JP2006062807A - Paper conveying device, paper post-processing device and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To align width by aligning a width direction of paper to be post-processed in a paper conveying device for conveying paper while deviating a direction of a long side and a short side of the paper in a conveying direction by 90°. <P>SOLUTION: The paper conveying device for conveying the paper while deviating the direction of the long side and the short side of the conveyed paper in the conveying direction by 90° has a first conveying means for conveying the paper in a first conveying direction; a second conveying means comprising a conveying belt for conveying the paper while deviating the paper in a second conveying direction perpendicular to a distal end edge of the paper conveyed by the first conveying means; a conveying claw projectedly formed on the conveying belt; a movable abutment member approaching/leaving to one side edge in a width direction of the paper conveyed by the first conveying means; and a driving means for driving the conveying belt and the abutment member. The driving means moves the conveying claw and the abutment member from the outside of the paper conveying area and abuts them on both side edges of the paper to perform width alignment. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus that aligns conveyed sheets and deviates the direction of the sheet and conveys the sheet, a sheet post-processing apparatus including the sheet conveying apparatus, and an image forming apparatus.

  Receiving paper on which an image is formed by the main body of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, printer, facsimile, or multifunction machine having these functions, and folding and binding a large number of papers for each number of copies. A sheet post-processing apparatus that collates and binds and binds with a binding means (stapler) is used. The sheet post-processing apparatus performs processing such as folding, binding, punching, gluing, cutting of a small edge, and sealing.

  The paper post-processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 receives and transports paper discharged from the image forming apparatus main body, stacks a plurality of papers on a paper mounting table, and pushes the leading end in the paper transport direction. Abutting against the abutting member and abutting the side edge of the sheet in the width direction with the width aligning member, positioning and aligning the sheet at a predetermined position, then binding the sheet with the binding means, and discharging it out of the apparatus It is.

  In this sheet post-processing apparatus, the driving source of the width aligning member, the driving source of the driving means for discharging the bound bundle of sheets, the driving of the abutting member that abuts the leading end in the sheet transport direction, and the like are separately provided. Was provided.

  For this reason, a mechanism using a motor, a solenoid, or the like is required, and there is a problem that the manufacturing cost increases due to complication of the apparatus due to an increase in the number of parts.

In recent years, as an on-demand printing system, a system that performs all bookbinding processes from printing to binding processing to cutting with a single image forming apparatus has been proposed. There is a demand for both alignment of sheets without reducing the productivity of the image forming apparatus main body.
JP 2003-26368 A

  The present invention solves the above-described problems, and by adding an alignment function to a certain transport process without increasing the number of drive sources, the mechanism of the alignment means is simplified and the sheet alignment is improved. The object is to provide a transport device.

  In particular, the purpose is to produce high-quality signatures by stacking multiple sheets of paper and aligning the widths, and then aligning the sheets that have been folded into multiple sheets. is there. It is another object of the present invention to produce a high-quality bookbinding by accurately aligning the sheets of the bookbinding produced by binding the signatures obtained by folding a plurality of sheets.

  In addition, a sheet post-processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus that perform sheet alignment without reducing the productivity of the image forming apparatus main body and achieve stabilization and speeding up of the sheet conveyance direction conversion while being a simple mechanism. It is intended to provide.

  The object of the present invention can be achieved by the following constitution.

The paper transport device according to claim 1 transports the paper in the first transport direction in the paper transport device that transports the long side and the short side of the transported paper by deflecting 90 degrees in the transport direction. A second transport unit comprising a first transport unit and a transport belt configured to deflect and transport the sheet in a second transport direction perpendicular to the leading edge of the sheet transported by the first transport unit;
A conveyance claw formed to protrude from the conveyance belt, a movable abutting member that contacts and separates from one side edge in the width direction of the sheet conveyed by the first conveyance unit, the conveyance belt, and the Driving means for driving the abutting member, and the driving means moves the conveying claw and the abutting member from the outside of the sheet conveying area and abuts on both side edges of the sheet to make a width. It is characterized by matching.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the sheet conveying device according to the first aspect, wherein the conveying claw and the abutting member are in contact with both side edges of the sheet, and in a standby position wider than the alignment position. And is positioned by the following.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the paper conveying device according to the first or second aspect, the driving unit moves the conveying claw and the abutting member from the standby position when starting the conveyance of the sheet by the conveying unit. After moving to the alignment position to perform width alignment, the position is returned to the standby position.

  5. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a sheet post-processing apparatus that performs post-processing on a sheet to be transported includes a transport unit that transports and stacks the sheets, and a plurality of sheets that are transported and stacked by the transport unit. Alignment comprising a movable abutting member that abuts against one side edge of the sheet in the width direction and aligns the width, and a movable claw disposed parallel to the abutting member and movable Means, driving means for driving the abutting member and the conveying claw, and post-processing means for performing post-processing on a plurality of sheets aligned by the aligning means, and the driving means The abutting member and the conveying claw are moved from the outside of the sheet conveying area and brought into contact with both side edges of the sheet to perform width alignment.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the paper post-processing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, the post-processing means is folded by the folding means on the paper conveyed by the conveying means and aligned by the aligning means. It is characterized by performing.

  A sheet post-processing apparatus according to a sixth aspect is the invention according to the fifth aspect, wherein the folding means performs a two-fold process or a three-fold process on the aligned sheets. is there.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus including the paper post-processing device according to any one of the fourth to sixth aspects, wherein the post-processing is performed by receiving the paper discharged after the image is formed. It is what.

  According to the first to third aspects of the present invention, in the paper transport device that deflects the direction of the long side and the short side of the transported paper by 90 degrees in the transport direction, the paper is fixed to the transport belt rotated by the driving means. The transporting claw and the abutting member fixed to the alignment belt rotated by the same driving means are moved from the standby positioning outside the paper transporting area to the alignment position where they abut against both side edges of the paper. By aligning the widths with the edges of both sides, the alignment function can be added to the paper transport process without increasing the number of drive sources, and the consistency of width alignment for multiple sheets can be improved. I can do it.

  According to the fourth to sixth aspects of the present invention, the post-processing such as folding processing is performed on a plurality of sheets transported and stacked by the paper transport device, and then the transport belt is rotated by the driving unit. The fixed conveying claw and the abutting member fixed to the alignment belt rotated by the same driving means are moved from the standby position outside the sheet conveyance area to the alignment position where they abut against both side edges of the sheet. By adjusting the width by contacting both sides of the paper, the alignment function can be added to the paper transport process without increasing the number of drive sources, and the alignment of multiple sheets can be improved. A processing device is provided.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the sheet formed and ejected by the main body of the image forming apparatus is post-processed after the paper transport direction is changed by the paper post-processing apparatus connected to the main body of the image forming apparatus, and loaded. The plurality of sheets thus obtained are width-aligned, and image formation and post-processing are performed on demand with high productivity without reducing the productivity of the image forming apparatus main body.

  Hereinafter, an example of a paper conveying device, a paper post-processing device, and an image forming device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Paper Post-Processing Device and Image Forming Apparatus Equipped with Paper Conveying Device]
Here, the paper post-processing device and the image forming apparatus provided with the paper transport device are a paper post-processing device including the paper transport device, or an external sheet post-processing device including the paper transport device as illustrated. An integrated image forming apparatus. It should be noted that the post-processing apparatus incorporating the paper conveying apparatus according to the present invention can be configured to be used alone. Note that the sheet post-processing apparatus and the image forming apparatus including the sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention are not limited to the following embodiments.

[Image forming apparatus]
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a sheet post-processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus provided with a sheet conveying apparatus according to the present invention.

  The image forming apparatus includes an image forming apparatus main body A, an automatic document feeder DF, a sheet post-processing apparatus B, and a large capacity sheet feeding apparatus LT.

  The illustrated image forming apparatus main body A includes an image reading unit 1, an image processing unit 2, an image writing unit 3, an image forming unit 4, paper feed cassettes 5A, 5B, and 5C, a manual paper feed tray 5D, and a first paper feed unit. 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, a second paper feed unit 6F, a fixing device 7, a paper discharge unit 8, and an automatic duplex copy paper feed unit (ADU) 8B.

  A sheet post-processing apparatus B is connected to the paper discharge unit 8 side on the left side of the image forming apparatus main body A shown in the figure.

  The document placed on the document table of the automatic document feeder DF is scanned on one or both sides of the document by the optical system of the image reading unit 1, read by the CCD image sensor 1A, and subjected to photoelectric conversion. Is sent to the image writing unit 3 after undergoing processing such as analog processing, A / D conversion, shading correction, and image compression in the image processing unit 2.

  In the image writing unit 3, output light from the semiconductor laser is irradiated onto the photosensitive drum 4 </ b> A of the image forming unit 4 to form a latent image. In the image forming unit 4, processes such as charging, exposure, development, transfer, separation, and cleaning are performed. Sheets fed by the first sheet feeding units 6A to 6C of the sheet feeding cassettes 5A to 5C, the first sheet feeding unit 6D of the manual sheet feeding tray 5D, and the first sheet feeding unit 6E of the large capacity sheet feeding device LT. In S, the image is transferred by the transfer means 4B through the second paper feed section 6F. The paper S carrying the image is fixed by the fixing device 7 and sent from the paper discharge unit 8 to the paper post-processing device B. Alternatively, the single-sided image-processed paper S sent to the automatic double-sided copy paper feeding unit 8B by the transport path switching plate 8A is again discharged from the paper discharge unit 8 after the double-sided image processing in the image forming unit 4.

  The operation unit 9 selects and sets processing functions of the image forming apparatus including the image forming apparatus main body A and the sheet post-processing apparatus B.

  The main control means 10 of the image forming apparatus main body A is connected to the post-processing control means 10C of the paper post-processing apparatus B via the communication unit 10A and the communication line 10B.

[Paper post-processing device]
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing sheet conveyance in the middle folding and saddle stitching process of the sheet post-processing apparatus B. 3 is a front view of the sheet post-processing apparatus B, and FIG. 4 is a right side view.

  First, a paper transport process from paper introduction to folding processing will be described.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, when the sheet S discharged from the image forming apparatus main body A is introduced into the inlet portion 11 of the sheet post-processing apparatus B, the sheet S is sandwiched between the inlet rollers 12 and the conveyance path switching means G1. Is conveyed to either the upper sheet conveying path r1 or the lower sheet conveying path r2.

<Straight output>
The sheet S branched into the sheet conveyance path r1 is nipped and conveyed by the conveyance rollers 13A to 13E, and conveyed to either the sheet conveyance path r3 above or below the sheet conveyance path r4 of the conveyance path switching means G2. (See FIG. 3).

  The paper S that has traveled to the upper paper transport path r3 is ejected by the paper ejection roller 14 and stacked on the sub paper ejection tray 15 disposed at the top of the paper post-processing apparatus B.

  The sheet S that has advanced to the lower sheet conveyance path r4 is nipped and conveyed by the conveyance rollers 16A to 16D, and is discharged by the paper discharge roller 17.

<First right angle deflection transport>
The sheet S transported to the sheet transport path r2 below the transport path switching means G1 descends almost vertically, and is temporarily stopped and stored at a predetermined position. At this stop position, a plurality of subsequent sheets S are stacked and stored.

<Second right angle deflection conveyance>
The accommodated paper S is deflected and moved in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 3 by the transport roller pair 18A, 18B, the first transport roller pair 18C, 18D, and a guide plate (not shown), and the paper post-processing device B The paper passes through the paper conveyance path r5 that wraps around the inner front side Bf with the paper surface upright, and temporarily stops at a predetermined position.

<Third right-angle deflection conveyance>
Next, the sheet S is transported vertically upward by the second transport roller pair 18E and 18F, then deflected in the horizontal direction, and moved by the third transport roller pair 19 and the transport belt 20 (paper transport path r6, FIG. 4).

<Conveying direction positioning before folding process>
The first transport unit is disposed downstream of the paper transport path r6 in the paper transport direction, and includes a third transport roller pair 19 and two transport belts 20, and holds the paper S that goes up the paper transport path r6. Transport.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the first aligning means is positioned by contacting the aligning member 20 </ b> A, which is fixed to the conveying belt 20 that moves by pressing the trailing end of the sheet S, and the leading end of the sheet S. And an alignment member 21 to be configured. The aligning member 20A presses the rear end portion of the sheet S conveyed by the third conveying roller pair 19 disposed on the upstream side of the sheet conveying path r6 in the sheet conveying direction and moves it to the aligning member 21 to move the leading end portion of the sheet. The paper is aligned by contacting the alignment member 21 (see FIG. 4).

  The stop position of the alignment member 21 is set in advance to a predetermined position depending on the paper size and the form of the folding process.

<Alignment in paper width direction before tri-fold processing>
FIG. 5 is a right side view of the folding means 30 and the conveying means 40, FIG. 6 is a front view of the conveying means 40, and FIG. 7 is a plan view of the conveying means 40.

  The transport unit (second transport unit) 40 transports the long side and the short side of the paper S transported by the first transport unit by deflecting 90 degrees in the transport direction. The conveying means 40 has a configuration in which two sets of conveying belts 41 having conveying claws 42 are arranged in parallel (see FIGS. 3 and 7).

  The conveyor belt 41 is wound around a drive pulley 41A and a driven pulley 41B. The drive pulley 41A is connected to the motor M of the drive means. The motor M transmits drive via a gear train (drive transmission means) including gears Z1 to Z6, Z9, and Z10, rotates a drive roller 41A coaxial with the gear Z10, and drives a drive pulley 41A and a driven pulley 41B. Is rotated (see FIG. 6).

  The second aligning means has an abutment member (alignment member) 43 fixed to the two sets of alignment belts 44. The two sets of alignment belts 44 are arranged in parallel with the two sets of transport belts 41.

  Reference numerals 46A and 46B denote guide plates that guide the paper that has passed through the paper transport path r6 in the horizontal direction.

  The motor M transmits drive via the gears Z1 to Z7, rotates the drive pulley 44A coaxial with the gear Z8 via the torque limiter 45, and winds the drive pulley 44A and the driven pulley 44B. Rotate.

  The driving means including the motor M, the gear train, and the torque limiter 45 rotates the transport belt 41 and the alignment belt 44 in the forward and reverse directions to perform the width alignment of the paper S and the transport of the paper S. That is, the conveyance belt 41 rotates clockwise (clockwise) during alignment of a tri-fold process, which will be described later, by the forward / reverse rotation of the motor M, and rotates counterclockwise (left) during the saddle stitching process, which will be described later ( (See FIG. 6).

  FIG. 8 is a front view showing a paper width alignment process in the conveying means 40.

  When the tri-folding process and the sheet width are set in the operation unit 9 of the image forming apparatus main body A, the motor M is driven, and after the conveying claw 42 passes the initial position Q0 by the clockwise rotation of the conveying belt 41, the standby position Q1. To stop. At the same time, by driving the motor M, the abutting member 43 passes the initial position P0 by the right rotation of the transport belt 44, and then stops at the standby position P1. The initial position Q0 of the transport claw 42 is detected by the sensor PS.

  When the paper S is introduced into the transport means 40, the transport belt 41 rotates to the right by driving the motor M, and the transport claw 42 starts to move from the standby position Q1 and stops at the alignment position Q2. At the same time, by driving the motor M, the conveyor belt 44 rotates to the right, and the abutting member 43 starts to move from the standby position P1 and stops at the alignment position P2.

  The side edges of the sheet S are sandwiched and width-aligned by the alignment position Q2 of the conveying claw 42 and the alignment position P2 of the abutting member 43.

  The driving means including the motor M and the drive transmission means performs width alignment by moving the conveyance claw 42 and the abutting member 43 from the standby positions Q1, P1 to the alignment positions Q2, P2 when the conveyance means 40 starts conveying the paper. Then, return to the standby positions Q1, P1.

<Tri-fold processing inside>
A folding means 30 is disposed on the downstream side of the conveyance belt 20 in the sheet conveyance direction. The folding means 30 includes folding rollers 31, 32, 33, a first folding plate 34, and a second folding plate 35 (see FIGS. 4 and 5).

  In the case of performing the three-fold process, in the folding means 30, the first fold portion a is formed on the paper S by the folding rollers 31, 32 and the first folding plate 34, and the folding rollers 32, 33 and the second folding plate are formed. 35, the second fold portion b is formed on the sheet S, and the signature SA that has been subjected to the three-fold process passes through a sheet conveyance path r8 composed of a plurality of conveyance rollers 36 and a guide plate, and then the sheet discharge roller 37. Is discharged to the paper discharge tray 38 (see FIG. 4).

  FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the inner tri-fold processing step by the folding means 30.

  (1) One or more sheets S of which width is aligned pass through the sheet conveyance path between the guide plates 46A and 46B, and the leading end of the sheet S comes into contact with the alignment member 21 and stops. The alignment member 21 is disposed at a position that is two-thirds of the total length L of the sheet S from the pressure contact position N of the folding rollers 31 and 32 (see FIG. 9A).

  (2) The first fold portion a is formed on the sheet S by the cooperation of the rotation of the folding rollers 31 and 32 and the advance of the first folding plate 34 (first folding process, see FIG. 9B). .

  (3) The sheet S that has been subjected to the first folding process rises with the first fold part a as the head by the rotation of the folding rollers 31 and 32, and proceeds in the guide surface of the guide plate 39 (FIG. 9C). reference).

  (4) After the first fold portion a reaches the predetermined position of one third of the total length L of the sheet S from the pressure contact position N of the folding rollers 31 and 32, the second folding plate 35 is moved between the folding rollers 32 and 33. Advancing to the facing position, the second fold portion b is formed on the sheet S (see FIG. 9D).

  (5) The signature SA, which is formed by forming the first fold portion a and the second fold portion b on the sheet S and is folded in three, is discharged by the folding rollers 32 and 33 (see FIG. 9E). ). The signature SA discharged from the folding rollers 32 and 33 is nipped and conveyed by the conveyance roller 36, is discharged by the paper discharge roller 37, and is stored in the paper discharge tray 38 (see FIG. 4).

  FIG. 9F is a perspective view of the signature SA folded in three.

  Hereinafter, the half-folding process, the saddle stitching process, and the booklet edge cutting process of the sheet S in the sheet post-processing apparatus B will be described.

<Folding process>
FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing the middle folding process before the saddle stitching process.

  The sheet S or sheets S that have reached the folding means 30 are sandwiched between folding rollers 31 and 32 that rotate in opposite directions and a first folding plate 34 that travels in a reverse direction, and are subjected to an intermediate folding process. A signature SA in which a crease portion c is formed in the center in the paper width direction is formed.

  The signature SA that has been folded in half by the folding rollers 31 and 32 and the first folding plate 34 to form the fold portion c is separated from the nip position of the folding rollers 31 and 32 by the reverse rotation of the folding rollers 31 and 32. Then, it is returned to the original horizontal conveyance path composed of the guide plates 46A and 46B.

  The signature SA is continuously conveyed to the sheet conveyance path r7 in the extension line direction of the fold portion c by a conveyance belt 41 of the conveyance means 40, a conveyance claw 42 and an introduction guide member 51 of the signature guide means 50, which will be described later. It is sent to the means 60 (refer FIG. 2, FIG. 3).

  In this way, the folding means 30 performs a middle folding process on a small number of one to three sheets S, firmly attaches the crease part c, and sequentially feeds it to the saddle stitching means 60, whereby the fold part c is swollen. A small number of high-quality booklets (bookbinding products) SB can be produced.

<Saddle stitching>
FIG. 11 is a left side view of the sheet post-processing apparatus B.

  The signature SA that has been subjected to the middle folding process in the folding means 30 is advanced in the direction of the sheet conveyance path r7 by the conveyance means 40 described later, and is placed on the hook stacking means 61 of the saddle stitching means 60. The subsequent signature SA that has undergone the middle folding process continues to pass through the sheet transport path r7 and is stacked on the hook stacking means 61.

  The hook stacking means 61 is composed of two guide plates substantially orthogonal to each other, and is fixed to the apparatus main body. In the vicinity of the top of the hook stacking means 61, a pressing member 61 </ b> A that can be lifted and lowered by a spring is supported by the needle receiving mechanism 64.

  The top portion of the pressing member 61A has a convex shape that is substantially perpendicular to the upper side, and the crease portion c of the signature SA that has been subjected to the middle folding process is placed on the top ridge line.

  The plurality of signatures SA placed on the hook stacking means 61 and the pressing member 61A are aligned by the width aligning means 62.

  A needle striking mechanism 63 is fixedly disposed above the pressing member 61A. Inside the hook stacking means 61, a pressing member 61A and a needle receiving mechanism 64 are supported so as to be movable in the vertical direction.

  Two sets of binding means having a two-part structure composed of the needle-striking mechanism 63 and the needle-receiving mechanism 64 are arranged in the direction of the sheet fold. When the saddle stitching process is set in the operation unit, the needle receiving mechanism 64 is raised to perform the saddle stitching process. That is, the two sets of binding means strike the binding needles SP at two places in the center distribution along the crease part c of the signature SA on the pressing member 61A. The booklet SB subjected to the center folding process and the saddle stitching process is shown in the schematic diagram of FIG.

<Removing the booklet>
The booklet SB that has undergone saddle stitching processing in the saddle stitching means 60 is held by a support member 72 that is fixed to the distal end portion of the arm member 71 of the booklet taking-out means 70, and is swung in the direction of the dashed line by the arm member 71. It is conveyed to the conveying means 80.

<Convey booklet>
The booklet SB conveyed to the booklet conveying means 80 is placed on the conveyance belt 82. The booklet SB is transported obliquely downward by the rotation of the transport belt 82, is held in an inclined state, is transported by the transport belt 83 that rotates, and is stopped at a predetermined position. Thereafter, the conveyor belt 83 swings and is supported in a horizontal state.

<Booklet cutting process>
The fore edge of the booklet SB placed on the transport belt 83 in the horizontal state (the free end on the opposite side of the fold part) is uneven depending on the number of sheets of the booklet SB. Cut and align the edges.

  The booklet SB produced by the cutting process is placed on the transport belt 83 that rotates in the reverse direction, and is transported in a state where the rear end portion of the booklet SB is pressed by the movable alignment member 84 fixed to the transport belt 83. It falls in the direction of the arrow from the tip of the belt 83. The fallen booklet SB is discharged to a discharge tray 86 disposed outside the front side Bf of the sheet post-processing apparatus B by a rotating discharge belt 85.

  As described above, according to the present invention, simplification and stabilization of the apparatus can be achieved by adding a sheet alignment function to the sheet conveying means in the sheet post-processing step without adding a drive source.

  In addition, by performing width alignment on a plurality of sheets before performing post-processing such as folding processing, it is possible to provide a user with a plurality of high-quality signatures that have been accurately aligned and folded. I can do it.

  Furthermore, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention does not need to return to the initial position every time since the width aligning unit is waiting from the initial position to the standby position near the alignment position when printing of the image forming apparatus main body is started. The paper width can be quickly adjusted without degrading the productivity of the apparatus main body.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a sheet post-processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus provided with a sheet conveying apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating sheet conveyance in a middle folding and saddle stitching process of a sheet post-processing apparatus. The front view of a paper post-processing apparatus. The right side view of a paper post-processing apparatus. The right view of a folding means and a conveyance means. The front view of a conveyance means. The top view of a conveyance means. The front view which shows the paper width alignment process in a conveyance means. The schematic diagram which shows the inner trifold process process by a folding means. Sectional drawing which shows the middle folding process process before a saddle stitch process. The left view of a paper post-processing apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 Operation part 19 3rd conveying roller pair 20 Conveying belt 20A Alignment member 21 Alignment member 30 Folding means 31, 32, 33 Folding roller 34 First folding plate 35 Second folding plate 39 Guide plate 40 Conveying means 41 Conveying belt 42 Conveying claw 43 Butting member (alignment member)
44 alignment belt 45 torque limiter 46A, 46B guide plate 60 saddle stitching means A image forming apparatus main body B sheet post-processing apparatus M motor P0, Q0 initial position P1, Q1 standby position P2, Q2 alignment position PS sensor S sheet SA signature a 1st fold part b 2nd crease part

Claims (7)

In a paper transport apparatus that transports the direction of the long side and the short side of the transported paper by deflecting 90 degrees in the transport direction,
First conveying means for conveying the paper in a first conveying direction;
Second conveying means comprising a conveying belt that deflects and conveys the sheet in a second conveying direction perpendicular to the leading edge of the sheet conveyed by the first conveying means;
A conveyance claw formed to protrude from the conveyance belt;
A movable abutting member that contacts and separates from one side edge in the width direction of the paper conveyed by the first conveying means;
Driving means for driving the conveyor belt and the abutting member;
The sheet conveying device, wherein the driving unit moves the conveying claw and the abutting member from the outside of the sheet conveying area and abuts against both side edges of the sheet to perform width alignment. 2. The sheet conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveying claw and the abutting member are positioned by an alignment position that contacts both side edges of the sheet and a standby position wider than the alignment position. . The drive unit moves the conveyance claw and the abutting member from the standby position to the alignment position to perform width alignment when the conveyance unit starts to convey the paper, and then returns to the standby position. The sheet conveying device according to claim 1 or 2. In a paper post-processing apparatus that performs post-processing on the transported paper,
Conveying means for conveying and stacking the paper;
A movable abutting member that abuts against one side edge in the width direction of the plurality of sheets conveyed and stacked by the conveying means, and a parallel abutting against the abutting member An alignment means comprising a transport claw disposed and movable;
Driving means for driving the abutting member and the conveying claw;
Post-processing means for performing post-processing on a plurality of sheets aligned by the alignment means means,
The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the driving unit moves the abutting member and the conveyance claw from outside the sheet conveyance area and abuts against both side edges of the sheet to perform width alignment. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the post-processing unit performs a folding process on the sheet conveyed by the conveyance unit and aligned by the alignment unit by a folding unit. 6. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the folding unit performs a two-fold process or a three-fold process on the aligned sheets. An image forming apparatus comprising the sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the sheet is discharged after being image-formed.

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