JP2003171055A - Sheet post-processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small-size and simple mechanism attaining sure sheet width-directional alignment quality and capable of shift-moving the sheets without using a mechanism of an inclined roller. <P>SOLUTION: This sheet post-processing device is provided with a transfer roller part 4 laterally moving the sheets with their orthogonally crossing with the discharge direction while transferring the sheets, a bottom plate 8 for temporarily stacking the sheets, a reference member for positioning the width direction by abutting one edge of the sheet thereon, and a jogger 9 aligning the sheets by pushing one ends of the sheets on the bottom plate 8 against the reference member. The transfer roller part 4 and the jogger 9 perform a first alignment operation aligning the sheet width direction in the first position positioned in the reference member side and a second alignment operation aligning it in a second position of an approximately sheet width after the first alignment operation in order relative to a sheet receiving position for every paper sheet while transferring the sheets. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention selectively executes processing such as folding, sorting, and binding on recording paper or other paper discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, or a facsimile machine. The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a sheet that is mounted on the sheet discharge side of an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine and that performs post-processing such as folding, sorting, and stapling on a sheet after image formation. An aftertreatment device is used. In such a sheet post-processing apparatus, a predetermined post-processing is performed by performing a process of aligning the ends of a plurality of sheets of paper for each job, that is, a so-called alignment process. As is well known, the image forming apparatus has a plurality of different paper sizes (for example, A5 to A3 and B5 to B5).
An image is formed on a sheet of paper (B4, etc.), and as a matter of course, the sheet post-processing device side is also required to support this sheet size.

In such a conventional sheet post-processing apparatus, when aligning sheets of various sizes, for example, in the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2845280, the sheet discharged on the basis of the center is skewed. An apparatus has been proposed in which a front unit is first brought close to the front side reference and then a jogger is used for alignment. Also, the offset (shift)
In an apparatus having a mode, sheets are sorted by laterally moving the sheets by pulse control of a stepping motor.

[0004]

However, in the conventional sheet post-processing apparatus as described above, first, the drive shaft having the inclined roller is inclined with respect to the conveying direction. Therefore, there are problems that the conveyance path becomes long, the diagonal unit itself becomes large, and a motor for driving the alignment unit is required. Further, there is a problem in that the processing efficiency cannot be improved because the alignment path takes a long time when the transport path becomes long in this way. Further, there is a problem that the mechanism of the drive unit that transmits the drive to the oblique roller becomes complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and achieves a reliable alignment quality in the width direction of a sheet and a small size capable of shift movement without using a conventional mechanism of an oblique roller. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet post-processing device that realizes a simple mechanism.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, in a sheet post-processing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention, a sheet post-processing apparatus moves laterally in a direction orthogonal to a discharge direction while conveying a sheet to be post-processed. A sheet transporting means, a temporary stacking tray for temporarily stacking the sheets, a reference member for abutting one edge of the discharged sheets for positioning in the sheet width direction, and a stacking unit for stacking the sheets on the temporary stacking tray. Aligning means for aligning the sheets by pressing one end of the formed sheet against the reference member,
A sheet post-processing apparatus comprising: a sheet transfer means and an aligning means, for each sheet, at a first position located on the reference member side with respect to a sheet receiving position while conveying the sheet. A first aligning operation for aligning in the sheet width direction and a second aligning operation for aligning at a second position of substantially the sheet width after the first aligning operation are sequentially performed.

According to the present invention, the first sheet on the side of the reference member is fed while the sheet conveyed from the image forming apparatus is received, and the sheet is conveyed by the sheet conveying means capable of moving laterally in the direction orthogonal to the discharge direction. By laterally moving the paper to the position of and then aligning it to the reference member (second position) by the aligning means, the conventional oblique drive shaft as described above and the complicated drive transmission unit are unnecessary. become.

Further, in the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the second aspect, the sheet post-processing apparatus has an offset mode for sorting in a direction orthogonal to the paper discharge direction,
The paper transfer means is for horizontally moving the paper in the offset mode and ejecting the paper.

According to the present invention, by performing both the function of offsetting and aligning the sheet by the sheet transporting means that can move laterally in the direction orthogonal to the sheet discharge direction, the offset movement can be performed without adding a new mechanism. To be realized.

Further, in the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the third aspect, the sheet transfer means changes the lateral movement amount according to the sheet size.

According to the present invention, the amount of lateral movement by the sheet conveying means that can move laterally in the direction orthogonal to the sheet discharge direction is changed for each sheet size, and the end face of the sheet is set as a reference for sheets of any size. The aligning means (jogger) carries out the remaining slight movement by the aligning means (jogger), thereby minimizing the amount of the aligning means and shortening the aligning time.

Further, in the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, the sheet transporting means sets the sheet end surface position in the direction orthogonal to the sheet discharge direction to the same edge for all sheet sizes to be processed. The horizontal movement is performed so that

According to the present invention, the lateral movement is performed so that the sheet end surface position in the direction orthogonal to the sheet discharge direction is the same edge for all sheet sizes to be processed,
The edge width of the sheet is minimized by aligning the edge of the sheet to a position near the reference member for any size sheet, and the remaining slight movement is performed by the aligning means (jogger) to improve the aligning efficiency. It will be possible.

In the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the aligning means is provided with aligning members at predetermined positions corresponding to the sheet size of the sheets stacked on the temporary stacking tray. It is a thing.

According to the present invention, the aligning members are provided at predetermined positions corresponding to the sheet sizes of the sheets stacked on the temporary stacking tray, and the sheet transporting means brings the sheet closer to the reference member, and the remaining slight movement is performed. By using the matching member (jogger) corresponding to the size, the aligning time by the matching means is always minimized. Further, by providing each of the aligning members corresponding to each sheet size, the lateral movement amount is small and it can be shared with other drive sources, and a drive source such as a dedicated motor is unnecessary.

Further, in the paper post-processing apparatus according to the sixth aspect, the paper transfer means discharges the paper to the temporary stack tray at the timing when the inertia of the paper due to the lateral movement operation disappears.

According to the present invention, the timing for discharging the sheet is set after the inertia of the sheet due to the lateral movement is settled, so that the oblique discharge of the sheet due to the inertia can be suppressed.

Further, in the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the seventh aspect, there is further provided a sheet detecting means provided in the vicinity of the reference member for detecting an end surface of the sheet, and the sheet transporting means has the sheet detecting means. The first alignment operation is performed until the sheet is detected by the means, and the sheet movement is stopped at the detection position.

According to the present invention, by detecting the sheet end face in the direction orthogonal to the sheet discharge direction by the detecting means so that the sheet end face is discharged at a position closer to the reference member,
It is possible to always discharge the paper at a fixed position without using the pulse control of the stepping motor as in the past.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The sheet post-processing apparatus 1 is mainly composed of a pair of entrance rollers 2 for receiving sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus 2 and a conveyance sensor 3.
, A conveyance roller unit 4 described later, a conveyance switching unit that switches a conveyance route for each mode by a switching claw 5, and a widthwise alignment of the sheets stacked on the bottom plate 8. A jogger 9 for carrying out the above, a tatakoro part 10 for aligning the sheet conveyance direction, a sheet ejection tray 6 on which the processed sheets are stacked, a pair of sheet ejection rollers 7 for ejecting the sheet to the sheet ejection tray 6, A stapler device 11 for binding a bundle of sheets
And a discharging unit 12 that discharges the stapled sheet bundle to the sheet discharge tray 6.

The switching claw 5 is used for the non-processing mode (through mode) and the sorting mode (shift mode) for the transport path A.
And the conveyance path B for the staple mode. Further, reference numeral 5a is a transfer path A switching surface, reference numeral 5b is a transfer path B switching surface, and reference numeral 5c is a paper pressing surface.

The sheet fed into the sheet post-processing apparatus 1 is conveyed upward by the entrance roller pair 2 in the apparatus, passes the conveyance sensor 3 and is conveyed to the conveyance roller section 4. According to the position information (passage information) from the conveyance sensor 3, the sheet is branched by the switching claw 5 into the conveyance path A for the non-processing mode (through mode), the sorting mode (shift mode) or the conveyance path B for the staple mode. Then, post-processing based on the mode is performed.

Next, the sheet post-processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 described above.
The configuration and the like of each part of will be described in detail. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the transport roller unit 4 in FIG. The transport roller unit 4 includes a transport roller in which two cylindrical rollers 4b are press-fitted into a drive shaft 4a, a cylindrical driven roller 4c arranged so as to contact the rollers 4b, and a driven roller 4c. Shift rack gear 4e, which has a driven shaft 4d that receives the drive of the drive shaft, a rack gear that integrally connects the drive shaft 4a and the driven shaft 4d, and a rack gear that moves the transport roller pair in the paper width direction, and a shift rack gear. And a shift drive source 4f for laterally moving 4e.

The carrying roller section 4 functions as a carrying roller in the through mode, and has a function of shifting the paper while moving (moving a predetermined amount in the axial direction) in the shift mode or the staple mode.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the switching claw 5 part in FIG. The switching claw 5 is disposed downstream of the transport roller unit 4, and as shown in the drawing, a transport path A switching surface 5a that switches the transport path of the sheet to the transport path A and a transport path B switching surface 5b that switches to the transport path B. And a paper pressing surface 5c for pressing the paper. Also, the paper pressing surface 5
A rotation fulcrum 5d serving as a rotation fulcrum of the switching claw 5, a torsion coil spring 5e for urging the paper in the direction of guiding the paper to the conveyance path B using the rotation fulcrum 5d as a guide rod, and a paper to the conveyance path A in a portion facing c. A tension spring 5f is provided for urging the sheet in the guiding direction, that is, in the direction in which the sheet is pressed.
The paper contact surface of the switching claw 5 has a low friction and is smooth so that the paper is not caught.

Also, a first gear 5g integrally formed with a boss for locking the other end of the tension spring 5f, and a first gear 5g.
And gears 5h and 5i that mesh with each other and transmit the drive, and a stepping motor 5m that drives the switching claw 5.
The switching claw 5 in this embodiment has not only the function of switching the transport path but also the function of pressing the sheets stacked on the bottom plate 8 described later by the sheet pressing surface 5c. That is, the gear 5 is rotated according to the rotation of the stepping motor 5m.
i and 5h rotate, this rotation is transmitted to the first gear 5g, and the tension of the tension spring 5f changes with the rotation of the first gear 5g.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the construction of the bottom plate 8 portion in FIG. As shown in the figure, the bottom plate 8 arranged below the transport roller unit 4 serves as a slit-shaped groove 8a through which the jogger 9 can move in the width direction of the sheet, and an alignment reference of the trailing edge of the sheet when alignment is performed by the tatakoro roller unit 10. A rear end reference 8b, a guide rail 8c that reciprocates the discharging portion 12 in the sheet conveying direction and serves as a guide, and a protruding boss 8d that serves as a rotation center of an arm that moves the discharging portion 12, which will be described later. Rotating shaft 8e with a D-shaped cross section
A D-cut insertion hole 8f is formed integrally therewith.

Further, at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the rotary shaft 8e,
A bearing 8g for supporting the rotary shaft 8e is attached, and a motor 8m as a drive source is attached to one end of the bearing 8g via gears 8h, 8i, 8j. In addition, the bottom plate 8 is configured to rotate about a rotation shaft 8e as a rotation center by driving a motor 8m in synchronism with a rattling operation of a below-described rattling roller portion 10.

The jogger 9 is a slit-shaped groove 8 formed in the bottom plate 8 so that the sheets stacked on the bottom plate 8 can be aligned.
It is arranged in a state of being inserted through a and is arranged on the downstream side of the switching claw 5.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the jogger 9 in FIG. As shown in the drawing, the jogger 9 includes a rack gear 9a having a substantially L-shaped longitudinal side surface on which a rack gear is formed, and a sheet aligning member 9b detachably attached to a standing side surface of the rack gear 9a.
A guide bracket 9c formed in a substantially U shape for guiding the rack gear 9a so as to reciprocate in the paper width direction.
And gears 9d, 9e, 9f meshed with the rack gear 9a
And a motor 9m for driving the gears 9d, 9e, 9f,
Composed of.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the tatakoro roller portion 10 in FIG. As shown in the figure, the tapping roller portion 10 has a substantially cylindrical shape and is formed of a friction body (for example, a sponge roller) that moves the paper, and a return roller 10a for performing alignment in the paper conveyance direction and a return roller 10a. Bracket 10c rotatably supporting and rotatably attached to the central shaft 10b, and a return roller 10a.
A first belt 10d stretched via a first pulley integrally formed with the second belt, a second pulley 10e provided at the other end of the first belt 10d for transmitting drive, and a second pulley 10e stretched via the second pulley 10e. Second belt 10f and second belt 10f
The third pulley 10 with the central axis 10b as the center of rotation at the other end of the
g, a third belt 10h stretched through a third pulley 10g, a fourth pulley 10i press-fitted to the rotation shaft of a motor 10m at the other end of the third belt 10h, and a return roller 10a.
A motor bracket 10j for fixing the motor 10m, the center shaft 10b of which is fixed by crimping, and a tension spring 10k for urging the return roller 10a in a direction of abutting against the sheet. There is.

Two of the tatakoro rollers 10 are arranged in parallel above the bottom plate 8 in the paper discharge direction, and the central axis 10b is the center of rotation with the vertical movement of the drive source (not shown). A pendulum movement is performed, and the return roller 10a is brought into contact with or separated from the sheet at a predetermined timing to perform a flipping action. The sheet alignment is performed only when the return roller 10a comes into contact with the sheet. In this embodiment, a returning roller is used as the mechanism of the tatakoro roller unit 10, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the same function can be realized by using, for example, a paddle (a rotating body having a radial cross section).

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the discharge part 12 in FIG. The discharging unit 12 is rotatably attached to a discharging claw 12a that discharges a stapled sheet bundle, and a boss 8d that has one end slidably connected to the discharging claw 12a and the other end protruding from the bottom plate 8. Arm 12b,
A torsion coil spring (not shown) that urges the ejection claw 12a in a standby direction at the home position, and a protrusion member 12c that presses the arm 12b in a direction that ejects the sheet bundle, that is, a direction opposite to the urging force of the torsion coil spring. It is composed of a gear 12d integrally formed and a drive source (not shown) for driving the gear 12d.

The bottom plate 8 is provided on the lower abdomen of the discharge claw 12a.
It has a guide groove that slides while engaging with the guide rail 8c, and a columnar protrusion slidably connected to an elongated hole provided in the arm 12b.

In the discharging part 12, a driving source (not shown) drives the gear 12d in the direction of the arrow, and the projecting member 12c presses the arm 12b so that the discharging claw 12a moves on the guide rail 8c of the bottom plate 8. Then eject the stack of paper. Further, when the drive source is rotated in the reverse direction, it is configured to move to a position (home position) where the drive source stops due to the bias of the torsion coil spring.

Next, the staple mode operation of the sheet post-processing apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 8 to 13 in addition to FIGS.

When the staple mode is selected, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 1, the transport roller unit 4 waits at a position corresponding to the size (shift amount) of the sheet to be received after moving to the home position. Further, the switching claw 5 stands by at a position where the transfer path B is blocked, that is, at a position where the sheet is guided to the transfer path A.

The bottom plate 8 stands by with the sheet stacking surface parallel to the horizontal direction as shown by the solid line in FIG. 1, and the jogger 9 is moved to the home position so that it will not interfere with the sheets conveyed. Standby at a position slightly separated from the width of the paper. In addition, the tapping roller unit 10 stands by at a position away from the bottom plate 8 so as not to obstruct the sheets sliding on the paper stacking surface of the bottom plate 8. Emission part 12
Stands by at a position where the alignment by the tapper roller 10 does not hinder the alignment, that is, at the upstream side of the rear end reference 8b (see FIG. 2) of the bottom plate 8.

When each of the sheets is in the sheet receiving state, the sheet conveyed from the image forming apparatus (not shown) is received by the entrance roller pair 2. When the transport sensor 3 detects the leading edge of the sheet, the switching claw 5 moves to a position for guiding the sheet to the transport path B (broken line position in FIG. 1).

As shown in FIG. 8, when the leading edge of the sheet conveyed at the center reference (position of L1) reaches the nip at the conveying roller unit 4 and after a while, the conveying roller unit 4
As shown in FIG. 9, while laterally moving toward the stapler device 11 while conveying the sheet, the first alignment is performed up to the vicinity of the side surface reference 8k (position of L2).

At this time, the jogger 9 also moves in synchronism with the transport roller unit 4 while maintaining a constant distance from the end face of the paper. The first alignment is performed from the side surface reference 8k to the position 2 mm for any sheet size to be processed. When this first alignment is performed, the transport roller unit 4 continues to transport the paper until it is discharged onto the bottom plate 8. By the timing of discharging the sheet by the transport roller unit 4 after the inertia of the sheet due to the lateral movement is stopped (after a certain period of time), the sheet is prevented from being inclined due to the inertia.

Next, when the paper is discharged to the bottom plate 8, as shown in FIG. 10, the switching claw 5 rotates in a direction to guide it to the conveyance path A and presses the rear end of the paper with the paper pressing surface 5c. . Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 11, about 2 remaining in this state.
A second lateral alignment of mm is made with the jogger 9. At this time, since the sheet is pressed by the switching claw 5, the sheet can be aligned without rotating (skew) even if the center point of the side surface of the sheet is not pressed.

When the jogger 9 performs the aligning operation in the paper width direction (the position of L3), as shown in FIG. 12, the tatakoro roller unit 10 aligns in the carrying direction. When the tapper roller unit 10 is rotated in the paper surface direction by a drive source (not shown), the return roller 10a comes into contact with the paper surface and alignment is performed up to the rear end reference 8b. At this time, the bottom plate 8 is rotated about the rotation shaft 8e as a fulcrum so that the paper can be easily conveyed, thereby providing a slight gap.

It should be noted that the tapping operation by the tapping roller unit 10 is carried out for a while even after the trailing edge of the sheet reaches the trailing edge reference 8b so that even if a slip occurs between the returning roller 10a and the sheet, the trailing edge reaches the trailing edge reference 8b. Be done.

Further, as shown in FIG. 13, when the sheet is aligned with the trailing edge reference 8b, the open bottom plate 8 is rotated to the home position, and the sheet is sandwiched by the pressing member 20, and the stapling operation is completed. . As described above, the swelling of the curled paper can be reduced by forcibly pressing the paper by the pivotal movement of the bottom plate 8, so that the space (height) in consideration of the curl amount is not required, and the apparatus is small in size. Is realized. Further, by the above-mentioned operation, not only the next discharged sheet does not push out the sheets stacked on the bottom plate 8, but a large space is provided between the bottom plate 8 and the sheet discharge tray 6 as in this embodiment. Since the paper does not slide down even if there is a step, it is not necessary to raise the discharge tray 6 to the bottom plate 8 each time.

When the paper is nipped by the pressing member 20, the switching claw 5 is raised to enter the next paper receiving state. The series of operations described above is repeatedly executed until the end of the last page. When the final page is finished, the stapler device 11 performs stapling processing (binding). After that, the bound paper stack is discharged by the discharge unit 12 to the discharge tray 6
To release.

Next, the offset (shift) mode operation will be described. Operation unit (not shown) of the image forming apparatus
When the shift mode is selected by, the transport roller unit 4 waits at a position according to the size (shift amount) of the sheet to be received after moving to the home position, and the switching claw 5 closes the transport path B, that is, transport. It waits at the position where the sheet is guided to the route A (solid line portion in FIG. 1). Further, the bottom plate 8 stands by in a state in which the sheet stacking surface is parallel to the horizontal direction as shown by the solid line, and the tatakoro part 10 is positioned above the transport path A so as not to interfere with the sheet sliding on the transport path A. Wait above.

When each sheet is in the receiving state,
The sheet is transferred from the image forming apparatus (not shown) to the sheet post-processing apparatus 1
Sent to. The sheet sent to the sheet post-processing apparatus 1 is conveyed upward by the entrance roller pair 2 in the apparatus, passes through the conveyance sensor 3, and is conveyed to the conveyance roller unit 4.

A control unit (not shown) branches the switching claw 5 to the transport path A for the sorting mode (shift mode) according to the detection information from the transport sensor 3. After the sheet is conveyed in this state, and a short time after the leading edge of the sheet reaches the conveying roller unit 4, as shown in FIG. 9, the sheet discharged in the central reference direction is discharged while moving in the direction orthogonal to the sheet discharge direction. Offset movement is performed by performing lateral movement.

When the offset movement is completed, the transport roller unit 4 discharges the paper, and the paper is further discharged by the paper discharge roller pair 7.
The paper is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 6. The above operation is performed for each sheet until one job (one set) is completed. When the next job (copy) is set, the conveyance roller unit 4 offsets the paper in the opposite direction to the previous job (copy), and repeats the above operation for each paper. In this way, the lateral movement by the conveying roller unit 4 is reversed for each job (copy), whereby the sheets are sorted.

Next, the structure and operation of the jogger for performing alignment with a plurality of aligning members will be described. Figure 14
It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship with respect to the jogger 90 comprised by several alignment members, and a bottom plate part. 15 is the same as FIG.
It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the jogger 90 in FIG.

As shown in the figure, the jogger 90 includes a slide member 90b, a plurality of aligning members 90a which are inserted into the slide member 90b and are rotatable, a guide member 90f for guiding the sliding operation of the slide member 90b, and a slide member. A swing member 90d that swings on 90b, a compression spring 90c that has one end locked to the slide member 90b and the other end that is locked to the swing member 90d, and a cam 90e that swings the swing member 90d. ,,.

In the above structure, when the cam 90e rotates, the swing member 90d engaged with the groove (cam) provided on the outer peripheral surface of the cam 90e moves, and along with this movement, the compression spring 90c and the slide member. When the member 90b is pushed, the aligning member 90a is moved in the width direction to hold the sheet edge. In addition, the matching member 90a is
A portion smaller than the sheet size is folded by the weight of the sheet, and the sheet is retracted to return the sheet from the folded state to the aligned state. In addition, the matching member 90a
Has a guide shape that guides the paper in the transport direction and the lateral direction.

Although the motor for driving the bottom plate 8 is used as a drive source, a solenoid may be used as a drive source for direct or indirect shift movement. In addition,
The jogger 90 is configured to perform the second alignment after the first alignment (shift) by the transport roller unit 4 is completed.

Next, the matching operation by the jogger 90 configured as above will be described with reference to FIGS. When the staple mode is selected, the transport roller unit 4 moves to the home position and then stands by at a position corresponding to the size (shift amount) of the sheet to be received. At the same time, the switching claw 5 stands by at the position where the transfer path B is closed, that is, the position where the paper is guided to the transfer path A (solid line portion in FIG. 1). As shown by the solid line, the bottom plate 8 stands by with the paper stacking surface parallel to the horizontal direction.
The sheet is waiting above the transport path A so that the sheets sliding on the transport path A are not caught.

As described above, when the respective functional portions enter the sheet receiving state, the sheet conveyed from the image forming apparatus (not shown) is received by the pair of entrance rollers 2 and the conveying sensor 3 detects the leading edge of the sheet. And switching claw 5
Moves to a position where the sheet is guided to the conveyance path B.

As shown in FIG. 16, after the leading edge of the sheet conveyed by the center reference reaches the nip of the conveying roller unit 4, after a while, as shown in FIG. 17, the conveying roller unit 4 removes the sheet. While being transported, the stapler device 11 is laterally moved to perform the first alignment up to the vicinity of the side surface reference 8k. At this time, as shown in FIG. 18, the jogger 90 has the alignment member 90a at a position where the paper passes over the alignment member 90a corresponding to a size smaller than the paper size.
Is folded, and the other alignment members 90a are ready to align the sheets. It should be noted that, as shown in FIG. 19, the first alignment is performed by the side reference 8 even for all size sheets to be processed.
It is designed to carry out from k to a position of 2 mm.

When the above-mentioned first alignment is performed, as shown in FIG. 20, the transport roller unit 4 continues the transport until the paper is discharged to the bottom plate 8. When the paper is discharged to the bottom plate 8, the switching claw 5 rotates in the direction to guide the paper to the conveyance path A, and presses the rear end of the paper with the paper pressing surface 5c. 2mm remaining in this state
The jogger 90 performs the horizontal alignment (second alignment). At this time, since the sheet is pressed by the switching claw 5, the sheet can be aligned without rotating (skew) even if the center point of the side surface of the sheet is not pressed. Further, as shown in FIG. 21, the sheet is sent to the rear end reference 8b by the tatakoro roller 10 and at the same time, the bottom plate 8 is opened and received. After that, as shown in FIG. 22, after the bottom plate 8 receives the sheet, it is closed to sandwich the sheet, and the tatakoro unit 10 is retracted.
This operation is repeated.

Next, a method for detecting the sheet end face in the direction orthogonal to the discharge direction of the transported sheet will be described with reference to FIGS. As described above, when the respective functional portions are in the sheet receiving state, the sheet conveyed from the image forming apparatus (not shown) is received by the entrance roller pair 2, and the conveyance sensor 3 detects the leading edge of the sheet. Then, the switching claw 5 moves to a position for guiding the sheet to the transport path B (broken line in FIG. 1). As shown in FIG. 23, after the leading edge of the sheet conveyed with the center reference reaches the nip of the conveying roller unit 4, after a while, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the transport roller unit 4 laterally moves toward the stapler device 11 while transporting the sheet, and performs the first alignment until it is detected by the sensor 30 provided near the side surface reference 8k.

At this time, the jogger 9 also moves in synchronism with the transport roller section 4 while keeping a constant distance from the end face of the paper. Since the sensor 30 is arranged at a position 2 mm from the side surface reference 8k, all size sheets to be processed are stopped at a position 2 mm from the side surface reference 8k.

When the first alignment is performed, the transport roller unit 4
By setting the sheet discharge timing by (1) to discharge after the inertia of the sheet due to the lateral movement is settled (with a delay), the inclination of the sheet due to the inertia can be prevented. As shown in FIG. 25, when the paper is discharged to the bottom plate 8, the switching claw 5 rotates in a direction of guiding the paper to the transport path A, and presses the rear end of the paper with the paper pressing surface 5c. Figure 2 in this state
As shown in FIG. 6, the jogger 9 performs lateral alignment (second alignment) of the remaining 2 mm. At this time, switch the paper 5
Since the sheet is pressed by, the sheet can be aligned without rotating (skew) even if the center point of the side surface of the sheet is not pressed.

When the jogger 9 performs the aligning operation in the paper width direction, as shown in FIG.
By this, alignment in the transport direction is performed. Further, when the tapper roller 10 is rotated in the paper surface direction by a drive source (not shown), the return roller 10a comes into contact with the paper surface and straight alignment is performed up to the trailing edge reference 8b. At this time, a slight gap is provided by rotating the bottom plate 8 about the rotation shaft 8e as a fulcrum so that the paper can be easily conveyed.

The tapping operation by the tapping roller unit 10 is carried out for a while even when the trailing edge of the sheet reaches the trailing edge reference 8b so that the returning roller 10a and the sheet can be surely aligned even if slip occurs. . As shown in FIG. 28, when the paper is aligned with the trailing edge reference 8b, the open bottom plate 8 is rotated to the home position, and the paper is pinched by the pressing member 20 to complete the flipping operation.

When the paper is nipped by the pressing member 20,
The switching claw 5 is raised to enter the next receiving state. The series of operations described above is repeated until the final page. When the last page is finished, the stapler device 11 performs stapling processing (binding processing), and the discharging unit 12 discharges the sheet bundle to the sheet discharge tray 6.

[0066]

As described above, according to the sheet post-processing apparatus (Claim 1) of the present invention, the sheet conveyed from the image forming apparatus is received, and the sheet is moved in the direction orthogonal to the discharge direction. While the sheet is conveyed by the laterally movable sheet conveying means, the sheet is laterally moved to the first position on the reference member side, and then the aligning means aligns the sheet to the reference member (second position). Since the facing drive shaft and the complicated drive transmission unit are not required, the conveyance path can be shortened, a small and simple aligning mechanism can be realized, and the aligning quality in the paper width direction can be secured.

Further, according to the sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention (Claim 2), the sheet transfer means capable of moving laterally in the direction orthogonal to the sheet discharging direction can perform both functions of offsetting and aligning the sheet. As a result, the offset movement is realized without adding a new mechanism, so that it is possible to provide a simple and highly economical device having a small number of parts.

Further, according to the sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention (claim 3), the amount of lateral movement by the sheet transfer means which can be moved laterally in the direction orthogonal to the sheet discharge direction is changed for each sheet size. By aligning the edge of the paper to a position near the reference member for any size of paper and performing the remaining slight movement with the alignment means (jogger), the alignment time by the alignment means is always minimized. In all sizes, the shortening of the processing time is realized and the processing efficiency is improved.

Further, according to the sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention (claim 4), the sheet end surface position in the direction orthogonal to the sheet discharge direction is the same edge for all sheet sizes to be processed. By laterally moving, the end face of the paper is moved to a position near the reference member for any size of paper, and the slightest remaining movement is performed by the aligning means (jogger), so that the aligning time by the aligning means is always minimized. Therefore, the shortening of the shift processing time is realized for all sizes of the post-processing target, and the processing efficiency is improved.

Further, according to the sheet post-processing device of the present invention (claim 5), the aligning members are provided at predetermined positions corresponding to the sheet sizes of the sheets stacked on the temporary stacking tray, and the sheet transfer means is used as a reference. By aligning to the vicinity of the member and moving the remaining slight amount with the aligning member (jogger) corresponding to the paper size, the aligning time by the aligning means is always minimized. Is realized and processing efficiency is improved. In addition, since each aligning member is provided corresponding to each paper size, the lateral movement amount is small, it can be shared with other drive sources, and a drive source such as a dedicated motor is not required, so the number of parts is small. A low cost device can be provided.

Further, according to the paper post-processing apparatus of the present invention (claim 6), the timing of paper ejection is set after the inertia of the paper due to the lateral movement is settled, so that the paper is obliquely ejected due to the inertia. Since it is possible to suppress, it is possible to improve the alignment accuracy in the paper width direction.

Further, according to the sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention (claim 7), the sheet edge surface in the direction orthogonal to the sheet ejection direction is detected so that the sheet edge surface is ejected at a position closer to the reference member. Since it is possible to always discharge the paper at a fixed position without using the pulse control of the stepping motor as in the past, the deviation in the width direction of the image forming apparatus (horizontal registration accuracy) is large. However, it can be surely brought close to the reference member, and stable alignment accuracy can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a conveyance roller unit in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a switching claw portion in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a bottom plate portion in FIG.

5 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the jogger in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a tatakoro portion in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a discharging unit in FIG.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a sheet receiving state before a first aligning operation.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a first matching operation.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a paper trailing edge pressing operation after the first alignment.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a second aligning operation in a state where the trailing edge of the sheet is pressed.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a swinging action in the transport direction after the second alignment.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a state after the end of the tapping operation.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a mounting relationship with respect to a jogger and a bottom plate portion each including a plurality of alignment members.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of the jogger in FIG.

16 is an explanatory diagram showing a sheet receiving state before the first aligning operation by the jogger in FIG. 14. FIG.

17 is an explanatory diagram showing a first matching operation by the jogger in FIG. 14. FIG.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing a folded state of the alignment member of the jogger of FIG. 14.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing a rear end pressed state at the time of alignment by the jogger in FIG. 14.

20 is an explanatory diagram showing a second matching operation by the jogger in FIG. 14. FIG.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing a rattling operation in the carrying direction after alignment by the jogger in FIG. 14.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the jog operation in FIG. 14 is completed after alignment by the jogger.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement state of a sensor that detects a sheet end surface in a direction orthogonal to a sheet discharge direction and a sheet receiving state.

FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram showing a paper detection state after receiving the paper according to FIG. 23;

FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram showing a state where the trailing edge of the sheet of FIG.

FIG. 26 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation of performing the second matching from the state of FIG. 25.

FIG. 27 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the tapping operation is performed from the state of FIG. 26.

28 is an explanatory diagram showing an end state after the tapping operation shown in FIG. 27. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Paper post-processing device 4 Conveyor rollers 5 switching claws 5a Transport path A switching surface 5b Transfer path B switching surface 5c Paper pressing surface 6 Output tray 7 Paper ejection roller pair 8 bottom plate 8b Rear end reference 8k side reference 9,90 Jogger 10 Tatakoro part 11 Stapler device 12 Discharge part 30 sensors

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Norihisa Masamura             2-2-13 Nishiki, Naka-ku, Nagoya-shi Ricoh             Within Remex Corporation (72) Inventor Kurashige Manned             2-2-13 Nishiki, Naka-ku, Nagoya-shi Ricoh             Within Remex Corporation F term (reference) 3F054 AA01 AC01 BA02 BH13 BH14                       DA01 DA06

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A sheet transfer unit for laterally moving a sheet to be post-processed in a direction orthogonal to a discharge direction while conveying the sheet, a temporary stacking tray for temporarily stacking the sheet, and one edge of the sheet to be discharged. Paper post-processing provided with a reference member for abutting and positioning in the paper width direction, and alignment means for aligning the paper by pressing one end of the paper stacked on the temporary stack tray against the reference member In the apparatus, the sheet transfer means and the aligning means align the sheet width direction with respect to the sheet receiving position for each sheet while transporting the sheet to a first position located on the reference member side. A sheet post-processing apparatus, which sequentially performs a first aligning operation and a second aligning operation that aligns at a second position of a substantially sheet width after the first aligning operation. 2. The sheet post-processing device has an offset mode in which the sheets are sorted in a direction orthogonal to a sheet discharge direction, and the sheet transfer means horizontally moves the sheets in the offset mode to discharge the sheets. Claim 1 characterized by the above.
The paper post-processing device described in 1. 3. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet transfer unit changes the lateral movement amount according to the sheet size. 4. The sheet transfer means horizontally moves all sheet sizes to be processed so that the sheet end face positions in the direction orthogonal to the sheet discharge direction are at the same end. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to 1, 2, or 3. 5. The sheet post-processing according to claim 1, wherein the aligning means is provided with aligning members at predetermined positions corresponding to the sheet sizes of the sheets stacked on the temporary stacking tray. apparatus. 6. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet transfer unit discharges the sheet to the temporary stack tray at a timing when the inertia of the sheet due to the lateral movement operation disappears. 7. A paper detecting means is provided near the reference member and detects an end surface of the paper, and the paper transporting means performs the first alignment operation until the paper detecting means detects the paper. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet movement is stopped at the detection position.