JP2003118933A - Paper post-processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper post-processing apparatus having a control means for more effectively performing the process of folding a specific cardboard, such as a cover sheet. SOLUTION: The paper post-processing apparatus has built therein a paper feed tray, a means for feeding paper on the tray, a means for conveying the paper conveyed from an image forming apparatus body and the paper fed, and a paper folding means for folding the conveyed paper into two or three and discharging it, with the operation of the paper feeding and conveying means and the paper folding means being effected by instructions from the image forming apparatus body. If a bundle of paper consisting of the paper fed from the tray and the paper discharged from the image forming apparatus body to the paper post-processing apparatus includes cardboards, specific cardboard settings are made to fold the paper using a control method different from that for a bundle of paper consisting only of paper of standard thickness.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet (hereinafter also referred to as a recording sheet) discharged from an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine, a printer or a facsimile, together with a cover sheet (cover), a stapler, a paper fold, etc. The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus having a function of post-processing, particularly a paper folding apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A sheet post-processing apparatus called a finisher is used as an apparatus for collating a plurality of image-recorded recording sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus for each number of copies and binding them by a stapler.

The finisher is functionally connected to the main body of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, and is driven according to the sequence operation of a copying or printing process.

Therefore, for an image forming apparatus capable of processing an image forming process at high speed, a finisher capable of high speed processing capable of following the processing speed and performing its function is required.

Regarding such a finisher, JP-A-60-142359 and JP-A-60-158463 have already been proposed.
No. 62-239169 and JP-A-62-288.
No. 002, No. 63-267667, JP-A-2-276.
691, JP-A-8-319054, JP-B-5-41
It is disclosed in each publication of No. 991.

The bookbinding apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 183459/1985 has a cover feeding device, and performs bookbinding finishing such as punching or stapling after superposing a copy sheet group and a cover sheet. Is.

JP-A-6-72064 and 7-1874
No. 79 and No. 8-192951 each disclose a sheet post-processing apparatus having a saddle stitching processing function.

The sheet processing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-148983 discloses a sheet processing apparatus having a sheet folding means for folding a sheet in two.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A sheet bundle consisting of a sheet conveyed from an image forming apparatus to a sheet post-processing apparatus and a sheet conveyed from a sheet feeding tray of the sheet post-processing apparatus, and a sheet from the image forming apparatus main body. If there is a specific cardboard in a stack of paper that is conveyed to the post-processing device or a stack of paper that is conveyed from the paper feed tray of the paper post-processing device, such paper is It is harder than the paper of), and when it is made into a booklet with creases, it becomes difficult to make creases.

The present invention solves the above inconveniences,
An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet post-processing device having excellent paper folding effect (hereinafter, also referred to as a sheet post-processing device).

[0011]

The above object can be achieved by the following means.

(1) A paper feed tray, a means for feeding the paper in the paper feed tray, a means for carrying the paper carried from the main body of the image forming apparatus and the paper thus fed, and Paper having a built-in paper folding means for discharging the conveyed paper in two or three folds, and performing the operation of the paper feeding and conveying means and the paper folding means according to an instruction of the attached image forming apparatus main body In the post-processing apparatus, if the paper bundle consisting of the paper fed from the paper feed tray and the paper discharged from the image forming apparatus main body to the paper post-processing apparatus includes thick paper, set a specific thick paper. A sheet post-processing apparatus (first invention), wherein the sheet folding is performed by a control method different from the case of a sheet bundle of standard thickness sheets only.

(2) A means for conveying the paper conveyed from the main body of the image forming apparatus, and a paper folding means for ejecting the conveyed paper by folding the paper in two or three folds, and the conveying means and the paper. In the sheet post-processing device that performs the operation of the folding unit according to the instruction of the attached image forming apparatus main body, only when the paper discharged from the image forming apparatus main body includes thick paper, set a specific thick paper, A paper post-processing apparatus (second invention), which performs paper folding by a control method different from that of a paper bundle of standard thickness paper only.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, an embodiment of a sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a sheet post-processing device (finisher).
Image forming apparatus A including FS and automatic document feeder DF
FIG.

The illustrated image forming apparatus A includes an image reading section 1, an image processing section 2, an image writing section 3, an image forming section 4,
A cassette paper feed unit 5, a large-capacity paper feed unit (LCT) 6, a fixing device 7, a paper discharge unit 8, and an automatic double-sided copy paper feed unit (ADU) 9 are provided.

An automatic document feeder DF is mounted above the image forming apparatus A. A sheet post-processing device (finisher) FS is connected to the left side surface of the image forming apparatus A shown in FIG.

The document d placed on the document table of the automatic document feeder DF is conveyed in the direction of the arrow, and an image of one side or both sides of the document is read by the optical system of the image reading unit (scanning exposure device) 1. It is read by the CCD image sensor 1A.

The analog signal photoelectrically converted by the CCD image sensor 1A is subjected to analog processing, A / D conversion, shading correction, image compression processing, etc. in the image processing section 2 and then sent to the image writing section 3. .

In the image writing section 3, the output light from the semiconductor laser irradiates the photoconductor drum of the image forming section 4 to form a latent image. In the image forming unit 4, charging,
Processing such as exposure, development, transfer, separation, and cleaning is performed, and the image is transferred to the recording sheet S conveyed from the cassette paper feeding unit 5 or the large capacity paper feeding unit 6. The recording sheet S carrying the image is fixed by the fixing device 7, and is sent from the paper discharge unit 8 to the sheet post-processing device FS. Alternatively, the recording sheet S, which has been subjected to the single-sided image processing and is fed to the automatic double-sided copy sheet feeding section 9 by the conveyance path switching plate 8A, is again subjected to the double-sided image processing in the image forming section 4 and then is transferred from the sheet discharging section 8 to the sheet post-processing device FS. Sent in.

In the sheet post-processing apparatus FS, from the upper stage in the figure, a fixed sheet discharge tray (top tray) 10, a cover sheet sheet feeding means 40, a shift processing conveyance section (large-capacity sheet conveyance section) 2 are provided.
0, stacking means 30, stapling means (staplers)
50 and folding means 60 are arranged vertically in a substantially vertical direction.

An entrance conveying section 70 is arranged on the upper right side of the sheet post-processing apparatus FS in the figure. Further, on the left side surface of the sheet post-processing apparatus FS in the drawing, a movable sheet discharge tray 81 for stacking sheets that have undergone edge binding and shift processing, and a fixed sheet discharge tray for stacking sheets that have undergone saddle stitching, bi-folding and tri-folding processing. Paper plates 82 and 83 are arranged.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a sheet conveying path of the sheet post-processing apparatus FS, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an upper mechanism of the sheet post-processing apparatus FS.

The sheet post-processing device FS is installed with its position and height adjusted so that the receiving portion 71 of the recording sheet S carried out from the image forming apparatus A coincides with the sheet discharging portion 8 of the image forming apparatus A. .

In FIG. 3, the conveyance path of the recording sheet S connected to the sheet conveyance downstream of the entrance roller pair 72 of the receiving portion 71 includes a first conveyance path in the upper stage, a second conveyance path in the middle stage and a third conveyance in the lower stage. The recording sheet S is branched into three paths, and the recording sheet S is fed to any one of the conveyance paths by selecting the angle occupied by the switching gates G1 and G2. (1) First transport path (non-stapling, non-sort mode, paper is discharged to the fixed paper discharge tray 10 on the upper part of the apparatus) The recording sheet S on which the image is formed and discharged from the image forming apparatus A is introduced to the receiving section 71. , Inlet roller pair 7
The first switching gate G1 on the upper side is conveyed by
Passing through the passage 73 on the right side of the
(Drive roller 74A, driven roller 74B) and conveyance roller pair 75 nip and convey to rise, and then nipping by ejection roller pair 76 ejects onto fixed paper ejection tray 10 on the upper outside of the machine, and stacks sequentially. To be done.

In the sheet conveying process, the switching gate G1 is swung by the drive of the solenoid SD1 to move the passage 7
7 is closed, the passage 73 is opened, and the recording sheet S
To the fixed discharge tray 10.

A maximum of about 200 recording sheets S can be accommodated in the fixed sheet discharge tray 10 and can be easily taken out from the upper portion of the sheet post-processing apparatus FS. (2) Second transport path (offset mode or non-sort mode, sheet is discharged to the movable discharge tray 81) When this transport mode is set, the switching gate G1 closes the passage 73 while the solenoid SD1 is off. ,
The path 77 of the recording sheet S is maintained by keeping the path 77 open.
To allow the passage of.

The image-formed recording sheet S discharged from the image forming apparatus A passes through the receiving portion 71 and the entrance roller pair 72, and passes through the passage 77 formed in an open state below the switching gate G1. Then, it is sandwiched by the pair of transport rollers 78, passes through the passage 21 above the second switching gate G2 that is a diagonally lower side which is the second transport path, is sandwiched by the pair of transport rollers 22, and is conveyed through the passage 23. It is sandwiched by a pair of rollers (shift roller pair) 24, passes through a passage 25, and is discharged and placed on a movable discharge tray 81 outside the machine by a pair of discharge rollers 26 (upper roller 26A, lower roller 26B). Reference numeral 27 is a swinging means for swinging the upper roller 26A against the lower roller 26B so that they can be pressed into contact with and separated from each other.

It is possible to store a maximum of about 3000 recording sheets S (A4, B5) in the movable discharge tray 81. (3) Third transport path (staple mode, movable paper tray 8
The recording sheet S on which the image has been formed, which has been subjected to the image forming processing in the image forming apparatus A and has been sent to the receiving section 71 of the sheet post-processing apparatus FS, includes the entrance roller pair 72, the first switching gate. The sheet passes through the passage 77 below G1, is sandwiched by the pair of conveying rollers 78, and is conveyed to the third conveying path.

When a large-sized recording sheet S larger than A4 and B5 sizes is conveyed in the third conveying path, the solenoid SD2 is driven, and the recording sheet S passes through the path 31A below the switching gate G2. , And is sandwiched and transported by the downstream transport roller pair 32. The recording sheet S is
Further, it is sandwiched by a pair of transport rollers 34 (driving roller 34A, driven roller 34B) on the downstream side and sent out, discharged to the space above the intermediate stacker 35 that is inclined, and stacked on the intermediate stacker 35 or the intermediate stacker 35. After coming into contact with the upper surface of the recording sheet S and slidingly rising, the trailing edge of the recording sheet S is discharged from the pair of conveying rollers 34, and then the recording sheet S starts to descend due to its own weight and moves on the inclined surface of the intermediate stacker 35. The sheet slides down, and the rear end portion of the recording sheet S comes into contact with the movable stopper member (sheet abutting surface) 51 in the vicinity of the stapling means (stapler, binding means) 50 and stops.

In the third conveyance path, small-sized recording sheets S of A4, B5 size or the like are efficiently and continuously conveyed to improve the copy productivity, so that the passage 31A below the switching gate G1 is provided. A parallel passage 31B and a switching gate G3 are provided.

Solenoid SD for switching gate G2
When both 2 and the solenoid SD3 for the switching gate G3 are driven, the tip ends of the switching gates G2 and G3 both swing in the counterclockwise direction shown in the figure, closing the passages 21 and 31A and opening the passage 31B.

The leading end portion of the first recording sheet S sent out from the pair of conveying rollers 78 passes through the passage 31B, comes into contact with the peripheral surface of the pair of conveying rollers 34 in the rotation stopped state, and stops.

Next, the solenoid SD2 is de-energized, the tip of the switching gate G3 swings clockwise,
The passage 31B is closed and the passage 31A is opened. The leading end portion of the second recording sheet S sent out from the conveying roller pair 78 passes through the passage 31A and comes into contact with the peripheral surface of the conveying roller pair 34 in the rotation stopped state to stop. This prevents the leading edge of the second recording sheet S from colliding with the trailing edge of the first recording sheet S.

At a predetermined timing, the conveying roller pair 34 is driven and rotated, and the two recording sheets S are nipped and conveyed at the same time, and are discharged onto the intermediate stacker 35.

Reference numeral 36 denotes a pair of width matching members movably provided on both side surfaces of the intermediate stacker 35. The width aligning member 36 is movable in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction, and when the recording sheet S is received on the intermediate stacker 35, the width aligning member 36 is opened wider than the sheet width and slides on the intermediate stacker 35 to move. When contacting the stopper member 51 and stopping, the side edge of the recording sheet S in the width direction is tapped to align the width of the sheet bundle (width alignment). At this stop position, when a predetermined number of recording sheets S are stacked and aligned on the intermediate stacker 35, the stapler 50 performs a binding process (stapling process) to bind the sheet bundle.

A cutout is formed in a part of the sheet stacking surface of the intermediate stacker 35, and the drive pulley 37A is formed.
And a plurality of discharge belts 38 wound around the driven pulley 37B.
Is rotatably driven. In a part of the discharge belt 38,
The discharge claw 38a is integrally formed, and its tip end is
Draw an elliptical locus like the one-dot chain line in the figure. The stapled sheet bundle is held on the discharge belt 38 by the discharge claws 38a of the discharge belt 38, is placed on the discharge belt 38, and slides on the mounting surface of the intermediate stacker 35 to be obliquely upward. It is pushed up and advances to the nip position of the discharge roller pair 26. The sheet bundle nipped by the pair of rotating discharge rollers 26 is discharged and stacked on the movable discharge tray 81. (4) Fourth Conveying Path (Cover Sheet Feeding Mode) The cover sheet feeding means 40 includes a cover sheet placing portion including a feed tray 41, a movable bottom plate 42, and a lifting lever 43, a pickup roller 44, and a feed roller. Four
5, cover sheet feeding means including a separating roller 46 and the like.

One cover sheet K (see FIG. 2) fed from the cover sheet feeding means 40 passes through the passage 47, and the nip position between the driving roller 74A and the driven roller 74C of the conveying roller pair 74. Through the passage 79 and the conveying roller pair 78, and then the conveying roller pair 3 in the third passage.
2, the path 33, and the conveyance roller pair 34 to reach the intermediate stacker 35.

The transport roller pair 74 is the drive roller 7 in the center.
4A and two driven rollers 74B and 74C that are in pressure contact with the drive roller 74A. When the drive roller 74A is driven to rotate counterclockwise (counterclockwise), the driven roller 74B is rotated clockwise (clockwise) to convey the recording sheet S conveyed from the passage 73 upward. At the same time, the driven roller 74C also rotates clockwise to convey the cover sheet K conveyed from the passage 47 to the passage 79 below. Therefore, by driving and rotating the drive roller 74A, the recording sheet S on the first transport path and the cover sheet K on the fourth transport path can be simultaneously transported in opposite directions. (5) Fifth Conveying Path (Saddle Stitching Mode) When the saddle stitching mode is set, the movable stopper member 51 near the stapling position of the stapler 50 retracts from the conveying path, and at the same time, the movable stopper member 5 located downstream thereof.
3 is activated to block the passage 52.

The movable stopper member 53 is a cover sheet K.
When the size (length in the transport direction) of the recording sheet S is set or detected, the recording sheet S moves to a predetermined position and stops.

After the cover sheet K is placed at a predetermined position on the intermediate stacker 35, the recording sheet S carried out from the image forming apparatus A is the entrance conveying section 7 of the sheet post-processing apparatus FS.
After passing through the third transport path from 0, they are sequentially stacked on the upper surface of the cover sheet K placed on the intermediate stacker 35, and the rear end portion of the recording sheet S contacts the movable stopper member 53 and is positioned.

After the final recording sheet S is positioned and placed on the intermediate stacker 35, the stapler 50 performs a saddle stitching process on a sheet bundle including the cover sheet K and all the pages of the recording sheet S. By this saddle stitching process, staples are driven into the central portions of the cover sheet K and the recording sheet S in the transport direction. (6) Sixth Conveying Path (Folding Mode) FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the lower mechanism of the sheet post-processing apparatus FS.

After the saddle stitching process, the movable stopper member 53 swings to open the passage downstream of the passage 52. The sheet bundle including the cover sheet K and the recording sheet S subjected to the saddle stitching passes through the curved passage 61 and is guided by the guide plate 63 on the conveyor belt 62 obliquely below, and further on the guide plate 64. And the rear end portion of the sheet bundle comes into contact with the movable stopper member 65 and stops at a predetermined position. In addition,
The movable stopper member 65 can be moved to a predetermined position by setting or detecting the sheet size and driving means.

The central portion of the stopped sheet bundle in the conveying direction,
That is, the protrusion unit 66 is provided diagonally below the saddle stitch position.
Is installed. A pair of folding rollers 67 and a half-folded sheet conveying unit 68 are installed diagonally above the saddle stitching position.

FIG. 5 is a view for explaining a mechanism section of two-fold and three-fold. In the figure, the folding means 60 includes a protrusion unit 66, a folding roller pair 67, a two-fold structure,
It is composed of tri-fold sheet conveying means 68, 69 and the like.

The movable holding member 66 is generated by the folding start signal.
2 advances straight along a guide bar 663 that is fixedly arranged, and a protruding plate 661 that is fixed to the movable holding member 662.
Protrude above the sheet mounting surface. Protruding plate 66
1 has a thin knife shape, and its tip has an acute angle.

One pressing means 67 of the pair of folding rollers 67
A is a pressing roller 671A which is driven by being connected to a drive source.
And an arm 672A that rotatably supports the pressing roller 671A and can swing around a support shaft 673A, and a spring 674A that is locked to one end of the arm 672A and biases the pressing roller 671A in the nip position direction. It is a front-stage fold part composed of and.

The other pressing means 67B has the same structure, and includes a pressing roller 671B, an arm 672B, and a support shaft 673.
B, and a spring 674B.

The central portion of the sheet bundle composed of the cover sheet K and the recording sheet S, which slides down on the guide plate 64 and abuts the movable stopper member 65 at its rear end portion and stops at a predetermined position, is shown in the figure. An ejecting plate 661 that projects straight and obliquely upwardly pushes up and pushes up the nip portion of the folding roller pair portion 67 via the sheet bundle to swing and separate.

After the tip of the ejecting plate 661 has passed through the nip portion, the ejecting plate 661 retracts and the central portion of the sheet bundle is pinched by the folding roller pair portion 67 to form a fold line. This fold line substantially coincides with the position where the staple is driven into the sheet bundle by the saddle stitching process described above.

The sheet bundle pinched at the central portion by the rotating pressing rollers 671A and 671B to form a fold, passes through the pair of conveying rollers 682 along the path 681 of the half-folded sheet conveying means 68, and then from the discharge roller 683. It is stacked on the fixed paper ejection tray 82. By this process, a sheet bundle made of only standard thickness paper is sufficiently folded.

However, when a specific thick paper is mixed in the cover sheet K or the recording sheet S, the paper folding effect is not sufficient with a single projecting operation by the projecting plate 661. Therefore, the paper folding effect can be improved by setting the specific thick paper mode control related to the present invention.

That is, a fold line is formed by a single projecting operation by the projecting plate 661, and the two folded parts (hereinafter, also referred to as the first folded part) 695 are sandwiched by the nip parts of the pressing rollers 671A and 671B and predetermined. After being conveyed by the length of, the protruding plate 661 is returned to the original position, and at the same time, the folding roller pair portion 67 is reversely rotated to return the half-folded portion 695 of the sheet bundle, and then the folding roller pair portion 67 is normally rotated. Instead, the ejecting plate 661 is ejected again, and the feeding operation to the nip portion of the folding roller pair portion 67 is controlled to be performed a plurality of times, whereby the folding effect can be made sufficient.

In the present embodiment, the folding effect is enhanced by the control operation of passing the double folding portion 695 a plurality of times into the nip portion of the folding roller pair portion 67 and the control operation of reciprocating the protruding plate 661 a plurality of times. The nip pressure of the pressing means 67A can be varied, the rotation speed of the pressing rollers 671A and 671B can be reduced when pressing the sheet bundle, and the folding effect can be improved only by the forward and reverse control of the conveyance by the pressing rollers 671A and 671B. Is possible. (7) Seventh transport path (tri-fold processing mode) In FIG. 4, after the saddle-stitching process is performed by the stapler 50 at a predetermined position that becomes the second folding part 696 (see FIG. 6) of tri-folding, the movable path is moved. The stopper member 53 swings to move the passage 5
Open the downstream passage of 2. The sheet bundle including the cover sheet K and the recording sheet S subjected to the saddle stitching passes through the curved passage 61 and is guided by the guide plate 63 on the conveyor belt 62 obliquely below, and further on the guide plate 64. And the position of the saddle stitching process that becomes the second folding portion 696 (see FIG. 6) is slid down and the protruding plate 661 (see FIG. 5).
After passing through, the leading end of the sheet bundle abuts on the movable stopper member 65, and the position of the protruding plate 661 stops at a predetermined position where it abuts the first folding part 695. The movable stopper member 65 can be moved to a predetermined position by setting or detecting the sheet size and driving means.

In FIG. 5, when a specific thick paper is mixed in the cover sheet K or the recording sheet S, the sheet bundle in the stopped state is the same as the processing operation in the half-fold processing mode described above. Projection plate 6 related to the invention
A sufficient folding effect is obtained by a plurality of ejecting operations by 61 and a control operation of passing the two-folded portion 695 through the nip portion of the folding roller pair portion 67 a plurality of times, and the nip portion is nipped and conveyed by the pressing rollers 671A and 671B, and is guided by the guide plate 681.
It is conveyed along A and 681B.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the tri-folding operation. In the figure, guide plates 681A, 681B
The first folding portion 695 conveyed along the
The sheet bundle is pressed against the movable stopper 684 at a predetermined position of 1 while being blocked, while the sheet bundle is pressed by the pressing rollers 671A and 671.
When it is nipped by B and conveyed, it meanders and is taken into the nip portion between the tri-folding roller 688 and the pressing roller 671B,
The second folded portion 696 is formed by the pressure applied by both rollers. Here again, the pressing roller 67 relating to the present invention.
1A, 671B and the tri-fold roller 688 are controlled by repeating the forward rotation and the reverse rotation a plurality of times.
By passing through a plurality of folding pairs, the folding effect can be further improved (normal rotation and reverse rotation are not necessary when a specific cardboard is not included). In addition, the pressing roller 6
The folding effect can also be improved by controlling the nip pressure between the 71B and the tri-folding roller 688 or by controlling the rotation speed of the pressing roller 671B and the tri-folding roller 688 when the sheet bundle is pressed.

Returning to FIG. 5, the movable stopper 684 can be moved by the setting or detection of the sheet size and the driving means together with the tri-folding start signal, and the guide bar 6
The movable stopper 684 slides along 85 and stops at a predetermined position, the stopper supporting member 687 on which the movable stopper 684 is mounted rotates about the supporting shaft 686 as a fulcrum, and the movable stopper 684 projects from the notch provided in the passage 681A. Cut off the passage. When the second folded portion 696 (see FIG. 6) is formed, the return passage 681 is unshielded.

The tri-fold roller 688 is pivotally attached to a shaft 691 fixed to an arm 689 swingable around a support shaft 692, and a spring 690 locked to one end of the arm 689.
The tri-folding roller 688 is urged in one direction of the nip with the pressing roller 671B.

Even when the paper bundle conveyed to the folding means 60 does not include thick paper, a control method different from the case of a paper bundle of only standard thickness paper, that is, the above-mentioned specific thick paper is used. It is also possible to perform paper folding with the setting of, and the control method of two-fold or three-fold.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the conveyance path of the cover sheet K and the recording sheet S, the saddle stitching of the sheet bundle, the half-folding and the tri-folding process, and FIG. 8A is the post-processing of the saddle stitching and the half-folding. 8B is a perspective view showing a state in which the post-processed booklet is opened, and FIG. 8C is a sheet bundle subjected to saddle stitching and tri-fold processing. It is a perspective view showing a state.

In FIG. 7, cover sheet feeding means 40
The cover sheet K is placed on the paper feed tray 41 of with the first surface (first page p1 and eighth page p8) facing upward. The cover sheet K fed from the paper feed tray 41 by the paper feed means is conveyed through the fourth conveyance path and the third conveyance path, and is conveyed on the intermediate stacker 35 to the first surface (p1, p).
8) is placed on the lower side.

Next, the image-formed recording sheet S carried out from the image forming apparatus A has a first surface (page 3, p3, page 6).
The sheet is introduced into the sheet post-processing apparatus FS with the page p6) facing down. The recording sheet S is conveyed from the entrance conveying section 70 to the third conveying path, and is placed on the cover sheet K placed on the intermediate stacker 35 with the first surface thereof facing down.

On the intermediate stacker 35, the cover sheet K and the recording sheet S are aligned, and the stapler SP is driven by the stapler 50 at a predetermined position depending on whether the sheet is folded in two or three, and the saddle stitching process is performed. Is done.

The saddle-stitched sheet bundle passes through the fifth conveyance path, and is placed and stopped at a predetermined position on the guide plate 64 and the conveyance belt 62 depending on whether the sheet is folded in two or three. At this time, the recording sheet S is the first in the sheet bundle.
The surface (p3, p6) is placed on the upper side, and the cover sheet K thereon is placed with the first surface (p1, p8) on the upper side.

Next, the folding unit 66 is pushed up and the folding roller pair portion 67 is rotated in the forward and reverse directions a plurality of times (in the case of standard thickness paper only, a plurality of forward and reverse drives is not required). Processing is performed, and subsequently, the sheet is nipped and conveyed by the pair of conveying rollers 682 of the half-folded sheet conveying unit 68,
The paper is discharged onto the fixed paper discharge tray 82 outside the machine.

The booklet (booklet) created by the saddle stitching process and the half-folding process has the first surface (p1, p8) of the cover sheet K facing outward and the second surface (p) on the back surface side.
2, p7), the first surface (p3, p6) of the recording sheet S which is the inner side thereof, and the second surface of the recording sheet S inside thereof.
Planes (p4, p5) are arranged, and page 8 (p1
~ P8) Booklet consisting of pages can be arranged.

In the case of three-fold processing, saddle-stitch processing is performed at a predetermined position of the sheet bundle, and the two-fold processing is performed at a predetermined position by pushing up the ejecting unit 66 and driving rotation of the folding roller pair portion 67. Then, the movable stopper 6 is continuously moved in the passage 681 of the half-folded sheet conveying means 68.
Blocked by 84, the curved portion forms a tri-folding portion (second folding portion) at the nip portion between the tri-folding roller 688 and the pressing roller 671B, so that the pages of the booklet can be aligned similarly to bi-folding.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the control of the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention. In the operation unit of the image forming apparatus A, a booklet creation auto mode and a specific paper mode with or without a specific thick paper are selected, and the paper feed tray 41 shown in FIG.
When the cover sheet K is loaded on top and printing is started,
The above-described image process is executed by the control unit of the image forming apparatus A, and the recording sheet S carrying the image is processed by the sheet post-processing apparatus FS in the case of a specific thick paper, the saddle-stitching process and the two or more times of the present invention. The control operation of the tri-folding process or the tri-folding process is performed, and booklets are continuously produced and ejected. In the case of only standard-thickness paper, a booklet is continuously produced and discharged by a normal single folding process or tri-folding process without setting the specific paper mode.

[0069]

When the paper in the paper feed tray of the paper post-processing apparatus accompanied by the paper folding processing or the paper conveyed from the main body of the image forming apparatus is a specific thick paper, the paper of the standard thickness is not used. The folding effect can be improved by applying the control operation of the two-fold or three-fold processing different from the above.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus A including a sheet post-processing device (finisher) FS and an automatic document feeder DF.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a sheet conveying path of a sheet post-processing device FS.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an upper mechanism of a sheet post-processing device FS.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a lower mechanism of a sheet post-processing device FS.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a two-fold and three-fold mechanism unit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a tri-fold operation.

FIG. 7 is a conveyance path of a cover sheet K and a recording sheet S,
It is a schematic diagram which shows the saddle-stitching of a sheet bundle, a half-fold process, and a three-fold process.

FIG. 8A is a perspective view of a booklet that has undergone saddle stitching and half-folding post-processing, FIG. 8B shows a perspective view of the booklet that has been post-processed opened, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state in which the sheet bundle that has been folded is folded into both sides.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing control of the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Fixed output tray 30 stacking means 40 cover sheet feeding means 50 stapling means 60 folding means 66 Projection unit 67 Folding roller pair 67A, 67B pressing means 671A, 671B Pressing roller 68 Folded Sheet Conveying Means 684 movable stopper 688 tri-fold roller 69 tri-fold sheet conveying means 82,83 Fixed output tray

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A paper feed tray, a means for feeding the paper in the paper feed tray, a means for carrying the paper carried from the image forming apparatus main body, and the paper thus fed, and the carrying method. A paper folding unit that folds or folds the formed paper into two or three and discharges the paper, and performs the operation of the paper feeding and conveying unit and the paper folding unit according to the instruction of the attached image forming apparatus body. In the processing apparatus, if the paper bundle consisting of the paper fed from the paper feed tray and the paper discharged from the image forming apparatus main body to the paper post-processing apparatus includes thick paper, set a specific thick paper. A paper post-processing apparatus characterized in that a paper folding process is performed by a control method different from that for a paper bundle of standard thickness paper. 2. A means for conveying the paper conveyed from the main body of the image forming apparatus, and a paper folding means for discharging the conveyed paper by folding the paper in two or three, and the conveying means and the paper folding. In the sheet post-processing apparatus that performs the operation of the means in accordance with the instruction of the attached image forming apparatus main body, only when the paper discharged from the image forming apparatus main body includes thick paper, the specific thick paper is set and the standard is set. A paper post-processing apparatus, which performs paper folding by a control method different from the case of a bundle of thick paper alone.