JP2001213568A - Post-processing device and image forming device equipped with it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a post-processing device capable of aligning sheets of paper in good performance and reducing the total installing area of the device even in case a post-processing with image forming device is conducted. SOLUTION: A transporting/post-processing unit is provided over an image formation part, and transfer sheets are aligned by a two-stage guide 101 in the width direction preliminarily and transported to a staple tray. The sheets aligned preliminarily are placed on the staple tray and undergo an aligning process and stapling process. The two-stage guide 101 is equipped with sheet guides 102 and 103 having steps, and when the transfer sheets of large width are to be transported, the positions of the sheet guides 102 and 103 are adjusted so that the spacing of the upper stage wall surfaces 102b and 103b becomes identical to the width of the sheet, and the sheets are aligned preliminarily at the upper stage. In the case when the width of the sheet is small, adjustment is made so that the spacing of the lower stage wall surfaces 102d and 103d becomes identical to the width of the sheet, and preliminary alignment is made at the lower stage.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is suitably used in, for example, an image forming apparatus having a U-shaped conveyance path,
The present invention relates to a post-processing device capable of preliminarily aligning a conveyed material in the width direction for later alignment in a width direction, and an image forming apparatus having the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus, a post-processing apparatus that performs a post-processing such as a sorting process and a stapling process has been widely used. As shown in FIG. 39, a conventional post-processing apparatus 510 is disposed on the side of the image forming apparatus 500, and a discharge port 501 of the image forming apparatus 500 and a conveyance path of the post-processing apparatus 510 are connected to each other to perform printing. It is configured to receive a completed sheet.

Further, the post-processing device 510 includes an alignment tray 511 that is arranged obliquely downward and the printed paper is stored in the alignment tray 511.
For example, the edges of the stored sheets are aligned with the edge alignment member provided below the alignment tray 511 (in the transport direction) mainly by the weight of the sheet.
Thus, when the sheet bundle is aligned in the transport direction, the stapling unit 512 staples the sheet bundle, and then the sheet bundle is discharged to the sheet stack unit 513.

In the above configuration, since the alignment tray 511 is disposed obliquely downward, the area of the alignment tray 511, that is, the size of the post-processing apparatus 510 (ie, the size of the post-processable sheet) is smaller than the area of the alignment tray 511 The projected area from above to the floor can be reduced.

[0005]

However, since the conventional post-processing apparatus 510 is still disposed beside the image forming apparatus 500, the installation area of the entire apparatus including both the apparatuses 500 and 510 is reduced. There is a problem that the area becomes larger than the installation area of the forming apparatus 500.

On the other hand, in order to reduce the installation area of the whole apparatus, as shown in FIG. 40, in a post-processing apparatus 510a in which an alignment tray 511 is arranged substantially vertically, an image forming apparatus 500 is provided.
It is necessary to arrange a discharge port 514 from the alignment tray 511 to the sheet stacking section 513 at a position lower than the length of the alignment tray 511 by substantially the same length as the discharge port 501. Here, the mounting surface 513a of the paper stack unit 513
Is formed lower than the discharge port 514 in order to secure a load amount. Therefore, in the post-processing device 510a, the height of the entire device is increased.

Here, for example, Patent No. 258359
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4 (1999) -1995 discloses a post-processing apparatus in which the size of an alignment tray is reduced by placing and aligning sheets across an alignment tray and a paper stack unit, as compared with a case where alignment is performed using only an alignment tray. Is disclosed.

[0008] However, even with this configuration, there is no change in the point that it is arranged on the side of the image forming apparatus, and a post-processing apparatus capable of further reducing the installation area of the entire apparatus is demanded. It should be noted that even if the installation area can be reduced, the post-conveying apparatus, even when the number of sheets is small, may cause the sheet bundle to be bent (the bending of the sheet) when aligning the sheet bundle in the width direction. It is required to prevent breakage of the width direction end portion due to the phenomenon that varies depending on the amount.

Further, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2765654
In the publication, when stapling in the width direction, the widths of the respective sheets are compared, and if the width of at least one sheet does not match the other, the stapling process is stopped. A configuration for preventing a stapling process failure due to disturbance is disclosed.

However, there is a case where it is desired to staple documents having different sizes such as an A4 size document and a B5 size document as a group of documents. However, in the above configuration, the stapling is automatically stopped. I will. Therefore, it is necessary for the user to perform stapling by himself, which reduces the working efficiency. When the stapling process is not stopped and the papers are assumed to have the same width and are aligned, as shown in FIG. 30, the edges in the width direction are not aligned. For example, only wide paper is stapled. For example, staple processing fails. Also,
The post-processing device is also arranged on the side of the image forming device, and the occupied area and height of the entire device increase.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has as its object the purpose of being able to satisfactorily align sheets and to install the entire apparatus even when performing post-processing of an image forming apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to realize a post-processing apparatus capable of reducing the area and an image forming apparatus having the same.

[0012]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a post-processing apparatus according to the present invention is a post-processing apparatus which conveys a planar conveyed material. And a pre-alignment means for pre-aligning the conveyed material being conveyed in a width direction substantially orthogonal to the conveyance direction in the in-plane direction of the conveyed material, wherein the pre-alignment means has the width A side wall extending in a height direction substantially perpendicular to the direction and the conveying direction, and a convex portion protruding from the side wall toward the width direction and the material to be conveyed, respectively, provided between the respective side walls or the convex portion. It is characterized in that the material to be conveyed is preliminarily aligned between them.

According to the above configuration, since the material to be conveyed is preliminarily aligned in the width direction during the conveyance, the occupied area of an apparatus having a post-processing apparatus such as an image forming apparatus is not increased. Variation in the width direction can be suppressed. In addition, since the pre-alignment means can prevent variations in the width direction due to transport, it is possible to further suppress variations in the width direction after transport. As a result of these, in particular, it is possible to prevent the buckling of the conveyed material which becomes conspicuous when the number of conveyed materials is small,
Each transported material can be reliably aligned.

[0014] In addition, in the above configuration, since the convex portions are provided on the side walls, the material to be conveyed can be preliminarily aligned in the width direction between both the side walls and between the convex portions. Therefore, by moving one of the side walls and the convex portion closer to the position suitable for the preliminary alignment of the transported material, the transported material can be pre-aligned. As a result,
Compared with the case where the alignment is performed only by the side wall, the amount of movement of the side wall and the protrusion can be reduced, and the moving time can be shortened. Further, since the moving amount is small, the moving mechanism can be miniaturized, and a smaller post-processing device can be realized even when many types of conveyed materials having different widths are pre-aligned.

[0015] Further, the post-processing apparatus having the above-described structure includes a first transport roller that transports a wide transported material that is preliminarily aligned between the side walls, using the upper surface of the convex portion as a transport surface; To transport narrow material to be transported which is pre-aligned by
It is preferable to provide a transport roller.

According to this structure, the first transport roller for the transported material transported between the side walls and the second transport roller for the transported material transported between the convex portions are provided. In any case, the material to be conveyed can be reliably conveyed.

Since the material to be conveyed is conveyed between the side walls or between the protrusions, for example, when the material to be conveyed is halfway in length, the rear end of the material to be conveyed (in the opposite direction to the conveyance direction). If the end of the next transported material is disposed on the upper surface of the convex portion and the leading end of the next transported material is ejected after the upper surface of the convex portion and the rear end, when transporting the next transported material, The ends of the conveyed material may come into contact with each other, and confusion in the stacking order or a jam may occur.

Therefore, the post-processing apparatus having the above-described configuration has a conveyance amount from when the first and second conveyance rollers start conveying the conveyed material until the post-processing apparatus receives the next conveyed material. It is preferable that the tip of the next transported material is set so as to overlap the preceding transported material.

According to this configuration, the transport amounts of the first and second transport rollers until the next transported material is received are set such that the next transported material overlaps the previous transported material. Even if the rear end of the previous conveyed material is disposed in front of the upper surface of the convex portion, the contact between the rear end of the conveyed material and the front end of the next conveyed material can be prevented. Thus, it is possible to prevent the stacking order from being disrupted or jammed due to the contact between the ends of the two transported materials.

Further, the post-processing device having the above structure further comprises:
A leading end regulating member disposed at a predetermined position in front of the carrying path to prevent the carried material from moving in the carrying direction from the position, and a carrying member regulated by the leading end regulating member in a width direction. The first and second transport rollers are arranged such that the first and second transport rollers overlap the transported material until the transported material reaches the leading end regulating member after the previous transported material overlaps the subsequent transported material. It is preferable to transport the material.

According to this configuration, the first and second conveying rollers convey until the preceding conveyed material and the subsequent conveyed material overlap each other and reach the leading end regulating member.
Each transported material is aligned in a state where each transported material is regulated by the leading end regulating member. Here, the material to be conveyed by the alignment means has already been pre-aligned. As a result, without disruption or jams in the loading order,
Each conveyed material can be reliably aligned in the width direction.

In the case where the width of each of the conveyed materials is one of predetermined values (in the case of a fixed form), and which of the fixed forms is specified in advance, the preliminary alignment means Can be pre-aligned by setting the distance between the side walls or the protrusions to a value according to the instruction.

However, in the configuration in which the pre-alignment means sets the distance between the side walls or the protrusions based only on the instruction, when there is no instruction, or when the material to be conveyed is irregular and the accurate width of the material to be conveyed is small. Otherwise, the distance may not be set to an appropriate value.

Therefore, the post-processing apparatus having the above-mentioned structure includes size detecting means for detecting the width of the material to be conveyed, and the side wall or the convex portion is movable in the width direction according to the detection result, and It is desirable to pre-align the material in the width direction.

In this configuration, even when there is no indication of the size of the material to be conveyed or when the material to be conveyed is irregular, the pre-alignment means determines the distance between the side walls or the convex portion based on the detection result of the size detection means. The distance between them can be set to a value corresponding to the width of the conveyed material to be conveyed.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a post-processing apparatus for conveying a planar material to be conveyed, the method comprising: In the orthogonal width direction, the apparatus further includes a pre-alignment unit that pre-aligns the conveyed material being conveyed, the pre-alignment unit includes a size detection unit that detects the width of each of the conveyed materials, and There is provided a shift means for shifting each conveyed material in the width direction such that conveyed materials having different widths are substantially aligned on one side (hereinafter, referred to as a reference side) along the conveying direction. It is characterized by:

According to this configuration, since the material to be conveyed is preliminarily aligned in the width direction during the conveyance, the occupied area of an apparatus having a post-processing apparatus such as an image forming apparatus can be increased. Variation in the width direction can be suppressed. As a result, it is possible to prevent the buckling of the conveyed material, which is particularly conspicuous when the number of conveyed materials is small, and it is possible to reliably align the respective conveyed materials.

In addition, in the above configuration, the shift means shifts each conveyed material in the width direction according to the difference in width. As a result, even if conveyed materials having different widths are conveyed, each conveyed material can be pre-aligned on the reference side. Therefore, even if the widths are different, it is possible to perform processing based on the reference side, such as stapling the right and left shoulders of the conveyed material without any problem.

Further, in the post-processing apparatus having the above-mentioned structure,
The shift amount by the shift means may be set such that the one side of the narrow conveyed material is in the same width direction position as the one side of the narrow conveyed material, or is located outside.

According to this configuration, the reference side of the narrow transported material coincides with or protrudes toward the reference side of the wide transported material. Here, even if the reference side protrudes, the reference side can be easily and reliably aligned by, for example, a fixed wall or a movable wall. Therefore, as described above, by setting the shift amount, it is possible to preliminarily align the conveyed materials having different widths in a state where they are easily aligned on the reference side.

Further, in the post-processing apparatus having the above structure, if the width of the first conveyed material is A and the width of the second conveyed material narrower than the first conveyed material is B, The shift amount of the second transported material may be set to 0.5 × (AB) or more.

According to this configuration, the second material to be conveyed is 0.1 mm.
Since the shift is performed by 5 × (AB) or more, the reference side of the second conveyed material coincides with the reference side of the first conveyed material or protrudes toward the reference side even though the width is narrow. I do. Therefore, it is possible to preliminarily align the conveyed materials having different widths in a state where the conveyed materials are easily aligned on the reference side.

Further, the post-processing device having the above-mentioned structure has a tray on which the transported materials pre-aligned by the pre-alignment means are sequentially stacked, and alignment members arranged on both sides of the tray. Alignment means for aligning the loaded transported material with the alignment member in the width direction, wherein one of the alignment members is fixed at the width direction position of one side, and the other alignment member has a different width. Of the conveyed members may be movable to such an extent that the wide first conveyed member bends by a predetermined amount.

In this configuration, the movable alignment member is stacked on the tray by moving to the fixed alignment member side.
The transferred material that has already been pre-aligned is aligned. Here, when the widths of the conveyed materials are different from each other, if the movable amount is too small, the alignment of each conveyed material becomes insufficient, and if the movable amount is too large, the wide conveyed material is bent. I will. However, in the above configuration, the pre-alignment is already performed, and furthermore, since the movement of the alignment member is set to the extent that the wide conveyed material is flexed, each conveyed material is not damaged without being damaged. The transfer material can be surely aligned.

Further, in the post-processing apparatus having the above-described structure, the first conveyed material may be deflected by the second conveyed material having a width smaller than that of the first conveyed material. It is preferable that the value is set to a value at which the material can slide in the direction of the fixed alignment member.

According to this configuration, the second transferred material slides on the bent first transferred material toward the fixed alignment member. As a result, each transported material can be more reliably aligned.

Further, in place of or in addition to the alignment member, the post-processing device in which the preliminary alignment means has a shift means includes a tray for sequentially loading the transported material pre-aligned by the preliminary alignment means, The tray may be provided with an aligning unit that inclines and aligns the tray so that the one side (reference side) becomes lower.

In this configuration, the tray is tilted so that the reference side becomes lower.
It is aligned on the reference side. In addition, when the variation of each transported material is large, there is a possibility that alignment cannot be performed only by inclination, but in the above configuration, each transported material is pre-aligned by the preliminary alignment means, so that there is no problem. Each conveyed material can be aligned.

Each of the above-mentioned post-processing devices may be placed side by side on the image forming apparatus. However, since the post-processing devices are preliminarily aligned during conveyance, for example, the conveyance path may be a U-shaped image. The present invention can be particularly suitably used for an image forming apparatus such as a forming apparatus in which a post-processing apparatus and a paper feed roller are arranged to overlap when viewed from above.

That is, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention
An image forming unit for forming an image on the conveyed material, a paper feed cassette for storing the conveyed material to be fed to the image forming unit, and a paper feed cassette disposed at a position overlapping the paper feed cassette when viewed from above. The image forming section is provided with any one of the above-mentioned post-processing devices for transporting and aligning the transported material on which the image is formed.

According to this configuration, the post-processing device for carrying and aligning is arranged so as to overlap the paper feed cassette when viewed from above.
An image forming apparatus having a small installation area of the entire apparatus can be realized.

[0042]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [First Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes an original reading unit 3 that reads an original, and an image formed on a transfer sheet P as a material to be conveyed based on the read original image data. A transport / post-processing unit (post-processing device) that transports the image forming apparatus main body 5 to be formed and the transfer paper P on which the image is formed, and performs post-processing such as stapling and offset processing.
And a paper stack unit 9 for holding the transfer paper P discharged from the transport / post-processing unit 7.

In the image forming apparatus 1, the image forming section 5a is formed in the image forming apparatus main body 5 so as to extend in the vertical direction in order to reduce the size of the apparatus. An image can be formed while the transfer paper P is transported in the vertical direction from the paper supply cassette 5b disposed below the apparatus main body 5.

Further, in the image forming apparatus 1, the paper stack section 9 is disposed on the side of the apparatus opposite to the image forming section 5a, and the transport / post-processing unit 7 is provided at the upper portion again. A post-processing staple tray (storage alignment tray: tray) 7e, which will be described later, places the transfer paper P in a substantially horizontal direction below the document reading unit 3 and above the image forming apparatus main body 5. Is provided.

Here, as in the prior art shown in FIGS. 39 and 40, when the post-processing is to be performed in the post-processing device 510 (510a) installed on the side surface of the image forming device 500, the installation of the image forming device 500 is performed. In addition to the area, the installation area of the post-processing apparatus 510 (510a) is required, so that the installation area of the entire apparatus increases. Further, in order to suppress an increase in the installation area, as shown in FIG.
Even if the printer 11 is disposed substantially vertically, not only the increase of the installation area due to the post-processing device 510a cannot be avoided, but also the height of the discharge port 501 of the image forming apparatus 500 and the mounting surface 513a of the paper stack unit 513. The difference is the height of the length of the alignment tray 511 plus the amount of the stacked paper stack unit 513, so that the height of the entire apparatus is increased.

On the other hand, in the configuration shown in FIG. 2, since the sheet feeding cassette 5b and the staple tray 7e are arranged so as to overlap in the vertical direction, a post-processing device (transporting / post-processing unit 7) is provided. Despite this, the installation area of the image forming apparatus 1 is kept substantially the same. Further, since the staple tray 7e is provided substantially horizontally, the height of the transport / post-processing unit 7 is suppressed to be lower than the case where the staple tray 7e is provided diagonally. In addition, the length direction of the staple tray 7e (the transport direction of the transfer paper P) is different from the direction in which the transfer paper P is placed on the paper stack unit 9 (vertical direction). Therefore, a compact image forming apparatus 1 can be realized despite having the post-processing device.

More specifically, the document reading unit 3
Has an original table 3a made of transparent glass or the like on the upper surface, and a scanner optical system 3b is provided below the original table 3a. The scanner optical system 3b includes an exposure light source 31 for irradiating a document placed on the document table 3a with light, an imaging lens 32 and a photoelectric conversion element (CCD) 33 arranged on an optical path of light reflected from the document. And reflected light from the original,
For example, as shown by a one-dot chain line in the figure, a plurality of reflecting mirrors 34 leading to the CCD 33 through the imaging lens 32
And

The image forming section 5 of the image forming apparatus main body 5
a is a laser scanning unit (LS not shown)
U), an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface by the laser light, and is rotated in the direction of the arrow (counterclockwise) in the figure according to the transport direction of the transfer paper P (from below to above). A drum-shaped photoconductor 51 is provided. Further, around the photoconductor 51, the photoconductor 5 is
A developing device 52 that develops the electrostatic latent image exposed on the surface of the photoconductor 1 into a visible image (toner image) with toner, and a transfer charger 53 that transfers the toner image on the photoconductor 51 to the transfer paper P
A cleaning device (not shown) for removing residual toner on the surface of the photoconductor 51; a main charger 54 for charging the photoconductor 51 to a predetermined potential; The LSU to be irradiated and the like are provided in order from the irradiation point toward the rotation direction of the photoconductor 51. The LSU includes a CCD 3 of the document reading unit 3.
3 is input after image processing of the read document image data, whereby the image forming unit 5a can form an image corresponding to the document on the transfer paper P.

Further, in the image forming apparatus main body 5, at the front end (the image forming section 5 a side) of the paper feed cassette 5 b for storing the transfer paper P, a call-in roller 55 for feeding the transfer paper P is provided, for example. , A roller and a sheet separating portion 56 including a friction sheet member or a reverse rotation roller. On the side of the image forming section 5a opposite to the sheet stack section 9, a manual tray 57 for feeding the transfer paper P and a paper feed roller 58 are provided. In the following, for convenience of explanation, the transfer paper P
In the description of the position on the transport path, the direction along the transport direction, that is, the paper feed cassette 5b or the manual feed tray 57 side is described as upstream or forward, and the paper stack unit 9 side is described as downstream or backward. In the following, the transfer paper P is referred to as a length along the transport direction, a length in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction is referred to as a width, and an end on the transport direction side is a leading end, and the opposite direction to the transport direction. The end is called the rear end.

The transfer paper P flowing out of the paper feed cassette 5b or the manual feed tray 57 is exposed to light based on a pre-registration sensor 59 for detecting the passage of the transfer paper P and a signal from the pre-registration sensor 59. Roller pair 6 for aligning the toner image on the body 51 with the transfer paper P
0, the image is guided between the photoreceptor 51 of the image forming section 5a and the transfer charger 53, and the image is transferred to the transfer paper P as described above. The pre-registration sensor 59
Is configured so that the passage of the transfer paper P can be detected by an electric signal using, for example, a photosensor with an actuator, and the length of the transfer paper P is measured by measuring the ON time as described later. It is also used as a sensor for detection.

Further, downstream of the photosensitive member 51, for example,
The transfer paper P is discharged from a pair of fixing rollers 61 including a heating roller and a pressure roller for fixing the toner image on the transfer paper P, and the paper stack unit 9 side of the side surface of the image forming unit 5a. And a paper discharge roller pair 62 are provided. Transfer paper P discharged from the discharge roller pair 62
Is discharged to the sheet discharging unit 5c arranged below the document reading unit 3 and above the sheet feeding cassette 5b on the side of the image forming unit 5a. Although not shown, a fixing paper detection switch that detects that the transfer paper P has passed through the fixing roller pair 61, a discharge detection switch that detects that the transfer paper P has passed in front of the discharge roller pair 62, and the like are provided. Is provided.

On the transport path from the fixing roller pair 61 to the paper discharge roller pair 62, a switching gate 64 for guiding the transfer paper P to the sub-transport path 63 when forming images on both sides of the transfer paper P is provided. A registration roller pair 60 is provided.
The transfer paper P can be guided again to the upstream of. Further, a switching gate 65 for guiding the transfer paper P to the transport / post-processing unit 7 when performing post-processing is provided between the pair of rollers 61 and 62. As a result, the image forming apparatus main body 5 forms an image on both sides or one side of the transfer paper P, and then, via the conveyance / post-processing unit 7, the paper stack section 9.
Or the transfer paper P can be discharged to the discharge unit 5c.

Further, the image forming section 5a according to this embodiment
Is provided with a paper detection sensor 66 as a width reading unit (size detection unit) in front of the switching gate 65, for example, including a photosensor with an actuator. The position of the paper detection sensor 66 in the width direction distinguishes transfer papers P having the same length but different widths, such as A5 vertical feed (A5R) and A4 horizontal feed, or letter and invoice R, for example. Therefore, it is set at a predetermined position so that one can be detected and the other cannot be detected. For example, when discriminating between A5R and A4, the paper detection sensor 66 is disposed at a position exceeding 74 [mm] from the center reference position in the width direction of the transport path. As a result, when the paper detection sensor 66 is not turned on, the width of the transfer paper P can be considered to be 148 [mm] or less, and it can be determined to be A5R. Further, the position of the paper detection sensor 66 in the feed direction (the switching gate 65)
Is set in consideration of the switching time of the switching gate 65 so that the switching gate 65 can be switched according to the transfer sheet P after detecting the width of the transfer sheet P.

On the other hand, the paper stacking section 9 includes a first paper stack tray 9a corresponding to a small output and a second paper stack tray 9b corresponding to a large output or stapled output. The second paper stack tray 9b is movable in the vertical direction, and is transported by an up / down sensor (not shown) that detects the position of the uppermost surface of the transfer paper P placed on the second paper stack tray 9b. The discharge position of the post-processing unit 7 and the position of the uppermost surface can always be kept constant. As a result, both improved sheet discharging performance and large-capacity stacking are achieved. Further, the second sheet stack tray 9b can be reciprocated back and forth (in the horizontal direction, away from / close to the transport / post-processing unit 7), and by controlling the movement, the output transfer paper P is output. Can be sorted by number of copies.

Here, the transport / post-processing unit 7 according to the present embodiment is provided on the upper portion of the image forming apparatus main body 5 and receives a transfer sheet P from the image forming apparatus main body 5; First and second transport paths 7b and 7c for transporting the transfer paper P from the paper discharge unit 7a in the horizontal direction, and a stapling unit 7d for stapling the transfer paper P transported on the second transport path 7c. I have. The first transport path 7b is an escape transport path, and transfers the transfer paper P on which stapling is not performed or the transfer paper P on which stapling of special paper or small-size paper is prohibited to the paper stack unit 9. Transport. On the other hand, in the second transport path 7c,
A staple tray 7e (described later) for mounting a plurality of transfer papers P and matching the width and length is provided, and the staple unit 7d can perform stapling of the aligned transfer paper bundle.

The transport paths 7b and 7c are switched by a transport path switching gate 71 provided after the sheet discharging unit 7a. Further, after the first transport path 7b, a transport path switching gate 72 is provided, and the first transport path 7b
Can be guided to one of the first and second sheet stack trays 9b and 9c. Further, a paper detection sensor 73 as a width reading unit is provided at the same position as the paper detection sensor 66 in front of the transport path switching gate 71. As a result, the image forming apparatus 1 moves the transfer path switching gate 71 according to the width of the transfer sheet P.
Can be switched.

The first transport path 7b stacks the paper P provided above and below the transport path and the transfer paper P discharged by a pair of paper discharge rollers 74 provided before the transport path switching gate 71. And a roller pair 75 for feeding to the section 9. The roller pair 75 includes, for example, a rubber roller and a roller pressed toward the rubber roller.
Each pitch is set to a pitch shorter than the minimum size length allowed for the first and second sheet stack trays 9a and 9b. The lower paper guide of the upper and lower paper guides is also used as the upper paper guide of the second transport path 7c.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
Feed rollers 81 for feeding the transfer sheet P to the staple tray 7e, and a stopper (a leading end regulating member) for stopping the transfer sheet P from being discharged to the sheet stacking section 9 until the stapling process is completed. ) 82 are provided. The stopper 82 is attached to the staple tray 7
e, a wall which stands perpendicular to the mounting surface 83. When the bundle of transfer sheets P (sheet bundle) is discharged to the sheet stacking section 9 after the stapling process, it is rotated by the operation of a solenoid (not shown) or the like. The staple tray 7e is configured to move or translate and be drawn into the staple tray 7e.

The position of the stopper 82 is set such that the distance from the discharge roller pair 74 to the stopper 82 is longer than the longest sheet size that allows staples. In addition, both feed rollers 81.8
1 is a pair of the discharge roller 74 and the upstream feed roller 8
1 and between the two feed rollers 81, 81, and between the downstream feed roller 81 and the stopper 82, respectively, so that the length of the minimum transfer paper P that can be stapled by the staple unit 7d is shorter than the minimum length. Are located.

In the staple tray 7e, it is assumed that a plurality of transfer papers P are stacked. Therefore, the feed roller 81 is not a roller pair but a staple tray 7e.
Are arranged only on the upper surface of the. The feed roller 81
Is similar to the paper feed roller 58 shown in FIG. 2, and can control the vertical movement of the position and ON / OFF of the rotation. For example, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG.
It is attached to a roller arm 81d rotatable about 1c, and the ON / OFF of the rotation is controlled by a clutch mechanism (not shown).

In this configuration, in the standby state, as shown in FIG.
1a is in contact with the placement surface 83 of the staple tray 7e (or the placed transfer paper P). In this state, when the next transfer sheet P enters, the solenoid 81b is turned on in accordance with the entry timing. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 5, the roller arm 81d rotates and the roller 81a rises. Further, the roller 81a descends at the timing when the transfer paper P passes below the roller 81a, and starts rotating by a clutch mechanism (not shown). This allows
While the transfer paper P is conveyed toward the stopper 82, as shown in FIG. 3, on both sides of the stopper 82, a paper leading end pressing lever 84 for pressing the transfer paper P from above is provided. The paper leading end pressing lever 84 is hanging obliquely at a gentle angle close to the staple tray 7e toward the downstream side in the transport direction of the transfer paper P, or is lowered by being biased by a spring force or the like. ing.
Thus, even when the leading end of the transfer sheet P is curled, the transfer sheet P can be pushed down while being guided. Further, since the paper leading end pressing lever 84 is located at both ends of the stopper 82, the leading edge of the transfer paper P can be given a sense of rigidity, and when the leading edge strikes the stopper 82, the transfer paper P is deformed. , Damage, and misalignment due to these can be suppressed. A roller member rotatable in a direction orthogonal to the contact surface of the stopper 82 is provided at the leading end of the paper leading end pressing lever 84 (at a position where it contacts the transfer paper P). It is configured so that it does not become a resistance when matching the directions.

The rotation operation time of the feed roller 81,
That is, the feed amount of the transfer sheet P may be controlled by, for example, a sheet detection sensor 73 or a timer control from the time of detection by the sheet detection sensor 78 provided in the second conveyance path 7c. The control may be performed by detecting the press-up of the paper front end pressing lever 84 caused by the bending of the paper P. Alternatively, the control may be performed by detecting the contact of the transfer paper P with the stopper 82. Further, the paper detection sensor 78
And the on-timing of the paper presence / absence sensor 79 provided near the stopper 82 of the staple tray 7e are learned when the first transfer paper P enters.
After the first sheet, timer control may be performed by reflecting the learning result on the ON timing of the sheet detection sensor 78. As described above, if the learning result is reflected, control accuracy can be improved as compared with a case where the learning result is not reflected. Regardless of the control method,
The transfer paper P conveyed to the staple tray 7e is brought into contact with or near the stopper 82, and is held by the paper front end pressing lever 84.

The mounting surface 83 of the staple tray 7e according to the present embodiment has a flat surface 85 that is kept substantially horizontal and a concave portion 8 that extends downward from the flat surface 85.
6 is provided. In this configuration, the recess 86
The rear end of the transfer paper P can be kept at a position lower than the plane 85. As a result, the height from the flat surface 85 to the transfer path of the transfer sheet P, such as the height from the flat surface 85 to the sheet discharge roller pair 74, can be set lower than when the concave portion 86 is not provided. 7 can be suppressed.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a paper curl pressing lever 88 is provided on both sides of the roller 81a on the roller arm 81d of the feed roller 81. The paper curl holding lever 88 is
As shown in FIG. 5, when the roller 81a is located at an upper position, the roller arm 81d does not move any more in the p direction by the rotation restricting portion 81e of the roller arm 81d. Is regulated as follows. As a result, the paper curl holding lever 88 is maintained in a state substantially parallel to the roller arm 81d. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, when the roller 81a is positioned below, the paper curl pressing lever 88 is arranged along the concave portion 86 together with the roller arm 81d. As a result, the leading end portion 88a of the paper curl holding lever 88 comes into contact with the rear end of the transfer paper P placed downward along the concave portion 86, and the transfer paper P
Curl can be suppressed. The rotation restricting portion 81e restricts the paper curl pressing lever 88 so as not to move in the p direction, but does not restrict it in the reverse q direction. It is pivotable. The force by which the leading end portion 88a presses the paper curl depends on the length, weight, and length of the paper curl pressing lever 88.
Alternatively, it can be arbitrarily set by a spring force urging the paper curl holding lever 88 or the like.

Here, in the transport / post-processing unit 7 according to the present embodiment, the transfer papers P are aligned in two stages in order to surely align them in the width direction. As shown in FIG. A width alignment unit (alignment means) 7f for aligning the bundle of transfer papers P placed on the tray 7e in the width direction, and a preliminary alignment unit (preliminary alignment) for preliminary aligning each transfer paper P guided to the staple tray 7e. 7g).

Specifically, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, near the upstream side of the stopper 82 of the staple tray 7e, there are provided a fixed side wall 91 and an alignment plate 92 arranged to sandwich the transfer paper P placed on the staple tray 7e in the width direction. I have. Both members 91 and 92 are
Each of the fixed side walls 91 has a wall surface 91a / 92a perpendicular to the mounting surface 83 of the staple tray 7e and along the transport direction. It is fixed so as to be at a predetermined position. The alignment plate 92 can be moved in the width direction such that the position in the width direction of the wall surface 92a, that is, the distance between the fixed side wall 91 and the wall surface 91a changes. As a result, the members 91 and 92 can be aligned in the width direction with the sheet bundle placed on the staple tray 7e sandwiched between the wall surfaces 91a and 92a.

On the other hand, the pre-alignment section 7g according to the present embodiment
Is a two-stage guide 101 disposed at the rear end of the staple tray 7e. As shown in FIGS.
The paper guides 102 and 103 are provided on both sides of the conveyance path so as to face each other and have steps. The upper portion 102a of the paper guide 102 has a wall surface 102b extending in the transport direction perpendicular to the base plate 104 which is kept substantially horizontal, and the lower portion 102c has a wall surface parallel to the wall surface 102b. A wall surface 102d arranged inward in the width direction from 102b is provided. Similarly, the lower portion 103c of the paper guide 103 is
Wall surface 1 arranged on the inner side in the width direction than wall surface 103b of 3a
03d. In addition, both wall surfaces 102b and 103b
Correspond to the side walls described in the claims, and both wall surfaces 10
2d and 103d correspond to the convex portions.

As a result, the two-step guide 101 is
Between 02b and 103b (upper) and the wall surfaces 102d and 103
The transfer paper P can be guided both during the period d (at the bottom). Also, a lower portion 102c of both paper guides 102 and 103
The upper surfaces 102e and 103e of 103c are formed substantially parallel to the base plate 104, and can function as a lower guide when the transfer paper P is transported between the upper wall surfaces 102b and 103b.

Each of the above paper guides 102 and 103
, Each is provided with a shaft 105 having a screw shape. A cylindrical rotating body 106 having a screw shape inside is arranged on a part of each shaft 105, and each rotating body 106 can be rotated in an arbitrary direction by a motor (not shown) or the like. Therefore, each rotating body 1
06, the two-step guide 101 is
02b and 103b, and the wall surfaces 102d and 10
The width between 3d can be adjusted to a desired width.

Here, in order to preliminarily align the transfer paper P, it is necessary to adjust the distance between the wall surfaces to a value corresponding to the width of the transfer paper P. The transfer paper P is adjusted from the minimum width to the maximum width. Therefore,
It is necessary to set the movable range of the wall surface large, which makes it difficult to reduce the size of the transport / post-processing unit 7 that can be pre-aligned.

On the other hand, since the two-step guide 101 is provided with a step, the distance between one wall surface of the upper and lower steps may be adjusted to a value corresponding to the transfer paper P. Therefore, by transporting the wide transfer paper P in the upper stage and transporting the narrow transfer paper P in the lower stage, the movable range of the paper guides 102 and 103 can be set narrower than in the case where there is no step. The transport / post-processing unit 7 which is small in size and whose width can be adjusted at high speed can be realized. Further, in the case where the paper guides 102 and 103 have a width that can be conveyed in any stage, the paper guides 102 and 103 are conveyed in the smaller stage, so that the amount of movement can be reduced and the moving time can be shortened.

As an example, the transport / post-processing unit 7 according to the present embodiment is capable of stapling the transfer paper P from the invoice to A3R (A4).
The transfer paper P having a width from the invoice to the letter R such as an invoice, A5R, B5R, A4R (A5), and a letter R is conveyed. In the upper row, for example, legal, W letter, letter, B5 (B4R), A3R (A4), etc.
The transfer paper P having a width from 5 (B4R) to A4 (A3R) is conveyed in the upper stage.

Further, the two-stage guide 10 according to the present embodiment
1 is provided with feed rollers (first and second transport rollers) 111 corresponding to the respective stages, and even if the transfer paper P is transported while pre-aligning at any stage, The transfer paper P is transported in the transport direction (staple tray 7e
Side).

These feed rollers 111 are movable driven rollers. For example, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a shaft 113 for supporting a rotary shaft 112 of the feed roller 111 is connected to a solenoid 114 via a spring 114. 11
5 allows for vertical movement.

Accordingly, when the width of the transfer sheet P is narrow and the transfer sheet P is conveyed on the lower stage (between the wall surfaces 102d and 103d),
As shown in FIG. 10, the feed roller 11 on the transfer paper P
1 moves downward (in a direction approaching the base plate 104), and conveys the transfer paper P on the base plate 104 to the staple tray 7e side. Further, the width of the transfer paper P is wide, and
11), the feed roller 111 facing the upper surfaces 102e and 103e moves downward to transfer the transfer paper P on the upper surfaces 102e and 103e to the staple tray 7e as shown in FIG. Transported to the side.

Incidentally, in the above description, the feeding roller 11
1 has been described as being movable in the vertical direction.
If the position in the width direction is determined as shown in (1), the feed roller 111a for the upper conveyance may not be movable in the vertical direction. That is, assuming that the type of the transfer paper P is set as described above, when the transfer paper P is transported in the upper stage, the movable range of the paper guide 103 (102) is as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 12A, from the position where the distance between the wall surfaces 102b and 103b becomes the width of A3R (A4), as shown in FIG. 12B, the distance between the wall surfaces 102b and 103b becomes B4R ( B5). Similarly,
The movable range when the transfer paper P is transported in the lower stage is, as shown in FIG. 12C, the distance from the width of the letter R to the width of the invoice as shown in FIG. Become. Therefore, in the example of FIG. 12, the moving range of the paper guide 103 is from the position of FIG. 12B to the position of FIG. 12C, and the moving ranges of the wall surfaces 103b and 103d are α1 and α2, respectively. . In this case, the position of the feed roller 111a for upper conveyance in the width direction is set in both ranges α1 and α
It is desirable to set the value so as to fall within the range α3 between the two. Thus, the feed roller 111a can convey the upper transfer paper P regardless of the position of the paper guide 103.

In the modification shown in FIG. 12, the feed roller 111a does not move in the vertical direction, so that the structure of the drive mechanism can be simplified. It is limited to the position of 111a. Therefore, in this case, like the two-stage guide 101b shown in FIGS.
(102) The upper portion 103a is the feeding roller 11
It is preferable to form it so as to fall outward when it comes into contact with 1.

The wall 103b of the upper portion 103a is urged by a biasing member 107 such as a spring.
4 and perpendicular to the feed roller 111, as shown in FIG.
Similarly to the step guide 101, the transfer paper P conveyed in the upper stage can be pre-aligned between the two wall surfaces 102b and 103b. On the other hand, in order to convey an irregularly shaped transfer paper P, such as an invoice, which is narrower than the predetermined width, at a lower stage, a paper guide 103 is provided.
When the user attempts to move inward beyond the position of the feed roller 111, as shown in FIG.
Contacts the feeding roller 111 and falls outward against the urging force of the urging member 107. Thereby, the paper guide 103 can be moved further inward without any trouble. On the other hand, the feed roller 111 of the paper guide 103
When it moves outward beyond the position, the urging member 107 returns to the state shown in FIG. As a result, the movable range can be expanded as compared with the two-stage guide 101a shown in FIG. 12, and the transport / post-processing unit 7 that can preliminarily align the transfer paper P of various widths can be realized.

The operation of the transport / post-processing unit 7 for performing the stapling process in the above configuration will be described below with reference to FIG. That is, when the image forming apparatus 1 is instructed to perform printing and stapling, in step 1 (hereinafter, abbreviated as S1), the image forming apparatus 1 detects, for example, the size of the sheet feeding cassette 5b or the manual feed tray. Paper size information obtained from the size detection of the paper 57 or the paper detection sensor 66.
The size of the transfer sheet P is determined based on a detection result such as 77, the ON time of the pre-registration sensor 59, and the like. Further, in S2, the image forming apparatus 1 determines whether to convey at the upper stage or at the lower stage of the two-stage guide 101 based on the size of the transfer sheet P.

When the transfer paper P is wide and is conveyed in the upper stage, in S3, the conveyance / post-processing unit 7 sets the distance between the upper wall surfaces 102b and 103b to a value corresponding to the width of the transfer paper P. The position of the two-stage guide 101 is adjusted. As a result, in S4, the transfer paper P guided to the second transport path 7c is, as shown in FIG.
The feed roller 11 is guided by the feed roller 103b.
1 and is conveyed on the upper surfaces 102e and 103e of the step and preliminarily aligned.

On the contrary, when the width of the transfer paper P is narrow,
In S2, it is determined that the sheet is to be transported in the lower stage, and the position of the two-stage guide 101 is determined in S5 by the lower wall surface 102d.
Adjustment is made so that the interval between 103d becomes a value corresponding to the width of the transfer paper P. Thereby, in the above S4, the transfer paper P is
As shown in FIG. 10, the sheet is conveyed on the base plate 104 by the feed roller 111 while being guided by the lower wall surfaces 102d and 103d.

Regardless of which stage is conveyed, the transfer paper P which has passed through the two-stage guide 101 by the feed roller 111 (81) and has been pre-aligned, strikes the stopper 82 arranged on the conveying path in S6. Tangent and longitudinally aligned.

The processes in S4 and S6 are repeated each time the transfer paper P is transported, and the pre-aligned transfer papers P are stacked on the staple tray 7e in the transported order.

When the printing is completed and the conveyance of the transfer paper P to be stapled is completed (YES in S7), the process proceeds to S7.
8, the alignment plate 92 of the width alignment unit 7f moves from a position away from the transfer paper P bundle (paper bundle) as shown in FIG. 16 to a position on the fixed side wall 91 side as shown in FIG. I do. Thus, the sheet bundle placed on the staple tray 7e is sandwiched between the fixed side wall 91 and the alignment plate 92 and aligned in the width direction. Here, the transfer paper P is
Since the sheets are stacked after being pre-aligned in step 4, variations in the width direction are kept low. Therefore, even when the number of transfer sheets P to be stapled is small, the transfer sheets P
Can be prevented, and the width aligning portion 7f can surely align the sheet bundle.

When the sheet bundle is aligned in the width direction in S8, the staple unit 7d moves to a predetermined position in S9, and staples the sheet bundle with the staple portion S. Further, in S10, as described above, the stopper 82 moves to a position where it does not hinder the discharge of the sheet bundle, and the feed roller 77 discharges the sheet bundle to the sheet stack unit 9.
Thus, the stapling process of the transport / post-processing unit 7 is completed.

In FIG. 15, the case where the transfer paper P is aligned in the width direction after the loading of the transfer paper P is completed in S8 has been described as an example. May be matched. In any case, after the preliminary alignment in S4, the alignment is performed in the width direction, so that the alignment can be performed without damaging the sheet bundle.

When the transfer paper P is stacked on the staple unit 7d, it is necessary to convey a new transfer paper P onto the previous transfer paper P in order to prevent a confusion in the stacking order or a conveyance jam. is there. In the present embodiment, as described above, the concave portion 86 is provided in the staple tray 7e, and when the rear end of the sheet bundle is located in the concave portion 86, the upper surface of the rear end is controlled to be below the transport surface. ing.

In the case of this embodiment, the position of the concave portion 86 in the length direction is, for example, as shown in FIG. 18, the size of the sheet bundle is A4, A5R, letter or invoice, and the tip is the stopper 82. Is set so that the rear end of the sheet bundle enters the recess 86 when the sheet bundle comes into contact with or approaches.

In this case, among the transfer papers P conveyed in the upper stage, the transfer paper P having a short length (A4, letter, etc.) enters the concave portion 86 at the rear end. Transfer paper P
, And the transfer papers P are correctly stacked. In addition, the transfer paper P (B4, A3, W letter, etc.) having a long length has a rear end with a step upper surface 102 of a two-step guide 101.
e ・ 103e comes to the rear end. Therefore, the step upper surface 10
The transfer paper P discharged to the two-stage guide 101 from the discharge roller pair 80 arranged at a position higher than 2e and 103e is conveyed onto the previous transfer paper P and is correctly stacked.

On the other hand, of the transfer paper P conveyed in the lower stage,
The short transfer paper P (A5R, invoice, etc.) is correctly stacked because the rear end enters the concave portion 86, but the long transfer paper P (B5R, A4R, letter R, etc.) The end is not located at the concave portion 86 nor at the rear end of the two-stage guide 101, and comes to the front end of the two-stage guide 101.
As described above, when the length of the transfer paper P is halfway, the transfer paper P discharged from the discharge roller pair 80 is
01 on the base plate 104. As a result, there is a possibility that the new transfer paper P comes into contact with the transfer paper P before being located at the front end of the base plate 104, causing a conveyance jam or confusion in the placement order.

As described above, when the front end is brought into contact with the stopper 82, the transfer paper P whose rear end comes to the front end of the two-stage guide 101.
In this embodiment, when the transfer paper P is transported in S4 and S6 shown in FIG. 15, the transport timing and the transport amount of the transfer paper P are controlled as shown in FIGS. . Specifically, as shown in FIG. 19, when the first transfer paper P1 is discharged from the discharge roller pair 80, the feed roller 111 at this time, the transfer paper P1
Do not transport. Therefore, the rear end position of the transfer paper P1 is
It is kept at X.

Subsequently, when the next transfer sheet P2 is transported,
Since the rear end of the transfer paper P1 is kept at the position X, the transfer paper P2 is discharged so that the front end overlaps the rear end of the transfer paper P1, as shown in FIG. Is done. The feed roller 111 starts conveying in this state, and conveys both transfer sheets P1 and P2 until the rear end of the new transfer sheet P2 reaches the position X as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 22 and 23, the discharge of the new transfer paper P and the conveyance of each transfer paper P are repeated every time the transfer paper P is discharged.
11 is such that the rear end of the last transfer paper P is at the position X
, The transfer papers P are correctly stacked.

When the transfer of the transfer paper P is completed (S in FIG. 15)
In the case of YES at step 7), as shown in FIG. 24, the feed roller 111 (81) conveys each transfer sheet P until it comes into contact with or approaches the stopper 82. Thus, at the time of stapling, alignment is performed in the length direction without any problem.

As a result, the transport / post-processing unit 7 can stack the transfer papers P correctly without causing a transport jam or confusion in the stacking order, even when the length of the transfer paper P is incomplete. . In the above description, the case where the transport amount and the transport timing are controlled in the case where the transfer paper P is halfway is described as an example. However, even if the control is always performed, the transfer paper P can be stacked without any trouble.

Here, in the above description, the operation of the transport / post-processing unit 7 is mainly described, and only the case of performing the stapling process is described. However, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is described.
Then, in order to more appropriately select the transport path (7a, 7b, 62), for example, it is also determined whether or not the transfer paper P is compatible with the staple unit 7d. In particular,
When the stapling process is instructed, the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 2 performs the processing in S21 of FIG. 25 based on the sheet size information obtained from, for example, the size detection of the sheet cassette 5b and the size of the manual feed tray 57. , Transfer paper P
Is determined to be a predetermined staple allowable size. In S22, the document reading unit 3
Is determined as to whether or not the number of originals read is a predetermined allowable number of staples. If it is determined that stapling cannot be performed in any of the cases (in the case of non-permissible size or non-permissible number in S21 or S22), the image forming apparatus
Releases the staple mode in step S23, despite the stapling process being requested. Specifically, the transfer path switching gate 71 selects the first transfer path 7b side, and the transfer path switching gate 72 selects the first sheet stack tray 9a side to output the transfer paper P to the staple unit 7d. Is forbidden. This allows
The transfer paper P is transported along the first transport path 7b (escape transport path) and is discharged to the first paper stack tray 9a.
In addition, for example, the fact that the discharge port of the transfer paper P has been changed is displayed on a display unit (not shown) to notify the operator. Note that the gate 7 is used as the staple mode release processing.
Instead of the switching process and the display process of 2.73, an indication that stapling cannot be performed may be displayed on the display unit, and the operator may be instructed.

If the size or number of sheets before image formation is determined to be staple allowable (in S21 and S22, both allowable size and allowable number of sheets), image formation is started (S24). However, in the case of the manual feed tray 57 or the like, there may be a case where an irregular size paper is fed or the size is not detected. In addition, there are some sensors that can detect only the width but cannot detect the length. Therefore, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment further determines in S25 and S27 whether or not the staple processing allowable size is based on the output of the sensors 59 and 66 provided in the transport path.

More specifically, in S25, the image forming apparatus 1 measures the length of the transfer paper P based on the on-time of the pre-registration sensor 59 shown in FIG. 2, and determines whether or not the size is the staple allowable size. I do. If the determination in S25 is the staple allowable size, the image forming apparatus 1 switches the switching gate 65 in S26 to guide the transfer paper P to the transport / post-processing unit 7 side.

Further, in S27, the image forming apparatus 1 determines whether or not the size of the transfer paper P is a staple allowable size based on the detection result of the paper detection sensor 73 and the length detected in S25. Further, if the determination in S27 is the staple allowable size, in S28, the transport path switching gate 71 is switched, and the transfer paper P is moved to the second position.
It is guided to the transport path 7c side.

Thereafter, as described in detail in FIG. 15, the transfer paper P is stored and aligned, and the staple unit 7d
After stapling the sheet bundle (S29), the sheet bundle is discharged to the second sheet stack tray 9b (S30).

If the determination in S25 is not the staple allowable size, the image forming apparatus 1 determines in S31 the size of the transfer paper P based on the detection result of the paper detection sensor 66 and the length detected in S25. Is a size that can be output to the transport / post-processing unit 7.
If the size cannot be output in S31, the image forming apparatus 1 switches the switching gate 65 to guide the transfer paper P to the discharge roller pair 62 side. Thus, in S33, the transfer paper P is discharged to the paper discharge unit 5c.

If the determination in S31 is the allowable size of the transport / post-processing unit 7, and if the determination in S27 is not the staple allowable size, the image forming apparatus 1
Switches the switching gate 65 and the transport path switching gate 71 to guide the transfer paper P to the first transport path 7b of the transport / post-processing unit 7 (S34). Thereby, the transfer paper P is discharged to the first paper stack tray 9a via the first transport path 7b (S35).

On the other hand, when the operator instructs the selection of the offset function, the image forming apparatus 1 determines in S41 shown in FIG. 26 a second predetermined value based on the sheet size information in the same manner as in S21. It is determined whether or not the output size to the sheet stack tray 9b is allowable. S41
Is not the output allowable size, the offset mode is canceled by, for example, prohibiting the output or notifying the operator as in the case of S24 (S42).

If it is determined in step S41 that the size is the output allowable size, the image forming apparatus 1 starts printing in step S43, and in step S44, based on the on-time of the pre-registration sensor 59, as in step S25. It is determined whether or not the transfer sheet P has an output allowable size for the second sheet stack tray 9b. If it is determined in step S44 that the size is the output allowable size, the image forming apparatus 1 switches the switching gate 65 and the transport path switching gate 71 in step S45 to transfer the image to the first transport path 7b of the transport / post-processing unit 7. Guide the paper P. Further, in S46, similarly to S26, the transfer paper P detected by the paper detection sensor 73 is detected.
It is determined whether or not the transfer paper P is of an allowable size for output to the second paper stack tray 9b based on the width of the paper P. In this case, in S47, the transfer path switching gate 72 is switched, and the transfer sheet P is guided to the second sheet stack tray 9b. Thereby, in S48, the transfer paper P is
The second sheet stack tray 9b is used for offset processing.
Will be stacked.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S44 that the size is not the output allowable size in spite of the fact that the offset function is selected, or if the output to the first paper stack tray 9a is selected, the process proceeds to S49. In the same manner as in S31, the image forming apparatus 1 determines whether or not the transfer sheet P has an output allowable size to the transport / post-processing unit 7 based on the width or the like of the transfer sheet P detected by the sheet detection sensor 66. Is determined. If it is determined that the size is not the output allowable size, the image forming apparatus 1 switches the switching gate 65 to transfer the transfer paper P to the discharge roller pair 6 similarly to S32 and S33.
2 (S50 / S51).

If it is determined in step S49 that the output size is allowable for the transport / post-processing unit 7, or in step S46, it is determined that the output size is not allowable for the first sheet stack tray 9a. In this case, in S52, the image forming apparatus 1 determines whether or not the output number is equal to or less than the allowable number of the first sheet stack tray 9a. If the number is equal to or smaller than the allowable number, in S53, the image forming apparatus 1 switches the transport path switching gate 72 to guide the transfer sheet P to the first sheet stack tray 9a (S53). Thereby, the transfer paper P is discharged to the first paper stack tray 9a (S54).

Conversely, if the number of output sheets exceeds the allowable number in the determination of S52, the processing of S47 and thereafter is performed, and the transfer paper P is guided to the second paper stack tray 9b. In this case, the image forming apparatus 1 notifies the operator that the output port has been changed, for example, by displaying it on a display unit (not shown). In the above description, the case where a large amount of transfer paper P exceeding the allowable stacking amount of the first paper stack tray 9a is discharged and the case where the transfer is automatically switched to the second paper stack tray 9b has been described. 5c, or, for example, cancel the start itself of a series of image forming and discharging processing (job: JOB) and notify the operator that output is not possible.

In the above description, the two-stage guide 101
When adjusting the position in the width direction of (101a / 101b),
The case where the center position in the width direction of the transfer paper P is adjusted to be always a fixed position has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and one of the width direction ends of the transfer paper P is always fixed. The widthwise positions of both paper guides 102 and 103 may be adjusted so as to be in the position of.

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment, the case where the sizes of the transfer papers P to be stapled are the same is described. FIG. 27 shows a configuration in which pre-alignment is performed to staple transfer papers P having different sizes.
37 will be described with reference to FIG.

That is, the transfer / post-processing unit (post-processing device) 17 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. A shift unit (shift means) 201 capable of shifting in the direction is provided. Shift unit 201
For example, similarly to the matching plate 92 of the width matching unit 7f, the wall surface 202a (203)
a) The aligning plate 202 (20) for pushing the transfer paper P inward in the width direction in FIG.
3) is provided. Each of the alignment plates 202 and 203 can be independently moved, and can shift the transfer sheet P being transported based on an instruction from a control unit (not shown).

Further, in the width matching portion 7f according to the present embodiment, a movable matching plate 93 is provided on the inner side in the width direction similarly to the matching plate 92, instead of the fixed side wall 91 shown in FIG. The stapling unit 7d is provided on the alignment plate 93 side, and staples the sheet bundle based on the position of the alignment plate 93 in the width direction. In addition, both alignment plates 92.9
Reference numeral 3 corresponds to the alignment member described in the claims.

In the above configuration, the transport / post-processing unit 17 performs the processing shown in FIG. 28 instead of the operation shown in FIG. That is, when the printing and stapling processing is instructed to the image forming apparatus 1, the image forming apparatus 1 determines the size of the transfer sheet P in S11 as in S1 of FIG. Determine the shift amount.

For example, as shown in FIG. 29, if the previous transfer sheet P1 is wider than the next transfer sheet P2, the transfer sheet P2 is not shifted, and the center position in each width direction is substantially set. When the papers are conveyed so as to coincide with each other, as shown in FIG. 30, the widthwise ends of the transfer paper P2 are located inside the widthwise ends of the transfer paper P1 by a and b, respectively. In this state, since the widthwise end of the transfer paper P is not aligned,
The stapling unit 7d cannot perform stapling processing based on the width direction end.

On the other hand, when the transfer paper P1 is wider than the transfer paper P2 in S13, the shift unit 201 according to the present embodiment moves the alignment plate 202 on the opposite side of the width direction from the staple unit 7d. The transfer paper P is shifted inward in the width direction by half of the difference (a + b) between the width of the transfer paper P1 and the width of the transfer paper P2. As a result, as shown in FIG. 27, the two transfer papers P1 and P2 are pre-aligned such that the widthwise ends Y (reference sides) on the staple unit 7d side substantially match. Similarly, when the transfer paper P1 is narrower than the transfer paper P2, the alignment plate 203 on the same side as the staple unit 7d is moved to shift the transfer paper P inward in the width direction by half of the difference in width. Thereby, both transfer papers P1.
P2 is pre-aligned so that the reference sides match.

The transfer paper P pre-aligned in S13
Are sequentially placed on the staple tray 7e, and are aligned in the length direction in S14, similarly to S6 shown in FIG.

The processing from S11 to S14 is performed on the transfer paper P
Is carried out each time the paper is conveyed, and the pre-aligned transfer paper P is sequentially placed on the staple tray 7e. When the printing is completed and all the transfer paper P is conveyed (YES in S15), in S16, both alignment plates 92 and 93 align each transfer paper P in the width direction.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 31, the transfer papers P1 and P2 are preliminarily aligned so that the width on the alignment plate 93 side (staple unit 7d side) is substantially aligned.
It is stacked on the staple tray 7e. In this state,
As shown in FIG. 32, the position of the alignment plate 93 in the width direction is fixed to the ends of the transfer sheets P1 and P2, and the alignment plate 92 is driven inward (not shown) by a driving unit (not shown).
Side).

Here, the moving amount of the alignment plate 92 is set such that the wide transfer paper P1 bends and the narrow transfer paper P2 slides on the transfer paper P1. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 32, the transfer paper P1 is
Even after being caught between the a. 93a and being unable to move further to the alignment plate 93 side, the alignment plate 92 moves and the transfer paper P1 bends as shown in FIG. 33, and as shown in FIG. ,
The transfer paper P2 moves so as to slide on the transfer paper P1 due to the bending. As a result, the end of the transfer sheet P2 on the alignment plate 93 side coincides with the end of the transfer sheet P1 despite its narrow width. Further, as shown in FIG. 35, when the alignment plate 92 returns to the original position, the bending of the transfer paper P1 is eliminated while the alignment of the end portion on the alignment plate 93 side is maintained.

At S16, a bundle of transfer sheets P (sheet bundle)
Are aligned in the width direction at the position of the alignment plate 93, FIG.
As in S9 and S10 shown in (1), the sheet bundle is stapled (S17) and discharged to the sheet stacking section 9 (S18).

Thus, when the transfer sheets P having different widths are conveyed, the stapling process fails. Therefore, unlike the prior art in which the stapling process is stopped, the widths of the transfer sheets P are different from each other. Also, the transport / post-processing unit 17 can align the transfer papers P along one side (one end in the width direction) along the transport direction without any trouble, and can reliably perform stapling at a predetermined position of the sheet bundle. As a result, the workability of the user can be significantly improved.

Further, in this embodiment, the case where the transfer paper P on the staple tray 7e is sandwiched between the alignment plates 92 and 93 of the width alignment portion 7f in order to align the transfer paper P in the width direction has been described as an example. As a preferred configuration, as shown in FIG. 36, the transfer surface P may be aligned by inclining the mounting surface 83 of the staple tray 7e so that the alignment plate 93 side faces downward.

Here, when the mounting surface 83 is tilted, if the end portion in the width direction has a large variation, the mounting surface 83 needs to be tilted more in order to align the transfer paper P reliably. The height of the post-processing unit 7 tends to be high.

However, when the pre-alignment is performed by the shift unit 201 as in the present embodiment, the variation of the end in the width direction can be suppressed, so that the height of the transport / post-processing unit 7 is not undesirably increased. , At the end in the width direction.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the matching plates 202 and 203 are provided as the shift unit 201 has been described as an example.
The paper guides 102 and 103 of the two-stage guide 101 shown in the first embodiment may be provided. In any case, if the transfer paper P can be shifted according to the difference in the width of the transfer paper P, the same effect can be obtained. However, two-stage guide 1
If 01 is used, the moving range can be reduced more than the matching plates 202 and 203.

In the first and second embodiments, the pre-registration sensor 59 and the paper detection sensors 66 and 73 are used.
Although the case where the size of the transfer paper P is detected has been described as an example, the present invention is not limited to this. The sensor is not limited to this as long as it is a sensor provided on the transfer path of the transfer paper P.
However, if the sensors of the image forming apparatus main body 5 are diverted as in this embodiment, the number of sensors can be reduced.

In each of the above embodiments, the transfer sheet P is moved by the stopper (8) by the conveying force of the feed rollers (111 and 81).
Although the case where the transfer paper P is aligned in the length direction by contacting 2) has been described as an example, the alignment method in the length direction is not limited to this. For example, a transfer roller P conveys the transfer paper P to a position near the stopper, and the staple tray (7).
After the sheet is loaded on e), the stopper or the rear wall of the concave portion (86) may be moved so as to sandwich the sheet bundle between the two members (82 and 86) and align them in the longitudinal direction. In this case, unlike the case where alignment is performed only by the feed roller, the transport force and transport timing of the feed roller are strictly adjusted in order to sufficiently align the transfer sheet P without causing damage (such as breakage) at the leading end of the transfer paper P. No need to adjust. Therefore, the transport / post-processing unit (7, 17) is arranged on the sheet cassette (5b),
Although the mounting surface (83) of the staple tray is kept substantially in the horizontal direction, the sheet bundle can be more accurately aligned in the length direction.

Further, in order to align in the length direction, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the staple tray 7e may be arranged so that the rear end thereof is slightly lowered in the transport direction, and the staple unit 7d may be provided at the rear end of the staple tray 7e.
In this configuration, each transfer sheet P on the staple tray 7e is
In particular, can be adjusted in the length direction by rear end alignment by its own weight without providing a member for length adjustment. The staple-processed sheet bundle is discharged to the sheet stacking unit 9 by, for example, driving a transport belt as a staple tray 7e by a transport belt roller.

In each of the above embodiments, the case where the conveyance / post-processing unit is disposed on the paper feed cassette and the conveyance path is the U-shaped image forming apparatus 1 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Instead of a transport / post-processing unit, for example,
As shown in FIG. 38, the transport path may be connected to the one-shaped image forming apparatus 1a. In this case, since the transport / post-processing unit is arranged on the side of the image forming apparatus 1a,
Although the installation area of the entire apparatus increases, the pre-alignment of the two-stage guide 101 can shorten the moving range and time during the pre-alignment. Further, the preliminary alignment of the shift unit 201 allows the transfer sheets P having different widths to be aligned without any trouble.

However, as in the above-described embodiments, the image forming apparatus having the U-shaped conveyance path in which the sheet feeding cassette (5b) and the conveyance / post-processing unit (7.17) are vertically overlapped. When used in (1), the transport / post-processing unit can be provided without increasing the installation area of the image forming apparatus. Further, since the mounting direction (vertical direction) of the paper stack unit (9) is different from the length direction of the staple tray, the height of the entire image forming apparatus can be set low. Therefore, it is particularly preferable to use the image forming apparatus 1 having the U-shaped conveyance path.

[0130]

As described above, the post-processing apparatus according to the present invention is arranged on both sides of the conveying path of the conveyed material, and holds the conveyed material being conveyed in the width direction of the conveyed material. A pre-alignment means for performing alignment, wherein the pre-alignment means is provided with a side wall extending in the height direction, and a protrusion projecting from the side wall to the width direction and the material to be conveyed. In this configuration, the material to be transported is preliminarily aligned between the side walls or the convex portions.

According to the above configuration, the material to be conveyed is preliminarily aligned in the width direction during the conveyance, so that the variation in the width direction can be suppressed without increasing the area occupied by the apparatus having the post-processing device. . In addition, the preliminary alignment means can prevent variations in the width direction due to conveyance, and
Variations in the width direction after the conveyance can be suppressed, and the effect of reliably aligning each material to be conveyed can be obtained.

In addition, since the convex portions are provided on the side walls, the material to be conveyed can be preliminarily aligned in the width direction both between the side walls and between the convex portions. Therefore, the moving amount and moving time of the side wall and the convex portion can be reduced, and even when many types of materials to be transported are preliminarily aligned, a smaller post-processing device can be realized.

As described above, the post-processing apparatus according to the present invention conveys a wide conveyed material preliminarily aligned between the side walls using the upper surface of the convex portion as a convey surface in addition to the above configuration. The configuration includes a first transport roller and a second transport roller that transports a narrow transported material that is preliminarily aligned between the convex portions.

According to this configuration, the first transport roller for the transported material transported between the side walls and the second transport roller for the transported material transported between the convex portions are provided. In any case, the material to be conveyed can be reliably conveyed.

As described above, the post-processing apparatus according to the present invention, in addition to the above-described configuration, operates after the first and second transport rollers start transporting the material to be transported, and The transport amount until the transported material is received is set such that the leading end of the next transported material overlaps the previous transported material.

According to this configuration, the transport amounts of the first and second transport rollers until the next transported material is received are set such that the next transported material overlaps the previous transported material. Thus, it is possible to prevent the rear end of the conveyed material from abutting on the front end of the next conveyed material. This has the effect of preventing confusion in the stacking order and jamming.

As described above, the post-processing apparatus according to the present invention is arranged at a predetermined position in front of the transport path in addition to the above-described configuration, and the material to be transported is moved from the position in the transport direction. A leading end regulating member for preventing the moving member from advancing, and an aligning means for aligning the conveyed material regulated by the leading end regulating member in the width direction. This is a configuration in which the overlapped transported material is transported until the transported material reaches the leading end regulating member after the and the transported material overlap.

According to this configuration, the first and second conveying rollers convey until the preceding conveyed material and the subsequent conveyed material overlap each other and reach the leading end regulating member.
Each transported material is aligned in a state where each transported material is regulated by the leading end regulating member. Here, the material to be conveyed by the alignment means has already been pre-aligned. As a result, without disruption or jams in the loading order,
This brings about an effect that each conveyed material can be surely aligned in the width direction.

As described above, the post-processing apparatus according to the present invention is provided with size detecting means for detecting the width of the material to be conveyed, in addition to the above-described configuration, and the side wall or the convex portion is provided in accordance with the detection result. It is configured to be movable in the width direction and preliminarily align the transported material in the width direction.

In this configuration, even when there is no indication of the size of the material to be conveyed or when the material to be conveyed is irregular, the pre-alignment means determines the distance between the side walls or the convex portion based on the detection result of the size detection means. This has the effect that the distance between them can be set to a value corresponding to the width of the conveyed material to be conveyed.

As described above, the post-processing apparatus according to the present invention is provided with the preliminary alignment means for preliminarily aligning the conveyed material being conveyed in the width direction of the conveyed material.
Size detecting means for detecting the width of each of the conveyed materials, and each conveyed material having a different width based on the detection result such that the conveyed materials having different widths are substantially aligned on one side (reference side) along the conveying direction. And shifting means for shifting the material in the width direction.

According to this configuration, the material to be conveyed is preliminarily aligned in the width direction during the conveyance, so that the area occupied by an apparatus having a post-processing apparatus such as an image forming apparatus can be increased. Variations in the width direction can be suppressed, and each transported material can be reliably aligned.

In addition, since the shift means shifts each conveyed material in the width direction according to the difference in width, even if conveyed materials having mutually different widths are conveyed, each conveyed material is determined by the above-described reference. Pre-alignment is possible at the sides. Therefore, even when the widths are different, there is an effect that the processing based on the reference side such as the stapling processing on the right shoulder and the left shoulder of the conveyed material can be performed without any problem.

As described above, in the post-processing apparatus according to the present invention, in addition to the above configuration, the shift amount by the shift means is such that the above-mentioned one side of the narrow conveyed material is the same as that of the narrow conveyed material. This is a configuration that is set so as to be located at the same width direction position as one side or outside.

According to this configuration, the reference side of the narrow transported material coincides with or protrudes toward the reference side of the wide transported material. This has the effect that preliminary alignment can be performed in a state where it is easy to align on the side.

As described above, the post-processing apparatus according to the present invention, in addition to the above-described configuration, has a configuration in which the width of the first conveyed material is A, and Assuming that the width is B, the shift amount of the second transported material by the shift means is set to 0.5 × (AB) or more.

According to this configuration, the second material to be conveyed is 0.1 mm.
Since the shift is performed by 5 × (AB) or more, the reference side of the second conveyed material coincides with the reference side of the first conveyed material or protrudes toward the reference side even though the width is narrow. I do. Therefore, there is an effect that the materials to be conveyed having different widths can be preliminarily aligned in a state where they can be easily aligned on the reference side.

The post-processing apparatus according to the present invention has, in addition to the above configuration, a tray on which pre-aligned conveyed materials are sequentially loaded, and alignment members arranged on both sides of the tray. Alignment means for aligning the loaded transported material with the alignment member in the width direction, wherein one of the alignment members is fixed at the width direction position of one side, and the other alignment member has a different width. Of the conveyed members described above, the first conveyed member having a wide width is movable to such an extent that the first conveyed member bends by a predetermined amount.

In this configuration, the movable alignment member moves toward the fixed alignment member, thereby aligning the conveyed material loaded on the tray. Here, the material to be conveyed has already been pre-aligned, and the movement of the alignment member is set to such a degree that the material to be conveyed having a wide width is bent. Therefore, there is an effect that each transferred material can be surely aligned without damaging the transferred material.

As described above, in the post-processing apparatus according to the present invention, in addition to the above configuration, the amount of deflection of the first transported material is as follows.
A configuration in which a second conveyed material having a width smaller than the first conveyed material is set to a value capable of sliding on the bent first conveyed material toward the fixed alignment member. It is.

According to this configuration, the second transferred material slides on the bent first transferred material toward the fixed alignment member. As a result, there is an effect that each transported material can be more reliably aligned.

As described above, the post-processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises, in place of or in addition to the above-mentioned alignment member, a tray for sequentially loading conveyed materials pre-aligned by the preliminary alignment means, And an aligning means for tilting and aligning such that one side (reference side) becomes lower.

In this configuration, the tray is tilted so that the reference side becomes lower.
It is aligned on the reference side. Here, each conveyed material is already
Since the pre-alignment is performed, it is possible to align the respective transported materials without increasing the height of the post-processing apparatus.

As described above, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention comprises: an image forming section for forming an image on a conveyed material; a paper cassette for storing the conveyed material to be fed to the image forming section;
When viewed from above, the image forming section is disposed at a position overlapping with the sheet feeding cassette, and the image forming section includes any one of the above-described post-processing devices that conveys and aligns the conveyed material on which an image is formed. It is.

According to this configuration, the post-processing device that conveys and aligns the paper feed cassette when viewed from above is disposed so as to overlap with the paper feed cassette.
There is an effect that an image forming apparatus having a small installation area of the entire apparatus can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of the present invention, and is a schematic diagram illustrating an elevation of a main part of a two-stage guide provided in a conveyance / post-processing unit of an image forming apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a main configuration of the entire image forming apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram illustrating a main configuration of the transport / post-processing unit.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a feed roller of the transport / post-processing unit and showing a state where the feed roller is lowered.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a feed roller of the transport / post-processing unit and showing a state in which the feed roller is raised.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram illustrating a main configuration of a width matching unit provided in the transport / post-processing unit.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the relationship between the two-stage guide and the staple unit.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a feed roller provided in the two-stage guide, and showing an upright surface.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a side surface of the feed roller.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an elevation of the two-stage guide and showing a state in which transfer paper is being conveyed in a lower stage.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating an elevation of the two-stage guide and showing a state in which transfer paper is being conveyed in an upper stage.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating another configuration example of the two-stage guide and illustrating a position of a feed roller in a width direction.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing still another example of the configuration of the two-stage guide.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing the two-stage guide and showing a state in which an upper portion of the paper guide is folded down.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the transport / post-processing unit according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory view showing an alignment operation of the transport / post-processing unit and showing a state before alignment.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing an alignment operation of the transport / post-processing unit and showing a state after the alignment.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a position of a concave portion in the transport / post-processing unit.

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conveyance amount and a conveyance timing of the conveyance / post-processing unit and illustrating a state where a first transfer sheet is discharged.

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conveyance amount and a conveyance timing of the conveyance / post-processing unit and illustrating a state where a second transfer sheet is discharged.

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conveyance amount and a conveyance timing of the conveyance / post-processing unit, and illustrates a state in which a first and a second transfer paper are conveyed.

FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conveyance amount and a conveyance timing of the conveyance / post-processing unit and illustrating a state where a third transfer sheet is discharged.

FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conveyance amount and a conveyance timing of the conveyance / post-processing unit, and illustrates a state where the first to third transfer sheets are conveyed.

FIG. 24 is a schematic diagram showing a transport amount and a transport timing of the transport / post-processing unit, and showing a state in which all transfer paper has been transported.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image forming apparatus and schematically showing the operation when stapling is selected.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image forming apparatus and schematically showing the operation when offset processing or output to the first sheet stack tray is selected.

FIG. 27, showing another embodiment of the present invention, is a schematic diagram illustrating a main configuration of a transport / post-processing unit.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing the operation of the transport / post-processing unit.

FIG. 29 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation of the transport / post-processing unit and illustrating a state before a shift unit shifts a transfer sheet.

FIG. 30 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an operation of the transport / post-processing unit and showing a case where no shift is performed.

FIG. 31 is a schematic diagram showing an operation of a width aligning section provided in the transport / post-processing unit and showing a state before alignment.

FIG. 32 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation of the width matching unit and showing a state where the matching plate is in contact with a wide transfer sheet.

FIG. 33 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation of the width matching unit and showing a state where a wide transfer sheet is bent by movement of the alignment plate.

FIG. 34 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation of the width matching unit and showing a state in which the transfer paper having a small width slides due to the bending.

FIG. 35 is a schematic diagram showing an operation of the width matching section and showing a state after the matching.

FIG. 36 is a schematic view showing a modification of the width matching section.

FIG. 37 is a schematic view showing a modification of the transport / post-processing unit.

FIG. 38 shows a modification of each of the above embodiments.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a main configuration of an image forming apparatus main body.

FIG. 39 is a configuration diagram illustrating a main configuration of a conventional post-processing apparatus.

FIG. 40 is a configuration diagram showing a main configuration of another conventional post-processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Image Forming Apparatus 5a Image Forming Section 5b Paper Cassette 7.17 Transport / Post-Processing Unit (Post-Processing Apparatus) 7e Staple Tray (Tray) 7g Pre-Alignment Section (Pre-Alignment Means) 7f Width Alignment Section (Aligning Means) 66 73 Paper detection sensor (size detection means) 82 Stopper (tip regulation member) 92/93 Alignment plate (alignment member) 102b / 103b Wall surface (side wall) 102d / 103d Wall surface (convex portion) 111 Feed roller (first and second conveyance) Roller) 201 Shift unit (shift means) P Transfer paper (conveyed material)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Motoaki Okitsu 22-22, Nagaike-cho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside Sharp Corporation (72) Inventor Kenji 22-22, Nagaike-cho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka (72) Inventor Minoru Murai 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture Sharp Corporation (72) Inventor Kazuya Masuda 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Sharp Corporation F term (reference) 3F054 AA01 AC01 BA02 BH08 BH14 DA01 3F102 AA01 AB01 BA09 BB04 EA14 FA03 3F108 GA01 GB01 HA02 HA32

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A post-processing apparatus for conveying a planar material to be conveyed, wherein the width is arranged on both sides of a conveying path of the material to be conveyed, and is substantially orthogonal to a conveying direction in an in-plane direction of the material to be conveyed. Pre-alignment means for pre-aligning the material being conveyed in the direction, the pre-alignment means includes a side wall extending in a height direction substantially orthogonal to the width direction and the conveyance direction, and the side wall; From
The post-processing device is provided with the convex portions protruding in the width direction and toward the material to be conveyed, and preliminarily aligns the material to be conveyed between the side walls or between the convex portions. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the upper surface of the projection is a transport surface.
A first transport roller that transports a wide transport material that is pre-aligned between the side walls; and a second transport roller that transports a narrow transport material that is pre-aligned between the protrusions. The post-processing device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The transport amount from when the first and second transport rollers start transporting the transported material to when the post-processing device receives the next transported material is the same as that of the next transported material. 3. The post-processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a front end is set so as to overlap with the previous conveyed material. 4. A tip regulating member which is arranged at a predetermined position in front of the conveyance path and prevents the material to be conveyed from moving in the conveyance direction from the position, and is regulated by the tip regulation member. Alignment means for aligning the conveyed material in the width direction, wherein the first and second conveying rollers reach the leading end regulating member after the previous conveyed material and the subsequent conveyed material overlap with each other. The post-processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the overlapped conveyed materials are conveyed until the operation is completed. 5. A size detecting means for detecting a width of a material to be conveyed, wherein the side wall or the convex portion is movable in the width direction according to a detection result, and preliminarily aligns the material to be conveyed in the width direction. The post-processing device according to claim 1, wherein: 6. A post-processing apparatus for conveying a planar conveyed material, wherein the conveyed material being conveyed is preliminarily aligned in a width direction substantially orthogonal to the conveying direction among in-plane directions of the conveyed material. The pre-alignment means includes size detection means for detecting the width of each of the conveyed materials, and based on the detection result, conveyed materials having different widths are substantially along one side along the conveyance direction. And a shift means for shifting each conveyed material in the width direction so as to be aligned. 7. The amount of shift by the shift means is set such that the one side of the narrow material to be conveyed is in the same width direction position as the one side of the narrow material to be conveyed, or more outward. 7. The post-processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein: 8. Assuming that the width of the first transported material is A and the width of the second transported material narrower than the first transported material is B, the shift means shifts the second transported material. The quantity is 0.5
7. The post-processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the value is set to be not less than (A-B). 9. A tray for sequentially loading conveyed materials preliminarily aligned by the preliminary alignment means, and an alignment member arranged on both sides of the tray, wherein the conveyed material stacked on the tray is provided. Alignment means for sandwiching between the alignment members and aligning in the width direction, one of the alignment members is fixed at a position in the width direction of one side, and the other alignment member has a width of the conveyed materials having different widths from each other. 7. The post-processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the first conveyed material having a large width is movable to a degree that the first conveyed material is bent by a predetermined amount. 10. The first transported material according to claim 1, wherein the first transported material has a deflection amount of the first transported material.
A second conveyed material having a width smaller than the conveyed material is set to a value capable of sliding on the bent first conveyed material in the direction of the fixed alignment member. The post-processing device according to claim 9. 11. A tray comprising: a tray on which conveyed materials pre-aligned by said pre-alignment means are sequentially stacked; and alignment means for tilting and aligning said tray so that said one side becomes lower. 7. The post-processing device according to claim 6, wherein: 12. An image forming section for forming an image on a conveyed material, a paper feed cassette for storing a conveyed material to be fed to the image forming section, and a paper feed cassette as viewed from above, at a position overlapping the paper feed cassette. Wherein the image forming unit conveys and aligns the conveyed material on which the image is formed, wherein
An image forming apparatus comprising: the post-processing apparatus according to 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or 11.