JP2022170714A - Sheet post-processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

To enable a sheet post-processing device performing folding processing and binding processing on sheets to perform the folding processing even on large sized-sheets without expanding the entire size of a device.SOLUTION: A sheet post-processing device 10 comprises: a binding processing part 40 performing binding processing a sheet bundle in a storage part H1 with a binding needle; a pair of first folding rollers 33, 34 nipping a sheet P in the storage part at a first position to form a first folded part; a receiving part H10 receiving the sheet formed with the first folded part and fed from the pair of first folding rollers; and a pair of second folding rollers 34, 35 nipping the sheet in the storage part at a second position to form a second folded part. The receiving part is arranged so that a needle storage part for storing the binding needles to be supplied to the binding processing part is interposed between the storage part and itself above the pairs of first and second folding rollers arranged at same side of the needle storage part attached to the binding processing part relative to the storage part below the needle storage part in a thickness direction of the sheet or the sheet bundle stored in the storage part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus that folds and binds sheets.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a post-processing device is widely known that ejects a sheet on which an image is formed by an image forming device such as a copier or a printer after folding the sheet in two or three. 2).

Furthermore, in addition to means for folding sheets, a post-processing apparatus is known that includes means for binding a plurality of sheets on which images have been formed as a sheet bundle with a metal binding needle (for example, See Patent Document 3).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-60127 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-99199 JP-A-2006-56669

Sheets folded by a post-processing device are often used as postal matters enclosed in envelopes or for delivery by e-mail or the like. For mail, the sheet size suitable for folding into a standard envelope is usually A4 size (297 mm long) or smaller. Recently, however, there has been an increase in the size of sheets to be folded (A4 size is used for advertisements such as tri-folded pamphlets), and in order to increase the size of printed characters (fonts) for readability and to increase the amount of information on the page. (e.g., B4 size, A3 size, etc.) are desired.

However, with the conventional apparatus described in the above-mentioned patent document, if the sheet size that can be folded is increased, the size of the post-processing apparatus as a whole may increase. This goes against the user's demand for compactness of the image forming apparatus and post-processing apparatus themselves.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art. To enable folding of a large sheet size exceeding A4 size (297 mm length).

The sheet post-processing device of the present invention includes:
a conveying means for conveying the sheet in a predetermined conveying direction;
a storage unit for storing the sheet conveyed by the conveying means;
binding means for binding a sheet bundle formed of a plurality of sheets stored in the storage unit using a binding needle;
a needle housing portion detachably attached to the binding means and housing the binding needles supplied to the binding means;
a first folding roller pair that nips the sheet or the sheet bundle stored in the storage unit at a predetermined first position in the conveying direction to form a first fold portion at the first position; ,
a receiving unit that receives the sheet or the sheet bundle on which the first folding line is formed by the first folding roller pair;
nipping the sheet or stack of sheets in the receiving section having the first fold formed thereon at a second position different from the first position to form a second fold at the second position; a second pair of folding rollers forming
with
The first folding roller pair and the second folding roller pair correspond to the staple accommodating portion attached to the binding means with respect to the accommodating portion in the thickness direction of the sheets or the sheet bundle to be accommodated in the accommodating portion. located on the same side and below the needle housing;
The receiving section is arranged above the first folding roller pair and the second folding roller pair so as to sandwich the staple storage section with the storage section, and for replenishing the staples. is arranged at a position that intersects the trajectory of removing the part from the binding means,
It is characterized by

According to the present invention, by arranging the storing section and the receiving section below the binding means and the staple storing section as described above, it is possible to fold larger sheets without increasing the size of the apparatus as a whole. A sheet post-processing device can be provided.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 1(a) is an explanatory diagram of the entire configuration of the sheet binding/folding processing unit in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of a folding processing unit that folds a sheet in three; FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of a folding processing unit that folds a sheet in two; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the control configuration of the sheet post-processing device; 4A to 4D are diagrams showing the steps of the double-folding operation of the sheet binding/folding unit; FIG. 4(a) to 4(e) are diagrams showing the three-folding operation of the sheet binding/folding unit in order of steps. (a), (b) figures are explanatory drawing which shows the structure which can move between the guide position of a receiving part, and a retracted position. (a), (b) figures are explanatory drawing which shows the 1st modification of a receiving part. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a second modification of the receiving portion; FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a third modified example of the receiving portion; (a), (b) figures are explanatory drawing which shows the 4th modification which a receiving part is hold|maintained at an operating position also at the time of maintenance. FIG. 2 is a main configuration diagram of a sheet binding/folding processing unit; The figure which shows the state in the middle of removing the cartridge-shaped needle accommodating part in FIG. 13 from a head part. The figure which shows the state in the middle of removing the cartridge-shaped needle accommodating part in FIG. 10 from a head part.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In order to simplify the explanation, in the accompanying drawings (especially FIGS. 1 to 4) in this specification, the right and left sides in the drawings are simply referred to as the right and left sides, and the upper and lower sides in the drawings are simply referred to as the upper side. and the lower side, and the front side and the back side of each drawing are simply referred to as the front side and the back side.

[Overall Configuration of Sheet Post-Processing Apparatus]
An overall configuration of the sheet post-processing apparatus 10 will be described. FIG. 1 schematically shows the overall configuration of a sheet post-processing apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. The sheet post-processing apparatus 10 is used by being connected to an image forming apparatus such as a copier or a printer, and folds printed sheets P output from the image forming apparatus and uses staples as binding needles. Binding processing, etc. are performed.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the sheet post-processing apparatus 10 includes a main body 11 , a pair of intake rollers 12 , a sheet binding/folding section 20 , and a paper discharge tray 60 . The main body 11 is a housing of the sheet post-processing device 10 , and accommodates the pair of take-in rollers 12 and the sheet binding/folding unit 20 inside.

The take-in roller pair 12 is positioned near the right side surface of the main body 11 and takes in the printed sheet P output from the image forming apparatus into the main body 11 . The sheet P taken into the main body 11 by the pair of take-in rollers 12 is conveyed to the sheet binding processing section 20 by a pair of rollers and guides (not shown), as indicated by broken lines in FIG. The paper discharge tray 60 is arranged on the left side of the main body 11, that is, on the side opposite to the image forming apparatus.

It is preferable that the sheet binding/folding processing unit 20 can be pulled out from the main body 11 to the outside of the main body 11 for jam processing when a sheet jam occurs inside the sheet binding processing unit 20, and work for replenishing the binding needles used for the binding processing. Therefore, the sheet binding/folding unit 20 of the present embodiment is provided movably between an operating position arranged inside the main body 11 and a maintenance position set outside the main body 11 on the front side in the drawing. ing.

Here, the operating position means a position where the sheet binding/folding processing section 20 can perform predetermined binding processing and folding processing on the sheets conveyed to the sheet binding/folding processing section 20 . The maintenance position is the position where the sheet binding and folding processing unit 20 is moved from the main body 11 to the outside in order to remove the jammed sheet when a sheet jam occurs while the sheet binding and folding processing unit 20 is performing the binding or folding processing. say the position to be drawn to. At this maintenance position, it is also possible to replenish the sheet binding/folding section 20 with the binding needles used for the binding process.

[Sheet binding/folding unit]
FIGS. 2A and 2B show the configuration of the sheet binding/folding processing unit 20 for performing desired folding processing and/or binding processing on the sheet P. FIG. The sheet binding/folding processing unit 20 includes a conveying unit 13 that conveys the fetched sheet P in a predetermined sheet conveying direction, a folding processing unit 30 that performs folding processing on the conveyed sheet P, and a binding unit for the conveyed sheet P. and a binding processing unit 40 for performing processing. The conveying means 13 includes an upper guide 13B and an upper guide 13C arranged oppositely so as to define a sheet conveying path along which the sheet P is conveyed, and an entrance roller pair 13A arranged at the upper entrance of the sheet conveying path. be done. The sheet P conveyed to the sheet binding processing section 20 is conveyed through the sheet conveying path by the entrance roller pair 13A, and is accumulated in the storage section H1 that is continuous with the sheet conveying path.

The storage portion H1 is composed of a lower guide 31B and a lower guide 31C which are arranged to face each other so as to define a gap between which the sheets P are stored. A first stopper 31A that regulates the position of the lower end of the sheet P is provided on the downstream side of the storage portion H1 in the sheet conveying direction. The first stopper 31A abuts the tip (lower end) of the sheet P in the sheet conveying direction to position the sheet P stored in the storage portion H1 in the sheet transport direction with respect to the storage portion H1. The lower end of the sheet P is restricted by the first stopper 31A, thereby determining the position of the first fold formed on the sheet. Depending on the sheet size of the sheet P and the formation position of the first fold, the first stopper 31A can be moved in the sheet conveying direction and the opposite direction.

A binding processing unit 40, which is means for binding a sheet bundle composed of a plurality of sheets, includes a head unit 41 for driving a binding needle (staple) into the sheet bundle, and an anvil unit 42 for bending the binding needle driven into the sheet bundle. have. The binding processing unit 40 is arranged above the folding processing unit 30 so that the head unit 41 and the anvil unit 42 face each other with the storage unit H1 interposed therebetween. More specifically, the head section 41 is arranged on the discharge tray 60 side facing the conveying path of the conveying means 13, and the anvil section 42 is arranged on the opposite side of the head section 41 across the conveying path. be.

A staple housing portion 43 for supplying staples to the binding means 40 is disposed on the opposite side of the head portion 41 to the transport path. On the side of the paper discharge tray 60 of the staple housing portion 43, when the user performs work such as replenishing the binding means 40 with the staples and removing or attaching the staple housing portion 43, a It is provided so as to define an open spatial area (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "access space"). Here, the access space is a space that can be used not only for replenishing the staple housing portion 43 with the stapling needles, but also for the user to remove or attach the staple housing portion 43 from the binding means 40 . It is provided so that there are no obstructions to interfere with it.

The folding unit 30 folds the sheet P in two or three. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2B, the folding processing section 30 includes a first sheet folding plate (sheet folding means) 32, a first roller 33, and a second roller 34 in addition to the above-described first stopper 31A. , a third roller 35 , a conveying path switching member 36 , a receiving portion H<b>10 formed by a guide plate 37 , and a second sheet folding plate (sheet folding means) 38 . In this embodiment, the first roller 33 and the second roller 34 constitute a first folding roller pair, and the second roller 34 and the third roller 35 constitute a second folding roller pair. That is, the second roller 34 is shared by the first folding roller pair and the second folding roller pair, but in another embodiment, the first roller 33 is used in the first folding roller pair and the second folding roller pair. and the rollers corresponding to the third roller 35 can be composed of separate rollers.

The roller surfaces of the first roller 33 and the second roller 34, which constitute the first folding roller pair, are pressed against each other by an urging means (not shown). Since the roller surfaces of the first roller 33 and the second roller 34 each have high frictional resistance, when at least one of the first and second rollers 33 and 34 is driven to rotate, the other roller also rotates.

Similarly, the roller surfaces of the second roller 34 and the third roller 35, which constitute the second folding roller pair, are pressed against each other by an urging means (not shown). Since the roller surfaces of the second roller 34 and the third roller 35 each have high frictional resistance, when at least one of the second or third rollers 34 and 35 is driven to rotate, the other roller also rotates.

The first sheet folding plate 32 is positioned at a nip portion between the first roller 33 and the second roller 34 of the first folding roller pair so as to face each other across the storage portion H1 in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction. It is provided so as to be retractable with respect to the storage portion H1. The sheet folding plate 32 is normally arranged at a position retracted from the storage portion H1 so as not to interfere with the movement of the sheets P conveyed through the storage portion H1.

When forming the first fold at a predetermined position of the sheet P in the storage portion H1 whose position is regulated in the sheet conveying direction by the first stopper 31A, the sheet folding plate 32 is positioned at the nip between the first roller 33 and the second roller . portion by a driving source (not shown). As a result, the predetermined position of the sheet P in the storage portion H1 is guided to the nip portion between the first roller 33 and the second roller 34, and is nipped by the rotation of the first folding roller pair, so that the sheet P is first folded. is formed.

The receiving portion H10 is provided substantially perpendicular to a straight line connecting the center of rotation of the first roller 33 and the center of rotation of the second roller 34, ie, substantially perpendicular and upward. The receiving portion H10 is formed of a pair of first and second receiving guide members each made up of a guide plate 37. As shown in FIG. One of the first and second receiving guide members is positioned on the storage portion H1 side, and the other is positioned on the discharge tray 60 side. They are arranged oppositely to define a path for guiding and receiving in contact.

As shown in FIG. 2B, an intermediate conveying path H2 is formed between the nip portion of the first folding roller pair and the receiving portion H10. The conveying path switching member 36 is provided to be swingable by a driving source (not shown), and serves as a sorting means for switching the conveying direction of the sheet sent to the intermediate conveying path H2 by the first folding roller pair and sorting the sheet. In this embodiment, when the sheet P is to be folded in three, the transport path switching member 36 is at the position shown in FIG.

The sheet P is transported and stored in the receiving portion H10 with the first fold as the leading edge, and is temporarily held. Since the receiving portion H10 is provided substantially vertically upward, the sheet P conveyed into the path is likely to bend due to its own weight according to its rigidity.

The second sheet folding plate 38 is positioned at the nip portion between the second roller 34 and the third roller 35 of the second folding roller pair, facing the intermediate conveying path H2 (i.e., above the intermediate conveying path H2). , is provided so as to move forward and backward relative to the intermediate conveying path in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction. The second sheet folding plate 38 is normally arranged at a position retracted from the intermediate conveying path H2 so as not to interfere with the movement of the sheet P conveyed through the intermediate conveying path H2.

The formation position of the second fold formed on the sheet P on which the first fold is formed by the first folding roller pair is the first folding roller regulating the leading end position (that is, the upper end position) of the sheet fed into the receiving portion H10. It is determined by the sheet conveying amount of the folding roller pair. When forming the second fold at the predetermined position of the sheet P thus determined, the second sheet folding plate 38 is protruded toward the nip portion between the second roller 34 and the third roller 35 by a drive source (not shown). Let

As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, a predetermined position of the sheet P is guided to the nip portion between the second roller 34 and the third roller 35, is nipped by the rotation of the second folding roller pair, and is folded onto the sheet P. A second fold is formed. As the second folding roller pair further rotates, the sheet P thus tri-folded is sent to the lower conveying path H12 below it, and is sent out from the lower discharge port E2 to the discharge tray, which is a sheet receiving section. 60 is discharged.

The receiving portion H10 extends to a height position that intersects with the access space for accessing the needle housing portion 43 . As a result, even if the sheet P has a large sheet size exceeding, for example, 297 mm in length, the sheet can be folded in three without enlarging the sheet binding processing unit 20 and the sheet post-processing device 10 .

When the sheet P is to be folded in two (that is, folded in the middle), the transport path switching member 36 swings counterclockwise in the drawing from the position shown in FIG. 3 and moves to the position shown in FIG. As a result, the sheet P on which the first fold is formed by the first folding roller pair passes from the first folding roller pair through the intermediate transportation path H2, and is at approximately the same height and in approximately the same direction as the intermediate transportation path H2. 2(b)). Further, the sheet P conveyed to the upper discharge port E1 is discharged by the discharge means 50 onto the discharge tray 60 of the sheet receiving portion.

The sheet P in the present embodiment includes not only one sheet but also a sheet bundle made up of a plurality of sheets bound by the binding unit 40 . In this case, to fold the sheets P in half means to center-fold the saddle-stitched sheet bundle. That is, the sheets P, which are a sheet bundle stacked in the storage unit H1, are saddle-stitched at a predetermined saddle-stitching position by the stapling processing unit 40, and then saddle-stitched by the first folding roller pair in the folding processing unit 30. Center fold processing is performed at the position. After that, the sheet P is conveyed through the intermediate conveying path H2 and the upper conveying path H11, and is discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 60 by the discharging means 50. As shown in FIG.

[Control part]
FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the control section of the sheet post-processing apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the control section comprises a CPU 70 for controlling the operations of the folding processing section 30 , the binding processing section 40 and the discharging means 50 . The CPU 70 also controls operations of other processing mechanisms (not shown) of the sheet post-processing apparatus 10 and various conveying rollers. Detection signals from other sensors (not shown) are also input to the CPU 70 . Further, the CPU 70 is connected so as to cooperate with the control section 45 of the image forming apparatus connected to the sheet post-processing apparatus 10, and performs post-processing such as a tri-fold mode selected by the user on the image forming apparatus side. mode is entered.

[Folding process]
Next, folding processing in the folding processing section 30 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6A to 6D show the operation of the folding section 30 when folding the sheet P into two in the order of steps.

First, printed sheets P output from the image forming apparatus are stacked in the storage unit H1 (FIG. 6A). The sheet P is positioned in the sheet conveying direction by the first stopper 31A (shown in FIG. 2) within the storage portion H1. When the number of sheets P accumulated in the storage unit H1 reaches a predetermined number, the first roller 33 and the second roller 34 rotate in a direction to send the sheets to the intermediate conveying path H2, and the first sheet folding plate 32 is moved to the storage unit. From the position retracted from the portion H1, it protrudes toward the nip portion between the first roller 33 and the second roller 34 (FIG. 6(b)). As a result, the sheet P is pushed into the nip portion between the first roller 33 and the second roller 34 at a predetermined position in the sheet conveying direction, and is nipped between the first roller 33 and the second roller 34 to be intermediately conveyed. A first crease is formed by conveying to the path H2 (FIG. 6(c)).

When the sheet P is nipped between the first roller 33 and the second roller 34, the first sheet folding plate 32 moves in the opposite direction away from the nip portion between the first and second rollers 33 and 34. Then, it returns to the above-mentioned position withdrawn from the storage portion H1. On the other hand, the transport path switching means 36 swings counterclockwise from the position shown in FIG. 3 and moves to the position shown in FIG. As a result, the sheet P folded in half by the first and second rollers 33 and 34 is prevented from entering the receiving portion H10, and is guided from the intermediate conveying path H2 to the upper conveying path H11 ((d) in the same figure). , is discharged to the discharge tray 60 .

7A to 7E show the operation of the folding section 30 when folding the sheet P into three in the order of steps. As in the case of the double-folding process described above, the printed sheets P output from the image forming apparatus are accumulated in the storage unit H1 (FIG. 7(a)), and the first stopper 31A (shown in FIG. 2). is positioned in the sheet conveying direction. When the number of sheets P accumulated in the storage unit H1 reaches a predetermined number, the first roller 33 and the second roller 34 rotate in the direction of conveying the sheets to the intermediate conveying path H2, and the first sheet folding plate 32 From the position retracted from the housing portion H1, it protrudes toward the nip portion between the first roller 33 and the second roller 34 (FIG. 7(b)). As a result, the sheet P is pushed into the nip portion between the first roller 33 and the second roller 34 at a predetermined position in the sheet conveying direction, and is nipped between the first roller 33 and the second roller 34 to be intermediately conveyed. A first crease is formed by being transported to the path H2 (FIG. 7(c)).

At this time, as shown in FIG. 7C, the conveying path switching means 36 prevents the sheet P from entering the upper conveying path H11 from the intermediate conveying path H2 and allows the sheet P to enter the receiving portion H10. are placed. As a result, the sheet P sent out from the nip portion of the first and second rollers 33 and 34 is transported from the intermediate transport path H2 into the receiving portion H10 and is temporarily held.

The position of the first fold of the sheet P transported to the receiving portion H10 is determined by the transport amount of the sheet P by the first folding roller pair. In addition to being composed of a pair of first and second receiving guide members 37 facing each other, the receiving portion H10 crosses the access space to the needle housing portion 43 so that its upper end is fully raised upward. Therefore, even when a sheet larger than A4 size is folded in three, the first fold line can be stably received in the receiving portion H10.

As described above, the receiving portion H10 is formed to extend upward at a substantially right angle from the straight line that connects the rotation center of the first roller 33 and the rotation center of the second roller 34. The sheet P in the portion H10 is easily bent on the lower side. The second sheet folding plate 38 protrudes toward the nip portion between the second roller 54 and the third roller 55 from the retracted position above the intermediate conveying path H2 for the sheet P whose lower side is bent in the receiving portion H10. At that time, the bending is canceled by pushing downward in the intermediate conveying path H2.

By causing the second sheet folding plate 38 to protrude further, the sheet P enters the nip portion of the second and third rollers 34 and 35 at a predetermined position and is nipped to form a second fold (FIG. 7(e)). As the second and third rollers 34 and 35 further rotate, the sheet P on which the two folds are formed is conveyed downward to the lower conveying path H12, and is discharged from the lower discharge port E2 to the discharge tray, which is a sheet receiving portion. 60 is discharged.

In this embodiment, as described above, the receiving portion H10 extends to a height position that intersects with the access space for accessing the needle housing portion 43. Therefore, a sheet of A4 size, that is, a sheet size exceeding 297 mm in length, can be used. can also be accepted. As a result, not only conventional sheets up to A4 size, but also larger sheets can be folded in three without enlarging the dimensions of the sheet binding and folding processing unit 20 and the sheet post-processing device 10 from the conventional dimensions. can be implemented.

In response to the fact that the sheet binding processing section 20 is movable between the operating position inside the main body 11 and the maintenance position outside, the receiving section H10 moves the sheet binding processing section 20 to the operating position. At one time, when the sheet binding/folding unit 20 is arranged so as to be able to receive the sheet that is folded by the first folding roller pair and conveyed, and the sheet binding/folding unit 20 is pulled out of the main body 11 and is at the maintenance position, the access space and is preferably released to allow access to the needle housing 43 . As a result, the operation of replenishing the staple housing portion 43 with staples can be easily performed without being hindered by the receiving portion H10.

FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b) show that, at the operating position, the sheet on which the first crease is formed can be stably received regardless of the size of the sheet, and at the maintenance position, the needle accommodating needle can be stably received. A preferred embodiment of a receptacle H10 capable of ensuring access to section 43 is shown. FIG. 8(a) shows the receiving section H10 (sheet binding/folding section 20) at the operating position, and FIG. 8(b) shows the maintenance position.

As described above, the receiving portion H10 of the present embodiment includes a pair of first and second receiving guide members ( guide plate) 37. As shown in FIG. 8(b), the first receiving guide member 37 arranged on the storage part H1 side across the passage has a substantially rectangular notch 37a that opens the access space to the outside. is formed. The second receiving guide member 37, which is arranged on the opposite side of the storage portion H1s across the passage, has a guide position shown in FIG. is rotatable between the retracted position shown in FIG. By constructing a pair of the first and second receiving guide members 37 in this way, it is possible to stably receive the sheet P at the guide position and to secure access to the staple housing portion 43 at the retracted position at the same time. be able to.

FIGS. 9(a) and 9(b) show a first modification of the receiving portion H10 of FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b). The receiving portion H10 of the first modified example includes a pair of first and second receiving guide members ( 8A and 8B in that the guide plate 37 is integrally (or individually) detachably attached to the sheet binding processing section 20. FIG. In this case, neither the first nor the second receiving guide member 37 needs to be provided with the notch 37a shown in FIG. 8(b).

FIG. 10 shows a second modification of the receiving portion H10 of FIGS. 8(a) and (b). The receiving portion H10 of the second modification includes a pair of first and second receiving guide members ( It differs from each of the above-described embodiments in that both guide plates 37 are provided with notch portions 37a shown in FIG. 8(b). The notch portions 37a of the first and second receiving guide members 37 are provided at surface positions corresponding to each other. This eliminates the need for work to open the access space at the maintenance position.

FIG. 11 shows a third modification of the receiving portion H10 of FIGS. 8(a) and (b). The receiving portion H10 of the third modified example differs from the above-described embodiments in that it is formed of a pair of frame members 37 tracing the outline portion of the guide plate 37 having the notch portion 37a shown in FIG. In the frame member 37, the frame portions at the left and right ends and the frame portions defining the cutout portions 37a are provided over substantially the entire length in the height direction of the receiving portion H10, that is, in the sheet receiving direction. A formed sheet can be received stably.

FIGS. 12(a) and 12(b) show a fourth modification of the receiving portion H10 of FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b). FIG. 12(a) shows the sheet binding processing section 20 at the operating position, and FIG. 12(b) shows the sheet binding processing section 20 at the maintenance position. As shown in FIG. 12B, the receiving portion H10 of the fourth modified example has a predetermined position inside the main body 11 when the sheet binding/folding processing portion 20 is pulled out from the main body 11 and moved to the maintenance position (right side in the figure). It differs from each of the above-described embodiments in that it is configured to remain in position (on the left side in the figure). Advantageously, the fourth modification does not require work to form a notch in the receiving portion H10 or to open the access space.

First, the access space defines a space portion opened in the direction in which the work such as replenishment of staples to the binding means 40, removal of the staple housing portion 43, or attachment thereof is performed. It was stated that the 13 to 15, the operation of removing or attaching the staple housing portion 43 to the binding means 40 will be described in detail.

FIG. 13 shows the main configuration of the sheet binding/folding processing unit 20 that performs folding processing and binding processing on the sheet P described in FIG. A dashed line inside the head portion 41 of the binding means 40 is the contour of the staple housing portion 43 for housing the sheet-like staples. The needle housing portion 43 is a cartridge-like container as indicated by the dashed line in FIG.

FIG. 14 shows a state in which the cartridge-like needle housing portion 43 explained in FIG. 13 is being removed from the head portion 41 . The needle housing portion 43 has a lever portion 44 that protrudes upward in the drawing from a cartridge-like container. The user can remove the needle housing portion 43 from the head portion 41 by putting a finger on the lever portion 44 and pulling the lever portion 44 forward when viewed from the sheet output side of the sheet post-processing device 10 . . As shown in FIG. 14, the needle housing portion 43 rotates about the corner of the needle housing portion 43 located diagonally to the tip of the lever portion 44 as a fulcrum in the counterclockwise direction shown in the drawing. Removed.

When the needle housing portion 43 is removed from the head portion 41, the locus along which the needle housing portion 43 is removed intersects the receiving portion H10 as shown in FIG. That is, the receiving portion H10 is arranged such that the locus of removing the staple housing portion 43 from the binding means 40 and the locus of movement of the sheets received in the receiving portion H10 intersect. The receiving portion H10 is arranged so that the trajectory of removing the staple housing portion 43 from the binding means 40 and the moving trajectory of the sheets received in the receiving portion H10 intersect. Since the notch portion 37a is formed at the end, the receiving portion H10 does not interfere with the trajectory of removing the needle housing portion 43 from the binding means 40, and the needle housing portion 43 can be removed.

FIG. 15 shows a state in the middle of removing the cartridge-like needle housing portion 43 from the head portion 41 explained in FIG. 13 in the second modification explained with reference to FIG. The head portion 41 is provided with a recessed portion 45 for attaching the needle accommodating portion 43 . The recessed portion 45 provided in the head portion 41 is defined to be slightly larger than the outer shape of the needle housing portion 43 in order to regulate the attachment position of the needle housing portion 43 to the head portion 41 in the seat width direction.

Therefore, when the needle housing portion 43 is removed from the head portion 41 , movement in the seat width direction is restricted by the recess portion 45 of the head portion 41 . Therefore, as described above, the needle housing portion 43 can be removed from the head portion 41 by pulling the lever portion 44 toward the near side as viewed from the sheet discharge side of the post-processing device 10 . The receiving portion H10 is arranged so that the trajectory of removing the staple housing portion 43 from the binding means 40 and the moving trajectory of the sheets received in the receiving portion H10 intersect. Since the notch portion 37a is formed at the end, the receiving portion H10 does not interfere with the trajectory of removing the needle housing portion 43 from the binding means 40, and the needle housing portion 43 can be removed.

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and appropriate modifications can be made without departing from the technical scope of the present invention.

P Paper 10 Sheet post-processing device 11 Main body 20 Sheet binding/folding unit 30 Folding unit 32 First sheet folding plate 33 First roller 34 Second roller 35 Third roller 37 Guide plate (receiving guide member)
38 Second sheet folding plate 40 Binding processing unit 43 Staple storage unit 44 Lever unit H1 Storage unit H2 Intermediate conveying path H10 Receiving unit

Claims (6)

a conveying means for conveying the sheet in a predetermined conveying direction;
a storage unit for storing the sheet conveyed by the conveying means;
binding means for binding a sheet bundle formed of a plurality of sheets stored in the storage unit using a binding needle;
a needle housing portion detachably attached to the binding means and housing the binding needles supplied to the binding means;
a first folding roller pair that nips the sheet or the sheet bundle stored in the storage unit at a predetermined first position in the conveying direction to form a first fold portion at the first position; ,
a receiving unit that receives the sheet or the sheet bundle on which the first folding line is formed by the first folding roller pair;
nipping the sheet or stack of sheets in the receiving section having the first fold formed thereon at a second position different from the first position to form a second fold at the second position; a second pair of folding rollers forming
with
The first folding roller pair and the second folding roller pair correspond to the staple accommodating portion attached to the binding means with respect to the accommodating portion in the thickness direction of the sheets or the sheet bundle to be accommodated in the accommodating portion. located on the same side and below the needle housing;
The receiving section is arranged above the first folding roller pair and the second folding roller pair so as to sandwich the staple storage section with the storage section, and for replenishing the staples. A sheet post-processing device, wherein the sheet post-processing device is arranged at a position that intersects with a trajectory for removing the part from the binding means. a processing unit that stores the conveying device, the storage unit, the binding device, the staple storage unit, the first folding roller pair, the second folding roller pair, and the receiving unit; a trajectory that is movable between an internal position located inside the sheet post-processing device and an external position located outside the sheet post-processing device, and for removing the staple housing portion of the receiving portion from the binding means; 2. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the intersecting portion is configured to be openable to the outside of the sheet post-processing apparatus when the processing unit is at the external position. the receiving portion includes a pair of first and second receiving guide members facing each other so as to define a path for contacting and guiding the sheet or sheet bundle delivered from the first pair of folding rollers;
the first receiving guide member located on the storage section side of the passage has a notch at a portion that intersects with a trajectory for removing the staple storage section from the binding means;
The second receiving guide member located on the opposite side of the first receiving guide member with respect to the passage is in a guide position for contacting and guiding the sheet or the sheet stack when the processing unit is at the external position. and a retracted position that does not come into contact with the sheet or the sheet bundle and does not intersect with a trajectory for removing the staple housing portion from the binding means. Post-processing equipment. the receiving portion includes a pair of first and second receiving guide members facing each other so as to define a path for contacting and guiding the sheet or the sheet bundle delivered from the first folding roller pair;
The first and second receiving guide members are configured such that when the processing unit is at the external position, a portion intersecting with a trajectory for removing the staple housing portion from the binding means is open to the outside of the sheet post-processing device. 3. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the sheet post-processing apparatus is attachable to and detachable from. the receiving portion includes a pair of first and second receiving guide members facing each other so as to define a path for contacting and guiding the sheet or the sheet bundle delivered from the first folding roller pair;
3. A sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said first and second receiving guide members have cutout portions at portions intersecting with a trajectory for removing said staple housing portion from said binding means. the receiving section has a pair of first and second receiving guide members facing each other so as to define a path for guiding the sheet or sheet bundle delivered from the first pair of folding rollers;
When the processing unit is at the external position, the first and second receiving guide members are configured to open a locus for removing the staple storage section from the binding means to the outside in order to replenish the binding staples. 3. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the sheet post-processing apparatus is separated from the processing unit and located inside the sheet post-processing apparatus.

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