JP3642982B2 - Paper loading device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, or a sheet stacking apparatus such as a sheet post-processing apparatus attached to the image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a sheet stacking apparatus having a detachable discharge tray.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, in a paper post-processing apparatus attached to an image forming apparatus, a paper discharge tray is provided on the outer surface of the apparatus main body so as to be movable up and down (can be moved up and down), and image formation discharged from the image forming apparatus to the paper discharge tray After the sheets are bound, the sheets are discharged or stacked as they are without binding.
Since the output tray protrudes outward from the main body of the machine, from the standpoint of efficient use of space when not in use, the tray support is actually moved up and down, and the tray support is detachable. The tray is mounted (set).
[0003]
Above the discharge tray, there is provided an upper surface height detecting means for keeping the upper surface height of the discharge tray substantially constant. When the sheets are sequentially stacked and the upper surface height detection means is in the detection state, the discharge tray is controlled to be lowered until the upper surface height detection means is in the non-detection state. By repeating this operation, the upper surface height of the paper is substantially constant. A large amount of paper can be discharged while maintaining the same.
Further, in order to prevent component damage due to the overrun of the paper discharge tray, an upper limit position detecting means for detecting the upper limit position of the paper discharge tray is provided, and the paper discharge tray is stopped when detected by the upper limit position detecting means. It has come to be.
[0004]
The upper limit position detecting means includes a return roller for returning the discharged paper to the upstream side in the discharge direction and aligning the rear end of the paper, and a switch that is turned on / off by the vertical rotation of the return roller.
When the tray support is raised by positioning control to a predetermined paper discharge position when the paper discharge tray is not set when the power is turned on, the removable surface comes into contact with the return roller before contacting the upper surface height detection means. The positional relationship between the upper surface height detecting means and the upper limit position detecting means is set so as to be stopped. In this way, when only the upper limit position detecting means is in the detection state, it is determined that the tray is not set, and the tray operation is stopped at the time when the upper limit position detecting means detects it. It has become.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, the conventional control method stops the tray operation when it is detected that the tray is abnormal. Therefore, even if the operator tries to set the paper discharge tray, the tray is placed on the attachment / detachment surface of the tray support. It was not possible because the return roller was in contact.
For this reason, when the operator forgets to set the paper discharge tray in advance, the operator has to perform an operation for creating a situation in which the paper discharge tray can be set on the tray support base.
Even when the upper limit position detection means detects without directly contacting the discharge tray or tray support, the upper face height detection means may become an obstacle to the discharge tray set depending on the configuration of the upper face height detection means. A similar problem occurs in this case.
[0006]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a paper post-processing apparatus that can easily set a paper discharge tray without trouble even if an operator forgets to set the paper discharge tray.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a tray support base, drive means for moving the tray support base up and down, and when the tray support base is detachably mounted, the tray support base is provided. A sheet discharge tray that moves integrally with the sheet discharge tray, an upper surface height detection unit that detects an upper surface height of the sheet discharge tray, and an upper limit position detection unit that detects an upper limit position of the sheet discharge tray. In a paper stacking apparatus capable of detecting that the discharge tray is not set on the tray support base based on detection information of the detection means and the upper limit position detection means, the discharge tray is mounted on the tray support base. If not, the configuration that has a control means for moving said tray support table to a position fixed member that interfere in the setting work for the tray support table of the discharge tray is not present You have me.
[0008]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the configuration according to the first aspect, the upper limit position detecting means is configured to be in contact with the upper surface of the paper discharge tray for detection.
[0009]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the configuration according to the second aspect, the portion of the upper limit position detecting means that contacts the upper surface of the paper discharge tray is a return roller that returns the discharged paper to the upstream side in the discharge direction. The structure is adopted.
[0010]
In the invention of claim 4, wherein, in the structure according to claim 1, wherein, an upper limit position and lower limit position of the tray support table moves when the paper discharge tray is not mounted is set, The upper limit position is a position corresponding to the initial position when the paper discharge tray receives paper , and is configured to be moved to an arbitrary position between the upper limit position and the lower limit position. .
[0011]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the configuration according to the first, second, or third aspect, a position where there is no fixed member that obstructs the setting operation of the discharge tray with respect to the tray support base is the discharge tray. Is the position that is the initial position when receiving paper.
[0012]
【Example】
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an overall outline of a sheet post-processing apparatus (finisher) as a sheet stacking apparatus. The sheet post-processing apparatus in this embodiment is attached to a copying machine 2 as an image forming apparatus, and an inlet sensor S1 and an inlet roller 4 are provided in the vicinity of a sheet transfer portion J with the copying machine 2. The entrance sensor S1 detects the leading edge and the trailing edge of the conveyed paper.
The sheet taken into the sheet post-processing apparatus by the entrance roller 4 is discharged in any one of the following three discharge forms according to the processing mode.
(1) Discharge from the discharge port E1 to the proof tray 6 formed in the upper part of the apparatus (2) Discharge from the discharge port E2 to the discharge tray 8 one by one without performing the stapling process (3) Discharge after performing the stapling process Discharge from exit E2 to discharge tray 8
The discharge route A to the proof tray 6 is switched by a deflection claw 10 provided on the downstream side of the entrance roller 4 in the paper conveyance direction, and the paper is conveyed by the conveyance roller pairs 12 and 14 and discharged by the paper discharge roller pair 16. The The deflection claw 10 is driven by a solenoid and a spring (not shown), and is positioned at a position indicated by a two-dot chain line when discharging to the proof tray 6.
A deflection claw 18 is provided downstream of the deflection claw 10 in the paper conveyance direction, and the paper guided in the horizontal direction by the deflection claw 10 shown by a solid line in FIG. 1 is not stapled by the deflection claw 18. B or a staple route C for performing stapling is selectively guided. The deflection claw 18 is also driven by a solenoid and a spring (not shown), and is moved to a position indicated by a solid line in FIG. Can be selectively switched.
[0014]
In the non-staple mode (sort / stack mode), the paper is transported on the non-staple route B by the transport roller pair 20 and is discharged to the paper discharge tray 8 by the paper discharge roller pair 70. The discharged sheets are stacked in a state in which the rear end is abutted against the rear end fence 50 by the sponge return roller 48 as a component of the upper limit position detecting unit 45 described later, and the rear ends are aligned.
In the staple mode, the sheet is conveyed on the staple route C by the conveyance roller pairs 24, 26, and 28, and is sent to the staple unit 30 to be stapled. The stapled paper (bundle) is discharged to the paper discharge tray 8 by the paper discharge roller pair 70.
[0015]
Next, the operation when the staple mode is selected will be described in detail.
The paper guided to the staple route C is stacked on a staple tray (not shown) by the paper discharge roller pair 32. In this case, alignment in the vertical direction (paper conveyance direction) is performed by the hitting roller 34 for each sheet, and alignment in the horizontal direction (paper width direction substantially orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction) is performed by the jogger fence 36. The stapler 38 is driven by a stapling signal from the control means 100 between job breaks, that is, between the last sheet of the sheet bundle and the first sheet of the next sheet bundle, and the stapling process is performed. The bundle of sheets subjected to the stapling process is pushed up in the direction of the arrow U by the discharge belt 42 having the discharge claw 40 and discharged to the discharge tray 8 by the discharge roller pair 70.
The discharged sheet bundle is stacked with the rear end abutted against the rear end fence 50 by the return roller 48 and the rear end aligned.
The hitting roller 34 is rotationally driven (swinged) by a solenoid (not shown) around the fulcrum 34 a and intermittently acts on the paper sent to the staple tray to hit the paper against the endence 44. The hitting roller 34 rotates counterclockwise. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 46 denotes a guide plate, and S2 denotes a paper discharge sensor.
[0016]
Above the discharge tray 8, there is upper surface height detection means 52 for keeping the upper surface height of the paper discharge tray 8 (including the concept of the upper surface height of the paper stacked on the paper discharge tray 8) substantially constant. Is provided. When the height of the upper surface of the paper discharged onto the paper discharge tray 8 reaches a predetermined height, the paper discharge tray 8 is lowered and becomes ready for further stacking. By repeating this operation, a large amount of paper can be discharged.
The upper surface height detection means 52 includes a detection lever 54 and sensors 56 and 58 that are located at the approximate center of the upper surface of the paper discharge tray 8.
As shown in FIG. 2, the detection lever 54 is provided so as to be pivotable in the vertical direction by a shaft 55 fixed at a fixed position, and the sensors 56 and 58 are turned on when blocked by the fan-shaped portion 54a. It is like that. At the home position (initial position, in other words, initial receiving position) of the discharge tray 8 described later, the sensors 56 and 58 are both set to be off, and the upper surface of the discharge tray 8 or the sheet is placed on the detection lever 54. The lower limit position of the detection lever 54 is set so that the sensor 56 is turned on in the non-contact state.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 3, the tray support base 15 is provided so as to be movable up and down (up and down) by the driving means 65, and the paper discharge tray 8 is mounted (set) on the tray support base 15 through a detachable structure (not shown). ) The driving means 65 includes a tray lifting / lowering motor 60 and a vertical lift belt 62 driven by the tray lifting / lowering motor 60 via a gear train and a timing belt. The tray support 15 is attached to the vertical lift belt 62, and the paper discharge tray 8 is raised or lowered by the forward or reverse rotation of the tray lifting / lowering motor 60. A lower limit detection sensor 64 for detecting a lower limit position of the sheet discharge tray 8 is provided below one of the upper and lower lift belts 62, and a shield plate 66 is integrally provided on the tray support base 15 correspondingly. Yes. When the sheet discharge tray 8 is lowered and the shielding plate 66 blocks the lower limit detection sensor 64, the tray lifting / lowering motor 60 is stopped and becomes the lower limit position of the sheet discharge tray 8 for large volume discharge.
[0018]
As shown in FIG. 4, the upper limit position detecting means 45 has a return roller 48 and an upper limit switch 68. When the discharge tray 8 is raised and the return roller 48 is pushed up, the upper limit switch 68 is turned off and the tray lifting / lowering motor 60 is stopped. This prevents damage to the paper discharge tray 8 due to overrun. Although not shown, the paper discharge tray 8 performs a shifting operation in a direction substantially orthogonal to the paper discharge direction as necessary to sort the paper.
[0019]
As shown in FIG. 1, the paper discharge roller pair 70 includes a paper discharge roller 74 that is a driving roller and a driven roller 76 that contacts the paper discharge roller 74 while being pressed by its own weight or a spring. ing. The driven roller 76 is provided so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from the paper discharge roller 74 via a support plate 78 so as to be able to cope with both the case where a single sheet is discharged and a sheet bundle. The support plate 78 is pivotally supported at the upstream end in the discharge direction and is pivotable in the vertical direction. In the staple mode, the support plate 78 is displaced upward as indicated by a two-dot chain line, The nip portion between the paper roller 74 and the driven roller 76 can correspond to the thickness of the paper bundle.
[0020]
The control means 100 in this embodiment means a microcomputer having a CPU, an interface, an I / O port, a ROM, a RAM, and the like.
As shown in FIG. 5, detection signals from the sensors 56 and 58, the upper limit switch 68, the lower limit detection sensor 64, and other various sensors of the upper surface height detection unit 52 are input to the control unit 100. Based on the signal, the control means 100 controls the tray lifting / lowering motor 60 and other various motors via a motor driver.
[0021]
FIG. 6 shows a state where the paper discharge tray 8 is located at the home position (initial position). At the home position, the sensors 56 and 58 of the upper surface height detection means 52 are both set to be off.
Next, the control operation of the paper discharge tray 8 by the control means 100 will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. 7 and FIGS.
When the power is turned on, the control means 100 checks whether or not the sensor 56 is on (S1), and if it is on, the paper discharge tray 8 (simply indicated as a tray in the flowchart) is at the home position. The sheet discharge tray 8 (substantially the tray support 15) is raised by determining that it is positioned below (S2). Thereafter, it is checked whether the sensor 56 is off (S3). If the paper discharge tray 8 is set on the tray support 15, the detection lever 54 is pushed up by the upper surface of the paper discharge tray 8, so that the sensor 56 is unshielded by the fan-shaped portion 54a and turned off. If it is turned off, the paper discharge tray 8 is set normally, so the paper discharge tray 8 is stopped (S4).
[0022]
If the sensor 56 is off in S1, the control means 100 checks whether the sensor 58 is on (S5). When the sensor 58 is on, sheets are stacked on the paper discharge tray 8, so the paper discharge tray 8 is lowered (S6), the sensor 58 is checked to turn off (S7), and if it is off, the paper discharge tray 8 is removed. Stop (S4).
[0023]
When the sensor 56 is turned on in S1, the control means 100 raises the paper discharge tray 8 (S2), but when the paper discharge tray 8 is not set on the tray support base 15 as shown in FIG. Only the tray support 15 is raised.
As shown in FIG. 9, when the paper discharge tray 8 is not set, the return roller 48 is pushed up by the tray support 15 so that only the upper limit position detecting means 45 is detected. And the positional relationship between the upper limit position detecting means 45 is set.
[0024]
As shown in FIG. 7, if the sensor 56 is not turned off after the raising control of the paper discharge tray 8 in S3, the control means 100 determines the upper limit switch 68 of the upper limit position detection means 45 (in the flowchart, it is simply referred to as the switch 68). The display is turned on (S8). If it is turned on, it is determined that the paper discharge tray 8 is not set on the tray support 15 and “tray abnormality”, and the tray abnormality recognition count X is recognized using the flag area of the RAM (S9).
Here, even if the operator tries to set the paper discharge tray 8 on the tray support base 15, as shown in FIG. 9, since the return roller 48 is in contact with the attachment / detachment surface of the tray support base 15, the operator cannot set it. .
Next, as shown in FIG. 8, it is checked whether the number of times of tray abnormality recognition is equal to the number of times the upper limit switch 68 is turned on (S10). The paper tray 8 is lowered to a position where it can be easily mounted (S11).
[0025]
The position where the paper discharge tray 8 is easily mounted is a position where there is no fixed member such as the return roller 48 that obstructs the setting operation of the paper discharge tray 8.
In this embodiment, the upper limit of the position where the tray support 15 is moved is the home position shown in FIG. 6, and the lower limit position is widened as a position detected by the lower limit detection sensor 64. Within this range, the movement position of the tray support 15 can be set appropriately according to the user's preference.
In this embodiment, the movement position of the tray support 15 is set as a position that has been lowered for a certain time (for example, the position shown in FIG. 8). Is checked (S12), and when a predetermined time has passed, the tray support 15 is stopped (S13). In S12, when the predetermined time has not elapsed, it is checked whether or not the lower limit detection sensor 64 is turned on (S14).
[0026]
As described above, the movement position of the tray support 15 is arbitrarily set between the upper limit position and the lower limit position, but the positioning operation to the home position after setting the paper discharge tray 8 is made faster. From the viewpoint, it is desirable that the position is close to the upper limit position. In the case of the home position, there is little loss time related to the positioning operation after setting, although there is some annoyance to rotate the detection lever 54 upward by hand.
[0027]
In the above-described embodiment, the movement position of the tray support 15 is set as a position that has been lowered for a certain period of time. However, a configuration in which the position where the paper discharge tray 8 is easily mounted may be detected by a sensor.
Further, in the above embodiment, the return roller 48 is in contact with the upper surface of the tray support base 15, but other members of the tray support base 15 are also used in the non-contact method in which the upper limit position is detected by, for example, a reflective photosensor. If it is positioned on the upper surface, the setting of the paper discharge tray 8 at that time is obstructed. Even in such a case, if the control system is used to move the tray support 15 to a position where the discharge tray 8 can be easily attached as in the above-described embodiment, a burden is placed on the operator even if the discharge tray 8 is forgotten to be set. You don't have to.
In the above embodiment, the paper post-processing apparatus is illustrated, but the same can be applied to an image forming apparatus.
[0028]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first, second, third, or fourth aspect of the present invention, there is a fixed member that obstructs the setting operation of the discharge tray with respect to the tray support when the discharge tray is not mounted on the tray support. Since the tray support base is moved to the position where it is not set, even if the operator forgets to set the paper discharge tray, the paper discharge tray can be easily set without requiring any trouble.
[0029]
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the position where there is no fixed member that obstructs the setting operation of the discharge tray with respect to the tray support base is set as the initial position when the discharge tray receives paper. Therefore, the loss time related to the positioning operation after setting the paper discharge tray can be eliminated.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an overall schematic diagram of a sheet post-processing apparatus as a sheet stacking apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view showing a detection operation of an upper surface height detection unit.
FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a paper discharge tray, a tray support, and a driving unit.
FIG. 4 is a side view showing a detection operation of an upper limit position detection unit.
FIG. 5 is a control block diagram.
FIG. 6 is a schematic front view showing a positional relationship of a paper discharge tray at a home position when the paper discharge tray is set.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a control operation.
FIG. 8 is a schematic front view showing a state where the tray support is raised when the paper discharge tray is not set.
FIG. 9 is a schematic front view showing a state in which the tray support is raised, detected by the upper limit position detecting means and stopped when the paper discharge tray is not set.
[Explanation of symbols]
8 discharge tray 15 tray support 45 upper limit position detection means 48 return roller 52 upper surface height detection means 65 drive means 100 control means

Claims (5)

A tray support, drive means for moving the tray support up and down, a discharge tray that moves detachably when mounted on the tray support, and an upper surface of the discharge tray. An upper surface height detecting means for detecting a height; and an upper limit position detecting means for detecting an upper limit position of the paper discharge tray; and the tray support based on detection information of the upper surface height detecting means and the upper limit position detecting means. In the paper stacking device capable of detecting that the paper discharge tray is not set on the table,
Control means for moving the tray support to a position where there is no fixed member that obstructs the setting operation of the discharge tray with respect to the tray support when the tray is not mounted on the tray support. A paper stacking apparatus characterized by comprising: The paper stacking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The sheet stacking apparatus, wherein the upper limit position detecting means detects the contact with the upper surface of the sheet discharge tray. The paper stacking apparatus according to claim 2, wherein
The paper stacking device, wherein the portion of the upper limit position detecting means that contacts the upper surface of the paper discharge tray is a return roller that returns the discharged paper to the upstream side in the discharge direction. In the paper stacking device according to claim 1, 2, or 3,
Said discharge tray is set an upper limit position and lower limit position of the tray support table movement when not mounted, the upper limit position to the position where the initial position when the aforementioned discharge tray receives the sheet A paper stacking apparatus which is a corresponding position and is moved to an arbitrary position between the upper limit position and the lower limit position. In the paper stacking device according to claim 1, 2, or 3,
The sheet stacking position is characterized in that a position where there is no fixed member that obstructs the setting operation of the sheet discharge tray with respect to the tray support is an initial position when the sheet discharge tray receives sheets. apparatus.

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