JP2014080254A - Sheet storage device and image formation system using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sheet storage device capable of positioning a sheet at an accurate position with a correct attitude by a simple paper feed mechanism by temporarily mounting the sheet sent from a paper ejection port on support means.SOLUTION: Support means for mounting at least a portion of a sheet between a paper ejection port arranged with a level difference formed vertically and a stack tray, sheet end regulation means for butting and regulating the end edge of the sheet supported by the support means, and aligning conveying means for shifting the sheet toward the regulation means are arranged. The conveying means comprises a friction conveyance body engaged with a sheet upper surface on the support means, and conveyance body running means for moving the conveyance body by a prescribed amount in a crossing direction inclined at a prescribed angle from a paper ejection direction. In the friction conveyance body, friction drag of a sheet surface becomes smaller in a running orthogonal direction than in a running direction.

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet storage device that stores sheets conveyed from an image forming apparatus or the like in a stack tray, and relates to an improvement of a sheet alignment mechanism when stacking sheets in a bundle at a predetermined post-processing position.

  In general, this type of apparatus carries a sheet sent from an image forming apparatus or the like into a sheet discharge path and stores it in a stack tray disposed on the downstream side of the path sheet discharge port. Then, a processing tray (sub-tray) for temporarily stacking and supporting the sheets is provided between the paper discharge port and the stack tray, and the sheets are aligned on the tray for post-processing, and the processed sheet bundle Is widely known as an apparatus for carrying out and storing the product on a stack tray.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a post-processing device including a sheet carry-in path connected to a sheet discharge port of an image forming apparatus, a processing tray disposed on the downstream side of the path sheet discharge port, and a processing and a downstream stack tray. Has been proposed. Then, the sheets sent from the image forming apparatus are switched back and conveyed from the paper discharge port to the processing tray to be stacked and stacked. The sheet bundle is staple-bound or jog-offset and carried out to the stack tray on the downstream side of the tray.

  Therefore, in such an apparatus configuration, the sheet carry-in path, the processing tray, and the stack tray are laid out in this order in the apparatus housing, and are conveyed in this order from the upstream discharge path to the downstream stack tray.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, a support member (sub-tray) in which a stack tray is disposed by forming a step on the downstream side of the sheet carry-in path, and a sheet that falls from the sheet discharge port to the tray stacking surface is disposed in the intermediate portion of the step. To temporarily place and hold. A post-processing device is disclosed in which the support member is configured to be movable between an operating position above the tray stacking surface and a standby position retracted outside the tray.

  By adopting a configuration in which the support member that has entered the upper side of the tray in this manner temporarily accumulates the sheets falling from the discharge outlet and performs post-processing, and then retracts and stores the support member outside the tray. Can be made compact and compact.

Japanese Patent No. 4500713 (FIG. 1) Japanese Patent No. 4901082 (FIG. 1)

  As described above, a sub-tray (hereinafter referred to as “support member”) is disposed between the paper discharge port and the tray paper mounting surface so as to be able to advance and retreat from the outside of the tray to the inside of the tray, and the sheet sent from the paper discharge port is placed on the sub-tray. A post-processing mechanism for retreating the sub-tray to the outside of the tray after the post-processing is performed after aligning the sub-tray is already known from Patent Document 2 and the like.

  In such a post-processing apparatus, an alignment mechanism that positions a sheet (bundle) carried on the support member from the discharge port at a predetermined processing position is required. One of the methods conventionally known as this alignment mechanism is that a support member (tray member) is provided with a position restriction stopper in the sheet width direction, a sheet transfer means (such as an alignment plate), a position restriction stopper in the sheet front end direction, This is a method in which a sheet transfer means (a roller body or the like) is arranged, the sheet is transferred in the conveyance direction and the butting is regulated, and then the sheet is transported in the width direction and the butting is regulated. Further, a different method is to provide a conveying rotating body in a crossing direction (for example, a 45-degree inclined direction) inclined by a predetermined angle with respect to the sheet discharge direction, and simultaneously stop the sheet side edge and the sheet leading edge with this conveying body. Hit it.

  The positioning mechanism for positioning the leading end in the transport direction of the sheet carried in the former tray member by a plurality of transport means and then positioning in the sheet width direction is complicated, and there is a known problem that it takes time to position the sheet at the same time. . Further, the following problem is known in the latter mechanism in which the conveying body is arranged in the intersecting direction and the leading edge and the side edge of the sheet are simultaneously abutted and restricted. In other words, when the sheet is skewed and fed from the paper discharge port and unloaded to either the left or right side, the sheet that comes in front of one of the stoppers is not positioned in an accurate posture such as a distorted curl or a bent ear. There's a problem.

  Therefore, the present inventor arranges a conveying means for transferring the sheet in a direction intersecting the sheet discharge direction on a support member such as a sub-tray, and the sheet is conveyed when the sheet is regulated against the side edge and the regulation stopper at the tip. The inventor has come up with the idea that problems such as sheet tilt, skew alignment, and curled ear folding can be solved by causing slip conveyance between the mechanism and the mechanism.

  The present invention relates to a sheet storage device capable of temporarily placing a sheet sent from a paper discharge port on a support means and positioning the sheet in a correct position at a correct position by a simple paper feed mechanism. Offering is the issue. Another object of the present invention is to form a small and compact sheet storage device that stores images in a stack tray after aligning and post-processing sheets that have been image-formed and delivered to a sheet discharge outlet. .

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a support means for placing at least one part of a sheet between a sheet discharge port and a stack tray, which are arranged with a step formed vertically, and an end of the sheet supported thereby A sheet end restricting means for abutting and restricting the edge and an aligning conveying means for transferring the sheet toward the restricting means are arranged. The conveying means includes a friction conveying body that engages with the upper surface of the sheet on the support means, and a conveying body traveling means that moves the conveying body by a predetermined amount in an intersecting direction inclined by a predetermined angle from the paper discharge direction. In some cases, the friction carrier is configured such that the frictional drag of the sheet surface is smaller in the traveling orthogonal direction than in the traveling direction.

The friction conveying body described above is set so that the frictional force acting between the sheet surface and the conveying body in the traveling direction and the orthogonal direction of traveling is larger in the former (traveling direction) and smaller in the latter (traveling orthogonal direction). To do. That is, the frictional force acting between the sheet and the conveying body engaged therewith is the same in the traveling direction and the traveling orthogonal direction. At this time, when the conveying friction body and the sheet move relative to each other, it is possible to vary the movement resistance in the running direction and the direction orthogonal thereto in the same manner as the frictional drag in fluid dynamics.
(1) A friction conveyance body is comprised with a roll body, and supports a roll body so that it can roll to a driving | running | working orthogonal direction centering on the rotating shaft of a driving direction (after-mentioned Embodiment 1).
(2) A support arm that holds the friction conveyance body is configured to be rotatable in the traveling orthogonal direction (second embodiment described later).
(3) The friction conveying body is formed of a ball-shaped sphere, and a brake member having a large braking force in the traveling direction and a small braking force in the traveling orthogonal direction is provided on the support holder (third embodiment described later).
(4) The material (rubber material) constituting the friction carrier is made different in the X-axis direction friction coefficient and the Y-axis direction friction coefficient (Embodiment 4 described later).

  Further, the configuration will be described in detail. A sheet discharge path having a sheet discharge port (a sheet carry-in path 11 described later), a stack tray 15 disposed on the downstream side of the sheet discharge port, and at least a part of the sheet disposed between the sheet discharge port and the stack tray Support means (first and second support members 19 and 20 to be described later) and sheet end restriction means for restricting the position of at least one edge of the sheet supported by the support means (the rear end restriction stopper 24 and the side edge to be described later). A regulating stopper 25) and an aligning and conveying means 26 arranged on the support means for transferring the sheet toward the sheet end regulating means.

  The aligning and conveying means includes a friction conveying body 27 that engages with the upper surface of the sheet supported by the supporting means, and a predetermined amount in the traveling direction that intersects the friction conveying body along the sheet surface with a discharge direction at a predetermined angle. The friction carrier is configured such that the frictional drag of the sheet surface on the support means is smaller in the traveling orthogonal direction than in the traveling direction.

  According to the present invention, a sheet is dragged and conveyed by a friction conveyance body that travels in a direction that intersects the paper discharge direction at a predetermined angle, and abuts against a regulation stopper. At this time, since the friction conveying body is configured such that the frictional drag of the sheet surface is smaller in the traveling orthogonal direction than in the traveling direction, the following effects can be obtained.

  Since the frictional conveyance body drags and conveys the sheet in an intersecting direction inclined by a predetermined angle with respect to the sheet discharge direction, the sheet has a two-way restriction stopper (any one) arranged in the side edge direction and the sheet discharge direction. One of them may be transferred). As a result, it is not necessary to dispose the transport mechanism for transporting the sheet in the paper discharge direction and the transport mechanism for transporting the sheet in the sheet width direction, and the transport mechanism for positioning the sheet at a predetermined processing position can be reduced. Therefore, it can be simplified.

  In addition, in this case, when the sheet is conveyed while being tilted (skewed), the alignment timing of the sheet edge and the stopper regulating surface may be misaligned back and forth. May cause breakage. At this time, the friction conveyance body is configured to reduce the frictional drag between the sheet surface and the friction conveyance body in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction (an idle roller structure, a swinging rotation structure, and a sliding friction surface structure). Yes. Accordingly, when the sheet is bent against the regulating surface, the frictional carrier moves in a direction away from the bending deformation portion (direction to reduce the bending deformation of the sheet) by the bending deformation force, so that problems such as curling and bending are avoided. I won't be attracted.

1 is an explanatory diagram of an overall configuration of an image forming system according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory perspective view of the overall configuration of a post-processing device (sheet storage device) in the system of FIG. 1. The post-processing apparatus in the system of FIG. 1 is shown, (a) is explanatory drawing of a front structure, (b) is explanatory drawing which shows the movement amount of a tray. The post-processing apparatus in the system of FIG. 1 is shown, (a) is explanatory drawing of planar structure, (b) is explanatory drawing of a paddle. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the structure of a subtray in the present invention. First Embodiment of Friction Conveying Body in the Apparatus of FIG. 2 (Rotating Body and Inchworm Movement Mechanism) The operation state of the conveyance body traveling means 28 is shown, (a) is a home position, and (b) is a state where the traveling motor is rotated counterclockwise (about 90 degrees in the drawing). (C) shows the state of engagement (contact) with the uppermost sheet, and (d) shows the state of further rotating the traveling motor counterclockwise (about 0 degrees). Show. The operation state of the conveyance body traveling means is shown, and (e) and (f) show the state of being retracted from the sheet. It is explanatory drawing which shows the effect | action of a friction conveyance body, (a) shows the case where a sheet | seat is conveyed in the direction ((theta) = 45 degree | times) crossing the discharge direction arrow X, (b) is a direction different from (a). Shows a case where the sheet is conveyed. FIG. 2 shows a friction carrier in the post-processing apparatus of FIG. 2, (a) shows the second embodiment (swing mechanism), and (b) shows the third embodiment (ball body and braking mechanism). Explanatory drawing (block diagram) of the control structure in the system of FIG. FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory diagram (flow chart) of a first paper discharge mode of the post-processing apparatus of FIG. 2. FIG. 2 shows a discharge flow of the post-processing apparatus of FIG. 2, wherein (a) shows an operation flow in the second discharge mode, and (b) shows an operation flow in the third discharge mode.

  The present invention will be described in detail below based on the preferred embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of an image forming system according to the present invention. An image forming apparatus A that forms an image on a sheet, and a sheet processed with this apparatus A is subjected to post-processing such as binding processing and jog sorting processing. And a post-processing apparatus B which is stored in the stack tray 15 on the downstream side. The sheet storage device C is built in the post-processing device B.

  The image forming apparatus A can employ various image forming mechanisms such as an inkjet printing mechanism and an offset printing mechanism in addition to an electrostatic printing mechanism described later. The post-processing apparatus B can employ a processing mechanism such as a paper folding apparatus, a magazine folding apparatus, a punch punching apparatus, and a stamp stamping apparatus in addition to a staple binding process described later.

[Image forming apparatus]
An image forming apparatus A shown in FIG. 1 is connected to an image handling apparatus such as a computer or a network scanner (not shown), forms an image on a specified sheet based on image data transferred from these apparatuses, and performs predetermined discharge. Unload from the paper slot 6. The paper discharge port 6 is provided with a paper discharge tray for stacking and storing sheets. A post-processing apparatus B is mounted as an optional apparatus instead of the paper discharge tray. In addition to such a network configuration, the image forming apparatus A is configured as a copying machine or a facsimile, and is configured to copy and form an image on a sheet based on data read by an original scanning unit.

  In the image forming apparatus A, a plurality of paper feed cassettes 2 are prepared in the housing 1, and a sheet of a selected size is fed from the cassette to the paper feed path 3 on the downstream side. An image forming mechanism (image forming unit) 4 is provided in the paper feed path 3. As the image forming mechanism 4, an ink jet printing mechanism, an electrostatic printing mechanism, an offset printing mechanism, a silk screen printing mechanism, a ribbon transfer printing mechanism, and the like are known. The present invention can employ any printing mechanism.

  A paper discharge path 5 is provided on the downstream side of the image forming mechanism 4, and a sheet is carried out from a paper discharge port 6 (hereinafter referred to as a main body paper discharge port) disposed in the housing 1. Note that, depending on the printing mechanism, a fixing unit 4 a is built in the paper discharge path 5. In this way, the sheet of the size selected from the paper feed cassette 2 is sent to the image forming unit 4, and after the image is formed, it is carried out from the paper discharge path 5 to the main body paper discharge port 6. In addition, a duplex path (not shown) may be arranged in the housing 1, and after the image is formed on the surface of the sheet by the image forming unit 4, the sheet is turned upside down and circulated and fed to the image forming unit 4 again. Is possible.

  A post-processing device B, which will be described later, is connected to the main body discharge port 6. The housing 1 incorporates a scanner unit 7 and a document feeding unit 8 for feeding a document sheet to the scanner unit 7. In this case, the scanner unit 7 scans the original sheet placed on the platen or fed from the feeder mechanism, reads the image, and transfers the read data to the image forming apparatus A. The document feeding unit 8 includes a feeder mechanism that feeds a document sheet to the platen of the scanner unit 7.

[Post-processing equipment]
The post-processing device B in FIG. 1 is built in the paper discharge area 9 of the image forming apparatus A as an optional device. The present invention is not limited to such an inner finisher structure, and may be configured as a stand-alone structure and connected to the paper discharge port 6 of the image forming apparatus A. FIG. 2 shows a perspective configuration of the post-processing apparatus B having an inner finisher configuration. The housing 10 constituting the unit is configured to have a size and shape built in the paper discharge area 9 of the image forming apparatus A.

  FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional configuration of the post-processing apparatus B. The post-processing apparatus B includes a sheet carry-in path 11 for carrying a sheet from the image forming apparatus A, and a stack tray 15 disposed on the downstream side of the path. A step difference of height difference h is formed between the path sheet discharge port 13 (hereinafter simply referred to as “sheet discharge port”) of the sheet carry-in path 11 and the sheet placement surface 15 a of the stack tray 15. This step h is set to the maximum allowable storage amount. The illustrated stack tray 15 employs a stack structure that is fixed at a predetermined level without moving up and down in the stacking direction according to the stacking amount of sheets. This is because the apparatus configuration is made compact and accommodated in the paper discharge area 9 in a limited space. Therefore, when the apparatus cost and the storage space are allowed, an elevating tray structure that elevates and lowers the stack tray in the sheet stacking direction may be employed. In this case, the tray may be raised and lowered according to the weight of the discharged sheet using an elastic member such as a spring, or a drive for raising and lowering the tray may be used.

  The sheet carry-in path 11 is disposed in the housing 10 in a substantially horizontal direction, and conveys the sheet from the carry-in port 12 to the paper discharge port 13. For this reason, the sheet carry-in path 11 is provided with a plurality of carry rollers 14a arranged at a predetermined interval from the sheet carry guide, and a carry-in sensor Se1 and a paper discharge sensor Se2 for detecting the leading and trailing edges of the sheet. The transport roller 14a is connected to the transport motor M1. 14b in the drawing is a paper discharge roller disposed at the exit end of the path, and is connected to the same transport motor M1 as the transport roller 14a.

[Stack tray]
The configuration of the stack tray 15 will be described with reference to FIG. The stack tray 15 is fixed to the apparatus frame 10 (housing; hereinafter the same), and has a paper loading surface 15a on which sheets fed from the paper discharge port 13 are stacked and stored. The illustrated apparatus is fixed to the apparatus frame 10 in a tray shape on which a sheet is placed by molding a synthetic resin (cantilever support structure). A step having a height difference h is formed between the paper discharge port 13 and the paper loading surface 15a, and the rear end regulating surface 16 and the side edge regulating surface 17 are formed between the paper discharge port 13 and the paper loading surface 15a. Is provided with a wall surface structure. Each of the regulating surfaces is regulated by the trailing edge regulating surface 16 on the trailing edge surface of the sheet stacked on the paper placing surface and the side edge regulating surface 17 on the side edge surface.

  Note that the paper loading surface 15 a of the stack tray 15 has a fixed tray structure having a height difference h between the stack tray 15 and the paper discharge outlet 13. At this time, the height difference h is set to a height that matches the maximum load capacity that can be accommodated. In addition, the stack tray 15 is configured to be movable up and down in the sheet stacking direction on the apparatus frame 10, and is moved up and down to adjust the height position of the paper loading surface 15 a according to the stacking amount of the sheets carried out from the sheet discharge outlet 13. A tray structure may be adopted.

[Sub tray]
As shown in FIG. 3, a sub-tray 18 is disposed between the paper discharge port 13 and the paper placement surface 15a. The sub-tray 18 temporarily stores and supports the sheet falling from the paper discharge outlet 13 on the paper placement surface 15a at an intermediate position, and stores the sheet on the paper placement surface 15a. The configuration of this post-processing will be described later. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a planar configuration of the sheet discharge outlet 13 and the stack tray 15, omitting a conveyance guide that configures the sheet carry-in path 11. A sheet carry-in path (not shown) is arranged from the right side to the left side of the figure, and the sheet that has entered from the carry-in port 12 is transferred to the paper discharge port 13 by the transport roller 14a and the paper discharge roller 14b. The sheets sent to the paper discharge port 13 are stacked on the paper loading surface 15a of the stack tray 15, and the end surface is regulated by the rear end regulating surface 16 and stacked.

  The sub-tray 18 partially supports the sheet sent from the paper discharge port 13 and holds the sheet at that position. The illustrated sub-tray 18 includes a rear end support member 19 (first support member) that supports the rear end of the sheet in the paper discharge direction, and a side edge support member that supports one side end of the sheet (the right side is illustrated). 20 (second support member). In FIG. 5, the rear end support member 19 protrudes from the rear end regulating surface 16 of the stack tray 15 by Dx inside the tray, and the side edge support member 20 projects from the side edge regulating surface 17 by Dy inside the tray. And the protrusion amount Dx (first support protrusion amount) and Dy (second support protrusion amount) are placed on both support members, with the sheets having the maximum size to the minimum size and the maximum basis weight to the minimum basis weight. It is formed in a supportable area.

  The first support member 19 and the second support member 20 are configured to be movable from a position Ap protruding inside the tray to a retracted position Wp retracted outside the tray. That is, the first support member 19 reciprocates between the operating position Ap protruding inside the tray and the retracted position Wp retracted to the outside of the tray (inner side of the sheet rear end regulating surface 16; right side in FIG. 4). Similarly, the second support member 20 reciprocates between an operating position Ap (illustrated position) protruding into the tray and a retracted position Wp retracted to the outside of the tray (inside the sheet side edge regulating surface 17; front side in FIG. 4). Move. Various mechanisms can be adopted for this slide structure, but the illustrated one slides on a guide rail (not shown) in which plate-shaped first and second support members 19 and 20 are formed on the apparatus frame 10 with a slide roller or the like. It is possible to fit.

[Shift mechanism]
The first support member 19 is equipped with the first shift means 21, and the second support member 20 is equipped with the second shift means 22, and each support member reciprocates between the operating position Ap and the retracted position Wp. It is driven to move. One of the first shift means 21 and the second shift means 22 will be described because the same configuration is adopted. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing the relationship between the first and second support members 19 and 20 and the shift means 21 and 22. According to the drawing, the rack 21r is integrated with the first support member 19 on the back side thereof. The support member 19 is reciprocated by the first shift motor SM1 fixed to the apparatus frame 10 and the pinion 21p connected thereto.

  That is, the rack 21r formed integrally with the support member 19 is reciprocated through the pinion 21p by forward / reverse rotation of the first shift motor SM1. 21f in the figure is a sensor flag arranged on the support member 19, and a position (for example, home position) of the support member 19 is detected by a position sensor Ps1 arranged on the apparatus frame 10. The shift motor SM1 is composed of a stepping motor capable of forward and reverse rotation, and for example, can be controlled to move the support member 19 in a predetermined direction by a predetermined amount by PMW control. The second support member 20 is also moved from the operating position Ap to the retracted position Wp with the same configuration. Therefore, the second support member 20 is provided with a second shift motor SM2, a second pinion 22p, a second rack 22r, a second position sensor Ps2, and a second sensor flag 22f.

  As described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the sub-tray 18 is disposed between the discharge outlet 13 and the stack tray 15, and the illustrated sub-tray 18 includes a first support member 19 and a second support member 20. . Further, the support members 19 and 20 are shift motors SM1 and SM2, respectively, with respect to the movement path (falling trajectory) of the sheet from the paper discharge outlet 13 to the stack tray 15 from the operating position Ap in the path (movement trajectory). Move to a standby position Wp outside the movement trajectory). In FIG. 23, a post-processing unit is a stapling unit that binds and processes the sheet bundle that is partly stacked on the first and second support members 19 and 20.

  The staple unit 23 (post-processing means; hereinafter the same) is not described because various structures are known, but the blank needle housed in the cartridge is folded into a U-shape and inserted into the sheet bundle. Fold the tip of the needle with an anvil. Instead of this stapling unit, or together with this unit, a punch unit for punching punch holes in the aligned sheet bundle and a stamp unit can be provided.

[Regulation stopper]
The sub-tray 18 (first and second support members 19 and 20) described above is provided with a stopper member for regulating the position of the edge of the sheet placed and supported. The first support member 19 is provided with a rear end restriction stopper 24 for restricting the rear end of the sheet, and the second support member 20 is provided with a side edge restriction stopper 25 for restricting the sheet side edge. Each of the illustrated restriction stoppers 24 and 25 includes a plurality of idle rollers 24 a and 24 b and idle rollers 25 a and 25 b that are spaced apart from each other, and are rotatably supported on the apparatus frame 10.

  Each idle roller 24 (25) engages with the edge of the sheet and rotates in the moving direction when the sheet moves. In this case, the sheets can be aligned more accurately and quickly by forcibly rotating the plurality of rollers in a predetermined direction. For example, the rollers 24a and 24b are interlocked with a belt, and a drive motor (not shown) is connected to the belt. With this configuration, the sheet is moved in the alignment direction in cooperation with the aligning and conveying means 26 described later, and aligned at a more accurate position. In addition, the restricting stoppers 24 and 25 may be formed by stepped surfaces, and various structures such as stepped portions, protrusions and the like that are integrally formed on the respective support members and the end surfaces thereof as restricting surfaces may be employed. .

  In the second paper discharge mode, which will be described later, each of the restriction stoppers 24 and 25 restricts the sheet trailing edge against the stopper 24 and the sheet side edge against the stopper 25 to position the sheet at the binding processing position. In a third paper discharge mode, which will be described later, the side edge of the sheet is abutted against the stopper 25 and the sheet is positioned at the jog offset position. In the third paper discharge mode, in the illustrated embodiment, the sheet trailing edge is abutted against the stopper 24 at the same time as the sheet side edge, but this is not a necessary configuration (that is, in the third paper discharge mode). The rear end regulating stopper 24 may be retracted from the first support member 19).

[Configuration of aligning and conveying means]
As shown in FIG. 4, the aligning conveyance means 26 that conveys the sheet placed and supported on the first and second support members 19 and 20 toward the trailing edge regulating stopper 24 and the side edge regulating stopper 25 is the apparatus frame 10. Is arranged. When the rear end of the sheet is separated from the roller peripheral surface, the sheet conveyed to the sheet discharge port 13 by the sheet discharge roller 14b falls on the first and second support members 19 and 20 and is placed in a free state. An aligning / conveying means 26 for conveying the sheet back toward the trailing edge regulating stopper 24 and the side edge regulating stopper 25 is disposed at a corner portion (right end in FIG. 4) of the first and second support members 19 and 20.

  In the illustrated apparatus, the aligning and conveying means 26 is disposed on the second support member 20, and the sheets placed on the first and second support members 19 and 20 are moved in the direction opposite to the arrow in FIG. 4 (sheet corner direction). It is arranged to carry back. Although this aligning conveyance means 26 may be arrange | positioned on the 1st support member 19, the case where it arrange | positions on the 2nd support member 20 of illustration is demonstrated.

  The aligning / conveying means 26 engages with the upper surface of the sheet supported by the first and second support members 19 and 20, and discharges the frictional conveying body in an angular direction intersecting with the discharging direction. It is comprised by the conveyance body traveling means 28 that travels in the direction.

  The frictional conveying body 27 engages with the upper surface of the sheet supported by the support member 20 and moves the sheet in the traveling direction of the conveying body by a frictional force acting between the two. For this reason, the friction carrier is formed of a high friction material such as a rubber material or a resin material, and the shape thereof is formed in a pad shape (rectangular shape), a roll shape, a semi-circular roll shape (half moon shape), a spherical shape, or the like. . The embodiment of FIG. 6 (hereinafter referred to as the first embodiment) shows a case where it is configured as an idle roller (roll shape). The friction carrier is mounted and supported by a holder member (the following carrier running means 28; the same applies hereinafter).

  FIG. 6 shows a standby position Wu in which the frictional conveyance body 27 is retracted from the sheet on the support member 20, an engagement position Ad that engages with the upper surface of the sheet, and a predetermined transfer direction (X A conveying body traveling means 28 is illustrated which moves in the direction) and drags and conveys the sheet. The carrier traveling means 28 shown in FIG. 1 includes a manipulator 28 installed on the apparatus frame 10.

  The manipulator 28 includes a first arm 28a, a second arm 28b pivotally supported by the first arm, a third arm 28c pivotally supported at the tip of the second arm, and a third arm 28a. It is comprised by the action | operation arm 28d pivotally supported by the front-end | tip part. That is, it is composed of a four-axis arm connection (link connection), the first arm 28a is pivotally supported on the device frame 10, the drive arm 29 is connected to the second arm, and the movement of the third arm is controlled by the device frame 10. The friction conveying body 27 is fixed to the tip of the operating arm 28d that is regulated by the guide groove 30 and is pivotally supported by the third arm 28c.

  In FIG. 6, p1 is a rotation pin that pivotally supports the first arm 28a on the apparatus frame 10 so as to be swingable, and p2 is a rotation pin that pivotally supports the base end portion of the second arm 28b at the distal end of the first arm. It is. p3 is a rotation pin that pivotally connects the tip of the drive arm 29 to the second arm so that the drive arm 29 can be rotated, and the drive motor 29 is connected to a traveling motor M3. p4 is a drive shaft that pivotally supports the drive arm 29 on the apparatus frame 10 in a rotatable manner. A travel motor M3 is connected to the drive shaft via a speed reduction mechanism. Accordingly, when the driving arm 29 is rotated counterclockwise by the traveling motor M3 about the driving shaft p4, the frictional carrier 27 mounted on the operating arm 28d rotates in the clockwise direction in FIG.

  P5 is a rotation pin that pivotally supports the third arm 28c at the tip of the second arm 28b, and p6 is a rotation pin that pivotally supports the base end of the operating arm 28d at the tip of the third arm 28c. It is a moving pin. Further, p6 also serves as a guide pin that fits into a guide groove provided in the apparatus frame 10. The guide groove of the apparatus frame 10 is configured to guide the operating arm so as to cause an inchworm movement.

  Further, an urging spring 31 is laid between the third arm 28c and the operating arm 28d so as to urge the friction carrier 27 mounted at the tip of the operating arm toward the support member 20 side. This is because the friction conveying body 27 is always engaged with the sheet surface with a pressing force close to a constant regardless of the thickness (bundle thickness) of the sheets stacked on the support member 20. The friction carrier 27 is configured by a roll-shaped idler roller 27r, and is axially supported by an operating arm 28d so as to be rotatable in a travel orthogonal direction by a roll support shaft 28x in a sheet travel direction, which will be described later.

  In the embodiment of FIG. 6, there is no technical necessity to strictly set the angle of the idle roller 27r constituting the friction carrier 27 so long as it is in a direction substantially perpendicular to the traveling direction. That is, it may be approximately 90 degrees with respect to the traveling direction of the friction carrier. The rotational axis angle of the idle roller 27r is set in such a range that the frictional drag acting between the traveling direction of the friction carrier and the sheet surface in the orthogonal direction is set so that the former is large and the latter is small. Here, the frictional drag means a resistance force due to friction acting on the object when it moves at a predetermined speed (similar to the frictional drag in hydrodynamics). When the frictional drag is small, the object is free in that direction. Move to.

  The travel motor M3 is configured by a motor capable of angle control such as a stepping motor or a DC motor having an angle control mechanism such as an encoder. An angle is set to the home position by detecting a flag arranged on the motor rotation shaft with a sensor (not shown).

  7 to 9 show the operating state of the transport body traveling means 28. FIG. 7A shows the home position, and the friction carrier 27 is located in a state of being retracted above the uppermost sheet of the support member 20. At this time, the drive arm 29 is positioned at about 120 degrees in the illustrated state. The angle of the drive arm is not related to the movement of the transport body traveling means 28 in the technical sense, but is shown for explaining the link movement. FIG. 4B shows a state in which the traveling motor M3 is rotated counterclockwise (about 90 degrees in the drawing). At this time, the frictional conveying body 27 is the most in the paper discharge direction above the sheet on the support member 20 (the same figure). It is located far from the right edge. In other words, it is located in the link extension state where the inchworm movement is most extended.

  FIG. 8 (c) shows a state in which the friction carrier 27 is engaged (contacted) with the uppermost sheet of the support member 20. At this time, the drive arm 29 rotates counterclockwise and is positioned at an angular position of about 15 degrees. ing. In this state, the urging spring 31 between the operating arm 28d and the third arm applies a force for pressing the upper surface of the sheet to the friction conveyance body 27. A substantially uniform pressing force is applied to the friction carrier 27 regardless of the thickness of the sheets stacked on the support member 20.

  FIG. 8D shows a case where the traveling motor M3 is further rotated counterclockwise (about 0 degree), and the frictional conveying body 27 moves while dragging the sheet in the direction of the arrow in the figure. At this time, the second arm and the third arm are in the most tightly linked state. By such an operation, the frictional conveyance body contacts the uppermost sheet surface in the state of FIG. 8C, travels along the support surface to the position of FIG. 8D, drags and conveys the sheet, and conveys the sheet. Butt against each restriction stopper. In other words, the frictional force in the traveling direction of the frictional conveying body 27 is set to a friction coefficient that provides a sufficiently larger friction than the frictional force between the sheets.

  FIG. 9E shows a state in which the sheet end is abutted against the restriction stopper and then separated from the upper surface of the sheet. After passing through FIG. 9F, the sheet moves to the home position in FIG. Wait for the import. When the final sheet (one sheet when only one sheet is aligned and discharged) of the sheet bundle aligned by the aligning / conveying means 26 is aligned, FIG. 8D shows. The motor M3 is stopped at the sheet abutting position, and the sheet bundle is nipped by the side edge support member 20 and the friction conveyance body 27. In this state, post-processing (staple processing) is performed on the sheet bundle in a second paper discharge mode, which will be described later, and in the third paper discharge mode, the sheet bundle is nipped between the side edge support member 20 and the frictional carrier 27. The side edge support member 20 is retracted, and then the rear end support member 19 is retracted, and the sheet bundle is discharged onto the paper placement surface 15 a of the stack tray 15. Thereafter, the aligning / conveying means 26 moves to the home position. When the side edge support member 20 is moved to the standby position, the friction carrier 27 holds the sheet, so even if the area supported by the side edge support member 20 becomes smaller, the sheet moves in the sheet width direction (side edge). The support member 20 does not vary in the direction of movement).

  FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the friction carrier 27. (A) shows a case where the sheet is conveyed in a direction (θ = 45 degrees) intersecting with the paper discharge direction arrow X. When the sheet is moved from the broken line state to the solid line state, the sheet rear end edge is in contact with the rear end restriction stopper 24 first. A conveying force F acts on the sheet in the running direction, and its X-direction component force (Fcosθ) acts on the trailing edge regulating stopper 24 and the Y-direction component force (Fsinθ) acts on the side edge regulating stopper 25 side.

  At this time, when the rear end of the sheet hits the rear end regulating stopper 24 as shown in the drawing, the reaction force of the X direction component force (Fcos θ) acts on the sheet. This reaction force causes the sheet to buckle and distort, but the frictional carrier 27 rotates in the clockwise direction in FIG. This rotation prevents buckling and distortion of the seat due to reaction forces. In addition, since the force in the direction in which the sheet moves toward the regulation stopper 25 acts on the sheet by the rotation of the friction conveyance body 27, the friction conveyance body 27 is applied after the sheet side edge is abutted against the regulation stopper 24. The sheet side edge abuts against the regulation stopper 25 by moving in the traveling direction while rotating.

  Next, FIG. 4B shows a case where the sheet is conveyed in a direction different from the previous direction. When the sheet is dragged and conveyed in the direction intersecting with the illustrated paper discharge direction (arrow X), the sheet side edge first strikes the side edge regulating stopper 25. The sheet strikes the sheet side edge by the X direction component force and the Y direction component force (Fsin θ) as before, and the reaction force is transmitted to the sheet. Therefore, the frictional conveying body 27 rotates counterclockwise as shown in the drawing to correct the posture of the sheet so as to prevent the sheet from buckling and distortion. In addition, since the force in the direction in which the sheet moves toward the restriction stopper 24 acts on the sheet by rotating the friction conveyance body 27, the friction conveyance body 27 is applied after the sheet side edge is abutted against the restriction stopper 25. The rear end of the sheet abuts against the restriction stopper 24 by moving in the traveling direction while rotating. In particular, when the sheet size increases, the distance that the friction carrier 27 moves after the sheet side edge is abutted against the restriction stopper 25 is long. Therefore, if the sheet size is large, the amount of rotation of the frictional conveyance body 27 increases, and a large force for moving the sheet toward the regulating stopper 24 can be obtained.

[Different embodiments of aligning and conveying means]
The friction conveying body 27 described above has been described with respect to an embodiment (referred to as a first embodiment) configured with a roll body (an idle roller 27r) that rotates in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the sheet is transferred. In addition, the second embodiment in FIG. 11 (a) and the third embodiment in FIG. 11 (b) are different from FIG. 6 in which the friction drag of the friction carrier 27 is set to be large in the traveling direction and small in the traveling orthogonal direction. Show.

  In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6A, the frictional conveying body 27 is composed of a pad member 32 that comes into surface contact with the sheet, and a holding member 28d (an operating arm in the illustrated apparatus) that supports the conveying body 27 is provided. A bearing pin 33 supports the bearing so as to be displaceable (rotatable) in the direction orthogonal to the traveling. As a result, when one side of the sheet abuts against the regulating stoppers 24 and 25 and a buckling force acts on the sheet, the frictional conveying body 27 is integrated with the holding member 28d in the direction in which the buckling force acts (the direction of the drag force of the stopper). Rotate around a fulcrum.

  In the second embodiment, the holding member that supports the frictional conveying body 27 is not limited to the operating arm that directly supports the frictional conveying body as shown in the figure, and the third arm 28c that supports (mounts) this operating arm. Alternatively, other arm members may be used. In short, various configurations may be employed as long as the mechanism can freely move the mount member that supports the friction carrier 27 on the apparatus frame 10 in the traveling orthogonal direction. Although the embodiment for reducing the frictional drag in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance of the mount member that supports the friction conveyance body has been described above, the other configurations in FIG. 11A are the same as those shown in FIG. The description is omitted.

  With this configuration, when the friction conveyance body travels in the direction perpendicular to the paper discharge, one side of the sheet comes into contact with the side edge regulating stopper 25 or the trailing edge regulating stopper 24 first, and buckling deformation force that curves the sheet. When this occurs, the acting force acts on the friction carrier 27 as a frictional drag in the direction perpendicular to the traveling direction. At this time, since the friction carrier 27 is supported by the bearing pins so as to be rotatable in the direction orthogonal to the traveling direction, the friction carrier 27 swings around this. As a result, the frictional drag of the friction carrier is lower in the direction perpendicular to the running direction than in the carrying direction.

  FIG. 11B shows a third embodiment of the friction carrier 27. The thing of the figure comprises the friction conveyance body 27 by the ball | bowl (sphere). That is, a ball body 27b such as a rubber material or a resin material is supported at the tip of the operation arm 28d so as to be able to roll. The ball 27b is provided with a brake shoe 34 having a large frictional resistance in the running direction and a braking mechanism so that the frictional resistance is reduced in the running orthogonal direction, as shown in FIG. . As a result, the ball body 27b is restricted from rolling in the traveling direction, and freely rolls in the traveling orthogonal direction, thereby exhibiting the same action as the roll structure in the first embodiment described above.

  In the present invention, the friction carrier 27 is not limited to roll rolling (first embodiment), holder rotation (second embodiment), and ball rolling (third embodiment). It is also possible to make the friction coefficient different between the traveling direction and the traveling orthogonal direction. For example, the friction carrier is formed of a friction pad such as a flat plate shape or a kamaboko shape. The friction coefficient of the pad surface is surface-treated so that the traveling direction is large and the traveling orthogonal direction is small. As the processing method, for example, a method is known in which a texture having directionality is formed on the surface of a rubber material to obtain an anisotropic friction coefficient.

[Sheet alignment mechanism in the first support member]
The first support member (rear end support member) 19 described above is integrated with a support surface for placing and supporting the rear end portion of the sheet sent from the paper discharge port 13, a paddle mechanism for pressing and holding the rear end portion of the sheet, and a stack. A push-out mechanism that pushes the sheet bundle toward the tray is provided. Each configuration will be described.

[Paddle mechanism]
The first support member 19 is disposed so as to form a step with the paper discharge roller 14b, and a sheet separated from the roller is supported on the support member in a free state. Therefore, when the succeeding sheet is fed out from the sheet discharge roller 14b, the sheet on which the leading end of the sheet is preceded may be displaced. For this reason, a means for pressing and holding the rear end portion of the sheet placed on the first support member 19 is required. In the illustrated example, a paddle member 35 is disposed above the first support member 19 as shown in FIG.

  As shown in the figure, a plurality of paddle members 35 are attached to the rotating shaft 36 at left and right sides in the sheet width direction with a gap therebetween. The paddle is formed of an elastic member having a long shape whose front end presses and holds the rear end of the sheet on the support member 20, and pivots about the rotation shaft 36. A paddle motor M4 is connected to the rotating shaft 36, a flag (not shown) for angle detection is provided on one of the transmission rotating shafts, and a position sensor Ps4 is arranged on the apparatus frame 10 side. Note that an encoder and an encode sensor may be used instead of the flag.

  Then, the control means 50 described later, after the sheet preceding the alignment operation for abutting the trailing edge of the sheet carried out from the sheet discharge outlet 13 against the trailing edge regulating stopper 24 by the aligning / conveying means 26 (before execution). The paddle in a state where the end is pressed is swung and retracted from the rear end of the seat. The paddle motor M4 is stopped at the timing when the paddle 35 presses the upper surface of the sheet after the aligning operation in which the aligning means 26 abuts the sheet against the trailing edge regulating stopper is completed.

[Push-out mechanism]
The first support member 19 is provided with the rear end regulating stopper 24 for positioning the sheet at a predetermined processing position and the aligning / conveying means 26 for transporting the sheet toward the stopper. The sheets collected in a bundle on the support member 20 are processed later, such as a binding processing apparatus, and then carried out toward the stack tray 15. Therefore, the first support member 19 is provided with pusher means 37 for pushing the post-processed sheet bundle toward the stack tray 15.

  FIG. 5 shows the pusher means 37. The pusher means 37 includes a slide member 38 slidably supported by the first support member 19, a bent piece 39 provided at the tip of the slide member 38, and a rear end abutment formed on the bent piece. It is composed of a contact surface 39s.

  The illustrated slide member 38 is configured to be fitted into a guide groove 40 formed in the first support member 19 so that the rear end contact surface moves back and forth by a predetermined distance in the paper discharge direction. A rack 38r and a pinion 38p that engages with the rack 38r are attached to the apparatus frame 10 at the base end of the slide member 38, and a pusher motor M5 is connected to the pinion 38p. Then, when the sheet sent from the sheet discharge outlet 13 is placed and supported on the support member 20, the control means 50, which will be described later, waits at a position where the rear end contact surface 39 s is retracted from the rear end regulating stopper 24. The pusher motor M5 is activated by a post-processing job end signal. Then, the slide member 38 moves from the standby position toward the stack tray 15 in the paper discharge direction. At this time, the rear end abutting surface engages with the rear end of the sheet bundle and pushes it toward the tray.

  When the rear end abutting surface moves to a predetermined position, the control means stops the pusher motor, and then moves the support member 20 from the operating position above the tray to the standby position retracted from the tray. With this operation, the sheet bundle is dropped and stored on the tray.

[Description of control configuration]
The control configuration of the above-described image forming system will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. The image forming system shown in FIG. 1 includes a control unit 45 (hereinafter referred to as “main body control unit”) of the image forming apparatus A and a control unit 50 (hereinafter referred to as “post-processing control unit”) of the sheet post-processing apparatus B. . The main body control unit 45 includes a print control unit 46, a paper feed control unit 47, and an input unit 48 (control panel).

  Then, an “image forming mode” and a “post-processing mode” are set from the input unit 48 (control panel). The image forming mode sets mode settings such as monochrome printing and duplex / single-sided printing, and image forming conditions such as sheet size, sheet paper quality, number of printouts, and enlarged / reduced printing. The “post-processing mode” is set to, for example, “print-out mode”, “staple finishing mode”, “jog sorting mode”, or the like.

  Further, the main body control unit 45 transfers the post-processing mode, the number of sheets, information on the number of copies, paper thickness information of the sheet on which an image is formed, and the like to the post-processing control unit 50. At the same time, the main body control unit 45 transfers a job end signal to the post-processing control unit 50 every time image formation is completed.

  The post-processing mode described above will be described. In the “print-out mode (first paper discharge mode)”, the sheet from the paper discharge port 13 is stored in the stack tray 15 without post-processing. In this case, the sheets are directly carried out from the paper discharge port 13 to the stack tray 15 without being stacked on the sub-tray 18 (first and second support members 19 and 20). In the “staple finishing mode (second sheet discharge mode)”, the sheets from the sheet discharge outlet 13 are stacked on the sub-tray 18 and aligned, and the sheet bundle is bound and stored in the stack tray 15. In this case, the sheet to be imaged is in principle designated by the operator to a sheet of the same paper thickness and the same size.

  In the “jog sorting mode (third paper discharge mode)”, a group in which sheets formed with the image forming apparatus A are carried out one by one from the paper discharge port 13 to the stack tray 15, and the sub-tray 18 from the paper discharge port 13. Jog sorting is performed by collecting and aligning parts on the (first and second support members 19 and 20). At this time, the side edge regulating stopper 25 is arranged at a position where the sheet side edge is offset by a predetermined amount when aligning the sheet with the sub-tray 18. After the bundles are accumulated on the sub-tray 18, the support members 19 and 20 are retracted outside the tray and dropped and stored on the stack tray 15. As a result, the sheet group carried out on the paper loading surface 15a from the paper discharge outlet 13 with a predetermined reference (center reference or side reference) and the sheet group stacked with a predetermined offset by the sub-tray 18 are different in the width direction. Stored in different positions and sorted by grouping group.

[Post-processing control unit]
The post-processing control unit operates the post-processing apparatus B according to the post-processing mode set by the image formation control unit. The illustrated post-processing control unit includes a control CPU 50 (hereinafter simply referred to as control means). A ROM 51 and a RAM 52 are connected to the control CPU 50, and a paper discharge operation described later is executed using a control program stored in the ROM 51 and control data stored in the RAM 52.

  For this reason, the control CPU 50 includes driver circuits for the transport motor M1, the first shift motor SM1, the second shift motor SM2, the travel motor M3, the paddle motor M4, and the pusher motor M5 described above (dr in FIG. 12). The command signal is transmitted to Further, the sheet sensor Se and the position sensor Ps are connected to the control CPU so as to receive each detection signal. The sheet sensor Se is a carry-in sensor Se1, a paper discharge sensor Se2, and a full sensor Se that detects fullness on a tray (not shown), and transmits a status signal to the control means 50, respectively.

  The position sensor Ps includes a position sensor Ps1 for the first support member, a position sensor Ps2 for the second support member 20, a friction carrier position sensor Ps3, a position sensor Ps4 for the paddle rotor, and a position sensor Ps5 for the pusher means. Each status signal is transferred to the control means. Note that the driver circuit of each drive motor controls motor start, motor stop, and speed control by PWM control, encode control, and the like by command signals from the control means.

[Post-processing operation]
FIG. 13 shows the case where the image forming apparatus A is set to the first paper discharge mode (straight paper discharge operation) in the mode setting, and FIG. 14 shows the second paper discharge mode (staple binding operation) and the third paper discharge mode. The case where the paper discharge mode (jog paper discharge operation) is set is shown.

  The paper discharge control means 50 executes the initialization operation with the apparatus power supply “ON” (St01). In this initialization operation, for example, the following initial position setting is executed. Whether the first support member 19 is in the standby position (home position) is detected by the position sensor Ps1, and when it is “No”, it moves to the sensor “ON” position. Similarly, the second support member 20 is moved to the standby position (home position).

  Next, the pusher means 37 is moved to the home position. In the illustrated apparatus, the home position is set to the standby position, and the rear end abutment surface 39s is retracted outside the tray (state shown in FIG. 5). Further, this initialization operation sets the post-processing means 23 (the illustrated staple unit) to an initial state.

[First discharge mode]
Therefore, the paper discharge control unit 50 receives a mode setting signal from the image formation control unit 45. When the first paper discharge mode is designated by this command signal, the post-processing control unit 50 executes the next initial operation (St02).

  The paper discharge control means 50 determines whether or not the first and second support members 19 and 20 are located at the home position as an initial operation setting. When the position is other than the home position, the position is moved to the home position (St03). At the same time, the paper discharge control means 50 moves to the restricting position where the rear end abutment surface 39s of the slide member 38 protrudes to the inside of the tray (state shown in FIG. 3). In this operation, the pusher motor M5 moves the slide member 38 from the home position by a predetermined amount of movement. Then, the rear end contact surface 39s is set to a position slightly protruding from the rear end regulating surface 16 of the stack tray 15 by about 2 mm inside the tray (see Dz shown in FIG. 4).

  When the post-processing control unit 50 receives the job start signal from the image formation control unit 45, the post-processing control unit 50 rotates the transport motor M1 and rotates the transport roller 14a and the paper discharge roller 14b in the paper discharge direction (St05). As a result, the sheet carried out to the main body discharge port 6 is carried into the sheet carry-in path 11 and the leading edge of the sheet is detected by the carry-in sensor Se1. This detection signal is used to control subsequent post-processing operations, such as determining the sheet jam from the time difference between the detection of the leading edge of the sheet by this sensor and the subsequent detection of the trailing edge of the sheet and the sheet size information. (St06).

  The control means 50 starts the timer t1 when the carry-in sensor Se1 detects the leading edge of the sheet. The timer time t1 is set to an expected time for the leading edge of the sheet to reach a predetermined position from the sheet discharge outlet 13. When the time t1 has elapsed, the control means 50 moves the first support member 19 from the standby position to the first operating position Ap1 (St07). Therefore, the timer time t1 is set to a timing at which the sheet engaging surface 19s of the support member 19 is engaged with the lower surface of the sheet after the leading edge of the sheet moves from the sheet discharge port to the predetermined first operating position Ap1.

  When the paper discharge sensor Se2 detects the trailing edge of the sheet, the control unit 50 starts the timer t2 (St08). This timer time t2 is set at a timing at which the trailing edge of the sheet moves away from the nip point of the paper discharge roller 14b. Then, the control means 50 moves the first support member 19 from the first operating position Ap1 to the second operating position Ap2 after the timer time t2 has elapsed (St09). This movement amount Δk is set larger than the radius of the paper discharge roller. Therefore, the sheet rear end is pushed away from the sheet discharge roller 14b by the first support member 19 in the sheet discharge direction by a predetermined amount Δk. As a result, the trailing edge remaining phenomenon that the trailing edge of the sheet remains on the peripheral surface of the sheet discharge roller is not caused.

  Next, when the paper discharge sensor Se2 detects the trailing edge of the sheet, the control unit 50 starts the timer t3 simultaneously with the timer t2. After the lapse of time, the first support member 19 is moved backward in the standby direction. This timer time t3 is set to a time required for the first support member 19 to move from the first operation position Ap1 to the second operation position Ap2, and after the support member 19 has moved to the second operation position Ap2, The timer time t3 is set to elapse (St09).

  And the control means 50 detects the state which the 1st support member 19 returned to the standby position Wp with the home position sensor Sp1. Then, the control unit 50 determines whether there is a subsequent sheet based on information from the image forming apparatus (St10). When there is a succeeding sheet, the previous step 05 to step 10 are repeated. When there is no subsequent sheet, the apparatus is stopped as a job end (St11).

[Second delivery mode]
Next, the operation when the second paper discharge mode is selected as the paper discharge mode will be described with reference to FIG. When the control unit 50 receives a command signal for the second paper discharge mode from the image formation control unit 45, the control unit 50 executes the following initial setting operation. The first and second support members 19 and 20 are moved from the home position (standby position) to the operating position.

  At the same time, the control unit 50 rotates the shift motor SM1 of the first shift unit 21 and the shift motor SM2 of the second shift unit 22 in predetermined directions, respectively, and places the first and second support members positioned at the home position on the paper. The position is moved to the operating position Ap above the surface 15a (St12). At the same time, the control means 50 moves the friction carrier 27 to the standby position. The travel motor M3 of the friction carrier described above is positioned and rotated to the home position. By this rotation, the friction carrier 27 stands by at the retracted position retracted above the first and second support members 19 and 20.

  Further, the control means 50 moves the rear end abutting surface 38S provided on the bent piece 38 of the slide member 39 to the standby position where it is retracted outside the tray. In this operation, the pusher motor M5 is operated, and the sensor flag is detected by the position sensor Ps5.

  Through the initial operation described above, the first and second support members 19 and 20 are positioned between the paper loading surface 15a of the paper discharge outlet 13 and protrude inside the tray. The rear end portion is prepared by the first support member, and the sheet side end portion is prepared by the second support member 20 so as to be mounted thereon.

  Next, when receiving a paper discharge instruction signal from the image formation control unit 45, the control unit 50 rotates the carry motor M <b> 1 and carries in the sheet on which the image is formed from the carry-in entrance 12. The sheet passes through the sheet carry-in path 11, is guided to the paper discharge port 13, and is stacked on the first second support member below from the paper discharge port.

  The control unit 50 rotates the travel motor M3 by a predetermined angle after a predetermined time has elapsed with reference to a signal detected by the paper discharge sensor Se2 at the trailing edge of the sheet. The friction motor 27 is moved from the standby position retracted upward from the upper surface of the sheet to the operating position for engaging the sheet with the upper surface by the traveling motor, and drags and conveys the sheet in the traveling direction inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the paper discharge direction ( St15). At this time, the sheet trailing edge is abutted against the trailing edge regulating stopper 24 and the sheet side edge is abutted against the side edge regulating stopper 25 (St15).

  The friction carrier 27 returns to the standby position away from the seat by the rotation of the travel motor M3 thereafter, and the motor is stopped. By repeating the operations from Step 14 to Step 15 described above, the sheets continuously fed from the paper discharge port 13 are accumulated on the first and second support members 19 and 20, and the members are aligned (St16). If there is no subsequent sheet, the aligning / conveying means 26 (frictional conveying body 27) does not move to the home position but stops at the sheet abutting position in FIG. 8 (d). Next, when receiving a job end signal from the image formation control unit 45, the control unit 50 transmits a post-processing operation instruction (command) signal. When the post-processing unit 23 receives this command signal, it performs a post-processing operation, and transmits a processing end signal to the control means 50 after the operation ends.

  Therefore, the control unit 50 starts the backward movement of the second support member 20 (St19), and the support of the sheet bundle by the second support member 20 is released. Thereafter, the pusher motor M5 is activated to move the rear end contact surface 39S of the bent piece 39 of the slide member 38 from the standby position to a predetermined position inside the tray. Then, the rear end of the sheet bundle supported by the first support member 19 is pushed out to a predetermined position above the paper placement surface 15a (St20). Thereafter, the backward movement of the first support member 19 is started (St21). The timing of the second support member 20 retracting, the slide member 38 advancing, and the first support member 19 retracting operation is not limited to moving to the next operation after each operation is completed, but at least the second It is only necessary that the first support member 19 supports the trailing end of the sheet bundle when the support of the sheet bundle by the support member 20 is removed. Then, after the first and second support members return to the home position (St22), the control means 50 determines whether or not there is a subsequent sheet. When there is a subsequent sheet, the control unit 50 returns to step 12 and is the same as the previous one. The operations from step 12 to step 22 are repeated. If there is no subsequent sheet, the job is terminated and the operation is stopped.

"Third paper discharge mode"
Next, the operation when the third paper discharge mode is selected as the paper discharge mode will be described with reference to FIG. When the third paper discharge mode is selected, the control unit 50 stores the sheet sent to the paper discharge port 13 in the stack tray 15 (St23) by the same operation as in the first paper discharge mode. Then, the control means 50 that receives the job end signal executes the paper discharge operation in the second paper discharge mode (St24).

  Next, when the job end signal is received, the control means 50 executes the first paper discharge mode and repeats this sequentially. With such an operation, sheets are stacked on the stack tray 15 on the basis of the paper discharge standard (center reference or side reference) from the paper discharge outlet 13 in the first paper discharge operation. The sheets are stacked on the stack tray 15 in a state where the fixed amount discharge position is offset. With this operation, the sheets are jog-sorted and stored in the stack tray for each copy (St25).

13 discharge port 14b discharge roller 15 stack tray 16 rear end regulating surface 18 subtray 19 first support member 20 second support member 21 first shift unit 22 second shift unit 24 rear end regulation stopper 25 side edge regulation stopper 26 a Lining conveyance means 27 Friction conveyance body 28 Conveyance body traveling means (manipulator)
28a First arm 28b Second arm 28c Third arm 28d Actuating arm 29 Drive arm 30 Guide groove 37 Pusher means 38 Slide member 39 Bending piece 39s Rear end abutting surface

Claims (14)

A paper discharge path having a paper discharge port;
A stack tray disposed on the downstream side of the paper discharge port;
A support means disposed between the paper discharge port and the stack tray for stacking at least a part of the sheets;
Sheet end regulating means for regulating the position of at least one edge of the sheet supported by the support means;
An aligning and conveying means arranged in the support means for transferring the sheet toward the sheet end regulating means;
With
The aligning and conveying means is
A frictional carrier that engages with the upper surface of the sheet supported by the support means;
A transport body traveling means for moving the friction transport body along the sheet surface by a predetermined amount in a travel direction intersecting the paper discharge direction at a predetermined angle;
Consists of
The sheet storage device, wherein the friction conveying body is configured such that the frictional drag of the sheet surface on the support means is smaller in the traveling orthogonal direction than in the traveling direction. The sheet edge regulating means is
A first regulating member for regulating the position of the leading edge or the trailing edge of the sheet sent from the paper discharge port;
A second regulating member for regulating the position of the sheet discharge orthogonal direction side edge;
Consists of
The aligning and conveying means is configured such that the traveling direction of the friction conveying body is in an angular direction that applies a conveying force toward the first restricting member and a conveying force toward the second restricting member to the sheet sent from the discharge port. The sheet storage device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet storage device is set. The aligning and conveying means is
The sheet edge is configured to be engaged with the other regulating member after the sheet edge is engaged before any one of the first and second regulating members,
2. The friction conveying member is provided with a rotating member that rotates in a direction in which the sheet edge approaches the other regulating member after the sheet edge engages with one regulating member. Or the sheet | seat storage apparatus of 2. The said friction conveyance body has rotating members, such as a roll body and a spherical body which roll along the upper surface of the sheet | seat supported by the said support means, The any one of Claim 1 to 3 characterized by the above-mentioned. The sheet storage device described in 1. The sheet storage device according to claim 4, wherein the rotating member is a roll body having a rotating shaft in the traveling direction and capable of rotating in the traveling orthogonal direction around the rotating shaft. The rotating member is composed of a sphere that can rotate in multiple directions along the sheet surface on the support means,
The sheet storage device according to claim 4, wherein the spherical body is provided with braking means for suppressing rotational movement in the traveling direction. The support means includes
Post-processing means for binding the accumulated sheets onto the bundle;
A bundle carrying-out means for carrying out the bound sheet bundle to the downstream stack tray;
The sheet storage device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet storage device is disposed. The support means includes
8. The sheet according to claim 1, further comprising a jog unit that stores the sheet fed from the paper discharge opening while being offset on the paper placement surface of the stack tray. 9. Storage device. The carrier traveling means that constitutes the aligning means,
A first arm member rotatably supported by the device frame;
A second arm member rotatably supported by the first arm member;
An actuating arm member axially supported by the second arm member;
A travel motor coupled to the second arm member;
Consists of
The sheet storage device according to claim 1, wherein the friction conveyance body is held by the operating arm member. The sheet storage device according to claim 9, wherein the travel motor and the second arm member cause an inchworm motion to occur in the friction conveyance body held by the operating arm member. The support means includes a rear end support member that supports a rear end of the sheet sent from the paper discharge port;
A side edge support member for supporting the side edge of the sheet;
The sheet storage device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet storage device is configured as follows. The rear end support member is
It is configured to be movable back and forth in the paper discharge direction of the sheet carried out from the paper discharge port,
An operating position located above the paper loading surface of the stack tray;
The sheet storage device according to claim 11, wherein the sheet storage device is configured to be movable between a standby position and a standby position. The side edge support member is
It is configured to be movable in the direction perpendicular to the sheet discharge direction of the sheet carried out from the sheet discharge port,
An operating position located above the paper loading surface of the stack tray;
The sheet storage device according to claim 11, wherein the sheet storage device is configured to be movable between a standby position and a standby position. An image forming apparatus for sequentially forming images on sheets;
A sheet storage device comprising a stack tray for storing sheets sent from the image forming apparatus;
Consists of
The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the sheet storage device is the sheet storage device according to claim 1.

Images