JP2003246538A - Sheet processing device and image forming device having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet processing device capable of saving a space, reducing cost and saving power, and an image forming device having the same. <P>SOLUTION: This sheet processing device selectively transmits the drive of a driving source M2 capable of rotating normally and reversely to a discharge roller pair 330 having an aligning means 322 aligning a discharged sheet in a sheet discharge direction, a first roller 330a and a second roller 330b arranged facing the first roller 330a, capable of taking a first condition in which a sheet can be discharged, and a second condition in which the first and the second rollers 330a, 330b are separated by a drive transmission part 500, to selectively perform aligning operation by the aligning means 322, separating operation of the discharge roller pair 330 and drive control of the discharge roller pair 330. <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 processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus including the sheet processing apparatus, and more particularly to a sheet processing apparatus for performing binding processing on sheets after image formation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, etc., in order to reduce the labor required for the binding process on sheets such as copy sheets after the image is formed, after the image is formed, 2. Description of the Related Art Some sheets are provided with a sheet processing apparatus that sequentially takes sheets into the apparatus and performs binding processing on the sheets.

Here, such a sheet processing apparatus is provided on the side surface of the main body of the image forming apparatus on the side of the sheet discharge port, and after the image is printed on the main body side of the image forming apparatus, the sheets are sequentially supplied from the discharge port. There is known a type in which the sheets are aligned, and then the binding processing is performed and the sheets are discharged.

[0004]

By the way, in such a conventional sheet processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus equipped with such a sheet processing apparatus, a motor or a motor is required for each operation such as sheet alignment, roller drive control, and sheet holding. An actuator such as a solenoid is often provided.

However, if expensive actuators such as motors and solenoids are used for each operation in this way, the cost will increase and the failure rate will increase. In addition, the power consumption increases and the power supply also needs to have a large capacity, which further increases the size of the device.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a sheet processing apparatus capable of achieving space saving, low cost, and power saving, and an image forming apparatus including the same. The purpose is.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, in a sheet processing apparatus for processing a discharged sheet after an image is formed, an aligning unit for aligning the discharged sheet in the sheet discharge direction. A first state in which the sheet can be ejected, and a second roller in which the first and second rollers are separated from each other. And a driving source capable of rotating in the normal and reverse directions, and a aligning operation by the aligning means by the forward and reverse rotation of the one driving source, a separating operation of the discharging roller pair, and A drive transmission unit configured to selectively perform drive control of the pair of discharge rollers.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the drive transmission unit is configured to stop the drive of the paper discharge roller pair in conjunction with the separation operation of the paper discharge roller pair. .

According to the present invention, the drive transmission portion is
A first transmission member for selectively transmitting forward and reverse rotations of one drive source to the alignment means and the pair of paper discharge rollers;
A second transmission member that transmits the drive of the drive source that is selectively transmitted by the transmission member to the matching means, and a drive of the drive source that is selectively transmitted by the first transmission member to move the pair of discharge rollers. It is characterized in that it is provided with a separating means for separating and a drive stopping means for stopping the driving of the pair of discharge rollers in conjunction with the separating operation of the separating means.

According to the present invention, the first transmission member is held by a swing member, and the swing of the swing member selectively transmits the drive of the drive source to the second transmission member or the separating means. It is characterized by that.

According to the present invention, the drive transmission portion is the above-mentioned 1
A first transmission member for transmitting the forward / reverse rotation of one drive source to the alignment means and the pair of discharge rollers, and the drive of the drive source transmitted by the first transmission member is selectively transmitted to the alignment means. A second transmission member, a separation means for selectively separating the paper discharge roller pair by driving the drive source transmitted by the first transmission member, and the paper discharge roller in conjunction with the separation operation of the separation means. Drive stop means for stopping the drive of the pair.

In the present invention, the second transmission member and the spacing means selectively transmit the drive of the drive source transmitted by the first transmission member to the alignment means and the spacing means via a one-way clutch. It is characterized by doing.

According to the present invention, in the discharge roller pair, in the first state, a plurality of roller bodies provided in the axial direction of the first roller are provided in the axial direction of the second roller. It is characterized in that it is configured so as to enter between the roller main bodies.

The present invention further comprises holding means for pressing the discharged sheet and holding it at a predetermined position, and when the aligning means performs a sheet aligning operation, the pressing of the holding means on the sheet is released. It is characterized by doing so.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the aligning means is a paddle having elasticity for moving the sheet in the aligning direction while rotating about a rotation axis.

Further, according to the present invention, a holding member for rotatably holding one roller of the paper discharge roller pair is provided rotatably around a rotation shaft of the paddle, and the paper discharge roller pair is the first roller. In this case, the holding member is rotated to separate the first and second rollers from each other.

Further, the present invention is characterized by comprising a stapler for binding the discharged sheets.

Further, the present invention is an image forming apparatus comprising an image forming section and a sheet processing apparatus for processing a sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming section, wherein the sheet processing apparatus is one of the above. It is characterized by being

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing the overall construction of a laser beam printer which is an example of an image forming apparatus having a sheet processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 100A denotes a laser beam printer, 100 denotes a laser beam printer main body (hereinafter referred to as a printer main body), and the laser beam printer 100A is independently connected to a computer or a network such as a LAN and the like. Or based on image information or print signals sent from the network,
An image is formed (printed) on a sheet by a predetermined image forming process and then discharged.

Reference numeral 300 denotes a sheet processing apparatus. The sheet processing apparatus 300 is arranged above the printer main body 100 and conveys a sheet discharged from the printer main body 100 to the outside of the machine. The first stacking unit 3 in the face-down state with the image side facing down via the
After being placed on the sheet stack 00B, the aligning means 301, which will be described later, aligns the sheets, bundles the sheets for each predetermined job, and staples one or more locations of the sheets to the second stacking unit 3
25, or simply discharged face-down on the second stacking unit 325.

Here, the sheet processing apparatus 300 and the printer body 100 are electrically connected by a cable connector (not shown). Further, the sheet processing apparatus 300 has a casing part 300A for storing each part and is attachable to and detachable from the printer body 100.

Next, the configuration of each part of the printer main body 100 will be described along the conveyance path of the conveyed sheet S.

In the printer body 100, the feeding cassette 2
A plurality of sheets S are stacked in 00, and various rollers sequentially separate and feed the uppermost sheet S1 one by one. Then, the sheet S fed from the feeding cassette 200 by a predetermined print signal supplied from a computer or a network is first placed on the upper surface of the image forming unit 101 which forms a toner image by a so-called laser beam type image forming process. The toner image is transferred, and subsequently, heat and pressure are applied by the fixing device 120 on the downstream side, so that the toner image is permanently fixed.

Next, the sheet S on which the image has been fixed is folded back in the substantially U-shaped sheet conveying path up to the discharge roller 130, so that the image surface is reversed, and thus the image surface faces downward. In this state, it is discharged face down from the printer body 100.

Here, the sheet S rotates based on a control signal from a control unit (not shown).
According to the position of the flapper 150 of the discharge roller 1
The sheet 30 is selected to be discharged to a face-down (FD) discharge section 125 provided on the upper portion of the printer body 100 or discharged to the second stacking section 325 of the sheet processing apparatus 300. .

Next, the structure of the sheet processing apparatus 300 and the movement of each part when the sheet S conveyed from the printer main body 100 moves toward the sheet processing apparatus 300 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

In FIG. 2, 330a is a paper discharge upper roller,
Numeral 330b is a lower paper discharge roller, M is a jogger motor as a drive source, 322 is a paddle having elasticity for moving the sheet in the alignment direction, and 323 is a reference wall for abutting the trailing edge of the sheet.

Here, as shown in the figure, the discharge roller pair 330 composed of a discharge upper roller 330a and a discharge lower roller 330b is arranged above the flapper 150 on the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction, and will be described later. It is rotationally driven by the drive motor M1 shown in FIG. Further, the paper discharge upper roller 330a is pivotally supported by an arm 330c which is a holding member rotatable about a paddle shaft 350.

Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, this paper discharge roller pair 330 is a roller body 330a1 of the paper discharge upper roller 330a which is the first roller and a roller of the paper discharge lower roller 330b which is the second roller. Body 330b
1, 330b2 are arranged in a so-called zigzag manner so as to be inserted between the respective roller main bodies, whereby the upper discharge roller 330a and the lower discharge roller 330b do not come into contact with each other.
It has a so-called comb tooth configuration.

FIG. 9 is a front view of such a pair of discharge rollers 330. As shown in FIG.
The roller main body 330a1 and the roller main body 330b1 of the paper discharge lower roller 330b are designed to be inserted between each other. That is, the upper discharge roller 330a and the lower discharge roller 33
0b overlaps in the axial direction.

Here, in this way, the paper discharge upper roller 330a
When the sheet (bundle) is ejected by the pair of ejecting rollers 330, the sheet (bundle) becomes wavy due to the overlap between the sheet ejection lower roller 330b and the sheet ejection lower roller 330b, and the rigidity of the sheet (bundle) becomes stronger. As a result, the sheet (bundle) is discharged straight without being bent downward even after passing through the discharge roller pair 330. Further, this stiffness becomes stronger as the overlap amount between the upper discharge roller 330a and the lower discharge roller 330b increases, and the stronger the stiffness, the longer the straight discharge distance.

Note that, as shown in FIG.
A roller body 330b that abuts both ends of the sheet 30b
2 is formed so that the diameter of each of the sheets 2 increases toward the outside, so that both ends of the sheet (bundle) are lifted.

In this way, the sheet (bundle) is stiffened to lengthen the distance for straight ejection, and both ends of the sheet (bundle) are lifted so that the paper type, fixing mode, printing Even when the curl amount and the direction of the sheet discharged from the printer main body 100 are largely different due to the difference in the mode, and when the sheet (bundle) is discharged regardless of whether the stapling process is performed or not, This sheet (bundle) can be prevented from coming into contact with the already discharged sheets (bundle), and the stackability can be improved.

On the other hand, the jogger motor M is a motor for driving each slide guide 301, 302 described later, and a stepping motor is used in this embodiment.

A plurality of paddles 322 are made of a flexible material such as rubber and are fixed to the paddle shaft 350 in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction. When the sheet is discharged from the printer body 100, the paddle shaft 350
Is driven to rotate clockwise,
As a result, the sheet S moves in the direction opposite to the sheet conveyance direction, which is the alignment direction, contacts the reference wall 323, and is aligned.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, in the sheet processing apparatus 300 of the present embodiment, a slide guide 30 which will be described later in detail serves as an aligning member for aligning the sheets in the width direction.
1 and a slide guide 302 are provided. Also,
In the figure, H is a stapler that is a stapling unit that staples a sheet bundle to perform a binding process on the sheet bundle.
The stapler H staples the upper left corner of the image surface of the image-formed sheet to bind each sheet.
It is fixedly arranged on the slide guide 301 side.

The sheet processing apparatus 300 having such a configuration is adapted to perform stapling processing based on a command output in advance from a computer or the like. When performing such stapling processing, first, stapling is performed. Before the sheet S to be discharged is discharged by the conveyance roller 121 (see FIG. 1) provided in the printer body 100, the flapper 150 is rotated counterclockwise by a solenoid (not shown) as shown in FIG. It is rotated to switch the paper path to the sheet processing apparatus side.

As a result, the sheet S is conveyed by the conveying roller 121.
Then, the sheet is carried into the sheet processing apparatus 300. Then, the sheet S carried into the sheet processing apparatus 300 in this way
Is detected by rotating the flag 391 of the entrance sensor 390 clockwise so that the flag 391 causes the photo sensor 392 to transmit light. After this, the pair of entrance rollers 3
It is conveyed upward by 63.

By the way, in the present embodiment, the sheet processing apparatus 300 staples and discharges and stacks the sheets on the second stacking section 325, and simply discharges and stacks the sheets face down on the second stacking section 325. You can do it.

Next, the second stacking section 32 is face down.
A so-called simple stacking operation for discharging and stacking sheets on the sheet No. 5 will be described.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 4A, the bottom surfaces of the slide guide 301 on the right side and the slide guide 302 on the left side with respect to the sheet carry-in direction are positioned so as not to contact the sheet S being carried in. That is, the sheet S that does not support the sheet S is retreated to a position outside by a predetermined amount in the width direction.

Therefore, after the sheet S conveyed by the pair of inlet rollers 363 passes through the pair of staple rollers 320, it passes through the frontage of the stapler H, and then the upper discharge rollers 330a and the lower discharge rollers 330b are arranged in a zigzag manner. The sheet is conveyed by the pair of paper rollers 330, and as shown in the arrow in FIG. 4B and the second sheet discharge unit 32 as shown in FIG.
It falls toward 5.

When the sheet S is discharged in this way,
The sheet S has a discharge upper roller 330a and a discharge lower roller 330.
The discharge roller pair 330 overlapping with b is provided with rigidity. Further, by adding rigidity, the distance that the sheet is discharged straight after passing through the pair of discharge rollers 330 becomes long. As a result, the locus at the time of ejecting the sheet comes to be located on the upper side as compared with the case where there is no stiffness as shown by the dotted line in FIG.
There is no possibility that the stackability is impaired by hitting the stacking section 325 of the above or pushing out already discharged sheets.

Next, the operation of stapling the sheets and discharging and stacking them on the second stacking section 325 will be described.

In this case, the slide guides 301 and 302
Is a slide guide 301, as shown in FIG.
The reference pins 303 and 304 provided on the wall surface of 302 are
The sheet S is retracted to a position where it does not interfere with the sheet S being carried in.

At this time, the two slide guides 30
The gap between the end faces of the bottom surfaces of the sheets 1, 302 is smaller than the width of the sheet S, and the two slide guides 301, 302 are located at such a position, so that the first stacking sheet supporting the sheet S entering can be loaded. The part 300B can be configured.

Therefore, the sheet conveyed by the inlet roller pair 363 passes through the staple roller pair 320 and then the front edge of the stapler H, and then the sheet discharge roller pair 3
The slide guides 301 and 302 are conveyed by
And is conveyed onto the guide surface of the first sheet stacking unit 300B.

Here, as shown in FIG. 5A, the guide surface of the first sheet stacking section 300B is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal direction, and the upstream side and the downstream side in the sheet carry-in direction. And have different inclination angles,
Specifically, a bent portion 300C that is bent at an inclination angle α is formed between a predetermined section on the upstream side and a predetermined section on the downstream side. By having such a bent portion 300C, bending of the central portion of the sheet S that is not guided by the slide guides 301 and 302 is prevented.

On the other hand, immediately after the first sheet is conveyed onto the surface formed by the slide guides 301 and 302 as described above, the arm 330c as shown in FIG.
Rotates counterclockwise, whereby the paper discharge upper roller 330a pivotally supported by the arm 330c retreats upward,
The paper discharge roller pair is separated.

At the same time, the drive connected to the paper discharge roller pair 330 is cut off, and the rotation of the paper discharge upper roller 330a and the paper discharge lower roller 330b is stopped. As a result, when the trailing edge of the sheet S completely passes through the staple roller pair 320, the sheet S returns to the direction opposite to the conveying direction by its own weight and moves toward the reference wall 323.

Next, only the left slide guide 302 operates, and the alignment operation in the width direction of the sheets S stacked on the first sheet stacking section 300B is started. In particular,
When the slide guide 302 is driven by the motor M and moves to the right side in FIG. 3, the reference pin 304 provided on the slide guide 302 contacts the left side surface of the sheet S and pushes the sheet S toward the slide guide 301.

Then, the right side surface of the sheet S abuts against the reference pin 303 provided on the slide guide 301, so that the sheets are aligned in the width direction. The sheet S is set to move to the stapling position set at the position where the sheet comes into contact with the reference pin 303 and is aligned.
After the aligning operation, the slide guide 302 is moved in a direction in which the width of the sheet S is wider, and the standby position is set again so that the next sheet can be conveyed.

Here, the structure of the slide guides 301 and 302 will be described in detail.

Each slide guide 301, 302 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, the guide pins 313a provided on the mold frame F and the guide pins 313b provided on the sheet metal frame F ′ are guided by a total of four, so that they are perpendicular to the left-right direction of FIG. It is reciprocally movable in the direction (width direction) and is moved by the driving force from the jogger motor M.

The slide guides 301 and 302 are
When viewed from the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction, as shown in FIG. 3B, the wall portions that guide both sides of the sheet S and the supporting portions that support the upper and lower surfaces of the sheet S have a substantially U-shaped section. It has the shape of
Each sheet discharged onto the sheet stacking unit 300B is supported, and the widthwise center of the sheet S is not guided.

Furthermore, the slide guide 302 has a slide rack 31 having a flat plate gear that meshes with the step gear 317.
0 is provided. A slide rack 312 having a flat plate gear that meshes with the step gear 317 is also attached to the slide guide 301.

Here, the slide rack 312 is provided so as to be movable relative to the slide guide 301 via a coiled spring 314. In addition, this spring 314
Has one end abutting on the slide guide 302 and the other end abutting on the slide rack 312.
01 and the slide rack 312 are urged in a direction to widen them. Further, the slide rack 312 has a square hole portion 31 for moving the embossed portion 301a on the slide guide 301 side.
2a.

Further, on the side wall of the slide guide 301, two reference pins 303 made of metal having excellent wear resistance are provided.
However, there are two reference pins 3 on the side wall of the slide guide 302.
04 are provided respectively, and when aligning the sheets, the slide guide 302 moves as described above, and the reference pin 30 is attached to both side end surfaces 305 and 306 of the sheet.
4, the pin 303 contacts.

The slide guide 301 and the slide guide 302 are supported in the height direction by the step gear 317 and the jog sheet metal frame F '.

Next, the operation of each slide guide 301, 302 will be described.

When the sheet processing apparatus 300 is powered on, the staple roller pair 320 starts to rotate, and then the jogger motor M rotates and the step gear 317 rotates, whereby the rack portion 310 of the slide guide 302 is driven. It will be evacuated to the outside.

In the slide guide 301, when the jogger motor M rotates and the step gear 317 rotates, the slide rack 312 first moves relative to the slide rack 312.
The square hole portion 312a is the emboss 3 of the slide guide 301.
After contacting the right end surface of 01a in FIG. 3, the square hole portion 312a
It is retracted to the outside by being pressed with.

The slit portion 30 is provided on the slide guide 301.
1S is provided, and when the slit portion 301S moves to a predetermined retreat distance, the photo sensor 316 transmits light as shown in FIG. 4B, and the jogger motor M stops at that time. Hereinafter, this position is referred to as a home position.

On the other hand, when a signal for entering the sheet S into the sheet processing apparatus 300 is input from the printer main body 100,
The jogger motor M rotates, and the slide guides 301, 3
02 moves inward and stops at a position wider by a predetermined amount d than the width of the entering sheet S as shown in FIG. At this position, the slide guide 301 has the stopper 301
b comes into contact with the guide pin 313a and cannot move further inward. Hereinafter, this position is referred to as a standby position. At this standby position, the side surface of the slide guide 301 becomes the reference position for the alignment operation.

Here, in the present embodiment, when the size (width) of the sheet S is the maximum size that allows the sheet to pass, the slide guides 301, The standby position 302 is set.

When aligning sheets having a width narrower than this, the slide guides 302 corresponding to this are aligned.
By moving to the right, the gap on the left side at the standby position shown in FIG. 3 is always the predetermined amount d. On the other hand, in this case, the gap between the sheet and the slide guide 302 is widened by half the predetermined amount d.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, the slide guide 3
After the alignment in the width direction is performed by 01 and 302, both slide guides 301 and 302 are slightly retracted to the outside so that the regulation in the alignment direction of the sheet S is rough and the sheet S is movable in the sheet transport direction. Put in a state. After this,
As shown in FIG. 5B, the paddle 322 is attached to the paddle shaft 3
One rotation is made around the sheet 50 clockwise while contacting the upper surface of the sheet S, whereby the sheet S is abutted against the reference wall 323 and aligned.

By these operations, the alignment in the sheet conveying direction and the width direction can be performed. In order to maintain the aligned state as described above, the friction member 400a is provided near the right end surface of the sheet in the aligned state as shown in FIG. 6 as shown in FIG. Lever 40
0b moves vertically and presses the aligned sheet S to hold it at a predetermined position.
0 is provided.

Here, the stamp means 400 is provided with a lever 400b which rotates in the vertical direction, and after the aligning operation is completed, before the next sheet to enter comes in contact with the aligned sheet (b ), The lever 400b is rotated downward by a solenoid (not shown) that has been rotated upward, and the upper surface of the sheet is pressed as shown in FIG. I am trying to move and prevent the alignment from being disturbed.

After the alignment of the first sheet is completed in this way, the second sheet is conveyed. In this case, when the second and subsequent sheets are conveyed, the sheet discharge roller pair 330 is conveyed. Are separated from each other, and when the trailing edge of the sheet S completely passes through the staple roller pair 320, the sheet returns to the direction opposite to the conveying direction by its own weight and moves toward the reference wall 323. Further, before starting the aligning operation, the stamping means moves upward to end the hold operation. Since the matching operation from here is completely the same as that of the first sheet, the description thereof will be omitted.

Then, the above operation is repeated,
The operation of aligning the last (nth) sheet (Sn) of one job is performed, and each reference pin 304 provided on the slide guide 302 abuts the left side surface of the sheet against each reference pin 303 of the slide guide 301 and slides. In the state of FIG. 6 in which the movement of the guide 302 is stopped, the small stapler H located on the right side of the rear end of the sheet bundle staples the position on the right side of the rear end.

According to this configuration and operation, the slide guide 301 stops at the reference position and does not move during the aligning operation of each sheet, and only the slide guide 302 moves and the left end portion of each sheet moves. Since they are aligned with the reference position, the binding process by the stapler H fixedly arranged on the slide guide 301 side can be performed accurately and reliably.

Further, even if the width of each sheet loaded in one job varies or the sheet size changes from LTR to A4 in one job, the position of the left end portion of each sheet remains unchanged. Because it is uniform,
The finish of the binding process by the stapler H becomes accurate and beautiful, and an excellent effect is obtained.

On the other hand, when the stapling operation is completed in this way, as shown in FIG.
Is rotated clockwise, the paper discharge upper roller 330a pivotally supported by the arm 330c moves downward, and the paper discharge roller pair 330 is formed. Then, after that, driving is connected to both rollers of the paper discharge roller pair 330 to start rotation of the paper discharge upper roller 330a and the paper discharge lower roller 330b. As a result, the sheet bundle S is pressed against the discharge roller pair 330 and is conveyed onto the first stacking unit 300B formed by the slide guides 301 and 302.

At this time as well, as in the case of the simple stack described above, the paper discharge roller pairs 330 are arranged in a staggered manner and overlap each other, so that the sheet bundle can be stiffened.

At the same time as this operation, the jogger motor M is rotationally driven to move the slide guide 302 from the state shown in FIG. 6 in the expanding direction. At the start of the movement of the slide guide 302, on the slide guide 301 side, the slide rack 312 moves to the right side in FIG. 6, and the slide guide 301 itself does not move immediately.

Then, when the position of the slide guide 302 has passed the standby position shown in FIG. 3, the embossed portion 301a of the slide rack 312 becomes the square hole 3 of the slide guide 301.
The slide guide 301 is brought into contact with the end surface of 12a, and
Start moving to the right side of both slide guides 301, 30
2 moves.

After this, both slide guides 301,
When the distance between the sheets 302 becomes close to or wider than the width of the sheet, the stapled sheet bundle supported by the slide guides 301 and 302 falls downward as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5C. , And is loaded on the second loading unit 325. At this time, since the sheet bundle is stiffened by the discharge roller pairs 330 arranged in a staggered manner as described above, the sheet bundle is dropped in the aligned state to the second stacking unit 325 and stacked.

Next, the structure for rotating the paddle shaft 350 and the paper discharge upper roller 330 pivotally supported by the arm 330c.
FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 on the configuration for retracting a in the upward direction.
Will be explained.

FIG. 10 shows a gear train for transmitting drive to the upper paper discharge roller 330a, and FIG. 11 shows a gear train for transmitting drive to the lower paper discharge roller 330b. In FIG. 10, reference numeral 505 denotes a gear fixed to the shaft 505a of the paper discharge upper roller 330a, and in FIG. 11, reference numeral 506 denotes a gear fixed to the paper discharge lower roller 330b. In addition, FIG.
Shows a state in which the gear 504 and the swing plate 560 are removed from FIG.

Further, the main drive system is the paper discharge upper roller 330.
In addition to the transport drive system for driving the a and the lower paper discharge roller 330b, a paddle 322 and a roller separation drive system are included.
Here, the transport drive system receives rotation from the motor gear 501 fixed to the shaft of the drive motor M1, and the discharge roller pair 330, the inlet roller pair 363 attached to the gear 513, and the belt pulley 521 are fixed. This is for driving the three roller pairs of the staple roller pair 320 that are present to convey the sheet.

The paddle 322 and the roller separation drive system are rotated by the driving force from the motor gear 401 driven by the drive motor M2, which is one drive source capable of forward and reverse rotation, and the drive of the drive motor M2 is controlled by the paddle 322 and A switching gear 403, which is a first transmission member for selectively transmitting to the discharge roller pair 330, and a stage gear 402, which meshes with the motor gear 401, are rotatably supported, and a swing center 45 is provided.
Swing holder 4 that is a swing member that swings about 0a as a fulcrum
By swinging 50, the switching gear 403 is a second transmission member for transmitting the drive of the cam gear L404 or the drive motor M2, which is a separating means for separating the discharge roller pair 330 by the drive of the drive motor M2, to the paddle 322. It is for selectively connecting to the paddle gear 406.

Here, the step gear 402 and the swing holder 450
A constant frictional force acts between the motor gear 4 and
When the stage gear 402 rotates with the rotation of 01, the swing holder 450 swings by the rotation of the stage gear 402. In the present embodiment, when the swing holder 450 swings in the clockwise direction, the switching gear 4
03 to the cam gear L404, and when the swing holder 450 swings in the counterclockwise direction, the switching gear 403 shifts the paddle gear 4
It is adapted to be connected to 06 for transmitting drive.

Further, in the figure, reference numeral 550 is a drive release plate which pivotally supports the drive release gear 502 and is capable of swinging about a swing center 550a. This drive release plate 550 is counterclockwise rotated by a spring 555. Being energized. The drive release plate 550 has an abutting portion 5 that abuts on a cam 404a that is a drive stopping means provided on the cam gear L404.
50a is provided.

When the cam gear L404 rotates clockwise by 180 degrees, the drive release plate 550 is pressed by the cam 404a provided on the cam gear L404 and swings about 10 degrees clockwise, and the drive transmission gear 502. When,
The meshing with the idler gear 503 for transmitting the rotation of the motor gear 501 to the upper paper discharge roller 330a via the gears 504 and 505 is released.

The switching gear 403 and the cam gear L
The drive transmission unit 500 is configured by the cam 404a provided on the paddle gear 406 and the cam gear L404.

Next, the drive transmission portion 500 having such a configuration.
The operation of retracting the paper discharge upper roller 330a in the above will be described.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the separating operation of the paper discharge roller pair and the rotating operation of the paddle. Motor gear 40
When 1 rotates in the counterclockwise direction, the step gear 402 rotates while swinging the swing holder 450 in the clockwise direction, whereby the switching gear 403 meshes with the cam gear L404. In this way, the switching gear 403 is the cam gear L.
When engaged with 404, the swing holder 450 can no longer swing. Further, in this state, the switching gear 403 does not mesh with the paddle gear 406.

When the switching gear 403 meshes with the cam gear L404 in this way, the switching gear 403 that rotates in the counterclockwise direction causes the cam gear L404 to rotate 180 degrees in the clockwise direction, and as described above. Then, the meshing of the drive transmission gear 502 and the idler gear 503 is released, the driving of the paper discharge roller pair 330 is stopped, and the cam gear R405 meshed with the cam gear L404 rotates 180 degrees counterclockwise.

When the cam gear R405 rotates counterclockwise by 180 degrees in this way, the arm 330c causes the cam surface 405a of the cam gear R405 indicated by the dotted line.
It is pushed up by and is rotated counterclockwise around the paddle shaft 350. As a result, as shown in FIG. 12A, the paper discharge upper roller 330a pivotally supported by the arm 330c.
Moves upward, and the discharge roller pair 330 is in a separated state.

On the other hand, after that, when the aligning operation is completed and the drive motor M2 further rotates, the cam gear R405 further rotates counterclockwise, and along with this, the arm 330c and the paper discharge upper roller 330a descend and the paper discharge lower roller 330a moves downward. Roller 330b
And press. It should be noted that this arm 330c is the same as in FIG.
Is pressed by the pressure spring P shown in FIG.
And press-contact with a predetermined pressure.

When the cam gear L404 rotates clockwise, the drive release plate 550 returns to the home position shown in FIG. With this series of operations, the discharge roller pair 3
The separation of 30, the press contact, the release of the drive to the discharge roller pair 330, and the connection are performed.

Next, the drive transmission portion 500 having such a configuration.
The rotation operation of the paddle 322 in FIG.

When the motor gear 401 rotates in the clockwise direction, the stage gear 402 rotates while swinging the swing holder 450 in the counterclockwise direction, and as a result, as shown in FIG. 403 is the paddle gear 406
Mesh with. When the switching gear 403 meshes with the paddle gear 406 in this way, the swing holder 450 does not swing any further. At this time, the switching gear 40
6 is not connected to the cam gear L404.

Here, the paddle gear 406 is the paddle shaft 35.
The paddle gear 407 fixed to 0 meshes with the paddle gear 407, whereby the paddle shaft 350 rotates clockwise, and as a result, the paddle 322 rotates clockwise. When the paddle 322 rotates clockwise in this way, the sheet moves in the direction opposite to the sheet conveying direction and contacts the reference wall 323 to be aligned.

In this way, the drive transmission unit 500 drives the paddle 322 to drive the single drive motor M2 capable of forward and reverse rotation.
And the paddle 32 is selectively transmitted to the pair of discharge rollers 330.
By making the aligning operation by 2 and the separating operation of the paper discharge roller pair 330 and the drive control of the paper discharge roller pair 330 selectively performed, the structure of the drive system can be made small, simple and inexpensive. You can Further, since power saving is realized, the power supply capacity of the device can be reduced. As a result, it is possible to achieve space saving, low cost, and power saving in the sheet processing apparatus 300 and the laser beam printer (image forming apparatus) 100A including the sheet processing apparatus 300.

By the way, in the above description, by swinging the swing holder 450, the switching gear 40 is rotated.
6 is selectively transmitted to the cam gear L404 or the paddle gear 407, and the cam gear L404 or the paddle gear 407 is selectively transmitted.
Although the configuration has been described in which the rotating gear is rotated, in the case of such a configuration, the switching gear 406 is the cam gear L4.
There is a timing in which neither 04 nor the paddle gear 407 meshes. When such timing occurs, rapid binding processing and discharging processing cannot be performed, and it cannot be applied to a printer that forms an image (prints) on a sheet at high speed.

Therefore, in order to cope with a printer that forms (prints) an image on a sheet at high speed, for example, the swing gear 450 is not used, and the cam gear L is changed by the switching gear.
While rotating the 404 and the paddle gear 407,
The rotations of the cam gear L404 and the paddle gear 407 may be selectively transmitted to the paddle and paper discharge roller pair.

Next explained is the second embodiment of the invention having the above-mentioned structure.

FIG. 13 is a side view of the drive transmission unit of the sheet processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In addition,
In the figure, for example, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 12 indicate the same or corresponding portions.

In the figure, reference numeral 410 is a switching gear which is a first transmission member, and 414 is cam gears L and 41 which are separating means.
6 is a paddle gear which is a second transmission member. Here, the cam gear L414 and the paddle gear 416 are, as shown in FIG. 14 which is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.
10 has first gear portions 414a and 416a meshing with the first gear portion 414a and 416a, and second gear portions 414b and 416b that selectively rotate with the rotation of the first gear portions 414a and 416a via a one-way clutch (not shown). is doing.

The second gear portion 41 of the cam gear L414 is
4b, the switching gear 410 rotates counterclockwise as shown in FIG. 15 (a), which causes the cam gear L41 to rotate.
When (the first gear portion 414a of) 4 rotates in the clockwise direction, it follows the clockwise rotation and rotates.

When the second gear portion 414b rotates in this manner, the paper discharge roller pair 330 separates, and the drive release plate 550 is pressed by the cam surface 414c provided on the second gear portion 414b to rotate clockwise. The drive transmission gear 502 and the idler gear 503 are disengaged by swinging about 10 degrees. The cam gear L41
4 (the first gear portion 414a) rotates counterclockwise, the second gear portion 414b does not rotate due to the action of a one-way clutch (not shown).

On the other hand, the second gear portion 41 of the paddle gear 416
6b, the switching gear 410 rotates in the clockwise direction as shown in FIG.
When the (first gear portion 416a of) rotates counterclockwise, the paddle gear 416 is rotated by following the rotation. The paddle gear 416 (of the first gear portion 41 of the
When 6a) rotates clockwise, the second gear portion 416a does not rotate due to the action of a one-way clutch (not shown).

That is, in the present embodiment, the switching gear 4
10 always meshes with both the cam gear L414 and the paddle gear 416, and the cam gear L414 and the paddle gear 4
The 16 second gear parts 414b and 416b are the switching gears 410.
The paddle 322 is selectively rotated in accordance with the rotation direction of the paddle 322, or the separation roller 330 is separated, and the drive of the separation roller 330 is controlled (stopped).

Next, the drive transmission portion 500 having such a configuration.
The upward retreating operation of the paper discharge upper roller 330a in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 15A, the motor gear 4
When 01 rotates counterclockwise, the second gear portion 416b of the paddle gear 416 does not rotate and the first gear portion of the cam gear L414 does not rotate.
And the 2nd gear parts 414a and 414b rotate clockwise.

Then, in this way, the first and second gear portions 4 are
When 14a and 414b rotate clockwise, the cam surface 414c provided on the second gear portion 414b moves clockwise 18 times.
The drive release plate 550 is rotated by 0 degree and rocked about 10 degrees clockwise, whereby the engagement between the drive release gear 502 and the idler gear 503 is released, and the drive of the separation roller 330 is stopped.

On the other hand, when the cam gear L414 rotates clockwise in this way, the cam gear R405 rotates counterclockwise, which causes the arm 330c to rotate counterclockwise about the paddle shaft 350 by the action of the cam surface 405a of the cam gear R405. Turn to. As a result, the paper discharge upper roller 330a pivotally supported by the arm 330c moves upward,
The paper discharge roller pair 330 is separated.

In this series of operations, the paper discharge rollers 330 are separated and the drive transmission to the paper discharge roller pair 330 is stopped.

Next, the drive transmission portion 500 having such a configuration.
The rotation operation of the paddle 322 in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 15B, the motor gear 4
When 01 rotates clockwise, the second gear of the cam gear L414 is
The gear portion 414b does not rotate, and the first and second gear portions 416a and 416b of the paddle gear 416 rotate counterclockwise.

Here, the second gear portion 416b of the paddle gear 416 meshes with the paddle gear 407 fixed to the paddle shaft 350, whereby the paddle gear 416 is engaged.
When the (second gear portion 416b of) is rotated counterclockwise, the paddle shaft 350 can be rotated clockwise. Then, by rotating the paddle 322 in this manner, the sheet can be moved to the side opposite to the sheet conveying direction, and the end surface of the sheet S can be brought into contact with the reference wall 323 for alignment.

As described above, since the driving motor M2 can selectively perform the sheet aligning operation by the paddle 322, the separating operation of the paper discharge roller pair 330, and the drive control of the paper discharge roller pair 330, the driving operation is performed. The system configuration can be simple and inexpensive. Further, since the switching gear 410 is constantly meshed with both the cam gear L414 and the paddle gear 416, it is possible to switch the drive quickly, and it is possible to correspond to a printer that forms (prints) an image at high speed.

By the way, in the above description, the case where the stamp means 400 for pressing the upper surface of the aligned sheet by using the solenoid and holding it so that it is not pushed out by the succeeding sheet is operated up and down. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the stamp member 400 may be moved up and down in conjunction with the rotation operation of the paddle 322, for example.

Next, such a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the configuration of the sheet discharge roller pair and its vicinity in the sheet processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.
Here, (a) of the same drawing is a plan view of the vicinity of the discharge roller pair,
(B) is the BB sectional drawing. In the figure, for example, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 3 indicate the same or corresponding portions.

In the figure, reference numeral 600 is a stamp member that rotates in the vertical direction about a shaft 600b as a fulcrum, 602 is a pulley provided on the paddle shaft 350, 603 is a stamp cam, 601 is a cam shaft of the pulley 602 and the stamp cam 603. When the paddle shaft 350 is rotated by the configuration shown in the first or second embodiment described above, the rotation of the paddle shaft 350 causes the belt 601 to stretch.
It is transmitted to the cam shaft 605 via the, and the stamp cam 603 is thereby rotated.

On the other hand, FIG. 17 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 16, and FIG. 17A shows a state in which the stamp cam 603 is at the home position. When the stamp cam 603 is at the home position in this way, the stamp member 600 presses the sheet on the lower side.

When the paddle shaft 350 rotates counterclockwise in the figure, the stamp cam 60 is centered on the cam shaft 605.
3 also rotates counterclockwise and pushes up the contact portion 600a with the stamp member 600 by the amount of H to the position (b).
Then, by pushing up the stamp member 600 by the amount of H by the stamp cam 603, the holding operation of the sheet by the stamp member 600 is released.

In the present embodiment, the positions of the stamp cam 603 and the paddle 322 are set in such a positional relationship that the paddle 322 contacts the sheet S when the stamp member 600 has released the pressing operation. (See (b) of FIG. 17). Thereby, the stamp member 600
The sheet holding operation can be performed by the drive motor M2 that performs the sheet aligning operation by the paddle 322 without providing another actuator such as a solenoid.
Furthermore, it is possible to realize low cost, small size, and power saving.

[0124]

As described above, as in the present invention, the drive of one drive source capable of forward and reverse rotation is selectively transmitted to the aligning means and the pair of paper discharge rollers by the drive transmitting portion, and the aligning operation by the aligning means. , By selectively performing the separation operation of the discharge roller pair and the drive control of the discharge roller pair,
Space saving, low cost, and power saving can be achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the overall configuration of a laser beam printer which is an example of an image forming apparatus including a sheet processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the sheet processing apparatus and a movement of each unit when the sheet conveyed from the printer body is directed to the sheet processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a plan view and a side view of a main part of the sheet processing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state in which a slide guide provided in the sheet processing apparatus is located at a home position and a sheet bundle falls.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the movement of each part in the binding operation of the sheet processing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which sheets are aligned by the slide guide.

FIG. 7 is a view on arrow A in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a pair of paper discharge rollers provided in the sheet processing apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a front view of the paper discharge roller pair.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a gear series that transmits a drive to a paper discharge upper roller of a drive transmission unit of the sheet processing apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a gear series that transmits drive to a lower-paper ejection roller of a drive transmission unit of the sheet processing apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a view for explaining the separating operation of the pair of paper discharge rollers and the rotating operation of the paddle.

FIG. 13 is a side view of a drive transmission unit of the sheet processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a plan view of an essential part of a drive transmission unit of the sheet processing apparatus.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining a separating operation of a pair of discharge rollers and a rotating operation of a paddle of the sheet processing apparatus.

FIG. 16A is a plan view and FIG. 16B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in the vicinity of a discharge roller pair of a sheet processing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a view A near the pair of discharge rollers of the sheet processing apparatus.
-A sectional view.

[Explanation of symbols]

100A laser beam printer 100 Printer body 300 sheet processing equipment 322 paddle 330 Paper ejection roller pair 330a Paper ejection roller 330b Paper ejection lower roller 330b1 roller body 330b2 roller body 330c arm 350 paddle shaft 400 stamp means 403 Switching gear 405 Cam Gear R 405a cam surface 450 swing holder 404 Cam Gear L 404a cam 414 Cam Gear L 414a first gear unit 414b Second gear unit 416 Paddle Gear 416a First gear unit 416b Second gear unit 500 drive transmission unit 600 stamp means 603 stamp cam M2 drive motor S sheet

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A sheet processing apparatus for processing a discharged sheet after an image is formed, an aligning unit for aligning the discharged sheet in a sheet discharge direction, a first roller, and A second roller arranged opposite to the first roller
A discharge roller pair having a roller and capable of having a first state in which the sheet can be discharged and a second state in which the first and second rollers are separated from each other; One drive source, and a drive configured to selectively perform the aligning operation by the aligning means, the separating operation of the paper discharge roller pair, and the drive control of the paper discharge roller pair by forward and reverse rotation of the one drive source. A sheet processing apparatus comprising: a transmission unit. 2. The sheet according to claim 1, wherein the drive transmission unit is configured to stop the drive of the paper discharge roller pair in conjunction with the separation operation of the paper discharge roller pair. Processing equipment. 3. The drive transmission section is selected by a first transmission member for selectively transmitting the forward and reverse rotations of the one drive source to the alignment means and the pair of discharge rollers, and the first transmission member. Second transmission member that transmits the drive of the drive source that has been transmitted to the aligning means, and separating means that separates the pair of discharge rollers by the drive of the drive source that is selectively transmitted by the first transmission member. 3. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a drive stopping unit that stops driving the pair of paper discharge rollers in association with the separating operation of the separating unit. 4. The first transmission member is held by an oscillating member, and the oscillation of the oscillating member selectively transmits the drive of the drive source to the second transmitting member or the separating means. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 3. 5. The drive transmission unit includes a first transmission member for transmitting the forward / reverse rotation of the one drive source to the alignment unit and the pair of discharge rollers, and the first transmission member transmitted by the first transmission member. A second transmission member for selectively transmitting the drive of the drive source to the aligning means; a separating means for selectively separating the paper discharge roller pair by the drive of the drive source transmitted by the first transmission member; 3. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising drive stopping means for stopping the driving of the pair of discharge rollers in conjunction with the separating operation of the separating means. 6. The second transmission member and the spacing means,
6. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the drive of the drive source transmitted by the first transmission member is selectively transmitted to the aligning unit and the separating unit via a one-way clutch. 7. In the first state, the discharge roller pair has a plurality of roller bodies provided in the axial direction of the first roller and a plurality of roller bodies provided in the axial direction of the second roller. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet processing apparatus is configured to be inserted between the main bodies. 8. A holding means for pressing the discharged sheet to hold it at a predetermined position, wherein when the aligning means performs a sheet aligning operation, the pressing of the sheet by the holding means is released. The sheet processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that. 9. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the aligning unit is a paddle having elasticity to move the sheet in an aligning direction while rotating about a rotation axis. 10. A holding member for rotatably holding one roller of the paper discharge roller pair is provided rotatably around a rotation shaft of the paddle, and the paper discharge roller pair is set to the first state. In this case, the sheet processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the holding member is rotated to separate the first and second rollers. 11. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a stapler that binds the discharged sheets. 12. An image forming apparatus, comprising: an image forming section; and a sheet processing apparatus for processing a sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming section, wherein the sheet processing apparatus is any one of claims 1 to 11. An image forming apparatus according to item 1.