JP2011136396A - Sheet bundle cutting device, bookbinding device including the same and image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To finish a back-bound sheet bundle to a comparatively exact booklet shape with a back part as a reference when cutting and uniformizing one side or three sides at a peripheral edge of the sheet bundle. <P>SOLUTION: This sheet bundle cutting device cuts at least one direction of the top part, the bottom part and the end part of the sheet bundle except the bound back part. The sheet bundle cutting device includes a sheet bundle holding means 62 for holding the sheet bundle at a prescribed cutting position, a cutting means 70 arranged at the cutting position, and a control means 78 for controlling the sheet bundle holding means 62 and the cutting means 70. The sheet bundle holding means 62 is constituted to change an angle attitude of the sheet bundle in relation to a cutting line of the cutting means 70. The control means 78 includes a back part inclination amount detection means 66 for detecting inclination amount of an end face of the back part of the sheet bundle held by the sheet bundle holding means 62 by making the cutting line of the cutting means 70 as a reference. Based on the inclination amount detected by the back part inclination amount detection means 66, the angle attitude of the sheet bundle holding means 62 is changed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet bundle cutting apparatus that cuts and aligns the peripheral edge of a sheet bundle excluding the back end face of the sheet bundle that is collected and aligned, and relates to an improvement of a cutting mechanism that can cut and align at an accurate angular attitude.

  In general, this type of sheet bundle cutting apparatus is a post-processing such as a bookbinding apparatus as a finishing unit that trims and cuts three directions of the top part, the ground part, and the edge part of a bound sheet bundle, or one direction of the edge part. Built into the device. A mechanism in which the sheet bundle is conveyed and held at a cutting position and is cut with a cutting blade such as a rotary blade or a flat blade is widely known.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a bookbinding apparatus as a terminal device of an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a printing machine, and discloses a cutting unit that cuts and aligns three directions of a bundle of bound sheets. As described above, the sheet bundle cutting device is built in the bookbinding device and used as an image forming system, a bookbinding system, or the like, or as a stand-alone device.

  Such a sheet bundle cutting apparatus includes a bundle conveying unit that conveys and sets a sheet bundle on a cutting blade, and a cutting unit that cuts a sheet bundle held by the sheet bundle. A bundle posture deflecting means such as a turntable for deflecting the posture of the head is provided.

JP 2007-260977 A

  In the sheet bundle cutting apparatus as described above, when a sheet bundle is positioned at the cutting position, conventionally, the sheet bundle is positioned by a bundle conveyance mechanism that conveys the sheet bundle from the upstream side, or a mechanism (bundle different from the conveyance mechanism). Positioning is performed by attitude deflection means. The positioning and holding mechanism rotates the sheet bundle so that the top portion, the ground portion, and the fore edge portion face the cutting position.

  When cutting the top, ground, and fore edge with such a mechanism, conventionally, one side is first positioned so as to match the tangent line of the cutting blade, and rotated by 90 degrees on the basis of this as the other side. Therefore, there is a problem that the booklet that has been trimmed is inclined. FIG. 10 shows this state. For example, when binding the cover sheet on the upstream side of the cutting position, when the back end face is skewed, the cutting is performed as shown in FIG. Further, when positioning with reference to a side different from the back portion, when this side is inclined and set, a booklet that is trimmed and finished as shown in FIG.

  Such a tilting at the time of finishing may occur when a rotation error occurs in a rotating mechanism such as a bundle posture deflecting unit, or when a booklet that has been trimmed is also tilted when a tilting occurs during positioning of a bundle conveying unit or the like. It becomes a problem.

  Therefore, the present inventor has come up with the idea of positioning the sheet bundle at the cutting position with the back as a reference when the three parts of the top part, the ground part, and the fore part are cut or finished in one direction. As a result, even if the back portion is skewed during the back binding process, even if an angular error occurs in the rotation mechanism, it is possible to accurately cut and finish.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet bundle cutting mechanism capable of finishing a relatively accurate booklet shape based on the back portion when trimming and aligning one side or three sides of a peripheral edge of a backbound sheet bundle. .
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sheet bundle cutting mechanism that can automatically correct even if an angle error occurs in the bundle posture deflection mechanism when the sheet bundle is cut and aligned.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a sheet bundle holding means for positioning a sheet bundle at a predetermined cutting position, and a cutting means are arranged, and the sheet bundle holding means is configured so that the angle posture of the sheet bundle with respect to the cutting line of the cutting means is set. Configure to be changeable. The control means is provided with a back inclination amount detecting means for detecting the inclination amount of the back end face of the sheet bundle positioned at the cutting position, and the angle posture of the sheet bundle holding means based on the inclination amount detected by the detecting means. It is characterized by changing.

  More specifically, the configuration is a device that cuts at least one direction of the top portion, the ground portion, and the fore edge portion of the sheet bundle excluding the bound back portion, and holds the sheet bundle at a predetermined cutting position. Means (62), a cutting means (C) disposed at the cutting position, and a control means (78) for controlling the sheet bundle holding means and the cutting means. The sheet bundle holding unit is configured to be able to change the angular orientation of the sheet bundle with respect to the cutting line of the cutting unit (C), and the control unit is configured to change the sheet held by the sheet bundle holding unit on the basis of the cutting line of the cutting unit. A back inclination amount detecting means (66) for detecting the inclination amount of the back end face of the bundle is provided. Therefore, the angle posture of the sheet bundle holding means is changed based on the inclination amount detected by the back inclination amount detecting means.

  The present invention is provided with a back inclination amount detecting means for detecting the inclination amount of the back end face of the sheet bundle positioned at the cutting position, and changes the angle posture of the sheet bundle holding means based on the inclination amount detected by the detecting means. Since this is the case, the following effects can be obtained.

  The inclination amount of the back end face of the sheet bundle positioned at the cutting position is detected by the back inclination amount detecting means arranged at the cutting position or upstream or downstream thereof, and the angle of the sheet bundle holding means is determined based on the inclination amount. Since the posture is changed, when cutting any of the top part, ground part, and small edge part of the sheet bundle, the angular position is always determined based on the back part, and an accurate booklet based on the back cover part. The shape will be cut and finished. Therefore, it is possible to perform a bookbinding process rich in finishing quality.

  In this case, the present invention performs the cutting process after detecting the inclination amount of the back portion of the sheet bundle, or detects the inclination amount of the back portion after the cutting process, corrects the angle, performs the cutting process again, or after the cutting process. An angle error amount is determined by detecting the amount of inclination of the back portion, and the error amount is corrected when the subsequent sheet bundle is cut.

  With this configuration, when the sheet bundle is positioned at the cutting position, it is possible to correct the inclination with reference to the back portion even if an inclination occurs or an inclination occurs when the posture of the sheet bundle is deflected. Thus, it can be finished into a relatively accurate booklet shape. Therefore, when a plurality of copies are bound in succession, there is no case where a cutting defect is discovered after all the processing is completed and all booklets are discarded.

1 is an explanatory diagram of an overall configuration of an image forming system according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a configuration explanatory diagram of a bookbinding apparatus in the system of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a sheet bundle cutting mechanism in the bookbinding apparatus of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a configuration explanatory view of a back inclination amount detection unit in the cutting mechanism of FIG. 3. FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory diagrams of an operation state of the sheet bundle cutting mechanism of FIG. 2, in which FIG. 2A illustrates a state in which the sheet bundle is positioned at a cutting position, and FIG. Indicates the state to be detected. FIGS. 3A and 3B are operation state explanatory diagrams of the sheet bundle cutting mechanism of FIG. 2, in which FIG. 2A shows a state where the sheet bundle is set at a cutting position, and FIG. FIGS. 3A and 3B are operation state explanatory views of the sheet bundle cutting mechanism of FIG. 2, in which FIG. 2A shows a state in which the inclination amount of the back portion of the sheet bundle after cutting is detected, and FIG. 3B shows a state in which the sheet bundle is carried out to the stacker; FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a control configuration of the image forming system in FIG. 1. The operation | movement flowchart which shows 1st Embodiment of the control means in the inclination amount detection of a back part. The operation | movement flowchart which shows 2nd Embodiment of the control means in the inclination amount detection of a back part. The operation | movement flowchart which shows 3rd Embodiment of the control means in the inclination amount detection of a back part. It is explanatory drawing of a prior art, (a) shows the cutting finishing state in case the back part end surface inclines, (b) shows the cutting finishing state in case the positioning end surface inclines.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail according to the illustrated embodiments. The present invention relates to a sheet cutting apparatus, a bookbinding apparatus including the sheet cutting apparatus, and an image forming system. The sheet cutting apparatus is built in the bookbinding apparatus, and the bookbinding apparatus constitutes a system as a post-processing apparatus of the image forming apparatus. Hereinafter, the image forming apparatus A, the bookbinding apparatus B, and the sheet bundle cutting apparatus (cutting unit) C will be described in this order.

[Image forming apparatus]
FIG. 1 shows a case where an image forming system is constituted by an image forming apparatus A and a bookbinding apparatus B attached thereto. The image forming apparatus A forms an image on a sheet by an image forming method such as electrostatic printing, ink jet printing, or offset printing, and carries it out from the paper discharge port 14. The bookbinding apparatus B is connected to the paper discharge port 14, collects and stacks the image-formed sheets, applies an adhesive to the spine portion, binds it into a booklet, and trims and cuts the periphery. After cutting and finishing, it is configured to be stored in the storage stacker 74.

  The image forming apparatus A can employ various printing mechanisms as described above. As an example, an electrostatic printing mechanism will be described and the configuration thereof will be described. In the illustrated image forming apparatus A, a paper feed unit 2, a printing unit 3, a paper discharge unit 4, and a control unit are built in a casing 1. A plurality of cassettes 5 corresponding to the sheet size are prepared in the sheet feeding unit 2, and a sheet having a size designated by the control unit is fed out to the sheet feeding path 6. A registration roller 7 is provided in the sheet feeding path 6 and the sheet is fed to the downstream printing unit 3 at a predetermined timing after the leading edges of the sheets are aligned.

  The printing unit 3 is provided with an electrostatic drum 10. A print head 9, a developing device 11, a transfer charger 12, and the like are disposed around the electrostatic drum 10. The print head 9 is composed of, for example, a laser light emitter, and forms an electrostatic latent image on the electrostatic drum 10. A toner ink is attached to the latent image by the developing device 11 and printed on a sheet by the transfer charger 12. . This print sheet is fixed by the fixing device 13 and carried out to the paper discharge path 17.

  The paper discharge unit 4 is provided with a paper discharge port 14 and a paper discharge roller 15 formed in the casing 1. Reference numeral 16 denotes a circulation path. The print sheet from the paper discharge path 17 is turned upside down on the switchback path and then sent to the registration roller 7 again to form an image on the back surface of the print sheet. In this way, the print sheet on which one side or both sides are formed is carried out from the paper discharge port 14 by the paper discharge roller 15.

  In the figure, reference numeral 20 denotes a scanner unit which optically reads a document image to be printed by the print head 9. As is generally known, the platen 19 on which an original sheet is placed and set, a carriage 21 that scans an original image along the platen 19, and an optical device that photoelectrically converts an optical image from the carriage 21. It comprises a reading means (for example, a CCD device) 22. In the illustrated example, a document feeder 23 for automatically feeding a document sheet to the platen is provided on the platen 19.

[Bookbinding device]
The bookbinding apparatus B has a stand-alone configuration in which an image is formed by an external printing apparatus and the aligned sheet bundle is bound by binding an edge of the sheet bundle, or the image forming apparatus as shown in FIG. It is configured as a terminal device of a connected system. The bookbinding finish can be achieved by applying a glue to an image-formed sheet bundle (hereinafter referred to as “intermediate paper sheet bundle”) and binding it, or by binding a booklet that binds an intermediate paper sheet bundle to a cover sheet. The booklet processing is performed by binding the processing and the bundle of intermediate paper sheets with a stapler device (unit). The illustrated apparatus shows a case binding process for case binding as an example.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the bookbinding apparatus B is provided with a bookbinding path 42 that guides the sheet bundle of intermediate sheets from the application position Px to the cover binding position Py and then to the cutting position Pz. An adhesive application means 52 for applying an adhesive to the back binding end surface of the sheet bundle is disposed at the application position Px, and a cover binding means constituted by the back plate 59 and the back folding plate 60 is provided at the cover binding position Py. 58 is arranged.

  Further, a cutting unit (sheet bundle cutting device; hereinafter the same) C for cutting and aligning the peripheral edges of the bound sheet bundle is disposed at the cutting position Pz. The bookbinding path 42 is provided with sheet bundle conveying means 43 for transferring the intermediate sheet bundle along the path from the application position Px to the cutting position Pz.

[Bookbinding route]
The bookbinding path 42 will be described below. As shown in FIG. 2, the casing 29 of the bookbinding apparatus B is provided with a carry-in port 30 connected to the paper discharge port 14 of the image forming apparatus A, and a sheet is fed from the carry-in port 30 into the apparatus. Carry in. An intermediate sheet conveyance path 32 and a cover sheet conveyance path 34 are connected to the carry-in path 31 via a path switching flapper 36. A bookbinding path 42 is connected to the intermediate sheet transport path 32 via the stacking unit 37, and a post-processing path 35 is connected to the cover sheet transport path 34.

  As is apparent from FIG. 2, the bookbinding path 42 is arranged in a direction that cuts the apparatus in a substantially vertical direction, and the cover sheet conveyance path 34 is arranged in a direction that crosses the apparatus in a substantially horizontal direction. The bookbinding path 42 and the cover transport path 34 intersect (orthogonal) with each other, and a cover binding means 58 described later is arranged at the intersection.

  A print sheet is fed from the image forming apparatus A to the carry-in path 31 configured as described above. From the image forming apparatus A, a print sheet (inner sheet) on which content information (document data) is printed and a print sheet (cover sheet) on which a title or the like used as a cover cover is printed out. Therefore, the bookbinding apparatus B sorts and conveys the sheet on which the document data is printed to the intermediate sheet conveyance path 32 and the sheet on which the cover data is printed to the cover sheet conveyance path 34.

  On the other hand, an inserter device 25 is connected to the carry-in path 31 so that cover sheets that are not subjected to printing processing by the image forming apparatus A are separated from the paper feed tray 26 one by one and supplied to the carry-in path 31. is there. The inserter device 25 is provided with one or a plurality of stages of paper feed trays 26. A paper feed means for separating and feeding the stacked sheets one by one at the front end of the tray, and a downstream side of the paper feed means. A paper feed path 27 is provided, and the paper feed path 27 is connected to the carry-in path 31 via a path switching piece 28.

  The carry-in path 31 has a conveyance roller 31a, the intermediate-sheet conveyance path 32 has a conveyance roller 32a, and the bookbinding path 42 has a sheet bundle conveyance unit 43, a bundle posture deflection unit 62, and a discharge roller (discharge unit). ) 72 is arranged. Similarly, a transport roller 34a is disposed in the cover transport path 34, and a transport roller 35a is disposed in the post-processing path 35, and each is coupled to a drive motor.

[Configuration of stacking unit]
A stacking tray 38 disposed at the paper discharge port 33 of the intermediate paper conveyance path 32 stacks and stores sheets from the paper discharge port 33 in a bundle. As shown in FIG. 2, the stacking tray 38 is constituted by a tray member arranged in a substantially horizontal posture, and a forward / reverse roller 39 and a carry-in guide 40 are provided above the tray member. The print sheet from the paper discharge port 33 is guided onto the stacking tray by the carry-in guide 40 and stored by the forward / reverse rotation roller 39.

  The forward / reverse roller 39 forwardly transfers the print sheet to the front end side of the stacking tray 38, and reversely rotates the back end of the sheet against the restricting member 41 disposed at the back end of the tray (right end in FIG. 2). Further, the stacking tray 38 is provided with sheet side aligning means (not shown) for aligning both side edges of the print sheets stored on the tray to the reference position. With such a configuration, the print sheets from the intermediate paper conveyance path 32 are sequentially stacked on the stacking tray 38 and aligned in a bundle.

  The stacking tray 38 is provided with a sheet bundle thickness identifying means (not shown) so as to detect the thickness of the sheet bundle stacked on the tray. For example, the thickness of the sheet bundle can be identified by providing a paper touch piece in contact with the uppermost sheet on the tray and detecting the position of the paper touch piece with a sensor.

  As another sheet bundle thickness identification means, for example, a sheet is detected from the sheet discharge sensor Se3 on the stacking tray, and a counter for counting signals from the sheet discharge sensor is provided to complete the job from the image forming apparatus A. The sheet bundle thickness can be identified by multiplying the total number of sheets counted by the signal by the average sheet thickness.

[Sheet conveying means]
As shown in FIG. 2, the sheet bundle conveying means 43 that conveys the intermediate sheet bundle from the accumulation tray 38 to the downstream application position Px is movable with the pair of fixed clampers. The sheet bundle is gripped by a clamper (not shown) to deflect the posture of the sheet bundle from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction, and is transferred downstream along the bookbinding path 42. Although the configuration is not shown, various grip conveyance mechanisms are already known, and thus description thereof is omitted.

[Adhesive application means]
In the bookbinding path 42, a coating position Px is provided on the downstream side of the stacking tray 38, and an adhesive coating means 52 is disposed. As shown in FIG. 2, the adhesive application unit 52 includes an application roller 53 that applies an adhesive to the back of the intermediate paper sheet bundle supported by the sheet bundle conveyance unit 43. The application roller 53 is rotatably attached to the glue container 54 and is connected to the application motor Mr.

  The glue container 54 is supported by a guide rail 56 so as to reciprocate in the front and back surfaces of FIG. A timing belt (not shown) is stretched over the glue container 54, and is configured to reciprocate with a predetermined stroke by a drive motor Md.

  Accordingly, the glue container 54 reciprocates at a predetermined stroke along the lower end edge of the intermediate paper sheet bundle positioned by the sheet bundle conveying means 43 described later, and the application roll 53 rotates by the application motor Mr while lowering the lower end edge of the sheet bundle. The adhesive is applied to the surface.

[Configuration of cover binding means]
A cover binding means 58 is disposed at the cover binding position Py of the bookbinding path 42. The cover binding means 58 includes a back plate 59, a back folding plate 60, and a folding roll 61 as shown in FIG. The above-described cover sheet conveyance path 34 is disposed at the cover sheet binding position Py, and the cover sheet is fed from the image forming apparatus A or the inserter apparatus 25.

  Therefore, the back plate 59 is composed of a plate-like member that backs up the cover sheet, and is disposed in the bookbinding path 42 so as to be able to advance and retreat. A middle sheet bundle is joined to the cover sheet supported by the back plate 59 in an inverted T shape. Therefore, the back folding plate 60 is composed of a pair of left and right press members, and is configured to be moved toward and away from each other by a driving means (not shown) in order to back fold the back portion of the cover sheet joined in an inverted T shape. Yes. The folding roll 61 is composed of a pair of rollers that press and fold the back-folded sheet bundle.

[Sheet cutting unit]
A cutting position Pz is set downstream of the cover binding position Py, and a cutting unit C is disposed. The cutting unit C includes a bundle posture deflecting unit 62, a cutting edge press unit 67, and a cutting unit 70.
[Bundle posture deflection means]
A sheet bundle feeding means (sheet bundle holding means; hereinafter the same) 62 for positioning and setting the sheet bundle at the cutting position Pz is disposed on the downstream side of the folding roll 61. The illustrated sheet bundle feeding means 62 is constituted by a bundle posture deflecting means for deflecting the vertical direction of the sheet bundle. This bundle posture deflecting means (sheet bundle feeding means: the same applies hereinafter) 62 deflects the sheet bundle mounted from the cover binding position Py to a predetermined posture and feeds it to the cutting position Pz on the downstream side.

  Therefore, the bundle posture deflecting means 62 includes grip rotating members 62a and 62b that grip and rotate the sheet bundle sent from the folding roll 61 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the grip rotation members 62a and 62b are provided on a unit frame 62x attached to the apparatus frame so as to be movable up and down. Grip rotating members 62a and 62b are rotatably supported by the unit frame 62x with the bookbinding path 42 interposed therebetween, and one movable grip rotating member 62b is in the sheet bundle thickness direction (a direction orthogonal to the bookbinding path 42). It is supported to move freely.

  The grip rotation members 62a and 62b are provided with turning motors Mt1 and Mt2 so as to deflect the posture of the sheet bundle in the bookbinding path. The movable grip rotating member 62b is equipped with a grip motor Mg that moves in the left-right direction in FIG.

  Accordingly, the sheet bundle guided into the bookbinding path 42 is gripped by the left and right grip rotation members 62a and 62b, and the orientation direction of the sheet bundle is deflected by the turning motors Mt1 and Mt2. For example, the sheet bundle having the back portion carried downward is turned 180 degrees and the small edge portion is sent downward to the downstream discharge roller 72. Further, it is possible to perform a trimming cut in which the sheet bundle is sequentially rotated by 90 degrees, and the top portion, the ground portion, and the fore edge portion are respectively deflected downward at the downstream cutting position Pz to cut the three peripheral directions of the sheet bundle.

  The movable grip rotating member 62b is provided with a grip sensor (not shown) to detect that the sheet bundle is securely gripped between the left and right grip rotating members 62a, 62b. The rotating members 62a and 62b are configured to be driven to turn. The unit frame 62x can move the sheet bundle up and down along the bookbinding path 42 by a lifting motor Ma. This is because the sheet bundle is conveyed and set at the cutting position Pz and the cutting width (cut amount) at the cutting position Pz is set by the feed amount when trimming and dividing and cutting the periphery of the sheet bundle.

[Composition of cutting unit]
A cutting unit C is disposed on the downstream side of the bundle posture deflecting means 62. As shown in FIG. 3, the cutting unit C includes a cutting edge press unit 67 that presses and supports the cutting edge of the sheet bundle on the blade receiving member 64, and a cutting blade unit 68. The cutting edge press means 67 is constituted by a press mechanism that presses and holds the cutting edge of the sheet bundle against a blade receiving member 64 described later, a pressurizing member 65 that presses the sheet bundle, and a pressure applied to the pressing member 65. It is comprised by the urging means (not shown) which provides.

  The urging means is constituted by a spring that urges a pressure member (pressure means) 65 in a direction orthogonal to the sheet bundle by a driving means (not shown). The cutting blade unit 68 includes a flat blade-shaped cutting blade 70 and a cutter motor (driving means) Mc that drives the cutting blade 70. By the cutting unit C having such a configuration, a predetermined amount of the periphery of the sheet bundle that has been bound into a booklet is cut and aligned.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the cutting blade 70 is a flat blade-shaped blade tip having a blade width longer than the sheet width, a standby position spaced from the blade receiving member 64 by a distance d, and a cutting position in contact with the blade receiving member 64. Between them and a cutter motor (driving means) Mc.

  At the cutting position Pz, a blade receiving member 64 is disposed at a position facing the cutting blade 70. The blade receiving member 64 is disposed so as to face the cutting blade 70 with a sheet (bundle) interposed therebetween, is fixed to an apparatus frame (not shown), and is composed of a soft rubber material and a resin material (the one shown is a polypropylene resin). Has been.

[Back inclination detection means]
At the cutting position Pz, there is provided a back inclination amount detecting means 66 for detecting the inclination amount of the back end face of the sheet bundle fed through the bookbinding path 42 by the sheet bundle feeding means (bundle posture deflecting means) 62. This back part inclination amount detecting means 66 is constituted by a sensor arranged at the cutting position Pz of the bookbinding path 42 or upstream or downstream thereof as shown in FIG. 3 in order to detect the inclination amount of the back end face of the sheet bundle. To do. The illustrated one includes a pair of left and right photosensors 66S1 and 66S2 (see FIG. 4) arranged on the upstream side of the cutting position Pz. Then, the inclination amount of the edge of the sheet bundle is calculated from the detection signal that detects the lower end edge of the sheet bundle that moves at the detection position at a predetermined speed and the moving speed.

  That is, the back inclination amount detecting means 66 is configured to detect the edge of the sheet bundle at two or more points apart from each other and calculate the inclination amount from the detection signal and the movement amount of the sheet edge. Accordingly, the above-described sheet bundle feeding means (sheet bundle holding means) 62 positions the back end face of the sheet bundle at the cutting position Pz, and after the positioning, moves the sheet bundle at a predetermined speed. Based on the detection signals of the photosensors 66S1 and 66S2 at this time, it is possible to detect the inclination amount of the back end face.

  The detection timing of the back inclination amount detecting means 66 configured in this way will be described later. (1) After positioning the back end face at the cutting position Pz by the pair of photosensors 66S1 and 66S2, the sheet bundle is placed in the bookbinding path 42. When moving along the upper side (upstream side) or the lower side (downstream side), the amount of inclination of the back end face of the sheet bundle positioned at the cutting position Pz can be detected.

  Further, after the photosensors 66S1 and 66S2 (2) position one side of the sheet bundle (back portion, top portion, ground portion, fore edge portion) at the cutting position Pz, the bundle posture deflection means 62 is moved at a predetermined angle (90 degrees, 180 degrees, 360 °), and if the back end surface after rotation is detected by the photosensors 66S1 and 66S2, a rotation angle error can be detected.

[Output Configuration]
A paper discharge roller (paper discharge means) 72 and a storage stacker 74 are disposed downstream of the cutting position Pz. As shown in FIG. 2, the storage stacker 74 stores the sheet bundle in a standing posture. As shown in FIG. 1, the storage stacker 74 is arranged in a drawer shape on the casing 29 and can be pulled out to the front side of the apparatus (front side in FIG. 1). The user can visually recognize from the upper surface direction in a state of being pulled out to the front side of the apparatus. Incidentally, 74Sf shown in the figure is a fullness detection sensor, which detects the full state of the sheet bundle stored in the storage stacker 74 and warns the operator of the removal.

[Configuration of control means]
A control configuration of the above-described image forming system will be described. FIG. 8 shows the control configuration. In the system in which the image forming apparatus A and the bookbinding apparatus B shown in FIG. 1 are connected, for example, the control CPU 75 provided in the image forming apparatus A has a control panel 18 and mode setting means 76. Is provided. A control CPU 78 is provided in the control unit of the bookbinding apparatus B. The control CPU 78 calls a bookbinding process execution program from the ROM 79 and executes each process in the bookbinding path 42.

  The control CPU 78 also receives a post-processing mode instruction signal, job end signal, sheet size information, and other information required for bookbinding and a command signal from the control CPU 75 of the image forming apparatus A. On the other hand, sheet sensors Se1 to Se5 for detecting a sheet (sheet bundle) to be conveyed are arranged at positions shown in FIG.

  Therefore, the detection signal of each of the sheet sensors Se1 to Se5 is transmitted to the control CPU 75, and the control CPU 78 performs “stacking unit control unit 78a” “adhesive application unit control unit 78b” “cover binding unit control unit 78c” “cutting unit control unit”. 78d "and" stack controller 78e ".

[Detection of tilt angle of back end face]
The present invention is characterized in that the back inclination amount detecting means 66 is controlled as follows in the above-described configuration. As described above, at the cutting position Pz, the photo sensors 66S1 and 66S2 are arranged on the upstream side (or the downstream side), and the back tilt amount detecting means 66 is configured by the sensors 66S1 and 66S2.

  Therefore, the back edge of the sheet bundle positioned at the cutting position Pz and held by the bundle posture deflecting means 62 is detected, and the sheet bundle holding means (hereinafter referred to as “bundle posture deflecting means”) 62 is detected based on the amount of inclination. Change the angle posture. For this reason, the control means 78 is comprised by the following 1st Embodiment, 2nd Embodiment, or 3rd Embodiment.

[First Embodiment]
The control means 78 detects the inclination amount of the back end face of the sheet bundle with the back inclination amount detection means 66 and calculates the rotation angle of the bundle posture deflection means 62 based on the back inclination amount or based on the back inclination amount. The rotation angle that is set in advance is corrected. In the control configuration, the back portion of the sheet bundle is first positioned at the cutting position Pz, and is gripped and held by the bundle posture deflecting means 62. Next, the positioned sheet bundle is moved to the positions of the photosensors 66S1 and 66S2, and the inclination amount of the back end face is detected. The bundle posture is deflected based on the detected inclination amount.

  For example, when the inclination amount of the back end face is an angle θ1, when the sheet bundle is rotated plus 90 degrees from the angle θ1, the top part faces the cutting position Pz, when the minus part is rotated by 90 degrees, the ground part is rotated by 180 degrees, and the fore part is rotated. Is controlled to face the cutting position Pz.

  The control unit 78 rotates the bundle posture deflection unit 62 by 180 degrees from the angle θ1 as a base point when cutting the one-way edge portion designated by the operator from the control panel 18 described above. When rotating in three directions, the top part is rotated 90 degrees from the angle θ1 as a base point, then the top part is rotated 90 degrees from the rotational position, the fore edge part is further rotated 90 degrees from the rotational position, and the ground part is cut.

  As described above, the rotation angle of the bundle posture deflecting unit 62 is set based on the inclination amount θ1, and the sheet bundle positioned at the cutting position Pz is rotated in advance by a predetermined angle (for example, 90 degrees) (positioning position base point). In some cases, the base point may be corrected according to the inclination amount θ1.

  The case where the bundle posture is deflected based on the tilt amount will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the binding operation of the sheet bundle is completed at the cover binding position Py, the control CPU 78 determines whether or not the “cutting mode” is selected by the mode setting unit 76 (St01). If the cutting mode is set, the sheet bundle conveying means 43 is released from the sheet bundle and returned to the initial position. At this time, the cutting blade 70 is positioned at the cutting position Cp (the state shown in FIG. 5A) to receive the falling sheet bundle (St02).

  In this state, the movable grip rotation member 62b is moved from the standby position to the sheet gripping position, and the sheet bundle is nipped between the grip rotation member 62a (St03). This state is shown in FIG. 5A. The sheet bundle is bound at the upstream cover binding position Py, and the back portion thereof is positioned at the cutting position Pz. Next, the control CPU 78 returns the cutting blade 70 to the standby position Wp, and then moves the bundle posture deflecting means 62 to the swivel position of the sheet bundle.

  In the illustrated example, the sheet bundle is moved backward along the bookbinding path 42 with the relationship that the back inclination amount detecting means 66 is disposed on the upstream side of the cutting position Pz (St04). Then, the inclination amount of the back end face is detected by the back inclination amount detecting means 66 (St05). Although this state is shown in FIG. 5B, the amount of inclination positioned with the back portion of the sheet bundle inclined to the cutting position Pz is detected. This inclination of the back portion occurs when the end surfaces of the back portion are inclined and bound together, or when it is tilted by rebound when it is positioned to fall on the cutting blade 70.

  Therefore, the control means (control CPU) 78 calculates the inclination angle of the back from the detection signals from the photosensors 66S1 and 66S2 and the moving speed of the bundle posture deflection means 62 (St05). Then, the control means (control CPU) 78 turns the sheet bundle by 90 degrees based on the inclination angle of the back portion or turns the sheet bundle by correcting the rotation angle set in advance based on the cutting position Pz. The turning of the sheet bundle is performed by controlling the rotation amounts of the turning motors Mt1 and Mt2.

  The control means (control CPU) 78 turns the grip rotating members 62a and 62b by 90 degrees to deflect the top of the sheet bundle to the lower end, and then moves the sheet bundle to the cutting position Pz (St06). The movement to the cutting position Pz positions the sheet bundle at the cutting position Pz according to the cutting amount (cut amount) calculated by the cutting amount calculation means 71. This state is the same state as FIG. 6A (the figure shows the fore edge cutting state). Simultaneously with this positioning, the control means 78 presses and holds the sheet bundle with the pressing member 65 of the cutting edge press means 67, and cuts a predetermined amount with the cutting blade 70 (St07, St08; see FIG. 6B).

  After finishing the top cutting of the sheet bundle, the control CPU 78 retracts the pressure member 65 and the cutting blade 70 to the standby position Wp (St09). Then, the sheet bundle is turned 180 degrees, and the posture is deflected so that the ground portion becomes the lower end (St10). Next, the base portion of the sheet bundle is transferred to the cutting position Pz (St11). At this time, similarly to the top part, it is set at a position corresponding to the cutting amount calculated by the cutting amount calculation means 71. Then, the sheet bundle is pressed and held by the pressing member 65, and a predetermined amount is cut by the cutting blade 70 (St12, St13).

  Next, the control CPU 78 retracts the pressure member 65 and the cutting blade 70 to the standby position Wp in the same manner as described above (St14). Then, the sheet bundle is turned 90 degrees and deflected so that the fore edge becomes the lower end (St15), and the sheet is transferred to the cutting position Pz (St16). Then, the sheet bundle is pressed and held by the pressing member 65, and a predetermined amount is cut by the cutting blade 70 (St17, St18). In this way, the control CPU 78 ends the cutting of the sheet bundle in the three directions.

  FIG. 6B shows a state where the fore edge is cut. Note that when cutting one direction of the edge portion of the sheet bundle, the operations from Step St06 to Step St14 described above are omitted, and the process jumps from Step St05 to Step St15.

  When the cutting of the sheet bundle is completed, the control means 78 releases the pressurization of the cutting edge press means 67 and returns the cutting blade 70 to the standby position Wp. Then, the sheet discharge roller 72 is rotated to carry the sheet bundle to the storage stacker 74 (St19, St20). This state is shown in FIG. On the other hand, when the cutting mode is not selected in step St01, the control means 78 shifts to the paper discharge operation (St19).

  In this process, the present invention detects the inclination angle of the spine end face by the back inclination amount detecting means 66 when the sheet bundle is cut in the order of the top part, the ground part, and the fore edge part, and the inclination angle is the base point. The rotation angle of the top part, the ground part, and the fore edge part is set to the above, or the preset rotation angle is corrected by the inclination angle of the back end face.

  The cutting amount calculation unit 71 calculates a cutting amount from the size information and the bundle thickness information sent from the image forming apparatus A. This trimming amount is configured to calculate the trimming amount of the peripheral edge from the dimensional length of the sheet and the bundle thickness of the middle sheet, and in the case of three-way trimming, the top trimming amount, the ground trimming amount, and the fore edge trimming amount. Each discretion is set.

[Second Embodiment]
In the second embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 10, after the sheet bundle is cut in one or three directions at the cutting position Pz, the back portion of the sheet bundle is detected by the back inclination amount detecting unit 66. Accordingly, the inclination amount of the back end face can be determined as the angle error amount with reference to the trimmed side (for example, the fore edge).

  This error angle is generated, for example, due to the positional deviation of the grip rotating members 62a and 62b of the bundle posture changing means 62, or the positional deviation of the turning motors Mt1 and Mt2 and its transmission mechanism, or rattling. Therefore, in the second embodiment, the control means 78 is configured as follows. In addition, about the step same as 1st Embodiment, the same step number is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted.

  The control means 78 executes step St01 to step St04 as in the first embodiment. Then, without executing step St05 (detection of the amount of inclination of the back portion), in step St06, the angle of the sheet bundle is rotated by 90 degrees so that the top portion faces the cutting position Pz, and the top portion is cut (St07, 08). . Next, after the cutting blade 70 is returned to the standby position Wp (St09), the sheet bundle is rotated by 180 degrees to cut the ground portion. Then cut off the edge. Then, at the stage where all three directions of cutting are completed (St21), the sheet bundle is rotated 180 degrees so that the back portion is positioned at the cutting position Pz (St22).

  Therefore, the control unit 78 moves the back portion of the sheet bundle toward the cutting position Pz (St23). At this time, the back inclination amount detecting means 66 detects the inclination angle of the back. This angle is calculated from the detection signals of the photosensors 66S1 and 66S2 and the sheet bundle moving speed in the same manner as described above (St24). This inclination angle is determined as an angle error amount of the grip rotation members 62a and 62b. Then, the control means 78 corrects the angular positions of the grip rotation members 62a and 62b based on the angular error amount.

  For example, when the angle error amount is +1 degree, the grip rotation members 62a and 62b are corrected to the -1 degree rotation posture. This angle correction is performed by rotation control of the turning motors Mt1 and Mt2 (St25).

  Then, the control unit 78 calculates the cutting amount again by the cutting amount calculation unit 71 (St26, St27), and performs cutting processing in one direction or three directions of the sheet bundle according to the cutting amount (St28 to St32). . As a result, even if an angle error occurs in the bundle posture changing means 62, accurate bookbinding finishing is possible in the final trimming finishing.

[Third Embodiment]
In the third embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 11, after the sheet bundle is cut in one or three directions at the cutting position Pz, the back portion of the sheet bundle is detected by the back inclination amount detection unit 66. Accordingly, the inclination amount of the back end face can be determined as the angle error amount with reference to the trimmed side (for example, the fore edge). This angle error amount is stored in a storage means (not shown). When the subsequent sheet is cut, the angular position of the bundle posture changing means 62 is corrected by calling this amount of angular error. Therefore, in the third embodiment, the control means 78 is configured as follows. In addition, about the step same as 1st Embodiment, the same step number is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted.

  Similarly to the second embodiment, the sheet bundle is cut in one direction or three directions (St01 to St21). Then, the sheet bundle is rotated 180 degrees so that the back portion is positioned at the cutting position Pz (St22). Therefore, the control unit 78 moves the back portion of the sheet bundle toward the cutting position Pz (St23). At this time, the back inclination amount detecting means 66 detects the inclination angle of the back. This angle is calculated from the detection signals of the photosensors 66S1 and 66S2 and the sheet bundle moving speed in the same manner as described above (St24). This inclination angle is determined as an angle error amount of the grip rotation members 62a and 62b.

  Then, the control means 78 stores this angle error amount in the storage means (St32). After storing, the sheet bundle is stored in the storage stacker 74 by driving the paper discharge roller 72 (St19, 20). Next, the subsequent sheet bundle is transferred to the cutting position Pz and positioned. At this time, the control means 78 corrects the angular position of the bundle posture changing means 62 (St33). In this correction of the angular position, an angular error amount stored at the time of cutting the preceding sheet is read from the memory means (not shown) from the memory, and the angular positions of the grip rotation members 62a and 62b are corrected based on the error amount. Then, the sheet bundle is cut in one direction or three directions in the same manner as described above.

A Image forming apparatus B Bookbinding apparatus C Sheet cutting apparatus (cutting unit)
Px Application position Py Cover binding position Pz Cutting position Mt1 Turning motor Mt2 Turning motor Mc Cutter motor (drive means)
18 Control panel 30 Carry-in entrance 31 Carry-in path 32 Middle sheet transport path 34 Cover sheet transport path 38 Stack tray 42 Bookbinding path 43 Sheet bundle transport means 52 Adhesive application means 53 Application roller 54 Glue container 58 Cover binding means 62 Bundle orientation deflection means ( Sheet bundle holding means) (sheet bundle feeding means)
62a Grip rotating member 62b Movable grip rotating member 65 Pressing member 66 Back inclination amount detecting means 66S1 Photo sensor 66S2 Photo sensor 67 Cutting edge press means 68 Cutting blade unit 70 Cutting blade 72 Paper discharge roller (paper discharge means)
74 Storage stacker 75 Control CPU (image forming apparatus)
76 Mode setting means 78 Control CPU (bookbinding apparatus)

Claims (11)

A device for cutting at least one direction of the top portion, the ground portion, and the fore edge portion of the sheet bundle excluding the bound back portion,
Sheet bundle holding means for holding the sheet bundle at a predetermined cutting position;
Cutting means disposed at the cutting position;
Control means for controlling the sheet bundle holding means and the cutting means;
With
The sheet bundle holding means is configured to be capable of changing the angular posture of the sheet bundle with respect to the cutting line of the cutting means,
The control means is provided with a back inclination amount detecting means for detecting an inclination amount of a back end face of the sheet bundle held by the sheet bundle holding means with reference to a cutting line of the cutting means,
A sheet bundle cutting apparatus, wherein the sheet bundle holding unit is configured to change an angular attitude of the sheet bundle holding unit based on an inclination amount detected by the back portion inclination amount detection unit. The sheet bundle holding unit is configured by a bundle posture deflecting unit that deflects an angular posture of the sheet bundle at the cutting position.
The bundle posture deflecting unit transfers the sheet bundle from the upstream side to the downstream side of the cutting position, and
The sheet bundle cutting device according to claim 1, wherein the back inclination amount detection unit is arranged at the cutting position or upstream or downstream thereof. The control means sets the bundle posture based on the back inclination amount detected by the back inclination amount detection means when positioning the designated cutting edge of the top portion, the ground portion, or the fore edge portion of the sheet bundle at the cutting position. The sheet bundle cutting device according to claim 2, wherein a rotation angle of the deflecting unit is set. The control means determines the rotation angle of the bundle posture deflection means.
4. The sheet bundle cutting apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the sheet bundle cutting device is configured to calculate a back inclination amount as a base point, or to correct a preset rotation angle based on the back inclination amount. The control means includes
After cutting the designated cutting edge of the sheet bundle, there is provided an angle error determining means for determining an inclination amount of the cutting end surface with respect to the back end surface,
The said control means is comprised so that the specified cutting edge of a sheet bundle may be cut again based on the angle error amount of the cutting end surface on the basis of the said back part end surface. Sheet bundle cutting device. The control means includes
An angle error determining means for determining an inclination amount of the cut end face with respect to the back end face after cutting the designated cut edge of the sheet bundle;
Storage means for storing the angle error amount determined by the angle error determination means;
Is provided,
The control means includes
3. The sheet according to claim 2, wherein when the subsequent sheet bundle is cut, the rotation angle of the bundle posture deflection unit is corrected based on the angle error amount stored in the storage unit. Bundle cutting device. The angle error discriminating unit cuts the designated cutting edge of the sheet bundle, and then rotates the bundle posture deflecting unit by a predetermined angle from the cutting end surface to thereby turn the back end surface of the sheet bundle with the back inclination amount detecting unit. The sheet bundle cutting device according to claim 6, wherein the angle error amount is obtained from the detected back inclination amount. Stacking tray means for stacking sequentially fed sheets in a bundle;
Binding means for binding back portions of sheet bundles that are partly stacked by the stacking tray means;
A sheet bundle cutting device that cuts at least one direction of the top portion, the ground portion, and the fore edge portion of the sheet bundle excluding the back portion bound by the binding means;
Consisting of
The bookbinding apparatus, wherein the sheet bundle cutting apparatus has the configuration according to any one of claims 1 to 7. The bookbinding apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the binding unit includes a stapler unit. The binding means includes
An adhesive application unit for applying an adhesive to the back end face of the sheet bundle;
A cover binding unit for binding the sheet bundle coated with the adhesive with the adhesive coating unit to the cover sheet;
The bookbinding apparatus according to claim 8, comprising: An image forming apparatus that sequentially forms images on various sheets;
A bookbinding apparatus for performing bookbinding finishing by collecting and aligning sheets from the image forming apparatus;
Consisting of
An image forming system comprising the bookbinding apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 10.

Images