Sheet stacking apparatus, method of controlling sheet stacking apparatus, and storage medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9481540-B2
Application number	US-201514699979-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 29, 2015
Priority date	May 1, 2014
Publication date	Nov 1, 2016
Grant date	Nov 1, 2016

Abstract

A sheet stacking apparatus performs control to change a sheet discharge destination from a first sheet stacking tray to a second sheet stacking tray in a case where an obstacle prevents the second sheet stacking tray from being moved down while a sheet is discharged to the first sheet stacking tray.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sheet stacking apparatus configured to discharge a sheet to a first sheet stacking tray configured to be moved up and down and a second sheet stacking tray located below the first sheet stacking tray and configured to be moved up and down, the sheet stacking apparatus comprising:
a discharging unit configured to discharge a sheet to the first sheet stacking tray or the second sheet stacking tray;
a position detecting unit configured to detect that a position of the second discharge tray has not changed; and
a control unit configured to determine, based on detection that the position of the second discharge tray has not changed, that an obstacle exists under the second discharge tray and to perform control to change a destination of a sheet to be discharged by the discharging unit from the first sheet stacking tray to the second sheet stacking tray in a case where the obstacle prevents the second sheet stacking tray from being moved down while the discharging unit is discharging a sheet to the first sheet stacking tray.

2. The sheet stacking apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein in a case where the obstacle prevents the second sheet stacking tray from being moved down while the discharging unit is discharging a sheet to the second sheet stacking tray, the control unit performs control not to change the destination of a sheet to be discharged by the discharging unit from the second sheet stacking tray to the first sheet stacking tray.

3. The sheet stacking apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a notification unit configured to provide a notification to prompt a user to remove the obstacle in a case where the obstacle prevents the second sheet stacking tray from being moved down while the discharging unit is discharging a sheet to the second sheet stacking tray.

4. The sheet stacking apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein in a case where the second sheet stacking tray is prevented from being moved down while the discharging unit is discharging a sheet to the first sheet stacking tray, the control unit performs control to stop discharging a sheet to the first sheet stacking tray by the discharging unit.

5. The sheet stacking apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein in a case where the second sheet stacking tray is prevented from being moved down because the amount of sheets stacked on the second sheet stacking tray has reached a predetermined amount while the discharging unit is discharging a sheet to the second sheet stacking tray, the control unit performs control to change the destination of a sheet to be discharged by the discharging unit from the second sheet stacking tray to the first sheet stacking tray.

6. The sheet stacking apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a printing unit configured to print an image on a sheet,
wherein the discharging unit discharges the sheet on which the image has been printed by the printing unit.

7. A method of controlling a sheet stacking apparatus configured to discharge a sheet to a first sheet stacking tray configured to be moved up and down and a second sheet stacking tray located below the first sheet stacking tray and configured to be moved up and down, the method comprising:
discharging a sheet to the first sheet stacking tray or the second sheet stacking tray;
detecting that a position of the second discharge tray has not changed;
determining, based on detection that the position of the second discharge tray has not changed, that an obstacle exists under the second discharge tray; and
performing control to change a destination of a sheet to be discharged by the discharging from the first sheet stacking tray to the second sheet stacking tray in a case where the obstacle prevents the second sheet stacking tray from being moved down while the discharging is discharging a sheet to the first sheet stacking tray.

8. A non-transitory storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a method of controlling a sheet stacking apparatus configured to discharge a sheet to a first sheet stacking tray configured to be moved up and down and a second sheet stacking tray located below the first sheet stacking tray and configured to be moved up and down, the program comprising:
discharging a sheet to the first sheet stacking tray or the second sheet stacking tray;
detecting that a position of the second discharge tray has not changed;
determining, based on detection that the position of the second discharge tray has not changed, that an obstacle exists under the second discharge tray; and
performing control to change a destination of a sheet to be discharged by the discharging from the first sheet stacking tray to the second sheet stacking tray in a case where the obstacle prevents the second sheet stacking tray from being moved down while the discharging is discharging a sheet to the first sheet stacking tray.

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Miyajima Jun

Classifications

• B65H43/00

  Use of control, checking, or safety devices, e.g. automatic devices comprising an element for sensing a variable · CPC title

• G06K15/403

  handling the outputted documents, e.g. staplers, sorters · CPC title

• B65H2511/521

  Presence of foreign object or undesirable material, i.e. material of another nature than the handled material · CPC title

• B41J29/38

  Drives, motors, controls or automatic cut-off devices for the entire printing mechanism · CPC title

• B65H31/10

  and applied at the top of the pile · CPC title