JP5737274B2 - Paper processing apparatus and image forming system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus and an image forming system.

  Conventionally, as a method for creating a booklet by stacking a plurality of sheets on which an image is formed, a technique called folding is known in which a plurality of sheets are overlapped in advance and then stacked on the fold and then stapled. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

As an apparatus for performing folding and binding, for example, a folding unit that performs folding (two folding) of sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus one by one or a plurality of sheets, and a position of the folds of the folded sheets are aligned. 2. Description of the Related Art A paper processing apparatus of a hooking system is known that includes a saddle-shaped paper stacking unit that stacks up to a predetermined number of sheets, and a binding unit that staples and binds the folds of a stack of sheets stacked on the paper stacking unit. Yes.
In such a sheet processing apparatus, as shown in FIG. 10, when the folded sheet S1 is moved to the bowl-shaped sheet stacking unit 600, the sheet stacking unit is automatically aligned by its own weight. 600 is stably accumulated, and the subsequent binding process can be normally performed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-21865

However, in the conventional sheet processing apparatus, as shown in FIG. 11, if the folding state of the sheet S1 by the middle folding process is insufficient, the balance is easily lost when the sheet S1 is moved to the sheet stacking unit 600. There is a possibility that the sheet S1 falls from the sheet stacking unit 600 or the ridge line of the crease is displaced, and there is a problem that a high quality booklet cannot be formed.
In order to deal with such a problem, for example, a method of providing a guide roller for transporting the paper when moving the folded paper to the paper stacking unit may be considered. However, in this method, the configuration is complicated. There is a new problem that the cost is increased and the installation space of the apparatus becomes long.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet processing apparatus capable of improving the stacking state of sheets folded in half and forming a high-quality booklet without increasing the cost. And an image forming system.

In order to solve the above problems, according to one aspect of the present invention,
In paper processing equipment,
Half-folding means for performing a half-folding process on the paper;
Discharging means for discharging the sheet folded by the folding means in a direction along the fold line of the sheet;
Stacking means for sequentially stacking the paper discharged by the discharging means so that the folds of the paper overlap;
Control means for accelerating or decelerating the discharge speed of the paper by the discharge means in accordance with setting conditions set for the middle folding process of the half-folding means ,
The control means includes
In the case where the setting condition is a condition in which the force applied to the sheet in the center folding process of the center folding unit becomes a second value smaller than the first value, The discharge means is controlled so that the discharge speed of the paper by the discharge means is lower than when the condition that the force applied to the paper in the folding process becomes the first value is set .
In the paper processing apparatus,
Half-folding means for performing a half-folding process on the paper;
Discharging means for discharging the sheet folded by the folding means in a direction along the fold line of the sheet;
Stacking means for sequentially stacking the paper discharged by the discharging means so that the folds of the paper overlap;
Control means for accelerating or decelerating the discharge speed of the paper by the discharge means in accordance with setting conditions set for the middle folding process of the middle folding means;
With
The discharging means is
The paper is pushed out to the stacking means while being in contact with the rear end of the paper folded by the center folding means, and then returned to the original position before contacting the rear end of the paper in the paper discharge direction. A contact portion for performing a discharging operation,
A drive unit for causing the abutting part to perform the discharging operation;
With
The control means includes
As the setting condition, when the force applied to the sheet in the center folding process of the center folding unit is set to be smaller than a preset reference value, the contact portion contacts the rear end in the sheet discharge direction in the discharge operation. At this point, the drive unit is controlled so that the moving speed of the contact part is lower than a preset reference speed.

According to another aspect of the invention,
In an image forming system,
An image forming apparatus for forming an image on paper;
The above-described sheet processing apparatus that is connected to the image forming apparatus and that performs half-folding and saddle stitching on a sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming apparatus;
It is provided with.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the stacking state of the folded sheets without increasing the cost and form a high-quality booklet.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming system. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of a sheet processing apparatus. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a middle folding portion of a sheet processing apparatus. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view illustrating an example of a main configuration of a middle folding portion of the sheet processing apparatus. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view illustrating an example of a configuration of a discharge mechanism of the sheet processing apparatus. FIG. 4 is a side view illustrating an example of a configuration of a discharge mechanism and a stacking unit of a sheet processing apparatus. FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating an example of a configuration of a stacking unit of a sheet processing apparatus. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration relating to operation control of an image forming system. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a half-fold / saddle stitching process in the sheet processing apparatus. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a state where sheets are stacked in a sheet stacking unit in a conventional sheet processing apparatus. It is a figure for demonstrating the problem in the conventional paper processing apparatus.

  Hereinafter, an image forming system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of the image forming system 1.
The image forming system 1 includes an image forming apparatus 100, an intermediate conveyance device 200, a saddle stitching processing device 300, and a flat stitching processing device 400.
In the following description, the vertical direction is the Z direction, and the direction along the direction in which the image forming apparatus 100, the intermediate transport apparatus 200, the saddle stitching processing apparatus 300, and the flat stitching processing apparatus 400 shown in FIG. A direction perpendicular to the X direction and the Z direction is taken as a Y direction.
The X direction will be described with a front side and a rear side, and the Y direction will be described with a right side and a left side. Here, the front side is the upstream side in the paper conveyance direction in the image forming system 1, and the rear side is the downstream side. Also. The right side is the upstream side in the sheet conveyance direction in the saddle stitching processing device 300 in the middle folding / saddle stitching process, and the left side is the downstream side.

The image forming apparatus 100 forms an image on a sheet.
Specifically, the image forming apparatus 100 develops a toner image corresponding to bitmap data on a primary transfer member such as a transfer roller, for example, a conveyance unit that pulls out a sheet stored as a recording medium from the sheet tray and conveys the sheet. The developing unit, a primary transfer unit that transfers the toner image developed on the primary transfer member to a secondary transfer member such as the transfer drum 150, and the toner image transferred to the secondary transfer member is transferred to a sheet conveyed by the conveyance unit. The image forming apparatus includes a secondary transfer unit, a fixing unit that fixes the transferred toner image on the sheet, and a discharge unit that discharges the sheet after fixing processing by the fixing unit.
In addition, the image forming apparatus 100 delivers the sheet on which the image is formed and discharged to the intermediate transport apparatus 200. In other words, the image forming system 1 is connected so that the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus 100 is delivered to the intermediate conveying apparatus 200.

The intermediate transport apparatus 200 is an apparatus that can temporarily wait for a sheet and can perform creasing and cutting on the sheet.
Specifically, the intermediate conveyance device 200 conveys the sheet conveyed from the image forming apparatus 100 so as to descend, and temporarily stops and waits in a state where the surface of the sheet is substantially along the Z direction ( Stacker), alignment unit that aligns the position of the standby paper, a creasing unit that performs creasing on the aligned paper, and trims the margins of the paper while conveying the crooked paper A cutting section (slitter) is provided.
That is, the intermediate conveyance device 200 performs alignment by the alignment unit in a state where the paper delivered from the image forming apparatus 100 is temporarily stopped in the standby unit, and then performs the creasing process by the creasing unit, and then the cutting unit. The margin portion of the paper is cut while the paper that has been creased is conveyed. Thereafter, the intermediate conveyance device 200 transfers the paper whose margin has been cut by the cutting unit to the saddle stitching processing device 300.
The intermediate conveyance device 200 can also deliver the paper delivered from the image forming apparatus 100 to the saddle stitching processing device 300 without performing some or all of the various processes performed by the intermediate conveyance device 200. .

The saddle stitching processing device 300 is a sheet processing device that performs a half-folding process for folding a sheet into two (folded), a saddle stitching process for creating a saddle-stitched booklet by stacking a predetermined number of the folded sheets and binding them. It is an apparatus that performs a cutting process for performing a small-edge cutting of a saddle stitch booklet.
Specifically, the saddle stitching processing apparatus 300 performs the middle folding of the sheet delivered from the intermediate conveyance apparatus 200 along the Y direction by the middle folding unit 310, and the middle folded sheet along the Y direction by the discharge mechanism 320. When a predetermined number of sheets are stacked on the stacking unit 330, the saddle stitching unit 340 strikes the sheet on the sheet crease to form a saddle stitch booklet. After that, the saddle stitching processing apparatus 300 cuts the edge edge portion of the saddle stitch booklet formed by the cutting unit 350 and discharges it from the discharge unit 360.
The saddle stitching processing device 300 delivers the paper delivered from the intermediate conveyance device 200 to the side stitching processing device 400 without performing some or all of the various processes performed by the saddle stitching processing device 300. You can also. The saddle stitching processing apparatus 300 may further include a processing unit for performing a square fold process for shaping the spine of the saddle stitch booklet.

The side stitching processing device 400 performs a side stitching process for a plurality of sheets.
Specifically, the side stitching processing device 400 includes, for example, a staple processing unit that performs a stapling process on a plurality of sheets delivered from the saddle stitching processing apparatus 300, and a spine cover among the plurality of sheets subjected to the stapling process. In order to align the parallel end portions, a page end cutting portion that cuts off a portion of the end portions and a discharge portion that discharges sheets after processing by each connected device are provided.
It should be noted that the side stitching processing apparatus 400 can also discharge the paper delivered from the saddle stitching processing apparatus 300 without performing some or all of the various processes performed by the side stitching processing apparatus 400.

  Next, the saddle stitch processing apparatus 300 will be described in detail.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of the saddle stitching processing apparatus 300. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the middle folding unit 310 of the saddle stitching processing apparatus 300. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view illustrating an example of a main configuration of the center folding unit 310 of the saddle stitching processing apparatus 300, and FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view illustrating an example of the configuration of the discharge mechanism 320 of the saddle stitching processing apparatus 300. is there. FIG. 6 is a side view illustrating an example of the configuration of the discharge mechanism 320 and the stacking unit 330 of the saddle stitching processing apparatus 30, and FIG. 7 is a side view illustrating an example of the configuration of the stacking unit 330 of the saddle stitching processing apparatus 30. is there.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the saddle stitching processing apparatus 300 includes a housing 300 </ b> A. Inside the housing 300 </ b> A, for example, a center folding unit (a center folding unit) 310 that folds paper along the Y direction. And a discharge mechanism (discharge means) 320 that discharges the sheet that has been subjected to the folding process by the folding unit 310 in a direction (Y direction) along the fold of the sheet, and the sheet that is discharged by the discharge mechanism 320. A stacking unit (stacking unit) 330 that supports the sheet, and a saddle stitching unit 340 that performs saddle stitching on a predetermined number of sheets stacked in the stacking unit 330 at a half-folded position, thereby using the plurality of sheets as a saddle-stitched booklet; In addition, a cutting unit 350 that performs a cutting process on the edge portion of the saddle stitch booklet, a discharge unit 360 that discharges the saddle stitch booklet to the outside, and the like are provided.

The center folding unit 310 includes, for example, a conveyance unit 311 that conveys a sheet delivered from the image forming apparatus 100, a positioning unit 312 that positions and stops the sheet conveyed by the conveyance unit 311 at a predetermined position, and a positioning unit 312. A pair of middle folding rollers 313a and 313b that form a nip portion by contacting the outer peripheral surfaces of the sheets positioned above the sheet positioned by the sheet, and below the pair of middle folding rollers 313a and 313b across the sheet A plate-like folding knife 314 that operates so as to enter between a pair of middle folding rollers 313a and 313b, a discharge path 315 that branches from the upstream side of the conveying unit 311 and discharges the paper upward, and a middle folding roller A tri-fold section 316 that folds the paper in three is provided so as to join the discharge path 315 from 313b. The pair of middle folding rollers 313 a and 313 b and the folding knife 314 are installed between the conveyance unit 311 and the positioning unit 312 arranged along the X direction.
The half-folding unit 310 may be set to fold a sheet every sheet or may be set to fold a sheet every plural sheets (for example, every three sheets).

The conveyance unit 311 sandwiches and conveys the sheet from above and below so that the surface of the sheet follows the XY plane, and is sandwiched and conveyed by a plurality of roller pairs 311 a and a plurality of roller pairs 311 a that convey the sheet rearward. A conveyance path 311b for guiding the sheet is provided.
The conveyance unit 311 conveys the paper delivered from the image forming apparatus 100 toward the rear positioning unit 312.

  The positioning unit 312 is positioned on the downstream side (rear side) in the sheet conveyance direction with respect to the two belt members 312 a and 312 a that sandwich and convey the sheet conveyed by the conveyance unit 311, and conveys the sheet. A stopper 312b and the like for locking the end portion on the downstream side in the direction are provided.

  The belt members 312a and 312a are, for example, belts of the same shape whose inner side is supported by two supporting rollers arranged in parallel along the X direction. The belt members 312a and 312a are provided above and below the paper transport path, sandwich the paper between the upper and lower belt members 312a and 312a, and transport the paper along the X direction.

The stopper 312b is provided so as to be switchable between a state in which the belt members 312a and 312a extend with respect to the paper conveyance path and a state in which the stopper 312b is retracted from the conveyance path, and is conveyed toward the downstream side by the belt members 312a and 312a. The sheet is positioned by locking the downstream end of the sheet. As the sheet is locked by the stopper 312b, the conveyance of the sheet by the belt members 312a and 312a is temporarily stopped, and the position of the sheet is determined.
The stopper 312b is provided so that its position can be adjusted in the paper transport direction (X direction). That is, the stopper 312b is provided between the transport unit 311 and the positioning unit 312 so that the position of the sheet positioned with respect to the middle folding rollers 313a and 313b and the folding knife 314 can be arbitrarily set. . Specifically, the stopper 312b is connected to, for example, a guide rail provided along the X direction, and the position is adjusted along the guide rail. For example, the stopper 312b is arranged to position the sheet so that the middle position of the sheet contacts the folding knife 314 in the X direction.

Each of the pair of middle folding rollers 313a and 313b is a cylindrical roller that is rotatably provided, and a rotation axis and a nip portion formed by contact with each other are provided along the Y direction. The pair of middle folding rollers 313a and 313b are, for example, rollers having the same diameter, and are provided so that the line segment connecting the respective rotation axes is parallel to the paper surface of the paper positioned by the positioning unit 312.
Further, the nip pressure of the pair of center folding rollers 313a and 313b can be adjusted by a saddle stitching processing control unit 505 (see FIG. 8) that controls the operation of the saddle stitching processing apparatus 300. Specifically, normally, the half-folding process is performed according to the nip of the pair of middle-folding rollers 313a and 313b depending on the conditions of the sheet on which the folding process is performed (for example, the type, basis weight, size, number of sheets, etc.). The control is executed so that the pressure becomes a preset value (referred to as a reference value). However, as a setting condition for performing the half-folding process, the nip pressure is set as a reference by the user with respect to the sheet condition for performing the middle-folding process. When the value is set higher or lower than the value, the saddle stitching processing control unit 505 changes the nip pressure by moving the pair of middle folding rollers 313a and 313b close to or apart from each other. Thereby, the folding condition of the sheet in the middle folding process is changed. That is, when performing the folding process on the same type of sheets of the same number of sheets, the folding condition becomes strong if the nip pressure is higher than the reference value, and the folding condition becomes weak if the nip pressure is lower than the reference value.

The folding knife 314 is a plate-like member arranged along the YZ plane, and along the Z direction (that is, in the vertical direction) at a position corresponding to the nip portion of the pair of middle folding rollers 313a and 313b. It is provided to be movable.
Specifically, the folding knife 314 contacts the paper positioned by the positioning unit 312 from below by moving up along the Z direction. Then, the folding knife 314 is further raised so that the upper end, which is the contact position with the paper, enters the nip portion, and the paper is pushed up from below to enter the nip portion, so that the folding knife 314 contacts the paper. The sheet is folded halfway using the position as a fold, and then the folding knife 314 descends along the Z direction.
That is, in the saddle stitching processing apparatus 300, the folding knife 314 is moved between the pair of middle folding rollers 313a and 313b in a state where the sheet is positioned between the pair of middle folding rollers 313a and 313b and the folding knife 314. The paper is folded by pushing the paper into the nip.
The paper folded in this way by the cooperation of the folding knife 314 and the pair of middle folding rollers 313a and 313b has a so-called mountain fold shape in which the crease is on the upper side and the small edges on both ends are on the lower side. It is discharged to the stacking unit 330 by the mechanism 320.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the discharge mechanism 320 includes two discharge belts 321 and 321 that are arranged opposite to each other below the pair of middle folding rollers 313 a and 313 b and are arranged in parallel along the X direction. Yes. Each discharge belt 321 is supported on the inside by two support rollers 321a and 321b arranged in parallel along the Y direction, and a discharge claw (contact portion) 321c protruding from the surface of the discharge belt 321 is fixed to the outside. Has been. The two discharge belts 321 and 321 have the same shape, and rotate at the same speed by the drive of the drive unit 321d (see FIG. 8).
The two discharge belts 321 and 321 are arranged so as to extend in the Y direction so that the sheet can be discharged in the direction (Y direction) along the fold line of the sheet with the folding knife 314 interposed therebetween. The two discharge belts 321 and 321 start to rotate after the sheet is folded in half by the rising and lowering of the folding knife 314 in the Z direction.
The discharge claw 321c moves around the discharge belts 321 and 321 as the discharge belts 321 and 321 rotate. In other words, the discharge claw 321c starts to move as the discharge belts 321 and 321 rotate, contacts the rear end of the sheet that has undergone the center folding process (discharge direction), and the sheet in the contacted state. Is pushed out to the stacking unit 330, and then a revolving movement is performed to return to the initial position before coming into contact with the rear end in the paper transport direction.
The sheet subjected to the folding process is discharged to the stacking unit 330 by such a discharge mechanism 320.

  Here, the rotational speed of the two discharge belts 321 and 321 (the movement speed of the discharge claw 321c) is adjusted by the saddle stitching processing control unit 505 (see FIG. 8) that controls the operation of the saddle stitching processing apparatus 300. It has become.

Specifically, the two discharge belts 321 and 321 normally rotate at a reference speed set in advance, and the discharge claw 321c also moves at the reference speed. If it is weak, that is, if the nip pressure is set lower than the reference value and the half-folding process is executed, the saddle stitching processing control unit 505 makes the discharge claw 321c abut the rear end of the sheet that has been subjected to the half-folding process in the conveyance direction. At this point, the rotational speed of the discharge belts 321 and 321 is controlled by the saddle stitching processing control unit 505 so that the moving speed becomes a predetermined speed decelerated from the reference speed.
As a result, the paper discharge speed becomes slower than the reference speed.

  In addition, after the paper with the discharge claw 321c being folded in half is pushed out to the stacking unit 330, the rotation speeds of the discharge belts 321 and 321 are adjusted so that the movement speed of the discharge claw 321c is returned to the original reference speed. It is controlled by the saddle stitching process control unit 505.

In addition, when the folding state of the sheet is strong, that is, when the nip pressure is set higher than the reference value and the folding process is executed, the discharge claw 321c is behind the sheet in the conveyance direction in which the folding process is performed by the folding unit 310. At the time of contact with the end, the rotational speed of the discharge belts 321 and 321 is controlled by the saddle stitching processing control unit 505 so that the moving speed becomes a predetermined speed accelerated from the reference speed.
As a result, the paper discharge speed becomes faster than the reference speed.

The stacking unit 330 is provided adjacent to the left end of the discharge mechanism 320 in the Y direction.
The stacking unit 330 includes a hook member 331 on which the paper discharged by the discharge mechanism 320 is placed, a butting plate 332 that abuts the front end of the paper in the transport direction, and lightly taps the rear end of the paper in the transport direction. An alignment portion (alignment means) 333 that aligns the paper in the transport direction, guide portions 334 and 334 that suppress a free end (small edge) opposite to the fold of the paper placed on the hook member 331, and the like. ing.

  The upper part of the hook member 331 has a convex shape with an angle of approximately 90 °, and the sheet subjected to the middle folding process is placed at a predetermined position on the top edge line so that the inner side of the fold is located. Specifically, the paper for forming the booklet on the innermost page of the booklet to be formed is discharged to the hook member 331 every time the sheet folding process is completed, Placed sequentially.

  The abutting plate 332 is erected on the downstream side in the paper transport direction from the hook member 331, and the front end in the transport direction of the paper pushed onto the hook member 331 by the discharge mechanism 320 is brought into contact with the hook member 331. Is placed.

The alignment unit 333 is provided movably in the Y direction along the top ridge line of the hook member 331 on the upstream side of the hook member 331 in the sheet conveyance direction.
When the sheet is placed on the hook member 331, the aligning unit 333 reciprocates in the Y direction on the top ridge line of the hook member 331 to lightly strike the rear end of the sheet in the sheet conveyance direction, thereby conveying the sheet. Align direction ends.

The operation speed of the aligning unit 333 is changed according to the sheet discharge speed by the discharge mechanism 320 under the control of the saddle stitching processing control unit 505 (see FIG. 8) that controls the operation of the saddle stitching processing apparatus 300.
Specifically, when the paper discharge speed by the discharge mechanism 320 is slower than the reference speed, the operation speed of the aligning unit 333 is accordingly slower than the normal operation speed, and the paper discharge speed by the discharge mechanism 320 is the reference speed. When the speed is higher than the speed, the saddle stitching processing control unit 505 controls the matching unit 333 so that the operation speed of the matching unit 333 is higher than the normal operation speed.

The guide portions 334 and 334 are two plates that are arranged at positions spaced apart from the surface of the hook member 331 by a predetermined distance on both sides of the lower portion of the hook member 331.
The guide portions 334 and 334 are arranged so that the surfaces thereof are separated from the surface of the hook member 331 as it goes upward.
Therefore, the paper discharged by the discharge mechanism 320 passes through the gap between the hook member 331 and the guide portions 334 and 334 and is placed on the hook member 331. In addition, since the vicinity of the edge of the sheet is suppressed by the guide portions 334 and 334, even when a sheet that is weakly folded is discharged, the sheet is suppressed from being developed in a flat shape, and the sheet is suspended. It is possible to reduce the possibility of falling from the bottom.

The saddle stitching portion 340 includes a needle-striking mechanism 341 and a needle-receiving mechanism 342.
The needle striking mechanism 341 is supported above the hook member 331 so as to be movable in the vertical direction. The needle receiving mechanism 342 is fixed inside the hook member 331. The needle striking mechanism 3412 and the needle receiving mechanism 342 constitute a binding means having a two-part structure.
When a predetermined number of sheets of paper are placed on the hooking member 331, the needle-striking mechanism 341 descends and staples a binding needle at a predetermined position on the fold along the fold of the sheet bundle on the hooking member 331. To do. In this way, by binding the binding needle along the fold line of the sheet bundle on the hook member 331, the sheet bundle is saddle-stitched to form a booklet.

  The cutting unit 350 performs a cutting process on the edge portion of the booklet that is saddle-stitched as described above. In other words, the booklet that has been saddle-stitched as described above has an edge portion that is not aligned according to the number of sheets of the booklet, and therefore a cutting process is performed in which the edge portion is cut by the cutting unit 350 and aligned.

  The discharge unit 360 discharges the booklet that has been subjected to the cutting processing of the edge portion by the cutting unit 350.

Next, operation control of the image forming system 1 will be described.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration relating to operation control of the image forming system 1.

  The image forming system 1 receives a user input operation related to the operation of the image forming system 1, and performs an operation display unit 501 that performs display output related to the operation of the image forming system 1, and a center that performs operation control of the entire image forming system 1. A control unit 502, an image formation control unit 503 that performs operation control of the image forming apparatus 100, an intermediate conveyance control unit 504 that performs operation control of the intermediate conveyance device 200, and a saddle stitching process that performs operation control of the saddle stitching processing device 300. A control unit 505 and a side stitching processing control unit 506 that performs operation control of the side stitching processing device 400 are provided.

The operation display unit 501 includes, for example, a touch panel type operation display device, various input switches, keys, and the like, and transmits a signal corresponding to a user input content to the central control unit 502.
The central control unit 502, the image formation control unit 503, the intermediate conveyance control unit 504, the saddle stitching processing control unit 505, and the flat stitching processing control unit 506 each have a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like. The program and various data are read and executed.

  The central control unit 502 performs saddle stitching on the paper size and the number of colors at the time of image formation (for example, color, grayscale, monochrome, etc.) according to the input content of the user input via the operation display unit 501. Various conditions related to the image forming system 1 are set, such as the number of sheets of some sheets, the execution / non-execution of cutting of an end portion that is a margin portion, the width of the end portion to be cut, and the nip pressure in the middle folding process. . The central control unit 502 performs processing corresponding to the setting contents on the control units of the image formation control unit 503, the intermediate conveyance control unit 504, the saddle stitching processing control unit 505, and the side stitching processing control unit 506. Output instructions. Each control unit controls the operation of the device to be controlled according to the command.

Hereinafter, the operation of the middle folding / saddle stitching process of the saddle stitching processing apparatus 300 under the control of the stitching process control unit 505 will be described.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation of the saddle stitching / saddle stitching process in the saddle stitching processing apparatus 300.

First, in step S <b> 1, setting conditions relating to the middle folding process of the middle folding unit 310 are input by the operation of the operation display unit 501 by the user.
Here, the setting conditions are, for example, the conditions of the sheet on which the folding process is performed (for example, the type, basis weight, size, number of sheets, and the like of the sheet) and the nip pressure of the pair of folding rollers 313a and 313b.

  Next, in step S <b> 2, the saddle stitching processing control unit 505 performs the middle folding process with the nip pressure set as the setting condition by the middle folding unit 310.

Next, in step S <b> 3, the saddle stitching processing control unit 505 causes the discharge mechanism 320 to discharge the sheet folded in the middle folding unit 310 along the Y direction.
At this time, the saddle stitching processing control unit 505 controls the drive unit 321d to adjust the rotation speed of the two discharge belts 321 and 321 of the discharge mechanism 320 and the movement speed of the discharge claw 321c according to the state of the paper. doing.

Specifically, when the nip pressure is set lower than the reference value and the half-folding process is executed, the saddle stitching process control unit 505 controls the driving unit 321d to set the moving speed of the discharge claw 321c from the reference speed. The sheet is brought into contact with the rear end in the sheet transport direction while being decelerated to a low predetermined speed, and the sheet discharge speed is made slower than the reference speed.
Further, when the nip pressure is set higher than the reference value and the half-folding process is executed, the saddle stitching processing control unit 505 controls the driving unit 321d so that the moving speed of the discharge claw 321c is higher than the reference speed. The paper is brought into contact with the rear end in the paper transport direction while being accelerated to the speed, and the paper discharge speed is made faster than the reference speed.
By controlling the moving speed of the discharge claw 321c in this way, the folding is weak, and the paper is not stably placed on the hook member 331 because it is unfolded more than the upper angle of the hook member 331. Since the sheet can be moved at a lower speed than the reference speed and pushed out to the stacking unit 330 at a low speed, the balance of the sheets can be stably placed on the hooking member 331 of the stacking unit 330 without being out of balance. Become.
In addition, since a sheet with strong folding can be moved at a speed higher than the reference speed and pushed out to the stacking unit 330 at a high speed, productivity can be improved.

In addition, the saddle stitching processing control unit 505 controls the driving unit 321d to push the sheet on which the discharge claw 321c is subjected to the middle folding process to the stacking unit 330, and then accelerates or decelerates the moving speed of the discharge claw 321c. Return to the reference speed.
By controlling the moving speed of the discharge claw 321c in this way, it is possible to prevent the productivity from being excessively lowered even when a weakly folded sheet is discharged at a low speed.

Next, in step S <b> 4, the saddle stitching process control unit 505 stacks the sheets discharged by the discharge mechanism 320 by the stacking unit 330.
Specifically, when the sheet is placed on the hook member 331 of the stacking unit 330 by the discharge mechanism 320, the saddle stitching processing control unit 505 reciprocates the alignment unit 333 on the top ridge line of the hook member 331 in the Y direction. The sheet is moved and tapped at the rear end in the sheet conveyance direction to align the end in the sheet conveyance direction.
At this time, the saddle stitching processing control unit 505 changes the operation speed of the alignment unit 333 according to the paper discharge speed by the discharge mechanism 320.
That is, when the sheet conveyance speed is slower than the reference speed, the saddle stitching process control unit 505 makes the operation speed of the aligning unit 333 slower than the normal operation speed accordingly, and the sheet conveyance speed becomes lower than the reference speed. If it is fast, the operation speed of the matching unit 333 is made faster than the normal operation speed accordingly.
By controlling the operation speed in this way, the alignment operation can be executed in accordance with the paper discharge speed, and the state of the paper stacking on the hook member 331 can be further improved.

Next, in step S5, the saddle stitching process control unit 505 determines whether or not a predetermined number of sheets are stacked on the stacking unit 330. If the predetermined number of sheets are not stacked (step S5: NO), Returning to step S2, the subsequent processing is repeated.
On the other hand, when a predetermined number of sheets are stacked (step S5: YES), in the subsequent step S6, the saddle stitching process control unit 505 executes the saddle stitching process on the stacked sheets by the saddle stitching unit 340. Then, the half-fold / saddle stitching process is terminated.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the saddle stitching processing apparatus 300 includes the center folding unit 310 that performs the center folding process on the sheet, and the sheet subjected to the center folding process by the center folding unit 310 at the fold of the sheet. A discharge mechanism 320 that discharges in the direction along the stack, a stacking unit 330 that sequentially stacks the sheets discharged by the discharge mechanism 320 so that the folds of the sheets overlap, and a setting that is set for the middle folding process of the middle folding unit 310 A saddle stitching processing control unit 505 that accelerates or decelerates the paper discharge speed by the discharge mechanism 320 according to conditions.
For this reason, the sheet can be discharged at an appropriate speed according to the folding condition of the sheet only by controlling the speed of the discharge mechanism 320 without installing a new member or mechanism, thereby increasing the cost. Therefore, it is possible to improve the stacking state of the folded sheets, and to form a high-quality booklet.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, the discharge mechanism 320 pushes the paper to the stacking unit 330 and discharges the paper in a state of being in contact with the rear end of the paper that has been subjected to the middle folding process by the middle folding section 310 (discharge direction). A discharge claw 321c that performs a discharge operation to return to the initial position before contacting the rear end in the paper discharge direction, and a drive unit 321d that causes the discharge claw 321c to perform a discharge operation, and a saddle stitching processing control unit Reference numeral 505 denotes a setting condition in which when the force applied to the sheet in the middle folding process of the middle folding unit 310 is set to be smaller than a preset reference value, the discharge claw 321c abuts on the rear end in the sheet discharge direction during the discharge operation. At this point, the drive unit 321d is controlled so that the moving speed of the discharge claw 321c is lower than a preset reference speed.
For this reason, when a sheet having a weak folding condition is discharged, the sheet can be discharged at a speed lower than a normal reference speed. Therefore, when the sheet is moved to the stacking unit 330, the balance is lost, and the sheet is stacked. Inconveniences such as falling from the edge or occurrence of ridge line misalignment of the crease can be prevented, and the accumulation state of the sheets can be improved.
Therefore, the quality of the formed booklet can be improved.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the saddle stitching processing control unit 505 drives the discharge claw 321c to accelerate to the reference speed after the discharge claw 321c pushes and discharges the paper to the stacking unit 330 in the discharge operation. The unit 321d is controlled.
For this reason, after the discharge claw 321c contacts the paper and pushes out the paper, the movement speed of the discharge claw 321c is returned to the reference speed, so that it is possible to prevent the productivity from being lowered as much as possible.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the saddle stitching processing control unit 505 causes the discharge claw 321c to perform the discharge operation when the force applied to the sheet in the center folding process of the center folding unit 310 is set larger than the reference value as the setting condition. In step S3, the driving unit 321d is controlled so that the moving speed of the discharge claw 321c is higher than a preset reference speed at the time when it contacts the rear end in the paper discharge direction.
For this reason, when discharging a sheet having a firm crease, the discharge speed of the sheet can be increased, so that productivity can be improved.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the stacking unit 330 includes the abutting plate 332 that abuts the front end in the transport direction of the paper discharged by the discharge mechanism 320 and the rear end in the transport direction of the paper discharged by the discharge mechanism 320. The saddle stitching processing control unit 505 changes the operation speed of the alignment unit 333 according to the sheet discharge speed by the discharge mechanism 320.
For this reason, since the alignment of the conveyance direction of the sheets can be performed in accordance with the speed at which the sheets are accumulated, the accumulation state can be further improved.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, the stacking unit 330 is disposed at a position corresponding to the fore edge portion of the paper discharged and collected by the discharge mechanism 320, and the guide for suppressing the development of the paper in a planar shape. Members 334 and 334 are provided.
For this reason, even when the paper is weakly folded, the small edge portion is suppressed by the guide members 334 and 334 when the paper is stacked on the stacking unit 330, so that the stacking state can be further improved.

  In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the discharge claw 321c rotates around the discharge belt 321 has been described as an example. However, a mechanism for reciprocating the discharge claw 321c linearly may be provided.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming system 100 Image forming apparatus 200 Intermediate | middle conveyance apparatus 300 Saddle stitching processing apparatus 310 Middle folding part (center folding means)
311 Conveying section 312 Positioning sections 313a, 313b Middle folding roller 314 Folding knife 320 Discharging mechanism (discharging means)
321 discharge belts 321a and 321b carrying roller 321c discharge claw (contact portion)
321d Driving unit 330 Stacking unit (stacking means)
331 Latch member 332 Abutting plate 333 Alignment part (alignment means)
334, 334 Guide part 340 Saddle stitching part 341 Needle-punching mechanism 342 Needle receiving mechanism 350 Cutting part 360 Discharge part 505 Saddle stitching processing control part (control means)
400 flat stitching processing device

Claims (9)

Half-folding means for performing a half-folding process on the paper;
Discharging means for discharging the sheet folded by the folding means in a direction along the fold line of the sheet;
Stacking means for sequentially stacking the paper discharged by the discharging means so that the folds of the paper overlap;
Control means for accelerating or decelerating the discharge speed of the paper by the discharge means in accordance with setting conditions set for the middle folding process of the half-folding means,
The control means includes
In the case where the setting condition is a condition in which the force applied to the sheet in the center folding process of the center folding unit becomes a second value smaller than the first value, The paper processing is characterized in that the discharging means is controlled so that the discharging speed of the paper by the discharging means is lower than when the condition that the force applied to the paper in the folding process becomes the first value is set. apparatus. The control means includes
When the setting condition is set such that the force applied to the sheet in the middle folding process of the middle folding unit is smaller than a preset reference value, the ejection speed of the sheet by the ejection unit is a preset reference speed. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharge unit is controlled to be at a lower speed. The control means includes
When the setting condition is such that the force applied to the paper in the middle folding process of the middle folding means is greater than a preset reference value, the paper ejection speed by the ejection means is a preset reference speed. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharge unit is controlled to be faster. The discharging means is
The paper is pushed out to the stacking means while being in contact with the rear end of the paper folded by the center folding means, and then returned to the original position before contacting the rear end of the paper in the paper discharge direction. A contact portion for performing a discharging operation,
A drive unit for causing the abutting part to perform the discharging operation;
With
The control means includes
In the case where the setting condition is a condition in which the force applied to the sheet in the center folding process of the center folding unit becomes a second value smaller than the first value, The contact portion at the time when the contact portion comes into contact with the rear end in the paper discharge direction in the discharge operation, compared with the case where the condition that the force applied to the paper in the folding process becomes the first value is set. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the driving unit is controlled so that the moving speed of the sheet becomes low. Half-folding means for performing a half-folding process on the paper;
Discharging means for discharging the sheet folded by the folding means in a direction along the fold line of the sheet;
Stacking means for sequentially stacking the paper discharged by the discharging means so that the folds of the paper overlap;
Control means for accelerating or decelerating the discharge speed of the paper by the discharge means in accordance with setting conditions set for the middle folding process of the middle folding means;
With
The discharging means is
The paper is pushed out to the stacking means while being in contact with the rear end of the paper folded by the center folding means, and then returned to the original position before contacting the rear end of the paper in the paper discharge direction. A contact portion for performing a discharging operation,
A drive unit for causing the abutting part to perform the discharging operation;
With
The control means includes
As the setting condition, when the force applied to the sheet in the center folding process of the center folding unit is set to be smaller than a preset reference value, the contact portion contacts the rear end in the sheet discharge direction in the discharge operation. At this point, the sheet processing apparatus controls the drive unit so that the moving speed of the contact portion is lower than a preset reference speed. The control means includes
At least the drive unit is controlled so that the moving speed of the abutting part is accelerated to the reference speed after the abutting part pushes and discharges the sheet to the stacking means in the discharging operation. sheet processing apparatus according to claim 4 or claim 5 cite one of claims 2 or 3. The accumulation means includes
A butting plate for abutting the leading end of the paper ejected by the ejecting means;
Means for aligning the discharge direction of the paper to tap the rear end of the discharge direction of the paper discharged by the discharge means;
With
The control means includes
The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an operation speed of the aligning unit is changed in accordance with a sheet discharging speed by the discharging unit. The accumulation means includes
8. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a guide member disposed at a position corresponding to a fore edge portion of the paper discharged and collected by the discharge means and suppressing the paper from expanding in a flat shape. The sheet processing apparatus according to any one of the above. An image forming apparatus for forming an image on paper;
The sheet processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the sheet processing apparatus is connected to the image forming apparatus and performs half-folding and saddle stitching on a sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming apparatus.
An image forming system comprising:

Images