JP2007145557A - Post-processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a post-processing device provided with a middle-folding unit facilitated in jam processing even in the case wherein a paper sheet receiving conveying passage is provided over an end of a paper sheet loading surface. <P>SOLUTION: The middle-folding unit 50 is provided with a unit main body 51 having a paper sheet loading surface 58 opened upward so as to be loaded with paper sheets inside thereof and a receiver unit 60 arranged over a right end of the paper sheet loading surface 58 so as to seal one part of an opening 510 of the unit main body 51. The receiver unit 60 receives the paper sheets fed from an upstream side device and feeds them onto the paper sheet loading surface 58, and has a paper sheet receiving conveying passage R8, a driving roller 61 and a driven roller 62. The receiver unit 60 is fitted to the unit main body 51 freely to swing around the center of rotation of the driving roller 61. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a post-processing apparatus that performs predetermined post-processing on a sheet that has been subjected to predetermined processing in advance by an upstream apparatus such as an image forming apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a sheet post-processing apparatus as described in Patent Document 1 is known. The post-processing device accepts a sheet on which an image forming process has been performed by the image forming apparatus that is an upstream apparatus, and discharges the sheet after performing post-processing such as punching, stapling, and folding. It is configured. The center folding is performed in such a manner that the sheets are bundled by the staple unit disposed in the housing, and after the staple processing is performed at the center position, the sheet bundle is disposed below the staple unit. It is sent to the folding unit and is performed in this middle folding unit.

The center folding unit includes a sheet placing surface on which the sheet bundle is placed, a pressing die configured to be able to protrude and retract from the sheet placing surface, and a middle folding roller provided at a position facing the pressing die. With a pair. Then, the sheet bundle fed from the staple unit and placed on the sheet placing surface is pushed between the pair of half-folding rollers by pressing the center position where the stapling process is performed with a push die. It is designed to be folded in half.
JP 2004-99274 A

  In such a post-processing apparatus, it is conceivable to simplify the configuration of the staple unit by providing a staple function in the half-fold unit and performing the staple process and the half-fold in the half-fold unit. That is, in the staple unit, only the stapling process is performed at the edge of the sheet, and the stapling process is performed at the center position of the sheet by the center folding unit. In such a configuration, the sheets are fed one by one to the half-folding unit, and a sheet bundle is formed on the sheet placing surface.

  However, in this case, since the number of components to be mounted on the center folding unit is increased by the provision of the stapling function, it is possible to reduce the size of the center folding unit while suppressing the increase in the size of the center folding unit. It is desirable to form a sheet bundle without causing the two to collide.

  Here, in order to prevent the newly fed sheet from colliding with the already fed sheet, a sheet receiving conveyance path for receiving the sheet is provided above the upstream end of the sheet placing surface in the center folding unit. At the time of paper reception, the paper placed on the paper placement surface is moved along the paper placement surface to the lower side of the paper acceptance transport path, so-called switchback is performed, so that newly fed paper is It is conceivable to smoothly superimpose on the already fed paper.

  However, when the paper receiving and conveying path is provided above the end of the paper placing surface in this way, when a paper jam occurs below the paper receiving and conveying path, the portion constituting the paper receiving and conveying path is It becomes difficult to deal with paper jams.

  In view of such circumstances, the present invention provides a post-processing device including a half-folding unit that can easily handle a paper jam even when a paper receiving and conveying path is provided above the upstream end of the paper placement surface. The purpose is to provide.

  The invention according to claim 1 is provided with a center folding unit that staples the paper fed from the upstream device at a central position and folds the paper from the central position, and the middle folding unit opens upward. A unit main body having a paper placement surface on which the paper is placed, and a paper receiving transport path for receiving the paper, and the paper placement surface by sandwiching the paper from the paper receiving transport path A receiving unit disposed above an end portion on the upstream side of the sheet placing surface so as to close a part of the opening of the unit main body. The unit swings between a use position where a part of the opening of the unit body is blocked and a retreat position where a part of the opening of the unit body is opened with the rotation center of the driving roller as a fulcrum. And it is characterized in that attached to the unit main body so as to be.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a housing in which the middle folding unit is disposed, and the middle folding unit is inserted into and removed from the housing. It is characterized by being mounted as possible.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the post-processing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the receiving unit is disposed so as to face each other, and an upper guide member that forms the paper receiving conveyance path therebetween and a lower guide member The holder has a guide member and a holder for rotatably holding the driven roller. The holder is pivotally connected to the lower guide member and is parallel to the central axis of the driven roller. It is swingable around the extending axis, and has a knob on the opposite side of the driven roller with respect to the center of swing, and between the knob and the lower guide member, Biasing means for biasing the knob and pressing the driven roller against the drive roller is provided.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the sheet receiving conveyance path for receiving the sheet is provided, and is disposed above the upstream end of the sheet placing surface so as to block a part of the opening of the unit main body. The receiving unit is attached to the unit main body so that it can swing between the use position and the retracted position with the rotation center of the drive roller as a fulcrum, so when a paper jam occurs below the receiving unit. By moving the receiving unit to the retracted position, it is possible to open the portion of the unit main body that was blocked by the receiving unit, so that a paper jam can be easily handled from the opened portion. Become.

  According to the second aspect of the invention, since the middle folding unit is detachably attached to the housing, when a paper jam occurs, the middle folding unit is pulled out of the housing to further remove the paper jam. It can be handled easily.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the driven roller is held by the holder that is pivotally connected to the lower guide member so as to be swingable, and the holder is on the opposite side of the driven roller with respect to the swing center. Since the knob portion urged by the urging means is provided, the state in which the driven roller is pressed against the driving roller can be easily released by pressing the knob portion. Even when a sheet is sandwiched between the rollers, the sheet can be easily pulled out by pressing the knob.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a post-processing apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a middle folding unit 50 when a receiving unit 60 is located at a use position, and FIG. It is a perspective view of the middle folding unit 50 when the receiving unit 60 is located at the retracted position. 1 to 3, the XX direction is referred to as the left-right direction, and the YY direction (the direction orthogonal to the paper surface in FIG. 1) is referred to as the front-rear direction. In particular, the -X direction is leftward, and the + X direction is rightward. The -Y direction is referred to as the front, and the + Y direction is referred to as the rear.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the post-processing device 10 includes a housing 11 that has a box shape in appearance. In the casing 11, various post-processing members for performing post-processing on the paper P are mounted, and the paper P sent from the image forming apparatus 19 is conveyed to various places according to the purpose. A paper transport path R is formed. In addition, a paper receiving opening 13 for receiving the paper P sent from the image forming apparatus 19 is provided in the upper part of the right side surface of the housing 11, and the sub tray 15 and the main tray 14 are vertically arranged in the upper part of the left side surface. It is provided side by side.

  Specifically, in the housing 11, a punch unit 16 that punches a fastening hole for the paper P is disposed at the upper right position, and a predetermined number of sheets P are temporarily placed below the punch unit 16. The staple unit 20 is provided to form a bundle of sheets P1 and to perform stapling with a fastening needle at the edge of the bundle of sheets P1, and a predetermined number of sheets P are temporarily placed below the staple unit 20. An intermediate folding unit 50 for storing the paper bundle P2 to form a paper bundle P2, performing a stapling process with a fastening needle at the center position of the paper bundle P2, and folding the paper bundle P2 at the center position where the stapling process is performed. It is arranged. The half-folding unit 50 is attached to the housing 11 with the left portion protruding from the housing 11 to the left.

  The staple unit 20 is attached to the staple tray 30 that is inclined obliquely downward toward the right, and to be rotatable with respect to the staple tray 30 along the oblique surface on the right side of the staple tray 30. And a stapler 38 disposed at a position corresponding to a lower end portion of the staple tray 30.

  A paper storage space V1 having a predetermined gap size for storing the paper P is formed between the staple tray 30 and the bypass tray 40, and a predetermined number of papers P are placed in the paper storage space V1. A sheet bundle P1 is formed by sequentially feeding. The sheet bundle P1 is supported by a sheet receiving member 37 provided on the staple tray 30 so as to be movable up and down along an oblique surface on the right side of the staple tray 30. It is designed to move up and down following the movement.

  The sheet conveyance path R branches from the sheet receiving opening 13 to the left and to the substantially central position in the left-right direction of the housing 11 and branches from the downstream end of the inlet-side conveyance path R1 to the subtray 15. A sub-tray transport path R2 extending toward the sub-tray, a staple unit transport path R3 extending from the downstream end of the entrance-side transport path R1 and extending toward the paper storage space V1 of the staple unit 20, and the upper end of the paper storage space V1. A main tray transport path R4 extending from the main tray 14 toward the main tray 14, a staple tray transport path R5 branching leftward from the downstream end of the staple unit transport path R3, and toward the staple tray 30; The detouring tray transporting path R6 that branches from the downstream end of the transporting path R3 and goes to the right passes through the detouring tray 40. It consists in folding-unit conveyance path R7 Metropolitan toward the folding unit 50.

  The punch unit 16 is provided at a position above the entrance-side transport path R1, and the paper P introduced into the entrance-side transport path R1 through the paper receiving opening 13 is punched by driving the punch unit 16 in a temporarily stopped state. A fastening hole is formed at an appropriate position in the processing.

  At the downstream end of the entrance-side transport path R1, a switching guide 18 for switching the transport destination of the paper P between the transport path R2 for the sub-tray and the transport path R3 for the staple unit is provided. If not, the sheet P is discharged to the sub-tray 15 via the sub-tray transport path R2 by setting the switching guide 18 in a predetermined posture. On the other hand, when the sheet P is stapled or folded, the switching guide 18 The sheet P is sent to the staple unit 20 via the staple unit transport path R3 by the posture change.

  A branch guide 44 that distributes the paper P from the staple unit transport path R3 between the paper storage space V1 of the staple tray 30 and the retreat space V2 of the bypass tray 40 is provided at the downstream position of the staple unit transport path R3. ing. When stapling is performed on the paper P, the paper P is fed into the paper storage space V1 according to a predetermined posture setting of the branch guide 44. On the other hand, when the paper P is folded halfway, the paper is changed by changing the posture of the branch guide 44. P is sent to the folding unit 50 via the detour tray transport path R6, the retreat space V2, and the center folding unit transport path R7.

  The paper P sent into the paper storage space V1 stores a predetermined number of papers P to form a paper bundle P1. The sheet bundle P1 descends as the receiving member 37 moves downward, and the staple processing is performed on the lower end portion by the stapler 38. The sheet bundle P1 after the stapling process is discharged to the main tray 14 via the main tray transport path R4 as the sheet receiving member 37 moves upward.

  The conveyance path R7 for the center folding unit extends downward from a substantially intermediate position in the vertical direction of the bypass tray 40, and its lower part is formed to be lowered downward from the lower end of the staple unit 20 to the left. Heading to the folding unit 50.

  Hereinafter, the half-folding unit 50 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

  The middle folding unit 50 is detachably attached to the housing 11 from the left side, and includes a unit body 51 that opens upward. Inside the unit main body 51, a paper placement surface 58 that is inclined downward from the upper right to the left is formed. The unit main body 51 is mounted with a receiving unit 60, a guide plate 59, a stapler 52, and a pair of folding rollers 53 in order from the upstream side along the paper placement surface 58 above the paper placement surface 58. In addition, a plate-shaped pressing die 54 is provided at the lower part of the sheet placing surface 58 facing the middle folding roller pair 53, and a discharge roller 55 and a presser are provided on the downstream side (upper side) of the middle folding roller pair 53. A member 56 is provided. Further, a half-fold tray 57 is continuously provided on the left side of the unit main body 51. 2 and 3, the middle folding tray 57 is omitted.

  The unit main body 51 includes a pair of front and rear frame plates 511, a connecting plate 512 that connects upper right portions of the pair of frame plates 511, and a connecting member 513 that connects upper left portions of the pair of frame plates 511. These members 511 to 513 form an opening 510 that opens upward. In addition, a paper placement table 580 is obliquely installed between the pair of frame plates 511, and a paper placement surface 58 is configured by the upper surface of the paper placement table 580. The frame plate 511 and the connecting member 513 form an opening that opens to the left.

  The sheet placing table 580 is provided with a lower moving member 581 and an upper moving member 582 that can move independently leftward and rightward along the sheet placing surface 58, respectively. The loaded paper P is moved to the left or right along the paper placement surface 58 by the movement of the lower moving member 581 and the upper moving member 582.

  The receiving unit 60 is for receiving the paper P sent from the conveyance path R7 for the middle folding unit and sending it out onto the paper placement surface 58, and from the downstream end of the conveyance path R7 for the middle folding unit, the paper placement surface. A drive roller R8 having a sheet receiving and conveying path R8 extending to the lower left along a plane substantially parallel to 58, and driving the sheet P between the sheet receiving and conveying path R8 and sandwiching the sheet P onto the sheet placing surface 58. 61 and a driven roller 62 are provided. The receiving unit 60 is disposed above the right end portion of the sheet placing surface 58 so as to block a part of the opening 510 of the unit main body 51 (a portion facing the connecting plate 512). The receiving unit 60 is attached to the unit main body 51 so as to be swingable with the rotation center of the driving roller 61 as a fulcrum, and the sheet receiving / conveying path R8 is substantially parallel to the sheet placing surface 58. 2 can be moved between a use position shown in FIG. 2 that covers a part of the opening 510 of the main body 51 and a retreat position shown in FIG. 3 that opens upward from the use position and opens a part of the opening 510 of the unit main body 51. It has become. The receiving unit 60 is normally held at the use position by a magnet catch 514 provided at the upper end of the pair of frame plates 51. The receiving unit 60 will be described in more detail later.

  The guide plate 59 is for guiding the paper P sent out from the receiving unit 60 downward. In the present embodiment, the guide plate 59 is connected to the width adjusting plate 591 that moves in the front-rear direction to adjust the width of the paper P, and moves in the front-rear direction following the width adjusting plate 591. ing.

  The pressing die 54 is driven by a driving means (not shown), so that the pressing die 54 can protrude from the paper placement surface 58.

  The paper P sent out from the transport path R7 for the center folding unit is received by the paper receiving transport path R8 of the receiving unit 60, and is discharged from the paper transport path R8 by the driving roller 61 and the driven roller 62 to be guided by the guide plate 59. The sheet is fed out onto the sheet placement surface 58 while being guided by the user.

  The paper P sent out on the paper placement surface 58 is moved below the receiving unit 60 along the paper placement surface 58 when the lower moving member 581 moves rightward. Then, when the next paper P is sent out from the driving roller 61 and the driven roller 62, the lower moving member 581 and the upper moving member 582 are appropriately moved in accordance with the sending, so that the new paper P is newly placed on the paper P already sent out. The sheets P to be fed out are smoothly stacked. By repeating this operation, the sheet bundle P2 is formed on the sheet placing surface 58.

  After the sheet bundle P2 is formed, the sheet bundle P2 and the stapler 52 are aligned by the movement of the lower moving member 581 and the upper moving member 582, and the stapling process is performed on the center position of the sheet bundle P2.

  The sheet bundle P2 after the stapling process is moved to a position where the center position where the stapling process is performed coincides with the pressing mold 54 by the movement of the lower moving member 581 and the upper moving member 582, and then the central position is the pressing mold 54. By being pressed toward the middle folding roller pair 53 by the above, it is folded at the center position and folded in the middle. The folded sheet bundle P <b> 2 is sent upward by driving the pair of folding rollers 53, passes between the carry-out roller 55 and the pressing member 56, and is discharged to the folding tray 57.

  Next, the receiving unit 60 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

  The receiving unit 60 is disposed so as to face each other, and has an upper guide member 63 and a lower guide member 64 that form a paper receiving and conveying path R8 therebetween, and a holder 66 that rotatably holds the driven roller 62. is doing. These members 63, 64, 66 are made of, for example, a galvanized steel sheet.

  The lower guide member 64 includes a base portion 641, a guide portion 642 attached on the right side portion of the base portion 641, and a holder support portion 643 attached to the lower surface of the base portion 641.

  The base portion 641 has a size straddling the pair of frame plates 511 in the front-rear direction, and is bent obliquely downward at a position slightly to the left of the center in the left-right direction. And the receiving unit 60 is hold | maintained in a use position by the both ends of the front-back direction of this base part 641 being attracted | sucked by the magnet catch 514. FIG. Both end portions 642a in the front-rear direction of the guide portion 642 are bent downward and then further outward, and are screwed to the base portion 641. The holder support portion 643 is attached by screwing to a portion where the base portion 641 on the lower surface of the base portion 641 is bent obliquely downward.

  Both ends 63a of the upper guide member 63 in the front-rear direction are bent downward so as to cover both ends 642a of the guide portion 642 of the lower guide member 64 from the outside, and further bent outward, so that the base of the lower guide member 64 Screwed to the portion 641.

  The holder 66 is pivotally connected to a holder support portion 643 of the lower guide member 64 by a pin 67 and can swing around an axis extending in parallel with the central axis of the driven roller 62. The holder 66 has a knob 66a on the opposite side of the driven roller 62 with respect to the swing center.

  Between the knob 66a of the holder 66 and the holder support 643 of the lower guide member 64, a compression coil spring (biasing means) 68 that biases the knob 66a and presses the driven roller 62 against the drive roller 61 is provided. It has been. Therefore, if the knob 66a is pressed as shown by the arrow a, the driven roller 62 can be moved in the direction shown by the arrow b against the urging force of the compression coil spring 68, and the driven roller 62 becomes the driving roller. The state of being pressed against 61 can be easily released.

  As described above, the post-processing apparatus according to the present embodiment has the sheet receiving conveyance path R8 for receiving the sheet, and is located above the right end portion of the sheet placing surface 58 so as to block a part of the opening 510 of the unit main body 51. The receiving unit 60 disposed on the unit body 51 is attached to the unit body 51 so as to be swingable between the use position and the retracted position with the rotation center of the driving roller 61 as a fulcrum. When a paper jam occurs, the receiving unit 60 is moved to the retracted position as shown in FIG. 3 to open the portion of the opening 510 of the unit main body 51 that has been blocked by the receiving unit 60. Therefore, it becomes possible to easily handle a paper jam from the opened portion.

  Further, since the middle folding unit 50 is detachably attached to the housing 11, when a paper jam occurs, the middle folding unit 50 is pulled out of the housing 11 to further easily handle the paper jam. be able to.

  Further, a follower roller 62 is held by a holder 66 that is pivotally connected to the holder support portion 643 of the lower guide member 64 and can swing. The holder 66 is opposite to the follower roller 62 with respect to the swing center. Since the knob 66a urged by the compression coil spring 68 is provided on the side, even when the paper P is sandwiched between the driving roller 61 and the driven roller 62, it is easy to press the knob 66a. The paper P can be pulled out.

  In the above-described embodiment, the lower guide member 64 is composed of three parts, that is, the base portion 641, the guide portion 642, and the holder support portion 643. However, the configuration of the lower guide member 64 can be changed as appropriate. . For example, a pair of opposing pieces having pins 67 may be provided on the lower surface of the base portion 641.

  Further, each member 63, 64, 66 of the receiving unit 60 does not need to be made of a galvanized steel plate or the like, and can be made of a synthetic resin or the like. In the configuration for holding the receiving unit 60 in the use position, the magnet catch 514 need not be used. For example, the lower guide member 64 may be provided with an engaging portion that engages with the pair of frame plates 51.

  In the above embodiment, the unit main body 51 is opened upward substantially over the entire surface. However, the unit main body 51 is located only at a position corresponding to the upper side of the right end portion of the paper placement surface 58. It may have a shape that opens to the top.

It is a schematic block diagram of the post-processing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of a middle folding unit when a receiving unit is located at a use position. It is a perspective view of the middle folding unit when the receiving unit is positioned at the retracted position. It is front sectional drawing of a receiving unit.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Post-processing apparatus 11 Housing | casing 20 Staple unit 50 Middle folding unit 51 Unit main body 52 Stapler 53 Middle folding roller pair 54 Push type 58 Paper loading surface 581 Lower moving member 582 Upper moving member 60 Receiving unit 61 Drive roller 62 Follower roller 63 Upper guide member 64 Lower guide member 66 Holder 66a Knob portion 68 Compression coil spring (biasing means)
R8 paper receiving transport path

Claims (3)

A center folding unit is provided for stapling the paper fed from the upstream device at the central position and folding the paper at the central position.
The half-fold unit has a unit main body having a paper placement surface on which the paper is placed and opened upward, and a paper receiving conveyance path for receiving the paper, and from the paper receiving conveyance path. A driving roller and a driven roller that sandwich the paper and feed it onto the paper placement surface, and are disposed above the upstream end of the paper placement surface so as to block a part of the opening of the unit body. Receiving unit, and
The receiving unit can swing between a use position where a part of the opening of the unit body is closed and a retreat position where a part of the opening of the unit body is opened, with the rotation center of the driving roller as a fulcrum. The post-processing apparatus is attached to the unit body as described above.   The post-processing according to claim 1, further comprising a housing in which the middle folding unit is disposed, wherein the middle folding unit is detachably attached to the housing. apparatus.   The receiving unit is disposed so as to face each other, and includes an upper guide member and a lower guide member that form the paper receiving and conveying path therebetween, and a holder for rotatably holding the driven roller. The holder is pivotally connected to the lower guide member, and is swingable about an axis extending in parallel with the central axis of the driven roller. There is a knob on the opposite side of the driven roller, and a biasing means is provided between the knob and the lower guide member to bias the knob and press the driven roller against the drive roller. The post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the post-processing apparatus is provided.

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