JP2007238222A - Paper post-processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper post-processing device capable of preventing the occurrence of a stacking failure and an alignment/binding failure without adding an exclusive part for stacking Z-folded paper on a staple tray. <P>SOLUTION: The paper post-processing device is provided with the staple tray F for temporarily stacking the paper at staple binding processing and aligning it; a staple delivery part 11 for delivering the paper to the staple tray F; a tapping roller 12 for aligning the conveying direction of the paper; a rear end reference fence 51 for abutting the rear end of the paper by the tapping roller 12; a jogger fence 53 for aligning the width direction of the paper; and a releasing mechanism 52 having a releasing claw 52a for placing the rear end of a paper bundle and pushing up it and releasing the binding-processed paper bundle to the paper delivery tray 29. The device is used as a stopper having a waiting position of the releasing claw 52a when the paper is received to the staple tray F and a waiting position when the Z-folded paper is received in every paper size and abutting the tip of the Z-folded paper intruding to the staple tray F on the back surface 52b of the releasing claw 52a. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a paper post-processing apparatus that performs post-processing such as sorting / punching / stipple binding on paper discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer and a Z-folding machine.

Conventionally, many paper post-processing devices that automatically perform processing such as stapling on paper discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
However, when stacking the Z-folded paper on the staple tray (stipple processing tray) in the paper post-processing apparatus, the inner folding portion of the Z-fold paper is provided on the leading edge of the preceding paper or on the staple tray. This causes the problem that the stacking, alignment and binding processing cannot be performed due to being caught by a roller or the like.

In order to prevent the occurrence of such a problem, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for controlling a discharge speed of Z-folded paper to a staple tray by a control device. In this patent document 1, the amount of Z-folded paper popping out in the staple tray is controlled by controlling the discharge speed of the Z-folded paper to the staple tray.
JP 2001-26345 A

However, the amount of Z-fold paper (including normal cut paper) popping up in the staple tray is stacked when the paper curls, paper thickness, Z-fold accuracy, and the Z-fold paper enters the staple tray. Since it varies depending on various factors such as the number of preceding sheets, Z-folded sheets may not be reliably stacked only by controlling the discharge speed to the staple tray in the prior art.
There are also devices that enable processing of Z origami by adding dedicated parts to the staple tray unit for stacking and alignment of Z origami. However, the complexity of the staple tray and the overall device due to the increase in the number of dedicated parts The cost is increased, and at the same time, the user who does not use the Z origami has the disadvantage of becoming unnecessary and useless.

  Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to allow Z-folded paper to be stacked on a staple tray with a simple configuration in consideration of the above-described situation, and to cope with changes in various conditions such as the curl state of the paper and the accuracy of Z-folding. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet post-processing apparatus that can reliably perform stacking and binding processing and can process Z-folded paper without increasing the number of parts and cost.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the invention according to claim 1 is a sheet post-processing apparatus that performs post-processing on a sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus, and stacks and aligns the sheets at the time of staple binding processing A stapling tray that discharges paper to the staple tray, a hitting roller that aligns the paper transport direction, a trailing edge reference fence that abuts the trailing edge of the paper by the hitting roller, A jogger fence for aligning the width direction, a discharge claw having a discharge claw for placing and pushing up the rear end of the sheet bundle, and a discharge mechanism for discharging the bound bundle of sheets to the discharge tray, the sheet to the staple tray The discharge claw has a standby position for receiving paper and a standby position for receiving Z-fold paper for each paper size, and the back surface of the discharge claw enters the staple tray. Wherein the sheet post-processing apparatus is used as a stopper abutting a serial Z origami tip.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the standby position of the discharge claw when receiving the Z origami is P, the length from the abutment surface of the rear end reference fence to the standby position of the discharge claw 2. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a position satisfying P <1.5L is set, where L is the length of the origami and L / 2 is the length to the inner folding portion of the Z origami. It is characterized by.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, when the Z-folded paper is received in the staple tray and aligned, the interval of the jogger fence that aligns the width direction of the Z-folded paper is received and aligned. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet post-processing apparatus is set to be larger than the interval.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the interval of the jogger fence that aligns the width direction of the Z-folded paper when the Z-folded paper is received and aligned in the staple tray is changed according to the folding accuracy of the Z-folded paper. This paper post-processing apparatus is characterized.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the sheet post-processing apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the inner folded portion of the Z-folded paper is located on the lower side when conveyed to the staple tray. It is characterized by.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the discharge line speed when discharging the Z-fold paper from the staple discharge section to the staple tray is a discharge line when discharging a sheet that has not been Z-folded. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet post-processing apparatus is different from the speed.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the sixth aspect, wherein the discharge line speed is made different depending on the insertion timing of the Z-fold paper.

  According to the present invention, each paper size has a standby position of the discharge claw when receiving paper into the staple tray and a standby position when receiving the Z-fold paper, and the back surface of the discharge claw enters the staple tray. By using it as a stopper to abut the leading end of the Z origami, the inner folding part of the Z origami is caught on the leading end of the preceding paper without adding a special part for stacking the Z origami on the staple tray. The occurrence of defects, alignment, and binding defects can be prevented.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the sheet post-processing apparatus III will be described below assuming that the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus I is attached to the downstream side (left side surface) of the Z-folding machine II that performs the Z-folding process.
The sheet post-processing device III is attached to the left side of the Z folder II, and the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus I is guided to the sheet post processor III via the Z folder II.
The sheet post-processing apparatus III includes a conveyance path A having post-processing means (in this embodiment, punch unit 26 as punching means) for performing post-processing on a single sheet, a conveyance path B for guiding the sheet to the upper tray 28, and a shift tray. 29 includes a conveyance path C that guides a sheet to 29, and a conveyance path D that leads to a staple tray F that performs alignment, stapling, and the like on the sheet. These conveyance paths are distributed by a branch claw 15 and a branch claw 16.

The sheets that have been aligned and stapled in the staple tray F are distributed to the transfer path C that leads to the shift tray 29 or the processing tray G that performs half-folding by the branch guide plate 54 and the movable guide 55 that are path changing means. It is done. The sheet that is folded in the processing tray G is guided to the lower tray 34 through the conveyance path H.
Further, a branching claw 17 is disposed in the conveyance path D and is held in the state shown in the figure by a low-load spring (not shown). After the trailing edge of the sheet passes through this, the conveyance rollers 9, 10 and the staple discharge Among the paper rollers 11, at least the transport roller 9 is reversed to guide and stay the trailing edge of the paper into the paper storage unit E.
The rear end of the sheet guided and retained in the sheet storage unit E is configured so as to be superposed on the next sheet and conveyed. By repeating this operation, it is possible to convey two or more sheets in a superimposed manner.

In the common conveyance path A upstream of the conveyance path B, the conveyance path C, and the conveyance path D, an inlet sensor 35 that detects a sheet received from the image forming apparatus I, an inlet roller 1, a punch unit 26, The conveyance roller 2, the branch claw 15, and the branch claw 16 are sequentially arranged.
The branching claw 15 and the branching claw 16 are held in the state shown in FIG. 1 by a spring (not shown). By turning on a solenoid (not shown), the branching claw 15 is turned upward and the branching claw 16 is turned downward. By doing so, the paper is distributed to the conveyance path B, the conveyance path C, and the conveyance path D.

When the sheet is guided to the conveyance path B, the branching claw 15 is in the state shown in FIG. 1 and the solenoid is turned off. When the sheet is guided to the conveyance path C, the branching claw 15 is turned upward by turning on the solenoid from the state shown in FIG. The branch claw 16 is turned downward.
When the sheet is guided to the conveyance path D, the branching claw 16 is in the state shown in FIG. 1 and the solenoid is turned off. The branching claw 15 is turned upward from the state shown in FIG.
Since the present invention relates to a stapling unit that stacks, aligns, and binds Z-folded paper to the staple tray F, the stacking, aligning, and binding processing of sheets conveyed through the Z-folding machine II to the stapling tray F. Explanation will be omitted, and description of other functions of the paper post-processing apparatus such as punching, sorting, paper discharge tray, and folding will be omitted.

FIG. 2 is a partial schematic view and a perspective view showing the configuration of the staple tray. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing the discharge belt. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing an end-face stitching stapler.
Next, the configuration of the staple tray F will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2, the sheets S guided to the staple tray F by the staple discharge roller 11 are sequentially stacked.
In this case, alignment in the vertical direction (paper conveyance direction) is performed with the tapping roller 12 for each paper S, and alignment in the horizontal direction (paper width direction orthogonal to the paper conveyance direction) is performed with the jogger fence 53.
The end face stitching stapler S1 is driven by the staple signal from the control means 36 (described later in FIG. 10) between the end of the job, that is, from the last sheet of the sheet bundle to the first sheet of the next sheet bundle, and the binding process is performed.
The sheet bundle subjected to the binding process is sent to the shift paper discharge roller 6 by the discharge belt 52 (FIG. 3) having the discharge claw 52a, and is discharged to the shift tray 29 set at the receiving position.

As shown in FIG. 3, the discharge claw 52 a is detected by a discharge belt home position (hp) sensor 37, and the discharge belt hp sensor 37 is a discharge belt 52 provided on the discharge belt 52. It is turned on / off by the claw 52a.
Two discharge claws 52a are arranged at opposite positions on the outer periphery of the discharge belt 52, and the sheet bundle stored in the staple tray F is alternately moved and conveyed. Also, for the first paper or Z-fold paper of the job, the discharge belt 52 is reversely rotated as necessary, and the back surface of the discharge claw 52a ′ on the opposite side to the discharge claw 52a waiting to move the sheet bundle. At 52b, the leading ends in the transport direction of the sheet bundle accommodated in the staple tray F are aligned.

As shown in FIG. 2, the tapping roller 12 is given a pendulum motion by the tapping solenoid 38 around the fulcrum 12 a and intermittently acts on the sheet fed to the staple tray F to feed the sheet to the rear end reference fence 51. Strike. The hitting roller 12 rotates counterclockwise. The jogger fence 53 is driven via a timing belt by a jogger motor 39 capable of forward and reverse rotation, and reciprocates in the paper width direction.
As shown in FIG. 4, the end surface binding stapler S1 is driven via a timing belt by a forward / reversely movable stapler moving motor 40, and moves in the paper width direction in order to bind a predetermined position of the paper edge.
A stapler movement hp sensor 41 for detecting the home position of the end-face stitching stapler S1 is provided at one end of the movement range, and the binding position in the sheet width direction depends on the amount of movement of the end-face stitching stapler S1 from the home position. Be controlled.
As shown in FIG. 1, the saddle stitching stapler S2 is such that the distance from the trailing edge reference fence 51 to the needle striking position of the saddle stitching stapler S2 is equal to or longer than the distance corresponding to half of the conveyance direction length of the maximum sheet size that can be saddle stitched. The two are arranged symmetrically with respect to the alignment center in the paper width direction, and are fixed to the stay.

Next, the flow of the stipple mode will be described. The paper sorted by the branching claw 15 and the branching claw 16 from the conveyance path A is guided to the conveyance path D, and is discharged to the staple tray F by the conveyance roller 7, the conveyance roller 9, the conveyance roller 10, and the staple discharge roller 11. .
In the staple tray F, sheets sequentially discharged by the staple discharge roller 11 are aligned, and when the predetermined number of sheets is reached, the end face binding stapler S1 performs the binding process. Thereafter, the bound sheet bundle is conveyed downstream by the discharge claw 52 a and discharged to the shift tray 29 by the shift discharge roller 6. Further, the state of paper discharge is monitored by a shift paper discharge sensor 42 which is disposed in the vicinity of the shift paper discharge roller 6 and detects paper discharge.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a first state of the discharge roller and the discharge claw standby position. FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a second state of the discharge roller and the discharge claw standby position. FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a third state of the discharge roller and the discharge claw standby position. FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing a fourth state of the discharge roller and the discharge claw standby position. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing folding accuracy.
The operation of the stipple tray F in the stipple mode with normal paper (cut paper) will be described. When the stipple mode is selected, as shown in FIG. 2, the jogger fence 53 moves from the home position and waits at a standby position that is 7 mm away from the sheet width discharged to the staple tray F (FIG. 5). .

At the same time, the discharge claw 52a moves to a position where the distance from the rear end fence 51 is 2L or more with the paper length in the transport direction as L and waits (FIG. 6). When the paper is conveyed by the staple paper discharge roller 11 and the trailing edge of the paper passes through the staple paper discharge sensor 43, the jogger fence 53 moves inward by 5 mm from the standby position and stops (first stage of the two-stage jogging operation).
Further, the staple paper discharge sensor 43 detects that when the trailing edge of the paper passes, and the signal is input to the CPU 44 (see FIG. 10 described later). The CPU 44 decelerates the staple paper discharge roller 11 from the time of receiving this signal so that the paper does not jump out of the staple paper discharge roller 11 when the paper is stacked in the staple tray F, and the trailing edge of the paper is stippled. It should not be left on the paper discharge roller 11 (see FIGS. 6 to 8).

この減速した時の速度は用紙サイズやスティプルトレイＦへスタックされる枚数によって予め設定されている（表１参照）。さらに、ＣＰＵ４４ではスティプル排紙ローラ１１を駆動する図示しないスティプル搬送モータからの発振パルス数をカウントし、所定パルス発振後に叩きソレノイド３８をオンさせる。 Table 1 shows the relationship between the staple alignment time and the paper discharge speed.

The speed at the time of deceleration is set in advance according to the sheet size and the number of sheets stacked on the staple tray F (see Table 1). Further, the CPU 44 counts the number of oscillating pulses from a stipple conveying motor (not shown) that drives the stipple paper discharge roller 11 and turns on the hitting solenoid 38 after a predetermined pulse oscillation.

The tapping roller 12 performs a pendulum motion by turning on / off the tapping solenoid 38. When the tapping solenoid 38 is on, the tapping roller 12 strikes the paper and returns it to the lower side, and abuts against the rear end fence 51 to align the paper. At this time, every time the paper stored in the staple tray F passes through the inlet sensor 35 or the staple paper discharge sensor 43, the signal is input to the CPU 44 and the number of sheets is counted.
The jogger fence 53 is further moved 2.6 mm inward by the jogger motor 39 (FIG. 2) after the struck solenoid 38 is turned off (second stage of the two-stage jogging) and is temporarily stopped to finish the horizontal alignment. Let

The jogger fence 53 then moves outward by 7.6 mm, returns to the standby position, and waits for the next sheet. This operation is performed up to the last page. After the horizontal alignment of the last page is finished, the paper moves again 7 mm inward and stops, and prepares for the stapling operation by pressing both side edges of the sheet bundle. Then, after a predetermined time, the end face binding stapler S1 is operated by a staple motor (not shown), and the binding process is performed.
At this time, if two or more bindings are designated, after the first binding process is finished, the stapler moving motor 40 is driven, and the end-face binding stapler S1 is moved to an appropriate position along the rear end of the sheet, A second binding process is performed. If the third and subsequent locations are specified, this is repeated.

When the binding process is completed, the discharge motor 45 (FIG. 3) is driven, and the discharge belt 52 is driven. At the same time, the paper discharge motor (not shown) is also driven, and the shift paper discharge roller 6 starts to rotate so as to receive the sheet bundle lifted by the discharge claw 52a. At this time, the jogger fence 53 is controlled to be different depending on the paper size and the number of sheets to be bound.
For example, when the number of sheets to be bound is smaller than the set number or smaller than the set size, the trailing edge of the sheet bundle is hooked and conveyed by the discharge claw 52a while the sheet bundle is pressed by the jogger fence 53. Then, the detection by the paper presence sensor 46 or the discharge belt hp sensor 37 causes the jogger fence 53 to be retracted by 2 mm after a predetermined pulse, and the restraint on the paper by the jogger fence 53 is released.

This predetermined pulse is set after the discharge claw 52a comes into contact with the rear end of the paper and passes through the front end of the jogger fence 53. When the number of sheets to be bound is larger than the set number or larger than the set size, the jogger fence 53 is retracted in advance by 2 mm and discharged.
In either case, when the sheet bundle passes through the jogger fence 53, the jogger fence 53 moves further outward by 5 mm and returns to the standby position to prepare for the next sheet. It is also possible to adjust the binding force according to the distance of the jogger fence 53 to the paper.

Next, the operation of the staple tray F in the stipple mode using Z-fold paper will be described. When the stipple mode is selected, the jogger fence 53 shown in FIG. 2 moves from the home position and is 7 mm away from the width of the paper discharged to the stipple tray F, as in the normal paper (cut paper) mode. Wait at the standby position.
At the same time, the discharge claw 52a that uses the back surface 52b as a stopper that abuts the leading end of the Z-fold paper moves to a position where the sheet length in the transport direction is L and the distance from the rear end fence 51 is 1.5L or less. Wait (FIG. 5).

When the paper is conveyed by the staple paper discharge roller 11 and the trailing edge of the paper passes through the staple paper discharge sensor 43, the jogger fence 53 moves to the inside by 3.75 mm from the standby position and stops (the first stage of the two-stage jogging operation). ).
This 3.75 mm is set on the assumption that the folding accuracy of the Z-fold paper is 0 to 2.5 mm (see FIG. 9) with respect to the normal paper, but before the paper post-processing device or the paper post-processing device. The setting value is changed depending on the folding accuracy of the Z folding machine that is mounted, such as when the folding accuracy of the Z folding machine arranged inside is 0 to 1 mm with respect to the normal paper, it is set to 4.5 mm.

The staple paper discharge sensor 43 detects when the trailing edge of the paper passes, and the signal is input to the CPU 44 (see FIG. 10). The CPU 44 decelerates the staple paper discharge roller 11 from the time of receiving this signal so that the paper does not jump out of the staple paper discharge roller 11 when the paper is stacked in the staple tray F as in the case of normal paper, and The trailing edge of the paper is not left on the staple paper discharge roller 11 (see FIGS. 6 to 8).
The speed at the time of deceleration is set in advance according to the paper size and the number of sheets stacked on the staple tray F, and is set to be faster than the speed of normal paper of the same size (A4Y speed in the case of A3Z folding). (See Table 1).

In accordance with the movement of the jogger fence 53 to the standby position when receiving paper into the staple tray F, the discharge claw 52a using the back surface 52b as a paper stopper as described above has the paper length as L and the rear end. Move to a position where the distance from the fence 51 is 1.5L or less and wait.
The CPU 44 counts the number of oscillating pulses from a stipple transport motor (not shown) that drives the stipple paper discharge roller 11 and turns on the hitting solenoid 38 after a predetermined pulse is oscillated. The tapping roller 12 performs a pendulum motion by turning on / off the tapping solenoid 38. When the tapping solenoid 38 is on, the tapping roller 12 strikes the paper and returns it to the lower side, and abuts against the rear end fence 51 to align the paper.
At this time, every time the paper stored in the staple tray F passes through the inlet sensor 35 or the staple paper discharge sensor 43, the signal is input to the CPU 44 and the number of sheets is counted.

After a lapse of a predetermined time after the hitting solenoid 38 is turned off, the jogger fence 53 is further moved 3.85 mm inward by the jogger motor 39 (second stage of the second stage jogging) and is temporarily stopped to finish the horizontal alignment.
The setting value of the movement amount of the second stage is also changed depending on the folding accuracy of the Z-fold paper, but the total movement amount of the first stage and the second stage is 7.6 mm. The jogger fence 53 then moves outward by 7.6 mm, returns to the standby position, and waits for the next sheet.
This operation is performed up to the last page. After the horizontal alignment of the last page is finished, the paper moves again 7 mm inward and stops, and prepares for the stapling operation by pressing both side edges of the sheet bundle. The subsequent binding operation is the same as that for normal paper.

  When the binding process is completed, the discharge motor 45 is driven and the discharge belt 52 is driven. At the same time, the sheet discharge motor is driven, and the sheet bundle lifted by the discharge claw 52a ′ disposed at the position facing the discharge claw 52a waiting at the position where the distance from the rear end fence 51 is 1.5L or less. The shift paper discharge roller 6 starts to rotate. The movement of the jogger fence 53 at this time is the same as that when discharging normal paper (cut paper).

Next, the operation of the staple tray F in the mixed loading (same series) stipple mode of normal paper (cut paper) and Z-fold paper will be described. When the stipple mode is selected, the jogger fence 53 shown in FIG. 2 moves from the home position and is 7 mm away from the width of the paper discharged to the staple tray F, as in the normal paper (cut paper) mode. Wait at the position.
At the same time, the discharge claw 52a moves to the standby position, but depending on the type of paper (normally cut paper or Z-fold paper) fed to the staple tray F, the standby position is a position where the distance from the rear end fence 51 is 2L or more. Or switch to a position of 1.5L or less.

When the paper is conveyed by the staple paper discharge roller 11 and the rear end of the paper passes through the staple paper discharge sensor 43, the jogger fence 53 moves inward from the standby position and stops. However, if the paper is normal paper (cut paper), it moves 5 mm, and if it is Z-fold paper, it moves 3.75 mm and stops (first stage of the two-stage jogging operation).
When both the normal paper and the Z-folded paper are discharged to the staple tray F, the staple paper discharge roller 11 is decelerated after the trailing edge of the paper passes through the staple paper discharge sensor 43. However, the speed at this time is preset according to the paper size and the number of sheets stacked on the staple tray F (see Table 1).

The CPU 44 counts the number of oscillating pulses from a stipple transport motor (not shown) that drives the stipple paper discharge roller 11 and turns on the hitting solenoid 38 after a predetermined pulse is oscillated. The tapping roller 12 performs a pendulum motion by turning on / off the tapping solenoid 38. When the tapping solenoid 38 is on, the tapping roller 12 strikes the paper and returns it to the lower side, and abuts against the rear end fence 51 to align the paper.
At this time, every time the paper stored in the staple tray F passes through the inlet sensor 35 or the staple paper discharge sensor 43, the signal is input to the CPU 44 and the number of sheets is counted.

When the hit solenoid 38 is turned off and a predetermined time elapses, when the next sheet is different in type from the preceding preceding sheet (normal paper → Z-fold paper or Z-fold paper → normal paper), the standby position of the discharge claw 52a is switched (rear edge fence) Position where the distance from 51 is 1.5L or less and position ⇔2L or more).
At the same time, the jogger fence 53 is further moved inward by the jogger motor 39 to stop once and finish the horizontal alignment. The amount of movement at this time is set to 2.6 mm for normal paper and 3.85 mm for Z-fold paper.
The jogger fence 53 then moves outward by 7.6 mm, returns to the standby position, waits for the next sheet, and switches the movement amount depending on the type of sheet (normal sheet or Z-folded sheet).
This operation is performed up to the last page. After the horizontal alignment of the last page is finished, the paper moves again 7 mm inward and stops, and prepares for the stapling operation by pressing both side edges of the sheet bundle. The subsequent binding operation is the same as that for normal paper.

As described above, when the Z-folded paper is received and aligned in the staple tray F (first stage of the two-stage jogging), the interval of the jogger fence that aligns the paper width direction (direction perpendicular to the transport direction) (front and rear) The interval of the jogger fence) is made larger than the interval when accepting and aligning paper (normal cut paper) that has not been Z-folded (at the first stage of two-stage jogging).
As a result, the folding accuracy of the Z-fold paper entering the staple tray F is poor, and even when the Z-fold paper spreads several millimeters in the width direction of the Z-fold paper, it can be reliably stacked on the staple tray F.
When the binding process is completed, the discharge motor 45 is driven and the discharge belt 52 is driven. At the same time, the paper discharge motor is driven, and the shift paper discharge roller 6 starts to rotate so as to receive the sheet bundle lifted by the discharge claw 52a ′ disposed at the position facing the discharge claw 52a. The movement of the jogger fence 53 at this time is the same as that when discharging normal paper (cut paper).

FIG. 10 is a block circuit diagram showing the control means of the paper post-processing apparatus according to the present invention. 1 to 4 and 10, the control means 36 is a microcomputer having a CPU 44, an I / O interface 46, and the like, each switch of a control panel (not shown) of the image forming apparatus I main body, and a paper surface detection sensor. Signals from sensors such as 47 are input to the CPU 44 via the I / O interface 46.
Based on the input signal, the CPU 44 drives a tapping roller motor (not shown) that drives the tapping roller 12, motors such as a tapping solenoid 38, each solenoid, a conveying motor that drives each conveying roller, and each discharge roller. A discharge motor, a discharge motor 45 that drives the discharge belt 52, a stapler moving motor 40 that moves the end-face stitching stapler S1, an oblique motor (not shown) that rotates the end-face stitching stapler S1 diagonally, and a jogger that moves the jogger fence 53 The drive of the motor 39 etc. is controlled.
A pulse signal of a not-shown staple transport motor that drives the staple paper discharge roller 11 is input to the CPU 44 and counted, and the hitting solenoid 38 and the jogger motor 39 are controlled according to this count.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of operation of the staple tray. The case where the paper length is L and the folding deviation accuracy D is the paper size + 2.5 mm will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, 10, and 11.
First, each conveyance motor and the hitting roller motor are turned on. (S1). Next, the jogger fence 53 is moved to the standby position (S2). It is determined whether or not the sheet is Z-folded (S3). If it is Z-folded, the discharge claw 52a is moved to a standby position (a position that is 1.5 L or less from the reference fence) (S4).
Here, it is determined whether the staple paper discharge sensor 43 is on (S5). If it is on, it is determined whether a predetermined time has elapsed (S6). If the predetermined time has elapsed, the jogger fence 53 is closed 3.75 mm (two-stage jogging). (First stage) (S7). Next, the hit solenoid 38 is turned on (S8), and it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has passed (S9). If the predetermined time has passed, the hit solenoid 38 is turned off (S10).

Next, the jogger fence 53 is closed by 3.85 mm (the first stage of the two-stage jogging) (S11), and it is determined whether it is the final sheet (S12). If it is the final sheet, the jogger fence 53 is opened by 2.6 mm (S13), and then the jogger fence 53 is closed by 2 mm (S14).
Subsequently, the stapler S1 is turned on (S15), and the discharge motor 45 is turned on (S16). Next, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed (S17). If the predetermined time has elapsed, the jogger fence 53 is opened by 2 mm (S18). Further, it is determined whether or not the predetermined time has elapsed (S19). 53 is opened 5 mm (S20), and the discharge claw 52a is returned to the home position (S21).

If it is not Z-folded paper in the above-described step (S3), the discharge claw 52a is moved to a standby position (a position that is 2L or more from the reference fence) (S22). Here, it is determined whether the staple paper discharge sensor 43 is on (S23). If it is on, it is determined whether a predetermined time has elapsed (S24).
If the predetermined time has elapsed, the jogger fence 53 is closed by 5 mm (first stage of the two-stage jogging) (S25). Next, the hit solenoid 38 is turned on (S26), and it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has passed (S27). .
Next, it is determined whether or not it is the final paper in the above-described step (S12). If it is not the final paper, the jogger fence 53 is opened by 7.6 mm (S30), and the process returns to the step following step (S2). The staple tray is operated by repeating the above steps.

In the paper post-processing apparatus according to the present invention, when discharging Z-folded paper from the staple paper discharge unit to the staple tray F, the discharge linear speed is set to discharge paper that is not Z-folded (normal cut paper). Therefore, it is possible to prevent the Z-folded paper from coming out of the staple paper discharge unit and to reliably stack the staple paper on the staple tray F.
Further, by making the discharge speed of the Z-folded paper to the staple tray F different depending on the insertion timing of the Z-fold paper, the Z-fold paper is fed from the staple paper discharge section regardless of the number of sheets stacked on the staple tray F. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of problems that cannot be prevented, and to reliably stack the staple tray F.

1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The partial schematic and perspective view which show the structure of a staple tray. The schematic perspective view which shows a discharge | release belt. The schematic perspective view which shows an end surface binding stapler. Schematic which shows the 1st state of a discharge roller and discharge claw stand-by position. Schematic which shows the 2nd state of a discharge roller and discharge claw stand-by position. Schematic which shows the 3rd state of a discharge roller and discharge claw stand-by position. Schematic which shows the 4th state of a discharge roller and discharge claw stand-by position. Schematic which shows folding misalignment accuracy. The block circuit diagram which shows the control means of the paper post-processing apparatus by this invention. The flowchart explaining the flow of operation | movement of a staple tray.

Explanation of symbols

  I image forming apparatus, III sheet post-processing apparatus, 1 punch unit, S1 end surface stapler, F staple tray, 11 staple discharge section (stipple discharge roller), 12 hitting roller, 29 discharge tray, 44 CPU, 51 rear Edge reference fence, 52 discharge mechanism (release belt), 52a discharge claw, 52b back of discharge claw (stopper), 53 jogger fence

Claims (7)

  In a paper post-processing apparatus that performs post-processing on paper discharged from an image forming apparatus, a staple tray that stacks and aligns paper once during staple binding processing, and staple discharge that discharges paper to the staple tray And push up the rear end of the sheet bundle, the rear end reference fence that abuts the rear end of the paper with the hitting roller, the jogger fence that aligns the width direction of the paper, A discharge mechanism that has a discharge claw and discharges the bound bundle of sheets to a paper discharge tray, and waits for receiving the discharge claw when receiving paper into the staple tray and when receiving Z-fold paper It has a position for each paper size and can be used as a stopper to abut the tip of the Z-fold paper that enters the staple tray at the back of the discharge claw. Sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim.   The standby position of the discharge claw when receiving the Z-fold paper is P, the length from the abutment surface of the rear end reference fence to the standby position of the discharge claw, L, the length of the Z-fold paper, and the Z-fold paper 2. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet post-processing apparatus is set at a position satisfying P <1.5L, where L / 2 is a length to the inner folding portion.   When the Z-folded paper is received and aligned in the staple tray, the interval of the jogger fence that aligns the width direction of the Z-folded paper is made larger than the interval when receiving and aligning the paper that has not been Z-folded. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1.   4. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein an interval of the jogger fence that aligns the width direction of the Z-folded paper when the Z-folded paper is received and aligned in the staple tray is changed according to the folding accuracy of the Z-folded paper. .   5. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a folded portion on the inner side of the Z-folded paper is on a lower side when conveyed to the staple tray.   A discharge line speed when discharging the Z-folded paper from the staple discharge unit to the staple tray is different from a discharge line speed when discharging a sheet that has not been Z-folded. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1.   The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the discharge linear speed is made different depending on the insertion timing of the Z-fold paper.

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