JPS63147776A - Sorter controlling method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent waste in copying by distributing copied sheets to a plurality of bins, and subtracting the difference between the number of sheets accommodated in the bins and the number of sheets fed from a copying machine from the number of uncopied sheets, in case a jam stops feeding. CONSTITUTION:Various copied sheets are received from a copying machine 3, and distributed to a plurality of bins and accommodated for binding. The number of sheets accommodated in each bin are counted and informed to the copying machine 3. If for ex. sheets 1-17, 1-18 on which No.1 original is copied have caused a jam, the subsequent sheet 1-19, 1-20 whereon No.1 original is copied and which have been sent off from a sheet feed table already and also sheets 2-1-2-3 whereon No.2 original is copied are exhausted to an exhaust tray 11 automatically. When jam is solved, the sheets exhausted onto the exhaust tray 11 are hand-fed 15 for distribution to bins in a sorter 1. The difference between the sum number of sheets accommodated in all bins and the number of sheets fed from the copying machine is subtracted from the number of uncopied sheets. This prevents wasteful double copying on the sheets exhausted onto the tray 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sorter, and more particularly to a sorter that is juxtaposed to a copying machine.

When creating multiple sets of copies of a multi-page original, sorters are already in use that automatically feed multi-page copies into as many bins as the number of sets to be created and collate them automatically. ing.

Even in a sorter, it is inevitable that paper jams occur during conveyance, and therefore countermeasures are taken to prevent jams from occurring.

In the case of a conventional sorter, if a jam occurs during transport to the bin, all subsequent sheets that have already been sent out from the paper feed tray that can be ejected to the paper ejection tray are ejected to the paper ejection tray. After the jammed paper is removed, usable copies that are ejected to the paper ejection tray can be manually fed from the manual feed table into the remaining bin.

If the copies ejected to the output tray when the jam occurs are all copies of the same original, and the next original is not in the process of copying, there is not much of a problem, but when the jam occurs, the next original is already being copied. There is a problem in that when copying is performed on an original or several originals, when the copies are ejected to the paper ejection tray, duplicate copies are made, resulting in unnecessary copies.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, in an example in which copies made by the copying machine 3 are distributed and discharged to each bin of the sorter 1, 2
If the 17th copy jams inside the sorter while creating the 0th set of copies, for example, the 18th copy 1-18 of the relevant document will remain inside the sorter, and the 19th copy will remain in the sorter. If copies 2-1 to 2-3 from the first page to the third page of the 20th page, 20th page, and the next page of the original are ejected from the paper feed tray, all or one copy is completed. The copied copy is ejected to the paper ejection tray 11, and the copying machine and sorter stop.

After removing the jammed paper, the 17th sheet of the first original 1-17 and 1
When the eighth copy 1-18 is removed, there are cases where the jammed copy can be used and cases where it cannot be used.

As for the jammed original, in this case the first original, no copies have been ejected to the 17th to 20th bins, so it is still necessary to supply copies to those bins.

If all the jammed copies can be used, the jammed copies and the copies ejected onto the paper ejection tray are manually fed one by one from the manual feed stand 15. At this time, since the control unit that controls the sorter is in jam mode, the manually fed copies are sequentially ejected into unejected bins. When all the first copies are manually fed, the sorter detects that feeding of the original document is completed. When manually feeding a copy of the next page of the original that has been ejected to the paper output tray, the sorter recognizes that it has already ejected the missing copies due to the jam, so the subsequent manual feed is determined to be in mount mode.
No signal is sent to the copying machine itself to detect that a copy has been ejected into the bin; in other words, it is in mount mode, which involves manually inserting another sheet of paper between copies during copying. This is a different task from copying. In conventional copying machines, when the copy is manually fed in other than the jam mode, the information that the copy is ejected into the bin is not sent to the copying machine itself, so the next page of the original copy 2-1
Even if you try to manually feed the copy 2-3, the copy machine always processes it in the interleaf mode, so the copy 2 that was fed manually will be
The signal that 1 to 2-3 have been ejected into the bin is not sent to the copying machine as a signal that 1JFfl copies of the next page have been placed in the bin, so 3 copies of the next page are sent. Since it is determined that the paper has not been ejected, 20 new copies are made. In other words, copies fed manually will cause duplicates, and feeding the copies manually is a waste of time.

A copy with a jam (e.g. 1-17.1-18 2)
If all or some of the copies (sheets) are unusable, if the copies ejected to the paper ejection tray are manually fed, one or two copies will be insufficient. Then turn on the copy machine
When normal copying occurs, the two missing copies are fed into the sorter's bin. 20 copies are ejected into the bin, and if automatic document feeding is performed, 20 copies of the next page will be made as usual. In other words, copying the next page of the original on the paper ejection tray is wasted. After ejecting the missing copies of the first original into the bin, if you try to manually feed a copy of the next page of the original in the output tray, the sorter is not in jam mode and the copy of the first copy is ejected. Since completion has been detected, manual feeding is processed as the above-mentioned mount mode.

Therefore, no signal is sent to the main body of the copying machine to detect that copies of the copies manually fed into the bins have been ejected into the respective bins, so as in the case described above, the manually fed copies become duplicates and are wasted.

With conventional sorters, when there is a jam, copies of two originals are ejected to the output tray, and if the number of copies of the last original is insufficient, copies of the second and subsequent originals are wasted. It had the disadvantage of becoming

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems in conventional sorters and to provide a sorter in which usable copies ejected in the event of a jam can be used without wasting them.

1. In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention has the objective of determining whether the count of the ejection counter that counts the number of sheets ejected to the bin is the number of sheets set to be distributed to the bin, not only in the case of the mount mode and the case of the jam mode. If they do not match, a sorter ejection signal is sent to the image processing apparatus main body to inform that the images should be ejected to a bin, and the number of unprocessed sheets stored in the image processing apparatus main body is subtracted in accordance with the sorter ejection signal.

The structure and operation of the present invention will be explained in detail based on the embodiment shown in the drawings.

1 to 3, the main body 2 of the sorter 1 is arranged adjacent to the main body 3 of an image processing device, for example, a copying machine, and sheets (copies) discharged from the copying machine are introduced into the sorter 1 through an entrance guide 4. .

The introduced paper is conveyed by a conveyance device while being held between, for example, a lower conveyor belt 5 and a lower conveyor belt 6. The paper conveyed by the conveying device is switched between a distribution path passing through a lower guide 8 and a discharge path passing through an upper guide 9 by a switching claw 7.

When the paper is switched to the ejection path, the paper is ejected to a paper ejection tray 11 by a paper ejection roller 10. The discharge of the paper from the paper discharge tray 11 is detected by the paper discharge sensor 28 .

When collating many copies of multiple originals, use the switching claw 7.
By switching, the paper is sent to the distribution path by the lower guide 8,
Due to the action of the conveyance roller 12 and the polarizing claw 13 for each sheet, the sheet is sequentially sent to each storage bin 14 from the upper storage bin.

A manual feed table 15 is arranged above the paper discharge tray 11, so that sheets can be manually fed one by one.

When manually feeding, press the sort/stack key on the copier main unit.
When the paper is set on the manual feed table 15, the actuator 16 is lowered and the manual feed sensor 17 is set to O.
When the manual feed sensor 17 turns on, the drive motor 18 is driven and the manual feed roller 20 is rotated.

When the manual feed sensor 17 is ONL, after a predetermined time, the manual feed solenoid 19 is turned ON and the manual feed stopper 27 is lowered.
Paper is fed and placed in the designated bin 1 according to the set number of sheets.
It is stored in 4.

In this manner, the sheets are sequentially switched and stored in predetermined bins 14 under the action of a bin solenoid (not shown).

When paper is fed, the manual feed solenoid 19 is turned OFF, but the motor clutch, switching claw switching solenoid, and bin switching bin solenoid continue to be ON until a signal indicating the completion of the manual feeding operation is output.

Since the mechanical structure of the sorter 1 described above is well known, detailed explanation will be omitted.

An example of the circuit of the control device of the sorter is shown in FIG.
The signal No. 1 is sent to the CPU 22, and from the CPU 22, the information is sent to the motor, clutch, switching solenoid, manual solenoid, and each pin solenoid via the element 29 that converts serial information to parallel information and the driver, and from the copying machine main body. The signal is received by the receiving LED 23 and sent to the CPU 22 via the buffer 24, and the signal from the sorter to the copying machine body is sent from the CPU 22 via the driver 25 to the transmitting LED 26.

In the sorter according to the present invention, the control device controls the operation of the sorter in accordance with the flowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 7 in the manual feed mode.

In FIG. 5, it is determined whether or not a copy operation is in progress, and YES is selected.
Resent the jam flag when . If NO, determine whether the manual feed flag is set or not, and then select YES.
In this case, if the 0 manual feed flag is not set, which is controlled according to the manual feed routine (Fig. 6) and the manual ejection routine (Fig. 7), it is determined whether the manual feed sensor is ON or not. Return if . If YES, it is determined whether or not the jam flag is set, that is, whether or not the jam mode is set. If YES, the paper feed mode flag is reset, the manual feed timer is started, and the manual feed flag is set. Set it and send the manual feed mode information to the main unit. In other words, manual feeding is performed as a jam mode.

When the jam mode is not set, it is determined whether the discharge counter is O or not. In other words, it is determined whether or not a predetermined number of copies of the document have been discharged into the bin of the sorter, and if No, that is, if the number of copies is still insufficient, the mount mode flag is reset, and in the case of jam mode. Start the manual feed timer in the same way. Y
In the case of ES, since the supply of a predetermined number of copies has been completed, it is determined whether or not the slip sheet mode flag is set, and in the case of YES, the manual feed timer is started.

If No, set the slip paper mode flag, take the solenoid ON count as the ON count of the slip paper solenoid, take the solenoid OFF count as the OFF count of the slip paper solenoid, and start the manual feed timer. When the manual feed timer is started, the manual feed flag is set and manual feed mode information is sent to the copying machine.

In the subroutine for manual paper feeding, in order to prevent duplicate paper feeding, the manual feeding timer determines whether the set time has elapsed as shown in Figure 6. If NO, the routine returns; if YES, the paper is ejected. It is determined whether the timer is operating or not, and it is determined whether or not the previous paper has been discharged. YE
If the ejection timer is operating with S, that is, the paper is being ejected, the routine returns, and if the ejection timer has finished operating with NO, it is determined whether the transport timer is operating or not, that is, whether the previous paper is not being transported. do. If YES and the conveyance timer is operating, the routine returns; if NO, feeding begins; that is, the conveyance timer is started, the motor is turned on, and the switching solenoid and manual feed solenoid are turned ON.
,,Turn on the clutch. At the same time as starting feeding, it is determined whether or not the backing sheet mode flag is set. If the slip sheet mode flag is set and YES, the count of the back sheet solenoid ON counter is incremented by 1, and the slip sheet solenoid is turned ON. Turn on the bin solenoid corresponding to the content of the count so that manual paper is fed to that bin. The mount mode flag is not set in jam mode and NO
In this case, the count of the solenoid ON counter is incremented by 1, and the pin solenoid corresponding to the count is used to send the paper manually fed into the bin using the ONL.

In the manual feed ejection subroutine, as shown in Fig. 7, it is determined whether the manual feed sensor is ON or not, and if the answer is NO, the manual feed solenoid is turned OFF, and if YES, it is determined whether the ejection sensor is ON or not. judge.

YE when the ejection sensor is ON and paper is being ejected.
Since the paper has reached the predetermined position, the conveyance timer is stopped and it is checked whether the paper has been ejected to the bin. In other words, it determines whether the discharge timer is in operation,
If the answer is NO, the discharge timer is started, and if the answer is YES, it is determined whether or not the set time of the discharge timer has come. If the paper does not pass the ejection sensor 21 and the ejection timer does not stop, and the set time of the ejection timer ends, a jam has occurred.

At this time, it is determined whether or not the interleaving paper mode flag is set, and if it is set, the backing paper solenoid is turned on.
Subtract 1 from the count number and return the count number to the original value,
When not in mount mode, subtract 1 from the count number of the solenoid ON counter, return the count number to the original value, turn the motor to 0FFL, and turn the switching solenoid and clutch to OFF.
F, the manual feed operation is stopped, the manual feed flag is reset, and the sorter jam information and manual feed mode release information are sent to the main unit.

If the judgment as to whether the ejection sensor is ON or not is NO and there is no paper in the area of the ejection sensor, it is determined whether or not the transport timer is operating, and if it is YES during transport, the transport timer is set to the set time. If the judgment is NO, the routine returns, and if it is YES, a jam has occurred, so the interleaf mode flag is set as above, and the gold is set when the interleaf mode is set. When the paper solenoid ON counter is not in the interleaving paper mode, the count number of the solenoid ON counter is returned by 1, reset to a state where manual feeding work is not progressing, and sorter jam information and manual feeding mode release information are sent to the main body.

When there is no paper on the discharge sensor and the determination as to whether the conveyance timer is in operation is NO and the conveyance is not being carried out, it is determined whether the discharge timer is in operation and NO.

If this is the case, manual ejection has finished, so return to the routine. If YES and the ejection timer is still running, ejection has finished, so stop the ejection timer and turn the motor to 0F.
FL, switching solenoid, and clutch are set to 0FFI to determine whether or not the paper mode is set.

When the mount mode is set and YES, it is determined whether the solenoid OFF count matches the copy set count through the bin solenoid OFF subroutine of the contents of the slip sheet solenoid OFF count, and when the predetermined mount is completed and YES Set the slip sheet solenoid ON count to the solenoid ON count, and set the slip sheet solenoid OFF count to the solenoid OFF count.

When the interleaving paper is incomplete and the judgment is NO, the interleaving paper solenoid is turned off.
Count and add 1 to the counted number. After that, the manual feed flag is reset and manual feed mode release information is sent to the main unit.

If the above-mentioned post mode is not set, work is performed by the pin solenoid OFF subroutine of the contents of the solenoid OFF count, and the count number of the ejection counter is incremented by 1, and the count number of the copy set counter and the ejection counter match or not. When the ejection of one set of copies is completed and the judgment is YES, the count number of the ejection counter becomes 0, the solenoid ON counter is set to the initial value, the solenoid OFF counter is set to the initial value, The manual feed flag is reset through a subroutine that sends a sorter discharge signal to the main body, and manual feed mode release information is sent to the main body.

If one set of copies has not been ejected yet and the judgment as to whether the count numbers of the copy set counter and ejection counter match is NO, the count number of the solenoid OFF counter is incremented by 1, and the copies are ejected to the main body through the sorter. After manual feeding is completed through a subroutine that sends a signal, the manual feeding flag is reset and manual feeding mode release information is sent to the main body.

According to this embodiment, when ejection to each bin is detected in the manual feeding process that is not in the slip sheet mode, the judgment of the unloading counter -0 becomes YES in FIG. , the solenoid O is on the interleaf solenoid OFF count.
You can switch to mount mode by setting the FF count and setting the interleaf mode flag. At this stage, when the copying machine starts copying the next page and switches to manual feed mode to manually insert copies 2-1 to 2-3 that were ejected due to the previous jam, the ejection counter is not 0, so the slip sheet mode flag is reset. As a result, in the manual feed ejection flow shown in Fig. 7, the work is performed according to the flow within the frame surrounded by the broken line, and the ejection signal from the manual feed work is sent to the copying machine main body, and it is possible to detect which bin the copy has been ejected to. I can do it. In other words, while the copy of the next page is actually manually fed in the interleaf mode, information on the contents discharged from the sorter is stored in the copying machine body in the same way as in the jam mode.

According to the present invention, even if multiple copies of the original are ejected to the paper output tray in the event of a jam, it is possible to manually feed the copies into each bin and continue copying the remaining copies. There is no more waste.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic sectional view of the sorter, Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the mechanism of the bin ejection part of the sorter, Fig. 3 is a schematic explanatory diagram of the mechanism of the manual feed part, and Fig. 4 is a part of the control device of the sorter. The schematic circuit diagrams of FIGS. 5-7 are flow diagrams according to the present invention. ■... Sorter 2... Main body 3... Copying machine main body 11... Output tray 14...
Bin 15... Manual feed stand Figure 1 procedural amendment form) February 27, 1986

Claims (1)

[Claims] A large number of storage bins, a manual feeding device that manually feeds sheets of paper one by one into the storage bins, a conveying means that accepts sheets sent out from the image processing apparatus main body and sequentially conveys them to each bin, and a conveyor that discharges sheets to each storage bin. A method for controlling a sorter having a discharge detection means for detecting and a signal communication means for communicating detection signals and command signals with an image processing apparatus main body, not only in the case of the interleaf mode and the case of the jam mode,
If the count of the paper ejection counter that counts the number of sheets ejected to the bins does not match the number of sheets set to be distributed to the bins, a sorter ejection signal is sent to the image processing device main body to notify the paper ejection to the bins, and the sorter ejection signal is A method for controlling a sorter, the method comprising: subtracting the number of unprocessed sheets stored in an image processing apparatus main body according to the number of sheets to be processed.