JP4510700B2 - Paper handling device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a paper handling device such as a paper discharge device connected to a subsequent stage of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a laser beam printer.

  The image forming apparatus, a paper discharge apparatus disposed adjacent to the image forming apparatus, and a conventional paper shift operation will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 shows an image forming apparatus 3 and a paper discharge device 2 disposed adjacent to the image forming apparatus 3. In the following description, the front side in FIG. 1 is referred to as an operator side, the depth side is referred to as an anti-operator side, the right side is referred to as a paper traveling direction side, and the left side is referred to as an anti-paper traveling direction side.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view taken along line I-II in FIG. The paper discharge device 2 is provided at a subsequent stage of the image forming device 3 and is configured to stack printed sheets output from the image forming device 3 in a uniform manner. In consideration of post-processing such as bookbinding, the paper discharge device 2 needs to align the papers in a uniform manner in the paper advance direction and the paper advance direction (paper width direction).

  The image forming apparatus 3 is an apparatus for forming a predetermined image on the paper 1 using toner or the like. The image forming apparatus 3 sends the paper 1 to the paper discharge device 2 through the discharge port by the transport roller 6. A path sensor 12 is attached in the vicinity of the discharge port of the image forming apparatus 3. The control unit 13 detects the paper 1 discharged to the paper discharge device 2 by the path sensor 12 and notifies the control unit 14 of the paper 1 being discharged and the paper information such as the paper length and the continuous amount of paper. 14 grasps the position of the paper 1 and the paper information. The paper discharge device 2 is a unit for receiving the paper 1 printed by the image forming device 3 and stacking it inside. The paper discharge device 2 includes a paper stacking table 4 on which the paper 1 is stacked, a paper alignment unit 21 that aligns and aligns the paper 1 on the paper stacking table 4, and the paper 1 received from the image forming apparatus 3 onto the paper stacking table 4. A conveyance roller 7, a conveyance roller 8, a shift conveyance roller 9, and a sheet trailing edge stopper 5 for fixing the end position of the sheet 1 in the direction opposite to the sheet conveyance direction are provided. The shift conveyance roller 9 can change the angle by the roller direction changing means 20 (see FIG. 3), and can shift the sheet 1 to the operator side or the counter operator side. An operator-side jogger driving unit 16, an anti-operator-side jogger driving unit (not shown), and a tip stopper driving unit 11 are arranged on the upper surface of the main body, and below the operator-side jogger driving unit 16, A connected operator-side jogger 15, a non-operator-side jogger 17 connected to the non-operator-side jogger driving unit (see FIG. 3), and a tip stopper 10 connected to the tip stopper driving unit 11 are arranged. The transport rollers 6 to 9 are configured such that the paper traveling direction is shorter than the paper having the shortest paper length, and is configured to transport the paper having the shortest paper length. In addition, the paper discharge device 2 has a control unit 14, and comprehensively controls the movement of each unit of the paper discharge device 2 in accordance with the printing status of the image forming apparatus 3. Note that the control unit 13 provided in the image forming apparatus 3 instead of the control unit 14 may be configured to control the paper discharge device 2 and the image forming device 3 simultaneously.

  3 and 4 are views of the conventional paper shift operation as seen from the top of the paper discharge device 2. FIG. In FIG. 3, the sheet 1 fed from the image forming apparatus 3 is counter-operator side (arrow 19 in FIG. 3) by a shift conveying roller 9 whose angle is variable by roller direction changing means 20 such as a stepping motor, a link, and a shaft. The sheet 1 brought by the non-operator side jogger 17 driven in the direction of the arrow 18 by the counter operator side jogger driving unit is abutted against the operator side jogger 15 and aligned and stacked. When shifting the sheet 1 to the operator side (not shown), the sheet 1 is conveyed obliquely to the operator side by inclining the angle of the shift conveying roller 9 to the operator side by the roller direction changing means 20, and the sheet 1 is The operator-side jogger 15 abuts against the non-operator-side jogger 17 to be aligned and loaded.

  In FIG. 3, when aligning a long sheet 1 in the sheet traveling direction, the shift amount due to the skew conveyance of the shift conveyance roller 9 increases, and the leading edge of the sheet 1 comes into contact with the operator side jogger 15 or the non-operator side jogger 17. Or it is necessary to prevent a collision. Conventionally, there has been a case where contact or collision occurs with a paper whose length in the paper traveling direction is longer than 8.5 inches. Therefore, in FIG. 3, when the shift transport roller 9 transports the sheet 1 by a specified distance, as shown in FIG. 4, the shift transport roller 9 is tilted in the reverse direction without changing the tilt angle, and the reverse direction (arrow 19 in FIG. 4). (In the direction of ').

JP 2005-15195 A

  However, when the paper length in the paper traveling direction is long and the paper continuous amount is large, the paper is shifted from the end of the paper passing through the shift conveyance roller 9 until reaching the operator jogger 15 or the counter operator jogger 17. During this time, the sheet 1 could not be sufficiently shifted by the skew conveyance of the shift conveyance roller 9 due to the nipping of the conveyance roller 7 and the conveyance roller 8 positioned upstream of the shift conveyance roller 9. Conventionally, the above-described phenomenon has occurred in a sheet having a sheet length of 17 inches and a sheet continuous amount of 77 kg or more.

  Further, during the paper shift from the time when the paper length in the paper traveling direction is longer and the paper leading edge passes through the shift conveyance roller 9 to reach the operator side jogger 15 or the non-operator side jogger 17, the shift conveyance roller When the paper 1 is sandwiched between the transport roller 6, the transport roller 7, the transport roller 8, and the three transport rollers positioned upstream of the paper 9, the transport roller 6, the transport roller 7, and the transport roller 8 transport in the paper traveling direction. Therefore, the sheet 1 cannot be sufficiently shifted by the oblique conveyance of the shift conveyance roller 9. Conventionally, the above phenomenon has occurred when the paper length in the paper traveling direction is longer than 17 inches.

  In the above case, the position of the paper 1 and the operator side jogger 15 or the non-operator side jogger 17 approaches, the end of the paper 1 is turned up along the side surface of the operator side jogger 15 or the non-operator side jogger 17, and the paper is uneven or It could cause paper jams. In addition, this may cause trouble for the user.

  The present invention has a long sheet length in the sheet traveling direction and a large sheet continuous amount. While the sheet is shifted by the shift conveying roller, the sheet 1 is sandwiched by a plurality of upstream conveying rollers and the sheet is sufficiently shifted. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper discharge device capable of arranging and stacking paper without causing paper misalignment or paper jam even when it is not possible.

  The purpose of the above is to increase the tilt angle of the shift transport roller or eliminate the shift of the transport direction of the shift transport roller when the paper length is long and the continuous paper amount is large and cannot be shifted sufficiently. This is achieved by conveying in the straight direction.

  According to the present invention, the length of the paper in the paper traveling direction is long, and the amount of continuous paper is large. While the paper is being shifted by the shift transport roller, the paper is sandwiched by the plurality of upstream transport rollers and the paper is sufficiently loaded. Even when the shift cannot be performed, it is possible to provide a paper discharge device capable of arranging and stacking without causing paper misalignment or paper jam.

  Even when the length of the paper in the paper advance direction is long and the amount of continuous paper is large and the paper is sandwiched by a plurality of upstream rollers while the paper is being shifted by the shift transport roller, the paper 1 cannot be sufficiently shifted. The purpose of organizing and stacking without causing paper misalignment or paper jam has been realized with the same configuration as before.

  This embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart showing the paper shift method of FIG.

  When the sheet 1 is conveyed from the image forming apparatus 3 to the sheet discharge apparatus 2 (S1), the control unit 14 of the sheet discharge apparatus 2 confirms the sheet length in the sheet traveling direction based on the sheet information sent from the control unit 13. To do. When the sheet length is 8.5 inches or less (S2), the shift conveyance roller 9 is tilted 5.6 ° in the sheet shift direction instructed by the controller 13 of the image forming apparatus 3 by the roller direction changing means 20 (S3). Prepare for paper shift. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the sheet conveyance is continued in this state, and the sheet 1 is stacked on the sheet stacking table 4 (S4). When the sheet length exceeds 8.5 inches (S2) and the sheet length is 17 inches or less (S5), the roller direction changing unit 20 causes the controller 13 of the image forming apparatus 3 to secure a sheet shift amount. The shift conveying roller 9 is tilted 7 ° in the instructed sheet shift direction (S6). When the continuous paper amount is 77 kg or more (S7), the paper conveyance is continued in this state, and the paper 1 is loaded on the paper stacking table 4 (S4). When the continuous paper amount is less than 77 kg (S7), the paper shift direction instructed by the control unit 13 of the image forming apparatus 3 when the leading edge of the paper has reached 144 mm after reaching the shift conveyance roller 9 (S8). The shift conveyance roller 9 is returned by 6 ° in the opposite direction (S9). As a result, the shift conveying roller 9 is inclined by 1 ° in the sheet shift direction instructed by the control unit 13, and the shift amount becomes too large, and the leading edge of the sheet 1 collides with the operator side jogger 15 or the counter operator side jogger 17. To prevent. Then, the sheet 1 is loaded on the sheet loading table 4 (S4). Further, when the sheet 1 is conveyed from the image forming apparatus 3 to the sheet discharge apparatus 2 (S1) and the sheet length in the sheet traveling direction exceeds 8.5 inches (S2) and further exceeds 17 inches (S5), the sheet shift is sufficiently performed. As shown in FIG. 5, the inclination of the shift conveyance roller 9 is eliminated and the straight direction is set (S10), and the paper 1 is stacked on the paper stacking table 4 (S4). As described above, it is possible to optimally control the shift amount of the paper, and even when the paper 1 cannot be sufficiently shifted, it is possible to arrange and stack without causing paper misalignment or paper jam.

  Further, even if the paper length in the paper traveling direction is 17 inches or less, it may be difficult to shift depending on the paper continuous amount and the paper state. In this case, when the sheet is discharged, the position of the sheet 1 and the operator-side jogger 15 or the non-operator-side jogger 17 approach each other, and the end of the sheet 1 is turned up along the side surface of the operator-side jogger 15 or the non-operator-side jogger 17. Or it may cause a paper jam. Therefore, when the operator sets no paper shift from the operation panel, paper misalignment or paper jam can be prevented.

  The operation of the counter-operator side shift has been described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5. However, in the case of the operator-side shift, only the operator side jogger 15 is driven and the shift conveyance roller 9 is tilted in the reverse direction. The operation is the same as that of the counter operator side shift.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a printing system including the present invention (Example 1). FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view taken along line I-II in FIG. 1 (Example 1). FIG. 3 is a top view illustrating a state in which the sheet is conveyed obliquely in the present invention (Example 1). FIG. 6 is a top view showing the state of paper conveyance after changing the inclination of the shift conveyance roller in the present invention (Example 1). FIG. 3 is a top view showing a state in which a sheet is conveyed in a straight direction in the present invention (Example 1). 1 is a flowchart illustrating a paper shift method according to the present invention (Example 1).

Explanation of symbols

1 is paper, 2 is a paper discharge device, 3 is an image forming device, 4 is a paper stacking table, 5 is a paper trailing edge stopper, 6 is a transport roller, 7 is a transport roller, 8 is a transport roller, 9 is a shift transport roller, 10 is a front end stopper, 11 is a front end stopper drive unit, 12 is a path sensor, 13 is a control unit, 14 is a control unit, 15 is an operator side jogger, 16 is an operator side jogger drive unit, 17 is an anti-operator side jogger, and 18 is a reverse side. The driving direction of the operator side jogger, 19 is the paper traveling direction, 19 'is the paper traveling direction, 19 "is the paper traveling direction, 20 is the roller direction changing means, and 21 is the paper alignment unit.

Claims (3)

A shift transport roller capable of feeding paper fed from an image forming apparatus having a control unit in the paper traveling direction and shifting the paper to the operator side or the non-operator side, and changing the angle of the shift transport roller and Rukoto capable roller direction change means changing the conveying direction, the sheet stacking table to accommodate a stack of the paper in the paper loading position, reciprocating slide to align the paper in the vertical direction of the sheet traveling direction paper handling apparatus odor having an alignment member for Te, the paper length is If the paper ream weight less than or equal to the predetermined length is less than a predetermined weight, are indicated in accordance with the paper length from the control unit of the image forming apparatus wherein where the shift conveying roller is inclined at an angle to the sheet shifting direction, the leading end of the sheet has a predetermined distance conveyed after reaching the shift conveying roller shift transportable That is the direction in which the roller is tilted and automatically determines that less than the indicated angle back in the opposite direction, the amount of paper shift becomes too large leading end of the sheet impinges on the alignment member Paper handling device characterized by preventing . 2. The paper handling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein when the paper length exceeds a predetermined length and the paper shift cannot be performed sufficiently, the paper is conveyed in a straight direction without an inclination of the shift conveying roller . 2. The paper handling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an operator can set no paper shift from an operation panel regardless of a paper length and a paper continuous amount of the paper.

Images