JP2009298548A - Sheet processor and image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the following problem that: a conventional sheet processor having a saddle stitching function for a sheet bundle causes a sheet alignment error (erroneous registration) due to friction between a buckling portion of the sheet bundle and a chute when aligning the sheet bundle stored in an intermediate tray using a jogger fence. <P>SOLUTION: The sheet processor has an intermediate tray for storing the sheet bundle, a stapler for stitching a substantially central portion of the sheet bundle in the intermediate tray, the jogger fence disposed above a stapler and reciprocating in the width direction perpendicular to the feeding direction of the sheet bundle stored in the intermediate tray to align a lateral end of the sheet bundle according to its reciprocating motion, and the chute disposed below the stapler and having a surface opposed to a sheet bundle storage surface of the intermediate tray wherein the chute further has a hole in which a part of a circumferential surface projects from the surface of the chute, a roller with a rotating shaft parallel to the sheet bundle feeding direction is inserted, and the rotating shaft of the roller is rotatably supported on the rear face of the chute. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus and an image forming system for processing a sheet (paper).

  Conventionally, many proposals have been made on sheet processing apparatuses that perform processing such as folding, punching, and stapling on recorded sheets discharged from image forming apparatuses such as printers and copiers.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, a plurality of sheets (sheet bundle) discharged from an image forming apparatus are stored in a staple tray (intermediate tray), and the width direction of the sheet bundle is aligned by a pair of jogger fences. A sheet post-processing apparatus has been proposed.

  In this sheet post-processing apparatus, the pair of jogger fences can abut over substantially the entire end of the sheet bundle in the width direction of the sheet bundle stored in the staple tray, so that the sheets can be reliably aligned. it can.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-005666

  However, in the sheet post-processing apparatus described above, the jogger fence has a length that extends over substantially the entire end of the sheet bundle in the width direction of the sheet bundle stored in the staple tray. There is a problem that it cannot be bound. This is because if the stapler (sheet binding device) is provided at the substantially central portion of the staple tray, the jogger fence collides with the stapler, and therefore the end portions of the sheet bundle stored in the staple tray cannot be aligned.

  In order to solve such a problem, as shown in FIG. 9, a stapler 64 is provided at a substantially central portion of the staple tray 63 in the sheet conveying direction A, and the jogger fence 66 is prevented from colliding with the stapler 64. It is conceivable that a chute 65 is provided only at the upper part of 64 and at the lower part of the stapler 64. As a driving mechanism for the jogger fence 66, a known mechanism (for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication Sho 63-084059) is employed.

  However, with such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 9, the sheet is bent due to the curl of the sheet bundle 61 or the weight of the sheet bundle 61, and the sheet bundle 61 and the chute 65 come into contact with each other at the bent portion 62 of the sheet bundle 61. There is. In this case, when the sheets of the sheet bundle 61 are aligned by the jogger fence 66, the sheet alignment error (miss registration C) as shown in FIG. 10 due to the friction between the buckled portion 62 of the sheet bundle 61 and the chute 65. There is a problem that occurs. Here, cramping means that the sheet is crushed or bent.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problem, and can perform sheet processing even when the sheet bundle is bent, and can be stapled (saddle stitched) at a substantially central portion of the sheet. An object is to provide an apparatus.

(First invention)
A sheet processing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes an intermediate tray that stores a sheet bundle, a stapler that binds a substantially central portion of the sheet bundle in the intermediate tray, and a sheet bundle that is provided on an upper portion of the stapler and is stored on the intermediate tray. A jogger fence that reciprocates in the width direction perpendicular to the transport direction and aligns the end of the sheet bundle in the width direction according to the reciprocation, and is provided at the lower part of the stapler, and faces the sheet stack storage surface of the intermediate tray. The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus having a chute having a surface.

  A hole is provided in the chute, a part of the peripheral surface protrudes from the surface of the chute, a roller whose rotation axis is parallel to the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle is inserted, and the rotation axis of the roller is The back surface of the chute is rotatably supported.

  With this configuration, the buckled portion of the sheet bundle contacts a part of the peripheral surface of the roller, so that friction does not occur between the buckled portion and the chute when the sheet bundle moves in the sheet width direction. . For this reason, even if sheet alignment is performed using a jogger fence that exists only in the upper part of the stapler, the above-described misregistration does not occur.

(Second invention)
A sheet processing apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is the sheet processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the rollers are chamfered at least at an end portion near the stapler.

  Since a part of the peripheral surface of the roller protrudes from the surface of the chute, this configuration makes it less likely that the sheet will be caught by the end of the roller when the sheet is carried (stored) in the intermediate tray. can do. Furthermore, the amount by which a part of the peripheral surface of the roller protrudes from the surface of the chute can be increased.

(Third invention)
An image forming system according to a third aspect includes an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet, and a sheet processing apparatus according to the first aspect that performs post-processing on the sheet output from the image forming apparatus. Such an image forming system has the same effect as the first invention.

(Fourth invention)
An image forming system according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the image forming system according to the third aspect of the present invention, wherein the roller is chamfered at least at an end portion close to the stapler. Even if it is this structure, the same effect as above-mentioned 2nd invention can be acquired.

  It is possible to provide a sheet processing apparatus or an image forming system capable of stapling at a substantially central portion of a sheet bundle without misalignment of sheets.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image forming system, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a first post-processing device, FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a lower portion of a saddle stitching unit of the first post-processing device, and FIG. 3 is a front view of the chute, and FIG. 6 is a side view of the chute.

(Image forming system)
An image forming system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is provided for an image forming apparatus 2 such as a printer or a copying machine that forms a color image by an electrophotographic method, and a sheet on which a toner image is formed by the image forming apparatus 2. And a sheet processing apparatus 3 that performs processing.

(Sheet processing equipment)
Then, the sheet processing apparatus 3 includes a conveying apparatus 10 that conveys the sheet output from the image forming apparatus 2 further downstream, and a combination of thick paper, window empty sheets, and the like with respect to the sheet conveyed by the conveying apparatus 10. And an interleaf feeder 20 for feeding paper.

  Further, the sheet processing apparatus 3 includes a folding apparatus 30 that performs a folding process such as an inner tri-fold (C-fold) and an outer tri-fold (Z-fold) on the sheet conveyed from the conveying apparatus 10, and a downstream of the folding apparatus 30. And a first post-processing device 40 that is provided on the side and performs punching, edge binding, and saddle stitching on the sheet.

Further, a second post-processing device 50 is provided on the downstream side of the first post-processing device 40 and performs further post-processing on the sheet bundle (booklet) that is folded or saddle-stitched.
In addition, the sheet processing apparatus 3 includes a control unit 100 that controls the entire sheet processing apparatus 3. The control unit 100 is provided in the first post-processing device 40, for example.

(First post-processing device)
As shown in FIG. 1, the first post-processing device 40 of the sheet processing apparatus 3 includes a punching unit 41 for punching (punching) a sheet, and an end binding stapler unit 42 for binding the end of the sheet bundle. Yes.

  Further, the first post-processing device 40 produces a stacker tray (stacking unit) 43 that stacks the edge-bound sheet bundle so that the user can easily take it, and the sheet bundle is folded or saddle-stitched to produce a spread booklet. A saddle stitching unit 44. Furthermore, the first post-processing device 40 includes a top tray 45 that stacks sheets that are not processed by the first post-processing device 40 or sheets that are only punched.

(Saddle stitching unit)
Here, the saddle stitching unit 44 provided in the first post-processing device 40 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the saddle stitching unit 44 includes a compile tray 441 that is an intermediate tray for stacking a required number of sheets after image formation when producing a booklet that is folded or saddle-stitched (binding). A discharge roll 442 that discharges the sheet to the compile tray 441 and an end guide 443 that moves along the compile tray 441 in order to determine the saddle stitching position and the middle folding position by providing a positioning stopper so as to protrude onto the compile tray 441. And.

  The saddle stitching unit 44 also includes a sheet aligning member 444 made of a paddle that rotates to align the sheets stacked on the compilation tray 441 toward the end guide 443, and the sheets stacked on the compilation tray 441 in the width direction. A jogger fence 445 composed of a pair of alignment plates that slide to align with each other, and a stapler 446 for saddle stitching a bundle of sheets stacked on the compilation tray 441.

  Further, the saddle stitching unit 44 includes a folding knife 447 that moves so as to protrude downward from above the compilation tray 441 in order to fold the sheet bundle that has been saddle-stitched by the stapler 446 at the saddle stitching position, and a folding knife 447. A folding roll 448 composed of a pair of rolls that sandwich the sheet bundle that has started folding, and a transport roll 449 that transports the sheet bundle sandwiched by the folding roll 448 to the second post-processing device 50 are provided.

  When the first post-processing device 40 produces a half-folded / saddle-stitched booklet, the sheet conveyed via the folding device 30 passes through the punching unit 41 based on an instruction from the control unit 100. To the saddle stitching unit 44.

  The discharge roll 442 of the saddle stitching unit 44 sequentially places the conveyed sheets on the compilation tray 441. For example, 5 sheets, 10 sheets, 15 sheets, etc., for example, the number of sheets set by the control unit (not shown) of the image forming apparatus 2 is accumulated in the compile tray 441. At this time, the end guide 443 moves and stops so that, for example, the central portion of the sheet is positioned at the staple position by the stapler 446.

  Further, at this time, the sheet aligning member 444 rotates toward the end guide 443 and presses the stacked sheets against the end guide 443 to assist in sheet alignment. Further, the jogger fence 445 slides in the width direction of the sheets stacked on the compilation tray 441, and aligns the stacked sheets from the width direction.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the sheet bundle 61 may be bent and a bent portion 62 may be generated. Even in such a case, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, a hole 77 is provided in the chute 73, and a roller 70 that rotates in the width direction of the sheet is inserted into the hole 77. Since the bent portion 62 is in contact with a part of the peripheral surface of the roller 70, there is no problem in sheet alignment using the jogger fence 445.

  More specifically, the roller 70 is inserted into a hole 77 formed in the chute 73 so that a part of its peripheral surface protrudes from the surface 76 of the chute 73. The rotating shaft 74 of the roller 70 is rotatably supported by bearings 71 and 72, and the bearings 71 and 72 are fixed to the back surface 75 of the chute 73 by screws or the like (not shown).

  For this reason, if the buckled portion 62 of the sheet bundle 61 is in contact with a part of the peripheral surface of the roller 70, the buckled portion 62 will not rub against the surface of the chute 73. Even if the fence 445 moves in the sheet width direction, sheet misalignment (misregistration) caused by the buckled portion 62 does not occur.

  As described above, after the sheet bundle is aligned by the jogger fence 445 and the sheet bundle is collected on the compilation tray 441, the stapler 446 performs saddle stitching on a predetermined portion (for example, the central portion) of the sheet.

  Next, the sheet bundle after the saddle stitching is moved by the upward movement of the end guide 443 so that the folded portion (for example, the central portion of the sheet) coincides with the tip position of the folding knife 447.

  The folding knife 447 is configured such that the tip thereof is retracted above the compile tray 441 in the sheet stacking stage on the compile tray 441, the saddle stitching stage by the stapler 446, and the sheet conveying stage after the saddle stitching. ing.

  After the folding position of the sheet bundle has moved to the tip position of the folding knife 447, the folding knife 447 is pushed downward from above. That is, the front end of the folding knife 447 presses the sheet bundle from the top to the bottom in a direction perpendicular to the accommodation surface of the compilation tray 441 provided with an opening at a position facing the folding knife 447.

  Further, the tip of the folding knife 447 is pushed downward from the opening of the compilation tray 441, whereby the sheet bundle is pushed down from the accommodation surface of the compilation tray 441 and is sandwiched between the folding rolls 448. In this case, the folding knife 447 is configured to move to a position where the sheet bundle sufficiently bites into the folding roll 448.

  The sheet bundle subjected to the saddle stitching by the stapler 446 and the folding by the folding knife 447 and the folding roll 448 is then conveyed to the second post-processing device 50 by the conveying roll 449.

(Second post-processing device)
Next, the second post-processing device 50 to which a sheet bundle (booklet) subjected to saddle stitching and half-folding in the first post-processing device 40 will be described.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the second post-processing device 50.
As shown in FIG. 3, the second post-processing device 50 transports the booklet that has been subjected to saddle stitching and center folding in the first post-processing device 40 and corrects the deviation of the posture of the booklet, A reference member 52 that serves as a reference for correcting a deviation in the orientation of the booklet, a clamp member 53 that holds the booklet so as to sandwich the front end part (center folding / saddle binding part) of the booklet, and pressing the front end part of the booklet And a pressing roll member 54 for flattening the tip by moving.

  Further, the second post-processing device 50 includes a cutting unit 55 for cutting the booklet so as to align the rear end portion (spreading portion) of the booklet, a feed roll 56 for feeding the booklet into the cutting unit 55, and a rear end portion of the booklet. In order to determine the cutting position, a cutting position setting unit 57 that moves while holding the booklet is provided.

  Further, a cutting waste storage unit 58 that stores cutting waste from the booklet cut by the cutting unit 55 and a booklet transport roll 59 that transports the booklet whose rear end portion is cut by the cutting unit 55 are provided. .

  Further, the second post-processing device 50 is provided with a booklet tray 60 for collecting booklets that have been bound, and the booklets sent from the booklet transport roll 59 are stacked while being sequentially transported one by one in the booklet tray 60. Is done.

A second embodiment according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 7 is a side view of the chute, and FIG. 8 is a back view of the chute (a view of the chute viewed from the back). Only differences from the first embodiment will be described in detail, and the same parts as those in the first embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

  The main difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment is that a chamfer 78 is applied to one end of the roller 79 (the end near the stapler 446), and the protrusion of the peripheral surface of the roller 79 from the surface 76 of the chute 73 occurs. This is the point where the amount was increased.

  With this configuration, since the sheet stacked from above hits the chamfer 78, the end of the sheet does not get caught at the end of the roller 79, so the protrusion amount of the peripheral surface of the roller 79 from the surface 76 of the chute 73 is increased. can do. If it does so, possibility that the buckling part 62 of the sheet | seat bundle 61 will contact the surface 76 of the chute | shoot 73 will become further lower, and the alignment of the sheet | seat bundle by the jogger fence 445 can be made still easier. Further, since the protrusion amount of the peripheral surface of the roller 79 from the surface 76 of the chute 73 is large, the number of rollers can be reduced as compared with the case of the first embodiment.

  The above-described embodiments are illustrated for the purpose of explanation, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. The present invention can be recognized by those skilled in the art from the scope of the claims, the description, and the drawings. Modifications, deletions, and additions are possible as long as they are not contrary to the technical idea of the above.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the end of the roller 79 on the stapler side is chamfered 78, but the end of the roller 79 may be chamfered for the purpose of improving assembly.

  In the above-described embodiment, the number of rollers is one or two. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the bent portion 62 of the sheet bundle 61 is likely to hit the chute 73. If provided, the number of rollers is not limited to four or nine.

  The present invention is applied to a sheet processing apparatus that performs processing such as folding, punching, and stapling on a recorded sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine.

Overall Configuration of Sheet Processing System (Example 1) Configuration of first post-processing apparatus (Example 1) Configuration of the lower part of the saddle stitching unit of the first post-processing device (Example 1) Back view of chute (arrow D in FIG. 3) (Example 1) Chute surface view (Example 1) Side view of the chute (Example 1) Side view of the chute (Example 2) Back view of chute (view of chute viewed from back) (Example 2) Side view of conventional intermediate tray Diagram explaining sheet sheet misregistration

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sheet processing system 2 Image forming apparatus 3 Sheet processing apparatus 10 Conveying apparatus 30 Folding apparatus 40 1st post-processing apparatus 50 2nd post-processing apparatus 61 Sheet bundle 62 Bending part 70 Rolling 73 Chute 74 Rotating shaft 75 Chute surface 76 Chute Back surface 77 Hole 78 Chamfer 79 Roll 441 Compile tray (intermediate tray)
445 Jogger fence 446 Stapler

Claims (4)

An intermediate tray for storing sheet bundles;
A stapler for binding the substantially central portion of the sheet bundle in the intermediate tray;
The upper end of the stapler is reciprocated in the width direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the sheet bundle stored on the intermediate tray, and the end portion of the sheet bundle in the width direction is moved according to the reciprocation. Jogger fence to align,
A sheet processing apparatus having a chute provided at a lower portion of the stapler and having a surface facing a storage surface of the sheet bundle of the intermediate tray,
The chute is provided with a hole,
A part of the peripheral surface protrudes from the surface of the chute into the hole, and a roller whose rotational axis is parallel to the conveying direction of the sheet bundle is inserted,
The rotating shaft of the roller is rotatably supported on the back surface of the chute.   The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the roller is chamfered at least at an end portion on a side close to the stapler. An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet;
A sheet processing apparatus that performs post-processing on the sheet output from the image forming apparatus,
The sheet processing apparatus includes:
An intermediate tray for storing a sheet bundle of a plurality of the sheets;
A stapler for binding the substantially central portion of the sheet bundle in the intermediate tray;
The upper end of the stapler is reciprocated in the width direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the sheet bundle stored on the intermediate tray, and the end portion of the sheet bundle in the width direction is moved according to the reciprocation. Jogger fence to align,
A chute provided at a lower portion of the stapler and having a surface facing the storage surface of the sheet bundle of the intermediate tray;
The chute is provided with a hole,
A part of the peripheral surface protrudes from the surface of the chute into the hole, and a roller whose rotational axis is parallel to the conveying direction of the sheet bundle is inserted,
The rotation shaft of the roller is supported rotatably on the back surface of the chute.   The image forming system according to claim 3, wherein the roller is chamfered at least at an end portion on a side close to the stapler.

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