JP2000169034A - Paper post-processor for image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniaturize a device and to distribute and discharge a post- processed paper bundle onto a multi-stage paper discharge tray through a paper distribution path without causing a conveyance jam on a paper distribution path by changing the intervals between guide members forming the paper distribution path according to the thickness of the paper bundle. SOLUTION: Paper discharged from an image forming device 1 is fed to a branch pawl 11 by an inlet roller 10 through a punch unit 3. The branch pawl 11 is operated according to the paper processing mode condition to switch a conveyance path in two directions. When the paper is discharged to a mailbox tray 8, a paper distribution path F is constituted of a fixed guide member 60 on a drive roller 50 side and a moving guide member on a driven roller 51 side. The moving guide member on the driven roller 51 side is formed with a wire 61. When a paper bundle thicker than the width of the conveyance path F enters the conveyance path F, for example, the paper bundle is conveyed while expanding the wire 61, thus the paper bundle can be properly conveyed regardless of its thickness.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus used in conjunction with an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer. More specifically, the present invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus of an image forming apparatus that distributes a post-processed sheet bundle through a sheet distribution path onto a multi-stage discharge tray and discharges the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a sheet post-processing apparatus used in conjunction with this type of image forming apparatus, a sheet after image formation by the image forming apparatus is bundled, stapled, and discharged onto a discharge tray. (JP-A-2-144370,
JP-A-59-78069).

On the other hand, there is a type in which a sheet after image formation is distributed through a paper distribution path onto a multi-stage discharge tray and discharged.

[0004]

However, by combining such a conventional sheet post-processing apparatus, the staple-processed sheet bundle is distributed and discharged onto a multi-stage discharge tray through a paper distribution path. Then, since there are cases where the sheet bundle is thick and cases where the sheet bundle is thin, there is a possibility that a conveyance jam occurs in the sheet distribution path.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 7-1036 discloses that a stapler is moved along a paper distribution path to distribute and discharge a bundle of sheets after stapling processing to each of a plurality of discharge trays.
There is No. 4. However, in this conventional technique, there is a disadvantage that the apparatus becomes large in size so that the stapler can move without interfering with other mechanisms.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet post-processing apparatus for an image forming apparatus, in which a post-processed sheet bundle is transferred to a sheet distribution path without the risk of conveyance jam occurring in the sheet distribution path while reducing the size of the apparatus. Through a plurality of discharge trays through which paper can be discharged.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, the present invention is directed to an image forming apparatus for distributing a post-processed sheet bundle to a multi-stage discharge tray through a sheet distribution path and discharging the sheet bundle. In the sheet post-processing apparatus, the interval between the guide members forming the sheet distribution path is made variable according to the thickness of the sheet bundle.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that one of the guide members is a fixed guide member for fixing the position, and the other is a movable guide member for moving the position.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a fixed position driving roller is provided on the fixed guide member side, and a position movable roller is provided on the movable guide member side in conjunction therewith. .

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, one or both of the guide members are formed of a wire.

The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that one or both of the guide members are formed of a plate-like member.

The invention according to claim 6 is characterized in that one or both of the guide members are formed of a film-like member.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, a rotating member is provided rotatably about a fulcrum, and the movable member is moved together with the driven roller by urging the rotating member in a rotating direction. And pressing the driven roller against the driving roller.

The invention according to claim 8 is characterized in that a plurality of the rotating members are provided, and the rotating members are connected by a connecting member so as to be rotatable together.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the guide member can be displaced by a drive source in accordance with the thickness of the sheet bundle.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention.

The sheet post-processing apparatus 2 is attached to, for example, a side of an image forming apparatus indicated by reference numeral 1 in the drawing.

The sheet post-processing apparatus 2 includes a punch unit 3 for mainly performing a punching process, a proof tray 4 for stacking facsimile paper and interruption paper, a paper alignment tray 5 for processing paper, and a stapler 6. And a large volume tray 7 for stacking copy paper and a plurality of mailbox trays (discharge trays) 8 for stacking printer paper.

The sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus 1 is conveyed in a horizontal direction by an inlet roller 10 and sent to a punch unit 3. The punch unit 3 is a rotary punch synchronized with the conveyance of a sheet. The punch unit 3 does or does not perforate the sheet by selecting it on an operation panel (not shown) provided in the image forming apparatus 1. Never stop paper.

The sheet that has passed through the punch unit 3 is transported by a transport roller and reaches the branch claw 11. Here, depending on the mode condition of the sheet processing, the branch pawl 11 is operated by a solenoid (not shown), and the transport path is switched between A and B directions. The transport path B is used when paper is not stapled in the printer mode and is discharged to the mailbox tray 8. The transport path A is used when discharging sheets to the proof tray 4, discharging to the large volume tray 7, and performing steepling processing on the sheets.

The sheet that has advanced to the transport path A reaches the branch claw 12 and switches between two directions, a transport path C toward the proof tray 4 and a transport path D toward the sheet alignment tray 5 and the mass tray 7.

The sheets passing through the transport path C are stacked on the proof tray 4 by the discharge roll 13. The paper passing through the transport path D is transported differently in the staple mode and in the non-staple mode.

In the non-staple mode, as shown in FIG. 6, the guide plate 14 is on standby with the guide plate 14 lowered around the fulcrum 14a. The sheet is discharged to the large amount tray 7 by the driven roller 16.

In the case of the staple mode, the guide plate 14
Are on standby about the fulcrum 14a (indicated by the dashed line in FIG. 1), and the paper passes under the guide plate 14 and is temporarily stacked on the paper alignment tray 5.

In order to reduce the width of the paper alignment tray 5,
An extendable tray 7 is provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the extendable tray 17 is provided at the center of the sheet alignment tray 5 in the depth direction. This is to prevent interference with the jogger mechanism for aligning the sheet bundle in the width direction.

After the sensor 31 detects the leading edge of the sheet, the expansion / contraction tray 17 completes its operation of extending for a predetermined period of time, and waits for sheets to be stacked. At this time, the extension length of the extendable tray 17 is adjusted according to the length of the conveyed sheet. For example, if the A4 vertical size is passed, the expansion tray 17
Extends to the A4 vertical tip position. If the A3 vertical size is passed, the leading end position of the extendable tray 17 extends to the A3 vertical leading end position to be stacked.

The expansion / contraction tray 17 has a width 2 to reduce the width.
It is a configuration that extends to stages. As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.
A guide guide 19a of a spring 20 is provided inside the first-stage expansion / contraction tray 19, the spring 20 is set on the guide bar 18, and the first-stage expansion / contraction tray 19 is attached to the sheet aligning tray 5. It is set to. As a result, the spring 20 is compressed by the base of the guide rod 18 and the inner wall of the guide 19a. Telescopic tray 19
Can be extended from the sheet alignment tray 5.

As shown in FIG. 5, the second-stage expansion / contraction tray 21 has the same construction as the first-stage expansion / contraction tray 19.
Since the force that jumps out of the first-stage telescopic tray 19 is applied, the second-stage telescopic tray 21 can be extended from the first-stage telescopic tray 19 by the force.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, a string-shaped member 22 is locked to the base of the second-stage telescopic tray 21, and the angle is changed via a pulley 23 supported by the sheet aligning tray 5. It is wound on a take-up pulley 24. A wheel gear 25, a worm gear 26 connected thereto and a drive motor 27 are arranged coaxially with the take-up pulley 24, and a detection filler 28, a paper alignment tray 5
Is provided with a sensor 29 for detecting this.

First and second telescopic trays 19, 21
In both cases, a roller 30 is provided to smooth the expansion and contraction operation. With these configurations, if the drive motor 27 is rotated forward from the contracted state (home position) of the extendable trays 19, 21, the cord-like member 22 is sent out from the take-up pulley 24, and the extendable trays 19, 21 are extended. At that time, the telescopic trays 19 and 21 are stopped at predetermined positions by pulse control of the drive motor 27.

When the telescopic trays 19 and 21 are to be contracted, the drive motor 27 is rotated in the reverse direction and the cord-like member 22 is wound up. The stop position at that time is determined by the sensor 29
Stops at a predetermined position.

As shown in FIG. 1, the paper temporarily stacked on the paper aligning tray 5 pushes the paper to a rear end fence 35 by a brush roller 33 arranged coaxially with a discharge roller 32 and a beating roller 34. To align the transport direction,
The jogger fence 36 performs a horizontal alignment operation, and the stapler 6 performs a stapling operation. In this case, the stapler 6 can be slid by the driving unit 36 and stapled to a designated position.

In the case of the copy mode, the extendable tray 17 is then stored in the sheet aligning tray 5 by the above-described mechanism. Thereafter, the guide plate 14 is lowered and the guide plate 14
The paper discharge driven roller 16 attached to the sheet pressurizes the paper, and is conveyed to the large amount tray 7 by the rotation of the paper discharge roller 15.

A predetermined number of sheets are successively discharged onto the large-volume tray 7, and the upper surface thereof is detected by the sensor 40, so that the stacked sheets are always kept at a fixed position. When the transfer paper is full on the large amount tray 7, it is detected by the lower limit sensor 41 (FIG. 13).

As shown in FIG. 13, the large-volume tray 7 is suspended by a vertical lift belt 42. The vertical lift belt 42 is driven by a vertical motor 43 via a gear train and a timing belt, and is raised or lowered by forward or reverse rotation of the vertical motor 43. If necessary, the large-volume tray 7 performs a shift operation in a direction orthogonal to the sheet discharging direction to sort the sheets.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the stapled paper is discharged to the mailbox tray 8 in the printer mode, the stop member 35 and the stapler 6 are moved to the side of the paper which is closer to the front or the back. To the outside. At that time, stop member 35 is stapler 6
And moves by following a sliding operation.

Next, the chuck arm pair 37 waiting at the trailing end of the sheet rotates clockwise about the fulcrum 37a across the sheet bundle by the operation of the cam 38 to drop the sheet bundle from the rear end side. When the chuck arm pair 37 reaches the dashed line, the operation of the cam 38 causes the chuck arm pair 37 to move.
Is opened and the rotation is accelerated while releasing the sheet bundle, and the sheet bundle is taken over to the sheet distribution path F (conveyance path F).

The transport path F is composed of a fixed guide member (fixed guide plate) 60 on the drive roller 50 side and a movable guide member movable on the driven roller 51 side. On the driven roller 51 side of the transport path F, as shown in FIG. 14, a movable guide member that is movable at a position for transporting the sheet is configured by a wire 61. The distal end of the wire 61 is engaged with a pulley 65 attached to the shaft 62 so as to rotate idly, and a plurality of rotating members (arms) 64 are provided in parallel at intervals in the vertical direction. The arm 64 is stretched by a pulley 63 attached to a distal end portion thereof. The end of the wire 61 is locked to the pulley 63 of the lowermost arm 64 and is hung at a position where it does not interfere with the conveyance via a spring.

The driven rollers 51 are provided along with the pulleys 63 at the end of the arm 64, and are arranged vertically with the arms 64 by the number of the mailbox trays 8. At this time, the driven roller 51 protrudes from the wire 61 by 1 to 2 mm toward the driving roller 50. The ejection claw 53 for transporting the sheet bundle to the mailbox tray 8 is fixed to a belt 76 wrapped around a pulley 66 and a pulley 67, and is rotated together with the belt 76 by rotating the pulley 66 by a drive motor 68.

The arm 64 is rotatably supported on a side plate (not shown) of the sheet post-processing device 2 by a fulcrum 64a.
The rear end 64b is connected to the connecting member (lever) 69. The lever 69 is pulled downward by the tension spring 70, whereby the driven roller 51,
The pulley 63 and the wire 61 are urged toward the drive roller 50, and are rockably stationary at a position where the driven roller 51 abuts on the drive roller 50. In the swing operation, since the lever 69 is connected to each of the arms 64, the upstream side and the downstream side of the wire 61 operate simultaneously and in parallel with the transport path F. In the embodiment, the lever 69 has only one side.

As shown in FIG. 1, the drive roller 50, the branch claw 52 and the fixed guide plate 6
0. The driving roller 50 is provided with the fixed guide plate 6.
0 and project from the branch claw 52 by 1 to 2 mm. Therefore, the distance between the driven roller 51 side and the drive roller 50 side of the transport path F is usually set to about 2 to 4 mm.

The width of the transport path F is smaller than the width of the transport path (2-4
When the sheet bundle enters, the sheet bundle is conveyed without displacing the wire 61. When a sheet bundle thicker than the width of the conveyance path F (2 to 4 mm or more) enters, the sheet bundle pushes the wire 61 and is conveyed. If the paper jam occurs, the paper can be removed from between the wires 61 by releasing the pressure of the driven roller 51.

Further, the movable guide member may be constituted by a film-like member 80 as shown in FIG. 16 instead of a wire. In this case, since the width of each of the guides is wider than that of the wire, even if the paper enters in such a manner as to hit the guide as shown in FIG.

The guide on the driven side of the transport path F is
As shown in FIG. 15, a spring 71, a lever 72,
A movable guide member (plate-like member) 74 provided so as to be swingable by an arm (rotating member) 73;
Reference numeral 4 may be provided in parallel at a plurality of intervals in the width direction of the paper.

In the event that a paper jam occurs, if the pressure of the driven roller 75 is released by swinging the plate member 74, the paper can be removed from between the plate members 74. In addition, the cost can be reduced as compared with the case where a wire is used, and the assembly is easy.

As shown in FIGS. 14B and 14C,
The movable guide member (wire 61) on the driven roller 51 side of the transport path F is displaced by swinging an arm 64 by a motor 81 as a drive source and an eccentric cam 82 to which the rotational drive is transmitted. May be. The magnitude of the displacement can be changed according to the thickness (number of sheets) of the sheet bundle. The number of sheets in the sheet bundle can be counted by a signal from the image forming apparatus or a sensor, and the magnitude of the displacement can be controlled by the rotation angle of the motor 81.

The sheet bundle that has advanced to the conveying path F is conveyed downward by a driving roller 50 and a driven roller 51 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, and a mailbox tray 8 from which the leading end (upper side) of the sheet is discharged. At a point slightly below the branching claw 52, the conveyance of the sheet bundle is stopped. At this time, if the paper is large-sized paper or the mailbox tray 8 to be discharged is at the lower side, the paper bundle is turned by the turn unit 56 and conveyed upward.

When the sheet bundle stops, the pressure of the driving roller 50 and the driven roller 51 is released by operating the connecting member (lever) 69 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. The paper bundle is
As shown in FIG. 9, the sheet bundle is conveyed in the reverse direction (switchback) so that the sheet bundle is pushed out by the ejection claw 53. When the post-processed sheet bundle is directly conveyed from the chuck arm to the mailbox tray 8 via the sheet distribution path F, the curve is tight and an excessive force is applied to the sheet bundle. From. In addition, on the mailbox tray 8, there is a possibility that the succeeding sheet bundle may be caught by the staple of the previous sheet bundle.

Mailbox tray 8 for discharging a bundle of sheets
When the branching claw 52 is switched, the ejection claw 53 stops before the branching claw 52, and is conveyed by the discharge roller 77 and the driven roller 78 thereafter, and discharges the sheet bundle to the mailbox tray 8.

As shown in FIG. 10, the paper heading toward the transport path B is discharged from the leading end side of the paper sheet by switching the branching claws 52 of the mailbox tray 8 discharged into the transport path F. In this case, the switchback operation is not performed unlike the case of the above-described stapled sheet bundle.

Since the branch claw 52 must deflect the paper conveyed from the upper and lower directions to the mailbox, it is divided into two, one from the top and the other from the bottom, as shown in FIGS. I have to. The two are meshed with each other by the gear portion 52a, and if one of them is deflected, the other can also be deflected. In the case of the state of FIG.
Although the tips of the two claws intersect, the two claws are comb-shaped to avoid interference.

When the paper is discharged to the mailbox tray 8, the presence / absence of mail is notified to the user on the personal computer by the paper presence / absence detection sensor 54, and when the discharged paper exceeds the allowable amount of the mailbox tray. Then, the fullness detection sensor 55 notifies the printout user and the image forming apparatus 1 of the fact.

[0054]

Therefore, in the paper post-processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the post-processed sheet bundle is distributed through a paper distribution path onto a multi-stage paper discharge tray and discharged. In the sheet post-processing apparatus, the interval between the guide members forming the sheet distribution path is made variable according to the thickness of the sheet bundle, so that, for example, when one sheet is conveyed while reducing the size of the apparatus. In particular, when the sheet is thin and does not have a stiffness or has a curl habit, it can be conveyed without causing a paper jam by only stiffening between the guides.

In the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the second aspect, one of the guide members is a fixed guide member for fixing the position and the other is a movable guide member for moving the position. Even when the paper quality is weak, the leading end of the paper does not suffer damage such as breakage when the paper bundle passes through the paper distribution path.

In the paper post-processing apparatus according to the third aspect, a drive roller whose position is fixed is provided on the fixed guide member side, and a driven roller whose position is movable in conjunction therewith is provided on the movable guide member side. Since the driven roller can be moved in position according to the thickness of the sheet bundle without moving the drive roller according to the thickness of the sheet bundle, a mechanism can be configured at a relatively low cost.

In the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, since one or both of the guide members are formed of a wire, the jam can be removed with a simple structure and procedure.

In the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the fifth aspect, one or both of the guide members are formed of a plate-like member, so that a paper jam can be removed, and the assembly is facilitated at a relatively low cost. .

In the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention, one or both of the guide members are formed of a film-like member. Even if the leading end of the sheet comes into contact with the string-shaped member, no scratch or break occurs at the leading end of the sheet.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the sheet post-processing apparatus, wherein a rotating member is provided so as to be rotatable around a fulcrum, and the rotating member is urged in a rotating direction to move the movable guide with the driven roller. Since the member is moved and the driven roller is pressed against the drive roller, if a paper jam occurs in the paper distribution path of the paper bundle, it is easy to remove the jammed paper.

In the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention, a plurality of the rotating members are provided, and the rotating members are connected by a connecting member so that they can be rotated together. When spreading, the spacing is uniform everywhere.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the guide member can be displaced in accordance with the thickness of the sheet bundle by the driving source. Therefore, even when the sheet bundle is thin or the paper is weak, the guide member can be displaced. Since the guide member is pushed out when the sheet bundle is conveyed, no damage such as breakage is given to the leading end of the sheet.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a sheet post-processing device provided in an image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a mechanism of a paper alignment tray and a telescopic tray.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a mechanism of a first-stage telescopic tray.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a mechanism of a second-stage telescopic tray.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a mechanism of a second-stage telescopic tray.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a guide plate for discharging sheets to a large amount tray without passing through a sheet alignment tray.

FIG. 7 is a front view illustrating an operation of a sheet conveyed from a conveyance path F to a sheet discharge tray.

FIG. 8 is a front view illustrating an operation of a sheet conveyed from a conveyance path F to a sheet discharge tray.

FIG. 9 is a front view illustrating an operation of a sheet conveyed from a conveyance path F to a sheet discharge tray.

FIG. 10 is a front view illustrating an operation of a sheet discharged to a mailbox tray without passing through a sheet alignment tray.

FIG. 11 is a front view showing a mechanism of a branch claw for guiding a sheet to a mailbox tray.

FIG. 12 is a front view showing a mechanism of a branch claw for guiding a sheet to a mailbox tray.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a large amount tray.

FIG. 14A is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a conveyance driven side of a sheet bundle conveyance path is configured by a wire. (B),
(C) is a side view of a two-dot chain line part of (a).

FIG. 15 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a sheet-conveying side of the sheet bundle conveying path is formed of a plate-like member.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing a state in which the conveyance driven side of the sheet bundle conveyance path is formed of a film-like member.

FIG. 17 is a front view illustrating a state in which the leading end of a sheet bundle abuts on the entrance of the sheet bundle conveying path.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Paper post-processing apparatus 50 Drive roller 51 Follower roller 60 Fixed guide member 61 Plastic member 63 Tension member 69 Parallel link 70, 71 Elastic member 74 Plate member 80 Film member 81 Drive source

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Terumitsu Higashi 2-13-13 Nishiki, Naka-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi F-term in Ricoh Elemex Corporation (reference) 3F050 BC02 BD03 BD07 CB01 CC02 LA02 LA07 LB03

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A guide member for forming a sheet distribution path in a sheet post-processing apparatus of an image forming apparatus for distributing a post-processed sheet bundle through a sheet distribution path onto a multi-stage discharge tray and discharging the sheet bundle. A sheet post-processing apparatus for an image forming apparatus, wherein an interval between the sheets is variable according to a thickness of a sheet bundle. 2. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the guide members is a fixed guide member having a fixed position, and the other is a movable guide member having a movable position. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a driving roller whose position is fixed is provided on the fixed guide member side, and a driven roller whose position is movable in conjunction therewith is provided on the movable guide member side. Paper post-processing device for the device. 4. The guide member according to claim 1, wherein one or both of the guide members are formed of a wire.
6. A sheet post-processing device for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1. 5. A sheet post-processing apparatus for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one or both of said guide members are formed of a plate-like member. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein one or both of the guide members are formed of a film-like member.
Or a sheet post-processing device of the image forming apparatus according to 3. 7. A rotating member is provided so as to be rotatable around a fulcrum. The rotating member is urged in a rotating direction to move the movable guide member together with the driven roller, thereby driving the driven roller. 4. The sheet post-processing device of the image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the sheet is pressed against a roller. 8. The sheet post-processing apparatus for an image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a plurality of said rotating members are provided, and said rotating members are connected by a connecting member so as to be rotatable together. . 9. The sheet post-processing apparatus for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guide member is displaceable by a drive source in accordance with the thickness of the sheet bundle.