JP2004010257A - Paper post processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily load a cover or paper on a paper feeding plate of a cover and paper feeding part installed in an upper part of a post processing device when a wheelchaired person, a physically handicapped person or a person who works being seated on a chair to make a lot of copies uses the post processing device. <P>SOLUTION: This paper post processing device is provided with a fixed guiding part 51B having a width interval W2 larger than the width W1 of a cover K of the maximum size mounted on a paper feeding plate 51 of a cover and paper feeding part 50, a cross direction alignment plate 36 positioning a width direction of paper S loaded on a paper loading base 35, a driving means movably driving the cross direction alignment plate 36, and a control means 90 controlling the driving means. When the cover K is introduced onto the paper loading base 35, the control means 90 controls the cross direction alignment plate 36 to move to a standby position of the interval W3 set wider than the width interval W2 of the fixed guiding part 51B. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention sequentially takes in recording paper discharged after image formation from an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, and a multifunction peripheral having these functions into a paper post-processing apparatus, and applies the recording paper to the recording paper. The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing device that performs post-processing such as a binding process and conveys a cover sheet stored in a cover sheet feeding unit onto a sheet mounting table.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art A sheet post-processing apparatus has been conventionally known in which a plurality of image-recorded sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus are collated and bound by a binding unit for each number of copies.
[0003]
The sheet post-processing apparatus is connected in function to an image forming apparatus main body such as a copying machine or a printer, and is driven in response to a sequence operation of a copy or print process.
[0004]
In a conventional sheet post-processing apparatus having a cover sheet feeding section, a movable width matching plate for regulating the width direction of cover sheets of various sizes placed on a sheet feeding table of the cover sheet feeding section is arranged. . When setting cover paper of various sizes on the paper feed tray, first spread the alignment plates on both sides or one of the alignment plates to a position wider than the paper width, and then put the cover paper between the alignment plates on the paper feed tray. And the alignment plate is manually operated to abut against the side edge of the cover sheet in the width direction to perform positioning.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The cover sheet feeding unit is disposed above the sheet post-processing device so that the cover sheet is inserted and the width is adjusted while a normal-height person is standing.
[0006]
The cover paper feed unit located above the paper post-processing device when the paper post-processing device is used by people in wheelchairs, persons with physical disabilities, or those who work while sitting on a chair to perform a large amount of copying work. In this case, it was difficult to perform a width matching operation.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The above problems are solved by the following paper post-processing device.
[0008]
The cover sheet accommodated in the cover sheet feeding unit arranged at the top of the sheet post-processing device is transported onto the sheet placing table, and the recording sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus are stacked and aligned on the sheet placing table. In the sheet post-processing apparatus for performing post-processing, a fixed guide unit having a width interval wider than a width of a cover sheet of the maximum size placed on a sheet tray of the cover sheet feeding unit, and the sheet guide unit is loaded on the sheet placement table. A width adjusting plate for positioning the width direction of the sheet to be moved, a driving unit for movably driving the width aligning plate, a control unit for controlling the driving unit, and the cover sheet is placed on the sheet placing table. The paper post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the width adjusting plate to be moved to a standby position having a wider interval than the width of the fixed guide unit.
[0009]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Next, an embodiment of a sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0010]
[Image forming apparatus]
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image forming system including an image forming apparatus A, an image reading apparatus B, and a sheet post-processing apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as a post-processing apparatus) C. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the image forming system.
[0011]
The image forming apparatus A is an image forming apparatus in which a charging unit 2, an image exposing unit (writing unit) 3, a developing unit 4, a transferring unit 5A, a discharging unit 5B, and a cleaning unit 6 are arranged around a rotating image carrier 1. Having means. The image forming unit uniformly charges the surface of the image carrier 1 by the charging unit 2, and forms a latent image by performing exposure scanning based on image data read from a document by the laser beam of the image exposing unit 3. Then, the latent image is reversely developed by the developing means 4 to form a toner image on the surface of the image carrier 1.
[0012]
The recording paper (hereinafter, referred to as paper) S fed from the paper storage unit 7A is sent to the transfer position. At the transfer position, the toner image is transferred onto the sheet S by the transfer unit 5A. Thereafter, the paper S is erased from the image carrier 1 by removing the electric charge on the back surface by the charge removing means 5B, transported by the transport unit 7B, subsequently heated and fixed by the fixing means 8, and discharged from the paper discharge roller 7C.
[0013]
When performing image formation on both sides of the sheet S, the sheet S heated and fixed by the fixing unit 8 is branched from the normal sheet discharge path by the transfer path switching plate 7D, and is switched back in the reversing transfer unit 7E to turn the sheet S up and down. After reversing, the sheet S passes through the image forming section again, forms an image on the back surface of the sheet S, and is discharged from the sheet discharging roller 7C to the outside of the apparatus via the fixing unit 8. The sheet S discharged from the discharge roller 7C is sent to the receiving unit 11 of the post-processing device C.
[0014]
The developer remaining on the surface of the image carrier 1 after the image processing by the image processing is removed by the cleaning unit 6 to prepare for the next image formation.
[0015]
Above the image forming apparatus A, an image reading apparatus B provided with an automatic document feeder of a document moving type reading system is installed.
[0016]
On the upper front side of the image forming apparatus A, an operation unit 9 for selecting and setting an image forming mode and a post-processing mode such as flat stitching and saddle stitching is arranged.
[0017]
[Post-processing device]
The post-processing apparatus C connected to the image forming apparatus A includes an entrance transport unit 10, a shift processing unit 20, a binding processing unit 30, a binding unit (staple unit) 40, a cover sheet feeding unit 50, a center folding processing unit 60, and a discharge unit. And a paper unit 70.
[0018]
The entrance transport unit 10 transports the sheet S discharged from the image forming apparatus A to each processing unit. The shift processing section 20 sorts the sheet S conveyed from the entrance conveyance section 10 into shift processing and discharges the sheet S to an elevating sheet discharge table 72 described later. The binding processing unit 30 stacks the sheets S transported from the entrance transport unit 10 and performs saddle binding processing or flat binding processing by a binding unit 40 described below. The center folding processing section 60 folds the central portion of the sheet S in the sheet transport direction to perform a center folding process, and discharges the sheet S to a lower discharge tray 73 described later. The cover sheet feeding unit 50 feeds a cover sheet (hereinafter, referred to as a cover sheet) K and conveys it to the shift processing unit 20 or the binding processing unit 30.
[0019]
The paper discharge unit 70 includes an upper paper discharge table 71 that directly discharges and stores the paper S discharged from the image forming apparatus A via the entrance transport unit 10 without performing post-processing, and performs a shift process or a flat binding process. It has an elevating sheet discharge table 72 for storing the folded sheet bundle Sa and a lower sheet discharge table 73 for storing the half-folded sheet bundle Sa.
[0020]
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a paper transport path of the post-processing device C.
[0021]
The post-processing apparatus C is installed with its position and height adjusted so that the receiving section 11 of the sheet S carried out from the image forming apparatus A matches the sheet discharge roller 7C of the image forming apparatus A.
[0022]
The transport path of the sheet S connected downstream of the inlet roller 12 of the receiving unit 11 in the sheet transport direction includes a first transport path (1) in the upper stage, a second transport path (2) in the middle stage, and a third transport route in the lower stage. The paper S is fed to any one of the transport paths by selecting the angle occupied by the switching means G1 and G2.
[0023]
The image-formed sheet S discharged from the discharged image forming apparatus A to the upper discharge tray 71 is introduced into the receiving unit 11, conveyed by the entrance roller 12, and supplied to the upper first switching unit G 1. After passing through the right passage 13, it is pinched and conveyed by the upper conveying roller pair 14, further pinched and conveyed by the conveying roller 15, and then pinched by the paper discharging roller 16 to be an upper paper discharging table at the upper outside of the machine. The sheets are discharged onto the stack 71 and sequentially stacked (first transfer path (1)).
[0024]
In this sheet transporting process, the switching means G1 is swung by the driving of the solenoid SD1, closing the passage 17 and opening the passage 13 to allow the paper S to pass through to the upper discharge tray 71.
[0025]
The upper discharge tray 71 can store up to about 200 sheets S, and the operator can easily take it out from the upper part of the post-processing device C.
[0026]
Shift processing or non-sort When this transport mode is set, the switching means G1 closes the passage 13 and keeps the passage 17 open so that the paper S can pass through the passage 17 with the solenoid SD1 turned off. To
[0027]
The image-formed sheet S discharged from the image forming apparatus A passes through the receiving unit 11 and the entrance roller 12, passes through a passage 17 formed below the switching unit G 1 in an open state, and is conveyed by a transport roller 18. And passes through a passage 21 above a second switching means G2, which is a diagonally lower part of the second conveyance path (2), is nipped by a conveyance roller 22, passes through a path 23, and is conveyed by a conveyance roller (shift roller). ) 24, and is discharged and placed on the elevating discharge table 72 outside the apparatus by the discharge rollers 26 (second transport path {circle around (2)}).
[0028]
The elevating sheet discharge table 72 can accommodate a maximum of about 3000 sheets S.
[0029]
The image-formed paper S that has been subjected to the image forming processing in the side binding processing image forming apparatus A and sent to the receiving unit 11 of the post-processing apparatus C is located below the entrance roller 12 and the first switching unit G1. After passing through the passage 17, the sheet is nipped by the conveying rollers 18 and conveyed to the third conveying path (3).
[0030]
In the third transport path {circle around (3)}, the sheet S passes through a path 31 below the switching means G2, and is nipped and transported by downstream transport rollers 32. The sheet S is pinched and sent out by the transport rollers 34 further downstream, discharged to the space above the first sheet mounting table (sheet mounting table) 35 that is inclined, and is discharged to the first sheet mounting table 35 or the first sheet mounting table 35. After the sheet S loaded on the table 35 comes into contact with the upper surface of the sheet S and slides up, the trailing end portion of the sheet S in the traveling direction is discharged from the transport roller 34, and then the sheet S descends due to its own weight. The sheet S slides down on the inclined surface of the sheet mounting table 35, and the leading end of the sheet S in the traveling direction abuts on the sheet abutting surface of the flat stapling abutting member 41 near the binding means 40 and stops.
[0031]
At this stop position, a predetermined number of sheets S are stacked on the first sheet placement table 35, width-aligned by the width alignment plate 36, and the sheet bundle Sa is bound by the binding means 40.
[0032]
The binding means 40 includes a stapling mechanism 40A positioned on the lower surface side of the paper S stacked on the first paper mounting table 35 and driving the binding staple SP, and a staple holder positioned on the upper surface side of the paper S and bending the binding staple SP. It has a two-part structure with the mechanism part 40B, and forms a passage 42 through which the sheet S can pass in the middle.
[0033]
The sheet bundle Sa bound by the binding means 40 slides on the placing surface of the first sheet placing table 35 while the rear end portion of the sheet bundle Sa is held by the discharge claw 38a of the discharge belt 38, and is slantingly upward. The sheet is nipped by the rotating sheet discharging roller 26 and discharged onto the elevating sheet discharging table 72 to be stacked.
[0034]
FIG. 4A is a plan view of a flat stapled sheet S in which binding needles SP are stapled at two places in the center near the end face of the sheet S, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the edge binding paper S on which a binding staple SP is stapled.
[0035]
Cover Sheet Feeding The cover sheet feeding section 50 includes a cover sheet placing section including a sheet feeding tray 51 and an elevating bottom plate 52, and a cover feeding section including a feeding roller 53 and a double feeding prevention feeding roller 54.
[0036]
The cover sheet K placed on the sheet feeding tray 51 and the elevating bottom plate 52 of the cover sheet feeding section 50 is fed one by one by a cover sheet feeding means including a feeding roller 53 and a double feeding prevention feeding roller 54. The cover K passes through the path 55 of the fourth transport path (4), passes through the holding position of the transport roller pair 14, passes through the path 19 and the transport roller 18, and then passes through the third transport path (3). Through the path 31, the transport roller 32, the path 33, and the transport roller 34, the light reaches the first sheet mounting table 35.
[0037]
When the saddle stitching mode is set, the abutment member 41 for flat stitching near the stapling position of the stapling means 40 is retracted from the fifth transport path {circle around (5)}. The abutment member 43 is activated to shut off the passage 42.
[0038]
The saddle stitching butting member 43 moves to a predetermined position corresponding to the set size (length in the transport direction) of the sheet S and stops.
[0039]
After the final sheet S is positioned and placed on the first sheet placing table 35, the saddle stitching process by the binding means 40 is performed on the sheet bundle Sa. By this saddle stitching process, the binding staple SP is driven into the center of the sheet S in the transport direction.
[0040]
FIG. 4C is a plan view of the saddle stitched sheet S in which the binding needles SP are stapled at two places in the center of the sheet S in the longitudinal direction.
[0041]
After the saddle stitching process, the saddle stitching abutment member 43 swings to open a passage downstream of the passage 42. The saddle-stitched sheet bundle Sa passes through the curved path and the intermediate conveyance roller 61, is conveyed by being guided by the guide plate 63 on the conveyance belt 62 obliquely below, and further on the second sheet placement table 64. , The leading end of the sheet bundle Sa in the transport direction comes into contact with the movable abutting means 65, and stops at a predetermined position (sixth transport path (6)).
[0042]
A sheet ejecting unit 66 is provided at the center of the stopped sheet bundle Sa in the transport direction, that is, diagonally below the saddle stitching position. A center folding roller 67 and a pressure roller 68 are installed diagonally above the saddle stitching position.
[0043]
In response to the center-folding start signal, the sheet protruding means 66 pushes and spreads the sandwiching portion of the center-folding roller 67 that is driven and rotated via the sheet bundle Sa to form a fold at the center of the sheet bundle Sa. The central portion of the sheet bundle Sa on which the fold has been formed is further strongly pressed at the holding position of the pressure roller 68 to reinforce the fold, and then is discharged onto the lower discharge tray 73 outside the machine.
[0044]
FIG. 4D is a perspective view of a booklet created by performing post-processing of saddle stitching and folding in a sheet bundle Sa including a sheet S and a cover sheet K.
[0045]
[Paper tray of cover paper feeder]
FIG. 5 is a plan view of the cover sheet feeding unit 50.
[0046]
An abutting portion 51A is provided upright at the front end of the sheet feeding tray 51 on which the cover K is placed in the cover sheet feeding direction.
[0047]
Fixed guide portions 51B are provided upright at both ends in the sheet width direction orthogonal to the cover sheet feeding direction of the sheet feeding tray 51. The fixed guide portions 51B are arranged in parallel at two positions on the near side and the far side. The width interval W2 in the width direction between the two parallel planes of the fixed guide portion 51B is formed to be larger than the width W1 of the cover K having the maximum size (W2> W1). For example, in the case of the cover sheet feeding unit 50 that allows the A3 size cover K to be placed, the width interval W2 of the fixed guide unit 51B is formed to be larger than the A3 size width 297 mm, for example, about 350 mm. . Therefore, the width interval W2 between the two parallel planes of the fixed guide portion 51B has a sufficient margin for receiving the cover K of the maximum size.
[0048]
The operator places the cover K on the sheet feeding tray 51 and the elevating bottom plate 52, and abuts the front end of the cover K against the butting portion 51A to align the front end. Since the conventional width matching plate that regulates the width direction of the cover K is not provided, the width matching plate is expanded to be wider than the width dimension of the cover K in advance, and the cover K is placed on the cover K. This eliminates the need for an operation for performing the width matching. The operator only has to place the cover K between the two parallel planes of the fixed guide portion 51B formed with a margin, and the cover K can be easily placed on the paper feed tray 51.
[0049]
Therefore, when used by a person in a wheelchair, a physically handicapped person, or a person who works while sitting on a chair to perform a large amount of copying work, the cover K is attached to the cover sheet feeding unit 50 disposed above the post-processing device C. Can be placed easily.
[0050]
[Sheet width adjustment in binding section]
FIG. 6 is a plan view of the binding processing unit 30. FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating control of the post-processing device C.
[0051]
The binding processing section 30 is composed of two sets of binding means 40A and a needle receiving mechanism 40B, which are vertically separated through a passage 42 that allows the paper S and the cover K to pass during the saddle binding processing. And an upstream width matching plate 36 and a downstream width matching plate 44 for aligning the sheet width direction in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction, and a flat binding abutment member 41 for regulating the leading end of the sheet in the sheet conveying direction. 3 and a first sheet placement table 35 on which a sheet bundle Sa to be subjected to the edge binding process and the saddle binding process is placed (FIG. 3). reference).
[0052]
6, the motor M1 rotates the two discharge belts 38, the motor M2 moves the two width matching plates 36 on the upstream side, and the motor M3 controls the two binding units 40. The motor M4 moves the two width matching plates 44 on the downstream side. The flat-stitching butting member 41 and the saddle-stitching butting member 43 are driven by a motor (not shown) so as to be swingable, so that the leading end of the sheet S can be positioned and the sheet S can pass through.
[0053]
The interval W3 between the standby positions of the upstream width matching plate 36 and the downstream width matching plate 44 is set wider than the width interval W2 of the fixed guide portion 51B of the cover sheet feeding unit 50. Therefore, the width W1 of the cover sheet K of the maximum size is set so that W1 <W2 <W3 in the cover sheet feeding unit 50 and the binding processing unit 30.
[0054]
When the flat binding process is set in the operation unit 9, the cover sheet K placed on the sheet tray 51 of the cover sheet feeding unit 50 is transported by the cover feeding unit and the transport unit, and the first sheet loading table 35 is set. The sheet S is placed on the top, and the leading end of the sheet S in the traveling direction comes into contact with the flat binding abutment member 41 and stops. Before the cover K enters the first sheet mounting table 35, the width alignment plate 36 waits at the standby position at the interval W3 to receive the cover K.
[0055]
The control means 90 drives the width matching plate 36 by the motor M2 each time the cover K is placed on the first paper placing table 35, moves the width matching plate 36 to the center in the width direction of the cover K, and The width is adjusted by pressing the portion. After a predetermined number of sheets S are stacked on the first sheet mounting table 35 and width-aligned, the sheet bundle Sa is subjected to flat binding by the binding unit 40.
[0056]
When the saddle stitching process is set in the operation unit 9, the cover sheet K placed on the sheet feeding tray 51 of the cover sheet feeding unit 50 is transported by the cover feeding unit and the transport unit, and the first sheet loading table 35 is set. The leading end of the sheet S in the traveling direction abuts on the saddle stitching abutting member 43 and stops. Before the cover K enters the first sheet mounting table 35, the width alignment plates 36 and 44 wait at the standby position at the interval W3 to receive the cover K.
[0057]
The control unit 90 drives the upstream width matching plate 36 by the motor M2 and drives the downstream width matching plate 44 by the motor M4 every time the cover sheet K is placed on the first paper placing table 35. The width matching plates 36 and 44 move toward the center of the cover K in the width direction, respectively, and press both side edges of the cover K to perform width matching. After a predetermined number of sheets S are stacked on the first sheet mounting table 35 and width-aligned, the sheet bundle Sa is saddle-stitched by the binding means 40.
[0058]
Note that the post-processing apparatus C can also place an insert sheet on the cover sheet feeding unit 50 and insert the sheet between a plurality of sheets S or OHP sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus A. Also in this insert sheet insertion mode, the operator can easily place the sheet on the sheet tray 51 by setting W1 <W2 <W3 in the cover sheet feeding unit 50 and the binding processing unit 30. be able to.
[0059]
Further, the post-processing apparatus C can also place a sheet other than the sheet S directly discharged from the image forming apparatus A on the cover sheet feeding unit 50 and execute the binding processing and the folding processing offline. . Also in this off-line processing, the operator can easily place the paper on the paper feed tray 51 by setting W1 <W2 <W3 in the cover paper feed unit 50 and the binding processing unit 30. it can.
[0060]
The width alignment plates 36 and 44 are not limited to a post-processing device that performs width alignment on the first paper mounting table 35 on the basis of a center, but can be applied to a post-processing device that performs width alignment on the one-side reference. is there.
[0061]
In the embodiment of the present invention, the post-processing apparatus C connected to a copying machine is shown, but the present invention can also be applied to a post-processing apparatus connected to an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a facsimile or a light printing machine. It is.
[0062]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the following excellent effects can be obtained by the post-processing apparatus of the present invention.
[0063]
When a post-processing device is used by a person in a wheelchair, a physically handicapped person, or a person who works while sitting on a chair to perform a large amount of copying work, the cover paper feed unit installed above the post-processing device Post-processing can be performed simply by placing the cover or paper on the plate without performing any alignment operation or visual confirmation.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image forming system including an image forming apparatus, an image reading apparatus, and a post-processing apparatus.
FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the image forming system.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a sheet conveyance path of the post-processing device.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of a flat stapled sheet, a plan view of an edge stapled sheet, a plan view of a saddle stitched sheet, and a perspective view of a booklet created by performing post-processing of saddle stitching and center folding.
FIG. 5 is a plan view of a cover sheet feeding unit.
FIG. 6 is a plan view of a binding processing unit.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating control of a post-processing device.
[Explanation of symbols]
9 operation unit 30 binding processing unit 35 first sheet placement table (sheet placement table)
36,44 Width matching plate 40 Binding means (stapling means)
41 abutment member for flat binding 43 abutment member for saddle stitching 50 cover sheet feeding section 51 sheet feeding tray 51A butting section 51B fixed guide section 90 control means A image forming apparatus C sheet post-processing apparatus (post-processing apparatus)
K cover paper (cover)
S Recording paper (paper)
W1 Width of cover sheet of maximum size W2 Width of fixed guide section W3 Interval of standby position of width matching plate

Claims (1)

The cover sheet accommodated in the cover sheet feeding unit arranged at the top of the sheet post-processing device is transported onto the sheet placing table, and the recording sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus are stacked and aligned on the sheet placing table. In the paper post-processing device for post-processing,
A fixed guide unit having a width interval wider than the width of the maximum-size cover sheet placed on the sheet feeding tray of the cover sheet feeding unit;
A width alignment plate for positioning the width direction of the paper stacked on the paper mounting table,
Driving means for movably driving the width matching plate,
Control means for controlling the driving means,
When the cover sheet is introduced onto the sheet mounting table, the control unit controls the width alignment plate to be moved to a standby position at an interval set wider than the width interval of the fixed guide unit. Paper post-processing device.

Images