JP2003337508A - Image forming apparatus and control method for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus and a control method for the image forming apparatus wherein a sheet post-processing position is fixed with reference to a printing direction of the sheet, irrespective of a direction of printing an image on the sheet, then, a bundle of sheets is outputted in an easy-to-use state. <P>SOLUTION: In the case it is decided that image information is image information related with one-side printing, the image forming apparatus is controlled so that stapling is performed after reversing the sheet in the case an image information printing direction on the sheet is set to be a lateral direction, on the other hand, in the case the image information printing direction on the sheet is set to be a longitudinal direction, stapling is performed without reversing the sheet, then, stapling is performed at a fixed position in the printing direction of the sheet. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a method for controlling the image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet by using an electrophotographic method or the like, a plurality of sheets on which images are formed (printed) are stapled (stitched) by aligning their ends. ) And the like, and post-processing means for performing a post-processing and discharging the sheet. An image forming apparatus equipped with such a sheet post-processing unit discharges a printed sheet to a stacking unit such as a paper discharge tray and aligns each end portion, and then performs a post-processing such as a stapling process. Can be bound. Whether or not to perform the sheet post-processing such as the stapling process can be arbitrarily set by an instruction from an external device such as a computer, and a copying device that copies an original image read by an image reading unit onto a sheet. In general, it is possible to set whether or not to perform stapling processing on a plurality of sheets from an operation panel or the like provided in the apparatus.

In the image forming apparatus as described above,
From the viewpoint of cost, only one sheet post-processing means such as a stapler for performing the stapling process is often provided for one device. In that case, the post-processing can be performed on the sheet. The position is limited to one place.

Therefore, in the conventional image forming apparatus, the installation position of the sheet post-processing means such as a stapler is fixed in advance so that the upper left corner can be bound with respect to the sheet printed in the printing direction which is frequently printed. Has been done.

[0005]

However, the image forming apparatus having the sheet post-processing means such as the stapler described above has the following problems.

As will be described below with reference to FIG. 9, FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the printing state of the sheet and the stapling position. FIG. 9A shows a sheet that has been printed (hereinafter referred to as vertical direction printing) with the direction orthogonal to the sheet discharge direction as the printing direction. If the frequency of vertical direction printing is high, post-processing such as a stapler is performed. It is desirable to install the means so that the upper left corner of the sheet can be bound.

On the other hand, in FIG. 9B, printing is performed with the same direction as the sheet discharge direction as the printing direction (hereinafter, lateral printing).
If the installation position is determined so that the upper left corner of the sheet can be bound during vertical printing, as described above, when post-processing the sheet bundle output in horizontal printing Had a problem that the upper left corner of the sheet could not be bound. In FIG. 9B, the lower left corner of the sheet is bound, but even if the binding position for the sheet is changed by additionally rotating the image, the upper left corner of the sheet cannot be set as the binding position. For example, even if the image of FIG. 9B is rotated by 180 °, it becomes the upper right corner of the sheet, and the upper left corner cannot be bound. Therefore, the user sometimes staples the sheet bundle printed by the image forming apparatus without performing post-processing.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in an image forming apparatus having a sheet post-processing unit capable of performing post-processing on a sheet at a predetermined position, an image on the sheet is processed. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and a control method of the image forming apparatus, which can set a fixed position as a sheet post-processing position regardless of the printing direction of the sheet.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet, and a double-sided conveying means for reversing the image-formed sheet, and Sheet post-processing means capable of performing post-processing on a sheet having an image formed thereon at a predetermined position, and a printing direction for setting an image printing direction to a first direction or a second direction orthogonal to the first direction A setting unit, a printing order setting unit that sets a printing order of images of a plurality of pages related to image formation depending on which of the first direction and the second direction is set by the printing direction setting unit; When the first direction is set by the direction setting means, the double-sided conveying means reverses the sheet, and then the sheet post-processing means performs post-processing on the predetermined position of the sheet, and the print direction is set. When the second direction is set by the setting means, the double-sided conveying means does not reverse the sheet, and the sheet post-processing means controls the post-processing to the predetermined position of the sheet. It is characterized by

Further, the invention according to claim 2 has a sheet stacking means for stacking the sheets, and the printing order setting means sets the plurality of sheets when the first direction is set by the printing direction setting means. When the last page of the page image is printed on the first sheet fed from the sheet stacking unit and the second direction is set by the printing direction setting unit, the first page of the plurality of page images is printed. The printing order is set so that the eyes are printed on the first sheet fed from the sheet stacking unit.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 has a sheet stacking means for stacking the sheets, and the printing order setting means sets the plurality of sheets when the first direction is set by the printing direction setting means. Printing is performed in reverse order from the last page of the image of the page, and when the second direction is set by the printing direction setting means, printing is performed in order from the first page of the images of the plurality of pages. .

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet, a double-sided conveying means for reversing the front and back of the image-formed sheet and a predetermined position for the image-formed sheet are provided. Having a sheet post-processing means capable of performing post-processing and print setting means for setting the printing order and the printing direction of images, after printing on both sides of a plurality of sheets, the post-processing is performed at the predetermined position of the sheet. In the case of performing printing, the print setting unit prints the last page of the images of a plurality of pages related to image formation on the sheet to be fed as the first sheet, and feeds the first page of the image of the plurality of pages last. The printing order is set so that printing is performed on the sheet to be printed, and the printing position is set such that the predetermined position where the sheet post-processing means performs post-processing is different on the front surface and the back surface of the sheet. And sets the.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the print setting means sets the print direction with respect to the surface of the sheet so that the predetermined position is at the upper left of the image formed on the surface of the sheet, The printing direction with respect to the back surface of the sheet is set so that the predetermined position is lower left with respect to the image formed on the back surface of the sheet.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet, an image forming unit for forming an image on the sheet based on image information and a printing direction of the image information on the sheet are set. Setting means for setting the printing direction, determining means for determining whether the image information is image information related to double-sided printing or image information related to single-sided printing, and reversing the sheet on which the image is formed by the image forming unit. A double-sided conveying unit that conveys the image to the image forming unit, a sheet post-processing unit that is provided at a predetermined position and performs a predetermined post-process on a plurality of sheets on which images are formed in the image forming unit, and the image forming unit. In the case where it is determined by the determination means that the image information is image information related to single-sided printing, the control means includes:
When the print direction of the image information on the sheet is set to the first direction by the print direction setting means, the plurality of sheets are reversed by the double-sided conveying means, and then the predetermined post-processing by the sheet post-processing means is performed. When the process is executed and the print direction of the image information on the sheet is set to the second direction by the print direction setting means,
It is characterized in that the double-sided conveyance means controls the sheet post-processing means to execute the predetermined post-processing without inverting the plurality of sheets.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the control means, when the printing direction of the image information on the sheet is set to the first direction by the printing direction setting means, reverses by the double-sided conveying means. The image forming unit is controlled so that an image is not formed on the plurality of sheets that have been set.

The invention according to claim 8 has a print order setting means for setting the order of printing the image information of a plurality of pages on the sheet, and the print order setting means is the print direction setting means. Sets the printing order so that the order of the image information printed on the sheet is different depending on whether the printing direction for the sheet is set to the first direction or the second direction. And

Further, the invention according to claim 9 is characterized in that the sheet post-processing means carries out the predetermined post-processing at a fixed position in the printing direction of the image information on the sheet.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in a control method of an image forming apparatus having a sheet post-processing unit capable of performing post-processing on a sheet on which an image is formed, a sheet is provided on one side of the sheet. When printing an image of N (N is an integer) pages with the conveyance direction as the printing direction, n (1 ≦ n ≦ N) sheets are set so that the position where the post-processing is performed on the sheet is the predetermined position. A printing step of printing an image of the (N−n + 1) th page on the surface of the sheet to be fed to the eye, a reverse discharging step of inverting the sheet and discharging it to the sheet stacking unit of the sheet post-processing means,
A determination step of determining whether or not the Nth sheet has been fed, and postprocessing is performed on the N sheets on which an image has been printed after it is determined that the Nth sheet has been fed in the determination step. A sheet post-processing step.

The invention according to claim 11 is a method of controlling an image forming apparatus having a sheet post-processing means capable of performing post-processing on a sheet on which an image is formed, at a predetermined position. In the case of printing an image for N (N is an even number) pages with the conveyance direction of (1) as the printing direction, n (1 ≦ n ≦ N / 2) is set so that the position where the post-processing is performed on the sheet is the predetermined position. ) A front surface printing step of printing an image of (N-2n) +1 page on the front surface of the sheet to be fed to the first sheet, and a predetermined position at which a post-processing position for the sheet is different from the front surface printing step. On the back side of the nth sheet (N-2n)
+ Back side printing step to print the image of the second page, and N
A determination step for determining whether or not the second sheet has been fed, and for the N / 2 sheet on which the image has been printed after it is determined that the Nth sheet has been fed in the determination step. A sheet post-processing step for performing post-processing.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the control method of the image forming apparatus having the sheet post-processing means capable of performing the post-processing on the image-formed sheet at a predetermined position, the sheet is formed on both sides of the sheet. N (1 ≦ n ≦ (N + 1)) so that the position where the post-processing is performed on the sheet is the predetermined position when an image for N (N is an odd number) page is printed with the conveyance direction of the sheet as the printing direction. / 2) The predetermined step different from the front surface printing step in which the front surface printing step in which the image of the (N-2n) + second page is printed on the front surface of the sheet to be fed as the second sheet On the back side of the sheet to be fed to the nth sheet (N
-2n) + back side printing step for printing the image of the 3rd page, a judgment step for judging whether or not the (N + 1) / 2th sheet has been fed, and a (N + 1) / 2th sheet in the judgment step. Sheet post-processing step of performing post-processing on N / 2 sheets on which an image is printed after it is determined that the first sheet has been fed, and the back surface printing step is performed on the first sheet to be fed. On the other hand, it is characterized in that an image is not formed.

The thirteenth aspect of the invention is characterized in that the sheet post-processing means is staple.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, the sheet post-processing means is staple.

[0023]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In each of the following embodiments,
An example of an image forming apparatus represented by a laser beam printer including a detachable sheet post-processing apparatus will be described.

(First Embodiment) First, FIG. 1 to FIG.
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing the overall construction of a sheet post-processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus (printer) according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the control configuration of the sheet post-processing device and the printer main body.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes a printer main body as an image forming apparatus, which is independently connected to a computer or a network such as a LAN and is based on image information and print signals sent from the computer and the network. Then, the image forming (printing) is performed on the sheet by a predetermined image forming process, and the sheet is discharged.
Further, a double-sided conveyance path 250 for re-forming an image on a sheet on which an image is formed so that double-sided printing can be performed is provided.

On the other hand, the sheet post-processing apparatus 300 puts the sheet discharged from the printer main body 100 out of the apparatus in a face-down state with the image forming surface facing down via the conveyance path in the sheet post-processing apparatus. The sheet is placed on the first sheet stacking unit 300B (constituted by the slide guide R301, the slide guide L302, etc.), the alignment is performed by the aligning unit, the sheets are bundled for each predetermined job, and one position of the sheet is stapled to obtain the second sheet. The sheet stacking unit 325 can discharge the sheet. In addition, without performing the above-described stapling,
It is also possible to simply align the sheets and discharge and stack the sheets face down in the stacking unit 325 of the sheet post-processing apparatus 300.

The sheet post-processing apparatus control unit 204, which controls each part of the sheet post-processing apparatus 300, includes a jogger motor 207, a drive motor 208, and a solenoid 210, which will be described later.
Etc. via the drivers (205, 206, 209).

Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the sheet post-processing apparatus 300 and the printer main body 100 are electrically connected by a cable connector or the like, and the video controller 201 of the printer main body 100 and the sheet post-processing apparatus 300 communicate with each other. Commands and statuses are communicated with the interface 202. The video controller 201 receives image information from an external device such as a computer, and controls each unit of the printer body 100 to form an image on a sheet based on the image information.
The communication of the image information, the command, and the status with the device 3 are performed. Regarding the setting of the printing direction and the printing order of the images, which will be described later, the video controller 201 is configured to set the printing direction and the printing order for a plurality of pages of image information sheets to be printed based on a command from an external device. Alternatively, the print direction and print order may be set regardless of a command from an external device.

The engine controller 203 controls the operation of each section in the printer body 100, and includes an image forming section 101, a fixing device 120, and a conveyance motor 12 which will be described later.
1, the main motor 122, the flapper 150, etc. are controlled.

Further, the sheet post-processing apparatus 300 has a casing section 300A for accommodating each section, and is attachable to and detachable from the apparatus main body 100A of the printer main body 100 described later.

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

The printer body 100 includes a feeding cassette 20.
A plurality of sheets S are stacked in 0, and the uppermost sheet is separated and fed one by one by the sheet feeding roller by various rollers. Then, in response to an instruction from an external device such as a computer or a network, the sheet S fed from the feeding cassette 200 by a predetermined print signal from the video controller 201 has a so-called laser beam system in the printer body 100. Image forming unit 101 for forming a toner image by an image forming process
The toner image is transferred onto the upper surface of the sheet by the application of heat and pressure by the fixing device 120 on the downstream side.
The toner image is permanently fixed. The image forming unit 1
Reference numeral 01 is for forming an image on a sheet while rotating a photosensitive drum, a transfer roller, etc. The photosensitive drum, transfer roller, etc. are driven by a main motor 122 controlled by the engine controller 203. In addition to the image forming unit 101, the main motor 122 is used as the fixing device 120.
And other parts for driving the printer main body 100.

As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet S on which the image has been fixed is turned upside down by being folded back in the substantially U-shaped sheet conveying path up to the discharge roller 130, so that the image side is turned downward. In this state, the discharge roller 130 discharges the printer body 100 facedown to the outside.

Here, the sheet S is based on the control signal from the engine controller 203, and the printer main body 1
By determining the position of the flapper 150 of 00,
Either the face-down (FD) discharge unit 125 provided on the upper portion of the printer body 100 or the discharge unit 325 of the sheet post-processing apparatus 300 is selected.

The discharge roller 130 is driven by the conveyance motor 121 controlled by the engine controller 203. It should be noted that the transport motor 121 is preferably a pulse motor capable of forward and reverse rotation so that it can be transported toward the double-sided transport path 250 as described later.

Next, a description will be given of a vertical printing operation in which printing is performed in a direction orthogonal to the sheet discharge direction.

The structure of the sheet post-processing apparatus 300 and the movement of each section when the sheet S on which the image is formed by the image forming unit 101 moves toward the sheet post-processing apparatus 300 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. Here, FIGS. 3A and 3B show the sheet post-processing apparatus 300 and the printer body 10.
It is a cross-sectional view of No. 0. 4A is a cross-sectional view of the sheet post-processing apparatus 300 taken along the line AA ′ in FIG.
FIG. 4B shows a cross section taken along the line BB ′ of FIG.

In FIG. 3, 330a is an upper paper discharge roller,
330b is a lower paper discharge roller, 207 is a jogger motor as a drive source, 322 is a paddle, and 323 is a reference wall for abutting the rear end of the sheet.

As shown in FIG. 3, the upper paper discharge roller 330a
And a lower paper discharge roller 330b
0 is arranged on the downstream side of the flapper 150 in the sheet conveying direction and is rotationally driven by the drive motor 208.

The upper paper discharge roller 330a is the paddle shaft 3
It is pivotally supported by an arm 330c which is rotatable around 50.

The jogger motor 207 is a motor for driving each slide guide (301, 302) described later, and a stepping motor is used in the first embodiment.

A plurality of paddles 322 are made of a flexible material such as rubber, and a plurality of paddles 322 are fixedly arranged on the paddle shaft 350 in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction. When the paddle shaft 350 is driven and rotated clockwise, the sheet S is moved in the direction opposite to the sheet conveying direction, and the end surface of the sheet S is brought into contact with the reference wall 323 and aligned.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the sheet post-processing apparatus 300 according to the first embodiment, a slide guide R301 and a slide guide L302, which will be described in detail later, are used as guide members for aligning the sheets in the width direction. It is provided.

In the sheet post-processing device 300, when the stapling process is performed based on a command output from an external device such as a computer in advance, the solenoid 210 is discharged before the stapled sheet S is discharged by the discharge roller 130. In this way, the flapper 150 is rotated counterclockwise as shown by the arrow in FIG. 3 via a link (not shown) to come into contact with the stopper and stop at the position shown by the diagonal lines in FIG. As a result, the sheet S becomes the sheet post-processing device 30.
The sheet conveying path is switched so that the sheet is conveyed to 0.

As a result, the sheet S becomes the printer body 10
From 0, the sheet is carried into the entrance portion of the sheet post-processing apparatus 300, 390.

The sheet S carried into the sheet post-processing apparatus 300 rotates the flag 361 of the entrance sensor 360 in the clockwise direction, and the flag 361 causes the photo sensor 362 to transmit light so as to be detected. After that, it is conveyed upward by the pair of entrance rollers 363, and the sheet S is discharged by the pair of discharge rollers 330 to the first sheet stacking unit 300B.

Next, the operation of discharging and stacking the sheets S stacked on the first sheet stacking unit 300B by dropping them on the second sheet stacking unit 325 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

As shown in FIG. 5A, a support portion for supporting the sheet of the slide guide 301 on the right side and the slide guide 302 on the left side in the sheet conveying direction (the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5A) is constructed. The bottom surface is retracted to a position where it does not come into contact with the conveyed sheet S, that is, to a position (the second position) that does not support the sheet S and is outside the sheet in the width direction by a predetermined amount.

Therefore, the inlet roller pair 36 shown in FIG.
The sheet S conveyed by 3 has a pair of staple rollers 32.
After passing 0, after passing through the frontage of the stapler H, the sheet is conveyed by the paper discharge roller pair 330, and is directed toward the second sheet stacking unit 325 as shown by the arrow in FIG. 6B and FIG. 3B. And fall.

Next, after stapling the vertically printed sheet bundle, the second sheet stacking unit 32
The operation of dropping the sheet 5 and discharging and stacking the sheet will be described with reference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a conveyance state of the sheet S in the sheet post-processing device 300.

In this case, the slide guides 301 and 302
Is the slide guides 301, 3 as shown in FIG.
The reference pins 303 and 304, which are provided on the wall surface of No. 02 and constitute a convex portion that aligns the sheet S, are retracted to a position where they do not interfere with the sheet S that is being carried in.

At this time, the two slide guides 30
The distance 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 in such positions (first positions) to support the conveyed sheet S. First sheet stacking unit 300
B can be configured.

First, the printer main body 100 prints an image of one page in the vertical direction in the direction as shown in FIG. 9A and conveys it to the sheet post-processing apparatus 300.

The sheet S conveyed by the pair of inlet rollers 363 passes through the pair of staple rollers 320, then passes through the front of the stapler H, and then is conveyed by the pair of discharge rollers 330 and is constituted by the slide guides 301 and 302. And is conveyed onto the guide surface of the first sheet stacking unit 300B.

Here, the two slide guides 301, 3
As shown in FIG. 7A, the guide surface of the first sheet stacking unit 300B configured by the 02 sheet supporting unit is
The sheet is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal direction and has different inclination angles on the upstream side and the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction. Specifically, the upstream side and the downstream side have a predetermined section. Bent portion 300C where the space between the two is bent at an inclination angle α
Are formed. 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 S is conveyed onto the surface formed by the slide guides 301 and 302 in this manner, the arm 330c is provided as shown in FIG. 7B.
Rotates counterclockwise, whereby the upper paper discharge roller 330a pivotally supported by the arm 330c retracts upward,
The paper discharge roller pair 330 is separated.

At the same time, the drive connected to the paper discharge roller pair 330 is cut off, and the rotation of the upper paper discharge roller 330a and the lower paper discharge 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 L302 operates, and the alignment operation in the width direction of the sheets S stacked on the first sheet stacking unit 300B is started. Specifically, as the slide guide L302 is driven by the jogger motor 207 and the slide guide L302 moves to the right as shown in FIG. 4, the reference pin 304 provided on the slide guide L302 contacts the left side surface of the sheet S. The sheet S is pushed into the slide guide R301 side in contact with it.

Then, the right side surface of the sheet S abuts the reference pin 303 provided on the slide guide R301, whereby the sheet S is aligned in the width direction. The sheet S is set to move so that the sheet S comes into contact with the reference pin 303 and is aligned with the staple pin so as to have an appropriate stapling position. After the aligning operation, the slide guide L302 moves in a direction in which the width of the sheet S is wider than that of the sheet S, so that the next sheet S can be conveyed at the standby position again.

Here, the structures of the slide guide R301 and the slide guide L302 will be described in detail.

The slide guide R301 and the slide guide L302 are a total of four guide pins 313a provided on the mold frame (not shown) and guide pins 313b provided on the sheet metal frame (not shown) as shown in FIG. By being guided, it can reciprocate in the left-right direction in FIG. 4, that is, in the direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction (sheet width direction), and is moved by the driving force from the jogger motor 207.

When viewed from the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction, the slide guide 301R and the slide guide L302 are provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the sheet S and the respective wall portions that guide both sides of the sheet S, as shown in FIG. 4B. The supporting portion has a substantially U-shaped cross section, and the lower surface of the U-shaped portion supports the widthwise end portion of the sheet S discharged onto the first sheet stacking unit 300B. The center portion of S in the width direction is not supported.

Further, the slide guide L302 is provided with a slide rack portion 302 having a flat plate gear that meshes with the step gear 317. Also slide guide R301
Also, a slide rack 312 having a flat plate gear that meshes with the step gear 317 is attached.

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 guides 301 and 302 are supported in the height direction by the step gear 317 and the jog sheet metal frame.

Next, the operation of the slide guide R301 and the slide guide L302 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 207 rotates and the step gear 317 rotates, thereby driving the rack portion 310 of the slide guide L302. It will be evacuated to the outside.

When the jogger motor 207 rotates and the step gear 317 rotates, first, the slide rack 312 relatively moves, and the square hole portion 312a of the slide rack 312 contacts the right end surface of the emboss 301a of the slide guide 301. The slide guide R301 is retracted to the outside (right side in FIG. 4) by being pressed by the square hole portion 312a.

The slit portion 3 is provided on the slide guide R301.
01S is provided, and when the slit portion 301S moves to a predetermined retract distance, the photo sensor 316 transmits light as shown in FIG. 5B, and the jogger motor 207 stops at that time. Hereinafter, this position is referred to as a home position.

On the other hand, when a signal indicating that the sheet S enters the sheet processing apparatus 300 is input from the video controller 201 of the printer main body 100 to the sheet post-processing apparatus control unit 204 via the communication interface 202, the sheet post-processing apparatus The control unit 204 meets the motor driver 205 to rotate the jogger motor 207, and the slide guide R
301 and the slide guide L302 move inward,
As shown in FIG. 4, the sheet S stops at a position wider than the sheet width of the entering sheet S by a predetermined amount d. At this position, the slide guide R301 is in a state in which the stopper 301b is in contact with the guide pin 313a and cannot move further inward. Hereinafter, this position is referred to as a standby position, and this standby position serves as a reference position when the side surface of the slide guide R301 is in alignment operation.

Here, in the first embodiment, the sheet S
If the size (width) of is the maximum size that can be passed,
The standby positions of the slide guide R301 and the slide guide L302 are set so that the gaps on both sides are each a predetermined amount d.

When the sheet post-processing apparatus 300 aligns a sheet having a width smaller than the maximum sheet size that can pass the sheet, the slide guide L corresponds to the sheet width.
By moving 302 to the inside (in FIG. 4) to the right, the gap on the left at the standby position shown in FIG. 4 (b) is always the predetermined amount d. On the other hand, in this case, the gap between the sheet S and the slide guide L302 is widened by half the amount narrower than the predetermined amount d.

On the other hand, after the widthwise alignment is performed by the slide guides 301 and 302, both slide guides 301 and 302 are
By slightly retracting 302, the regulation of the sheet S in the alignment direction is made rough so that the sheet S can move in the sheet conveying direction. After that, as shown in FIG. 7B, the paddle 322 makes one rotation around the paddle shaft 350 clockwise while contacting the upper surface of the sheet S, whereby the sheet S is abutted against the reference wall 323. Line up.

By these operations, the alignment in the sheet conveying direction and the sheet width direction becomes possible. In order to maintain the aligned state as described above, an arrow diagram A-1 in FIG. 4 which is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in the vicinity of the right end surface of the sheet in the aligned state as shown in FIG. 7B. As shown by an arrow A-2, a lever 400b provided with a friction member 400a is vertically moved to provide stamp means 400 for pressing the aligned sheets S.

Here, the stamp means 400 is provided with a lever that rotates in the vertical direction, and after the aligning operation is completed and before the next sheet S to come in contact with the aligned sheet, FIG. The lever that has been rotated upward as shown by the arrow A-2 in the middle is rotated downwards, and the arrow A-2 in FIG.
By pressing the upper surface of the sheet as shown in (4), it is possible to prevent the sheet aligned in the next sheet S from moving and disturbing the alignment.

After the alignment of the first sheet is completed in this way, the second page is printed vertically.
Although the first sheet is conveyed, in this case, when the second and subsequent sheets are conveyed, the discharge roller pair 330 is in the second state (the state of FIG. 7B) in which they are separated from each other. 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. Since the matching operation for the second and subsequent sheets is exactly the same as that for the first sheet, a description thereof will be omitted.

When the printing of n pages on one side of the sheet is discharged as one job, the above-described operation is repeated to perform the operation of aligning the last (nth) sheet (Sn) of one job, and sliding. Each reference pin 304 provided on the guide L302 abuts the left side surface of the sheet against each reference pin 303 of the slide guide R301, and the movement of the slide guide L302 is stopped. The small stapler H located on the right side staples the position on the right side of the rear end of the sheet. Note that the stapler H in the first embodiment does not have means for setting the staple position at an arbitrary position, and therefore the staple position cannot be changed automatically. Note that, as shown in FIG. 8 which is a partially enlarged view of the sheet post-processing apparatus 300, the orientation of the staple N in the staple H is as shown in FIG. It is pierced and bent on the non-printed side for binding. This is the printer body 10
Since the sheet S on which one side is imaged with 0 is discharged facedown (the printing surface faces downward), the bending surface of the staple needle (the staple needle in FIG. 8) is attached to the surface of the sheet bundle after the staple processing. This is to prevent the upper surface side of N) from coming.

According to this configuration and operation, the slide guide R301 stops and does not move at the reference position during the alignment operation of each sheet, and only the slide guide L302 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 R301 side can be performed accurately and reliably.

On the other hand, when the stapling operation is completed in this way, as shown in FIGS. 7B and 7C, the arm 330c rotates clockwise to move the arm 330c.
The upper paper discharge roller 330a pivotally supported on the first paper moves downward, and the paper discharge roller pair 330 can discharge the sheet.
At the same time as the state (state of FIG. 7C), the paper discharge roller pair 330 is driven to start the rotation of the upper paper discharge roller 330a and the lower paper discharge roller 330b. As a result, the sheet bundle S is nipped by the pair of discharge rollers 330 and is conveyed onto the first sheet stacking unit 300B formed by the slide guides R301 and L302.

After that, when the sheet bundle S is completely discharged from the paper discharge roller pair 330, the jogger motor 20
When 7 is driven to rotate, the slide guide L30
2 moves in the direction in which the slide guide L302 spreads from the state shown in FIG. In addition, this slide guide L30
2, the slide rack 312 moves to the right side in FIG. 5 on the slide guide R301 side, and the slide guide 301 itself does not move immediately.

When the position of the slide guide 302 has passed the standby position shown in FIG. 4, the embossed portion 312a of the slide rack 312 has the square hole portion 3 of the slide guide 301.
The slide guide 301 is brought into contact with the end surface of 10a, 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 FIG. The sheets are stacked on the sheet stacking unit 325. The above is the printer main body 1 according to the first embodiment.
00 and the sheet processing apparatus 300, and a series of operations. The post-processed sheet bundle S becomes a binding state as shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the printing state of the sheet and the stapling position as viewed from above the sheet post-processing apparatus 300. The sheet S on which an image is formed on one side of the sheet in the vertical printing is in the face down state ( The printed surface is facing down) and the staple processing has been performed. Since the staple H is processed so that the bending surface of the staple (the upper surface side of the staple N in FIG. 8) does not come to the front surface of the sheet, the bending surface of the staple appears on the back surface of the sheet (FIG. 10C).

Next, based on the block diagram of FIG. 2, the flowchart of FIG. 11 and FIGS.
The operation of stapling a plurality of sheets printed on one side of the sheet according to the embodiment will be described. The operation of the sheet post-processing device 300 is similar to that described above.
Note that, as the first embodiment, an operation of forming an image of two pages on one side of a sheet and performing stapling will be described. However, the same method can be used for a plurality of pages of two or more pages. It goes without saying that you can do it.
The image on the first page is ABC for the sake of simplicity.
The description will be made assuming that the second page image is composed of the characters DEF and the image of the second page is composed of the characters DEF.

First, the printer main body 100 and the sheet post-processing apparatus 300 are turned on by performing a predetermined initialization operation so that the printer main body 100 is powered on and each part of the printer main body such as the image forming unit 101 is ready for image formation. Start operation.

When the image information to be printed is transmitted from the external device such as a computer to the video controller 201 after the printer main body 100 is in the standby state, the image information transmitted in step S1101 is The video controller 201 determines whether or not the instruction is a double-sided printing instruction, and sets whether it is double-sided printing or single-sided printing. Note that this setting operation may be set from an operation panel (not shown) provided in the printer body 100.

If the image information is the one-sided printing instruction, it is determined as NO in step S1101 and the process proceeds to step S1102 to determine whether the printing direction of the image information on the sheet is the vertical direction or the horizontal direction. As described above, the vertical direction printing has a direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction as the printing direction, and the horizontal direction printing has the same direction as the sheet discharging direction as the printing direction. If it is the vertical direction, the process proceeds to step S1103, and if it is the horizontal direction, the process proceeds to step S1105.

(Vertical Direction Printing Operation) Steps S1103 and S1104, which are vertical direction printing operations, will be described below.

In step S1103, in order to print the first page, the first sheet S1 is fed to the feeding cassette 20.
The sheet S is fed from 0 and the sheet S is fed by the image forming unit 101.
1 to form an image. Specifically, on the surface of the sheet S1,
As shown in FIG. 10A, an image forming unit 101 that forms a toner image on a sheet by a so-called laser beam type image forming process in the printer main body 100
ABC, which is the image of the page, is printed. This print shows the state seen from the direction of arrow A of the image forming unit 101 in FIG. The sheet S1 includes the image forming unit 101.
The toner image is permanently fixed by applying heat and pressure by the fixing device 120 on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the.

In step S1104, after the image of the first page is printed, the second sheet S2 is fed from the paper feed cassette 200, and the image forming unit 101 forms an image on the sheet. It should be noted that DEF, which is the image of the second page, is printed on the second sheet S2, as shown in FIG.

In step S1109, the first and second sheets are conveyed as one job from the printer main body 100 to the sheet post-processing apparatus 300, and it is determined that the sheets are stacked on the first sheet stacking unit 300B. After the device control unit 204 detects the position of the sheet by the alignment operation described above that controls the jogger motor 207 and the like, the staple motor 212 is driven to perform the stapling process on the sheet bundle of the sheets S1 and S2.

In step S1110, the jogger motor 2 is operated so as to eject the sheet bundle after the stapling process.
By controlling 07, the slide guide R302 and the slide guide L301 are moved to the outside, and as shown in FIG. 6B, the sheet bundle is dropped to the second sheet stacking unit 325 and discharged.

In the vertical printing operation described above, since printing is performed on only one side of the sheet, both the sheet S1 and the sheet S2 are discharged from the printer main body 100 without passing through the double-sided conveyance path 205.

(Horizontal Direction Printing Operation) Hereinafter, the horizontal direction printing operation from step S1105 to step S1108.
Will be described.

In step S1105, in order to print the image of the second page, the first sheet S1 is fed from the feeding cassette 200, and the image forming unit 101 forms an image on the sheet S1. Specifically, in the printer body 100, on the surface of the sheet S1, the image forming unit 101 that forms a toner image on the sheet by a so-called laser beam image forming process is performed in the direction shown in FIG.
DEF (the surface of sheet1), which is the image of the page
Is printed. This print shows a state viewed from the upper direction (arrow A) of the image forming portion. The toner image is permanently fixed to the sheet S1 by applying heat and pressure by the fixing device 120 on the downstream side of the image forming unit 101 in the transport direction.

In step S1106, part of the sheet S1 on which the toner image is fixed is discharged to the FD discharge portion by the discharge roller 130 of the printer body 100, and then the sheet S1 is discharged.
As shown in FIG. 13, the flapper 135 is switched and the discharge roller 130 is rotated in the reverse direction so that the sheet is conveyed to the double-sided conveying path 250. The sheet is fed to the sheet re-feeding roller 210, and the surface opposite to the printing surface printed earlier becomes the upper surface.
Pass 1 without printing anything on the sheet. Flapper 13
5 and 150 move counterclockwise to a position where the sheet can be conveyed to the sheet post-processing apparatus 300, and the sheet S1 is conveyed to the sheet post-processing apparatus 300.

In the sheet post-processing apparatus 300, the first sheet S1 is aligned in the state where the printing surface printed with DEF is the upper surface in the intermediate stacking unit, as in the method described above.

In step S1107, the second sheet S2 is fed from the feeding cassette 200, and the image forming unit 101 forms an image on the sheet. More specifically, in the printer main body 100 on the surface of the sheet S2, the image forming unit 101 that forms a toner image by a so-called laser beam type image forming process is the first page of the ABC ( The surface of sheet2) is printed. This print shows a state viewed from the upper direction (arrow A) of the image forming unit 101. The arrow indicates the conveyance direction during printing, and the round dotted line indicates the position where the sheet post-processing is performed. The sheet S2 is the image forming unit 10
The toner image is permanently fixed by applying heat and pressure in the fixing device 120 on the downstream side in the transport direction of No. 1.

In step S1108, part of the sheet S2 on which the toner image is fixed is part of the printer body 100.
After being discharged to the FD discharge section 125 by the discharge rollers 130, the flapper 135 rotates in the clockwise direction and the sheet conveyance path is switched to the double-sided conveyance path 250, and the discharge rollers 130 reversely rotate to the double-sided conveyance path 250. Be transported. The sheet is fed to the sheet re-feeding roller 210, and the surface opposite to the printing surface printed earlier becomes the upper surface, and the sheet again passes through the image forming unit 101 without printing anything on the sheet. The flappers 135 and 150 move counterclockwise to move the sheet post-processing device 3
The sheet S2 is moved to a position where the sheet can be conveyed to the sheet post processing device 300.

In the sheet post-processing apparatus 300, the second sheet S2 is aligned in the state where the printing surface printed with ABC on the intermediate stacking portion is the upper surface, as in the method described above.

The following steps S1109 and S1110
Then, the stapling process is executed in the same manner as in the case of the vertical printing operation described above. More specifically, 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, but the difference from the case of the longitudinal printing operation is that the direction of the staples is as shown in FIG. This is the point where the needle penetrates from below, that is, the first unprinted surface (the back surface of the sheet S1), and is bent and bound at the printed surface (the surface printed as ABC) of the second sheet for binding.

When the stapling operation is completed in this way, as shown in FIGS. 7B and 7C, the arm 330
When c rotates clockwise, the upper discharge roller 330a pivotally supported by the arm 330c moves downward, and the discharge roller pair 330 enters the first state in which sheets can be discharged. The paper roller pair 330 is driven to start rotation of the upper paper discharge roller 330a and the lower paper discharge roller 330b. As a result, the sheet bundle S is nipped by the pair of discharge rollers 330 and conveyed onto the first stacking unit 300B formed by the slide guides 301 and 302.

After that, when the sheet bundle S is completely discharged from the discharge roller pair 330, the jogger motor 20
When 7 is rotationally driven, the slide guide 302 moves in the expanding direction from the state shown in FIG. 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.

When the position of the slide guide 302 has passed the standby position shown in FIG. 3, the embossed portion 312a of the slide rack 312 is moved to the square hole 3 of the slide guide 301.
The slide guide 301 is brought into contact with the end face of 10a, and
Start moving to the right side of both slide guides 301, 30
2 moves.

After that, 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 FIG. The sheets are stacked on the sheet stacking unit 325. The above is the printer main body 1 according to the first embodiment.
00 and the sheet processing apparatus 300, and a series of operations. It should be noted that the sheet bundle subjected to the staple processing after the image is formed by the lateral printing is in the binding state as shown in FIG. Since the first page of sheets is stacked face up and the staples are inserted from the bottom sheet side, the direction of the staples is different from the case of vertical printing, and the side where the staples are bent is the surface. Becomes

In the first embodiment, an example in which an image for two pages is printed on one side of two sheets has been described, but the number of pages of the image can be set arbitrarily. Figure 2 shows the operation when the number of pages of the image to be printed is N pages.
The results are shown in Table 1 in Table 5. In Table 1, N represents the number of pages of the image to be printed, and n represents the nth sheet to be printed. As in the case of printing images for two pages, the image output order is reversed for vertical printing and horizontal printing. In the case of horizontal printing, reverse the sheet By outputting, the page order in the sheet bundle after stapling becomes the same as that in the case of vertical printing.

Since the sheet reversing operation can be performed by using the double-sided conveyance means provided in the image forming apparatus (or optionally mounted), a dedicated sheet reversing means for reversing the sheet. The stapling position can be set to a desired position without the provision of.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, when single-sided printing is performed in the image forming apparatus having the sheet post-processing means capable of post-processing the sheet at a predetermined position, When the print direction for the sheet is set to the horizontal direction, the sheets are inverted and then multiple sheets are discharged to the sheet post-processing device to perform stapling processing, and the print direction of the image on the sheet is set to the vertical direction. In this case, since a plurality of sheets are discharged to the sheet post-processing device and the stapling process is executed without reversing the sheets, a certain position in the printing direction of the sheet is set as the stapling position regardless of the printing direction of the image on the sheet. It is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that outputs a sheet bundle that is easy for the user to use.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 19 and FIGS. 20 and 21. The operation of the sheet post-processing device 300, the sheet conveying operation in the printer main body 100, and the like are the same as those in the first embodiment, and therefore the contents characteristic of the second embodiment will be described in detail below. It should be noted that the second embodiment shows the operations of the vertical direction printing and the horizontal direction printing when printing images of a plurality of pages (even pages) on both sides of a sheet. An operation of applying an image to both sides of two sheets and performing post-processing will be described. In addition,
For simplification of description, the first page image is composed of ABC characters, the second page image is DEF, the third page image is GHI, and the fourth page image is JKL characters. It will be described as a thing.

First, the printer main body 100 and the sheet post-processing apparatus 300 are turned on by performing a predetermined initialization operation so that the printer main body 100 is powered on and each part of the printer main body such as the image forming unit 101 is ready to form an image. Start operation.

When the image information to be printed is transmitted from the external device such as a computer to the video controller 201 after the printer main body 100 is in the standby state, the image information transmitted in step S1901 is The video controller 201 determines whether or not the instruction is a double-sided printing instruction, and sets whether it is double-sided printing or single-sided printing. Note that this setting operation may be set from an operation panel (not shown) provided in the printer body 100.

If the image information is a one-sided printing instruction, it is determined as NO in step S1901 and the operation of FIG. 11 (single-sided printing operation) is performed. This operation is the same as in the first embodiment. Therefore, the description is omitted.

If the image information is the one with double-sided printing instruction, the flow advances to step S1902 to determine whether the printing direction of the image information on the sheet is the vertical direction or the horizontal direction. As described above, the vertical direction printing has a direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction as the printing direction, and the horizontal direction printing has the same direction as the sheet discharging direction as the printing direction. If it is the vertical direction, step S190.
3, the process proceeds to step S1909 if it is in the lateral direction.

(Vertical Direction Printing Operation) Steps S1903 to S1908, which are vertical direction printing operations, will be described below.

In step S1903, in order to print the image (DEF) of the second page, the first sheet S1 is fed from the feeding cassette 200, and the image forming unit 101 forms an image on the sheet S1. .

In step S1904, the front and back of the sheet are reversed by the same method as in the first embodiment, and the surface opposite to the printing surface (DEF) printed previously becomes the upper surface, and the sheet S1 is transferred to the image forming unit 101 again. To transport.

In step S1905, the image (ABC) of the first page is printed on the back surface of the sheet S1, and then the sheet S1 is conveyed to the sheet post-processing device 300.

In step S1906, in order to print the image (JKL) of the fourth page, the second sheet S2 is fed from the feeding cassette 200, and the image forming unit 101 forms an image on the sheet S2. .

In step S1907, the front and back of the sheet are reversed by the same method as in the first embodiment, and the surface opposite to the printing surface (JKL) printed previously becomes the upper surface, and the sheet S2 is transferred to the image forming unit 101 again. To transport.

In step S1908, the image (GHI) of the third page is printed on the back surface of the sheet S2, and then the sheet S2 is conveyed to the sheet post-processing device 300.

In step S1915, the first sheet S1 and the second sheet S2 are conveyed from the printer main body 100 to the sheet post-processing device 300 as one job,
The sheet post-processing device control unit 204 detects that the jogger motor 20 has been stacked on the first sheet stacking unit 300B.
After the position of the sheet is adjusted by the above-mentioned alignment operation for controlling the sheet 7 and the like, the staple motor 212 is driven to drive the sheet S1,
The stapling process is performed on the sheet bundle of the sheets S2.

In step S1916, the jogger motor 2 is operated so as to eject the sheet bundle after the staple processing.
By controlling 07, the slide guide R302 and the slide guide L301 are moved to the outside, and as shown in FIG. 6B, the sheet bundle is dropped to the second sheet stacking unit 325 and discharged.

(Horizontal Print Operation) Hereinafter, the horizontal print operation from step S1909 to step S1914.
Will be described.

In step S1909, in order to print the image (GHI) of the third page, the first sheet S1 is fed from the feeding cassette 200, and the image forming unit 101 forms an image on the sheet S1. . Specifically, in the printer body 100 on the surface of the sheet S1, the image forming unit 101 that forms a toner image on the sheet by a so-called laser beam image forming process is performed on the third page image in the direction shown in FIG. A certain GHI (sheet1
Surface) is printed. This printing is performed by the image forming unit 101.
The state is seen from above (arrow A). The arrow indicates the conveyance direction during printing, and the round dotted line indicates the position where the sheet post-processing is performed. In this printing, the sheet post-processing position is located at the upper left of the image orientation. The sheet S1 is subjected to heat and pressure by the fixing device 120 on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the image forming unit 101,
The toner image is permanently fixed.

In step S1910, part of the sheet S1 on which the toner image has been fixed is discharged to the FD discharge portion 125 by the discharge roller 130 of the printer body 100, and then the flapper 135 rotates in the clockwise direction. The path is switched to the double-sided path 250, and the discharge roller 130
Is reversed and the sheet is conveyed to the double-sided conveying path 250. 20. When the sheet is fed to the sheet re-feeding roller 210, the surface opposite to the printing surface printed earlier becomes the upper surface, and the image forming unit 101 again has the sheet JKL (back side of sheet1) as the image of the fourth page in FIG. It is printed in the orientation shown in. The round dotted line indicates the position where the sheet post-treatment is performed. In this printing, the sheet post-processing position is located at the lower left of the image orientation.

After that, the flappers 135 and 150 move counterclockwise to a position where the sheet can be conveyed to the sheet post-processing apparatus 300, and the sheet S1 is conveyed to the sheet post-processing apparatus 300.

In the sheet post-processing apparatus 300, the first sheet S1 is aligned with the printing surface on which the GHI is printed on the intermediate stacking portion being the upper surface, as in the method described above.

In step S1912, the second sheet S2 is fed from the feeding cassette 200, and the image forming unit 101 forms an image on the sheet S2. More specifically, in the image forming unit 101 that forms a toner image on the surface of the sheet S2 in the printer body 100 by the so-called laser beam type image forming process, the first page of ABC ( sheet2
Surface) is printed. This print shows a state viewed from the upper direction (arrow A) of the image forming unit 101. The arrow indicates the conveyance direction during printing, and the round dotted line indicates the position where the sheet post-processing is performed. In this printing, the sheet post-processing position is located at the upper left of the image orientation. The sheet S2 is subjected to heat and pressure by the fixing device 120 on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the image forming unit 101,
The toner image is permanently fixed.

In step S1913, after the part of the fixed sheet S2 is discharged to the FD discharging section 125 by the discharging roller 130 of the printer body 100, the flapper 135 rotates clockwise and the sheet path is changed. It is conveyed to the double-sided conveyance path 250 by switching to the double-sided conveyance path 250 and reversing the discharge roller 130.

In step S1914, the sheet S2
Is fed to the re-feeding roller 210, the surface opposite to the printing surface printed earlier becomes the upper surface, passes through the image forming unit 101 again, and is the image of the second page DEF (sheet1).
20 is printed in the orientation shown in FIG. The round dotted line indicates the position where the sheet post-treatment is performed. In this printing, the sheet post-processing position is located at the lower left of the image orientation.

The flappers 135 and 150 move counterclockwise to a position where the sheet S2 can be conveyed to the sheet post-processing apparatus 300, and the sheet S2 is transferred to the sheet post-processing apparatus 3.
It is transported to 00.

In the sheet post-processing apparatus 300, the second sheet S2 is aligned in the state where the printing surface printed with ABC on the intermediate stacking portion is the upper surface, as in the method described above.

The following steps S1915 and S1916
Then, the stapling process is executed in the same manner as in the case of the vertical printing operation described above. Specifically, a small stapler H located on the right side of the rear end of the sheet bundle conveys the sheet (discharging direction).
The position on the right side of the rear end is stapled, but the difference from the case of the longitudinal printing operation is that the direction of the staple is as shown in FIG.
As shown in, the needle penetrates from below, that is, from the back surface of the first sheet S1 and is bent at the front surface of the second sheet to be bound.

When the stapling operation is completed in this way, as shown in FIG. 7C, the arm 330c rotates clockwise, whereby the paper discharge upper roller 330a pivotally supported by the arm 330c moves downward. Then, at the same time when the discharge roller pair 330 becomes the first state in which the sheet can be discharged, the discharge roller pair 330 is driven to drive the upper discharge roller 330a.
Then, the rotation of the lower discharge roller 330b is started. As a result, the sheet bundle S is nipped by the pair of discharge rollers 330 and conveyed onto the first stacking unit 300B formed by the slide guides 301 and 302.

After that, when the sheet bundle S is completely discharged from the paper discharge roller pair 330, the jogger motor 20
When 7 is rotationally driven, the slide guide 302 moves in the expanding direction from the state shown in FIG. 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.

When the position of the slide guide 302 has passed the standby position shown in FIG. 3, the embossed portion 312a of the slide rack 312 has the square hole portion 3 of the slide guide 301.
The slide guide 301 is brought into contact with the end face of 10a, and
Start moving to the right side of both slide guides 301, 30
2 moves.

Further, 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 FIG. The sheets are stacked on the sheet stacking unit 325. The above is the printer body 1 according to the second embodiment.
00 and the sheet processing apparatus 300, and a series of operations. The sheet bundle subjected to the stapling processing after the image is formed by the lateral printing is in the binding state as shown in FIG. The orientation of the staples is different from that in the case of vertical printing, and the surface on which the staples are bent becomes the front surface.

In the second embodiment, an example in which an image for four pages is printed on both sides of two sheets has been described, but the number of pages of the image can be set arbitrarily as long as it is an even number. it can. The operation when the number of pages of the image to be printed is N is shown in Table 2 in FIG. In Table 2, N represents the number of pages of the image to be printed, and n represents the nth sheet to be printed. As in the case of printing images for 4 pages, the page order in the sheet bundle after stapling is changed by changing the output order of the images for vertical printing and horizontal printing. It is the same as the case of. As described above, according to the second embodiment, even when double-sided printing is performed in an image forming apparatus having a sheet post-processing unit that can perform post-processing on a sheet at a predetermined position, When printing images with the number of pages, the output order of the pages to be printed differs depending on whether the image print direction on the sheet is set to the vertical direction or when the image print direction on the sheet is set to the vertical direction. As a result, a sheet bundle that is easy for the user to use has a fixed position (for example, the upper left corner with respect to the image of the first page) in the printing direction of the sheet regardless of the printing direction of the image on the sheet. An image forming apparatus for outputting can be provided.

(Third Embodiment) Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 22 and FIGS. The operation of the sheet post-processing apparatus 300, the sheet conveying operation in the printer main body 100, and the like are the same as those in the first embodiment, so the contents characteristic of the third embodiment will be described in detail below. It should be noted that the third embodiment shows the operations of the vertical direction printing and the horizontal direction printing when printing images of a plurality of pages (odd pages) on both sides of a sheet. The operation of applying an image to both sides of two sheets and performing post-processing will be described. In addition,
For simplification of the description, it is assumed that the image on the first page is composed of ABC characters, the image on the second page is DEF, and the image on the third page is composed of GHI characters.

First, the printer main body 100 and the sheet post-processing apparatus 300 are turned on by performing a predetermined initialization operation so that the printer main body 100 is powered on and each part of the printer main body such as the image forming unit 101 is ready for image formation. Start operation.

When the image information to be printed is transmitted from the external device such as a computer to the video controller 201 after the printer main body 100 is in the standby state, the image information transmitted in step S2201 is The video controller 201 determines whether or not the instruction is a double-sided printing instruction, and sets whether it is double-sided printing or single-sided printing. Note that this setting operation may be set from an operation panel (not shown) provided in the printer body 100.

If the image information is a one-sided printing instruction, it is determined NO in step S2201 and the operation shown in FIG. 11 (single-sided printing operation) is performed. This operation is the same as in the first embodiment. Therefore, the description is omitted.

If the image information is for double-sided printing, it is determined in step S2202 whether the number of pages of the image information is an odd number or an even number. If the number of pages is an even number, the operation of FIG. 19 (double-sided printing operation when printing the number of even pages) is performed.
The description is omitted because it is the same as the embodiment.

If the number of pages of the image information is an odd number, the process advances to step S2203 to determine whether the printing direction of the image information sheet is the vertical direction or the horizontal direction. As described above, the vertical direction printing has a direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction as the printing direction, and the horizontal direction printing has the same direction as the sheet discharging direction as the printing direction. If it is the vertical direction, the process proceeds to step S2204, and if it is the horizontal direction, the process proceeds to step S2208.

(Vertical Direction Printing Operation) Steps S2204 to S2207, which are vertical direction printing operations, will be described below.

In step S2204, in order to print the image (DEF) of the second page, the first sheet S1 is fed from the feeding cassette 200 and the image forming unit 101 forms an image on the sheet S1. .

In step S2205, the front and back of the sheet are reversed by the same method as in the first embodiment, and the surface opposite to the printing surface (DEF) printed previously becomes the upper surface, and the sheet S1 is transferred to the image forming unit 101 again. To transport.

In step S2206, the image (ABC) of the first page is printed on the back surface of the sheet S1, and thereafter the sheet S1 is conveyed to the sheet post-processing device 300.

In step S2207, the image (GHI) of the third page is printed on the front surface of the sheet S2, and then the sheet S2 is conveyed to the sheet post-processing device 300. Second
In the embodiment, the number of pages of the image information is four, so the image of the third page is printed after the image of the fourth page is printed. However, in the third embodiment, the sheet S
After the image of the third page is printed on the surface of No. 2, the sheet S2 is sent to the sheet post-processing device 300 without inverting the sheet.
To transport. In step S2213, the first sheet S1 and the second sheet S2 are conveyed from the printer body 100 to the sheet post-processing apparatus 300 as one job,
The sheet post-processing device control unit 204 detects that the jogger motor 20 has been stacked on the first sheet stacking unit 300B.
After the position of the sheet is adjusted by the above-mentioned alignment operation for controlling the sheet 7 and the like, the staple motor 212 is driven to drive the sheet S1,
The stapling process is performed on the sheet bundle of the sheets S2.

In step S2214, the jogger motor 2 is operated so as to discharge the sheet bundle after the staple processing.
By controlling 07, the slide guide R302 and the slide guide L301 are moved to the outside, and as shown in FIG. 6B, the sheet bundle is dropped to the second sheet stacking unit 325 and discharged.

(Horizontal Direction Printing Operation) The following is the horizontal direction printing operation from step S2208 to step S2209.
Will be described.

In step S2208, in order to print the image (GHI) of the third page, the first sheet S1 is fed from the feeding cassette 200, and the image forming unit 101 forms an image on the sheet S1. . Specifically, in the printer body 100, on the surface of the sheet S1, the image forming unit 101 that forms a toner image on the sheet by a so-called laser beam image forming process is performed on the third page image in the direction shown in FIG. A certain GHI (sheet1
Surface) is printed. This printing is performed by the image forming unit 101.
The state is seen from above (arrow A). The arrow indicates the conveyance direction during printing, and the round dotted line indicates the position where the sheet post-processing is performed. In this printing, the sheet post-processing position is located at the upper left of the image orientation. The sheet S1 is subjected to heat and pressure by the fixing device 120 on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the image forming unit 101,
The toner image is permanently fixed.

In step S2209, part of the sheet S1 on which the toner image is fixed is discharged to the FD discharge portion 125 by the discharge roller 130 of the printer main body 100, and then the flapper 135 rotates in the clockwise direction. The path is switched to the double-sided conveyance path 250, and the discharge roller 13
When 0 is reversed, it is transported to the double-sided transport path 250. The sheet is fed to the sheet re-feeding roller 210, and the surface opposite to the printing surface on which printing has been performed becomes the upper surface, and the sheet passes through the image forming unit 101 again. At this time, nothing is printed.

The flappers 135 and 150 move counterclockwise to a position where the sheet can be conveyed to the sheet post-processing apparatus 300, and the sheet S1 is fed to the sheet post-processing apparatus 300.
Be transported to.

In the sheet post-processing apparatus 300, the first sheet S1 is aligned in the state where the printing surface printed with DEF is the upper surface in the intermediate stacking section, as in the method described above.

In step S2210, the second sheet S2 is fed from the feeding cassette 200, and the image forming section 101 forms an image on the sheet S2. Specifically, in the printer body 100 on the surface of the sheet S2, the image forming unit 101 that forms a toner image by a so-called laser beam type image forming process is the first page of the ABC ( sheet2
Surface) is printed.

This print is shown as viewed from above the image forming unit 101 (arrow A). The arrow indicates the conveyance direction during printing, and the round dotted line indicates the position where the sheet post-processing is performed. In this printing, the sheet post-processing position is located at the upper left of the image orientation. The sheet S2 is the fixing device 1 on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the image forming unit 101.
By applying heat and pressure at 20, the toner image is permanently fixed.

In step S2211, the part of the fixed sheet S2 is ejected to the FD ejecting section 125 by the ejecting roller 130 of the printer body 100, and then the flapper 135 rotates clockwise to form the sheet path. It is conveyed to the double-sided conveyance path 250 by switching to the double-sided conveyance path 250 and reversing the discharge roller 130.

In step S2212, the sheet S2
Is fed to the re-feeding roller 210, the surface opposite to the printing surface printed earlier becomes the upper surface, passes through the image forming unit 101 again, and is the image of the second page DEF (sheet1).
23) is printed in the orientation shown in FIG. The round dotted line indicates the position where the sheet post-treatment is performed. In this printing, the sheet post-processing position is located at the lower left of the image orientation.

The flappers 135 and 150 move counterclockwise to a position where the sheet S2 can be conveyed to the sheet post-processing apparatus 300, and the sheet S is transferred to the sheet post-processing apparatus 30.
Transported to 0.

In the sheet post-processing apparatus 300, the second sheet S2 is aligned in the state where the printing surface on which ABC is printed is the upper surface in the intermediate stacking portion, as in the method described above.

The following steps S1915 and S1916
Then, the stapling process is executed in the same manner as in the case of the vertical printing operation described above. Specifically, a small stapler H located on the right side of the rear end of the sheet bundle conveys the sheet (discharging direction).
The position on the right side of the rear end is stapled, but the difference from the case of the longitudinal printing operation is that the direction of the staple is as shown in FIG.
As shown in, the needle penetrates from below, that is, from the back surface of the first sheet S1 and is bent at the front surface of the second sheet to be bound.

When the stapling operation is completed in this way, as shown in FIG. 7C, the arm 330c rotates clockwise to move the paper discharge upper roller 330a pivotally supported by the arm 330c downward. Then, at the same time when the discharge roller pair 330 becomes the first state in which the sheet can be discharged, the discharge roller pair 330 is driven to drive the upper discharge roller 330a.
Then, the rotation of the lower discharge roller 330b is started. As a result, the sheet bundle S is nipped by the pair of discharge rollers 330 and conveyed onto the first stacking unit 300B formed by the slide guides 301 and 302.

After that, when the sheet bundle S is completely discharged from the paper discharge roller pair 330, the jogger motor 20
When 7 is rotationally driven, the slide guide 302 moves in the expanding direction from the state shown in FIG. 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 312a of the slide rack 312 is moved to the square hole portion 3 of the slide guide 301.
The slide guide 301 is brought into contact with the end face of 10a, and
Start moving to the right side of both slide guides 301, 30
2 moves.

Further, 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 FIG. The sheets are stacked on the sheet stacking unit 325. The above is the printer body 1 according to the third embodiment.
00 and the sheet processing apparatus 300, and a series of operations. The sheet bundle subjected to the stapling processing after the image is formed by the lateral printing is in the binding state as shown in FIG. The orientation of the staples is different from that in the case of vertical printing, and the surface on which the staples are bent becomes the front surface.

In the third embodiment, an example in which an image for three pages is printed on both sides of two sheets has been described, but the number of pages of the image can be set arbitrarily as long as it is an odd number of pages. The operation when the number of pages of the image to be printed is N is shown in Table 3 in FIG. In Table 2, N represents the number of pages of the image to be printed, and n represents the nth sheet to be printed. As in the case of printing images for four pages, the image output order is different for vertical printing and horizontal printing, and the first sheet to be fed is printed for horizontal printing. By inverting and outputting the image without forming the image on the back side, the page order in the sheet bundle after the stapling process becomes the same as that in the case of vertical printing.

As described above, according to the third embodiment, double-sided printing is performed in the image forming apparatus having the sheet post-processing means capable of performing the post-processing on the sheet at a predetermined position. Therefore, when printing an image with an odd number of pages, the output order of the pages to be printed depending on whether the image print direction on the sheet is set to the vertical direction or when the image print direction on the sheet is set to the vertical direction. Differently, and in the case of horizontal printing, the sheet is fed in the reverse direction without forming an image on the back side of the first sheet to be fed, and then output. An image forming apparatus that outputs a sheet bundle that is easy for the user to use, has a fixed position (for example, the upper left corner with respect to the image of the first page) as a staple position. It is possible.

(Fourth Embodiment) The staples may be arranged on the opposite side to the positions in the first to third embodiments. In the first to third embodiments, the right rear end of the intermediate stacking unit of the sheet post-processing apparatus is arranged (see FIG. 4), whereas in the fourth embodiment it is arranged at the left rear end of the intermediate stacking unit. By doing so, the configuration is suitable when the frequency of horizontal printing is high.

That is, in the first to third embodiments,
Since the stapler H is frequently output in the vertical direction print, the installation position of the stapler H is determined so that the upper left corner of the sheet can be bound. However, when the stapler H is frequently output in the horizontal direction print, By changing the arrangement position, it is possible to suppress the decrease in throughput due to the sheet reversing operation in the case of horizontal printing. With this configuration, sheet reversal operation is required in the case of vertical printing operation (in the case of single-sided printing and double-sided printing (odd page), one page is printed even though only one side is printed). Throughput decreases (the sheet inversion operation is required), but by changing the image output order between the vertical direction printing and the horizontal direction printing as in the first to third embodiments,
A certain position with respect to the image formed on the sheet (for example,
The staple position can be the upper left corner).
Needless to say, this makes it possible to output a sheet bundle that is easy for the user to use.

Although the first to fourth embodiments have been described above, the sheet post-processing device 300 is not limited to the one provided above the printer body 100 as in the first to fourth embodiments. It may be provided on the side of the printer body 100. Further, the double-sided conveyance means is the printer main body 100 in advance.
May be provided in the printer main body 100 or may be detachably attached to the printer main body 100 as an option. In addition,
If the double-sided conveyance means is configured to be detachable, whether or not the detached state is detected by the engine controller 203 or the like and the control operation in the first to third embodiments is performed according to the detection result. May be determined.

[0173]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the image forming apparatus having the sheet post-processing means capable of performing the post-processing on the sheet at a predetermined position, the printing direction on the sheet is the first. If the direction is set, the sheet is reversed by the double-sided conveying means, and post-processing is performed at a predetermined position of the sheet by the sheet post-processing means. When the image printing direction on the sheet is set to the second direction, Since the sheet post-processing means controls the post-processing at a predetermined position of the sheet without reversing the sheet by the double-sided conveying means, the constant position in the printing direction of the sheet is maintained regardless of the printing direction of the image on the sheet. It is possible to provide an image forming apparatus and a control method for the image forming apparatus, which output a sheet bundle that is easy for the user to use at the sheet post-processing position.

Further, when double-sided printing is performed in an image forming apparatus having a sheet post-processing means capable of performing post-processing on a sheet at a predetermined position and even-numbered page images are printed, Printing the image on the sheet by changing the output order of the pages to be printed depending on whether the image printing direction is set to the first direction or the image printing direction to the sheet is set to the second direction. It is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that outputs a sheet bundle that is easy for the user to use, and a method of controlling the image forming apparatus, in which a fixed position with respect to the printing direction of the sheet is set as the sheet post-processing position regardless of the direction.

Further, when double-sided printing is performed by an image forming apparatus having a sheet post-processing means capable of performing post-processing on a sheet at a predetermined position, and an image of an odd number of pages is printed, the sheet The output order of pages to be printed is different depending on whether the image printing direction for the sheet is set to the first direction and the image printing direction for the sheet is set to the second direction, and the printing direction is set to the first direction. When it is set in the direction of, the image is not reversed on the back side of the first sheet to be fed, and the image is inverted before output, so that the sheet is printed in the same direction regardless of the printing direction of the image. It is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that outputs a sheet bundle that is easy for the user to use, and a control method for the image forming apparatus, in which a certain position is set as the sheet post-processing position.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a printer equipped with a sheet post-processing device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of a sheet post-processing device and a printer main body.

FIG. 3 is a sheet post-processing device 300 and a printer body 100.
FIG.

FIG. 4 is a view of the sheet post-processing apparatus 300 shown in FIG.
It is an A'section.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the sheet post-processing device 300 for explaining the operation of the slide guide.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a sheet post-processing device 300 for explaining an operation of ejecting a sheet from a slide guide.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a conveyance state of a sheet S in the sheet post-processing device 300.

8 is a partially enlarged view of the sheet post-processing device 300. FIG.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between a printing state of a sheet S and a stapling position.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the printing state of the sheets stacked on the first sheet stacking unit of the sheet post-processing device 300 and the stapling position.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an operation according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a conveyance state of the sheet S when passing through the image forming unit 101.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a conveyance state of the sheet S at the time of reversing operation.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a conveyance state when the sheet S passes through a double-sided conveyance path.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a conveyance state of the sheet S after passing through a double-sided conveyance path.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a conveyance state when the sheet S is discharged to the sheet post-processing device 300.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a printing state of a sheet S according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a sheet bundle after stapling processing according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating an operation according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a printing state of a sheet S according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a sheet bundle after stapling processing according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating an operation according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a printing state of a sheet S according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a sheet bundle after stapling processing according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an operation when printing an image for N pages.

[Explanation of symbols] 100 Printer body 100A device body 130 discharge roller (sheet conveying means) 121 Conveyor motor 122 Main motor 135 flapper (switching means) 150 flapper (switching means) 200 feeding cassettes 201 video controller 202 communication interface 203 engine controller 204 sheet post-processing device control unit 207 Jogger motor 208 drive motor 250 double-sided conveying path 300 sheet post-processing equipment 300A device body (casing part) 300B First sheet stacking unit 301 Slide guide R (alignment means, guide member) 302 Slide guide L (alignment means, guide member) 320 Staple roller pair 325 Second sheet stacking unit 330 Paper ejection roller pair S sheet H stapler N staples

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G03G 15/00 518 G03G 15/00 518 534 534 F term (reference) 2H027 ED19 ED29 EE07 FA13 FA21 FA30 FA35 FD08 2H028 BA02 BA06 BA09 BB02 BB04 BB06 BD03 2H072 BA12 CB01 GA08 3F100 AA01 CA12 CA15 EA03 3F108 GA01 HA02 HA43

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. In an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet, a double-sided conveying unit for reversing the sheet on which the image is formed, and a sheet rear which can perform post-processing on the image formed sheet at a predetermined position. A processing means; a printing direction setting means for setting the printing direction of the image to the first direction or a second direction orthogonal to the first direction; and the printing direction setting means for setting the first direction or the second direction. A print order setting unit that sets a print order of images of a plurality of pages related to image formation according to which is set; and when the first direction is set by the print direction setting unit, the double-sided conveyance unit sets the sheet After the sheet is reversed, the sheet post-processing means performs post-processing on the predetermined position of the sheet, and when the printing direction setting means sets the second direction, the double-sided conveyance means And control means for controlling so as to perform post-processing to the predetermined position of the sheet by the sheet post-processing means without Ri reversing the sheet,
An image forming apparatus comprising: 2. A sheet stacking unit for stacking the sheets, wherein the printing order setting unit sets the last page of the images of the plurality of pages when the first direction is set by the printing direction setting unit. Printing is performed on the first sheet fed from the sheet stacking unit, and the second sheet is printed by the printing direction setting unit.
2. When the direction is set, the printing order is set so that the first page of the images of the plurality of pages is printed on the first sheet fed from the sheet stacking unit. Image forming device. 3. A sheet stacking unit for stacking the sheets, wherein the printing order setting unit starts from the last page of the images of the plurality of pages when the first direction is set by the printing direction setting unit. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein printing is performed in reverse order, and when the second direction is set by the printing direction setting unit, printing is performed in order from the first page of the images of the plurality of pages. . 4. An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet, wherein double-sided conveying means for reversing the front and back of the image-formed sheet and post-processing can be performed on the image-formed sheet at a predetermined position. When the sheet post-processing means and the print setting means for setting the image printing order and the printing direction are provided, and the post-processing is performed at the predetermined position of the sheet after printing on both sides of the plurality of sheets, the print setting is performed. The printing order is such that the means prints the last page of images of a plurality of pages related to image formation on a sheet to be fed first, and prints the first page of the images of the plurality of pages to a sheet to be fed last. And setting the printing direction such that the predetermined position where the sheet post-processing means performs post-processing is a different position on the front surface of the sheet and the back surface of the sheet. That the image forming apparatus. 5. The print setting unit sets a print direction with respect to the front surface of the sheet so that the predetermined position is at the upper left of the image formed on the front surface of the sheet, and is formed on the back surface of the sheet. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the printing direction with respect to the back surface of the sheet is set so that the predetermined position is lower left with respect to the image. 6. An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet, an image forming section for forming an image on the sheet based on image information, and a print direction setting means for setting a print direction of the image information on the sheet, Determination means for determining whether the image information is image information related to double-sided printing or image information related to single-sided printing, and the sheet on which the image is formed in the image forming section is reversed and conveyed to the image forming section. A double-sided conveyance unit, a sheet post-processing unit that is provided at a predetermined position and performs a predetermined post-process on a plurality of sheets on which images are formed in the image forming unit, and a control unit that controls the image forming apparatus. In the case where the determining unit determines that the image information is image information related to single-sided printing, the control unit controls the image information by the print direction setting unit. When the printing direction for the sheet is set to the first direction, the predetermined post-processing is performed by the sheet post-processing unit after the double-sided conveyance unit reverses the plurality of sheets, and the printing direction setting unit is set. When the printing direction of the image information for the sheet is set to the second direction by the double-sided conveying means, the predetermined post-processing by the sheet post-processing means is executed without inverting the plurality of sheets. An image forming apparatus characterized by controlling. 7. The control means, when the printing direction of the image information on the sheet is set to the first direction by the printing direction setting means, the control means displays an image on the plurality of sheets reversed by the double-sided conveying means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the image forming unit is controlled so as not to form an image. 8. A print order setting means for setting a print order of the image information of a plurality of pages on the sheet, wherein the print order setting means includes the print direction setting means for setting the print direction for the sheet. 8. The image according to claim 7, wherein the printing order is set so that the order of the image information printed on the sheet is different depending on the setting in the first direction and the setting in the second direction. Forming equipment. 9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the sheet post-processing unit performs the predetermined post-processing at a fixed position in the printing direction of the image information on the sheet. 10. A control method of an image forming apparatus having a sheet post-processing unit capable of performing post-processing on a sheet on which an image has been formed, at a predetermined position, wherein N is a conveyance direction of the sheet on one side of the sheet as a printing direction.
(N is an integer) When printing images for pages, the surface of the sheet to be fed to the n (1 ≦ n ≦ N) th sheet so that the position where the post-processing is performed on the sheet is the predetermined position. A printing step of printing an image of N−n + 1 page, a reverse discharging step of discharging the sheet to the sheet stacking unit of the sheet post-processing means after inverting the sheet, and whether or not the Nth sheet is fed. And a sheet post-processing step of performing post-processing on the N sheets printed with the image after it is determined that the N-th sheet has been fed in the determination step. A control method of a characteristic image forming apparatus. 11. A control method of an image forming apparatus having a sheet post-processing means capable of performing post-processing on a sheet on which an image has been formed at a predetermined position, wherein N is a conveyance direction of the sheet on both sides of the sheet and a printing direction is N.
When printing an image of (N is an even number) pages, a sheet to be fed to the n (1 ≦ n ≦ N / 2) th sheet so that the position where the post-processing is performed on the sheet becomes the predetermined position. The (N-2n) +1 page image is printed on the front side of the sheet, and the n-th sheet is fed so that the position where the sheet is post-processed is the predetermined position different from the front side printing step. A back side printing step of printing an image of (N-2n) + second page on the back side of the sheet to be printed, a judgment step of judging whether the N / 2th sheet has been fed, and N steps in the judgment step. A sheet post-processing step of performing post-processing on N / 2 sheets on which an image has been printed after it is determined that the first sheet has been fed, and a control method for an image forming apparatus. 12. A control method of an image forming apparatus having a sheet post-processing unit capable of performing post-processing on a sheet having an image formed thereon at a predetermined position, wherein N is a conveyance direction of the sheet on both sides of the sheet and a printing direction is N.
When printing an image for (N is an odd number) pages, feed the n (1 ≦ n ≦ (N + 1) / 2) th sheet so that the position where the post-processing is performed on the sheet is the predetermined position. The (N-2n) + 2nd page image is printed on the front surface of the sheet to be printed, and the n-th sheet is set so that the position where the post-processing is performed on the sheet is the predetermined position different from the front surface printing step. A back side printing step of printing an image of the (N-2n) + third page on the back side of the sheet fed to the sheet, and a step of judging whether or not the (N + 1) / 2th sheet is fed. The image is printed N / 2 after it is determined in the determination step that the (N + 1) / 2th sheet has been fed.
And a sheet post-processing step of performing post-processing on one sheet, wherein the back side printing step does not form an image on the first sheet to be fed. 13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet post-processing means is staple. 14. The method of controlling an image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the sheet post-processing means is staple.