JP2020132319A - Sheet folder - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a sheet folder adapted to improve accuracy of a fold positional of a sheet by making a sheet abutment member not slide for the sheet.SOLUTION: A sheet folder includes a sheet stack tray in which a sheet transported by carrying means is stacked inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to a horizontal direction, a folding roller pair 52 and a folding blade 56 that are oppositely arranged sandwiching the sheet stack tray so that the folding blade 56 moves toward the folding roller pair 52 and pushes a predetermined folding position of the sheet in the sheet stack tray to a nip of the folding roller pair 52, and urging means 960 that is provided on one side to the sheet stack tray and extended downstream of the nip of the folding roller pair 52 from an upstream toward a downstream in a sheet transport direction so that when the folding blade 56 pushes the sheet to the nip of the folding roller pair 52, the urging means 960 contacts the sheet and urges the folding position of the sheet toward the folding blade 56.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 13

Description

The present invention relates to a sheet folding device that folds a sheet or a bundle of sheets, and an image forming device such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile, or a composite device thereof equipped with the sheet folding device.

Conventionally, a sheet folding device or an image forming device equipped with this device in a main body is loaded by leaning a bundle of sheets almost vertically, binding the central portion by a staple means for saddle stitching, and then binding the central portion thereof, and then the center of the bundle. One side of the portion is opposed to the nip portion of a pair of folding rollers arranged on the side of the one side, and the other side is made of a pair of veneers arranged on the other side. Protrude toward the nip part of the folding roller, push the sheet bundle into the nip part in a dogleg shape, and fold the sheet bundle in two by the entrainment pinching pressure of the pair of folding rollers so that it is in a saddle-folded state. It has become. The sheet in this case is plain paper, a resin substitute for plain paper, thick paper, or the like.

However, when the sheet bundle is pierced by the thrust member and pushed into the pair of folding rollers, the tip of the thrust member slides with respect to the sheet, the sheet bundle is folded at a position deviated from the predetermined folding position, and the sheet bundle is bent accurately. Sometimes you can't.

Therefore, in order to stabilize the bending position of the sheet bundle, a protrusion or the like is provided at the tip of the thrust member for the purpose of preventing the tip of the thrust member from slipping against the sheet bundle when the sheet thrust member pokes the sheet bundle. It is known to prevent slipping (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-240307).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-240307

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, in order to prevent the thrust member and the seat from slipping, the anti-slip means provided in the portion of the seat thrust member in contact with the seat leaves contact traces such as holes and dents in the seat. There is a problem.

The present invention is a sheet folding device capable of accurately bending a sheet or a sheet bundle at a predetermined position without leaving a contact mark of the thrust member on the sheet and preventing the thrust member from slipping on the sheet. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus provided with a sheet folding apparatus.

In order to solve the above problems, the sheet folding device of the present invention includes a transport means for transporting sheets in a predetermined transport direction and a stacking means for accumulating the sheets transported by the transport means at a predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal direction. A fold that is provided on one side of the sheet thickness direction of the accumulating means and that folds the sheet at a predetermined folding position by sandwiching and rotating the sheet accumulated in the accumulating means at a predetermined sandwiching position. A pair of rotating portions and a thrusting means that is provided on the other side of the stacking means with the accumulating means in between and moves in a thrusting direction from the other side toward the pair of folding rotating portions to pierce the folded position of the sheet. A means provided on one side of the means, extending from the upstream side to the downstream side in the sheet transport direction of the folding rotating portion pair to the downstream side of the holding position of the folding rotating portion pair, and pushing the folding position of the sheet. It is equipped with an urging means to urge towards.

At this time, the thrusting means is provided with at least one thrusting portion that comes into contact with the sheet, and the urging means is provided at a position that overlaps the thrusting portion when viewed from the thrusting direction. As a result, the sheet is effectively urged against the extrusion of the sheet by the thrusting means. The thrusting means includes a plurality of thrusting portions that come into contact with the sheet, and the urging means is positioned at a position that overlaps the thrusting portion near the center in the width direction of the sheet when viewed from the thrusting direction of the sheet. It is good to provide it.

Further, the rotating portion pair includes a sandwiching portion that sandwiches the sheet and a non-pinching portion that does not sandwich the sheet, and the urging means is provided at a position overlapping the non-pinching portion when viewed from the thrusting direction. By setting the width of the urging means to be narrower than the width of the non-pinching portion, it is possible to more effectively apply the urging force to the seat.

According to the present invention, since the sheet accumulating means is provided with the urging means for urging the sheet, the sheet is urged toward the stab means when the sheet stab means stabs the sheet. When poking, the seat can be folded in place without slipping against the seat.

In particular, when a sheet is bent and easily curved like a thin sheet or a bundle of sheets, and a slippery sheet is folded from a thrusting means, the urging means suppresses the deviation in the sliding direction and folds the sheet at a predetermined position without slipping. be able to.

An explanatory diagram of the overall configuration of the image forming system of the present embodiment is shown. An explanatory diagram of the overall configuration of the sheet processing apparatus in the image forming system of FIG. 1 is shown. The cross-sectional view of the sheet folding processing apparatus in the sheet processing apparatus of FIG. 2 is shown. The enlarged sectional view of the main part of FIG. 3 is shown. An explanatory diagram of the positional relationship between the folding roller pair and the seat guide member when the seat is carried in is shown. A perspective view of the main part of the sheet folding processing device from the folding blade side is shown. (A) is a schematic view of the main part of the sheet folding device of FIG. 6 as viewed from above, that is, from the sheet loading side, and (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII. The plan view of the folding blade is shown. The perspective view explaining the folding roller pair is shown. An explanatory view of the positional relationship between the butt portion of the folding blade and the pair of folding rollers from a plane is shown. A schematic explanatory diagram of the operation when the folding blade pierces the paper is shown. An explanatory diagram of the positional relationship between the folding roller pair and the urging means is shown. A schematic explanatory view of a state in which the seat is pressed by the urging means is shown. An explanatory diagram of the positional relationship between the urging means and the protrusion of the folding blade is shown. An explanatory diagram of the positional relationship between the urging means and the folding roller pair is shown. (A) to (c) show schematic explanatory views of the process of folding a bundle of sheets. (A) and (b) show schematic explanatory views of the sheet bundle folding process following FIG. (A) and (b) show schematic explanatory views of the sheet bundle folding process following FIG.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings, components that are the same or similar throughout the present specification are designated by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 schematically shows the overall configuration of an image forming system including a sheet folding device according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, the image forming system 100 includes an image forming apparatus A and a sheet processing apparatus B attached thereto. The image forming apparatus A is composed of an image forming unit A1, a scanner unit A2, and a feeder unit A3. The image forming unit A1 includes a feeding unit 2, an image forming unit 3, a paper ejection unit 4, and a data processing unit 5 inside the apparatus housing 1.

The paper feed unit 2 is composed of a plurality of cassette mechanisms 2a, 2b, 2c for storing image forming sheets of different sizes, and feeds out a sheet of a size specified by a main body control unit (not shown) to the paper feed path 6. Each of the cassette mechanisms 2a, 2b, and 2c is detachably installed from the paper feeding unit 2, and has a built-in separation mechanism for separating each internal sheet one by one and a paper feeding mechanism for feeding out the sheets.

The paper feed path 6 is provided with a transport roller that feeds the sheets supplied from the cassette mechanisms 2a, 2b, and 2c to the downstream side, and a resist roller pair that aligns the tips of the sheets at the end of the path. There is.

A large-capacity cassette 2d and a manual feed tray 2e are connected to the paper feed path 6. The large-capacity cassette 2d is composed of an optional unit that stores a sheet having a size that is consumed in large quantities. The manual feed tray 2e is configured to be able to supply special sheets such as thick paper sheets, coating sheets, and film sheets that are difficult to separately feed.

The image forming unit 3 is composed of, for example, an electrostatic printing mechanism, and includes a rotating photosensitive drum 9, a light emitter 10, a developer 11, and a cleaner (not shown) that emit an optical beam and are arranged around the rotating photosensitive drum 9. And have. The one shown in the figure is a monochrome printing mechanism, in which a latent image is optically formed on the photosensitive drum 9 by a light emitter 10, and toner is attached to the latent image by a developing device 11.

A sheet is sent from the paper feed path 6 to the image forming unit 3 at the timing of forming an image on the photosensitive drum 9, the image is transferred onto the sheet by the transfer charger 12, and the fixing is arranged in the paper ejection path 14. It is fixed by the roller 13. A paper ejection roller 15 and a paper ejection port 16 are arranged in the paper ejection path 14, and an image-formed sheet is conveyed to a sheet processing device B described later.

The scanner unit A2 uses the platen 17 on which the image document is placed, the carriage 18 that reciprocates along the platen 17, the photoelectric conversion means 19, and the photoelectric conversion means 19 that converts the light reflected from the document on the platen 17 by the carriage 18. It is provided with a reduction optical system 20 for guiding to. The photoelectric conversion means 19 photoelectrically converts the optical output from the reduction optical system 20 into image data and outputs it as an electric signal to the image forming unit 3.

Further, the scanner unit A2 is provided with a traveling platen 21 for reading the sheet sent from the feeder unit A3. The feeder unit A3 includes a paper feed tray 22, a paper feed path 23 that guides the sheet fed from the paper feed tray 22 to the traveling platen 21, and a paper ejection tray 24 that stores documents that have passed through the traveling platen 21. .. The original from the paper feed tray 22 is read by the carriage 18 and the reduction optical system 20 when passing through the traveling platen 21.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration of a sheet processing device B that post-processes a sheet on which an image sent from the image forming device A is formed. The sheet processing device B includes a device housing 27 provided with a carry-in port 26 for introducing a sheet from the image forming device A. The device housing 27 is aligned with the housing 1 of the image forming apparatus A so that the carry-in entrance 26 communicates with the paper ejection port 16 of the image forming apparatus A.

The sheet processing device B has a sheet carry-in path 28 for transporting sheets introduced from the carry-in entrance 26, and a first paper discharge pass 30, a second paper discharge pass 31, and a third paper discharge pass branched from the sheet carry-in path 28. 32, a first path switching means 33, and a second path switching means 34 are provided. The first and second path switching means 33 and 34 are each composed of flapper guides for changing the transport direction of the sheets transported along the sheet carry-in route 28.

The first path switching means 33 guides the sheet from the carry-in entrance 26 in the directions of the first paper ejection path 30 and the second paper ejection pass 31 and the third paper ejection path 32 by a driving means (not shown). You can switch to the mode to do. The first paper ejection pass 30 and the second paper ejection pass 31 can switch back and transport the sheet once introduced in the first paper ejection pass 30 to the second paper ejection pass 31 by reversing the transport direction. It communicates like this.

The second route switching means 34 is arranged on the downstream side of the first route switching means 33 with respect to the transport direction of the sheet transported along the sheet carry-in route 28. The second path switching means 34 has a mode in which a sheet that has passed through the first path switching means 33 is introduced into the first paper ejection path 30 by a driving means (not shown), and a sheet that has been once introduced into the first paper ejection path 30. Is switched back to the second paper ejection path 31.

The sheet processing apparatus B includes a first processing unit B1, a second processing unit B2, and a third processing unit B3, which perform different post-processing. Further, a punch unit 40 for punching a punch hole in the carried-in sheet is arranged in the sheet carry-in route 28.

The first processing unit B1 collects and aligns a plurality of sheets carried out from the paper ejection port 35 at the downstream end of the first paper ejection path 30 with respect to the conveying direction of the sheets conveyed along the sheet carry-in path 28. It is a binding processing unit that performs binding processing and discharges it to a loading tray 36 provided on the outside of the device housing 27. The first processing unit B1 includes a sheet conveying device 37 for conveying a sheet or a bundle of sheets, and a binding processing unit 38 for binding the bundle of sheets.

At the downstream end of the first paper discharge path 30, a discharge roller pair 39 is provided for discharging the sheet from the paper discharge port 35 and for switching back from the first paper discharge pass 30 to the second paper discharge pass 31. Has been done.

The second processing unit B2 is a folding processing unit that forms a plurality of sheets transported by switchback from the second paper ejection path 31 into a sheet bundle, binds the sheet bundle, and then performs a folding process. As will be described later, the second processing unit B2 has a sheet folding device 41 that folds the carried-in sheet or the sheet bundle, and the sheet folding along the sheet conveying direction of the sheet conveyed to the second paper ejection path 31. A binding processing unit 42, which is arranged immediately upstream of the apparatus and binds a bundle of sheets, is provided. The folded sheet bundle is discharged by the discharge roller 43 to the loading tray 44 provided on the outside of the device housing 27.

The third processing unit B3 divides the sheets sent from the third paper ejection path 32 into a group in which sheets are collected by offsetting them by a predetermined amount in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction and a group in which they are collected without offsetting. Sort. The jog-sorted sheets are discharged to a loading tray 46 provided on the outside of the device housing 27, and an offset sheet bundle and a non-offset sheet bundle are stacked.

FIG. 3 schematically shows the overall configuration of the second processing unit B2.
As described above, the second processing unit B2 includes a sheet folding device 41 that carries in from the second paper ejection path 31 and folds the sheet bundles that have been collected and aligned in half, and the sheet bundle before the folding process. It is provided with a binding processing unit 42 for binding processing. The binding processing unit 42 shown is a stapler device for binding a sheet bundle by driving staples, but a needleless binding device for crimp binding a sheet bundle without a needle can also be used.

A sheet transport path 48 is connected to the second paper ejection path 31 in order to carry the sheet into the sheet folding device 41. Regarding the transport direction of the sheets transported from the second paper discharge path 31 to the sheet loading tray 51, the sheet loading tray 51 forming a part of the sheet transport path 48 is folded on the downstream side of the sheet transport path 48. It is provided for positioning and loading the seat.

At the lower end of the sheet loading tray 51, a regulation stopper 64 for abutting and regulating the tip of the carried-in sheet is arranged. The regulation stopper 64 is provided so as to be able to be raised and lowered along the seat loading tray 51 by the seat raising and lowering mechanism 65.

The seat elevating mechanism 65 includes a pair of pulleys 66 and 67 arranged on the back side of the seat loading tray 51 near the upper end and the lower end along the seat loading tray 51, and a transmission belt 68 wound around both pulleys. It is a conveyor belt mechanism consisting of. The regulation stopper 64 is fixed on the transmission belt 68. By rotating the pulley 66 or 67 on the drive side by a drive means such as a drive motor, the regulation stopper 64 moves up and down between the lower end position and the desired height position, whereby the seat is moved along the seat loading tray 51. Alternatively, the sheet bundle can be moved.

Although not shown, a transport means for transporting the sheet from the second paper ejection path 31 to the sheet loading tray 51 is provided. The sheet accumulation tray 51 is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal direction, and serves as an accumulation means for accumulating the conveyed sheets. Immediately upstream of the sheet loading tray 51, a binding processing unit 42 and a needle receiving portion 42a thereof are provided at opposite positions with the sheet transport path 48 interposed therebetween.

On one side of the sheet loading tray 51, a folding roller pair 52 as a folding rotating member is arranged so as to face one surface of a sheet or a sheet bundle loaded on the sheet loading tray 51. The folding roller pair 52 is composed of folding rollers 53 and 54 whose roller surfaces are in pressure contact with each other, and the pressure contact portion 55 is arranged toward the sheet loading tray 51. The seat loading tray 51 side of the pressure contact portion 55, that is, the seat inlet side is closed by the elastic sheet-shaped urging means 960. The urging means 960 will be clarified later.

The folding rollers 53 and 54 are juxtaposed on the upstream side and the downstream side along the loading direction of the sheets to be loaded into the sheet loading tray 51, respectively, at substantially equal intervals from the sheet loading tray 51. The folding rollers 53, 54, as a pair of folding rotating portions, sandwich and rotate the sheet accumulated in the accumulating means, thereby performing a folding process at the folding position of the sheet treatment.

As shown in FIG. 4, each of the folding rollers 53 and 54 of the folding roller pair 52 has a first roller whose roller surfaces 81 and 82 have a constant radius R1 about the rotation axis of the rotation shafts 83 and 84, respectively. It has surfaces 81a and 82a and second roller surfaces 81b and 82b whose distance from the center of rotation of the rotating shaft is smaller than the radius R1 of the first roller surface. The first roller surfaces 81a and 82a are made of a rubber material or the like having a relatively high coefficient of friction, like the normal roller surfaces. On the other hand, the second roller surfaces 81b and 82b are made of a plastic resin material or the like whose friction coefficient is smaller than that of the first roller surfaces 81a and 82a.

The rotating shafts 83 and 84 of the folding rollers 53 and 54 are rotationally driven by a driving means such as a common drive motor. As a result, the rotational positions of the first roller surfaces 81a and 82a and the second roller surfaces 81b and 82b can always be synchronized with each other. The rotating shafts 83 and 84 can also be driven by a drive motor common to the cam body 58.

In the initial position before starting the folding process, as shown in FIG. 4, the second roller surfaces 81b and 82b are arranged symmetrically with respect to the pushing path P of the folding blade 56 so as to face the sheet transport path 48 side. To. Since the tip 73 of the seat guide member 71 is urged by the compression coil spring 75 as described above, it can be placed on either the first roller surface 82a or the second roller surface 82b regardless of the rotational position of the folding roller 54. Also slides in the same way. That is, the seat guide member 71, which is the guide portion of the seat, moves in contact with the first roller surface 82a and the second roller surface 82b, which are the peripheral surfaces thereof, corresponding to the rotation position of the folding roller 54, which is the rotating portion. It is configured to get.

A folding blade 56 as a pushing member is arranged on the opposite side of the folding roller pair 52 with the sheet loading tray 51 interposed therebetween. The folding blade 56 is supported on the blade carrier 57 with its tip directed toward the pressure contact portion 55 of the folding roller pair 52. The blade carrier 57 is movably provided so as to cross the sheet loading tray 51 at a substantially right angle, that is, in a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the sheets conveyed from the second paper ejection path 31 to the sheet loading tray 51. ing. As a thrusting means, the folding blade 56 pierces a predetermined folding position of the sheets accumulated in the sheet loading tray 51 and moves toward the pressure contact portion 55 which is the holding portion of the sheets of the folding rollers 53 and 54 which are the folding means. ..

A cam body 58 composed of a pair of mirror-symmetrical eccentric cams on both sides of the blade carrier 57 in the front-rear direction in FIG. 3, that is, in the axial direction of the folding roller (in the figure, only one of the rear sides). Is displayed) is provided at the opposite position. The cam body 58 is rotated around a rotation shaft 59 provided at an eccentric position by a drive means such as a drive motor (not shown). A cam groove 60 is formed in the cam body 58 along the outer peripheral edge thereof.

The cam groove 60 has a cam profile including a first cam surface 60a having a maximum radius from the rotation shaft 59 and a second cam surface 60b having a radius smaller than the first cam surface 60a on both sides in the circumferential direction. The blade carrier 57 is provided with a cam pin (not shown) that is slidably fitted in the cam groove 60 as a cam follower.

When the cam body 58 is rotated by the drive motor, the blade carrier 57 travels in a direction of approaching or separating from the seat loading tray 51 according to the cam profile. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, between the initial position where the tip of the folding blade 56 does not enter the sheet transport path 48 and the maximum pushing position sandwiched between the pressure contact portions 55 of the folding roller pair 52. Then, the folding blade 56 can be linearly moved forward and backward along the pushing path P connecting both positions.

As shown in FIG. 8, the tip of the folding blade 56 is provided with a protrusion 950. Although four types of protrusions 950 are provided in this embodiment, there may be a plurality or one of the protrusions 950.

As shown in FIG. 9, the folding roller pair 52 is provided with a folding roller pair holding portion 961 and a folding roller pair non-holding portion 962. As shown in FIG. 10, the non-narrowing portion 962 of the folding roller pair of the folding roller pair 52 has a protruding portion 950 of the folding blade 56 when the folding blade 56 performs a thrusting process toward the pressure contact portion 55 of the folding roller pair 52. It is provided wider than the width of the thrust portion 950 at a position where it does not overlap when viewed from the thrust direction so as not to come into contact with the protrusion.

As shown in FIG. 11, the folding blade 56 moves the sheet 951 toward the pressure contact portion 55 of the folding roller pair 52. Then, as shown in FIG. 12, one side of the sheet loading tray 51 is provided with urging means 960 for pressing the sheet from the upstream side to the downstream side of the folding roller pair 52 in the sheet transport direction. The tip 963 of the urging means 960 reaches downstream with respect to the sheet transport direction of the pressure contact portion 55 of the folding roller pair 52. As a result, as shown in FIG. 13, the urging means 960 is retracted from the movement locus of the folding blade 56 to the sheet 951 when the folding blade 56 feeds the sheet to the pressure contact portion 55 of the folding roller pair 52. , The urging means 960 generates a force 964 to press the sheet toward the folding blade side. Therefore, the sheet 951 can suppress slipping in the direction of gravity with respect to the folding blade 56, and the deviation of the folding position of the sheet is prevented. Such an urging means 960 is made of a thin sheet material having elasticity in this embodiment, but various examples such as a member restrained by an elastic body can be considered.

As shown in FIG. 14, the urging means 960 that efficiently generates a force for pressing the seat is arranged at a position facing the thrust portion 950 from the thrust direction. When a plurality of thrusting portions 950 are provided as in the present embodiment, the urging means 960 faces the central thrusting portion 950 in the seat width direction so that a force for pressing the seat is likely to be generated. Be placed. Further, as shown in FIG. 15, the width of the urging means 960 is set to be narrower than the width of the non-narrowing portion 962 of the folding roller pair so as not to come into contact with the pressure contact portion 55 of the folding roller pair 52. Since the urging means 960 is set at the position of the non-narrowing portion 962 of the folding roller pair, the urging means 960 sets the movement locus of the folding blade 56 rather than setting it at the position of the narrowing portion 961 of the roller pair. The sheet can be pressed toward the folding blade side closer to the vicinity of the pressure contact portion 55 during the period from when the sheet is retracted, and the sheet can be prevented from being displaced.

The sheet folding device 41 further includes a seat guide member 71 arranged between the sheet loading tray 51 and the folding roller pair 52, as shown in FIG. The sheet guide member 71 is located at the base end portion 72 arranged on the downstream side of the folding roller 54 and upstream of the base end portion 72 with respect to the transport direction of the sheet transported from the second paper ejection path 31 to the sheet loading tray 51. It has a tip portion 73 as a contact portion that is positioned and contacts the roller surface of the folding roller 54. A contact portion where the seat guide member 71 contacts the roller 54 is integrally provided with the seat guide member 71.

The base end portion 72 of the seat guide member 71 is housed in a bracket 74 fixed to the outside of the seat loading tray 51. The tip portion 73 is swingably supported around the rotation shaft 72a of the base end portion 72 in a direction approaching and away from the rotation axis of the folding roller 54. The seat guide member 71 is constantly urged toward the folding roller 54 by a compression coil spring 75 interposed between the seat guide member 71 and the bracket 74. As a result, the tip portion 73 of the seat guide member 71 is always in sliding contact with the roller surface when the folding roller 54 is rotated. As a result, the base end portion 72 of the seat guide member 71 is configured to be able to swing in response to the rotational position of the roller surface of the folding roller 54, as will be described later. Further, the seat guide member 71 is formed with a gently inclined surface 76 so that the distance from the seat loading tray 51 is gradually narrowed from the tip end portion 73 to the base end portion 72 side, that is, the downstream side in the sheet transport direction. There is.

The tip 73 of the seat guide member 71 faces the roller surface of the folding roller 54 from the downstream side to the upstream side in the sheet transport direction at a position substantially corresponding to or beyond the rotation axis of the folding roller 54. Arranged to touch. As a result, the seat guide member 71 is provided on the downstream side from the tip portion 73, that is, on the side opposite to the pressure contact portion 55, so as to cover the end portion of the roller surface of the folding roller 54 on the sheet loading tray 51 side. In other words, the seat guide member 71 is provided so as to cover the roller surface of the folding roller 54 except for the pressure contact portion 55 of the folding roller pair and its periphery.

The seat guide member 71 forms an inclined surface 76 as a gentle guide surface between the tip end portion 73 and the base end portion 72 so that the distance from the seat loading tray 51 gradually narrows toward the downstream side. Has been done. The inclined surface 76 swings about the rotation shaft 72a integrally with the contact portion in contact with the roller 54. By forming the sheet guide member 71 from, for example, a metal or hard plastic plate, the friction coefficient of the inclined surface 76 is at least significantly smaller than that of the folding roller formed of a material having a high friction coefficient such as a rubber material.

As shown in FIG. 5, the tip of the sheet S carried into the sheet loading tray 51 is curled even if the inclined surface 76 and the tip portion 73 are in contact with the roller surface of the folding roller 54. However, the sheet loading tray does not deviate to the folding roller pair 52 side in the middle and is not caught on the peripheral surface of the folding roller pair or pinched in the gap between the seat guide member 71 and the tip portion 73. It is returned to the sheet loading tray 51. Therefore, the jam of the sheet carried into the sheet folding device 41 can be effectively suppressed.

Further, when the sheet bundle is conveyed from the sheet loading tray 51 to the upstream side for the sheet conveying process for the binding process, and when it is conveyed to the downstream side for the folding process after the binding process, the folding roller pair 52 The possibility that the sheet closest to the fold roller 54 comes into contact with the surface of the folding roller 54 and causes a deviation from the sheet inside the folding roller 54 is eliminated. As a result, it is possible to prevent creases on the sheet surface due to the misalignment of the sheets in the sheet bundle and to prevent some sheets from coming off the binding portion.

When the sheet bundle in the sheet loading tray 51 is folded in half by the folding blade 56 and pushed into the pressure contact portion 55 of the folding roller pair 52, the outermost sheet of the sheet bundle, that is, the sheet on the folding roller pair 52 side is the seat guide member 71. Guided by the inclined surface 76 of the above, the pressure welding portion 55 is fed. As described above, since the friction coefficient of the inclined surface 76 is small, the sheet slides in contact with the inclined surface 76 and moves smoothly. Therefore, there is no possibility that the sheet and the sheet inside the sheet are displaced from each other, or the sheets are folded while being displaced from each other.

The sheet folding device 41 further includes a sheet side alignment mechanism for aligning and aligning the side edges of the sheets carried into the sheet loading tray 51. As shown in FIG. 6, this sheet side matching mechanism has a pair of sheet side matching members 121 and 122 which are symmetrically arranged apart from each other in a direction orthogonal to the sheet loading direction indicated by an arrow in the drawing. The upper ends 121a and 122a and the lower ends 121b and 122b of the sheet side matching member are fixed to the device housing 27 side so that they can approach and separate from each other in a direction orthogonal to the sheet loading direction (not shown). ) Is held movable.

The seat side matching members 121 and 122 are composed of frame members having a U-shaped cross section extending along the sheet loading direction, and the U-shaped openings are arranged in parallel with each other facing each other. The U-shaped inner surface of the sheet side matching members 121 and 122 is restricted to align the side edges of the sheet in the sheet loading tray 51 in the direction orthogonal to the sheet loading direction, that is, in the width direction of the sheet. The surfaces 123 and 124 are defined. In particular, the seat side edge regulation surfaces 123 and 124 having a U-shaped cross section have the side edges of the sheet in the sheet loading tray 51 not only in the sheet width direction but also in the sheet thickness direction, that is, in the sheet loading tray 51 (seat transport path 48). It can also be regulated in the thickness direction.

The seat side matching members 121 and 122 are integrated with guide rail members 125 and 126 extending linearly toward the other seat side matching member on the outer surface on the folding blade 56 side near the center in the longitudinal direction. It is fixed to. The guide rail members 125 and 126 are arranged vertically in parallel in the drawing at a predetermined interval in the sheet loading direction so that at least their respective tip sides partially overlap.

Racks 127 and 128 on the upper and lower side surfaces of the guide rail members 125 and 126 facing each other maintain a certain interval in the seat loading direction when the seat side matching members 121 and 122 approach and separate from each other. It is shaped like this. A common pinion 129 rotatably supported on the device housing 27 side is simultaneously meshed with both racks 127 and 128.

A pulley 130 on the driven side is integrally rotatably mounted on the pinion 129 coaxially with the pinion 129 and on the folding blade 56 side. The pulley 130 has a transmission belt 132 so that power can be transmitted to and from a drive-side pulley (not shown) connected to the output shaft of the seat side matching motor 131 fixed to the device housing 27 side. It is wrapped.

Therefore, the seat side matching members 121 and 122 move synchronously by the same distance so as to approach or separate from each other in the width direction of the seat by driving the motor 131 to rotate the pinion 129. As a result, when the position of the sheet in the sheet loading tray 51 is deviated in the sheet width direction, the sheet is brought into contact with the sheet side edge restricting surface 123 or 124 to the desired alignment position. Can be moved.

In the present embodiment, the center position of the sheet loading tray 51 (center position of the folding roller pair 52 and the folding blade 56) in the sheet width direction is set to the center reference position X of the folding process as shown in FIG. 7A. ing. In the initial state, the seat side matching members 121 and 122 are arranged at the initial positions shown by solid lines in FIG. 7A, which are set equidistant from the central reference position in the seat width direction, respectively.

By rotating the motor 131, the seat side matching members 121 and 122 are moved from the initial position by a predetermined same distance corresponding to the width dimension of the seat in the seat loading tray 51 as shown by the broken line in FIG. 7A. The sheet is aligned so that its widthwise center position coincides with the center reference position. After aligning the side portions of the seat, the seat side aligning members 121 and 122 are returned to their original initial positions by rotating the motor 131 in the opposite direction.

When a plurality of sheets are carried into the sheet loading tray 51, the positions of the first sheets in the width direction are aligned as described above, the sheet side matching members 121 and 122 are returned to the initial positions, and then the next sheet is used. To bring in. Also on the next sheet, the sheet width direction matching operation by the sheet side matching member described above is repeatedly executed, and the first sheet and the next sheet are overlapped with their side edges aligned. By repeating the sheet width direction alignment operation each time a new sheet is carried in in this way, a plurality of sheets can be aligned and integrated in a predetermined width direction position in the sheet loading tray 51.

When the width dimension of the sheet to be folded is small, the sheet side matching members 121 and 122 are previously arranged from the outermost position in the sheet width direction shown by the solid line in FIG. 7A in advance corresponding to the width dimension. It is preferable to move it toward the center. As a result, even if the sheet is slightly displaced in the width direction when it is carried into the sheet loading tray 51, both side edges thereof always fit inside the sheet side matching member. Therefore, similarly, in the sheet loading tray 51 in the predetermined width direction. It can be aligned with the position.

The movement, amount and direction of the seat side matching member described above are controlled by controlling the start and rotation of the motor 131 by the processing device control unit provided in the sheet processing device B. Further, the dimensions of the sheet to be folded are transmitted in advance from the image forming apparatus A to the processing apparatus control unit of the sheet processing apparatus B together with other information regarding the folding process.

In this way, the U-shaped sheet restricting surfaces 123 and 124 of the sheet side matching members 121 and 122 guide the side edges of the sheet in the sheet loading tray 51 while restricting them in the width direction and the thickness direction of the sheet. Therefore, the sheet guide member 71 has a folding roller along the sheet width direction, that is, the sheet transport direction of the sheet transported from the second paper ejection path 31 to the sheet loading tray 51 as the sheet length direction, and the lateral direction intersecting the sheet length direction. It is not necessary to provide it over the entire length of 53 and 54. That is, as shown in FIGS. 6, 7 (a) and 7 (b), the seat guide member 71 may guide at least the vicinity of the center in the width direction of the seat. In other words, the seat guide member 71 may be provided so as to be located between the seat side matching members 121 and 122 in the seat width direction. As a result, the sheet can be carried in smoothly without causing jam in cooperation with the sheet side matching members 121 and 122. The seat guide member 71 may be provided so as to extend along the axial direction of the folding roller over substantially the entire length thereof.

Therefore, the seat guide member 71 does not need to be provided over the entire length of the folding rollers 53 and 54 along the seat width direction, and can be made smaller in the seat width direction. Further, since the seat guide member 71 is in contact with the folding roller 54, it can be accurately positioned with respect to the folding roller. As a result, the folding roller pair 52 can be arranged so as to be closer to the seat loading tray 51 side and to narrow the distance from the folding roller pair 52. As a result, the entire sheet folding device 41 can be made smaller, and the space of the sheet processing device B can be saved.

The folding operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 16 to 18. FIG. 16A shows an initial state immediately before the start of the folding process, in which the sheet bundle Sb is lowered to a height at which the binding portion, that is, the central position C, coincides with the pushing path P of the folding blade 56. From this state, the cam body 58 is rotated counterclockwise in the drawing by a predetermined angle to advance the folding blade 56 to the maximum pushing position and to a position sandwiched between the pressure contact portions 55 of the folding roller pair 52. The folding roller pair 52 rotates in synchronization with the rotation of the cam body 58. That is, at the same time as the rotation of the cam body 58, the folding roller pair 52 rotates in the direction of carrying out the sheet bundle Sb toward the discharge roller pair 43. As a result, the sheet bundle Sb is sandwiched between the folding rollers 53 and 54 of the folding roller vs. 52 at the tip end portion with the binding portion C at the head.

Although the urging means 960 is not shown in each of FIGS. 16 to 18, at this time, the urging means 960 urges the sheet bundle Sb against the pressing pressure of the folding blade 56. Then, the center of the sheet bundle Sb is pushed between the folding rollers 53 and 54.

The sheet bundle Sb is sandwiched between the second roller surfaces 81b and 82b of the folding roller pair 52 for a short time after the binding portion C first reaches the pressure contact portion 55. Since the second roller surfaces 81b and 82b have a low coefficient of friction and a certain amount of gap is provided between them, the sheet bundle sandwiched between the second roller surfaces is the outermost sheet and the inner side. There is no deviation from the sheet. When the folding roller pair 52 rotates by a certain angle or more and is conveyed by a certain distance in the carrying-out direction, the sheet bundle Sb has a first high friction coefficient and a large radius, as shown in FIG. 16 (b). It is sandwiched between the roller surfaces 81a and 82a with a stronger force.

The cam body 58 is further rotated counterclockwise by a certain angle, and the folding roller pair 52 is further rotated correspondingly, so that the sheet bundle Sb is conveyed by a further distance in the carry-out direction. On the other hand, in the folding blade 56, since the cam pin moves along the first cam surface 60a of the cam groove 60, the folding blade 56 stops at the same position as in FIG. 16B as shown in FIG. 16C. It remains.

Next, as shown in FIG. 17A, the cam body 58 is rotated in the opposite direction, that is, in the clockwise direction in the drawing, and returned to the same position as in FIG. 16B. At the same time, the folding roller pair 52 reverses and returns the sheet bundle Sb from the position shown in FIG. 16 (c) to the position shown in FIG. 16 (b). In this way, the sheet bundle Sb is subjected to the first folding process. At this time, the folding blade 56 is still stopped at the position shown in FIG. 16B.

As shown in FIG. 17B, the cam body 58 is again rotated 360 °, that is, one rotation in the counterclockwise direction, and at the same time, the folding roller pairs 52 are each rotated once in the carry-out direction. As a result, the sheet bundle Sb is sandwiched between the folding roller pairs 52 and conveyed in the carry-out direction, and the second folding process is performed. By performing the folding process twice in succession in this way, the sheet bundle Sb can be folded in half more reliably and firmly. The folding roller pair 52 and the folding blade 56 have returned to the initial state shown in FIG. 16A.

After that, as shown in FIG. 18A, the cam body 58 is rotated counterclockwise by a slight angle. As a result, in the folding roller pair 52, the second roller surfaces 81b and 82b face each other at the central position in the circumferential direction, and the gap between the folding rollers 53 and 54 is maximized. The folded tip side of the sheet bundle Sb is sandwiched between the discharge roller pairs 43 and discharged from the device housing 27 to the external loading tray 44. At this time, the rear portion of the sheet bundle is smoothly guided by the second roller surface because the space between the folding rollers 53 and 54 is expanded to the maximum and the friction coefficient of the second roller surfaces 81b and 82b is low. It is carried out.

When the unloading of the folded sheet bundle Sb is completed, as shown in FIG. 18B, the cam body 58 is rotated clockwise by the slight angle to return to the initial state shown in FIG. 16A. The folding roller pair 52 also returns to the initial state shown in FIG. 16A. As a result, the second processing unit B2 is in a standby state in preparation for the next folding process.

The above-mentioned sheet folding device is configured to fold the sheet bundle by pushing the sheet bundle on the sheet loading tray 51 into the pressure contact portion 55 of the folding roller pair 52 while bending the sheet bundle with the folding blade 56. The thrusting means is not limited to the blade, and may be a member such as a rod.

Further, the sheet loading tray 51 can be replaced with a sheet transport path. In this case, the sheet folding processing device 41 can be provided on the downstream side or the upstream side of the binding processing unit 42, for example, in the middle of the sheet transport path 48 connected to the second paper ejection path 31. In the sheet transport path 48, a stopper member instead of the regulation stopper 64 is provided on the downstream side of the sheet folding device 41 in order to position the tip of the sheet bundle and align the folding position of the sheet bundle with the pushing path P. Is preferable.

The sheet transport path 48 can connect the downstream side of the sheet folding device 41 to another post-processing unit or a paper output tray. Further, the sheet bundle after the folding process can be discharged to the loading tray 44 by the discharge roller 43 in the same manner as described above, or is returned from the folding roller pair 52 to the sheet transport path 48 and transported in either direction. You can also do it.

41 Sheet folding processing device 48 Sheet transport path (transport path)
51 Sheet accumulation tray (accumulation means)
52 Folding roller pair (folding rotating part pair)
56 Folding blade (thrusting means)
950 thrust 951 sheet 960 urging means 961 Narrowing part of folding roller pair 962 Non-narrowing part of folding roller pair 964 Force to press the sheet toward the folding blade side by urging means

Claims (4)

A transport means for transporting the sheet in a predetermined transport direction, and
A stacking means for accumulating sheets transported by the transport means at a predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal direction.
The sheet provided on one side in the sheet thickness direction of the collecting means is sandwiched and rotated at a predetermined holding position to fold the sheet at a predetermined folding position. Folding rotation part pair and
A thrusting means provided on the other side of the stacking means across the stacking means, and a thrusting means that moves in a thrusting direction from the other side toward the folding rotation portion pair to pierce the folded position of the sheet.
It is provided on the one side of the stacking means, extends from the upstream side to the downstream side of the folding rotating portion pair in the transport direction, and extends downstream from the holding position of the folding rotating portion pair. An urging means that urges the folded position of the sheet toward the thrusting means, and
Sheet folding device equipped with. The thrusting means comprises at least one thrusting portion in contact with the sheet.
The sheet folding device according to claim 1, wherein the urging means is provided at a position overlapping the thrust portion when viewed from the thrust direction. The thrusting means includes a plurality of thrusting portions that come into contact with the sheet.
The sheet folding device according to claim 1, wherein the urging means is provided at a position overlapping the thrust portion near the center in the width direction of the sheet when viewed from the thrust direction of the sheet. The rotating portion pair includes a sandwiching portion that sandwiches the sheet and a non-pinching portion that does not sandwich the sheet.
The sheet folding according to claim 1, wherein the urging means is provided at a position overlapping the non-pinching portion when viewed from the thrust direction, and the width of the urging means is set to be narrower than the width of the non-pinching portion. apparatus.

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