JP2696880B2 - Paper storage device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet storage device that stores and aligns sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and performs stapling processing.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of paper storage device has been disclosed in
No. 765 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-183461 are known. This is generally called a finisher, and is configured so that copied paper is stacked on a tray or the like, aligned, stapled, moved to a stack unit, and stacked and accommodated. In these apparatuses, in order to move the stapled sheet bundle to the stacking section, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 60-183461, a belt serving also as a tray is rocked and rotated. In the publication, the pinch roller and the discharge roller are rotated.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the roller system, the rollers are provided so as to be able to advance and retreat in order to operate only at the time of paper discharge, but this has a problem that it is mechanically complicated. Even in the belt system, the belt is swung, which is mechanically complicated and requires a very large dead space.

On the other hand, for simplicity of the configuration, it is conceivable that the sheet bundle is slid down from the tray by using its own weight. There is a possibility that a failure or inability may occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet storage device capable of reliably discharging a stapled sheet bundle from a staple tray with a simple configuration and storing it in a stack unit.

Means and Action for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, a paper storage device according to the present invention stores and aligns paper discharged from an image forming apparatus in a staple tray and binds the paper by a binding unit. In a paper storage device for discharging paper to a stack unit, a first substrate supporting a paper surface of bound paper and a second substrate positioned substantially perpendicular to the first substrate and locking a lower end surface of a bundle of paper; A stopper, which intersects the first substrate of the stopper and urges the sheet surface of the sheet bundle away from the first substrate to release the engagement of the second substrate with the lower end surface of the sheet bundle; And a regulating member protruding toward the sheet so as to discharge the sheet bundle to the stacking section by the weight of the sheet bundle.

In the above configuration, the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus is sent to the staple tray and bound by the binding unit. The bound sheet bundle is held with the sheet surface supported by the first substrate of the stopper and the lower end surface locked to the second substrate. Thereafter, at the time of discharging the sheet bundle, the regulating member urges the sheet surface of the sheet bundle in a direction away from the first substrate while intersecting the first substrate, thereby releasing the engagement of the second substrate with the sheet surface of the sheet bundle. This ensures that the sheet bundle is discharged from the staple tray.

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the paper storage device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Overall Configuration Including Copying Machine Body] First, the overall configuration including the copying machine body (1) will be described with reference to FIG.

The copying machine body (1) is placed on a desk (45), and a recirculating automatic document feeder (30) (hereinafter referred to as RDH) is attached to the upper surface. Inside the copying machine body (1), an optical system (3), a charging charger (4), and a photosensitive drum (2) rotatable in the direction of the arrow (a) are centered.
Image forming elements such as a developing device (5), a transfer charger (6), a cleaning device (7), and an eraser lamp (8) are arranged. Since these devices and the copying process are well known, their description will be omitted.

The copying machine is housed in automatic paper cassettes (10) and (11), and is selectively fed one by one from one of the cassettes (10) and (11), and is exposed by a timing roller pair (15). The toner image is conveyed to the transfer section (2a) in synchronization with the toner image formed on the outer peripheral surface of the body drum (2). After the transfer, the copy paper is fed to a fixing device (17) via a conveyor belt (16), where the toner is fixed, and is discharged from a discharge roller pair (18). At this time, the copy paper is detected by a sensor (SE1) (see FIG. 2) provided immediately before the discharge roller pair (18).

The RDH (30) is roughly composed of a document tray (31), a paper feed belt (32), a paper feed roller pair (33), a reversing guide plate (3
4), a transport belt (35), a reversing roller (36), and a discharge roller pair (37). The RDH (30) circulates the document sequentially from the last page. The document is placed on the tray (31) with the back of the last page facing down. Pulled out,
The paper is fed from the paper feed roller pair (33) to the space between the transport belt (35) and the platen glass (9) via the reversing guide plate (34). Next, it is set at a predetermined position on the original table glass (9) by the rotation of the transport belt (35), and the well-known optical system (3)
Receives light irradiation. After the image exposure, the original is conveyed to the right side in FIG. 1 from the platen glass (9) by the conveying belt (35), and the discharge roller pair (37)
Is discharged onto a document placed on a tray (31) with the image side up.

The number of originals and the number of copies can be input by an input means (numeric keypad) on an operation panel (not shown). Each time copying of a group of originals is completed, the paper output tray (80) is shifted as described below. Alternatively, a group of originals is circulated and conveyed by the set number of copies while interrupting the copying operation to execute stapling and stamping.

In the present embodiment, the paper storage device selectively receives the copy paper discharged from the copying machine main body (1) in the discharge tray (8).
0) or housed in a staple tray (150), aligned and bound by a stapler (190). Therefore, when a plurality of copies are to be made using the RDH (30), and staple processing and stamp processing are performed at the same time, the copy paper is sequentially stored in the staple tray (150), and After a copy end signal in which the original has been cycled from (1) is issued and the alignment of the final copy sheet is completed, the stapler (190) and the stamp (200) are operated to bind and print the copy sheet. The bound copy paper is loaded and stored in the stack basket (220).

[Configuration of Finisher Unit] Next, regarding the configuration of the finisher unit (50),
This will be described with reference to FIGS.

The finisher unit (50) generally includes rollers (60) and (61) for receiving a copy sheet, a switching member (70) for switching a transport path, and a discharge tray (80).
And a shift block (90) for shifting the discharge tray (80) in a direction orthogonal to the discharge direction each time a copy sheet for a group of documents is stored, and a shift block (90) for storing the copy paper in the discharge tray (80). An elevator block (13) that intermittently lowers the paper output tray (80) to make the amount of paper fall
0) and a staple tray (150) having a staple mechanism and a stamp function.

The copy paper receiving portion is constituted by guide plates (62) and (63) facing the discharge roller pair (18) in addition to the drive roller (60) and the driven roller (61), and is provided in the finisher unit (50). Further, the switching member (70), guide plates (64), (69), (91), and a sensor (SE2) for detecting a copy sheet discharged to a discharge tray (80) are provided.

The switching member (70) has a beak shape, is rotatably mounted around the support shaft (71), and turns from a solid line position to a dotted line position in FIG. 2 by turning on a solenoid (not shown). When it is at the solid line position, it guides the copy paper toward the discharge tray (80) at the top surface (70a), and when it is switched to the dotted line position, it guides the copy paper at the curved portion (70b) toward the staple tray (150). I do.

The copy paper is discharged to the discharge tray (80) by a discharge roller (95) and a ball (67) as shown in FIG.
Further, the copy paper discharged by the paddle (99) mounted coaxially with the discharge roller (95) is aligned. The paddle (99) is provided with flexible blade members in a radial direction, and is rotated in the direction of the arrow (b) to discharge the tray (80).
A biasing force in a direction opposite to that of the discharge is applied to the rear end portion of the copy paper discharged above, and the rear end of the copy paper is brought into contact with the fixed back plate (75) for alignment.

By the way, in this embodiment, the paper discharge tray (80) is shifted at a predetermined timing to sort the copy paper. Therefore, it is necessary to shift the paddle (99), which is always in contact with the trailing end portion of the discharged copy sheet, in conjunction with the shift operation so as not to disturb the alignment of the copy sheet. Therefore, the paddle (99) and the discharge roller (95) are configured to be integrally shiftable. That is, the paddle (99) and the discharge roller (9
5) is fixed to a pipe-shaped shaft (96), and the shaft (96) is loosely fitted to a support shaft (98) rotatably mounted on a frame (not shown). The support shaft (98) can be driven to rotate in the direction of arrow (b) by a transport motor (not shown), and its groove (98a) has a protrusion provided on a ring-shaped stopper (97) fixed to both ends of the shaft (96). (Not shown) are engaged.
Therefore, the paddle (99) and the discharge roller (95) are connected to the shaft (96).
, Is rotatably driven in the direction of the arrow (b) integrally with the support shaft (98), and is shiftable in the direction of the arrow (c). In this shift operation, the stopper (97) is engaged with the notch (91a) of the lower guide plate (91), and the lower guide plate (91) is moved together with the shift block (90) in the direction of the arrow (c) as described below. It is performed in conjunction with shifting to. The paddle (99) and the discharge roller (95) are located in the notches (91b) and (91c) of the lower guide plate (91), respectively.

On the other hand, the ball (67) is rotatably pressed against the discharge roller (95) by its own weight. That is, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the ball (67) is located in the opening (64a) formed in the upper guide plate (64), and the ball (64b) cut out from the opening (64a). Movement is prevented by the fixed holder (65). Ball (67) is ejected roller (95) in holder (65)
Can be driven by rotation and shift of the discharge roller (95)
Then, the copy paper is pinched and sent out onto the discharge tray (80).

As shown in FIG. 2, the paper discharge tray (80) has a plurality of ridges (80a) extending in the paper discharge direction on its surface, and is provided on a shift frame (100) via a holding plate (85). Attached. The rear end of the paper discharge tray (80) faces the upper part of the fixed back plate (75), and the actuator (86) of the sensor (SE3) is located directly above it. The actuator (86) is rotatably attached to the shaft (88) integrally with the lever (87),
The lower end of the lever (87) normally blocks the optical axis of the sensor (SE3). When the number of copy sheets stored in the output tray (80) increases and the upper surface of the copy sheet pushes up the actuator (86), the lever (87) and the actuator (86) move together with the shaft (88) as a fulcrum. 2. The lever (87) rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 2, and the lower end of the lever (87) opens the optical axis of the sensor (SE3). As a result, the upper surface level of the copy paper is detected, and the elevator block (130) described below is operated to lower the discharge tray (80).

[Shift block] As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the shift frame (100) on which the paper discharge tray (80) is mounted is supported by a horizontal guide portion (131a) of the elevating frame (131). It can be shifted in the direction of arrow (c) by being guided by a guide roller (133) rotatably provided via (132). A cam (120) shown in FIG. 7 is installed in the horizontal guide portion (131a), and a pin (122) fixed to an upper edge of the cam (120) is provided with a long hole (100a) of the shift frame (100). ).
The cam (120) is supported by a shift motor (not shown) with the support shaft (121).
Can be driven to rotate in the direction of arrow (d) with the concave portions (120a), (1
20b) is formed. The actuator (125) of the sensor (SE8) abuts against the outer peripheral surface of the cam (120), and the sensor (125) falls every time the actuator (125) falls into the recesses (120a) and (120b) based on the rotation of the cam (120). (SE8) works.

In the above configuration, when the copy processing of the group of originals is completed at the RDH (30) and the copy paper of the final original is stored on the paper discharge tray (80), the shift motor is started and the cam (120) ) Is driven to rotate in the direction of arrow (d), and when the actuator (125) falls into the next recess (120a) or (120b), the shift motor is turned off. That is, the cam (12
0) intermittently rotates by 180 ° every time a predetermined number of copy sheets are stored in the output tray (80), and the shift frame (100) is rotated by the pin (122) to the output tray (80). At the same time, the reciprocating movement (shift) is repeated in the direction of arrow (c), that is, in the direction perpendicular to the copy paper discharge direction.

In addition, a fixed back plate (7
5) and a movable back plate (110) are installed. The fixed back plate (75) is fixed to the main body frame of the finisher unit (50), and regulates the rear end of the copy sheet stored on the sheet discharge tray (80). The movable back plate (110) is equipped with the discharge roller (95), sensor (SE3) and its actuator (8).
The lower guide plate (91) is also provided for shifting the movable back plate (11).
0) is fixed.

Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the movable back plate (110) has three pins (76) fixed to a fixed back plate (75).
Engages with a long hole (110a) formed in the movable back plate (110), so that it can be shifted in the direction of the arrow (c). The pin (1) fixed to the shift frame (100)
01) to the movable back plate (110) through the long hole (134a) of the guide plate (134) fixed to the horizontal guide portion (131a) of the lifting frame (131) and the opening (75a) of the fixed back plate (75). It is engaged with the elongated hole (110b) formed in the vertical direction. Therefore, the movable back plate (110) is engaged with the pin (101) and the slot (110b).
To shift in the direction of the arrow (c) together with the shift frame (100) and the paper discharge tray (80). And the movable backboard (11
The shift of 0) is guided by the lateral slots (110a) engaging the pins (76). On the other hand, when the shift frame (100) moves up and down together with the discharge tray (80) due to the operation of the elevator block (130) described in detail below,
Since the pin (101) is guided by the elongated hole (110b), the movable back plate (110) keeps a constant height position and does not move up and down. That is, the heights of the discharge roller (95) and the actuator (86) are fixed.

[Elevate Block] The elevator block (130) is the shift block (9
0) and raises and lowers the discharge tray (80).

As shown in FIG. 6, the elevating frame (131) that supports the shift frame (100) so as to be shiftable has rollers (136) rotatably mounted on both sides fixed to a main body frame (not shown). By engaging with the inside of the guide frames (140), (140), it is possible to move up and down. Further, pinions (138) and (138) fixed to a support shaft (137) are mounted on the lifting frame (131). These pinions (138) and (138) are
0) and (140) are meshed with the racks (140a) and (140a), and are rotationally driven by an elevation motor (not shown) that can be driven forward and reverse. Based on this rotation, the elevation frame (131) is shifted by the shift frame (131). 00), and goes up and down together with the paper discharge tray (80).

In the above configuration, when the number of copy sheets discharged and stored on the sheet discharge tray (80) increases, and the upper surface of the copy sheet lifts the actuator (86) and the sensor (SE3) operates,
The lifting motor is driven forward. As a result, the lifting frame (131) is lowered together with the shift frame (100) and the paper discharge tray (80). The lowering operation follows the lowering of the copy paper accompanying the lowering of the output tray (80), the actuator (86) returns, and when the lever (87) again shields the sensor (SE3), the elevating motor rotates forward. Stop by stopping.
In this way, the height at which the trailing end of the copy paper falls onto the paper discharge tray (80) is reduced by the intermittent lowering of the paper discharge tray (80) according to the capacity of the copy paper. (95) and the height of the ball (67) from the nip section to the position of the upper surface of the copy paper of the actuator (86), plus the amount of descent during the forward rotation of the lift motor. Is maintained. In addition, the consistency of the copy paper on the paper discharge tray (80) is improved in combination with the operation of aligning the copy paper with the paddle (99).

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
Sensors (SE5) and (SE6) are installed below 0). These sensors (SE5) and (SE6) operate when the optical axis is shielded at the corner (131b) of the lowered elevating frame (131). When the sensor (SE5) operates, the output tray (8
0) It means that the copy paper is fully loaded on the top, and a storage impossible signal is output to the copy machine main body (1), and it is displayed that the copy paper is to be removed from the discharge tray (80) if necessary.

In addition, in order to operate the stamp (200), the elevating frame (131) descends until the corner (131b) is detected by the sensor (SE6).

[Stamp Mechanism] Here, the stamp mechanism will be described.

As shown in FIG. 6, the stamp (200) is for printing predetermined characters such as "secret" and "circulation" on the copy paper accommodated in the staple tray (150) described in detail below. And is driven by the lifting frame (131). That is, the stamp (200) is set so that the printing surface (200a) is oriented in the direction of the arrow (e), and the pin (201) is guided by the guide hole (209) so as to be movable in the direction of the arrow (e). I have. This stamp (200) is linked to the link (20
2) and (203) are connected, and link (203) is pin (204)
And is always urged upward by a torsion coil spring (206).

A protruding piece (135) is fixed to the horizontal guide portion (131a) of the elevating frame (131), and the protruding piece (135) presses the pin (204) by lowering the elevating frame (131) to the lowermost position. Then, the stamp (200) is moved in the direction of the arrow (e) to print on the copy paper in the staple tray (150). The printing operation is controlled to be performed immediately after the binding operation by the stapler (190).
Operates, the lifting motor is driven to rotate in the reverse direction, and the lifting frame (131) rises and returns. And the protruding piece (13
The links (202) and (203) from which the pressing by 5) is released rotate upward by the spring force of the torsion coil spring (206), and the stamp (200) returns to the initial position.

[Staple Tray] As shown in FIG. 2, the staple tray (150) is composed of a substrate (151), a guide plate (155) and a stopper (160). I have. The stopper (160) is for regulating the lower part of the copy paper accommodated in the staple tray (150).
1) is rotatably supported and connected to a discharge solenoid (not shown). The stopper (160) normally engages with the lower portion of the guide plate (155) to close the bottom of the staple tray (150) when the discharge solenoid is turned off. When the discharge solenoid is turned on, the stopper (16
0) rotates about the support shaft (161) in the direction of the arrow (f) around the fulcrum to open the bottom of the staple tray (150).

Further, a paddle wheel (180) for aligning the stored copy paper, a stapler (190), a guide roller (195), and a sensor () for detecting the presence or absence of the copy paper are provided below the staple tray (150). SE7) is set. As shown in FIG. 8, the paddle wheel (180) has a flexible blade member (182) radially mounted around a support shaft (181), and is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow (g). As a result, the blade member (182) slides on the copy paper and urges the copy paper fed to the staple tray (150) one by one in one direction to align them.

The stapler (190) is of a well-known conductive type. The staple cradle is installed on the same plane as the stopper (160). Bind.

The guide roller (195) is rotatably mounted below the lever (196) swingably attached to the guide plate (155), and is particularly for preventing the swelling of the stored paper tip without resistance. .

On the other hand, the upper portion of the guide plate (155) extends to the vicinity of the switching member (70), and guides the copy paper to the staple tray (150) with the guide plate (69). Immediately above the staple tray (150), the transport rollers (165) and (16) for feeding the copy paper into the staple tray (150)
6) and a sensor (SE4) for detecting the fed copy paper are installed.

Furthermore, the guide plate (155) has a regulating lever (156),
(157) and a neutralizing brush (158) for copying paper. The regulating levers (156) and (157) are solenoid (SL
1) and (SL2) to turn on the staple tray (15
0), and can rotate to the position indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 1, thereby restricting the falling of the copy sheet and preventing the page alignment from being disturbed. Therefore, the control levers (156) and (157)
Is set to a position that regulates the upper end portion of the copy paper accommodated in the staple tray (150) in accordance with the size of the copy paper that can be stapled.

Next, a configuration for discharging the stapled copy paper from the staple tray (150) will be described.

A protrusion (211) is attached to the frame (210) installed in the finisher unit (50) at a position facing the lower part of the copy paper accommodated in the staple tray (150), as shown in FIG. The stopper (160) has an elongated hole (160b) corresponding to the projecting piece (211). Therefore, after the stapling process, the stopper (160) points to the arrow (f).
When the bottom portion of the staple tray (150) is opened by rotating in the direction, the protruding piece (211) protrudes from the long hole (160b) and regulates the lower portion of the copy paper. This is because when the stopper (160) is opened, the lower portion of the copy paper is positioned at the lower end regulating portion (160) of the stopper (160).
This is for preventing the discharge movement from occurring in the direction of arrow (f) while abutting on a). Therefore, the projection (21
The regulating surface 1) is inclined so as to guide the copy paper in the discharge direction.

The stapled copy paper is guided by a guide plate (215) as shown in FIG.
0) (see FIG. 1). At this time, the copy paper is heated by the fixing device (17) in the copier body (1) to the second position.
The curl tends to be curled in the direction of the arrow (h) in the drawing, and is simply accommodated in the stacking car (220) in a disturbed state simply by being guided by the guide plate (215). Therefore, in the present embodiment, the projection (216) is provided at the center of the guide plate (215). As a result, the copy paper is discharged in a state in which the copy paper is crouched in the discharge direction, and the consistency in the stacking car (220) is improved.

[Operation mode] The finisher unit (50) having the above configuration is
It can operate in non-staple mode, staple mode, staple + stamp mode. These operation modes can be selectively set by turning on a mode selection switch provided on the finisher unit (50).

The non-staple mode is an operation mode in which copy sheets discharged from the copying machine main body (1) are stacked and stored on a discharge tray (80). At this time, the switching member (70) is held at the solid line position in FIG. 2, the copy paper is discharged from the discharge roller (95) and the ball (67) onto the discharge tray (80), and the rotation of the paddle (99) is performed. Are matched based on Each time the sensor (SE3) detects the upper surface of the accommodated copy paper, the elevation block (130) operates as described above, and the nip portion of the discharge roller (95), the ball (67) and the upper surface of the copy paper. Is kept substantially constant.

In the shifting operation of the output tray (80) by the shift block (90), the number of copies is set to “2” or more, or the number of copies is set to “2” or more using the RDH (30). Is automatically executed. At this time, when the copy processing of one copy is completed and the discharge of the final copy paper is detected by the sensor (SE2), the discharge tray (80) is shifted right and left, and the copy paper is sorted for each number of copies. .

In the staple mode, the copy paper discharged from the copier body (1) is stored in a staple tray (150), the stapler (190) is operated to bind the copy paper bundle, and the bound copy paper bundle is stacked. This is an operation mode in which the car (220) is accommodated. At this time, the switching member (70) is set at the position indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 2, and the copy paper is transported by the transport rollers (165) and (1).
From 65), it is fed into the staple tray (150) and is aligned based on the rotation of the paddle wheel (180). When the alignment of the final copy sheet with respect to the group of originals is completed, the stapler (190) is driven.

The stamp mode refers to an operation mode in which the first page of the copy paper stored in the staple tray (150) is printed by the stamp (200). In this embodiment, the stamp mode can be executed only together with the staple mode. Immediately after the print operation. In this case, the elevator block (130) is operated to lower the elevating frame (131) together with the discharge tray (80) until the corner (131b) is detected by the sensor (SE6), and the link (202) , (203), the stap (200) is moved for printing.

[Other Embodiment] FIG. 11 shows a main part of another embodiment.

In this embodiment, the substrate (1) of the staple tray (150) is
51) is extended to the lower part of the tray, and the lower extension (151a),
Notch (151c) is formed leaving (151b). The stopper (160) is installed on substantially the same plane as the substrate (151) so as to cover the notch (151c) of the substrate (151), and the discharge solenoid is turned on and the support shaft (161) is used as a fulcrum in the direction of the arrow (f). To open the lower part of the staple tray (150). In FIG. 11, a portion indicated by a dashed line is a contact point of the paddle wheel (180).

The copy paper bundle accommodated and aligned in the staple tray (150) and bound by the stapler (190) is rotated by the stopper (160) in the direction of the arrow (f) to cause its own weight on the substrate (151). It is housed in a sliding basket (220). At this time, the lower part of the copy paper bundle is replaced with the lower extension (151a) of the substrate (151) instead of the projection (211) of the above embodiment.
(151b), which prevents the lower end regulating piece (160a) of the stopper (160) from being caught on the lower end regulating piece (160a), thereby preventing a discharge failure or failure.

 FIG. 12 shows a main part of still another embodiment.

In this embodiment, the lower extension (151b) of the substrate (151) in FIG. 11 is cut away, and the other structure, operation and operation are the same as those in FIG.

The paper storage device according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be variously modified within the scope of the gist.

In particular, various specific configurations of the staple tray (150) can be adopted, and the stack portion may have a box shape other than the cage shape as in the embodiment.

Furthermore, in the present paper storage apparatus, a mechanism for shifting the paper discharge tray, a mechanism for raising and lowering the paper discharge tray, and a mechanism for performing a stamp process on bound paper are not essential elements.

Advantageous Effects of the Invention As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the first substrate supporting the sheet surface of the bound sheet bundle, and the first substrate positioned substantially perpendicular to the first substrate, A stopper composed of a second substrate for locking the end surface, and a first
The sheet surface of the sheet bundle is urged in a direction away from the first substrate to intersect with the substrate to release the lock of the second substrate with respect to the lower end surface of the sheet bundle, and the sheet bundle is discharged to the stack portion by the weight of the sheet bundle. And a regulating member protruding toward the paper side
It is possible to discharge the sheet bundle with a simple configuration including the stopper and the regulating member, and it is possible to reliably prevent the lower portion of the sheet bundle from being caught by the stopper and causing discharge failure or inability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 to 10 show an embodiment of a paper storage device according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram including a copying machine main body, FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of a finisher unit, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a discharge roller and a shift block, FIG. 4 is a perspective view for explaining discharge of a copy sheet to a discharge tray, and FIG.
FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the rear side of the shift block, FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the elevator block, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the shift cam, FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a paddle wheel in the staple tray, and FIG. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a stopper of the staple tray, and FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a copy sheet bundle discharge unit of the staple tray. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a lower portion of a staple tray in another embodiment. FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a lower portion of a staple tray in still another embodiment. (1) Copier body, (50) Finisher unit, (150) Staple tray, (151) Board,
(151a), (151b) ... lower extension, (151c) ... notch, (160) ... stopper, (160a) ... lower end regulating piece,
(160b) …… Long hole, (190) …… Stapler, (210)…
… Frame, (211) …… protrusion, (220) …… stacked basket.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kazuhito Ozawa 2-30 Azuchicho, Higashi-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside the Osaka International Building Minolta Camera Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-63-17769 (JP, A) JP-A-63-12564 (JP, A) JP-A-61-243465 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A sheet storage device for storing and aligning sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus in a staple tray, binding the sheets by a binding means, and then discharging the sheets to a stack unit, supporting a sheet surface of a bound sheet bundle. A stopper formed of a first substrate and a second substrate positioned substantially perpendicular to the first substrate and locking a lower end surface of the sheet bundle; The sheet surface is urged away from the first substrate, the second substrate is released from the lower end surface of the sheet bundle, and the sheet bundle is protruded toward the sheet side so that the sheet bundle is discharged to the stack portion by its own weight. A sheet storage device comprising: a regulating member;