Patent Publication Number: US-6988728-B2

Title: Sheet sorter and an image forming apparatus

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates to a sheet sorter which is provided with a plurality of trays and adapted to sort sheets by switching trays for receiving sheets, and also to a copier, a printer or like image forming apparatus provided with such a sheet sorter. 
   There has been conventionally known a copier for reading a document image and forming a plurality of copy images. Such a copier is provided with a sheet sorter including a plurality of trays on which sheets are placed in order to sort a specified number of sheets having the same image formed thereon for each set. In recent years, the sheet sorter has also been used to sort sheets having images formed thereon for each user or each personal computer or for each personal computer job in a copier commonly used by a plurality of users or in a printer connected with a plurality of personal computers. 
   The users and the personal computers might designate or not the trays on which the sheets are to be placed. When the tray is designated, the sheet is placed on this tray. On the other hand, when no tray is designated, the sheet is placed on the tray specified beforehand. This specified tray is generally the one on which a maximum number of sheets can be placed. Accordingly, the users know on which trays their sheets are to be placed. 
   A new sheet having an image formed thereon is discharged onto the sheet already placed on the tray. Thus, even in the case that a plurality of users designate the same tray or designate no tray to place sheets of a plurality of users on the same tray, if each user quickly take the sheet(s) out of the tray after the image formation, there is a low possibility of mixing his sheet(s) with the sheet(s) of the others. Therefore, the sheet(s) of each user can be easily distinguished. 
   However, the users do not necessarily take the sheets out quickly after the image formation, i.e., they may take time to take the sheets out. If the sheets are taken out after a while, the sheets of many users may be placed one over another. In such a case, each user is likely to experience an incapability of easily finding his own sheet(s) although he knows on which tray his sheets are placed. The tray is often undesignated when the sheets are to be taken out after a while. In such a case, it is more difficult to find the own sheets out since the sheets are placed on the tray on which a maximum number of sheets can be placed. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet sorter and an image forming apparatus which are free from the problems residing in the prior art. 
   According to an aspect of the invention, a sheet sorter comprises a plurality of trays for supporting sheets, a tray switching mechanism for switching trays, a designation receiver for receiving designation of a tray on which a specified sheet is to be placed, and a controller for controlling the tray switching mechanism so that a designated tray receives the specified sheet, and controlling the tray switching mechanism so as to switch trays in accordance with a specified order of priority to receive sheets on the trays if no tray is designated. With this construction, users can easily find their own sheets even if no tray is designated. 
   These and other objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments/examples with reference to the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a diagram schematically showing an entire construction of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram schematically showing a circuit construction of the image forming apparatus; 
       FIG. 3  is a diagram showing an outer configuration of a display/operation assembly of the image forming apparatus; 
       FIG. 4  is a diagram showing a display example concerning designation of a tray in the image forming apparatus; 
       FIG. 5  is a diagram showing a display example concerning an output information of the image forming apparatus; and 
       FIGS. 6A and 6B  are flowcharts showing a procedure of a tray selecting operation in the image forming apparatus. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION 
   Referring to  FIG. 1  showing an entire construction of an image forming apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, an image forming apparatus  1  is comprised of a main unit  2  for forming an image on a sheet and a finisher unit  3  for discharging the sheet having the image formed thereon after applying a specified post-processing thereto. The image forming apparatus  1  functions both as a copier for reading a document image and forming a copy image on a sheet and as a printer for forming an image on a sheet based on information given from a personal computer. Sheets on which images are to be formed are normally paper sheets, but may be non-paper sheets such as resin films according to the usage of a user. 
   The main unit  2  is provided with a forming assembly  10  directly involved in image formation, a feeding assembly  20  for feeding sheets to the forming assembly  10 , a reading assembly  30  for reading a document image, a conveying assembly  40  for conveying the sheet having an image formed thereon to the finisher unit  3 , and an operation/display assembly  50  operable by the user and adapted to display pieces of information. 
   The forming assembly  10  includes a photosensitive drum  11 , a charging device  12  for charging the photosensitive drum  11 , an exposing device  13  for projecting light onto the charged photosensitive drum  11  to partly remove charges, thereby forming a latent image on the photosensitive drum  11 , a developing device  14  for attaching toner to the photosensitive drum  11  bearing the latent image to develop the latent image, a transferring device  15  for transferring a toner image on the photosensitive drum  11  to a sheet being fed, a charge removing device  16  for electrically removing the toner from the photosensitive drum  11  after the image transfer, and a fixing device  17  for pressing the sheet having the toner image transferred thereto while heating it to fix the toner image on the sheet. 
   The feeding assembly  20  includes a plurality of feeding trays  21 ,  22 ,  23  and a plurality of transport rollers  20   a . Sheets of different sizes are placed in the feeding trays  21  to  23 , and the sheets in the selected feeding tray  21  to  23  are fed one by one to the transferring device  15  of the forming assembly  10 . 
   The reading assembly  30  includes a scanner  31  and a automatic document feeder (ADF)  32  for successively feeding documents to the scanner  31 , and is used upon the application as a copier. The scanner  31  outputs the read image as a digital image data. 
   The conveying assembly  40  includes a plurality of transport rollers  40   a . The finisher unit  3  is detachably attachable to the main unit  2 . When the finisher unit  3  is not attached, the sheet conveyed by the conveying assembly  40  is directly discharged from the main unit  2 . 
   The finisher unit  3  is provided with a punch device  60  for perforating the sheets for filing later on, a stapler device  70  for binding a plurality of sheets by staples, a sorter  80  for sorting sheets, transport rollers  3   a , and an intermediate tray  3   b  in which sheets are placed while being bound by the stapler device  70 . The punch device  60  and the stapler device  70  operate only when instruction is given via the operation/display assembly  50 . 
   The sorter  80  includes a plurality of trays  81 ,  82 ,  83 ,  84 ,  85 ,  86  for receiving sheets. The trays  81  to  86  are vertically arranged one over another, and are constructed vertically movable by a driving device  801  (see  FIG. 2 ) such as a motor. The driving device  801  sorts sheets by switchingly moving the selected tray  81  to  86  to an end of a sheet conveyance path defined by the transport rollers  3   a . The bottommost tray  86  is most distanced from the adjacent tray, so that a maximum number of sheets can be placed thereon. For example, in the case that about 300 sheets can be placed on each of the trays  81  to  85 , about 3000 sheets can be placed on the tray  86 . 
   Each tray  81  to  86  is provided with a sensor  87  for detecting whether or not any sheet is placed thereon. The sensor  87  includes a light-emitting diode (LED) and a photodiode (PD), is constructed such that light emitted from the LED and reflected by the sheet is received by the PD, and detects the presence or absence of the sheet based on the light reception result. Although the sorter  80  is part of the finisher unit  3  in this embodiment, it may be an individual sheet sorter. 
     FIG. 2  schematically shows a circuit construction of the image forming apparatus  1 . Among the respective elements described above, the scanner  31  includes an illuminating optical system  31   a  for illuminating a document image and a CCD line sensor  31   b  for reading the illuminated document image. The operation/display assembly  50  includes a plurality of keys  51  such as a tenkey, a liquid crystal display device  52  and LED lamps  53 . The keys  51  are operated by a user to give instructions to the image forming apparatus  1 . The liquid crystal display device  52  notifies the user of the states of the image forming apparatus  1  and guides the operation by displaying characters and figures. The LED lamps  53  notify the states of the image forming apparatus  1  by being turned on or off. 
   The image forming apparatus  1  is provided with a hard disk drive (HDD)  90  including a hard disk for storing image data, a controller  100  for controlling the operation of the entire apparatus including the image formation, and a communicator  110  for conducting a communication with external equipments such as personal computers. A personal computer  131  specially used for the image forming apparatus  1  is connected with the communicator  110 , and the user can control the operation of the image forming apparatus  1  without operating the operation/display assembly  50  by giving an instruction to the controller  100  via the personal computer  131 . Further, external equipments such as a personal computer  141  and an unillustrated facsimile device can be connected with the communicator  110  via a network  140 . 
   The controller  100  includes an image CPU  101 , a control CPU  102 , a memory  103  and an interface (I/F)  104 . The image CPU  101  controls the image formation. Specifically, the image CPU  101  saves image data given from the scanner  31  and the external personal computer  141  in the hard disk of the HDD  90 , reads the image data from the hard disk, applies a suitable processing such as enlargement, size reduction or image combination to the read image data, and controls the image formation by the forming assembly  10  based on the processed image data. 
   The control CPU  102  controls the entire operation of the image forming apparatus  1  including a part of processings concerning the image formation. For example, the control CPU  102  controls the operations of the charging device  11 , the developing device  14 , the fixing device  17  and the like of the forming assembly  10 , the feed of the sheets by the feeding assembly  20 , the image reading by the reading assembly  30 , the sheet conveyance by the conveying assembly  40 , and the communication with the personal computer  141  by the communicator  110 . The control CPU  102  also controls the operations of the punch device  60 , the stapler device  70  and the sorter  80  of the finisher unit  3 . 
   In the case that the sorter  80  is an individual sheet sorter, a CPU may be separately provided for the sheet sorter and the control CPU  102  may cause this CPU to execute a control concerning the operation of the sorter  80 . In such a case, communications necessary for the control are conducted between the CPU of the sheet sorter and the control CPU  102 . 
   The memory  103  includes a ROM for storing a program specifying procedures of the controls by the image CPU  101  and the control CPU  102  and a RAM for temporarily saving parameters used by the image CPU  101  and the control CPU  102  for the controls. The control CPU  102  is provided with a counter for measuring a time. The present positions of the trays  81  to  86  of the sorter  80  and the times at which the last sheets were placed on the respective trays  81  to  86  are also saved in the RAM. 
   The image forming apparatus  1  thus constructed has functions as a copier, a printer, a scanner and a facsimile. One exemplary external configuration of the operation/display assembly  50  is shown in  FIG. 3 . As described above, the operation/display assembly  50  is provided with the keys  51 , the liquid crystal display device  52 , and the LED lamps  53 , and the functions as a copier, a printer, a scanner or a facsimile can be selected by operating the keys  51   a  provided in correspondence with the respective functions. LED lamps  53  are so provided as to correspond to these keys  51   a , and the one corresponding to the selected function is turned on. The keys  51  include a tenkey  51   b  for the numerical input of 0 to 9, a start key  51   c  used to designate the start of the operation, and an administration key  51   d  used to designate settings and displays concerning the administration of the apparatus. 
   On the liquid crystal display device  52  are displayed the selected function and items selectable by the user in this selected function.  FIG. 3  shows a case where the function as a copier is selected, and such a display is made on the liquid crystal display device  52  to show that the image forming apparatus  1  is in such a state where it can read a document image and form the read image on a sheet, and forms one set of identical images, as well as the items including the size of the sheet on which the images are to be formed, the size or magnification of the images to be formed, the density of the images and necessity to sort the sheets having the images formed thereon. The number of sets of copy images can be designated by operating the tenkey  51   b . The liquid crystal display device  52  is constructed such that a touch panel for detecting a pushed position is placed on a display surface. The user can designate the item by pressing the position where this item is displayed. 
   The sorter  80  provided in the finisher unit  3  can be used to sort the sheets when the same image is formed on different sheets. The sorter  80  can also be used to sort the sheets according to the users, according to the personal computers  141 , or according to the printing jobs of the personal computers  141 . In  FIG. 3 , sorting according to the users is selected. Unless the user designates the number of sets of images to be formed or select any item, operation is carried out assuming that a specified number of sets of images or one set have been designated and predetermined items have been selected. Unless sorting is designated, the sheet is placed on the tray  86  on which a maximum number of sheets can be placed. 
   In the state of  FIG. 3 , the item “SORT” is selected by the user, the display of the liquid crystal display device  52  is switched to display a screen used for the user to designate on which of the trays  81  to  86  the sheet is to be placed. One exemplary screen is shown in  FIG. 4 . Six items corresponding to the trays  81  to  86  are displayed, whereby the user can select a desired tray. “Main Tray” is the tray  86  on which a maximum number of sheets can be placed. Item “AUTO” meaning that the image forming apparatus  1  automatically selects the tray on which the sheet is to be placed is also displayed. The automatic selection of the tray is a default of sheet sorting, When the user designates no tray, the image forming apparatus  1  selects the tray. Automatic tray selection is described later. 
   Upon the image formation, the user can input his name and a job name by operating the administration key  51   d  shown in  FIG. 3 , and the control CPU  102  receives inputted information. Upon receiving an input made by operating the administration key  51   d  after the completion of the image forming operation, the control CPU  102  displays output-related information on the liquid crystal display device  52 . Since the user name and the job name are displayed during this display (see  FIG. 5 ), the user can know on which of the trays  81  to  86  of the sorter  80  the sheet having the image formed thereon has been placed by seeing such a display. 
     FIG. 5  shows a display example of the output-related information. This display includes a job number which is the number of image forming operations made after the start of power supply to the image forming apparatus  1 , output date and time, the user name inputted by the user, the job name, the sheet size, the number of sheets, the number of the tray on which the sheets are placed. Here, “Designated Tray” is the tray designated by the user, and “Selected Tray” is the tray automatically selected by the image forming apparatus  1 . 
   Each of the personal computers  131  and the personal computers  141  includes a keyboard provided with a plurality keys used to input instructions, and a monitor having an image display surface. The same contents as those displayed on the liquid crystal display device  52  and shown in  FIGS. 3 to 5  are displayed on the display surface of each of the personal computers  131  and the personal computers  141 , so that the users of the personal computers  131  and the personal computers  141  can give similar instructions or confirm the tray on which the sheets are placed even without directly operating the operation/display assembly  50 . Even if no tray has been designated despite a sorting instruction from the personal computer  131  or  141 , the image forming apparatus  1  automatically selects the tray. 
   The selection of the tray in the case that no tray is designated despite the designation of “SORT” to sort sheets according to the users, the personal computers or jobs is described. The image forming apparatus  1  determines an order of priority as follows based on a mode judging device  1021  and a priority setting device  1022  of the control CPU  102 , and selects the tray. 
   (1) The tray on which no sheet is placed is preferentially selected. 
   (2) When there are a plurality of trays on which no sheet is placed and the tray located at a sheet receiving position at the judging timing bears no sheet, this tray is selected. 
   (3) When there are a plurality of trays on which no sheet is placed and the tray located at a sheet receiving position at the judging timing bears a sheet, the uppermost one of the trays bearing no sheet is selected. 
   (4) When there is no tray on which no sheet is placed, the tray having a longest duration from the last time when the sheet was placed thereon is selected. However, the tray  86  on which a maximum number of sheets can be placed is excluded. 
   The selections of (2) to (4) are made when the image is formed by the function as a copier (first mode), and the tray is selected in accordance with a different order of priority when the image is formed by the function as a printer or a facsimile (second mode). Specifically, selections are made as follows. 
   (5) Out of all the trays  81  to  86 , the one bearing no sheet and located at a bottommost position is selected. 
   (6) When there is no tray bearing no sheet, the tray  86  on which a maximum number of sheets can be placed is selected. 
   The selections of (1) to (6) are made by the mode setting device  1021  of the control CPU  102  for judging the first and second modes and the priority setting device  1022  thereof for selecting the tray in accordance with the order of priority. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 6A and 6B  showing a procedure of the tray selection controlled by the control CPU  102 , first, it is discriminated whether the tray has been designated (Step # 5 ). Upon the designation of the tray, this tray is selected as a tray on which the sheet is to be placed (Step # 10 ). If no tray has been designated, it is discriminated whether the first mode in which an image is formed by the function as a copier is set (Step # 15 ). 
   When the image is to be formed by the function as a copier, it is discriminated whether there is any sheet on the tray located at the sheet receiving position (Step # 20 ). If no sheet is placed thereon, this tray is selected (Step 0  # 25 ). The presence or absence of the sheet on the tray is detected by the sensor  87  as described above. If the sheet is placed on the tray located at the sheet receiving position, discrimination as to whether the sheet is placed is successively made for the respective trays from the uppermost one  81 . Upon finding the tray bearing no sheet, this tray is selected (Step # 30  to # 85 ). 
   When all the trays  81  to  86  bear the sheets, the tray having a longest duration from the last time when the sheet was placed thereon is selected out of the trays  81  to  85  excluding the tray  86  (Step # 90 ). The times at which the sheets were placed are saved in the memory  103 , and the above selection is made by calculating differences between the respective recorded times and the current time. 
   If the image is discriminated not to be formed by the function as a copier in Step # 15 , i.e., if the second mode in which an image is formed on a sheet based on information given from an external equipment via a communication therewith is set, discrimination as to whether the sheet is placed is successively made for the respective trays from the bottommost one  86 . Upon finding the tray bearing no sheet, this tray is selected (Step # 100  to # 155 ). If the sheet is placed on any of the trays  81  to  86 , the tray  86  is selected (Step # 160 ). 
   In the above selecting operation, the sheet is placed on the tray bearing no sheet as long as there is any tray bearing no sheet, and the respective users need not distinguish their sheets from the other users&#39; sheets. Further, when the image forming apparatus  1  is used as a copier, if there are a plurality of trays bearing no sheet, the uppermost one thereof is selected. Thus, the sheets can be easily taken out. Furthermore, when the sheet is placed on any of the trays, the sheet is to be placed on the tray having a longest duration from the last time when the sheet was placed, hence, having a lower possibility of having the sheet thereon taken out for a while. Thus, the sheet placed on this tray can be taken out before the other users take the sheets out. Therefore, the image forming apparatus  1  can also attend to the convenience of the other users. 
   The selection of the tray having a longest duration from the last time when the sheet was placed is useful for a construction in which the sensors  87  are not provided. The longer the duration from the last time when the sheet was placed, the higher possibility of having the sheets taken out. Therefore, a possibility of selecting the tray bearing no sheet is increased. 
   By differing the order of priority of the trays depending on whether the image forming apparatus  1  functions as a copier or it functions as a printer or a facsimile, the sheet having the image formed thereon by the function as a copier and the one having the image formed thereof by the function as a printer or a facsimile are more likely to be placed on different trays. Thus, the user using the function as a copier can easily find his sheet. 
   Setting of the order of priority in the tray selection shown in this embodiment is only an example. Another order of priority can be set depending on the number of the trays, the size of trays, the numbers of sheets which can be placed on the respective trays, the number of sheets to have images formed thereon at once and other factors. For example, if the number of sheets is a specified value or larger, the tray on which a maximum number of sheets can be placed may be preferentially selected instead of selection based on the above order of priority. 
   Although the trays are, for example, vertically moved by the driving device  801  in the foregoing embodiment, the end of the sheet conveyance path may be so branched as to correspond to the trays and such a driving as to selectively switch the branched paths to place the sheet on the designated or automatically selected tray may be provided instead. This construction also enables the sheet to be placed on the selected tray. 
   As described above, an inventive sheet sorter is provided with a plurality of trays on which sheets are to be placed; a tray switching mechanism which switches trays; a designation receiver which receives designation of a tray on which a sheet is to be placed; and a controller which controls the tray switching mechanism so that a designated tray receives the specified sheet, and controls the tray switching mechanism so as to switch trays in accordance with a specified order of priority to receive sheets on the trays if no tray is designated. 
   With this sheet sorter, when no tray is designated, the sheet is to be placed not on the specific tray, but on the tray selected from all or a part of the plurality of trays in accordance with the specified order of priority. This can reduce the possibility of placing sheets of a plurality of users on the same tray. Therefore, the respective users can more easily find their own sheets. 
   Preferably, higher priority is given to a tray on which no sheet is placed than to those on which a sheet is placed. Then, sheets are to be placed first on empty trays, thereby considerably reducing the possibility of placing sheets of different users on the same tray. 
   In such a case, the trays may be vertically arranged one over another, and higher priority may be given to the tray located at a higher position. In the case that the trays are arranged one over another, sheets can be successively placed on trays from which sheets are more easily taken out by giving higher priority to a tray located at a higher position. Thus, the sheet sorter takes up a smaller space and sheets can be successively placed on trays from which sheets are more easily taken out. 
   Alternatively, higher priority may be given to a tray having a longer duration from the last time when a sheet was placed thereon. The longer the duration after the sheet is placed last time, the higher the possibility that the sheet is already taken out. Thus, by setting the order of priority in this way, the tray bearing no sheet can be selected with a higher possibility even if no means for detecting whether or not the sheet is placed on the tray is provided. 
   Preferably, least priority may be given to a tray capable of supporting a maximum number of sheets. By giving the least priority to the tray on which sheets of many users are likely to be placed, the respective users can easily find their own sheets while enabling handling of many sheets. 
   Also, an inventive image forming apparatus is made by providing the sheet sorter in an image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet. Then, users can easily find their own sheets after the image formation by the features of the sheet sorter. 
   The image forming unit may have a first mode in which an image is read from a document and the read image is formed on a sheet, and a second mode in which the image forming unit communicates with an external equipment and an image is formed on the sheet based on information given from the external equipment, and the order of priority in selecting the tray may be differed depending on whether the first mode is set or the second mode is set. This image forming unit functions as a copier in the first mode while functioning as a printer or a facsimile in the second mode. Users using the function as a copier are near the apparatus and often need the sheets after the image formation immediately. By differing the order of priority in selecting the tray depending on whether the first mode is set or the second mode is set, the users using the function as a copier can easily find their own sheets. 
   This application is based on patent application No. 2002-147525 filed in Japan, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by references. 
   As this invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit of essential characteristics thereof, the present embodiment is therefore illustrative and not restrictive, since the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the description preceding them, and all changes that fall within metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalence of such metes and bounds are therefore intended to embraced by the claims.