JP2001031314A - Sheet treating device, image forming device and control method for stacking means, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To permit quick elevating action and stacking of a sheaf of sheets in large quantities and to suppress power consumption by providing a means for holding a sheet stacking means movably in a vertical direction, a means for suppressing power consumption and a means for controlling continuation in holding the stacking means. SOLUTION: A stacking motor is provided for holding a sheet stacking tray movably in a vertical direction, and a CPU circuit part 150 is provided for controlling the whole image forming device and energy-saving processing for minimizing power consumption to control continuation in holding the stacking tray by the stacking motor during the execution of energy-saving processing and to control adjustment of torque of the stacking motor on the basis of the detected result of a paper detecting sensor. A finisher control part 501 is further provided for adjusting a control current according to the phase exciting pattern of the stacking motor. This constitution permits quick elevating action and suppresses power consumption of the device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus,
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a loading unit control method, and a storage medium.
In particular, a sheet processing apparatus that performs processing such as sorting and binding of sheets after image formation in image formation on a sheet surface by a copying machine or an LBP (laser beam printer), an image forming apparatus equipped with the sheet processing apparatus, and a stacking apparatus. The present invention relates to a means control method and a storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is an image forming apparatus equipped with a stacking tray for stacking sheets after image formation. Conventionally, the loading tray is held as described in (1) to (4) below. (1) At the time of stop, the lock arm is operated to fix the lifting drive system. (2) A drive system using a worm gear, which has a large reduction ratio to prevent the loading tray from lowering. (3) The motor shaft is locked by the brake means. (4) Drive by a stepping motor and use the holding force.

[0003]

However, the above-mentioned prior art has the following problems. In the conventional example of (1), since the loading tray is stably stopped and then fixed by the lock arm using a solenoid or the like, it is not possible to perform a quick ascent and descent operation. In the conventional example of (2), the transmission loss of the driving system is large and the efficiency is low, and the acting force in the gravitational direction acts on the motor shaft in the thrust direction through the worm gear. Not suitable for loading bundles. In the conventional example (3), the locking of the motor shaft by the brake means solves the above-mentioned disadvantages of the conventional examples (1) and (2), but is expensive. In the conventional example of (4), although the cost and the agile operation are advantageous, since the motor is always energized and held, the power during standby is significantly increased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and enables agile lifting and lowering operations, stacking of a large number of sheet bundles, and a low cost loading tray by not locking a motor shaft by a brake means. A sheet processing apparatus, an image forming apparatus, and a sheet processing apparatus capable of holding sheets and detecting sheets on the stacking tray even during the energy saving mode to prevent the stacking tray from falling even when sheets are placed on the stacking tray during standby. A first object is to provide a loading means control method and a storage medium.

Further, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned point, and the control current for holding the stacking tray can be variably set according to the position of the stacking tray.
A second object is to provide a sheet processing apparatus, an image forming apparatus, a stacking unit control method, and a storage medium that can also reduce the power consumed by the apparatus.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and the torque of a stepping motor can be variably changed by the presence or absence of a sheet on a stacking tray, the position of the stacking tray, and the phase excitation pattern of the stepping motor. That is, by enabling the control current to be variably set by the phase excitation pattern of the stepping motor, the sheet processing apparatus, the image forming apparatus, the stacking unit control method, and the storage capable of suppressing power consumption of the apparatus. The third purpose is to provide a medium.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet processing apparatus for performing a predetermined process on a sheet, comprising: loading means for loading the sheet; Holding means for holding the loading means movably in the vertical direction, power suppressing means for minimizing power consumption, and control for continuing holding of the loading means by the holding means during execution of the power suppression. Loading control means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the loading means is a loading tray for loading the sheets, and the holding means is capable of moving the loading tray in a vertical direction. It is a mechanism including a motor such as a stepping motor for holding.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 3 further comprises sheet detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of a sheet in the stacking means, and the stacking control means includes a sheet detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of a sheet. A control for varying the torque of the motor constituting the holding means based on the detection result is performed.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 4 further comprises a position detecting means for detecting the position of the loading means in the vertical direction, wherein the loading control means comprises: A control for varying the torque of the motor constituting the holding means is performed based on a detection result of the means.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the loading control means varies a control current of the motor in accordance with a phase excitation pattern of the motor constituting the holding means. The control is performed.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus provided with a sheet processing apparatus for performing a sorting process, a binding process, and the like of an image-formed sheet. Loading means for loading, holding means for holding the loading means movably in the vertical direction, power suppressing means for minimizing power consumption, and the loading means by the holding means during execution of the power suppression. Loading control means for controlling the continuation of the holding.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 7, wherein the stacking means is a stacking tray for stacking the sheets, and the holding means is capable of moving the stacking tray in a vertical direction. It is a mechanism including a motor such as a stepping motor for holding.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 8 further comprises a sheet detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of a sheet in the stacking means, and the stacking control means includes a sheet detecting means. A control for varying the torque of the motor constituting the holding means based on the detection result is performed.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 9 further comprises a position detecting means for detecting the position of the loading means in the vertical direction, wherein the loading control means comprises: A control for varying the torque of the motor constituting the holding means is performed based on a detection result of the means.

In order to achieve the above object, according to a tenth aspect of the present invention, the loading control means varies a control current of the motor according to a phase excitation pattern of the motor constituting the holding means. The control is performed.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a stacking unit control applied to an image forming apparatus equipped with a sheet processing apparatus for performing a sorting process, a binding process, and the like of an image-formed sheet. A method, comprising: a power suppressing step of minimizing power consumption, and holding of the loading means by a holding means for vertically holding the loading means for loading the sheets during the execution of the power reduction. And a loading control step for performing control to continue the operation.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, the loading means is a loading tray for loading the sheets, and the holding means is configured to move the loading tray in a vertical direction. It is a mechanism including a motor such as a stepping motor for holding.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 13 further comprises a sheet detecting step for detecting the presence or absence of a sheet in the stacking means. A control for varying the torque of the motor constituting the holding means based on the detection result is performed.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 14 further comprises a position detecting step of detecting the position of the loading means in the vertical direction, wherein the loading control step includes the step of detecting the position. A control for varying the torque of the motor constituting the holding means is performed based on the detection result of the step.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in the loading control step, the control current of the motor is made variable according to a phase excitation pattern of the motor constituting the holding means. The control is performed.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a control of a stacking means applied to an image forming apparatus equipped with a sheet processing apparatus for performing a sorting process, a binding process and the like of an image-formed sheet. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for executing the method, wherein the loading unit control method includes: a power suppression step of minimizing power consumption; and And a loading control step of controlling the holding means to hold the loading means by the holding means for holding the loading means movably in the vertical direction.

In order to achieve the above object, according to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, the stacking unit is a stacking tray for stacking the sheets, and the holding unit is configured to move the stacking tray in a vertical direction. It is a mechanism including a motor such as a stepping motor for holding.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 18, wherein the stacking means control method further comprises a sheet detecting step of detecting the presence or absence of a sheet in the stacking means. According to another aspect of the present invention, control is performed such that the torque of the motor constituting the holding unit is made variable based on the detection result of the sheet detection step.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention as set forth in claim 19, the loading means control method further comprises a position detecting step of detecting the position of the loading means in the vertical direction. In the control step, control is performed to vary the torque of the motor constituting the holding means based on the detection result of the position detection step.

According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, in the loading control step, the control current of the motor is varied according to a phase excitation pattern of the motor constituting the holding means. The control is performed.

[0027]

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

In the embodiment of the present invention, the sheet processing apparatus is mounted on the image forming apparatus, and performs processing such as sorting / binding of a sheet after image formation discharged from the image forming apparatus. Embodiments of the present invention have the following features. (1) An apparatus configuration for holding a vertically movable stacking tray with the holding force of a motor, and continues to hold the stacking tray even after shifting to the energy saving mode. (2) When there is no paper on the stacking tray, the holding force is minimized. (3) The holding force is made variable depending on the position of the loading tray. (4) The holding force is made variable by a combination of phases in which the motor is stopped.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing the internal structure of the image forming apparatus 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a document feeder 100, an image reader 200, a printer 300, a folding device 400, and a finisher 500.

The above-described configuration will be described in detail together with the operation. The original feeding apparatus 100 sequentially sets the set originals one by one from the top page.
Each sheet is conveyed from left to right on the platen glass 102 via a curved path,
Discharge to At this time, the scanner unit 104 is held at a predetermined position, and the document passes through the scanner unit 104 from left to right to read the document. When the document passes, the light of the lamp 103 of the scanner unit 104 is irradiated on the document, and the reflected light from the document is guided to the image sensor 109 via the mirrors 105, 106, 107 and the lens 108.
The original is fed from the original feeder 100 to the platen glass 1.
02 is stopped after being transported onto the scanner unit 10.
The original can also be read by moving 4 from left to right.

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 is stored in the cassette 11
4, 115, manual paper feed unit 125, double-sided conveyance path 124
Is transferred to the sheet fed from any one of the above.

The sheet on which the developer has been transferred is fixed to the fixing unit 11.
At 7, the developer is fixed. 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 passes through the flapper 121, the sheet is switched back and guided to a discharge roller 118 by the flapper 121. As a result, the discharge roller 118 has the surface on which the developer has been transferred facing downward (face down).
Is ejected from the printer 300. When an image is formed on a hard sheet such as an OHP sheet from the manual sheet feeding unit 125, the surface onto which the developer has been transferred is discharged from the discharge roller 118 in an upward state (face-up) without leading to the path 122.

When images are formed on both sides of the sheet, the sheet is fed straight from the fixing section 117 to the discharge roller 11.
8, the sheet is switched back immediately after the trailing edge of the sheet has passed through the flapper 121, and is guided by the flapper 121 to the double-sided conveyance path 124.

The sheet discharged from the discharge roller 118 is sent to the folding device 400. Folding device 400
Performs a process of folding the sheet into a Z shape. When an A3 size or B4 size sheet is specified and the folding process is designated, the folding device 400 performs the folding process, and the other sheets are sent to the finisher 500 as they are. In the finisher 500, bookbinding processing, binding processing,
Processing such as drilling is performed. In addition, an inserter 900 is provided on the finisher 500, and feeds a cover, a slip sheet, and the like to the finisher 500.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system of image forming apparatus 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention.
The control system of the image forming apparatus 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes an operation unit 1, a document feeder control unit 101, a CPU circuit unit 150, an image reader control unit 201, an image signal control unit 202, an external I / F. (Interface) 209, a computer 210, a printer control unit 301, a folding device control unit 401, and a finisher control unit 501.
Further, the CPU circuit unit 150 includes a ROM 151, a RAM 1
52, and a CPU 153.

The above configuration will be described in detail.
0 according to the program stored in the ROM 151 and the settings of the operation unit 1, the document feeder control unit 101, the image reader control unit 201, the image signal control unit 202, the printer control unit 301, and the folding device control unit 4
01, and controls the finisher control unit 501 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, the printer control unit 301 controls the printer 300, and the folding device control unit 401 controls the folding device 400.
And the finisher control unit 501 controls the finisher 500.

The ROM 151 of the CPU circuit section 150 stores programs and fixed data. CPU circuit unit 1
The RAM 152 of 50 is used as an area for temporarily storing control data and a work area for calculations involved in control.
The external I / F 209 is an interface from the computer 210, converts print data into an image, and outputs the image to the image signal control unit 202. The image sensor 1 is sent from the image reader control unit 201 to the image signal control unit 202.
09, the read image is output, and the image signal control unit 2
The image output from 02 to the printer control unit 301 is input to the exposure control unit 110.

Next, the folding apparatus 400, the finisher 500, the saddle path, the inserter path, the stack tray, the stacker sensor, and the finisher control block in the image forming apparatus 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. The detailed configuration will be described.

<Description of Configuration of Folding Device> First, the folding device 4
00 and the configuration of the finisher 500 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 shows the folding device 4 shown in FIG.
FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing an internal structure of a finisher and a finisher. As shown in FIG. 3, the folding device 400 introduces the paper discharged from the printer 300, and
A folding conveyance horizontal path 402 for guiding to the zero side is provided. On the folding conveyance horizontal path 402, the conveyance roller pair 40
3 and a transport roller pair 404 are provided. Also, the exit portion of the folding transport horizontal path 402 (the finisher 500)
On the side), a folding path selection flapper 410 is provided. The folding path selection flapper 410 performs a switching operation for guiding the sheet on the folding conveyance horizontal path 402 to the folding path 420 or the finisher side 500.

Here, when performing the folding process, the folding path selection flapper 410 is turned on, and the sheet is folded in the folding path 42.
It is led to 0. The sheet guided to the folding path 420 is conveyed to the folding roller 421 and folded into a Z shape. On the other hand, when the folding process is not performed, the folding path selection flapper 410 is turned off, and the sheet is directly sent from the printer 300 to the finisher 500 via the folding transport horizontal path 402.

The finisher 500 takes in the sheets discharged through the folding device 400 in order, aligns the plurality of taken-in sheets and binds them into one bundle, and staples the rear end of the bundled sheet bundle with staples. Then, sheet post-processing such as punching, sorting, non-sorting, and bookbinding for punching holes near the rear end of the fetched sheet is performed.

<Explanation of Finisher Configuration> Finisher 50
0 is the folding device 4 from the printer 300 as shown in FIG.
And a pair of entrance rollers 502 for guiding the sheet discharged through the sheet feeding unit 00 to the inside. Downstream of the entrance roller pair 502, the sheet is supplied to the finisher path 552 or the first bookbinding path 5.
A switching flapper 551 for leading to 53 is provided.
The paper guided to the finisher path 552 is a transport roller pair 5
, And is sent to the buffer roller 505 via the control unit 03. The transport roller 503 and the buffer roller 505 are configured to be able to rotate forward and backward.

Inlet roller pair 502 and transport roller pair 503
An entrance sensor 531 is provided between them, and near the upstream of the entrance sensor 531 in the sheet conveyance direction, the second bookbinding path branches off from the finisher path 552 (a branch point here is referred to as a branch A). Branch A is an entrance roller pair 50
2 is conveyed to the conveying roller pair 503, but when the conveying roller 503 rotates in the reverse direction and conveys the paper from the conveying roller 503 side to the entrance sensor 531 side, the paper is conveyed only to the second bookbinding path 554 side. This is a branch having a one-way mechanism.

Further, a punch unit 550 is provided between the pair of transport rollers 503 and the buffer roller 505, and operates as needed to make a hole near the rear end of the transported paper. The buffer roller 505 is a roller capable of stacking and winding a predetermined number of sheets sent through the pair of transport rollers 503 on the outer periphery thereof, and the outer periphery of the roller is provided with the pressing rollers 512 while the sheet is rotating. , 51
3, 514.

A switching flapper 510 is disposed between the pressing rollers 513 and 514, and a switching flapper 511 is disposed downstream of the pressing rollers 514. The switching flapper 510 separates the sheet wound around the buffer roller 505 from the buffer roller 505, and
21 or a flapper for guiding to the sort path 522, and the switching flapper 511 transfers the sheet wound around the buffer roller to the sort path 522 or the buffer path 523.
It is a flapper to lead to.

The paper guided to the non-sort path 521 is
The sheet is discharged to the sample tray 701 via the discharge roller pair 509. In the middle of the non-sort path 521, a paper discharge sensor 533 for detecting a jam or the like is provided. The sheet guided to the sort path 522 is a pair of conveying rollers 506,
The sheet is stacked on an intermediate tray (hereinafter, referred to as a processing tray) 630 via a discharge roller pair 507. Processing tray 630
The sheet bundle stacked thereon is subjected to alignment processing and stapling processing as necessary, and then is subjected to discharge rollers 680a and 680.
b discharges onto the stack tray 700. The stapler 601 is used for stapling processing for binding sheets stacked in a bundle on the processing tray 630. The stack tray 700 is configured to be able to run in the vertical direction by itself.

<Saddle Pass> First binding pass 553, second binding pass
The paper from the bookbinding path 554 is transferred to the first conveying roller pair 81.
3, the storage guide 820 by the second transport roller pair 817
The sheet is further conveyed by the third conveying roller 822 until the leading end of the sheet comes into contact with the movable sheet positioning member 823. Two pairs of staplers 818 are provided downstream of the second transport roller 817 in the transport direction, so that the center of the sheet bundle can be bound in cooperation with the anvil 819 located at a position opposing the stapler 818. I have. A folding roller pair 826 is provided downstream of the stapler 818, and after folding the sheet bundle extruded by the protruding member 825, the sheet bundle is discharged to a tray 832.

When the sheet bundle bound by the stapler 818 is folded, after the stapling is completed, the positioning member 823 is lowered by a predetermined distance so that the stapling position of the sheet bundle is at the center of the pair of folding rollers 826. Is possible.

<Inserter Pass> The inserter 900 is provided at the upper part of the finisher main body 500 and
01 are sequentially separated and transported to the finisher path 552 or the bookbinding path 553. The sheet bundle C is set with its front side up, and is conveyed by a paper feed roller 902 to a separation section including a conveyance roller 903 and a separation belt 904, and is sequentially separated one by one from the top sheet.

A pull-out roller pair 905 is disposed adjacent to and downstream of the separation unit, and stably transports the separated sheet to the downstream. Inlet roller pair 502 and pull-out roller pair 9
A transport roller pair 906 is provided in the middle of 05.
Further, a paper feed sensor 907 for detecting the separated paper is disposed near the downstream side of the pull-out roller pair 905. The transport path 908 from the inserter joins the transport path from the image forming apparatus 1 upstream of the entrance roller pair 502.

<Explanation of Stack Tray> Next, the configuration of the stack tray 200 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a top view of the inside of the stack tray 700, in which the stack tray 700 is held by a base plate 702. Stack motor M70
Are connected to the base plate 702 via the mounting frame plate 704.
It is fixed to. 1 at both ends of finisher 500
A pair of frames 750a, 750b is provided in the up-down direction, and a rack gear member 751 also serving as an up-down guide rail for the frames 750a, 750b.
a, 751b are attached, and a pair of guide rollers 706a, 706b are fitted into corresponding guide rail portions, thereby holding the stack tray 700 so as to be able to move up and down.

The rotation output of the stack motor M70 is transmitted to the pulley 71 of the drive shaft 713 through the timing belt 711.
2 is transmitted. The drive shaft 713 is provided with a ratchet wheel 715 urged by a spring 716 and capable of sliding only in the axial direction. The ratchet wheel 715 is engaged with a drive gear 714 on the shaft in one direction. Also,
One of idle gears 718a, 718b disposed at both ends on the driven shaft 717 is meshed with the drive gear 714, and the idle gears 718a, 718b are respectively connected to rack gear members via lifting gears 719a, 719b. 751a and 751b. That is,
The stack tray 700 is driven according to the rotation direction of the motor M70 via a drive system including these gear trains.
It can be moved up and down freely.

<Arrangement of Stacker Sensor> In FIG.
E701a and SE701b are sheet surface detection sensors, which are used for controlling the stacking surface of the sheet bundle discharged from the processing tray 630 to the stack tray 700 to be maintained at a constant height. SE702 is a sheet detection sensor for detecting the presence or absence of a sheet on the stack tray 700. The area detection sensor SE703 is a sensor for detecting that the number of sheets discharged from the processing tray 630 onto the stack tray 700 has reached a predetermined number.
It is detected from 701 that the sheet stacking amount has reached, for example, about 1000 sheets (area 1).

Similarly, the area detection sensor SE704 is
It is detected from the paper surface detection sensor SE701 that the sheet stacking amount has reached, for example, about 2000 sheets (area 2). SE
705 is a lower limit sensor of the stack tray 700,
This is used for lower limit position stop control when the stack tray is retracted downward. Note that the above area detection sensor SE703,
The number of sheets detected in SE704 is not limited to the above number.

<Description of Operation of Stack Tray> Next, the operation of the stack tray 700 will be described with reference to FIGS. The stack tray 700 is waiting at the position of the paper surface detection sensor before the operation starts. The sheet bundle aligned on the processing tray 630 is sequentially discharged to the stack tray 700. When the bundle discharging operation is completed, the stack tray 700 starts descending, and stops once when a predetermined amount has been lowered from the point where the sensor SE701 was turned on. After that, the stacker tray 700 moves up and the sheet surface detection sensor S
E701 stops again at the off position, and the next sheet bundle can be received. The above operation is repeated each time a sheet bundle is discharged from the processing tray 630.

In the standby state, the stack tray 70
The output of the paper surface detection sensor is periodically monitored so as to control the position of the stack tray so that the uppermost surface of the stack of 0 is located at the paper surface detection sensor SE701. Therefore, when a part or all of the paper on the stack tray 700 is removed in the standby state,
Control is performed so that the uppermost stacking surface or stack tray surface is located at the end of the paper surface detection sensor.

<Description of Finisher Control Block Diagram> FIG.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating details of a control unit 501 of the finisher 500. In the figure, reference numeral 5100 denotes a CPU 511.
0, ROM 5120, RAM 5130, etc.
The PU circuit unit communicates with the CPU circuit unit 150 of the image forming apparatus 1000 via the communication IC 5140 to exchange data, and performs control according to various programs stored in the ROM 5120.

M1 is an inlet motor which is a driving source of the pair of inlet rollers 502, conveying rollers 503 and conveying rollers 906, M2 is a buffer motor which is a driving source of the buffer rollers 505, M3 is a pair of conveying rollers 506 and a discharging roller pair. 5
07, a discharge motor as a driving source of the discharge roller pair 509, M
Reference numeral 4 denotes a bundle discharge motor that drives the discharge rollers 680a and 680b. The inlet motor M1, the buffer motor M2, and the paper discharge M3 are stepping motors. By controlling the excitation pulse rate, the roller pair driven by each motor can be rotated at a constant speed or at a unique speed. . Further, the drive circuits of the inlet motors M1 and M2 are configured to be capable of normal and reverse rotation.

Reference numeral 5201 denotes a driver circuit which drives the entrance motor M1, the buffer roller M2, the paper discharge motor M3, and the bundle discharge motor M4 in response to a signal from the CPU 5100. Reference numeral 5202 denotes a switch circuit for supplying power to the driver circuit 5201, which is controlled by a control signal 5203 from the CPU 5100. 5204 is the CPU 51
It is a driver circuit that drives the stack motor M70 in response to a signal from 00. 5205 is a driver circuit 5
204 is a switch circuit for supplying power to the
It is controlled by a control signal 5206 from 5100.
The driver circuit is composed of the driver circuit 5201 and the driver circuit 5
By dividing the power supply into the power supply control unit 204, the power supply of the entrance motor M1, the buffer roller M2, the paper discharge motor M3, the bundle discharge motor M4, and the stack motor M70 can be separately cut off during standby. Is possible.

SL1 is a solenoid for switching the switching flapper 510, SL2 is a solenoid for switching the switching flapper 511, and SL10 is a solenoid for switching the switching flapper 551. 5207
Are the switching solenoid SL1 and the switching solenoid SL
2. A driver circuit for driving the switching solenoid SL10, which drives the switching solenoid SL1, the switching solenoid SL2, and the switching solenoid SL10 in response to a signal from the CPU 5100.

Reference numeral 5208 denotes a paper surface detection sensor SE701
a, SE701b, area detection sensor SE703, SE
704, a switch circuit for supplying power to the lower limit sensor SE705, and a control signal 5209 from the CPU 5100.
Is controlled by By providing the switch circuit 5208, the paper surface detection sensors SE701a and SE701b and the area detection sensor SE7 can be used as needed during standby.
03, SE704 and the power supply of the lower limit sensor SE705 can be cut off.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view showing a conceptual example in which the program and related data of the present invention are supplied to the apparatus from a storage medium. The program code and related data of the present invention are:
Storage medium 1301 such as floppy disk or CD-ROM
To the storage medium drive insertion port 1 provided in the device 1302
Supplied at 303. After that, the program and related data of the present invention are temporarily installed on the hard disk from the storage medium 1301 and R
The program of the present invention can be executed by loading it into the AM or directly loading it into the RAM without installing it on the hard disk.

In this case, when the program of the present invention is executed in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, the present invention is applied to the image forming apparatus via a device such as a computer as shown in FIG. By supplying the program and related data of the present invention or storing the program and related data of the present invention in advance in the image forming apparatus,
Program execution becomes possible.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of the storage contents of the storage medium storing the program and related data of the present invention. The storage medium of the present invention is, for example, volume information 1
201, directory information 1202, program execution file 1203, program-related data file 120
4 and the like. The program of the present invention
This is program-coded based on flowcharts shown in FIGS. 7 to 9 described later.

Incidentally, the correspondence between each component in the claims of the present invention and each part in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is as follows. The stacking unit corresponds to the stack tray 700, and the holding unit is the stack motor M70, frames 750a and 750b, rack gear members 751a and 751b, and guide rollers 706a and 70.
6b and the like, and the power suppressing means is a CPU circuit unit 1
The stacking control unit corresponds to the finisher control unit 501, the sheet detecting unit corresponds to the sheet detecting sensor SE702, and the position detecting unit corresponds to the area detecting sensors SE703 and SE704.

Next, the state determination processing procedure in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above,
The mode determination processing procedure, the standby processing procedure, the current control based on the combination of phases, and the paper surface control will be described in detail.

<Description of State Determination Processing Procedure> The state determination processing will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the state determination process. Image forming apparatus 1000
State of the finisher 50 via the communication IC 5140.
0 is input to the CPU 5110. If the input state is the standby state of the image forming apparatus 1000 (step S101), a standby process is performed (step S10).
2). When the image forming apparatus 1000 is in the copy state (step S103), a mode determination process is performed (step S103).
104).

<Description of Mode Determination Processing Procedure> FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation mode determination processing procedure. First, the process waits until the finisher start signal is turned on (step S201). A start key for starting copying in the operation unit of the image forming apparatus 1000 is pressed, and a start signal is transmitted to the CP of the finisher 500 via the communication IC 5140.
When input to U5110, finisher start is turned on, and CPU 5110 outputs an energization start signal to each drive system to perform initialization operation of finisher 500. Then, the CPU 5110 starts driving the entrance motor M1 (step S202). Here, if the finisher start signal is not turned on, the standby state is continued.

Subsequently, it is confirmed whether or not there is a paper feed request from the inserter 900 in the data of the communication IC 5140 (step S203). If there is a request, a pre-inserter paper feed process described later is performed (step S204). . If there is no inserter sheet feed request in step S203, or if the pre-inserter sheet feed is completed, a sheet feed signal is output to the image forming apparatus 1000 via the communication IC 5140 (step S205). In response to this, the image forming apparatus 1000
Starts the image forming operation.

Next, from the image forming apparatus 1000 to the communication IC
The operation mode is determined based on the post-processing mode data transmitted via the 5140. If the operation mode is the bookbinding mode (step S206), the bookbinding mode is executed (step S207). If the operation mode is not the bookbinding mode in step S206, the sorting mode is determined (step S208). If the sorting mode is the non-sort mode, non-sort processing is performed (step S20).
9) If the sort mode is the sort mode, the sort process is performed (step S210), and if the sort mode is the staple sort mode, the staple sort process is performed (step S211). When any of the processes from step S209 to step S211 ends, the entrance motor M
1 is stopped (step S212), and step S20 is performed.
The process returns to the process 1 and enters the standby state.

In the pre-inserter sheet feeding process in step S204, when the inserter sheet feeding is designated, the processes in step S207, step S209, step S210, and step S211 are also performed at the beginning of the bundle process. Done.

<Description of Standby Processing Procedure> FIG. 9 illustrates the standby processing procedure and the control of the stack motor M70 at that time with reference to FIGS. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the standby processing procedure. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a control current for holding the stack tray 700. First, in the standby mode, the stack tray 70
The power supply of the drive system other than 0 is cut off (step S30).
1). The position of the stack tray 700 is adjusted by controlling the paper surface (step S302). Next, the paper on the stack tray 700 is detected by the paper detection sensor S702 (step S303).

If there is no sheet in the stack tray 700, energy saving processing is performed. In the energy saving process, the power of all sensors other than the sheet detection sensor SE702 of the stack tray is cut off (step S304). The control current for holding the stack tray 700 is set to the control current in the table of FIG. 10 (step S305). This current is a value required to hold a small number of sheets placed on the stack tray 700. If a sheet is placed on the stack tray 700, the energy saving process ends.

When there is a sheet in the stack tray 700, the position of the stack tray 700 is changed to the area 1 and the area 2 by the area detection sensors SE703 and SE704.
(Step S306). Actually, when it is at the position of the area 1, the control current is set to the control current in the table of FIG. 10 (step S307). If it is located at the position of the area 2, the control current is set to the control current in the table of FIG. 10 (step S308).

By detecting the paper in the tray even in the energy saving mode, the tray can be prevented from dropping even when paper is placed on the tray during standby. Further, since the control current for holding the tray can be variably set depending on the position of the tray, the power consumed by the apparatus can be suppressed.

<Description of Current Control by Combination of Phases>
The stack motor M70 is a stepping motor of 1-2 phase excitation. The control current for holding the stack tray 700 is variable according to the phase excitation pattern output when the stack motor M70 is stopped. That is, when the excitation phase is two-phase as shown by the arrow (a) in FIG. 10, the control current is set to a half of the one-phase control current as shown by the arrow (b). Since the control current can be set variably by the phase excitation pattern of the stack motor M70 (stepping motor), power consumption of the device can be suppressed.

<Description of paper surface control> FIG. 1 shows paper surface control.
1 will be described. FIG. 11 shows a paper surface detection sensor SE70.
It is a pattern table of ON and OFF of 1a and SE701b. First, paper surface detection sensors SE701a and SE701b
To detect the paper surface. Next, SE701a and SE7
11b by the stack motor M70 so that the ON / OFF pattern of the first tray 01b is as shown in FIG.
Adjust the position of 00. Actually, SE701a and SE701a
When the ON / OFF pattern of 701b is as shown in FIG. 11A, the stack tray 700 is lowered. SE701a
And the pattern of ON / OFF of SE701b is shown in FIG.
In this case, the stack tray 700 is lowered. SE7
01a and SE701b ON / OFF patterns are shown in FIG.
In the case of 1 c, the stack tray 700 is raised.

As described above, according to the image forming apparatus of the embodiment of the present invention, the stack tray 700 for stacking sheets, the stack motor M70 for holding the stack tray 700 movably in the vertical direction, CPU circuit unit 150 that controls the entire image forming apparatus and controls the execution of energy saving processing for minimizing power consumption.
And a sheet detection sensor SE702 for detecting the presence or absence of a sheet in the stack tray 700, and an area detection sensor SE70 for detecting that the sheet stacking amount has reached a predetermined number.
3. SE704, control to continue holding the stack tray 700 by the stack motor M70 during energy saving processing, control to make the torque of the stack motor M70 variable based on the detection result of the sheet detection sensor SE702, detection result of the lower limit sensor SE705 Based on the stack motor M70
And a finisher control unit 501 that performs control to vary the control current of the stack motor M70 in accordance with the phase excitation pattern of the stack motor M70.

In the above configuration, the stack tray 700
The stack motor M70 (stepping motor)
Since the locking is performed with the holding force, it is not necessary to activate the lock alarm at the time of stopping, so that it is possible to perform a quick ascent and descent operation. Further, since there is no need to use a worm gear on the motor shaft of the stack motor M70, it is possible to prevent the life of the stack motor M70 from being shortened and to stack a large number of sheet bundles. Further, since the motor shaft of the stack motor M70 is not locked by the brake means, it is possible to hold the stack tray 700 at low cost. By detecting the sheets on the stack tray 700 even in the energy saving mode, the stack tray 700 can be prevented from dropping even when sheets are placed on the stack tray 700 during standby.

Further, since the control current for holding the stack tray 700 can be variably set depending on the position of the stack tray 700, the power consumed by the apparatus can be suppressed. Further, the torque of the stack motor M70 (stepping motor) is made variable by the presence or absence of a sheet on the stack tray 700, the position of the stack tray 700, and the phase excitation pattern of the stack motor M70. Since the control current can be variably set depending on the pattern, power consumption during standby of the apparatus can be suppressed.

[Other Embodiments] In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, an image forming apparatus having a copying function has been described as an example of an image forming apparatus. However, the present invention has a copying function. The present invention is not limited to the image forming apparatus, and can be applied to various printers such as LBP other than the image forming apparatus having a copying function.

In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the case of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. Alternatively, the present invention can be applied to an image forming apparatus that forms an image other than the electrophotographic method.

Further, in the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the case where the image forming apparatus is provided with one stack tray which can be moved up and down has been described as an example. The present invention is not limited to an image forming apparatus equipped with a plurality of stack trays, and is applicable to an image forming apparatus equipped with a plurality of stack trays that can be moved up and down.

In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the case where the stack motor M70 is a stepping motor of 1-2 phase excitation has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to the stepping motor. Instead, another driving means having the same function as that of the stepping motor can be used.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of one device. A storage medium storing software program codes for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or an apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or the apparatus executes the program code stored in the storage medium. Needless to say, this can also be achieved by executing the reading.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CR
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

Further, when the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS or the like running on the computer is actually executed based on the instructions of the program code. It goes without saying that a part or all of the above-described processing is performed, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, The CPU provided in the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing,
It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by the processing is also included.

[0090]

As described above, the sheet processing apparatus according to claims 1 and 2, the image forming apparatus according to claims 6 and 7,
A method for controlling a loading means according to claim 11, wherein
According to the storage media described in (1) to (17), the holding means for holding the stacking means (stacking tray) for stacking the sheets is performed by the holding force of a motor such as a stepping motor. Therefore, it is possible to perform a quick ascent and descent operation. Further, since there is no need to use a worm gear on the shaft of the motor constituting the holding means, it is possible to prevent the life of the motor from being shortened and to enable stacking of a large number of sheet bundles. Further, since the motor shaft is not locked by the brake means, the loading tray can be held at low cost. By detecting the sheets on the stacking tray even during the energy saving mode, the stacking tray can be prevented from dropping even when sheets are placed on the stacking tray during standby.

Further, the sheet processing apparatus according to claims 3 to 5, the image forming apparatus according to claims 8 to 10, and the sheet processing apparatus according to claims 13 to
According to the loading means control method of the present invention, the control current of a motor such as a stepping motor constituting the holding means for holding the loading tray can be variably set according to the position of the loading tray. Thus, the power consumed by the device can be suppressed. Further, the torque of a motor such as a stepping motor constituting the holding means is made variable by the presence or absence of a sheet on the stacking tray, the position of the stacking tray, and the phase excitation pattern of the stepping motor. As a result, the control current can be variably set, so that power consumption during standby of the apparatus can be suppressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system of a copying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an internal structure of the copying apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing an internal structure of a folding apparatus and a finisher according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of a moving mechanism of the stack tray according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing an internal structure of a folding apparatus and a finisher according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a paper discharge motor driving unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a state determination process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a mode determination process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a standby process according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a control current table for holding a stack tray according to the embodiment of the present invention;
Is an explanatory diagram of the table (1), (B) is an explanatory diagram of the table (2), and (C) is an explanatory diagram of the table (3).

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an ON / OFF pattern of the paper surface detection sensor according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of storage contents of a storage medium storing a program and related data of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a conceptual example in which a program and related data of the present invention are supplied from a storage medium to an apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 150 CPU circuit section 501 Finisher control section 700 Stack tray 706a, 706b Guide roller 750a, 750b Frame 751a, 751b Rack gear member M70 Stack motor SE702 Paper detection sensor SE703, SE704 Area detection sensor

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C061 AP04 CK06 HH11 HJ02 HJ04 HK06 3F054 AA01 AC01 BA01 BD02 BD06 CA10 CA16 CA31 DA01

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. A sheet processing apparatus for performing a predetermined process on a sheet, comprising: loading means for loading the sheet; holding means for holding the loading means movably in a vertical direction; A sheet processing apparatus, comprising: a power suppressing unit that suppresses power consumption; and a loading control unit that performs control to continue holding of the loading unit by the holding unit during execution of the power suppression. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the stacking unit is a stacking tray for stacking the sheets, and the holding unit is a mechanism including a motor such as a stepping motor for holding the stacking tray movably in a vertical direction. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a sheet detecting unit configured to detect the presence or absence of a sheet in the stacking unit, wherein the stacking control unit determines a torque of the motor constituting the holding unit based on a detection result of the sheet detecting unit. 3. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein control for making the sheet variable is performed. 4. The motor control device according to claim 1, further comprising a position detecting unit configured to detect a position of the loading unit in the vertical direction, wherein the loading control unit is configured to control the motor constituting the holding unit based on a detection result of the position detecting unit. 3. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein control is performed to vary the torque. 5. The load control device according to claim 1, wherein the loading control device performs control for varying a control current of the motor in accordance with a phase excitation pattern of the motor constituting the holding device. Sheet processing equipment. 6. An image forming apparatus provided with a sheet processing device for performing sorting processing, binding processing, and the like of sheets on which images are formed, wherein the stacking unit stacks the sheets, and the stacking unit is movable in a vertical direction. Holding means, power suppressing means for suppressing power consumption to a necessary minimum, and loading control means for performing control to continue holding of the loading means by the holding means during execution of the power suppression. Characteristic image forming apparatus. 7. The stacking means is a stacking tray for stacking the sheets, and the holding means is a mechanism including a motor such as a stepping motor for holding the stacking tray movably in a vertical direction. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein 8. A sheet detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of a sheet in the loading means, wherein the loading control means detects a torque of the motor constituting the holding means based on a detection result of the sheet detecting means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the image forming apparatus performs control to make the image variable. 9. The motor according to claim 9, further comprising: a position detecting unit configured to detect a position of the loading unit in the vertical direction, wherein the loading control unit is configured to control the motor constituting the holding unit based on a detection result of the position detecting unit. 8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein control is performed to vary the torque. 10. The load control device according to claim 6, wherein the loading control device performs control for varying a control current of the motor in accordance with a phase excitation pattern of the motor constituting the holding device. Image forming device. 11. A stacking means control method applied to an image forming apparatus equipped with a sheet processing apparatus for performing a sort process, a binding process, and the like of a sheet on which an image has been formed, wherein the power is used to minimize power consumption. A suppression step;
A loading control step of performing control to continue holding of the loading means by a holding means that holds the loading means for loading the sheets movably in the vertical direction during the execution of the power suppression. Control method. 12. The stacking means is a stacking tray for stacking the sheets, and the holding means is a mechanism including a motor such as a stepping motor for holding the stacking tray movably in a vertical direction. Claim 11
The loading means control method described in the above. 13. A sheet detecting step for detecting the presence or absence of a sheet in the stacking means. In the stacking control step, a torque of the motor constituting the holding means is determined based on a detection result of the sheet detecting step. 12. The control according to claim 11, wherein the variable control is performed.
2. The loading means control method according to 2. 14. The motor control device according to claim 14, further comprising a position detecting step of detecting a position of the loading means in the vertical direction, wherein the loading control step includes a step of detecting the position of the motor constituting the holding means based on a detection result of the position detecting step. 13. The loading means control method according to claim 11, wherein control for varying the torque is performed. 15. The loading control step according to claim 11, wherein control is performed to vary a control current of the motor according to a phase excitation pattern of the motor constituting the holding unit. Loading means control method. 16. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for executing a stacking unit control method applied to an image forming apparatus equipped with a sheet processing apparatus for performing sorting processing, binding processing, and the like of sheets on which images are formed. Wherein the loading means control method comprises: a power suppressing step of suppressing power consumption to a necessary minimum; and a holding means for holding the loading means for loading the sheets movably in a vertical direction during the execution of the power saving. A loading control step of performing control to continue holding of the loading means by the storage medium. 17. The image forming apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the stacking unit is a stacking tray for stacking the sheets, and the holding unit is a mechanism including a motor such as a stepping motor for holding the stacking tray movably in a vertical direction. Claim 16
The storage medium according to the above. 18. The stacking means control method further includes a sheet detecting step of detecting the presence or absence of a sheet in the stacking means. In the stacking control step, the holding means controls the holding means based on a detection result of the sheet detecting step. 18. The storage medium according to claim 16, wherein control is performed to vary the torque of the motor that constitutes the storage medium. 19. The loading means control method further includes a position detecting step of detecting a position of the loading means in the vertical direction, wherein the loading control step includes the step of: holding the holding means based on a detection result of the position detecting step. 18. The storage medium according to claim 16, wherein control is performed to vary the torque of the motor constituting the means. 20. The loading control step according to claim 16, wherein control is performed such that a control current of the motor is varied according to a phase excitation pattern of the motor constituting the holding unit. Storage medium.