A sheet sorting apparatus with a stapler, includes a plurality of bin trays, bin tray shifting device for moving the plurality of the bin trays stepwisely substantially in the vertical direction to oppose the respective bin trays to a sheet inlet of the sorting apparatus, while expanding the clearance between the bin tray opposed to the sheet inlet and an upper adjacent bin tray to provide a larger clearance than the predetermined clearances, a shaft extending substantially perpendicularly to the extension of the inclined sheet receiving surface, and a stapler, supported rotatably about the shaft and having a stapling head movable to above the sheet receiving surface in a lateral direction by rotation about the shaft and an anvil movable to below the sheet receiving surface by the rotation, for stapling the sheets interposed between the stapling head and the anvil, wherein the bin trays are so disposed that between those ends of adjacent ones of the bin trays which are closer to the sheet inlet are deviated when seen in a direction substantially perpendicular to the sheet receiving surface, and wherein the stapling head is laterally moved using a space provided by the deviation, and wherein the expanded clearance is smaller than a height of the stapling head.
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14. A sheet sorting apparatus with a stapler, comprising:
a plurality of bin trays which are arranged substantially vertically with predetermined clearances between adjacent bin trays, which are inclined to provide an inclined sheet receiving surface and which are movable substantially in the vertical direction; bin tray shifting means for moving said plurality of the bin trays stepwisely substantially in the vertical direction to oppose the respective bin trays to a sheet inlet of said sorting apparatus; and stapling means, disposed substantially on an extension of the inclined sheet receiving surface and having a stapling head movable to above the sheet receiving surface and an anvil movable to below the sheet receiving surface by the rotation, for stapling the sheets interposed between the stapling head and the anvil; wherein said bintrays bin trays are so disposed that between those ends of adjacent ones of said bin trays which are closer to the sheet inlet are deviated in the direction of movement of the sheet when seen in a direction substantially perpendicular to the sheet receiving surface, and wherein the stapling head is moved using a space provided by the deviation, and wherein said clearance is smaller than a height of the stapling head.
15. A sheet sorting apparatus with a stapler, comprising:
a plurality of bin trays which are arranged substantially vertically with predetermined clearances between adjacent bin trays, which are inclined to provide an inclined sheet receiving surface and which are movable substantially in the vertical direction; bin tray shifting means for moving said plurality of the bin trays stepwidely stepwisely substantially in the vertical direction to oppose the respective bin trays to a sheet inlet of said sorting apparatus; and a shaft extending substantially perpendicularly to the extension of the inclined sheet receiving surface; stapling means, supported rotatably about said shaft and having a stapling head movable to above the sheet receiving surface in a lateral direction by rotation about said shaft and an anvil movable to below the sheet receiving surface by the rotation, for stapling the sheets interposed between the stapling head and the anvil; wherein said bin trays are so disposed that between those ends of adjacent ones of said bin trays which are closer to the sheet inlet are deviated in the direction of movement of the sheet when seen in a direction substantially perpendicular to the sheet receiving surface, and wherein the stapling head is laterally moved using a space provided by the deviation, and wherein said clearance is smaller than a height of the stapling head.
16. A sheet sorting apparatus with a stapler, comprising:
a plurality of bin trays which are arranged substantially vertically with predetermined clearances between adjacent bin trays, which are inclined to provide an inclined sheet receiving surface and which are independently movable substantially in the vertical direction; bin tray shifting means for moving said plurality of the bin trays stepwisely substantially in the vertical direction to oppose the respective bin trays to a sheet inlet of said sorting apparatus, while expanding the clearance between the bin tray opposed to the sheet inlet and an upper adjacent bin tray to provide a larger clearance than said predetermined clearances; and stapling means, having a stapling head movable to above the sheet receiving surface and an anvil movable to below the sheet receiving surface, for stapling the sheets interposed between the stapling head and the anvil; wherein said bin trays are so disposed that between those ends of adjacent ones of said bin trays which are closer to the sheet inlet are deviated in the direction of movement of the sheet when seen in a direction substantially perpendicular to the sheet receiving surface, and wherein the stapling head is moved to above the sheet receiving surface using a space provided by the deviation, and wherein said expanded clearance is smaller than a height of the stapling head.
1. A sheet sorting apparatus with a stapler, comprising:
a plurality of bin trays which are arranged substantially vertically with predetermined clearances between adjacent bin trays, which are inclined to provide an inclined sheet receiving surface and which are independently movable substantially in the vertical direction; bin tray shifting means for moving said plurality of the bin trays stepwisely substantially in the vertical direction to oppose the respective bin trays to a sheet inlet of said sorting apparatus, while expanding the clearance between the bin tray opposed to the sheet inlet and an upper adjacent bin tray to provide a larger clearance than said predetermined clearances; a shaft extending substantially perpendicularly to an extension of the inclined sheet receiving surface; and stapling means, supported rotatably about said shaft and having a stapling head movable to above the sheet receiving surface in a lateral direction by rotation about said shaft and an anvil movable to below the sheet receiving surface by the rotation, for stapling the sheets interposed between the stapling head and the anvil; wherein said bin trays are so disposed that between those ends of adjacent ones of said bin trays which are closer to the sheet inlet are deviated in the direction of movement of the sheet when seen in a direction substantially perpendicular to the sheet receiving surface, and wherein the stapling head is laterally moved using a space provided by the deviation, and wherein said expanded clearance is smaller than a height of the stapling head.
10. A sheet sorting apparatus with a stapler, comprising:
a plurality of bin trays which are arranged substantially vertically with predetermined clearances between adjacent bin trays, which are inclined to provide an inclined sheet receiving surface and which are independently movable substantially in the vertical direction; bin tray shirting means for moving said plurality of the bin trays stepwisely substantially in the vertical direction to oppose the respective bin trays to a sheet inlet of said sorting apparatus, while expanding the clearance between the bin tray opposed to the sheet inlet and an upper adjacent bin tray to provide a larger clearance than said predetermined clearances; a shaft extending substantially perpendicularly to an extension of the inclined sheet receiving surface; and stapling means, supported rotatably about said shaft and having a stapling head movable to above the sheet receiving surface in a lateral direction by rotation about said shaft and an anvil movable to below the sheet receiving surface by the rotation, for stapling the sheets interposed between the stapling head and the anvil; wherein said bin trays are so disposed that between those ends of adjacent ones of said bin trays which are closer to the sheet inlet are deviated in the direction of movement of the sheet when seen in a direction substantially perpendicular to the sheet receiving surface, and wherein the stapling head is laterally moved using a space provided by the deviation, and wherein the deviation is larger than a sum of a distance from an end of said stapler to a stapling position and a distance from the stapling position to an end of a sheet on said bin tray.
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3. An apparatus according to
4. An apparatus according to
5. An apparatus according to
7. An apparatus according to
8. An apparatus according to
9. An apparatus according to
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12. An apparatus according to
13. An apparatus according to
17. An apparatus according to
thickness of said bin trays. 24. An apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the predetermined clearances are provided by rollers mounted to lateral sides of said bin trays, and wherein adjacent rollers are contacted to each other. 25. A sheet sorting apparatus with a stapler, comprising: a plurality of bin trays which are arranged substantially vertically with predetermined clearances between adjacent bin trays, which are inclined to provide an inclined sheet receiving surface and which are independently movable substantially in the vertical direction; bin tray shifting means for moving said plurality of the bin trays stepwisely substantially in the vertical direction to oppose the respective bin trays to a sheet inlet of said sorting apparatus, while expanding the clearance between the bin tray opposed to the sheet inlet and an upper adjacent bin tray to provide a larger clearance than said predetermined clearances; and stapling means, having a stapling head movable to above the sheet receiving surface and an anvil movable to below the sheet receiving surface, for stapling the sheets interposed between the stapling head and the anvil; wherein said bin trays are so disposed that between those ends of adjacent ones of said bin trays which are closer to the sheet inlet are deviated in the direction of movement of the sheet when seen in a direction substantially perpendicular to the sheet receiving surface, and wherein the stapling head is moved to above the sheet receiving surface using a space provided by the deviation, and wherein the deviation is larger than a sum of a distance from an end of said stapler to a stapling position and a distance from the stapling position to an end of a sheet on said bin tray. 26. An apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said bin tray shifting means includes a spiral cam means having a spiral groove engageable with the rollers to move substantially vertically by its rotation. 27. An apparatus according to claim 26, wherein those end portions of said bin trays which are remote from the sheet inlet are rotatably and slidably supported. 28. An apparatus according to claim 27, wherein the end portions of the bin trays and those end portions which are close to the sheet inlet are both movable substantially vertically. 29. A sheet sorting apparatus with a stapler, comprising: a plurality of bin trays which are arranged substantially vertically with predetermined clearances between adjacent bin trays, which are inclined to provide an inclined sheet receiving surface and which are movable substantially in the vertical direction; bin tray shifting means for moving said plurality of the bin trays stepwisely substantially in the vertical direction to oppose the respective bin trays to a sheet inlet of said sorting apparatus; and stapling means, having a stapling head movable to above the sheet receiving surface and an anvil movable to below the sheet receiving surface, for stapling the sheets interposed between the stapling head and the anvil; wherein said bin trays are so disposed that between whose ends of adjacent ones of said bin trays which are closer to the sheet inlet are deviated in the direction of movement of the sheet when seen in a direction substantially perpendicular to the sheet receiving surface, and wherein the stapling head is moved using a space provided by the deviation, and wherein said clearance is smaller than a height of the stapling head. 30. A sheet sorting apparatus with a stapler, comprising: a plurality of bin trays which are arranged substantially vertically with predetermined clearances between adjacent bin trays, which are inclined to provide an inclined sheet receiving surface and which are movable substantially in the vertical direction; bin tray shifting means for moving said plurality of the bin trays stepwisely substantially in the vertical direction to oppose the respective bin trays to a sheet inlet of said sorting apparatus; and stapling means, having a stapling head movable to above the sheet receiving surface and an anvil movable to below the sheet receiving surface, for stapling the sheets interposed between the stapling head and the anvil; wherein said bin trays are so disposed that between those ends of adjacent ones of said bin trays which are closer to the sheet inlet are deviated in the direction of movement of the sheet when seen in a direction substantially perpendicular to the sheet receiving surface, and wherein the stapling head is moved to above the sheet receiving surface using a space provided by the deviation, and wherein said clearance is smaller than a height of the stapling head. |
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The present invention relates to a post-processor for processing sheets of paper, for example, the sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a laser beam printer, more particularly to a sheet sorter provided with a number of bins for sorting and accommodating the sheets and with a stapler for stapling a stack or set of the sheets in each of the bins.
A post-processor has been proposed wherein the sheets can be sorted and accommodated without limitation by the number of bins, which will hereinafter be called "limitless sorter", and wherein sets of the sheets are stapled in the respective bins.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,408 discloses a horizontal limitless sorter of a stationary bin type wherein a carriage for carrying a stapler is movable to the respective bins, and the stapler is rotated away from the carriage to staple a stack of sheets.
Japanese Laid-Open Application No. 220053/1983 discloses a limitless sorter wherein a stapler block moves substantially vertically, expands the space between adjacent bins and inserts a stapling head into the space to staple the stack of sheets.
U.S. Pat. No. 4295,733 discloses a limitless sorter wherein a set of sheets are gripped by a gripper and is transported to a stapler by which it is stapled.
Those limitless cutawayof706 760 by the function of the stapler spring 757.
When the sheets S on the bin B are stapled, the solenoid 756 is operated to move the stapler to the position shown by chain lines where the stapling position stopper 776 is abutted to a sheet alignment reference 719c of the bin frame 719. Then, the sheets S accommodated in the bin B opposed to the lower couple of the discharging rollers 109.
In FIG. 36, indicated by a reference numeral 761 is a microswitch to detect the stapler 755 placed at the stapling position to produce a detection signal.
When a stapling mode is selected, the solenoid 756 is actuated in response to a stapling start signal.
The automatic stapler 755 rotatingly moves about a pivot 759 by the solenoid 756 and is moved to its stapling position so that the stapling position stopper 776 is abutted to the sheet alignment reference position 719c, by which the stapler 755 is correctly positioned.
At this time, the head portion 755a of the stapler 755, as shown in FIG. 37, for example, moves to the stapling position through an upper opening portion X formed between the bin Bb accommodating the sheets to be stapled and the adjacent upper bin Ba, and the anvil portion 755b is moved to the stapling position through a lower opening X, that is the opening formed between the bin Bb and the adjacent lower bin.
As shown in FIG. 36, when the automatic stapler 755 is positioned at the stapling position, the microswitch 761 is actuated, so that a stapling permitting signal is produced, in response to which the stapler 755 is driven, by which the sheets S are stapled by staple 762.
After completion of the stapling operation, solenoid 756 is deactuated, and the stapler 755 is returned by the function of the stapler spring 757 to be contacted to the stopper 760. Thus, the stapling operation for one bin terminates.
When the stapling operations are carried out for plural bins B, it is most efficient if the stapling operation starts from the last bin B to which a sheet is lastly discharged. To do this, after the series of the stapler 755 operation in response to a signal indicative of completion of the bin shiftings, the bin is shifted in response to a signal indicative of completion of the series of the stapler 755 operations; and these are repeated until the stapling operation is effected for each of the bins. The number of the bin shifts for the automatic stapling, corresponds to the number of bin shifts at the time of the sorting operation.
Referring to FIGS. 39 and 40, another embodiment will be described wherein the mechanism for positioning the automatic stapler 755 at the stapling position is partly modified.
In this embodiment, a frame guide 877 for guiding the bin frame 719 is disposed at the front side of the sorter 101, and an end of a bin frame 719 is slidably engaged in a guiding groove 877a of the frame guide 877.
On the other hand, the automatic stapler 755 has a stapling position stopper 876 fixedly mounted thereto, which abuts the frame guide 877 to position automatic stapler 755 at its stapling position when it is moved to the stapling position.
In the operation, when a sheet S is discharged onto the bin B, the sheet S is aligned along a sheet alignment reference 719c of the bin frame 719 correctly positioned by the frame guide 877, as shown in FIG. 40.
When the sheet stapling operation is carried out, the stapler 755 is moved to the stapling position and is abutted to and positioned by the frame guide 877 for guiding and positioning the sheet alignment reference 719c, so that the sheet accommodated in the bin B is stapled. In this embodiment, the sorter has vertically movable bins, wherein the stapler is positioned and rotatable at a predetermined level. However, the sorter may be of a stationary bin type, and the stapler may be of an elevatable type.
As described in the foregoing, according to this embodiment, a sheet alignment reference member is provided which functions as a reference for aligning the sheets, and a portion substantially integral with the sheet alignment reference member functions as means for positioning the stapler at the stapling position, whereby the stapling position of the stapler can be correctly determined relative to the sheets, and therefore the sheets can be correctly and assuredly stapled.
As shown in FIG. 37, the lead cam 721 is disposed opposed to the lower couple of discharging rollers 109 disposed substantially in the middle of the sorter 101. The lead cam 721 carries on its spiral cam surface a trunion 149 of a bin B coming to a position where the bin B is opposed to the lower couple of the discharging roller 109, and it moves vertically along the guide rail 152, as shown in FIGS. 37 and 13. As shown in FIG. 37, for example, by one full turn rotation in the direction indicated by the arrow A, the lead cam 721 moves the trunion 149c to an intermediate position 721b of the lead cam 721. By a further full turn, the trunion 149c is moved to a position passing through the lead cam 721. At a position opposed to the lower couple of discharging rollers 109, two openings X and X which are larger than the openings between other adjacent bins, are formed between the bin Bb having received a sheet from the lower couple of discharging rollers 109 and the upper and lower adjacent bins Ba and Bc.
While the invention has been described with reference to the structures disclosed herein, it is not confined to the details set forth and this application is intended to cover such modifications or changes as may come within the purposes of the improvements or the scope of the following claims.
Hiroi, Masakazu, Uto, Nobutaka, Naito, Masataka, Murakami, Koichi, Kobayashi, Kenji, Saito, Jun, Shido, Hironori
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