.
40a is controlled, and at least each of the
The bins 40a... Corresponding to the respective receiving units 11 and 12 are sequentially positioned so as to be substantially the same as before or at the time when the sheet arrives at 1 and 12.

As a result, the bins 40a...
The sheets are alternately fed in the order of the first sheet, the receiving section 12 → the third sheet, and the fourth receiving section 11 → the photo interrupters 9a and 9b.
Each time the bins 40a... Pass above, the count value corresponding to the number of sorts set in the counter circuit 8 is subtracted, and when the count value becomes 0, that is, when the predetermined number of sorts is sorted, the CPU 1 , The reversible motor 7 is reversed, the stacking bins 40a are switched to the lowering step, and the sheets are distributed by the reverse operation. Hereinafter, the operation reverse to the above is repeated.

Although the present embodiment has been described with respect to the apparatus in which the bin repeats the source while moving up and down, as described above, the present invention can also be applied to an apparatus in which the bin repeats forward movement and return or a random access type apparatus.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the bin moving speed can be reduced to approximately 1/2, 1/3 in inverse proportion to the number of sheet receiving units, thereby reducing the noise generated during bin moving. In addition to significantly reducing vibration and vibration, preventing wear deterioration and breakage of bins and other sliding parts, improving the overall durability of the sorter, and also avoiding moving bins at unnecessary speed In addition, the power consumption can be significantly reduced.

 And so on.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a bin vertical type sorter according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control circuit thereof. 10 recording sheet, 11, 12 sheet receiving section, 13 main feed path, 14 branch feed path, 15a, 15b feed path switching means

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A plurality of sheet receiving units connected to a discharge unit of a printing apparatus, the plurality of sheet receiving units being arranged so as to be able to face a bin entrance end while maintaining an interval equal to or larger than at least an adjacent bin interval of the stacked bins; A main feeding path for feeding the recording sheet from the discharge section to the one receiving section, a branch feeding path that branches from an intermediate position of the main feeding path and guides the recording sheet to another receiving section; A movable bin collating device comprising: a feed path switching unit provided at a branch position of a feed path; wherein the one receiving unit is disposed at a position farther from the printing device discharge unit than the other receiving unit. In addition, when sorting into a plurality of bins is performed, the time difference at which the recording sheet arrives at each of the sheet receiving units is smaller than the movement time between adjacent bins, and N is an integer, and Is (N-1) feeding cycle and N feeding cycle When the time is between the time and the time, the feeding from the main feeding path is prioritized and the N recording sheets are set to be fed first, and the main feeding is performed according to the set moving speed or moving time. A bin collating device wherein the feeding to the feed path or the branch feed path is controlled to be selectively switched via the feed path switching means.