JP2012246147A - Image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming system capable of aligning a punch hole of a pre-punch sheet having the punch hole formed in advance with a punch hole position to be formed in the sheet by a punch hole forming device.SOLUTION: A pre-punch sheet PP having a punch hole formed in advance is placed on a contact glass 8a provided at an upper surface of a copying machine 1. The reading of the pre-punch sheet PP is performed by an image reading part 8. Position information on the punch hole calculated on the basis of the read image information is transmitted to a control part 50. The control part 50 adjusts a punch hole forming position in a sheet conveying direction and in a width direction on the basis of the transmitted position information on the punch hole.

Description

  The present invention includes an image forming system including an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, and the like, and a paper post-processing apparatus that performs post-processing such as punch hole forming processing and binding processing on a paper image formed by the image forming apparatus. About.

  Conventionally, a stacking process in which a plurality of sheets on which images are formed by an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer is stacked, and a bundle of stacked sheets is bound together by a staple, and a punch hole is formed by a punch hole forming apparatus. A sheet post-processing apparatus capable of executing processing and the like is known, and the above-described sheet post-processing apparatus is used when performing post-processing such as binding processing on a relatively large amount of sheets.

  Such a sheet post-processing apparatus is known in which punch holes are formed one by one in an image-formed sheet. However, there is a problem that the position of the punch holes formed for each sheet becomes uneven due to the conveyance deviation in the width direction of the sheets carried in from the image forming apparatus, and the appearance is deteriorated when a plurality of sheets are filed together. There was a point.

  Therefore, a method has been proposed in which punch holes are formed at fixed positions regardless of conveyance deviation in the width direction of the paper.For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a paper center detection means for detecting the center in the width direction of paper, An image forming apparatus including a centering unit that substantially matches the center of the sheet in the width direction with the center of the punch blade in the width direction is disclosed. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-133867 discloses sheet side edge detection means for detecting a side edge of a sheet, first movement means for moving the sheet side edge detection means in the width direction, and positional information of the detected sheet side edge. A sheet punching device, a sheet post-processing device, and an image forming apparatus, each of which includes a second moving unit that moves the punching unit on the basis of the sheet, and detects the amount of conveyance deviation in the width direction of the sheet to correct the punching position. .

JP-A-3-92299 JP-A-10-279170

  In the image forming system including the image forming apparatus and the paper post-processing apparatus described above, an insertion sheet such as a front cover and a back paper, a partition paper, or a tab sheet for improving a filed booklet is fed to the paper post-processing apparatus. An insert device may be incorporated. Further, even in an image forming system that does not have an insert device, an insertion sheet may be fed from a manual feed tray or the like of the image forming device. Such insertion paper is special paper such as glossy paper, thick paper, and color paper, and there is also a pre-punch paper in which punch holes are formed in advance.

  When a pre-punch paper is inserted, if the positions of the punch holes of the pre-punch paper and the punch holes newly formed by the paper post-processing device are shifted, the positions of the punch holes become uneven, and the appearance of the file becomes poor. Therefore, it is necessary to accurately match the position of the newly formed punch hole with the punch hole of the pre-punched paper. Even when the pre-punch paper is not inserted, for example, when it is desired to file with the upper end or lower end of different size papers aligned, it is necessary to shift the positions of punch holes formed on the small size paper. However, none of the methods described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 can satisfy the above-described requirements because the punch hole forming position cannot be set arbitrarily.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming system capable of arbitrarily setting a punch hole forming position.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus, a punch hole forming apparatus that is connected to the downstream side of the image forming apparatus and forms punch holes in a loaded paper, and is conveyed to the punch hole forming apparatus. A sheet post-processing apparatus having a first position adjusting mechanism for adjusting a punch hole forming position in the conveyance direction of the sheet to be conveyed, and a second position adjusting mechanism for adjusting a punch hole forming position in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction An image forming system including the sheet post-processing apparatus and a control unit that controls the image forming apparatus, wherein a sheet bundle is formed in advance on the sheet on which punch holes are formed by the punch hole forming apparatus. Punch hole detecting means for detecting the punch hole position of the pre-punched paper in which the punch holes are formed is provided, and the control means is configured to detect the position information of the punch holes transmitted from the punch hole detecting means. The punch hole forming position is adjusted by controlling the operation of the first position adjusting mechanism and the second position adjusting mechanism based on the punch hole position of the pre-punch paper, and the punch hole forming device forms the paper on the paper. It is characterized by aligning the punch hole position.

  According to the present invention, in the image forming system configured as described above, the punch hole detecting unit is an image reading device that reads the pre-punch paper and converts it into image data.

  According to the present invention, in the image forming system configured as described above, the first position adjusting mechanism detects a transport mechanism that transports the paper to the punch hole forming device, and a leading edge or a trailing edge of the paper transported by the transport mechanism. A first paper detection sensor that detects the position of the punch hole in the paper conveyance direction of the pre-punch paper detected by the punch hole detection means, from paper detection by the first paper detection sensor to paper stop. It is characterized in that the conveyance amount of paper is variable.

  According to the present invention, in the image forming system configured as described above, the second position adjusting mechanism is disposed in the vicinity of the punch hole forming device, and includes a side end detecting mechanism that detects a sheet end in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction. A movement mechanism that moves the punch blade unit in the punch hole forming device in a direction orthogonal to the paper conveyance direction, and a home position detection sensor that detects whether the punch blade unit is at a reference position, The amount of movement of the punch blade unit from the reference position based on the position information of the punch hole in the direction orthogonal to the paper conveyance direction of the pre-punch paper detected by the punch hole detecting means and the detection result of the side edge detection mechanism It is characterized by being variable.

  According to the present invention, in the image forming system configured as described above, the side edge detection mechanism includes a second sheet detection sensor that detects an end of the sheet in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction, and the second sheet detection sensor is a sheet. It is characterized by comprising a sensor movement motor that reciprocates in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction and a home position detection sensor that detects whether or not the second sheet detection sensor is at a reference position.

  According to the present invention, in the image forming system configured as described above, an insertion mode for inserting an insertion sheet at a predetermined timing between sheets on which an image is formed by the image forming apparatus can be set. When punch holes are formed in the paper in advance, the punch hole forming apparatus prohibits the formation of punch holes in the insertion paper.

  According to the first configuration of the present invention, the punch hole position formed by the punch hole forming device of the paper post-processing apparatus can be accurately aligned with the punch hole position of the pre-punched paper in which the punch holes are formed in advance. In addition, the finished state of the sheet bundle is improved and the work load on the user is reduced.

  According to the second configuration of the present invention, in the image forming system of the first configuration, the punch hole detecting unit is used as an image reading device that reads pre-punched paper and converts it into image data. It is possible to easily and accurately read the punch holes of the pre-punched paper on which the above-described punch holes are formed and reflect them in the adjustment of the punch hole positions.

  According to the third configuration of the present invention, in the image forming system having the first or second configuration, the transport device that transports the paper to the punch hole forming device, and the leading edge of the paper transported by the transport device Alternatively, the first paper detection sensor that forms the first position adjustment mechanism with the first paper detection sensor that detects the trailing edge, and the first paper detection sensor based on the position information of the punch hole in the paper transport direction of the pre-punch paper detected by the punch hole detection means. By varying the amount of paper transport from paper detection to paper stop, the position of the punch hole in the paper transport direction can be easily and accurately adjusted.

  According to the fourth configuration of the present invention, in the image forming system having any one of the first to third configurations, the side end detection mechanism that detects the end of the sheet in the direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction; The second position adjustment mechanism is configured by a moving mechanism that moves the punch blade unit in a direction orthogonal to the paper conveyance direction and a home position detection sensor that detects whether the punch blade unit is at the reference position, and a punch hole By varying the amount of movement from the reference position of the punch blade unit based on the position information of the punch hole in the direction orthogonal to the paper conveyance direction of the pre-punch paper detected by the detection means and the detection result of the side edge detection mechanism, It is possible to easily and accurately adjust the position of the punch hole in the direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction. In addition, since the amount of movement of the punch blade unit is determined by adding the paper displacement amount to the punch hole position information detected by the punch hole detecting means, it is always accurate regardless of the presence or absence of conveyance displacement in the paper width direction. A punch hole can be formed at the position.

  According to the fifth configuration of the invention, in the image forming system of the fourth configuration, the second sheet detection sensor that detects the end of the sheet in the direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction, and the second sheet detection. By configuring a side edge detection mechanism with a sensor movement motor that reciprocates the sensor in a direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction and a home position detection sensor that detects whether or not the second paper detection sensor is at the reference position, After the second paper detection sensor is moved to the standby position for each paper size by the sensor movement motor, the driving pulse of the sensor movement motor until the edge is detected by moving in the direction toward the edge of the paper is measured. The end of the sheet in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction can always be accurately detected regardless of the sheet size and the presence or absence of conveyance deviation.

  According to the sixth configuration of the present invention, in the image forming system having any one of the first to fifth configurations, when the insertion mode for inserting the insertion sheet at a predetermined timing is set, the insertion sheet When a punch hole is formed in advance, the punch hole forming device prohibits the punch hole from being formed on the insertion paper, so that the punch hole is formed on the insertion paper on which the punch hole is previously formed. Can be prevented in advance.

Schematic diagram showing the internal configuration of a sheet post-processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus that constitute the image forming system of the present invention The enlarged schematic diagram which shows the internal structure of the insert apparatus which comprises the image forming system of this invention Partial sectional view around the punch hole forming device of the paper post-processing device Plan view around the punch hole forming device 1 is a block diagram showing a control path of an image forming system of the present invention. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of punch hole formation control in the image forming system of the present invention. The perspective view which shows the method of reading a punch hole in an image reading part It is a top view explaining the positional information on a punch hole. Flowchart showing an example of punch hole formation control when the insertion mode is set Schematic showing another configuration example of the image forming system of the present invention

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, an image forming system including an image forming apparatus, an insert apparatus, and a sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an internal configuration of a sheet post-processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. In this embodiment, a copying machine is illustrated as an example of the image forming apparatus. However, it is needless to say that the image forming apparatus can be applied to a printer other than the copying machine, such as a laser printer, an inkjet printer, or a facsimile machine. Nor.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the copying machine 1 includes an apparatus main body 2 in which various devices for image formation to be described later are mounted, and a document conveying device 3 attached to the upper part of the apparatus main body 2. Yes. In the apparatus main body 2, a sheet feeding unit 4 disposed at a lower portion, a sheet conveying unit 5 disposed on the side and above the sheet feeding unit 4, and a sheet feeding unit 4 are disposed above the sheet feeding unit 4. An image forming unit 6, a fixing device 7 disposed on the downstream side of the image forming unit 6 in the sheet conveying direction, and an image reading unit 8 disposed above the image forming unit 6 and the fixing device 7. Is provided.

  The paper feed unit 4 is provided with a plurality of paper feed cassettes 4a provided with separating and feeding means such as paper feed rollers on the downstream side in the paper transport direction, and the paper P placed in the paper feed cassette 4a. Are fed one by one from the uppermost sheet P to the sheet conveying unit 5 by the rotation operation of the sheet feeding roller. The sheet conveying unit 5 is a sheet P fed from the sheet feeding unit 4 Are conveyed to the image forming unit 6 by each conveying roller pair 5a.

  The image forming unit 6 and the fixing device 7 are elongated in the width direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 1) perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction inside the apparatus main body 2, and in the upper part of the apparatus main body 2 in FIG. The image forming unit 6 and the fixing device 7 are arranged in this order from the right side along the conveyance direction (from right to left) of the paper P.

  The image forming unit 6 forms a predetermined toner image on the paper P by an electrophotographic process. The image forming unit 6 is a photosensitive drum 9 that is an image bearing member that is rotatably supported. A charging device 10, an exposure device 11, a developing device 12, a transfer device 13, a cleaning device 14, and a charge removal device 15 are provided around the periphery along the rotation direction. The fixing device 7 heats and presses the sheet P on which the toner image is transferred in the image forming unit 6 between a pair of fixing rollers composed of a heating roller 16 and a pressure roller 17 to form an unfixed toner image. It is fixed on the paper P.

  The image reading unit 8 reads image information of a document. When reading each document by hand, the document feeder 3 is opened and a contact glass 8 a provided on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 2. When a document is placed on the document stack and the document bundle is automatically read one by one, the document bundle is placed on the paper feed tray of the document transport device 3 in a closed state. When the original bundle is placed on the paper feed tray, the originals one by one from the original bundle are automatically fed sequentially onto the contact glass 8a. In either case, the document located on the contact glass 8a is irradiated with light from the exposure lamp, and the reflected light is guided as image light to a photoelectric conversion unit (CCD) through an optical system such as a reflecting mirror and an imaging lens. It is burned.

  The basic operation of the copying machine 1 configured as described above will be described below. First, the surface of the photosensitive drum 9 that rotates clockwise in FIG. 1 is uniformly charged by the charging device 10, and subsequently from the exposure device 11 (laser device or the like) based on the image information read by the image reading unit 8. Is irradiated onto the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 9, whereby an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 9. By supplying toner as a developer from the developing device 12 to the electrostatic latent image, a toner image is formed.

  Next, the sheet P from the sheet feeding unit 4 is conveyed toward the photosensitive drum 9 on which the toner image is formed through the sheet conveying unit 5, where the photosensitive drum 9 is transferred by a transfer device 13 including a transfer roller and the like. The toner image on the surface is transferred onto the paper P. Then, the sheet P on which the toner image is transferred is separated from the photosensitive drum 9 and conveyed toward the fixing device 7, and the toner image is fixed by heat treatment by passing between the heating roller 16 and the pressure roller 17. The The sheet P that has passed through the fixing device 7 is discharged to the outside of the apparatus main body 2 by the conveying roller pair 18.

  Then, the photosensitive drum 9 on which the transfer process of the toner image to the paper P has been completed, the residual toner remaining on the peripheral surface is removed by the cleaning device 14, and then the charge removal process is performed by the charge removal device 15. Thereafter, the peripheral surface is charged again by the charging device 10 and image formation is performed in the same manner.

  Next, the configuration of the sheet post-processing apparatus will be described. The paper post-processing device 20 is disposed downstream of the copying machine 1 in the paper conveyance direction, and performs post-processing such as punch hole forming processing and binding processing on the paper on which image forming processing has been performed by the copying machine 1.

  As shown in FIG. 1, inside the paper post-processing device 20, a punch hole forming device 21 that performs punch hole formation on the loaded paper and a plurality of the loaded paper are stacked and stacked. A binding processing device 22 that staples the bundle of sheets together is provided, and a side of the paper post-processing device 20 has a main tray 23 that can be raised and lowered to a position suitable for paper discharge, and an upper portion of the paper post-processing device 20. A fixed sub-tray 24 is provided, and discharge rollers 25 and 26 for discharging paper to the respective trays are provided.

  The punch hole forming device 21 is disposed above the paper post-processing device 20, and an intermediate roller pair 27 that transports paper is disposed on the downstream side of the punch hole forming device 21 in the paper transport direction. Further, a retracting drum 28 for temporarily retracting the sheet transported by the intermediate roller pair 27 is disposed on the downstream side, and the sheet transporting direction around the retracting drum 28 is the sub-tray 24 side and the binding processing device. A branch guide 29 is provided to switch to either of the 22 side.

  When there are two or more sheet bundles to be bound, the retracting drum 28 is the first sheet of the sheet bundle discharged after the binding process and the sheet bundle newly carried into the sheet post-processing device 20. So that the first sheet of the next sheet bundle is wound around the retracting drum 28 and is temporarily retracted and introduced into the binding processing device 22 together with the second sheet. Has been. The retraction drum 28 is configured to be rotatable so that the paper can be conveyed toward the discharge roller 26 when the paper is discharged from the discharge roller 26.

  The binding processing device 22 includes a stapler 30, a processing tray 40, and the like. On the processing tray 40, there are provided a first carry-in port 31 into which paper of a predetermined size (here, A4 size) or smaller and a second carry-in port 32 into which paper larger than the predetermined size is carried. In the vicinity of the first and second carry-in ports 31 and 32, hitting members 33 and 34 are provided for hitting the loaded paper in the direction of the processing tray 40 and keeping it along the tray surface. Pressing rollers 35 and 36 are provided for pressing the paper on the processing tray 40 along the tray surface. Further, on the processing tray 40, a sheet bundle conveying means (not shown) for moving the sheet bundle up and down along the tray surface is provided.

  Next, the operation of the sheet post-processing apparatus 20 will be described. When the paper P subjected to the image forming process is carried in, and punch hole formation is instructed, the punch hole is formed at a predetermined position of the paper conveyed by the punch hole forming device 21, and the punch hole formation is performed. If not instructed, it passes through the punch hole forming device 21 as it is, and is conveyed to the retracting drum 28 by the intermediate roller pair 27. If the binding process is not instructed, the sheet is conveyed by the retracting drum 28, guided to the discharge roller 26 by the branch guide 29, and discharged to the sub-tray 24.

  On the other hand, when the binding process is instructed, the sheet is guided to the binding processing apparatus 22 by the branch guide 29 and is carried onto the processing tray 40 from the first or second carry-in port 31 or 32. When the paper is carried into the processing tray 40, the tapping members 33 and 34 and the pressing rollers 35 and 36 are driven at a predetermined timing, and the paper is received in the processing tray 40.

  When the reception of one bundle of sheets is completed, the bundle of sheets is lowered to the stapler 30, and then the leading end of the bundle of sheets is inserted into the staple unit 30a, and the bundle of sheets is bound by the staple unit 30a. After the sheet bundle is bound by the staple unit 30 a, the sheet bundle is conveyed upward along the processing tray 40, and the sheet bundle is discharged to the main tray 23 by the discharge roller 25.

  In the above-described embodiment, the sheet that is not subjected to the binding process is discharged to the sub-tray 24, and the sheet bundle that has been subjected to the binding process is discharged onto the main tray 23. Thus, it is also possible to configure such that sheets that have not been subjected to binding processing are discharged to the main tray 23.

  Further, between the copier 1 and the paper post-processing device 20, between the paper P carried from the copier 1, a front cover and a back paper (cover paper) used for bookbinding and an identification slip (insert paper) are used. ) And the like can be inserted, and an insert device 80 is inserted. FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic view showing the internal configuration of the insert device.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the insert device 80 is provided with a relay conveyance path 81 that conveys the paper P discharged from the copying machine 1 to the paper post-processing device 20 at the lower portion. 82 is disposed. In addition, an inserter tray 83 for placing the insertion sheet I is provided at the upper portion, and an insertion conveyance path 84 for conveying the insertion sheet I taken from the inserter tray 83 to the relay conveyance path 81 is provided. . A take-in mechanism 85 for taking in the insertion sheet I placed on the inserter tray 83 and a pair of conveyance rollers 86 and 87 for conveying the insertion sheet I are disposed in order from the upstream side along the insertion conveyance path 84. .

  A reversing path 88 for reversing the insertion sheet I is connected to the insertion transport path 84 downstream of the transport roller pair 86 and upstream of the transport roller pair 87. A reversing roller 89 is provided. Note that a branch guide 90 that switches the transport direction of the insertion sheet I is disposed at a branch portion between the insertion transport path 84 and the reversing path 88. Further, an insert detection sensor 91 that detects the passage of the insertion sheet I is disposed in the insertion conveyance path 84, and a carry-in detection sensor 92 that detects the passage of the sheet P and the insertion sheet I is disposed in the relay conveyance path 81. Has been.

  As the insert detection sensor 91 and the carry-in detection sensor 92, various sensors capable of detecting the presence / absence of the passage of the paper can be used. For example, an arm type sensor that directly detects the paper and detects it or a light emitting unit applies the paper to the paper. A reflective sensor or the like that emits light and detects reflected light from the paper surface with a light receiving unit is used.

  The basic operation of the insert device 80 will be described. The paper P on which an image is formed by the copying machine 1 is transported to the paper post-processing device 20 via the relay transport path 81. Further, the insertion sheet I taken in from the inserter tray 83 is placed on the inserter tray 83 with the surface facing up, for example, and taken in by the take-in mechanism 85, then transported through the insertion transport path 84, and reversed by the branch guide 90. You are guided to the route 88. Then, after being reversed by the reverse roller 89, the sheet is conveyed to the sheet post-processing device 20 via the relay conveyance path 81 in a state where the surface is turned up via the insertion conveyance path 84.

  Using the insert device 80 described above, the insertion paper I is inserted into a predetermined position between a plurality of sheets P on which images to be conveyed from the copying machine 1 to the sheet post-processing apparatus 20 are formed. Then, punch hole forming processing and binding processing are performed.

  Next, the configuration around the punch hole forming apparatus in the image forming system of the present invention will be described in detail. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the periphery of the punch hole forming apparatus of the paper post-processing apparatus, and FIG. 4 is a plan view of the periphery of the punch hole forming apparatus. Portions common to FIGS. 1 and 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  A punch upstream sensor 41 that detects the leading edge of the paper P and a roller drive motor 42 are provided at a substantially central portion in the direction orthogonal to the paper conveyance direction (arrow A direction in FIG. 4) upstream of the punch hole forming device 21. A punch portion upstream roller 43 that rotates and conveys the paper P to the punch hole forming device 21 is disposed. The punch upstream sensor 41, the roller drive motor 42, and the punch upstream roller 43 constitute a first position adjustment mechanism that adjusts the punch hole forming position in the transport direction of the paper P transported to the punch hole forming device 21. ing.

  The punch hole forming device 21 includes a punch blade unit 44 that is movable in the up-down direction with two cylindrical punch blades 44a projecting from the punch hole unit 44, and a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction (arrow in FIG. 4). A unit movement motor 45 that reciprocates in the B direction) and a home position detection sensor 46a that detects whether or not the punch blade unit 44 is at the reference position (home position). Here, the home position of the punch blade unit 44 is a position where the distance from the center line (common to all sizes) of the conveyed paper to the two punch blades 44a is equal.

  In the vicinity of the upstream side of the punch hole forming device 21, a side edge detection sensor 47 that detects the side edge of the paper P, a sensor movement motor 48 that reciprocates the side edge detection sensor 47 in the direction of arrow B, and a side edge detection. A side end detection mechanism 49 including a home position detection sensor 46b for detecting whether or not the sensor 47 is at a reference position (home position) is disposed. The unit moving motor 45, the home position detection sensor 46a, and the side edge detection mechanism 49 include a second position adjustment mechanism that adjusts the punch hole formation position in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the paper P conveyed to the punch hole formation device 21. It is composed. As the roller drive motor 42, the unit drive motor 45, and the sensor movement motor 48, a pulse motor such as a stepping motor whose rotation direction and amount can be easily controlled by drive pulses is used.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a control path of the image forming system of the present invention. Note that the control unit 50 itself is complicated because various controls of each part of the apparatus are performed in using the image forming system. Therefore, in FIG. 5, portions of the control unit 50 and the sheet post-processing device 20 that are necessary for carrying out the present invention are mainly described.

  The control unit 50 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 51 as a central processing unit, a read only memory (ROM) 52 that is a read-only storage unit, a random access memory (RAM) 53 that is a readable / writable storage unit, A temporary storage unit 54 for storing image data and the like, a counter 55, and a plurality (two in this case) of I / Fs (interfaces) 56. A control signal is transmitted to each device in the device 20 and the insert device 80, and an input signal from the operation unit 60 is received. Here, the entire image forming system is controlled using the control unit 50 of the copying machine 1, but a control unit may be provided in the sheet post-processing device 20 or the insert device 80.

  The ROM 52 stores data that does not change, such as a system control program and numerical values necessary for control. The RAM 53 stores necessary data generated during system control, data temporarily required for control, and the like. Further, the ROM 52 (or RAM 53) stores the reference conveyance pulse value transmitted to the roller drive motor 42 from the detection of the leading edge of the paper P by the punch upstream sensor 41 to the stop of the punch upstream roller 43, and the side. A reference movement pulse transmitted to the sensor movement motor 48 when the edge detection sensor 47 moves from the home position to the standby position for each paper size and when the edge detection sensor 47 moves from the standby position to the side edge position of the paper when there is no conveyance deviation. Values and the like are also stored.

  The counter 55 counts the number of sheets printed in the copying machine 1 and counts the number of sheets carried into the sheet finishing apparatus 20 from the copying machine 1 and the insert device 80 based on the detection signal of the carry-in detection sensor 92. For example, the RAM 53 may store the number of times without providing the counter 55 separately.

  In addition, the control unit 50 transmits a control signal from the CPU 51 through the I / F 56 to each part and device in the system including the copying machine 1, the sheet post-processing device 20, and the insert device 80. In addition, a signal indicating the state and an input signal are transmitted from each part and device to the CPU 51 through the I / F 56. Examples of the parts and devices controlled by the control unit 50 include, for example, a paper transport unit 5, an image forming unit 6, a fixing device 7 (see FIG. 1) of the copying machine 1, and a punch hole forming device of the paper post-processing device 20. 21, the stapler 30 (see FIG. 1), the side end detection mechanism 49, the roller drive motor 42, the take-in mechanism 85 of the insert device 80, the branch guide 90 (see FIG. 2), and the like.

  The operation unit 60 is provided with a liquid crystal display unit 61, LEDs 62 indicating various states, and a numeric keypad 63. The user operates the operation unit 60 to input an instruction so that the copying machine 1, the paper post-processing apparatus 20 and various settings of the insert device 80 are performed, and various functions such as an image forming function and a post-processing function are executed. The liquid crystal display unit 61 can display the system status, display the image formation status and the number of copies, and can be used as a touch panel for various settings such as functions such as double-sided printing and black-and-white reversal, magnification setting, and density setting. . The numeric keypad 63 is used to set the number of copies to be printed and to input a destination FAX number when the copying machine 1 has a FAX function.

  In addition, the operation unit 60 includes a start button for instructing the user to start image formation, a stop / clear button for use when stopping image formation, and various default settings for the system. A reset button or the like is provided.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of punch hole formation control using the image forming system of the present invention. The procedure for adjusting the punch hole forming position along the steps of FIG. 6 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, in the control unit 50, it is determined whether or not a punch hole forming position is set in advance (step S1). As a method for setting the punch hole forming position, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, a pre-punch paper PP in which punch holes are previously formed is placed on a contact glass 8a provided on the upper surface of the copying machine 1, and an image reading unit 8 is a method of reading the pre-punch paper PP and transmitting the punch hole position information calculated from the read image information to the control unit 50.

  When the pre-punch paper PP is white or light color, when reading is performed with the document conveying device 3 closed, the reflected light (image light) from the pre-punch paper PP and the back surface of the document conveying device 3 are provided. The difference in the amount of reflected light from a white mat (not shown) is reduced, making it difficult to determine the boundary between the document area and the document outside area. Therefore, it is preferable to perform reading with the document conveying device 3 opened.

  When a printer not equipped with the image reading unit 8 is used in place of the copying machine 1, an image reading device such as an image scanner is connected, or a pre-punch from the center of the punch hole H as shown in FIG. There is a method in which the numerical values of the distances a and b to the side edge and the leading edge of the paper PP are directly input from the numeric keypad 63 of the operation unit 60 or the personal computer setting screen (operation terminal).

  If a predetermined punch hole formation position is set in step S1, position information in the paper transport direction and the direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction (hereinafter referred to as the paper width direction) is compared with the reference position (step S2). A pulse adjustment value is set (step S3).

  Specifically, with respect to the sheet conveyance direction, a conveyance direction pulse adjustment value for adding or subtracting a reference conveyance pulse value from the detection of the leading or trailing edge of the sheet P by the punch unit upstream sensor 41 until the punch unit upstream roller 42 is stopped. In the paper width direction, a width direction pulse adjustment value to be transmitted to the unit drive motor 45 in order to move a predetermined amount from the reference position of the punch blade unit 44 is set. If the punch hole forming position is not set in step S1, the process proceeds to the next step without setting the pulse adjustment value. Further, the side edge detection sensor 47 is moved from the home position to the standby position for each paper size.

  When a printing instruction is input from the operation unit 60 by the user, printing is started in the copying machine 1 (step S4). Then, the carry-in detection sensor 92 detects the carry-in of the paper P, and the detection signal is transmitted to the control unit 50 of the copying machine 1, and the carry-in number is counted by the counter 55 (step S5). After the leading edge of the loaded paper P is detected by the punch upstream sensor 41, the drive pulse obtained by adding or subtracting the transport direction pulse adjustment value set in step S3 to the reference transport pulse value for each paper size. By rotating the roller drive motor 42 by the value, the punch hole forming position in the transport direction is adjusted, and stops at that position.

  Next, the side edge detection sensor 47 is moved from the standby position toward the side edge of the paper P to detect the paper side edge (step S7). The control unit 50 compares the movement distance (pulse value) from the standby position of the side edge detection sensor 47 to the detection of the side edge of the paper P with the reference movement pulse value in the RAM 53 to determine the conveyance deviation amount in the paper width direction. In addition to the calculation, if the width direction pulse adjustment value is set in step S3, the pulse value corresponding to the conveyance deviation amount is added to or subtracted from the width direction pulse adjustment value to obtain the drive pulse value (punch blade unit 44) of the unit drive motor 45. The amount of movement). When the width direction pulse adjustment value is not set, the pulse value corresponding to the conveyance deviation amount becomes the drive pulse value of the unit drive motor 45.

  Then, a drive pulse value is transmitted to the unit drive motor 45 to move the punch blade unit 44 by a predetermined amount from the home position (step S8). Thereby, the punch hole forming position in the paper width direction is adjusted in consideration of the amount of conveyance deviation. Thereafter, the punch blade unit 44 is moved downward to form punch holes in the paper P (step S9). The paper P in which the punch holes are formed is guided to the discharge roller 26 via the intermediate roller pair 27, the retracting drum 28, and the branch guide 29, and is discharged to the sub-tray 24 (step S10). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the predetermined number of prints has been completed (step S11). If printing has been completed, the punch blade unit 44 and the side edge detection sensor 47 are returned to the home position (step S12). finish. If printing continues, the process returns to step S5, and the same processing is repeated thereafter (steps S5 to S11).

  By performing the control as described above, the punch holes can be formed at the same position as the pre-punched paper in which the punch holes are formed in advance, so that the finishing condition of the sheet bundle is improved and the user's work load is reduced. For example, when filing paper sheets, if it is desired to bind different size papers with the top edge alignment or bottom edge alignment, it is necessary to shift the punch holes formed in the small size paper by a predetermined amount upward or downward. If the position information is input from the operation unit 60 or the personal computer setting screen, the punch hole can be easily formed at a desired position.

  Furthermore, the punch hole formation position in the paper width direction is determined by adding the paper misalignment amount to the width direction pulse adjustment value, so that the punch hole is always in the correct position regardless of the presence or absence of conveyance misalignment in the paper width direction. Can be formed.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of punch hole formation control when carrying in a sheet and an insertion sheet. Since the procedure for setting the pulse adjustment value (steps S1 to S3 in FIG. 6) is the same as that in FIG. 6, the description is omitted here.

  When a printing instruction is input from the operation unit 60 by the user, printing is started in the copying machine 1 (step S4). Then, the control unit 50 reads the carry-in sheet count value counted by the counter 55 (step S5). For example, the count value is 0 because the number of carried-in sheets is 0 before the printing of the first sheet is started. Next, the control unit 50 determines whether it is the insertion timing of the insertion sheet from the read count value (step S6).

  If it is not the insertion timing, the paper P on which the image is printed by the copying machine 1 is fed (step S7), and if it is the insertion timing, the insertion paper I is fed from the inserter tray 83 (step S8). The fed paper P or inserted paper I is detected by the carry-in detection sensor 92, and the detection signal is transmitted to the control unit 50 and 1 is added to the count value of the counter 55.

  When the insertion paper I is fed, it is determined whether or not the pre-punch paper PP is set as the insertion paper I in advance (step S9). Since punch holes need to be formed when the pre-punch paper PP is not set, the insertion edge I is stopped at a predetermined position as in FIG. A punch hole is formed by moving a fixed amount. Thereafter, the insertion sheet I is discharged to the sub-tray 24 (Steps S10 to S15).

  If the pre-punch paper PP is set in step S9, formation of punch holes is prohibited (step S14), and the insertion paper I passes through the punch hole forming device 21 without stopping and is discharged to the sub-tray 24 ( Step S15). When the paper P is fed, punch holes are formed by the same procedure (steps S10 to S15) as the insertion paper I. Then, it is determined whether or not printing is finished (step S16). If printing is finished, the punch blade unit 44 and the side edge detection sensor 47 are returned to the home position (step S17), and the process is finished. If printing continues, the process returns to step S5, and the same processing is repeated thereafter (steps S5 to S16).

  By performing the control as described above, when the special paper (insert paper) is a pre-punch paper in the special paper insertion mode such as the cover attachment mode, the partition paper insertion mode, and the tab paper insertion mode, the operation unit 60 or If it is set as pre-punch paper from the personal computer setting screen, it is possible to prevent a problem that punch holes are formed on the pre-punch paper. Further, since punch holes can be formed at the same position as the pre-punch paper on the paper on which the image is printed, the finishing condition of the paper bundle is improved and the work burden on the user is reduced.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the meaning of this invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the paper post-processing device 20 is not equipped with an insert mechanism, and the configuration in which the insert device 80 is connected between the copying machine 1 and the paper post-processing device 20 has been described as an example. However, as shown in FIG. 7, the present invention can also be applied to the sheet post-processing device 20 on which the insert device 80 is mounted.

  In the above embodiment, the punch portion upstream sensor 41 for detecting the leading edge of the paper P is provided on the upstream side of the punch hole forming device 21, but the carry-in detection sensor 92 is not provided with the punch portion upstream sensor 41. The leading edge of the paper P may be detected, and the stop position of the paper P may be determined based on the detection timing. Note that when the distance from the carry-in detection sensor 92 to the punch hole forming device 21 is long, the error in the stop position of the paper P also increases. You may make it do.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the insertion sheet I is inserted from the insert device 80 has been described. For example, in the sheet feeding unit 4 of the copying machine 1, the sheet feeding cassette 4a or the manual feed tray that is not used for feeding the sheet P is used. It is good also as a structure which feeds the insertion paper I using (not shown). In this case, a desired image can be printed on the insertion sheet I.

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a punch hole forming apparatus that forms punch holes in a sheet carried from the image forming apparatus, and a punch hole forming position in a conveyance direction of the sheet conveyed to the punch hole forming apparatus. A sheet post-processing apparatus, and a sheet post-processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus that control the sheet post-processing apparatus and the image forming apparatus. In the image forming system comprising the control means, a position setting means for setting a punch hole forming position in a direction perpendicular to the paper transport direction and the paper transport direction is provided, and the control means is transmitted from the position setting means. The punch hole forming position is adjusted by controlling the operations of the first position adjusting mechanism and the second position adjusting mechanism based on the position information of the punch hole.

  Thus, an image forming system capable of arbitrarily adjusting the punch hole forming position with a simple operation in order to align with the punch hole of the pre-punched paper or file the upper end or lower end of the different size papers is provided. be able to. Examples of the punch hole position setting means include a method of reading the punch hole position of the pre-punch paper by an image reading device, and a method of directly inputting punch hole position information from an operation unit or an operation terminal.

  Further, since the position adjustment in the direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction by the second position adjustment mechanism is performed based on the detection result of the sheet edge in the direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction, it is input by the position setting means. The punch hole forming position can be determined by adding the amount of paper misalignment during conveyance to the position information. Therefore, it is possible to always form punch holes at accurate positions regardless of the presence or absence of conveyance deviation in the paper width direction.

  In addition, when the insertion mode is set and punch holes are formed in the insertion paper in advance, the formation of punch holes on the pre-punch paper is prevented by prohibiting the formation of punch holes in the insertion paper. Can be prevented.

1 Copying machine (image forming device)
8 Image reading unit (image reading device)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 Paper post-processing apparatus 21 Punch hole formation apparatus 22 Binding processing apparatus 23 Main tray 24 Sub tray 30 Stapler 41 Punch part upstream sensor (1st paper detection sensor)
42 Roller drive motor (conveyance mechanism)
43 Punch section upstream roller (conveyance mechanism)
44 Punch blade unit 45 Unit movement motor (movement mechanism)
46a, 46b Home position detection sensor 47 Side edge detection sensor (second paper detection sensor)
48 sensor movement motor 49 side edge detection mechanism 50 control unit (control means)
60 Operation section 80 Insert device 83 Inserter tray 92 Carry-in detection sensor

Claims (6)

An image forming apparatus;
A punch hole forming apparatus that is connected to the downstream side of the image forming apparatus and forms punch holes in the loaded paper, and a first that adjusts the punch hole forming position in the conveyance direction of the paper conveyed to the punch hole forming apparatus. A sheet post-processing apparatus having a position adjusting mechanism and a second position adjusting mechanism for adjusting a punch hole forming position in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction;
Control means for controlling the sheet post-processing apparatus and the image forming apparatus;
In an image forming system comprising:
A punch hole detecting means for detecting a punch hole position of a pre-punch paper in which punch holes are formed in advance is provided to form a paper bundle by overlapping the paper on which punch holes are formed by the punch hole forming device,
The control means adjusts the punch hole forming position by controlling the operations of the first position adjusting mechanism and the second position adjusting mechanism based on the position information of the punch hole transmitted from the punch hole detecting means. An image forming system, wherein a punch hole position of the pre-punched paper is aligned with a punch hole position formed on the paper by the punch hole forming device.   The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the punch hole detecting unit is an image reading device that reads the pre-punch paper and converts the pre-punched paper into image data.   The first position adjusting mechanism includes a transport mechanism that transports a sheet to the punch hole forming device, and a first sheet detection sensor that detects a leading or trailing end of the sheet transported by the transport mechanism. The paper conveyance amount from the paper detection by the first paper detection sensor to the paper stop is varied based on the position information of the punch hole in the paper conveyance direction of the pre-punch paper detected by the hole detection means. The image forming system according to claim 1 or 2.   The second position adjusting mechanism includes a side end detection mechanism that is disposed in the vicinity of the punch hole forming device and detects a paper end portion in a direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction, and a punch blade unit in the punch hole forming device. A moving mechanism that moves in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction and a home position detection sensor that detects whether or not the punch blade unit is at a reference position, the pre-punch paper detected by the punch hole detection means The amount of movement of the punch blade unit from the reference position is varied based on the position information of the punch hole in the direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction and the detection result of the side edge detection mechanism. Item 4. The image forming system according to Item 3.   The side edge detection mechanism includes a second sheet detection sensor that detects an end of the sheet in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction, and a sensor movement motor that reciprocates the second sheet detection sensor in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction. The image forming system according to claim 4, further comprising: a home position detection sensor that detects whether or not the second sheet detection sensor is at a reference position.   An insertion mode in which an insertion sheet is inserted at a predetermined timing between sheets on which images are formed by the image forming apparatus can be set, and when the punching hole is formed in the insertion sheet in advance, The image forming system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the punch hole forming device prohibits punch hole formation on the insertion sheet.

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