JP2672670B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which a sorter for sorting recording sheets is attached to an image forming main body.

[Related Art] In various image forming apparatuses such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile, a sorter for recording paper sorting is often attached to an image forming main body. A general image forming main body is usually configured as a side operation type for handling recording paper in a side region of the image forming main body. Correspondingly to this, the inside of the image forming main body portion is provided with an image forming conveyance path for conveying the recording sheet from one side portion to the other side portion. It is arranged and connected so as to be juxtaposed at the exit portion of the image forming main body passage, that is, the side portion of the image forming main body portion.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such a conventional image forming apparatus,
Since the image forming main body is configured as a side operation type as described above, the entire apparatus is elongated in the left-right direction, and
Each operation such as taking out the recorded paper on which the image has been formed from the tray or mounting the paper cassette storing the unrecorded paper in the main body of the image forming apparatus must be performed on both sides of the image forming apparatus. Therefore, an operating space is required on both sides of the image forming apparatus. Further, on both sides, a space is needed to allow a pedestrian to not hit a projection such as a tray, and the space actually required for installing the image forming apparatus is very small. It is getting bigger. On the other hand, if the image forming apparatus is installed in a relatively narrow space, there is a problem that various operations on the side as described above become inconvenient.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the apparatus itself can be downsized, and it is not necessary to provide a large operation space around the apparatus, the apparatus can be installed in a small space, and high-speed and efficient paper conveyance can be performed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus having the above structure.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the means according to the present invention is a front operation type image including a conveyance path for image formation for conveying a recording sheet toward the front side and the back side. A sorter for sorting recording sheets is arranged side by side with respect to the main body for forming, and a recording path for image formation of the main body for image formation has been recorded in a direction substantially perpendicular to the transport path for image formation. A sorting discharge conveying path for discharging the recording sheet and sending the recording sheet to the sorter is continuously provided, and the image forming conveying path is provided with the recording sheet from the image forming conveying path to the sorting discharging conveying path. A forward-direction transport roller for sending out is provided, and a right-angled transport roller for sending the recording sheet to the sorting-out discharge transport path or the sorter is provided in the sorting discharge transport path. And the pressure contact roller on either side of the right-angle direction conveyance roller,
At the same time as being pressed against the drive roller at a predetermined timing, the pressing roller on the other side is detached from the drive roller, and the conveyed recording sheets are superposed on the forward conveying roller and the right-angle conveying roller. It has a configuration in which a sheet displacement pawl is attached to prevent the interference of the recording sheets by shifting the position in the alignment direction.

[Operation] In the means having such a configuration, since the image forming main body is configured to be a front operation type, the recorded paper on which the image formation has been performed is taken out from the tray or the unrecorded paper is stored. All operations such as attaching the paper cassette to the main body of the image forming unit are performed from the front side of the image forming apparatus.Therefore, there is no need for operation space or extra space on both sides of the apparatus. In addition, three sides except the front side of the device can be brought close to the wall surface. Also, for a sorter arranged side by side on the image forming main body, the paper recorded from the sorting discharge path of the image forming main body in a direction substantially perpendicular to the feeding direction of the image forming conveyance path changes its direction. And the sorting operation is performed. Then, the sorted recording paper is also taken out from the near side. Therefore, even in the sorter, neither space for operation nor space for margin is required on both sides of the device, and the three sides except the front side of the device can be brought close to the wall surface.

Further, in such a right-angled discharging operation with respect to such a sorter, the recording paper is always driven by a forward-direction conveying roller and a right-angle-direction conveying rotor provided on the image forming conveying path and the sorting discharging conveying path, respectively. The pressure contact roller is pressed against and released from the roller at a predetermined timing. That is, first, the pressing roller is pressed against the driving roller in the forward transport roller of the image forming transport path, whereby the recording paper is transported from the image forming transport path to the sorting discharge transport path. When the recording paper comes to a predetermined position, the pressure contact roller is separated from the driving roller in the forward conveyance roller of the image forming conveyance path, and the application of the forward conveyance force to the recording paper is stopped. At the same time, a pressing roller is pressed against the driving roller in the sorting discharge conveyance path, whereby a right-angle conveyance force is applied to the recording paper.

At this time, even if the transfer papers are continuously fed, the transfer direction switching operation is favorably performed without causing the transfer papers to interfere with each other by the transfer paper lifting action. That is, when the preceding transfer sheet is moved to the movement operation in the right angle direction, it is temporarily stopped, and even if the succeeding transfer sheet catches up with the preceding transfer sheet, the trailing end portion of the preceding transfer sheet is The paper displacement pawls located in the vicinity are lifted to the upper position,
As a result, the leading end portion of the succeeding transfer sheet is guided so as to ride on the upper side of the preceding transfer sheet, and the two are advanced so as to overlap each other. Therefore, the preceding transfer paper and the succeeding transfer paper are discharged on the vertical transport path without interfering with each other. By such a right-angle conveyance, the recording sheet is always changed at a fixed position and quickly changed direction and sent to the sorter.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, the structure of the image forming main body according to the present invention will be described with reference to the embodiment of the copying machine shown in FIG. The image forming main body includes a copier main body C, a multi-stage paper feeder (PB) 400 installed below the copier main body C, and an automatic reversing original device ( ARDF) 100.

In the copying machine main body C, the document to be copied is inserted from the position shown by the arrow A, and is stopped at a predetermined position on the contact glass 203. The operation of the original set will be described in detail in the section of the automatic reversing original feeder (ARDF) described later.

Next, an exposure step is performed by the optical system 200. The optical system 200 is arranged so that the original image can be operated below the contact glass 203, and includes an original illumination light source 201, movable mirrors 204, 205, 206, a zoom lens 207, and a fixed mirror 20.
8,209,210. The document illumination light source 2
01, the reflector 202, and the movable mirror 204 constitute a first scanner 220. The first scanner 220 has a relative velocity (V) of the photosensitive drum 601 (V / m; m is a copy magnification). Is moved rightward at the speed of at the same time, and at the same time, the second scanner 230 composed of the movable mirrors 205 and 206 is (V / 2m)
It is rotationally driven by a drive motor (not shown) so as to be moved rightward in the drawing at the speed shown in FIG. The peripheral speed of the photosensitive drum 601 is constant irrespective of the same magnification or variable magnification.

The copy magnification is changed by driving a lens driving motor (not shown) to change the position of the zoom lens 207 on the optical path. In the figure, when the position of the zoom lens 207 is G, m = 0.5 (50% reduction), when it is H, m = 1.0 (equal magnification), and when I, m = 2.0 (20).
0% magnification).

At a slightly right side of the center of the copying machine main body 1, an image forming system 600 is provided around the photosensitive drum 601. That is, a charging charger 602 for uniformly charging the photosensitive drum 601 around the photosensitive drum 601, an eraser 603 for erasing unnecessary charges, and a first development for visualizing the toner powder on the electrostatic latent image by a magnetic brush. Device 502, a second developing device 501, a belt transfer device 630 for transferring a toner image on the photosensitive drum 601 to recording paper, and a photosensitive drum 601 without being transferred to recording paper
A cleaning device 608 and the like for cleaning the toner image remaining thereon are provided.

In the belt transfer device 630, an endless belt 613 stretched by a plurality of rollers 614 and the like is lightly pressed against the photosensitive drum 601, and a corona discharge for transfer is performed by a charger 609 from the back. Charger 612
Is for charging the endless belt 613 and electrostatically adsorbing the recording paper. The charger 610 is a charger for removing static electricity from the endless belt 613. The rubber blade 615 is for cleaning the residue of the endless belt 613 after the paper is conveyed.

There are roughly two recording paper feeding units, one is a multi-manual paper feeding device 300 attached to the main body side, and the other is a multi-stage paper feeding device having a plurality of paper feeding trays ( PB)
400. Paper guide 301 of multi-purpose feeder 300
Is normally closed, and is opened as shown in the figure when used, whereby the recording paper is set.
The set recording paper is pulled in by the call roller 302 and is fed by the paper feed roller 303 and the separation roller 304. After being temporarily stopped by the pair of registration rollers 305, the sheet is fed while being synchronized with the leading end of the image on the photosensitive drum 601. Meanwhile, the multi-stage paper feeder
In the paper feeding operation by 400, first, the paper feeding device 410 is moved up and down toward the paper tray of the selected feeding stage. When the selected paper tray is approached, a signal from a sensor (not shown) is received to stop the elevation drive of the paper feeding device 410, and then the paper tray is moved to the paper feeding device side. The paper feeding method is basically the same as the multi-manual paper feeding device. That is, the paper is fed by the feeding roller 411
And then feed roller 412 and separation roller 4
The sheets are separated into one sheet by 13 and fed. The fed paper reaches the registration roller pair 305 via the transport roller 306 and is stopped. The sheet on which the toner image has been transferred while being held by the endless belt 613 after passing through the registration roller pair 305 is fused with the toner image by the heat roller pair (the fixing roller 701 and the pressure roller 702). The recorded paper after fixing (hereinafter referred to as transfer paper) passes through a pair of fixing discharge rollers, and travels to the main body discharge tray 809, the re-feeding device 900, and the sorter transport unit 950.

In the case of performing double-sided copying, two different transport paths are roughly used for A4 (or LT) size or smaller and other sizes.

First, if the size is smaller than A4 (or LT),
When the trailing edge of the copy paper passes through 700, a signal from the signal of the sensor 801 is received and immediately after passing through the gate 803, the roller pair 8
02 is reversed, and the transfer paper goes to the conveyance path 821. After passing through the roller pair 901, the call roller 908 is lowered and rotated, and the transfer paper is conveyed immediately below the paper feed roller 909. Except during paper feeding, the pressure plate 911 is below, and is raised during paper feeding to apply paper feeding pressure to the paper feeding roller 909. The separation roller 910 is given a counterclockwise rotation at a certain torque or less, but is rotated with the paper feed roller 909 when a larger torque is applied. Are supplied one by one. The re-fed transfer sheet is conveyed until it is given a predetermined slack by the pair of registration rollers 305, then stopped, and restarted in synchronization with the leading edge of the image on the photoconductor. . Subsequent operations are the same as those for one-sided copying.

In the case of paper having a size larger than A4 (or LT), the transfer paper passes through the fixing device, passes through the pair of rollers 802 and 804, passes through the gate 811, and when the trailing edge is detected by the sensor 810, the pair of rollers 806 Is reversed, and the transfer paper is
Will be sent to At this time, the gate 814 has been displaced to the position indicated by the broken line, and the transfer paper is sent to the roller pair 902. When the size of the transfer paper is A3 (or 17 ″), the gate 905 takes the position indicated by the broken line and is discharged onto the re-feeding device immediately after passing through the roller pair 902. The size of the transfer paper is B4 (or 1 ″).
In the case of 4 ″), the gate 905 assumes the position indicated by the solid line and the gate 906 assumes the position indicated by the broken line, so that the transfer sheet passing through the roller pair 903 is discharged onto the re-feeding device.
When the transfer paper size is A4 portrait or B5 portrait (or 11 ″), the gates 905 and 906 take the position of the solid line, the gate 907 takes the position of the broken line, and the transfer paper passing through the roller pair 904 is placed on the re-feeding device. The subsequent operations are the same as those described above for A4 and below.

In the case of multiple (synthetic) copying, regardless of the size, the gate 805 is first displaced to the position indicated by the broken line and the fixed transfer paper is sent to the transport path 823. Next, the gate 814 is displaced to the position indicated by the broken line, and the transfer paper is sent to the roller pair 902.
When the transfer paper size is A3 (or 17 ″), the gate 905 assumes the position indicated by the broken line and is discharged onto the re-feeding device immediately after passing through the roller pair 902. The transfer paper size is B4 (or 14 ″).
In this case, the gate 905 takes the position indicated by the solid line, and the gate 906 takes the position indicated by the broken line. When the transfer paper size is A4 portrait or B55 portrait (or 11 ″), the gates 905 and 906 are in the solid line position and the gate 907 is in the broken line position. Is released to.
The operation up to this point is the same as the above-described operation on both sides of paper having a size larger than A4 (or LT). Transfer paper size is A4
The gates 905, 906, and 907 take the positions indicated by solid lines when they are horizontal (or below LT), and are discharged onto the re-feeding device after passing above the gate 907. In order to align the discharged transfer paper, a pair of call rollers 908 is operated. Subsequent operations are the same as in the above-described duplex copying.

The configuration and operation of the automatic reversing original document apparatus (ARDF) 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. FIG.

First, in the case of a single-sided original, the original to be copied is set on the tray 101 in the direction of arrow A with the image side up. The set document is fed by a feeding mechanism similar to that of the multi-manual feeding device. That is, the original is pulled in the left direction by the calling roller 102, and then only the uppermost original is directed to the roller pair 106 by the paper feed roller 103 which is rotated clockwise and the separation roller 104 which is also rotated clockwise. Be fed. In this automatic document feeder, documents are fed in page order. The roller pair 106 is stopped until the document is sent, and starts rotating a little after the leading end of the document is reached. Thus, the skew (skew) of the document is corrected. After passing through the roller pair 107, it is guided by the guide plate 123 and is fed between the contact glass 203 and the transport belt 118. The transport belt 118 is a drive roller 115, a roller
It is stretched by 116 and a tension roller 117. The stop position of the document on the contact glass 203 is determined by the number of pulses starting from when the rear end of the document passes the sensor 127.

When scanning of the document is completed, the transport belt drive roller
Reference numeral 115 denotes a document which is rotated clockwise and fed back to the left in the form of switchback. The first gate 111, which was initially at the position shown by the solid line, is displaced to the position shown by the broken line in FIG. That is, the state shown by the solid line in FIG. 10 (c) is obtained. Roller 11
The paper passes between the roller 2 and the roller 113 and is discharged onto the tray 119. In this state, since the image surface of the original is on the upper surface, if the paper is continuously discharged as it is, the page order will be reversed. In order to avoid this, the device is again inverted. That is, at the same time when the rear end of the original is detected by the sensor 128, the rollers 108 and 1
13 is reversed counterclockwise. At the same time, based on this inverted signal, the second gate 110 is switched to the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 10 (b), and the first gate 111 is also changed to the position indicated by the solid line below. Thus, as shown in FIG. 10 (c), the documents pass between the rollers 113 and 114 and are stacked on the tray 119 with the image side down. The same operation is repeated sequentially, and the originals are stacked in the same page order as when they were first set.

For double-sided documents, the first side should be
The operation is the same as in the single-sided mode up to the stop on the upper side. When scanning of the document is completed, the transport belt driving roller 115
Is rotated clockwise and the document is sent out to the left in the form of being switched back. At this time, the first gate 111 is displaced upward as in the case of a one-sided original, and
The position of the gate 109 is also changed upward. The state is the tenth
This is shown in FIG. The head of the original to be inverted is guided by guides 121 and 122 and is sent again onto the contact glass 203. The stop position of the original on the contact glass 203 is determined by the number of pulses from the time when the rear end surface of the original passes the sensor 128.

When the scanning of the document on the second side is completed, the transport belt driving roller 115 is rotated clockwise to switch back, and the document is fed leftward. At this time, the third gate 109 is displaced downward, and the original is moved to the roller 112 and the roller 113 in the state shown in FIG.
And is stacked on the tray 119. Thus, the operation of feeding and discharging the two-sided document is completed. Thereafter, the same operation is sequentially repeated, and the originals are stacked in the same page order as when they were first set.

A sorter 1000 as shown in FIG. 4 is arranged side by side on such a side of the image forming main body. To this sorter 1000, the recording paper is sent in such a manner that the direction of the recording paper is changed in a substantially right angle direction from the double-sided copying refeeding device constituting the image forming conveyance path in the image forming main body. . That is, as shown in FIG. 2, a sorting discharge transport path for transporting the transfer sheet that has been moved to the front side in the re-feeding device 900 of the image forming apparatus main body by changing the transport direction by 90 ° is provided as described later. Since the paper that has been sent in the lengthwise direction such as A3 and B4 is shortened and sent, it has excellent transport efficiency.

Further, this sorter 1000 is designed so that the transfer paper to be discharged can be switched between the front side and the back side. First, the case where the sorter side does not switch will be described. When copying in page order, the copied paper must be stacked with the image side down, or if the image side is up, it must be inserted under the previous transfer paper to make it the same as the original. Must. The latter method is not so general, and the former is more general, and this is called back surface ejection.

The operation of turning the transfer paper upside down is performed on the image forming main body side shown in FIG. That is, the transfer paper is sent to the roller pair 922 through the conveying paths 823 and 826 by switching the gate 805 to the position of the broken line as in the case of multiple (composite) copying, and as shown in FIG. The vertical transport rollers 923, 924, 925 as forward transport rollers feed the guide plate 930 provided in the sorter transport path 921 with the image surface facing downward. At this time, right angle transport roller
Pinch roller 926 as pressure contact roller forming 923
a is retracted so as to be separated upward. The transfer paper that came out of the final vertical conveyance roller 925 is the photo sensor 927.
The leading edge is detected by and is stopped after being sent for a certain period of time. Subsequently, the pinch rollers 923a, 924a, 925a as pressure contact rollers forming the vertical transport rollers 923, 924, 925 are retracted so as to be separated upward, respectively, and instead, the pinch roller 926a of the right-angle transport roller 926 is lowered to sandwich the transfer paper. It is designed so that it can be fed in and conveyed to the front side.

In this embodiment, A4 size paper is 40 cpm (copy per minute,
The machine is configured as a machine with B4 longitudinal feed of 27 cpm and A3 longitudinal feed of 23 cpm.

First, in the case of A3 longitudinal feed (longitudinal feed) shown in FIG. 3A, the transfer paper is transferred with the toner image on the drum 601 and passes through the fixing device 700, where the toner image is fixed. Is done. After that, it passes through the fixing paper discharge roller pair 704 and reaches the sensor 801. Transfer paper transfer speed at this time is about 250mm
/ sec, and the interval between the transfer papers is about 233 mm as shown in FIG. 3 (a). The transfer paper advances through the pair of rollers 802, and advances to the transport path 823 after passing through the pair of rollers 804. At this time, the gate 805 has been displaced to the upper position shown by the broken line.

The trailing edge of the transfer paper passes through the sensor 801 after the leading edge is added to the vertical transport roller 923. At this time, as shown in FIG.
Pinch roller 9 as pressure roller contacting 925
23a, 924a, and 925a have elastic members 941, 94 such as springs.
Lever 951a, 952a, 953a and spindle 951,952,953 from 2,943
And the vertical urging rollers 923, 924, 925 are driven by pulleys 931, 9
The rotational driving force is obtained from 32,933.

Further, paper displacement pawls 971, 972, 973 for lifting the leading end of the transfer paper being conveyed are installed in the exit side areas of the vertical conveyance rollers 923, 924, 925, respectively. These paper displacement claws 971, 972, 973 are usually located on the lower side of the guide plate 930 and are lifted based on an ON signal issued at a predetermined timing,
It is configured to protrude from a slit (not shown) provided in the 930. These paper displacement pawls 971,
The lift amount of 972,973 is set so that the succeeding transfer paper is fed to the position above the preceding transfer paper without interference, and the curl amount of the preceding transfer paper is set as the lifting amount of this paper displacement pawl 971,972,973. Is also expected.

When the transfer paper P1 is conveyed and passes through the final vertical conveyance roller 925 and the sensor 927 detects the leading end of the transfer paper P1,
The transfer sheet P1 is stopped so that the leading end is adjusted to the stop position 928 by the detection signal. At the same time, the transport direction is switched.

This transfer direction switching operation is performed by the pinch roller 923.
The suction operation is performed by plunger solenoids 961, 962, and 963 connected to a, 924a, and 925a. That is, vertical transport rollers 923,924,925 pinch rollers 923a, 924
At the same time when a and 925a are released, the plunger solenoid 964 connected to the pinch roller 926a of the right-angled transport roller 926 is turned off, and the pinch roller 926a of the right-angled transport roller 926 is elasticized by releasing the suction operation up to that point. The tension of the member 944 is applied to the transfer paper P1 so that the transfer paper P1 is subjected to a right-angled conveyance force. As such a transport direction switching mechanism, other means such as a cam can be adopted.

At this time, even if the transfer paper is continuously fed at the intervals shown in FIG. 3A, the transfer direction is switched without causing interference between the transfer papers due to the transfer paper lifting action of the paper displacement claw 971. The operation can be performed well. That is, when the preceding transfer paper P1 is moved to the movement operation in the right angle direction, it is temporarily stopped,
Even if the succeeding transfer sheet P2 catches up with the preceding transfer sheet P1, the sheet displacement claw 971 located near the rear end of the preceding transfer sheet P1 is connected to the sheet displacement claw 971. The plunger solenoid 974 attracts the elastic member 977 to the upper position against the tension of the elastic member 977, whereby the leading edge of the succeeding transfer sheet P2 is moved to the preceding transfer sheet.
You will be guided as if you are riding on the upper side of P1, and you will proceed with the two overlapping. Immediately after the trailing edge of the preceding transfer sheet P1 exits the vertical conveying rollers 924, 925, the pinch rollers 924a, 925a are lowered to give a conveying force to the succeeding transfer sheet P2, and the sheet is fed to the stop position 928. There is. Therefore, the preceding transfer paper P1 and the succeeding transfer paper P2 are discharged without interfering with each other on the vertical transport path.

Note that the conveyance force by the right-angle conveyance roller 926 is released by opening the pinch roller 926a when the transfer paper is added to the roller pair 929 positioned downstream thereof.

Further, in the case of the B4 vertical feed (longitudinal feed) shown in FIG. 3B, the transfer direction switching operation can be performed without causing interference between transfer sheets due to the transfer sheet lifting action of the sheet displacement claw 972. It is done well. That is, when the preceding transfer sheet P1 is moved to the movement operation in the right angle direction, it is temporarily stopped, and even if the succeeding transfer sheet P2 catches up with the preceding transfer sheet P1, the preceding transfer sheet P1 The paper displacing pawl 972 located near the rear end portion is lifted to the upper position against the tension of the elastic member 978 by the suction operation of the plunger solenoid 975 connected to the paper displacing pawl 972. The leading edge of the subsequent transfer paper P2 is the preceding transfer paper P1
You will be guided as if you are riding on the upper side of the car, and you will proceed with the two overlapping. Therefore, the preceding transfer paper P1 and the succeeding transfer paper P2 are discharged without interfering with each other on the vertical transport path.

Further, in the case of A4 lateral feeding (short-side feeding) shown in FIG. 3C, the transfer direction switching operation is performed without causing interference between transfer sheets due to the transfer sheet lifting action of the sheet displacement claw 973. Is being carried out satisfactorily. That is, when the preceding transfer sheet P1 is moved to the movement operation in the right angle direction, it is temporarily stopped, and even if the succeeding transfer sheet P2 catches up with the preceding transfer sheet P1, the preceding transfer sheet P1 The paper displacing claw 973 located near the rear end portion is lifted to the upper position against the tension of the elastic member 979 by the suction operation of the plunger solenoid 976 connected to the paper displacing claw 973. The leading edge of the subsequent transfer paper P2 is the preceding transfer paper P1
You will be guided as if you are riding on the upper side of the car, and you will proceed with the two overlapping. Therefore, the preceding transfer paper P1 and the succeeding transfer paper P2 are discharged without interfering with each other on the vertical transport path.

In this way, the right-angled discharging operation with respect to the sorter is the driving rollers 923, 924, 925, which are constantly rotated, in the forward-direction conveying roller and the right-angled conveying roller provided in the image forming conveying path and the sorting discharging conveying path, respectively.
The pinch rollers 923a, 924a, 925a, and 926a are pressed against and released from the 926 at a predetermined timing.
The transfer paper lifting action of 1,972,973 avoids the interference between the transfer papers, and the transfer direction switching operation is favorably performed without switching or stopping the transfer paper transfer speed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the transferred transfer paper passes through a guide plate 1301 and is guided upward by a gate 1302.
Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the gate 1104a is rotated in the counterclockwise direction so that the first transfer paper is transferred to the pair of rollers 1102a and 1102a.
After passing through 03a, it is fed to the pin tray 1101a. 2
Gates 1104a are opened for the first transfer sheet, gates 1104c are opened for the third transfer sheet, and so on. Stacked. The gate 1105 for the tenth bin 1101j is fixed at the always open position.

In the case of front-side sheet ejection with the image side facing up, first, the transfer sheet is switched back in the same manner as double-sided copying in the image forming main body, and is sent to the solar transport path. The transfer operation of the transfer sheet from the sorter transfer path to the sorter is the same as in the case of the back side discharge.

As for the operation of switching between front side discharge and back side discharge on the sorter 1000 side, the paper processing on the image forming main body side is stacked on the re-feeding device without switchback as in the case of multiplex (composite) copying. explain. Guide plate 1301
Is conveyed with the image side down, so that the above-described operation is performed when the back side is discharged. In other words, gate 1302
Is located at the bottom and the transfer paper is guided directly to the upper 10 bin sorters. For the front side discharge, the gate 1302 is located above and the transfer paper is first guided to the lower ten bin sorters. The right side of the transfer paper at this time is the image surface. When the sensor 1210 detects the rear end of the transfer paper, the roller
1307, 1205, 1206, 1207 are reversed and the left paper switches back to the top 10 bin / sorters. The stacking in each bin is the same as that for the back side discharge, but the image side is on the tray.

Also, as shown in FIG. 6, in the lower 10 bin sorters, the gate 1302 is displaced upward, and the transfer paper passes through the roller pair 1307 by being guided downward by the guide plate 1301. When the first sheet (the 11th sheet is correct since it is the operation after the 11th bin), the gate 1204a is opened and passes through the rollers 1202a and 1203a, and the bin tray 1
Stacked on 201a. Subsequent gates 1204b, 1204c
Is opened and stacked on the trays 1201b and 1201c.

The operation of switching between front side discharge and back side discharge on the sorter 1000 side will be described. In the case of reverse-sided paper ejection, the gate 1302 located directly above
Head to 10 bottle sorters. In the case of front side discharge, the gate 1302 is located below and after passing through the guide plate 1301,
First, they are sent upward. At this time, the image surface is on the left side of the transfer paper in the figure. When the trailing end of the transfer paper is detected by the sensor 1110, the rollers 1102 and 1103 are inverted, whereby the transfer paper is switched back. The subsequent operation is the same as the other stacking operation, in which the gate 1204 is opened, passes through the pair of rollers 1202, 1203, and is stacked on the tray 1201.

FIG. 7 shows a state in which a further 20 bottle sorters are provided in addition to the 20 bottle sorters. The additional 20 bottle sorters have a similar internal configuration. Transfer of the transfer paper to the 20 additional bins / sorters is performed by sewing between the 10 bins / sorters. Gate 1302 at this time
Is performed at an intermediate position as shown in FIG. 8 (b). The transfer paper that has passed through the guide plate 1301 is moved horizontally as it is, and passes through the rollers 1304, 1305, and 1306. Guide plate 13
The operation after passing 03 is the same as the operation of the 20 bottle sorters after the guide plate 1301.

According to such a sorter, the following advantages can be obtained.

The transfer paper can be taken out in the front direction, and the edge of the transfer paper can be brought to the front regardless of the size of the transfer paper, so that the transfer paper can be taken out easily.

Post-processing such as stapling or punching of the transfer paper edge can be easily performed, and manual operation can be performed.

Even if a jam occurs during sorting, the jammed paper can be easily taken out because the edge of the copy paper is on the front side.

Transfer paper of relatively large size, such as A3 size or B4 size, can be fed in the short direction, so that the transport efficiency is improved and speedy sorting work is possible.

Since the A3 size maximum transfer paper is fed in the short direction and stacked on the bin tray, the width direction of the sorter can be shortened to save space. The width can be further reduced by limiting the number of stacks in the bin and giving the bin a certain angle or more.

Since it can be sequentially added, a large-capacity sorter can be provided that sufficiently satisfies the needs of the user. Even in this case, the transport path of the sorter can be kept short to prevent a decrease in transportability.

As described above, according to the present invention, the sorter is arranged on the side of the front operation type image forming main body, and the direction is changed from the image forming transport path of the image forming main body to a substantially right angle direction. Since the sorting discharge path for sending the recording paper to the sorter is provided in this manner, the overall size of the image forming apparatus including the image forming main body and the sorter can be reduced,
In addition, the size of the operation space can be made extremely small, the image forming apparatus can be installed in a small space, and the transfer paper can be conveniently handled.

Further, according to the present invention, the sorter is contacted and disengaged at a predetermined timing with respect to the drive roller that is constantly rotated so that the recording sheet is constantly changed in direction and quickly fed to the sorter. In addition to the configuration to perform a right-angled ejection operation with respect to the above, a configuration is provided in which a paper displacement claw is provided that allows the paper to be transported while stacking the transfer papers on top of each other, so that the transfer speed of the transfer paper can be switched or stopped. It is not necessary to do so, it is possible to favorably perform the direction changing operation of the transfer paper with a simple configuration, and it is possible to perform the paper transportation at high speed and efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory perspective view showing a paper conveyance switching mechanism in one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing an image forming apparatus main body equipped with a copying machine to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C are explanatory views of the positional relationship showing the transfer state of the transfer paper, and FIG. 4 shows a state in which a sorter is added to the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. Fig. 5 is a schematic front view showing the bottle located at the top of the sorter.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged front view illustrating the configuration and operation of the sorter, FIG. 6 is an enlarged front view illustrating the configuration and operation of the bin sorter located below the sorter, and FIG. 7 is an image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 8 (a) and 8 (b) are enlarged front views illustrating the configuration and operation of the sorter entrance, and FIG. 9 is an automatic reversal document. Fig. 10 (a), (b), (c), and (d) are side views of the paper feeder (ARDF), and the document feeder, reverser, and document feeder of the automatic document feeder (ARDF). FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged side view illustrating the configuration and operation of the unit. C: Copier body, 400: Multi-stage paper feeder (PB), 100
… Automatic reversing manuscript device (ARDF), 1000 …… Sorter, 923,
924,925 …… Vertical transport roller, 926 …… Right-angle transport roller, 923a, 924a, 925a, 926a …… Pinch roller, 971,97
2,973 …… Paper displacement claw.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sorter for sorting recording sheets is provided on a side portion of a front operation type image forming main body portion having an image forming transport path for transporting recording sheets toward a front side and a rear side. In addition to the side-by-side arrangement, the image forming transport path of the image forming main body section discharges the recorded recording paper from the image forming transport path in a substantially perpendicular direction and sends the recording paper to the sorter. The image forming conveying path is provided with a forward conveying roller for feeding the recording sheet from the image forming conveying path to the sorting discharging conveying path, and the image forming conveying path is provided in the sorting discharging conveying path. Is provided with a right-angled conveyance roller that feeds the recording paper from the sorting discharge conveyance path to the sorter, and the pressure-contact roller on either side of the forward-direction conveyance roller and the right-angled conveyance roller is At the same time, the pressure roller is pressed against the drive roller side at a predetermined timing, and the pressure roller on the other side is separated from the drive roller, and the conveyed recording sheets are superposed on the forward transport roller and the right-angle transport roller. An image forming apparatus characterized in that a paper displacement claw is provided for preventing a recording paper from interfering with each other by being displaced in the alignment direction.