JP2001097631A - Sheet treatment device and its control method, sheet treatment method, and memory medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet treatment device which maintains a high productivity, does not generate a disorder to generate a sheet jamming, the damage of the sheet, and the like, even through various sorts of sheets with different attributes are conveyed, and can carry out a high quality of process. SOLUTION: When the sheet is not the final sheet of a paper bunch, the process goes on to Step S504, the sheet material is discriminated, and it is decided whether the special material flag is ON or not in the following step S505. And when the flag is ON, the process goes on to Step S514. That is, when the sheet conveyed is a special sheet with a different attribute, the winding by a buffer roller 505 is prohibited.

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 for conveying a sheet, a control method thereof, a sheet processing method,
And a storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, in a sheet processing apparatus that performs processing such as conveyance, stacking, and sorting of sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus or the like, a relatively long processing time typified by a sheet bundle binding operation is required. In order to avoid a decrease in processability due to downstream paper processing, a place to temporarily retract the paper is provided in the middle of the transport path, and the transport of the paper is temporarily stopped at the retreat location, and then the upstream side By simultaneously transporting a plurality of sheets together with other sheets conveyed from the printer, it is proposed to secure a time for sheet processing on the downstream side and avoid a decrease in overall processing efficiency regarding sheet processing. is there.

[0003]

However, paper, cover, cardboard, thin paper,
When a special sheet having an attribute different from that of a normal sheet such as a tab sheet or a color sheet is conveyed, for example, in the case of a thick sheet, due to the thickness of the sheet, a gap in a sheet conveyance path becomes narrower or the thick sheet becomes a sheet. The sheet at the evacuation point, it becomes curled, the thickness of the sheet further increases due to the deformation due to the curl, the gap of the conveying path becomes narrower and more, the conveying load increases, and the paper There is a possibility that a trouble such as a jam occurs. Also, for example, in the case of color paper, the color paper is similarly deformed into a curl shape, and the gap between the color paper and the conveyance path becomes narrower at the sheet retreat location and subsequent discharge,
It receives a strong transport load from transport rollers, etc.
As a result, there is a possibility that a defect such as a roller mark is generated on the surface of the color paper.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and maintains high productivity. Even if various types of sheets having different attributes are conveyed, sheet jams, sheet damage, and the like may occur. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet processing apparatus capable of executing high-quality processing without causing a problem such as occurrence thereof, a control method thereof, a sheet processing method, and a storage medium.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
Conveying means for conveying the sheet to a discharge port along a conveying path, staying means for temporarily staying the sheet on the conveying path, and determining whether the sheet conveyed by the conveying means is special paper. It is characterized by comprising a discriminating means for discriminating, and a staying number limiting means for limiting the number of sheets to be stayed by the staying means when the sheet conveyed by the conveying means is special paper.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing apparatus according to the first aspect, there is provided a staying number detecting means for detecting the number of sheets stayed by the staying means, and the staying number limiting means comprises: Based on the detection result of the staying number detecting means, it is determined whether or not the sheet staying in the staying means has reached a predetermined number set in advance in association with the special paper, and the sheet staying in the staying means is determined. When the predetermined number of sheets is reached, control is performed such that the conveyance of the staying sheet by the conveyance means is restarted.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing apparatus according to the first aspect, when the sheet conveyed by the conveying means is special paper, the staying number restricting means inhibits the staying by the staying means. It is characterized by doing.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing apparatus according to the first aspect, based on a detection result of the staying sheet number detecting means for detecting the number of sheets stayed by the staying means, and a detection result of the staying sheet number detecting means. Determining means for determining whether or not the number of sheets retained in the retaining means has reached a preset maximum number of sheets in association with a normal sheet; and the number of sheets retained in the retaining means has reached the maximum number of sheets. And control means for controlling the conveyance means to restart conveyance of the stayed sheet.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing apparatus of the first aspect, there is provided a sheet detecting means for detecting a position of the sheet in the transport path, and the sheet detecting means detects a sheet downstream of the staying means. When the control unit detects that there is a sheet, the control unit temporarily suspends the restart of the conveyance of the stayed sheet by the conveyance unit.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the special paper is a sheet from a sheet set tray, a sheet designated as a cover sheet, a sheet designated as a thick sheet, or a sheet designated as a thin sheet. , A tabbed sheet, or a color sheet.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet processing apparatus comprising: a conveying means for conveying a sheet to a discharge port along a conveying path; and a staying means for temporarily staying the sheet on the conveying path. Determining whether or not the sheet conveyed by the conveying means is special paper, and, if the sheet conveyed by the conveying means is special paper, the sheet retained by the retaining means And limiting the number of sheets.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing method of the seventh aspect, the number of sheets retained by the retaining means is detected, and the sheets retained in the retaining means are associated with the special paper. It is determined whether or not the number of sheets that have been set in advance has reached the predetermined number of sheets. When the number of sheets retained in the retaining means reaches the predetermined number of sheets, conveyance of the retained sheets is restarted. The number of sheets to be retained is limited by the number of sheets.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing method according to the seventh aspect, when the sheet conveyed by the conveyance means is special paper, the stagnation by the stagnation means is inhibited, whereby the stagnation means is provided. The number of sheets to be retained is limited by the number of sheets.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing method according to the seventh aspect, a step of detecting the number of sheets retained by the retaining means, and the number of sheets retained in the retaining means based on the detection result. Determining whether the maximum number of sheets set in advance in association with a normal sheet has been reached; and, when the number of sheets retained in the retaining means has reached the maximum number of sheets, Controlling the sheet conveyance to be restarted.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the sheet processing method according to the seventh aspect, further comprising a step of detecting a position of the sheet in the conveyance path, wherein the sheet detecting means includes a sheet downstream of the staying means. When it detects that
The conveyance of the stayed sheet by the conveyance means is temporarily suspended.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing method according to the seventh aspect, the special paper is a sheet from a sheet set tray, a sheet designated as a cover sheet, a sheet designated as a thick sheet, or a sheet designated as a thin sheet. , Tabbed sheet,
It is characterized by being at least one of color paper.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet processing apparatus for conveying a sheet from an upstream side to a downstream side, wherein a staying means capable of staying the sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side, And a control unit for prohibiting a stay operation of the sheet by the staying unit in accordance with a type of the sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side via the staying unit.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing apparatus according to the thirteenth aspect, the accumulating means is provided in accordance with a type of a sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side via the accumulating means. The sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side via the accumulating means is conveyed to the downstream side via the accumulating means without being accumulated by the accumulating means.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing apparatus according to the fourteenth aspect, the sheet from the upstream side includes a normal recording sheet and a special recording sheet different in type from the normal recording sheet. , The control means comprises:
Depending on the type of the sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side, the sheet is allowed to stay by the staying means in accordance with the normal recording sheet, and the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side is allowed. When the type of sheet from the side is the special recording sheet, the sheet staying operation by the staying means is prohibited.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing apparatus of the fifteenth aspect, the special recording sheet comprises:
It is characterized by including at least one of a cover sheet, a tab sheet, a thick paper, a thin paper, and a color sheet.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing apparatus of the thirteenth aspect, the staying means includes a roller capable of winding a sheet.

According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing apparatus of the seventeenth aspect, the roller is capable of winding a plurality of sheets.

According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing apparatus of the eighteenth aspect, the roller winds the plurality of sheets one by one in a state shifted in the sheet conveying direction.

According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing apparatus of the thirteenth aspect, storage means for storing sheets is provided on the downstream side, and the sheet from the upstream side is conveyed toward the storage means. It is characterized by doing.

According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing apparatus according to the thirteenth aspect, the control means determines that a sheet of another group different from the group from the upstream side to be conveyed to the storage means. According to another aspect of the present invention, the sheet holding operation is performed by the staying means in response to the fact that the sheet is already present in the storage means.

According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing apparatus according to the twenty-first aspect, the control means determines whether the sheet of the other group already existing in the storage means is removed from the storage means. The sheet from the upstream side may be retained by the retaining unit, and the conveying operation of the sheet retained by the retaining unit may be restarted in response to the removal of the sheet of the other group from the storage unit. Features.

According to a twenty-third aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing apparatus according to the twentieth aspect, the control means determines that a sheet belonging to another group different from the group from the upstream side to be conveyed to the storage means. When the sheet does not exist in the storage unit, the sheet staying operation by the staying unit is prohibited regardless of the type of the sheet from the upstream side.

According to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing apparatus according to the thirteenth aspect, the staying means is capable of staying a plurality of sheets, and the control means is configured to control the number of sheets held by the staying means. In accordance with the number of sheets, the operation of conveying the sheets retained by the retaining means to the downstream side is restarted.

According to a twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet processing apparatus for transporting a sheet from an upstream side to a downstream side, wherein the staying means is capable of retaining a plurality of sheets from the upstream side to be transported to the downstream side. And, depending on the type of sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side via the staying means,
Control means for varying the number of sheets to be retained by the retaining means.

According to a twenty-sixth aspect of the present invention, in the sheet processing apparatus of the twenty-fifth aspect, the sheet from the upstream side includes a normal recording sheet and a special recording sheet different in type from the normal recording sheet. The number of retained special recording sheets to be retained by the retaining means is smaller than the number of retained ordinary recording sheets.

According to a twenty-seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet processing apparatus comprising: a conveying means for conveying a sheet from an upstream side to a downstream side; and a staying means capable of staying a sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side. A method for controlling an apparatus, comprising a step of prohibiting a stay operation of a sheet by the stay means according to a type of a sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side via the stay means. And

According to a twenty-eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet processing apparatus comprising: a conveying means for conveying a sheet from an upstream side to a downstream side; and a staying means capable of staying a sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side. A program for causing the apparatus to execute a step of prohibiting a sheet stay operation by the stay means in accordance with a type of a sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side via the stay means is stored. It is characterized by.

According to a twenty-ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a conveying means for conveying a sheet from an upstream side to a downstream side, and a staying means capable of staying a plurality of sheets from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side. A method of controlling a sheet processing apparatus, the method comprising: varying the number of sheets to be retained by the retention unit according to a type of a sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side via the retention unit. It is characterized by having.

According to a thirty-fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a conveying means for conveying a sheet from an upstream side to a downstream side, and a staying means capable of staying a plurality of sheets from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side. A program for causing a sheet processing apparatus to execute a step of varying the number of sheets to be retained by the retaining unit according to the type of sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side via the retaining unit. Is stored.

[0035]

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

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus to which a sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is connected.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1000 includes an image reader 200 for reading a document image and a printer 300.
A folding device 400 and a finisher 500 are mounted.

The image reader 200 has a document feeder 100 mounted thereon. The document feeder 100 feeds a document set upward on the document tray one sheet at a time in order from the first page to the left, flows down the platen glass 102 from the left through a curved path, passes through the reading position, The sheet is conveyed to the right, and then discharged toward an external discharge tray 112. When the document passes through the scanning reading position on the platen glass 102 from left to right, the document image is read by the scanner unit 104 held at a position corresponding to the scanning reading position. This reading method is referred to as original flow reading. When the document passes the moving reading position, the reading surface of the document is irradiated with the light of the lamp 103 of the scanner unit 104, and the reflected light from the document is guided to the lens 108 via the mirrors 105, 106, and 107. The light that has passed through the lens 108 forms an image on the imaging surface of the image sensor 109.

As described above, the original is transported so as to pass through the flow reading position from left to right, so that the direction perpendicular to the original transport direction is the main scanning direction and the original transport direction is the sub-scanning direction. A read scan is performed. That is, when the document passes through the scanning reading position, the document is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction while the document image is read line by line by the image sensor 109 in the main scanning direction, and the entire document image is read. The image that has been read is converted into image data by the image sensor 109 and output. The image data output from the image sensor 109 is input to the exposure control unit 110 of the printer 300 as a video signal after being subjected to predetermined processing in an image signal control unit 202 described later.

The original is conveyed onto the platen glass 102 by the original feeder 100 and stopped at a predetermined position.
In this state, the original can be read by scanning the scanner unit 104 from left to right. This reading method is referred to as original fixed reading.

When reading a document without using the document feeder 100, first, the user feeds the document feeder 1
00 is lifted, the original is placed on the platen glass 102, and the original is read by scanning the scanner unit 104 from left to right. That is, when reading a document without using the document feeder 100, fixed document reading is performed.

The exposure controller 110 of the printer 300 modulates and outputs a laser beam based on the input video signal, and the laser beam is irradiated on the photosensitive drum 111 while being scanned by a polygon mirror or the like. Photosensitive drum 11
An electrostatic latent image corresponding to the scanned laser light is formed on the surface 1. The electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 111 is
Is visualized as a developer image by the developer supplied from the printer. Further, paper is fed from each of the cassettes 114 and 115, the manual paper feeding unit 125, or the double-sided conveyance path 124 at a timing synchronized with the start of the laser beam irradiation, and the paper is fed between the photosensitive drum 111 and the transfer unit 116. Transported to The developer image formed on the photosensitive drum 111 is transferred to the transfer unit 1
The image is transferred onto the paper fed by the printer 16.

The sheet on which the developer image has been transferred is fixed to the fixing unit 117.
The fixing unit 117 fixes the developer image on the sheet by hot-pressing the sheet. The sheet that has passed through the fixing unit 117 is discharged from the printer 300 to the outside (folding device 400) via the flapper 121 and the discharge roller 118.

Here, when the sheet is ejected with its image forming surface facing downward (face down), the sheet that has passed through the fixing unit 117 is once guided into the reversing path 122 by the switching operation of the flapper 121, and After the trailing edge of the sheet passes through the flapper 121, the sheet is switched back and discharged from the printer 300 by the discharge roller 118. Hereinafter, this paper discharge mode is referred to as reverse paper discharge. This reverse ejection is performed when forming images sequentially from the top page, such as when forming an image read using the document feeder 100 or when forming an image output from a computer. The sheet order after the ejection is the correct page order.

Also, when a hard sheet such as an OHP sheet is fed from the manual feed unit 125 and an image is formed on the sheet, the image forming surface faces upward without guiding the sheet to the reversing path 122. The paper is discharged by the discharge roller 118 in (face up).

Further, when double-sided recording for forming an image on both sides of a sheet is set, the sheet is guided to a reversing path 122 by a switching operation of a flapper 121 and then conveyed to a two-sided conveying path 124. The sheet guided to the photosensitive drum 111 and the transfer unit 1
The control for re-feeding the sheet between S.16 and S.16 is performed.

Next, image formation in fixed original reading and original moving reading will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow relating to image formation in each of the fixed original reading and the original moving reading of the image forming apparatus of FIG.

At the time of original fixed reading, the original image is scanned by scanning the scanner unit 104 from left to right as described above. That is, as shown in FIG. 2A, a reading scan in which the main scanning direction is Sy and the sub-scanning direction is Sx is performed on the document image, and the image sensor 10
9 reads the image. This image sensor 10
9 in the main scanning direction Sy.
The read image is sequentially converted into laser light by the exposure control unit 110, and the laser light is scanned by the polygon mirror 110a to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 111. When the electrostatic latent image thus formed is transferred to a sheet, an image that is not a mirror image is formed on the sheet.

On the other hand, at the time of moving original reading, FIG.
As shown in (b), a reading scan in which the main scanning direction is Sy and the sub-scanning direction is Sx is performed on the document image, and the image is read by the image sensor 109. here,
At the time of moving original reading, the original is conveyed from left to right, so that the sub-scanning direction is opposite to the sub-scanning direction at the time of fixed original reading. Therefore, the image sensor 109
Is a mirror image of the original image, and it is necessary to correct this mirror image to a correct image. Therefore, for the image read by the image sensor 109,
Mirror image processing is performed to obtain a correct image. In this mirror image processing, an image read in one direction in the main scanning direction is reversed in the direction opposite to one direction in the main scanning direction. The image read by the image sensor 109 is converted into a correct image by this mirror image processing, and the photosensitive drum 1
An electrostatic latent image after mirror image processing is formed on 11. When the electrostatic latent image thus formed is transferred to a sheet, an image that is not a mirror image is formed on the sheet. Then, the sheet on which this image is formed is ejected with its image forming surface facing downward by reverse ejection,
Since the trailing edge of the sheet discharged by this reverse ejection is the left edge of the image, the binding of the trailing edge by the finisher 500 enables the left edge of the sheet to be bound to the image, as described later. Become.

The mirror image processing can be performed by changing the sub-scanning direction. In this case, however, the mirror image processing cannot be performed until one page of the image is read, or the mirror image processing cannot be performed. In consideration of binding the left end position of the image of the sheet by the rear end binding after the discharge, the mirror image processing by changing the main scanning direction is preferable.

The sheet discharged from the printer 300 is sent to the folding device 400. The folding device 400 performs a process of folding a sheet into a Z shape. For example, A3 size or B
If the sheet is a four-size sheet and the folding process is designated, the folding device 400 performs the folding process. Otherwise, the sheet discharged from the printer 300 is
0 and is sent to the finisher 500. The finisher 500 is provided with an inserter 900 for feeding a special sheet such as a cover sheet or a slip sheet to be inserted into a sheet on which an image is formed. The finisher 500 performs various processes such as bookbinding, binding, and punching.

Next, the configuration of a controller that controls the entire image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a controller that controls the entire image forming apparatus of FIG.

The controller, as shown in FIG.
The CPU circuit unit 150 includes a U circuit unit 150.
(Not shown), built-in ROM 151 and RAM 152,
Each of the blocks 101, 153, and 20 is controlled by a control program (including a program for executing processing shown in flowcharts and the like described later) stored in the ROM 151.
1, 202, 209, 301, 401 and 501 are generally controlled. The RAM 152 temporarily stores control data and is used as a work area for arithmetic processing associated with control.

The document feeder control section 101 controls the drive of the document feeder 100 based on an instruction from the CPU circuit section 150. The image reader control unit 201 performs drive control on the above-described scanner unit 104, image sensor 109, and the like, and transfers an analog image signal output from the image sensor 109 to the image signal control unit 202.

The image signal control unit 202 converts the analog image signal from the image sensor 109 into a digital signal and then performs various processes. The digital signal is converted into a video signal and output to the printer control unit 301. The digital image signal input from the computer 210 via the external I / F 209 is subjected to various processes, and the digital image signal is converted into a video signal and output to the printer control unit 301. The processing operation of the image signal control unit 202 is controlled by the CPU circuit unit 150. The printer control unit 301 drives the above-described exposure control unit 110 based on the input video signal.

The operation unit 153 includes a plurality of keys for setting various functions related to image formation, a display unit for displaying information indicating a setting state, and the like, and transmits a key signal corresponding to operation of each key to the CPU circuit unit. 150 and the CP
The corresponding information is displayed on the display unit based on the signal from the U circuit unit 150.

The folding device control unit 401 is mounted on the folding device 400, and controls the driving of the entire folding device by exchanging information with the CPU circuit unit 150.

The finisher control section 501 is mounted on the finisher 500, and controls the drive of the entire finisher by exchanging information with the CPU circuit section 150. The details of this control will be described later.

Next, the configuration of the image signal control unit 202 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the image signal control unit 202 of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4, the image signal control unit 202 has an image processing unit 203 that converts an analog image signal from the image reader control unit 201 into a digital signal and performs various processes on the digital signal. This image processing unit 2
In step 03, various processing such as shading correction, density correction, and editing processing (enlargement / reduction scaling processing, etc.) set by the operation unit 153 are performed, and the signal after this processing is stored in the line memory 204 as video data. Is stored.
When the bookbinding mode is selected, images are allocated to sheets based on the number of read original pages and the number of image data pages input via the external I / F 203.

The line memory 204 is a memory for performing the above-mentioned mirror image processing. If necessary, one line of video data read in one of the main scanning directions is read from the memory in the main scanning direction. The direction is reversed with respect to one of the directions. The video data output from the line memory 204 is stored in the page memory 205.

The page memory 205 stores the original 1 of a predetermined size.
It has a storage capacity for a page, and video data is stored in the page memory 205 in the order of output from the line memory 204. At the time of original fixed reading, the stored video data is read out in the order of storage. In addition, the page memory 205 is connected to the external I / F 2 from the computer 210.
09 is stored.

The video data read from the page memory 205 is sent directly to the printer control unit 301 and, if necessary, temporarily stored in the hard disk 206 and then sent out to the printer control unit 301. This hard disk 206 is used for a process of changing the page order.

Next, the configurations of the folding device 400 and the finisher 500 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the folding device 400 and the finisher 500 of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, the folding device 400 has a folding conveyance horizontal path 402 for introducing the paper discharged from the printer 300 and guiding it to the finisher 500 side. On the folding conveyance horizontal path 402, the conveyance roller pair 40
3 and a transport roller pair 404 are provided. Also,
Exit of folding transport horizontal path 402 (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.

When the folding process is performed, the folding path selection flapper 410 is turned on, and the sheet is folded.
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 sent directly from the printer 300 to the finisher 500 via the folding transport horizontal path 402.

The finisher 500 takes in the sheets ejected 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.

As shown in FIG. 5, the finisher 500 has an inlet roller pair 502 for guiding the paper discharged from the printer 300 via the folding device 400 to the inside. Downstream of the entrance roller pair 502, a switching flapper 551 for guiding the sheet to the finisher path 552 or the first bookbinding path 553 is provided.

The sheet guided to the finisher path 552 passes through a pair of transport rollers 503 and a buffer roller 505.
Sent to The transport roller pair 503 and the buffer roller 505 are configured to be capable of normal and reverse rotation.

Inlet roller pair 502 and transport roller pair 503
An entrance sensor 531 is provided between them. In the vicinity of the upstream of the entrance sensor 531 in the paper transport direction, the second bookbinding path 554 branches off from the finisher path 552. Hereinafter, this branch point is referred to as branch A. This branch A
Makes a branch from the entrance roller pair 502 to the transport path for transporting the paper to the transport roller pair 503, and the transport roller pair 503 reverses to transport the paper from the transport roller pair 503 to the entrance sensor 531. At this time, the second binding path 55
It forms a branch having a one-way mechanism that is transported only to the four sides.

The transport roller pair 503 and the buffer roller 50
Between the five, a punch unit 550 is provided, and the punch unit 550 operates as needed, and punches near the rear end of the conveyed sheet.

The buffer roller 505 is a roller capable of laminating and winding a predetermined number of sheets fed to the outer periphery thereof, and is wound around the outer periphery of the roller by pressing rollers 512, 513, 514 as necessary. . The sheet wound around the buffer roller 505 is conveyed in the rotation direction of the buffer roller 505.

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. Switching flapper 5
Reference numeral 10 denotes a non-sort path 52 which separates the paper wound around the buffer roller 505 from the buffer roller 505 and
1, or a flapper for guiding to the sort path 522. The switching flapper 511 separates the sheet wound around the buffer roller 505 from the buffer roller 505 and winds the sheet wound around the sort path 522 or the buffer roller 505. Buffer pass 5 in state
23 is a flapper for leading to 23.

One or a plurality of sheets from the upstream side (the image forming apparatus main body or the inserter 900) to be conveyed toward the tray 630 (or the tray 701) are wound around the buffer roller 505 to temporarily transfer the sheets. By staying, the speed difference between the processing speed on the image forming apparatus side and the processing speed on the finisher side can be absorbed without lowering the productivity on the image forming apparatus side.

For example, assuming that the processing speed of the image forming apparatus is faster than the processing speed of the finisher, a sheet of a certain group is processed by the processing tray 63.
In a case where the sheets are stacked on the stacker 0 and the stapling process is being performed by the stapler 601, sheets of another group (or another job) different from the sheets of the group are carried into the finisher 500 from the image forming apparatus main body side, and It is assumed that the sheet is a sheet to be conveyed to the tray 630 side, similarly to the group of.

In such a situation, since the staple processing of the preceding group is currently performed on the processing tray 630, the sheets of the subsequent group are
If it is conveyed to the 30 side, a problem occurs.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a configuration is considered in which the processing on the image forming apparatus side is temporarily stopped, and the processing on the finisher side is completed and then resumed. There is a possibility that the productivity of the image forming apparatus may be reduced.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, as in the above-described example, the destination of the sheet of the preceding group is the same as the destination of the sheet of the succeeding group, and the sheet of the preceding group is located at a certain position (in the finisher 500). For example, processing tray 6
30), if it is being processed (or is about to be processed), the subsequent group of sheets is temporarily wound around a buffer roller 505 that can wind one or more sheets (three in the following example). As soon as the processing of the sheets of the preceding group is completed, the buffer roller 50
Release from 5 and transport again. This will be described below using a specific example.

For example, while the processing of the sheets of the preceding group (sheet alignment processing, stapling processing, bundle discharge processing, etc.) is being performed on the processing tray 630, the sheets of the succeeding group consisting of three pages are processed. Finisher 50
The following describes an example of a case where the pages are sequentially conveyed from the first page to the inside.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, the winding operation by the buffer roller 505 on the first sheet of the succeeding group consisting of three pages is started, and a predetermined position (the installation position of the sensor 532) on the buffer path 523 is started. The buffer roller 505 is rotated until the leading end of the sheet reaches (near) (the rotation direction is indicated by an arrow in FIG. 5), and when the leading end of the sheet reaches the predetermined position, the buffer roller 505 is stopped ( At this point, the processing of the sheets of the preceding group has not been completed yet).

Thereafter, the first page is wound on the first page sheet at such a timing that the second page sheet can be wound on top of the first page sheet with a slight deviation from the leading end of the first page sheet. The rotation operation of the buffer roller 505 in the set state is restarted (the rotation direction is indicated by an arrow in FIG. 5). Then, in a state where the sheet of the second page is slightly shifted from the leading edge of the sheet of the first page, the sheet of the second page is overlapped on the sheet of the first page,
The winding operation by the buffer roller 505 is performed (that is, when the leading edge of the first page sheet passes through the roller 512 from the lower side to the upper side, the second page sheet is stacked on the first page sheet. As described above, the rotation of the buffer roller 505 is maintained until the leading end of the sheet reaches the predetermined position on the buffer path 523, and the leading end of the sheet reaches the predetermined position. At this point, the rotation of the buffer roller 505 is stopped.

Thereafter, the first page and the second page are placed on the second page sheet at such a timing that the third page sheet can be superimposed and wound on the second page sheet slightly shifted from the leading end of the second page sheet. The rotation operation of the buffer roller 505 in a state where the page is wound is restarted (the rotation direction is indicated by an arrow in FIG. 5). Then, with the third sheet slightly shifted from the leading end of the second sheet,
It is actually wound by the buffer roller 505 so as to overlap the sheet of the page.

As for the positional relationship of each sheet in the buffer roller 505 when a plurality of sheets are wound around the buffer roller 505, first, the direction in which the sheets are shifted is on the sheet conveying direction side. Then, a plurality of sheets are wound around the buffer roller 505 in a state where each sheet is shifted so that the sheet on the first page side is located at the most downstream side in the sheet conveying direction, and the subsequent pages are on the upstream side in the sheet conveying direction. In this way, by controlling a plurality of sheets to be wound around the buffer roller 505 in a state of being slightly shifted for each sheet, the roller 505 is controlled.
When the plurality of sheets wound around are peeled off from the rollers 505 and transported downstream in the sheet transport direction,
The plurality of sheets can be conveyed while maintaining the page order of these sheets.

The final processing of the preceding group of sheets on the processing tray 630 (for example, tray 6
In response to the confirmation that the sheet bundle discharging process from the sheet bundle 30 to the tray 700 has been completed, the flapper 511 is switched to the path 522 side, and the sheets are wound around the buffer roller 505 with a slight shift for each sheet. These three sheets are peeled off from the buffer roller 505 in the vicinity of the roller 514 (that is, in this case, between the time when the third sheet is wound and the time when the buffer roller 505 makes one rotation). These sheets are peeled off from the roller 505), and the plurality of sheets are guided toward the path 522 without changing the page order. Then, the sheet is stacked on the processing tray 630 via the roller 507. When the sheet is ejected from the roller 507, the sheet is ejected with the image forming surface facing downward, and the sheet is stacked with the image forming surface facing downward (that is, the processing tray 63).
The sheet on the lowermost layer side of the sheet bundle on page 0 is the sheet on the first page side, and the sheet on the uppermost layer is the sheet on the last page side.)

The finisher 500 as described above is used.
Internally, in units of pages (one recording sheet)
The CPU mounted on the finisher 500 acquires information on the processing status of the sheet based on detection results from a plurality of sensors including the various sensors shown in FIG. 5, and obtains the information via a signal line. The CPU of the main body that has notified the forming apparatus main body and received the information adjusts the start timing of the image forming operation as appropriate, for example, in order to control the conveyance interval between the sheets.

The CPU mounted on the finisher 500 and the CPU mounted on the image forming apparatus main body side
Communicates various kinds of data, such as status information, execution instruction data, information on the attribute (type) of a sheet to be conveyed (to be described later), and control data, via a signal line. By doing this, it is possible to control whether or not to execute the sheet winding and staying operation with respect to the buffer roller 505 (this will also be described later), as described above, the execution timing of the rotation start and rotation stop of the buffer roller 505, Controls the timing of the sheet conveying operation.

The sheet guided to the non-sort path 521 by the switching flapper 510 is discharged onto the sample tray 701 via the discharge roller pair 509. In the middle of the non-sort path 521, a paper ejection sensor 533 for detecting a jam or the like is provided.

The sort path 52 is switched by the switching flapper 510.
The sheet guided to 2 is stacked on an intermediate tray (hereinafter, referred to as a processing tray) 630 via conveyance rollers 506 and 507. The sheets stacked on the intermediate tray 630 are subjected to alignment processing, staple processing, and the like as necessary, and then are discharged onto the stack tray 700 by discharge rollers 680a and 680b. The stapler 601 is used for stapling processing for binding sheets stacked in a bundle on the processing tray 630. The operation of the stapler 601 will be described later. The stack tray 700 is configured to be able to run in the vertical direction by itself.

The first binding path 553 and the second binding path 554
Is stored in a storage guide 820 by a pair of transport rollers 813, and further transported until the leading end of the paper contacts a movable sheet positioning member 823. A bookbinding entrance sensor 817 is arranged on the upstream side of the transport roller pair 813. Also, at the middle position of the storage guide 820, 2
A pair of staplers 818 are provided, and the stapler 818 is configured to bind the center of the sheet bundle in cooperation with an anvil 819 opposed thereto.

A folding roller pair 826 is provided downstream of the stapler 818. A projecting member 825 is provided at a position facing the folding roller pair 816. By projecting the protruding member 825 toward the sheet bundle stored in the storage guide 820, the sheet bundle is pushed out between the folding roller pair 826, and the folding roller pair 826 is pushed.
After being folded by the origami paper ejection roller 827
Is discharged to the saddle discharge tray 832. A bookbinding discharge sensor 830 is provided downstream of the origami discharge roller 827.
Is arranged.

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

The inserter 900 is a finisher 500
A special sheet on which an image is formed in advance, which is used as a cover sheet or a sheet for an interleaf sheet, which is provided on the image forming apparatus side and which is formed on the image forming apparatus side, without passing through an image forming unit. The sheet is directly guided into the inside of the tray 500, and sequentially separates a cover sheet and a sheet bundle forming an interleaving sheet stacked on the tray 901 and conveys the sheet bundle to the finisher path 552 or the bookbinding path 553. Here, the special paper is stacked on the tray 901 of the inserter 900 in a normal view when viewed from the operator. That is, the special paper is placed in the tray 9 with its surface facing upward (the image forming surface is facing upward).
01.

The special paper on the tray 901 is conveyed by the conveyance roller feeding roller 902 to a separation section including the conveyance roller 903 and the separation belt 904, and is separated and conveyed one by one from the top sheet one by one.

At the downstream side of the separation section, a pulling roller pair 9
The special paper separated by the pull-out roller pair 905 is stably guided to the transport path 908. A paper feed sensor 9 is provided on the downstream side of the pull-out roller pair 905.
In addition, a conveyance roller 906 for guiding the special paper on the conveyance path 908 to the entrance roller pair 502 is provided between the paper supply sensor 907 and the entrance roller pair 502.

Next, a control procedure in the finisher 500 will be described with reference to FIGS.
The control procedure of the finisher 500 is the same as that of the CPU circuit unit 1.
The processing is executed by the finisher control unit 501 in response to an instruction from 50.

First, the mode determination processing will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the procedure of the mode determination process in the finisher of the image forming apparatus of FIG.

In the mode determination process, as shown in FIG.
First, in step S1, the process waits for a finisher start signal (sorter start signal) instructing the start of the operation of the finisher 500 to be turned on. The start signal is sent from the CPU circuit unit 150 to the finisher control unit 5 when a start key instructing the start of copying in the operation unit 153 is pressed.
01 is output. Until the start signal is output, the finisher 500 remains in the standby state.

When the start signal to the finisher 500 is output, the process proceeds to step S2, in which the drive of the entrance motor, the buffer motor, the paper discharge motor, etc. is started. In the subsequent step S3, the set operation mode is set to the non-sort mode. It is determined whether the mode is the sort mode or the staple sort mode.

If the set operation mode is the non-sort mode, the flow advances to step S4 to execute the non-sort processing. When the set operation mode is the sort mode, the process proceeds to step S5 to execute the sort processing. When the set operation mode is the staple sort mode, the process proceeds to step S6, and the staple sort process is executed. And when the corresponding process is executed,
Proceeding to step S7, the entrance motor, buffer motor, and paper discharge motor are turned off, and the process returns to step S1 again to wait for the output of the finisher start signal.

When the paper supply from the inserter 900 is designated, the special paper supplied from the inserter 900 in each of the processes of steps S4, S5, and S6 is processed together with other normal papers. .

Next, the non-sort processing in step S4 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the non-sort processing in step S4 of FIG.

In the non-sort processing, as shown in FIG.
First, in step S101, the switching flapper 511 is driven to select the non-sort path 521. At this time,
The finisher path 552 is selected by the switching flapper 551. In the following step S102, it is determined whether or not a finisher start signal (sorter start signal) for the finisher 500 has been turned on. When the finisher start signal is turned on, the sheet discharged from the printer 300 is carried into the finisher 500. In step S103, it is determined whether the path sensor 531 is on or not.
If is not ON, the process returns to step S102 again. On the other hand, when the path sensor 531 is ON, it is determined that the leading edge of the sheet conveyed into the finisher 500 has reached the path sensor 531 and the process proceeds to step S.
The process proceeds to step 104, and waits for the path sensor 531 to be turned off. When the path sensor 531 is turned off, it is determined that the sheet has passed the path sensor 531 and the process returns to step S102. To continue.

If it is determined in step S102 that the finisher start signal has been turned off, it is determined that the image formation on the printer 300 has been completed, and the process proceeds to step S102.
The process proceeds to step S105, and waits for all the sheets to be discharged onto the sample tray 701. When all the sheets have been discharged, the process proceeds to step S106, the flapper 511 is turned off, and the process exits.

Next, the sorting process in step S5 in FIG. 6 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the sorting process in step S5 of FIG.

In the sorting process, as shown in FIG. 8, first, in step S201, the flapper 511 is driven.
Select the sort path 522. At this time, the finisher path 552 is selected by the switching flapper 551. In a succeeding step S202, it is determined whether or not the finisher start signal is turned on. When the finisher start signal is on, the printer 300
Is discharged into the finisher 500, it is determined in step S203 whether or not the path sensor 531 is ON. If the path sensor 531 is not ON, the flow returns to step S202 again.

On the other hand, when the path sensor 531 is on, it is determined that the leading edge of the sheet conveyed into the finisher 500 has reached the path sensor 531 and the flow advances to step S204 to start the sort sheet sequence.

In step S205, the process waits until the path sensor 531 is turned off. When the path sensor 531 is turned off, it is determined that the sheet has passed the path sensor 531 and the process returns to step S202 to return to step S202.
The monitoring for the presence or absence of the paper is continued by using.

If it is determined in step S202 that the finisher start signal has been turned off, it is determined that image formation on the printer 300 side has been completed, and the flow proceeds to step S202.
The process proceeds to step S206, and waits for all the sheets to be discharged onto the stack tray 700. When all the sheets have been discharged, the process proceeds to step S207, the flapper 511 is turned off, and the process exits.

Next, the staple sorting process in step S6 in FIG. 6 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the staple sort process in step S6 of FIG.

In the staple sort process, as shown in FIG. 9, first, in step S301, the flapper 511
To select the sort path 522. At this time, the fisher path 552 is selected by the switching flapper 551. In a succeeding step S302, the finisher 5
It is determined whether or not the finisher start signal for 00 is turned on. When the finisher start signal is on, the sheet discharged from the printer 300 is carried into the finisher 500.
In 3, it is determined whether or not the path sensor 531 is on. If the path sensor 531 is not on, the process returns to step S302 again.

On the other hand, when the path sensor 531 is on, it is determined that the leading edge of the sheet conveyed into the finisher 500 has reached the path sensor 531 and the process proceeds to step S304 to start the staple sheet sequence.

Then, in a succeeding step S305, the control waits until the path sensor 531 is turned off.
Is turned off, it is determined that the sheet has passed the path sensor 531 and the process returns to step S302, where the path sensor 53
Monitoring of whether or not a sheet has been carried in is continued by using No. 1.

If it is determined in step S202 that the finisher start signal has been turned off, it is determined that image formation on the printer 300 has been completed, and the flow proceeds to step S202.
The process advances to step 306 to wait for all the sheets to be discharged onto the stack tray 700. When all the sheets have been discharged, the process advances to step S307 to turn off the flapper 511 and exit the processing.

Next, step S2 in FIG. 8 and FIG.
04, the sort paper sequence of step S304 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10, 11, and 17. FIG.
FIGS. 10 and 11 show step S20 of FIGS. 8 and 9.
4. A flowchart showing the procedure of the sort paper sequence in step S304, and FIG. 17 shows step S414 in FIG.
9 is a flowchart showing a procedure of sheet conveyance condition clear processing of FIG.

This process is started from the sort process and the staple sort process, and is assigned to each conveyed sheet. In the process of the program, the process is performed by multitasking.

First, in step S401, a paper attribute determination process is performed. The details of this processing will be described later. For the conveyed sheet, whether the sheet is a sheet to be wound around the buffer roller 505 or a sheet to be discharged after stacking on the processing tray 630 This is the process for determining the attribute.

In the following step S402, the transfer of 50 mm is performed, and the buffer motor is started here. Since the sort paper sequence is started when the path sensor 531 is turned on, that is, when the path sensor 531 is conveyed 50 [mm] downstream from the position where the leading end of the sheet is turned on, the buffer motor is started. This is also for subsequent sheet conveyance, and the buffer roller 505
This is also to make the timing of restarting the wound paper that has been wound and stopped (described later) appropriate. By doing so, it is possible to convey the sheet together with the wrapping sheet. In this example, the condition that defines the timing is 50 [mm], but this condition can be arbitrarily set. And
In step S404, a conveyance of 150 [mm] is performed.

Then, the flow advances to step S405 to determine whether or not the sheet is designated as a wrapping sheet. If the sheet is designated as a wrapping sheet, the process proceeds to step S405.
The process advances to step S <b> 406, and if the sheet is not designated as the wrapping sheet, the process advances to step S <b> 415.

In step S406, the flapper 510 is driven to select the buffer path 523. By carrying the sheet as it is, the sheet is transferred to the buffer roller 50.
5 can be guided to a transport path 523 wound around the transport path 5. Then, in step S407, the process waits until the path sensor 532 on the buffer path 523 is turned on. When the path sensor 532 is turned on, the process proceeds to step S408, and the buffer roller 505 is stopped. In this control, the sheet is stopped at a position where the leading end of the sheet exceeds the path sensor 532, but there is no problem if the overrun amount is taken into account when performing the above-described winding control.

After stopping the buffer roller 505, 2
There are different processing methods. The first process is performed until another succeeding sheet restarts the buffer roller 505.
This is a process in which the buffer roller 505 is caused to stand by while the paper is wound, and is discharged together with the subsequent paper. The second process is a process of automatically restarting and discharging the buffer roller 505 due to some event. In the present embodiment, the wrap discharge flag shown in the flowchart corresponds to an event indicating that discharge is automatically performed by the event.

More specifically, it is determined in step S409 whether or not the winding discharge flag is 1. If the wrap discharge flag is not 1, the process proceeds to step S410 to determine whether or not the discharge of the sheet on the processing tray 630 has been completed. If the discharge has not been completed, the process returns to step S409 until the discharge is completed. Monitor the wrap discharge flag. When the discharge of the paper on the processing tray 630 is completed, the process proceeds to step S411.
The discharge counter is incremented by 1, and the process exits. This series of processing is one processing. The second process will be described later.

If it is determined in step S405 that the sheet is not a wrapped sheet, the flow advances to step S414 shown in FIG. 11 to clear sheet transport conditions. In this process, as shown in FIG. 17, in step S851, buffer data indicating the sheet conveyance conditions is cleared. This data is used in the paper attribute determination processing. Subsequent step S
At 415, the flapper 510 is driven and the sort path 52
Select 2. By doing so, the buffer path 52
3, the sheet is guided to a path 522 which is a discharge path to the processing tray 630, and the sheet is conveyed toward the processing tray 630.

Next, the flow advances to step S416 to wait for completion of discharge to the processing tray 630, and then to step S417.
The discharge counter is incremented by 1 and step S418
Then, a bundle discharge operation determination process described later is performed in step S419. Then, the process exits.

At the time of the above-described discharge operation to the processing tray 630, the sheet alignment operation is performed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the sheet transport direction at the same time as the sheet discharge, and the alignment of the sheet transport direction is performed by rotating the paddle. , But a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the second process after stopping the buffer roller 505 and winding the sheet will be described. In this case, the sheet is discharged from the buffer roller 505 instead of simultaneously with the sheet conveyance described later. Is set in step S4.
From 09, the process proceeds to step S412. In step S412, the winding discharge flag is reset, and
At 413, the driving of the buffer roller 505 is started for discharging. Then, a series of processing from step S414 to step 419 is performed in the same manner as in the case where the paper is not wrapping paper. That is, the sheet conveyance conditions are cleared, the flapper is switched, and the discharging process to the processing tray 630 is performed.

As described above, by controlling the automatic discharge processing to be performed, the processing tray 630 expected when, for example, inconsistency such as the conveyance speed occurs between a plurality of sheets to be discharged at the same time is expected. The above poor consistency can be avoided beforehand.

Next, the paper attribute discriminating process in step S401 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 12 and 13 are flowcharts showing the procedure of the paper attribute discriminating process in step S401 in FIG.

First, in step S501, the buffer section passage counter is incremented by one, and in step S502, matching position information is stored in the paper matching position. Then, in step S503, it is determined whether the sheet is the last sheet of one bundle. At this time, one bundle is a unit for performing sorting in the case of the sort mode, and a unit for performing staple in the case of the staple sort mode. If it is the last sheet of the bundle, the process proceeds to step S516 shown in FIG.

On the other hand, if it is not the last sheet of the bundle, the flow advances to step S504 to determine the material of the sheet. In step S505, it is determined whether or not sp_material_flag (special material flag) is ON. If the flag is on, the process proceeds to step 514, and if the flag is off, the process proceeds to S506.

In step S506, it is determined whether or not the paper is of a size that can be wound. If the paper is of a size that can be wound, the process proceeds to step S507.
If the paper is not of a size that can be wound, step S
Proceed to 514. In step S507, it is determined whether or not this counter value is 0 by referring to a winding counter indicating the number of sheets that can be wound. If the value of the winding counter is not 0, the process proceeds to step S512, where the value of the winding counter is decreased by 1, and the subsequent step S513.
Then, a sheet conveyance condition determination process is performed. This process is a process of determining whether or not the paper is designated as a wrapping paper (described later). Then, the process exits.

Here, the purpose of winding the paper is to temporarily store the conveyed paper and simultaneously discharge it with the succeeding paper so that the downstream processing has a margin of time, or The goal is to improve productivity. If the value of the winding counter is not 0, step S50
Proceeding to 8, it is determined whether the operation mode is the sort mode. If the operation mode is not the sort mode (that is, if the operation mode is the staple sort), the process exits. If the mode is the sort mode, the process advances to step S509 to determine whether or not the value of the buffer passage counter is 4, and if the value of the buffer passage counter is 4,
In step S510, it is determined whether or not the sheet is the second sheet from the last sheet of the bundle. If the sheet is the second sheet from the last sheet of the bundle, step S519 shown in FIG.
Proceed to. If the sheet is not the second sheet from the last sheet of the bundle, the process is exited. In step S519, the buffer passage counter is cleared to 0. In step S520, the bundle discharge is designated, and the process exits.

If it is determined in step S509 that the value of the buffer passage counter is not 4, step S511
Then, it is determined whether the value of the buffer passage counter is 5 or not. When the value of the buffer passage counter is 5, the process proceeds to step S519 shown in FIG. 13, and similarly, the buffer passage counter is cleared to 0. , Followed by step S5
At step 20, the user designates a bundle to be discharged, and the process exits. If the value of the buffer passage counter is not 5, the processing exits from this processing.

In step S514, it is determined whether or not the operation mode is the sort mode. If the operation mode is not the sort mode, that is, if the staple sort mode, the process exits. If the mode is the sort mode, step S
Proceeding to 515, it is determined whether the value of the buffer passage counter is 3 or not. If this value is not 3, the process exits. When the value of the buffer passage counter is 3,
Proceeding to step S519 shown in FIG. 13, the buffer passing counter is cleared to 0, and in step S520 the bundle discharge is designated, and the process exits.

If it is determined in step S503 that the sheet is the last sheet of the bundle, step S503 shown in FIG.
Proceeding to 516, the matching position information is determined. When the matching position information indicates the matching position A, step S517
To set the matching position information to the matching position B. When the matching position information indicates the matching position B, the process proceeds to step S51.
In step 8, the matching position information is set to the matching position A. The switching of the set of alignment position information is performed by switching the setting of the offset direction on the processing tray 630. That is, the alignment position information indicating the offset direction at the time when this processing is executed is set as the alignment offset information of the paper. The alignment position information indicating the offset direction is inverted by the final sheet, and the stacking on the processing tray 630 is realized.

When the setting of the matching position information is completed,
In step S519, the buffer passage counter is cleared to 0, and in step S520, bundle discharge is designated, and the process exits.

The designation of the bundle discharge paper in step S520 means that the bundle discharge operation from the processing tray 630 to the stack tray 700 is started when the paper is discharged / stacked on the processing tray 630. The bundle discharge designation is used in a bundle discharge operation determination process described later.

Next, the sheet conveyance condition determination processing will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the sheet conveyance condition determination process in step S513 in FIG.

In the sheet transport condition determining process, first, in step S801, it is determined whether or not there is a sheet set as a wrapping sheet before the sheet. In the present embodiment, such processing is performed in order to determine the identity of the sheet conveyance conditions between a plurality of sheets to be wound. If there is no wrapped paper before, the process proceeds to step S802, where the sheet transport speed is set in the data buffer, and in step S803, the paper is designated as the first wrapped paper.

On the other hand, if there is a sheet to be wrapped before, the flow advances to step S804 to determine a difference from the set sheet transport condition for the previous sheet to be wrapped. Here, it is determined whether or not the sheet conveying speed stored in the data buffer is equal to the sheet conveying speed. If the sheet conveying speed is the same, the process proceeds to step S803 to designate the sheet as a wrapping sheet. If there is a difference, step S80
In step S5, a wrap discharge flag is set to instruct the wrapping paper to be discharged from the data buffer.
At 806, the data relating to the winding, that is, the buffer passage counter is reset to 0 and the winding counter is reset to 0. As a result, the winding process is not performed until the condition for enabling the winding is set. Then, the process exits.

In this embodiment, the sheet conveying speed is set as the sheet conveying condition. In other words, carrying a plurality of sheets having different carrying speeds is an indication of a poor situation regarding the carrying of the sheets and the consistency on the processing tray 630.

From the above, the determination and setting processing of the attribute (whether to perform the winding control or the bundle discharge) regarding the sheet is completed.

Next, the bundle discharging operation determination processing will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 shows step S in FIG.
It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of bundle discharge operation determination processing of 419.

When the process proceeds to the bundle discharge operation determination process in the above-described sort sheet sequence process, it is determined in step S601 whether the operation mode is the staple mode. If the operation mode is not the staple mode, the process advances to step S602 to determine whether the sheet discharged to the processing tray 630 is a bundle discharge sheet. If it is not a bundle discharge sheet, the process exits from this process and returns to the above-described sort sheet sequence process.

If it is determined in step S602 that the sheet discharged to the processing tray 630 is a bundle discharge sheet, the flow advances to step S605 to operate the swing guide and discharge the bundle to the sheet bundle on the processing tray 630. The upper roller is brought into contact. The flow advances to step S606 to wait for the bound of the upper bundle discharge roller to be settled, drive the upper bundle discharge roller by a predetermined amount, and control the speed of the bundle discharge motor to transfer the sheet bundle on the processing tray 630 to the stack tray 700.
Discharge up.

Next, the flow proceeds to step S607, where the stack tray 700 is moved up and down to complete the bundle stacking operation on the stack tray 700. In the following step S608,
The discharge counter is set to 0, and the process exits.

If it is determined in step S601 that the mode is the staple mode, the flow advances to step S603 to determine whether or not the sheet discharged to the processing tray 630 is a bundle discharge sheet. The process exits from this process and returns to the above-described sort sheet sequence process. If the sheet discharged to the processing tray 630 is a bundle discharge sheet, the process advances to step S604 to execute a staple processing sequence. Next, the process proceeds to step S605, in which the swing guide is lowered, and the bundle discharge operation is performed as described above (steps S606 to S608). Then, the process exits.

Next, the stapling process will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 shows step S6 in FIG.
12 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a stapling process in 04.

In the stapling mode, first, in step S701, the stapler 601 is moved to the stapling position by a predetermined amount, and in step S702, the bundle on the processing tray 630 is aligned by the alignment means 640 including the front alignment member and the rear alignment member. Then, in step S703, a stapling operation is performed.

Next, the flow advances to step S704 to determine whether or not the operation mode is the stapling two-position binding mode. If the operation mode is not the two-staple binding mode, the process proceeds to step S7.
In step 07, the bundle alignment by the alignment means 640 including the front alignment member and the rear alignment member is released, and the process exits.

If it is determined in step S704 that the operation mode is the stapling two-position binding mode, the flow advances to step S705 to move the stapler 601 to the second stapling mode.
Move a predetermined amount to the staple position, and then proceed to Step S7
In step S06, the second stapling operation is performed, and in step S707, the bundle alignment by the alignment unit 640 including the front alignment member and the rear alignment member is released, and the process exits.

Next, the paper material determining process will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the sheet material determination process in step S505 in FIG.

In this processing, a pre-processing for determining whether or not the sheet is a sheet for which the winding processing is prohibited is performed based on the material (the type of the sheet).

First, steps S901 and S90
2, Step S903, Step S904, Step S
In each of Steps 905 and S906, it is determined whether the sheet is one of an inserter sheet, a cover sheet, a thick sheet, a thin sheet, a tab sheet, and a color sheet. Paper is inserter paper, cover,
If it is any of thick paper, thin paper, tab paper, and color paper, the process advances to step S908 to turn on sp_material_flag (special material flag) and exit this processing.

The paper may be an inserter, a cover, a thick paper, a thin paper,
If it does not correspond to either tab paper or color paper, the flow advances to step S907 to turn off sp_material_flag (special material flag) and exit this processing.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the transported paper is special paper, the buffer roller 50
5 is prohibited, when performing post-processing on special paper having different attributes from normal paper together with normal paper, the occurrence of sheet jams and damage to the special paper due to the winding (retention) of the special paper And the like can be avoided, and high-quality post-processing can be performed.

The above-mentioned “inserter paper” refers to a sheet on which an image is formed in advance and is fed from an inserter tray 901 with reference to FIG. 5, and a cover of a sheet group from the image forming apparatus. This is a sheet that is conveyed without passing through the image forming apparatus main body side, and is a special sheet that is mixed and processed with a sheet from the image forming apparatus on the tray 700 or the like. Also, for example,
“Thick paper” is a special sheet that is thicker than a normal sheet used for a cover or a slip sheet for bookbinding (an OHP sheet is also included in this type). "Is, for example, a colored special sheet used for clarifying a break between Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 at the time of bookbinding, and" thin paper "is a sheet such as a sheet for a design drawing. It is a special sheet that is thinner than a normal sheet and has a weak waist. "Tab paper" is a special sheet integrally having tabs (tab portions).

As described above, in the present embodiment, the upstream side (for example, the image forming apparatus main body side, the inserter 900, etc.)
From a predetermined unit (for example, tray 630, tray 7) on the downstream side via buffer roller 505.
01 and the like, the type of sheet to be conveyed toward the predetermined unit is, for example, a normal recording sheet (plain paper). Accordingly, the sheet is wound around the buffer roller 505, the sheet is temporarily retained on the buffer roller 505, and the advance of the sheet toward the predetermined unit is temporarily stopped. Disabled state.

Note that the above-described sheet stay control is performed in a case where a group different from the group of sheets to be conveyed to the predetermined unit (a group including a job and a break between jobs is also a different group). Is executed in a case where a sheet of another group is already present on a predetermined unit (for example, the processing tray 630) even at a break of the set. Further, in the present embodiment, when the number of sheets wound around the buffer roller 505 reaches a predetermined number, the staying operation of the sheets is released, and the sheet conveying operation toward the predetermined unit is performed. To resume. The predetermined number is, for example,
Another group of sheets present on the predetermined unit is discharged to another unit (for example, tray 700) different from the predetermined unit, and no sheet of another group is present on the predetermined unit. It takes into account the time it takes for it to disappear. Therefore, as in the present embodiment, control may be performed such that the advance / convey operation of the sheet on the buffer roller 505 is restarted when the number of sheets on the buffer roller 505 reaches a predetermined number, or Even if the number of sheets on the buffer roller 505 has not reached the predetermined number (that is, regardless of whether or not the number has reached the predetermined number), a sensor (not shown) that the sheet does not exist in the predetermined unit is determined. At the time of confirmation using,
The control may be such that the sheet advance transport operation on the buffer roller 505 toward the predetermined unit is restarted.

On the other hand, if the type of the sheet to be conveyed toward the predetermined unit is, for example, a sheet of a type (attribute) different from a normal recording sheet, the above-described buffer roller 505 is used. And the sheet is conveyed toward the above-mentioned predetermined unit without temporarily staying on the buffer roller 505.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when a sheet from the upstream side (the image forming apparatus main body side, the inserter tray 901 or the like) is conveyed toward the predetermined downstream unit via the buffer roller 505. A process is performed in which the sheet is temporarily retained on the buffer roller 505 by the winding operation of the sheet by the buffer roller 505, and the advance of the sheet toward the predetermined unit is temporarily inhibited. Whether or not to do so is controlled by a CPU (not shown) of the CPU circuit unit 150 so as to be determined according to the type of sheet to be conveyed toward the predetermined unit. Such control may be performed in units of one sheet to be conveyed (in units of pages) or in units of a plurality of sheets (in units of groups).

In this embodiment, as an example of a special recording sheet different in type from a normal recording sheet,
"Insert paper", "Cover", "Thick", "Thin",
Although "tab paper" and "color paper" are mentioned, the sheet is not limited thereto, and a sheet that may be deteriorated in quality due to the winding operation of the sheet by the buffer roller 505 or a sheet jam may be generated. As with the above-described control, control may be performed so as not to stay on the buffer roller 505 so that the sheet is handled as a simple sheet. In this case, for example, a sheet in which the above-described inconvenience may occur is set as a special sheet other than the recording sheet by the operator in advance from the operation unit, and the operator sets an image forming start request. Control may be performed so that the sheet is not retained on the buffer roller 505 in accordance with the designation of the sheet.

Note that a CP (not shown) of the CPU
As a method for the U to acquire (determine) the type of sheet to be conveyed, for example, an operator previously sets the type of sheet for each sheet cassette from an operation unit or the like, and The information about the sheet type is stored and managed in a memory such as the RAM 152 for each sheet, and the actual processing is performed based on the management information and the sheet cassette actually selected at the time of image formation. ,
A method of acquiring the type of sheet to be conveyed may be used. Alternatively, when an operator inputs an image formation execution instruction on the operation unit screen, the type of sheet to be image-formed together with the instruction is input. May be input, and a method of acquiring the type of sheet by an input operation by the operator may be used, or a reflective optical sensor or the like (not shown) may be provided for each paper feed port, A configuration in which the type of sheet is automatically determined using a sensor, such as determining the type of sheet according to the reflectance detected by the sensor, may be used. Further, the sheet size information may be obtained by user input information from the operation unit, or may be obtained by size detection by a sensor.

Further, the number of sheets that can be wound by the buffer roller 505 may be one, or may be one or more as in this embodiment in consideration of productivity.

In this embodiment, the winding of the special paper around the buffer roller 505 is prohibited. Alternatively, when the special paper and the normal paper are mixed and wound around the buffer roller 505, Even when the number of windings is limited, the same effect can be obtained.

In the case where the sheets are temporarily retained by the sheet winding process by the buffer roller 505 as in the present embodiment, the number of sheets to be retained is made different depending on the type of the sheets. As described above, control may be performed by a CPU (not shown) of the CPU circuit unit 150.

For example, a predetermined unit (processing tray 63
0 or the tray 701), the number of sheets to be retained by the buffer roller 505 is set to three (or up to three) according to the fact that the type of sheet to be conveyed toward the normal recording sheet is For example, in the case of color paper, the number of sheets to be retained by the buffer roller 505 is set to two (or a maximum of two sheets of the buffer roller 505). In the case of tab paper or inserter paper, the number of sheets to be retained by the buffer roller 505 is set to one (or a maximum of one buffer roller 505). The control may be such as permitting the paper to stay at the same time.) In the case of OHP, thick paper, thin paper, etc., the number of papers to stay at the buffer roller 505 is set to 0. It may be controlled to prohibit possible to dwell the sheet at buffer roller 505.

For example, in the case of a normal recording sheet, when the number of sheets wound around the buffer roller 505 reaches three, the sheet advance / convey operation to the predetermined unit is restarted. In the case of color paper, when the number of sheets wound around the buffer roller 505 reaches two, the sheet advance / convey operation to the predetermined unit is restarted, and the tab paper or the inserter paper is restarted. In the case of, when the number of sheets wrapped around the buffer roller 505 reaches one, the sheet advance conveyance operation toward the above-described predetermined unit is restarted, and in the case of OHP, thick paper, thin paper, or the like, , Buffer roller 5
It is also possible to control so that the sheet is conveyed to the above-mentioned predetermined tray without staying at 05.

The program for implementing the various processes (including the processes of the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 6 to 19) described in the present embodiment is implemented by the CPU circuit unit 15.
0 is stored as a program code in a ROM 151, and a CPU (not shown) in the CPU circuit unit 150 reads the code and executes the function. This is also achieved by supplying a storage medium on which the code is recorded to a system or an apparatus, and reading and executing a program code stored in the storage medium by a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or the apparatus. Not even.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes 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, CD
R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, and the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program codes, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instructions of the program codes. ) Performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

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 instructions of the program code, It goes without saying that the CPU included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0173]

As described above, according to the present invention,
High productivity can be maintained, and high-quality processing can be executed even when various types of sheets having different attributes are conveyed, without causing a problem such as a sheet jam or sheet damage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus to which a sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is connected.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow relating to image formation in each of a fixed original reading and a moving original reading of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a controller that controls the entire image forming apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image signal control unit 202 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows the folding device 400 and the finisher 50 shown in FIG.
It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of No. 0.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a mode determination process in a finisher of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a non-sorting process in step S4 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a sorting process in step S5 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a staple sort process in step S6 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a sort sheet sequence in steps S204 and S304 in FIGS. 8 and 9;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a sort sheet sequence in steps S204 and S304 in FIGS. 8 and 9;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a paper attribute determination process in step S401 in FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a paper attribute determination process in step S401 in FIG. 10;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a bundle discharge operation determination process in step S419 in FIG. 11;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a stapling process in step S604 of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of sheet conveyance condition determination processing in step S513 of FIG.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a sheet conveyance condition clearing process in step S414 of FIG. 11;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a sheet material determination process in step S505 of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 500 Finisher 501 Finisher control unit 505 Buffer roller 552 Finisher pass 630 Processing tray 700 Stack tray 900 Inserter

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Noriya Miyake 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo F-term in Canon Inc. (reference) 2C061 AQ06 AS11 AS13 HH01 HJ02 HK07 HK17 HN17 3F054 AA01 AC01 BA04 BB07 BJ11 CA03 CA05 CA06 CA23 CA31 DA01 DA11

Claims (30)

[Claims] 1. A conveying means for conveying a sheet to a discharge port along a conveying path, a staying means for temporarily staying the sheet on the conveying path, and a sheet conveyed by the conveying means being special paper. Determining means for determining whether or not there is a sheet, and, when a sheet conveyed by the conveying means is special paper, a staying number limiting means for limiting the number of sheets to be stayed by the staying means. Sheet processing equipment. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a staying number detecting unit configured to detect a number of sheets stayed by the staying unit, wherein the staying number limiting unit stays in the staying unit based on a detection result of the staying number detecting unit. It is determined whether or not the sheet has reached a predetermined number of sheets set in advance in association with the special paper. When the number of sheets retained in the retaining section reaches the predetermined number, the sheet is retained by the transport section. 2. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein control is performed to restart sheet conveyance. 3. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the staying number limiting unit prohibits staying by the staying unit when the sheet conveyed by the conveying unit is special paper. 4. A staying sheet number detecting means for detecting the number of sheets stayed by said staying means, and a sheet staying in said staying means is associated with a normal sheet based on a detection result of said staying number detecting means. Determining means for determining whether or not a preset maximum number of sheets has been reached; and when the number of sheets retained in the retaining means has reached the maximum number, transport of the retained sheets by the transport means is resumed. 2. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising control means for controlling the sheet processing. 5. A sheet detecting means for detecting a position of a sheet in the conveying path, and when the sheet detecting means detects that there is a sheet downstream of the staying means, the control means causes the conveying means to 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the control unit temporarily suspends the conveyance of the staying sheet.
A sheet processing apparatus as described in the above. 6. The special paper is at least one of a sheet from a sheet set tray, a sheet designated as a cover, a sheet designated as a thick sheet, a sheet designated as a thin sheet, a tabbed sheet, and a color sheet. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 7. A sheet processing method used in a sheet processing apparatus comprising: a conveying unit that conveys a sheet along a conveying path to a discharge port; and a staying unit that temporarily stays the sheet on the conveying path. A step of determining whether or not the sheet conveyed by the conveying means is special paper; and a step of limiting the number of sheets to be retained by the retaining means when the sheet transported by the transport means is special paper. And a sheet processing method comprising: 8. The number of sheets retained by the retaining means is detected, and it is determined whether the number of sheets retained in the retaining means has reached a predetermined number set in advance in association with the special paper. When the number of sheets retained in the retaining means reaches the predetermined number, the number of sheets retained by the retaining means is limited by resuming conveyance of the retained sheets. 8. The sheet processing method according to 7. 9. When the sheet conveyed by the conveying means is special paper, the number of sheets to be retained by the retaining means is restricted by prohibiting the retaining by the retaining means. 8. The sheet processing method according to 7. 10. A step of detecting the number of sheets stagnated by the stagnation unit, and based on the detection result, the number of sheets stagnated in the stagnation unit reaches a preset maximum number in association with a normal sheet. Judging whether or not, and when the number of sheets retained in the retention means reaches the maximum number, the control means has a step of controlling to resume the transport of the retained sheet by the transport means. The sheet processing method according to claim 7, wherein: 11. A step of detecting a position of a sheet in the conveyance path, wherein when the sheet detection means detects that there is a sheet downstream of the stagnating means, the conveyance means conveys the stagnated sheet. The sheet processing method according to claim 7, wherein the resumption is temporarily suspended. 12. The special paper is at least one of a sheet from a sheet set tray, a sheet designated for a cover, a sheet designated for a thick sheet, a sheet designated for a thin sheet, a tabbed sheet, and a color sheet. The sheet processing method according to claim 7, wherein: 13. A sheet processing apparatus for conveying a sheet from an upstream side to a downstream side, wherein the sheet processing apparatus is configured to store the sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side, A sheet processing apparatus comprising: a control unit that prohibits a stay operation of a sheet by the stay unit in accordance with a type of a sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side. 14. A sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side via the staying means according to a type of a sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side via the staying means. 14. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the sheet is conveyed to the downstream side via the staying means without being stayed by the staying means. 15. The sheet from the upstream side includes a normal recording sheet and a special recording sheet different in type from the normal recording sheet, and the control means controls the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side. If the type of the sheet from the upstream side is the normal recording sheet, the staying operation of the sheet by the staying means is permitted, and the type of the sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side is the special type. 15. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the sheet staying operation by the staying means is prohibited when the recording sheet is a suitable recording sheet. 16. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the special recording sheet includes at least one of a cover sheet, a tab sheet, cardboard, thin paper, and a color sheet. 17. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said staying means includes a roller on which a sheet can be wound. 18. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the roller is capable of winding a plurality of sheets. 19. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the roller winds the plurality of sheets one by one in a state shifted in a sheet conveying direction. 20. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein storage means for storing sheets is provided on the downstream side, and the sheet from the upstream side is conveyed toward the storage means. 21. The storage unit according to claim 21, wherein a sheet of another group different from the upstream sheet to be conveyed to the storage unit is present in the storage unit. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein a sheet staying operation is performed by the control unit. 22. The control unit, wherein the sheet from the upstream side is retained by the retaining unit until the sheet of the other group already existing in the storage unit is removed from the storage unit. 22. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 21, wherein, in response to the removal of the sheet of the other group from the unit, the conveying operation of the sheet retained by the retaining unit is restarted. 23. The control unit, if there is no sheet in a different group from the upstream sheet to be conveyed to the storage unit in the storage unit, the sheet from the upstream side. 21. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 20, wherein a stay operation of the sheet by the stay means is prohibited regardless of a type of the sheet. 24. The staying means is capable of staying a plurality of sheets, and the control means is configured to control the downstream of the sheets stayed by the staying means in accordance with the number of sheets stayed by the staying means. 14. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the sheet feeding operation is restarted. 25. A sheet processing apparatus for conveying a sheet from an upstream side to a downstream side, wherein a staying means capable of staying a plurality of sheets from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side,
Control means for varying the number of sheets to be stayed by said staying means in accordance with the type of sheet from said upstream side to be conveyed to said downstream side via said staying means. apparatus. 26. The sheet from the upstream side includes a normal recording sheet and a special recording sheet different in type from the normal recording sheet, and the number of the special recording sheets to be retained by the retaining means. 3. The number of the recording sheets is smaller than the number of staying ordinary recording sheets.
6. The sheet processing apparatus according to 5. 27. A method for controlling a sheet processing apparatus, comprising: conveying means for conveying a sheet from an upstream side to a downstream side; and staying means capable of staying a sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side. Prohibiting the sheet staying operation by the staying means according to the type of sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side via the staying means. Control method. 28. A sheet processing apparatus comprising: conveying means for conveying a sheet from an upstream side to a downstream side; and stagnating means capable of stagnating a sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side. A step of prohibiting the staying operation of the sheet by the staying means in accordance with the type of the sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side via the computer. A readable storage medium. 29. A control method for a sheet processing apparatus, comprising: conveying means for conveying a sheet from an upstream side to a downstream side; and staying means capable of staying a plurality of sheets from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side. Wherein the number of sheets to be stayed by the staying means is changed according to the type of sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side via the staying means. A method for controlling a sheet processing apparatus. 30. A sheet processing apparatus comprising: conveying means for conveying a sheet from an upstream side to a downstream side; and a staying means capable of staying a plurality of sheets from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side. A program for executing a step of varying the number of sheets to be stayed by the staying means according to the type of sheet from the upstream side to be conveyed to the downstream side via the staying means is stored. Computer-readable storage medium.