JP2008007303A - Sheet discharge device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent discharge failure and alignment failure of sheets caused by rising of rear ends of the sheets already stacked on a stacking tray. <P>SOLUTION: At the time of discharge of a sheet P, a bundle lifting member 39 regulating the tip of the sheet P is arranged in a first position P1. A bundle lowering member 37 regulating the rear end of the sheet P is arranged in a third position P3, so as not to hinder scraping off of the rear end of the sheet P by a scraping-off member 51. After discharge, the bundle lifting member 39 is moved from the first position P1 to a second position P2 and the sheet rear end is made abut on the bundle lowering member 37. Then, the bundle lifting member 39 is moved from the second position P2 to the first position P1, and at the same time, the bundle lowering member 37 is moved from the third position P3 to a fourth position P4. Since the rear end of the sheet P on the stacking tray 35 is within an effective pressing region A of the scraping-off member 51 all the time, the rear end is not lifted up. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet discharge device that aligns a sheet discharged to the stacking tray in a conveyance direction while pressing a rear end of the sheet that has been discharged onto the stacking tray.

  A rear end pressing member is known as a member for conveying a sheet discharged onto a stacking tray by a pair of discharge rollers while holding it from above and aligning the conveying direction (see Patent Document 1).

  The rear end pressing member is composed of a flexible rod-like member, and rotates as a whole centering on the base end side (one end portion in the longitudinal direction), and the front end side is stacked on the stacking tray. The sheet is conveyed in contact with the upper surface of the sheet. That is, since the sheet can be conveyed while being pressed from above, for example, even if there is a relatively large curl at the rear end of the sheet, the sheet can be reliably conveyed and aligned.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-99274

  According to the above-described Patent Document 1, the trailing edge pressing member is retracted away from the sheet so as not to get in the way when the subsequent sheet is discharged. For this reason, for example, when an upward curl is generated at the trailing edge of the sheet on the stacking tray, the curl is restored. In this case, there is no problem if the distance from the stacking tray to the nip of the discharge roller pair can be made large, but if this distance cannot be taken sufficiently, the curl is positioned higher than the nip, so that the subsequent The sheet may sink under the sheet on the stacking tray. In this case, subsequent sheet alignment cannot be reliably performed.

  Therefore, the present invention prevents the trailing edge of the sheet on the stacking tray from floating when discharging the sheet onto the stacking tray and aligning the sheet on the stacking tray, thereby improving the sheet discharging and alignment. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet discharge device that can be used.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a stacking tray whose downstream side along the sheet discharge direction is inclined downward, and a sheet that is disposed on the upstream side of the stacking tray and is conveyed upstream is discharged onto the stacking tray. The present invention relates to a sheet discharge device including a discharge rotating body pair.

The sheet discharging apparatus according to the present invention is
(1) It is disposed so as to project upward from the stacking tray on the downstream side of the stacking tray, and moves between a first position and a second position along the inclination direction of the stacking tray. A leading edge regulating member that regulates the leading edge of the sheet on the stacking tray;
(2) a rear end regulating member that is disposed at a third position so as to project upward from the stacking tray in the vicinity of the discharge rotating body pair and regulates the rear end of the sheet on the stacking tray;
(3) a rear end pressing member that is disposed in the vicinity of the pair of discharge rotators and has an effective pressing region that can prevent the trailing end of the sheet on the stacking tray from being lifted. .

For the first to third positions described above,
(4) The first position is a position for regulating the position of the leading edge of the sheet discharged onto the stacking tray, and the leading edge of the sheet is brought into contact with the leading edge regulating member at the first position. The rear end of the sheet is set to enter the effective holding area on the stacking tray,
(5) The third position is such that the rear end of the sheet discharged onto the stacking tray and whose front end is regulated by the first front regulating member is not obstructed from entering the effective holding region. And a position set so that the rear end of the sheet does not come off from the effective holding region even when the front end regulating member moves,
(6) The second position is such that when the leading edge regulating member in a state where the leading edge of the sheet is in contact is moved from the first position to the upstream side, the trailing edge of the sheet is the third position. This is the position when contacting the rear end regulating member at the position.

And with respect to the first, third and second positions of the above (4), (5) and (6),
(7) The leading edge regulating member and the trailing edge regulating member are disposed at the first position and the third position, respectively, when the sheet is discharged.
(8) After the discharge of the sheet, the leading edge regulating member moves from the first position to the second position to bring the trailing edge of the sheet into contact with the trailing edge regulating member at the third position. Then, the second position is moved from the second position to the first position.

The invention according to claim 2
2. The sheet discharge device according to claim 1, wherein the rear end regulating member is between the third position and a fourth position downstream of the third position along the inclination direction of the stacking tray. The distance between the front end regulating member and the rear end regulating member is maintained in synchronization with the movement of the front end regulating member from the second position to the first position. In the state, after moving from the third position to the fourth position, the front end regulating member stops at the first position, and then returns from the fourth position to the third position. It is said.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the sheet discharge apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the rear end pressing member is formed by a rotatable scraping member having a plurality of fallable blade members arranged radially. And, by rotating, the trailing edge of the sheet when discharged by the blade member is inserted into the effective pressing area, and the trailing edge of the sheets stacked on the stacking tray is held in the effective pressing area. It is characterized by that.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the leading end regulating member is disposed at the first position and the trailing end regulating member is disposed at the third position prior to discharge of the sheet onto the stacking tray. When the leading edge of the sheet discharged onto the stacking tray by the pair of discharging rotators comes into contact with the leading edge regulating member at the first position, the trailing edge of the sheet enters the effective pressing area of the trailing edge pressing member. Lifting is prevented by the rear end pressing member. At this time, since the trailing edge regulating member is disposed at the third position, the trailing edge of the sheet is not prevented from entering the effective pressing area. After the sheet is discharged (after the trailing edge of the sheet has passed through the discharge rotating body pair and the leading edge of the sheet is in contact with the leading edge restricting member), the leading edge restricting member is positioned upstream from the first position. Move to position 2. The leading edge regulating member pushes the leading edge of the sheet to the downstream side, thereby bringing the trailing edge of the sheet into contact with the trailing edge regulating member at the third position, thereby aligning the sheet in the conveyance direction. While the leading edge restricting member moves from the first position to the second position, the trailing edge of the sheet is held in the effective pressing area, so that the floating is restricted. Thereafter, the leading end regulating member is moved from the second downstream position to the second upstream position to prepare for the discharge of the next sheet. At this time, since the downstream side of the stacking tray is inclined downward, the sheets on the stacking tray move to the downstream side in a state where the leading end is in contact with the leading end regulating member. Also at this time, the rear end of the sheet is within the effective pressing region of the trailing end pressing member. That is, according to the invention of this claim, the leading end regulating member is moved from the first position to the alignment in the conveying direction of the sheets discharged onto the stacking tray while the trailing end regulating member is set to the third position. By moving to the position 2 and returning to the position 1 from the second position, the alignment of one sheet is performed, and the same operation is repeated, and the sheets are aligned one after another. In addition, a plurality of sheets (sheet bundles) are aligned on the stacking tray. During this alignment operation, the rear end is always held in the pressing region of the rear end pressing member and does not float upward. That is, unlike the prior art, when the subsequent sheet is discharged, there is no need to retract the trailing edge pressing member so as not to obstruct the discharge. For example, the trailing edge of the sheet already stacked on the stacking tray It is possible to solve the problem of curling upward and sinking under the preceding sheet when the subsequent sheet is discharged.

  As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the stacking tray is inclined downward on the downstream side, the leading end regulating member is moved from the second position to the first position on the upstream side (downward). As a result, the sheets on the stacking tray move following the leading edge regulating member while the leading edge of the sheet is in contact with the leading edge regulating member due to its own weight.

  However, when the inclination of the stacking tray is loose, or when the number of sheets stacked on the stacking tray increases and the friction between the sheets and the stacking tray increases, the leading end regulating member is moved to the second position. When the sheet is returned from the first position to the first position, the sheet cannot follow the movement, and there is a possibility that a gap is formed between the leading end regulating member and the leading end of the sheet (sheet bundle). For example, when the leading edge of the subsequent sheet is curled downward, the curled leading edge may enter the gap. In such a case, the sheet can be aligned in the conveyance direction only by moving the leading end regulating member from the first position to the second position and further from the second position to the first position. It becomes difficult.

  Therefore, in the invention of claim 2, the gap between the leading edge regulating member and the leading edge of the sheet is eliminated as described above to eliminate the misalignment.

  That is, when the front end restricting member is returned from the second position to the first position, the rear end restricting member is synchronized with this and the distance between the front end restricting member and the rear end restricting member is maintained. Is moved from the third position to the fourth position. Thereby, the gap formed between the leading end regulating member and the leading end of the sheet as described above can be eliminated.

  According to the invention of claim 3, the trailing edge pressing member inserts the trailing edge of the discharged sheet into its effective pressing area by the blade member, and holds the inserted trailing edge in the effective pressing area. be able to. In other words, the sheet discharged onto the stacking tray is moved in the conveying direction by the leading edge regulating member and the trailing edge regulating member to be aligned, but the trailing edge of the sheet at this time is always formed by the rotation of the blade member. It is performed in a state where it enters the effective holding area. In other words, since the trailing edge pressing area for pressing the trailing edge of the sheet is formed in the moving area along with the rotation of the blade member, the pressing member is already discharged onto the stacking tray and stacked. It is possible to insert the trailing edge of the succeeding sheet into the effective holding area without retreating while preventing the trailing edge from being lifted.

  Hereinafter, the best embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, in each drawing, the member etc. which attached | subjected the same code | symbol are the same structures, The duplication description about these shall be abbreviate | omitted suitably. Moreover, in each drawing, members and the like that are not necessary for the description are omitted as appropriate.

<Embodiment 1>
First, an outline of a sheet processing apparatus 11 including a sheet discharge apparatus 1 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the entire configuration of the sheet processing apparatus 11 as viewed from the front side (front side). In the following description, the arrow directions shown on the left side in FIG. 1 are the actual up / down / left / right directions in the actual machine (in the sheet discharge apparatus 1 and the sheet processing apparatus 11), and the directions orthogonal to these directions are the front-back direction. The front-rear direction determined in this way coincides with the sheet passing width direction (direction orthogonal to the transport direction) of a sheet P (for example, processed paper such as normal copy paper, coated paper, transparent film, etc.) as a recording medium. . FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the stapling device 12 in FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the sheet folding apparatus 10 in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet processing apparatus 11 is installed adjacent to the left side surface 14 of an image forming apparatus 13 such as a copying machine or a printer. Here, as an image forming method of the image forming apparatus 13, an arbitrary method such as an electrophotographic method, an electrostatic recording method, an ink jet method or the like can be adopted. The sheet P on which an image has been formed in the image forming apparatus 13 is discharged leftward from the image forming apparatus 13 by a paper discharge roller 15 disposed in the vicinity of the sheet discharge port on the left side surface 14 of the image forming apparatus 13. , And supplied to the sheet processing apparatus 11.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet processing apparatus 11 is provided with sheet discharge trays 16, 17, 18, a stapling apparatus 12, a sheet folding apparatus 10, a sheet discharge apparatus 1, and the like, which are sheets after image formation. Depending on P, (a) the process is not performed, (b) the stapling process is performed, (c) the half-folding process is performed, and so on.

  (A) When no processing is performed on the sheet P after the image formation, the sheet P after the image formation is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 16 via the conveyance path 20 that extends upward from the vicinity of the paper discharge roller 15; Alternatively, the paper is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 17 via the conveyance path 21 directed to the left and the conveyance path 22 directed upward from the middle thereof, or from the left end (downstream end) of the conveyance path 21 onto the paper discharge tray 18. Discharged. The paper discharge tray 18 is configured to be movable up and down, and a large amount of sheets P can be stacked when lowered.

  (B) When stapling is performed on the sheet P after the image formation, the sheet P after the image formation has the conveyance path 21, a conveyance path 23 that goes downward from the middle thereof, and the conveyance path 24 shown in FIG. The sheets are sequentially ejected and stacked on the intermediate tray 28 via 25, 26, 27, and the like. After the stacked sheets P are aligned in the transport direction and the sheet passing width direction to form a sheet bundle (a bundle of a plurality of sheets P), one corner on the leading end side or two on the leading end side The staple is stapled by the first stapler 30. The sheet bundle after the side stitching is ejected as the hook 32 attached to the bundle discharge belt 31 is pushed out by moving in the same direction as the bundle discharge belt 31 rotates in the direction of arrow R31. It is discharged onto the tray 18 (see FIG. 1).

  (C) When performing a half-fold process on the sheet after image formation, the sheet P after image formation is transferred by the sheet discharge device 1 via the conveyance paths 21, 23, 26, and 33 shown in FIG. The sheet is supplied to the sheet folding apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. 3, the sheet P conveyed on the conveyance path 33 is discharged onto the stacking tray 35 by the discharge roller 34 and the discharge roller 52 constituting the discharge rotating body pair 50 (see FIG. 4), and sequentially. Alignment in the transport direction and the sheet passing width direction is performed. On the upstream side of the stacking tray 35, an alignment belt 36 that can rotate in the forward and reverse directions is disposed. The alignment belt 36 is a bundle serving as a rear end regulating member so as to protrude from the upper surface of the stacking tray 35. A lowering member 37 is attached. On the other hand, on the downstream side of the stacking tray 35, an alignment belt 38 that can be rotated in the forward and reverse directions is disposed. The alignment belt 38 serves as a leading end regulating member so as to protrude from the upper surface of the stacking tray 35. A bundle raising member 39 is attached. These alignment belts 36 and 38 are rotated forward and backward as appropriate according to the timing of the sheets P discharged onto the stacking tray 35 by the discharge rotating body pair 50, so that the bundle lowering member 37 and the bundle raising member 39 The sheets P on the stacking tray 35 can be aligned in the transport direction. On the other hand, the alignment in the sheet passing width direction is performed by a pair of side regulating plates (not shown) that are positioned in contact with both ends of the sheet P on the stacking tray 35 in the sheet passing width direction from the outside.

  As described above, the sheet bundle aligned in the conveyance direction and the sheet passing width direction is saddle-stitched by the second stapler 40 at the substantially central folding portion (the portion that is folded in two later) in the conveyance direction by the binding needle. . The sheet bundle after the saddle stitching is folded in half by a pair of middle folding rollers 43 including a pair of middle folding rollers 41 and 42 and a blade unit 44. That is, the sheet bundle after the saddle stitching is moved to a position corresponding to the nip N and the blade unit 44 of the pair of middle folding rollers 43 by the alignment belts 36 and 38. The folded portion of the sheet bundle is pushed into the nip N by a middle folding blade (not shown) of the blade unit 44 and is nipped and conveyed by the rotation of the middle folding roller pair 43 in the arrow direction. As a result, the sheet bundle is folded in half. The folded sheet bundle is further conveyed along the sheet discharge guide 46 by the pair of middle folding rollers 43 and is discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 47.

  As described above, the sheet processing apparatus 11 discharges the sheet P after image formation as it is to the paper discharge trays 16, 17, and 18, or after flat binding, discharges it to the paper discharge tray 18, or performs saddle stitching, After folding, the paper is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 47.

  Next, the sheet discharging apparatus 1 according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 is a partially broken enlarged view of FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating the discharge roller 34, the discharge roller 52, the scraping member 51, and the like. In FIG. 5, although the sheet P is not shown, a state in which the upper one of the blade members 56 of the scraping member 51 is in contact with the back surface of the sheet P and assumes a lying posture. Is shown. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining alignment in the conveyance direction of the sheets P discharged to the stacking tray 35.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the sheet discharging apparatus 1 includes a stacking tray 35, a pair of discharge rotating bodies 50 disposed above the stacking tray 35, a bundle raising member 39 as a leading end regulating member, and a trailing end regulation. A bundle lowering member 37 as a member and a scraping member 51 as a rear end pressing member are provided, and the discharge rotating body pair 50 includes a discharge roller 34 as an upper rotating body and a discharge roller as a lower rotating body. 52.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the discharge roller 34 is fixed to a shaft 53 arranged in the front-rear direction (paper passing width direction). The front and rear ends of the shaft 53 are rotatably supported by a main body frame (not shown), and are driven and rotated in the direction of the arrow R53 by a driving means (not shown). In the present embodiment, four discharge rollers 34 are fixed at different positions in the front-rear direction on the shaft 53, and rotate in the direction of arrow R34 as the shaft 53 rotates in the direction of arrow R53. With the rotation in the direction of the arrow R34, the sheet P conveyed from the upstream side is discharged onto the stacking tray 35 (see FIG. 4).

  As shown in FIG. 5, the discharge roller 52 is supported by a shaft 54. The shaft 54 is disposed so as to be parallel to the shaft 53 supporting the discharge roller 34 described above, and both front and rear ends are fixedly supported (non-rotatable) by the main body frame.

  Four discharge rollers 52 are arranged at different positions on the shaft 54 in the front-rear direction, and are respectively rotatably supported by the shaft 54. Each discharge roller 52 is disposed in the vicinity of each discharge roller 34 described above and at a position different from the discharge roller 34 along the front-rear direction (axis 54 direction). That is, each discharge roller 52 is disposed in the vicinity of each discharge roller 34 to form the discharge rotating body pair 50, but is disposed at a position that does not overlap in the front-rear direction.

  As shown in FIG. 4, each discharge roller 34 and each discharge roller 52 are arranged so that their outer peripheral surfaces slightly overlap each other when viewed from the front (as viewed from the front side shown in FIG. 4). . In FIG. 4, a discharge roller disposed on the rear side of the rotation base 55 having the same diameter as that of the rotation base 55 of the scraping member 51 described later is denoted by reference numeral 52 for convenience of explanation. In the following description, the overlap portion between the discharge roller 34 and the discharge roller 52 in FIG. 4 will be described as an apparent nip (hereinafter simply referred to as “nip”) N1. When discharging the sheet P by rotating the discharge roller 34, a portion of the sheet P positioned between the discharge roller 34 and the discharge roller 52 of each discharge rotating body pair 50 along the sheet passing width direction is as follows. , The posture is stable. As will be described later, the scraping member 51 is disposed so as to act on a stable posture portion of the sheet P.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the scraping member 51 includes a cylindrical rotation base 55 and a blade member 56 protruding from the rotation base 55. The rotation base 55 is formed in a substantially disc shape, and is similarly rotatably supported by a shaft 54 that rotatably supports the discharge roller 52 described above. The outer diameter of the rotation base 55 is set to be substantially the same as or slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the discharge roller 52. In the present embodiment, a total of four blade members 56 project in a strip shape at positions on the outer peripheral surface of the rotation base 55 that are equally divided into four in the circumferential direction.

  In a natural state, that is, in a state where the blade member 56 is not in contact with the sheet P, the blade member 56 takes an upright posture and also contacts the back surface of the sheet P being discharged and takes a lying posture. In this embodiment, the blade member 56 is formed of an elastic body, for example, a synthetic resin such as silicone rubber or urethane rubber, integrally with the rotation base 55. As described above, when the blade member 56 is in contact with the back surface of the sheet P, the blade member 56 easily takes a lying posture and does not interfere with the conveyance (discharge operation) of the sheet P. When the posture is taken, the stiffness is such that the rear end of the sheet P can be scraped off while maintaining the standing posture. The distance from the center of the shaft 54 serving as the rotation center of the scraping member 51 to the tip of the blade member 56 is set to be larger than the radius of the discharge roller 52. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, when the scraping member 51 is viewed from the front side, the tip of the blade member 56 is positioned outside the outer periphery of the discharge roller 52. The rear end of the sheet P is scraped off at a portion located outside this.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the scraping member 51 is disposed between the discharge roller 34 and the discharge roller 52 in each discharge rotor pair 50. As a result, when the trailing edge of the sheet P is scraped off, the portion of the sheet P positioned between the discharge roller 34 and the discharge roller 52, that is, the portion having a relatively stable posture can be scraped off satisfactorily. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the scraping member 51 is configured integrally with the discharge roller 52 described above. For this reason, the scraping member 51 can reliably rotate in synchronization with the discharge of the sheet P as the discharge roller 52 is driven to rotate by the sheet P, so that the trailing edge of the sheet P can be reliably scraped off. it can. Here, that the discharge roller 52 and the scraping member 51 are integrated includes, for example, a case where the discharge roller 52 and the scraping member 51 are integrally formed of the same material, and a case where they are combined after being formed separately. Shall be. It is also possible to configure the scraping member 51 and the discharge roller 52 separately and to individually support the scraper 51 and the discharge roller 52 so as to be rotatable by the shaft 54. Here, when the scraping member 51 rotates, the region through which the blade member 56 passes is defined as an effective pressing region A (see FIG. 4).

  As shown in FIG. 4, an upper guide 57 and a lower guide 58 that guide the conveyed sheet P to the discharge rotator pair 50 are disposed on the upstream side of the discharge rotator pair 50. Of these, the upper guide 57 is provided with an extension 60 by extending the downstream end thereof to the downstream side of the discharge rotor pair 50. Accordingly, the scraping member 51 described above can scrape the rear end of the sheet P in a state where the rear end of the sheet P is hooked on the extension portion 60. Further, on the downstream side of the discharge roller 34, a discharge guide 59 that regulates the upper position of the discharged sheet P is disposed in an inclined state so that the downstream side approaches the stacking tray 35.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a stacking tray 35 is disposed below the discharge rotating body pair 50. The stacking tray 35 is disposed obliquely so that the downstream side (left side) is positioned below. The scraping member 51 is arranged so that the tip of the blade member 56 is slightly away from the stacking tray 35 with any one of the blade members 56 closest to the stacking tray.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, alignment belts 36 and 38 are individually provided on the upstream side and the downstream side below the stacking tray 35, respectively. The upstream alignment belt 36 is stretched between the driving roller 61 and the driven roller 62, and can be rotated in the forward and reverse directions by rotating the driving roller 61 forward and backward by a motor 70 as a driving source. . A bundle lowering member 37 as a rear end regulating member is attached to the alignment belt 36. The bundle lowering member 37 is attached so that the upper end side protrudes upward from the stacking tray 35, and a pressing portion 63 projects from the upper end toward the downstream side. A rear end regulating surface 64 with which the end abuts is formed. By the forward and reverse rotation of the alignment belt 36, the bundle lowering member 37 has a third position P3 on the upstream side (shown by a solid line in FIG. 4) and a fourth position on the downstream side (shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 4). ). When the sheet P is discharged from the discharge rotating body pair 50, the bundle lowering member 37 is in the third position P3, that is, the position where the rear end regulating surface 64 is disposed slightly upstream from the center of the scraping member 51. Waiting at.

  Similarly to the upstream alignment belt 36, the downstream alignment belt 38 is also stretched between a drive roller 65 (see FIG. 3) and a driven roller 66, and is driven by rotation of another motor 71 as a drive reduction. By rotating 65 in forward and reverse directions, it can be rotated in forward and reverse directions. As a result, the bundle raising member 39 as the leading end regulating member attached to the alignment belt 38 has a first position P1 on the downstream side (in FIG. 4) with the upper end protruding from the upper surface of the stacking tray 35. And a second position P2 on the upstream side (alignment position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 4). The bundling member 39 has a pressing portion 67 protruding from the upper end toward the upstream side, and a leading edge regulating surface 68 that regulates the position of the leading edge of the sheet P toward the upstream side. . When the sheet P is discharged from the discharge rotating body pair 50, the bundling member 39 is in the first position P1, that is, when the leading end of the discharged sheet P comes into contact with the leading end regulating surface 68. The rear end of the scraping member 51 is disposed at a position so as to be within the effective holding area A (movement range) of the blade member 56. As shown in FIG. 3, the motors 70, 71 described above are individually controlled for rotation by the control means 72.

  Here, the first position P1, the second position P2, and the third position P3 and the fourth position P4 of the bundle lowering member 37 will be arranged. These positions were set as follows.

  First position P1: A position that regulates the position of the leading end of the sheet P discharged onto the stacking tray 35, and the leading end of the sheet P is brought into contact with the bundle raising member 39 at the first position P1. A position set so that the trailing edge of the sheet P sometimes falls within the effective pressing area A of the scraping member 51 on the stacking tray 35. When the trailing edge of the sheet P at the time of discharge enters the effective holding area A, the trailing edge of the sheet is scraped downward from the vicinity of the nip N1 by the blade member 56, and the sheet P after scraping is scraped. The rear end also enters the effective holding area A. Note that the first position P1 is appropriately changed according to the length in the transport direction of the sheet P discharged and stacked on the stacking tray 35. That is, the first position P1 is set on the downstream side for the sheet P having a long length in the transport direction and on the upstream side for the short sheet.

  Second position P2: When the stacking member 39 in a state in which the leading edge of the sheet P is in contact is moved from the first position to the upstream side, the rear end of the sheet P will be described next. The position when contacting the bundle lowering member 37 at position 3 of P3.

  Third position P3: The rear end of the sheet P, which is discharged onto the stacking tray 35 and whose front end is restricted by the bundling member 39 at the first position P1, is in the effective pressing region A of the scraping member 51 described above. A position that is set so that the trailing edge of the sheet P does not deviate from the effective pressing area A even when the bundle-up member 39 moves from the first position P1 to the second position P2 without obstructing entry. In the present embodiment, the third position P3 is set slightly upstream from the shaft 54 described above.

  Fourth position P4: A position that is closer to the downstream side from the third position P3 by the same distance as the distance between the first position P1 and the second position P2 described above.

  The first position P1, the second position P2, and the third position P3 and the fourth position P4 of the bundle lowering member 37 are detected by position sensors (not shown), respectively. The control means 72 controls the motors 70 and 71 based on the output of each position sensor.

  In the present embodiment, the distance between the front end regulating surface 68 of the bundle raising member 39 at the first position P1 and the rear end regulating surface 64 of the bundle lowering member 37 at the fourth position P4 is the stacking tray. This is the same as the length in the conveyance direction of the sheet P stacked on the sheet 35. Similarly, the distance between the front end regulating surface 68 of the bundle raising member 39 at the second position P2 and the rear end regulating surface 64 of the bundle lowering member 37 at the third position P3 is set on the stacking tray 35. This is the same as the length of the sheet P in the conveyance direction.

  Referring to FIGS. 4 and 6, the operation flow of the above-described sheet discharge device 1, in particular, the bundle raising member 39 that aligns the sheet P discharged and stacked on the stacking tray 35 in the conveying direction, and bundle lowering The flow of operation of the member 37 will be described.

  When the power of the image forming apparatus 13 (see FIG. 1) is turned on and a warm-up operation is started, the bundle raising member 39 is at the second upstream position P2, and the bundle lowering member 37 is at the third upstream side. (Step S1 in FIG. 6). Further, when an image forming operation start button (not shown) is pressed to confirm the start of loading of sheets P onto the stacking tray 35 (step S2), the bundle raising member 39 is moved to the first position P1 on the downstream side. Further, the bundle lowering member moves to the fourth position P4 on the downstream side (step S3), and then the bundle lowering member 37 moves to the third position P3 on the upstream side (step S4). Thereby, the preparation for discharging the sheet to the stacking tray 35 is completed.

  The sheet P is discharged onto the stacking tray 35 by the rotation of the discharge rotating body pair 50 (step S5). The sheet P is stopped by bringing the leading end into contact with the bundle raising member 39 at the first position P1. At this time, the rear end of the sheet P is positioned slightly downstream of the nip N1 of the discharge rotating body pair 50, that is, in the effective pressing region A of the scraping member 51. Therefore, the trailing edge of the sheet P is scraped downward by the blade member 56 due to the rotation of the scraping member 51, and is written below the scraping member 51. At this time, since the bundle lowering member 37 is located at the third position P3 on the upstream side, it does not interfere with the trailing edge of the sheet P being scraped off.

  Subsequently, the bundling member 39 at the first position P1 moves upstream while pushing the leading edge of the sheet P and is disposed at the second position P2 (step S6). As a result, the rear end of the sheet P is brought into contact with the bundle lowering member 37 at the third position. In this state, the distance (interval) between the front end regulating surface 68 of the bundle raising member 39 and the rear end regulating surface 64 of the bundle lowering member 37 is substantially the same as the length in the conveyance direction of the sheet P.

  Subsequently, the bundle raising member 39 moves from the second position P2 to the first position P1 while maintaining the above-mentioned distance, and at the same time, the bundle lowering member 37 moves from the third position P3 to the fourth position. Move to P4 (step S7). Thereafter, the bundle lowering member 37 moves from the fourth position P4 to the third position P3.

  Thus, the alignment in the transport direction for one sheet P discharged onto the stacking tray 35 is completed. If the sheet P is not the final part (“No” in step S8), the process returns to step S2 to continue discharging and stacking the sheet P. On the other hand, when the sheet P is the final part (“Yes” in step S8), the bundle raising member 39 and the bundle lowering member 37 are moved to a stapling position (not shown) (step S9). Then, the saddle stitching is performed by the second stapler 40 (step S10). Thereafter, the bundle raising member 39 and the bundle lowering member 37 are moved to the folding position (not shown) (step S11), folded by the folding roller pair 43 and the blade unit 44, and discharged onto the paper discharge tray 47 (step). S12). Then, if the operation is finished (“Yes” in step S13), the operation is terminated. If the operation is not finished (“No” in step S13), the operation returns to step S2 to continue the operation.

  According to the present embodiment, when the subsequent sheet P is discharged and stacked on the sheet P already stacked on the stacking tray 35 and aligned, the stacking member 39 and the bundle lowering member 37 are already stacked. The sheet P being moved is also moved. At this time, regardless of the first, second, third and fourth positions P1, P2, P3 and P4 of the bundle raising member 39 and the bundle lowering member 37, the trailing edge of the sheet P on the stacking tray 35 is scraped. It will be located in the effective pressing area A area of the dropping member 51. Therefore, the sheet P on the stacking tray 35 is prevented from being lifted upward by the scraping member 51 even when the trailing end is curled, and the subsequent sheet P is already stacked on the stacking tray 35. It is possible to prevent a problem such as a dive under the seat P.

  Note that, as described above, since the pressing member 63 is formed at the upper end of the bundle lowering member 37 so as to face downward, it is possible to prevent the trailing edge of the sheet P from being lifted by the pressing member 63. However, the bundle lowering member 37 is generally disposed near the center in the sheet passing width direction and is not disposed at the end. For this reason, the end tends to be lifted in the sheet passing width direction at the rear end of the sheet P. However, as shown in FIG. 5, the scraping member 51 is also disposed at a position corresponding to the end. Further, it is possible to prevent the rear end portion from being lifted over almost the entire region in the sheet passing width direction.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, in step S7, the bundle lowering member 37 is moved to the third position in synchronization with the movement of the bundle raising member 39 from the second position P2 to the first position P1. It is moved from P3 to the fourth position P4. At this time, for example, if the bundle lowering member 37 is left arranged at the third position P3, the sheet bundle is moved when the bundle raising member 39 is moved from the second position P2 to the first position P1. Corresponding to the lowering of 39 in an obliquely downward direction, the bundle lowering member 39 is tracked by its own weight with its tip in contact. For this reason, there is a possibility that a gap may be formed between the front end regulating surface 68 of the bundle lowering member 39 and the front end of the sheet bundle. If a gap is formed in this way, when the subsequent sheet P is discharged, the leading edge may enter the gap. In this case, the sheet P cannot be aligned. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as described above, the bundle lowering member 37 is moved from the third position P3 to the fourth position in synchronization with the movement of the bundle raising member 39 from the second position P2 to the first position P1. Is moved to the position P4, and the rear end of the sheet P is pushed downstream so that a gap is not formed between the front end of the sheet P and the bundle raising member 39.

  In step S7 in FIG. 6, when the bundle raising member 39 is moved from the second position P2 to the first position P1, the front end of the sheet bundle abuts against the bundle raising member 39 due to its own weight. If the bundled member 37 can be moved in this state, the operation of moving the bundle lowering member 37 from the third position P3 to the fourth position P4 can be omitted. This is the case, for example, where the stacking tray 35 has a large inclination angle and the leading edge of the sheet bundle is always in contact with the bundle raising member 39. In such a case, the bundle lowering member 37 can be left arranged at the third position P3 without moving.

  In the above description, the case where the sheet discharge apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a sheet processing apparatus that processes a sheet after image formation has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and image formation is not limited thereto. Regardless of the presence or absence of the sheet, the present invention can be widely applied to the general case of discharging sheets onto the stacking tray.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the entire configuration of the sheet processing apparatus viewed from the front side (front side). FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the stapling device in FIG. 1. It is an enlarged view of the sheet folding apparatus in FIG. It is a partially broken enlarged view of FIG. It is a perspective view explaining a discharge roller, a discharge roller, a scraping member, and the like. 10 is a flowchart for explaining alignment in the conveyance direction of sheets P discharged to a stacking tray.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Sheet discharge device, 35 ... Stacking tray, 37 ... Bunch lowering member (rear end regulating member), 39 ... Bunch raising member (front end regulating member), 50 ... Discharge rotating body, 51 ... Scraping off Member (rear end pressing member), 56... Blade member, A... Effective pressing region, P... Sheet, P1... First position, P2 ... second position, P3. P4 ... Fourth position

Claims (3)

A stacking tray whose downstream side along the sheet discharge direction is inclined downward, and a pair of discharge rotators disposed on the upstream side of the stacking tray and discharging the conveyed sheet onto the stacking tray. In the provided sheet discharging apparatus,
By being arranged to project upward from the stacking tray on the downstream side of the stacking tray, and moving between the first position and the second position along the inclination direction of the stacking tray, A leading edge regulating member that regulates the leading edge of the sheet on the stacking tray;
A rear end regulating member that is disposed at a third position so as to project upward from the stacking tray in the vicinity of the discharge rotating body pair, and that regulates the rear end of the sheet on the stacking tray;
A rear end pressing member that is disposed in the vicinity of the discharge rotating body pair and has an effective pressing region that can prevent the trailing end of the sheet on the stacking tray from being lifted;
The first position is a position for regulating the position of the leading edge of the sheet discharged onto the stacking tray, and when the leading edge of the sheet comes into contact with the leading edge regulating member at the first position. A position where the trailing edge of the sheet is set to be within the effective holding area on the stacking tray;
The third position is such that the trailing edge of the sheet discharged onto the stacking tray and whose leading edge is regulated by the first leading edge regulating member does not obstruct the entry into the effective holding area, and Even if the leading edge regulating member is moved, it is a position set so that the trailing edge of the sheet does not come off from the effective holding area,
The second position is such that the trailing edge of the sheet is in the third position when the leading edge regulating member in contact with the leading edge of the sheet is moved upstream from the first position. A position when contacting the rear end regulating member;
The leading edge regulating member and the trailing edge regulating member are arranged at the first position and the third position, respectively, when the sheet is discharged,
The leading edge regulating member moves from the first position to the second position after discharging the sheet to bring the trailing edge of the sheet into contact with the trailing edge regulating member at the third position, and Moving from the second position to the first position;
A sheet discharging apparatus characterized by that. The rear end regulating member is movable between the third position and a fourth position downstream of the third position along the inclination direction of the stacking tray, and the front end regulating member In synchronization with the movement from the second position to the first position and while maintaining the distance between the front end restricting member and the rear end restricting member from the third position. Moving to a fourth position, and after the front end regulating member stops at the first position, returns from the fourth position to the third position;
The sheet discharging apparatus according to claim 1. The trailing edge pressing member is formed by a rotatable scraping member having a plurality of wing members that can be laid down in a radial manner. The sheet is placed in the effective pressing area, and the rear end of the sheets stacked on the stacking tray is held in the effective pressing area.
The sheet discharging apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that

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