JPS63143165A - Sheet material storing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reliably stop the rise of a sheet receiver and prevent the breakage or deformation of the device by turning a rise stopping means on with a lever detecting member moved further as the sheet material receiver is lifted when a sheet material level detecting means fails. CONSTITUTION:When a container body loaded with sheets on a sheet material receiver 25a is set and a power supply is turned on, the sheet material receiver 25a is lifted, if the level lever 36 of a sheet material level detecting means 39 is rotated by a preset angle above sheet materials prior to an upper limit sensor 35a, a switch 37a is turned on, and fork-shaped members 30a, 30b are stopped rising. In this case, if the rise is further continued due to a failure or the like of the switch 37a, the level lever 36 is further rotated and its rear end 36' turns a safety switch 42 on to reliably stop the rise. Accordingly, even if a sheet material load level detecting means fails, the rise of the sheet material receiver can be reliably stopped, and the breakage or deformation of the device can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to a storage device for sheet materials, and more specifically, for storing sheet materials such as transfer paper that are discharged from image forming apparatuses such as copying machines and laser beam printers. The present invention relates to a sheet material storage device including a transport section that transports sheets of paper, and a storage section that sequentially stores the sheet materials transported by the transport section in a stacked state.

(B) Prior art This type of sheet material storage device is disposed adjacent to an image forming device, receives sheet materials discharged from the image forming device, and transfers the received sheet materials to a plurality of conveyance paths. A transport section consisting of a guide etc. is used to appropriately switch sheet materials according to their size and store them in a stacked state in a storage section of a predetermined container, etc., and a large amount of sheet materials that are sequentially transported into the storage section. In order to stack the sheet materials in an aligned state, the sheet material receiver is configured in the storage section so as to gradually descend by a predetermined amount depending on the stacking level of the sheet materials accommodated in the tray.

←→ Problems to be Solved by the Invention By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional sheet material storage device, before operation, an empty storage section is usually set in the main body of the device, and the sheet material receiver disposed inside the storage section is opened. After being raised to the initial raised position regulated by the upper limit sensor, the sheet material receiver starts loading the sheet material on top, but sometimes it is not empty and the sheet material receiver is somewhat loaded with sheet material on top. There is also a storage section for the state. In this case, the sheet material receiver cannot be raised to the initial rising position regulated by the upper limit sensor, so the sheet material level detection means is used to
When the sheet material receiver rises, the upper surface of the sheet material stacked on the sheet material receiver is detected by the sheet material level detection means, so that the initial raised position of the sheet material receiver is regulated. In this case, if the sheet material level detection means is malfunctioning or malfunctioning, the sheet material receiver will not stop and will continue to rise, potentially deforming or destroying the sheet material level detection means or other parts of the device. there were.

(b) Means for solving the problem The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems,
The present invention is characterized in that a rise stop means is provided which is turned on by a level detection member of the detection means that moves further as the sheet material receiver rises when the detection means fails, and stops the rising operation of the sheet material receiver.

(E) Effect By employing the above means, prior to the operation of the sheet material storage device, when the storage section with sheet materials loaded thereon is set in the main body of the device, the sheets 1 to 1 to the material receiver are then moved upward. The sheet material receiver is stopped at the initial raised position when the upper surface of the sheet material loaded thereon comes into contact with the level detection member of the detection means, moves the level detection member by a predetermined amount, and turns on the detection means. be done. If the detection means is out of order and the sheet material receiver is not stopped as described above, the level detection member is further moved by a predetermined amount due to the rise of the sheet material receiver, thereby turning on the raising stop means. The lifting operation of the sheet material receiver is reliably stopped.

(F) Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 3, the sheet material storage device 1 includes a conveying section 2 that receives and conveys the image-formed sheet material discharged from an adjacent image forming apparatus (not shown);
It includes storage sections 3a and 3b for storing sheet materials transported via the transport section 2, and a paper discharge tray 5.

The conveyance unit 2 includes an entrance 6 that receives sheet material from the image forming apparatus, a first conveyance path 7 that conveys the sheet material supplied to the entrance 6 toward the downstream side, and a first conveyance path 7 that conveys the sheet material supplied to the entrance 6 toward the downstream side. The first switching guide 9 provided in the middle of the conveyance path 7 allows
A reversing conveyance l510 that reverses the introduced sheet material and returns it to the first conveyance path 7 again, and a second switching guide 11 arranged on the downstream side of the first conveyance path 7 are connected. the second transport l512 and the third transport path 13, and the third switching guide 15 disposed on the downstream side of the third transport lPH13.
A fourth conveyance path 16 and a fifth conveyance path 17 connected to
Each of the above-mentioned transport paths 7, 12, 13, 16, and 17 is provided with an appropriate number of transport a-ra pairs 19a to 19b, respectively.
Further, the reversing conveyance path 10 is provided with a forward/reverse conveying belt 20, which further faces the downstream ends of the conveying paths 12, 16, 17, the upstream end of the reversing conveying path 10, and the downstream end of the first conveying path 7. Sensors 21a~ that detect the passage of sheet materials, respectively.
21c, 21d and 21e are provided.

Further, the storage sections 3a and 3b have a box-shaped container body 2 having an open upper structure and having a size corresponding to the size of the sheet material.
2a, 22b, and a hollow second tube disposed inside the container bodies 22a, 22b, which can fit inside the container body 22a or move up and down along the inner opening of the container body 22b and the partition plate 23. , As detailed in Figure 3,
A lower stage is provided on the side of the main body 1a of the sheet material storage device 1 and is slidable in the horizontal direction. The container body 22a is set on the table 26a and the upper table 26b, respectively.

The upper open portion of the table 22b faces the downstream ends of the second conveyance path 12 and the fourth conveyance path 16 of the aforementioned conveyance section 2, respectively, and can accommodate the sheet material conveyed therefrom, and each table 26m , 26b are slid to the left in the figure, and the container bodies 22a, 22b are inserted into the sheet material receivers 25a, 2.
5b can be moved to a take-out position where it can be attached to or detached from the tables 26a and 26b while remaining in place. Then, the sheet material receivers 25a, 25
A container body 22a is provided in the hollow portion 27ap27b of b.

A pair of fork-like members 30a each having cushioning support members 29a, 29b made of rubber or the like affixed to the upper surface through a vertical groove (not shown) formed on one side of the sheet material storage device main body 1a side of 22b. , 30b are volatilized, and the fork-shaped member 3 is driven by a drive device (not shown).
0a, 30b vertical guide members 31a, 31b
As the sheet material receivers 25a, 25 move up and down along the
b can move up and down within the container bodies 22a and 22b.

Further, in proximity to the vertical guide members 31a, 31b, from below to above, there is a take-out position sensor 32a.

32b1 lower limit sensor 33a, 33b and upper limit sensor 3
5a and 35b, respectively, and as shown in FIG. 4, the fork-shaped members 30a and 3
The position of 0b is detected and a predetermined control operation is performed by the control means and the lifting motor. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. A sheet material loading level detecting means 39 (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as sensor 39) is provided, which includes a level lever 36 that is supported pivotably and microswitches 37m and 37b that are turned on and off by rotation of the lever 36. When a predetermined amount of sheet material is loaded onto the sheet material receiver 25a which is in the active state, the sensor 39 detects this, and the sheet material receiver 25m is moved a predetermined distance via the fork-shaped member 30a. It is configured to be lowered.

Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the container body 2
Covers 4 are integrated so as to cover the upper openings of 2a and 22b.
0a, 40b can be attached, and when the covers 40a, 40b are properly attached to the upper part of the container bodies 22a, 22b, the covers 40a, 40
For example, a sensor 41a, such as a round microswitch, in which the tip end of b is provided at a corresponding position on the sheet material storage device main body 1a,
41b, the sensors 41a and 41b are turned on, and the sheet material storage device 1 is ready to operate.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a safety switch consisting of a microswitch or the like is provided opposite to D1436' after the level lever 36 and is activated when the level lever 36 is rotated clockwise by a predetermined angle or more. 42 is provided, and the safety switch 42 closes the container body 22 a (2
2b) is set, and the container body 22a (22
When the sheet material receiver 25a (25b) in b) is activated when being raised, the lifting motor 43 is stopped and the sheet material receiver 25a (25b) is moved to its safety switch 42, as shown in FIG. Toshi stops at the raised position at the time of activation,
Moreover, the sheet material if of the sheet material storage device 1! It is connected to a control means 47 such as a microcomputer so as to stop the operation of the image forming apparatus via the sheet material conveyance motor 45 and image forming apparatus control means 46 when it is activated during the second operation. In addition, what is indicated by the reference numeral 49 in FIG. 4 is a container body 22a that can be stopped at any time during the work or the like.

This is a take-out button for taking out 22b.

This embodiment has the above-described configuration, and before the sheet material storage device 1 is operated, the sealant storage device main body 1 is
The container bodies 22 a, 22 b are attached to the container body 22 a. At that time, the fork-shaped member 30Jl.

30b, like the upper fork-shaped member 30b shown in FIG. Since the latched state of the tables 26a and 26b is released and the tables 26a and 26b can be pulled out to the left in the figure, the operator places the cover 4 in the predetermined position of the pulled out tables 26a and 26b.
Empty container body 22a, 22b equipped with 0a, 40b
When the tables 26m and 26b are pushed in, the container bodies 22a and 22b are moved to the inner sheet material receivers 25a and 25b, like the upper container body 22b shown in FIG. A set state is reached in which the seven octagonal members 30a and 30b are inserted into the hollow parts 27a and 27b, and at the same time, the sensors 41a and 41b are turned on by being pressed by the tips of the integrated covers 40a and 40b, and the sheet material is turned on. The accommodation device W1 becomes ready for operation. When the power is turned on in this state, the lifting motor 43 is actuated to raise the fork-like members 30a and 30b, and
Accordingly, the sheet material receivers 25a and 25b inside the container bodies 22a and 22b are raised, and as shown in FIG.
Before the level lever 36 of the level detection means 39 is rotated, the upper limit sensors 35a and 35b are activated, and when the upper limit sensors 35m and 35b are turned on, the operation of the lifting motor 43 is stopped and the fork-shaped Members 30a, 3
The ascent of 0b was stopped and the container body 22 m, 22
b is in a state where sheet materials can be accommodated. Note that the fork-shaped member 30a.

During the rising process of 30b, the extraction position sensors 32a, 3
2b is in the off state, thereby causing tables 26a, 2
6b is latched to prevent it from being inadvertently pulled out during operation. A sheet material receiver 25a replaces the empty container bodies 22a and 22b.

Container body 22 with sheet materials loaded on 25b
a, 22b are set in the same way and the power is turned on, in this case, the recesses 25 of the sheet material receivers 25a, 25b
Since 'a' and 25'b are blocked by the sheet material, as the sheet material receivers 25m and 25b are raised, the upper limit sensors 35a and 35b are always detected first. Level lever 36 of level detection means 39
is rotated by a predetermined angle by the upper surface of the sheet material, the switch 37a is turned on, and the fork-shaped members 30a, 3
0 b rise is stopped. At this time, even if the switch 37a fails or does not turn on for some reason and the fork-shaped members 30a, 30b continue to rise, the level lever 36 will further rotate due to the further rise of the sheet material receivers 25a, 25b. The rear end 36' turns on the safety switch 42, and the fork-like members 30a, 30b
That is, the raising of the sheet material receivers 25a, 25b is reliably stopped (for the above operation, please also refer to the operation flow shown in FIG. 5). Next, a sheet material on which an image has been formed is introduced from an adjacent image forming apparatus through the inlet 6, and normally the sheet material passes through the conveyance path 7 and is conveyed downstream, but the sheet material has two sides. When reversal is required, the sheet material passes through the lower right side of the switching guide 9 by the switching guide action of the switching guide 9, and is introduced into the reversing conveyance $10 by normal rotation of the conveyor belt 20, so that the rear end of the sheet material is When detected by the sensor 21d, the conveyor belt 20 is reversed to return to the conveyance path 7 through the lower left side of the switching guide 9. It should be noted that, at the time when the rear end of the above-mentioned reversed sheet material passes through the sensor 21e and is detected, the conveyor belt 20 is returned to the normal rotation state and stands by in preparation for the next reversal of the sheet material. The sheet material that has passed through conveyance #17 is then sorted by a switching guide 11.15 depending on its size, etc. to the conveyance path 12 side or to the conveyance paths 13 and 16 side, and is transferred to the corresponding container body 22a, The sheets are stacked on the sheet material receivers 25a and 25b in the raised position of 22b. In this way, in the process of stacking the sheet materials one after another on the sheet receivers 25a and 25b, the stacking height of the sheet materials increases to a certain extent, and the sheet materials being conveyed successively are loaded onto the container body 22a by the force of being conveyed. , 22b or over the partition plate 23, the sheet material is integrated with the cover 40a.

The presence of the sheet material 40b prevents the sheet material from coming out, and allows the sheet material to be properly accumulated on the sheet material receivers 25m and 25b. When the stacking height of the sheet materials on the sheet material receivers 25m and 25b reaches a predetermined height, the sensor lever 3 of the sensor 39 shown in FIG.
6 is rotated by a predetermined angle, thereby turning on the switch 37a of the sensor 39, and the fork-shaped member 30a.

30b is operated downward until the switch 37b is turned on, and the distance between the top surface of the stacked plate materials and the sheet material discharge position at the downstream end of the conveyance path 12.16 is always maintained within an appropriate range, and the sheet materials are well aligned. It is being accumulated. Note that if the switch 37a is not turned on due to a malfunction or the like even when the sensor lever 36 is rotated by a predetermined angle, the sheet material receiver 25a is turned on.

Further sheet material is stacked on 25b, which causes the level lever 36 to rotate further, so that the rear end 36'
The safety switch 42 is turned on, and, for example, the operation of the image forming apparatus is stopped and the transport motor 45 is also stopped. Similarly, a sheet material jam occurs on the sheet material receivers 25a and 25b, and the level lever 3
6 is suddenly rotated and the safety switch 42 is turned on, the operation is similarly stopped. When the sheet material receivers 25a, 25b are lowered, the presence of the integrated covers 40a, 40b causes the container body to
Insertion of hands, etc. into 2a and 22b is prohibited, thereby preventing unexpected accidents from occurring. In this way, the sheet material receivers 25a, 25b repeatedly descend intermittently, a predetermined amount of sheet material is accumulated on the sheet material receivers 25a, 25b, and the lowered position of the sheet material receivers 25a, 25b, that is, directly When the lower limit sensors 33 m and 33 b are turned on by the fork-shaped members 30 g and 30 b, the conveyance of the sheet material from the image forming apparatus to the container bodies 22 a and 22 b is stopped, or the container body 2
Until the sheets 2a and 22b are taken out, the forwarding of the sheet material is switched to the discharge tray 5 side via the conveyance path 17, and at the same time, the fork-like members 30a and 30b are activated by the take-out position sensor 32a.
, 32b are further lowered to the ON position and stopped, the latches of the tables 26a, 26b are released, the container bodies 22m, 22b are taken out, and a new empty container body 2 is removed.
2a.

22b etc. can be set. Note that even in a state where a predetermined amount of sheet material is not accumulated on the sheet receivers 25m and 25b, that is, before the lower limit sensors 33a and 33b are turned on, the eject button 49 of the container bodies 22a and 22b shown in FIG. 4 is turned on. By doing so, it is possible to arbitrarily replace the container bodies 22a, 22b with new ones in the same manner as described above.

(g) As described in detail, according to the present invention, when the detection means fails, the level detection member of the detection means, which moves further due to the raising operation of the sheet material receiver, turns on and stops the raising operation of the sheet material receiver. Since the sheet material receiver is equipped with a lifting stop means, when the storage section with sheet materials stacked on top is set in the main body of the apparatus, the sheet material receiver is used instead of the upper limit sensor to detect the initial raised position of the sheet material receiver in the storage section. Even if the detection means that is responsible for setting the level is broken, the further rise of the sheet material receiver can be easily and reliably carried out by using a simple structure that turns on the rise stop means using the level detection member attached to the detection means. This makes it possible to avoid destruction or deformation of the detection means and other parts of the device caused by the upward movement of the sheet material receiver exceeding the upward limit at a very low cost.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are partially enlarged side views of a sheet material storage device according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing the overall structure of the sheet material storage device, and FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram showing a control circuit.
FIG. 5 is a control flowchart related to the setting operation of the accommodating section of the sheet material accommodating apparatus of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Sheet material storage device, 2... Conveyance part, 3
a, 3b---accommodating part, 25a, 25b---sheet material receiver, 35a, 35b---upper limit sensor, 36
...Level detection member (level lever), 39...
Detection means (sheet material loading level detection means), 42... Ascent stop means (safety switch). Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 5

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A conveyance section that conveys sheet materials discharged from the image forming apparatus, a storage section that stacks and stores the sheet materials from the conveyance section on a sheet material receiver that is disposed inside so as to be movable up and down, and the storage section. a detection means having a level detection member for detecting the level of the sheet material stacked on the sheet material receiver during the operation of stacking the sheet material on the sheet material receiver, and detecting the level of the sheet material receiver based on the ON operation of the detection means. The sheet material receiver is gradually lowered from an initial raised position regulated by the upper limit sensor, and when the sheet material receiver is raised to the initial raised position, the raising operation of the sheet material receiver can also be stopped by turning on the detection means. This sheet material storage device is characterized by being provided with a rise stop means that is turned on by a level detection member of the detection means that moves further due to the rise of the sheet material receiver when the detection means fails, and stops the rising operation of the sheet material receiver. Sheet material storage device. (2) The sheet material accommodating device according to claim 1, wherein jamming of the sheet material is detected by turning on the rise stop means during the operation of stacking the sheet material into the accommodating portion.