JP2013039998A - Paper sheet processing apparatus and image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper sheet processing apparatus that switches modes of inclination collection and booklet press in accordance with the number of conveyed booklets and can exert advantages of a different mode.SOLUTION: The paper sheet processing apparatus includes a mechanism which aligns a position of a booklet S to press and fix the booklet when the booklet S having a swelling is subjected to processing of cutting or the like. The apparatus includes a mode changing device for having two or more skew correction modes and changing the modes according to booklet information. The booklet information is controlled based on at least one of information on the number of booklets and paper thickness information. In the mode 1, the booklet S abuts on a positioning stopper 117 for abutment of the booklet while conveying belts 110 and 112 slip. In the mode 2, the booklet abuts on the stopper while pushed by a jogger 119. The mode 1 is selected when the number of booklet is small, and the mode 2 is selected when large.

Description

  The present invention relates to a paper processing apparatus and an image forming system using the same.

  Conventionally, in a post-processing apparatus configured and used in combination with an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, the center of the sheet is bound to one or a plurality of sheets and further folded in two. In some cases, a sheet bundle can be bound. In addition, there is a booklet that is trimmed at the end of the booklet after the bookbinding process.

  In such a cutting apparatus, in the process of performing the cutting process, the booklet is transported by a transporting means such as a belt, and the position is adjusted by bringing it into contact with an abutting stopper installed according to the size of the booklet, the amount of cutting, and the like. . Then, the booklet is fixed by being pressed by the pressing means, and then the end portion of the booklet is cut by the cutting unit, so that the end portions of the bound booklet are trimmed.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a booklet cutting apparatus having a simple structure that includes pressing means that can be positioned and pressed so as not to leave wrinkles or sagging in the booklet before cutting the fore edge of the booklet. Before pressing and fixing the sheet after processing, the end surface while gradually applying pressure from the back cover side of the sheet (for example, the end on the side subjected to folding processing) with a plate or roller A configuration that moves in a direction is disclosed.

  The invention described in Patent Document 1 is an invention for preventing bending at the time of booklet pressing, and is considered to have an effect of correcting the bending of the booklet. However, as the number of booklets increases, the time for applying the pressing force becomes longer. The same control may reduce the productivity of a small number of sheets.

  As described above, when the booklet is positioned at the time of cutting, the conventional cutting device conveys the booklet by a conveying means such as a belt, contacts the booklet with a positioning stopper, performs positioning, and corrects skew during conveyance. The bulge of the booklet is crushed and fixed by pressing means. However, when the number of booklets is large, the time required for skew correction and booklet pressing is large, and the productivity of a small number of sheets is reduced under the same control.

A conventional technique will be described with reference to FIG.
In the example of FIG. 5A, the booklet S is pressed by the guide member 517 provided at the upper part of the booklet transport unit, and the booklet S is transported by the transport belt 510 provided at the lower part of the booklet transport unit. The guide member 517 is lowered and pressurized for conveyance. However, since the frictional force between the conveyance belt 510 and the booklet S is larger than the frictional force between the guide member 517 and the booklet S, the booklet S is conveyed. When the booklet S is brought into contact with the positioning stopper 516, the conveying belt 510 is rotated when the booklet S is brought into contact with the positioning stopper 516. For this reason, the booklet S moves in the direction of the arrow shown in the drawing, and the small edge of the booklet S (the right end portion of the booklet S in FIG. 5) is displaced.

  Also, when the booklet S is positioned and pressed and fixed, if the friction coefficient between the guide member 517 that is the upper and lower guide members of the booklet S and the conveying belt 510 are different, the booklet S is the same as when the booklet S is aligned. Deviation may occur.

  The example of FIG. 5B is a configuration in which a pair of belts 510 and 512 are provided above and below the conveyance unit of the booklet S. The booklet S is narrowed by narrowing the interval between the belts 510 and 512, and the booklet S is moved by rotating the belts 510 and 512. However, when alignment is performed by bringing the booklet S into contact with the positioning stopper 516, the belts 510 and 512 rotate while the booklet S is in contact with the positioning stopper 516. Therefore, the booklet S is conveyed to the sheet constituting the cover of the booklet S. The force may be exerted, and the bending 520 may occur in the vicinity of the saddle stitch portion of the paper constituting the spine of the booklet S. If the booklet S is fixed and cutting is performed in this state, a deviation occurs in the fore edge after processing. Further, when the booklet S is positioned and pressed and fixed, if the guide member on the top and bottom of the booklet S is made of a material having a high friction coefficient (for example, a rubber belt), the guide S The paper on the surface in contact with the member cannot move, and the booklet may be displaced as in the case of alignment.

  FIG. 5C is a configuration example including a jogger 540 that pushes out the fore edge of the booklet S. The booklet S is sandwiched and transported between a pair of transport belts 531 and 536 from the upstream side (right side in the figure) in the transport direction, and delivered to the same pair of transport belts 510 and 512 located on the downstream side (left side in the figure). And transported. When alignment is performed by bringing the booklet S into contact with the positioning stopper 516, the conveyance is stopped before the contact. In this configuration, the booklet S is pushed by the jogger 540 and conveyed until it comes into contact with the positioning stopper 516, so that there is no deviation in the fore edge, but it is easy to buckle with a small number of booklets or a booklet made of weak paper, and skew correction. Defects are likely to appear.

  That is, when the booklet is positioned, a system in which the belt is slipped against the butting plate while being conveyed is not a problem with a small number of sheets, but a large number of booklets causes a shift in the cover. On the other hand, in the method in which the edge is pushed with a jogger and the booklet is abutted against the abutting plate, the cover is not misaligned when a large number of sheets are printed. In addition, the processing takes time and productivity is reduced.

  Therefore, in the present invention, a paper processing apparatus that switches between tilt correction and booklet pressing modes according to the number of conveyed booklets so that the advantages of the different modes can be exhibited as much as possible, and that disadvantages are eliminated as much as possible, An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming system using the above.

  The present invention is a paper processing apparatus for processing a booklet, which includes an abutting stopper, a conveyor belt, a rear end jogger, and positioning guide means, and has two or more skew correction modes, depending on the booklet information. Mode change means for changing the skew correction mode, and the booklet information is at least one of the information on the number of sheets constituting the booklet and the paper thickness information of the paper. Control is based on information, and mode 1 of the skew correction mode is an operation in which the booklet is abutted and positioned while slipping the conveyor belt against the abutting stopper, and mode 2 of the skew correction mode is performed. Is the operation of pushing the booklet into the abutting stopper with the rear end jogger to abut and positioning, and when the booklet is a small number The mode 1, the booklet when a large number of sheets is set to the mode 2, it is the sheet processing apparatus according to claim.

  According to the present invention, by switching to an appropriate mode depending on the number of booklets, the advantages of the different modes can be exhibited as much as possible.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure for demonstrating the saddle stitch bookbinding apparatus shown in FIG. The figure for demonstrating a cutting processing apparatus The figure for demonstrating the cutting process operation | movement by the cutting process apparatus 3 Conceptual diagram showing a conventional paper processing apparatus

An embodiment of the present invention will be described. This embodiment has the following characteristics with respect to a mechanism that aligns the position of the booklet and presses and fixes the booklet when performing processing such as cutting on the swelled booklet.
That is, there are two or more skew correction modes, mode change means for changing the mode according to the booklet information, and the booklet information is controlled based on at least one of the number information and the paper thickness information. Mode 1 is an operation in which the booklet is abutted against the abutting stopper while slipping the conveying belt, and mode 2 is an operation in which the booklet is abutted against the abutting stopper by pushing it with the rear end jogger. Set mode 1 for a small number of sheets and mode 2 for a large number of sheets. The guide means is movable in the vertical direction, and the interval can be relatively changed in the process of feeding the paper.

  The sheet processing apparatus according to the present embodiment conveys, aligns, and fixes a sheet conveyed by the conveying unit while changing the interval of the guide unit, and then performs processing such as cutting.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. A stack unit that receives sheets one by one from an image forming apparatus 500 having an image forming unit (not shown), and sequentially stacks and aligns the sheets to create a sheet bundle, and a conveying unit that conveys the sheet bundle A sheet processing apparatus 1 that is conveyed downstream and discharged by a sheet bundle discharge roller 10, a saddle stitch binding apparatus 2 that receives a sheet bundle, performs saddle stitching and folding, and a sheet processing apparatus 3 that performs a cutting process are connected. Image forming system.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the saddle stitch bookbinding apparatus 2 shown in FIG.
In this apparatus, the sheet bundle s aligned by the entrance roller 201 is carried into the apparatus. The downstream branch claw 202 is switched between a path that performs a saddle stitching and middle folding process that extends downward and a path that passes through. The sheet passing through the through path is carried out to the paper discharge tray or a downstream processing apparatus (not shown) by the upper paper discharge roller 203.

  The sheet bundle s selected to be saddle stitched and folded is conveyed by the upper bundle conveying roller 205 and the lower bundle conveying roller 206 to the position shown in FIG. At that time, the stop position of the movable fence 210 differs depending on the size of each sheet bundle s in the conveying direction, and is waiting. When the front end of the sheet bundle comes into contact with and stacks on the movable fence 210 that is waiting, the pressure of the lower bundle conveying roller 206 is released as shown in FIG. 2C, and the rear end tapping claw 221 causes the rear end of the sheet bundle. To make the final alignment in the transport direction. Then, an alignment operation is performed in which the saddle stitching jogger fence 225 aligns the width direction, and the movable fence 210 and the rear end tapping claw 221 align the conveyance direction.

  At this time, the pushing amount of the trailing edge tapping claw 221 and the saddle stitching jogger fence 225 is changed to an optimum value according to the size information, the number information, and the bundle thickness information of the sheet bundle s selected as the booklet S. And align. In addition, since the space in the transport path is reduced when the bundle is thick, there are many cases in which alignment cannot be performed by a single alignment operation. Therefore, a better alignment state can be realized by increasing the number of alignments.

  Furthermore, the time for sequentially stacking sheets on the upstream side in the sheet conveying direction increases as the number of sheets increases. As a result, the time until the next bundle is accepted increases, and as a result, there is no time loss as a system even if the number of alignments is increased. As a result, a good alignment state can be realized efficiently. From this, it can be said that the number of alignments can be controlled according to the processing time on the upstream side in the sheet conveying direction. Then, the center of the sheet bundle s is bound by the saddle stitching stapler S1.

  Here, the movable fence 210 is positioned by pulse control from the movable fence HP (home position: the same applies hereinafter) sensor 292, and the rear end tapping claw 221 is positioned by pulse control from the rear end tapping claw HP sensor 294. Yes.

  As shown in FIG. 2D, the saddle-stitched sheet bundle s is carried upward along with the movement of the movable fence 210 while the pressurization of the lower bundle conveying roller 206 is released, and thereafter, FIG. As shown in E), the vicinity of the bound needle portion is pushed by the folding plate 215 in a substantially right-angle direction and guided to the nip of the opposing folding roller 230. The folding roller 230, which has been rotated in advance, folds the sheet bundle s by pressurizing and conveying it.

  As shown in FIG. 2F, the folded sheet bundle s is discharged by the lower discharge roller 231. At this time, when the rear end of the sheet bundle s is detected by the folding portion passage sensor 293, the folding plate 215 and the movable fence 210 are returned to the home position, and the pressurization of the lower bundle conveying roller 206 is restored, and the next sheet bundle is restored. Prepare for s processing. If the next job has the same number and the same number of sheets, the movable fence 210 may move to the position shown in FIG.

3 and 4 are diagrams for explaining the cutting processing device 3 described as the paper processing device in the description of FIG. 1.
First, the configuration will be described with reference to FIG. 3. The booklet discharged from the saddle stitch bookbinding apparatus 2 is received by a transport unit corresponding to the entrance of the cutting processing apparatus 3. The transport unit is configured to transport the booklet with a pair of transport rollers 102 and 103 interposed therebetween. In the illustrated embodiment, a pair of rollers is used, but a configuration may be adopted in which the rollers are sandwiched and conveyed by a conveying means such as a belt pair.

  A cutting unit 104 and an alignment unit 101 for positioning and fixing a sheet are provided on the downstream side of the conveyance unit. The cutting unit 104 includes a cutting blade 105 and a pressing member 106 that presses and presses the booklet in the vicinity of the cutting blade 105.

  The aligning unit 101 includes a pair of belts 110 and 112 on the top and bottom of the booklet moving unit. These belts 110 and 112 have a booklet transport function and also function as a guide unit during sheet alignment. Since the belts 110 and 112 also serve as guides for booklet alignment, the belts 110 and 112 are made of a material that has a low friction coefficient with the paper on the surface in contact with the booklet, and the friction coefficients of the upper and lower belts 110 and 112. Are set to the same or similar. As a result, the force applied to the upper and lower parts of the booklet during pressing is low, and the upper and lower parts are approximately the same, so that the sheet misalignment during pressing can be reduced. In this embodiment, the belts 110 and 112 also have a function as a guide unit. However, a guide plate may be used for the guide unit, and a conveyance unit may be used for conveying the paper.

  The unit having the upper belt 112 can be moved up and down along the guide shaft 115, and the interval between the two belts 110 and 112 can be relatively changed. When holding the paper with the two belts 110 and 112, the pressure applied by the spring 114 can be changed by further lowering the pressure plate 116. In this embodiment, the distance between the two belts 110 and 112 is changed by moving the upper belt 112 up and down. However, the lower belt 110 moves, or the upper and lower belts 110 and 112 move together. It is good also as composition to do.

  The aligning portion is provided with a movable positioning stopper 117, and the positioning stopper 117 is moved based on information such as the booklet size and cutting amount, and positioning is performed by bringing the booklet back side into contact with the aligning portion. ing.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the cutting processing operation performed by the cutting processing device 3.
The back surface forming operation of the booklet S will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 4A, each unit prepares for receiving a sheet in response to a signal from a device inlet sensor (not shown) or a device connected upstream in the transport direction. The upper unit including the belt 112 moves so that the distance between the belts 110 and 112 becomes the first distance d1 when the paper is carried in. The set distance of the first interval d1 is set in advance corresponding to the booklet information such as the paper thickness, size, binding, number of sheets, special paper, and the like of the sheet to be used. The positioning stopper 117 moves to a position where the paper is positioned based on information such as the size of the booklet S and the cutting amount. The conveyance rollers 102 and 103, the upper conveyance belt 112, and the lower conveyance belt 110 start to rotate and accept the booklet S. In order for the upper and lower belts 110 and 112 to be in phase with each other, the driving pulley 111 of the upper belt 112 and the driving pulley 109 of the lower belt 110 are connected to each other. If the number is less than the number set by the booklet information, the booklet S is conveyed until it comes into contact with the positioning stopper 117. The moving distance is set in advance corresponding to booklet information such as paper thickness, size, binding, number of sheets, special paper, and the like. When the number of sheets is equal to or greater than the number set by the booklet information, the booklet S that has been loaded stops before the positioning stopper 117 by detection of a sensor (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 4B, after the booklet S stops in the state of FIG. 4A, the upper unit moves so as to take the second interval d2 at the time of alignment. Here, the thick booklet S is narrowed down to a certain height. The set distance is set in advance corresponding to booklet information such as paper thickness, size, binding, number of sheets, and special paper. FIG. 4C shows a state in which the distance between the belts is maintained at d2. The jogger 119 jogs the small edge side of the booklet S and positions the back side of the booklet S in contact with the positioning stopper.

  In FIG. 4D, after the positioning of the booklet S is completed, the upper unit is further lowered and moved to the third interval d3, whereby the booklet S is pressed and fixed. After the two belts 110 and 112 abut on the booklet S, the pressure plate 116 is further lowered to apply pressure by the spring 114. The pressing force can be changed according to the descending amount. The moving distance is set in advance corresponding to booklet information such as paper thickness, size, binding, number of sheets, special paper, and the like.

  In FIG. 4E, after the position of the booklet S is aligned and pressed and fixed, the vicinity of the cutting position of the booklet S is pressed by the pressing member 106 provided in the vicinity of the cutting blade 105, and the cutting blade 105 is lowered. This shows the state of cutting.

  In FIG. 4F, after the cutting is completed, the cutting blade 105 and the pressing member 106 are retracted. The pressurizing plate 116 is lifted and depressurized until the pressurizing force is high enough to convey the booklet. The moving distance is set in advance corresponding to booklet information such as paper thickness, size, binding, number of sheets, special paper, and the like. A series of operations is completed by rotating the belts 110 and 112 and discharging the cut booklet S to the outside.

  The embodiment described above is an example in which the present invention is applied to a cutting processing apparatus that performs small edge cutting. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, paper processing that performs top and bottom cutting, square hold, and the like is performed. It can also be applied to an apparatus.

1: Sheet processing device 2: Saddle stitch bookbinding device 3: Paper processing device (cutting processing device)
10: sheet bundle discharge rollers 102, 103: conveying roller 101: alignment unit 104: cutting unit 105: cutting blade 106: pressing member 109: driving pulley 110, 112: belt 111: driving pulley 115: guide shaft 116: pressure Plate 114: Spring 117: Positioning stopper 119: Jogger 201: Entrance roller 202: Branch claw 203: Upper paper discharge roller 205: Upper bundle conveying roller 206: Lower bundle conveying roller 210: Movable fence 215: Folding plate 221: Tapping the rear end Claw 225: Saddle Stitch Jogger Fence 230: Folding Roller 231: Lower Discharge Roller 292: Movable Fence HP Sensor 293: Folding Part Passing Sensor 294: Trailing Edge Claw HP Sensor 500: Image Forming Apparatus s: Sheet Bundle S1: Saddle Stitch Stipura S: Booklet d1-d3: Distance between upper and lower belts

JP 2010-173004 A

Claims (10)

A paper processing apparatus for processing a booklet, which includes an abutting stopper, a conveyor belt, a rear end jogger, and a positioning guide means,
Having two or more skew correction modes, and mode changing means for changing the skew correction mode according to booklet information;
The booklet information is at least one of the information on the number of sheets constituting the booklet and the thickness information of the sheets.
The mode changing means is controlled based on the information,
Mode 1 of the skew correction mode is an operation in which the booklet is positioned by abutting against the abutting stopper while the conveyor belt is slipped.
Mode 2 of the skew correction mode is an operation of positioning the booklet by pushing it against the abutting stopper with the rear end jogger.
When the booklet is a small number, the mode 1 is set. When the booklet is a large number, the mode 2 is set.
A paper processing apparatus. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The guide means are respectively provided above and below a required position for processing a booklet to be processed,
These upper and lower guide means use a material having a low coefficient of friction with the paper on the surface in contact with the paper forming the booklet, and set the friction coefficients of the upper and lower guide means to be the same or similar. A paper processing apparatus characterized by The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 2.
The sheet processing apparatus, wherein the guide means is a guide plate for sandwiching the booklet or a belt having a function of conveying the booklet. In the paper processing apparatus in any one of Claim 1 to 3,
The sheet processing apparatus is characterized in that either one or both of the upper and lower sides move and the interval is variable. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 4.
According to information such as the number of sheets of the booklet to be processed, weight, thickness, and paper type, the interval between the upper and lower guide means when the booklet is received at the required position is variable. A paper processing apparatus. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein
The first interval d1 when the booklet is brought in,
A second interval d2 during booklet alignment,
A third interval d3 when the booklet is pressed,
Is set in advance,
When aligning the booklet by moving the guide means to the second interval d2, the booklet is moved from the small edge side of the booklet by the rear end jogger or the transport belt, and the back side of the booklet is abutted against the abutment. A sheet processing apparatus, wherein the booklet is positioned by being brought into contact with a stopper. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein
The first interval d1 when the booklet is brought in,
A second interval d2 during booklet alignment,
A third interval d3 when the booklet is pressed,
Is set in advance,
The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the guide unit moves in the third interval d3, the pressing force is variable according to the information of the booklet. In the paper processing apparatus in any one of Claim 1 to 7,
A sheet processing apparatus comprising: the booklet cutting means disposed upstream of the guide means in the booklet conveying direction. The paper processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein
A pressing member for pressing the booklet in the vicinity of the cutting means;
When the booklet is fixed by the guide means, the booklet to be fixed is further pressed by the pressing member on the upstream side thereof. An image forming apparatus comprising the sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1 and an image forming unit.