JP2002362826A - Sheet post-processing structure, image forming device, and sheet post-processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet post-processing structure capable of precisely disposing sheets in a page order and responding to the change in sizes. SOLUTION: This sheet post-processing structure is provided with a stapling part 6 driving a binding staple into the sheet 3, a feed part 7 feeding the sheet to the processing part, and a discharge part 8 discharging the sheet of the processing part. (a) The processing part comprises a stock passage 11 (thereinafter referring to a passage) for storing the sheets, a bottom receiver member 17 with a clamp means 16, and a reciprocating means 18 for moving the bottom receiver member. (b) The feed part comprises a feed port 12 communicated with the passage and a feed means feeding the sheet from the feed port. (c) The discharge part is provided with a discharge means discharging the sheet of the processing part. (d) The bottom receiver member stops at a receiver position where the sheet end positioned in the passage when the sheet is fed from the feed part is in the upper part of the feed port, receives the sheet, clamps the sheet, and retreats to the receiver position. The operation is so set that the above processes are repeated, the binding staple is driven in sheets reaching a set number, and the sheets are fed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing structure for performing post-processing such as stapling a sheet after forming an image, an image forming apparatus having the structure, and a sheet post-processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a plurality of sheets after image formation are taken in and temporarily stocked by being connected to a sheet discharge unit of an image forming apparatus, and bound by a stapler unit to a set number of sheets. There is a sheet post-processing apparatus in which a staple is driven and then discharged to a discharge tray. There is also an image forming apparatus in which such a sheet post-processing apparatus is incorporated. Here, the image forming apparatus is a general term for an apparatus for forming an image on a sheet, such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, and a printing machine.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet post-processing structure capable of accurately arranging sheets in page order and easily coping with changes in sheet size, an image forming apparatus having the structure, and a sheet post-processing. It is to provide a device.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a processing unit for temporarily stocking a sheet and performing post-processing such as driving a binding staple into the sheet; Provided is a sheet post-processing structure that has a feeding unit that feeds the formed sheet, and a discharge unit that communicates with the processing unit and feeds out the sheet of the processing unit, and has the following configurations (a) to (d). . (A) The processing section includes a stock passage into which a sheet enters, a bottom receiving member provided with a clamp means for receiving the sheet in the stock passage and capable of clamping all the sheets in the stock passage, and reciprocating the bottom receiving member along the stock passage. Reciprocating means for moving. (B) The supply unit includes a supply port that communicates with the stock passage, and a supply unit that feeds the sheet by orienting the supply port toward the bottom receiving member. (C) The discharge unit has a discharge unit that communicates with the stock passage of the processing unit and sends out the sheets stored in the processing unit. (D) the bottom receiving member receives the sheet by stopping at a position where the end of the sheet in the stock path is above the supply port (hereinafter referred to as a receiving position) when the sheet is fed from the supply unit, and then receives the sheet; The operation of clamping all the sheets in the passage by the clamp means, then pulling the sheet in the clamped state, pulling the end of the sheet from the supply port, and returning to the receiving position is repeatedly performed until the number of sheets reaches the set value. Then, the operation is set so that a predetermined post-process is performed on the sheet that has reached the set number of sheets, and then the sheet is sent to a delivery point to the discharging unit.

In the sheet post-processing structure, when the bottom receiving member is at the receiving position and the sheet after image formation is sent out from the supply section to the stock path, the end (upper end) of the sheet in the stock path is first supplied to the supply port. Since there is a higher position, there is no possibility that a sheet is interrupted between pages, so that page disorder does not occur. Further, by setting the receiving position of the bottom receiving member according to the sheet size, it is possible to easily cope with sheets of different sizes.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a guide slope extending from the supply port toward the discharge section and leading to the stock path is formed at the junction of the supply section and the stock path. If a check valve is provided to guide such a sheet to the guide slope while preventing the sheet from entering the stock path when the member returns to the receiving position, the sheet once exiting the stock path is scheduled. Even if it moves in the direction of entering the supply port by deviating from the orbit, it returns to the stock passage along the check valve and the guide slope.

Further, if the distance from the sheet release point of the supply means of the supply unit to the bottom receiving member at the receiving position is set so as to substantially match the sheet length, the sheet can be received by the bottom receiving member. Since the unnecessary operation of reliably feeding the sheet and repelling the fed sheet against the bottom receiving member can be prevented, the edges of the sheet are aligned neatly.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a sectional view schematically showing a sheet post-processing apparatus, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a front guide and a sheet receiver, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a bottom receiving member as viewed from the back, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a rear view, FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which a sheet post-processing apparatus is attached to the image forming apparatus, and FIGS. 8 (a) and 8 (b) are partially enlarged cross-sectional views showing main parts in an operating state.

The sheet post-processing apparatus 1 of the present invention is used in combination with an image forming apparatus 2 as shown in FIG. The image forming apparatus 2 is a known apparatus that discharges a sheet 3 on which an image has been formed from a sheet discharge section 4 to its own tray section 5 as shown in FIG. As described above, the image forming apparatus 2 is a general term for a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, a printing machine, and the like, and includes any apparatus for forming an image including characters on a sheet surface.

Thus, the sheet post-processing apparatus 1 is provided with the sheet 3
6 for temporarily stocking the sheet 3 and performing post-processing such as driving a binding staple into the sheet 3, a supply section 7 for feeding the sheet 3 after image formation to the processing section 6, and an upper part of the processing section 6. And a discharge unit 8 that discharges the sheet 3 of the processing unit 6 to the outside.

[0011]

[Supply Section] The supply section 7 includes an introduction guide piece 9 provided corresponding to the sheet discharge section 4 of the image forming apparatus 2 and a plurality of transport rollers 10a as supply means disposed at appropriate points along the transport path of the sheet 3. To 10e and the final transport roller 1
0e and a supply port 12 which communicates with a stock passage 11 described later. Note that the transport path of the supply unit 7 of the embodiment is such that one sheet 3 is sent to the branch path 14 by switching the switching valve 13 and waits for the next sheet 3 to come to this path as it is, and the time thus gained. Is used to execute post-processing by the stapler unit 15, the details of which will be described later.

[0012]

[Processing unit] The processing unit 6 is a stock passage 1 in which the sheet 3 enters.
1, a bottom receiving member 17 which receives an end (lower end) of the sheet 3 of the stock passage 11 and is provided with a clamping means 16 capable of clamping all sheets 3 of the stock passage 11, and the bottom receiving member 17 is attached to the stock passage 11. Reciprocating means 18 for reciprocating along.

The stock passage 11 is a substantially vertical space having a height and a width sufficient for the sheet 3 to enter, and the bottom receiving member 17 receives the bottom. In addition, the stock passage 11
Has alignment means in which one of both sides is set as a fixed reference plane, and the other has a plate-shaped pressing plate reciprocally operated toward the reference plane. Then, the sheet 3 entering the stock passage 11 is pressed against the reference surface by one reciprocating operation of the pressing plate, so that the lateral position of all the sheets 3 is aligned with the reference surface.

The upper end of the stock passage 11 has a boundary with the discharge section 8, that is, discharge rollers 19a, 19a serving as discharge means.
The supply port 12 of the supply unit 7 is located near the point of contact between them and slightly below the upper end of the stock passage 11. Therefore, this portion is a junction of the supply unit 7 and the processing unit 6. The supply unit 7 sets the entrance angle of the sheet 3 into the stock passage 11 to be an acute angle so that the sheet 3 is smoothly fed from the junction to the bottom of the stock passage 11 (the bottom receiving member 17), that is, the stock passage 11 The end of the supply unit 7 is almost y
It is set to intersect in a letter shape. The merging portion has a guide slope 35 extending upward from the supply port 12 of the supply portion 7 (to the discharge portion 8 side) and connected to the stock passage 11.
Even if the sheet 3 exiting the supply port 12 moves in the direction of returning to (entering) the supply port 12 while deflecting the original path that should be in the stock path 11, the path is corrected to the side of the stock path 11 by the guide slope 35. It has become so. However, if the supply port 12 is always open, the edge of the sheet 3 may enter the supply port 12 and be caught before correcting the trajectory on the guide slope 35 if the sheet 3 has a curl. A check valve 20 (see FIG. 8) made of an elastic film piece is provided so that only the sheet 3 sent from 12 to the stock passage 11 can pass through. The check valve 20 may have a simple structure in which the upper edge of the elastic film piece is adhered to the supply port 12 as shown in the figure. The supply port 12 may be closed by urging the plate with an elastic material (spring).

The stock passage 11 is provided in the sheet post-processing apparatus 1.
A front guide 22 fixed to the case body 21 and a rear guide 23 opposed to the front guide 22 are main components. As shown in FIG. 2, the front guide 22 has a lattice frame structure in which a plurality of sliding contact plates 22a, 22a... Are arranged at regular intervals, while the rear guide 23 also has a sliding contact plate 22a of the front guide 22. The rib-shaped sliding contact plates 23a are juxtaposed at equal intervals.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the bottom receiving member 17 is composed of a sheet receiver 24, a base plate 25 for supporting the sheet receiver 24, and a clamping means 16 incorporated in the base plate 25. Become. The sheet receiver 24 is made of metal,
Comb-tooth pieces 27a and 27b are provided on the opening edge of the upwardly U-shaped main part 26 so as to expand outward. The two comb teeth 27
a, 27b, one of the comb teeth 27a passes between the sliding contact plates 22a, 22a.
The other comb tooth 27b enters between the sliding contact plates 23a of the rear guide 23. Therefore, the sheet 3 descending in the stock passage 11 is guided by the comb teeth 27a and 27b and smoothly enters the main body 26 of the sheet receiver 24. A notch 24 a for driving a binding staple into the sheet 3 is provided at the bottom of the sheet receiver 24.

The base plate 25 is slidably mounted on a guide shaft 28 fixed to the front guide 22, and moves up and down along the guide shaft 28 by the reciprocating means 18 (the details of which will be described later). . This base plate 25 is provided with the following clamping means 16. That is, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the clamping means 16 includes a clamp pin 29 which penetrates the base plate 25 and can be inserted into and retracted from the sheet receiver 24, and which is pivotally mounted on the base plate 25 and is swingable. A swing lever 30 having a free end engaged with a clamp pin 29, and a solenoid 31 for swinging by pivotally attaching a plunger 31a to the swing lever 30
When the solenoid 31 is in the OFF state, the clamp pin 29 retreats from the sheet receiver 24, and the solenoid 31
In the ON state, the clamp pin 29 protrudes into the sheet receiver 24 to clamp the sheet 3. Although not shown, the clamp pin 29 is provided with an urging means for retreating from the sheet receiver 24, and when the solenoid 31 is turned ON to OFF.
When shifting to F, the sheet is automatically retreated from the sheet receiver 24 by the urging of the urging means. As a specific example of the urging means,
There are elastic bodies such as springs that directly act on the clamp pin 29 itself to urge it, elastic bodies such as springs that urge the swing lever 30, and elastic bodies such as springs that urge the plunger 31a of the solenoid 31.

The reciprocating means 18 comprises a vertical rack gear 32 fixed to the base plate 25, and a forward / reverse rotatable motor 33 fixed to the case body 21 of the sheet post-processing apparatus 1 (see FIG. 1). Then, the pinion gear 34 fixed to the rotation shaft of the motor 33 is meshed with the rack gear 32, and the motor 33 is rotated forward and reverse to reciprocate the base plate 25, that is, the entire bottom receiving member 17 along the stock passage 11.

The stapler unit 15 is provided below the processing unit 6 as described above. The stapler unit 15 is movable in the front and back directions on the sheet of FIG.

[0020]

[Discharge Unit] The discharge unit 8 includes a discharge path 36 communicating with the upper side of the stock path 11 and discharge rollers 19a and 19b installed in the discharge path 36, and a bundle of sheets 3 processed by the processing unit 6. To the external tray 37.

Next, the operation of the sheet post-processing apparatus 1 will be described. First, the position of the bottom receiving member 17 is set according to the sheet 3 discharged from the image forming apparatus 2 (FIG. 7).
(A)). That is, the distance from the sheet release point (substantially the point of contact between the conveying rollers 10e and 10e) of the conveying roller 10e of the feeding means to the bottom of the sheet receiver 24 of the bottom receiving member 17 substantially matches the sheet length (including a slight length).
The position of the bottom receiving member 17 (hereinafter, this position is referred to as a “receiving position”) is set by controlling the motor 33 of the reciprocating means 18. When the bottom receiving member 17 is at the receiving position,
The upper end of the sheet 3 entering the stock passage 11 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG.

When the image forming apparatus 2 is operated in a state where the setting of the sheet post-processing apparatus 1 is completed, the sheet 3 on which the image is formed is discharged to the sheet discharge section 4, and the sheet 3 is set in the sheet post-processing apparatus 1. It is guided by the transport roller 10 a along the introduction guide piece 9 of the supply unit 7. And the transport roller 10
The sheet 3 colliding with a is drawn into the transport path of the supply unit 7 and is sent out from the supply port 12 at the end of the supply unit 7 to the stock path 11 via the transport roller 10a → the transport roller 10b → the transport roller 10c → the transport roller 10e. It is.

Next, the sheet 3 that has entered the stock passage 11 proceeds downward toward the bottom receiving member 17 and hits the sheet receiver 24 of the bottom receiving member 17 and stops. At this time, as shown in FIG. 8A, the upper end of the sheet 3 has just passed through the sheet release point of the transport roller 10e and has not come out of the supply port 12. In this state, the aligning means is operated to press the side of the sheet 3 against the reference surface. Then, the solenoid 31 of the clamp means 16 is turned on and the sheet 3 is clamped by the clamp pins 29. Next, the motor 33 of the reciprocating movement means 18
Is operated to lower the bottom receiving member 17 to forcibly pull down the clamped sheet 3 (FIG. 7B). Then, the upper end of the sheet 3 comes out of the supply port 12 as shown in FIG. 8B, and the upper end of the sheet 3 enters the stock passage 11 side by its own elasticity. Next, the solenoid 31 of the clamping means 16 is turned off to release the clamping of the sheet 3 by the clamp pin 29, and in this state, the bottom receiving member 17 is raised to return to the initial receiving position. The bottom position of the bottom receiving member 17 may be raised immediately after the clamping by the clamping means 16 is released and the lateral position is adjusted again by the alignment means.

The operations between FIGS. 7A and 7B are repeatedly executed until the number of sheets 3 reaches the set value. When the second and subsequent sheets 3 enter the stock passage 11, the upper end of the sheet 3 in the stock passage 11 is set in FIG.
Since the sheet 3 is located above the supply port 12 as shown in (a), there is no possibility that the sheet 3 will be interrupted between pages, and therefore, no page disorder will occur. Further, the horizontal position of the sheet 3 is aligned by the aligning means, and the lower end of the sheet 3 (the upper end of the sheet 3 in relation to an image) is received and aligned by the sheet receiver 24 of the bottom receiving member 17, so that the sheets 3 are neatly arranged and overlap. . Furthermore, when the bottom receiving member 17 is raised in the unclamped state as in the embodiment, the lower end of the sheet 3 is relatively hit and adjusted, so that the end of the sheet 3 is further adjusted.

Next, when the number of sheets 3 reaches the set value,
All the sheets 3 are clamped by the clamp pins 29 of the clamp means 16 and the stapler unit 15 is clamped as shown in FIG.
The bottom receiving member 17 is pulled down to a position where the needle can be driven. Then, after finishing the binding needle driving process by the stapler unit 15, the solenoid 31 is turned off to release the clamp, and the delivery where the upper end of the sheet 3 is held by the discharge roller 19a of the discharge unit 8 as shown in FIG. The bottom receiving member 17 is raised at a stretch to the point. Then, the bundle of sheets 3 entering the discharge unit 8 is discharged to the external tray 37 through the discharge path 36.

The stapler unit 15 is attached to the sheet 3.
May be configured to stop the image forming apparatus 2 while the post-processing is being performed, but this will complicate the control of the image forming apparatus 2 and reduce the processing efficiency. Therefore, in the embodiment, as described above, the switching valve 13 is provided in the transport path of the supply unit 7, the branch path 14 is separately formed, the sheet 3 of the first page is fed there, and the sheet 3 of the second page is The first page and the second page are sent together from the supply port 12 to the stock path 11 while waiting until the user arrives at the path. By doing so, time for post-processing the sheet 3 in the stock passage 11 can be gained, so that there is no need to temporarily stop the image forming apparatus 2 and the processing efficiency is greatly improved accordingly.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiment, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the embodiment, the stapling of the staples by the stapler unit 15 has been exemplified as the post-processing in the processing unit 6, but the punching by the punching unit may be performed as the post-processing. Further, in the embodiment, the sheet post-processing apparatus 1 is described. However, the sheet post-processing structure of the sheet post-processing apparatus 1 may be incorporated in the image forming apparatus 2 itself.

[0028]

According to the present invention, when the bottom receiving member is at the receiving position and the sheet after image formation is sent out from the supply unit to the stock path, the end (upper end) of the sheet in the stock path first comes from the supply port. Since it is on the upper side, there is no possibility that a sheet is interrupted between pages, so that page disorder does not occur. Further, by setting the receiving position of the bottom receiving member according to the sheet size, there is an effect that it is possible to easily cope with sheets of different sizes. Furthermore, since the sheet post-processing structure of the present invention is a forced alignment system in which the edge of the sheet is clamped and pulled, the sheet post-processing structure exerts excellent power on a curled sheet. Sheet curl often occurs in an image forming apparatus capable of color output. Therefore, the sheet post-processing structure of the present invention is most suitable for an image forming apparatus capable of color output.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a guide slope extending from the supply port to the discharge section side and connected to the stock path is formed at the junction of the supply section and the stock path. A check valve for guiding such a sheet to the guide slope while preventing the sheet from entering the stock passage when the member returns to the receiving position is provided. Even if it moves in the direction of entering the supply port off the track, the trajectory is corrected to the side of the stock passage without being caught by the supply port, so that the advantage is exerted on a curled sheet that tends to move like this.

Further, if the distance from the sheet release point of the supply means of the supply section to the bottom receiving member at the receiving position is set to substantially match the sheet length, the sheet can be reliably assured. Since the unnecessary operation that the sheet fed into the receiving member and the fed sheet hits the bottom receiving member and rebounds can be prevented, there is an effect that the edges of the sheet are aligned neatly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view schematically showing a sheet post-processing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a front guide and a sheet receiver.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the bottom receiving member as viewed from the back.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the bottom receiving member.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a sheet post-processing apparatus is attached to the image forming apparatus.

FIGS. 7A to 7D are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating an operation state.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are partially enlarged cross-sectional views showing main parts in an operating state.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Sheet post-processing apparatus 2 ... Image forming apparatus 3 ... Sheet 6 ... Processing part 7 ... Supply part 8 ... Ejection part 10a-10e ... Transport roller (supply means) 11 ... Stock path 12 ... Supply port 16 ... Clamp means 17 ... Bottom receiving member 18 Reciprocating means 19a Discharge roller (discharge means) 20 Check valve 35 Guide slope

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3F054 AA01 AC01 BE02 BE12 BH14 CA04 DA01 3F108 GA01 GB01 HA02 HA32

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A processing unit for temporarily storing a sheet and performing post-processing such as driving a binding staple into the sheet, a supply unit for feeding a sheet after image formation to the processing unit, and communication with the processing unit A sheet post-processing structure having the following configurations (a) to (d): (A) The processing unit includes a stock passage into which a sheet enters, a bottom receiving member provided with a clamping means capable of receiving the sheet in the stock passage and clamping all the sheets in the stock passage, and reciprocating the bottom receiving member along the stock passage. Reciprocating means for moving. (B) The supply unit includes a supply port that communicates with the stock passage, and a supply unit that feeds the sheet by orienting the supply port toward the bottom receiving member. (C) The discharge unit has a discharge unit that communicates with the stock passage of the processing unit and sends out the sheets stored in the processing unit. (D) the bottom receiving member receives the sheet by stopping at a position where the end of the sheet in the stock path is above the supply port (hereinafter referred to as a receiving position) when the sheet is fed from the supply unit, and then receives the sheet; The operation of clamping all the sheets in the passage by the clamp means, then pulling the sheet in the clamped state, pulling the end of the sheet from the supply port, and returning to the receiving position is repeatedly performed until the number of sheets reaches the set value. Then, the operation is set so that a predetermined post-process is performed on the sheet that has reached the set number of sheets, and then the sheet is sent to a delivery point to the discharging unit. 2. At the junction of the supply section and the stock passage,
A guide slope extending from the supply port to the discharge section side and leading to the stock path is formed. Further, the sheet is prevented from entering the supply path from the stock path when the bottom receiving member returns to the receiving position. 2. The sheet post-processing structure according to claim 1, further comprising a check valve for guiding the sheet to the guide slope. 3. The sheet according to claim 1, wherein a distance from a sheet release point of a supply unit of the supply unit to a bottom receiving member at a receiving position is set to substantially match a sheet length. Post-processing structure. 4. An image forming apparatus having the sheet post-processing structure according to claim 1. 5. A sheet post-processing apparatus having the sheet post-processing structure according to claim 1, which is used by being connected to a sheet discharge section of an image forming apparatus.