JP2000095413A - Sheet processing unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet processing unit, capable of improving the processing speed of individual sheets by carrying the sheets from a sheet carry-in position continuously, even in operations for transferring a sheet group stacked in a sheet stacking position to the sheet processing position. SOLUTION: During the transferring operations of a transfer mechanism to transfer a sheet group S to be stacked on a sheet stacking position P2 to a sheet processing position, inner paper S2 to be carried from a sheet carry-in position P1 is temporarily stored on an arm 32, whereby the inner paper S2 is carried from the sheet carry-in position P1 without awaiting a termination in the transfer operations on the sheet group S by the transfer mechanism.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for processing sheets by sequentially stacking sheets continuously carried in from a sheet carry-in position at a sheet stacking position to form a sheet group, and then transferring the sheet group to a sheet processing position. The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus that performs the following.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a sheet processing apparatus of this type, for example, there is a sheet processing apparatus provided with a bookbinding means for binding a sheet group from a sheet stacking position at a sheet processing position.

Conventionally, in such an apparatus, sheets continuously carried in from a sheet carry-in position are directly guided to a sheet gathering position to be accumulated, and a sheet group is formed at the sheet gathering position. The book is transferred to the sheet processing position for bookbinding. As a transfer unit for transferring the sheet group at the sheet stacking position to the sheet processing position, for example, a pusher that pushes and moves the sheet group is used.

[0004]

However, in the case of such a conventional sheet processing apparatus, during a transfer operation for transferring a group of sheets stacked at the sheet stacking position to the sheet processing position, the sheets are moved to the sheet stacking position. Since the sheets from the carry-in position cannot be accumulated, the carry-in of the sheets from the sheet carry-in position must be stopped until the transfer operation is completed. For this reason, there has been a problem that the processing speed for binding a sheet is reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to continuously carry in sheets from a sheet carry-in position and to reduce the processing speed of the sheets, regardless of a transfer operation of carrying a group of sheets accumulated in a sheet accumulation position to a sheet processing position. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet processing apparatus that can be improved.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention sequentially drops sheets continuously carried in from a sheet carry-in position to a sheet gathering position, and gathers sheets at the sheet gathering position to form a sheet group. The sheet processing apparatus transfers the sheet group at the sheet stacking position to a sheet processing position and processes the sheet at the sheet stacking position. A stage capable of storing the sheets carried in from the sheet carry-in position and transferring the stored sheets to the sheet stacking position at the lowered position, and transferring the sheet group at the sheet stacking position to the sheet processing position. The stage is moved up and down during a transfer operation to transfer the sheet, and the sheet carried in from the sheet carry-in position is temporarily stored on the stage during the transfer operation. Characterized by comprising a drive control means for causing transfer to the stacking position.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. This embodiment is an example of application as a sheet processing apparatus including a bookbinding unit at a sheet processing position.

FIG. 1 is a side view for explaining a schematic configuration of the entire sheet processing apparatus, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a sheet conveying mode in the sheet processing apparatus.

In FIG. 1, P1 is a sheet loading position, P1
Reference numeral 2 denotes a sheet stacking position. Sheets discharged to the left in FIG. 1 from between the carry-in rollers 1A and 1B at the sheet carry-in position P1 are sequentially stacked on the sheet stacking position P2 to form a sheet group. In the case of this example, the sheet discharged from the sheet carry-in position P1 is supplied from a cover sheet S1 (see FIG. 2) carried in from the feeder 2 in the direction of arrow A and from a host device such as a copying machine on the right side in FIG. Inner paper S2 (see FIG. 2) carried in along the direction of arrow B. First, one cover paper S1 is carried in, and then a plurality of inner papers S2 are carried in. Therefore, on the sheet accumulation position P2,
A plurality of inner sheets S2 are stacked on one cover sheet S1 to form one sheet group S to be bound. M1 is a motor for rotationally driving the carry-in roller 1A, and SN1 and SN2 are paper sensors for detecting the passage of a sheet.

A sheet group S for one book on the sheet stacking position P2 is turned 90 degrees about a vertical axis O1 by a turning mechanism 10 described later, and then is moved by a transfer mechanism 20 described later in FIG. To the left sheet processing position. At the sheet processing position, a series of bookbinding mechanisms (bookbinding means) for binding the sheet group S is provided.
The bookbinding mechanism arranges the central portion of the sheet group S with a stapler 3
Then, the central portion of the sheet group S is moved downward as shown in FIG. 2 while the central portion of the sheet group S is pushed downward by the blade 4, and the central portion of the sheet group S is bent, and then the punch 5 A series of bookbinding processes is performed by using a trimmer 6 or a trimmer. The bound sheet group S is accommodated in the stacker 7 on the right side in FIG. 1 in an upright posture as shown in FIG.

The sheet loading position P1 and the sheet stacking position P2
And a storage mechanism 3 that can temporarily store the cover paper S1 and the inner paper S2 carried in from the carry-in position P1.
0 is configured. FIGS. 3 to 5 show the storage mechanism 30.
As shown in FIG. 3, a shaft 31 is rotatably supported about a horizontal axis O2.
, The base ends of the two arms 32 are connected. The middle part of the arm 32 is bent. A proximal end of a link 33 is attached to one end of the shaft 31, and a distal end of the link 33 is pressed against an eccentric cam 35 by the urging force of a spring 34. Eccentric cam 35
Is a driven gear 36 that is driven to rotate about the axis O3.
When the driven gear 36 makes one rotation, the arm 32 moves to the home position (HOM) indicated by a solid line in FIG.
E) One reciprocation between the PD and the ascending position (UP) PU indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. The home position PD is set below the sheet stacking position P2, and the raised position PU is set between the sheet carry-in position P1 and the sheet stacking position P2. The arm 32 is located at the sheet carry-in position P as described later.
A stage capable of storing the sheet discharged from 1 is formed.

The driven gear 36 is driven to rotate by a motor M2 via a driving gear 37. A shield plate 38 having a slit is connected to the driven gear 36, and the rotation position of the driven gear 36, that is, the rotation position of the arm 32 is detected by the shield plate 38 and the optical coupling sensor SN3. It is supposed to.

The turning mechanism 10 has a lower table 11 and an upper table 12, as shown in FIGS. The upper surface of the lower table 11 has a sheet stacking position P
2, the belt is driven by a motor M5 and is rotated at an arbitrary angle about an axis O1. Reference numeral 13 denotes a light-shielding plate connected to the lower table 11, and SN6 denotes an optical coupling sensor for detecting a cutout portion formed in the light-shielding plate 13. The sensor SN6 rotates the lower table 11. The position is detected. On the other hand, the upper table 12 has its support shaft 12A
4, which is supported so as to be movable up and down.
Is moved up and down along an axis O1 via a rack 15 provided on the outside thereof and a pinion 16 rotated by a motor M4. Reference numeral 17 denotes a spring for urging the support shaft 12A downward, and reference numeral SN5 denotes an optical coupling sensor for detecting a position at which the sleeve 14 is raised and lowered.

In the turning operation of the sheet group S by the turning mechanism 10, for example, in the case of 90 degrees, the upper table 12 first descends, and the sheet group S is sandwiched between the upper and lower tables 11, 12. The lower table 11 is turned by 90 degrees by the motor M5. As a result, the sheet group S is rotated 90 degrees together with the upper and lower tables 11 and 12. Further, the support shaft 12A of the upper table 12 is retracted into the sleeve 14 against the spring 17 in accordance with the thickness of the sheet group S.

The transfer mechanism 20 has a pusher 21 which can slide in the left-right direction in FIG. 1 through the sheet stacking position P2. When the pusher 21 is pressed, the sheet group S moves to the left in FIG. Is transferred to This pusher 2
1 is connected to the tip of a steel strip 22. The base end of the band plate 22 is wound around the drum 23, and the band plate 22 is drawn out or pulled out of the drum 23 according to the rotation of the drum 23. The pusher 21 slides to the left in FIG. 1 when the band plate 22 is extended from the drum 23, and returns to the right in FIG. 1 when the band plate 22 is pulled into the drum 23. Drum 2
3 is belt-driven by a motor M3. SN4
Is a sensor for detecting the slide position of the pusher 21.

Next, the operation will be described.

FIG. 7 is a time chart for explaining the related operation between the storage mechanism 30 and the transfer mechanism 20. The time after the initialization of the sheet processing apparatus, that is, before the stacking operation of the first group of sheets S is performed. Represents the operation timing from the point of time. FIG. 8 is a side view of a main part for explaining a related operation between the storage mechanism 30 and the transfer mechanism 20, and shows an operation from a time point when the stacking of the first set of sheets S is almost completed. The storage mechanism 30 and the transfer mechanism 20 are relatedly controlled by drive control means (not shown). 7 and 8
In the description below, for convenience of description, a description will be given assuming that a plurality of sheets of the inner paper S2 from the host device are stacked and bound.

The inner paper S2 is continuously carried in by the rotation of the carry-in roller 1A driven by the motor M1 for carrying in the sheet, and is fed by the paper sensors SN1 and SN2 as shown in FIGS. The passage of the inner paper S2 is detected. Prior to loading of the inner paper S2, the arm 32 is initialized by the initialization before the operation of the present processing apparatus.
Is set to the home position (HOME) PD (see FIG. 7D), and the initial position of the pusher 21 is set to FIG.
(A) The home position (HOME) Pa of the two-dot chain line is set (see FIG. 7 (e)). In FIG. 7D, the position of the arm 32 before the initialization is represented as "FREE".

After such initialization, the paper sensor S
N1 starts carrying in the inner paper S2 by the driving force of the sheet carrying motor M1 from the detection time t1 of the leading end of the first inner paper S2. Further, from the detection time t1, the arm 32 is raised to the raised position (UP) PU, and the pusher 21 is moved to the standby position (STA).
(ND-BY) Pb (see FIG. 8). The arm 32 has its raised position (UP) PU as described later.
In step (1), the first inner sheet S2 is stored, and from the time t2 at which the trailing end of the first inner sheet S2 is detected by the sheet sensor SN2, the descent to the home position (HOME) PD is started. As a result, the first inner sheet S2 on the arm 32 is transferred to the sheet stacking position P2. Thereafter, the inner paper S2 continuously carried in is sequentially accumulated on the sheet accumulation position P2.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8A, the last inner sheet S2 is carried in, and the trailing end of the sheet is the paper sensor SN.
After the point in time t3 detected by step 2, the completion of the first group of sheets S by the accumulation of the last inner sheet S2 is waited, and then the pusher 21 is rotated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. (ROTATE) Slide once to Pc, and press and align the first set of sheet groups S. afterwards,
The pusher 21 returns to the home position (HOME) Pa, and the turning mechanism 10 turns the sheet group S by 90 degrees as described above (see FIG. 7F).

Thereafter, as shown in FIGS. 8B and 8C, the pusher 21 pushes the sheet group S to push the staple position (ST).
(APLE) After being transported to Pd, the stapler 3 staples the central portion of the sheet group S (see FIG. 7G). Thereafter, the pusher 21 transfers the sheet group S to a folding position (FOLD) by the blade 4, and
Return to the home position (HOME) Pa as shown in (d).
The sheet group S transported to the folding position (FOLD) is folded by the blade 4 and then subjected to bookbinding by the punch 5 and the trimmer 6.

During the transfer operation of the sheet group S by the pusher 21 as described above, when the first inner sheet S2 of the next second sheet group S is detected by the sheet sensor SN1, FIG. c), the arm 32 is in the raised position (U
P) It rises to PU and stores the first inner paper S2. In the case of this example, the first 1
At time t4 after the sheet group S of the set is transferred to the folding position (FOLD), the arm 3 is set on condition that the inner sheet S2 is detected by the sheet sensor SN1.
2 rises to the rise position (UP) PU. Then, the arm 21 receives the first inner sheet S by the sheet sensor SN2.
From the detection time t5 of the rear end of the second position, the home position (HOME)
The lowering to the PD is started, and the stored first inner sheet S2 is transferred to the stacking position P2 as shown in FIG. 8 (e). Thereafter, the second group of sheets S continuously carried in
Are sequentially stacked on the stacking position P2.

By repeating the above operation,
The sheet group S of the second set, the third set,... Is sequentially processed and bound.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart for explaining the outline of the procedure of the sheet loading / transferring operation in the above series of operations. After the arm 32 is lowered to the home position (HOME) PD by the initialization (step S1), the arm 32 is raised to the raised position (UP) PU after the detection of the first inner sheet S2 being carried in (step S2). , S3). And the first inner paper S2
Arm 32 is moved to the home position (HOM)
E) The sheet group S is lowered to the PD (steps S4 and S5), and after that, the sheet group S is turned by 90 degrees after the completion of stacking of one inner sheet S2 (steps S6 and S7). Then, the sheet group S is transported to the stapling position and stapled (steps S8 and S9). Thereafter, the sheet group S is transported to the folding position (step S10), and the process returns to the previous step S2.

As described above, when the first inner sheet S2 of the next group of sheets S is carried in during the transfer operation of the transfer mechanism 20, the arm 32 of the storage mechanism 30 is raised, and Since the first inner sheet S2 is temporarily stored, the inner sheet S2 can be carried in without waiting for the end of the transfer operation of the transfer mechanism 20, and the processing speed of the sheet can be improved accordingly. .

(Other Embodiments) The timing of the sheet storage operation by the storage mechanism 30, that is, the timing of raising and lowering the arm 32, can be set in accordance with the sheet loading timing during the transfer operation of the transfer mechanism 20. However, when the arm 32 moves up or down after passing through the sheet stacking position P1, the sheet group S on the sheet stacking position P2 is controlled so that the arm 32 does not interfere with the sheet group S on the sheet stacking position P2. Must have already been transported.
As long as such a condition is satisfied, a plurality of sheets can be stored on the arm 32.

[0027]

As described above, the sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention is loaded from the sheet loading position during the transfer operation of the transfer mechanism for transferring the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking position to the sheet processing position. By temporarily storing the sheets on the stage, the sheets can be carried in without waiting for the end of the sheet transfer operation by the transfer mechanism, and the processing speed of the sheets can be improved accordingly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an entire apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a sheet processing mode in the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of the storage mechanism in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a view taken in the direction of the arrow IV in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the storage mechanism of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the turning mechanism in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a time chart for explaining a related operation of the storage mechanism and the transport mechanism in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 (a), (b), (c), (d), (e)
FIG. 2 is a side view for explaining related operations of a storage mechanism and a transport mechanism in FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining a related operation of the storage mechanism and the transport mechanism in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1A, 1B Carry-in roller 2 Feeder 3 Stapler 4 Blade 5 Punch 6 Trimmer 7 Stacker 10 Rotating mechanism 20 Transfer mechanism 30 Storage mechanism 31 Shaft 32 Arm 33 Link 34 Spring 35 Cam 36 Follower gear 37 Drive gear S1 Cover paper S2 Inner paper S Group P1 Sheet loading position P2 Sheet stacking position

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masahiro Sekine 5-6-16 Ikegami, Ota-ku, Tokyo Ikegami Dori Shinki Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3F054 AA01 AC04 BA02 BB07 BD02 CA07 CA33

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A sheet group which is continuously loaded from a sheet loading position is sequentially dropped to a sheet stacking position, and sheets are stacked at the sheet stacking position to form a sheet group. A sheet processing apparatus for transferring a sheet to a sheet processing position and processing the sheet to be lifted and lowered between the sheet processing position and the sheet carry-in position. A stage capable of transferring the stored sheets to the sheet stacking position at the storing and lowering position, and raising and lowering the stage during a transfer operation of transferring the sheet group at the sheet stacking position to the sheet processing position. Drive control means for temporarily receiving a sheet carried in from the sheet carry-in position on the stage during the transfer operation, and then transferring the sheet to the stacking position. Sheet processing apparatus, characterized in that was e. 2. The stage has a base end portion pivotally supported around an axis in a substantially horizontal direction so as to be swingable, and a mounting portion capable of mounting a sheet carried in from a sheet carrying position at a leading end portion. 2. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an arm formed with a cam mechanism configured to swing a base end of the arm by rotation of a rotation motor. 3. . 3. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a bookbinding unit for binding a group of sheets at the sheet processing position.