JP2001171891A - Paper sheet post-processing device in image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniaturize a paper sheet post-processing device performing a staple operation and a sorting operation, simplify a mechanism, and mount the paper sheet post-processing device to a small image forming device. SOLUTION: A rotatable sub tray 52 in which four blades 52a, 52b, 52c, 52d for supporting the rear end of paper sheet P are arranged in an interval of 90 deg. is disposed between a paper discharge roller 37 and a paper discharge tray 51. In a staple mode, paper sheet is aligned and stapled on the sub tray 52 and then the sub tray 52 is rotated to drop and discharge the paper sheet onto a paper display tray 52. In a sort mode, only a first sheet of paper P1 corresponding to a classifying position is aligned on the sub tray 52 and then dropped and discharged onto the paper display tray 52, and second or later sheets of paper P2 is directly discharged from the paper discharge roller 37 to the paper discharge tray 51 and shifts the first sheet of paper P1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus in an image forming apparatus for post-processing a sheet on which an image has been formed by a copying machine, a printer, or the like when the sheet is discharged.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, there is provided a sheet post-processing apparatus having a function of sorting / group sorting sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus main body or stapling the sheets. Something has been developed.

Conventionally, as a post-processing device of such an image forming apparatus, sheets are sorted by using a plurality of swinging or fixed sorter bins. On the other hand, when a stapling operation is performed, a reverse rotation of a discharge roller is performed. After aligning the paper on the swing guide using the knurl belt, the swing guide is moved to the staple position and stapled, and then the bundled paper is discharged onto the discharge tray using a discharge roller or the like. Was.

[0004]

For this reason, the conventional paper post-processing apparatus requires a large number of sorter bins and complicated paper transport means or swing guides for staple processing. The mechanism is complicated and large, which hinders application to a small image forming apparatus.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a sheet post-processing apparatus in an image forming apparatus capable of realizing sheet sorting and stapling operation without requiring a large number of sorter bins and a complicated sheet conveying mechanism and having a small and simple mechanism. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a paper discharging means for discharging a sheet on which an image is formed from an apparatus body, and a discharging means for stacking the paper discharged by the paper discharging means. A paper tray, rotatably provided above the paper discharge tray, having a plurality of blades, and once supporting the rear end of the paper discharged from the apparatus body in a stopped state, and And a sub-tray for discharging the rear end of the paper to the paper discharge tray by rotating.

Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, according to the present invention, at the time of sorting in the sort / group mode, the sheet at the sorting position is regulated by the alignment plate and the trailing edge of the sheet is temporarily set on the sub-tray. While the sheet is supported and then shifted by being discharged to the discharge tray, sheets other than the sheet at the sorting position are discharged directly to the discharge tray without being regulated by the alignment plate.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet discharging means for discharging a sheet on which an image is formed from an apparatus body,
A paper discharge tray for stacking the paper discharged by the paper discharge means, and a rotatably provided above the paper discharge tray;
The apparatus has a plurality of blades, and once supports the rear end of the sheet discharged from the apparatus main body in a stopped state, and then rotates the blade to discharge the rear end of the sheet to the discharge tray. And a stapling device for bundling a plurality of the sheets supported by the sub-tray. In a staple mode, the staple device is configured to divide a predetermined number of sheets supported by the stopped sub-tray into the stapling device. Then, the blades of the sub-tray are rotated to discharge the bundled sheets to the discharge tray.

With the above configuration, the present invention can perform the sheet sorting operation or the stapling operation only by using the sub-tray that supports the rear end of the sheet. This realizes the use or incorporation of the sheet post-processing apparatus in a small-sized image forming apparatus.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a digital copying machine 10 which is an image forming apparatus. An optical device for exposing and scanning a document (not shown) on a document table 11 above a device body 8 and irradiating a CCD sensor 12 is provided above the device body 8. An original reading device 14 having an original 13 is provided.

A laser generator (not shown) for generating a laser beam 17a corresponding to the image information from the CCD sensor is provided below the paper discharge section 16 of the document reader 14;
A laser irradiation device 17 that includes a polygon mirror 17b, imaging lenses 17c and 17d, and mirrors 17e and 17f and that exposes and scans the photosensitive drum 18 is provided. Further, below the document reading device 14, around the photosensitive drum 18,
The charging device 20 and the laser irradiation device 1 are arranged along the rotation direction.
7, an exposure unit 21 of the laser beam 17a, a developing device 22,
Transfer roller 23, peeling claw 24, cleaning device 26,
An image forming unit 28 in which the static elimination lamps 27 are sequentially arranged is provided.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a paper feed cassette device for storing paper (not shown) supplied to the image forming means 28;
A pickup roller 32 and a conveyance roller 3 are provided in the conveyance path of the sheet from the sheet cassette device 31 to the paper discharge section 16.
3, a registration roller 34, a transfer roller 23, a fixing roller 36, and a paper discharge roller 37 are provided. Reference numeral 38 denotes a gate for distributing the sheet after fixing to the re-conveying means 40.

Next, a paper discharge roller 37 provided in the paper discharge section 16 is provided.
Post-processing device 50 for post-processing the paper P discharged from the printer
Is described. The bottom surface of the paper discharge section 16 has a rear end portion 51a having an inclination angle of 45 degrees from horizontal and an inclination angle of 2 degrees from horizontal.
A paper discharge tray 51 formed by combining a leading end portion 51b of 0 degree.
Are formed. On the discharge tray 51, a first alignment plate 54a for regulating the leading end of the discharged sheet P and a second alignment plate 54b for regulating the side surface of the sheet P are provided with an alignment plate driving motor (not shown). Is provided so as to be slidable.

A sheet P discharged from the apparatus main body 8 by the discharge roller 37 is provided between the discharge roller 37 and the discharge tray 51.
A sub-tray 52 is provided to support the rear end. The sub-tray 52 has four blades 52a, 52b, 52c,
52d are arranged at 90-degree intervals, and rotate by driving from a motor (not shown) of the apparatus main body 8 transmitted through the gear 53. When supporting the trailing edge of the sheet P, the sub-tray 52 stands by at a position where the inclination angle of any blade supporting the sheet from the horizontal becomes 20 degrees in accordance with the inclination angle of the leading end portion 51b of the sheet ejection tray 51. .

At substantially the same height as the sub-tray 52, a stapler unit 56 for moving the sheet P to be moved into the paper discharge section 16 and bound on the sub-tray 52 is provided.

Next, the operation will be described. When a start key (not shown) is turned on and an image forming operation is started by the digital copying machine 10, the original image read by the original reading device 14 is stored as image data in a storage unit (not shown). Thereafter, the image data in the storage means is sequentially read out,
The necessary number of copies are made by the laser irradiation device 17. That is, the photosensitive drum 18 is sequentially subjected to the steps of charging, exposing, and developing according to its rotation, and a toner image is formed.

On the other hand, at the position of the transfer roller 23 of the photosensitive drum 18, the sheet P taken out of the sheet cassette is conveyed in synchronization with the toner image on the photosensitive drum 18, and is transferred from the photosensitive drum 18 to the sheet P. The toner image is transferred. Thereafter, the sheet P is peeled from the photosensitive drum 18 by the peeling claw 24, is heated and pressed by the fixing roller 36, and is discharged in the direction of the sheet discharging roller 37. On the other hand, after the end of the transfer, the photosensitive drum 18 follows the rotation thereof, and the cleaning device 26,
The next copy is made possible via the neutralizing lamp 27.

After the fixing, the sheet P is sorted toward the re-transporting means 40 by the gate 38 when the back side copy is performed, and is discharged by the gate 38 when the copy is completed on either one side or both sides. Sorted in the paper roller direction.

Next, the operation at the time of paper ejection will be described in detail. If the paper P discharge mode is the non-sort mode, the first
The second aligning plates 54a and 54b are slid by a matching plate driving motor (not shown) to positions at least 20 mm away from the sheet P size so as not to restrict the sheet P. The sub-tray 52 is constantly rotated so that the sheets P are directly stacked on the sheet discharge tray 51 without being supported by the sub-tray 52. Thereby, the discharge roller 3
The sheets P discharged from the tray 7 are sequentially stacked directly on the discharge tray 51 as shown in FIG.

Next, when the paper P discharge mode is the staple mode, the paper P discharged from the paper discharge rollers 37 is
The rear end is once supported and aligned by the sub-tray 52, stapled, and then stacked on the discharge tray 51. That is, (1) the sub-tray 52 and the first and second alignment plates 54a,
The first and second alignment plates 54a and 54b are adjusted by a matching plate driving motor (not shown) so as to regulate the sheet P between the first and second alignment plates 54b.
As shown by the solid line in FIG. 5, each slide moves to a position approximately 20 mm away from the paper P size and waits. The sub-tray 52 has four blades 52a to 52e as shown in FIG.
52d, any one of the leading end 5
1b, the inclination angle from the horizontal is 20
Stop at a position where it will be at a certain degree. (2) In this state, the first sheet P is discharged
When the paper P is discharged from the printer, the leading end of the paper P rebounds after contacting the first alignment plate 54a, and the rear end of the paper P is supported by the sub-tray 52. (3) Next, the first aligning plate 54a is slid by the aligning plate driving motor (not shown), and the sheet P is shifted rearward as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 1 between the sub-tray 52 and the first alignment plate 54a.
The second sheet P is aligned. (4) Thereafter, the first alignment plate 54a is slid to the position 20 mm away from the sheet P size, and waits for the next sheet to be discharged, and the second and subsequent sheets are set in the same manner as the first sheet. Are sequentially stacked, and as shown in FIG.
And the first alignment plate 54a. (5) When a predetermined number of sheets have been discharged, the sub-tray 52
Then, the sheets aligned between the first alignment plates 54a are stapled and stapled by the stapler unit 56. (6) Thereafter, the sub-tray 52 is moved to an arrow x as shown in FIG.
The bundled paper is rotated by 90 degrees in the direction, falls, and is discharged onto the discharge tray 51. These steps (1) to (6) are repeated for the required number of copies, and the staple mode ends.

Next, when the paper P discharge mode is the sort / group mode, only the first or last page of the paper P corresponding to the sorting position for each sort or each group is temporarily stored in the sub-tray 52. Then, the paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 51, and the other paper is
By directly discharging the paper from the tray 7 onto the paper discharge tray 51,
The sheet at the sorting position is shifted from the other sheets to perform the sorting. That is, (1) the first and second sheets of the first sheet of each sort or group corresponding to the sorting position are regulated between the sub-tray 52 and the first and second alignment plates 54a and 54b so that the sheets P are regulated. The alignment plates 54a and 54b are slid by a matching plate driving motor (not shown) to a position approximately 20 mm away from the sheet P as indicated by the solid line in FIG. The sub-tray 52 has four blades 5 as shown in FIG.
One of 2a to 52d is stopped at a position where the inclination angle from the horizontal is 20 degrees in accordance with the inclination angle of the leading end portion 51b of the discharge tray 51. (2) In this state, the first sheet P is discharged
When the paper P is discharged from the printer, the leading end of the paper P rebounds after contacting the first alignment plate 54a, and the rear end of the paper P is supported by the sub-tray 52. (3) Thereafter, the sub-tray 52 is moved to an arrow y as shown in FIG.
The first sheet P is rotated by 90 degrees in the direction, falls, and is discharged onto the discharge tray 51. (4) Next, since the sheet P2 from the second sheet to the last page is directly discharged to the sheet discharge tray 51, the first aligning plate 54a is driven by an aligning plate driving motor (not shown) so as not to regulate the leading end of the sheet P2. ), The sheet P2 discharged from the discharge roller 37
20m from the paper P2 size indicated by the dotted line in FIG.
Slide to a position more than m away. In addition, paper P2
Is directly supported by the discharge tray 5 without being supported by the sub-tray 52.
The sub-tray 52 is always rotated so as to be stacked on the first tray. (5) When the second to last pages of paper are discharged from the discharge rollers 37 in this state, the paper P2 is shifted onto the discharge tray 51 as shown in FIG. The sheets are discharged and stacked directly on the first sheet P1. (6) Next, in order to perform the next sorting or group sorting, the steps (1) to (5) are repeated until the required number of copies is reached, whereby the sorting is performed as shown in FIG. 7 or FIG.

With such a configuration, the stapling operation can be performed only by causing the sub-tray 52 to be aligned and stapled on the sub-tray 52, and then dropped and discharged onto the discharge tray 51. Only the corresponding first sheet P1 is aligned on the sub-tray 52 and then the discharge tray 51
The sorting operation can be performed only by discharging the paper to the printer. Therefore, since a complicated paper transport mechanism is not required for the stapling operation, and a plurality of sorter bins are not required for the sorting operation, a small and simple paper post-processing device can be obtained, and the paper can be transferred to a small-sized image forming apparatus. The application of the post-processing device can be realized.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the shape and the inclination angle of the paper discharge tray can be arbitrarily determined. The angle is not limited. Also, the shape and operation of the sub-tray are not limited, and the sub-tray 57 is constituted by two blades 57a and 57b forming an angle of 90 degrees with each other as in the modification shown in FIG. 9, and the sheet P is supported by the sub-tray. 9 when the paper P is stopped at the position shown by the solid line and the paper P is dropped onto the paper discharge tray 58, or when the paper P is directly discharged from the paper discharge roller 60 to the paper discharge tray 58, the dotted line is shown in FIG. It may be stationary at a position.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, paper post-processing operations such as stapling operation and sorting operation can be performed only by using a sub-tray. Without using a sorter bin
A sheet post-processing apparatus having a small and simple mechanism can be obtained, and application of the sheet post-processing apparatus to a small-sized image forming apparatus can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a digital copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic top view showing a sheet post-processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a sheet post-processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory view showing sheet ejection in a non-sort mode according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory diagram illustrating alignment of sheets on a sub-tray in a staple mode according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory view showing the discharge of bound sheets to a discharge tray in a staple mode according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory diagram illustrating alignment of a first sheet on a sub-tray in a sort / group mode according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic explanatory view showing the discharge of the first sheet to a discharge tray in the sort / group mode according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic explanatory view showing another modification of the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 8 ... Main body 10 ... Digital copying machine 14 ... Original reading device 17 ... Laser irradiation device 28 ... Image forming means 37 ... Discharge roller 50 ... Paper post-processing device 51 ... Discharge tray 51a ... Rear end portion 51b ... Front end portion 52 … Sub-tray 54a… First alignment plate 54b… Second alignment plate 56… Stapler unit

Claims (7)

[Claims] A discharge unit configured to discharge a sheet on which an image is formed from the apparatus main body; a discharge tray configured to accumulate the sheets discharged by the discharge unit; and a rotatably provided above the discharge tray. A plurality of blades, and once supporting the rear end of the sheet discharged from the apparatus main body in a stopped state, and then rotating the blades to discharge the rear end of the sheet to the discharge tray. A sheet post-processing apparatus in an image forming apparatus, comprising: a sub-tray for paper. 2. The paper discharge tray according to claim 2, wherein the inclination angle of the paper discharge tray is smaller at the front end side than at the rear end side, and the sub-tray has a paper rear end at substantially the same inclination angle as the front end side of the paper discharge tray. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet post-processing apparatus supports the sheet post-processing apparatus. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharge tray has an alignment plate that moves in conjunction with a discharge mode and regulates a leading end of the sheet. Paper post-processing device in the device. 4. When sorting in the sort / group mode, the sheet at the sorting position is once supported by the sub-tray while the rear end of the sheet is once supported by the sub-tray while being regulated by the alignment plate, and then discharged to the discharge tray. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, while shifting by paper, paper other than the paper at the sorting position is directly discharged to the discharge tray without being regulated by the alignment plate. 5. Paper post-processing device. 5. A sheet discharging means for discharging a sheet on which an image has been formed from the apparatus main body, a sheet discharging tray on which the sheets discharged by the sheet discharging means are stacked, and a rotatably provided above the sheet discharging tray. A plurality of blades, and once supporting the rear end of the sheet discharged from the apparatus main body in a stopped state, and then rotating the blades to discharge the rear end of the sheet to the discharge tray. A staple device for bundling a plurality of sheets supported by the sub-tray, wherein in a staple mode, a predetermined number of sheets supported by the stopped sub-tray are stapled. A sheet post-processing device in the image forming apparatus, wherein the bundled sheets are discharged to the discharge tray by rotating the blades of the sub-tray after being bundled by the apparatus. . 6. The paper discharge end of the paper discharge tray, wherein the inclination angle of the front end side is smaller than that of the rear end side, and the sub-tray has an inclination angle substantially equal to the inclination angle of the front end side of the paper discharge tray. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the sheet post-processing apparatus supports the sheet post-processing apparatus. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the discharge tray has an alignment plate that moves in conjunction with a discharge mode and regulates a leading edge of the sheet. Paper post-processing device in the device.