JP2009126629A - Paper sheet post-processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper sheet post-processing device with high reliability in conveying path switching operations. <P>SOLUTION: In this paper sheet post-processing device, when paper sheets on a post-processing tray are post-processed, the conveying path of carried paper sheets is switched using a split plate mounted on the entrance of a middle conveying path. A first paper sheet is conveyed to the first path and a second paper sheet is conveyed to the second path. The conveying path is blocked by driving a conveying path shielding gate mounted on the exit of the middle conveying path so as to put the first paper sheet on hold. With the second paper sheet conveyed, the conveying path is opened by driving the conveying path shielding gate, thereby conveying the two paper sheets to the post-processing tray at the same time. Means for measuring and recording time T from passage of an earlier paper sheet until reach of the next paper sheet is provided upstream from the middle conveying path. When the timing for switching operation is available between a plurality of paper sheets in switching the split plate to the path for the first paper sheet again after the two paper sheets are conveyed, the path switching operation is performed when the time T between paper sheets is path switching time or more. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is connected to a subsequent stage of an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copier, and temporarily waits for a sheet to be transported to a post-processing tray in an intermediate transport path, and simultaneously transports a plurality of sheets to the post-processing tray. The present invention relates to a processing apparatus.

  A post-processing apparatus that includes a post-processing tray that performs predetermined post-processing on paper and an intermediate transport path that transports the paper loaded from the image forming apparatus to the post-processing tray is provided on the paper loaded on the post-processing tray. In order to secure a time for performing the processing, it is necessary to leave a sheet conveyance interval. Therefore, conventionally, a paper transport method has been proposed in order to prevent a paper transport interval from being left during post-processing. Various paper transport methods of this type have been devised, but the transported paper is put on standby in the intermediate transport path, and several sheets are stacked and transported to the post-processing tray, so that the paper can be transferred to the post-processing tray while waiting on the intermediate transport path. A conveyance paper standby system in which post-processing is performed on the stacked paper in the processing tray is often used.

  In the case of such a transport sheet standby system, a plurality of intermediate transport paths and transport path switching means are provided so that the order of the sheets stacked on the post-processing tray is not reversed, and the sheets are transported to a predetermined transport path. For this reason, a method of performing a switching operation of the conveyance path between the conveyance sheets has been taken. Further, in the case of such a transport paper standby method, means for transporting the paper to the post-processing tray without waiting for the paper in the intermediate transport path until all the paper to be post-processed in the post-processing tray is stacked. Has been taken.

  A conventional example is shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a conventional conveyance sheet standby method for an intermediate conveyance path. When the first sheet of N post-processed sheets has been transported, the dividing plate 9 transports the sheet at the right transport path position in the intermediate transport path (state in FIG. 2A), and the right transport path. During the transfer, the shielding gate 13 rotates to stop the first sheet on the intermediate transfer path (state shown in FIG. 2B). When the second sheet is transported to the intermediate transport path, the dividing plate 9 moves to the left transport path position and transports the sheet (the state shown in FIG. 2C). The second sheet is conveyed (state shown in FIG. 2D). When the second sheet is conveyed to the left conveyance path, the shielding gate 13 is rotated, and the second sheet and the first sheet temporarily waiting are discharged from the intermediate conveyance path to the post-processing tray (see FIG. 2 (e) state). This is a transport paper standby system in which the dividing plate 9 is moved to the right transport path position when the next paper is transported (state shown in FIG. 2F).

Japanese Patent No. 2635874

  In the conventional transport paper standby method, it is necessary to perform a transport path switching operation between the first transported paper and the next paper. However, the interval between sheets is not constant. For example, the conveyance speed varies depending on the slippage of the sheet by the conveyance roller, the thickness of the sheet, the surface condition, and the like. When the sheet conveyance is delayed, the sheet is conveyed with a narrow interval between the sheets. When the paper interval becomes narrow, the operation of switching the transport path after waiting for transport paper or the operation of switching the transport path to the transport paper standby path is not in time, and the transport path cannot be switched. Or the paper could not be conveyed and an error occurred. For this reason, when the paper is transported in a state where the paper interval is narrow, a transport error has been taken, or a method has been adopted in which the paper space is set in advance.

  Further, in the method of transporting paper to the post-processing tray without waiting on the intermediate transport path until all the paper to be post-processed on the post-processing tray is stacked as in the conventional post-processing apparatus, the post-processing tray When the paper is transported in a state where the paper interval is narrow, the paper stacking order may be reversed when the paper is stacked on the post-processing tray. For this reason, it has been necessary to make an error when the sheet is conveyed with a narrow interval.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet post-processing apparatus that can continue printing without causing an error or leaving a sheet interval even when the sheet interval of the conveyance sheet as described above becomes narrow.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a post-processing tray that is connected to a subsequent stage of an image forming apparatus and performs predetermined post-processing on printed paper, and transports a paper carried from the image forming apparatus to the post-processing tray. And has two transport paths provided at the entrance of the intermediate transport path when carrying out predetermined post-processing on the paper on the post-processing tray. Then, the transport path is switched using the dividing plate for switching the transport path, the first sheet is transported to the first path, the second sheet is transported to the second path, and the intermediate transport path The conveyance path shielding gate provided at the exit is driven to close the conveyance path, the first sheet is temporarily stopped in the intermediate conveyance path, and the conveyance path is adjusted in accordance with the conveyance of the second sheet. Drive the shielding gate to open the transport path, and the first sheet The post-processing apparatus having a sheet conveying mechanism for conveying the second sheet at the same time to said post-processing tray is intended to target.

  The first means is provided with means for measuring and recording the time T from the passage of the previous sheet to the arrival of the next sheet in front of the intermediate conveyance path, and conveys the first and second sheets. Then, when switching the dividing plate to the first path again, if the timing for performing the switching operation is possible between a plurality of sheets, the time T between the sheets is switched. The route switching operation is performed when the time is exceeded.

  According to a second means of the present invention, in the first means, a transport roller that is rotationally driven so as to have a transport speed faster than the paper transport speed of the intermediate transport path between the transport path shielding gate and the post-processing tray. When the transport path switching operation is not performed at the entrance of the intermediate transport path, the sheet is transported to the post-processing tray without jamming even when the time T between the sheets transported to the intermediate transport path is short. It is characterized by continuing.

  As described above, the following effects can be obtained by the post-processing apparatus of the present invention. In the transport paper standby method with multiple transport paths and transport path switching means, the reliability of the transport path switching operation is improved by determining when to switch the transport path based on the time between transport sheets, and during continuous paper transport It is possible to obtain a post-processing apparatus that can perform a transport path switching operation.

  In addition, the transport speed between the intermediate transport path of the transport paper standby method and the post-processing tray is transported at a speed faster than the transport speed to the intermediate transport path, so that the paper is transported next to the trailing edge of the paper that has been delayed. It is possible to prevent an error that may occur when the interval between the leading ends of the sheets to be printed is narrow, and to obtain a post-processing apparatus that does not change the stacking order when the post-processing trays are stacked.

  Even if the paper interval of the transport paper becomes narrow, the purpose of continuing the printing by switching the transport path without leaving a transport error or paper interval, without changing the post-processing device mechanism Realized by adding control to determine when to change the transport path according to the state. Also, even if the space between the transport sheets becomes narrow, it does not cause a transport error, the stacking order is not reversed on the post-processing tray, and the purpose of continuing printing is the same without changing the mechanism of the post-processing device. In addition, the conveyance speed between the intermediate conveyance path and the post-processing tray is set to be higher than the conveyance speed to the intermediate conveyance path so that there is a space between the conveyance sheets.

  The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a post-processing apparatus 1 having an intermediate transport path 2 and a post-processing tray 3 of a transport paper standby system.

  The post-processing apparatus 1 includes a conveyance motor 5 and a conveyance roller 6, and before the sheet is conveyed from the host apparatus, the conveyance motor 5 is driven to rotate the conveyance roller 6 so that the sheet is transferred to the intermediate conveyance path. 2 can be conveyed. Further, the post-processing apparatus 1 includes a path 1 sensor 7 at the entrance and a path 2 sensor 8 in front of the intermediate transport path 2 in order to manage and control the sheet transport position, and the path 1 sensor 7 and the path 2 sensor. It is possible to monitor the timing at which 8 is switched on and off, and to record the paper leading edge arrival time and the paper trailing edge passage time. Further, the post-processing apparatus 1 can record the sheet interval time from the OFF time of the path 1 sensor 7 in order to determine the trigger of the transport path switching operation.

  The machine including the intermediate transport path 2 moves the position of the dividing plate 9 by driving the transport path switching motor 10 through the transport path switching means including the transport path switching motor 10 and the dividing plate 9 at the entrance of the intermediate transport path 2. The transport route can be switched. Further, behind the dividing plate 9, there is provided a sheet conveying means comprising an intermediate conveying motor 11 and an intermediate conveying roller 12, and before the sheet is conveyed, the intermediate conveying motor 11 is driven and the intermediate conveying roller is driven. The sheet can be conveyed by rotating 12. Further, a shielding gate 13 is provided behind the intermediate conveyance roller 12, and a position where the sheet is stopped on the intermediate conveyance path 2 or the conveyance path is opened by moving the shielding gate 13 to a position where the conveyance path is blocked. The sheet on the intermediate transport path 2 can be transported by moving the shielding gate 13.

  The sheet conveyed from the intermediate conveyance path 2 can check that the sheet has been conveyed from the intermediate conveyance roller 12 by the exit sensor 14 behind the shielding gate 13, and the outlet conveyance motor 15 is driven. The sheet can be transported to the post-processing tray 3 by rotating the exit transport roller 16.

  In addition, the exit conveyance roller 16 is set to a conveyance speed faster than the conveyance roller 6 and the intermediate conveyance roller 12. The post-processing tray 3 includes a transport tray mechanism 19 that stacks sheets and discharges the sheets to a discharge tray, a binding mechanism 18, and a drawing roller 17. The sheet conveyed from the intermediate conveyance path 2 can be conveyed to the conveyance tray mechanism 19 by rotating the drawing roller 17. When the post-processing apparatus 1 loads a number of sheets to be post-processed on the transport tray mechanism 19, the post-processing apparatus 1 drives the binding mechanism 18 to perform binding processing, and moves the hook 20 attached to the transport tray mechanism 19. The sheet can be conveyed to the discharge tray 4.

  The discharge tray 4 includes a discharge conveyance roller 21 and a discharge table 22. The discharge tray mechanism 19 rotates the discharge conveyance roller 21 to convey the conveyed paper to the discharge table 22. The discharge table 22 can stack the sheets transported from the discharge transport roller 21.

  The transport path switching operation for returning to the initial transport path according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a switching trigger when the number of post-processing sheets is three in the transport path switching operation for returning the transport paper standby path according to the present invention.

  In FIG. 3E, the post-processing apparatus 1 discharges the first and second sheets from the intermediate transport path 2 to the post-processing tray 3, and then sets the interval between the second and third sheets. To check. When the interval between the second sheet and the third sheet is large, the post-processing apparatus 1 moves the dividing plate 9 before the third sheet is conveyed in FIG. The third sheet is transported by switching to the right transport path as the path. Further, when the interval between the second sheet and the third sheet is clogged, the post-processing apparatus 1 conveys the third sheet while keeping the left conveyance path as shown in FIG. When the next sheet having a gap between the sheets is conveyed, the dividing plate 9 is moved as shown in FIG. 3 (i) to switch to the right conveyance path which is the conveyance sheet standby path. Transport the first sheet. By switching the transport path when there is a gap between sheets, the reliability of the transport path switching operation can be improved, and the transport path switching operation can be performed during the continuous paper transport. it can.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart for measuring the time between sheets according to the present invention. The path 1 sensor 7 installed for monitoring the leading edge arrival time and the trailing edge passage time of the sheet is used to measure the off time T of the path 1 sensor 7. By recording as the time Tn between the sheets, the time between the sheets of n sheets can be measured and recorded.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of switching the transport path to the transport paper standby path according to the present invention. In the transport path switching operation for returning to the transport paper standby path, the time Tn between the nth sheet and the (n−1) th sheet is determined as the transport path switch when the nth transport path is triggered. If it is equal to or longer than the possible time Ta, a transfer route switching operation is executed. At this time, if Tn is equal to or less than Ta, it is checked whether or not the next sheet can be transported as a trigger for switching the transport path. If it is not possible, transport is stopped as an error, and transport is performed if possible. By performing control so as to skip the path switching operation, the reliability of the transport path switching operation is improved, and a transport path switching operation that allows the transport path switching operation during continuous paper transport can be achieved.

  The effect when the transport speed between the intermediate transport path 2 and the post-processing tray 3 according to the present invention is transported at a speed of 40 ips faster than the transport speed 29 ips to the intermediate transport path 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing the on / off time of the pass 2 sensor 8 and the on / off time of the exit sensor 14 when a 8.5 inch long sheet is conveyed. FIG. 6A shows the case of the design value, FIG. 6B shows the case where the paper is delayed by 50 mm, and FIG. 6C shows the case where the paper behind is overlapped with the paper.

  In the case of FIG. 6A, the time between sheets when passing through the path 2 sensor 8 is 91 ms. Thereafter, by increasing the exit conveyance speed to 40 ips, the time between sheets becomes 172 ms when the sheet passes through the exit sensor 14.

  In the case of FIG. 6B, the time between sheets when the sheet passes through the pass 2 sensor 8 is 23 ms. Thereafter, by increasing the exit conveyance speed to 40 ips, the time between sheets becomes 104 ms when the sheet passes through the exit sensor 14.

  In the case of FIG. 6C, the time between sheets when the sheet passes through the pass 2 sensor 8 is 0 ms. Thereafter, by increasing the exit conveyance speed to 40 ips, the time between sheets becomes 81 ms when the sheet passes through the exit sensor 14.

  By increasing the exit conveyance speed to 40 ips in this way, even when there is no time between sheets, the time between sheets can be increased. Can be loaded without being reversed, and as a result, can be transported without a transport error.

  It can be applied to electrophotographic printing apparatuses such as printers and copiers.

It is a schematic block diagram of the post-processing apparatus of the conveyance paper standby system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the figure shown about the conventional conveyance paper standby system. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a transport path switching operation for returning to a transport paper standby path according to the embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart for measuring the time between sheets according to the embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart of an operation of switching a conveyance path to a conveyance sheet standby path according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a timing chart when the conveyance speed of the exit conveyance roller which concerns on embodiment of this invention is made faster.

Explanation of symbols

  1 is a post-processing apparatus, 2 is an intermediate transport path, 3 is a post-processing tray, 4 is a discharge tray, 5 is a transport motor (29 ips), 6 is a transport roller (29 ips), 7 is a path 1 sensor, and 8 is a path 2 sensor. , 9 is a dividing plate, 10 is a transfer path switching motor, 11 is an intermediate transfer motor (29 ips), 12 is an intermediate transfer roller (29 ips), 13 is a shielding gate, 14 is an exit sensor, 15 is an exit transfer motor (40 ips), 16 is an exit conveyance roller, 17 is a drawing roller, 18 is a binding mechanism, 19 is a conveyance tray mechanism (40 ips), 20 is a hook, 21 is a discharge conveyance roller, 22 is a discharge table, Tn is an nth sheet and n The time between the first sheet, T is the pass 1 sensor off time, and Ta is the transport path switching time.

Claims (2)

A post-processing tray connected to a subsequent stage of the image forming apparatus and configured to perform predetermined post-processing on the printed paper; and an intermediate transport path for transporting the paper loaded from the image forming apparatus to the post-processing tray. When a predetermined post-processing is performed on the paper on the processing tray, a dividing plate is used that has two transport paths provided at the entrance of the intermediate transport path for switching the transport path for the paper carried from the image forming apparatus. The transport path is switched, the first sheet is transported to the first path, the second sheet is transported to the second path, and a transport path shielding gate provided at the exit of the intermediate transport path is provided. Drive to block the transport path, temporarily stop the first sheet in the intermediate transport path, and drive the transport path shielding gate to open the transport path according to the transport of the second sheet And post-processing the first sheet and the second sheet simultaneously In the post-processing apparatus having a sheet transport mechanism for transporting the ray,
Means for measuring and recording the time T from when the previous sheet passes until the next sheet arrives is provided in front of the intermediate conveyance path, and after the first and second sheets are conveyed, When switching to the first path again, if the timing for performing the switching operation is possible between a plurality of sheets, the path when the time T between the sheets becomes equal to or longer than the path switching time. A sheet post-processing apparatus characterized by performing a switching operation.   2. The paper post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a transport roller that is rotationally driven between the transport path shielding gate and the post-processing tray so as to have a transport speed faster than a paper transport speed of the intermediate transport path, When the transport path switching operation is not performed at the intermediate transport path entrance, the sheet transport to the post-processing tray is continued without jamming even when the time T between the sheets transported to the intermediate transport path is short. Characteristic paper post-processing device.

Images