JP2020100044A - Booklet processing device and image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a booklet processing device configured such that a shutter that opens by being pressed by a booklet conveyed prevents disadvantageous action on the booklet.SOLUTION: There is provided a booklet processing device comprising conveying means for conveying a booklet, and shutter means that opens by being pressed against a top surface or the ground of the booklet conveyed by the conveying means and configured to be opened, when being pressed against the top surface or the ground closer to a header of the booklet conveyed by the conveying means than its spine, by force smaller than that applied when being pressed against the top surface or the ground closer to the spine of the booklet than its header.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

The present invention relates to a booklet processing apparatus such as a post-processing apparatus that performs post-processing for forming a booklet from a sheet on which an image is formed by an image forming apparatus.

Generally, a booklet processing device for forming a booklet from a sheet on which an image is formed by an image forming apparatus collects and aligns sheets on which an image is formed by the image forming apparatus, and performs processes such as folding, binding, and cutting. It is configured to be applied to form a booklet and then discharged to the outside of the machine.

In the configuration described in Patent Document 1 as such a booklet processing apparatus, after opening the shutter provided near the discharge port for discharging the booklet to the outside of the machine, the booklet is loaded outside the machine by the carrying force of the carrying roller. To discharge. The shutter provided near the discharge port is opened by the drive means of the apparatus at the timing when the booklet is conveyed to the vicinity of the discharge port.

Therefore, when the booklet reaches the vicinity of the shutter, the shutter is already open, and the booklet and the shutter do not come into contact with each other.

However, in order to open the shutter by the drive means of the apparatus as in the configuration described in Patent Document 1, a cam mechanism having a size corresponding to the operation amount must be provided, and the discharge section becomes complicated. However, there is a problem in that the size of the booklet becomes large and accessibility to the booklet when the ejected booklet is taken out is obstructed.

On the other hand, in the configuration described in Patent Document 2, the booklet itself discharged to the outside of the machine opens the shutter provided in the vicinity of the discharge port. You can avoid the problems of complication and size.

Further, in the configuration described in Patent Document 2, the taper is provided on the shutter so that the booklet in contact with the shutter is easily discharged to the outside of the machine, so that the booklet is not damaged. ing.

JP, 2013-216477, A JP, 6-255861, A

However, with the configuration described in Patent Document 2, it may not be possible to directly open the shutter with the booklet when the sheets of the booklet are curled, and even if the booklet can open the shutter and eject the sheet There was a problem that it was bent.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a booklet processing apparatus and an image forming system that prevent a shutter that is pressed by a conveyed booklet and opened to prevent the booklet from being adversely affected. Is.

The present invention for achieving the above-mentioned object includes a transporting means for transporting a booklet, a top of the booklet transported by the transporting means or the ground to be pushed and opened, and a spine of the booklet transported by the transporting means. A booklet processing having a shutter means configured to be opened with a force smaller than that of a case where the booklet is pressed to the top surface or the ground nearer to the fore edge and pressed to the top surface or the ground closer to the back than the fore edge of the booklet. It is a device.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a booklet processing device in which a shutter that is pressed by a conveyed booklet and opened does not have an adverse effect on the booklet.

1 is a configuration diagram of an image forming system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the booklet explaining the name of each part of the booklet which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the operation|movement with which the booklet which concerns on embodiment of this invention pushes open the shutter provided in the discharge port vicinity. It is a perspective view and a top view showing composition of a shutter concerning an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view showing the composition of the shutter concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view showing another composition of a shutter concerning an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The components described in the following embodiments are merely examples, and the configuration and various conditions of the device to which the present invention is applied can be appropriately modified or changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an image forming system including a sheet post-processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1(A) is a schematic front sectional view thereof, and FIG. 1(B) is a sheet post-processing apparatus. It is a front view of a part.

In FIG. 1A, an image forming system is configured by an image forming apparatus A and a bookbinding apparatus B as a sheet post-processing apparatus connected to the image forming apparatus A.

The image forming apparatus A is a composite type copying machine having a copying machine function and a printer function, and includes an image forming section 1 and a document reading section 2. The bookbinding apparatus B is connected to the sheet discharge port 3 of the image forming apparatus A, and is configured to perform bookbinding processing on the image-formed sheets.

Hereinafter, the image forming apparatus A and the bookbinding apparatus B will be described in more detail in this order.

The image forming apparatus A sends a sheet from the sheet supply unit 4 to the image forming unit 1, prints an image on the sheet in the image forming unit 1, and then discharges the sheet from the sheet discharge port 3.

In the sheet supply unit 4, sheets of a plurality of sizes can be stored in a sheet supply cassette, and designated sheets are separated one by one and fed to the image forming unit 1. The image forming section 1 includes a photosensitive drum 5, a laser scanner 6, a transfer roller 7 and a fixing device 8 arranged around the photosensitive drum 5, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 5 by the laser scanner 6. The toner is attached to the sheet, the image is transferred onto the sheet by the transfer roller 7, the image is heated and fixed by the fixing device 8, and then the sheet is sequentially discharged from the sheet discharge port 3.

In the circulation path 10, the front side of the sheet is printed by the image forming unit 1 and fixed by the fixing device 8, the sheet is turned upside down by the switchback path 9, and then conveyed again to the image forming unit 1 to be conveyed to the back side of the sheet. It is a route for double-sided printing. The sheet thus double-sided printed is also carried out from the sheet discharge port 3.

The bookbinding apparatus B is configured as an independent apparatus different from the image forming apparatus A, and carries in the housing 11 a sheet discharged from the sheet discharge port 3 of the image forming apparatus A shown in FIG. A sheet carry-in port 12 and a booklet discharge port 13 shown in FIG. 1B are provided.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a booklet for explaining the designation of each part of the booklet bound by the bookbinding apparatus B. In the booklet 30, 31 is called a spine, 32 is a top surface, 33 is a front edge, and 34 is a ground surface.

In FIG. 1A, a sheet printed by the image forming apparatus A that has been carried into the sheet carry-in port 12 is aligned and held by the aligning/holding unit 14 in the required number of pages as the inside paper of the booklet.

On the other hand, a printed cover sheet serving as the cover of the booklet is conveyed from the sheet carry-in port 12 and stands by in the standby conveyance path 16.

The middle paper which has been aligned and held by the aligning and holding unit 14 is glued to the spine 31 of the booklet 30 shown in FIG. At 17, the fore edge 33 side, the top surface 32 side, and the ground surface 34 side are cut so that the booklet 30 has a prescribed size.

The booklet 30 that has been cut into a specified size and completed booklet is conveyed downward with the spine 31 facing downward, and is conveyed to the discharge belt conveyor 19 by the booklet rotating unit 18. Are set sideways so that they face the same direction, and are conveyed toward the booklet discharge port 13 by the belt conveyor 19.
Then, the booklet transported by the belt conveyor 19 is ejected out of the machine by pushing a shutter 20 provided near the booklet ejection port 13 open.

FIG. 3 illustrates an operation in which the booklet transported by the belt conveyor 19 pushes and opens the shutter 20 provided near the booklet discharge port 13. FIG. 3A illustrates the periphery of the shutter 20 of the bookbinding apparatus B. 3 is a perspective view seen from the inside, and FIGS. 3B and 3C are plan views of the periphery of the shutter 20 shown in FIG.

3A and 3B, when the booklet 30 is set on the belt conveyor 19 with the spine 31 side facing the right side of the bookbinding apparatus B and the edge 33 side facing the left side of the bookbinding apparatus B, the belt conveyor 19 starts conveying the booklet 30 toward the booklet outlet 13. Thereafter, the top surface 32 (or the ground surface 34) of the booklet 30 conveyed to the belt conveyor 19 comes into contact with the shutter 20, and the shutter is rotated clockwise to open the booklet 30 by pushing the inner surface of the shutter 20 to eject the booklet 30. Discharge from the outlet 13.

Here, when the front cover 33 is curled and the corners 35 of the cover are open (the back 31 side of the booklet) when the paper used for the front cover is thin or an image having a different print rate is printed depending on the location. Since it is glued, it does not curl and float up unlike the fore edge 33 side.) When the shutter 20 is pushed open, the curled edge 33 side end can overcome the weight of the shutter 20 and open the shutter. Sometimes you can't. When attempting to eject the booklet 30 in this state, the corners 35 of the curled cover sheet are crushed and the edges are folded, and the booklet 30 cannot be ejected because of being caught by the shutter, or the ejection jam of FIG. As shown in C), there is a problem that the fold 36 is formed in the caught portion.

Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to solve this problem, the shutter is configured as follows.

4A and 4B show a configuration of a shutter as a shutter unit according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4A is a perspective view of the periphery of the shutter as seen from the inside of the bookbinding apparatus B, and FIG. 4B is FIG. FIG. 4A is a plan view of the periphery of the shutter of FIG.

In FIG. 4, the shutter according to the present embodiment is configured such that the shutter is divided into two parts, a large shutter 21 as a large shutter part and a small shutter 22 as a small shutter part smaller in size than the large shutter 21, and the top of the booklet 30 is divided. When the side of the surface 32 (or the ground 34) closer to the fore edge 33 than the spine 31 starts to come into contact first, the contact portion pushes the small shutter 22 side clockwise around the rotation axis X and ejects the booklet 30. To be done.

On the other hand, a portion of the booklet 30 that is not closer to the fore edge 33 than the spine 31 of the top surface 32 (or the ground surface 34) is configured to push the large shutter 21 side in a clockwise direction about the rotation axis X.

Since the small shutter 22 is smaller in size than the large shutter 21, the push-opening force at the time of the shutter opening operation can be made smaller, and as the booklet 30, as shown in FIG. Even if the top surface 32 (or the ground 34) of the booklet 30 comes into contact with the side closer to the forehead 33 than the spine 31 first, the booklet 30 is reduced by reducing the push-opening force of the shutter. You can prevent your ears from being broken or getting caught.

Reference numerals 21a and 22a are restriction portions provided on the large shutter 21 and the small shutter 22, respectively, for restricting the large shutter 21 and the small shutter 22 from rotating and opening counterclockwise about the rotation axis X. It is the opening prevention part. As shown in FIG. 6, this small opening 22 is abolished in the small shutter 22, and the overlapping portion 21b as a linking portion is formed so that the large opening shutter 21a also functions as an opening small portion. The small shutter 22 may be provided, and the weight of the small shutter 22 may be reduced by eliminating the opening stopper portion.

Moreover, in addition to making the size of the small shutter 22 smaller than the size of the large shutter 21, by configuring the large shutter 21 and the small shutter 22 with different materials or different shapes (changing thickness, making holes, etc.), Alternatively, the weight of the small shutter 22 is set to be lighter than the weight of the large shutter 21 without making the size of the small shutter 22 smaller than the size of the large shutter 21, and the top surface 32 (or the ground surface 34) of the booklet 30 is set. The opening force when the small shutter 22 is pushed open on the side closer to the fore edge 33 than the spine 31 may be reduced.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the booklet to be conveyed is pushed to the top surface or the ground closer to the back than the fore edge, the booklet is pushed to the top surface or the ground closer to the back than the fore edge. If the shutter is configured to be opened with less force when it is opened, it is possible to prevent scratches and folds in the booklet that is the product when the shutter is opened, and a high quality with an inexpensive structure. It is possible to provide the booklet of.

A... Image forming device B... Bookbinding device 1... Image forming part 3... Sheet discharge port 12... Sheet carry-in port 13... Booklet discharge port 14... Alignment holding part 15... Gluing part 16... Standby transport path 17... Cutting part 18... Booklet Rotating part 19... Belt conveyor 20... Shutter 21... Large shutter 21a... Opening stop part 21b... Overlap part 22... Small shutter 22a... Opening stop part 30... Booklet 31... Back 32... Top 33... Small edge 34... Ground 35 ...Corner 36...crease

Claims (6)

Transporting means for transporting the booklet,
When pushed by the top surface or the ground of the booklet transported by the transporting means and opened, and when pushed by the top surface or the ground closer to the edge than the spine of the booklet transported by the transporting means, from the edge of the booklet Shutter means configured to be opened with a force smaller than that when pressed to the top surface near the back or the ground,
A booklet processing device comprising: The shutter means is pressed by the first shutter portion opened by being pushed by the top surface or the ground closer to the back than the fore edge of the booklet conveyed by the conveying means and by the top surface or the ground being closer to the fore edge than the back. The booklet processing device according to claim 1, further comprising a second shutter portion that opens independently of the first shutter portion. The booklet processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second shutter portion is smaller in size than the first shutter portion. The booklet processing device according to claim 2, wherein the second shutter portion has a lighter weight than the first shutter portion. The second shutter part has a restricting part for restricting the booklet conveyed by the conveying means from opening in the opposite direction to the conveying direction, and the first shutter part is conveyed by the conveying means. 5. The booklet processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a cooperation section for restricting the opening of the booklet on the side opposite to the conveying direction by the restriction section. An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet,
The booklet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the booklet is formed from sheets on which images are formed by the image forming apparatus.
An image forming system comprising: