JP2002284425A - Sheet processing device, and image forming device having it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a finisher that certainly performs alignment and conveying of a sheet and is miniaturized. SOLUTION: This sheet processing device comprises a conveying roller that is disposed on the inlet side of a finisher device frame and conveys a sheet, a placing tray that tilts and temporarily receives the sheet, a processing means for processing the sheet temporarily placed on the placing tray, a storing stacker tilting so as to rise in the sheet discharging direction for storing the sheet, and a discharging roller movable to an opening position or a closing position. A first conveyance tilting angle so that the downstream in the conveying direction of the sheet by the paper discharging roller and the conveying roller is set high, a second conveyance tilting angle so that the downstream in the conveying direction of the sheet by the conveying roller at an opening position of the discharging roller is set high, and a sheet storing tilting angle of a storing stacker are set to become larger in this order.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printing machine, a printer, and a facsimile, and more particularly to a sheet processing apparatus for performing processing such as alignment and binding of sheets discharged after image formation. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of apparatus, a sheet is conveyed through the apparatus to form an image for image formation. The sheet on which the image is formed is conveyed to a sheet processing apparatus. In the sheet processing apparatus, the sheets are temporarily placed as necessary, aligned, perforated or bound, and then discharged as a sheet bundle to an accumulation stacker. In addition, the processing device performs sheet alignment and binding. When the sheet is not necessary, the sheet is directly discharged to the storage stacker without temporarily placing the sheet. Particularly, the same image is processed at high speed. Suitable for the case.

[0003] As described above, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2583 discloses a method for processing sheets after temporarily placing the sheets and directly storing the sheets in the storage stacker without temporarily placing the sheets.
594 or JP-A-2000-169031.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 of the accompanying drawings, these apparatuses are provided with rollers A and A 'for carrying an image-formed sheet S into a processing apparatus and a loading tray B for temporarily placing the sheet.
Stacker C for stacking sheets that have been stapled
And the case where the spelling process is further performed on the sheet and the storage stacker C
And a rotation unit D provided with a discharge roller E selectively positioned at an open position and a closed position above the loading tray when the paper is directly discharged to the printer.

Accordingly, when the binding device is applied to the sheet, the rotation unit D is moved clockwise in the drawing to position the discharge roller E at the open position separated from the drive discharge roller F, and the carry-in roller A
The sheet discharged by the switch is switched back and placed on the loading tray B.

On the other hand, when the sheet is discharged directly to the storage stacker C without the need for the binding process, the rotation unit D is rotated in the opposite direction to the above, and the discharge roller E is brought into contact with the driving discharge roller F at a position where the discharge roller E is pressed against the driving discharge roller F. The sheet S transported to the closed position and conveyed by the carry-in roller A is nipped one by one by the discharge roller E and discharged and conveyed to the storage sticker C.

[0007]

However, in these apparatuses, when the discharge roller E is in the open position and the sheet is placed on the temporary placing tray B, the sheet S by the carry-in roller A is used.
In the transport direction (solid line J shown in FIGS. 10 and 11) and the transport direction of the sheet by the carry-in roller A and the discharge roller E when the discharge roller E is at the closed position (dashed line K shown in FIGS. 10 and 11). Since there is a height difference in the transport direction, a large movement height difference between the open position and the closed position of the discharge roller E must be provided, and therefore, the rotation space of the rotation unit needs to be set large. It was difficult to reduce the size.

When the sheet S is discharged to the storage stacker C by the carry-in roller A and the discharge roller E in the closed position, the sheet S formed by these rollers is conveyed in the conveying direction (shown by broken lines in FIGS. 10 and 11). K) is inclined so that the downstream side in the transport direction becomes lower, so that the sheet is discharged in a direction that collides against the inclination of the storage tray C,
Depending on the thickness of the sheet stored in the storage tray, the leading end may be bent or a jam may occur during the discharging process.

Further, the fact that the upper and lower areas of the discharge roller E are large means that when the sheet is conveyed by the conveying roller A and the discharge roller E, extra stress and bending are generated in the sheet near the conveying roller A. When the sheet is conveyed by the roller, unnecessary curl is caused or a jam occurs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a first object of the present invention is to provide a sheet conveying direction for temporarily placing a sheet on a mounting tray and a sheet conveying direction for directly discharging the sheet. In this case, the sheet conveyance direction is tilted so that the downstream side in the conveyance direction is higher, and the angle difference in the conveyance direction is reduced, thereby minimizing the size of the apparatus by minimizing the opening and closing movement area of the discharge roller. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet processing apparatus capable of improving the storage performance of a storage stacker and reducing transport stress on sheets during a discharge transport process to reduce occurrence of jams and the like.

A second object of the present invention is to reduce the size of the apparatus by reducing the moving area of the discharge roller that opens and closes, and to reliably perform the alignment process on the sheet when reliably temporarily mounting the sheet on the temporary mounting tray. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet processing apparatus which can perform the processing.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0013]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transport roller provided at an entrance side of an apparatus frame for transporting a sheet, and having a slope below the transport roller so as to become higher toward an exit side of the apparatus frame. A loading tray for temporarily loading sheets, processing means for processing sheets temporarily loaded on the loading tray, and a sheet carried out of the apparatus frame provided adjacent to the loading tray. A storage stacker that is inclined so as to be higher in the direction of discharging the stored sheets, an open position that is provided on the unloading side of the above-described loading tray, and a sheet that is transported from the transport roller and is directly stored in the loading tray. In a sheet processing apparatus including a discharge roller movable to a closed position for discharging to a stacker, a downstream side in a sheet conveying direction by the discharge roller and a conveying roller is raised. The first conveyance inclination angle, the second conveyance inclination angle at which the downstream side of the sheet is conveyed by the conveyance roller at the discharge roller open position, and the sheet storage inclination angle of the storage stacker are sequentially increased in this order. It is set.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the sheet placement inclination angle of the loading tray of the first invention is set to be larger than the storage inclination angle of the storage stacker.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, an angle difference between the second transport angle by the transport roller at the open position of the discharge roller with respect to the first transport inclination angle by the discharge roller and the transport roller of the first invention is determined. It was within 5 degrees.

According to a fourth aspect, the processing means of the first to third aspects is a binding means for binding a sheet temporarily placed on a loading tray.

According to the invention described above, the sheet conveyance direction in the case of temporary placement on the loading tray and the sheet conveyance direction in the case of the sheet conveyance direction in the direct discharge are set such that the downstream side in the conveyance direction is higher. By inclining and reducing the angle difference in the conveyance direction, the opening and closing movement area of the discharge roller is reduced as much as possible to reduce the size of the device, improve the storage performance in the storage stacker, and reduce the The transfer stress can be reduced to reduce the occurrence of jams and the like.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transport roller provided at the entrance side of the apparatus frame for transporting the sheet, and the sheet is temporarily placed below the transport roller while being inclined so as to become higher toward the exit side of the apparatus frame. A discharge roller that can be moved to a mounting tray, an open position provided on the discharge side of the mounting tray for mounting sheets on the mounting tray, and a closed position for discharging sheets conveyed from the conveying rollers directly to the storage stacker. When,
An alignment plate provided from the sheet placement tray to the downstream side of the delivery roller to align the sheets on the placement tray, wherein at least a part of the delivery roller at the open position of the delivery roller is This is located within the height region of the matching plate.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the height of the aligning plate of the fifth aspect of the present invention is arranged in a height region at a closed position of the discharge roller.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is further provided a binding means for binding a sheet temporarily placed on the placing tray of the fifth or sixth aspect.

According to the fifth to seventh aspects of the present invention, the moving area of the discharge roller that opens and closes is reduced to reduce the size of the apparatus, and the sheet is aligned with the sheet when the sheet is reliably temporarily placed on the temporary tray. Such processing can be performed reliably.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet processing apparatus according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, an image forming means for forming an image on a sheet, and a sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming means. And a main body discharging means for discharging the sheet to the sheet processing apparatus.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus which is small in size as a whole and can reliably process sheets.

[0024]

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

First, an image forming apparatus 300 to which the finisher 1 as a sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention can be applied will be described with reference to FIG.

The image forming apparatus 300 includes a document conveying device 305
Then, the original is automatically sent, and the image is read by the image reading unit 306. Then, a signal is sent to the laser oscillator in accordance with the image information read by the controller (not shown), and a laser beam is emitted.

Next, the laser light is reflected by the rotating polygon mirror 309, and is further turned back by the reflection mirror 310, so that the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive drum 312 serving as image forming means is uniformly charged. Irradiation forms an electrostatic latent image. After the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 312 is developed by the developing device 311, it is transferred as a toner image onto a sheet S composed of paper, an OHP sheet, or the like.

The sheet S is appropriately fed out of the sheet cassette 351 by a pickup roller 313 constituting a sheet feeding means, separated by a separating means 307 and fed one by one.
7, the skew is corrected by the pair of registration rollers 314, and the sheet is conveyed between the photoconductor drum 312 and a transfer device opposed thereto in synchronization with the rotation of the photoconductor drum 312. You. At this time, the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 312 is transferred to the sheet S by the operation of the transfer device.

Thereafter, the sheet S is guided to the fixing roller pair 301, and is heated and pressed by the fixing roller pair 301, and the toner image transferred to the sheet S is permanently fixed. Each of the fixing roller pairs 301 has a fixing upper separating claw 30.
3. The fixing lower separation claw 304 is in contact with the fixing roller 304, whereby the sheet S is separated from the fixing roller pair 301.

The separated sheet S is transported by a pair of conveying rollers 319.
The sheet is conveyed to the outside of the image forming apparatus 300 by the discharge roller pair 320 and is guided to the finisher 1 connected to the image forming apparatus 300.

The image forming apparatus is detachable by the finisher 1 and a lock mechanism (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 1, the finisher 1 supplies an apparatus frame 2, a stapler unit 3 mounted on the apparatus frame 2, and an image-formed sheet S discharged from a discharge roller 320 of the image forming apparatus 300. A receiving port 4, a discharge port 5 formed on a surface opposite to the receiving port 4, and a storage stacker 6 that protrudes from the front of the apparatus frame 2 and stores and stacks sheets S discharged from the paper discharge port 5. Have.

In the inside of the receiving side 4 of the apparatus frame 2, there are transport guide blocks 7.8 for guiding the transport of the sheet S supplied from the receiving port 4, and an entrance sensor 9 for detecting that the sheet has been supplied. And the transport drive roller 1 that cooperates with the driven roller 10 to feed the sheet S further downstream.
1 and an endless transport belt 13 that receives the drive from the transport roller 12 and transports the sheet S jointly.

Below the endless transport belt 13, a loading tray unit 20 for temporarily loading the sheet S is provided.

Above the tray unit 20, there is provided a turning unit 30 which turns up and down around a shaft 31 provided on the apparatus frame 2 as a fulcrum.
The rotation unit 30 is used to directly discharge the sheet S to the storage stacker 6 via the discharge port 5 without temporarily placing the sheet S on the mounting tray unit 20, or to transfer a plurality of sheets in the mounting tray unit 20. When the bundle is discharged to the storage stacker 6, it is located at the lower position, which is the closed position shown in FIG.
The upper position is the open position shown in FIG.

A rubber paddle 34 provided on the paddle rotation shaft 32 and a driven discharge roller 35 provided on the free end side of the rotation unit 30 are provided in the rotation unit 30. The driven discharge roller 35 discharges the sheet S or a bundle of sheets S from the discharge port 5 to the storage stacker 6 in cooperation with the discharge roller 41 located below the driven discharge roller 35.

A discharge roller 41 driven and rotated by a drive shaft 40 is provided at the discharge port 5 of the apparatus frame 2 so as to face the driven discharge roller 35. A sheet abutting surface 42 as a sheet edge regulating member that regulates an edge of the sheet S stored and stacked in the storage stacker 6 is formed integrally below the discharge roller 41 with the front frame of the apparatus frame 2. ing. The outline of the main configuration of the device frame 2 has been described above. The configuration of each unit or each mechanism will be further described below. First, the loading tray unit 20 will be described. The mounting tray unit 20 includes a mounting tray 21 for temporarily mounting sheets for performing staple mounting for binding the sheets S,
As a sheet presser 22 as a sheet pressing means hanging down from the conveyance guide block 8 in contact with the uppermost upper surface of the sheet S on the mounting tray 21, and as an aligning means for aligning the sheets S stacked on the mounting tray 21. And a matching plate 23.

The stacking tray 21 has a sheet stacking section 21a inclined upward (in this embodiment, about 30 degrees) with the sheet bundle discharge direction after the stapling, and a rear end of the sheet stacking section 21a. And a placed sheet end regulating piece 21b as a sheet regulating means for engaging with a side edge of the sheet S on the sheet placing portion 21a.

The width of the loading tray 21 is larger than the width of the sheet S of the maximum sheet size fed into the apparatus frame 2, but the length in the sheet transport direction, that is, the receiving port 4
The distance from the discharge port 5 to the discharge port 5 can be shortened regardless of the sheet size. This is because the sheet can be placed on the loading tray 21 and the storage stacker 6 with the sheet straddled.

A matching plate driving motor (MO)
T) a pinion gear 24a fixed to the output shaft of 24;
The rack gear plate 25 is provided on the bottom surface of the alignment plate 23 and meshes with the pinion gear 37. Also, the matching plate 23
Is the discharge port 5 more than the drive discharge roller 41 or the discharge roller 35.
It is provided to protrude to the side.

Accordingly, each time the sheet S is carried in along the loading tray 21, the aligning plate 23 is brought into contact with the sheet S by rotating the aligning plate driving motor 24 in a direction substantially orthogonal to the conveying direction of the sheet S. Then, the sheet S is aligned by bringing the sheet S into contact with the side surface of the apparatus frame 2 to which the stapling unit 3 is attached at a position facing the moving direction of the alignment plate 23. Next, the endless transport belt 13 provided on the receiving tray 4 side of the loading tray 21 will be described.

The endless transport belt 13 is sandwiched between transport rollers 10 and 11 and transports the sheet S in cooperation with the transport roller 10. The endless transport belt 13 is made of a rubber ring-shaped endless belt, is rotated by the drive roller 11, and is deformable and flexible in the vertical direction and the cross direction thereof in the figure. Although not shown, the endless transport belt 13 has a finely toothed shape with an engagement surface with the sheet S. The upper end in the drawing of the endless conveyance belt 13 acts as a pull-in conveyance unit for drawing the sheet from the receiving port 4 side, and the left end in the drawing shows the rear end of the sheet S in the conveyance direction on the loading tray 21 on the paddle 1.
3, and acts as a push-in and drop-in section, and the lower side in the figure also acts as a sheet retraction section for conveying the sheet S on the loading tray 21. Since the endless transport belt 13 is made of a flexible material which can be deformed as described above, even if the sheets S are sequentially stacked on the loading tray 21, the lower sheet shown in FIG. Department rises. Here, the endless transport belt 13 and the alignment plate 23
As shown in the figure, the lower portion of the endless conveyance belt 13 in the drawing is located within the length of the alignment plate 23 in the conveyance direction. The alignment plate 23 is configured such that the edge of the sheet S is
The sheet S is moved and shifted in the width direction after the sheet S reaches the sheet leading end regulating piece 21b.
And the sheet retraction portion are in contact with each other, so that if the sheet retraction portion is located outside the alignment plate 23, the force for rotating the sheet S about the sheet retraction portion acts to prevent correct alignment. This is because the entire length of the apparatus frame 2 in the conveying direction can be shortened and made compact by arranging the sheet feeding portion in the alignment plate 23. Next, the sheet presser 2 placed on the sheet loading tray 21
2 will be described. As described above, this sheet presser 22
Is suspended by its own weight rotatably from the transport guide block 8, thereby holding down the sheet S transported on the loading tray 21. Therefore, the sheet S can be placed with good alignment without curling the sheet S to prevent the subsequent sheet S from being carried in, and can be placed later, such as stapled.

The sheet S placed on the loading tray 21 is stapled and placed by the stapling unit 3, and the stapling unit S of the present embodiment, as shown by a broken line in FIG. The stapling unit 3, which is inclined at substantially the same angle as the mounting portion 21 a and is fixed to the side of the apparatus frame 2, moves the sheet S from the main body frame toward the sheet mounting portion 21 a located inside the stapling unit 3.
A bed portion 3a for driving the staple needle and an anvil portion 3b for bending the staple needle driven by the bed portion 3a are provided at the front end of the bed. Although not shown, a replaceable cartridge containing needles is provided on the rear side, which is the outside of the main body frame 2.

The stapling unit 3 drives the stapler from the upper surface side of the sheet on the loading tray 21. The stapling needle is turned upside down from the lower surface side of the sheet S with the head 3a and the anvil 3b turned upside down. You may comprise so that it may drive.

Next, a description will be given of the rotating unit 30 located above the loading tray 21 on the sheet discharge port side. The rotation unit 30 includes a paddle 34, a paddle mounting member 33 for rotating the paddle 34, a paddle rotation shaft 32 integrated with the paddle 34, and drive transmission to the paddle rotation shaft 32.
, A paddle driving roller 31 which is common to a rotation fulcrum of a rotary unit for driving the paddle driving belt 36, and a main body frame 2 which is located at the discharge port 5.
And a driven discharge roller 35 that discharges the sheet S in cooperation with the discharge roller 41 on the side. The rotation unit 30
With the paddle drive roller 31 as an axis point, it swings up and down between a closed position close to the paper discharge roller 41 and an open position separated from the paper discharge roller 41. This vertical swinging motion is performed by turning on and off a rotary solenoid SL engaged and connected to the rotary unit 30 with the paddle drive roller shaft 31 as a fulcrum. When the rotation solenoid is OFF, this rotation unit
It is always urged toward the drive discharge roller 41 by a spring elastic means (not shown) interposed between the rotation unit 30 and the apparatus frame 2. Therefore, when the rotary solenoid SL is turned on, as described later, the rotary solenoid SL is moved to the open position separated from the discharge drive roller 41.

The vertical swinging movement of the rotating unit 30 may be performed by a cam or the like rotated by a motor instead of the solenoid.

The schematic configuration of the finisher 1 in the apparatus frame 2 has been described above. The storage stacker 6 attached to the finisher 1 and storing the sheet S discharged from the discharge port 5 will be described.

The storage stacker 6 includes a base 51 attached to the apparatus frame 2 with screws or the like, elastic means 52 such as a coil spring attached to the base frame 51, and a sheet S on the downstream side in the discharge direction of the sheet S. A sheet stack unit 50 that supports a sheet S that swings up and down with its side as a support is placed. Although not shown, the two elastic means 52 are arranged at intervals in the width direction of the sheet S. Therefore, as the amount of the sheets S sequentially placed on the stack surfaces 50a and 50b of the sheet stack unit 50 increases, the elastic means 5
2 is compressed, and the sheet stack portion 50 is displaced downward from the solid line position in the figure to the broken line position. That is, for example, a spring constant or the like is determined so that the height position of the upper surface of the elastic means does not always greatly change even if the sheet mounting amount increases. Also, the sheet stack unit 5
The upper surface of the sheet S is inclined so that the sheet to be stored slides down by its own weight and gradually rises toward the above-mentioned side in the sheet S discharging direction so as to come into contact with the sheet abutting surface 42 of the apparatus frame 2. .

Further, when the trailing end of the sheet S is discharged from the discharge port 5, the sheet stacking section 50 of the present embodiment is configured such that the trailing end of the sheet S is discharged even if the trailing end of the sheet is slightly curled. The discharge port side sheet mounting surface 50a which is inclined by about 20 degrees with respect to the horizontal line so as not to be in contact with the discharge port side sheet mounting surface 50a.
And the side sheet placing surface 50b in the sheet S discharge direction set to about degree. Note that the sheet stacking section 50 does not have the above-described two-step inclination angle, but may be inclined to the downstream side in the sheet discharging direction within a range of about 15 degrees to about 25 degrees.

By the way, as described above, the finisher 1 is configured so that the discharge roller pair 320 of the image forming apparatus 300 is used.
Of the image-formed sheet S discharged from the conveying roller 12
A so-called "through-pass mode" in which the sheet is directly discharged to the storage stacker 6 by the driven discharge roller 35 and the discharge roller 41 driving the driven discharge roller 35 in the closed position;
5 is set to an open position separated from the discharge roller 41, and immediately after the trailing end of the sheet S conveyed by the conveyance roller 12 passes the discharge roller 12, the paddle 34 is rotated counterclockwise to rotate the endless conveyance belt 13. After the sheets are stacked one by one on the sheet stacking tray 21 to perform alignment, binding processing, and the like, the driven discharge roller 35 is moved to the closed position, and the sheet bundle on which alignment binding and the like are completed is discharged to the storage stacker 6. Staple mode ".

These modes are set by the image forming apparatus 300 or a PC for controlling the image forming apparatus.

Next, a drive system for driving each roller and the like in each of these modes will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the drive system of the finisher 1 is as follows.
Transport roller 12, endless transport belt 13, paddle 3
4. A transport drive MOT1 composed of a pulse motor or the like as a drive source for each of the discharge rollers 40, and clutch means CL1, CL2, CL3 composed of an electromagnetic clutch or the like as a drive intermittent means for intermittently controlling the driving of these rollers and a rotation unit 30 is rotated up and down to move the driven discharge roller 35 to the open position or the open position, and the rotary solenoid SL connected and engaged with the rotary unit 30 as a rotary drive source that holds the driven discharge roller 35 at those positions. The aligning plate 23 is constituted by an aligning plate drive motor 24 (MOT2) such as a pulse motor that reciprocates in a direction substantially intersecting with the sheet S transport direction. Incidentally, the transport drive motor MOT1 and the clutch means CL1 to CL3 are appropriately arranged on the side of the apparatus frame, and the matching plate drive motor (MOT2) 36 is mounted on the apparatus tray 21 in the apparatus frame as shown in FIG. It is located below. The drive transmission of the above system will be described for each of the “through-pass mode” and the “staple mode” according to the conveyance of the sheet S.

When the finisher 1 is set to the "through-pass mode" by a signal from the image forming apparatus 300,
Normally, since the rotation unit 30 is located at the closed position shown in FIG. 2, the rotation solenoid SL does not operate. Next, when the leading edge of the sheet S is detected by the entrance sensor 9, the clutches CL1 and CL2 are turned on to be in a drivingly coupled state, and the transport drive motor is rotationally driven. As a result, the sheet S is transported by the transport roller 12 and the discharge drive roller 4 located at the discharge port 5 of the apparatus frame 2 on the downstream side in the sheet transport direction.
1 and the driven discharge roller 35 sequentially discharges the paper to the storage stacker 6.

On the other hand, the case where the finisher 1 is set to the "staple mode" will be described with reference to FIGS. When the "staple mode" is set, the rotary solenoid SL shown in FIG. 4 is turned on, and the rotary unit is moved to a position separated from the discharge roller 40, whereby the driven discharge roller 35 is also moved to the open position. You.

Next, when the leading end of the sheet S detects the entrance sensor 9, first, the clutch CL2 is engaged, and the conveying roller 12 is driven in the sheet conveying direction to carry the sheet into the finisher. (State in FIG. 5) Then, at the timing when the rear end of the sheet S passes through the conveying roller, the clutch C
L3 is turned on to drive-couple. Thereby, the paddle 35 in the rotating unit is driven by the paddle driving roller driving roller 31,
The sheet is driven via the transmission belt 36 and rotates in a direction opposite to the sheet conveying direction (counterclockwise). At this time, the rear end of the sheet S is urged toward the endless conveying belt 13 and the endless conveying belt 1 rotating counterclockwise in the drawing.
3 moves to the mounting tray 21. (State in FIG. 6) Thereafter, the clutch CL3 for transmitting the drive to the paddle 35
Is turned off to stop the drive, but the endless transport belt 13
Is rotated in the counterclockwise direction in the drawing, so that the rear end of the sheet is
The first sheet leading end regulating piece 21b is reached. (State of FIG. 7) At this timing, the matching plate drive motor (MOT1) 24
The sheet is aligned by being driven to rotate. The above-described alignment operations in FIGS. 5 to 7 and the alignment operation are performed until the number of sheets reaches the predetermined number, and when the number of sheets reaches the predetermined number, the staple unit 3 is driven to perform the binding process. When this binding process is completed, the above-mentioned rotary solenoid SL is turned off,
The driven discharge roller is moved in a direction in which the driven discharge roller is pressed against the discharge roller 41 which is the closed position. Then, again, the transport drive motor (MO
When T1) is driven and only the clutch means SL3 is set to the coupling ON state, the bound sheet bundle is discharged to the storage stacker 6 by the rotation of the driven discharge roller 35 and the drive side discharge roller 41. The above operation is repeated until the designated number of binding processing copies is reached.

The above is the outline of the configuration and operation of the finisher 1 of this embodiment. The finisher is further devised as follows.

This point will be described again with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 and FIG. 4. When the conveying roller 12 for carrying in the sheet S from the discharge roller 320 of the image forming apparatus 300 is arranged near the receiving port 4 of the apparatus frame 2. I have. The horizontal roller (PO shown in FIG. 1) passing through the pair of rollers 10 and 11 of the transport roller 12 is located at a position where the driven discharge roller 35 is closed in the rotary unit. Driven roller 35 and discharge roller 4 opposed thereto
The sheet conveyance path (P1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) when the sheet S is directly discharged to the storage stacker 6 in the pressure contact state 1 is slightly higher than the horizontal line PO at the discharge port side. Is set to Further, the sheet transport path (P2 shown in FIGS. 1 and 3) when the sheet is transported only by the transport roller 12 when the rotation unit is moved upward and the driven roller 35 is at the open position is also a discharge port. The height is set to be slightly higher than the inclination angle of the sheet conveyance path set by the conveyance roller and the driven discharge roller 35. In the case of this embodiment, the angle of P2 with respect to the horizontal line is within 10 degrees, and the inclination angle difference (P2 angle-P1 angle) between each of the sheet conveyance paths P1 and P2 is set within 5 degrees. .

Therefore, regardless of whether the driven discharge roller 35 in the rotating unit 30 is in the open position or the closed position, the sheet conveyance paths P1 and P2 are inclined with the discharge port 5 side higher. The inclination angles of the cages P1 and P2 are set small.

Also, the inclination angle of the discharge stacker 6 is set in the range (α3) of 15 ° to 20 ° with respect to a horizontal line passing the base end side of the discharge stacker on the discharge side. The sheets to be discharged to the stacker can be smoothly stored in the storage stacker 6 without largely changing the course.

When the driven discharge roller in the rotating unit 30 is in the open position and the sheet S is temporarily placed on the placing tray 21, the placing tray angle of the placing tray is Since the angle (α4) with the horizontal line passing through the base end of the receiving port side 4 is set to about 25 ° to 30 °, the temporary placement of the sheets on the loading tray 20 is improved with good alignment. Things. As a result, the vertical rotation area of the rotation unit 30 supporting the driven paper discharge roller 35 is reduced, so that the apparatus is compact and
Since the sheet conveyance direction when the driven discharge roller 35 is in the open position is not largely displaced, the sheet is not bent and no extra stress is ordered.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 8, the sheet S placed on the loading tray 21 reciprocates in a direction intersecting the sheet conveying direction. The alignment plate 23 is also provided with a driven discharge roller 35 and a discharge roller 40 located at the discharge port 5 from above the mounting tray 21 so as to protrude toward the discharge side.

When the driven discharge roller 35 in the rotating unit 30 is in the open position, the lower surface of the driven discharge roller 35 is at the height of the alignment plate 23 located on the side of these rollers as shown in FIG. It is set at a position one minute lower than the above. Accordingly, the sheet S conveyed even when the range of movement of the driven discharge roller 35 is reduced and the driven discharge roller 35 is in the open position is illustrated by the frame 2 on one side in the sheet width direction and the alignment plate on the other side. Since the upper side is discharged while being surrounded by the driven discharge roller 35, the aligning operation is reliably performed, and the vertical deviation of the sheet can be reduced. Also, the discharge port 5 of the alignment plate 23
The height in the vicinity is set smaller than the vertical diameter of the driven discharge roller 35 in the closed position, so that the entire apparatus can be made compact. (Effects) As described below, according to the present invention, the sheet conveying direction in the case of temporarily placing the sheet on the loading tray and the sheet conveying direction in the case of the sheet discharging direction in the direct discharge are both the downstream side in the conveying direction. By reducing the angle difference in the transport direction by inclining it to be higher, the opening and closing movement area of the discharge roller is reduced as much as possible to reduce the size of the device, improve the storage performance in the storage stacker, and improve the discharge and transport process. And a sheet processing apparatus capable of reducing the occurrence of jams and the like by reducing the transport stress on the sheet.

Further, according to the present invention, the moving area of the discharge roller that opens and closes is reduced to reduce the size of the apparatus, and it is possible to reliably perform processing such as alignment with the sheet when the sheet is placed on the temporary placing tray. A processing device can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a finisher showing an embodiment of a sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing that a rotation unit (a driven discharge roller) of the finisher in FIG. 1 is in an open position.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a rotation unit of the finisher shown in FIG. 1 (a driven discharge roller is in an open position state;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a drive system of the finisher in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a moving body in a state where a rotating unit is in an open position.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a moving body in a state where the rotation unit is in an open position.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of a moving body in a state where a rotation unit is in an open position.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship with a matching plate when the rotating unit is in an open state.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a state where the finisher of FIG. 1 is mounted on the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Finisher (sheet processing apparatus) 2 ... Device frame 3 ... Stapler unit (processing means) 4 ... Receiving port 5 ... Discharge port 6 ... Storage stacker 21 ... Loading tray 23 ... Alignment plate 30 ... Rotating unit 35 ... Follower Discharge roller (discharge roller) 300: Image forming apparatus

Claims (8)

[Claims] A transport roller provided at an entrance side of the apparatus frame for transporting a sheet, and a placing section for temporarily placing the sheet under the transport roller so as to be inclined toward the exit side of the apparatus frame so as to be higher. A tray, processing means for processing sheets temporarily placed on the loading tray, and a height increasing in a sheet discharging direction for storing sheets carried out of the apparatus frame provided adjacent to the loading tray. Can be moved to the open position where the sheet is placed on the loading tray and the closed position where the sheet transported from the transport rollers is directly discharged to the storage stacker. A first conveyance inclination angle and a discharge angle at which the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction by the discharge roller and the conveyance roller is higher. A sheet feeding characterized by sequentially increasing the second conveying inclination angle and the sheet storage inclination angle of the storage stacker so that the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction by the conveyance rollers at the open position of the roller is higher. Processing equipment. 2. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet placement inclination angle of the placement tray is set larger than the storage inclination angle of the storage stacker. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein an angle difference between the first transport inclination angle of the discharge roller and the second transport angle of the transport roller at an open position of the discharge roller with respect to the first transport inclination angle is within 5 degrees. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1. 4. A sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said processing means is a binding means for binding a sheet temporarily placed on a loading tray. 5. A transport roller provided at an entrance side of an apparatus frame for transporting a sheet, and a placing section for temporarily placing a sheet below the transport roller so as to become higher toward an exit side of the apparatus frame. A tray, and a discharge roller provided on the unloading side of the mounting tray and movable to an open position for mounting sheets on the mounting tray and a closed position for directly discharging sheets conveyed from the conveying rollers to the storage stacker; An alignment plate provided from the sheet placement tray to the downstream side of the delivery roller to align the sheets on the placement tray, wherein at least a part of the delivery roller at the open position of the delivery roller is aligned. A sheet processing apparatus, wherein the sheet processing apparatus is located within a plate height area. 6. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the height of the alignment plate is arranged in a height region at a closed position of the discharge roller. 7. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a binding unit for binding a sheet temporarily placed on the placement tray. 8. A sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an image forming unit configured to form an image on a sheet.
An image forming apparatus comprising: a main body discharging unit configured to discharge a sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming unit to the sheet processing apparatus.