JP2003112848A - Sheet aftertreatment device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent mismatching in the cross direction of a sharply sloping tray. SOLUTION: A rear-end matching stopper is in the form of a turnable roller. Thus, a frictional load between a sheet and the rear-end stopper during crosswise matching is reduced and the mismatching such as impossible approach in the cross direction is prevented.

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 device for stacking and binding sheets on which images are formed by an image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 6 and 7 show stacking of a plurality of sheets,
Also, a general configuration of a sheet post-processing apparatus that performs a stapling operation is shown. In FIG. 6, when the staple sort mode is selected by the operation unit of the copying machine body, the flapper 4 of the sheet output from the copying machine body is switched depending on the paper size and passes through either path 6 or path 8. Then, the sheet is discharged by the first sheet discharging roller 17 and first stacked on the intermediate processing tray 38 which is a first stacking unit in order to perform processing such as stapling. When the sheet discharged onto the intermediate processing tray 38 hits the trailing edge alignment stopper 91, the width-shifting plate 21 moves, and the sheet discharged onto the intermediate processing tray 38 is brought closer to the back side which is the reference side and aligned. (Fig. 7). After the aligning operation by the width aligning plate 21 is completed, the width aligning plate 21 moves to the home position again to prepare for the stacking of the next sheet. When the next sheet is conveyed, the above operation is repeated, and when the number of sheets set by the user is stacked on the intermediate processing tray 38, processing such as stapling is performed, and thereafter, the first discharge tray 24 as the second stacking unit. Eject the bundle up.

By repeating this operation, copying is performed by the number of copies set by the user.

[0004]

Nowadays, as the downsizing of the image forming apparatus is desired, it is necessary to reduce the area occupied by the apparatus. For this reason, in the above conventional example, a so-called steeply inclined tray is devised in which the angle θ formed by the sheet stacking surface of the intermediate processing tray as the first stacking means and the horizontal plane is increased. However, when the inclination of the intermediate processing tray is made steep, the surface pressure on the trailing edge alignment stopper on the intermediate processing tray becomes larger than that of the gently sloping tray, and the sheet and the trailing edge alignment stopper have a width H as shown in FIG. Since the surfaces are in contact with each other over the area, the frictional load between the two becomes large, and when the width aligning operation is performed by the width aligning plate, they cannot be brought close to the reference wall side, resulting in misalignment.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to bind a bundle of sheets without causing misalignment even in an apparatus having a steeply inclined intermediate processing tray in which the surface pressure of sheets increases. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet post-processing device capable of binding such as processing.

[0006]

A typical structure according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a rear end for aligning the end in the carrying direction on a first stacking means for binding a bundle of sheets. Alternatively, the tip end abutting member is constituted by a rotatable roller.

In the above construction, when the sheet on the first stacking means is aligned with the reference wall side by the width-shifting plate, sliding between the sheet and the rear end abutting member causes a rolling load. Since the frictional resistance is reduced compared with the conventional sliding load, the seat moves smoothly. Therefore, it is possible to prevent problems such as misalignment due to the sheet not being pushed close to the reference wall by the width-shifting plate.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a copying apparatus which is an example of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention can be applied. In the figure, 1 is a sheet processing apparatus main body according to the present invention, 100 is a copying apparatus main body, 200 is a cassette for stacking a plurality of sheets of different sizes, 300 is an original feeding apparatus (hereinafter referred to as ADF) for automatically feeding originals. It is called).

First, in the copying apparatus main body 100, 10
1 is a platen glass on which an original is placed, 103 and 104 are scanning reflection mirrors (scanning mirrors) for changing the optical paths of the reflected light of the original, 105 is a lens having a focusing and zooming function, and 106 is a sheet sent from the ADF 300. First scanning mirror having an illumination lamp and a mirror for reading the scanned original, 1
Reference numeral 07 is a registration roller, 108 and 110 are photosensitive drums and pressure rollers, 111 is a conveyor belt that conveys an image-recorded sheet to the fixing side, and 112 is a fixing device that thermocompresses the conveyed sheet.

Denoted at 113 and 117 are conveying rollers for conveying the sheet, 114 is a flapper for switching the conveying direction of the conveyed sheet, 115 is a conveying roller for conveying the sheet toward the sheet processing apparatus 1, and 116 is a sheet. A reversing path for reversing the front and back, 118 is a conveyance roller for conveying the sheet from the paper feed cassette to the photosensitive drum unit, 1
Reference numerals 19, 120, and 121 are rollers, a manual feed tray, and a separation pad that convey a sheet from the manual feed unit. 1
Reference numerals 22, 123, and 125 are lasers and polygon mirrors for forming an image on the photosensitive drum, mirrors for changing the optical path, and 124 is a motor for driving the polygon mirror 123.

Reference numeral 200 denotes a paper feed cassette that stacks sheets of each size according to type and supplies the sheets to the main body by type according to a signal from the copying apparatus main body 100, 201 is a conveyance roller for pulling out the sheets from the cassette, and 202 is a cassette. It is an intermediate roller that delivers the sheet pulled out from above.

By the way, the surface of the photosensitive drum 108 is made of a seamless photosensitive member using a semi-conductive material and a conductive material, and the drum 108 is rotatably supported by a shaft and operates in response to depression of a copy start key. A main motor (not shown) starts rotation in the direction of the arrow in the figure. When the predetermined rotation control of the drum 108 and the potential control device (pre-processing) are completed, the original placed on the original table glass 101 is illuminated by an illumination lamp integrated with the first scanning mirror 106, and the original is illuminated. The reflected light of (1) passes through the lenses 105 through the scanning mirrors 103 and 104, and forms an image on the light receiving element inside the lens unit.

Here, the reflected light image from the original is converted into an electric signal by the light receiving element and sent to an image processing unit (not shown), while predetermined data received by the main body from the user in this image processing unit. After the processing is performed, it is sent to the laser 112. The electrical signal subjected to the data processing is converted into light by the laser unit 112, reflected by the polygon mirror 123 and the mirror 125 to become an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 108, and visualized by toner. As will be described later, the image is transferred onto a transfer sheet.

The sheets set in the cassette 200 or the manual feed tray 120 are fed by the paper feed roller 118,
119, 201, and 202 feed the inside of the copying apparatus main body 100, and the registration roller 107 feeds it toward the photosensitive drum 108 with accurate timing so that the leading edge of the latent image and the leading edge of the sheet are aligned. After that, the photosensitive drum 1
As the sheet passes between the roller 08 and the roller 110, the toner image on the drum 108 is transferred onto the sheet.

After this, the sheet is separated from the drum 108, guided to the fixing device 112 by the conveyor belt 111, and transferred by pressing and heating. Then, the sheet on which the image is thus formed is
The sheet is advanced in the direction of the sheet discharge roller 115 and is discharged to the sheet processing apparatus 1 with the printing surface facing upward.

On the other hand, in the ADF 300, 301 is a stacking tray on which a stack of originals 302 is set.
5 and the entire surface belt 306 conveys the original platen glass 101 to the exposure position via the paths I to II and then stops to prepare for the start of the copying operation.

After the copying is completed, the original is sent to the path IV by the large conveyance roller 307 via the path IV, and is further returned to the upper surface of the original bundle 302 by the paper discharge roller 308.
Reference numeral 309 denotes a recycle lever for detecting the circulation of the original document, which is placed on the upper part of the original document stack at the start of feeding the original document.
The originals are sequentially fed, and when the trailing edge of the final original leaves the recycle lever 309, it falls by its own weight to detect one circulation of the original.

By the way, the image-formed sheet is processed by the sheet processing apparatus 1 or the mount 70 depending on the subsequent processing.
It is adapted to be transported to either of the folding devices (not shown) disposed inside the.

That is, when processing a sheet by the sheet processing apparatus 1, the upstream end of the first flapper 3 on the side closer to the copying apparatus main body 100 shown in FIG. By positioning the upstream end of the downstream second flapper 4 in the upward direction, the sheet is sent to the first transport path 6 through the roller pair 5, and is further transported to the downstream side from the first transport path 6. .

When the sheet is conveyed to the folding device, the sheet is passed through the third conveying path 7 by positioning the upstream end of the first flapper 3 in the upward direction as shown by the broken line in FIG. It is sent to the folding device located at the end in the direction of the broken line arrow.

By the way, in FIG. 2, 8 is a second conveying path (buffer path), 9 is a buffer roller, 14, 1
Numerals 5 and 16 are buffer rollers, and numerals 10, 11, 12 and 13 are sheet detection sensors, which detect a passing sheet, a staying sheet, and the like. Reference numeral 17 is a first discharging roller (discharging means), 18 is a pressing roller, and 19 is a paddle. The sheet discharged onto the intermediate processing tray is a rear end alignment stopper 20.
Match the direction. Reference numeral 22 is a stapler, and the detailed description of the operation is omitted here. However, the stapler 22 itself has almost the same structure as a commercially available electric (solenoid) or motor driven automatic stapler, The staple is stapled and the sheets are bound together. The operation of the width-shifting plate 21b will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

Reference numeral 23 denotes a bundle conveying belt, which is stretched around a driving pulley 23a and driven pulleys 23b and 23c,
The sheet bundle aligned and stacked on the intermediate processing tray 38 and stapled is conveyed to the sheet discharge tray 24 on the downstream side. It can be rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 2 by a bundle conveying motor (not shown). As shown in FIG. 3, the bundle conveying belts 23 are arranged in pairs on both sides of the widthwise center of the intermediate processing tray 38. The intermediate processing tray 38
A groove is formed in this so that the bundle conveying belt 38 can be arranged therein.

Further, in FIG. 1, 24 and 25 are discharge ports 5 formed in the side wall surface 1a of the sheet processing apparatus main body 1.
Reference numerals 26 and 26 denote first and second sheet discharge trays 2 for stacking sheets discharged from 0, respectively.
It is a tray unit in which 4, 25 are attached in a vertical direction and in a state of being inclined toward the main body 1 side. Here, the tray unit 26 includes the side wall surface 1 a of the sheet processing apparatus main body 1.
It is attached so as to be movable in the vertical direction and is moved in the vertical direction by a drive source (not shown) built in the lower part thereof.

Further, on the side wall surface 1a of the main body 1, the backflow to the upstream side of the sheets discharged by contacting the inclined end portions of the sheets stacked on the first and second sheet discharge trays 24 and 25 is prevented. Alternatively, upper and lower restricting members (hereinafter, referred to as upper and lower snow guides) 27 and 27a for supporting are provided.

The operation of the sheet processing apparatus thus configured will be described below.

3 and 4 are views taken in the direction indicated by the arrow L in FIG. 2, and are vertical views of the intermediate processing tray 38. In the figure, reference numeral 21a is a width alignment reference wall, and 21b is a width aligning plate for aligning the width of the sheets during the sheet alignment. Reference numeral 20 denotes a rear end alignment stopper (alignment abutting member) that regulates the rear end of the sheet. The rear end alignment stopper 20 includes a rear end abutment roller 20a, a roller support shaft portion 20b, and a support plate portion 20c. The rear end abutment roller 20a is configured to be rotatable with the roller support shaft portion 20b.

When the staple sort mode is selected by the user, the sheet processing apparatus operates as follows. At the time of staple sorting in which stapling is performed and copying is performed, the sheets are not directly stacked on the first and second sheet discharge trays 24 and 25, but are first stacked on the intermediate processing tray 38 which is the first stacking unit in FIG. Therefore, the sheets set by the user are stacked, stapled, and then discharged and stacked on the first paper discharge tray 24 or the second paper discharge tray 25.

First, when the first sheet is conveyed, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), the swing guide 31 is in the lowered position, and the sheet S is the same as the first sheet discharge roller 17. Second
The sheet is conveyed leftward in the figure by the sheet discharge roller 32. At this time, the second paper discharge roller 32 is rotating in the arrow D direction, that is, the sheet discharge direction.

When the trailing edge of the sheet S passes the sheet discharge sensor (sheet detecting means) 13 and then the first sheet discharge roller 17, the second sheet discharge roller 32 is stopped and the sheet S being discharged is stopped. Let

Next, the second paper discharge roller 32 is in the direction of arrow E,
That is, the sheet S is reversely rotated in the sheet returning direction, and the sheet S is pulled back to the upstream side in the conveying direction (FIG. 5B). After that, when a predetermined time elapses, the paddle 19 rotates once counterclockwise as shown in FIG. 5C to assist the sheet S on the intermediate processing tray 38 to drop by its own weight toward the trailing edge alignment stopper 20. is doing.

In this way, the sheet S hits the trailing edge alignment stopper 20 and is aligned in the discharge direction.
The state at this time is shown in FIG. Next, the sheet S is aligned in the width direction. The width-shifting plate 21 starts its operation at a predetermined time when the sheet S falls on the intermediate processing tray 38 and hits the trailing edge alignment stopper 20, and moves in the direction of arrow A in FIG. The movement amount of the width-shifting plate 21 at this time is aligned with the width direction of the sheet S by moving the sheet S from the front side to the back side by a predetermined dimension so that the sheet S is aligned in the depth direction. Along with the movement of the sheet S, the rear end abutment roller 20a also rotates in the direction of the arrow B, and no frictional resistance is generated between the rear end abutment roller 20a and the sheet S.

After the width aligning operation by the width aligning plate 21 is completed, the width aligning plate 21 moves again in the direction of arrow C, returns to the home position, and prepares for stacking the next sheet S. Below 2
The above-described operation is repeated until the number of sheets S set after the first sheet is stacked on the staple tray 38 (FIG. 5D).

When the number of sheets set by the user is stacked and aligned on the intermediate processing tray 38, the stapler 22
Operates to perform the stapling operation (FIG. 5 (e)).

After that, the bundle conveying belt 23 rotates counterclockwise as shown in FIG. 5 (f), and the stapled sheet bundle on the intermediate processing tray 38 is discharged onto the first discharge tray 24. . At this time, the second paper discharge roller 32 rotates in the direction of arrow D to assist the bundle discharge.

Thereafter, the stacking of the second bundle on the intermediate processing tray 38 is continued, and this operation is continued until the number of copies designated by the user is completed.

By the way, in the above embodiment, the rear end abutment roller 20a is rotatable with respect to the roller support shaft 20b, and the rear end abutment roller 20a moves the sheet S by the frictional force with the sheet S. Although it is configured to follow and rotate in the direction of arrow B, for example, the rear end abutment roller 20a in FIG.
By rotating the roller support shaft 20b around the roller support shaft 20b in the direction of the arrow B in synchronization with the width alignment operation of No. 1, the alignment operation of the sheet S with respect to the alignment reference wall 21a can be assisted. 21 moves in the direction of arrow C,
Even after 1 moves to the home position and the biasing force toward the alignment reference wall 21a disappears, the unbound sheet bundle aligned on the intermediate processing tray 38 should be urged toward the alignment reference wall 21a. Therefore, further improvement of the consistency is realized.

Further, in the present embodiment, the sheet post-processing apparatus equipped with the staple processing apparatus is described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and, for example, the sheets on which the image is formed by the image forming means are sequentially taken in, and plural sheets are formed. The same effect can be obtained by applying the same method to a sheet post-processing apparatus, which is a so-called saddle stitcher apparatus, in which substantially the center of one sheet is bound by the binding means and which can be folded in half.

[0039]

As described above, in the sheet post-processing apparatus and the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the aligning member for abutting and regulating the end in the transport direction on the intermediate processing tray is rotatable. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the frictional resistance between the sheet and the conveying direction abutting member that occurs when the width of the sheet is aligned, so that even if the inclination of the intermediate processing tray with respect to the horizontal plane is steep, It is possible to bind without binding misalignment without disturbing the binding.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a main part configuration diagram showing a state of width alignment on an intermediate processing tray of a sheet post-processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a main part configuration diagram showing a state of width alignment on an intermediate processing tray of the sheet post-processing device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a main part arrow view of the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention for carrying.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which sheets are stacked on an intermediate processing tray.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a main part of a conventional sheet post-processing device.

FIG. 7 is a main-part arrow view showing a state of width alignment on an intermediate processing tray of a conventional sheet post-processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 sheet post-processing equipment 2 mounting base 3 First flapper 4 Second flapper 5 roller pair 6 First transport path 7 Third transport path 8 Second transport path 9 buffer rollers 10 sheet detection sensor 11 Sheet detection sensor 12 sheet detection sensor 13 Ejection path sensor 14 Buffalo 15 Buffalo 16 Buffalo 17 First paper ejection roller 18 Pressing roller 19 paddles 20 Rear end alignment stopper 21 Matching reference wall 22 stapler 23 bundle transport belt 23a Bundle transport belt drive pulley 23b, 23c bundle conveying belt driven pulley 24 First output tray 25 Second output tray 26 tray units 32 Second paper ejection roller 38 Intermediate processing tray 100 Copying machine body 101 Platen glass 102 First scanning mirror 103 Scanning reflection mirror 104 Scanning reflection mirror 105 lens 107 Registration roller 108 photoconductor drum 109 developer 110 transfer roller 111 Conveyor belt 112 Fixer 113 Conveyor roller 114 flapper 115 discharge roller 116 Reverse Path 117 Conveyor roller 118 Conveyor roller 119 Paper feed roller 120 bypass tray 122 laser 123 polygon mirror 124 motor 125 mirror 200 feeding cassettes 201 feeding roller 202 Conveyor roller 300 ADF 301 loading tray 302 Document stack 303 Separation roller 304 Half Moon Lola 305 Conveyor roller 306 front belt 307 Large transport roller 308 Discharge roller 309 Recycle lever 310 flapper 311 pass

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A sheet discharging unit that discharges a plurality of sheets, a first stacking unit that stacks the sheets discharged by the sheet discharging unit, and a conveyance of the sheets discharged onto the first stacking unit. A conveying direction aligning and abutting member that abuts and aligns a front end portion or a rear end portion in a direction, and an aligning unit that moves and aligns the sheets on the first stacking unit in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction; A sheet post-processing apparatus having a stack discharging means for discharging the sheet bundle on the stacking means, and a second stacking means for stacking the sheet bundle discharged by the stack discharging means, wherein: The sheet post-processing apparatus, wherein the sheet conveyance direction alignment abutting member ejected to the sheet is constituted by a roller rotatable in the alignment direction by the alignment means. 2. A sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1,
An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet; and a discharging unit that discharges the image-formed sheet to the sheet post-processing device.