JP2023114306A - Post-processing system and image formation system - Google Patents

Abstract

To inhibit increase of costs of a post-processing device, such as a finisher, and to load a sheet folded by a folding machine into a tray of the post-processing device at the downstream side.SOLUTION: A post-processing system has: a finisher which performs sheet post-processing; and a folding machine which may discharge the folded sheet to the finisher. The folding machine discharges the sheet folded once to the finisher (from S41 to S42), and the finisher performs second folding to the sheet folded once (from S43 to S45).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 20

Description

The present invention relates to post-processing systems and imaging systems.

2. Description of the Related Art A sheet post-processing apparatus system including a folding machine that folds a sheet in two, three, or four folds is already known. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-200000 discloses a configuration for discharging folded sheets to a folding machine or a tray of a downstream post-processing device depending on the sheet length or folding mode.
When the storage space of the folding machine is reduced due to the downsizing of the folding machine (internal use of the main body), if a large amount of paper is to be loaded, it will be loaded on the tray of the downstream post-processing device.
However, when the sheet is folded in three or four, the length of the sheet in the conveying direction becomes extremely short. However, there is a problem that the cost increases due to a large increase in the number of

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to stack sheets folded by a folding machine on a tray of a downstream post-processing device while suppressing an increase in the cost of a post-processing device such as a finisher.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention
A post-processing system including a finisher that performs post-processing of a sheet and a folding machine that can discharge a folded sheet to the finisher,
The folding machine discharges the first-folded sheet to the finisher,
The finisher folds the sheet that has been folded the first time for the second time.

According to the present invention, the sheet folded by the folding machine can be stacked on the tray of the downstream post-processing device while suppressing the cost increase of the post-processing device such as the finisher.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. It is a figure explaining the folding machine concerning the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a finisher according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. FIG. 10 is a first diagram for explaining an example of the operation of the folding machine to discharge sheets to the folding tray; FIG. 11B is a second diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the folding machine to discharge the paper to the folding tray; FIG. 11B is a third diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the folding machine to discharge the paper to the folding tray; FIG. 12B is a fourth diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the folding machine to discharge the paper to the folding tray; FIG. 12B is a fifth diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the folding machine to discharge the paper to the folding tray; FIG. 12B is a sixth diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the folding machine to discharge the paper to the folding tray; FIG. 11 is a first diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the folding machine to discharge a sheet to the finisher; FIG. 10 is a second diagram for explaining an example of the operation of the folding machine to discharge a sheet to the finisher; FIG. 11B is a third diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the folding machine to discharge the sheet to the finisher; FIG. 12B is a fourth diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the folding machine to discharge the sheet to the finisher; FIG. 11B is a fifth diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the folding machine to discharge sheets to the finisher; FIG. 10 is a first diagram illustrating an operation example of discharging a first-folded sheet received from the folding machine by the finisher; FIG. 10 is a second diagram illustrating an operation example of discharging the first-folded sheet received from the folding machine by the finisher; It is a figure explaining the modification of the folding machine which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a paper discharge path of the folding machine different from that of FIG. 14; FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a modification of the finisher according to the embodiment of the invention; 4 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of the post-processing system;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in each drawing for explaining the embodiments of the present invention, constituent elements such as members and constituent parts having the same function or shape are denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible, and will be described once. We omit the explanation.

The present invention stacks a sheet folded by a folding machine on a tray of a downstream post-processing device without increasing the cost when the sheet length in the conveying direction is extremely short due to tri-folding or quarter-folding. In this case, the first fold is formed by a folding machine, and the second fold is formed by a downstream post-processing device. In this way, the finisher can suppress an increase in the number of conveying rollers that match the length of the sheet. Specifically, since the length of the sheet becomes shorter after folding, the downstream finisher sets the pitch of the conveying rollers to match this length. The length becomes shorter, and the number of transport rollers used increases. An increase in the number of conveying rollers is avoided by conveying the sheet to the finisher in a state in which only the first folding is performed by the folding machine.

One aspect of the post-processing system according to the present embodiment includes a finisher (finisher 102) that performs sheet post-processing, and a folding machine (folding machine 103) that can discharge the folded sheet to the finisher, The folding machine discharges the first-folded sheet to the finisher, and the finisher folds the first-folded sheet a second time. The contents in parentheses correspond to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, which will be described later, as an example. In the following description, paper is used as an example of a sheet. Note that the sheet is not limited to paper, and is a sheet-like medium on which an image is formed and which can be folded by a folding machine.
The features of the invention described above will be explained in detail with reference to the following drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the invention. The image forming system 100 has a configuration in which an image forming apparatus 101 is connected with a finisher 102 and a folding machine 103 as a post-processing system.
The image forming apparatus 101 forms an image on paper. The image forming apparatus 101 has a known configuration, and can be configured as an electrophotographic color image forming apparatus, for example. The image forming apparatus 101 includes, for example, a control unit, an image forming unit, an optical writing unit, a paper feed unit, a paper feed transport unit, an image reading unit, an intermediate transfer unit, a fixing unit, a paper discharge transport unit, a double-sided transport path, etc. ( (neither shown) to form images on either one or both sides of the paper. Detailed description is omitted here.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a folding machine according to an embodiment of the invention.
After the image forming apparatus 101 forms an image on the paper, the folding machine 103 folds the paper and discharges or sends the processed paper to the finisher 102 .
When the sheet is conveyed to the finisher 102 via the folding machine 103, the folding machine 103 detects the leading end of the conveyed sheet in the conveying direction by the entrance sensor 391, and starts rotating each roller. Accepted by 310 . The folding machine 103 conveys the sheet by the pair of registration rollers 320 and the first forward/reverse rotating roller 330 , and conveys the sheet toward the finisher 102 by rotating the bifurcation claw 375 upward.
When the paper is discharged from the folding machine 103 , the folding machine 103 discharges the folded paper to the folding tray 300 .

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the finisher according to the embodiment of the invention.
After the image forming apparatus 101 forms an image on a sheet, the finisher 102 performs various post-processing such as sheet folding, saddle stitching, case binding, and punching on the sheet conveyed to the finisher 102 via the folding machine 103 . apply. Various types of post-processing include, for example, edge binding processing and center-folding processing. Center-folding processing includes saddle-stitching processing. The finisher 102 that performs such various post-processing has, as operation modes (folding modes), a discharge mode, an edge binding mode, a center folding mode, and the like.

The finisher 102 includes a first transport path Pt1 for receiving sheets ejected from the image forming apparatus 101 and ejecting the corresponding sheets to the first sheet ejection tray 4, and a first transport path Pt1 branched from the first transport path Pt1. A second transport path Pt2 for discharging to the second paper output tray 16, a third transport path Pt3 for branching from the second transport path Pt2 and performing edge binding processing etc. on the sheet bundle, A fourth transport path Pt4 is provided for branching from the third transport path Pt3 and discharging the center-folded paper onto the third paper discharge tray 29 . Each transport path Pt1 to Pt4 is formed by, for example, a guide member (not shown).

An inlet roller 5, transport rollers 6 and 7, and a paper discharge roller 8 are arranged in this order along the first transport path Pt1 from the upstream portion toward the downstream portion of the first transport path Pt1. The entrance roller 5, the transport rollers 6 and 7, and the paper discharge roller 8 are rotationally driven by a motor to transport the paper. An entrance sensor 9 is arranged upstream of the entrance rollers 5 . The entrance sensor 9 detects that the paper has been carried into the finisher 102 . A branch claw 10 is arranged downstream of the conveying roller 6 . By rotating and switching the position of the bifurcating claw 10, the paper can be selectively directed to either the portion downstream of the bifurcating claw 10 in the first transport path Pt1 or the second transport path Pt2. invite. The branch claw 10 is driven by, for example, a motor or solenoid.

In the ejection mode, the paper carried into the first transport path Pt1 is transported by the entrance roller 5, the transport rollers 6 and 7, and the paper ejection roller 8, and is ejected to the first paper ejection tray 4. FIG. On the other hand, in the edge binding mode and the center-folding mode, the paper carried into the first transport path Pt1 is transported by the inlet roller 5 and the transport roller 6, is changed in the traveling direction by the bifurcating claw 10, and is transferred to the second transport path Pt1. is conveyed to the conveying route Pt2.

The second transport path Pt2 includes a transport roller 11, a paper discharge roller 12, a paper discharge opening/closing guide plate 13, a return roller 14, a paper stacking section 15, a paper aligning section 17, and a first reference fence. 30, a second reference fence 23, a saddle-stitch conveying roller 19, a releasing claw 18, a binding process joining means 20, and a binding process receiving means 22 are arranged. The transport rollers 11, discharge rollers 12, and saddle stitch transport rollers 19 are driven by motors to transport the sheets. The paper aligning section 17 is driven by a motor. The discharge opening/closing guide plate 13 and return roller 14 are vertically driven by a motor.
When the binding process is not performed, the discharge opening/closing guide plate 13 is lowered and comes into contact with the discharge roller 12 . The paper carried into the second transport path Pt2 is transported by the transport rollers 11 and the paper discharge rollers 12 and discharged to the second paper discharge tray 16 .

In the edge binding mode, the return roller 14 is lowered to convey the sheet conveyed from the conveying roller 11 to the third conveying path Pt3. The conveyed sheets are sequentially stacked on the sheet stacking section 15 . As a result, a sheet bundle is formed in which a plurality of sheets are stacked. At this time, the trailing edge of the paper comes into contact with the first reference fence 30 provided in the paper stacking section 15 , and the paper transport direction position is aligned, and the width direction position is aligned by the paper alignment section 17 . The aligned bundle of sheets is subjected to edge binding processing by binding processing joining means 20 and binding processing receiving means 22 .

The bundle of sheets whose ends are bound is returned to the second conveying path Pt2 by the ejection pawl 18, after which the sheet ejection opening/closing guide plate 13 descends and is conveyed by the sheet ejection rollers 12 to the second sheet ejection. It is discharged to tray 16 . Here, the paper discharge roller 12 is an example of a paper discharge unit that discharges a bundle of sheets bound by the edge binding process.

In the center-folding mode, similarly to the end binding mode, the return roller 14 is lowered to convey the sheet conveyed from the conveying roller 11 to the third conveying path Pt3. The conveyed sheets are sequentially stacked on the sheet stacking section 15 . As a result, a sheet bundle is formed in which a plurality of sheets are stacked. At this time, the trailing edge of the paper comes into contact with the second reference fence 23 provided in the paper stacking section 15 , and the paper transport direction position is aligned and the width direction position is aligned by the paper alignment section 17 . After the saddle-stitching conveying rollers 19 press the arranged bundle of sheets, the second reference fence 23 opens, and the saddle-stitching conveying rollers 19 convey the bundle of sheets to the saddle-stitching position. The saddle stitching process is performed by the process receiving means 22 .

After performing the binding process, the sheets are conveyed toward the conveying rollers 24 by the saddle stitch conveying rollers 19 . After transporting the paper to a predetermined position, the transport roller 24 presses the paper. The transport roller 24 is driven by a motor to transport the paper. The sheet bundle conveyed to the third conveying path Pt3 is brought into contact with the third reference fence 27 by the conveying rollers 24 . A third reference fence 27 is driven by a motor according to the paper size.

The bundle of sheets positioned at the center-folding position is folded (center-folded) at the center in the sheet conveying direction by the center-folding section. In the center folding section, the blade 28 facing the center portion of the sheet stack in the center folding position in the sheet transport direction moves from right to left, and bends the sheet transport center portion of the sheet stack from above and below by the pressing roller 25 . pressed. The pressing roller 25 is driven by a motor. The bundle of sheets folded in this way is discharged onto the third paper discharge tray 29 by the pressure roller 25 and the paper discharge roller 26 . The paper discharge roller 26 is driven by a motor.

Next, an example of a case where a sheet is discharged to the folding tray 300 of the folding machine 103 and folded into three inwards will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 9. FIG.
The folding machine 103 performs registration correction on the sheet (FIG. 4) conveyed by the pair of entrance conveying rollers 310 by the pair of registration rollers 320, and then conveys the sheet downstream in the conveying direction by the first forward/reverse rotating rollers 330. FIG. When the leading edge of the paper is detected by the paper detection sensor 392 and then conveyed a predetermined distance (FIG. 5), the rotation direction of the first forward/reverse rotating roller 330 is reversed so that the first folding position is shifted to the folding processing roller 340 . While bending to the side (Fig. 6), the first fold is formed by nipping (Fig. 7).

After that, the paper is conveyed in the direction of the second forward/reverse rotation roller 350, and when the leading end of the paper is detected by the paper detection sensor 393 and conveyed a predetermined distance, the rotation direction of the second forward/reverse rotation roller 350 is reversed. , bending the second folding position toward the folding processing roller 360 (FIG. 8), and forming the second folding by nipping (FIG. 9).
Then, the paper that has been folded in three is stacked on the folding tray 300 of the folding machine 103 via the additional folding roller 370 and the downwardly rotating branch claw 375 and paper discharge roller 380 .

Next, a case of discharging a sheet to the finisher 102 during inward three-folding will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 16. FIG.
The folding machine 103 performs registration correction on the sheet (FIG. 10) conveyed by the pair of entrance conveying rollers 310 by the pair of registration rollers 320, and then conveys the sheet downstream in the conveying direction by the first forward/reverse rotating rollers 330. FIG. When the folding machine 103 detects the leading edge of the paper by the paper detection sensor 392 and conveys it a predetermined distance (the distance is different from the case where the folding machine folds the paper up to the second time) (FIG. 11), the first forward and reverse rotating rollers By reversing the rotational direction of 330, the first folding position is deflected toward the folding processing roller 340 (FIG. 12), and the first fold is formed by nipping (FIG. 13).

After that, the folding machine 103 conveys the sheet in the direction of the second forward/reverse rotation roller 350, but the second forward/reverse rotation roller 350 does not reverse and the sheet is conveyed as it is (FIG. 14). , the first forward/reverse rotating roller 330, and the branch claw 375 rotated upward to the finisher 102. As shown in FIG.

The finisher 102 accepts the paper that has been folded in three by the folding machine 103 through the inlet roller 5 , and discharges the paper to the paper stacking section 15 by the conveying rollers 6 and 11 . The finisher 102 conveys the sheet to the center folding portion by the return roller 14 and the conveying rollers 19 and 24 in a state where the first reference fence 30 is retracted. After being delivered to the third reference fence 27 (FIG. 15), the paper is positioned and folded a second time by the blade 28 and pressure roller 25. to eject the paper to the third paper ejection tray 29 (FIG. 16).
In this way, the middle folding means of the finisher 102 also serves as the second folding, so that the finisher 102 can perform the second folding without increasing the cost.

Next, modified examples of the folding machine 103 and the finisher 102 will be described.
Further, by configuring the folder 103 and the finisher 102 as shown in FIGS. 17 to 19, it is possible to discharge the sheets without lowering productivity than when the sheets are discharged to the folding machine 103. FIG.
FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a modification of the folding machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining a paper ejection path of the same folding machine that is different from that shown in FIG.
FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a modification of the finisher according to the embodiment of the invention.

A folding machine 103A in FIG. 17 is a configuration example in which a branch claw 376 is added to the folding machine 103 in FIG. After forming the first fold, the folding machine 103A conveys the sheet in the direction of the folding processing roller 360 by the bifurcation claw 376, and conveys it to the finisher 102 via the bifurcation claw 375 rotated upward (FIG. 18). . By doing so, it is possible to shorten the conveying path of the sheet that has been folded for the first time.

A finisher 102A in FIG. 19 is a configuration example in which the third reference fence 27 of the finisher 102 in FIG. 3 is modified so that it can stand by at a predetermined position.
In the middle folding portion of the finisher 102A, the leading edge of the paper that has been folded for the first time hits the third reference fence 27 standing by at a predetermined position, and the paper is bent toward the pressure roller 25 and nipped. By forming the second fold without using the blade 28, it is possible to eject the sheet without reducing productivity.

Next, an operation example in a plurality of folding modes will be described.
FIG. 20 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of the post-processing system.
The image forming system 100 of FIG. 1, for example, has main control means for controlling the entire system. The post-processing system including the folding machine 103 and the finisher 102 has control means for controlling the inside of the post-processing system, and the image forming apparatus 101 has control means for controlling the inside of the image forming apparatus. do.
The control means or main control means is composed of, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a storage means such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and the like. The CPU of the control means or the main control means reads out various programs stored in the ROM or the like, develops them in the RAM, and controls various processes such as image forming processing and post-processing according to the developed programs.

The control means of the post-processing system accepts one of a plurality of folding modes, and advances post-processing according to the procedure of FIG. 20 based on the accepted folding mode. The control unit of the post-processing system receives the folding mode from, for example, a main control unit that controls the entire system, a control unit of the image forming apparatus 101, or an instruction from an input unit such as an operation panel.
The control means of the post-processing system may be configured such that each of the folding machine 103 and the finisher 102 has a control means and receives instructions from the main control means, and can be appropriately designed according to the system.
An operation example of the control means of the post-processing system will be described below with reference to FIG.

The control means of the post-processing system accepts the folding mode and the paper discharge destination. The folding modes are Z-folding, double-folding, tri-folding, and quad-folding, and the output destination is either finisher 102 or folding machine 103 . The control means of the post-processing system controls the operations of the folding machine 103 and the finisher 102 as follows based on the accepted folding mode and discharge destination.

In Z-folding and double-folding (Yes in S11), if the paper output destination is the finisher 102 (Yes in S12), the folding machine 103 receives the paper conveyed from the image forming apparatus 101 (S21), and folds it for the first time. An operation is performed (S22). In the case of two-folding, the first folding is completed, but in the case of Z-folding, after the second folding (S23), the sheet is conveyed to the finisher 102 (S24) and placed on the first paper discharge tray 4 or , is discharged to the second discharge tray 16 (S25). It is also possible to discharge the sheets to the first discharge tray 4 after performing edge binding as described above.

In Z-folding and double-folding (Yes in S11), if the output destination is the folding machine 103 (No in S12), the paper conveyed from the image forming apparatus 101 is received by the folding machine 103 (S31), and the first folding is performed. Operation (S32): In the case of double folding, the paper is completed after the first folding, but in the case of Z folding, after the second folding (S33), the paper is discharged to the folding tray 300 of the folding machine (S34).

Next, when folding in three or four (No in S11), if the output destination is the folding machine 103 (Yes in S13), the paper conveyed from the image forming apparatus 101 is received by the folding machine 103 (S31). After performing the first folding operation (S32) and the second folding (S33), the sheet is discharged to the folding tray 300 of the folding machine (S34).
In addition, when folding in three or four (No in S11), if the paper output destination is the finisher 102 (No in S13), the paper conveyed from the image forming apparatus 101 is received by the folding machine 103 (S41). An operation is performed (S42). After that, the sheet is conveyed to the finisher 102 (S43), folded for the second time as described above (S44), and then discharged to the third discharge tray 29 of the finisher 102 (S45).

In this way, when the sheet folded by the folding machine 103 is discharged to the finisher 102, in the case of Z-folding or double-folding, the folding machine performs up to the second folding, and the sheet length in the conveying direction is extremely large. In the case of three-fold or four-fold, the first folding is performed by the folding machine 103 and the second folding is performed by the finisher 102, so that the pitch of the conveying rollers in the finisher 102 needs to be narrowed. Therefore, it is possible to discharge the paper to the finisher 102 without increasing the number of conveying rollers to be used. In addition, the folding machine 103 can be loaded onto the shift tray of the finisher 102 capable of loading a large amount without increasing the cost.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown above. Within the scope of the present invention, each element of the above embodiments can be changed, added, or converted into contents that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art.

100 image forming system 101 image forming apparatus 102 finisher 103 folding machine

JP-A-2006-076779

Claims (5)

A post-processing system including a finisher that performs post-processing of a sheet and a folding machine that can discharge a folded sheet to the finisher,
The folding machine discharges the first-folded sheet to the finisher,
The post-processing system, wherein the finisher folds the sheet that has been folded the first time for the second time. It has multiple folding modes,
In the first folding mode, the folding machine discharges the second-folded sheet to the finisher,
In a second folding mode, the folding machine discharges the second folded sheet to a tray of the folding machine,
In a third folding mode, the folding machine discharges the first-folded sheet to the finisher, and the finisher instructs the first-folded sheet to be folded a second time. 2. The aftertreatment system of claim 1. 3. The post-processing system according to claim 1, wherein the finisher has center folding means, and the second fold is formed by the center folding means. When the folded sheet is discharged to the finisher, the folding machine performs only the first folding in the case of three-folding or four-folding, and the first folding in the case of Z-folding or two-folding. 4. Post-processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it performs a first and a second fold. an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet;
An image forming system comprising a post-processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.