JP2013126911A - Sheet processing apparatus and image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a user to visually check a binding position easily and to adjust the binding position easily when an apparatus for binding sheets online performs manual binding.SOLUTION: A sheet processing apparatus for performing predetermined processing on a sheet or a sheet bundle includes: a branch path in which the sheets conveyed along a conveyance path online are stacked and accumulated; a binding part 210 for binding the sheet bundle accumulated at the branch path; and a moving mechanism for moving the binding part 210 to a position where a tooth mark 261 of the binding part 210 projects from an outer surface 270 of the sheet processing apparatus, along a guide rail 230 provided in a direction perpendicular to a sheet bundle conveyance direction. The user manually binds the sheet bundle other than the sheet bundle conveyed along the conveyance path using the binding part (tooth mark 261), while checking the biding position at the position where the binding part projects from the outer surface 270.

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus and an image forming system, and particularly to sheet-like recording media such as paper, transfer paper, and sheets (hereinafter referred to as “sheets” including claims). A sheet processing apparatus having a binding processing function capable of executing online binding and manual binding, and a digital composite having the sheet processing apparatus and a copier, printer, facsimile, or a combination of at least two of these functions The present invention relates to an image forming system including an image forming apparatus such as a printing machine.

  After an image is formed by an image forming apparatus such as a copier, printer, or digital multifunction peripheral (MFP), the sheets discharged outside the apparatus are once accumulated on the collecting tray and aligned, and then a metal needle is attached. 2. Description of the Related Art A sheet post-processing apparatus that performs a binding process with a stapler to be used, a so-called finisher is widely known. Since this apparatus automatically executes a multi-part binding process on an image-formed sheet, it is widely used because it is convenient and efficient.

  In this type of apparatus, since automatic processing is fundamental, there are few things that consider manual binding. Manual binding is a convenient function if it is provided when binding is not specified by the finisher and when binding processing is performed after the output paper is confirmed. In the normal finisher, if you want to bind after thinking that it is better to bind after outputting a sheet bundle that is not specified for binding, form the same image again on another sheet, and after output, automatically bind or The output sheet bundle is bound by another hand stapler or the like. In the former case, a sheet on which the same image is formed must be output separately, and the sheet becomes useless, which is not preferable from the viewpoint of resource saving. In the latter case, the user himself / herself binds and there is no waste of sheets. However, when the number of copies is large or the sheet bundle is thick, the binding process is troublesome and the efficiency is poor.

  In addition, when stapling a sheet output from a machine other than a copying machine or printer connected to the finisher and a sheet output from the copying machine or printer, it is necessary to prepare a hand stapler or the like and perform binding processing separately. . That is, the binding process is a separate process, and an apparatus or tool for that is required. Furthermore, in the case of a finisher capable of manual binding, it is difficult to adjust the binding position because the stapler is inside the machine and difficult to see when putting a bundle of sheets into the staple tray.

  On the other hand, an apparatus having a manual binding function is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-264978. The object of the present invention is to perform efficient sheet processing without interrupting the online state of the image forming apparatus main body and the post-processing apparatus even during post-processing by manual operation. According to the present invention, there is provided a gate for switching the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus to a first conveyance path that requires post-processing and a second conveyance path that does not require post-processing, The paper transported through the transport path is post-processed by the processing mechanism and discharged to the first paper discharge tray, and a manual introduction unit that manually guides the paper requiring post-processing to the processing mechanism is provided. When processing is being performed, the gate is switched to the second transport path side, and when a sheet is loaded from the image forming apparatus, the sheet is discharged to the second discharge tray via the second transport path. It is.

  By the way, the patent document 1 also describes the binding process in the manual mode. If the binding is performed in the manual mode, it is easy to bind later or to overlap with another lot. However, since the stapler is inside the machine, it is difficult to visually recognize the binding position, it is difficult to confirm where the binding is performed, and it is also difficult to adjust the binding position. That is, the position of the binding process (the position where the sheet is set) when binding the sheet online with the copier or printer (online binding) and when binding the sheet bundle from outside (manual binding) ) Is the same. Therefore, in the case of manual binding, since the binding position is inside the machine, the visibility of the binding position is poor, and it is difficult to adjust the binding position. For these reasons, the conventional manual mode binding process cannot realize the same ease of use and convenience as a hand stapler.

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is that when manual binding is performed by an apparatus that performs online binding, the binding position can be easily visually recognized, and the user can easily adjust the binding position. There is.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a sheet processing apparatus that performs a predetermined process on a sheet or a sheet bundle, and stacking means that stacks and stacks sheets conveyed along a conveyance path online. A binding unit that binds the sheet bundle accumulated in the stacking unit, and a direction orthogonal to the sheet bundle conveyance direction until the binding port of the binding unit protrudes from the exterior surface of the sheet processing apparatus. And a moving means for moving the sheet processing apparatus.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when performing manual binding with the apparatus which performs online binding, a binding position can be visually recognized easily and a user can adjust a binding position easily.

1 is a diagram illustrating two aspects of an image forming system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the sheet post-processing apparatus in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a front view of the sheet post-processing apparatus in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the principal part of the sheet post-processing apparatus centering on a branch claw when the branch claw in FIG. 3 is a sheet conveyance state. It is a figure which shows the principal part of the sheet | seat post-processing apparatus centering on a branch claw when the branch claw in FIG. 3 switches a sheet back. It is a figure which shows the state at the time of the non-binding of the binding tool of Example 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the state at the time of binding of the binding tool of FIG. FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory diagram illustrating a state when an initial operation is completed when online binding is performed by the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment. FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory diagram illustrating a state immediately after the first sheet is discharged from the image forming apparatus and loaded into the sheet post-processing apparatus from the state of FIG. 8. FIG. 10 is an operation explanatory diagram illustrating a state when the trailing edge of the sheet is separated from the nip of the entrance roller and exceeds the branch path from the state of FIG. 9. FIG. 11 is an operation explanatory diagram illustrating a state when the sheet is switched back from the state of FIG. 10 to align the sheet conveyance direction. FIG. 12 is an operation explanatory diagram showing a state when the first sheet is made to wait on the branch path from the state of FIG. 11 and the next second sheet is carried in. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing which shows a state when the 2nd sheet | seat is carried in from the state of FIG. FIG. 14 is an operation explanatory diagram illustrating a state when the final sheet is aligned to form a sheet bundle from the state of FIG. 13. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing which shows a state when performing the binding operation | movement time from the state of FIG. FIG. 16 is an operation explanatory diagram illustrating a state when a sheet bundle is discharged from the state of FIG. 15. It is explanatory drawing which shows the movement range of the binding tool in Example 1, and shows a state when the binding tool is located in a home position. It is explanatory drawing which shows the movement range of the binding tool in Example 1, and shows the state when the binding tool is located in the binding position by manual operation. FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view of the opening when the binding tool is in the position of FIG. 18 and the manual binding operation is performed. It is sectional drawing which shows a state when the binding process is implemented by manual operation from the state of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the binding position when binding as shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the binding position different from FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the opening part different from FIG. 3 is a front view of the sheet post-processing apparatus in Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the operation part of the sheet | seat post-processing apparatus in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example which provided the sheet | seat detection sensor which detects a sheet | seat bundle in an opening part with respect to the example of FIG. FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating a state when a sheet bundle is inserted into the opening illustrated in FIG. 26. It is a figure which shows the example which provided the sheet | seat bundle presser inside the opening part shown in FIG. FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the sheet bundle is pressed from above and below at the opening illustrated in FIG. 28. It is a figure which shows the example which provided the sheet | seat bundle presser in the opening part shown in FIG. FIG. 31 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the sheet bundle is pressed from above and below at the opening illustrated in FIG. 30. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of an image forming system including a sheet post-processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus in the first embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the control procedure of the mode selection of manual binding mode. It is a flowchart which shows the control procedure of the 1st control pattern of binding mode execution of manual binding mode. It is a flowchart which shows the control procedure of the 2nd control pattern of binding mode execution of manual binding mode. It is a flowchart which shows the control procedure of the 3rd control pattern of binding mode execution of manual binding mode. It is a flowchart which shows the control procedure of the 4th control pattern of binding mode execution of manual binding mode. It is explanatory drawing which shows the movement range of the binding tool of the sheet | seat post-processing apparatus in Example 2 of this invention, and shows a state when the binding tool is located in a home position. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a movement range of a binding tool of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to a second embodiment and illustrates a state when the binding tool is located at a binding position by manual operation. It is sectional drawing of an opening part when the binding tool in Example 2 exists in the position which performs the binding process by manual operation. It is sectional drawing which shows a state when the binding process by manual operation is implemented from the state of FIG. It is a figure which shows the state when changing a staple in a stapler.

According to the present invention, when binding sheets by manual operation, the binding tool is moved to a position protruding from the exterior surface of the sheet processing apparatus (a position at which the user can recognize the binding position) so that the user can visually recognize the binding position. It is characterized by being able to. Thus, the user can easily adjust the binding position while looking with his / her own eyes.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating two modes of an image forming system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. An image forming system 100 according to this embodiment includes an image forming apparatus 101 and a sheet post-processing apparatus (finisher) 201 as a sheet processing apparatus. The sheet post-processing apparatus 201 is a so-called conveyance path binding apparatus in which a binding device is provided in a sheet conveyance path from the image forming apparatus 101. FIG. 1A shows an aspect installed in the conveyance path of the image forming apparatus 101, and FIG. 1B shows an aspect installed outside the conveyance path. The sheet post-processing apparatus 201 has an alignment function for stacking and aligning sheets in the conveyance path, and a binding function for binding the aligned sheet bundle in the conveyance path. The mode of FIG. 1A is also called an in-cylinder processing apparatus because it is post-processed in the cylinder of the image forming apparatus 101.

  The image forming apparatus 101 includes an image forming engine unit 102 including an image processing unit and a paper feeding unit, a reading engine unit 103 that reads an image and converts it into image data, and an automatic document that automatically feeds a document to be read into the reading engine unit 103. A feeding device (ADF) 104 is provided. In the mode of FIG. 1A, a sheet discharge unit is provided in the cylinder of the image forming apparatus 101 to discharge the sheet after image formation. In the mode of FIG. 1B, the sheet after image formation is the image forming apparatus. A paper discharge unit is provided outside of 101.

  2 is a plan view of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201 in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a front view. In FIG. 1, a sheet post-processing apparatus 201 includes an inlet sensor 202, an inlet roller 203, a branching claw 204, a binding tool 210, and a paper discharge roller 205 from the inlet side along the sheet conveyance path 240. The entrance sensor 202 detects the leading edge, the trailing edge, and the presence / absence of a sheet discharged from the discharge roller 102 of the image forming apparatus 101 and carried into the sheet post-processing apparatus 201. As the entrance sensor 202, for example, a reflection type optical sensor is used. Note that a transmissive optical sensor may be used instead of the reflective optical sensor. The entrance roller 203 is located at the entrance of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201 and has a function of receiving a sheet discharged by the sheet discharge roller 102 of the image forming apparatus 101 and carrying it into the stapling apparatus 202. Moreover, although mentioned later, the drive source (drive motor) which can control a stop, rotation, and conveyance amount and CPU201a which controls this drive source are also provided. The entrance roller 203 abuts the leading end portion of the sheet conveyed from the image forming apparatus 101 side to the nip with the pair of rollers, and also performs skew correction.

  A branching claw 204 is disposed at the subsequent stage of the entrance roller 203. The branch claw 204 is provided to guide the rear end of the sheet to the branch path 241. In this case, after the trailing edge of the sheet exceeds the branching claw 241, the branching claw 241 rotates in the clockwise direction in the drawing and conveys the sheet in the direction opposite to the loading direction. Thereby, the sheet rear end side is guided to the branch path 241 side. As will be described later, the branch claw 241 is driven by a solenoid to perform a swinging operation. A motor can be used instead of the solenoid. The branching claw 241 is driven in the counterclockwise direction shown in the figure, and can rotate the sheet or the sheet bundle against the conveying surface of the branching path 241 when rotated. Thereby, the branching claw 241 can fix the sheet or the sheet bundle by the branching path 241.

  The paper discharge roller 205 is located immediately before the last exit of the conveyance path 240 of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201 and has a function of conveying, shifting, and discharging the sheet. Further, similarly to the entrance roller 203, a drive source (drive motor) capable of controlling the stop, rotation, and conveyance amount of the paper discharge roller 205 is provided, and this drive source is controlled by the CPU 201a. The paper discharge roller 205 is shifted by a shift mechanism 205M. The shift mechanism 205M includes a shift link 206, a shift cam 207, a shift cam stud 208, and a shift home position sensor 209.

  The shift link 206 is provided at the shaft end 205a of the paper discharge roller 205, and receives a force in the axial direction (drive shaft of the paper discharge roller 205) to shift. The shift cam 207 has a shift cam stud 208 and is a rotating disk-shaped component. The sheet discharge roller 205 is inserted into the shift link long hole portion 207a through the shift cam stud 208 by the rotation of the component to convey the sheet. Move in a direction perpendicular to the direction. This movement is a so-called shift. The shift cam stud 208 functions in conjunction with the shift link elongated hole portion 207 a to convert the rotational motion of the shift cam 207 into the linear motion of the paper discharge roller 205 in the axial direction. The shift home position sensor 209 detects the position of the shift link 206, sets the position detected by the shift home position sensor 209 as the home position, and executes rotation control of the shift cam 207 with reference to the home position. This control is executed by the CPU 201a.

  The binding tool 210 includes a sheet end detection sensor 220, a binding tool home position sensor 221 and a guide rail 230 for moving the binding tool. The binding tool 210 is a mechanism for binding the sheet bundle PB and is called a so-called stapler. In this embodiment, the sheet is deformed by being sandwiched between a pair of tooth molds 261 and pressed, and the sheets are entangled and bound, and this type of binding is also referred to as crimp binding. In addition to this binding method, a hand stapler that uses a binding tool such as half-punching, cutting, bending, and passing through a hole is also known. In any case, supply consumption can be reduced or it can be easily recycled, and it can be directly shredded. For this reason, it is desired that a sheet post-processing apparatus, that is, a so-called finisher, be mounted with a stapler that does not use a metal needle and can perform binding processing by a single sheet, such as crimp binding.

  In the present embodiment, a binding tool that performs such crimp binding is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this type of binding tool, and is a generally known metal. Any device having a function of binding like a binding tool using a needle may be used. The case where a metal needle is used will be described in Example 2. Further, as a hand stapler for performing crimp binding, for example, a binding tool disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 36-13206 is known, and as a hand stapler for cutting and bending and binding through a hole, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication 37-7208 is disclosed. The binding tool disclosed in the Japanese Patent Publication is known.

  The sheet edge detection sensor 220 is a sensor for detecting the side edge of the sheet. When the sheets are aligned, the sensor detection position is aligned with the reference. The binding tool home position sensor 221 detects the position of the binding tool that can move in the sheet width direction. The home position is a position where the binding tool 210 is located at a position that does not interfere with the conveyance of the maximum size sheet. The position is detected. The guide rail 230 is a rail that guides the movement of the binding tool 210 so that the binding tool 210 can move stably in the sheet width direction. In the guide rail 230, the binding tool 210 exceeds the full width perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction of the conveyance path 240 of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201 from the home position, and the tooth mold 261 protrudes from the exterior surface 270 on the front surface of the sheet post-processing apparatus 210. It is installed so as to be movable to the binding position (see FIG. 18). The binding tool 210 moves along the guide rail 230 by a moving mechanism including a drive motor (not shown).

  The conveyance path 240 is a conveyance path for conveying and discharging the received sheet, and penetrates from the inlet side to the outlet side of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201. The branch path 241 is a transport path that is carried in from the rear end side by sheet switchback, and branches from the transport 240. The branch path 241 is provided for stacking and aligning sheets, and functions as a stacking unit. The abutting surface 242 is a reference surface that is provided at the end of the branch path 241 and abuts and aligns the rear end of the sheet. In this embodiment, the tooth mold 261 is a pressure nipping material having a shape in which a pair of concaves and convexes mesh with each other, and has the above-described pressure binding function by sandwiching and pressing a sheet bundle.

  4 and 5 are diagrams showing the main part of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201 centering on the branching claw 204. FIG. 4 is a view when the branching claw 204 is in sheet conveyance, and FIG. Details of each related mechanism are shown below. The branching claw 204 is provided so as to be able to swing within a preset angle range with respect to the support shaft 204b in order to switch the sheet transporting path to either the transporting path 240 or the branching path 241. The branching claw 204 is a position where the sheet received from the right side in the drawing can be conveyed downstream without resistance, that is, the position shown in FIG. 4 is the home position, and is always elastically pressed counterclockwise by the spring 251 in the drawing. Has been.

  The spring 251 is hung on the branch claw movable lever portion 204a, and the plunger of the branch solenoid 250 is connected to the branch claw movable lever portion 204a. In addition, the branch path conveyance surface 241 and the branch claw 204 hold the sheet in the branch conveyance path 241 in a sandwiched state when the sheet is conveyed to the branch conveyance path 241 in the state of FIG. be able to. When the branching solenoid 250 is turned on, the branching claw 240 rotates in the direction of the arrow R1 in FIG. 5 to guide the sheet to the branching path 241 by closing the transporting path 240 and opening the branching path 241. Can do.

  6 and 7 are diagrams showing details of the binding tool 210 according to the present embodiment. The binding tool 210 includes a tooth mold 261, a pressure lever 262, a link group 263, a drive motor 265, an eccentric cam 266, and a cam home position sensor 267 as components. The tooth mold 261 is a pressurizing member having a shape in which the upper and lower pairs are engaged with each other. The tooth mold 261 is located at the operating end of the link group 263 combined in plural, and is contacted and separated by the pressurizing and releasing operation of the pressurizing lever 262 which is the operating end.

  The pressure lever 262 is rotated by a rotating eccentric cam 266. The eccentric cam 266 is rotated by receiving a driving force from the driving motor 265, and the rotational position of the cam is controlled based on the detection information of the cam home position sensor 267. The rotational position defines the distance between the rotating shaft 266a of the eccentric cam 266 and the cam surface, and the pressing amount of the pressure lever 262 is determined based on this distance. The position where the cam home position sensor 267 detects the filler 266b that is the detection target of the eccentric cam 266 is the home position. As shown in FIG. 6, when the rotational position of the eccentric cam 266 is at the home position, the tooth mold 261 is in an open state. In this state, the binding process is impossible and the sheet bundle can be received.

  When binding the sheet bundle, the sheet bundle is inserted between the tooth molds 261 with the tooth mold 261 shown in FIG. 6 open, and the drive motor 265 is rotated. When the drive motor 265 starts rotating, the eccentric cam 266 rotates in the direction of arrow R2 in FIG. In response to this rotation, the cam surface of the eccentric cam 266 is displaced, and the pressure lever 262 rotates in the direction of arrow R3 in the figure. The rotational force increases through the link group using the lever principle and is transmitted to the tooth mold 261 at the working end.

  When the eccentric cam 266 rotates by a certain amount, the upper and lower tooth molds 261 mesh with each other, pinch the sheet bundle, and pressurize it. The sheet bundle is deformed by this pressurization, and fibers between adjacent sheets are entangled and bound. Thereafter, the drive motor 265 rotates in the reverse direction and stops at the detection information of the cam home position sensor 267. As a result, the upper and lower tooth molds 261 return to the state shown in FIG. 6, and the sheet bundle can be moved. Further, the lever 262 has a spring property, and bends when an overload is applied, thereby releasing the overload.

  FIG. 8 to FIG. 16 are operation explanatory views showing the online binding operation by the binding tool 210 of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201. In each figure, (a) is a plan view and (b) is a front view. Further, in the present embodiment, online binding refers to a sheet post-processing device 201 installed at a paper discharge port of the image forming apparatus 101 as shown in FIG. 201 is continuously received and matched, and binding processing is performed. On the other hand, manual binding, which will be described later, is for binding a sheet printed or output separately with the binding tool 210 of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201. Since manual binding is not performed by a series of operations from the discharge of the image forming apparatus 201, it is offline binding.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a state when the initial operation of the online binding operation is completed. When output of the image-formed sheet is started from the image forming apparatus 101, each unit moves to the home position and completes the initial. FIG. 8 shows the state at this time.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state immediately after the first sheet P <b> 1 is discharged from the image forming apparatus 101 and loaded into the sheet post-processing apparatus 201. Before the sheet P1 is carried into the post-processing apparatus 201 from the image forming apparatus 101, the CPU 201a of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201 receives mode information and sheet information related to the sheet processing control mode from the CPU of the image forming apparatus 101, and the information Based on this, it will be in an acceptance waiting state.

  In the control mode, three modes, a straight mode, a shift mode, and a binding mode, are set. In the straight mode, the entrance roller 203 and the discharge roller 205 start to rotate in the sheet conveyance direction in the standby state, and the sheets P1,..., Pn are sequentially conveyed, discharged, and the final sheet Pn is discharged. Thereafter, the entrance roller 208 and the paper discharge roller 205 are stopped. Note that n is a positive integer of 2 or more.

  In the shift mode, the entrance roller 203 and the paper discharge roller 205 start to rotate in the transport direction in an acceptance standby state. In the shift paper discharge operation, the sheet P1 is received and conveyed, and when the rear end of the sheet P1 passes through the entrance roller 203, the shift cam 207 rotates by a certain amount and the paper discharge roller 205 moves in the axial direction. At this time, the sheet P1 also moves together with the movement of the paper discharge roller 205. When the sheet P1 is discharged, the shift cam 207 rotates to return to the home position, and prepares for the next loading of the sheet P2. This shift operation of the paper discharge roller 205 is repeated until the discharge of the sheet Pn of the same portion is completed. Thus, a part (one book) of the sheet bundle PB is discharged and stacked in a state where it is shifted to one side. When the first sheet 1P of the next part is carried in, the shift cam 207 rotates in the opposite direction to the previous part, and the sheet P1 moves to the opposite side to the previous part and is discharged.

  In the binding mode, the entrance roller 203 is stopped in the acceptance standby state, and the paper discharge roller 205 starts to rotate in the transport direction. Further, the binding tool 210 moves to a standby position that is retracted by a certain amount from the sheet width and stands by. In this case, the entrance roller 203 also functions as a registration roller. That is, when the first sheet P1 is carried into the sheet post-processing apparatus 201 and the inlet sensor 202 detects the leading edge of the sheet, the leading edge of the sheet hits the nip of the inlet roller 203. Then, the sheet P1 is conveyed by the discharge roller 102 of the image forming apparatus 101 by a distance that causes a certain amount of bending. After being transported by the distance, the entrance roller 203 starts to rotate. Thereby, the skew correction of the sheet P1 is performed. FIGS. 9A and 9B show the state at this time.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a state when the trailing edge of the sheet leaves the nip of the entrance roller 203 and exceeds the branch path 241. The conveyance amount of the sheet P1 is counted from information detected by the entrance sensor 202 at the rear end of the sheet, and the position information of the sheet conveyance position is grasped by the CPU 201a. When the trailing edge of the sheet passes through the nip of the entrance roller 203, the entrance roller 203 stops rotating for receiving the next sheet P2. At the same timing, the shift cam 207 rotates in the direction of arrow R4 (clockwise in the figure) in FIG. 10, and the sheet discharge roller 205 starts moving in the axial direction with the sheet P1 nipped. As a result, the sheet P1 is conveyed while being skewed in the direction of the arrow D1 in FIG. After that, when the sheet end detection sensor 220 installed or incorporated in the binding tool 210 detects the sheet P, the shift cam 207 stops and then reverses, and the shift cam 207 stops when the sheet end detection sensor 220 is not detecting the sheet P. To do. Then, the operation is completed, and the discharge roller 205 stops at a predetermined position where the trailing edge of the sheet has passed the leading edge of the branching claw 204.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a state when the sheet P1 is switched back to align the conveyance direction of the sheet P1. The branching claw 204 is rotated in the direction of the arrow R5 from the state shown in FIG. As a result, the sheet P1 is switched back in the direction of the arrow D2, and the rear end of the sheet is carried into the branch path 241 and further abutted against the abutting surface 242. The abutting of the trailing edge of the sheet aligns the trailing edge of the sheet with the abutting surface 242 as a reference. When the sheets P1 are aligned, the paper discharge roller 205 stops. At this time, the discharge roller 205 slips when the sheet P1 hits the abutting surface 242 so that no conveying force is applied. That is, when the sheet P1 switches back and hits the abutting surface 242 and the rear end of the sheet is aligned with the abutting surface 242 as a reference, the sheet P1 is set so as not to be further conveyed and buckled.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a state where the first sheet P1 is made to wait on the branch path 241 and the next second sheet P2 is carried in. After the preceding first sheet P1 is aligned with the abutting surface 242 as a reference, the branch claw 204 is rotated in the direction of the arrow R6 in the figure. Thereby, the contact surface 204c which is the lower surface of the branching claw 204 strongly presses the rear end of the sheet positioned in the branching path 241 against the surface of the branching path 241 so that it does not move and stands by. When the succeeding second sheet P2 is carried in from the image forming apparatus 101, skew correction is performed by the entrance roller 203 in the same manner as the preceding sheet P1. Next, at the same time as the rotation of the entrance roller 203 starts, the paper discharge roller 205 also starts to rotate in the transport direction.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a state when the second sheet P2 is carried in. When the second sheet P2 and the third and subsequent sheets P3,..., Pn are conveyed from the state shown in FIG. 12, the operations shown in FIGS. The sheets conveyed from the forming apparatus 101 are moved to a preset position and overlapped, and the aligned sheet bundle PB is stacked (stacked) in the conveyance path 240.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a state when the sheet bundle PB is formed by aligning the final sheet Pn. When the operation of the final sheet Pn as the aligned sheet bundle PB is completed, the discharge roller 204 is rotated by a certain amount in the transport direction and stopped. With this operation, the bending that occurs when the rear end of the sheet is abutted against the abutting surface 242 is eliminated. Thereafter, the branching claw 204 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow R5, and the contact surface 204c is separated from the branching path 241 to release the pressure applied to the sheet bundle PB. As a result, the sheet bundle PB is released from the restraining force by the branching claw 204 and can be conveyed by the paper discharge roller 205.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a state during the binding operation. The sheet discharge roller 205 is rotated in the conveyance direction from the state shown in FIG. 14, and the sheet bundle PB is conveyed by a distance where the position of the tooth mold 261 of the binding tool 210 matches the binding position of the sheet bundle PB, and stopped at that position. Thereby, the processing position of the sheet bundle PB in the conveyance direction matches the position of the tooth mold 261 in the conveyance direction. Then, the binding tool 210 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow D3 by a distance corresponding to the position where the position of the tooth mold 261 of the binding tool 210 matches the processing position of the sheet, and stopped. As a result, the processing position in the width direction of the sheet bundle PB matches the position of the tooth mold 261 in the transport direction and the width direction. At this time, the branching claw 204 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow R6 and returns to the sheet receiving state. Thereafter, the binding tool driving motor 265 is turned on, the sheet bundle PB is pressurized by the tooth mold 261, and crimped binding is performed by squeezing. In this embodiment, an example using a binding tool 210 that performs crimp binding is illustrated, but a binding tool such as half-punching, cutting, bending and passing through a hole is used. It goes without saying that it is also good.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a state when the sheet bundle PB is discharged. The sheet bundle PB bound as shown in FIG. 15 is discharged by the rotation of the paper discharge roller 205. After the sheet bundle PB is discharged, the shift cam 207 is rotated in the direction of arrow R7 to return to the home position (position in FIG. 8). In parallel with this, the binding tool 201 is moved in the direction of the arrow D4 in the figure to return to the home position (position in FIG. 8). Thereby, the binding operation is completed for the alignment operation of a part (one book) of the sheet bundle PB. If there is a next part, the operations of FIGS. 8 to 16 are repeated, and a part of the sheet bundle PB that has been crimped and bound is created in the same manner.

  17 and 18 are explanatory views showing the movement range of the binding tool. FIG. 17 shows a state where the binding tool 210 is located at the home position, and FIG. 18 shows a state where the binding tool 210 is located at the binding position where the binding is performed by manual operation. The position shown in FIG. 18 is a position where manual binding referred to in this embodiment can be executed. Manual binding is offline binding because sheet processing is not performed continuously from the image forming apparatus 101. Therefore, the user can arbitrarily select the sheets to be bound, or the sheets or sheet bundles of different lots can be stacked and bound together.

  17 and 18, reference numeral 270 denotes an exterior surface on the front side of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201. The binding tool 210 moves along the guide rail 230 on the exterior surface 270, and the tooth mold 261 is attached to the exterior surface. An opening 271 that protrudes from 270 is formed.

  FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view of the opening 271 when the binding tool 210 is at a position where a binding process is performed manually. The opening portion 271 has a shape protruding with respect to the exterior surface 270, and the front end of the binding tool 210 enters the guide portion of the opening portion 271, and a binding port 261 a between the tooth mold 261 and the tooth mold 261 to be pressed and bound is formed. It will be in the state which protrudes from the exterior surface 270. FIG.

  FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view showing a state when a binding process by a manual operation is being performed. As can be seen from FIG. 20, when the sheet bundle PB is inserted into the opening 271 and the binding process is executed, the binding port 261a of the tooth mold 261 comes close, and the sheet bundle PB is pressurized to perform the binding process.

  21 and 22 are diagrams showing the binding position. The binding position can be freely determined by the user inserting an arbitrary position of the sheet bundle PB into the opening 271 as shown in FIGS. At that time, since the opening 271 protrudes from the exterior surface 270, the user can easily visually recognize the position where the binding process is performed, that is, the position of the tooth mold 264 that performs the crimping binding. For this reason, the user can adjust the position while looking at the binding position, which is much easier to use and more convenient than the conventional manual binding operation. Note that the manual binding operation is executed in the manual binding mode.

  The manual binding mode is a mode in which the user himself performs only the binding process. In this mode, when it is desired to perform the binding process after output from the image forming apparatus 101 or when it becomes necessary to perform the binding process, the mode other than the image forming apparatus 101 of the image forming system 100 in this embodiment is used. When a sheet bundle PB output by an image forming apparatus or the like, or when this sheet bundle PB is combined with a sheet bundle PB image-formed by the image forming apparatus 101 of the image forming system 100 in this embodiment, a binding process is performed. This mode is selected when it is desired to use only the binding processing function among the post-processing functions of the processing apparatus 201.

  When the manual binding mode is selected, the binding tool 210 moves along the guide rail 230 from the home position shown in FIG. 17 to the position of the manual binding mode shown in FIG. 18, ie, the position where the tooth mold 261 protrudes from the opening 271. Moving. Although the moving mechanism is not shown here, the moving mechanism moves by a driving force transmission mechanism using a driving motor (not shown) and a timing belt, for example. The user inserts the binding position of the sheet bundle PB to be subjected to the binding process into the opening 271 as shown in FIG. 21 or FIG. In accordance with this insertion operation, the binding tool 210 is driven as described later, and the binding process is performed.

  FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of the opening 271 in the present embodiment. In this figure, in this embodiment, the inlet portion 271a into which the sheet bundle PB of the opening portion 271 is inserted is narrower than the maximum opening width L1 of the tooth mold 261 (the width of the binding port 261a) as shown in FIG. (L <L1), and a shape projecting from the tip 210a of the binding tool 210 by a predetermined dimension. With this setting, a sheet bundle thicker than the opening width L cannot be inserted deeply into the opening 271a of the opening 271 when performing a manual binding operation. Therefore, the thickness of the sheet bundle PB to be bound is always equal to or smaller than the opening width L.

  Further, the thickness of the sheet bundle PB that can be bound by the binding tool 210 is a thickness that can be inserted into the maximum opening width L1 of the tooth mold 261 at the maximum. Therefore, as described above, if the opening width L of the inlet portion 271a is made smaller than the maximum opening width L1 of the tooth mold 261, the sheet bundle PB up to a thickness L smaller than the binding processing limit thickness L1 is obtained. Only the binding process can be performed. As a result, it is impossible for the user to erroneously attempt to perform the binding processing by manual operation on the sheet bundle PB thicker than the binding processing limit thickness L1, so that a mechanically unreasonable load is applied, and the binding tool 210 is not damaged.

  FIG. 24 is a front view of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201. In the figure, an operation panel 273 is provided above the opening 271 of the exterior surface 270 of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201. The operation panel 273 is used for manual binding, and includes two buttons, a manual binding mode selection button (button 1) 274 and a manual binding mode execution button (button 2) 275, as shown in FIG. Yes. When the user presses the manual binding mode selection button 274, the manual binding mode is selected. Each time the manual binding mode selection button 274 is pressed, the manual binding mode and the release of the manual binding mode are alternately selected. When the manual binding mode execution button 275 is pressed in the manual binding mode, the manual binding mode is executed.

  In this embodiment, the sheet post-processing apparatus 201 has an operation panel 273, and the operation panel 273 is configured to instruct the selection and release of the manual binding mode and the execution of the manual binding mode. The operation panel 110 provided may be instructed to select or cancel the manual binding mode and to execute the manual binding mode. Needless to say, both can be provided so that instructions can be input from either side.

  FIG. 26 is a diagram showing another example of the opening 271 in the present embodiment. In this example, a sheet detection sensor 276 that detects the sheet bundle PB is provided in the opening 271. In this embodiment, a reflection type optical sensor is used as the sheet detection sensor 276. Note that a transmissive optical sensor can be used instead of the reflective optical sensor, and a contact-type sensor that can detect paper can also be used. In any case, any sheet can be used as long as it can detect the sheet bundle PB. In the example of FIG. 26, the sheet detection sensor 276 is provided on the upper surface in the opening 271 near the exterior surface 270 of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201.

  The sheet detection sensor 276 is a sensor that detects the sheet bundle PB to which the binding process is performed in the manual binding mode. Therefore, the sheet detection sensor 276 is provided closer to the exterior surface 270 of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201 than the tooth mold 261 or the binding port 261a. This is because when the sheet detection sensor 276 detects the sheet bundle PB, the tooth mold 261 needs to be located at a position where the sheet bundle PB can be bound.

  FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a state when the sheet bundle PB is inserted into the opening 271 having the configuration shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, with the arrangement as described above, when the sheet bundle PB is inserted into the opening 271 and the sheet detection sensor 276 detects the sheet bundle PB, the sheet bundle PB always passes through the tooth mold 261. . Therefore, if the sheet detection sensor 276 detects the sheet bundle PB, the binding process can be reliably performed on the sheet bundle PB. The sheet detection sensor 276 may be provided on the exterior surface 270 as long as it is disposed on the exterior surface 270 side from the tooth mold 261.

  FIG. 28 is a diagram showing still another example of the opening 271 in the present embodiment. In this example, a sheet bundle presser 277 for pressing the sheet bundle PB is provided inside the opening 271 and closer to the exterior surface 270 than the tooth mold 261. In this example, the sheet bundle presser 277 is disposed between the sheet detection sensor 276 and the tooth mold 261, and when the sheet bundle PB is inserted into the opening 271 and detected by the sheet detection sensor 276, the sheet surface of the sheet bundle PB. The upper and lower surfaces of the sheet bundle PB are pressed down. FIG. 29 shows a state in which the sheet bundle presser 277 protrudes and presses the sheet bundle PB from the vertical direction. The drive mechanism of the sheet bundle presser 277 may be an advance / retreat mechanism using, for example, a solenoid as a drive source.

  In the manual binding mode, since the user inserts the sheet bundle PB into the opening 271 by hand, it is necessary to hold the sheet bundle PB firmly by hand when performing the binding process with the binding tool 210. Otherwise, there is a possibility that the sheet bundle PB is displaced and the binding process is performed at a position not intended by the user, or the sheet bundle PB cannot be crimped and the binding process may fail. On the other hand, when the sheet bundle presser 277 is provided as described above, the sheet bundle PB can be pressed only by inserting the sheet bundle PB into the opening 271. For this reason, the position of the sheet bundle PB is maintained when the binding process is executed, and the sheet bundle PB is not displaced during the binding process, thereby preventing a problem related to the binding process. Furthermore, since the user does not need to hold down the sheet bundle PB with his / her hand during the binding process, usability is improved.

  FIG. 30 is a diagram showing still another example of the opening 271 in the present embodiment. In this example, a sheet pressing function is added to the entrance 271a of the opening B271. In order to give a paper pressing function to the entrance portion 271a, in this example, the opening portion 271 is movable in a direction in which the opening portion 271 approaches and separates in parallel to the exterior surface 270 (in the direction of the arrow D5 in the drawing). 30, the opening 271 is opened by moving away from the state shown in FIG. 30, and the sheet bundle PB is inserted from the opening 271 in this state. When the leading edge of the sheet bundle is detected by the sheet detection sensor 276, the opening 271 moves in the approaching direction, and the sheet bundle PB is clamped with a predetermined pressure. Thereafter, the tooth mold 261 is pressurized as shown in FIG. 20, and a binding process is performed. Also in this example, since the sheet bundle PB is pressed by the opening 271 and held in the binding process, it is possible to prevent the problems related to the above-described binding process and to improve usability.

  In FIG. 30, the driving means for driving the opening 271 in the direction of the arrow D5 can be configured by a known driving mechanism including a driving motor, a cam driven by the driving motor, and a speed reduction mechanism, although not particularly shown.

  FIG. 32 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of an image forming system including the sheet post-processing apparatus 201 and the image forming apparatus 101. The sheet post-processing control is executed by the control circuit of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201. The sheet post-processing apparatus 201 includes a control circuit on which a microcomputer having a CPU 201a, an I / O interface 201b, and the like is mounted. The CPU 201a includes a CPU of the image forming apparatus 101 or switches of the operation panel 110, and sensors (not shown). Is input via the communication interface 120, and the CPU 201a executes predetermined control based on the input signal. That is, the control of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201 is executed based on an instruction or information from the CPU of the image forming apparatus 101. User operation instructions are issued from the operation panel 110 of the image forming apparatus 101 or the operation panel 273 provided in the sheet post-processing apparatus 201. As a result, the operation signal from the operation panel 110 is transmitted from the image forming apparatus 101 to the sheet post-processing apparatus 201, and the processing state and function of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201 are notified to the user via the operation panel 110. The The control circuit also includes an I / O interface 201c for transmitting and receiving control signals to and from an operation panel 273 provided in the sheet post-processing apparatus 201. An operation signal from the operation panel 273 of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201 is The data is input to the CPU 201a through the I / O interface 201c.

  Further, the CPU 201a controls driving of the solenoid and the motor via the driver and the motor driver, and acquires sensor information in the apparatus from the interface. In addition, motor drive control is performed by the motor driver via the I / O interface 201b in accordance with the control target and the sensor, and sensor information is acquired from the sensor. The control is based on a program defined by the program code while the CPU 201a reads a program code stored in a ROM (not shown), expands it in a RAM (not shown), and uses the RAM as a work area and a data buffer. Executed.

  FIG. 33 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure for mode selection in the manual binding mode, which is executed by the CPU 201a of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201. In the figure, first, pressing of the manual binding mode selection button (button 1) 274 is monitored (step S101). When the manual binding mode selection button 274 is pressed (step S101: YES), the current mode is determined. If the manual binding mode is not selected (step S102: NO), the manual binding mode is selected (step S104). If the manual binding mode is selected (step S102: YES), the manual binding mode is canceled (step S103).

FIGS. 34 to 37 are flowcharts showing the control procedure of the binding mode execution in the manual binding mode executed by the CPU 201a of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201, and show the first to fourth different control patterns.
In the first control pattern shown in FIG. 34, when the manual binding mode execution button (button 2) 275 is pressed, the binding processing for the sheet bundle PB is executed by the binding tool 210 (step S201).

  In the second control pattern shown in FIG. 35, when the manual binding mode execution button 275 is pressed, the presence or absence of the sheet bundle PB is determined by the sheet detection sensor 276 (step S211), and the sheet bundle PB is detected ( (Step S211: YES) The binding tool 210 executes the binding process for the sheet bundle PB (Step S212).

  In the third control pattern shown in FIG. 36, when the manual binding mode execution button 275 is pressed, the presence or absence of the sheet bundle PB is determined by the sheet detection sensor 276 (step S221), and the sheet bundle PB is detected ( (Step S221: YES) The sheet bundle PB is pressed by the sheet presser 277 (step S222), and then the binding process for the sheet bundle PB is executed by the binding tool 210 (step S223).

  In the fourth control pattern shown in FIG. 37, when the manual binding mode execution button 275 is pressed, the presence or absence of the sheet bundle PB is determined by the sheet detection sensor 276 (step S231), and the sheet bundle PB is detected ( (Step S221: YES) The sheet bundle PB is pressed by the opening 271 (Step S232), and then the binding process for the sheet bundle PB is executed by the binding tool 210 (Step S233).

  In the present exemplary embodiment, manual selection mode selection and binding mode execution are input from the operation panel 273 of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201, but they may be input from the operation panel 110 of the image forming apparatus 101. In this case, for example, the manual binding mode selection button (button 1) 274 and the manual binding mode execution button (button 2) 275 are displayed as a selection screen of the liquid crystal display panel of the operation panel 110, and selection input is possible from this display. It becomes.

  Example 1 is an example using a crimped binding type binding tool, but the present invention is an example using a binding tool (needle stapler) that is bound by a metal needle that has been widely used in the past, in other words, a metal staple needle. It is. In this type of apparatus, an electric stapler is usually used. When this type of stapler is used, it is necessary to consider replacement of the staples that was not necessary in the case of the crimping binding according to the first embodiment. The other parts are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus the same reference numerals are given to the same parts, and the repeated description is omitted as appropriate.

  The binding tool 210 according to the second embodiment includes a needle stapler 288. The binding tool 210 can move along the guide rail 230 between the home position and the binding position protruding from the exterior surface 270 of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201 as shown in FIGS. 38 and 39. 38 corresponds to FIG. 17 in the first embodiment, and FIG. 39 corresponds to FIG. Both of them are the same except that the binding tool 210 is crimped or stapled using a staple as described above. The moving mechanism is the same as that in the first embodiment.

  FIG. 40 is a cross-sectional view of the opening 271 when the binding tool 210 according to the second embodiment is at a position where a binding process is performed manually. The opening 271 has a shape protruding from the exterior surface 270, and the tip of the needle stapler 288 enters the guide part of the opening 271, and is formed by the staple 290 and the clincher 291 constituting the binding part 289. The binding port 289a protrudes from the exterior surface 270.

  FIG. 41 is a cross-sectional view showing a state when a binding process by a manual operation is being performed. As can be seen from FIG. 41, when the sheet bundle PB is inserted into the opening 271 and the binding process is executed, the staple 290 is driven into the sheet bundle PB at the binding port 289a, and the leading end of the staple needle 290 is moved by the clincher 291. The sheet is folded 90 degrees, and the back surface of the sheet bundle PB is sandwiched and the binding process is performed.

  FIG. 42 is a diagram illustrating a state when the staples are replaced in the stapler 288. In the binding tool 210 for crimping and binding according to the first embodiment, since the sheet is deformed to be in a binding state, it is not necessary to consider the replacement of the needle. However, when the sheet bundle PB is bound using the staple needle, it is necessary to replenish the staple needle in the cartridge 294, and for this purpose, the cartridge 294 needs to be removed from the stapler 288. Therefore, in this embodiment, for example, when replacing the staple needle, the stapler 288 is moved to the binding portion 289 of the opening 271 so that the cartridge 294 can be replaced.

  Therefore, when the stapler 288 is moved to the binding position, an exchange port 293a that can be opened and closed by the opening / closing cover 292 is provided on the outer surface 298 of the portion where the cartridge 294 is located. Accordingly, if the stapler 288 is located at the binding position, the cartridge 294 of the stapler 288 is easily taken out from the replacement port 293a by opening the opening / closing cover 292, and after the staples are replenished, the cartridge of the stapler 288 is stored. By returning to the holding position, the staple needle can be easily replenished.

  With such a staple needle replacement structure, not only the binding tool 210 of the type that does not use staples as in the first embodiment but also the generally used stapler 288 that staples staples is used in the embodiment. The binding process can be performed in the same manual binding mode as in the first embodiment.

As described above, according to the present embodiment,
1) By simply inserting the sheet bundle PB into the opening 271 from the outside of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201, the binding tool 210 located at the binding unit 289 operates and the binding process can be performed.
2) At that time, since the opening 271 protrudes from the exterior surface 270 of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201, the user can easily visually recognize the binding position 288 by the binding tool 210 of the binding position of the sheet bundle PB.
3) Since the positional relationship between the binding position of the sheet bundle PB and the binding portion 288 can be easily recognized, the user can easily adjust the binding position.
4) Since the binding operation is automatically performed when the sheet detection sensor 276 in the opening 271 detects the sheet bundle PB, the binding process can be reliably performed on the sheet bundle PB. 5) Since it is possible to instruct the selection and execution of the manual binding mode from the operation panel 273 of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201 or the operation panel 110 of the image forming apparatus 101, it is possible to immediately respond to the needs of the user.
6) In the stapler 288 that uses staples, the manual binding mode is similarly applied to the binding tool 210 that does not use staples, such as crimp binding, half-punching, cutting, bending, and binding through a hole. Can be bound.
7) Even when the binding unit 289 is provided outside the image forming apparatus 101 or when the binding unit 289 is provided in the body of the image forming apparatus 101, the binding position in the case of manual binding can be visually recognized in the same manner. The attachment position or attachment type of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201 with respect to the apparatus 101 is not limited. Therefore, the expandability of the image forming system can be improved.
There are effects such as.

  In the claims, the sheets are P, P1,..., Pn, the sheet bundle is PB, the sheet processing apparatus is the sheet post-processing apparatus 201, the conveyance path is 240, and the stacking means is the branch path 241. Further, the binding means is the binding tool 210 and the needle stapler 288, the binding port is indicated by reference numerals 261a and 289a, the moving means is indicated by a moving mechanism (not shown), the exterior surface is indicated by reference numeral 270, the opening is indicated by reference numeral 271 and the detection means is indicated by a sheet. In the detection sensor 276, the pressing unit is the sheet bundle pressing unit 277, the inlet 271a, the selection unit and the instruction unit are the display panel 273 of the sheet post-processing apparatus 201, the operation panel 110 and the CPU 201a of the image forming apparatus 101, and the image forming system 100. Corresponds to a system including the image forming apparatus 101 and the sheet post-processing apparatus 201, respectively.

  Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and all the technical matters included in the technical idea described in the claims are all included. The subject of the present invention. The above-described embodiments show preferred examples, but those skilled in the art can realize various alternatives, modifications, variations, and improvements from the contents disclosed in the present specification. These are included in the technical scope described in the appended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Image forming system 101 Image forming apparatus 110,273 Operation panel 201 Sheet post-processing apparatus (finisher)
201a CPU
210 Binding Tool 240 Conveying Path 241 Branch Path 261a, 289a Binding Port 270 Exterior Surface 271 Opening 271a Entrance 276 Sheet Detection Sensor 277 Sheet Bundle Press 288 Needle Stapler P, P1,..., Pn Sheet PB Sheet Bundle

JP 2006-264978 A

Claims (10)

A sheet processing apparatus that performs a predetermined process on a sheet or a sheet bundle,
Stacking means for stacking and stacking sheets conveyed along the transport path online;
A binding means for binding the sheet bundle accumulated in the accumulation means;
Moving means for moving the binding means in a direction orthogonal to the sheet bundle conveying direction to a position where the binding port of the binding means protrudes from the exterior surface of the sheet processing apparatus;
A sheet processing apparatus comprising: The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1,
A first mode for performing a binding process on the sheet bundle conveyed through the conveyance path by the binding unit;
A second mode for performing a binding process on a sheet bundle other than the sheet bundle conveyed along the conveyance path;
Have
The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the binding unit moves to the first position in the first binding mode, and moves to the second position in the second mode. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 2,
The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second position is a position where the binding opening protrudes outward from the exterior surface. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 3,
An opening part is provided in the exterior part in contact with the binding opening, and a detection means for detecting the presence or absence of the sheet is provided between the binding opening and the exterior part,
The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the detection unit detects a sheet in the second binding mode, the binding unit executes a binding process. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 4,
Further comprising pressing means for pressing the sheet bundle in the opening,
The sheet processing apparatus, wherein the sheet pressing unit presses the sheet bundle when the detection unit detects a sheet in the second binding mode. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 5,
The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressing unit includes a driving unit that moves the opening portion close to and away from the sheet bundle and pressurizes and holds the sheet bundle. The sheet processing apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 6,
A sheet processing apparatus comprising selection means for selecting the second binding mode. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 7,
A sheet processing apparatus comprising: instruction means for executing a binding process when the second binding mode is selected. The sheet processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Provided with an opening in the exterior part in contact with the binding opening,
The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an opening width of the opening is smaller than a thickness capable of binding the sheet bundle by the binding unit.   An image forming system comprising the sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1.

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