JP2592835B2 - Sheet post-processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus that performs processing on a sheet.

[Background of the Invention] Conventionally, a sheet on which an image is recorded by a copying machine, a printer, or the like is half-folded or Z-folded by hand, and the sheets are bound by hand.

Since these operations are extremely troublesome, an apparatus for folding and stacking sheets discharged from a copying machine, a printer, or the like has recently been proposed.

The height when the folded sheet is stacked on the tray is higher than that of the unfolded sheet. However, because such a situation is not considered, a stacking failure may occur. .

Further, the same occurs because the height of the stacked sheets differs depending on whether the type of sheet folding is half-folding or Z-folding.

Also, since the bulk of the sheet on the tray is different depending on whether or not the sheet is folded and the type of folding, if the distance between the sheet discharge port and the upper surface of the sheet on the tray is fixed independently of folding, a stacking failure occurs. Sometimes.

[Object] An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet processing apparatus capable of satisfactorily stacking processed sheets in view of the above problems.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 shows an internal configuration of an embodiment of an image recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In this figure, 100 is a main body having an image reading function and an image recording function, 300 is a circulating document feeder (hereinafter referred to as RDF) for automatically feeding a document, and 400 is a paper folding device for folding a sheet at a predetermined position. The device and 500 are finishers (post-processing devices) having a sorting function and a stapling function.
Can be freely used in combination.

A. Main unit (100) In the main unit 100, 101 is a platen glass on which an original is placed, and 103 is an illumination lamp (exposure lamp) 10 for illuminating the original.
Reference numerals 5,107,109 denote scanning reflection mirrors (scanning mirrors) 111 for changing the optical path of the reflected light of the document, lenses 111 having focusing and zooming functions, and reference numeral 113 denotes a fourth reflection mirror (scanning mirror) for changing the optical path. Reference numeral 115 denotes an optical system motor that drives the optical system, and 117, 119, and 121 denote sensors.

131 is a photosensitive drum, 133 is a main motor for driving the photosensitive drum 131, 135 is a high-pressure unit, 137 is a blank exposure unit, 139 is a developing device, 140 is a developing roller, 147 is a transfer charger, 143 is a separation charger, and 143 is a separation charger. 145 is a cleaning device.

151 is the upper cassette, 153 is the lower cassette, 155 and 1
57 is a paper feed roller, and 159 is a registration roller. Also, 1
Numeral 61 denotes a conveyor belt for conveying the recording paper on which the image is recorded to the fixing side, numeral 163 denotes a fixing device for fixing the conveyed recording paper by thermal fixing, and numeral 165 denotes a discharge roller.

The surface of the photosensitive drum 131 is made of a photoconductor and a seamless photosensitive member using a conductor. The drum 131 is rotatably supported by a shaft, and operates in response to pressing of a copy start key described later. The rotation is started by the motor 133 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. Next, when the predetermined rotation control and potential control processing (preprocessing) of the drum 131 is completed, the original placed on the original platen glass 101 is illuminated by the illumination lamp 103 integrated with the first scanning mirror 105, The reflected light of the original is supplied to a first scanning mirror 105, a second scanning mirror 107, a third scanning mirror 109, a lens 111, and a fourth scanning mirror 113.
And form an image on the drum 131.

The drum 131 is corona-charged by the high-pressure unit 135. Thereafter, the image (original image) illuminated by the illumination lamp 103 is subjected to slit exposure, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the drum 131.

Next, the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 131 is developed by the developing roller 140 of the developing device 139 and visualized as a toner image, and the toner image is transferred onto the transfer paper by the transfer charger 147 as described later. .

That is, the upper cassette 151 or the lower cassette 153
The transfer paper inside is sent into the main body device by the paper feed roller 155 or 157, is sent by the registration roller 159 in the direction of the photosensitive drum 131 at an accurate timing, and the leading end of the latent image and the leading end of the transfer paper coincide. . Then, the transfer charger 14
When the transfer paper passes between the drum 7 and the drum 131, the toner image on the drum 131 is transferred onto the transfer paper. After the completion of the transfer, the transfer paper is separated from the drum 131 by the separation charger 143, guided to the fixing device 163 by the conveyor belt 161 and fixed by pressure and heat.
Is discharged out of the main body 100.

After the transfer, the drum 131 continues to rotate, and the surface thereof is cleaned by a cleaning device 145 including a cleaning roller and an elastic blade.

C. RDF (Circulating Document Feeder) (300) In the RDF 300, reference numeral 301 denotes a stacking tray for setting documents. 302 and 303 are original size detection sensors,
They are provided at predetermined intervals in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of the document. The size of the document in the width direction is determined by both sensors 302 and 3
03 detects the original, or one of the sensors 303 (however,
It is assumed that the sensor 303 is located on the far side of the drawing. ) Can be determined by checking whether only the original is detected. It should be noted that an accurate size can be determined by increasing the number of such sensors. The size in the length direction is
(Or 302) can be determined based on the time during which the document is being detected.

In addition, in this RDF300, sheet path 3
The original sent to the exposure surface through 04 is sent through the sheet path 305, so that the original can be stacked on the stacking tray 301 again. A sensor 307 detects the circulation of the original.

The detailed operation of the RDF 300 is described in detail in Japanese Patent Application No. 59-20066 filed by the present applicant, but is omitted here because it is not directly related to the present invention.

D. Paper Folding Apparatus (400) The paper folding apparatus 400 performs a half-fold in which the recorded transfer paper is folded at a substantially central position thereof, and a Z-fold in which three sections are folded into substantially Z shapes at two predetermined positions. In this paper folding apparatus 400, reference numeral 401 denotes a flapper for guiding the transfer paper downward during folding, 4
03 and 405 are paths (transport paths), and 407 and 409 are folding rollers.

In the paper folding apparatus 400, when Z folding is designated by a Z folding key described later, the flapper 401 is turned on to guide the recorded paper to the lower path 403, and the leading end of the paper is When the sheet is stopped, the sheet portion folded next to 1/4 through the roller 407 abuts against the end of the path 405, and the sheet is further cut by 1/2.
And again guided from the roller 407 to the finisher 500 through the roller 409. When half-folding is specified by a half-fold key described later, the recorded paper is 1/2
Then, the sheet is discharged from the roller 409 to the finisher 500 without going to the path 405. On the other hand, when the folding key is not specified and the paper is not folded, the flapper 401 is turned off and the recorded paper is directly discharged to the finisher 500 as it is.

E. Finisher (500) In the finisher 500 for sorting or stapling recorded paper, 501 is a path switching discharge flapper that selectively switches to one of a sorting path 503 and a stapling path 505. A staple tray for temporarily storing recorded paper before being stapled, 509 is a width regulating plate provided on the staple tray 507, and 511 staples a plurality of recorded papers regulated by the width regulating plate 509. Stapler (document binding machine), 513 is a statue tray for storing stapled recorded paper,
The drive of the width adjusting plate 509 is controlled by a stepping motor (not shown). A sorting tray 515 sorts unstapled recording paper.

The recorded paper discharged from the main body 100 or from the petite stal 200 is half-folded or Z-folded by the paper folding device 400 according to the specification of the key, and then is discharged to the swing type sorting tray 515 of the finisher 500, Alternatively, the recorded paper discharged to the staple tray 507 is discharged to the staple tray 507, and the width thereof is regulated by the width adjusting plate 509 for every part of the designated number of sheets, bound by the stapler 511, and dropped to the stapler tray 513.

That is, in the finisher 500, when the staple mode is selected by the staple key described later, the discharge flapper 501 is turned on, the recorded paper is discharged to the staple tray 507 via the path 505, and when the specified number of sheets is reached. Body 100
Then, the width adjusting plate 509 and the stapler 511 are turned on in accordance with the instruction from, and the recorded paper is stapled. Thereafter, the stapled paper is dropped onto the statka tray 513. By repeating this operation, a plurality of recorded documents collated and stapled are completed. Reference numeral 517 denotes a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of a staple, and for example, a reflection sensor is used.

When the stapling process is not selected, the discharge flapper 501 is turned off and switched to the sorting side, and the recorded paper is discharged to the sorting tray 515 through the path 503. At this time, in accordance with an instruction from the main body 100, the recorded paper can be stacked while being shifted left and right by 30 mm in units of a good number of sheets. FIG. 2 shows an example of an arrangement configuration of an operation panel provided on the main body 100 described above. The operation panel has keys and a display as described below.

An all reset key 602 is pressed to return to the standard mode.

604 is a copy start key (copy start key),
Press to start copying.

A clear / stop key 605 has a clear key function during standby and a stop key function during copy recording. This clear key is pressed to cancel the set number of copies. The stop key is pressed to interrupt continuous copying. After the copying at the time of pressing is completed, the copying operation is stopped.

A numeric keypad 606 is pressed when setting the number of copies.

Reference numeral 625 denotes a staple key, which is depressed when stapling paper after recording. 626 is a Z-fold key, A3 or B
Press to fold recorded paper of size 4 into a Z-section.

608 and 609 are copy density keys which are depressed when manually adjusting the copy density. An AE key 610 is used to automatically adjust the copy density according to the density of the original, or
Press to cancel AE (automatic density adjustment) and switch the density adjustment to manual (manual). Reference numeral 611 denotes a cassette selection key, which is pressed to select the upper cassette 151 and the interruption cassette 153. When a document is placed on the RDF 300, APS (automatic paper cassette selection) can be selected with this key 611. When APS is selected, a cassette having the same size as the original is automatically selected.

Reference numeral 612 denotes a same-size key, which is pressed when making a copy of the same size (original size). An automatic scaling key 613 is pressed when automatically reducing or enlarging the image of the original according to the designated size of the transfer paper. 614 and 615 are zoom keys, 64
Press to specify any magnification between ~ 142%. Reference numerals 616 and 617 denote fixed-size scaling keys, which are pressed when designating reduction / enlargement of a fixed-size. 626 is a Z-fold key, A3
Press to Z-fold recorded paper of size B4 or B4. 627
Is a half-fold key, which is pressed to fold A3 or B4 size recorded paper in half.

628 is a sort key.
Or press this key to cancel the sort mode.
629 is a group key.

G. Display Group (700) In FIG. 2, reference numeral 701 denotes an LCD (liquid crystal) type message display. For example, one character is composed of 5 × 7 dots, and a message of 40 characters can be displayed.

A copy number display 705 displays the number of copies or a self-diagnosis code. Reference numeral 706 denotes a used cassette display, which indicates which of the upper cassette 151 and the interrupting cassette 153 has been selected.

Reference numeral 710 denotes a ready / weight indicator, which is a two-color LED of green and orange, when ready (when copying is possible)
Is lit green, and orange is lit during wait (when copying is not possible).

H. Controller (800) FIG. 3 shows an example of a circuit configuration of the controller 800 of the embodiment shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 801 denotes a central processing unit (CPU) for performing arithmetic control for executing the present invention.
Microcomputer μmC made by EC (NEC Corporation)
Use OM87AD. Reference numeral 803 denotes a read-only memory (ROM) in which a control procedure (control program) according to the present invention as shown in FIG. 6 and thereafter is stored in advance.
Each component device connected via the bus is controlled according to a control procedure stored in the OM. Reference numeral 805 denotes a random access memory (RAM) which is a main storage device used for storing input data, a work storage area, and the like.

Reference numeral 807 denotes an interface (I / O) for outputting a CPU 801 control signal to a load such as the main motor 133, and 809 denotes an image sensor 121.
Reference numeral 811 denotes an interface for input / output control of the key group 600 and the display group 700 by inputting an input signal such as an input signal to the CPU 801. These interfaces 807, 809, 811 are, for example, NEC input / output circuit ports μm PD8
Use 255.

The display group 700 is each of the display units shown in FIG. 2, and uses LEDs and LCDs. A key group 600 is each key shown in FIG. 2, and the CPU 801 can determine which key is pressed by a well-known key matrix.

The CPU 801 includes the RDF 300, the folding device 400, and the finisher 500.
Are connected via a bus line to operate the respective devices.

[Operation example]

FIGS. 4-1 to 4-3 are detailed views of the sorting tray section of the embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 4A, the sheet is passed upward by the path switching discharge flapper 501 so that the sheet is positioned upward.
The paper is discharged to the sorting tray 515 through the discharge belt 52a via the 503. At this time, all the conveying rollers of the sheet in the path 503 are rotated by the conveying motor 521. The sheet entering the path 503 by the flapper 501 is detected at the leading end by the discharge detection sensor 525. At that time, the drive from the transport motor 521 is transmitted to the discharge belt 529 via the clutch 523, and the transport speed is set to the same speed as the transport rollers in the other paths 503, and the sheet is discharged at that speed. Passes through the belt 529. Next, when the sensor 525 detects the trailing edge of the sheet, the above-described clutch 523 is turned off, and the transport speed is reduced. From the tray 515. Further, the discharge belt 529 is a mechanism that moves up and down with one end as a fulcrum as shown by an arrow. As described later, a sheet limit sensor 527 detects the upper limit when the sheet is pushed up by stacking sheets or when the tray position is initialized.
Is provided.

In addition, the sorting tray 515 has a sheet stacking detection sensor 531 for detecting that stacked sheets are on the tray. Further, as shown in FIG. 4-3, the inclination of the tray can be switched in two stages, and a tray switching sensor 551 for detecting a case where the inclination of the tray is small is provided.

The sorting tray unit 539 moves up and down as indicated by an arrow A by a lifting motor 535 via a rack and pinion 533. For example, when the sorting tray unit 539 is lowered to the bottom as shown by a dotted line in the drawing, it is detected by a lower limit sensor 537. The descent is stopped.

The sorting tray unit 539 is configured to move to two positions in the horizontal direction as shown by an arrow B in FIG. 4-2 to sort the sheet bundle, and is moved by the shift motor 541 through the cam 545 and the arm 547. The tray 515 is moved in parallel, and the shift operation is performed by stopping the shift motor 541 where the shift position sensor 543 is turned on by the protrusion of the cam 545.

Next, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the operation content table of FIG. 5 and the flowcharts of FIGS. 6 to 9.

(1) At the time of initialization If the stack mode is designated when the copy start key of the copying machine is pressed, the position of the sorting tray 515 needs to be initialized in each mode, and this is performed by using the flowchart of FIG. Will be explained.

In FIG. 6, when the copy start key is pressed (step 101), the following processing is started. First step102
In the sheet loading detection sensor 531 detects the paper,
That is, it is checked whether or not paper is placed on the tray 515. If there is paper, the process proceeds to step 103 described later. If there is no paper, copy sheet ejection is prohibited as described later and the process proceeds to the next step 104. In step 104, the tray elevating motor is turned on in the tray elevating direction to raise the tray 515, and is raised until the sheet limit sensor 527 is turned on. Then, the tray elevating motor 521 is turned off to stop. This means that the tray 515 has been once set to the uppermost position. In the next step 105, the tray 515 is lowered to a different position depending on each mode, which will be described individually.

First, the position of the 515 initial on the tray is changed depending on the folding mode.
mm to the position of 515 and stop it (step10
6). Also, in the Z-folding mode, the distance for lowering the tray 515 is changed depending on whether the tray switching sensor 551 is on, that is, whether the tray 515 is tilted or not. 29mm from the position. Also, when there is no folding, a tray switching sensor
551 on, 9mm from top, off, from top
The position is 1.5mm. The reason why the position of the tray is made different depending on how the paper is folded or the angle of the tray will be described later.

The tray initial operation after the copy start key is turned on is performed in step 102 when the sheet stacking detection sensor 531 is off. That is, since the tray 515 from which the copy sheets stacked in the previous copy mode have been removed is sequentially lowered for stacking the sheets, the tray 515 is located at a considerably low position, so that the time for raising it is considerably long. Therefore, in this case, the discharge operation of the copy sheet is prohibited, the tray 515 is initialized, and the discharge of the copy sheet is permitted after the end (step 107). This is because if the copy sheet is discharged before the position of the tray 515 reaches the predetermined position, a problem occurs in stacking the sheets on the tray. When the sheet stacking detection sensor 531 is turned on in step 102, discharge of the copy sheet is permitted as in step 103, and the initial operation after step 104 is performed. In this case, the uppermost position of the sheet is initialized in a state where the sheet stacked in the previous copy mode remains on the tray as it is, and the position of the tray 515 is somewhat close to the limit sensor 529. The time required for the initial operation is reduced. For this reason, the initial operation is sufficient in time until the copy sheet is discharged, so that it is not necessary to prohibit the discharge of the copy sheet as described above, which has the effect of shortening the copy operation time.

(2) At the time of sheet discharge Next, the sequence of the sheet discharge to the sorting tray 515 of the finisher and the sequence of stacking the sheets on the tray will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 7-1 and 7-2.

The sheet is discharged from the copier, and is conveyed to the entrance of the finisher through the folding device 400 in the folding mode or through the through path in the non-folding mode, and is discharged to the sorting tray 515 through the guide 503. Is done.
In this case, first, in step 201, it is determined whether or not the Z-fold mode is designated. When the Z-fold mode is designated, the transport speed is set to 600 mm / sec.
The transport motor 521 is controlled by, for example, the well-known RLL control or the like so that the speed becomes / sec. When the sheet arrives at the discharge detection sensor 525, the clutch 523 is turned on, and the discharge belt 5
By making the transport speed of the sheet 29 equal to the above-mentioned speed, the sheet is smoothly discharged until the sheet passes through the sensor 525 (step 202). Then, in steps 203 and 204, after the sheet has passed the sensor 525, the clutch 523 is turned off, the speed of the discharge belt 529 is reduced to about 1/4, and the timing is finely controlled for each mode, so that the sheet is ejected. Good loading is done. In particular, the discharge and stacking of the first sheet is closely related to the initial position of the tray and the transport speed described above.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

First, in the no-fold mode, the rear end of the sheet is
After passing through 5, the clutch 523 is turned off at the position of 40 mm to reduce the transport speed. That is, as shown in FIG. 10A, the position of 40 mm corresponds to the position of the discharge belt 52.
This is the center position of the roller that rotates 9, and the sheet is loaded on the tray at a high speed of 500 mm / sec so that the sheet is not affected by the waist of the sheet and the curl of the sheet is prevented, and ( At a low speed as shown in b), the trailing edge of the sheet protrudes as if clinging to the discharge belt, and there is no over-protrusion as shown in FIG. 1.5mm
Since the sheet is at the lowered position, the sheet can be pulled in well on the lower side of the belt and can be favorably stacked on the tray. As a result, the time required for discharging the sheet is high for the sheet length and is reduced for a short distance during discharge, so that the discharge from the copier to the finisher is not limited, and There is also an effect that sheets can be satisfactorily stacked without lowering the copy speed.

Next, in the Z-folding mode, as shown in FIG.
The timing of turning off the 523 has been changed. First, 10-2
FIG. 7A shows a state in which the tray is standing and the size is A3, and the clutch 523 is turned off after a time required to convey 58 mm after the sheet is turned off when the sheet passes through the discharge detection sensor 525. The position 58 mm from the discharge detection sensor 525 is a position 10 mm downstream from the left end of the discharge belt 529 in the sheet conveyance direction. Until then, the sheet is discharged to the tray 515 at a high speed of 600 mm / sec, which is unique to Z-folding. Sheet Z
We are trying not to get waisted at the border between the overlapping half of the folded part and the half that does not overlap. Then, the clutch 523 is turned off and the speed is switched to a low speed, so that the discharge belt 529 is provided.
By gently dropping the rear end of the sheet at a position 10 mm away from the, the sheet can be loaded well without being caught by the rear end.

On the other hand, in the case of the B4 size even when the tray is standing, when the sheet passes the position 48 mm from the sensor 525 off in FIG. 10-2 (b), that is, at the timing when the sheet passes the left end position of the discharge belt 529, the clutch is provided. The 523 is off, but this is the length after Z folding in the case of B4 is A3
Therefore, if the sheet is ejected at a high speed up to 58 mm as in the case of the above-mentioned A3, the sheet may jump over the Z-folded sheet stacked on the tray 515 and a good stacking may not be obtained.
So 48mm to prevent this, and also at the rear end
Good results that do not occur because the B4 sheet is short are obtained.

In the Z-folding mode, both trays are placed at a position 29 mm below the discharge belt to keep the leading edge of the Z-folded sheet from collapsing with the tray, preventing the stiffness during high-speed discharge and reducing the number of sheets. It is possible to perform a good stacking operation such that the leading end of the sheet does not go into the boundary of the first Z-folded portion.

Further, when the tray 515 is switched to the falling state, regardless of the size, the tray is 36 mm from the discharge belt 529, and the timing of the clutch 523 is off at a position 35 mm from the sensor 525 off, that is, 13 mm before the left end of the discharge belt 529. The position is set at the timing when the sheet is conveyed. This is because, as shown in FIG. 10-2 (c), it is not necessary to lengthen the high-speed paper discharge time while the tray is standing and to fly it far away, as described above, since the tray has fallen. Good loading is ensured by loading securely.
Also, by lowering the height of the tray to some extent, it is possible to stack a wide allowable range without the above-mentioned undercut.

Referring back to FIG. 7-1, especially in step 204, when the tray 515 is standing in the half-fold mode, the clutch 5
High-speed discharge without turning off 23, and step 10 in FIG.
By setting the tray at a distance of 36 mm from the discharge belt 529 as shown in 5, the trailing edge of the sheet by the discharge belt 529 is prevented from being dragged, and the sheet is loaded well. (Refer to FIG. 10-3.) Next, how to lower the tray when paper is sequentially discharged and stacked in each mode will be described. Step20 in Fig. 7-1
At 5, the discharge timer is activated, and the system waits for the time for each sheet to be completely discharged and loaded on the tray. Then the seventh
As shown in step 301 and subsequent steps in FIG. That is, it is roughly classified according to whether or not it is the folding mode. First, the no-fold mode will be described.

In step 301, the sheet loading detection sensor 531 is checked, and if the sensor is off, the tray 515 is not moved. This is presumed that the user has taken out the discharged sheets one by one. If the sensor is ON, the tray switching sensor 551 is checked in step 302. Here, when the sensor is turned on and the tray is in the down state, the number of discharged sheets is counted, and the tray is lowered by 1.5 mm every eight counts. In this case, 1.5 mm is considered to be equal to 8 sheets, and
In step 105 in the figure, the tray is lowered by 9 mm in advance, so that the discharge belt 529 does not climb up on the stacked paper, and the stacking is performed while the position of the stacking surface of the discharge is roughly fixed. be able to. On the other hand, if the tray is standing, it is in the normal state in step 303, and as the sheets are sequentially stacked, the height of the sheets gradually rises, and finally the sheet discharging belt 529 is pushed up to reload the sheets. The mit sensor 527 is turned on. Here, the tray is not lowered immediately when the limit sensor is turned on, but is continuously turned on while three sheets are discharged, and the tray is lowered by 1.5 mm for the first time. This is performed to prevent chattering of the sensor. By connecting such operations, a large amount of paper can be loaded well.

On the other hand, in the folding mode, particularly in the Z folding mode, (st
ep304), a tray lowering operation different from the unfolded sheet described above is required. This is because, when the Z-folded sheets are sequentially stacked, the Z-folded portion becomes swelled as shown in FIG. 11A, and it becomes difficult to write a good description. Therefore, if the tray is standing, execute step 305,
Lower the tray by 1 mm each for up to 15 sheets, 1 mm for A3, and 0.4 mm for B4 for 15 sheets or more.
That is, as described in step 203 of FIG.
In order to prevent the folded sheet from jumping over, digging in, and trailing end of the folded sheet, the sheet stacked on the top is controlled so that it is always at an appropriate position (angle, height) with respect to the discharged sheet. . If the height of the tray is not changed as shown in Fig. 11-1, the discharge sheet will jump over.
If the tray is lowered as shown in FIG. On the other hand, if the tray is in the collapsed state, step 306 is executed. In this case, the lowering of the tray may be rough. That is, the swelling of the Z-folded sheet is small as shown in FIG. 11-3. Therefore, the tray can be used as it is until the 50th sheet is discharged, and when it exceeds 50 sheets, good stacking can be performed only by lowering the sheet by 1 mm for each sheet discharged (FIG. 11-4).

On the other hand, in the case of half-folding, as shown in FIG. 11-5, the initial position of the tray is at a lowered position, so that good loading is possible without lowering the tray during loading.

(3) Overload check As described above, the control for improving the stacking of the sheets on the tray has been described. However, it is necessary to stop the apparatus within a range that does not exceed the upper limit of the number of sheets that cannot be stacked finally. There is.
The operation of each mode, such as the upper limit value and release of stop, will be described below. In step 401, the stacking is confirmed by the sheet stacking detection sensor 531 as described above. If there is a stack, the process proceeds to step 402 and the processing is made different depending on the mode check. Step 403 is a loading upper limit check in the non-folding mode, in which the trays are sequentially lowered as described above, and finally lowered until the lower limit sensor 537 is turned on, and the sheet limit sensor 527 is turned on. The stacking over alarm is output as the upper limit number of sheets only after the sheets are stacked. That is, in this case, the overflow is checked by detecting the height of the stacked sheets. The reset of the alarm state is performed by the user pulling out the upper sheet and turning off the sheet limit sensor 527. (Step 404) On the other hand, in the folding mode, the upper limit of the stacking is limited by the number of sheets. If the tray is folded in the half-fold mode or Z-fold, an alarm is output when the number of discharged sheets is 100, and when the tray is in a Z-fold state and the tray is standing, 30 alarms are output. (Steps 406 and 407) In this case, as described in the above-described discharge check program, when stacking folded sheets, it is difficult to specify the height of the sheets, and it is necessary to determine the upper limit by the number of sheets.

Then, the alarm is reset when the user removes all the folded sheets and turns off the sheet stacking detection sensor 531. (Step 408) On the other hand, if the user mistakenly removes the loaded sheet during a series of operations, the user checks it in Step 409. That is,
The tray is lowered by the height of the stacked sheets, and if the sheets are suddenly removed in this state, it becomes impossible to properly stack the discharged sheets. So st
In ep409, it is checked whether the tray has been lowered at least once during the discharge, and a stacking empty alarm is output when the sheet stacking detection sensor 531 is turned off after the tray is lowered. In this case, the processing from step 102 of the above-described initialization routine is performed, and the alarm is reset after returning to the initial position of the tray in each mode.

When each of the alarms is output, the copier temporarily stops its operation and enters a standby state until the alarm is reset.
The contents of the alarm may be displayed on the display unit (of the copying machine).

(4) End check Next, the operation at the time of sorting will be described with reference to FIG.

First, in step 501, after waiting for the final copy sheet to be discharged from the copying machine, the sorting operation is performed for each mode.

In step 502, the process is changed depending on whether the mode is the folding mode. In the case of the folding mode, the process proceeds to step 504 described later. If the mode is not the folding mode, the process proceeds to step 503. At the end of the operation, the tray is always lowered by a predetermined amount, and the lowering amount is changed by turning on / off the tray switching sensor 551. In the non-folding mode, this is as shown in Fig. 10-1.
Since the lower end of 529 is in contact with the sheet,
One is that the user may not be able to take out the stacked sheets if it is in the same position at the end of the operation, and the discharge belt does not shift when the tray shifts horizontally in the sorting mode described later. Therefore, it is a countermeasure for the problem that the uppermost sheet in contact is shifted. or,
The reason why the lowering amount is changed to 10 mm when the tray switching sensor is on and 18 mm when the tray switching sensor is off depending on the switching state of the tray is because the tray position at the time of loading is different and it is necessary to lower it to a position where it does not completely contact the discharge belt 529. is there.

Next, step 504 will be described. This is a routine for shifting the tray to the sorting mode by about 30 mm in a horizontal direction. The shift is performed by shifting the shift position sensor 543 from off to on by 30 mm from on to off, and is completed by turning off the motor.

The reason why the tray does not descend in the folding mode as in step 503 is that the tray is at a position where it is lowered to some extent in advance.

The shift of 30 mm at a position distant from the discharge belt results in a state in which a bundle of copy sheets is satisfactorily sorted. In step 504, when the tray lowering limit sensor 527 is ON, no shift is performed. This is because the lower limit sensor 53 is used when lowering the first-gear tray when the discharge belt is in contact with the uppermost sheet in a non-folding mode or the like.
If the switch 7 is turned on, the tray cannot be lowered any further. At this time, the gap with the belt 529 cannot be guaranteed, so that the shift of the uppermost sheet due to the shift cannot be prevented beforehand.

As described above, when performing the sorting operation of the stacker, the tray raising / lowering operation and the swinging (sorting) operation are controlled differently according to the presence / absence of sheet folding and the presence / absence of the sorting mode setting. There is an effect that good sorting of statues is performed.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the top of the tray stack and the discharge belt are in contact with each other, when swinging, the entire tray is temporarily lowered, but for example, the entire discharge belt is lifted from the top of the sheet. By adding a simple mechanism (lifting up by a plunger), there is no need to perform this lowering operation, and there is also an effect of increasing the speed of the entire sorting operation.

〔effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, at the time of initializing, if the folding process is not performed, the initial position of the tray is set to the first position.
When the folding process is performed, the initial position of the tray is set to a second initial position farther from the discharge unit than the first initial position. Since the lowering of the tray is performed at a different lowering amount depending on the presence or absence of the folding process, the sheets can be stacked well regardless of whether or not the folding process is performed on the sheet.

Further, according to the present invention, at the time of initialization, the initial position of the tray is set to the first initial position when performing the first folding mode, and the initial position of the tray is set to the first initial position when performing the second folding mode. Is set to a second initial position different from the initial position of the sheet, and after the sheet stacking is started, the lowering of the tray according to the number of discharged sheets is performed at a different amount of lowering depending on the folding mode. Can be satisfactorily loaded.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of an image recording apparatus in which a paper folding device and a finisher are connected to a copying machine, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an operation display section of the copying machine, and FIG. Is a block diagram showing a control unit of the image recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 4-1 to 4-3.
The figure shows the details of the sorting tray section of the finisher, FIG. 5 shows the operation contents, FIG. 6, FIG. 7-1, FIG.
2, 8, and 9 are flow charts showing a control flow according to the present invention, and FIGS. 10-1 to 10-3 and 11-1.
FIG. 11 to FIG. 11-5 are diagrams showing discharge and stacking of sheets to the sorting tray. 100 Copier body, 300 RDF 400 Paper folding device 500 Finisher 507 Stable tray 515 Sorting tray 521 Motor 523 Clutch 525 Sheet discharge detection sensor 527 … Sheet limit sensor 531 …… Sheet load detection sensor 551 …… Tray switching sensor

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A folding unit that folds the sheet, a discharge unit that conveys and discharges the sheet from the folding unit, a tray that stacks the sheet discharged from the discharge unit, A tray elevating means for lowering the tray in accordance with the number of sheets to be ejected; and an initial position of the tray set to a first initial position when the folding processing means does not perform folding processing at the time of initializing. When performing the process, the initial position of the tray is set to a second initial position farther from the discharge unit than the first initial position, and after the sheet stacking is started, the tray is lowered according to the number of discharged sheets. A sheet processing apparatus, comprising: a control unit that controls the lifting / lowering unit to perform a lowering amount depending on whether or not the folding processing unit performs the folding process. 2. A folding unit for folding a sheet, a discharge unit for conveying and discharging the sheet from the folding unit, a tray for stacking the sheet discharged from the discharge unit, A tray raising / lowering means for lowering the tray in accordance with the number of sheets to be discharged; and an initial position of the tray when the initial folding mode is performed by the folding processing means at the initial time. When performing the second folding mode, the initial position of the tray is set to a second initial position different from the first initial position, and after the sheet stacking is started, the tray is lowered according to the number of discharged sheets. And a control means for controlling the lifting / lowering means so as to perform a lowering amount depending on a folding mode of the folding processing means.