JP2013100182A - Sheet processing device and image formation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet processing device which can properly align, in a width direction, a bundle of sheet materials including a sheet material in which a side face curl occurs without upsizing the device, and to provide an image formation apparatus including the sheet processing device.SOLUTION: The sheet processing device includes a staple tray 90 holding a plurality of sheets S which are the sheet materials as a sheet bundle or the like to be stacked, and a jogger fence 11 aligning the sheets S in the width direction. Moreover, the sheet processing device includes a sheet bottom surface pressing member 15 the tilt of which is not larger than 30[°] relative to a horizontal upper surface of the staple tray 90, which is a protruding member contacting with the bottom surface of the sheet S and protruding to bend the sheets S in a chevron shape.

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus that performs alignment processing by stacking a plurality of sheet materials such as paper and OHP sheets, and an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, and a facsimile machine including the sheet processing apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming apparatus that includes a sheet processing apparatus that performs post-processing of alignment processing and binding processing on a sheet material on which an image is formed by an image forming unit is known. In this sheet processing apparatus, a plurality of conveyed sheet materials are stacked on a staple tray to form a sheet bundle, and the sheet material is aligned with the sheet bundle in the conveyance direction. Alignment processing is performed to perform alignment in the width direction of the sheet material orthogonal to both the material stacking direction. The stapler is driven by a stapler, which is a binding processing means, at the binding position of the sheet bundle arranged by the alignment process.

The sheet processing apparatus described in Patent Literature 1 is arranged at a staple tray having a flat upper surface inclined so that the upstream side is lower than the downstream side in the sheet material conveyance direction, and the staple tray conveyance direction upstream end. And a pair of jogger fences disposed above the upper surface of the staple tray.
The upper surface of the staple tray provided in the sheet processing apparatus is inclined by 45 [°] or more with respect to the horizontal, and the sheet material supplied to the staple tray is transported by its own weight along the inclination of the upper surface of the staple tray. Slide down upstream. Accordingly, the rear end of the sheet material in the conveyance direction hits the rear end reference fence, and alignment in the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle is performed.

  Further, the pair of jogger fences is provided on both sides of the width direction above the upper surface of the staple tray so as to oppose each other, and the width of the sheet material from the standby position where the gap is larger than the lateral width of the sheet material. It is possible to move so that each other approaches the direction. By moving the pair of jogger fences so that they approach each other from the standby position, the width direction inner surfaces of the jogger fence are brought into contact with both ends in the width direction of the sheet material, thereby aligning the sheet bundle loaded on the staple tray in the width direction. Is done.

The sheet material supplied to the sheet processing apparatus may be curled. In a simple planar configuration in which the upper surface of the staple tray is flat, alignment in the width direction by the jogger fence may be performed depending on the curled state of the sheet material. It may not be able to be done sufficiently.
The sheet material in a state where a curl in which the width direction end portion of the sheet material floats in parallel with the conveyance direction, that is, a so-called side face curl, is generated, the width of the sheet material is substantially shortened because the width direction end portion is curled. For this reason, in a state where the side face curl is generated, the jogger fence cannot be aligned toward the inner side in the width direction and cannot be aligned. In the state where the side face curl is generated, even if the jogger fence is moved inward in the width direction until the distance between the opposing jogger fences becomes shorter than the length in the width direction of the sheet material, the jogger fence and the sheet material When the width direction end part contacts, a sheet material may bend by curl. When the sheet material is curled, the force applied in the width direction of the jogger fence is absorbed, and the sheet bundle cannot be sufficiently aligned in the width direction.

  As a configuration for appropriately aligning the sheet bundle including the sheet material in which the side face curl is generated in the width direction, the sheet processing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a convex surface provided in a part of the conveyance direction on the staple tray. And a pressing mechanism for pressing the sheet material from a direction perpendicular to the upper surface of the staple tray by the concave shape surface so that the sheet material follows the convex surface. In this sheet processing apparatus, the concave shaped surface is pressed against the sheet material on the staple tray that has hit the rear end reference fence and has been aligned in the conveyance direction. As a result, the sheet material on the staple tray protrudes upward at the portion sandwiched between the convex surface and the concave surface, and the leading edge side and the trailing edge side are lowered downward across the convex portion. It is bent in the shape of a letter and stacked. In this sheet processing apparatus, even when the sheet material on which the side face curl is generated is supplied onto the staple tray, the side face curl is corrected by bending so that a part of the sheet material in the conveying direction is convex. Since the side face curl can be corrected, the sheet processing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 can appropriately perform alignment in the width direction with respect to the sheet bundle including the sheet material in which the side face curl is generated.

However, the sheet processing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 requires a pressing mechanism that presses the sheet material by moving the concave surface in a direction perpendicular to the upper surface of the staple tray. .
In the above description, a configuration has been described in which the sheet processing apparatus performs alignment processing by bundling sheet materials, and then performs binding processing. However, the sheet processing apparatus is not limited to the one that performs binding processing. Similar problems may occur if the alignment process is performed by bundling sheet materials, such as a process that performs only the alignment process or a sheet process that is different from the binding process after the alignment process.
In the above description, the case has been described in which the sheet processing apparatus is a post-processing apparatus that performs post-processing such as binding processing on a sheet material having an image formed on the surface thereof. The sheet processing apparatus is not limited to the post-processing apparatus, and a similar problem may occur as long as the sheet processing apparatus performs alignment processing on the sheet bundle, such as a sheet processing apparatus independent of the image forming apparatus.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is a sheet processing apparatus that performs alignment processing on a bundle of sheet materials, and includes a sheet material in which side face curl is generated without increasing the size of the apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet processing apparatus capable of appropriately performing alignment in the width direction with respect to a bundle of sheet materials, and an image forming apparatus including the sheet processing apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 is characterized in that a conveying means for conveying a sheet material, a stacking tray for loading the sheet material conveyed by the conveying means, and the sheets stacked on the loading tray. A sheet processing apparatus having width direction aligning means for aligning the width direction of the material, wherein the upper surface of the stacking tray has an inclination with respect to the horizontal of 30 [°] or less, and the lower surface of the sheet material stacked on the stacking tray. And a convex member that abuts on the surface.

  In the present invention, the convex member that contacts the lower surface of the sheet material stacked on the stacking tray pushes up a part other than the front end and the rear end in the direction along the half of the sheet material, and the sheet material Bend into a shape. The sheet processing apparatus described in Patent Literature 1 includes a convex surface in a part of the transport direction on the stacking tray (staple tray), and is a convex portion that comes into contact with the lower surface of the sheet material stacked on the stacking tray. A configuration similar to that of the convex member is provided. Here, in order to push up a part of the sheet material and bend the sheet material into a “he” shape, the sheet material is pushed up against the waist of the sheet material acting to bend upward. A force for lowering the front end side and the rear end side of the sheet material needs to act.

  However, since the upper surface of the stacking tray included in the sheet processing apparatus of Patent Document 1 is inclined by 45 [°] or more with respect to the horizontal, it acts along the inclination of the gravitational force acting on the sheet material. The component force increases, and the component force acting on the stacking tray decreases. Further, since the inclination is further increased on the convex shape surface, the component force acting on the stacking tray is further reduced. Therefore, the force toward the stacking tray due to its own weight is unlikely to act on the portion of the sheet material on the tip side from the portion lifted up to the convex surface, and the sheet material is only stocked on the stacking tray having the convex surface. It is difficult to bend the sheet material into a “h” shape because the leading edge is lifted by the waist of the sheet material. Therefore, in the sheet processing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, in order to bend the sheet material into a “he” shape and correct the side face curl, the sheet material is pressed against the convex surface by the concave surface. An attachment mechanism was required.

On the other hand, in the present invention, since the inclination of the upper surface of the stacking tray with respect to the horizontal is approximately 30 [°] or less, the component force acting toward the lower stacking tray among the gravity components acting on the sheet material is The force increases toward the stacking tray due to its own weight. As a result, the sheet material on the stacking tray is convex at the part where the convex member comes in contact, and the leading edge and the trailing edge are lowered by its own weight against the waist of the sheet material across the convex part. The material is bent and stacked in a “he” shape. The side face curl is corrected by bending so that a part in the conveyance direction of the sheet material on which the side face curl has occurred becomes convex. Thus, even if there is no pressing mechanism, the sheet material can be bent so that a part of the sheet material becomes convex due to its own weight, so that the side face curl can be corrected without increasing the size of the apparatus. it can.
After that, since the sheet material width alignment process is performed by the width direction aligning unit in a state where the side face curl is corrected, it is possible to sufficiently align the sheet material bundle stacked on the stacking tray in the width direction.

  According to the present invention, in a sheet processing apparatus that performs alignment processing on a sheet bundle, it is possible to appropriately perform alignment in the width direction on the sheet bundle including the sheet material in which the side face curl has occurred without increasing the size of the apparatus. There is an excellent effect of being able to.

FIG. 7A is an explanatory diagram of the movement of a sheet in the staple discharge mode in the sheet processing apparatus, FIG. 9A is an explanatory diagram of the timing immediately after the trailing edge of the sheet passes through the nip of the shift roller pair, and FIG. Explanatory drawing of the timing at which the rear end reached the rear end reference fence. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a copier according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the sheet processing apparatus viewed from the front of the apparatus. FIG. 6 is a top view of the vicinity of a staple tray provided in the paper processing apparatus.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a copying machine (hereinafter referred to as a copying machine 100) as an image forming apparatus will be described. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the copying machine 100.
In the central portion of the copying machine 100 shown in FIG. 2, an image station 65 (Y, C, and Y) for forming toner images of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (Bk). M, Bk). Hereinafter, the subscripts Y, C, M, and Bk of the reference numerals indicate members for yellow, cyan, magenta, and black, respectively.

  The copying machine 100 is a latent image forming unit capable of irradiating the drum-shaped photosensitive member 20 (Y, C, M, Bk) with laser light below each image station 65 (Y, C, M, Bk). An exposure device 8 is provided. Above the four image stations 65, there are four primary transfer rollers 62 (Y, C) facing the intermediate transfer belt 61 and the photoreceptors 20 (Y, C, M, Bk) of each color via the intermediate transfer belt 61. , M, Bk) is provided as an intermediate transfer unit 60 as transfer means. Further, the copying machine 100 includes a fixing unit 76 as a fixing unit that fixes the toner image transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 61 onto the paper S. In addition, above the intermediate transfer unit 60, four toner bottles 9 (Y, C, M) for storing toners of four colors of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (Bk), respectively. , Bk). Further, a scanner 300 for reading image data of a document is provided at the upper part of the copying machine 100. Below the scanner 300, there is provided a sheet processing apparatus 200 as a sheet processing apparatus that receives the sheet S on which an image has been formed by the entrance roller pair 2 and performs desired post-processing on the sheet S.

The four image stations 65 (Y, C, M, and Bk) use toners of different colors (Y, C, M, and Bk), but the other configurations are the same. Therefore, hereinafter, the subscripts Y, C, M, and Bk are omitted, and the image station 65 will be described.
The image station 65 includes a photosensitive member 20 as a latent image carrier, a charging device 30 as a charging unit that charges the photosensitive member 20 to a predetermined potential, a developing device 50 as a developing unit that develops a latent image formed on the photosensitive member 20, A cleaning device 40 for cleaning residual toner on the photoconductor 20 is provided. The developing device 50 includes a developing roller 51 disposed in a developing case as a developer containing portion having an opening so as to face and face the surface of the photoreceptor 20. The cleaning device 40 includes a cleaning brush that contacts the photoconductor 20. In addition, the image station 65 may be provided with a charge removing unit that removes the surface of the photoconductor 20 that has passed through the cleaning device 40 as necessary. Further, a recycling unit that returns the toner removed from the surface of the photoreceptor 20 by the cleaning device 40 to the developing device 50 may be provided.

  The image station 65 is configured as a process cartridge that integrally supports the photoconductor 20, the charging device 30, the developing device 50, and the cleaning device 40, and is detachable from the copying machine 100 main body. As a result, the user can replace the photosensitive member 20, the developing device 50, the charging device 30, and the cleaning device 40 in a batch form.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the intermediate transfer unit 60 includes an intermediate transfer belt 61 stretched around a plurality of rollers and a toner image formed on the photoreceptor 20 (Y, C, M, Bk) as an intermediate transfer belt 61. There are four primary transfer rollers 62 (Y, C, M, Bk) for transferring upward. Further, the intermediate transfer unit 60 includes a secondary transfer roller 66 that transfers the toner image transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 61 onto the sheet S that is a transfer target, and the intermediate transfer belt 61 that is not transferred onto the sheet S. A belt cleaning device 63 for cleaning the transfer residual toner.

  The paper S in the paper feed cassette 81 is conveyed to a secondary transfer portion between the intermediate transfer belt 61 and the secondary transfer roller 66 by a paper feed roller 83 disposed in the vicinity of the paper feed cassette 81. A registration roller pair 67 is arranged on the transfer sheet conveyance path between the sheet feed roller 83 and the secondary transfer roller 66 to set the timing of feeding the fed sheet S to the secondary transfer section.

  The fixing unit 76 fixes the toner image onto the paper S by applying heat and pressure to the toner image transferred onto the paper S. The heating in the fixing unit 76 is usually preferably 80 [° C.] to 200 [° C.]. In the copying machine 100, the fixed sheet S is conveyed upward and is conveyed into the sheet processing apparatus 200 by the entrance roller pair 2. The fixing unit 76 includes a pressure roller 76a and a fixing roller 76b having a heat source therein, and the pressure roller 76a contacts the fixing roller 76b to form a fixing nip.

  Next, an image forming process (image forming method) for obtaining a color image in the copying machine 100 will be described. The image forming process is based on the charging process in which the surfaces of the four photoconductors 20 (Y, C, M, Bk) are charged to a predetermined potential, and the surface of each charged photoconductor 20 (Y, C, M, Bk) is based on the image data. And a latent image forming step of forming a latent image on the surface of each photoconductor 20 (Y, C, M, Bk). Further, toner is applied to the latent image on each photoreceptor 20 (Y, C, M, Bk) from the developing roller 51 (Y, C, M, Bk) of each developing device 50 (Y, C, M, Bk). It has a developing process for supplying and visualizing. Each of the photosensitive members 20 (Y, C, M, Bk) has a transfer process for transferring a visible image on the surface of the photoconductor 20 to the paper S, and a fixing process for fixing the transferred visible image on the paper S. . This will be specifically described below.

  First, received data such as a document or facsimile read by the scanner 300 or color image information transmitted from a computer is color-separated into each color, and data of each color plate is formed and sent to the exposure device 8. In each image station 65 (Y, C, M, Bk), the photoreceptor 20 (Y, C, M, Bk) is uniformly charged by the charging device 30 (Y, C, M, Bk). Thereafter, laser light is scanned and exposed by the exposure device 8 based on the image information of each color, and a latent image is formed on the surface of each photoreceptor 20 (Y, C, M, Bk). The latent image on the photoreceptor 20 (Y, C, M, Bk) is a toner of each color carried on the developing roller 51 (Y, C, M, Bk) of the developing device 50 (Y, C, M, Bk). Is developed into a visible image as a toner image.

  Each color toner image on each photoconductor 20 (Y, C, M, Bk) is driven to rotate counterclockwise by the action of each primary transfer roller 62 (Y, C, M, Bk). 61 are sequentially transferred onto 61. The image forming operation for each color at this time is shifted in timing from the upstream side in the moving direction of the intermediate transfer belt 61 toward the downstream side so that the toner image is transferred to the same position on the intermediate transfer belt 61. Executed. The surface of the photoconductor 20 (Y, C, M, Bk) after the completion of the primary transfer is cleaned by the cleaning device 40 (Y, C, M, Bk), and is prepared for the next image formation.

  On the other hand, the paper S in the paper feed cassette 81 is conveyed by a paper feed roller 83 disposed in the vicinity of the paper feed cassette 81, and the secondary transfer roller 66 and the intermediate transfer belt 61 at a predetermined timing by a registration roller pair 67. Are conveyed to the opposing secondary transfer section. Then, the toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 61 is transferred onto the paper S in the secondary transfer portion. The sheet S on which the toner image has been transferred passes through the fixing unit 76 to perform image fixing, and is delivered to the sheet processing apparatus 200 by the entrance roller pair 2. The paper S delivered to the paper processing apparatus 200 is discharged to the paper discharge tray 6 after performing a desired post-process in accordance with the paper discharge mode selected by the user.

  Similarly to the photoconductor 20 (Y, C, M, Bk), the transfer residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 61 that has passed through the secondary transfer portion is cleaned by the belt cleaning device 63 that contacts the intermediate transfer belt 61. The Further, the toner filled in the toner bottle 9 (Y, C, M, Bk) is placed in each developing device 50 (Y, C, M, Bk) by a toner replenishing device (not shown) as necessary. A fixed amount is supplied.

Next, the paper processing apparatus 200 will be described. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of the sheet processing apparatus 200 as viewed from the front of the apparatus. FIG. 4 is a top view of the vicinity of the staple tray 90 provided in the sheet processing apparatus 200. FIG.
The sheet processing apparatus 200 includes an entrance roller pair 2 that conveys the sheet S that has passed through the fixing unit 76 toward the inside of the sheet processing apparatus 200, and a relay roller that applies a conveying force to the sheet in the inner sheet conveyance path L. Pair 3 is provided. Further, a shift roller pair 4 is disposed at the downstream end of the sheet transport path L, and a staple tray 90 for holding a sheet bundle for binding processing is disposed below the pair of shift rollers, and on the right side of the staple tray 90 in FIG. The staple unit 14 for closing the sheet bundle on the staple tray 90 is disposed.

  Above the staple tray 90, the sheet S that has passed through the shift roller pair 4 and dropped onto the staple tray 90 is in the direction opposite to the transport direction (the direction indicated by the arrow B in the drawing) (the direction indicated by the arrow C in the drawing). The tapping roller 10 is provided for imparting the conveying force (1). The hitting roller 10 is rotatably supported by a hitting roller support member 10a that can swing around a support member swinging shaft 70a (see FIG. 2). In addition, the trailing end of the sheet S in the transport direction abuts on the upstream end of the staple tray 90 in the transport direction, and the trailing end reference fence 13 that aligns the sheet bundle in the transport direction of the sheet S is disposed. In the vicinity of the rear end reference fence 13 above the staple tray 90, the roller 10 strikes the rear end portion of the paper S on the staple tray 90 and the direction opposite to the conveyance direction of the paper S and the paper S (the direction of arrow B in the figure). A rear end return roller 12 that provides a conveying force (in the direction of arrow C in the figure) is disposed. The rear end return roller 12 is rotatably supported by a rear end return roller support member 12a that can swing around a rear end return roller support member swing shaft 12b (see FIG. 2).

  After the sheet S conveyed through the sheet conveying path L falls on the staple tray 90, the roller support member 10a rotates counterclockwise in the drawing on the staple tray 90 by hitting the support member swinging shaft 70a as a center. The roller 10 hits the upper surface of the paper S. At the same timing, the trailing edge return roller support member 12a rotates counterclockwise in the drawing around the trailing edge return roller support member swinging shaft 12b, so that it is placed on the upper surface of the trailing edge of the sheet S on the staple tray 90. The rear end return roller 12 contacts. Then, the hitting roller 10 and the trailing edge return roller 12 are rotated counterclockwise in the drawing to feed the sheet S to the trailing edge reference fence 13 side, and the trailing edge of the sheet S is abutted against the trailing edge reference fence 13. Thus, a vertical alignment process, which is alignment of the sheet bundle in the conveyance direction of the sheet S, is performed.

  On the upper surface of the staple tray 90, a pair of jogger fences 11 sandwich a bundle of sheets in the width direction on both sides of the sheet width direction (the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the sheet S and the front and back direction in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3). It is provided so as to face each other. In a state where the sheet bundle is stacked on the staple tray 90, the jogger fence 11 moves so as to approach each other in the sheet width direction from the standby position where the interval is larger than the width of the sheet S and waits. When the inner surface of the jogger fence 11 hits both ends in the direction, the width aligning process that is alignment in the width direction of the bundle of sheets stacked on the stacking tray is performed. Note that the jogger fence 11 that is a width direction regulating fence is not limited to a configuration in which the jogger fence 11 moves so as to approach each other, and at least one of them is moved in the sheet width direction to align the sheet bundle in the sheet width direction. That's fine.

  At the downstream end of the staple tray 90, the sheet S that has passed through the shift roller pair 4 or a sheet bundle that has been subjected to binding processing on a plurality of sheets S that have passed through the shift roller pair 4 is placed on the discharge tray 6. A paper discharge roller pair 5 for paper discharge is arranged.

Various sensors are arranged in the sheet processing apparatus 200. The entrance sensor S1 disposed between the entrance roller pair 2 and the relay roller pair 3 in the sheet conveyance path L and the relay sensor S2 disposed between the relay roller pair 3 and the shift roller pair 4 are detected. It is an optical sensor that detects the presence or absence of the paper S at the position. The load sensor S3 is an optical sensor, and detects that the detected part that swings integrally with the paper presser member 18 is out of the detection area of the load sensor S3. It is possible to detect that the height of the upper surface of the paper S in contact with the ink exceeds a predetermined amount.
The full sensor S4 is a sensor that detects that the movable paper discharge tray 6a is full. The tray front end side sensor S5 and the tray rear end side sensor S6 indicate whether or not the paper S is present at a predetermined position on the staple tray 90. It is an optical sensor that detects

  The sheet processing apparatus 200 receives the sheet S that has passed through the fixing unit 76 of the copying machine 100 from the direction of arrow A. The sheet processing apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment can select an operation mode of a straight discharge mode, a shift discharge mode, and a staple discharge mode. Hereinafter, each operation mode will be described.

<Straight delivery mode>
The straight paper discharge mode is an operation mode in which the paper S that has passed through the fixing unit 76 is discharged to the paper discharge tray 6 as it is without post-processing.
The paper processing apparatus 200 introduces the delivered paper S into the paper transport path L by the entrance roller pair 2 including the entrance upper roller 2a and the entrance lower roller 2b. Thereafter, the toner is introduced into the nip of the shift roller pair 4 including the shift upper roller 4a and the shift lower roller 4b via the nip of the relay roller pair 3 including the relay upper roller 3a and the relay lower roller 3b. Subsequently, the paper S is conveyed to a pair of paper discharge rollers 5 including a paper discharge upper roller 5a and a paper discharge lower roller 5b.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the paper discharge upper roller 5a of the paper discharge roller pair 5 is supported by a paper discharge opening / closing guide plate 70 that can swing around a support member swinging shaft 70a. It is configured to move up and down by swinging. In the state shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the paper discharge upper roller 5a is positioned above, and in this state, the nip of the paper discharge roller pair 5 is opened. In the straight paper discharge mode, the paper discharge opening / closing guide plate 70 is rotated counterclockwise from the state shown in FIG. 2 to bring the paper discharge upper roller 5a into contact with the paper discharge lower roller 5b to form a nip. When the paper S that has passed through the shift roller pair 4 is conveyed to the paper discharge roller pair 5 in a state where the nip is formed, the paper S is conveyed in the direction of arrow B in FIG. The paper is discharged to the paper tray 6.

  The paper discharge tray 6 includes a movable paper discharge tray 6a and a fixed paper discharge tray 6b. The movable discharge tray 6a can swing up and down in the transport direction around the downstream end of the sheet S in the transport direction. When the discharge operation starts, the movable discharge tray 6a can move as shown by the broken line in FIG. The upper surface of the paper tray 6a is near horizontal. The paper S discharged onto the paper discharge tray 6 slides on the movable paper discharge tray 6a and is stacked with its rear end abutting against the end fence 7.

  When the paper S is stacked on the movable paper discharge tray 6a, the paper holding member 18 and the optical stack amount sensor S3 detect the paper surface height on the movable paper discharge tray 6a. The upstream side of the movable paper discharge tray 6a is gradually lowered in accordance with the loading amount of the paper S. When the upstream side of the movable discharge tray 6a gradually descends and the movable discharge tray 6a reaches the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 3, the filler 6s of the movable discharge tray 6a passes through the optical path of the optical full sensor S4. It is shut off and the detection result of the full sensor S4 is turned ON. As a result, a control unit (not shown) detects that the movable paper discharge tray 6a is full and stops the lowering of the movable paper discharge tray 6a.

<Shift paper ejection mode>
The shift paper discharge mode is an operation for performing post-processing for discharging the paper S that has passed through the fixing unit 76 by changing the discharge position in the paper discharge tray 6 in the paper width direction by the paper S in accordance with the preset setting. Mode. This is an operation mode that can be used when forming an image as a plurality of sheet bundles. Each time a part of the sheet bundle is ejected, the position in the width direction of the discharge position is changed and the sheet bundle is stacked alternately. This is an operation mode that can prevent the sheets S from being mixed with each other.

  The paper processing apparatus 200 introduces the delivered paper S into the paper conveyance path L by the entrance roller pair 2, and then introduces it into the nip of the shift roller pair 4 via the nip of the relay roller pair 3. Subsequently, the paper S is conveyed to the paper discharge roller pair 5, but in the shift paper discharge mode, the paper discharge upper roller 5a which is movable up and down is positioned above and the nip of the paper discharge roller pair 5 is opened. Accept S. The shift upper roller 4a and the shift lower roller 4b that constitute the shift roller pair 4 are movable in the paper width direction with respect to the main body of the paper processing apparatus 200, but the relay upper roller 3a that constitutes the relay roller pair 3 and It cannot move in the paper width direction with the relay lower roller 3b. Therefore, when the discharge position of the paper S is moved (shifted) in the paper width direction, the shift upper roller 4a and the shift lower roller 4b are shifted in a state where the paper S is sandwiched only by the shift roller pair 4.

The optical entrance sensor S1 detects the presence or absence of the paper S at the detection position. When the paper S is in the detection position, the entrance sensor S1 is turned on. For this reason, the timing at which the entrance sensor S1 is turned off after the entrance sensor S1 is turned on is the timing at which the trailing edge of the sheet S passes the detection position of the entrance sensor S1. Therefore, using the timing when the entrance sensor S1 is turned off after being turned on as a trigger, the sheet S is transported at a speed after a certain time required to reach the nip of the relay roller pair 3 from the detection position of the entrance sensor S1. The timing at which the trailing edge of the sheet S passes through the relay roller pair 3 can be detected.
For this reason, in the shift paper discharge mode, after the trailing edge of the sheet S passes through the nip of the relay roller pair 3 and before the trailing edge of the sheet S passes through the nip of the shift roller pair 4, The roller 4a and the lower shift roller 4b are shifted in the paper width direction (front side or back side in FIG. 3). As a result, the position in the sheet width direction of the sheet S sandwiched between the nips of the shift roller pair 4 is shifted.

  When the shift processing of the sheet S by the shift roller pair 4 is completed, the sheet discharge opening / closing guide plate 70 is rotated counterclockwise so that the sheet discharge upper roller 5a is brought into contact with the sheet discharge lower roller 5b via the sheet S, thereby causing the nip. And the sheet S is sandwiched in the nip. Then, the sheet discharge upper roller 5a that forms the nip is rotated by the sheet discharge lower roller 5b, whereby the sheet S is conveyed to the sheet discharge tray 6 in the direction of arrow B in FIG.

Similarly to the straight paper discharge mode in the shift paper discharge mode, at the start of the paper discharge operation, the upper surface of the movable paper discharge tray 6a is in a position near horizontal as indicated by the broken line in FIG. The paper S discharged onto the paper discharge tray 6 slides on the movable paper discharge tray 6a and is stacked with its rear end abutting against the end fence 7.
When the paper S is stacked on the movable paper discharge tray 6a, the paper holding member 18 and the optical stack amount sensor S3 detect the paper surface height on the movable paper discharge tray 6a. The upstream side of the movable paper discharge tray 6a is gradually lowered in accordance with the loading amount of the paper S. When the upstream side of the movable discharge tray 6a gradually descends and the movable discharge tray 6a reaches the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 3, the filler 6s of the movable discharge tray 6a passes through the optical path of the optical full sensor S4. It is shut off and the detection result of the full sensor S4 is turned ON. As a result, a control unit (not shown) detects that the movable paper discharge tray 6a is full and stops the lowering of the movable paper discharge tray 6a.

<Staple discharge mode>
The staple discharge mode is an operation mode in which post-processing is performed in which a plurality of sheets S that have passed through the fixing unit 76 are stacked to form a sheet bundle and bound by a stapler.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the movement of the sheet S in the staple discharge mode. FIG. 1A is an explanatory diagram of the timing immediately after the trailing edge of the sheet S passes through the nip of the shift roller pair 4, and FIG. 1B illustrates the trailing edge of the sheet S at the trailing edge reference fence 13. It is explanatory drawing of the timing which reached | attained.

  The paper processing apparatus 200 introduces the delivered paper S into the paper conveyance path L by the entrance roller pair 2, and then introduces it into the nip of the shift roller pair 4 via the nip of the relay roller pair 3. Subsequently, the paper S is conveyed to the paper discharge roller pair 5, but in the staple paper discharge mode, similarly to the shift paper discharge mode, the vertically movable paper discharge upper roller 5 a is positioned above the paper discharge roller pair 5. The sheet S is received with the nip opened. In the staple discharge mode, the nip of the discharge roller pair 5 is kept open after the timing when the trailing edge of the sheet S passes through the relay roller pair 3, and the nip of the shift roller pair 4 is set at the trailing edge of the sheet S. When it passes, the rear end side of the sheet S is discharged onto the staple tray 90.

  In the staple discharge mode, after the sheet S is discharged to the staple tray 90, the roller support member 10a is struck around the support member swinging shaft 70a and rotated counterclockwise in FIG. The upper surface of S is struck and the roller 10 is brought into contact as shown by the broken line in FIG. Then, the tapping roller 10 and the trailing end return roller 12 are rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1 to push the paper S back in the direction of arrow C in FIG. Thus, the sheet S is fed to the rear end reference fence 13 side, and the rear end of the sheet S is abutted against the rear end reference fence 13 to perform the vertical alignment process of the sheet bundle of the sheets S. Further, the jogger fence 11 is moved, and the sheet bundle is aligned by performing the width aligning process of the sheet bundle of the sheets S stacked on the staple tray 90.

When the number of sheets S instructed in advance by the control unit of the copying machine 100 is stacked on the staple tray 90, the staple unit 14 performs a binding process on the sheet bundle. When the binding process is completed, the paper discharge upper roller 5 a is lowered, the nip of the paper discharge roller pair 5 pinches the paper bundle, and the paper bundle is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 6.
Here, the tray front end sensor S5 is an optical sensor that detects the presence or absence of the sheet S on the staple tray 90. The tray rear end side sensor S6 is a sensor for detecting the rear end of the paper S. The tray rear end side sensor S6 emits a signal that enables binding processing when the tray rear end side sensor S6 is ON, and prohibits binding processing when it is OFF. The staple unit 14 is prevented from being clogged by issuing a signal to perform the above operation.

  Even when the nip of the discharge roller pair 5 is opened, if the sheet S is in contact with the lower discharge roller 5b, the sheet S is pushed back in the direction of arrow C in FIG. Resistance. Therefore, a protrusion (not shown) that prevents the sheet S from coming into contact with the sheet discharge lower roller 5b when the nip of the sheet discharge roller pair 5 is opened is provided near the downstream end of the staple tray 90. Is formed. A certain degree of orientation is applied to the paper S on the stapling tray 90 with a certain degree of orientation by the projections, and the paper S comes into contact with the lower sheet discharge roller 5b by this orientation and the stiffness of the paper S. Can be avoided. When the paper discharge roller 5a is lowered to form the nip of the paper discharge roller pair 5 with the paper S avoiding contact with the paper discharge lower roller 5b as described above, the paper discharge upper roller 5a is more than the paper S waist. Since the method of pressing force is strong, the lowermost sheet S among the sheets S on the staple tray 90 comes into contact with the sheet discharge lower roller 5 b, and a conveying force can be applied to the sheet S by the sheet discharge roller pair 5. It becomes like this.

Next, features of the sheet processing apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment will be described.
The inclination of the upper surface of the staple tray 90 is nearly horizontal, and a sheet lower surface pressing member 15 made of an elastic member protruding from the planar upper surface of the staple tray 90 is provided at the downstream end of the staple tray 90. . The paper lower surface pressing member 15 is fixed to the staple tray 90 in such a shape that the upstream half thereof is along the upper surface of the staple tray 90, and the downstream half thereof is inclined so that the downstream side is upward. It protrudes from the upper surface of the staple tray 90.

  In the paper S in a state in which a curl where the width direction end portion of the paper S floats in parallel with the conveyance direction, that is, a so-called side face curl is generated, the width of the paper S is substantially shortened because the width direction end portion is curled. For this reason, in the state where the side face curl is generated, the jogger fence 11 cannot move the sheet S toward the inner side in the width direction, and cannot be aligned. In a state where the side face curl is generated, even if the jogger fence 11 is moved inward to a position where the distance between the opposing jogger fences 11 becomes shorter than the length in the width direction of the paper S, the jogger fence 11 and the paper S The sheet S may be bent due to curling when the end portions in the width direction come into contact with each other. When the sheet S bends due to curling, the force applied in the width direction of the jogger fence 11 is absorbed, and the sheet bundle cannot be sufficiently aligned in the width direction.

  In the paper processing apparatus 200 of the present embodiment, when the paper S is transported in the staple paper discharge mode, the transported paper S is discharged to the staple tray 90, and the tapping roller 10 in FIG. Pushed back in the direction of arrow C. At that time, a part of the sheet S is lifted by the sheet lower surface pressing member 15 provided in the staple tray 90. Since the staple tray 90 is nearly horizontal, the weight of the paper S is likely to act toward the staple tray 90 located below. As a result, the sheet S on the staple tray 90 has a convex portion at a position where the sheet lower surface pressing member 15 contacts, and the leading end side and the trailing end side are lowered downward with the convex portion interposed therebetween. It is bent in a letter shape and stacked (see FIG. 1B). The side face curl is corrected by bending so that a part of the sheet S in which the side face curl is generated in the transport direction is convex.

Even if there is no pressing mechanism as in Patent Document 1, the paper S can be bent so that a part of the conveyance direction of the paper S is convex due to the weight of the paper S, so that the size of the side face curl can be reduced without increasing the size of the apparatus. Correction can be performed. Further, by disposing the sheet lower surface pressing member 15 at two positions in the width direction on the upper surface of the staple tray 90, the sheet S can be bent so as to be convex over the entire area in the width direction, and the side face can be more reliably formed. The curl is corrected.
Thereafter, the paper bundle width alignment process is performed by the jogger fence 11 in a state where the side face curl is corrected, so that the alignment in the width direction of the paper bundle can be sufficiently performed.

In the paper processing apparatus 200 of the present embodiment, the length in the transport direction of the staple tray 90 is shorter than the length in the transport direction of the paper S, which is the smallest paper size to be used. Therefore, in a state where the sheets S are stacked on the staple tray 90, the upstream side in the transport direction of the sheets S is held by the movable discharge tray 6a of the discharge tray 6 as shown in FIG. It becomes. At this time, the movable paper discharge tray 6a forms a sheet material holding tray together with the staple tray 90.
The minimum size of the paper S to be post-processed by the paper processing apparatus 200 of the present embodiment is B5 vertical, and the A5 paper discharged in the vertical direction is in contact with the trailing edge reference fence 13 from the leading edge of the paper. The sheet lower surface pressing member 15 is in contact with the position of 14 [cm]. Further, the inclination of the upper surface of the staple tray 90 with respect to the horizontal was 10 [°], and the height from the upper surface of the staple tray 90 to the upper end of the paper lower surface pressing member 15 was 4.5 [mm]. With such a configuration, when the B5 plain paper (NBS Ricoh copy printing paper <90> B5 Yth) is discharged to the staple tray 90, the leading end bends downward from the position where the paper lower surface pressing member 15 contacts, and the paper S could be made into the letter “he”.

The staple tray 90 may be longer than the maximum size paper S that uses the staple tray 90, and the staple tray 90 alone may function as a sheet material holding tray (stacking tray). When the length of the staple tray 90 in the transport direction is longer than the length of the minimum size paper S to be used, the paper lower surface pressing member 15 is not disposed at the downstream end of the staple tray 90 and the minimum size paper S However, it is necessary to dispose the sheet lower surface pressing member 15 at a position where the leading end side and the rear end side are bent downward by its own weight with respect to the position where the sheet lower surface pressing member 15 comes into contact, and the sheet S can be formed in a “he” shape. is there.
Further, as in the paper processing apparatus 200 of the present embodiment, the length of the staple tray 90 in the transport direction is made shorter than the length of the paper S to be used, and the movable paper discharge tray 6a together with the staple tray 90 is a sheet material holding tray ( With the configuration having a role as a stacking tray), it is possible to prevent the paper processing apparatus 200 from being increased in size in the horizontal direction due to the staple tray 90 being disposed almost horizontally.

  Since the second and subsequent sheets S are stacked in a “h” shape following the shape of the first sheet, similarly for the second and subsequent sheets S, the side face curl is corrected in the transport direction. The bend of the parallel end is corrected. Further, since the downstream half of the sheet lower surface pressing member 15 is inclined so as to be higher toward the downstream side, when the sheet bundle subjected to the binding process is discharged, the sheet lower surface pressing member 15 made of an elastic body is Due to the elastic deformation, it is possible to suppress the paper lower surface pressing member 15 protruding from the upper surface of the staple tray 90 from becoming a paper discharge resistance.

  In order to correct the edge curvature (side face curl) parallel to the transport direction when the sheets S are stacked on the staple tray 90 and to improve the alignment in the width direction of the sheet bundle, the vicinity of the jogger fence 11 is used. I want to correct the bend. Therefore, it is preferable to install the paper lower surface pressing member 15 near the jogger fence 11. However, since the movement of the jogger fence 11 when performing the width alignment process should not be hindered, it is necessary to avoid installing the jogger fence 11 in the sliding range. Further, the sheet lower surface pressing member 15 is disposed at a position narrower than the width of the minimum size sheet to be bound so as to correspond to each sheet size. Further, the paper lower surface pressing member than the above-described protrusion (not shown) provided on the staple tray 90 so that the paper S does not contact the paper discharge lower roller 5b with the nip of the paper discharge roller pair 5 opened. 15 is arranged to be higher. Further, in order to avoid erroneous detection of the tray front end sensor S5, the sheet lower surface pressing member 15 is angled so that the lower surface of the paper S lifted by the paper lower surface pressing member 15 is lower than the detection range of the tray front end sensor S5. Is provided.

Further, the sheet lower surface pressing member 15 only needs to protrude from the upper surface of the staple tray 90 and does not need to be an elastic member. However, the side face curl can be eliminated even with the fixed sheet-shaped convex sheet lower surface pressing member 15 which does not deform, but it becomes a conveyance resistance when the stacked sheet bundle is discharged. If the conveyance resistance at the time of paper discharge is large, a paper jam is likely to occur. However, in this embodiment, an elastic member is used as the paper lower surface pressing member 15 and is elastically deformed at the time of paper discharge, thereby conveying resistance at the time of paper discharge. To prevent paper jams.
In the paper processing apparatus 200 of the present embodiment, a polyester film (Toray Lumirror S10 (thickness: 0.125 [mm])) is used as an elastic body for forming the paper lower surface pressing member 15, but the invention is not limited to this. Absent.

The staple tray 90 of the present embodiment has a configuration close to the horizontal with an inclination of the upper surface with respect to the horizontal of 30 [°] or less. Therefore, the size in the vertical direction can be reduced as compared with a conventional paper processing apparatus (such as that disclosed in Patent Document 1) in which the inclination of the staple tray is large.
In the copying machine 100 of the present embodiment, the sheet S on which an image has been formed is discharged into a space with a limited size in the vertical direction above the toner bottle 9 and below the scanner 300. In order to arrange the sheet processing apparatus in the copying machine 100 having such a configuration without increasing the horizontal direction of the apparatus, it can be disposed in a space in which the size in the vertical direction from which the sheet S is discharged is limited. A paper processing apparatus is required.
Since the sheet processing apparatus 200 of the present embodiment can be reduced in size in the vertical direction as described above, the horizontal direction of the apparatus is not increased with respect to the copying machine 100 as shown in FIG. A paper processing device can be arranged.

What has been described above is merely an example, and the present invention has a specific effect for each of the following modes.
[Aspect A]
A conveying means such as a relay roller pair 3 and a shift roller pair 4 that convey a sheet material such as paper S, a stacking tray such as a staple tray 90 that stacks the sheet material conveyed by the conveying means, and a stacking tray. In a sheet processing apparatus such as a sheet processing apparatus 200 having a width direction aligning means such as a pair of jogger fences 11 that align the width direction of sheet materials, the inclination of the upper surface of the stacking tray with respect to the horizontal is 30 [°] or less. And a convex member such as a paper lower surface pressing member 15 that contacts the lower surface of the sheet material stacked on the stacking tray. According to this, as described in the above embodiment, since the upper surface of the stacking tray such as the staple tray 90 is almost horizontal, the weight of the sheet material such as the paper S is likely to act toward the stacking tray below. As a result, the sheet material on the stacking tray is convex upward where the convex member such as the paper lower surface pressing member 15 comes into contact, and the leading edge and the trailing edge are sandwiched by the weight of the sheet material across the convex area. The sheet material is bent and stacked in a “he” shape. The side face curl is corrected by bending so that a part in the conveyance direction of the sheet material on which the side face curl has occurred becomes convex. Thus, even if there is no pressing mechanism, the sheet material can be bent so that a part of the sheet material becomes convex due to its own weight, so that the side face curl can be corrected without increasing the size of the apparatus. it can. Thereafter, the width adjustment process of the sheet bundle is performed by the width direction aligning unit in a state where the side face curl is corrected, so that the alignment in the width direction of the sheet bundle can be sufficiently performed. In this way, alignment in the width direction can be appropriately performed on the sheet bundle including the sheet material in which the side face curl is generated without increasing the size of the apparatus.
[Aspect B]
In [Aspect A], a conveyance direction alignment unit that aligns the conveyance direction of sheet materials such as sheets S stacked on a stacking tray such as the staple tray 90 is provided. According to this, as described in the above embodiment, in the present invention, since the inclination of the upper surface of the stacking tray with respect to the horizontal is 30 [°] or less and is almost horizontal, the sheet material supplied to the stacking tray is under its own weight. Although it is difficult to cause the sheet bundle to be aligned in the conveyance direction by sliding on the tray and hitting the rear end reference fence, the conveyance direction alignment means is provided to perform alignment in the conveyance direction.
[Aspect C]
In [Aspect B], the conveyance direction alignment unit is configured to align the trailing edge of the sheet material in the conveyance direction of the sheet material such as the sheet S on the stacking tray such as the staple tray 90, thereby performing alignment in the conveyance direction of the sheet material. 13 and the rear end alignment fence, and a hitting roller 10 that applies a conveying force in a direction opposite to the conveyance direction to the sheet material on the stacking tray and abuts the rear end of the sheet material against the rear end alignment fence and the rear end Sheet material reverse conveying means such as the return roller 12. According to this, as described in the above embodiment, the rear end of the sheet material such as the paper S is moved to the rear end of the rear end reference fence 13 by the sheet material reverse conveying means such as the hitting roller 10 and the rear end return roller 12. By abutting against the alignment fence, alignment in the sheet bundle conveyance direction can be performed even when the upper surface of the stacking tray such as the staple tray 90 is nearly horizontal.
[Aspect D]
In any one of the [Aspect A] to [Aspect C], the convex member such as the paper lower surface pressing member 15 is moved downstream in the conveyance direction when the sheet material such as the paper S that is in contact moves in the conveyance direction. It is an elastic member that is elastically deformed so as to collapse. According to this, as described in the above embodiment, the convex member is elastically deformed at the time of paper discharge, thereby suppressing the conveyance resistance at the time of paper discharge and suppressing the occurrence of a paper jam.
[Aspect E]
In any one of [Aspect A] to [Aspect D], a binding unit such as a staple unit 14 that performs a binding process on a bundle of sheet materials such as sheets S held on a stacking tray such as the staple tray 90 Is provided. According to this, as described in the above embodiment, since the binding process is performed on a sheet bundle such as a sheet bundle that has been appropriately aligned in the width direction, a favorable binding process can be performed.
[Aspect F]
In any one of the [Aspect A] to [Aspect E], the convex members such as the paper lower surface pressing member 15 are arranged at a plurality of locations such as two in the width direction on the upper surface of the stacking tray such as the staple tray 90. ing. According to this, as described in the above embodiment, the sheet material can be bent so as to be convex over the entire region in the width direction, and the side face curl is more reliably corrected.
[Aspect G]
The image forming means such as the image station 65, the intermediate transfer unit 60, and the fixing unit 76 that form an image on a sheet-like recording material such as paper S, and the recording material on which the image is formed by the image forming means are bound. In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine 100 having post-processing means for performing post-processing such as processing, the post-processing means such as the paper processing apparatus 200 according to any one of [Aspect A] to [Aspect F] A sheet processing apparatus is used. According to this, as described in the embodiment, it is possible to appropriately perform alignment in the width direction with respect to the bundle of recording bodies without increasing the size of the apparatus.

2 entrance roller pair 2a entrance upper roller 2b entrance lower roller 3 relay roller pair 3a relay upper roller 3b relay lower roller 4 shift roller pair 4a shift upper roller 4b shift lower roller 5 discharge roller pair 5a discharge upper roller 5b discharge lower roller 6s filler 6a movable discharge tray 6b fixed discharge tray 6 discharge tray 7 end fence 8 exposure device 9 toner bottle 10 hitting roller 10a hitting roller support member 11 jogger fence 12 rear end return roller 12a roller support member 12b roller support member swing Moving shaft 13 Rear end reference fence 14 Staple unit 15 Paper lower surface pressing member 18 Paper pressing member 20 Photoconductor 30 Charging device 40 Cleaning device 50 Developing device 51 Developing roller 60 Intermediate transfer unit 61 Intermediate transfer belt 62 Primary transfer roller 63 Belt cleaning device 65 images Application 66 Secondary transfer roller 67 Registration roller pair 70 Discharge opening / closing guide plate 70a Support member swing shaft 76 Fixing unit 76a Pressure roller 76b Fixing roller 81 Paper feed cassette 83 Paper feed roller 90 Staple tray 100 Copying machine 200 Paper processing device 300 Scanner L Paper transport path S Paper S1 Inlet sensor S2 Relay sensor S3 Load sensor S4 Full sensor S5 Tray front side sensor S6 Tray rear side sensor

Patent 4141113

Claims (7)

Conveying means for conveying the sheet material;
A stacking tray for stacking the sheet material conveyed by the conveying means;
A width direction aligning means for aligning the width direction of the sheet material stacked on the stacking tray;
In a sheet processing apparatus having
The inclination of the upper surface of the stacking tray with respect to the horizontal is 30 [°] or less,
A sheet processing apparatus comprising a convex member that contacts the lower surface of the sheet material stacked on the stacking tray. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
A sheet processing apparatus comprising: a conveyance direction aligning unit that aligns a conveyance direction of the sheet material stacked on the stacking tray. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein
The conveying direction aligning means is configured such that a trailing end alignment fence that performs alignment in the conveying direction of the sheet material by abutting a trailing end of the sheet material on the stacking tray and the sheet material on the stacking tray. A sheet processing apparatus comprising: a sheet material reverse conveying unit that applies a conveying force in a direction opposite to the conveying direction to abut the rear end of the sheet material against the trailing edge alignment fence. In the sheet processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the convex member is an elastic member that is elastically deformed so as to fall down on the downstream side in the conveyance direction when the sheet material in contact moves in the conveyance direction. In the sheet processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A sheet processing apparatus, comprising: a binding unit configured to perform a binding process on the bundle of sheet materials stacked on the stacking tray. In the sheet processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The sheet processing apparatus, wherein the convex members are arranged at a plurality of positions in the width direction on the upper surface of the stacking tray. Image forming means for forming an image on a sheet-like recording material;
An image forming apparatus having post-processing means for performing post-processing such as binding processing on the recording medium after the image is formed by the image forming means.
An image forming apparatus using the sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1 as the post-processing unit.

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