JP2003246535A - Sheet post-processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet post-processing device capable of preventing an incorrect detection due to the partial protrusion or the like of the sheet batch loaded and increasing loading capacity in a vertically restricted space. <P>SOLUTION: In the sheet processing device B connecting with the image forming device A, the sheet post-processing device is equipped with a sheet post-processing means 10 performing binding processing of the sheet received from an image forming device A, a discharge roller 6 discharging the sheet binding processed with the sheet post-processing means 10, a loading tray 7 loading the sheet discharged by the discharge roller 6 and a loading wall 20 formed from the position approximately right under the discharge roller 6 to the loading tray 7. The loading wall 20 has a projection 21 projected to the discharge roller 6 toward downstream side of the sheet carrying direction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

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 apparatus which is connected to an image forming apparatus and performs binding processing, and a stacking tray and a stacking wall of the sheet post-processing apparatus. The present invention relates to improvement of stackability of sheet bundles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a conventional sheet post-processing apparatus which is connected to an image forming apparatus, performs binding processing on received sheets, and stacks a bundle of bound sheets, stacks sheets that have undergone binding processing. Then, there is a problem that the binding-processed portions overlap each other and are piled up higher than the other portions.

On the other hand, conventionally, there has been a method in which a concave portion is provided in the binding needle portion of the stacking tray to absorb the swelling of the binding needle portion.

This is because the conventional sheet post-processing apparatus is mainly a so-called large-sized console type apparatus which is connected and arranged beside the image forming apparatus, and there is a room in the space below the tray, so that the concave portion is formed. There was no restriction on the method provided.

[0005]

However, in recent years, as the speed of small-sized and medium-sized image forming apparatuses has increased, the need for sheet post-processing means has increased, and at the same time, it has become possible to mount the sheet-rear sheet that can be mounted on small-sized and medium-sized image forming apparatuses. Processor required.

In order to deal with this, the sheet post-processing device is
Instead of the conventional large console type, a small type that is attachable to and detachable from the upper portion of the image forming apparatus is required.

In the case of the sheet post-processing which is detachable on the upper part of the image forming apparatus, there is the stacking tray of the image forming apparatus itself below the stacking tray, and if the stacking space is set too high above the stacking tray, the accessibility of the user is improved. Becomes worse, and there are spatial restrictions on the top and bottom.

In order to increase the loading capacity in the space limited to the upper and lower sides, it is necessary to raise the full load detection line and perform loading up to near the discharge roller.

However, when the full load detection is raised to the vicinity of the height of the discharge roller, a high detection accuracy is required, and a partial swelling of the stacked sheet bundle (for example,
If there is an erroneous detection due to partial swelling due to overlapping of the binding needles), the upper part of the stacked sheet bundle will be stacked near the discharge roller before full loading, and the discharge roller will interfere with the stacked uppermost sheet bundle. There is a problem of doing.

12 and 13 are sectional views of the sheet post-processing apparatus. In FIG. 12 and FIG. 13, the sheet has a staple S5a at the end.
The binding process is performed with the sheet bundle S5. When the number of stacked sheets increases, the staples S5a are overlapped on the sheet bundle S5, and only the rear end is raised and stacked.

The full load detection flag 122 cannot detect the upper surface of the sheet that partially rises along the stacking wall 120. Therefore, before the full load is detected as shown in Fig. 13,
It may contact the discharge roller 106 or block the nip, which may damage the discharged sheet or cause a jam.

On the other hand, as a conventional measure, there is a method of extending the full load detection flag 122 further downward. However, this is not suitable when the upper limit line of the full load is lowered and it is desired to secure the stacking capacity in a limited space such as the sheet post-processing apparatus B.

Further, a method of providing a hole or a recess for letting the staple S5a escape under the stacking tray 107 is also common.
However, if the image forming apparatus A is located below, the discharge port 104 of the image forming apparatus A will be blocked.

Further, it is possible to detect the sheets near the stacking wall 120 by curving the stacking detection flag 122 more toward the stacking wall 120 side without extending it. However, when the discharged sheet collides with the full load detection flag 122, the sheet is caught.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet post-processing apparatus capable of preventing erroneous detection due to a partial swelling of a stacked sheet bundle and increasing the stacking capacity in a space limited to the upper and lower sides. To do.

[0016]

In order to solve the above problems, a typical structure of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention is a sheet post-processing apparatus connected to an image forming apparatus, in which a sheet is removed from the image forming apparatus. Sheet post-processing means for binding the received sheets, discharging means for discharging the sheets subjected to the binding processing by the sheet post-processing means, and stacking means for stacking the sheets discharged by the discharging means,
And a stacking wall formed from substantially right below the discharging means to the stacking means, wherein the stacking wall has a protrusion projecting to the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction with respect to the discharging means.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION [First Embodiment] A first embodiment of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a sheet post-processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment, FIGS. 2 to 4 are perspective views of the sheet post-processing apparatus and image forming apparatus, and FIG. 5 is a front view of a stacking wall and discharge rollers. FIG. 6 is a top view of the sheet post-processing apparatus, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are cross-sectional views of the sheet post-processing apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 2, the sheet post-processing apparatus B
Is placed on the image forming apparatus A, and the sheet received from the image forming apparatus A is discharged and stacked on the stacking tray 7 which is a stacking unit by the discharge roller 6 which is a discharging unit. When the sheet post-processing by the sheet post-processing apparatus B is not performed, the sheet S2 is loaded from the discharge port 4 of the image forming apparatus A to the stack tray 5
It is discharged and loaded.

The sheet post-processing device B includes joggers 8, 9,
The sheet post-processing means 10 is provided. The joggers 8 and 9 for aligning the sheets in the width direction move in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction and align the sheets in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction. The sheet post-processing unit 10 that performs the binding process,
A part is exposed to the outside so that the needle cartridge can be used from the outside.

As shown in FIG. 3, the joggers 8 and 9 are moved inward to align the sheet S1 in the sheet width direction. Then, the sheet post-processing device 10 performs the binding process on the rear end of the sheet bundle (the end on the upstream side in the right sheet conveying direction when facing the front). Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the joggers 8 and 9 are opened to the outside, and the sheet bundle s1 is dropped and stacked on the stack tray 7.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the sheet post-processing apparatus. The flow of sheet conveyance and the protrusion of the stacking wall will be described with reference to FIG.

The sheet post-processing apparatus B includes an entrance roller 23, an intermediate roller 24, and a discharge roller 6. The sheet post-processing apparatus B has a simple stacking mode in which the received sheets are stacked for each single sheet without binding processing, and a post-processing stacking mode in which the received sheets are bound and stacked into a bound sheet bundle. have.

In the simple stacking mode, the discharge roller 6 is always nipped and the received sheet is fed into the entrance roller.
The sheet is conveyed and discharged as it is by the 23, the intermediate roller 24, and the discharge roller 6, and is sequentially stacked on the stack tray 7.

In the post-processing stacking mode, the discharge rollers 6 are separated from each other to open the nip, and a plurality of sheets are stacked on the intermediate stacking section 25 until the desired number of sheets is bound. in the meantime,
Alignment is performed by the transport direction alignment paddle 26 and the joggers 8 and 9 that are lateral alignment means, and the sheet post-processing means 10 performs binding processing to form a sheet bundle. After that, the discharge roller 6 is brought into pressure contact, the sheet bundle is nipped and conveyed, and is stacked on the stack tray 7.

A loading wall 20 is provided below the discharge roller 6,
The stacking wall 20 extends substantially vertically below the discharge roller 6 toward the stacking tray 7 in a substantially vertical direction. Also, the loading wall 20
On the downstream side in the transport direction with respect to the peripheral surface below the discharge roller 6,
It is not protruding.

A protrusion 21 is formed on the upper portion of the loading wall 20,
The protrusion 21 has a larger amount of protrusion from the lower side to the upper side, and protrudes from the peripheral surface of the discharge roller 6 to the downstream side in the transport direction.

A full load detection flag 22 is provided on the downstream side of the discharge roller 6 in the conveying direction, and the full load detection flag 22 detects the full load height of the sheets stacked on the stack tray 7 or the sheet bundle.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the stacking wall 20 and the discharge roller 6. As shown in FIG. 5, the discharge roller 6 includes the shaft 6
a and a plurality of rollers 6b, the roller 6b of the lower discharge roller 6 is arranged alternately with the roller 6b of the upper discharge roller 6, and the sheet bundle is formed into a comb-like shape, and the sheet is stiffened. Discharge. The rollers on both ends of the lower discharge roller 6 have a conical shape in order to increase the rigidity of both ends of the sheet, and the diameter increases from the widthwise center of the sheet to the outside.

FIG. 6 is a view of the stacking wall and the discharge roller as seen obliquely from above. As shown in FIG. 6, the protrusion amount of the protrusion 21 increases from the center in the width direction of the stacked sheets toward the outside. Further, the conical extension line 6L of the discharge roller 6 and the protrusion extension line 21L of the protrusion 21 extend in substantially the same direction, and the protrusion 21 has a shape along the peripheral surface of the conical roller 6b. .

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a loading wall 20 having a protrusion 21 and a loading state. As described above, the protrusion 21 has a shape projecting from the peripheral surface of the discharge roller 6 as it goes above the loading wall 20, and is continuously formed on the loading wall 20. In this configuration, as shown in FIG. 7, the bound sheet bundle S5 is stacked along the protrusions 21 to prevent the sheets from coming into contact with the discharge roller 6 and blocking the nip. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the full load detection flag 22 can be raised to detect the full load.

Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment of the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
9 and 10 are sectional views of the sheet post-processing apparatus according to this embodiment. The same parts as those of the first embodiment will be designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 9A, the sheet post-processing apparatus B includes a protrusion 31, a stacking wall 33, and a stacking tray 7. The protrusion 31 is capable of appearing and disappearing at a position indicated by a solid line and a broken line with respect to the loading wall 33, and the amount of appearing and disappearing is configured to be variable.

FIG. 9B shows how a single sheet is discharged from the discharge roller 6. In the sheet post-processing apparatus B, in the single sheet stacking mode, the joggers 8 and 9 are always retracted beyond the sheet width, and as shown in the figure, the sheet S6 is landed at the leading edge, and then the sheets S6 to S7 to S
As shown in FIG. 8, the rear end is loaded along the loading wall 33. At this time, as described above, the protrusion 31 is movable and is housed in the stacking wall 33. As a result, the trailing edge of the sheet that is being discharged and dropped is not caught by the leading edge 31a of the protrusion 31.

In the case of a single sheet without binding processing,
Even if the loading is continued in sequence, there is no partial swelling at the rear end (due to the overlapping staples), and eventually, as shown in Fig. 9 (c), the top surface remains flat and full Reach the detection line and finish loading normally.

FIG. 10 shows drop stacking in the sheet post-processing mode.

In this figure, the sheets are once held at their tips by the joggers 8 and 9, and then the binding process is performed.
After that, the joggers 8 and 9 are conveyed while being conveyed by the discharge roller 6.
Open, and the stack of sheets is dropped and stacked from above.

In the case of stacking the sheet bundle, the stack of sheets is held by the joggers 8 and 9 and then dropped and stacked. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10A, the sheet bundle is linear in the order of S9 to S12. To fall. At that time, the rear end falls without following the loading wall. Then, as shown in FIG. 10 (b), the binding needle portions are overlapped with each other so that the trailing edge of the binding needle portion is raised and is fully loaded.
At this time, the protrusion 31 is in the protruding position, and as in the first embodiment, the binding sheet bundle S5 is stacked along the protrusion 21 to prevent the sheet from contacting the discharge roller 6 or blocking the nip. To do. Then, the full load detection flag 22 is raised,
The full load can be detected.

In the present embodiment, the single sheet stacking mode and the sheet bundle stacking mode are switched so that the protrusions can be projected and retracted.
The rear end of the single sheet and the rear end bulge of the bound sheets can be optimally dealt with, and a variety of stacking modes can be realized as compared with the first embodiment.

[Third Embodiment] Next, a third embodiment of the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the sheet post-processing apparatus according to this embodiment. The same parts as those of the first embodiment will be designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

Sheet post-processing apparatus B in this embodiment
The projection 21 according to the first embodiment is a projection 51 that is movable in the seat width direction along the elongated hole 52.

FIG. 11 (a) shows a projection when a wide sheet is stacked.
FIG. 11B is a diagram showing the position of the protrusion 51, and FIG. 11B is a diagram showing the position of the protrusion 51 when a narrow sheet is stacked, and the protrusion 51 is movable to each position.

By moving the projection 51 according to the sheet width, the stapler moves according to the sheet width and the projection 51 is surely aligned with the bulge portion of the binding sheet stack even in the sheet post-processing where the binding position moves. This makes it possible to cope with a wider variety of sheet widths as compared with the above embodiment.

[0043]

As described above, by providing the projection on the stacking wall, the position of the rear end of the stacked sheets can be selectively changed depending on the place.

Further, the protrusion is provided so as to protrude from the peripheral surface of the discharge roller, and the position of the protrusion is aligned with the position where the stacking bundle is expanded by the binding needle. This makes it possible to prevent the trailing edge of the sheet from interfering with the discharge roller even when the bound sheet bundle that has been bound and processed continues to be loaded almost completely.

Further, the full load detection line can be pulled up to near the discharge roller nip to increase the stacking capacity in the same stacking space, and the sheet post-processing apparatus (for example, the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment, which has a space limitation vertically). It is effective in the sheet post-processing device installed on the upper part.

[0046]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a sheet post-processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a sheet post-processing device and an image forming apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a sheet post-processing device and an image forming apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a sheet post-processing device and an image forming apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a stacking wall and a discharge roller.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the sheet post-processing device.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a sheet post-processing device.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a sheet post-processing device.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a sheet post-processing device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a sheet post-processing device.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a sheet post-processing device according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of a conventional sheet post-processing device.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of a conventional sheet post-processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

A ... Image forming apparatus B: Sheet post-processing device S1, S2, S6 to S12 ... Sheet S5 ... Sheet bundle S5a ... Binding needle 4 ... Discharge port 5, 7 ... Loading tray 6 ... Ejection roller 6L ... extension line 6a ... Shaft 6b ... Roll 8, 9 ... Jogger 10… Sheet post-processing means 20, 33… Loading wall 21, 31, 51 ... Protrusion 21L ... extension line 22… Full load detection flag 23… Entrance roller 24… Intermediate roller 25 ... Intermediate loading section 26 ... Transport direction alignment paddle 31a ... Tip 52… Slot

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Takashi Kuwata             3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Non non corporation (72) Inventor Kenichiro Isobe             3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Non non corporation (72) Inventor Junichi Sekiyama             3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Non non corporation (72) Inventor Hironobu Ata             3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Non non corporation F term (reference) 3F054 AA01 AB01 AC01 BA04 BG11                       BH14 BJ04 DA01                 3F108 GA01 GB01 HA02 HA39

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. In a sheet post-processing apparatus connected to an image forming apparatus, a sheet post-processing unit that performs a binding process on a sheet that has received a sheet from the image forming apparatus, and the sheet post-processing unit performs the binding process. The sheet discharging device includes a sheet discharging unit configured to discharge the sheet, a stacking unit configured to stack the sheet discharged by the discharging unit, and a stacking wall formed from substantially right below the discharging unit to the stacking unit. A sheet post-processing apparatus having a protrusion protruding to the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction. 2. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion has a larger amount of protrusion as it goes upward of the stacking wall. 3. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the amount of protrusions increases from the center of the stacked sheets toward the outside in the width direction. 4. The discharging means is a pair of discharging rollers composed of a shaft and a roller, and the rollers at both ends of the discharging roller below the discharging roller pair are rollers extending from the center in the width direction of the discharged sheet to the outside. 2. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet post-processing apparatus has a conical shape with a larger diameter, and the projections of the stacking wall project along the conical peripheral surfaces of the rollers at the both ends. 5. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stacking unit is inclined upward from the center of the width of the stacked sheets toward both ends. 6. The sheet post-processing unit according to claim 1, wherein the sheet post-processing unit performs binding processing on one rear end of one side of the sheet, and the protrusion is provided on the sheet post-processing unit side. apparatus.