JP2000219420A - Sheet processing device and image forming device provided therewith - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet processing device improving product quality of a bore hole sheet by allowing a punched sheet rear end to easily parting from a punch. SOLUTION: A sheet carrying path 120 and a buffer path (bending carrying path) connecting thereto are provided downstream from a bore hole means 110 having a punch 111 and a die 112. A guide plate 120a of the sheet carrying path 120 is displaced to the die 112 side with a binding spring 200 to be bound. Therefore, even if a sheet S is made of cardboard, a sheet rear end is easily separated from the punch to improve bore hole quality of the sheet.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus, and more particularly, to a sheet processing apparatus applicable to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a laser beam printer. The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus including a punching unit (hereinafter referred to as a puncher) for punching a discharged sheet and a stacking tray (stacking unit) for stacking sheets.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a sheet processing apparatus equipped with a puncher for punching a sheet has a transport path for transporting a perforated sheet to a stacking tray configured by a bent transport path including a driving roller and a driven roller. By arranging a puncher on the upstream side of the bent conveyance path, the size of the apparatus has been reduced.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, when the rear end of the conveyed sheet is pierced, the leading end of the sheet enters the bent conveying path. Also, due to the stiffness of the sheet, burrs and the like may be generated at the time of perforation, and there is a risk that the perforation quality of the sheet is impaired.

Further, when a driven roller is arranged outside the bend with respect to the bent conveyance path, when a sheet such as thick paper enters the bent conveyance path, the spring force due to the stiffness of the sheet pushes the driven roller. There is a possibility that the sheet may be jumped up, the drive roller may be separated from the sheet, and the sheet may be conveyed poorly.

Further, when a sheet is present on the downstream drive roller and the driven roller, and the punch bites into the die, an instantaneous decrease in the sheet conveying speed and a slip due to a speed difference from the downstream drive roller due to the instantaneous decrease in sheet conveyance speed. There is a possibility that the downstream drive motor may lose synchronism due to an instantaneous load change.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet processing apparatus capable of performing a favorable punching operation by a punching unit without being affected by a bent conveying path downstream of the punching unit.

[0007]

The invention according to claim 1 is
Bending means having a rotatable punch portion and a die portion for punching a sheet to be conveyed and a drive roller and a driven roller downstream of the perforation means for conveying the sheet. A transport path, and a restraining means for restraining the sheet transport path located between the perforating means and the bent transport path so as to change a thickness thereof, wherein the restraining means is transported from the perforating means. The sheet is constrained so as to be displaced toward the die portion side of the perforating means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the sheet conveying path has a pair of guide plates, and the restricting means restricts the guide plate on the punch portion side to the guide plate on the die portion side. It is characterized by being a spring.

The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that a plurality of drive rollers constituting the bent conveyance path are arranged outside the drive rollers.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the first driving means for driving the perforating means, the second driving means for driving the driving roller, and the driving of the second driving means to the driving roller. And a transmitting means for transmitting, the transmitting means being an elastic body.

The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that the elastic body is a transmission belt for transmitting the drive of the second drive means to the drive roller.

[0012] The invention according to claim 6 comprises a peripheral speed detecting means for detecting a peripheral speed of the perforating means, and a control means for controlling the second driving means, and a detection result by the peripheral speed detecting means. The control means controls the peripheral speed of the second drive means to be equal to the peripheral speed of the drilling means based on

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a stacking means for stacking sheets conveyed from the bent conveyance path.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the overall configuration including a sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
1 shows a system including a reading apparatus 101, an image forming apparatus 102, and a sheet processing apparatus 103. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a punch unit included in the sheet processing apparatus 103.

The reading device 101 feeds the set document P to a document reading position, and then conveys the document P to a sheet discharge position, and a document platen glass 78 conveyed to the reading position. Lamp 79 for irradiating original P
And a reflection mirror 7 for guiding light from the document P to the CCD
2, 73, 74, and an image of the original are detected by a line sensor (hereinafter, CC).
D) It comprises a lens 75 and the like connected on 76.

The image forming apparatus 102 has a plurality of recording paper storage units 53 and 54 on which recording papers S of different sizes are stacked, and recording paper feeding units 55 and 56 for feeding recording papers. The fed sheet S is transported to the sheet transport path 60 via the sheet transport path 57. 61 is the reading device 1
A laser scanner that scans a laser beam based on the image information read by the image forming unit 01 to form a latent image on the photoconductor of the image forming unit 62, forms a toner image on the photoconductor, and forms the toner image on the photoconductor. The image forming unit 62 transfers the image to the sheet S. The sheet S on which the image is formed by the image forming unit 62 is conveyed by a conveying belt 63, a fixing roller 64 for softening and fusing the toner image on the recording paper to fix the toner image, and a conveying roller 6.
By 5 or the like, the sheet is conveyed to the conveyance path of the sheet processing apparatus 103. Further, the image forming apparatus 102 and the sheet processing apparatus 1
Operation unit 40 for confirming the operation setting and setting contents of 03
have.

An operation unit 40 is provided on the display unit for confirming setting contents (not shown). The operation unit 40 is arranged on the display unit to perform detailed setting of an image forming operation and operation setting of the sheet processing apparatus. It has a touch panel key, a numeric keypad for setting numerical values such as the number of image forming copies, a stop key for stopping the image forming operation, a reset key for returning to the initial setting, a start key for starting the image forming operation, and the like. ing.

Reference numeral 103 denotes a sheet processing apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as a finisher). Reference numeral 1 denotes an entrance roller of the finisher 103, which conveys the sheet S conveyed from the image forming apparatus 102. Reference numerals 2 and 3 denote conveying rollers for conveying the sheet S or the insert sheet I, and reference numeral 31 denotes a sheet detection sensor at the entrance side for detecting the passage of the conveyed sheet S or the insert sheet I. A punch unit 50 punches holes near the rear end of the conveyed sheet S or insert paper I.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a relatively large-diameter roller (hereinafter referred to as a "buffer roller") which is disposed in the course of conveyance, and includes pressing rollers (drive rollers) 12, 13, and 14 disposed around the outside. The sheet is pressed against the roll surface and transported.

The pressing roller 1 as the driving roller
A buffer path (bent conveyance path) 23 that bends and conveys the sheet conveyed from the perforation unit 110 is configured by the buffers 2, 13, and 14 and the buffer roller 5 as the driven roller 5.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a first switching flapper, which selectively switches between the non-sort pass 4 and the sort pass 8. Reference numeral 10 denotes a second switching flapper, which switches between a sort path 8 and a buffer path for temporarily storing the sheet S or the insert sheet I. 3
Reference numeral 3 denotes a sheet detection sensor that detects a sheet in the non-sort path 4, and reference numeral 32 denotes a sheet detection sensor that detects a sheet in the buffer path 23.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a conveying roller provided with a path for the sort path 8. Reference numeral 84 denotes a sheet for temporarily accumulating the sheets, aligning the accumulated sheets S or insert sheets I, and performing stapling by the stapling unit 80. Intermediate tray (hereinafter referred to as processing tray) 82
And a processing tray unit including an alignment plate 88 for aligning the sheets S or the insert sheets I stacked on the processing tray. On the discharge end side of the processing tray 82, one discharge roller constituting a bundle discharge roller is provided. Here, a discharge roller 83b as a fixed side is disposed.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a processing tray (first stacking tray) which is disposed on a sort path 8 and stores a sheet S or an insert sheet I in a processing tray.
Reference numeral 9 denotes a first discharge roller for discharging the sheet S or the insert sheet I onto the sample tray 85, which is disposed on the non-sort path 4.

The swing guide 81 is supported by a swinging guide 81. When the swinging guide 81 comes to the closed position, the swinging guide 81 is pressed against the lower sheet discharging roller 83a and pressurized.
An upper discharge roller for discharging the upper sheet S or the insert sheet I onto the stack tray (second stacking tray) 86 in a bundle. A bundle stacking guide 87 abuts and supports the trailing edge (the trailing edge in the bundle discharging direction) of the bundle of sheets stacked on the stack tray 86 and the sample tray 85. Also serves as the exterior.

Reference numeral 20 denotes an insert paper storage unit for setting the insert paper I to be inserted, 21 a paper feed roller for feeding the insert paper, and 22 a separating roller for separating the fed insert paper. Reference numeral 27 denotes an insert paper set detection sensor that detects whether or not insert paper is set in the insert paper storage unit 20. The fed insert sheet is transported to the transport roller 2 by the transport rollers 19, 24, 25, and 26.

That is, an image forming operation is started when a document is set on the reading and feeding device 101 and the user makes desired settings on the operation unit 40 and designates start of operation. First, at the same time as the reading of the original by the reading and feeding device 101, the image forming device 102 starts feeding the recording paper from the set recording paper storage units 53 and 54, and forms the image via the sheet conveyance path. To the department. The toner image formed based on the image information read by the reading paper feed unit is transferred to the fed sheet, passed through a fixing unit, and fixed on the sheet. Then, the final output sheet is obtained by performing the process of conveying the insert sheet, punching, sorting the sheet, and stapling by the sheet processing apparatus 103.

<Description of Punch Unit> Next, the punch unit 50 will be described.

In FIG. 2, the punch unit 50 has a punching means 110 and a lateral registration detecting means 130. A punch 111 and a die 112 are respectively supported by a casing 113 on the punching means 110, and each gear 11
4, 115 are engaged with each other, and can be rotated in the directions of arrows B and C in synchronization with the driving of the punch drive motor (first drive means) 116 shown in FIG. Usually, it is at the home position (HP) position in FIG.

After the sheet detecting sensor 31 detects the trailing edge of the sheet, the punch driving motor 116
, The punch 111 and the die 112 rotate in the directions of arrows B and C, and the punch 111 meshes with a die hole 112a provided in the die 112 as shown in FIG.
Perforate the sheet being transported.

At this time, by setting the rotation speed of the punch 111 and the die 112 to be the same as the rotation speed of the conveying roller pair 3, it is possible to perforate the sheet being conveyed.
Reference numeral 117 denotes a guide unit for moving the perforating unit 110 at right angles to the sheet conveying direction A, and 118 denotes a guide unit 117.
The roller rotates while contacting with the casing 113 and is caulked to the casing 113 by the roller shaft 119.

A rack gear 113a formed in a part of the casing 113 meshes with a pinion gear 120 provided on a not-shown drilling means moving motor. Reference numeral 121 denotes a perforation means initial position detection sensor having a light receiving portion 121a provided in parallel with the sheet conveyance direction A, and is attached to the casing 113.

Therefore, the perforating means 110 can be moved in the directions of arrows D and E perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction A by driving the perforating means moving motor. By moving the perforation means initialization position detection sensor 121 in the direction of arrow E, the perforation means initial position defining portion 52 provided on the main body 1 can be detected by the light receiving portion 121a. here,
The initial position of the punching means is a few mm before the sheet reference position corresponding to the amount of deviation of the skew or lateral registration.

The lateral registration detecting means 130 is provided with a punching means 110.
Attached to. The lateral registration detecting unit 130 has a light receiving unit 131a provided in parallel with the sheet conveyance direction A, and detects a lateral edge of the sheet.
Is attached to the tip of the sensor arm 132.

The sensor arm 132 has a rack gear 132a formed at one portion thereof, and meshes with a pinion gear 133 provided on a lateral registration moving motor (not shown) attached to the casing 113. At the rear end of the sensor arm 132, a lateral registration initial position detection sensor 134 having a light receiving portion 134a which is provided with a tendency toward the light receiving portion 13la is attached.

Therefore, the lateral registration detecting sensor 131 and the lateral registration initial position detecting sensor 134 can be moved in the directions of arrows D and E perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction A by driving the lateral registration moving motor. By moving the horizontal registration initial position detection sensor 134 in the direction of the arrow, the horizontal registration initial position defining portion 113b provided on the casing can be detected by the light receiving portion 134a. Further, by moving the lateral registration detection sensor 131 in the direction of arrow D, the lateral registration detection sensor 131 can be set at a position corresponding to the selected sheet size.

Here, when detecting the side edge of the sheet,
After the sheet detection sensor 31 detects the leading edge of the sheet,
The punching means moving motor is driven at a predetermined timing, and the punching means 110 and the lateral registration detection sensor 131 are moved in the direction of the arrow. And stops. For this reason, it is possible to align the punching position with the end of the sheet.

<Description of Punch Mode> The punch mode will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the power of the apparatus is turned on (S1), the punching means 110 is moved by the punching means moving motor in the direction of arrow E in FIG. Perforation means initial position detection sensor 1
When 21 detects the perforation position defining section 52, the perforation means moving motor stops, and the home position stop control of the perforation means is completed (S2).

Next, when the sensor arm 132 is moved in the direction E shown in FIG. 4 by the lateral registration moving motor and the lateral registration initial position detecting sensor 134 detects the lateral registration initial position defining portion 113b, the lateral registration moving motor Is stopped, and the home position stop control of the sensor arm 132 is completed (S3).

The punch mode is designated, and the image forming apparatus 1
02, the sheet is conveyed from the sensor arm 13
2 moves in the direction of arrow D in FIG.
1 is stopped near the end of the sheet conveyed from the image forming apparatus 102. When the sheet detection sensor 31 detects the leading edge of the conveyed sheet, the punching means 110 moves in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 4, and the punching means 50 stops at the position where the lateral registration detection sensor 131 detects the sheet end. When the sheet detection sensor detects the trailing edge of the sheet, the punch driving motor 116 rotates after conveying the predetermined distance, and
11. A perforation hole is made at the rear end of the sheet being conveyed by the die 112.

<Description of Sheet Conveying Path, Curved Conveying Path, and Transmission Means> In FIGS. Conveying path 1 for conveying to sheet
20 are provided. The sheet conveying path 120 has an upper guide plate 120a and a lower guide plate 120b. The upper guide plate 120a is displaced by being urged in the direction of arrow D by a restraining spring (restraining means) 200. That is, the restraining spring 200 is
Restrained to the side. As a result, the rear end of the sheet can be easily detached from the punch 111, so that even when a sheet S such as thick paper having a strong stiffness is punched, the punch 11 can be smoothly moved.
1, the perforation quality can be improved.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, by disposing the driving roller 12 outside the bent conveying path 23, even if the spring force due to the stiffness of the sheet S acts in the direction of the arrow E, the driving roller 12 Since it is fixed, it does not separate from the buffer roller 5. Thereby, occurrence of a conveyance failure of the sheet S can be prevented.

Next, in FIG. 8, on the same axis as the buffer roller 5, a driving motor (second driving means) 204
Are arranged. The conveyance motor 204 is driven by a rubber elastic belt (elastic body) 203a, 203b, 203c.
By transmitting to the drive rollers 12, 13 and 14, respectively, it becomes possible to absorb load fluctuations and speed fluctuations that occur when the punch 111 bites into the die 112.

In FIG. 5, the support shaft of the punch 111
A disk-shaped encoder 201 is provided integrally with the gear 114. By arranging a photo interrupter 202 for outputting an electrical output of the encoder 201, the configuration shown in FIG.
In the control device (control means) 100 shown in FIG.
By performing LL control and controlling the speed of the transport motor 204, the peripheral speed of the punch 111 and the transport motor 204 are controlled.
With the peripheral speed of the vehicle.

As a result, speed fluctuation and load fluctuation between the punching means 110 and the downstream drive roller are prevented.

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By separating the sheet from the punch portion, it is possible to reduce the burr of the perforated hole at the time of perforation, and it is possible to improve the quality of the perforated hole.

Further, by setting the direction in which the spring force due to the stiffness of the sheet acts on the drive roller side, it is possible to avoid the conveyance failure due to the slip.

Further, by using a resilient elastic body for the drive transmission method of the sheet conveying motor, it is possible to absorb load fluctuations and speed fluctuations generated when the punch and the die bite into each other. In addition, step-out of the motor can be prevented.

Further, by making the peripheral speed of the punch coincide with the peripheral speed of the conveying motor, slippage of the sheet conveying motor, step-out of the motor, and the like can be prevented as described above.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional front view showing an example of a sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention and an image forming apparatus main body to which the sheet processing apparatus can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view of the punch unit.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional side view showing an operating state of the punch unit.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional side view showing a state after a sheet has passed through a punch unit.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the punch unit.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a detection state of a sheet leading end in a punch unit.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the sheet processing apparatus in a punch mode.

FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional front view of the sheet processing apparatus showing a driving roller section of the bent conveyance path.

[Explanation of symbols]

S sheet 5 driven roller 12, 13, 14 drive roller 23 buffer path (bending transport path) 50 punch unit 100 control device (control means) 101 reading device 102 image forming apparatus main body 103 sheet processing device 110 punching means 111 punch section 112 die Unit 116 Punch drive motor (first drive unit) 120 Sheet transport path 120a, 120b Guide plate 200 Restraining spring (restraining unit) 201 Encoder 202 Photo interrupter 201, 202 Circumferential speed detecting unit 203a, 203b, 203c Drive transmission belt 204 Transport Motor (second driving means)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masatoshi Yaginuma 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Kiyoshi Okamoto 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inside (72) Inventor Mitsushige Murata 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Noritsu Miyake 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) The inventor Manabu Yamauchi 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) The inventor Riki Sato 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo F-term (Canon Inc.) Reference) 3F108 GA02 GA04 GB07

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A piercing means having a rotatable punch portion and a die portion for piercing a sheet to be conveyed, and a driving roller downstream of the piercing means for conveying the sheet and a driven roller. A bent conveying path having a roller, and a restricting means for restricting the thickness of a sheet conveying path positioned between the perforating means and the bent conveying path, and
The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the restraining means restrains the sheet conveyed from the perforating means so as to be displaced toward a die portion of the perforating means. 2. The sheet conveying path has a pair of guide plates, and the restraining means is a restraining spring that urges the guide plate on the punch portion side toward the guide plate on the die portion side. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of drive rollers constituting the bent conveyance path are arranged outside the drive rollers. 4. A driving means for driving the punching means, a second driving means for driving the driving roller, a transmitting means for transmitting the driving of the second driving means to the driving roller, The sheet processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: an elastic body. 5. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the elastic body is a transmission belt that transmits the drive of the second drive unit to the drive roller. 6. A peripheral speed detecting means for detecting a peripheral speed of the perforating means, and a control means for controlling the second driving means, wherein the control means controls the second driving means based on a detection result by the peripheral speed detecting means. 2
6. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the control unit controls the peripheral speed of the driving unit to be equal to the peripheral speed of the punching unit. 7. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising stacking means for stacking sheets conveyed from the bent conveyance path. 8. A sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, an image forming means for forming an image on a sheet based on image information, and a sheet processing apparatus for forming an image on the sheet by the image forming means. An image forming apparatus, comprising: