Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1,I'f'~
Background of the Invention
I
The present invention relates to a manual sheet in-
sertion and feed apparatus for use with a sheet distribut-
ing or collating apparatus or the like.
A conventional device Eor manual insertion of sheets
is designed such that a sheet inserted manually is
detected by a sensor and then conveyed by feed rollers.
This type of device, however, fails to properly feed a
sheet to a predetermined position because the pc,sition
the sheet is inserted is not constant. There are known
collators and like apparatus which are equipped with a
sheet adjusting mechanism. Sheet adjustment in such an
apparatus fails from time to time.
In a conventional manual sheet insertion device, a
solenoid is energized when the leading edge of a manually
inserted sheet is sensed to slightly lower a stop. Then,
the sheet is inserted deeper into the device to be con-
veyed by rollers. Before the trailing edge of the in-
serted sheet moves fully past the stop, the solenoid is
de-energized so that the stop engages the ~heet with a
small magnitude of pressure.
With such device, however, the contact of the stop
with the sheet tends to damage the sheet and creates an
unstable factor in the conveyance of the sheet.
Summary of -the Invention
It is an object of the present invention to provide
a sheet feed apparatus comprising a manual insertion
means which overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art and
l ~Lt7~3L~
ensures efficient and reliable sheet feed, insertion and
collation..
A sheet feed apparatus embodying the present
invention comprises sheet feed means having an automatic
sheet inlet and a manual sheet inlet.
In accordance with.the present invention, copy
sheets are automatically fed from a copying machine
through a sheet f:eed unit into a collator. In response
to a jam condition or an.end of copying operation, a
manual sheet inlet is unblocked so that ,usable copies
may be manually inserted.into the feed unit and fed
therefrom to the collator.
It is another object of the present invention to
provide a generally improved sheet feed apparatus.
More specifically and in accordance wi-th one
aspect of the presen.t invention, there is provided and
broadly claimed herein a sheet feed apparatus fo.r use with
a collating apparatus comprising: sheet :Eeed rneans hav:ing
an automatic sheet inlet and a manual sheet inlet; sensor
20 means disposed adjacent to the manual sheet inle-t for
sensing a leading edge and a trailing edge of a sheet
inserted into the manual sheet inlet; stop means for
blocking the manual sheet inlet; and control means res-
ponsive to the sensor means for controlling the stop
means.to unblock the manual sheet inlet in response to
sensing the leading edge of the sheet and to
unconditionally block the manual sheet inlet for a
predetermined length of time in response to sensing the
trailing edge of the sheet.
In accordance with another aspect of the
invention, there is also provided and broadly claimed
herein a sheet feed apparatus for use with a collating
apparatus comprising: sheet feed mea~s having an automatic
sheet inlet and a manual sheet inlet; guide means for
blocking and unblocking the manual sheet inlet;
~7y~
reproduction means for feeding sheets into the automatic
sheet inleti and control mean.s for sensing an end of
operation of the reproduction means,'the control means
controlling the guide means to block the manual inlet
during operation of the reproduction.means and to
unblock the manual sheet inlet upon.te~mination of
operation of the reproduction mea~s~
Other objects, to~ether with the foregoing,
are attained in the embodiments described in the fol-
lowing descriptio~. and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing. .. . .. .. ..
Brief Descr_ption of th.e D~awing
Figure 1 is a plan ~iew of a part of a prior art
manual sheet insertion device;
, Figure 2 shows in fragmentary front elevation '
a sheet distributing apparatus to which the present
invention is applied;
Fig. 3 shows in perspecti~e the mechanism of a
manual insertion. section o the apparatus depicted ' in
Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of
the mechanism of Figure 3,
Figure 5 is explanatory of the same mechanism;
' Figure 6 is a diagram showin.g an electric
circuit associated with the manual insertion section;
~ Eigure 7 shows in perspective a part of an
embodiment o the presen.t invention;
E'igure 8 is an electric circuit diagram of the
same embodiment;
__ .
~. ~Lr ~J~
--3--
Figure 9 schematically shows the overall constructiOn
of a collator to which the present invention is applica-
ble;
Figure 10 is an enlarged view of an upper part of
the collator;
Figure 11 is a block diagram showing an embodiment
of the present invention;
Figure 12 illustrates a collator accoridng to the
present invention;
Figure 13 shows in fragmentary enlarged view a
collator according to the present invention;
Figures 14 and 15 are schematic diagrams illustrating
another embodiment of the present invention; and
Figure 16 is a schematic diagram of another collating
device embodying the present invention.
Description of the Preferred Embodiments
While the sheet feed apparatus of the present inven-
tion is susceptible of numerous physical embodiments,
depending upon the environment and requirements of use,
substantial numbers of the herein shown and described
embodiments have been made, tested and used, and all have
performed in an eminently satisfactory manner.
A prior art sheet feed apparatus is shown in Figure 1
and comprises feed rollers 21 for feeding a sheet 22 which
is manually inserted into -the apparatus. The leading
edge of the sheet 22 is sensed by means of a sensor 23
comprising a photodetector or the like. The problemf7wfith
B this prior art arrangement is that the sheet 22 is ~e~
fed in an erroneous manner even if it is properly sensed
` by the sensor 23 when it is not inserted perfectly
straight into the apparatus and aligned perfectly with a
reference edge.
Referring to Figures 2 to 6, there is illustrated
a sheet inlet section of an e~emplary sheet distributing
apparatus to which the present invention applies. In the
-4-
arrangement shown, copy sheets conveyed from a copying
machine to an inlet 31 of the apparatus by a bel-t are
usually advanced by inlet roller pairs consisting of
conveyor rollers 32 and driven rollers 33 and then dis-
-5 tributed into individual bins through a deflecting
portion. In the event of jamming or the like, sheets
will be manually inserted into the apparatus, conveyed by
a manual insertion section 34 and distributed through the
deflecting portion into the bins.
The manual insertion section 34 includes a manual
insertion guide 36 which is movable between opened and
closed positions and will be opened during use of this
section 34. The manual insertion guide 36 and a reference
guide 37, guide 38 and curved plate 39 in combination
define a path through which a manually inserted sheet 41
travels. A stop 42 is so located as to be movable into
and out of the sheet conveyance path. The reference
guide 37 is adapted to give the sheet 41 a proper
alignment. The proper position of the sheet 41 is
obtained by inserting it in the manual insertion section
34 with its left edge 41a engaged with the reference
guide 37 until it abuts against an end portion 42a of the
stop 42. The reference numeral 43 denotes a photosensor
made up of a light emitting diode 43a and a phototransis-
tor 43b. As shown in Figure 5, the photosensor 43 is
located such that it detects a left margin area of a
leading edge portion of the sheet 41 only when the sheet
41 is in a proper position Pl determined by the reference
guide 37 and stop 42. The sheet 41 will not be detected
when in improper ~ositions such as P2 and P3. An output
signal of the photosensor 43 energizes a solenoid 81
included in the circuitry of Figure 6 to move the stop
42 out of the sheet insertion path. Then the sheet 41
is inserted deeper into the section 34 along the reference
guide 37 until the rollers 32 and driven rollers 44 nip
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--5--
and drive the sheet 41 along the curved plate 39. There-
after, the rollers 32 in cooperation with the driven
rollers 33 feed the sheet 41 and the deflecting section
distributes the sheet into a desired bin.
An electric circuit associated with -the manual inser-
ticn mechanism 34 is shown in Figure 6. This circuit
comprises an operational amplifier 46, resistors 51 to 65,
capacitors 66 and 67, diodes 68 and 69, inverters 71 and
72, a 3-input AND gate 73, open collector buffers 74 and
76, a transistor 77, a monostable multivibrator 78, a
NOR gate 79, the solenoid 81 for driving the stop 42 and
a manual insertion switch 82.
When in operation the operator opens the manual
insertion guide 36, the switch 82 i.s closed. Then as the
operator inserts the copy sheet 41 along -the reference
guide 37, the photosensor 43 detects the sheet 41 and the
phototransistor 43b is rendered non~conductive. This
causes the inverting input of the operational amplifier
46 from the phototransistor 43b to become lower in level
than the non-inverting input so that the operational
amplifier 46 feeds a high level output to the NOR gate 79, ,;
open collector buffer 74 and AND gate 73. The output
level of the inverter 71 is low when the guide 36 remains
closed with the switch 82 open, but becomes high when the
guide 36 is opened and the switch 82 is closed. Accord-
ingly, in this situation, the output level of the AND
gate 73 goes high and the open collector buffer 76 feeds
a current through the transistor 77 which in turn
energizes the solenoid 81. Then the stop 42 operated by
the solenoid 81 is lowered out of the inser-tion path.
When the sheet ~1 is inserted deeper into the now cleared
path, the rollers 32 and 44 advance the sheet 41 in a
predetermined direction.
As the trailing edge of the sheet 41 moves clear of
the position of the photosensor 43, the phototransistor
1:~'7'3;~8~ ~
43b is made conductive and in turn makes the output
level of the operational amplifier 46 low. The output
signal of the open collector buffer 74 is transformed
into a slightly delayed signal by a delay circuit made up
-5 of the.resistors 58 and 59 and capacitor 66. This delayed
signal output is inverted by the inverter 72 and fed to
the NOR gate 79. Therefore, the NOR gate 79 supplies the
monostable multivibrator 78 with an end-of-sheet signal
as a pulse whereupon the monostable multivibrator 78
supplies the AND gate 73 with a pulse whose duration is
determined by the resistor ~0 and capacitor 67. Low
level inputs of the AND gate 73 from the operational
amplifier 46 and monostable multivibrato.r 78 make the
output level of the AND gate 73 low so that the solenoid
81 is de-energiæed to bring the stop 42 back to its opera-
tive position in the sheet insertion path. Since the
AND gate 73 receives the given duration of low level
output of the monostable multivibrator 78, it does not
produce a high level signal for a predetermined period of
time even though the photosensor 43 may detect the next
copy sheet. That is, the stop 42 keeps on inhibiting or
preventing insertion of the next copy sheet beyond it
.for that predetermined period of time. This time period
is open to choice and will be determined accoring to the
application of the manual insertion section. In the
illustrated embodiment, the time period concerned may be
the one after which the deflecting portion reaches the
- next bin.
Another embodiment of the present invention is
illustrated in Figure 7. As shown, the manual insertion
device includes a second photosensor 91 in addition to the
photosensor 43 and employs the electric circuit shown in
Figure ~. The position of the second photosensor 91 is
such that it detects the left end of the sheet 41 inserted
along the reference guide 37 until it abuts against the
t
42. Detecting two different left marginal portions
of the sheet 41, these photosensors 43 and 91 more
positively sense the insertion of the sheet 41 along the
reference guide 37.
The circuitry of Figure 8 has in addition to the
components of Figure 6 circuitry a light emitting diode
91a, phototransistor 91b serving as the photosensor
together with the light emitting diode 91a and a 4-input
AND gate 92 which replaces the 3-input AND gate 73. The
output level of an operational amplifier 93 remains low
as long as the photosensor 91 does not detect the sheet
41 but becomes high when the photosensor 91 detects the
sheet 41. When both of the photosensors 43 and 91 detect
the sheet 41, the output level of the AND gate 92 goes
high to lower the stop 42 to its inoperative position.
The procedure after the detection of the trailing edge
of the sheet is common to that discussed in connection
with the first embodiment. Further illustrated are
resistors 94 to 101.
In summary, a manual sheet insertion control system
according to the present invention allows its associated
manual insertion device to prevent acceptance of a sheet
for a given period of time after the detection of the
trailing edge of the preceding sheet. Thus, the present
invention promotes stable and damage-free conveyance
of sheets without causing a stop to pressingly engage a
sheet being fed.
Various types of collators are known which are con-
nected with copying machines and operate to automatically
collate (arrange the pages of) copy sheets provided by
successive copying of original documents in the order
of pages.
Prior art collators are, however, designed to be
operable only in operative connection with copying ma-
chines and cannot meet a demand concerning manual
insertion of sheets.~ characteristic feature of the present invention
resides in that insertion of sheets through a manual inlet
is disabled during a copying machine mode which, in
response to an end-of-copying-machine-mode signal, sheet
insertion through the manual inlet is enabled and the
operating mode is switched from the copying machine
mode to a manual insertion mode at the moment of manual
insertion of a sheet through the manual inlet and
manually inserted sheets are collated with the copying
machine mode disabled.
Manual insertion of sheets is necessary in the cases
outlined below.
1. Jam Condition
In the event jamming has occured in the
collator, copy sheets from the associated copying
machine are temporarily stored in a discharge tray
located ahead of the jammed position and, there-
after, the sheets in the tray are manually inserted
in the colla-tor and fed to predetermined bins of
the collator which will then be operating for
assortment or collation.
2. Insertion of Divider Sheets
Sheets other than copy sheets which do not
come out of a copying machine, such as colored
divider sheets for pages, are manually inserted
into the collator to be sorted or collated and
stored in predetermined bins.
Hereinafter will be described the construction and
operation of a collator having a manual insertion function
which meets the above-mentioned demands.
Suppose that a collator 121 and a copying machine
122 are operatively connected as illustrated in Figure 9.
When as shown in Figure 11 the entire arrangement of the
collator 121 and copying machine 122 (referred to simply
11~793~
g
as "entire arrangement" hereinafter) is supplied with
power by a power turn-on process 200, a control
mechanism not shown is activated to condition the entire
arrangement for a usual stand-by mode 300 through a flow
line 200a. In this usual stand-by mode, the collator 121
has its collating actions interrupted and the copying
machine 122 has`its copying cycles interrupted. When a
print switch on the control panel of the copying machine
is turned on in the usual stand-by mode, the operating
mode changes from the usual stand-by mode 300 into a copy-
ing machine mode 400 along a flow line 300a. In this
mode of operation, the coIlator 121 accepts copy sheets
fed thereto from the copying machine 122 and sorts or
collates them.
Reference wil1 be made to Figures 9 and 10 for
describing collating operati.on in the copying machine
mode together With the construction of the collator.
The copying machine 122 has a sheet outlet 123 while
the collator 121 has an~automatic sheet inlet 12~. A
copy sheet 126 coming out of the copying machine 122
through the outlet 123 as indicated by an arrow 127 is
introduced in the collator 121 through the inlet 124.
Inside the collator 121, the sheet 126 advances to the
right on and along~a guide plate 128 and, by the action
of inlet roller pair~s 129 and l31 rotating in the direc-
tion of an arrow, moves posi~tively to an aligning section
132. Interposed between the`roller pairs 131 and aligning
section 132 is a~sheet path selecting guide plate 133
which is integral~with a shaft 134 rotatable as indicated
by an arrow and extends perpendicular to the plane of the
drawing. Usually, the sheet path selector 133 remains in
the position indicated by a phantom line so as to permit
passage of sheets toward the aligning section 132.
The aligning section 132 has skew rollers 136 and 137 and
horizontal rolls 138 which in combination move the sheet
--10--
126 askew toward a reference plate (not shown). This
reference plate functions to align the marginal edges of
sheets 126 arriving at the section 132 one by one in
succession. Then the sheet 126 moves past intermediate
roller pairs 139 and 141 and ls re-directed downward by
a guide plate 142. A conveyor belt i43 in the form of
an endless belt is passed over upper and lower rollers
144 and 146 which form a pair. The conveyor belt 143
sucks the sheet 126 guided downward by the plate 142 onto
its outer surface and feeds the sheet 126 downward in
accordance with its rota-~ion. The suction force acting
on the sheet 126 comes from vacuum in a tank 147 which is
located inside ~nd between the opposite runs of the belt
c~V ~
143. ~ir ~Y~hr the belt 143 flows into the va~uum tank
lS 147 through apertures formed through the en~ire circum-
ference of the belt 143 and thereby causes the sheet 126
to intimately adhere to the belt surEace. The reference
numerals 148 and 149 denote ans for the suction of air.
The collator 121 also includes a vertical guide post 151
on which a deflecting unit 152 is slidably mounted. The
deflecting unit 152 has therewith a curved plate 153 which
has an upper end located inwardly of the outer belt
surface and the other end extending substantially
horizontally. Due to such a configuration of the curved
plate 153, the sheet 126 on the belt 143 progressively
rides on the plate 153 and is deflected by the curved
upper surface of the plate 153. A pair of discharge
rollers 154 also integral with the deflector 152 delivers
the sheet 126 undergone the deflection into a selected
one of bins 156. These bins 156 are positioned vertically
one upon another in the vicinity of the discharge roller
pair 154. The deflector 152 is driven for vertical
reciprocation by a mechanism not shown. During downward
travel in particular, it will be indexed or moved inter-
mittently to stop at each position corresponding to a
~;~`7~
bin 156 and thus deliver sheets 126 one by one into the
bins 156.
A sensor 157 is loca-ted in the sheet path on the
deflector 152 immediately ahead of the discharge roller
pair 154. An output signal of the sensor 157 is employed
for various purposes as will be discussed below. One
purpose is to move the deflector 152 bodily upward in
response to an output signal of the sensor 157 which
indicates the passage of the last sheet 126 of a given
number of sheets preset through a dial on the control
panel. The deflector 152 thus elevated is stopped at the
upper end of its stroke and again lowered intermittently
to deliver sheets into the individual bins 156. This is
the outline of the collating operation in the copying
machine mode.
As shown in Figure 10, a discharge tray 158 is
positioned substantially above the aligning section 132.
It is when jamming has occurred in the collator 121 for
example that copy sheets 126 are fed into the discharge
tray 158. The sheet path selector 133 is moved to the
solid line position in response to a jam detection signal
B whereby sheets 126 fed ~ the roller pairs 129 and 131
advance along the sheet path selector 133 and a guide
159 and into the discharge tray 158 via a roller 161.
The sheets thus stacked in the discharge tray 158
are taken out by the operator through an opening 162 above
the tray 158 after the jamming has been cleared by
adequate processing. The sheets 126 are then manually
inserted in the collator 121 through a manual inlet 163
and advanced toward the individual bins 156 by way of the
route already discussed. The manual inlet 163 is defined
above the inlet roller pairs 129 and 131 and by upper and
lower guide plates 164 and 166. A part of the upper guide
plate 164 intermediate the opposite ends is laterally
slotted and feed rollers 167 are held in pressing~
~ ~'7~
-12- 1
i
engagement with the roller 129 through the slots. A stop
member 168 is positioned beneath -the lower guide plate 166
with its one end rigidly mounted on a pivotable shaft 169.
The other end of the stop member 168 is forked and bent
S to form multiple stop gates 171 which correspond in
position to multiple rectangular openings 172 formed
through the lower guide plate 166. Driven for angular
movement by a power source not shown, the shaft 169 has
a first position in which the stop gates 171 project
upward beyond the stop member 168 through the openings
172 (referred to as "closed stop gate position" herein-
after) and a second position in which the stop gates 171
are located beiow the openings 172 (referred to as "opened
stop gate position" hereinafter).
I5 ~ lid 173 is pivotable about a pivot shaft 17~ to
open and close the upper end oE the manual inlet 163.
When manual insertion of sheets is necessary, the lid 173
will be opened to the position indicated by a phantom
line and locked thereat by means not shown. In this
instance, a sheet 126 to be inserted manually may be
loaded on the lid 173 to utilize the lid 173 as a guide.
~ second sensor 176 is positioned deeper in the
manual inlet 163 and at least ahead of the stop gates 171.
According to the present invention, the shaft 169 in
the copying machine mode is maintained in the closed stop
gate position and prevents accidental insertion of sheets
through the manual inlet 163 with the stop gates 171.
The condition of the collator 121 permitting sheet
insertion through the manual inlet 163 and collating or
sorting the thus inserted sheets will hereinafter be
called a manual insertion mode and represented by a
process 500 in Figure 11. In order that this process 500
may hold, the following two conditions must be satisfied
at the same time:
(1) The copying machine 122 is in the process 300.
-13-
(2) A sheet 126 is inserted in the manual inlet 163
and the sensor 176 senses the incoming sheet.
'1j~3 s~ ti~
To ~ffr~rs~r~ the condition (1), the process ~00 must
have been practiced, the process 400 must have been
completed, the process SOO must have been completed, a
process 600 must have been dealt with, or the like state
must have been established. Practicing of the process
200 has already been described. The end of the process
400 corresponds to the instant the last one of a given
number of sheets pre-selected through the dial on the
control panel has been detected by the sensor 157
(delivered into a bin 156).
An output signal appearing then from the sensor 157
is the end-o-f-copyincJ-machine-mode signal and this siynal
I5 conditions the entire arranyement for the process 300 as
indicated by the flow line 400a. The end o~ the-~seee-
500 corresponds to the instant the last one of a stack of
manually inserted sheets has been detected by the sensor
157 (delivered into a bin 156). A signal then appearing
from the sensor 157 is the end-of-manual-insertion-mode
signal. In response to this signal, the entire arrange-
ment is conditioned for the process 300 as indicated by a
flow line 500a. The process 600 is for a failure mode
attributable to jamming and other conditions which make
the collator 121 inoperable. Naturally, the collator
121 cannot be operated unless such a failure is repaired.
When the failure is repaired by a suitable process, the
entire arrangement will be conditioned for the process 300
as indicated by a flow line 600a.
It should be born in mind in connection with the
process 600 that, whatever the process the entire arrange-
ment is in, such as the process 300, the process 400 or the
process 500, it is necessarily caused to undergo the
process 600 upon detection of a failure, and that after
the removal of the failure it does not go back to the
7~
-14-
1,
process just before the failure has occurred but always
reverts to the process 300 except for the case wherein a
failure occurred when the entire arrangement was in the
process 300. The entire arrangement will shift to the
process 600 along a flow line ~OOb when a failure occurs
in the process 400, to the process 600 along a flow line
500b when a failure occurs in the process 500, and to the
process 600 along a flow line 300b when a failure occurs
in the process 300.
Now, when the conditions (1) and (2) are satisfied,
the entire arrangement shifts to the process 500 along
a flow line 300c. In this process, the following actions
take place during a manual insertion mode. A drive line
only for a part of the collator 121 is activated. After
a sheet has been introduced manually through the inlet
163, the shaft 169 is rotated by a sheet detection signal
when the condition (2) is satisfied and establishes the
closed stop gate state. The sheet is thus caught
and driven by the rollers 129 and 167 into a selected
20 bin 156.
During the manual insextion mode, the copying machine
122 is inhibited. Stated another way, the entire arrange-
ment gives priority to the manual insertion mode of the
collator 121. During the manual insertion mode, the
sheets introduced manually into the collator 121 are
delivered inte individual bins 156 by a preset number.
As the sensor 157 detects the last one of the preset
number of sheets, it produces an end-of-manual-insertion-
mode signal and the entire arrangement goes back to the
30 process 300 along the flow line 500a.
In the illustrated embodiment, the end-of-manual-
insertion-mode signal has appeared at the instant the
sensor 157 has detected the last sheet. Instead, a
third sensor 181 may be located in the opening and closing
35 portion of the lid 173 such that the sensor 181 produces
~,~Lt~
-15-
-the end-of-manual-insertion-mode signal when detecting
closing of the lid 173. A change o~ mode in this case
is indicated by a flow line 500c.
With the control me-thod clescribed above, a collator
having the function of manual insertion can be controlled.
A collator of the type described is known and ¦
designed to perform collation or assortment by
delivering copy sheets fed thereto successively into
desired ones of a number of storage bins. Conventionally,
an operator of such a collator copes with jamming within
the collator by taking out the jammed sheet and manually
storing it directly in a selected bin. However, this
manual work is troublesome and liable to make the sheet
stacks irregular and this affects various kinds of wor~
which follow the collation. Another expedient consists
of wasting all o the jammed shee-ts and producin~ new
copies. This constitutes waste of sheets carrying
adequately reproduced images.
Referring to Figure 12, a collator 201 according to
the present invention has a sheet inlet 202 for receiving
copy sheets supplied thereto from a copying machine not
shown. Guide plates 203, 204 and 206 are interposed
between the inlet 202 and a collating section 207 made up
of a deflector unit ~not shown), numerous storage bins
208 and the like, defining a sheet conveyance path denoted
by the numeral 209. In the vicinity of the inlet 202,
the sheet conveyance path 209 has conveyor roller pairs
consisting of drive rollers 211 and driven rollers 212
held in pressing contact with the drive rollers 211. The
sheet conveyance path 209 also has skew rollers ~ at
its intermediate portion and intermediate roller pairs
21~ at its portion adjacent to the end.
As shown in Figu~res 12 and 13, the collator according
to the present-invlletion-includes a sheet discharge path
216 which branches off the sheet conveyance path 209 in
-16-
a position immediately past the conveyor roller pairs
211 and 212 with respect to an intended sheet feed
direction 217 along the path 209. A sheet path selector
guide 218 is located at the junction of the two different
paths 216 and 209 and rotatable about its associated
shaft 219. A solenoid or like drive means (not shown)
actuates the sheet path selector 218 to unblock one of
the paths 209 and 216 and block the other. That is, the
sheet path selector 218 is movable between a first
position whereat it unblocks the path 209 and blocks the
path 216 as indicated by solid line in Figure 13 and
second position whereat it blocks the pa-th 209 and
unblocks the path 216 as indicated by phantom line in
Figure 13. When jam detectincJ means described hereinafter
detect jamming in the collator 201, the path selector
218 will shift from the first position to the second~
After the removal of the jamming, it will regain the first
position~ Discharge rollers 221 are positioned in~the
discharge path 216 adjacent to the end while a sheetl~ 222
is located in a position past the discharge rollers 221
with respect to an intended direction of sheet feed 223.
A manual insertion mechanism 224 is disposed above
the drive rollers 211 in order to introduce copy sheets
discharged out of the collator 201 back into the collator
25 201.
In the mechanism 22~, a manual insertion path is
defined by a gate 226 for opening and closing a manual
sheet inlet 227, the drive rollers 211 and a guide plate
228 extending along the general periphery of the drive
.rollers 211. Feed rollers 229 abut against and are driven
by the drive rollers 211. The manual insertion path con-
nects to the sheet conveyance path 209 in a position
adjacent to the sheet inlet 202 of the collator 201. The
gate 226 is pivotable about a shaft 231 in response to
a command delivered from a collation control device
-17-
(not shown).
The collator 201 additionally houses therein means
for detecting jamming of copy sheets. ~ control output
of this detector means activates the aforementioned drive
me~ns to move the sheet path selector 218. As the
jamming is cleared, the drive means again moves the sheet
path selector 218.
A collator having the above-described construction
will be operated as follows.
A copy sheet transferred from a copying machine not
shown to the collator 201 is introduced through the inlet
202 as indicated by the arrow 217. The roller pairs 211
and 212 catch the sheet and advance it along the shee-t
conveyance path 209 and khen the skew rollers 213 and
intermediate roller pairs 214 move it in-to -the collating
section 207. This collating section 207 delivers the
sheet into a selected one of the storage bins 20~ in a
known manner~ Suppose that a copy sheet has jammed in
the sheet conveyance path 209 adjacent to the intermediate
roller pairs 214. Jam detection means (not shown)
i~mediately locate the jam and produce a control signal
whi.ch activates the drive means such that the sheet path
selector 218 usually unblocking the path 209 shifts to
the position ~or unblocking the sheet discharge path 216
as indicated by phantom line. The sheet path selector
218 in this position routes copy sheets following the
jammed sheet to t'ne sheet discharge path 216 and the
discharge rollers 221 feeds them into the stacker 222.
Upon removal of the jammed sheet, the jam detector means
produces a signal indicative of the jam removal and there-
by causes the sheet path selector 218 to regain its
previous position unblocking the sheet conveyance path
209. Meanwhile, a command from the collation control
moves the usually closed manual insertion gate 226 to the
phantom line position so as to unblock the manual inlet
3~
227. Then the operator is allowed to introduce the copy
sheets stored in the stacker 222 into the collator 201
through the manual inlet 227. The copy sheets manually
inserted in the collator 201 are driven by the rollers
211 ancl 229 along the guide plate 228. The sheets travel
along the manual insertion path and then the sheet
conveyance path so as to be delivered into selected
storage bins 208. Since the necessary number of the
manually inserted sheets is also counted and displayed
automatically by the collation control, the sheets can
be fed to selected bins 208 without any trouble in
collation control. When all of the manually inserted
copy sheets are storecl in the bins 208, the collation
control (not shown) produces a signal moving the gate 226
back to its closing position indicated by solid line.
In conventional colla~ors, jamming is cleared by
temporarily stacking sheets from a copying machine or the
like and, after removal of the jammed sheet or the like,
manually placing the sheets in specific bins short of the
sheets. This results in irregularity in the stacks of
sheets.
This problem may be solved by using a re-feed device
which feeds sheets temporarily stacked either manually
or automatically. Such a solution, however, needs the
additional provision of an anti-skew device and/or ref-
erence plate for aligning the marginal edges of sheets in
order to achieve neatly arranged stacks within the bins.
The result is intricacy of structure and operation.
Referring to Figure 14, a collator 301 receives at
its inlet 302 sheets processed by and fed thereto from
a copying machine 303 for example. ~ ~
B A sheet fed into -the collator 301 isl~h~d~-by inlet
roller pairs made up of drive and driven rollers 304 anc'.
306 along a guide pLate 307 and then caught by interme-
diate roller pairs 308 rotating in pressing contact with
~1~79~4
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each other~
A sheet path selector or gate 309 is pivotably
supported by a shaft 311 adjacent to the guide plate 307
so as to select either one of a branch path 312 leading
s to an overflow tray 313 and a path leading to the inker-
mediate roller pairs 308~
Sheets guided by the gate 309 into the branch path
312 for temporary storage in the overflow tray 313 are
moved by feed rollers 314 into the overflow tray 313.
In the other position of the gate 309, the guide 307
guides the sheets while ~he side edges of the sheets are
aligned by a sheet biasing device 316 which may comprise
rollers 317 rotatably supported on a shaft which extends
askew with respect to the intended sheet ~eed direction~
is The sheets advancing with their side edges aligned
are further fed by the intermediate rollexs 308. A
discharge gate 318 is positioned past the intermediate
rollers 308 and is Pivota}ly mounted on a shat 319
so as to select either one of a discharge path 321
2~0 leadin~ to an ex~ernal tray~(not shown) and a collation
guide path 322 leading to a deflecting device 323.
Where the discharge gate 318 has selected the~
discharge path 321, copy~sheets or the like will be
discharged by the intermediate roller pairs 308 into the
external tray.
;When the discharge gate 318 is in the other position
selecting the path 322, the sheets will be guided~downward
and conveyed by a conveyor belt 324 with the aid of suc-
tion from a suction device (not shown) for example.
A desired number of storage bins 326 are arranged
one upon another in the collator 301. The deflecting unit
323 is interposed between the belt 324 and bins 326 and
reciprocable vertically along the belt 324. The deflector
unit 323 has a deflecting plate 327 adapted to re-direct
a sheet conveyed by the belt 324 and a pair of feed
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rollers 328 for propelling the sheet. Usually, the
deflecting unit 323 is moved intermittently in accordance
with the positions of the individual bins 326 to
successively deliver sheets correspondin~ to a desired
number of copies one by one into the bins 326. A sheet
fed by the belt 324 is separated therefrom by a deflect-
ing plate 329 and driven by the feed rollers 328 into a
desired bin 326.
At the end of the delivery of sheets into a predeter-
mined number of bins, the deflecting unit 323 is broughtback to the home position and again indexed to deliver
the next copy sheets or the like.
The sheets in travel have their lateral edges aligned
by the sheet biasing device 316 and, therefore, will be
neatly stacked in each bin 326 with their lateral edges
aligned.
As jamming occurs in the collator 201, the interme-
diate roller pairs 308 and the like are stopped to pro-
mote removal of the jam. In the meantime, sheets
arriving at the collator 201 are routed to the overflow
tray 313 by the gate 309 switched to the other position.
After the jammed sheet has been removed, sheets
have to be supplied to those bins 326 which are short
of sheets. For this purpose, the collator 201 has a
25 sheet re-feed device 331. The sheet re-feed device 331
is located such that sheets are supplied to the guide
plate 307 in a position ahead of the sheet biasing device
316.
As shown in Figure 14, the sheet re-feeder 331
30 includes a manual sheet inlet 332 and feed rollers 333.
While the feed rollers 333 may comprise paired rollers
pressingly engaged with each other, they are in the form
of rollers pressingly engaged with the drive rollers
304 in the illustrated embodiment.
The sheets temporarily stored in the overflow tray
t~
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313 are fed one by one from the manual sheet inlet 332
into the collator 301. The feed rollers 333 propel the
sheet and a yuide plate 334 directs it toward the inlet
roller pairs 304.
The re-fed sheet is biased by the device 316 and
supplied through the de1ecting unit 323 into a bin 326
as in a usual case. Accordingly, even though the sheet
may have been skewed when inserted, the biasing device
316 removes the skew and feeds the sheet to a bin 326 in
a laterally aligned position. This ensures well condi-
tioned re-feed of sheets into the bins 326 without
resoxt to any particular structure~
The re-feeder 331 may employ an automatic sheet feed
structure as viewed in Figure 15 in place of the manual
insertion of Fi~ure 14. The automatic sheet re-feeder
includes a table 341 and feed rollers 34~ located in
correspondence with the manual sheet inlet 332. When the
sheet stack in the overflow tray 313 is loaded on the
table 341, the feed rollers 342 wi]l feed the sheets one
by one into the collator 301 and the feed rollers 333 will
advance the sheets successively along through the guide
plate 334 to the rollers 304 and 306. Subsequent proce-
dures in this automatic sheet feed are common to those
in the usual sheet feed and manual sheet feed and, there-
fore will not be des~ ibed any further.
~0, i, q
B A collator ~7~h~ to this embodiment includes
a sheet re-feeding device so located as to permit re-feed
of sheets in a stage ahead of a sheet biasing device.
With this collator, any skewed sheet is aligned by the
sheet biasing device both in the usùal case and in a
case wherein, upon detection of jamming, the collating
operation is interrupted and sheets continuously fed from
a copying machine still in operation are stacked in an
overflow tray and then refed. Thus, the sheets can
be supplied to individual storage bins with their lateral
~ ~ 7C~
-22-
edges properly aligned, ensuring well conditioned storage
of sheets at all times.
Figure 16 illustrates another appara-tus embodying
the present invention which comprises a rnanual insertion
inlet 351 and rollers 352 for feeding a sheet directly
to the belt 324. Further illustrated are feed rollers
353. The operation of this embodiment is similar to
that of Figure 14 except for the location of the manual
insertion inlet.
In summary, it will be seen that the present inven-
tion overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art and provides
a sheet feed apparatus which ensures reliable manual and
automatic sheet feed, collation and sorting. Various
modivications will become possible for those skilled ;in
the art aEter receiving the teachings of the presen-t
disclosure without departing from the scope thereof.
