JP2000219405A - Sheet loading device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To securely match a discharging direction of a sheet, and to prevent the sheet from becoming wrinkled when matching the sheet. SOLUTION: This sheet loading device is provided with a returning roller 417 which contacts with a sheet loaded on a bundle discharging belt 421 in a rotation angle in a prescribed range of one rotation and does not contact in a rotation angle out of the prescribed range, and a matching plate 412 matching a width direction of the sheet loaded on the bundle discharging belt 421. The driving timing of the matching plate 412 is controlled not to conduct matching by the matching plate 412 during the returning roller 417 contacts with the sheet loaded on the bundle discharging belt 421.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a sheet stacking apparatus having sheet aligning means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a finisher that performs a binding process on a sheet ejected from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and stacks the sheet on a stack tray. The finisher stacks the sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus on the intermediate processing tray, and performs alignment in the sheet discharging direction and the direction orthogonal thereto on the intermediate processing tray every time one sheet is discharged. The alignment in the discharge direction is performed by rotating a flexible rubber paddle and bringing the paddle into contact with the sheet. When one bundle of sheets is stacked on the intermediate processing tray, the stapling unit performs stapling processing on the sheets on the intermediate processing tray. The sheet bundle in the intermediate processing tray is discharged to a stack tray by a bundle discharge roller or a bundle discharge belt.

[0003]

In order to reliably align the discharge direction in a conventional finisher with paddles, it is sufficient to provide a large number of paddles on the rotating shaft. Because the paddle was in the way, the paper was ejected at such a speed as to jump over the paddle. Since such a sheet is discharged, a large intermediate processing tray is required, and there is still room for shortening the time from discharge to the completion of alignment. In view of this, a configuration has been considered in which a fan-shaped roller is provided instead of the paddle and the discharge direction is surely aligned without obstructing the sheet from falling. However, if the alignment in the direction orthogonal to the discharge direction is performed while the fan-shaped roller is in contact with the sheet, the sheet will be wrinkled.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a first stacking means for stacking discharged sheets,
A rotating body that contacts a sheet stacked on the first stacking unit at a rotation angle within a predetermined range during one rotation and does not contact at a rotation angle outside the predetermined range; and a sheet stacked on the first stacking unit. Discharging means for discharging the sheets discharged by the belt, second loading means for loading the sheets discharged by the belt, alignment means for aligning the width direction of the sheets loaded on the first loading means, and rotating Control means for controlling the drive timing of the aligning means so that alignment by the aligning means is not performed while the body is in contact with the sheet stacked on the first stacking means. A loading device is provided.

According to the present invention, there is provided a first stacking means for stacking discharged sheets, and a first aligning means for aligning sheets stacked in the first stacking means in a sheet discharging direction. A bundle discharging unit configured to bundle and discharge the sheets stacked on the first stacking unit; a second stacking unit configured to stack the sheets discharged by the bundle discharging unit; and a stacking unit configured to stack the sheets stacked on the first stacking unit. A second aligning unit that aligns the sheet stacked in the direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction, and a sheet that is stacked on the first stacking unit by the first aligning unit. And a control means for controlling the drive timing of the second alignment means so as not to perform the alignment by the second alignment means.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A sheet processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is mounted on an image forming apparatus, and performs processing of a sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus. First, the image forming apparatus main body will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus and a sheet processing apparatus. The image forming apparatus includes an image reader 200 and a printer 300, and the image reader 200 is equipped with a document feeder 100. The document feeder 100 separates a document set upward from above, feeds it one sheet at a time in order from the first page to the left, conveys it onto the platen glass 102 via a curved path, and reads the document. Then, the sheet is discharged to the sheet discharge tray 112. The light of the lamp 103 of the scanner unit 104 is applied to the original, and the reflected light from the original is reflected by mirrors 105, 106, 1
07, reading is performed by being guided to the image sensor 109 via the lens 108.

[0007] The image of the document read by the image sensor 109 is subjected to image processing and sent to the exposure control unit 110. Exposure control section 110 outputs a laser beam according to the image signal. This laser beam is applied to the photosensitive drum 111, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 111. The electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 111 is developed by the developing device 113, and the developer on the photosensitive drum 111
15, the sheet is fed by the transfer unit 116 to a sheet fed from one of the manual sheet feeding unit 125 and the double-sided conveyance path 124.

The sheet onto which the developer has been transferred is fixed to a fixing unit 117.
The fixing process of the developer is performed. The sheet that has passed through the fixing unit 117 is once guided to a path 122 by a flapper 121, and after the trailing end of the sheet has passed through the flapper 121, the sheet is switched back and guided to a discharge roller 118 by the flapper 121. As a result, the developer is discharged from the printer 300 by the discharge roller 118 with the surface onto which the developer has been transferred facing downward (face down). This is referred to as reverse paper discharge. By discharging the document face-down, the correct page order is obtained when images are sequentially formed from the first page, such as when using the document feeder 100 or when printing an image output from a computer.

When an image is formed on a hard sheet such as an OHP sheet from the manual sheet feeding section 125, the path 122 is used.
Is discharged from the discharge roller 118 in an upward state (face up) without transferring the developer. When copying one single-sided original,
When copying one sheet on both sides of a sheet, and copying two single-sided documents on both sides of a sheet, the document is discharged face up.
The sheet discharged from the discharge roller 118 is sent to the finisher 400. The finisher 400 performs a binding process and the like.

When images are to be formed on both sides of a sheet, the sheet that has passed through the fixing unit 117 is guided to a path 122 by a flapper 121, is switched back, and is guided to a double-sided conveyance path 124.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the original is read from the right end to the left end toward the original in the sub-scanning direction. The read image is shown in FIG.
After rotating the image by 180 degrees as shown in FIG. 2C, an image is formed on a sheet as shown in FIG. 2D.
Then, as shown in FIG. 2E, the sheet on which the image is formed is inverted and discharged, and the back side is bound. That is, the upper left of the image is bound. The main scanning direction of the image sensor 109 and the exposure control unit 110 is a direction indicated by an arrow.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram for controlling the above-described device. The CPU circuit section 150 has a CPU and the ROM 15
1, a document feeder control unit 101, an image reader control unit 201, an image signal control unit 202, and a printer control unit 30 according to the program stored in the operation unit 1 and the settings of the operation unit 1.
1. It manages the finisher control unit 401 and the external I / F 203. The document feeder control unit 101 controls the document feeder 100, the image reader control unit 201 controls the image reader 200, and the printer control unit 301 controls the printer 300.
And the finisher control unit 401 controls the finisher 400. The RAM 152 is used as an area for temporarily storing control data and a work area for computations involved in control. The external I / F 203 is an interface from the computer 204, develops print data into an image, and outputs the image to the image signal control unit 202. The image read by the image sensor 109 is output from the image reader control unit 201 to the image signal control unit 202, and the image output from the image signal control unit 202 to the printer control unit 301 is input to the exposure control unit 110.

FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the image signal control unit 202. The image processing unit 205 performs an image correction process and an editing process according to the settings in the operation unit 1. Images are stored in line memory 20
6. Printer control unit 301 via page memory 207
Output to The hard disk 208 is used as needed, for example, when changing the page order.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the finisher 400.
The sheet received from the printer 300 is sent to a paper discharge roller 415 via a path 416,
Is discharged onto the bundle discharge belt 421 (FIG. 20). A low-friction intermediate processing tray (not shown) is provided at a position several millimeters higher in parallel with the bundle discharge belt 421, and more precisely, the sheets are placed on the intermediate processing tray. Paper feed guides 413, 4
Reference numeral 14 denotes a plate-shaped swinging member which hangs down by its own weight and presses down the sheet discharged by the paper discharge roller 415 in a downward direction. The discharged sheet falls in the lower right direction along the obliquely provided intermediate processing tray (bundle discharge belt 421) (FIG. 21). When the fan-shaped return roller 417 rotates to the left, the friction member provided in the arc of the return roller 417 comes into contact with the sheet discharged onto the bundle discharge belt 421, and the friction member moves the sheet in the lower right direction. Then, the end of the sheet is brought into contact with the stopper plate 418 (FIG. 22). The staple unit 419 is provided on the back side, and staples sheets on the bundle discharge belt 421. Since the length of the bundle discharge belt 421 may not be sufficient for stacking the sheets, the intermediate processing tray stacking auxiliary plate 421B is provided on the bundle discharge belt 421 to increase the length of the sheet stacking surface of the intermediate processing tray. . Matching plate 41
Reference numerals 2 are provided on the near side and the back side to align the sheets on the bundle discharge belt 421 (FIG. 23). Further, offset stacking can be performed in which the state of stacking on the stack tray 411 by the alignment plate 412 is divided between the near side and the far side (FIG. 24).

The sheet on the bundle discharge belt 421 is discharged onto the stack tray 411 by a bundle discharge lever 421A provided on the bundle discharge belt 421. Bundle ejection lever 42
1A pushes up the sheet in the upper left direction by rotating the bundle discharge belt 421 to the left, and discharges the sheet onto the stack tray 411 (FIG. 25). The bundle discharge lever 421A moves in a notch provided in the intermediate processing tray. The stack tray 411 moves up and down according to the sheet stacking amount. The stack tray 41 is moved until the upper surface of the sheet on the stack tray 411 is positioned below the paper holding lever 420.
By lowering 1 and then raising it, the upper surface of the sheet is pressed by the paper pressing lever 420 and is prevented from being pushed leftward by the sheet discharged onto the stack tray 411 next.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a sensor and a motor in the finisher 400. The motor M1 is a discharge roller 4
15 and the motor M2 drives the return roller 417 and the bundle discharge belt 421. The bundle discharge belt 421 is driven by a motor M2 via a one-way clutch 422. When the motor M2 rotates in the reverse direction, only the return roller 417 rotates left. When the motor M2 rotates in the forward direction, the return roller 417 rotates right and the bundle discharge belt 421 rotates left. FIG.
FIG. When the motor rotates in the black arrow direction, each part rotates in the black arrow direction, and when the motor rotates in the white arrow direction, each part rotates in the white arrow direction. As described above, since the return roller 417 and the bundle discharge belt 421 are driven by one motor, the cost can be reduced.

The return roller 417 is detected by the sensor S3.
Is detected whether or not is in the home position. In addition, the sheet discharge roller 415 is activated in response to the sensor S2 detecting the leading edge of the sheet, and is stopped after decelerating the sheet discharge roller 415 at a timing described later. The sensor S5 detects a sheet on the bundle discharge belt 421, and the sensor S11 detects a sheet on the stack tray 411. The sensor S8 detects whether the bundle discharge lever 421A is at the home position. Return roller 417 in FIG.
The position of the bundle discharge lever 421A is the home position.

The return roller 417 in FIG. 6 makes exactly one turn to the left from the home position every time one sheet is discharged. When the return roller 417 is rotating counterclockwise, the bundle discharge belt 421 does not rotate as described above. The home position of the bundle discharge lever 421A is slightly to the right of the stopper plate 418. However, when the bundle of sheets on the bundle discharge belt 421 is to be discharged as it is, the return rollers 4 at the home position, respectively.
17 and the bundle discharge belt 421 are driven, and the return roller 417 and the sheet bundle on the bundle discharge belt 421 come into contact with each other and hinder the bundle discharge. Therefore, after the return roller 417 is rotated by 1/8 to the left,
The rotation of the bundle discharge lever 421A
In a positional relationship such that the return roller 417 follows. The return roller 417 is moved rightward (1+
1/8), the bundle discharge belt 421 makes a half turn to the left when rotated. As shown in the figure, two bundle discharge levers 421A are provided at equal intervals on the bundle discharge belt 421, and stop at the home position again by rotating by half.

When the sheet is to be discharged from the discharge roller 415 when the bundle is not discharged next, the return roller 417 is rotated one turn to the left. When the sheet is discharged from 415, the return roller 417 is not stopped when it is rotated one turn to the left, but is further rotated １ ／ to the left as it is, and is rotated to the right as described above. As a result, the processing time for discharging the bundle can be reduced.

When the bundle is discharged, the bundle discharge belt 42
1 is rotated by １ ／, but if it is rotated by そ の ま ま as it is, the bundle discharge lever 421 </ b> A hits the sheet bundle stacked on the stack tray 411. This is because the stack tray 411 is controlled to be at a position suitable for dropping the sheet bundle when the bundle is discharged, and in this state, the upper surface of the sheet bundle stacked on the stack tray 411 is set to the bundle discharge lever 421A. In orbit. Therefore, the bundle discharge lever 421A is connected to the bundle discharge belt 4 shown in FIG.
21 is substantially parallel to the linear portion (substantially parallel to an intermediate processing tray (not shown)).
2) is temporarily stopped, the remaining rotation is performed when the stack tray 411 is lowered, and the stack tray 411 is stopped at the home position. Thus, it is possible to prevent the bundle discharge lever 421 </ b> A from winding the sheets on the stack tray 411 and prevent the trailing end of the sheet bundle from remaining on the bundle discharge belt 421. This operation corresponds to the one in which the motor M2 is temporarily stopped at the time of the reverse rotation of * 2 (descent) performed at the third and fourth times of the motor M5 in FIGS. That is, the return roller 417 rotates leftward (1 + 1/8) at * 16 in FIGS. 11 and 12, and the return roller 417 rotates rightward (1 + 1/8) at * 17 + * 18. Rotates １ ／.

FIG. 9 is a view for explaining a driving mechanism of the matching plate 412. The matching plate 412A is on the near side and the matching plate 412B
Is provided on the back side. The motor M3 is connected to the matching plate 4
12A, and the motor M4 drives the matching plate 412B. When the motor rotates in the black arrow direction, each part rotates in the black arrow direction, and when the motor rotates in the white arrow direction, each part rotates in the white arrow direction. The sensor S6 is a matching plate 4
For detecting the home position of 12A, the sensor S7 is provided for detecting the home position of the matching plate 412B. When the stapling process is performed by the stapling unit 419, the aligning plate 412B is set to the innermost side, and the aligning plate 412B is pressed each time the sheet is discharged onto the bundle discharge belt 421 so as to abut the aligning plate 412B. 412A is pressed against the sheet. When performing the offset discharge without performing the stapling process, the sheet is abutted against one of the alignment plates 412A and 412B in a state where each of the alignment plates 412A and 412B is set at a distance corresponding to the sheet width. The bundle delivery belt 42
1 each time a sheet is discharged onto the alignment plate 412A, 412
One of the other B is pressed against the sheet. At the time of offset discharge, the alignment plates 412A, 412A,
By alternately shifting the position of 12B in the order of the near side, the back side, the near side, the back side,..., The sheet bundle stacked on the stack tray 411 is in an offset (shifted) state for each bundle ( (FIG. 24).

It is to be noted that the user can appropriately set whether or not to perform the offset discharge by using the operation unit of the image forming apparatus.
0, and the finisher 400 operates accordingly.

Here, the alignment plate 412 and the return roller 417
Will be described. As described above, the return roller 417 moves the sheet in the sheet discharging direction, and the alignment plate 412 acts to move the sheet in a direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction. As described above, since the return roller 417 and the alignment plate 412 act in different directions, if their operations overlap, the sheet is adversely affected.
Therefore, * of M2 (return roller 417) in FIGS.
When the operation of No. 16 is completed, M4 (matching plate 41)
2) The operation of * 14 is started. As a result, when the return roller 417 is not in contact with the sheet,
2 can be operated, and adverse effects on the sheet can be prevented.

FIG. 10 is a view for explaining a mechanism for raising and lowering the stack tray 411. Motor M5 is a stack tray 41
1 is moved up and down, and the paper holding lever 420 is driven. The sensor S13 detects that the stack tray 411 has reached the upper limit, and the sensor S12 detects that the stack tray 411 has reached the upper limit.
Detects that has reached the lower limit. Further, the flag 423 is pushed inward by the sheet stacked on the stack tray 411 abutting, and the sensor S10 detects the pushed flag 423 to detect the height of the sheet. When the motor rotates in the black arrow direction, each part rotates in the black arrow direction, and when the motor rotates in the white arrow direction, each part rotates in the white arrow direction. The paper holding lever 420 retracts from the stack tray 411 when the stack tray 411 moves down, and projects above the stack tray 411 when the stack tray 411 moves up.
The sheet on the stack tray 411 is pressed.

As described above, the stack tray 411 is lowered at the time of bundle discharge in order to prevent the bundle discharge lever 421A from contacting the sheets on the stack tray 411 and to newly discharge the sheet press lever 420. This is because it is located above the sheet bundle. Stack tray 4
By lowering the sheet bundle 11 and then raising it, the upper part of the sheet bundle newly discharged can be pressed down by the paper pressing lever 420.

FIG. 11 shows an operation timing chart of each unit when two copies of two originals are copied and the finisher 400 performs offset discharge (no binding processing). FIG.
2 shows an operation timing chart of each unit when two copies of two originals are copied and the binding process is performed by the finisher 400. In the motor timing chart, a black band indicates normal rotation, and a hatched band indicates reverse rotation. The number * 1 indicates the number of copies on the left and the number of the document on the right, with the hyphen between them. In * 2, the sensor rotates backward (down) until the sensor S10 for detecting the sheet height of the stack tray is turned off. In * 3, the rotation is forward until the sensor S8 for detecting the home position of the bundle discharge lever is turned on, and in * 4, the rotation is reverse until the sensor S3 for detecting the home position of the return roller is turned on. In * 5, normal rotation (up) is performed until the sensor S10 for detecting the sheet height of the stack tray is turned on. In * 8, the sensor rotates in the reverse direction (drives outward) until the sensor S6 for detecting the home position of the matching plate is turned on. In * 9, the sensor rotates in the reverse direction (drives outward) until the sensor S7 for detecting the home position of the matching plate is turned on. At * 10, the alignment plate 412 is rotated forward (driven inward) to move to the standby position. In * 14 and 15, the reverse and forward rotations are performed so that the alignment plate 412 is moved inward to the sheet width and then returned to the standby position. In * 16, in order to prevent the return roller 417 from interfering with the sheet bundle at the time of bundle discharge, the return roller 417 continues (without a pause) after the return roller 417 reaches the home position.
/ 8 rotation reverse rotation drive. In * 18, the rotation is forward until the sensor S8 for detecting the home position of the sensor bundle discharge lever is turned on. In * 19, the return roller 417 is turned on a predetermined time after being turned off.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the drive control of the paper discharge roller 415 in the finisher 400. FIG.
In order to provide the finisher 400 compactly as shown in FIG. 7, the distance between the paper discharge roller 415 and the sensor S2 becomes short. On the other hand, the paper discharge rollers 415 are
In consideration of the stackability when the sheet is ejected onto the sheet 1, the sheet is ejected vigorously by the sheet ejection roller 415 during sheet ejection, and the sheet ejection roller 415 is decelerated when the trailing edge of the sheet passes through the sheet ejection roller 415. It is desirable to prevent the sheet from jumping over the bundle discharge belt 421. Usually, when decelerating based on the trailing edge, a method of decelerating according to detection of the trailing edge of the sheet is adopted. However, when the distance between the paper discharge roller 415 and the sensor S2 is short as described above, Even if it is possible to prevent the sheet from jumping over the bundle discharge belt 421, it may not be enough to improve the stackability. Therefore, the following control is performed to obtain better loadability with a compact finisher.

The finisher 400 (finisher control unit 401) receives size information of each sheet from the image forming apparatus (CPU circuit unit 150). First, it is determined whether the size of a sheet to be discharged by the discharge roller 415 is a standard size (S101). If the size is the standard size, in response to the sensor S2 being turned on (the leading edge of the sheet has passed) (S102), the drive of the paper discharge roller 415 (motor M1) is turned on (S103), and the amount corresponding to the sheet size is set. It is determined whether the discharge roller 415 has been rotated (S104). The motor M1 is a step motor, and the amount of rotation is constantly managed by the finisher control unit 401. The paper discharge roller 415 is decelerated (S105) and stopped (S106) in response to the rotation by the amount corresponding to the sheet size. The rotation amount in step S104 is determined based on the sheet size and the discharge roller 4 so that the trailing edge of the sheet comes out immediately before the discharge roller 415 stops in step S106.
The setting is made in consideration of 15 deceleration times. As a result, the discharged sheet does not fly too far on the bundle discharge belt 421.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S101 that the sheet is not of the standard size, that is, it is a free size sheet, the driving of the discharge roller 415 is performed in response to the sensor S2 being turned on (the leading edge of the sheet has passed) (S107). It is turned on (S108). Then, in response to the sensor S2 being turned off (the trailing edge of the sheet has passed) (S109), the discharge roller 415 is decelerated (S110) and stopped (S111). However, at the position of the sensor S2 shown in FIG. 6, the rear end of the sheet comes off before being sufficiently decelerated in step S110. Although this timing is not sufficient for stackability, the sheet does not jump over the bundle discharge belt 421. If the sensor S2 is disposed further upstream, the stacking property is improved, but the sensor S2 is also used for detecting a sheet jam, and therefore cannot be moved upstream.
It is sufficient to add another sensor while keeping the position of the sensor S2 as it is, but this increases the cost. In order to improve the performance as much as possible at a low cost, only one sensor is provided in the path 416 and the control as shown in FIG. 13 is performed.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing control of the intermediate processing tray in the finisher 400, particularly control of bundle discharge by the bundle discharge belt 421. First, as an initial operation before the image forming operation, it is determined whether there is a sheet on the bundle discharge belt 421 (intermediate tray) based on the sensor S5 (S121). If there is a sheet on the bundle discharge belt 421, it is determined whether the sheet is the second original sheet (S122). The second original sheet is a thin and rigid sheet used for drafting and the like. When the setting for using the manual paper feed unit 125 shown in FIG. 1 is made on the image forming apparatus side, the screen of the operation unit of the image forming apparatus changes to the state shown in FIG. 15B. Fifteen
The state shown in FIG. By pressing the second original drawing key on this screen, it is considered that the second original drawing sheet is fed from the manual paper feed unit 125, and the image forming apparatus sends the finisher 4
When the sheet is passed to 00, the image forming apparatus notifies the finisher 400 of the material information and the sheet feeding unit information in association with the sheet. Thus, the finisher 400 can determine whether the sheet on the bundle discharge belt 421 is the second original sheet. FIG. 15A shows a screen of the operation unit in the normal standby mode in the copy mode, in which the number of image forming units set by the operation unit and the like are displayed.

If it is determined in step S122 that the sheet is not the second original sheet, the bundle discharge belt 421 is driven to discharge the bundle (S123), and a standby signal is output to the image forming apparatus (S126). If it is determined that the sheet is the second original drawing sheet, an intermediate processing tray overflow signal is output to the image forming apparatus (S124). The image forming apparatus that has received the intermediate processing tray overflow signal displays "Remove the sheet from the intermediate processing tray." On the operation unit. Then, it waits until there is no more sheet from the bundle discharge belt 421 (intermediate tray) (S125), and outputs a standby signal to the image forming apparatus when there is no more sheet (S126). In step 121, the bundle discharge belt 4
If there is no sheet on 21, a standby signal is output to the image forming apparatus (S126). In response to the standby signal from the finisher 400, the image forming apparatus starts forming an image on a sheet.

After outputting the standby signal in step S126, each of the variables S, N, and T is set to 0 (S12).
7). Variables S and N are variables for monitoring the intermediate processing tray so as not to be overloaded. The variable T is a variable mainly for preventing the OHP sheet from being discharged, thereby preventing the OHP sheet from adversely affecting the sheets on the stack tray 411. Next, the type information of the material of the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus is received, and it is determined whether or not the sheet is the second original drawing (S128).

If it is determined in step S128 that the original drawing is not the second original drawing, the following processing is performed. The sheet received from the image forming apparatus is discharged onto the bundle discharge belt 421 (S12).
9), a weighting count is performed on a variable S described later (S130). Then, the size information of the next sheet to be received is received from the image forming apparatus, and the bundle discharge belt 42 is already received.
It is determined whether or not the width of the sheet stacked in No. 1 is different from the width of the next sheet to be received (S131). If the widths do not differ, it is next determined whether the setting of the image forming job for the sheet currently being received is the non-staple mode (S132). If the mode is the non-staple mode, it is determined whether or not the sheet discharged onto the bundle discharge belt 421 in step S129 has been fed from the manual feed unit 125 (S133). Manual feed unit 1
If the sheet has been fed from step 25, 1 is added to the variable T (S134), and it is determined whether or not the variable T has reached 5 (S135). When the variable T becomes 5, that is, when five sheets are continuously fed from the manual feed unit 125, the bundle discharge belt 421 is driven to perform bundle discharge (S
136), if the job has not been completed (S156), the process returns to step S129. If it is determined in step S133 that the sheet is not a sheet fed from the manual sheet feeding unit 125, the variable T is set to 0 (S137), and a later-described step S13 is executed.
Proceed to 8. Also, when the variable T is not set to 5 in step S135, the process proceeds to step S138 described later.

The manual sheet feeding section 125 is designed to be able to feed various types of sheets including OHP sheets. OHP sheets are more likely to carry static electricity than ordinary paper. Therefore, even if 30 sheets of ordinary paper are bundled and discharged from the bundle discharge belt 421 to the stack tray 411 without affecting the sheets on the stack tray 411, only 30 sheets of OHP sheets are bundled and discharged. Then, the sheet on the stack tray 411 may be shifted due to a synergistic effect of the weight and the static electricity. Therefore, when five sheets fed from the manual sheet feeding unit 125 to which an OHP sheet can be fed continue, a bundle of sheets is discharged to prevent such a situation.

If the width of the sheet stacked on the bundle discharge belt 421 is different from the width of the next sheet to be received in step S131, the flow advances to step S136 to discharge the bundle. Also, in the non-staple mode in step S132,
That is, when in the staple mode, the variable S is set to 6
It is determined whether the value has become 0 or more (S138). Variable S
Is not greater than or equal to 60, that is, less than 60, it is determined whether or not it is a break based on a job break signal from the image forming apparatus (S140). If it is a job break, the flow advances to step S136 to discharge the bundle. If it is determined in step S138 that the variable S is equal to or greater than 60, the current stapling is prohibited (S13).
9), proceed to step 136 to discharge the bundle.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S128 that the sheet is the second original sheet, the sheet received from the image forming apparatus is discharged onto the bundle discharge belt 421 (S14).
1) Add 1 to the variable N (S142). And the variable S
(S143), and the variable N
Is determined to be 15 (S144). Variable N
If is not 15, it is determined whether or not the variable S has become 60 or more (S145). If the variable S is not equal to or greater than 60, it is determined whether or not it is a break based on a job break signal from the image forming apparatus (S1).
46). If it is not a job break, step S1
Return to 41. Also, when it is a job break,
The intermediate processing tray overflow signal is output to the image forming apparatus (S147), and as described above, the image forming apparatus performs a display so that the sheet on the intermediate processing tray is removed.

Since the second original sheet is weak and not suitable for bundle discharge, the user is required to remove the second original sheet from the intermediate processing tray without discharging the bundle. At this time, the intermediate processing tray overflow signal is used as a signal for activating the display for prompting the image forming apparatus to perform this. Step 147
Thereafter, until the sheet is removed from the bundle discharge belt 421 (intermediate processing tray) (S148), an intermediate processing tray sheet presence signal is output to the image forming apparatus (S14).
9). The image forming apparatus does not start the next image forming job while receiving the intermediate tray overflow signal and the intermediate tray sheet presence signal.

When the variable N becomes 15 in step S144, and when the variable S becomes 60 or more in step S145, it is determined that the intermediate processing tray has reached the limit stacking amount, and the intermediate processing is performed by the image forming apparatus. A tray overflow signal is output (S150), and the process proceeds to step S148.
Also at this time, the image forming apparatus performs a display so that the sheet on the intermediate processing tray is removed.

When the process proceeds to the processing after step S129 (in the case of a sheet other than the second original drawing), the alignment plate 41
2 is adjusted according to the sheet size, and the return roller 4
17 is rotated to the left, but when the process proceeds to the processing after step S141 (in the case of the second original sheet), the alignment plate 412 is retracted to a position where the sheet stacking is not obstructed, and
The aligning operation is performed, and the return roller 417 is not driven. FIG. 26 shows a state on the bundle discharge belt 421 when the second original sheet is discharged.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of the weighting count in steps S130 and S143. Based on the size information of each sheet received from the image forming apparatus,
When the sheet length (length in the conveyance direction) is 297 mm or less (S151), 2 is added to the variable S (S15).
2). In addition, the sheet length is longer than 297 mm and 364 m
If it is less than m, 3 is added to the variable S (S154). When the sheet length is longer than 364 mm, 4 is set to the variable S.
Is added (S155). By weighting the count value according to the sheet length in this way, it is possible to stack up to the number of sheets suitable for bundle discharge on the intermediate processing tray when performing bundle discharge, and to perform intermediate stacking when bundle discharge is not performed. This enables stacking to such an extent that sheets are not scattered on the processing tray.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart for controlling the stack tray 411 in the finisher 400. As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the finisher 400 is controlled so that the stack tray paper height sensor S10 is turned on after the power is turned on. Then, after the sheets received from the image forming apparatus are discharged in a bundle (S161), the stack tray 411 is lowered (S162), and whether or not the stack tray 411 has reached the lower limit is determined by the lower limit sensor S12 (see FIG. 10). It is detected (S163). The stack tray 411 has not reached the lower limit, that is, the lower limit sensor S
If the switch 12 is not turned on, it is detected whether the height sensor S10 is turned off (see FIG. 18) (S16).
4). If the height sensor S10 has not been turned off, the process returns to step S162. When the height sensor S10 is turned off in step 164, the height sensor S10
Tray 411 until is turned on (see FIG. 19).
Are raised (S165, 166), and the stack tray 411 is continuously raised (S167, S168) until it rises by a predetermined amount after the height sensor S10 is turned on, and is stopped (S169). The motor M5 that moves the stack tray 411 up and down is a DC motor. By inputting the number of pulses from an encoder provided on the axis of the DC motor, the finisher control unit 401
11 can be monitored.

In step S163, the stack tray 411
Has reached the lower limit, that is, when the lower limit sensor S12 is turned on, a stacker overflow signal is output to the image forming apparatus (S170), and the operation of the stack tray 411 is stopped (S171). The image forming apparatus that has received this signal displays "Remove the paper from the stack tray." On its operation unit. Then, it is determined whether or not there is a job to be discharged next (S172), and if there is, the bundle is continuously discharged (S173). If there is no job to discharge the next bundle, the process waits until the height sensor S10 is turned off (S174). When the job is turned off, the stacker overflow signal is turned off (S175). As described above, when the lower limit is reached during the lowering of the stack tray 411, the raising operation of steps S165 and S167 is not performed, and
At the time of detection of the lower limit, a bundle discharge process for a number of bundles corresponding to a job that cannot be stopped (for example, a job received from the computer 204) is performed.

Here, a stack tray 4 suitable for bundle discharge
The position 11 will be described. If the distance from the bundle discharge belt 421 to the stacking surface on the stack tray 411 is too large, the stackability of the sheet bundle on the stack tray 411 is poor. In addition, since the leading end of the sheet while being discharged to the sheet discharging roller 415 follows a trajectory as shown in FIG. 27, if the distance is too short, the sheet is stuck to a steeply inclined portion of the stacking surface of the stack tray 411. May be hit, and a jam may occur during the conveyance of the paper discharge roller 415. Therefore, step S1
By the lowering and raising controls in 62 to S169, the distance between the bundle discharge belt 421 and the stacking surface on the stack tray 411 is set to a distance that is less likely to be jammed and that the stackability is good.

In this embodiment, since the upper surface of the sheet on the stack tray 411 is detected by the height sensor S10, if the upper surface of the sheet cannot be detected while the stack tray 411 is descending, the bundle discharge belt 421 and the stack tray The precise distance from the loading surface on 411 cannot be controlled. Therefore, the thickness of the bundle may be controlled by estimating the thickness of the bundle based on the number of discharged sheets. However, the thickness of the sheet varies, and the thickness of the bundle may not be as estimated. If a bundle that is thicker than expected is discharged, as described above, the distance between the bundle discharge belt 421 and the stacking surface of the stack tray 411 becomes short, and there is a possibility that a jam occurs. Therefore, when the lower limit is reached while the stack tray 411 is descending, steps S170 to S173 are performed.
The stack bundle 411 is discharged without performing the raising operation of the stack tray 411. Thereby, the bundle discharge belt 4
Although the distance between the stack tray 21 and the stacking surface on the stack tray 411 becomes slightly large, the stackability on the stack tray 411 may be deteriorated. However, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a jam, and at this time, the bundle is discharged. Since the sheet bundle is the last one, even if the stackability is somewhat poor, there is no significant effect.

The finisher 400 has a slightly shorter bundle discharge belt 421 in order to provide a compact and low-cost finisher. And A4R and A
When processing a long sheet such as a three-size sheet, the portion that did not fit on the bundle discharge belt 421 is stored in the stacker tray 4.
11 (FIG. 28).

When the image forming apparatus starts an image forming job in the staple mode, the stack tray 41
When it is detected by the sensor S11 that sheets are stacked on the sheet 1, the image forming apparatus displays "Please remove the sheets from the stack tray." On the operation unit. This is because when the stapled sheet bundle is stacked on the stack tray 411, the staple portions overlap and the stackability is not very good. Therefore, it is desirable to start an image forming job in a state where sheets are not stacked on the stack tray 411 as much as possible. is there. However, since the image forming apparatus is used not only in the copy mode but also in the printer mode, even in the case where the user is not present, even if the sheet is not removed, the image forming job (staple processing, bundle discharge processing is also performed). Start).

When the image forming apparatus has completed 30 image forming jobs continuously in the staple mode, the image forming job is temporarily interrupted, and the operation section displays "Please remove sheets from stack tray." In addition to the display, the sheet waits for the image forming job to be restarted until the sheet is removed from the stack tray 411 and the sensor S11 is turned off.

[0048]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the first stacking means for stacking discharged sheets and the first stacking means in a predetermined range of rotation angle during one rotation. A rotating body that comes into contact with the sheets stacked on the first stacking unit and does not contact at a rotation angle outside the predetermined range, a stack discharging unit that stacks and discharges the sheets stacked on the first stacking unit, and stacks the sheets discharged by the belt Second stacking means, alignment means for adjusting the width direction of the sheets stacked on the first loading means, and alignment means while the rotating body is in contact with the sheets stacked on the first loading means. Control means for controlling the driving timing of the aligning means so as not to perform the alignment by the sheet, so that the alignment in the sheet discharge direction can be surely performed, and
It is possible to prevent the sheet from being wrinkled. According to the second aspect of the present invention, the first aligning means for stacking the discharged sheets and the first aligning means for aligning the sheets stacked on the first stacking means in the sheet discharging direction. Means, a bundle discharging means for discharging the sheets stacked on the first loading means, a second loading means for loading the sheets discharged by the bundle discharging means, and a sheet loaded on the first loading means. A second aligning means for aligning the sheet in a direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction, and
While aligning the sheets stacked on the stacking means, the second
Since there is a control means for controlling the drive timing of the second aligning means so as not to perform the alignment by the aligning means, it is possible to prevent the sheet from wrinkling during the sheet alignment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus and a sheet processing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the reading direction of an original and the direction of image formation.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an image signal control unit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a finisher.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a sensor and a motor in the finisher.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a return roller and a bundle discharge belt.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a temporary stop position of a bundle discharge lever.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a driving mechanism of the alignment plate.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a lifting mechanism of a stack tray 411.

FIG. 11 is an operation timing chart of each unit when two copies of two originals are copied and offset paper ejection (without binding processing) is performed by a finisher.

FIG. 12 is an operation timing chart of each unit when two copies of two originals are copied and a binding process is performed by a finisher.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of drive control of a discharge roller in the finisher.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart related to control of an intermediate processing tray in the finisher, particularly control of bundle discharge by a bundle discharge belt.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a screen for setting materials in the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of a weight count.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of control of a stack tray in the finisher.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a state of a height sensor.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a state of a height sensor.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a state of a sheet in a finisher.

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a state of a sheet in a finisher.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a state of a sheet in a finisher.

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a state of a sheet in a finisher.

FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating a state of a sheet in a finisher.

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating a state of a sheet in a finisher.

FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating a state of a sheet in a finisher.

FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating a state of a sheet in a finisher.

FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating a state of a sheet in a finisher.

[Explanation of symbols]

 400 Finisher 411 Stack tray 412 Alignment plate 415 Discharge roller 417 Return roller 419 Staple unit 420 Paper holding lever 421 Bundle discharge belt 421A Bundle discharge lever 421B Intermediate processing tray loading auxiliary plate

Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Yuzo Matsumoto 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo F-term (reference) in Canon Inc. 3F054 AA01 AB01 AC02 BA04 BG11 BH03 BH07 BH08 CA33 DA01

Claims (2)

[Claims] A first stacking unit for stacking the discharged sheets; and a rotation unit that contacts the sheets stacked on the first stacking unit at a rotation angle within a predetermined range during one rotation, and rotates the sheet outside the predetermined range. A rotating body that does not contact at a corner, a bundle discharging unit that bundles and discharges the sheets stacked on the first stacking unit, a second stacking unit that stacks the sheets bundled by the belt, and the first Aligning means for adjusting the width direction of the sheets stacked on the stacking means; and aligning so that the aligning means does not perform alignment while the rotating body is in contact with the sheets stacked on the first stacking means. Control means for controlling the drive timing of the means. A first stacking unit for stacking the discharged sheets; a first aligning unit for aligning the sheets stacked on the first stacking unit in a sheet discharging direction; A bundle discharging unit configured to bundle and discharge the sheets stacked on the stacking unit, a second stacking unit configured to stack the sheets bundled by the bundle discharging unit, and a sheet stacked on the first stacking unit. A second aligning unit that performs alignment in a direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction; and a second aligning unit that aligns the sheets stacked on the first stacking unit with the first aligning unit. Control means for controlling the drive timing of the second aligning means so as not to perform the alignment by the aligning means.