JPS5837662A - Sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable rapid detection of jam in a sorter, by installing plural sensors in a copy conveyance route from a copying machine to the bins of a sorter, generating a pulse in synchronism to copy conveyance, and detecting jam irrespective of copy conveyance speed. CONSTITUTION:A copy 4 discharged from a copying machine 2 is brought into the plural bins 7 of a sorter 1. A paper discharge sensor 6, an inlet sensor 17, and bin sensors 18 for watching paper fed into each bin are installed along the copy conveyance route, and a pulse generator 19 for generating pulses at every with distance in synchronism to the movement of the belt 10 is installed. This generator 19 begins to count the pulses at the timing when the forward end or the backward end of the copy 4 passes by the sensors, and jam can be detected by checking the output of the sensor when the count number reaches pulse number corresponding to the distance between the sensors.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sorter, and particularly to a sorter suitable for detecting a jam.

Generally, in a sorter, the copy sheets ejected from the copying machine are In order to stably feed the copy sheet into the specified bin, while the copy sheet is passing from the copy machine to the sorter, the conveyance speed on the sorter side is set to be the same as the copy machine (11 tl), and when the copy sheet passes through the copy machine, the speed is increased. Conventionally, jam detection in such sorters was performed using a timer, but the timer settings were difficult, making it difficult to quickly detect jams in the sorter. As a result, once a jam occurs, the copying machine is delayed and jams occur one after another, resulting in a waste of paper, etc.Furthermore, the sorter is often used as a general-purpose machine and can be used with various types of copying machines. However, since copying machines have different copying speeds, it is necessary to reset the timer time limit for each model, which is a tedious task.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a sorter that can quickly detect a sorter jam by detecting a jam regardless of the conveyance speed of copy sheets, and that can be easily attached to various copying machines.

The present invention will be explained below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a complete structural diagram of the mechanical parts of a sorter according to an embodiment of the present invention, where ▪ is a sorter and 2 is a copying machine.

This copying machine 2 discharges a copy sheet 4 fixed by a fixing roller 3 from a paper discharge roller 5, and monitors the paper discharge state at this time by a paper discharge sensor 6 (7). It's a copier.

On the other hand, the sorter 1 attached to this copying machine 2 includes a plurality of bins 7 and an emergent sheet tray 8, and stores the copy sheets 4 discharged from the copying machine 2 into these bins 7.
Alternatively, the paper is configured to be placed in the tray 8. That is, 9 is a plate, and the copy sheet 4 discharged from the copying machine 2 is guided to the conveyance section by the guide plate 9.The conveyance section is a conveyor belt]0, this conveyor belt] It consists of a conveyance roller 11 etc. that drives the
1 is configured to be driven by a motor 13 via a speed increasing clutch 12. A first deflection cam] 4 is disposed near the conveyance roller 11, and in an emergency, the copy sheet 4 is discharged onto the l-ray 8 by this deflection cam 14. Soil, there is a solenoid P15 in the copy conveyance path on the conveyor bell I/[0, although one piece 17 is shown in the figure.
By ilr! A second deflection cam 16 is disposed corresponding to each bin 7, and the copy sheets 4 are delivered to the bin 7 by the deflection cams 6.

Furthermore, a sensor 17 is installed on the guide plate 9 to monitor the state of the copy sheets 4 entering the sorter 1. Additionally, a common pin sensor 18 is provided at the entrance of each bin 7 to monitor the state of copy sheets 4 entering the bins 7. In addition, the transport pel l
-1rl roller is equipped with a Nockles generator 1 that generates Nockles p for each unit distance in synchronization with the movement of the conveyor belt 10.
9 is provided.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the control unit of the sorter 1, where 20 is an I10 expander that serves as an interface with the control unit of the copying machine 2, and 21 is a '+till 4111 circuit with a microcombeater configuration. , 22 is a clean expander that functions as an interface with the mechanical section of the sorter 1.

The control circuit 21 includes a CPU, ROM, and RAM.
In addition to the programs necessary to control the sorter 1, the ROM contains the programs necessary to control the sorter 1, and as shown in FIG. Number of pulses PO% required from each deflection cam to bin sensor] /4' pulse number P1 from each deflection cam to bin sensor] Number of pulses P2 between each deflection cam, from paper discharge sensor 6 to entrance sensor 1
The number of pulses P3 at 74 and the number of pulses tJi P4 from the inlet sensor 17 to the deflection cam of the lowest bin are stored.

In addition, during operation, the control circuit 21 includes ■ Crab Spanda 2
A sort mode signal a is sent from the control unit of the copying machine 2 via
1 collate mode signal b1 interrupt mode signal C, copy end signal d1, copy discharge signal e, etc. are input. On the other hand, a jam signal f1 and a bin number signal g are sent from the control circuit 21 to the control section of the copying machine 2 via the I/10 expander 20.
etc. are output. Further, the control circuit 21 is connected to a motor 13, a speed increasing clutch 12, each (
5) At the same time that each drive signal is output to the solenoid J5, etc., sensor signals are inputted from the inlet sensor 17, bin sensor] 8, pulse generator 19, etc.

Next, the operation of the sorter 1 of this embodiment configured as described above will be explained below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 to 8.

The power of the sorter 1 is automatically turned on by turning on the power of the copying machine 2, and the control circuit 21 starts its control based on a command from the copying machine 2.

That is, the control circuit 21 first resets internal counters, registers, and flags to their initial states, and sets n=1 in a register A (not shown).

Next, the mode is selected as shown in FIG. 4 based on the signal a''-c input from the copying machine 2, and when it is the sort mode or collate mode, the process moves to the sort routine shown in FIG. Execute the appropriate processing.

Furthermore, when in the interrupt mode, the routine shifts to the interrupt routine shown in FIG.

(6) On the other hand, if it is neither of the above, the routine moves to the normal routine shown in FIG. 7. FIG. 8 shows a processing routine when a jam occurs.

Now, I10 extract! control circuit 2 via the controller 20 ]
Assuming that the IC sort mode signal a or the collate mode signal 1) is input, the control circuit 21 first selects the n-th bin into which the copy sheet 4 is placed from the entrance sensor 17, as shown in FIG. 5(a). 7-Calculate the number N of curls up to the deflection cam of n.

This number N is the number N required for conveying the copy sheet 4 from the entrance sensor #J'-17 to the uppermost bin 7-1 at the deflection cam size, as explained above with reference to FIG. The number of pulses is PO%.The number of pulses required from each deflection cam to the bin sensor 18 is Pl, and the number of pulses between each deflection cam is Pl, so N=P
It can be expressed as 6 +PH-('n-1) P2. In this case, in both the sort mode and the collate mode, copies will be made from the topmost bin 7-1, so the n =1lc, the ΔRus number at this time is N2P. +Pt Totoru □Next, the leading edge of the ejected copy sheet 4 of the copying machine 2 completely passes the entrance sensor 17.
7 is turned on, the control circuit 21d.

■Output the drive signal via Kanikisu iRnder 22 i~,
The motor 13 is moved IMK. At the same time, the program-configured counter A is fully activated to count the /4' pulse P output from the pulse generator 19. Furthermore, the solenoid 15 of the deflection cam 1.6 J41 corresponding to the bin into which the paper is input is turned on.

As a result, the leading edge of copy sheet 4 is inserted into sensor 1.
7, the motor ]:3 rotates and the conveyor belt 10
Is Copy Machine 2 Copy 1? -Starts moving at the same speed as the transport speed.

In the case of this embodiment, since the sorter 1 is used as a conveyor 1, the conveyance path from the paper output port of the copying machine 2 to the bin 7 is made extremely short, so that the copy sheet 4 is placed in the lower bin. When, copy sea!・Before the rear end of the bottle 4 comes out of the copying machine 2, its leading end will reach the bin entrance. Therefore, in this embodiment, before the paper ejection sensor 6 is turned OFF, that is, before the paper ejection signal inputted to the control circuit 21 via the I10 exno 4 driver 20 is turned ON, the counter A performs the calculation. It is determined whether or not the Noculus number N has been reached.

Based on this judgment result, the counter A is set to the specified number N.
If it reaches , it means that the leading edge of the copy sheet 4 has reached the bin sensor 18, so Stella f ST
Check to see if the bin sensor 18 is ON (,). If it keeps turning ON, it is determined that a jam occurred during the process. If the bin sensor j8 is ON (, ), then check to see if the paper ejection sensor 6 is OFF. .

On the other hand, if the copy sheet 4 is to be placed in the upper bin, the determination result in step STI is NO, and the OFF 'i of the paper discharge sensor 6 is checked first. At this time, if the paper ejection sensor 6 is OFF l, then the clutch 12
Turn ON l and increase the speed of the conveyor belt 10'i 4 to 5 times. At the same time, counter B is activated to count Noculus p6 from pulse generator 19. At this counter B, the trailing edge of the copy sheet 4 reaches the paper ejection sensor (9) from the sensor 6 to the entrance sensor 17! Ruth number P
2, judge the result in step ST2, and select NO.
If so, return to step ST1 again and repeat the above process.

If the judgment result in step ST2 is YES, then the process moves to FIG. 5(b), the state of the entrance sensor 17 is checked, and the entrance sensor 17 is OFF.
I think it's a jam. On the other hand, "ON 1" sensor 17
is turned OFF, next the counter C is activated and the pulse p? from the pulse generator 19 is activated. Count.

Thereafter, it is determined again whether the counter A has reached the prescribed number of pulses N, and if it has reached the prescribed number of pulses N, the state of the bin sensor 18 is checked. As a result, copy sheet 4
It is determined whether the tip of the bottle has reached the bottle entrance, and if it has not, it is determined that there is a jam. Next, it is determined whether the counter C has reached the specified Noyalus number N, and the specified Pruss number NK is determined.
If the rear end of the copy sheet 4 has reached the bin entrance 17, the bin sensor 18 is checked to determine whether the rear end of the copy sheet 4 has reached the bin entrance.
It is judged that there is a jam. Thereby, a jam is detected when the copy sheet 4 reaches the bin entrance and is about to enter the bin.

If the copy sheet 4 enters the currently selected bin 7 without jamming on the way, the process moves to FIG. 5(c), where the solenoid 15'e is turned off and the clutch 12 is turned off. At this time, from the copying machine 2, I10
It is determined whether or not the copy end signal d is input to the control device 21 via the extractor motherboard 20. If copying is in progress, that is, if the judgment result in step ST3 is No, it is determined whether or not the mode at this time is the sort mode. In sort mode, the content n of register A is incremented by one, while in collate mode, the process remains the same and returns to the procedure shown in Figure 4, and then returns to the procedure shown in Figure 5. Go through the steps and repeat. On the other hand, if the determination result in step ST3 is YES, the motor 13 is turned off. after that,
In the sort mode, the content n of register A is set to 1, and in the collate mode, the content n of register A is incremented by 1, and the process returns to the procedure shown in FIG.

In this way, in the sort mode, one copy sheet 4 is stocked one by one, starting from the top of the bin, and the copy sheet 4 is stocked one by one, starting from the top of the bin.
It is controlled to return to 1.

In the case of master/collate mode, copy sheets 4 are stocked one after another from the top of the bin by inputting the copy end signal d, and moving to the next bin by inputting the copy end signal d.
In collate mode, it is controlled so that it returns to the top level when it becomes too small.

On the other hand, jam detection during this time is at counters A and B.

C, respectively, from inlet sensor-17 to Vincey-I
J--18, from the bin sensor 18 to the bin 7, and from the paper ejection sensor 6 to the entrance sensor 17. If the sheets 4 jam in the sorter 1, the control circuit 21 can quickly detect this.

As a result, if the control circuit 21 detects a jam, it moves to the procedure shown in FIG. do. After that, if the jam is removed and a reset button (not shown) is pressed, the process returns to the procedure shown in FIG. 4 again. 'Next, when the interrupt mode signal C is input from the copying machine 2 to the control circuit 21 via the I10 expander 20, the procedure shown in FIG. 6 is executed. That is, in the case of interrupt mode, since it is necessary to put the copy sheet 4 ejected from the copying machine 2 into the bottom bin 7-n, the CPU takes out the number of pulses N=Pl+P4 from the ROM and stores it in the RAM. set.

Next, when the leading edge of the copy sheet 4 passes the entrance sensor 17 and the entrance sensor 17 is turned on, the motor 13 is turned on, and the solenoid corresponding to the bottom bin 7-n is turned on, and then the counter A is turned on. Activate.

Next, when the counter A reaches N, the bin sensor 18
By checking whether or not the leading edge of the copy sheet 4 has safely reached the bin sensor 18 from the entrance sensor 17, it is determined whether or not the leading edge of the copy sheet 4 has safely arrived at the bin sensor 18, and a jam (13) is detected during that time.

After that, the paper ejection sensor 6 is turned OFF, that is, the I10
It is checked whether the paper ejection signal e input through the printer 20 is ON, and if the copy sheet 4 has passed through the copying machine by 2 feet, the clutch 12 is turned on, the speed of the conveyor belt 10 is increased, and then the counter B is activated.

Next, by checking whether the entrance sensor 17 is turned off when the value of the counter B reaches P3, a jam is detected until the trailing edge of the copy sheet 4 reaches the entrance sensor 17 from the discharge sensor 6.

If no jam is detected, a counter C is activated, and when the value of this counter C reaches N, the bin sensor 18 is activated.
By checking whether or not the rear end of the copy sheet 4 has reached the bin sensor 18 from the entrance sensor 17, it is detected whether the copy sheet 4 is jammed from the bin sensor 18 until it enters the lowest bin 7-nK: do.

In this way, if a jam is detected during the process of putting the copy sheet 4 discharged from the copying machine 2 into the lowermost bin 7-n, the jam (14) shown in FIG. 8 is handled as described above. On the other hand, if no jam is detected, p
As long as the interrupt mode signal C is inputted, the procedure in FIG. Sheets 4 are stocked one after another in the bottom bin 7-n.

On the other hand, if there is no mode designation from the copying machine 2 to the sorter J, the normal mode is set, and the control circuit 21 executes the procedure shown in FIG. In this case, all the copy sheets 4 discharged from the copying machine 2 are put into the bin 7-1 in the second row, so the number of CPU, ld pulses N=P
Take out o+P1 from ROM and set it in RAM. Well, if the solenoid 15 does not select, and the inlet sensor 17 turns on, the motor 13 turns on and counter A operates, and the paper ejection sensor 6 turns off.
Turning on the paper discharge signal e input through the expander 20 17
Find out. As a result, if the paper discharge signal e is turned on, the clutch 12 is turned on, the speed of the conveyor belt 10 is increased, and then the counter B is activated.

Next, in the same way as in the case of the interrupt mode described above, when the value of the counter B reaches P3, the entrance sensor 1 is
Jam detection is performed by checking whether 7 is OFF.

If no jam is detected, counter C is activated, and then the bin sensor I is activated when the value of counter A reaches N.
By checking whether B is ON, a jam from the inlet sensor 17 to the bin sensor 18 is detected. Next, when the value of the counter C reaches N, the bin sensor 18 is turned off.
By checking 'i', jam detection is performed until the copy sheet 4 enters the uppermost bin 7-1 from the bin sensor 18.

Furthermore, if such jam detection is performed and a jam is detected during the process, the jam processing shown in Figure 8 is performed, and if no jam is detected, the processes shown in Figures 4 to 7 are repeatedly executed and the copy process is completed. All copy sheets 4 discharged from the machine 2 are stocked in the uppermost bin 7-1.

As described above, the sorter 1 of this embodiment has an entrance sensor 17 that detects the presence or absence of a copysheet 4 on the copy conveyance path.
, a bin sensor 18 is provided, and the copy conveyance period f
A pulse generator 19 that generates pulses is provided, and the pulse generator 19 generates pulses when the front or rear end of the copy sheet 4 is connected to the entrance sensor 1.
7 and when the trailing edge of the copy sheet 4 is ejected from the copying machine 2, counting is started, and these counted values are counted by the entrance sensor 1 determined in advance.
7. Pulse number between bin sensor 18 or copying machine 2,
The ON or OFF state of the bin sensor 18 or the entrance sensor 1 when the zf pulse number between the entrance sensors 17 is reached
By checking the ON/OFF state of 7, jam detection is performed without using a timer.

Therefore, jams can be detected reliably and quickly without being affected by the conveyance speed of the attached copying machine as in the past. At the same time, by simply adjusting the transport speed when receiving copies to that of the copying machine, it can be easily installed on different types of copying machines.

In addition, as shown in Fig. iJ3, the copy transport path (17
) On the road, only the number of pulses Po to P4 during the basic distance is memorized, and the number of pulses Po to P4 from the entrance sensor 17 to the predetermined bin entrance is memorized.
Since the number of loops is determined by calculation, the storage capacity can be reduced.

As described above, according to the present invention, jam detection can be performed reliably and quickly, and even if the punching speed of the copying machine differs, there is no need for complicated adjustment, and it can be easily installed on each f11 copying machine. You can obtain a highly versatile sorter that can perform various functions.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of the mechanical part of a sorter showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the control part of the sorter, and Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the copy transport path necessary for explaining the operation of the sorter. Figure 4 is a diagram explaining the number of 9 ruses required. Figure 4 is 70-1000 yards to explain the mode selection operation of the sorter. Figure 5 is
) to (e) are flowcharts for explaining the sort mode and collate mode operations of the sorter; Normal (1o) Flowchart 1 to explain the operation in normal mode.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the sorter during jam processing. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Sorter, 2... Copying machine, 3... Fixing roller, 4... Copy sheet, 5... Paper ejection roller, 6...
... Paper discharge sensor, 7 ... Bin, 8 ... Emergent tray, 9 ... ID plate, 10 ... Conveyance belt, 11 ... Drive roller, 12 ... Speed increase clutch,
13...Motor, 14.16...Deflection cam, 15.
... Solenoid, 17... Inlet sensor, 18...
Bin sensor, 19... Pulse generator, 20, 22...
...I10 expander, 21...control circuit. (19) Fig. 3-429- Fig. 4 Fig. 5 (b) 5'FIJ Fig. 8 A432-

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a sorter that has multiple bins arranged in parallel and sequentially stores copies ejected from a copying machine, multiple sensors are placed on the copy transport path from the copying machine to the bins, and are synchronized with the transport of copies. A pulse generator is provided, and the counting operation of the pulses is started at the timing when the leading edge or trailing edge of the copy passes the sensor, and the counted value corresponds to the distance between the sensors. A? The sorter is characterized in that a jam is detected by checking the sensor output when the number of loops reaches 1 or more.