JP3287644B2 - Sheet post-processing apparatus provided with sheet bundle transfer means - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus provided with a sheet bundle transfer means, and more specifically, a copy discharged after image formation from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printing machine, a laser beam printer or the like. The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus having a post-processing function after sequentially sorting and storing sheet members such as sheets in a tray (hereinafter, referred to as a “bin tray”).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a sheet post-processing apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as a "sorting apparatus") installed on a discharge section side of an image forming apparatus has a limited number of bin trays. Classification and storage were impossible. The following are examples of solutions proposed to solve this problem.

[0005] The sheet once stored in the bin tray is stacked on a stack tray different from the bin tray via the conveying means, and the bin tray is emptied, so that the sheet is newly discharged from the image forming apparatus. Sheets can be sorted and stored. By repeating the transfer from the bin tray to the stock tray, the number of sheets exceeding the number of bin trays is stacked.

In a combination of a finisher having a bin tray movable in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction and a vertical direction and an automatic document feeder capable of automatically circulating the original, the bin tray position is set for each original-circulation (one copy). By moving (shifting) the sheet bundle in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction and providing a step between the front and rear sheet bundles, a multi-part sorting and stacking operation is performed on one bin tray.

[0005]

However, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 15, a sheet bundle having a lower curl on a bin tray b or a sheet bundle having a low rigidity such as thin paper is tilted by a sheet bundle transfer means 22. When the sheet bundle is to be pushed up along, the frictional force μ for pushing up the sheet bundle generated at the contact portion between the sheet bundle and the sheet bundle transfer means causes a small contact angle between the sheet bundle and the sheet bundle transfer means 22. for,
Will decrease. When the frictional force is smaller than the sliding resistance of the sheet bundle and the bin in the transfer direction, the rear end of the sheet bundle is
The sheet slips downward at the contact portion of the sheet bundle transfer means. Thus, the sheet bundle is sticking out on the back side from the cutout portion b ₁ of the bottle, in a state sandwiched between the sheet bundle transport means and the bottle, or is no longer taken out a sheet bundle, a crack,
Breakage etc. will occur.

If the friction coefficient of the contact portion of the sheet bundle transfer means is increased to prevent slippage, the sheet bundle transfer means pushes up the sheet bundle, and then the other sheet bundle transfer means moves forward. When extruding the sheet bundle, the sliding resistance of the sheet contact portion is high, so that the end face of the sheet bundle may be damaged,
Further, since a high-torque drive motor must be used, disadvantages such as an increase in cost occur.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus main body is stored and formed into a sheet bundle.
At least one or more bins, the first sheet transport means for transferring the sheet bundle on the bottle in a first direction,
Before a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first sheet transport means
In a sheet post-processing apparatus provided with a second sheet transfer means for transferring the sheet bundle and a control means for controlling each operation, the second sheet transfer means is first provided with the sheet
Having a sliding resistance of the mu ₂ is in extruding the sheet bundle in a second direction
Act as an extruding member, and then the sheet bundle is
When transferring in the first direction by the first sheet transferring means
It is configured to be a guide having a sliding resistance of mu _1, before
And it is characterized in that the seat abutment portion of the serial second sheet transport means is formed such that μ _{1 <μ 2,} to form a sheet contact portion of the second sheet transport means in knurled In addition, the present invention is characterized in that the sheet contact portion of the second transfer means is formed in a ratchet shape, thereby solving the problems of the conventional device.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problem will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall view of a sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 2
The upper surface 00 includes a document automatic document feeder 300 for automatically circulating is installed, also in the downstream sorting apparatus 1 having the 20 pieces of bin trays _{b (b 1, b 2 ...} b 19, b 20)
00 is attached.

The image forming apparatus 200 uses a well-known electrophotographic system, and a detailed description is omitted here.
An image of a document positioned on the platen glass 208 is formed on the photosensitive drum 201 by an optical system (not shown), and a developing device 202 provided around the photosensitive drum 201 and a transfer electrode 2
03, an image is transferred to a sheet, and is permanently fixed by the fixing device 205.

The sorting apparatus 100 is a so-called bin-movable sorter, and bin trays b stacked vertically move up or down one by one by the rotation of the spiral cams 4 provided on both sides.

The sheet on which an image is formed by the image forming apparatus 200 passes through a pair of discharge rollers 206 and is sorted by the sorting apparatus 100.
And the direction to the sort path 6a and the non-sort path 6b is selected by the flapper 1 (see FIG. 2). At the time of non-sort without sorting the sheets, all the sheets pass through the non-sort path 6b (the flapper 1 is in the position of the dashed line) and are discharged to the non-sort tray 10, and at the time of sorting to sort the sheets, pass through the sort path 6a ( Each of the bin trays which rises and lowers in synchronism with the sheet discharged by the paper discharge roller is collected by the flapper 1 (solid line position).

Reference numeral 7 (broken line portion) denotes an electric stapler for performing staple binding of a sheet, which is provided at a predetermined position facing the bin tray b. As shown in FIG. 3, which is a top view of the sorting apparatus, the stapler 7 advances to a standby position (solid line position) 7a outside the area of the bin tray b and a notch A formed at a corner of the bin tray b. Then, the position 7b (chain line position) where the staple binding operation of the sheet is performed is moved by a drive system (not shown).

As shown in detail in FIG. 4, the bin unit 8 for holding the bin tray b is formed in a box shape having guide side plates 61 provided on both sides from the non-sort tray 10 to the base frame 9. In the bin tray b, pins (trunnions) 3 fixed on both sides are inserted into the holes 61a of the guide side plate 61, and the bin tray b is arranged with the upstream side in the discharge direction inclined downward. A support plate 11 is attached to the back side of the base end of the base frame 9. On the support plate 11, the upper end is fixed to the upper arm 12 and the lower end is fixed to the lower arm 13. The center axis 14 is the support plate 1
1 and a rotation shaft 15 provided on the lower surface of the non-sort tray 10 so as to be rotatable. A fan gear 16 is disposed on the support plate 11 so as to be rotatable around a rotation shaft provided on the support plate 11.
3 is fixed. Further, a pulse motor 17 is disposed below the support plate 11, and a gear 18 fixed to an output shaft of the pulse motor 17 meshes with the sector gear 16. Then, the tip of the lower arm 13 and the upper arm 1
An alignment bar 19 is provided at the end of the second through the notch B formed in each bin tray b, and the alignment bar 19 is configured to swing by the rotation of the sector gear 16. ing. Further, a light-shielding plate 20 is provided on the lower arm 13, and the light-shielding plate 20 swings integrally with the lower arm 13 to turn on / off a home position sensor 21 disposed on the back side of the base frame 9. It is configured to turn off.

At a position facing the alignment rod 19, a reference rod 22 is provided so as to penetrate a notch A formed in the bin tray b. In this embodiment, a knurl is formed on the sheet bundle contact portion 22a of the reference rod 22. The reference rod 22 extends in a direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction, and is supported by the guide rail 2 below the non-sort tray 10.
3 and one end is fixed to a belt 24 stretched in parallel with the guide rail 23. The belt 24 is
One is on a pulley 26 of a pulse motor 25 fixed below the non-sort tray 10, and the other is on an idler pulley 27.
As shown in FIG. 3, the position (home position) P at which the reference rod 22 is retracted out of the bin tray area (the rear of the stopper b ′) by the forward / reverse rotation of the motor 25.
₁ and the position P that acts during sheet alignment and extrusion.
₂ is possible. Incidentally, the carried by the position detection, not shown sensors for P _1, the position detection of the P ₂ is by a predetermined number of pulses input to the pulse motor 25. Further, the guide rail 23 is attached at the position P
₁ and position to P ₂ has a step of minute amounts K in the horizontal direction (position P ₁ is the front side) substantially diagonal direction, and in the sheet discharging direction, when the reference rod 22 is pressed and moved the sheet on the bin tray b In order to improve the transmission efficiency, the moving direction of the reference bar 22 is fixed so as to be substantially parallel to the inclination angle of the bin tray b (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

The image forming apparatus 200 and the sorting apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 are provided with a control circuit CPU for controlling and communicating each operation.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to a flowchart (FIG. 12).

(Step 1) First, the operator places the document D on the document table 3 of the automatic document feeder 200 shown in FIG.
03. Next, after inputting the number of copies n, the staple mode (presence / absence), etc. to an operation panel (not shown) of the image forming apparatus, the start key is turned ON.

(Step 2) Subsequently, the automatic document feeder 200 controls the number of the originals D by circulating the originals or, if the operator knows in advance, inputting a numerical value to the image forming apparatus 200. to recognize the number of documents N ₁ to the circuit.

(Step 3) Based on the set number n, the control circuit determines the number N ₂ of copies to be accommodated in one bin. For example, since the number of bin trays in this embodiment is 20, ｛n = 0 to 20 and N ₂ = 1｝ ｛n = 21 to 4
When 0 is _{N 2 = 2} {N 2} = 3 when the n = 41-60}
... The number of sheets that can be accommodated in one bin tray is defined as N ₃ (experimentally obtained in advance and input to the control circuit).
_It is determined whether ₁ × N ₂ <N ₃ .

(Step 4) If the determination in (Step 3) is “No”, the number of sheets stored in one bin tray exceeds the number of sheets that can be stored. Tell it to the operator.

[0021] (Step5) discriminated at (Step3) is as shown in FIG. 5 if "Yes", the reference rod 22 which has been waiting at the home position alignment of the reference position to become position P ₂ f, the aligning rod The reference numeral 19 moves to a position 19a corresponding to the discharge sheet size.

(Steps 6 and 7) When the preparation is completed, the sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus 200 are sorted. Here, if the set number n is larger than the number of bin trays (20), sorting of 20 sets is performed first, and if the set number n is less than the number of bin trays (20), sorting of n sets is performed.
The document bundle D is fed downward from the last page onto the platen glass 208 of the image forming apparatus 200 through the path 301 (FIG. 1). After the document is stopped, an optical system (not shown) operates to start image formation. I do. Transferring and fixing the already sheet is discharged through the sorting path 6a to the first sheet of the bin tray b ₁ (waiting at a position opposed to the discharge roller) (see FIG. 6). The sheet discharged to the bin tray b ₁ is,
The stopper b 'is moved toward the stopper b' by its own weight on the bin tray which is arranged with the stopper b 'inclined downward (in a two-dot chain line state).

The pulse motor 17 is rotated by a pulse signal corresponding to the sheet size.
The alignment rod 19 located at a starts moving by a predetermined amount in the direction of the arrow, and after contacting the sheet side end, moves to the first sheet position where the other side end of the sheet contacts the reference rod 22 (19).
b). Subsequently, the alignment rod 19 returns to 19a in preparation for discharging the next sheet.

The above is the flow of stacking one sheet on the bin tray. Thereafter, the rotation of the spiral cam 4 adjusts each bin tray to the position of the pair of paper discharge rollers, and the transfer sheet of the last page of the original is placed on the desired bin tray. The end to the reference rod 22,
The rear end is brought into contact with the stopper b 'for alignment.

When the transfer of the last page of the original is completed,
The original on the platen glass 208 passes through the pulse 302 and is discharged to the uppermost surface of the original bundle D on the original placing table 303.
However, a partition lever (not shown) is interposed between the copied document and the uncopied document, and the two are distinguished.

The above operation is repeated by the number of originals, and a desired copy sheet is aligned and stacked. At this time, the document bundle D completes one cycle by the automatic document feeder 300,
The page is the top.

(Step 8) Here, (Step 8)
If the setting mode in p1) is stapling, the process proceeds to (Step 9), and if the setting mode is not stapling, the process proceeds to (Step 11).

(Steps 9 and 10) As shown in FIG. 6, the stapler 7 waiting at the home position 7a
Receives the operation start signal of the control circuit CPU, moves to the stipple operation position 7b (broken line position), and staples the rear end corner of the sheet. At this time, the sheet is the reference rod 22 and the alignment rod 1
9, the side end is held, and a bundle shift at the time of stapling is prevented. After the completion of the staple driving, the stapler 7 returns to the home position 7a, moves the bin tray one step by one rotation of the spiral cam 4, and shifts to the staple binding of the sheet on the next bin tray.

By repeating the above operation, the staple binding of all the sheet bundles is completed.

[0030] (Step11) Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the reference rod 22 that abut against the side edge of the sheet alignment reference position P ₂ is moved by the pulse motor 25 to the home position P _1. The movement trajectory of the reference rod 22 is in the direction away from the sheet bundle side end (step K) as described above, so that there is no bundle displacement due to the movement.

(Step 12) Subsequently, the matching rod 1
9 is moved by a predetermined amount L ₁ (L ₁ > K) from the alignment position 19b by driving the pulse motor 17 (19C). With the movement of the aligning rod 19, the sheet is L ₁ pushed out toward the front side while along the stopper b 'is pressed side end (second
Seat position).

(Step 13) The above (Step 1)
Reference rod 22 that has been retracted position P ₁ 1) again to return to the position P ₂ while pushing up the sheet trailing edge. At this time, the rear end of the sheet is pushed up while being securely held by the knurled portion 22a formed on the reference rod 22, so that the lower curled paper as shown in FIG. Can be pushed up without fail. The sheet is supported by the reference bar 22 and the stopper b 'at the rear end and supported by the alignment bar 19 at the side end, and is inclinedly converted on the bin tray as shown in FIG. 8 (third sheet position).

(Step 14) Further, in this state, as shown in FIG. 9, the alignment rod 19 moves by a predetermined amount L _{2 in} the direction of the arrow (19d). Front cover 3 of sorting device 100
Between 0,31 and sufficient space is provided to pass the sheet, the sheet side end portion is completely pushed out to the outside by the movement of the L ₂ of the aligning rod 19 (fourth sheet position) . At this time, since the sliding resistance of the knurl portion 22a in the pushing direction is extremely small,
The pushing operation can be performed smoothly, and the sheet does not suffer from scratches, breakage, and the like. Since the alignment rod 19 and the reference rod 22 are formed so as to penetrate all the bin trays, the above operation pushes the sheets on all the bin trays to the front side while avoiding the spiral cam 4, the stapler 7, the cover, etc., owned by the machine. It is.

(Step 15) Here, (Step 15)
If the sorting of the set number of copies n in p1) has been completed, the operation of the apparatus ends. On the other hand, if there are remaining copies to be sorted, the operations up to (Steps 5 to 14) are repeated. As described above, by adopting the above configuration, a stable sheet bundle transfer can be performed.

(Other Embodiment) A second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

This embodiment has the same effect as the previous embodiment, and also has the effect of improving the alignment of the rear end of the sheet bundle. 2
2b is a ratchet part formed on the reference bar. The pitch of the ratchet portion 22b is set in accordance with the pitch of the bin b, and the a
A knurl 22c is formed on the surface.

In this embodiment, since the inclination angle θ of the ratchet portion 22b is matched with the inclination angle of the bin, the rear end of the sheet bundle abuts the sheet contact surface of the ratchet portion almost vertically.
The loss of the frictional force for supporting the sheet bundle by the contact surface can be reduced. Therefore, the peak diameter of the knurl formed on the ratchet portion can be reduced accordingly.
Accordingly, it is possible to improve the alignment of the rear end of the sheet when pushing up the sheet bundle, and simultaneously eliminate the deviation α of the sheet bundle caused by the inclination of the bin as shown in FIG.

[0038]

As described above, according to the sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention, when the sheet bundle is transferred by the sheet bundle transfer means, the rear end of the sheet bundle can be reliably supported by the knurl portion. It is possible to stably transfer a sheet bundle without causing buckling, breakage, scratches, etc., even for weak paper such as lower curl paper and thin paper.

Further, even when the sheet bundle is transferred by the other sheet transfer means after the above operation, the sliding resistance of the sheet contact portion is small in the sheet bundle transfer direction. At the abutment part, scratches on the sheet,
The sheet bundle transfer operation can be smoothly performed without causing any damage or the like, and a high-quality and highly reliable apparatus can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a main sectional view of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view of the sorter portion of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bin unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flow of a bundle transfer operation.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a flow of a bundle transfer operation.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flow of a bundle transfer operation.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a flow of a bundle transfer operation.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a flow of a bundle transfer operation.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a flow of a second bundle transfer.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a flow of a second bundle transfer.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a view showing the operation of the bundle transfer means of the present invention (first embodiment).

FIG. 14 is a view showing the operation of the bundle transfer means of the present invention (second embodiment).

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a conventional bundle transfer.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating occurrence of deviation of a sheet according to a conventional example.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 39/11

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A housing a sheet coming discharged from the image forming apparatus, at least one bottle and the first sheet transport means for transferring the sheet bundle on the bottle in a first direction to the sheet bundle If, prior to a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first sheet transport means
A second sheet transport means for transporting the serial sheet bundle, the sheet post-processing apparatus and control means for controlling the respective operations, first, the second sheet transport means, said sheet bundle second
When extruded in the direction of the extrusion portion having a sliding resistance of the mu ₂
Material, and then folds the sheet bundle into the first sheet.
DOO transfer means by the time of transferring to the first direction mu ₁ of sliding
Configured so that a guide having a dynamic resistance, mu ₁ a sheet contact portion of the second sheet transport means _{<mu 2}
A sheet post-processing apparatus comprising a sheet bundle transfer means, wherein