JP2001083683A - Sheet material sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a sheet material sorter capable of preventing a deviation in feeding a photographic print on a tray without reducing the processing speed of an image forming device. SOLUTION: The photographic print P discharged from a discharge port is transferred to the tray 84 by a belt conveyor 28. After the photographic print P is received by the tray 84, the tray 84 is made to circulate, and an empty tray 84 comes to cope with the belt conveyor 28. The belt conveyor 28 is provided with a constant speed for carrying the photographic print P toward the tray 84 and a deceleration for transferring the print P to the tray 84. And by carrying the print P toward the tray 84 at the constant speed after receiving the print P, the waiting time loss of the print P discharged from the discharge port is minimized, and the print P is transferred to the tray 84 at the deceleration to eliminate the transfer lag of the print P on the tray.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet material sorting apparatus for stacking and sorting sheet materials such as copy paper and photographic prints.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a photo lab, an image recorded on a photographic film is continuously printed and developed on a roll of photographic paper, and then cut one frame at a time. Per unit).

As an example of this sorter, there is a sorter having a belt conveyor 140 shown in FIG. On the surface of the conveyor belt 142 of the belt conveyor 140, an extrusion claw 144 is protruded. On the conveyor belt 142,
When the photographic prints discharged from the discharge port 18 of the processor section are collected and accumulated for one order, the transport belt 142 moves to the tray 146 side of the sorter section, and the bundle of the collected photographic prints is transferred to the tray 146. It is a configuration to transfer.

However, the transport speed V of the transport belt 142
Is fast, the inertia force causes the transfer belt 142 to move
Immediately after being transferred to the photographic print P on the tray 146
Causes a shift in the bundle (the ears are not aligned).

In order to eliminate such a shift of the photographic prints P, the conveying speed of the conveyor belt 142 may be reduced. However, it is necessary to wait for the photographic prints to be discharged from the discharge port 18 in accordance with the speed. As a result, the processing speed of the image forming apparatus decreases.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and provides a sheet material sorting apparatus capable of eliminating a photographic print shift on a tray without reducing a processing speed of an image forming apparatus. As an issue.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the transfer means transfers the sheet material discharged from the discharge port to a circulating tray. When the tray receives the sheet material, it circulates to make the empty tray correspond to the transfer means.

The transfer means has a transfer speed for transferring the sheet material to the tray side and a reduced transfer speed for transferring the sheet material to the tray.

In other words, when the discharged sheet material is received and conveyed to the tray side, the transfer means is set at a constant speed, thereby minimizing the waiting time loss of the sheet material discharged from the discharge port, and keeping the sheet material in the tray. When the sheet is transferred to the tray, the transfer means is decelerated to eliminate the sheet material shift on the tray.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the transfer means is not reduced to the transfer speed in accordance with the size of the sheet material. This means that when a bundle of long-feeding sheet material (for example, panoramic size) is transported by the transport means,
The ratio of the feed shift amount to the print length is reduced,
This is because a defect does not occur until the printing order shifts, and by not decelerating to the transfer speed, a waiting time loss of the sheet material discharged from the discharge port can be eliminated.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A sorting device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (Overview of Image Forming Apparatus) As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the image forming apparatus 10 includes a printer unit 12, a processor unit 14,
The sorting device 16 is detachable from the processor unit 14.
It has.

In the printer section 12, an image recorded on a photographic film is continuously printed on a photographic paper wound in a roll shape by an exposure device such as a laser scanning exposure system. In the processor unit 14, the printer unit 12
The long photographic paper exposed in step (1) is subjected to a color developing process, a bleach-fixing process, a washing process, and a drying process, cut into individual photographic prints, and discharged from the discharge port 18. (Conveyor Unit of Sorting Apparatus) The conveyor unit 20 is connected to the front side of the processor unit 14 by a hinge 22 and a handle 24
Can be opened and closed in the direction of arrow A. By adopting the opening / closing structure in this manner, it is easy to cope with jamming of the photographic print P or the like. A discharge roller 26 is provided behind the discharge port 18 formed in the front of the processor unit 14, and discharges the photographic prints P one by one and accumulates them on the conveyor belt 30 of the belt conveyor 28.

An angle member 34 is fixed to the top wall of the housing 32 of the conveyor unit 20. A transparent and film-like stopper sheet 36 is suspended from the angle member 34, and the lower end portion is close to the transport belt 30. The leading end of the photographic print P discharged from the discharge port 18 contacts the stopper sheet 36, and the ears of the photographic prints P stacked on the transport belt 30 are aligned.

Further, on the front side of the housing 32, 2
Two windows 38 and 40 are formed and are closed from inside by a transparent acrylic plate. The window 38 monitors the state of accumulation of the photographic prints P discharged from the outlet 18, and the window 40 monitors the state of transportation of the accumulated photographic prints P.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, windows 38, 40
A belt conveyor 28 is located at the back of the box. The belt conveyor 28 includes a pair of side plates 42 positioned at a predetermined distance by stays 44 and extending along the direction in which the photographic prints P are transported. A shaft 48 is rotatably mounted on the side plate 42 on the sorter section 46 side via a bearing 50. A pulley 56 is fixed to the shaft 48.

Further, the side plate 4 is located on the side where the side plate 42 is stacked.
A slide plate 58 that slides along 2 is mounted. The other end of a tension spring 60 having one end fixed to the side plate 42 is fixed to the sorter portion 46 side of the slide plate 58. Thereby, tension is applied to the transport belt 30.

A drive shaft 62 is rotatably mounted on the slide plate 58 via a bearing 50. A pulley 70 is fixed to the drive shaft 62. A timing pulley 72 is fixed to an end of the drive shaft 62. A timing belt 78 is wound around the timing pulley 72 directly connected to the timing pulley 72 and the first pulse motor 74, and the rotational force of the first pulse motor 74 is transmitted to the drive shaft 62.

On the other hand, the pulley 56 and the pulley 70
A transport belt 30 for transporting the photographic print P is wound around. The slack of the transport belt 30 is adjusted by the slide plate 58 to which the urging force toward the stacking position is applied.

Two pushing claws 82 are welded to the surface of the conveyor belt 30 at equal intervals in the transfer direction. The pushing claw 82 has a size of 30 mm in width × 30 mm in height. This size has been experimentally confirmed to be the optimum size for reliably pushing the rear end of the bundle of photographic prints P stacked on the transport belt 30 to the tray 84.

Further, a rectangular slit 86 is formed at the widthwise end of the conveyor belt 30. On the movement trajectory of the slit 86, a light projecting sensor 88 and a light receiving sensor 90 are arranged vertically facing the transport belt 30. The slit 86 is formed so as to have a predetermined positional relationship with the pushing claw 82, and the light emitting sensor 88 and the light receiving sensor 90 detect the leading end portion 86A or the trailing end portion 86B of the slit 86, so that the pushing claw 82 is formed. The position is determined.

On the other hand, a support plate 92 is fixed at the center of the side plate 42 and extends downward. The lower portion of the support plate 92 is fixed to a receiving member 96 erected from a slide table 94. Thereby, the belt conveyor 2
8 moves together with the slide table 94.

A slide bearing (not shown) is fixed to the back surface of the slide table 94. The slide bearing is
It is slidably mounted on each of a pair of guide shafts 102 arranged in parallel with the base 100. This allows
The slide table 94 can reciprocate in the axial direction of the guide shaft 102 (the sorter unit side or the stacking position side).

A first stepping motor 74 is mounted on the slide table 94. A timing pulley 76 directly connected to the drive shaft has a timing pulley 7 attached thereto.
2, a timing belt 78 for transmitting a rotational force is wound. The bracket to which the first stepping motor 74 is fixed is slidable toward the tray 84, whereby the slack of the timing belt 78 is adjusted.

A channel member 108 is fixed to the back surface of the slide table 94, and bearings 110 are fixed at both ends to a leg plate extending downward. A rectangular insertion opening is formed in the plate surface of the base 100 so that the bearing 110 is placed therebetween.

Into this insertion opening, a forked finger portion 118 formed at the upper end of the swing arm 116 is inserted from below, and sandwiches the bearing 110 from both sides. A substantially intermediate portion of the swing arm 116 is supported by an arm support shaft 124 protruding horizontally from the frame 122,
The swing arm 116 can swing about an arm support shaft 124.

The lower end of the swing arm 116 is also bifurcated, and a bearing 130 attached to the outer periphery of the disk cam 128 is fitted between the finger portions 126. Rotational force is transmitted to the rotation shaft 132 of the disc cam 128 from the second pulse motor 146 via a speed reduction mechanism.

With the above configuration, when the disk cam 128 rotates, the bearing 130 starts an arc movement. For this reason, the finger part 126 is pushed by the bearing 130,
The swing arm 116 swings left and right about the arm support shaft 124. In FIG. 4, when the lower finger portion 126 swings to the left, the upper finger portion 118
Swings to the right, moves the slide table 94 to the right, and slides the belt conveyor 28 to the sorter side. It should be noted that the swing arm 116 is provided via a freely rotating bearing 130.
By oscillating, no wear occurs with the finger portion 126.

On the other hand, the semicircular detection plate 150 is mounted concentrically on the disk cam 128, and
8 overhangs in the radial direction. Also, the detection plate 150
A photo sensor 152 is arranged on the movement locus of the outer peripheral portion of, and detects the position of the detection plate 150. (Sorter Unit of Sorting Apparatus) As shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, a caster 158 is attached to a base 156 (containing a power supply, a cooling fan, etc.) of the sorter unit 46. The unit 14 can be loaded.

On the pedestal 156, a guide rail 160 having a substantially C shape in a side view is laid toward the back side of the paper. Further, a guide rail 160 is also laid on a rear stand 162 that is vertically raised from the base 156.

The guide rails 160 are engaged with moving rails 164 provided on the bottom and side surfaces of the sorter unit 46, and the sorter unit 46 is smoothly connected from the processor unit 14 along the guide rails 160. Can be separated. Thus, the sorter unit 46 is connected to the processor unit 1.
4 separates the conveyor unit 20 from the arrow A
It can be opened in the direction (see FIG. 3).

As shown in FIG. 7, a pair of sprockets 200 supported by a shaft 198 are provided at a lower portion of the housing 196 of the sorter section 46, and a driving force from a motor is provided at an upper portion via a speed reduction mechanism. A pair of sprockets 202 to be transmitted are arranged. This sprocket 200
The chain 204 is wound around the sprocket 202 in parallel with the sprocket 202 (see FIG. 1).
Rotates, the two chains 204 circulate up and down in parallel.

An L-shaped hinge plate 206 is suspended over the chain 204 at predetermined intervals. The hinge plate 206 is fixed to the chain 204 by the attachment member 208, and circulates vertically together with the chain 204. An L-shaped guide plate 210 extends vertically along the chain 204 on the photo print P receiving side. The guide plate 210 is in contact with a roller provided on the chain 204 and a roller provided on the hinge plate 206 so as to be sandwiched therebetween. As a result, the hinge plate 206 is prevented from hanging down, and the photographic print P does not fall from the tray 84 foldably connected to the hinge plate 206. In addition, as shown in FIG.
A dam plate 178 is provided to align the ears of the long-feed photographic prints P to be transported.

At the end of the tray 84, a rectangular notch 224 (see FIG. 15) is formed. The notch 224 is formed by the pushing claw 82 provided on the transport belt 30.
Is to escape from hitting the tray 84 when pushing the rear end of the photographic print P.

Next, the characteristic operation of the sorting apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the photographic print P of one order is discharged from the discharge port 18, a drive command for the sorting device is issued (step 300), and the first pulse motor 74 shown in FIG. Begin to. As a result, the pulley 70 rotates clockwise through the timing belt 78,
The transport belt 30 on which the photo print P is placed moves toward the tray 84 (Step 302). At this time, the first pulse motor 74 controlled by the controller 73 rotates at a rotation speed proportional to the set input pulse frequency, and drives the transport belt 30 at a constant speed V1 (for example, 600 mm / sec.
Move in c).

Next, the light emitting sensor 88 and the light receiving sensor 90
When the rear end portion 86B of the slit 86 of the conveyor belt 30 is detected (step 304), the second pulse motor 146 rotates forward to rotate the disk cam 128 clockwise via the two-stage gear 140 and the like. Thereby, the bearing 130
Pushes the finger part 126 to the left, and the swing arm 116
Is moved toward the tray 84 together with the bearing 110. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, the belt conveyor 28 moves to the tray side together with the slide table 94 (step 305).

Next, when the half-moon-shaped detection plate 150 cuts off the photosensor 152 (step 306), the second pulse motor 146 is stopped, and the belt conveyor 28 is transferred to the tray 84 as shown in FIG. It stops at the position (step 307). During this time, the first pulse motor 74 is being driven, and the photographic print P on the conveyor belt 30 is moving to the tray side.
After detecting the rear end portion 86B of the slit 86 of the conveyor belt 30 at 0, the controller 73 counts the number of input pulses input to the first pulse motor 74. When the number reaches the set value, the input pulse frequency is reduced. , Transport belt transport 3
0 moving speed V2 (300 mm / sec as an example).
The motor is decelerated and driven to c), and returns to the speed V1 after a predetermined time has elapsed (step 309).

In this embodiment, the deceleration section is defined as a short-feed photographic print P (width 152 mm × feed length 102 m).
m) is set from immediately before the leading end of the photo print P is placed on the tray 84 to the trailing end of the photographic print P is placed on the tray 84;
The moving distance of the conveyor belt 30 is 120 mm.

As described above, the photographic print P is stored in the tray 84.
When the transfer belt 30 is decelerated,
No feed misalignment occurs. Alternatively, the reduced acceleration ranging from V1 to V2 is ^{50mm / sec 2 ~100mm / sec 2} ,
It is considered that the photographic print P does not shift on the conveyor belt 30 during deceleration.

It should be noted that the above numerical values change depending on the humidity environment and the like, and are not specified. Also,
Although the deceleration position was determined from the number of pulses input to the first pulse motor 74, another optical sensor was provided and the slit 86
It is also possible to perform control such that the conveyor belt is decelerated at the timing of detecting.

Next, the light emitting sensor 88 and the light receiving sensor 90
Detects the leading end 86A of the slit 86 of the conveyor belt 30 (step 312), the first pulse motor 74 stops, and the conveyor belt 30 stops (step 314).

At this time, as shown in FIG. 11, the photographic print P is completely transferred onto the tray 84 by being pushed by the pushing claws 82. At the same time, the second pulse motor 1
46 reverses to rotate the disc cam 128 counterclockwise. As a result, the bearing 130 is
26 to the right and the finger 1 of the swing arm 116
18 together with the bearing 110 is moved to the stacking position side. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, the belt conveyor 28 moves to the stacking position side together with the slide table 94 (step 316).

When the half-moon detecting plate 150 cuts off the photo sensor 152 (step 318), the second pulse motor 146 is stopped, and as shown in FIG. (Step 320). Here, by circulating the chain 204, the tray 84 to which the photographic print P has been transferred is lowered by one step, and the empty tray 84 moves to the transfer position.

As described above, when the pushing claw 82 moves on the outer peripheral portion (range L) of the sprocket 56 shown in FIG.
By releasing the conveyor belt 30 to the stacking position side, there is no possibility that the pushing claws 82 come into contact with the photographic prints P on the lower tray 84, so that the photographic prints P are not dragged downward.

In step 302, when the transport belt 30 is received from the discharge port, the transport belt 30 moves again at the constant speed V1, so that the transport time of the photographic print P does not become so long. For this reason, the waiting time loss of the photographic print P discharged from the discharge port 18 can be minimized.

Next, a sorting device according to a second embodiment will be described.

In the second embodiment, as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
The size of the discharged photographic print is determined based on the signal output from No. 4, and if the size of the photographic print is long, such as a panoramic photographic print, the process proceeds to step 310 and the print is transferred at a constant speed V1 without deceleration.

In the case of the panorama size, the ears are aligned by hitting the dam plate 178 on the tray 84 side, so that it is not necessary to consider a feed shift. Waiting time loss can be eliminated.

In the present embodiment, the belt conveyor 28 has been described as an example of the transfer means. It is also applicable to the type of transfer means.

[0050]

According to the present invention having the above-described structure, it is possible to eliminate a shift of a photographic print on a tray without reducing the processing speed of the image forming apparatus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an image forming apparatus provided with a sorting device according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an image forming apparatus including the sorting device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an image forming apparatus including the sorting device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a conveyor unit of the sorting device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conveyor unit of the sorting device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conveyor unit of the sorting device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a sorter unit of the sorting device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing the operation of the belt conveyor of the sorting device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing the operation of the belt conveyor of the sorting device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing the operation of the belt conveyor of the sorting device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a side view showing the operation of the belt conveyor of the sorting device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a side view showing the operation of the belt conveyor of the sorting device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the conveyor unit of the sorting device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of a conveyor unit of the sorting device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a side view showing the operation of the belt conveyor of the conventional sorting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 28 belt conveyor (transfer means) 30 transport belt 74 first pulse motor 84 tray

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A sheet material sorting apparatus comprising: a plurality of trays that circulate and receive sheet materials; and a transfer unit that transfers the sheet materials discharged from a discharge port to the trays. A sheet material sorting apparatus, comprising: a transport speed for transporting a sheet material to the tray side; and a reduced transport speed for transporting the sheet material to the tray. 2. The sheet material sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer means is not reduced to a transfer speed according to a size of the sheet material.