JP2020026343A - Sheet bundle discharge device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a sheet bundle discharge device that can discharge brochure-like sheet bundles consecutively and stably without stopping operation including bookbinding, by delivering the sheet bundles so that the bundles can be conveyed to a prescribed place, while sequentially receiving the sheet bundles subjected to bookbinding and the like.SOLUTION: A sheet bundle discharge device K2, which discharges a sheet bundle (a brochure) P4, comprises: a back reception 81 that supports a back part of the sheet bundle P4; a conveyance belt 92 that receives the sheet bundle P4 from the back reception 81 and conveys the bundle; and a conveyance belt regulation member 93 that regulates the conveyance belt 92 from moving in a width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the sheet bundle P4. The conveyance belt 92 is hung across a first pulley 94 arranged at an upstream side Up in the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle in a delivery position S in which the sheet bundle P4 is received from the back reception 81 and a second pulley 95 arranged at a downstream side Dw in the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle in the delivery position S, and the conveyance belt regulation member 93 is arranged closer to an upstream side than the delivery position S.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet bundle discharge device that receives and discharges and conveys a booklet-shaped sheet bundle.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a sheet bundle discharge device including a storage unit for storing a plurality of sheet bundles formed by binding a plurality of sheets on which images are formed and binding (Patent Document 1).

JP 2005-305822 A

  However, in the storage unit provided in the conventional sheet bundle discharge device, it is necessary to take out the sheet bundle every time the amount of stored sheet bundle reaches a certain amount. In this manner, while the sheet bundle is being taken out of the storage unit, the operation of the bookbinding unit that performs the binding process or the like must be stopped, so that a continuous bookbinding operation cannot be performed, thereby reducing the productivity of the apparatus. There was a problem that it could not be raised.

  In order to solve the above problem, it is possible to provide a conveying means for automatically conveying the sheet bundle to the outside so that the sheet bundle does not accumulate in the storage unit, but the size and weight of the sheet bundle to be conveyed, or the posture at the time of conveyance There is a case where a large load is applied to the transport means.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides a continuous and stable operation without stopping operations such as bookbinding by successively receiving a booklet-shaped sheet bundle that has been bound and transferring the sheet bundle so that the sheet bundle can be conveyed to a predetermined place. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet bundle discharge device capable of discharging a sheet bundle.

  In order to solve the above problems, a sheet bundle discharge device of the present invention includes a back support that supports a back portion of a sheet bundle, a conveyance belt that receives and conveys the sheet bundle from the back support, and a sheet bundle of the conveyance belt. Regulating means for regulating movement in the width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction, wherein the first pulley is disposed on the upstream side in the sheet bundle conveying direction of a delivery position for receiving the sheet bundle from the back support. And a second pulley disposed downstream of the delivery position in the sheet bundle conveyance direction, and the restricting means is disposed upstream of the delivery position.

  According to the sheet bundle discharge device of the present invention, by providing a back support that supports the back of the sheet bundle and a transport belt that receives and transports the sheet bundle from the back support, without stopping operations such as bookbinding, The sheet bundle can be continuously discharged outside the apparatus. Further, by providing a regulating means for regulating the movement of the transport belt in the width direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the sheet bundle, the circulation of the transport belt can be stabilized. Further, since the restricting means is disposed upstream of the sheet bundle transfer position in the sheet bundle conveying direction, the restricting means does not hinder the discharge of the sheet bundle, so that the sheet bundle is not damaged. It can be discharged smoothly.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the image forming system along a sheet conveying direction. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the bookbinding apparatus taken along a sheet conveying direction. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a sheet bundle discharge device, and is a diagram in which a backrest is waiting at a position for receiving a sheet bundle. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a sheet bundle discharge unit, and is a diagram waiting at a position where a backrest receives a sheet bundle. It is an expansion perspective view centering on a regulation means. FIG. 4 is a view as viewed from an arrow M in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a diagram in which a back support receives a sheet bundle at a receiving position in the sheet bundle discharge device of FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a plan view seen from the N direction when a backrest receives a sheet bundle at a receiving position in the sheet bundle discharge unit of FIG. 4. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which a back support receives a sheet bundle at a receiving position in the sheet bundle discharge unit in FIG. 4. It is sectional drawing centering on a back support. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the back support has started to turn left to discharge a sheet bundle. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the conveyance belt of FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the back support is further rotated leftward than the state illustrated in FIG. 7 and the pressing member is pressing the sheet bundle in the discharge direction (the direction of the arrow L) in cooperation with the back support. FIG. 14 is a diagram in which the back support is further rotated leftward than in the state of FIG. 13, and the pushing member further cooperates with the back support to further push the sheet bundle in the discharge direction, so that the sheet bundle is dropped on the transport belt. FIG. 15 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which the conveyance belt sends out a sheet bundle from the state illustrated in FIG. 14. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a bookbinding operation of the bookbinding apparatus. FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the image forming system.

  Hereinafter, an image forming system including a bookbinding device having a sheet bundle discharging device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the image forming system D along a sheet conveying direction. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the bookbinding apparatus B along the sheet conveyance direction.

  The image forming system D includes an image forming apparatus A that sequentially forms a toner image on a sheet, a bookbinding apparatus B disposed downstream of the image forming apparatus A, and a post-processing apparatus disposed downstream of the bookbinding apparatus B. C and the like. The image forming system D is configured to perform a bookbinding process on a sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming apparatus A with the bookbinding apparatus B. Further, the image forming system D is configured such that, for a sheet that is not subjected to bookbinding processing, the sheet is passed through the bookbinding apparatus B, post-processed by the post-processing apparatus C, and discharged.

  The image forming apparatus A forms an image on a sheet. The image forming apparatus A has various structures such as a copying machine, a printer, and a printing machine. The image forming apparatus A of the present embodiment is a copying machine that forms a toner image on a sheet. In the image forming apparatus A, a sheet supply unit 2, an image forming unit 3, a sheet discharge unit 4, an image forming apparatus control unit 101, and the like are built in an apparatus main body 1. In the sheet supply unit 2, a plurality of cassettes 5 corresponding to the sheet size are arranged in the vertical direction. The sheet feeding unit 2 feeds out a sheet of the size specified by the image forming apparatus control unit 101 to the feeding path 6. The feeding path 6 is provided with a pair of registration rollers 7. After aligning the leading edge of the sheet, the registration roller pair 7 feeds the sheet to the downstream image forming unit 3 at a predetermined timing.

  The image forming section 3 is provided with an electrostatic drum 10. Around the electrostatic drum 10, a print head 9, a developing unit 11, a transfer charger 12, and the like are arranged. The print head 9 is formed of, for example, a laser light emitter or the like, and forms an electrostatic latent image on the electrostatic drum 10. The electrostatic latent image is developed with toner by the developing device 11, becomes a toner image, and is transferred to a sheet by the transfer charger 12. The sheet has the toner image fixed by the fixing device 13 and is sent to the sheet discharge path 17. In the sheet discharge section 4, a sheet discharge port 14 is formed, and a sheet discharge roller pair 15 is disposed. The circulation path 16 reverses the sheet from the sheet discharge path 17 through the switchback path, and then guides the sheet to the registration roller pair 7 again. The toner image is formed on the back surface of the sheet by the image forming unit 3. The sheet having the toner image formed on one or both sides in this manner is fed to the bookbinding apparatus B from the sheet discharge port 14 by the sheet discharge roller pair 15.

  The scanner unit 20 provided at the upper part of the apparatus main body 1 optically reads an image of a document. As is generally known, the scanner unit 20 includes a platen glass 23 on which a document is placed by a user, a carriage 21 for optically reading the document along the platen glass 23, and an optical image from the carriage 21. And an optical reading means (for example, a CCD device) 22 for photoelectrically converting the data. Further, the scanner unit 20 has a document feeder 25 at an upper portion for automatically feeding a document to the platen glass 23.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the bookbinding apparatus B along the sheet conveyance direction. The bookbinding apparatus B is arranged so as to be connected to the image forming apparatus A.

  In the following description, a sheet to be a cover of a sheet bundle is referred to as a “cover”, a sheet covered by the cover is referred to as a “medium sheet”, a bundle of medium sheets is referred to as a “medium sheet bundle”, and a middle sheet bundle covered by the cover is referred to as “ The "sheet bundle with cover" and the trimmed sheet bundle with cover are called "booklet". Note that these sheet bundles may be simply referred to as sheet bundles.

  The bookbinding apparatus B includes a casing 30, a stacking unit 40 provided in the casing 30, for stacking and aligning the toner image-formed middle sheets in a bundle, and an adhesive for the middle sheet bundle from the stacking unit 40. An adhesive application section 55 for applying a cover sheet, a cover binding section 60 for binding the cover to the middle sheet bundle to which the adhesive is applied, a bundle attitude deflecting section 64 for changing the direction of the cover-bound sheet bundle with the cover, and a direction. And a sheet bundle discharge device K that discharges a booklet formed by trimming and trimming the edge of the sheet bundle having been changed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the sheet bundle discharge device K is disposed below the cutting position G, and includes a cutting waste collection unit K1 and a sheet bundle discharge unit K2.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of the sheet bundle discharge device K, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of the sheet bundle discharge unit K2 in a state where the backrest 81 is waiting at a receiving position for receiving the booklet P4. FIG. 6 is an arrow view as viewed from the M direction shown in FIG. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the sheet bundle discharge unit K2 pushes the booklet P4 that falls by its own weight via the sheet bundle discharge roller pair 66 of the cutting unit 65 and the discharge guide 71, and pushes the booklet P4 via the pressing member 73 and the slope 72. And a discharge unit (sheet bundle sending section) 90 for discharging the sheet bundle to the outside from a delivery position S (see FIGS. 4 and 15), which is placed on the transport belt 92 after being received. The backrest 81 rotates the booklet P4 with the back portion P4b side of the booklet P4 as a fulcrum, and the booklet P4 is placed at the delivery position S of the support member (conveyor stay) 91 on which the transport belt 92 is provided. The sheet bundle discharge section K2 includes various sensors such as a back support home position sensor SHP, a slope sensor SS, a push member home position sensor STH, and a push position detection sensor STT.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the transport belt 92 is an endless belt having a part of the conveyor stay 91 as a circulation surface. The transport belt 92 is provided on the upstream side Up of the delivery position S of the conveyor stay 91, and a pair of first pulleys 94 facing each other across the width direction in which the transport belt 92 is provided, and a downstream of the delivery position S. It is bridged so as to circulate between a pair of second pulleys 95 facing each other on the side Dw. The first pulley 94 is rotated by the rotation of the driving means (ejection motor) MT, and the second pulley 95 is driven to rotate with the rotation of the first pulley 94, so that the transport belt 92 circulates. . The conveyor stay 91 has a circulation surface on which the conveyor belt 92 circulates, and a support surface for supporting the other end of the booklet P4 with one end placed on the circulation surface to guide the conveyance.

  Since the driving force from the discharge motor MT is directly applied to the first pulley 94, belt slippage is more likely to occur than the driven second pulley 95. For this reason, the first pulley 94 is provided with a regulating means (transport belt regulating member) 93 for preventing the transport belt 92 from falling off or skewing. The transport belt regulating member 93 regulates the movement of the transport belt 92 in the width direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the booklet P4. The transport belt regulating member 93 is provided on the pair of first pulleys 94 and extends from the surface of the transport belt 92. It is constituted by a rotating body having a protruding flange 96. The first pulley 94 having the flange 96 is provided on the frame 80 provided with a drive mechanism for driving the transport belt 92, and is located on the upstream side Up from the delivery position S of the booklet P4 received by the back support 81. are doing. For this reason, when the backrest 81 is rotated to lower the booklet P4 on the transport belt 92, the booklet P4 does not contact the flange 96. On the other hand, since the second pulley 95 is not provided with the transport belt regulating member 93 and is formed at a height such that the outer peripheral end surface does not protrude from the surface of the transport belt 92, it becomes an obstacle when discharging the booklet P4. Nothing.

  Note that the second pulley 95 without the transport belt regulating member 93 is moved in the width direction orthogonal to the discharge direction of the transport belt 92 with respect to the support position of the first pulley 94 due to the deflection of the transport belt 92 or the like. , The support position may be shifted. As an improvement method, the second pulley 95 may be configured to be longer than the first pulley 94 in the width direction orthogonal to the discharge direction of the conveyor belt 92.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a push member 73 is provided on the booklet carry-in side of the sheet bundle discharge device K. The pushing member 73 is configured to be reciprocally movable by a pushing member driving unit 74 in a direction (arrow L, R directions) intersecting with the direction in which the booklet falls. The pushing member driving unit 74 includes a pushing member motor MP, a pulley 74a provided on the cutting waste collecting container 68, a belt 74b bridged between the pushing member motor MP and the pulley 74a, a pulley 74a, and a gear mechanism (not shown). ), And a rack 74d provided on the pushing member 73 along the longitudinal direction of the pushing member 73 and engaged with the pinion 74c. The pushing member drive unit 74 transmits the rotational force of the pushing member motor MP to the pinion 74c via the belt 74b and the pulley 74a, and reciprocates the pushing member 73 in the directions of the arrows L and R integrally with the rack 74d. It is made to let. The pushing member 73 and the pushing member driving unit 74 constitute a tilting unit.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram of the sheet bundle discharge device K in which the backrest 81 receives the booklet P4 at the receiving position where the booklet P4 is received. FIG. 8 is a view taken in the direction of the arrow N in FIG. FIG. 9 is a sectional view of FIG. 10 and 11, a back support 81 having a U-shaped cross section is provided on the frame 80 of the sheet bundle discharge section K2 in the same direction (the arrow CW direction and the arrow CCW direction) as the moving direction of the pressing member 73. It is provided to reciprocate. The back support 81 as receiving means receives the back portion P4b as the downstream end in the transport direction of the transported booklet P4, rotates, and falls the booklet P4 onto the transport belt 92. The transport belt 92 is a circulating endless belt.

  In the state shown in FIG. 10, the back support 81 has a support shaft 83 protruding from the upstream end with respect to the discharge direction of the booklet P <b> 4 by the transport belt 92. On the other hand, on the downstream side, as shown in FIG. 11, a guide pin 84 that functions as a rotation stopper for the back support 81 is provided in a protruding manner. The back support 81 is configured to rotate in the directions of the arrows CW and CCW because the support shaft 83 is rotatably supported by the frame 80. The back support 81 includes a back support bottom surface 81c that receives the back portion P4b of the booklet P4, and a back support upper guide (side surface) 81a and a back support lower guide 81b (side surface) adjacent to the back support bottom surface 81c and parallel to each other. This is a long gutter-shaped member whose cross section is formed in a U-shape. The upper back guide 81a and the lower back guide 81b are parallel to each other and are substantially perpendicular to the back bottom surface 81c.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a state where the back support 81 of the sheet bundle discharge device K has started rotating in the CCW direction to discharge the booklet P4. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the upstream side in the conveyance belt discharging direction of FIG. 10 and 11, a support shaft 83 is provided at an upstream end with respect to the discharging direction of the booklet P4 by the transport belt 92, and is provided downstream from the discharging direction of the booklet P4 by the transport belt 92. A guide pin 84 that functions as a rotation stopper for the back support 81 is provided in a protruding manner. The backrest 81 is rotated by a drive transmission means 85 having a pulse motor (discharge motor) MT from a receiving position of the booklet P4 detected by the backrest home position sensor SHP (FIG. 6) to a discharge position for discharging the booklet P4. I do.

  Note that the discharge motor MT is a driving source that circulates a transport belt 92, which will be described later, in addition to rotating the back support 81. The transport belt 92 and the back support 81 are connected to the discharge motor MT via one-way clutches (not shown), respectively. The conveyor belt 92 is driven by the rotation of the discharge motor MT in the reverse direction, and the back support 81 repeats swinging in the CW direction and the CCW direction in FIG. 10 by the rotation of the discharge motor MT in the forward direction (not shown). It is connected to the.

  3 and 6, a slope 72 as guide means is disposed between the trimming waste collection container 68 and the back support 81. The slope 72 is formed so that the back support 81 side is inclined downward. The slope 72 and the pressing member 73 are formed at intervals in a comb shape so as not to interfere with each other when the pressing member 73 moves.

  FIG. 15 illustrates a state in which the booklet P4 is sent out from the sheet bundle discharge unit K2 to the outside by the sheet bundle sending unit 90. The sheet bundle sending section 90 includes a conveyor stay 91 and a transport belt 92. As described above, the transport belt regulating member 93 is provided on the first pulley 94 around which the transport belt 92 is stretched. In the present embodiment, the first and second pulleys 94 and 95 around which the conveyor belt 92 is stretched are rotatably supported on a conveyor stay 91, and the conveyor belt 92 is on the side of the backing 81 of the conveyor stay 91. And circulates in the direction of arrow Q. The conveyor belt 92 circulates on the outer side between the upstream side Up and the downstream side Dw of the delivery position S of the conveyor stay 91 so that a part of the conveyor stay 91 along the back support 81 side is used as a circulation surface. Are arranged as follows. That is, the booklet P4 of the conveyor stay 91 is supported by the circulation surface on the conveyor belt 92 and the support surface adjacent to the circulation surface. Therefore, the other end of the booklet P4 that is not placed on the transport belt 92 is transported by sliding on the support surface. In the present embodiment, the other end of the conveyor stay 91 is slightly inclined upward with respect to one end on the back support 81 side. Due to this inclination, the back portion P4b of the booklet P4 placed on the transport belt 92 is naturally brought into contact with the back receiving bottom surface 81c and guided, so that when the booklet P4 moves along the transport belt 92, It can be discharged outside without falling off.

  In the present invention, in addition to such an inclined configuration of the conveyor stay 91, the conveyor stay 91 is provided with a transport belt regulating member 93 that regulates the movement of the transport belt 92 in the width direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the booklet P4. This makes it possible to stabilize the circulation of the transport belt 92 regardless of the size and weight of the booklet P4 or the position of the booklet P4 when placed on the transport belt 92. In addition, since the transport belt regulating member 93 is disposed upstream of the delivery position S of the booklet P4 in the sheet bundle transport direction, the transport belt regulating member 93 does not contact the booklet P4, so that the booklet P4 placed on the conveyor stay 91 may be damaged. Can be discharged smoothly without exerting any effect.

  A guide plate 82 for guiding the rotation of the back support 81 is formed with a U-shaped notch 82b having substantially the same cross-sectional shape as the back support 81. With this configuration, after the backrest 81 is rotated to the sheet bundle discharge position illustrated in FIG. 15, the booklet P4 is discharged to the outside of the bookbinding apparatus while guiding the backrest 81 when the booklet P4 is discharged by the transport belt 92. can do.

  The guide plate 82 and the back support 81 are configured to allow the booklet P4 to pass. That is, the guide plate 82 is formed with the notch 82b at a portion where the booklet P4 passes, and the downstream end of the back support 81 in the sheet bundle conveying direction is formed in an open shape without providing an end surface. I have. With this configuration, the folded booklet can be conveyed to the arrow Q and discharged without being moved in the direction of the arrow L in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, by providing the transport belt regulating member 93 limited only to the upstream side in the discharge direction of the transport belt 92, precise adjustment of the belt shift is not required. On the other hand, since the transport belt regulating member 93 is not provided on the downstream side in the discharge direction, there is no obstruction when the booklet P4 passes on the downstream side of the transport belt 92. Thereby, the booklet P4 can be smoothly discharged without damaging it.

[Explanation of booklet discharging operation]
FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the bookbinding operation of the bookbinding apparatus B of the present embodiment. The flowchart is stored in the storage unit (not shown) of the bookbinding device control unit 102 in FIGS. The bookbinding device control section 102 controls the operation of the bookbinding device B based on this flowchart. At this time, the bookbinding device control unit 102 exchanges information necessary for bookbinding with the image forming device control unit 101 and the post-processing device control unit 103.

  Steps S101 to S122 in FIG. 16 will be described. 1 and 2, the middle sheet bundle (S101) accumulated by the accumulation unit 40 becomes a sheet bundle with a cover by the adhesive application unit 55 and the cover binding unit 60 (S102, S103), and is trimmed by the cutting unit 65. Then, a booklet is obtained (S104). The sheet bundle discharge roller pair 66 starts an operation of discharging the booklet to the sheet bundle discharge unit K2 of the sheet bundle discharge device K (S105). As shown in FIG. 3, when receiving the booklet, the sheet bundle discharge section K2 needs to rotate the back support 81 to the receiving position of the booklet P4. For this reason, the bookbinding device control unit 102 rotates the discharge motor MT to rotate the back support 81 clockwise (FIG. 10, CW direction) (S106). The bookbinding device control unit 102 stops the discharge motor MT at the receiving position where the back 81 is detected by the back home position sensor SHP (FIG. 6) (YES in S107).

  Then, when the back support 81 is detected by the back support home position sensor SHP to be at the home position (reception position), the booklet from the sheet bundle discharge roller pair 66 receives the discharge guide 71 (FIG. 3) and the slope 72. And slide it into the backrest 81. As shown in FIG. 7, the back support 81 receives the back P4b of the booklet P4 (S108). The bookbinding device control unit 102 determines whether the booklet has been delivered to the backrest 81 by the detecting operation of the slope sensor SS shown in FIG. 6, and when the booklet is delivered to the backrest 81 (YES in S109), discharges the booklet. The motor MT is reversed, and the back support 81 is rotated leftward in the CCW direction in FIG. 10 (S110). When detecting that the back support 81 has rotated leftward to a predetermined angle based on the pulse generated by the discharge motor MT (YES in S111), the bookbinding device control unit 102 rotates the push member motor MP (FIG. 3). Then, the pressing member 73 is started to move leftward (L direction) in FIG. That is, the pressing member 73 starts operating after the back support 81 starts rotating. The pressing member 73 is located upstream of the back support 81. The pushing member 73 starts to operate and cooperates with the backrest 81 to push (act) a position upstream of the backrest 81 from behind the booklet in a direction in which the booklet is dropped on the transport belt 92 ( S112). FIG. 12 shows this state. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a state where the backrest 81 is further rotated leftward than the state of FIG. 7 and the pushing member 73 is pushing the booklet P4 in the discharge direction (the direction of the arrow L) in cooperation with the backrest 81. is there.

  FIG. 15 shows that the backrest 81 is further rotated leftward than the state shown in FIG. 13, and the pushing member 73 cooperates with the backrest 81 to further push the booklet P4 in the discharge direction, thereby moving the booklet P4 to the transport belt 92. FIG. The bookbinding device controller 102 detects that the back support 81 has rotated the booklet to the discharge position with respect to the transport belt 92 to the left based on the pulse generated by the discharge motor MT, and the pressing member 73 presses the pressing position detecting sensor STT. When it is detected that the sheet has been moved to the final pushing position (YES in S113), the rotation of the ejection motor MT and the pushing member motor MP is stopped (S114). When the booklet stacking detection sensor 93S (FIG. 15) detects that the booklet is stacked on the transport belt 92 after the rotation of the discharge motor MT and the pressing member motor MP stops, the bookbinding device control unit 102 (S115). If YES, the discharge motor MT is rotated to circulate the transport belt 92 (S116). The booklet stacking detection sensor 93S is provided on the frame 80 near the transport belt 92 in FIG.

  Note that, without providing the booklet stacking detection sensor 93S, the circulation of the transport belt 92 may be started at a timing when a predetermined time has elapsed after the rotation of the pusher motor MP is stopped.

  The position where the pressing member 73 presses the booklet, that is, the position where the pressing member 73 protrudes toward the booklet includes the lower part from the center in the height direction of the booklet, and is substantially equidistant from the center in the width direction of the booklet P4. It is preferable to use a plurality of distributed positions. By setting this position, the behavior when the booklet P4 falls down can be stabilized, and the variation in the position of the booklet P4 on the transport belt 92 can be reduced.

  When the booklet is detected by the booklet discharge detection sensor 94S (FIG. 17) by circulating the transport belt 92, the bookbinding apparatus control unit 102 determines that the booklet has started to be discharged (YES in S117), and When the booklet is no longer detected by the ejection detection sensor 94S (YES in S118), it is determined that the booklet has been conveyed in the direction of arrow Q and ejected out of the sheet bundle ejection section K2. The booklet discharge detection sensor 94S is provided on the frame 80 near the end of the transport belt 92 in FIG. When the booklet is discharged, the bookbinding device controller 102 stops the transport belt 92, returns the back support 81 to the receiving position by the discharge motor MT, and pushes the push member 73 by the push member motor MP to the push member home position sensor STH. Return to the detected receiving position. If there is a next booklet (YES in S120), the bookbinding apparatus control unit 102 returns to step S106, repeats the same control until there is no booklet, and when there is no booklet (NO in S120), a series of booklets The discharge control ends.

  Note that the bookbinding device control unit 102 determines whether the booklet is not detected by the booklet discharge detection sensor 94S in step S117 (NO in S117), or if the booklet is still detected by the booklet discharge detection sensor 94S in step S118 (step S118). NO), assuming that the booklet is not stacked at a predetermined position on the transport belt 92, an error is displayed on the operation panel 18 to prevent the booklet from being jammed (S121), and the transport belt 92 is stopped (S122).

[Detailed explanation of paper ejection operation]
The processes S106 to S115 and S108 and the processes S118 to S122 among the processes S101 to S122 described above will be described in detail below.

  FIGS. 4 and 7 show a state in which the backrest 81 has received the booklet in the processes S106, S107, and S108. 4 and 7, the lower back guide 81b is positioned substantially parallel to the slope 72a of the slope 72 and at a position lower than the slope 72a. Thereby, the transported booklet P4 is reliably received by the back support 81 without being caught by the back support 81. In addition, since the back support bottom surface 81c is formed substantially at right angles to the back support lower guide 81b, the back support 81 receives the back portion P4b of the booklet P4 in a close contact state and receives the booklet in a stable posture. be able to.

  FIG. 12 shows a state in which the ejection motor MT has rotated the back support 81 in the counterclockwise direction (the direction of the arrow CCW) after the back support 81 has received the booklet P4 in the processes S110 and S111. In steps S110 and S111, the back support 81 rotates counterclockwise by a predetermined angle (the direction of the arrow CCW).

  FIG. 13 shows the state of the back support 81 and the pushing member 73 in the processing S111 to S114. When the backrest 81 rotates as shown in FIG. 13, the push member motor MP (FIG. 3) rotates to move the push member 73 in the direction of arrow L in FIG. 13 to abut the booklet. The position of the push member 73 is determined by the push member home position sensor STH (FIG. 3) and the push position detection sensor STT. When the back support 81 receives the booklet, the push member 73 is on standby at the receiving position in FIGS. 3 and 7 detected by the push member home position sensor STH. When the backrest 81 rotates as shown in FIG. 10, the pushing member 73 contacts the booklet while moving to the pushing operation completion position in FIG. 13 detected by the pushing position detection sensor STT (FIG. (Fig. 13), push down the booklet.

  FIGS. 14 and 15 are diagrams showing a state in which the rotation operation of the back support 81 and the pushing operation of the pushing member 73 corresponding to the processes S114 and S115 are completed. When the back support 81 completes the rotation operation and the booklet is stacked on the transport belt 92, the back support upper guide 81a is substantially parallel to the angle of the conveyor stay 91 and is located at a position lower than the conveyor stay 91. It has become. As a result, in FIG. 15, when the transport belt 92 transports the booklet in the direction of arrow Q and discharges the booklet to the front side of the bookbinding apparatus, it is possible to reduce the number of portions where the surface of the booklet contacts the upper back guide 81a. This can reduce the load of transporting the booklet and prevent the cover from being damaged.

  14 and 15, the sheet bundle delivery unit 90 is inclined such that the back P4b of the booklet P4 stacked on the transport belt 92 is lower than the fore edge P4c. That is, the sheet bundle delivery unit 90 is arranged to be inclined with respect to the horizontal direction so as to reduce the angle at which the booklet P4 falls.

  In steps S118 to S122, when the booklet P4 is stacked on the sheet bundle sending section 90 (FIG. 15), the bookbinding apparatus control section 102 (FIG. 17) operates the discharge motor MT to move the transport belt 92 to the booklet. Circulate in the discharge direction (arrow Q direction). The transport belt 92 transports the booklet in the direction of the arrow Q and discharges the booklet outside the bookbinding apparatus B. That is, it is discharged to the front side of the apparatus.

  The circulation start timing of the transport belt 92 is set after the booklet is stacked on the transport belt 92. Whether or not the booklet is discharged outside the apparatus is detected by the booklet discharge detection sensor 94S. When the booklet is discharged out of the machine, the bookbinding device control unit 102 (FIG. 17) rotates the discharge motor MT forward and the push member motor MP in reverse to move the back support 81 and the push member 73 to the position of the booklet P4. Return to the receiving position. Thus, a series of bookbinding operations by the bookbinding apparatus B ends. Then, when there is a booklet to be conveyed, the bookbinding apparatus B repeats the above operation to sequentially discharge the booklet to the outside.

K Sheet bundle discharge device K1 Cutting waste collection unit K2 Sheet bundle discharge unit MT Discharge motor SS Slope sensor STH Push member home position sensor STT Push position detection sensor SHP Back home position sensor P4 Booklet (sheet bundle)
P4b Back 72 Slope 73 Push member 74 Push member drive 80 Frame 81 Back 81a Back upper guide 81b Back lower guide 81c Back bottom 82 Guide plate 82b Notch 83 Support shaft 84 Guide pin 85 Drive transmission means 90 Sheet bundle Delivery unit (discharge means)
91 Conveyor stay (support member)
92 Conveying belt (conveying means)
93 Transport belt regulating member (regulating means)
94 first pulley 95 second pulley 96 flange

Claims (6)

In a sheet bundle discharge device that discharges a sheet bundle,
A back support for supporting the back of the sheet bundle;
A conveyance belt that receives and conveys a sheet bundle from the back support,
Regulating means for regulating the movement of the sheet bundle of the conveying belt in the width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction,
A first pulley disposed upstream of a transfer position in the sheet bundle conveyance direction at a delivery position for receiving the sheet bundle from the back support, and a second pulley disposed downstream of the transfer position in the sheet bundle conveyance direction. And a sheet bundle discharge device in which the restricting means is disposed upstream of the delivery position.   The sheet bundle discharge device according to claim 1, wherein the restricting unit is a flange attached to the first pulley.   3. The sheet bundle discharge device according to claim 1, wherein the back support rotates the sheet bundle around a back side of the sheet bundle as a fulcrum, and places the sheet bundle at the delivery position on the transport belt. 4.   4. The sheet bundle discharge device according to claim 1, further comprising a driving unit configured to circulate the transport belt by rotating the first pulley. 5. The transport belt is provided on at least a part of a support member that supports a sheet bundle at the delivery position,
The sheet bundle discharge device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet bundle placed on the transport belt is transported while being supported on the support member.   6. The sheet bundle discharge device according to claim 5, wherein a regulating unit that regulates movement of the transport belt in a width direction orthogonal to a transport direction of the sheet bundle of the transport belt is provided on the support member.