JP2007084300A - Sheet treatment device and punch unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a skew correction and perform an accurate punching process. <P>SOLUTION: A sheet of paper is transported by a first and a second transport roller installed one by one from upstream to the downstream in the sheet transporting path, and a punch unit is installed between the two transport rollers. The punch unit has a boring blade to make a boring process and a shutter capable of intercepting the heading route of the sheet following the sheet transporting path, in which the blade and the shutter are advanced and retreated relative to the sheet transporting path according to the transported condition of the sheet, and before the leading edge of the fed sheet reaches the punch unit, the shutter is protruded to the sheet transporting path so that the leading edge of the sheet is abutted to the shutter for correction of the skew, and the blade is protruded to the sheet with the skew corrected and a boring process is conducted to the sheet. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus and a punch unit that perform skew correction and punch processing on sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus such as an MFP (Multi Function Peripherals) that is a digital multifunction peripheral, a copying machine, or a printer.

  In image forming apparatuses such as MFPs, copiers, and printers, post-processing is performed on the paper discharge unit of the main body of the image forming apparatus in order to sort sheets after image formation or to perform post-processing such as stapling and punching. Devices are provided adjacent to each other.

  In such a post-processing apparatus, the paper discharged from the image forming apparatus may be skewed (hereinafter referred to as skew) with respect to the conveyance direction. As a result, there will be a hindrance when filing. For this reason, the skew correction means is provided to correct the skew of the paper and perform the punching process.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an example in which a punch unit is provided for an image-formed paper that is conveyed, and the skew is corrected by abutting the paper against a nipper of an inlet roller provided on the upstream side of the punch unit. Are listed. However, in the example of Patent Document 1, there is a possibility that when the paper skew is corrected, the paper is caught between nippers of the entrance roller and the skew correction cannot be performed well.

Further, Patent Document 2 discloses an example in which a registration member (registration roller) is disposed on the downstream side of the punching unit, and the leading edge of the sheet is brought into contact with the registration member by the conveying force of the sheet discharge roller of the image forming apparatus main body to correct the skew. Are listed. However, in the example of Patent Document 2, since the conveyance force of the discharge roller of the image forming apparatus main body is used, accuracy is required in setting the positions of the image forming apparatus main body and the post-processing apparatus, and the mechanical configuration of the post-processing apparatus. There is a problem of being restricted.
JP 2002-274699 A JP 2002-193493 A

  In the above-described conventional image forming apparatus, skew correction is performed on a sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus using a nipper of an entrance roller. However, there is a possibility that the skew cannot be corrected well. Further, when the skew feeding is performed using the conveying force of the sheet discharge roller of the image forming apparatus main body, there is a problem that the mechanical configuration of the post-processing apparatus is limited, and further improvement is required.

 The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a paper processing apparatus and a punch unit that can perform skew correction and accurate punch processing.

 The present invention is a paper processing apparatus that performs perforation processing on a paper that has been carried in and carries it out, and includes first and second transport rollers arranged sequentially from the upstream side to the downstream side of the paper transport path. A paper transport unit that transports the paper from the upstream side to the downstream side; a punching blade that is provided between the first and second transport rollers and capable of punching the paper; and the paper transport A punch unit that can block a path of a sheet passing through the path, and moves the punching blade and the shutter relative to the sheet transport path relative to the sheet transport path; and the punch unit according to a transport state of the sheet The shutter is protruded with respect to the sheet conveyance path before the start end of the conveyed paper reaches the punch unit, and the start end of the sheet is abutted against the shutter. Correcting the skew, characterized by projecting the punching blade relative to sheet after skew correction that and a control unit for performing punching in the sheet.

 The invention of the present application is a punch unit that is arranged in a paper transport path of a paper processing apparatus and performs skew correction and punch processing on a paper transported from the upstream side to the downstream side of the paper transport path, and has a rotation shaft. A cam structure in which the first eccentric cam and the second eccentric cam are attached to the rotation shaft so that the first eccentric cam and the second eccentric cam rotate in a target manner; A perforating blade capable of moving back and forth, and a shutter, wherein the perforating blade is advanced and retracted in the direction of the sheet conveyance path according to the rotation of the first eccentric cam, and the shutter is operated according to the rotation of the second eccentric cam. And an advancing / retracting mechanism for driving the perforating blade and the shutter relative to each other to move forward and backward in the direction of the paper transport path, so that the shutter protrudes from the paper transport path and is carried into the paper transport path. And the starting end of the paper against the shutter abutting corrects skew of the sheet, is projected to the hole punch bit into the paper conveying path, characterized in that performing punching on the paper after the skew correction.

 According to the present invention, when transporting paper from upstream to downstream, skew is corrected by abutting the paper being transported against a shutter provided in the punch unit, and punching processing is performed using the same punch unit. And the configuration can be simplified.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the overall configuration of an image forming apparatus provided with a paper processing apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining the basic configuration of the paper processing apparatus of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of an MFP (Multi Function Peripherals) as an image forming apparatus. In FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 10 includes a scanner unit 11, an automatic document feeder (ADF) 12, and an operation unit 13 in the upper part, a printer unit 14 in the central part, and a paper feeding part 15 in the lower part. is doing. In the image forming apparatus 10, a finisher 20 that performs post-processing such as punching and stapling is disposed adjacently.

  The printer unit 14 is, for example, a tandem color laser printer. In general, the laser beam from the laser 141 is reflected by a polygon mirror, and the surface of the photoconductor 142 is scanned and exposed to create an electrostatic latent image. Then, a toner image is formed and transferred onto a sheet of paper, and a charging device 143, a developing device 144, a transfer device 145, and the like are disposed around the photosensitive drum 142. The developing device 144 is supplied with toner from a toner cartridge. When performing color printing processing, for example, toner cartridges of four colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black are arranged in a line, and a photosensitive drum and an optical unit are provided for each color.

  The paper supply unit 15 is provided with a plurality of paper supply cassettes for storing various sizes of paper. From these paper supply cassettes, the paper P is sent to the transport belt 16 to form an image. ing. The paper P on which the image is formed is discharged through the paper discharge unit 17 and conveyed to the finisher 20.

  The finisher 20 performs post-processing such as stapling and punching and discharges the paper to either one of the paper discharge trays 21 and 22. The paper discharge trays 21 and 22 are lifted and lowered by the paper discharge tray driving unit, and the paper is discharged to one of the trays.

 The finisher 20 is provided with a sheet processing apparatus 30 which is a characteristic part of the present invention. The sheet processing apparatus 30 includes a punch unit 40 that performs a punching process on the sheet P conveyed from the image forming apparatus 10 and a skew correction unit 50 that corrects a skew of the sheet before the punching process.

 FIG. 2 shows a principle configuration of the sheet processing apparatus 30. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 40 denotes a punch unit. The punch unit 40 includes a rotating shaft 41, eccentric cams 42a and 42b attached to the rotating shaft 41, and a punching blade 43 that moves up and down by the rotation of the eccentric cam 42a. It comprises a shutter 44 that moves up and down by the rotation of the eccentric cam 42b, a punch die 45, and a motor 46 that rotationally drives the rotary shaft 41.

 The eccentric cams 42a and 42b are attached to the rotary shaft 41 at a predetermined interval. The eccentric cams 42a and 42b are arranged so that the tips of the eccentric cams 42a and 42b face each other in directions different from each other by 180 degrees. . The perforating blade 43 and the shutter 44 are arranged so as to contact the eccentric cams 42a and 42b, respectively. The perforating blade 43 moves up and down by the rotation of the eccentric cam 42a, and the shutter 44 moves up and down by the rotation of the eccentric cam 42b. The shutter 44 advances and retreats relative to the paper transport path.

 The punch die 45 is composed of an upper die and a lower die, and the paper P is conveyed between the upper and lower dies. The direction of the punch die 45 (the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the paper P). The punching blade 43 and the shutter 44 are moved back and forth to perform punching and skew correction (the operation will be described later).

 On the other hand, first and second transport rollers 51 and 52 are arranged on the paper carry-in side and the carry-out side of the punch unit 40, and carry the paper from the upstream side to the downstream side. These transport rollers 51 and 52 are rotationally driven by transport motors 53 and 54.

 The first transport roller 51 is composed of upper and lower roller pairs 511 and 512, and is rotated by a transport motor 53 to transport the paper P so as to be sandwiched between the roller pairs. Similarly, the second transport roller 52 is composed of upper and lower roller pairs 521 and 522, and is rotated by a transport motor 54 to transport the paper P so as to be sandwiched between the roller pairs.

 Further, the first conveying roller 51 can change the joining state of the roller pair 511, 512 by the load controller 55, and has a registration roller function in which the roller pair 511, 512 is in strong contact and a slip roller function in which the roller pair 511 is in light contact. When the paper is conveyed, it is a registration roller, and when skew correction (described later) is a slip roller.

 A sensor 56 is arranged between the carry-in side of the punch unit 40 and the first carry roller 51 so as to detect the carry-in / carrying state of the paper P. In the embodiment of the present invention, the paper P is conveyed in the direction of the arrow X in an inverted state (a state where the surface is the lower side of the figure). Various examples of the inside-out mechanism can be considered.

 FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control system of the image forming apparatus 10 and the sheet processing apparatus 30 of the present invention. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 61 denotes a control unit, which is composed of a microprocessor including a CPU. Reference numeral 62 denotes a motor drive circuit for driving the motor 46, and reference numerals 63 and 64 denote motor drive circuits for driving the transport motors 53 and 54. The control unit 61 controls the load controller 55 and receives the detection result from the sensor 56.

 A control unit 65 controls the image forming apparatus 10 and includes a microprocessor including a CPU. The control unit 61 and the control unit 65 transmit information to each other, and the image forming operation and the finisher 20 are controlled. The operation is coordinated. Various instructions from the user are input to the control unit 65 via the operation unit 13, and the operations of the printer 14, the paper feeding unit 15, and the like are controlled according to the instructions, and the paper P on which the image is formed is sent to the finisher 20. Transport.

 FIG. 4 is a perspective view for explaining a specific configuration of the punching blade 43 and the shutter 44 of the punch unit 40 and its drive system. In FIG. 4, a pair of perforation blades 43 and shutters 44 are provided, and the distance between the pair of perforation blades 43 is equal to the distance between punch holes formed in the paper P. The punching blade 43 is attached to a support member 47, and the shutter 44 is attached to a support member 48.

 On the other hand, eccentric cams 42a and 42b are attached to the rotary shaft 41 at a predetermined interval to form a cam structure. The eccentric cam 42a moves the support member 47 up and down, and the eccentric cam 42b moves the support member 48 up and down. To function. A frame 400 is provided to face the support members 47 and 48. A spring 49 is disposed between the frame 400 and the support members 47 and 48, and urges the support members 47 and 48 to always press them against the eccentric cams 42a and 42b.

 Since the eccentric cams 42a and 42b are arranged such that their tip portions are directed in directions different from each other by 180 degrees, the support members 47 and 48 relatively move up and down as the rotary shaft 41 rotates. That is, since the punching blade 43 and the shutter 44 move up and down in accordance with the movement of the support members 47 and 48, when the punching blade 43 is at the lowest position, the shutter 44 is at the rising position, and the punching blade 43 is at the highest position. The shutter 44 is in the lowered position. That is, the support members 47 and 48 form an advancing / retreating structure portion that reciprocally moves the punching blade 43 and the shutter 44 in the direction of the sheet conveyance path in cooperation with the cam structure.

 Further, elongated holes 431 and 441 extending in the vertical direction are formed in the main body portions of the punching blade 43 and the shutter 44, and the shaft S as a guide member is passed through these elongated holes 431 and 441, and both end portions of the shaft S are formed. Is fixed. As a result, the perforating blade 43 and the shutter 44 are guided by the long holes 431 and 441 and the shaft S and accurately move forward and backward in the paper transport path direction.

 5 and 6 are operation explanatory views for explaining the movements of the punching blade 43 and the shutter 44. FIG. Since the pair of perforating blades 43 and the pair of shutters 44 perform the same movement, only one of them is shown.

 FIG. 5 shows a state where the punching blade 43 is lowered and the shutter 44 is raised. In this case, the tip end portion of the eccentric cam 42 a faces downward, and the support member 47 is pushed downward by the spring 49. On the other hand, the tip of the eccentric cam 42 b faces upward, and the support member 48 is lifted upward against the force of the spring 49.

 FIG. 6 shows a state where the drilling blade 43 is raised and the shutter 44 is lowered. In this case, the distal end portion of the eccentric cam 42a faces upward, the support member 47 is lifted upward against the force of the spring 49, and the distal end portion of the eccentric cam 42b faces downward. The member 48 is pushed downward by a spring 49. In this way, the perforating blade 43 and the shutter 44 can advance and retreat in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the paper P by the rotation of the rotation shaft 41.

 Next, the overall operation of the sheet processing apparatus 30 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 7, the support members 47 and 48 are not shown, and the punching blade 43 and the shutter 44 are moved in accordance with the movement of the eccentric cams 42a and 42b.

 First, FIG. 7A shows a state in which the paper P is carried in via the image forming apparatus 10. In the initial state of carry-in, the first and second transport rollers 51 are rotated by the transport motors 53 and 54, and the paper P is transported in the arrow X direction from upstream to downstream. At this time, the tip portions of the eccentric cams 42 a and 42 b are respectively directed in the lateral direction, and the punching blade 43 and the shutter 44 of the punch unit 40 are in an upward retracted position away from the punch die 44.

 When the paper P is carried in and the sensor 56 detects that the leading end of the paper P has passed through the first transport roller 51, the motor 46 rotates and the tip of the eccentric cam 42a as shown in FIG. 7B. The rotating shaft 41 is rotated so that the tip of the eccentric cam 42b faces downward. As a result, the punching blade 43 moves to the highest position, and the shutter 44 descends in the direction of the punch die 45 and protrudes so as to block the conveyance of the paper P.

 The first conveying roller 51 is controlled by the load controller 55 so that the pair of rollers 511 and 512 are in light contact with each other, and functions as a slip roller. Therefore, the first transport roller 51 transports the paper P downstream with a weaker force than before, and abuts the starting end portion of the paper P against the protruding shutter 44. That is, the pair of rollers 511 and 512 press the paper P against the punching blade 43 in a state where the pair of rollers 511 and 512 are in light contact with the paper P. Therefore, when the paper P is skewed, the skew is corrected.

 Next, as shown in FIG. 7C, when the motor 46 of the punch unit 40 rotates with the skew corrected, and the rotating shaft 41 rotates so that the tip portions of the eccentric cams 42a and 42b face in the lateral direction. The perforating blade 43 is slightly lowered from the raised position, and the shutter 44 is at the slightly raised intermediate position. As a result, both the punching blade 43 and the shutter 44 retreat from the paper transport path. The first transport roller 51 is controlled by the load controller 55 to function as a registration roller, and the skew-corrected paper P is transported in the direction of the arrow X by the rotation of the motor 53.

 Then, when the sensor 56 detects that the paper P has been transported by a predetermined distance and the end portion in the transport direction has passed the first transport roller 51, the transport motor 54 stops rotating and is shown in FIG. Thus, the second conveying roller 52 also stops rotating. When the rotation of the second conveying roller 52 stops, the motor 46 of the punch unit 40 rotates, the tip of the eccentric cam 42a faces downward, the punching blade 43 descends the lowest and protrudes into the sheet conveying path, and punches the sheet P. Apply processing. At this time, the tip end portion of the eccentric cam 42b faces the uppermost side, and the shutter 44 is at the highest position.

 When the punching process is completed, as shown in FIG. 7E, the motor 46 rotates, the eccentric cams 42a and 42b turn again in the lateral direction, the drilling blade 43 rises slightly from the lowered position, and the shutter 44 moves slightly downward. Take position. As a result, both the punching blade 43 and the shutter 44 retreat from the paper transport path. Then, the first and second transport rollers 51 and 52 are rotated by the transport motors 53 and 54, and the paper is carried out. Thereafter, the operations of FIGS. 7A to 7E are repeated, and the sheets P are sequentially punched one by one and discharged to the discharge trays 21 and 22.

 The sensor 56 detects that the paper P has been carried in and the start end portion has been carried in via the first transport roller 51 and that the end portion of the paper P has passed the position of the sensor 56, and notifies the control unit 61. The controller 61 controls the motor drive circuits 62, 63, 64 and the load controller 55 based on the detection result of the sensor 56.

 FIG. 8 is a plan view for explaining skew correction and punching. FIG. 8A shows a state in which the paper P passes through the first transport roller 51 and hits the shutter 44. At this time, since the first transport roller 51 functions as a slip roller, when the paper P is skewed as indicated by a solid line, the first transport roller 51 is kept lightly pressed by the rotation of the first transport roller 51. The skew is corrected. Then, after the skew is corrected, the paper is transported by the first transport roller 51 and the second transport roller 52, and when the terminal portion p0 of the paper P passes through the first transport roller 51, the sensor 56 detects it and transports it. Since the punching is performed by the punching blade 43 as shown in (b), the sheet P is carried out after being punched H at a regular position.

 The punching position by the punching process is set, for example, at a predetermined distance L1 (for example, 12 mm) from the conveyance direction end portion p0 of the paper P. When the interval from the paper end portion p0 to the punching position is L1, the control unit 61 is a position where the interval between the punching blade 43 and the paper end portion p0 is L1 before the paper end portion passes the punch unit 40. Control is performed so that the conveyance of the paper is temporarily stopped and the punching process is performed.

 Thus, in the paper processing apparatus 30 of the present invention, the paper P is transported from the upstream to the downstream, and when the paper P is carried in, it is detected and the shutter 44 of the punch unit 40 is projected, and the first transport is performed. The skew can be corrected by causing the roller 51 to function as a slip roller and abutting the start end of the paper P against the shutter 44. Further, since the punching process is performed by the punching blade 43 on the paper whose skew has been corrected, the punching position becomes accurate. Furthermore, since all of the first and second transport rollers 51 and 52 can be configured in the finisher 20, the mechanism design is facilitated, and the configuration can be simplified.

  As described above, according to the image forming apparatus and the paper processing apparatus of the present invention, skew correction and accurate punching can be performed. The present invention is not limited to the above description, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the claims.

1 is a configuration diagram schematically illustrating the overall structure of an image forming apparatus using a paper processing apparatus of the present invention. The block diagram explaining the structure of one Embodiment of the paper processing apparatus of this invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a control system of the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment. The perspective view explaining the specific structure of the punch unit of the paper processing apparatus in the embodiment. Explanatory drawing explaining operation | movement of the punch unit in the embodiment. Another explanatory view explaining operation of a punch unit in the embodiment. Explanatory drawing explaining the operation | movement of the whole paper processing apparatus in the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a plan view for explaining the skew correction operation of the sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Image forming apparatus 11 ... Scanner part 12 ... Automatic document feeder 13 ... Operation part 14 ... Printer part 15 ... Paper feed part 16 ... Conveyor belt 17 ... Paper discharge part 20 ... Finishers 21, 22 ... Paper discharge tray 30 ... Paper Processing device 40 ... Punch unit 41 ... Rotating shaft 42a, 42b ... Eccentric cam 43 ... Punching blade 44 ... Shutter 45 ... Punch die 46 ... Motor 47,48 ... Support member 49 ... Spring 400 ... Frame 50 ... Skew correction unit 51 ... First Conveying roller 52 ... second conveying roller 53,54 ... conveying motor 55 ... load controller 56 ... sensor 61,65 ... control unit 62,63,64 ... motor drive circuit S ... shaft

Claims (10)

A paper processing apparatus for carrying out a punching process on a paper that has been carried in and carrying it out,
A paper transport unit that includes first and second transport rollers arranged sequentially from the upstream side to the downstream side of the paper transport path, and transports the paper from the upstream side to the downstream side;
A punching blade provided between the first and second transport rollers and capable of punching the paper; and a shutter capable of blocking a path of the paper passing through the paper transport path, A punch unit that advances and retracts a perforation blade and the shutter relative to the paper transport path;
The punch unit is controlled by the transport state of the paper, and the shutter protrudes from the paper transport path before the start end of the transported paper reaches the punch unit, and the start end of the paper is A sheet processing apparatus comprising: a control unit that corrects skew by abutting against a shutter, and causes the punching blade to protrude from the skew-corrected sheet so as to punch the sheet.  The first conveying roller includes a pair of rollers, and conveys the paper with the pair of rollers sandwiched therebetween, and lightly contacts the first state in which the pair of rollers strongly contact and function as a registration roller. Thus, the second state can be switched to the second state functioning as a slip roller, and the sheet is switched to the first state at the time of paper conveyance, and the second state is switched at the time of skew correction. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1.  The control unit retreats the shutter from the sheet conveyance path after skew correction to convey the sheet downstream, stops conveyance before the end of the sheet passes through the punch unit, and 2. The paper processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the punch unit is controlled so that a punching process is performed in the vicinity of an end portion of the paper by projecting the paper into the paper conveyance path.  The control unit detects a position of a sheet on the transport path, and controls the rotation state of the first and second transport rollers and the advance and retreat of the shutter and punching blade of the punch unit. The sheet processing apparatus according to 1.  In order to detect the position of the sheet on the transport path, a sensor is provided on the downstream side close to the first transport roller, and the control unit is configured so that the starting end of the sheet is transported through the first transport roller. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the sheet processing apparatus detects the occurrence of the error and causes the shutter of the punch unit to protrude into the sheet conveyance path.  6. The control unit according to claim 5, wherein the control unit detects that the skew-corrected sheet is transported and a terminal portion thereof passes the sensor position, and causes the punching blade to project into the sheet transport path. Paper processing equipment.  When the interval from the sheet end to the punching position is L1, the control unit sets the interval between the punching blade and the sheet end to L1 before the sheet end passes through the punch unit. 6. A sheet processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the sheet processing is controlled so as to stop the conveyance of the sheet at the position and perform the punching process. A punch unit that is disposed in a paper transport path of a paper processing apparatus and performs skew correction and punch processing on paper transported from the upstream side to the downstream side of the paper transport path,
A cam structure having a rotation shaft, and a first eccentric cam and a second eccentric cam attached to the rotation shaft so that the first eccentric cam and the second eccentric cam rotate in a target manner;
A perforating blade and a shutter capable of advancing and retreating with respect to the paper conveyance path; the perforation blade is advanced and retracted in the direction of the paper conveyance path according to the rotation of the first eccentric cam; and the shutter is Advancing and retreating in the paper conveyance path direction according to the rotation of the cam, and having an advancing and retreating mechanism that relatively drives the perforating blade and the shutter;
The shutter is protruded with respect to the paper conveyance path, the leading edge of the paper carried into the paper conveyance path is brought into contact with the shutter to correct the skew of the paper, and the punching blade is protruded into the paper conveyance path. A punch unit, wherein a punching process is performed on the paper after skew correction. The advance / retreat mechanism has first and second support members arranged in parallel with the rotation shaft, the drilling blade is attached to the first support member, and the shutter is attached to the second support member. Installation,
9. The punch unit according to claim 8, further comprising a spring member that urges the first and second support members to press the first and second eccentric cams against the first eccentric cam and the second eccentric cam, respectively.  10. The punch unit according to claim 9, wherein the first and second support members have guide members for moving forward and backward in the paper transport path direction.

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