JP2012113010A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of filing a plurality of sheets and reducing running costs.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus is for sequentially ejecting a sheet S on which an image is formed and stacking the plurality of sheets to form a bundle of sheets, the image forming apparatus including waste toner adhesion means 11 for allowing waste toner T to be adhered on the sheet S during the sheet ejection, and heating and pressuring means 12, 13 for heating and pressuring a bundle of sheets formed by stacking a plurality of sheet S on which the waste toner T is adhered by the waste toner adhesion means 11 so that the sheets are adhered with the waste toner T therebetween. The waste toner adhesion means 11 allows the waste toner T to be adhered on the sheet S while the sheet S is moving during the sheet ejection.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system such as a laser printer or a facsimile, a system that uses a staple or a clip when binding and bundling a plurality of sheets is generally used. However, such a binding method has a problem in that staples and clips become an obstacle when filing or discarding the bundled sheets.

  For this reason, as a method that does not use staples or clips, a predetermined image is formed on the paper, an adhesive toner layer is also formed, and the adhesive toner layer is heated and pressed to bond the papers together, There is a method in which sheets of paper are bonded together by applying adhesive pressure to the sheets and applying pressure (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 4). For example, in Patent Document 1, after a plurality of sheets are supplied to a stacking tray, a heating and pressing member is lowered, and an adhesive portion is sandwiched between the heating and pressing member and the pressing member, so that the toner between the sheets A method is disclosed in which the layers are fused to bond the sheets together.

  A configuration of an image forming apparatus that has a structure for collecting waste toner and reuses the waste toner is already known.

  As described above, in the conventional paper bonding apparatus and the image forming apparatus including the same, as described above, a predetermined image is formed on the paper, and an adhesive toner layer is formed or adhesive glue is applied. It was applied. However, since the toner layer for adhesion is toner used for forming an image, the more the toner layer for adhesion is used, the more toner is consumed and the running cost is increased. there were. In addition, when bonding with glue alone, this glue is also used exclusively for bonding, so that there is a problem that the running cost similarly increases.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus capable of binding a plurality of sheets and reducing running costs.

  In order to achieve this object, an image forming apparatus according to claim 1 is an image forming apparatus that sequentially discharges a sheet on which an image is formed and stacks a plurality of sheets to form a sheet bundle. Waste toner adhering means for adhering waste toner to the sheet, and heating heating for pressurizing and pressurizing the sheet bundle in which a plurality of sheets to which the waste toner has been adhered by the waste toner adhering means are stacked and bonding the sheets with the waste toner And a waste toner adhering means for adhering the waste toner on the paper while the paper at the time of paper discharge is moving.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of the waste toner adhering means are provided above the sheet, and the adhering position or adhesive force specified by the input to the operating means is determined. Thus, the waste toner attaching means for attaching the waste toner on the paper is selected from the plurality of waste toner attaching means.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the waste toner adhesion means is disposed above the paper and has a toner supply port at the bottom, A shutter mechanism that opens and closes the toner supply port to attach waste toner on the paper, a waste toner bottle that discharges waste toner used in image formation position adjustment or density adjustment, and the waste toner from the waste toner bottle A waste toner supply mechanism for supplying waste toner to the tank;

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect, an adhesive supply mechanism that supplies an adhesive from an adhesive tank to the waste toner tank, and the waste toner tank are provided. An agitation mechanism for mixing the waste toner and the adhesive, and the waste toner supply mechanism is provided in the waste toner supply pipe that connects the waste toner tank and the waste toner bottle. A waste toner feeding screw that feeds waste toner from the waste toner bottle to the waste toner tank, and the adhesive supply mechanism connects the waste toner tank and the adhesive tank. A feed pipe and an adhesive feed screw which is provided in the adhesive feed pipe and feeds the adhesive from the adhesive tank to the waste toner tank; With the ratio of Sharing, ABS adhesive from the waste toner and the adhesive supplying mechanism from the toner supply mechanism is intended to be delivered.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the waste toner adhering means includes a discharge roller and a driven roller for discharging the paper at a high voltage power source. And a waste toner roller supply mechanism for supplying waste toner to the paper discharge roller. The paper discharge roller charged by the charging device is supplied from the waste toner roller supply mechanism. The waste toner is transferred onto the paper together with the paper discharged by the paper discharge roller and the driven roller.

  According to the present invention, the waste toner attaching means attaches the waste toner onto the moving paper when the paper on which the image is formed is discharged. The heating and pressurizing unit heats and presses a sheet bundle formed by stacking a plurality of sheets to which waste toner is attached, and bonds the sheets with the waste toner. In this way, since the waste toner is reused instead of the toner used to form the image and a plurality of sheets are bound, compared to the case of using only the image forming toner or the adhesive-specific glue, Running cost can be reduced. In addition, since the waste toner is attached to the paper that is moving at the time of paper discharge, the throughput can be improved.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a sheet binding portion of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing waste toner adhesion means of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. 2A and 2B are a front view and a perspective view, respectively, illustrating a waste toner attaching unit and a sheet of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. 2A and 2B are a front view and a perspective view, respectively, illustrating a waste toner attaching unit and a sheet of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating a sheet binding portion of an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment. 10 is a control flowchart of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view illustrating waste toner adhesion means of an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a waste toner supply mechanism of an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing waste toner adhesion means of an image forming apparatus according to a fourth embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the adhesive agent supply mechanism of the image forming apparatus which concerns on 4th Embodiment. 10 is a control flowchart of an image forming apparatus according to a fourth embodiment. FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating a paper discharge unit of an image forming apparatus according to a fifth embodiment.

Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.
(First embodiment)
First, the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a sheet binding portion of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing waste toner adhering means of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 1A and 1B are a front view, FIG. 4B is a perspective view, and FIG. 4 is a waste toner adhesion unit and a sheet of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. (A) is a front view, (B) is a perspective view.

  The image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment discharges a plurality of loaded sheets one by one and forms a predetermined image including printing, and then discharges the sheet. Although not shown, these functions are provided. Various configurations are provided.

  The image forming apparatus sequentially discharges sheets on which images are formed, forms an adhesive toner layer on each sheet during discharge, and stacks a plurality of sheets after forming the toner layer. A sheet bundle is formed, and the sheets of the sheet bundle are bonded to each other by heating and pressing the toner layer. This image forming apparatus uses waste toner as the toner layer for adhesion.

  The image forming apparatus has a paper binding unit 10 shown in FIG. The paper S after the image G is formed is discharged and stacked in a reverse direction so that the image forming surface faces downward. The sheet binding unit 10 includes a waste toner attaching unit 11 that attaches the waste toner T onto the paper S thus discharged. Further, the image forming apparatus stacks a plurality of sheets S on which the waste toner T is adhered by the waste toner adhesion unit 11 to form a sheet bundle, and heats and pressurizes the waste toner T by passing the sheet bundle between each other. It has a heating and pressing member (heating and pressing means) 12 and a pressing member (heating and pressing means) 13.

  The waste toner adhering means 11 is disposed above the paper S to be discharged and has a waste toner tank 16 having a toner supply port 15 shown in FIG. And a slide type shutter mechanism 18 that is controlled by 17 to open and close. The waste toner adhering means 11 opens the shutter mechanism 18 below the waste toner tank 16 while the paper S after the image is formed is moved during paper discharge. As a result, waste toner is supplied from the toner supply port 15 onto the external paper S only when the shutter mechanism 18 is opened. In other words, the control device 17 opens the shutter mechanism 18 at a timing corresponding to the adhesion position designated by the input to the operation means 19 such as the operation unit touch panel while the paper S is moving at a predetermined speed during paper discharge. As a result, the waste toner T is adhered to the requested location on the paper S.

  Here, assuming that the material of the waste toner T, the amount of heat for heating the waste toner T, and the applied pressure are constant, as shown in FIG. 3A, when the toner layer of the waste toner T is stacked high on the paper S, By passing the sheet bundle between the heating and pressing member 12 and the pressing member 13, as shown in FIG. 3B, the toner layer of the waste toner T is crushed and greatly spread sideways. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4A, when the toner layer of the waste toner T is stacked low on the sheet S, the sheet bundle is passed between the heating and pressing member 12 and the pressing member 13 to As shown in FIG. 4B, the spread of the toner layer of the waste toner T becomes narrow. The larger the area of the waste toner T that bonds between sheets, the higher the adhesive force. Therefore, the control device 17 adjusts the height of the toner layer by controlling the opening time of the shutter mechanism 18 in accordance with the adhesive force designated by the input to the operation means 19. That is, by reusing the waste toner T, there is a possibility that the adhesive force between the sheets may be reduced. Therefore, the amount of adhesion of the waste toner T to the paper S can be adjusted to cope with this. In this manner, the amount of waste toner T that can ensure an appropriate adhesive force can be attached to the paper S.

  In the waste toner tank 16, waste toner T used for position adjustment or density adjustment as a preparation process for image formation is stored. The waste toner T is originally prepared for image formation, but is not suitable for use for image formation by being used for position adjustment or density adjustment, and is usually discarded. Here, the waste toner tank 16 is detachable from the image forming apparatus, and is prepared by separately injecting waste toner T. In other words, the waste toner tank 16 is prepared in a state where the waste toner T is contained, and the waste toner tank 16 is installed and used in the paper binding unit 10 and is replaced with a new waste toner tank 16 when the waste toner T runs out. become.

  Each of the heating and pressing member 12 and the pressing member 13 is a roller, and the heating and pressing member 12 is heated by a built-in heater (not shown) or the like. The heating and pressurizing member 12 and the pressurizing member 13 allow the sheet bundle made up of these sheets S to pass through each other after the requested sheets S are discharged. At that time, the sheet bundle is heated from the both sides in the stacking direction while being heated by the heat of the heating and pressing member 12 to melt the waste toner, thereby bonding the sheets. The temperature of the heating and pressing member 12 is raised to a temperature at which the toner melts by a heater or the like inside the heating and pressing member 12.

  As described above, according to the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment, the waste toner attaching unit 11 attaches the waste toner T onto the moving paper S when the paper S on which the image is formed is discharged. Let When a plurality of sheets S to which the waste toner T is adhered are stacked to form a sheet bundle, the sheet is heated and pressurized by the heating and pressing member 12 and the pressing member 13 to bond the sheets with the waste toner T. Let In this way, the waste toner T in the waste toner tank 16 is reused to bind a plurality of sheets S without using the toner in the toner bottle for image formation as the toner layer for adhesion to the paper S. become. For this reason, the amount of toner for image formation does not increase as in the case of using the toner for image formation for adhesion of the paper S, and therefore the amount of toner for image formation is reduced. Can do. In addition, there is no possibility of consuming a dedicated adhesive product as in the case of using only glue for bonding. Therefore, the running cost can be reduced as compared with these cases. Further, since the waste toner T is attached to the sheet S that is moving at the time of paper discharge, the throughput can be improved.

  The waste toner attaching unit 11 attaches the waste toner T onto the paper S while the paper S to be discharged is moving. For this reason, the paper discharge time can be shortened as compared with the case where the paper S is stopped and the waste toner T is adhered at the time of paper discharge.

  Further, a shutter mechanism 18 is provided at the toner supply port 15 so that the supply amount of the waste toner T from the waste toner tank 16 prepared above the paper S can be varied. For this reason, by changing the height of the toner layer of the waste toner T on the paper S and varying the adhesive force according to the difference in the collapse and spread of the waste toner T at the time of pressurization, the necessary adhesive force can be made to appear. it can. Therefore, even if the waste toner T is reused for paper binding, a necessary adhesive force can be obtained, and a decrease in the adhesive force can be prevented.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, an image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described focusing on differences from the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a sheet binding portion of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a control flowchart of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment includes a plurality of waste toner adhesion means 11 having a waste toner tank 16 and a shutter mechanism 18 above the paper S. These waste toner adhesion means 11 (a) to 11 (d) are arranged in parallel in the paper discharge direction of the paper S.

  Then, the control device 17 selects a sheet from among the plurality of waste toner adhering means 11 (a) to 11 (d) at the adhering position or adhering force designated by the input to the operating means 19 performed as necessary. The waste toner attaching means 11 for attaching the waste toner T on S is selected, and the opening and closing of the shutter mechanism 18 is controlled.

  As described above, by providing the plurality of waste toner adhering means 11 (a) to 11 (d), it is possible to adjust the toner supply amount of the waste toner T to an arbitrary position. For example, there is a use in which only one corner of the paper may be bound without binding all the edges of the paper (use for stapling). In that case, only the waste toner T in the waste toner tank 11 (a) on the most downstream side in FIG.

  In addition, as described above, when the waste toner T toner layer is stacked high on the paper S as shown in FIG. 3A, the waste toner T toner layer is pressed by pressurization as shown in FIG. It collapses and spreads to the side. On the other hand, when the waste toner T toner layer is stacked on the sheet S at a low level as shown in FIG. 4A, the spread of the waste toner T toner layer due to the pressure is reduced as shown in FIG. 4B. . Therefore, the control device 17 controls the presence / absence of the opening of the shutter mechanism 18 and the opening time at the time of opening the waste toner T for each of the plurality of waste toner adhering units 11 (a) to 11 (d). By adjusting the height of the toner layer, an amount of waste toner T capable of ensuring an appropriate adhesive force can be adhered to the paper S.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when the paper binding selection operation button is pressed and selected by the operation means 19 (step SA1: Yes), the adhesion position designation button is then pressed by the operation means 19 (step SA2: Yes) or the skip button is pressed (step SA2: No). When the adhesion position designation button is pressed (step SA2: Yes), the control device 17 reads waste toner tank identification information (or shutter mechanism identification information) corresponding to the selected adhesion position designation button from the memory. (Step SA3). Note that a plurality of adhesion position designation buttons can be pressed. In this case, waste toner tank identification information (or shutter mechanism identification information) corresponding to each of the selected plurality of adhesion position designation buttons is read from the memory. Become. On the other hand, when the skip button is pressed (step SA2: No), the control device 17 reads waste toner tank identification information corresponding to the adhesion position selected in the immediately preceding process from the memory (step SA4).

  Next, it is determined whether the adhesive force designation button has been pressed on the operating means 19 (step SA5: Yes) or the skip button has been pressed (step SA5: No). (SA5: Yes), the control device 17 reads the shutter opening time information corresponding to the selected adhesive force designation button from the memory (step SA6). At this time, if a plurality of adhesion position designation buttons are pressed in step SA2, the adhesion force designation button is pressed for each of the selected waste toner tank identification information (or shutter mechanism identification information). Thus, the shutter opening time information corresponding to each pressed adhesive force designation button is read from the memory. On the other hand, when the skip button is pressed (step SA5: No), the control device 17 reads shutter opening time information corresponding to the adhesive force selected in the immediately preceding process from the memory (step SA7). Here, the adhesive strength designation button designates the adhesive strength from a plurality of levels of strength and weakness, and the stronger the shutter opening time information corresponding to the adhesive strength designation button, the longer the time, and the weaker the strength. The shutter opening time information corresponding to the force designation button indicates a short time.

  Then, the control device 17 reads the shutter mechanism 18 having the read waste toner tank identification information in accordance with the waste toner tank identification information (or shutter mechanism identification information) read from the memory and the shutter opening time information. Only the shutter opening time information is opened (step SA8). As described above, by preparing a button for designating the adhesion position and the adhesion force in the operation means 19, and determining the shutter opening / closing time according to the adhesion force, it becomes possible to designate the necessary adhesion force by the user. .

  According to the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment, a plurality of waste toner adhering units 11 (a) to 11 (d) are provided above the sheet S, and the adhesion position designated by the input to the operation unit 19 or In accordance with the adhesive force, the waste toner adhering means 11 for adhering the waste toner T onto the paper S is selected from among the plurality of waste toner adhering means 11 (a) to 11 (d). For this reason, by reusing the waste toner T as a sheet binding application, it is possible to bond the sheets with the bonding position and the bonding force that enhance the bonding effect when there is a decrease in the bonding force between the sheets.

(Third embodiment)
Next, an image forming apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described focusing on differences from the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the waste toner attaching means of the image forming apparatus according to the third embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing the waste toner supply mechanism of the image forming apparatus according to the third embodiment.

  In the image forming apparatus according to the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, in addition to the waste toner tank 16 and the shutter mechanism 18, the waste toner adhesion unit 11 includes a waste toner bottle 21 provided in the image forming apparatus, A waste toner supply mechanism 22 that supplies waste toner from the waste toner bottle 21 to the waste toner tank 16 is provided. The waste toner bottle 21 stores waste toner generated in the image forming apparatus. For example, waste toner used in position adjustment or density adjustment as an image formation preparation process in the image forming apparatus is discharged.

  The waste toner supply mechanism 22 is disposed in the waste toner supply pipe 23 that connects the waste toner tank 16 and the waste toner bottle 21 and rotates in the waste toner supply pipe 23 as shown in FIG. And a waste toner feeding screw 24 for feeding the toner from the waste toner bottle 21 to the waste toner tank 16. A motor (not shown) is used as a drive source for the waste toner feeding screw 24, and a certain amount of waste toner T can be fed to the waste toner tank 16 by turning the waste toner feeding screw 24. It has become. That is, the necessary amount of waste toner T can be fed to the waste toner tank 16 while being measured.

  In the image forming apparatus according to the third embodiment, the waste toner supply mechanism 22 supplies the waste toner T from the waste toner bottle 21 from which the waste toner used for position adjustment or density adjustment is discharged to the waste toner tank 16. Will be supplied. As a result, the waste toner T in the waste toner bottle 21 can be reused and the burden on the customer can be reduced, and the waste toner tank 16 can be made unnecessary to be replaced.

  A waste toner supply mechanism 22 is provided in a waste toner feed pipe 23 that connects the waste toner tank 16 and the waste toner bottle 21, and waste waste T is fed from the waste toner bottle 21 to the waste toner tank 16. A toner feeding screw 24 is provided. Therefore, an accurate amount can be sent to the waste toner tank 16 while measuring the waste toner T.

(Fourth embodiment)
Next, an image forming apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described focusing on differences from the image forming apparatus according to the third embodiment. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a waste toner adhering unit of the image forming apparatus according to the fourth embodiment, FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing an adhesive supply mechanism of the image forming apparatus according to the fourth embodiment, and FIG. 11 is a fourth embodiment. 3 is a control flowchart of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment.

  In the image forming apparatus according to the fourth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the waste toner adhesion unit 11 includes an adhesive in addition to the waste toner tank 16, the shutter mechanism 18, the waste toner bottle 21, and the waste toner supply mechanism 22. An adhesive tank 26 for storing A, an adhesive supply mechanism 27 for supplying the adhesive A from the adhesive tank 26 containing the adhesive A to the waste toner tank 16, and a waste toner provided in the waste toner tank 16. A stirring mechanism 28 for mixing T and the adhesive A is provided.

  The adhesive supply mechanism 27 is provided with an adhesive supply pipe 30 that connects the waste toner tank 16 and the adhesive tank 26, and as shown in FIG. And an adhesive feeding screw 31 for feeding the agent A from the adhesive tank 26 to the waste toner tank 16. A motor (not shown) is used as a drive source for the adhesive supply screw 31, and a predetermined amount of the adhesive A can be supplied to the waste toner tank 16 by the rotation of the adhesive supply screw 31. It has become. That is, the adhesive A can be fed to the waste toner tank 16 by a necessary amount while being measured. As a result, the feeding ratio of the waste toner T and the adhesive A can be adjusted by controlling together with the above-described waste toner supply mechanism 22, and the mixing ratio is adjusted by this adjustment so that the necessary adhesive force between the sheets can be obtained. To get. In this case, since it makes sense to reuse the waste toner T, it is desirable that the ratio of the waste toner T and the adhesive A is such that the ratio of the waste toner is high. Therefore, the amount of waste toner sent from the waste toner bottle 21 to the waste toner tank 16 by one supply is set to be larger than the amount of adhesive sent from the adhesive tank 26 to the waste toner tank 16 by one supply. Has been.

  The stirring mechanism 28 in the waste toner tank 16 that stirs the waste toner T and the adhesive A includes a stirring member 35 in which a plurality of blades 34 are radially attached to a rotating shaft 33, and a stirring member 35 (not shown) that rotates the stirring member 35. And a motor. A waste toner remaining amount sensor 36 for detecting the remaining amount of the mixture of the waste toner T and the adhesive A is installed in the waste toner tank 16. Based on ON / OFF, the timing of sending the waste toner T and the adhesive A to the waste toner tank 16 is controlled.

  As shown in FIG. 11, when the remaining amount of the mixed liquid in the waste toner tank 16 becomes equal to or less than the first predetermined value and the waste toner remaining amount sensor 36 is turned on (step SB1: Yes), the control device 17 turns on. The waste toner supply mechanism 22 and the adhesive supply mechanism 27 are each driven at a predetermined speed to supply the waste toner T from the waste toner bottle 21 to the waste toner tank 16 and to remove the adhesive A from the adhesive tank 26. Feed to the tank 16 (step SB2). When the remaining amount of the mixed liquid in the waste toner tank 16 exceeds the second predetermined value (second predetermined value> first predetermined value) and the waste toner remaining amount sensor 36 is turned OFF (step SB3: Yes), the waste toner The supply mechanism 22 and the adhesive supply mechanism 27 are stopped, and the agitation mechanism 28 is driven for a predetermined time to agitate the waste toner T and the adhesive A in the waste toner tank 16 (step SB4).

  According to the image forming apparatus of the fourth embodiment, the adhesive supply mechanism 27 that supplies the adhesive A from the adhesive tank 26 to the waste toner tank 16, and the waste toner T and the adhesive A in the waste toner tank 16. And a stirring mechanism 28 for mixing the two. For this reason, even when the waste toner T is additionally supplied from the waste toner bottle 21 to the waste toner tank 16 by the waste toner supply mechanism 22, it is possible to compensate for the insufficient adhesive force due to the waste toner T with the adhesive A. A desired constant adhesive force can always be obtained. Therefore, when the waste toner T is used as a toner for binding paper, there is a possibility that the adhesive force may be reduced, but this can be avoided.

  Further, an adhesive supply mechanism 27 is provided in an adhesive supply pipe 30 that connects the waste toner tank 16 and the adhesive tank 26, so that the adhesive A is supplied from the adhesive tank 26 to the waste toner tank 16. It has an agent feeding screw 31. Therefore, an accurate amount can be supplied to the waste toner tank 16 while measuring the adhesive A. Therefore, the waste toner tank 16 can be mixed with the waste toner T so that the ratio of the adhesive A is designated.

(Fifth embodiment)
Next, an image forming apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described focusing on differences from the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a paper discharge section of the image forming apparatus according to the fifth embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the paper discharge unit 37 is provided with a paper discharge roller 38 and a driven roller 39 for discharging the paper S. The paper S is rotated by the rotation of the paper discharge roller 38 and the driven roller 39. It is clamped by these and sent out in the arrow Z direction. In the image forming apparatus according to the fifth embodiment, the paper discharge roller 38 is divided into two installation regions, a short region 38a having a short length and a long region 38b having a long length, and the driven roller 39 has a similar length. It is divided into two installation areas, a short short area 39a and a long long area 39b. The waste toner adhering means 11 is electrically connected to the short region 38a of the paper discharge roller 38 and the short region 39a of the driven roller 39, and charges them using the high voltage power source 40, and the paper discharge roller. And a waste toner roller supply mechanism 42 for supplying waste toner T to the short region 38a of 38. Here, the waste toner roller supply mechanism 42 supplies the waste toner T to the paper discharge roller 38 from the waste toner bottle 21 from which the waste toner T used for image position adjustment or density adjustment in this image forming apparatus is discharged. .

  The waste toner T supplied from the waste toner roller supply mechanism 42 to the short area 38 a of the paper discharge roller 38 charged by the charging device 41 adheres to the outer peripheral surface of the short area 38 a of the paper discharge roller 38. . When the sheet S is discharged by the discharge roller 38 and the driven roller 39, the charging device 41 applies reverse bias to the driven roller 39 side from the high-voltage power source 40 to reversely charge the sheet, and is bound to the discharge roller 38. The waste toner T is transferred onto the paper S together with the discharged paper. Thereafter, the sheet bundle in which a plurality of sheets S are stacked passes through the heating and pressing member 12 and the pressing member 13 so that the sheets are bonded to each other.

  In the image forming apparatus according to the fifth embodiment, the waste toner T is supplied from the waste toner roller supply mechanism 42 to the paper discharge roller 38 charged by the charging device 41, and the waste toner T is discharged. The sheet is transferred onto the paper S together with the paper discharged by the roller 38 and the driven roller 39. For this reason, it is not necessary to prepare a waste toner tank above the sheet S. Therefore, space saving of the sheet binding unit 10 of the image forming apparatus can be achieved.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the image forming apparatus has been described as an example. However, the present invention is configured to sequentially eject a sheet on which an image is formed and stack a plurality of sheets to form a sheet bundle. In addition, it can be implemented as a method in which waste toner is attached to a sheet, and a sheet bundle in which a plurality of sheets are stacked is heated and pressurized to bond the sheets with the waste toner. The present invention can also be implemented as a program executed in an apparatus having a mechanism for adhering sheets with waste toner.

  Moreover, although the above-mentioned embodiment is a suitable example of this invention, it is not limited to this, A various deformation | transformation implementation is possible in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

11 Waste toner adhesion means 12 Heating and pressing member (heating and pressing means)
13 Pressurizing member (heating and pressing means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 Toner supply port 16 Waste toner tank 18 Shutter mechanism 21 Waste toner bottle 22 Waste toner supply mechanism 23 Waste toner supply pipe 24 Waste toner supply screw 26 Adhesive tank 27 Adhesive supply mechanism 28 Stirring mechanism 30 Adhesive supply pipe 31 Adhesive Supply Screw 38 Paper Discharge Roller 39 Driven Roller 40 High Voltage Power Supply 41 Charging Device 42 Waste Toner Roller Supply Mechanism S Paper T Waste Toner A Adhesive

JP 2005-162352 A JP 2004-209858 A JP 2001-206625 A JP-A-7-223387

Claims (5)

An image forming apparatus that sequentially discharges sheets on which images are formed and stacks a plurality of sheets into a sheet bundle,
Waste toner adhering means for adhering waste toner on the paper during paper discharge;
Heating and pressurizing means for heating and pressurizing the sheet bundle in which a plurality of paper sheets to which the waste toner is adhered by the waste toner adhesion means is stacked and bonding the sheets with the waste toner,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the waste toner attaching unit attaches waste toner onto the paper while the paper at the time of paper discharge is moving. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.
A plurality of waste toner adhering means are provided above the paper,
A waste toner adhering means for adhering waste toner on paper is selected from the plurality of waste toner adhering means according to an adhesion position or adhesive force designated by an input to the operation means. Image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:
The waste toner adhesion means includes
A waste toner tank disposed above the paper and having a toner supply port at the bottom;
A shutter mechanism that opens and closes the toner supply port to attach waste toner on the paper;
A waste toner bottle from which waste toner used for image formation position adjustment or density adjustment is discharged;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a waste toner supply mechanism that supplies waste toner from the waste toner bottle to the waste toner tank. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3.
An adhesive supply mechanism for supplying an adhesive from the adhesive tank to the waste toner tank;
A stirring mechanism provided in the waste toner tank for mixing the waste toner and the adhesive;
The waste toner supply mechanism is provided in the waste toner supply pipe that connects the waste toner tank and the waste toner bottle, and is provided in the waste toner supply pipe to send waste toner from the waste toner bottle to the waste toner tank. A waste toner feeding screw for feeding,
The adhesive supply mechanism includes an adhesive supply pipe that connects the waste toner tank and the adhesive tank, and an adhesive that is provided in the adhesive supply pipe to supply the adhesive from the adhesive tank to the waste toner tank. An adhesive feeding screw for feeding,
An image forming apparatus, wherein the waste toner from the waste toner supply mechanism and the adhesive from the adhesive supply mechanism are fed at a feeding ratio according to a required adhesive force between sheets. In the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The waste toner adhesion means includes
A charging device for charging a paper discharge roller and a driven roller for discharging paper by a high-voltage power source;
A waste toner roller supply mechanism for supplying waste toner to the paper discharge roller;
The waste toner supplied from the waste toner roller supply mechanism is transferred onto the paper together with the paper discharged by the paper discharge roller and the driven roller to the paper discharge roller charged by the charging device. Image forming apparatus.

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