JP2003252521A - Sheet processing device and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain high precision in drilling positions, prevention of the productivity of a device from being degraded, and reduction in power consumption and high durability by reducing the frequency of drilling. <P>SOLUTION: A finisher 500 includes a punch processing part 550 for punching a sheet, and a folding processing part 400 for selectively processing such as binding for the sheets on the downstream side of the sheet conveyance direction of the punch processing part 550, and a post-processing of a finisher part 540 or the like. In the finisher 500. The punch processing part 550 includes a loading path 569 capable of loading and storing a prescribed number of sheets, an aligning means consisting of an aligning plate 564 for aligning the sheets stored in the loading path 569, and a punch unit 560 for batch-punching the sheets stored in the path 569. <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 having a punching device for punching a sheet, and an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, and a complex machine of these devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a sheet processing apparatus having a punching device, a sheet punching device capable of controlling a punching position in a sheet conveying direction and a sheet conveying orthogonal direction as disclosed in JP-A-2000-153953. A sheet processing apparatus having the same has been proposed.

Specifically, the punching device is provided with a number of punches and dies corresponding to the number of holes to be formed in the sheet, and the punching device is provided to punch holes in the sheet while allowing the punches to enter the holes of the die. A conveyance direction edge detection unit that detects a leading edge or a rear edge in the sheet conveyance direction, a conveyance orthogonal direction edge detection unit that detects a sheet conveyance orthogonal direction end, and a punching device unit according to signals from both detection units. With the control unit for controlling the punching operation, it is possible to perform a punching operation to a preset position.

As the punching device, a rotary punching device capable of punching the sheets conveyed one by one without stopping them, or a high speed punching device in which the sheets conveyed one by one are temporarily stopped. Various proposals have been made for a reciprocating punching device that can operate and a multiple punching device that can punch a large number of sheets at once.

[0005]

In recent years, in order to cope with a higher speed image forming apparatus, it is desired to speed up the punching process, and there is an increasing demand for high-quality bookbinding quality. There is a demand for higher precision of. In addition, there is a strong demand for energy saving, and it is desired to reduce power consumption and improve device durability.

However, in the sheet processing apparatus having the punching device described above, the detection accuracy of the end portion in the conveyance direction is limited, and the higher the sheet conveyance speed, the lower the detection accuracy. Also, in the conveyance orthogonal direction edge detection unit that detects the sheet conveyance orthogonal direction edge portion, the higher the sheet conveyance speed, the more time the punching device moves in the conveyance orthogonal direction. However, there is a problem in that the detection error due to skewing of the sheet increases and the detection accuracy decreases.

Further, in a device for punching a large number of sheets at once, there is a problem that the size of the device is increased and at the same time, the punching time is increased and the productivity of the image forming apparatus is lowered.

Further, in the conventional punching device for each sheet,
As for the punching ability for ordinary paper, which is usually used, the punching process was performed one by one despite having the punching ability for multiple sheets, so it is possible to waste total power consumption and improve the number of punching durability. It was difficult.

An object of the present invention is to improve the precision of the drilling position and to prevent the productivity of the device from decreasing.
Further, it is to reduce the number of perforations to realize reduction of power consumption and improvement of durability.

[0010]

A typical structure of the present invention for achieving the above object is to provide a punching section for punching a sheet and a sheet on the downstream side of the punching section in the sheet conveying direction. In a sheet processing apparatus having a post-processing unit that selectively performs processing such as binding, the punching processing unit includes an intermediate storage unit capable of stacking and storing a predetermined number of sheets, and the intermediate storage unit. It is characterized in that it has an aligning means for aligning the stored sheets and a punching means for collectively punching the sheets stored in the intermediate storage section.

According to the above construction, since the punching operation can be performed after the predetermined number of sheets are stored and aligned in the intermediate storage section, the precision of the punching position is improved, and at the same time, the apparatus can be easily downsized and speeded up. Is. Further, since the punching process is performed for each predetermined number of sheets, the number of punching operations can be reduced as compared to the case where the punching process is performed for each sheet, the power consumption is easily reduced, and the durability is improved. it can.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be illustratively described in detail below with reference to the drawings. However,
The dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like of the component parts described in the following embodiments should be appropriately changed depending on the configuration and various conditions of the device to which the present invention is applied, and are particularly specific. Unless otherwise stated, the scope of the present invention is not intended to be limited thereto.

(Overall Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus) The overall configuration of the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. Figure 1
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the internal configuration of the image forming apparatus.

The image forming apparatus 1000 includes a document feeding device 1
00, an image reader unit 200, a printer unit 300, and a finisher 500 as a sheet processing apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1000 includes an image forming apparatus main body 10 having an image reader section 200 and a printer section 300 on which a document feeding apparatus 100 is mounted, a punch processing section 550 described later, and the like. It has a finisher 500.

The document feeding device 100 conveys the set documents one by one from the top page in order from left to right on the platen glass 102 via a curved path, and then discharges them to a paper discharge tray 112. To do. At this time, the scanner unit 104 is in a state of being held at a predetermined position, and the document is read by passing the document on the scanner unit 104 from left to right.

When the document passes, the light of the lamp 103 of the scanner unit 104 is applied to the document, and the reflected light from the document is guided to the image sensor 109 via the mirrors 105, 106, 107 and the lens 108. It is also possible to read the document by transporting the document onto the platen glass 102 by the document feeding device 100, stopping the document, and moving the scanner unit 104 from left to right.

The image of the original read by the image sensor 109 is subjected to image processing and sent to the exposure controller 110. The exposure controller 110 outputs laser light according to the image signal. This laser light is applied to the photosensitive drum 111, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 111. The electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 111 is developed by the developing device 113, and the developer on the photosensitive drum 111 is transferred to the cassette 11.
4,115, manual paper feed unit 125, double-sided transport path 124
Transfer section 11 to a sheet such as a sheet fed from any one of
Transcribed at 6.

Manual feed unit 125, cassettes 114, 1
The sheet fed from 15 can be set by the user from the operation unit 1 (see FIG. 2) such as plain paper, thick paper, coated paper, and the like, and the optimum transport conditions can be set according to the type of these sheets. Alternatively, the image forming condition is selected.

The sheet on which the developer is transferred is fixed to the fixing unit 117.
Then, the fixing process of the developer is performed. The sheet passing through the fixing unit 117 is once guided to the path 122 by the flapper 121, and after the trailing edge of the sheet has passed through the flapper 121, the sheet is switched back and guided to the discharge roller 118 by the flapper 121.

As a result, the sheet is ejected by the discharge roller 11 with the surface on which the developer is transferred facing downward (face down).
Then, the sheet is discharged from the printer unit 300.

The sheet discharged by the discharge roller 118 is sent to the finisher 500. The finisher 500 performs processing such as bookbinding processing, binding processing, and punching.

(Control System of Image Forming System) The control system of the image forming system will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 shows a block diagram for controlling the image forming apparatus 1000.

The CPU circuit section 150 follows the program stored in the ROM 151 and the setting of the operation section 1,
Document feeder control unit 101, image reader control unit 20
1, it controls the image signal control unit 202, the printer control unit 301, the folding processing control unit 401, the finisher control unit 501, and the external I / F 209. Document feeder control unit 1
Reference numeral 01 denotes the document feeding device 100, and the image reader control unit 2
01 indicates the image reader unit 200 and the printer control unit 30.
1 controls the printer unit 300, the folding process control unit 401 controls the folding process unit 400, and the finisher control unit 501 controls the finisher 500 including the punching process unit 550.

The RAM 152 is used as an area for temporarily holding control data and a work area for arithmetic operations associated with control. The external I / F 209 is an interface from the computer 210, develops print data into an image, and outputs the image to the image signal control unit 202. The image read by the image sensor 109 is output from the image reader control unit 201 to the image signal control unit 202, and the image output from the image signal control unit 202 to the printer control unit 301 is the exposure control unit 110 (see FIG. 1). Is input to.

(Structure of Finisher) Finisher 50
As shown in FIG. 1, 0 configures a punching processing unit 550 as a punching processing unit that performs punching processing, and a post-processing unit.
It has a folding processing unit 400 that performs a folding process and a finisher unit 540 that performs processes such as alignment and binding.

As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet discharged from the printer section 300 by the discharge roller 118 is sent to the punch processing section 550. In the punch processing section 550,
It is possible to perform hole forming processing such as 2 holes, 3 holes, and 4 holes for file binding on a sheet.

Since the punch processing unit 550 performs the punching process on the leading end side in the sheet conveying direction, the punching unit 550 is fed to the punch processing unit 550 with the surface on which the toner image is formed facing upward, and punched. After that, the sheet is inverted in the inversion section downstream of the punching means, and is ejected from the punch processing section 550 with the surface on which the toner image is formed facing downward.

The sheet discharged from the punch processing unit 550 or the sheet discharged from the printer unit 300 by the discharge roller 118 and not subjected to the punching process is sent to the folding processing unit 400. In the folding processing unit 400, folding processing is performed so that the sheet is folded into a Z shape. For example,
If a sheet of A3 size or B4 size and the folding process is designated by the operation unit 1 (see FIG. 2), the folding process is performed on the sheet. On the other hand, in other cases, the sheet is sent to the finisher unit 540 without being folded.

Next, the punch processing section 550 and the folding processing section 4
00 and finisher portion 540 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 shows the punch processing unit 4 of FIG.
00, a folding processing unit 400, and a finisher unit 540.

The punch processing section 550 is used in the printer section 300.
It has a conveyance path 555 for introducing the sheet discharged from the sheet and guiding it to the folding processing section 400 and the finisher section 540 side. A transport roller 556 is provided on the transport path 555, and a switching flapper 557 is provided near the transport roller 556. The switching flapper 557 punches the sheet conveyed by the conveying roller 556 toward the punching means 558,
Alternatively, it is guided to the transport path 402 toward the folding processing section 400.

When punching is performed, the switching flapper 55
7 is switched to the punch path 558 side, and the sheet is guided to the punch path 558. The sheet guided to the punch path 558 is conveyed by the conveyance roller pair 559 to the size switching flapper unit 5.
After 68, the punch stopper 563 is abutted.
The size switching flapper unit 568 is configured so that a plurality of sheets can be stacked and stored in the stacking path 569 serving as an intermediate storage unit.

Specifically, the sheets are switched so that the order in which they enter the punch processing section does not change and the trailing edge of the sheet does not collide with the leading edge of the next sheet. That is,
In the case of a large size sheet, the size switching flapper 568a on the upstream side rotates in the direction of arrow A and guides the sheet to the stacking path 569. In the case of a small size sheet, if the sheet is switched to the stacking path 569 at the position of the size switching flapper 568a, the trailing edge of the sheet may collide with the leading edge of the next conveyed sheet. Therefore, the size is switched by the size switching flapper 568b on the downstream side,
The sheet is guided to the stacking path 569. For smaller sheets, the sheets are guided to the stacking path 569 along the guide shape of the size switching flapper 568 without switching the path with the size switching flapper.

In the present embodiment, two size switching flappers are used to support sheets of three different sizes. However, if the size switching flapper is further increased, various sizes of sheets can be supported. be able to.

A punch buffer flapper 582 for guiding the sheet to the punch buffer path 581 is arranged immediately below the switching flapper 557. The punch buffer path 581 is a punch path 5 branched from the transport path 555.
After further branching from 58, they join the transport path 555 again. The sheet is conveyed on the punch buffer path 581 by the punch buffer roller 580. These punch buffer path 581 and punch buffer flapper 58
2. The punch buffer roller 580 constitutes a buffer unit.

When the trailing edge of the sheet passes through the conveying roller pair 559 and the leading edge hits the punch stopper 563, the roller 562a on one side of the pushing roller pair 562 swings and separates from the sheet. The sheets are aligned by the aligning means without being restrained by the rollers. That is, the sheet is aligned by abutting the transport direction against the stopper 563, and is aligned with the alignment plate 564 in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction (transport orthogonal direction) so that the sheet can be correctly aligned with the punching position.

When the alignment of one sheet is completed, the printer unit 300
The next sheet discharged from the sheet is permitted to enter the transport path 558 of the punch processing section. That is, the number of sheets to be stored in the punch processing section can be from one to a plurality of sheets.

When the sheet (or sheet bundle) alignment is completed, one roller 562 of the pushing roller pair 562 is pressed.
a again restrains the sheet, and starts to convey the sheet (or the sheet bundle) at a speed faster than that before the alignment. At this time, since the stopper 563 is projected into the conveyance path, even if the leading edge of the sheet is separated from the stopper 563 in the aligning operation, the sheet can surely abut against the stopper 563.

Punch unit 560 as punching means
Is a punching device as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-129792. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a cam 591 that is formed with a cam and is capable of reciprocating movement is engaged with the cam 591. , The cam 591 according to the movement of the cam 591.
A punch 592 capable of reciprocating in a direction (a direction) intersecting with the moving direction of, and a die 593 in which a die hole into which the punch 592 enters is formed facing the punch 592.
Cam drive motor M30 for reciprocating the cam 591
(Hereinafter referred to as a punch motor) and a cam position detection sensor 595 that detects the moving position of the cam 591 and stops the punch motor M30, and a state in which the tip end is reliably abutted against the punch stopper 563. The sheet is then punched at high speed.

When the sheet is punched, as shown in FIG. 1, the punch stopper 563 retracts from the conveying path, and the sheet is pushed by the pair of pushing rollers 562 to the reversing section 56.
Sent to 1. The trailing edge of the sheet is the punch stopper 563.
After passing, the punch stopper 563 again projects into the transport path and abuts on the leading edge of the next sheet. The sheet conveyance speed here is faster than that before alignment, and the leading edge of the next sheet does not reach the punch stopper 563 before the trailing edge of the sheet leaves the punch stopper 563.

When the sheet is connected to a higher speed image forming apparatus, the leading edge of the next sheet may reach the punch stopper before the trailing edge of the sheet passes through the punch stopper. In such a case, after the trailing edge of the preceding sheet passes through the punch buffer flapper 582, the orientation of the punch buffer flapper 582 is switched, and the leading edge of the next sheet is guided into the punch buffer path 581 forming the buffer section. After the fixed amount is conveyed, it stops. After a predetermined time,
When the next sheet is conveyed from the main body discharge portion, the next sheet starts to be conveyed again and is conveyed to the punch path 558 in a state where the next sheet / one sheet after another is stacked.

As described above, the sheet is temporarily withdrawn from the normal conveying path and is carried into the punching section together with the next sheet, so that the conveying time for one sheet is perforated / aligned for the preceding sheet bundle. Be used as

In the reversing unit 561, the sheet (or the sheet bundle) is drawn into the reversing path 566 by the reversing roller pair 565, and when the rear end passes the reversing flapper 567, the reversing roller pair 565 is reversed. At this time, the direction of the reverse flapper 567 is switched, and the sheet is guided to the transport path 578. The sheet guided to the conveyance path 578 is conveyed by the conveyance roller pair 571 and 572 to the conveyance path 40.
Sent to 2.

The folding processing section 400 includes a punch processing section 550.
It has a conveyance path 402 for introducing a sheet discharged from the printer unit 300 or a sheet discharged from the printer unit 300 and guiding it to the finisher unit 540 side. A pair of conveying rollers 403 and 404 are provided on the conveying path 402. A switching flapper 410 provided in the vicinity of the conveying roller pair 404 is for guiding the sheet conveyed by the conveying roller pair 403 to the folding path 420 or the finisher 540 side.

When the folding process is performed, the switching flapper 410
Switch to the folding path 420 side, and
Lead to 0. The sheet guided to the folding path 420 is conveyed to the folding roller 421 and folded into a Z shape. on the other hand,
When the folding process is not performed, the switching flapper 410 is switched to the finisher unit 540 side, and the sheet (or the sheet bundle) punched by the punch processing unit 550 is ejected from the printer unit 300 via the transport path 402. Directly send the sheet.

The structure of the finisher section 540 will be described. The finisher section 540 includes a punch processing section 550,
Printer unit 300 conveyed through folding processing unit 400
Sheet (or sheet bundle) from, and aligning multiple sheets that have been fetched into a single sheet bundle, stapling processing (stapling processing) that staples the trailing edge of the sheet bundle, sorting processing, non-sorting processing, etc. This is for post-processing the sheet.

As shown in FIG. 3, the finisher portion 540
Has an entrance roller pair 502 for picking up a sheet. The sheet guided to the finisher path 552 is conveyed toward the buffer roller 505 via the conveying roller pair 503. An inlet sensor 531 is provided near the upstream side of the inlet roller pair 502.

The buffer roller 505 is a conveyance roller pair 5.
The roller is a roller capable of winding a predetermined number of sheets conveyed through the roller 03, and the sheets are wound by the pressing rollers 512, 513, 514 while the roller 505 is rotating. The sheet wound around the buffer roller 505 is conveyed in the direction in which the buffer roller 505 rotates.

A switching flapper 510 is provided between the pressing roller 513 and the pressing roller 514.
A switching flapper 511 is provided on the downstream side of 14. The switching flapper 510 separates the sheet wound around the buffer roller 505 from the buffer roller 505 and guides it to the non-sort path 521 or the sort path 522.

The switching flapper 511 is used for the buffer roller 5
This is for separating the sheet wound around 05 from the buffer roller 505 and guiding it to the sort path 522. It is also for guiding the sheet wound around the buffer roller 505 to the buffer path 523 in a wound state.

The sheet guided to the non-sort path 521 by the switching flapper 510 is discharged onto the sample tray 701 via the discharge roller pair 509. Further, a paper discharge sensor 533 for jam detection and the like is provided in the middle of the non-sort path 521.

On the other hand, the sheet guided to the sort path 522 by the switching flapper 510 is the pair of conveying rollers 506, 5.
It is stacked on the intermediate tray (hereinafter referred to as processing tray) 630 via 07. The sheet group stacked in a bundle on the processing tray 630 is set in accordance with the setting from the operation unit 1 (see FIG. 2).
Alignment processing and stapling processing are performed, and thereafter, the sheets are discharged onto the stack tray 700 by the discharge rollers 680a and 680b. The stapling process described above is performed by the stapler 601. The stack tray 700 is
It is configured to be self-propelled in the vertical direction.

(Finisher Control System) Next, the structure of the finisher control section 501 as the control means for controlling the drive of the finisher 500 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 shows the finisher controller 501 of FIG.
3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of FIG.

As shown in the figure, the finisher control section 501 has a CPU circuit section 910 composed of a CPU 911, a ROM 912, a RAM 913 and the like. The CPU circuit unit 910 communicates with the CPU circuit unit 150 provided on the apparatus main body side via the communication IC 914 to perform data conversion,
Based on the instruction from the CPU circuit unit 150, the ROM 912
The various programs stored in the finisher 500 are executed to control the drive of the finisher 500. In addition, the CPU circuit unit 910
Has a jam timer (not shown) for detecting a jam.

When drive control of the finisher 500 is performed, detection signals from various sensors are input to the CPU circuit section 150. As various sensors, an inlet sensor 531,
There is a paper discharge sensor 533 (see FIG. 3).

The CPU circuit section 910 includes a driver 920.
Are connected, and the driver 920 is connected to the CPU circuit unit 9
It is for driving various motors and solenoids based on signals from 10.

As various motors, there are 50 pairs of inlet rollers.
2. Entrance motor M1 which is a driving source of the pair of conveying rollers 503
A buffer motor M2 that is a drive source of the buffer roller 505, a discharge motor M3 that is a drive source of the conveyance roller pairs 506 and 507, and a discharge roller pair 509, and a discharge roller 6
A bundle conveying motor M4, which is a drive source of 80a and 680b,
Roller pair 5 that conveys the sheet to the punch unit 560
59, and a punch transport motor M31 that drives the punch buffer roller 580, and the punch unit 5 that transports the sheet whose front end has reached the punch stopper 563 at a substantially right angle to the transport.
Alignment motor M34 that drives alignment plate 564 that aligns with 60 in position, punch pressing motor M35 that drives pressing roller pair 562 that presses the sheet against punch stopper 563, and punch 592 in punch unit 560 reciprocates. Punching motor M30 for reciprocating the cam 591 and the sheet reversing path 566.
A reversing motor M33 that drives the reversing roller pair 565 that is pulled in and switched back and sends out, and a reversing conveying motor M32 that drives the reversing roller 573 that sends the sheet to the reversing path 566 and further sends the reversed sheet to the path 578. Is.

Each motor can rotate the roller pair driven by each motor at a constant speed, or can rotate at a unique speed. Further, the driver 920 can be driven in the normal and reverse rotational directions.

As the solenoid, a switching flapper 510 is used.
And the switching flapper 5 for switching the solenoid SL1
11, a solenoid SL2 for switching the switching flapper 557, a solenoid SL30 for switching the switching flapper 557, size switching solenoids SL33, SL34 for switching the flappers 568a, 568b for switching the path depending on the length of the sheets entering the stacking path 569, A stopper solenoid SL31 that causes the punch stopper 563 to project into the path or retract from the path, a roller pickup solenoid SL35 that picks up the roller 562a on one side of the pressing roller pair 562, and a punch buffer that switches the punch buffer flapper 582. There is a solenoid SL36.

(Setting of operation mode) Next, FIG. 5 and FIG.
With reference to, a method for setting the operation mode will be described. FIGS. 5A and 5B to FIGS. 6A and 6B show screens displayed on the display panel of the operation unit 1 (see FIG. 2) of the image forming apparatus 1000. The screen is a touch panel, and the function is executed by touching the inside of the frame of the function to be displayed.

When the user selects the [sort] key on the screen shown in FIG. 5A, the screen is switched to that shown in FIG. 5B, and the non-sort mode, the sort mode,
It is possible to select an operation mode such as a staple sort mode (binding mode), a punch mode (drilling processing mode), or a Z-folding mode.

On the screen shown in FIG. 5 (a),
When the [paper selection] key is selected, the screen shown in FIG. 6A is displayed, and the cassette tray to be fed can be selected. Further, when a predetermined [cassette] key is selected on the screen, the screen is switched to the screen as shown in FIG. 6B, and the type of set paper can be selected.

Based on the information selected in FIG. 6B, the number of sheets to be stored in the punch processing section 550 is limited. Specifically, when [plain paper], which is a thin sheet, is selected, the punch processing unit 550 is controlled to store up to three sheets. On the other hand, when [thick paper] or [coated paper], which is a thick sheet, is selected, the punching processing unit 550 is controlled to store only one sheet at the maximum. In the present embodiment, a maximum of three thin sheets,
It was designed so that a maximum of one thick sheet can be stored.
The present invention is not limited to this, and may be appropriately set as necessary.

As described above, according to this embodiment, after the predetermined number of sheets are stored in the stacking path 569 and aligned,
Since the punching operation can be performed, the punching position accuracy is improved, and at the same time, the apparatus can be easily downsized and speeded up. Further, since the punching process is performed for each predetermined number of sheets, the number of punching operations can be reduced as compared to the case where the punching process is performed for each sheet, the power consumption is easily reduced, and the durability is improved. it can.

When the punched sheet is further transported to the downstream side, before the trailing edge of the sheet passes through the punch unit 560, the next sheet is prevented from entering the punch unit 560. By having the buffer unit that temporarily holds the next sheet, it is possible to maintain the productivity of the apparatus.

[0066]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the punching operation can be performed after a predetermined number of sheets are stored and aligned in the intermediate storage portion, the punching position accuracy is improved, and at the same time, the apparatus can be easily downsized and speeded up. Also,
Since the punching process is performed for each predetermined number of sheets, the number of punching operations can be reduced, the power consumption can be easily reduced, and the durability can be improved as compared with the case where the punching process is performed for each sheet.

Further, when the punched sheet is further transported to the downstream side, before the trailing edge of the sheet passes through the punching means, the next sheet is prevented from entering the punching means. By having the buffer unit that temporarily holds the next sheet, it is possible to maintain the productivity of the apparatus.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus including a finisher.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the entire apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the finisher.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the finisher.

[Fig. 5] Operation part of finisher

[Fig. 6] Operation part of finisher

FIG. 7 is a detailed view of a punching device.

FIG. 8 is a detailed view of a punching device.

[Explanation of symbols]

M1 ... Inlet motor M2 ... Buffer motor M3 ... Paper ejection motor M4 ... Bundle transport motor M30 ... Punch motor M31 ... Punch transport motor M32 ... Reversing conveyance motor M33 ... Reversing motor M34 ... Matching motor M35 ... Punch pushing motor SL1 ... Solenoid SL2 ... Solenoid SL30 ... Solenoid SL31 ... Stopper solenoid SL33, SL34 ... Size switching solenoid SL35 ... Roller pickup solenoid SL36 ... Punch buffer solenoid 1 ... Operation part 10 ... Image forming apparatus main body 100 ... Document feeder 101 ... Document Feeder Control Unit 102 ... Platen glass 103 ... Lamp 104 ... Scanner unit 105, 106, 107 ... Mirror 108 ... Lens 109 ... Image sensor 110 ... Exposure control unit 111 ... Photosensitive drum 112 ... Rear output tray 113 ... Developer 114, 115 ... Cassette 116 ... Transferring part 117 ... Fixing unit 118 ... Ejection roller 121 ... flapper 122 ... pass 124 ... Double-sided transport path 125 ... Manual feed unit 150 ... CPU circuit section 151 ... ROM 152 ... RAM 200 ... Image reader 201 ... Image reader control unit 202 ... Image signal control unit 209 ... External I / F 210 ... Computer 300 ... Printer section 301 ... Printer control unit 400 ... Folding section 401 ... Processing control unit 402 ... Transport path 403, 404 ... Pair of transport rollers 410 ... Switching flapper 420… Fold path 421 ... Folding roller 500 ... Finisher 501 ... Finisher control unit 502 ... Entrance roller pair 503 ... Conveying roller pair 505 ... Buffer roller 506, 507 ... Pair of transport rollers 509 ... Ejection roller pair 510 ... Switching flapper 511 ... Switching flapper 512, 513, 514 ... Pressing roller 521 ... Non-sort path 522 ... Sort path 523 ... Buffer path 531 ... Entrance sensor 533 ... Paper discharge sensor 540 ... Finisher part 550 ... Punch processing section 552 ... Finisher pass 555 ... Transport path 556 ... Conveyor roller 557 ... Switching flapper 558 ... Punch pass 559 ... Pair of transport rollers 560 ... Punch unit 562 ... Pushing roller pair 562a ... Laura 563 ... Punch stopper 564 ... Matching plate 565 ... Reversing roller pair 566 ... Inversion path 567 ... Reverse flapper 568 ... Size switching flapper 568a ... Size switching flapper 568b ... Size switching flapper 569 ... Loading path 571, 572 ... Conveying roller pair 573 ... Conveyor roller 578 ... Transport path 580 ... Punch buffer roller 581 ... Punch buffer pass 582 ... Punch buffer flapper 591 ... Cam 592 ... punch 593 ... Die 595 ... Cam position detection sensor 601 ... Stapler 630 ... Processing tray 680a, 680b ... Discharge roller 700 ... Stack tray 701 ... Sample tray 910 ... CPU circuit section 911 ... CPU 912 ROM 913 ... RAM 914 ... Communication IC 920 ... Driver 1000 ... Image forming apparatus

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yuji Morishige             3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Non non corporation (72) Inventor Naoto Watanabe             3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Non non corporation (72) Inventor Mitsushige Murata             3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Non non corporation (72) Inventor Ikuro Sekita             3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Non non corporation F-term (reference) 3F108 GA02 GA03 GA04 GB07 HA02

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A sheet processing apparatus comprising: a punching unit that performs a punching process on a sheet; and a post-processing unit that selectively performs a process such as binding on the sheet on the downstream side of the punching unit in the sheet conveying direction. In the above, the perforation processing unit includes an intermediate storage unit capable of stacking and storing a predetermined number of sheets, an alignment unit configured to align the sheets stored in the intermediate storage unit, and the intermediate storage unit. A sheet processing apparatus comprising: a punching unit that collectively punches a sheet. 2. The sheet according to claim 1, wherein the control unit that controls the drive of the apparatus controls the number of sheets to be stored in the intermediate storage unit according to the type of sheet to be punched. Processing equipment. 3. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the number of sheets to be stored in the intermediate storage section is controlled according to the thickness of the sheet to be punched. 4. When the sheet that has been subjected to the punching process is further transported to the downstream side, before the trailing edge of the sheet passes through the punching means, the next sheet is prevented from entering the punching means. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a buffer unit that temporarily holds a next sheet. 5. An image forming apparatus main body for forming an image on a sheet, and the sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, which performs processing on the sheet on which the image is formed. An image forming apparatus characterized by.