JP3319171B2 - Image Recorder Finisher - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a finisher of an image recording apparatus which discharges recording sheets sequentially discharged from an image recording apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer in a part-by-part manner. The present invention relates to an improvement for stacking a discharge bundle in which sheets are aligned on a tray outside the apparatus without breaking the alignment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a finisher of this type has a structure in which recording sheets conveyed from an image recording apparatus are sequentially stored in a stacked state to form a discharge bundle, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-233559. A tray, a sheet bundle discharge means for discharging the discharge bundle from the discharge port, and a stack for arranging the discharge bundle on the discharge port side at an inclined position with the discharge port side end part downward. It consists of a tray. The plurality of recording sheets conveyed from the image recording apparatus are sequentially stacked and accommodated on a sheet alignment tray, and are aligned on the sheet alignment tray to form a discharge bundle (collating process). Further, after the stapling process is performed according to the setting of the post-processing, the discharged bundle is discharged from the sheet alignment tray and stored in the sheet bundle storing position on the stacking tray. Further, since the stacking tray is inclined with its end on the discharge port side being lower, the discharged bundle discharged from the sheet aligning tray has its leading end once projecting from the upper end of the sheet bundle accommodating position. Then, the sheet is slid toward the discharge port end along the inclination of the stacking tray while being dropped by its own weight, and stored in the sheet bundle storing position.

Therefore, since the discharged bundle is slid by its own weight and stored in the sheet bundle storing position, when the discharged bundle is discharged only by collation processing, the recording on the lower surface side of the discharged bundle is performed. In some cases, the sheet is hard to slip due to frictional resistance and may be left protruding. Therefore, the discharged bundles aligned on the sheet aligning tray collapse when they are stored on the stacking tray, and in a remarkable case, the stored discharged bundles cannot be distinguished from each other, and can function sufficiently as a finisher. There were times when I couldn't.

In the finisher disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 2-233559, in order to reduce the size of the apparatus,
Since a part of the recording sheet discharged from the image recording apparatus is stored on the sheet alignment tray while being placed on the stacking tray, the discharge bundle aligned on the sheet alignment tray is discharged from there. Then, the user slides on the loading tray.

Therefore, when a discharge bundle is stored on the stacking tray (hereinafter, this discharge bundle is referred to as a stacking bundle), the topmost recording sheet (hereinafter, this recording sheet is referred to as a topmost sheet) is However, the friction between the sheet bundle and the discharge bundle discharged from the sheet alignment tray sometimes protrudes from the upper end of the sheet bundle storage position and is left as it is. Therefore, the stacking bundle already aligned on the stacking tray collapses at the time of discharging the next discharging bundle.
This problem has been remarkable when discharging a bundle of thick paper or heavy paper.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a stacking tray on a stacking tray without disturbing the alignment of the discharged bundles aligned on the sheet aligning tray. It is an object of the present invention to provide a finisher of an image recording apparatus that can be accommodated in a printer.

[0007] Another object of the present invention is to maintain the alignment state of a stack bundle already stored in a stack tray.
An object of the present invention is to provide a finisher of an image recording apparatus capable of storing a discharge bundle on a stacking tray.

[0008]

That is, according to the present invention, a sheet aligning tray for accommodating recording sheets conveyed from an image recording apparatus in a stacked state to form a discharge bundle, and discharging the discharge bundle from a discharge port. The following two technical means are premised on a finisher of an image recording apparatus having a sheet bundle discharging means to be discharged, and a stacking tray for accommodating the discharged discharge bundle and having a discharge port side end portion inclined downward. Is proposed.

First, the first technical means is arranged so as to face the discharge port with the stacking tray interposed therebetween, and to set the sheet holding position or the sheet bundle holding position in contact with the upper end of the sheet bundle holding position on the stacking tray. At a predetermined timing after the sheet push-back member set at the retracted position separated from the upper end and the rear end of the discharge bundle discharged from the sheet alignment tray is discharged from the discharge port, the sheet push-back member is moved. And a push-back control means for moving from the retracted position to the sheet holding position.

The second technical means is arranged so as to be opposed to the discharge port with the stacking tray interposed therebetween, and the push-up position or the retreat position below the extension surface of the sheet bundle accommodating position on the stacking tray. And a push-up member configured to move the sheet push-up member from the retracted position toward the push-up position when the leading end of the discharge bundle ejected from the sheet alignment tray projects from the upper end of the sheet bundle storage position. And a control means.

In these technical means, the above-mentioned sheet aligning tray may be any as long as it can accommodate recording sheets conveyed from the image recording apparatus in a stacked state and align them to form a discharge bundle. The recording sheet may be formed in a size to accommodate the entire recording sheet, or may be formed in a size to accommodate a part of the recording sheet. However, when the recording sheet is formed to have a size to accommodate a part of the recording sheet, the rest of the recording sheet is supported by the stacking tray. Further, in addition to the above-described collating process for aligning the output bundle, a configuration may be adopted in which post-processing such as stapling, binding, and punching can be selectively performed.

Further, the sheet bundle discharging means may be any as long as it can discharge the discharged bundle aligned on the sheet aligning tray from the discharge port. For example, a discharge roller provided at a lower edge of the discharge port, a sheet It can be constituted by a discharge arm or the like provided on the side opposite to the discharge port of the alignment tray and extending and contracting to the discharge port.

Further, the stacking tray may be arranged so as to be inclined with the end on the discharge port side downward, and can store a plurality of discharged bundles aligned with the end on the discharge port side. The sheet bundle accommodating position and the discharge port may be disposed so as to be movable up and down according to the amount of the discharge bundle stored thereon so as to have a fixed positional relationship, or may be fixedly disposed. good.

The sheet pushing back member of the first technical means is
What is necessary is just to be able to set the sheet holding position in contact with the upper end of the sheet bundle accommodating position and the evacuation position separated from the upper end of the sheet bundle accommodating position. Here, the sheet bundle storage position indicates the position where the next discharged bundle is finally stored. If the stacked bundle is not stored on the stacking tray, the sheet bundle storage position is located on the upper surface of the stacking tray. Indicates the position near the discharge port, and when the stack is stored on the stack tray,
The upper surface of the uppermost sheet of the stored stack is shown. The sheet push-back member may move in the sheet holding position so as to contact only the upper end of the sheet bundle storage position, or may contact the entire leading end of the stacking bundle stored on the stacking tray. You may move as follows. In the latter case, the leading ends of the stacks stored on the stacking tray can be collectively aligned every time the stack is discharged. Further, the sheet holding position and the retreat position may be configured to be variable according to the size of the recording sheet.

The push-back control means moves the sheet push-back member from the retracted position to the sheet holding position at a predetermined timing after the trailing end of the discharged bundle on the sheet alignment tray is discharged from the discharge port. Anything should do. Then, the timing of the movement may be changed according to the thickness and size of the discharge bundle. For example, when the discharge bundle is thick, the operation may be started slightly earlier. This is because when the discharge bundle is thick, the force of discharging the sheet bundle by the sheet bundle discharge means is greater than the force of pushing back the sheet bundle by the push-back control means. This is because the operation starts after the discharge of the sheet bundle by the bundle discharge unit is completed. As a result, the productivity of the output bundle can be increased.

If the sheet push-back member is set to the sheet holding position when discharging the discharged bundle from the sheet aligning tray, even when discharging a bundle of thick paper or heavy paper, The uppermost sheet of the stack stored on the stacking tray can be prevented from protruding from the sheet stack storage position. Preferably, the sheet push-back member is set at the sheet holding position until the leading end of the discharge bundle overlaps the upper end of the sheet bundle accommodation position. Considering that the sheet bundle is moved from the sheet holding position) to the retracted position and then is operated again toward the upper end of the sheet bundle storing position, the distance between at least the leading end of the discharge bundle and the upper end of the sheet bundle storing position is the sheet pushing back. The sheet push-back member may be set at the sheet holding position until the distance between the sheet holding position and the retreat position of the member becomes equal. Accordingly, the amount by which the uppermost sheet protrudes from the sheet bundle storage position can be suppressed to be equal to or less than the distance between the upper end of the sheet bundle storage position and the retracted position of the sheet push-back member. When moving toward the position, the uppermost sheet that has protruded can be pushed back to the sheet bundle accommodating position together with the discharged bundle without being bent and damaged.

Next, the sheet push-up member of the second technical means is arranged to face the discharge port with the stacking tray interposed therebetween, and a push-up position above the extension surface of the sheet bundle accommodation position, and a position higher than the extension surface. What is necessary is just to be able to set to the lower evacuation position.

The push-up control means may move the sheet push-up member from the retracted position to the push-up position while the leading end of the ejected bundle to be ejected protrudes from the upper end of the sheet bundle accommodating position. The movement timing may be changed according to the thickness and size of the discharge bundle. For example, when the discharge bundle is thick, the operation may be started slightly earlier. This is because when the discharge bundle is thick, the force of discharging the sheet bundle by the sheet bundle discharge means is greater than the force of pushing back the sheet bundle by the push-back control means. This is because the operation starts after the discharge of the sheet bundle by the bundle discharge unit is completed. As a result, the productivity of the output bundle can be increased. Further, the push-up position and the retreat position may be configured to be variable according to the size of the recording sheet.

[0019]

According to the first technical means, the sheet push-back member moves from the retracted position to the sheet holding position at a predetermined timing after the trailing end of the discharged bundle is discharged from the discharge port. Therefore, the discharged bundle falls to the sheet bundle storage position by its own weight, and is forcibly pushed back to the sheet storage position by the sheet push-back member that moves to the sheet holding position.

According to the second technical means, the sheet lifting member is moved from the retracted position to the raised position while the leading end of the discharged bundle protrudes from the upper end of the sheet bundle accommodating position. The leading end of the stack is lifted by the sheet lifting member, and a gap is formed between the stacking tray or the upper surface of the stack stored on the stacking tray and the discharge stack. Therefore, the frictional resistance acting on the recording sheet on the lower surface of the discharge bundle is reduced, so that the entire discharge bundle slides to the sheet bundle storage position while dropping by its own weight.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 shows a finisher 10, in which a housing 11 of the finisher 10 is an RDH (not shown).
(Recirculating Document H
The printer is disposed adjacent to the copying machine main body 9 with an adder.

The housing 11 of the finisher 10 includes
The outlet 2 is opened on the side opposite to the copying machine body 9,
A sheet aligning tray 1 and a sheet bundle discharging means 3 are provided inside the discharge port 2, and a stacking tray 4 is disposed below the discharge port 2 so as to be vertically movable. In addition, a non-finishing tray 16 that accommodates recording sheets Pn that do not require stapling processing or collating processing is fixedly disposed above the discharge port 2. A control main body 6 having a sheet push-back member 5 is provided via a slide mechanism 17 on the front end side of the back surface of the non-finishing tray 16.

A sheet introduction port 21 is provided in the housing 11 corresponding to the sheet discharge port 20 of the copying machine body 9, and the recording sheet P introduced from the sheet introduction port 21 passes through a sheet transport system 22. Sheet alignment tray 1
Alternatively, the sheet is conveyed to one of the non-finishing trays 16. The sheet transport system 22 includes a first sheet transport path 25 leading to the sheet alignment tray 1,
One of the sheet conveying paths is selected by switching the switching gate 23 which is constituted by the second sheet conveying path 24 which communicates with the non-finishing tray 16 and which is disposed inside the vicinity of the sheet introduction port 21. Further, near the exit of the first sheet conveying path 25, a sheet discharge sensor 26 for detecting that the recording sheet P has been discharged to the sheet alignment tray 1 is provided.

Incidentally, the sheet aligning tray 1 and the sheet bundle discharging means 3 for discharging the discharge bundle B from the sheet aligning tray 1 are integrally formed as a tray unit 18 in the housing 11 below the sheet conveying system 22. It is arranged in. The sheet alignment tray 1 is provided on the top of the tray unit 18 and has a housing 1
1 are inclined with the end protruding outside facing upward.
Therefore, the recording sheet P discharged from the first conveyance path 22 slides down on the sheet alignment tray 1 by its own weight, and a part of the recording sheet P is inserted into the housing 11 through the discharge port 2.

A positioning flange (not shown) is provided at the lower edge of the sheet aligning tray 1 for locking the recording sheet P that has slipped down. Is based on this. On the other hand, a registration wall 15 protruding from the housing 11 is located at a front edge of the sheet aligning tray 1 protruding out of the housing 11 from the outlet 2, and the width direction of the discharge bundle B on the sheet aligning tray 1 is set. The alignment (in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface) is performed based on this.
Reference numeral 14 denotes a transport roll for abutting the recording sheet P sliding down the sheet aligning tray 1 against the positioning flange and the registration wall 15, and recording toward a corner below the sheet aligning tray 1 on the front side. The sheet P is rubbed. The transport roll 14 is adapted to come into contact with or separate from the recording sheet surface by a solenoid (not shown).

Further, a stapler (not shown) is provided on one side of the tray unit 18, and a stapling process is performed on an edge portion of the discharged bundle B aligned with a predetermined position on the sheet aligning tray 1. It is configured as follows.

Next, the sheet alignment tray 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the sheet aligning tray 1 includes a fixed tray 12 using a top plate of a frame of a tray unit 18, and slides on the fixed tray 12 to project from the discharge port 2 to the outside of the housing 11. The fixed tray 12 and the movable tray 13 are formed in a size to accommodate a part of the recording sheet P. A plate 28 having a slit 50 is fixed to the lower end of the movable tray 13 in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the tray. An engaging pin 49 provided at one end of a link 29 is slidable in the slit 50. Is engaged. On the other hand, the other end of the link 29 is rotatably supported by a support shaft 45 mounted on the lower end of the frame 19. An eccentric cam 30 fitted to the drive shaft 41 is in contact with a substantially center of the link 29, and the link 29 swings according to the rotation of the eccentric cam 30. Therefore, the movable tray 13 advances and retreats on the fixed tray 12 by the rotation of the eccentric cam 30, and projects to the outside of the housing 11 so that the leading end abuts on the sheet bundle accommodating position S (a dashed line position in the drawing) or The retracted position (the position indicated by the solid line in the figure) stored in the housing 11 is set. The movable tray 13 is urged toward the retracted position by a spring (not shown).

Next, the sheet bundle discharging means 3 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the sheet bundle discharge unit 3 includes a discharge arm 33 that advances and retreats along the surface direction of the fixed tray 12, and a home position (see FIG. 3) where the discharge arm 33 is retracted from the fixed tray 12. (A solid line position) or a cam link mechanism that is set to a discharge position for discharging the discharge bundle B from the fixed tray 13 (a dashed line position in the figure). Reference numeral 54 denotes a cylindrical sleeve provided at the lower end of the discharge arm 33, through which a shaft (39 in FIG. 4) fixed to the frame 19 of the tray unit 18 passes. That is, the discharge arm 33 is guided and guided by the shaft. A groove 31 is formed in the fixed tray 12 and the movable tray 13 along the path of the discharge arm 33.
The discharge arm 33 moves forward and backward while a part of the discharge arm 33 is immersed in the concave groove 31.

A slit 52 similar to the movable tray 13 is formed at the rear end of the discharge arm 33, and an engaging pin 51 provided at one end of the link 34 is slidably engaged with the slit 52. . On the other hand, the other end of the link 34 is rotatably supported by the support shaft 45 and
An eccentric cam 35 fitted to the drive shaft 41 is in contact with substantially the center of the shaft. Accordingly, similarly to the movable tray 13, the discharge arm 33 also advances and retreats on the fixed tray 12 by the rotation of the eccentric cam 35, and is set to the home position or the discharge position. When the discharge arm 33 advances from the home position to the discharge position, the discharge arm 33 presses the lower end portion of the discharge bundle B aligned on the fixed tray 12, and at the discharge position, the discharge bundle B
Is completely pushed out from the fixed tray 12. The discharge arm 33 is urged toward the home position by a spring (reference numeral 40 in FIG. 7).

The discharge arm 33 includes a lower arm 48 having the cylindrical sleeve 54, an upper arm 49 that moves on the lower arm 48 along the direction in which the discharge arm 33 moves, and a pressing surface of the discharge bundle B. And a movable piece 47 rotatably engaged with the distal ends of the lower arm and the upper arm, respectively. The slit 52 formed at the rear end of the discharge arm 33 includes a guide bar 52a erected from the lower arm 48 and a cam surface 52b formed at the rear end of the upper arm 49.
The lower side of the cam surface 52b is smaller than the upper side of the guide bar 5b.
Since the slit 52 protrudes in the direction 2a, the lower side of the slit 52 is narrower than the upper side. The upper arm 49 is connected to the guide bar 52a by a spring 50, and is urged in a direction approaching the guide bar 52a. Therefore, the engaging pin 51 is sandwiched between the guide bar 52a and the cam surface 52b, and presses the cam surface 52b when sliding in the slit 52. Accordingly, the angle of the pressing surface 46 of the movable piece 47 changes according to the set position of the discharge arm 33.
That is, in the home position of the discharge arm 33, the pressing surface 46 is held perpendicular to the pressing direction of the discharge bundle B (the direction of the arrow A in the drawing), while in the discharging position, the pressing surface 46 is in the vertical direction ( (The direction indicated by the arrow B in the figure), the discharge bundle B can be completely discharged from the sheet alignment tray 1 without breaking the alignment state on the sheet alignment tray 1.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the frame 19 is removed from the tray unit 18 and the movable tray 13 and the discharge arm 34 are removed.
Of the drive system of FIG. The eccentric cam 30 that contacts the link 29 of the movable tray 13 and the eccentric cam 35 that contacts the link 34 of the discharge arm 33 are fixed to the drive shaft 41 while maintaining a phase difference of approximately 180 ° from each other. The discharge arm 33 is set to the home position when set to the home position, and the discharge arm 33 is set to the discharge position when the movable tray 13 is set to the retracted position. A gear 46 is mounted on a rear end of the drive shaft 41 via a clutch 47.
The rotation of a motor (not shown) by the drive shaft 41
Is transmitted to Reference numeral 42 denotes a home position sensor for detecting whether or not the movable tray 13 and the discharge arm 33 are set at the home position. The home position sensor 42 includes a timing disk 44 fixed to the drive shaft 41 and a timing disk 44 into which the timing disk 44 is inserted. And a photo sensor 43.

Next, the loading tray 4 will be described. The stacking tray 4 is inclined with the end on the discharge port side downward, and accommodates the discharge bundle B discharged from the sheet aligning tray 1 in the sheet bundle accommodating position S on the discharge port side. The height is controlled so that the distance between the sheet bundle storage position S and the discharge port 2 is kept constant. Further, each time the bundles B are stored, the bundles B are slightly moved in a direction orthogonal to the discharge direction of the bundles, and the stored bundles B are staggered and housed. A notch 27 is formed at the center of the upper end of the stacking tray 4.

Next, the control body 6 and the sheet push-back member 5
Will be described. The control body 6 is, as shown in FIG.
An upper unit 61 fixed to the rail of the slide mechanism 17 extending in the recording sheet P discharge direction on the non-finishing tray 16 and a lower unit 60 having a solenoid 58 are integrated by screws 62 and 63. ing. The sheet push-back member 5 is formed of an ABS resin in a substantially bar shape, and has a sheet push-back surface 55 that is in contact with the sheet bundle accommodation position S at the leading end side.
The base end of the sheet push-back member 5 is rotatably disposed by being fixed to the lower unit 60 and the pin 56, and is connected to the solenoid 58. A spring 57 is stretched between the sheet push-back member 5 and the control body 6 to set a home position where the sheet push-back surface 55 is attracted to the control body 6. I have. The push-back control means includes the control body 6 and a finisher control device connected to the solenoid 58 via a signal line 59.

As shown in FIG. 6, the control body 6 is disposed so that a part thereof is located in a notch 27 provided at the center of the upper end of the stacking tray. Also,
When the sheet push-back member 5 is rotated, the sheet bundle holding position can be set at the sheet bundle holding position that comes into contact with the upper end of the sheet bundle storage position S, and at the home position, the retracted position is separated from the upper end of the sheet bundle storage position S. The control body 6 is fixed by adjusting the attachment position to the rail and the connection between the upper unit 61 and the lower unit 60 so that the setting can be performed. Note that the mounting position on the rail and the mounting method of the upper unit 61 and the lower unit 60 may be set to a plurality of positions according to the size of the recording sheet P.

When a control signal is input from the finisher control device to the solenoid 58, the sheet push-back member 5 is set to the sheet holding position, and the sheet push-back surface 55 is moved to the upper end of the sheet bundle accommodation position S. Abut. The control signal is output after a predetermined time has elapsed after the solenoid 48 is excited to transmit the rotation of a motor (not shown) to the drive shaft 41 in order to match the discharge timing of the discharge bundle.

[0037] Incidentally, the upper end of the sheet bundle storing position S is not formed only at the position of S _2, depending on the loading state of the quality and the recording sheet P of the recording sheet P accommodated underneath, above or it is formed at the position of S _1, and or formed at a position below the S _3. Therefore, the sheet push-back surface 55 is formed in a plane that is long enough to contact the upper end of the sheet bundle accommodation position S regardless of the formation position of the upper end of the sheet bundle accommodation position S. Instead of being a flat surface, it may be formed in a concave shape so as to always contact the upper end of the sheet bundle accommodation position S at a right angle.

Next, a series of discharging operations of the discharged bundle B aligned on the sheet aligning tray 1 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 7 (a), when the predetermined discharge bundle B is aligned on the sheet alignment tray 1, the sheet bundle discharge means 3 starts to move from the home position toward the discharge port 2 by the operation of the link mechanism described above. With movable tray 1
3 starts retreating in the reverse direction from the home position (see FIG. 7B). As shown in FIG. 7C, the sheet bundle discharge means 3 moves to the discharge position and the movable tray moves to the retreat position, so that the leading end of the discharge bundle B is higher than the upper end of the sheet bundle accommodation position S. Most prominent. Immediately thereafter, the sheet push-back member 5 is moved from the retracted position to the sheet holding position, and the entire leading end of the ejected bundle B is pushed back to the upper end of the sheet bundle accommodating position S.
The discharge bundle B is stored in the sheet bundle storage position S (FIG. 7).
(D)). The timing of the movement is set before the recording sheet on the upper surface side of the discharged bundle B reaches the sheet bundle accommodating position S. Then, while the loading tray 4 moves downward by the thickness of the stored bundle B,
The sheet push-back member 5, the movable tray 13, and the sheet bundle discharging means 3 are each set at the home position to prepare for accommodating the next discharged bundle (FIG. 7E).

In the above control, the sheet push-back member 5 is controlled to move to the push-back position only once.
The sheet push-back member 5 may be controlled to move to the push-back position discretely plural times. The movement start timing may be controlled so as to be changed in accordance with the weight of the discharge bundle B, for example, to advance the timing when the discharge bundle B is light.

When a bundle B of copy sheets is formed with the recording sheets P stored on the stacking tray 4 and the discharged bundle B is discharged, the stacking tray 4 is kept aligned with the discharged bundle B.
Could be accommodated on top.

Embodiment 2 In this embodiment, the control of the sheet push-back member 5 is changed so that the sheet push-back member 5 is set to the sheet holding position at the time when the sheet bundle ejecting means 3 starts the ejection operation of the ejection bundle B. did. The rest is the same as the first embodiment.

With reference to FIG. 8, a portion in which the control of the sheet push-back member 5 is changed will be described. First, after the previously discharged bundle is stored on the stacking tray 4, the sheet push-back member 5 is set to the sheet holding position, and a predetermined discharged bundle B is aligned in this state (see FIG. 8A). When the discharge operation by the sheet bundle discharge means 3 is started and the leading end of the discharged bundle B reaches just before the leading end of the sheet bundle accommodating position S (see FIG. 8B), the sheet push-back member 5 is retracted. Retract to position. The subsequent operations shown in FIGS. 8C to 8E are the same as those in the first embodiment.

The timing at which the sheet push-back member 5 is moved to the retracted position is determined by predicting the discharge speed based on the sensor signal of the home position sensor 42 and the length of the recording sheet. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, if the protrusion amount of the uppermost sheet Ps stored on the stacking tray along with the discharge operation of the discharge bundle B becomes longer than the distance between the sheet bundle suppressing position and the retreat position, When the sheet push-back member 5 is moved to the sheet holding position again, the sheet push-back member 5 does not come into contact with the leading end of the uppermost sheet Ps, and the recording sheet Ps is bent. Therefore, at least the discharge bundle B is set so that the protrusion amount is shorter than the distance between the sheet bundle holding position and the retreat position.
The above timing is set so that the sheet push-back member 5 is moved to the retracted position after the leading end of the sheet bundle reaches the position within the distance from the sheet bundle accommodation position S.

With this control, a thick discharge bundle or a thick copy paper bundle is formed, and the discharge bundle is discharged.
The discharge bundle B was able to be stored on the stacking tray 4 while being aligned. Further, the alignment state of the stacked bundles stored on the stacking tray 4 did not collapse.

Embodiment 3 Instead of the sheet push-back member 5 and the push-back control means, a sheet push-up member 7 and a push-up control means are used, and as shown in FIG. It is the same as the first embodiment except that it is fixed to the tray 16.

As shown in FIG. 11, the control body 8
One end of the flat plate is fixed to the rear end of the non-finishing tray 16 via an adjustment mechanism 17. The other end has two guide members 6 arranged vertically.
8, 69 are arranged, and a motor 66 is arranged at the center. The sheet push-up member 7 is formed by forming a stainless steel plate having a small surface friction coefficient into a substantially convex shape, and is attached to the control main body 8 such that the projection is on the opposite side to the control main body 8. Then, as shown in FIG.
A long slit 73 extending vertically is formed in the lower part of the surface facing the control body 8, and a short slit 72 extending in the horizontal direction is formed in the upper part. Further, the upper surface of the protrusion is inclined with respect to the slit 73,
A sheet pressing surface 64 is formed. Then, the two guide members 68 and 69 are fitted into the long slit 73, and the pin 75 of the link mechanism is fitted into the short slit 72. The link mechanism has one end fixed to the rotating shaft 74 of the motor and the other end having the pin 75. When the pin 75 rotates around the rotation shaft 74 of the motor, the sheet push-up member 7 is driven vertically. A disk 70 partially having a cut 71 is disposed on the rotating shaft 74 of the motor so as to rotate with the rotation thereof, and a photo sensor 71 is disposed on an upper peripheral portion of the disk 70. Then, it is configured to detect that the sheet push-up member 7 is set to the home position where it is most lowered.

As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the control main body 8 is disposed so that a part thereof is located in a notch 27 provided at the center of the upper end of the stacking tray. When the sheet push-up member 7 is driven, it can be set to a sheet push-up position protruding above the extension surface of the sheet bundle accommodation position S, and can be set at the home position more than the extension surface of the sheet bundle accommodation position S. The attachment to the adjustment mechanism 17 is adjusted and fixed so that the lower evacuation position can be set. The recording sheet P
May be set at a plurality of positions according to the size of the control body 8.

The length and the inclination angle of the sheet pushing upper surface 64 are determined by the distribution (S ₁ , S ₂ , S ₃ ) of the upper end of the sheet bundle accommodation position S, similarly to the sheet pushing back surface 55 of the first embodiment. It is formed taking into account.

The sheet lifting control means includes the control body 8 and a finisher control device for applying a control signal to the motor 66.

Next, a series of discharging operations of the discharged bundle B aligned on the sheet aligning tray 1 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 14 (a), when a predetermined discharge bundle B is aligned on the sheet alignment tray 1, the sheet bundle discharge means 3 starts to move from the home position toward the discharge port 2 by the operation of the link mechanism described above. At the same time, the movable tray 13 starts retreating from the home position in the reverse direction (see FIG. 14B). As shown in FIG. 14C, the sheet bundle discharge means 3 moves to the discharge position and the movable tray moves to the retreat position, so that the leading end of the discharge bundle B is higher than the upper end of the sheet bundle accommodation position S. Most prominent. At this time, by moving the sheet lifting member 7 from the retreat position to the lifting position, the leading end of the discharge bundle B is lifted. Therefore, a gap is formed between the discharge bundle B and the sheet bundle storing position S _A, the entire exhaust Detaba B slides down on the sheet bundle storing position S _A (see FIG. 14 (d)).
Then, the stacking tray 4 moves downward by the thickness of the accommodated discharge bundle B, and the sheet lifting member 7, the movable tray 13 and the sheet bundle discharge means 3 are set at the home position, and the next discharge bundle B is stored. (See FIG. 14E).

In the above control, the sheet lifting member 7 is controlled to move to the lifting position only once, but the sheet lifting member 7 is controlled to move to the lifting position plural times discretely. You may. In the above control, the control signal for moving the sheet lifting member 7 is
The output is made in synchronization with the discharge timing of the discharge bundle B based on the signal of the home position sensor 42 and the like. The movement timing of the sheet lifting member 55 to the push-up position may be changed in accordance with the weight of the discharge bundle B, for example, to increase the speed when the discharge bundle B is light.

When a stack of copy sheets B is formed with the recording sheets P stored on the stacking tray 4 and the discharged stack B is discharged, the stacking tray 4 is kept aligned with the discharged stack B.
Could be accommodated on top.

[0053]

As described above, according to the finisher of the image recording apparatus having the sheet push-back member and the push-back control means, which is the first technical means of the present invention, the paper ejected from the sheet alignment tray is discharged. The ejected bundles are forcibly pushed back to the sheet bundle accommodating position of the stacking tray by the sheet push-back member, so that the ejected bundles aligned on the sheet aligning tray can be stored on the stacking tray without breaking the alignment. it can.

Further, according to the finisher of the image recording apparatus having the sheet push-up member and the push-up control means, which is the second technical means of the present invention, the tip of the ejected bundle ejected from the sheet aligning tray is pushed up to make the above described A clearance is formed between the lower surface of the discharge bundle and the sheet bundle storage position to reduce the frictional resistance acting on the lower surface side of the discharge bundle. It can be stored on the stacking tray without breaking the alignment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a finisher of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a movable tray and its periphery.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a discharge arm and its periphery.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of the finisher shown in FIG. 1 on a main body side.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a sheet push-back member.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a sheet push-back member and a stacking tray.

FIG. 7 is a first schematic diagram showing a series of operations of the finisher.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a series of operations of a finisher according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which a top sheet protrudes from a sheet bundle storage position.

FIG. 10 is a partial configuration diagram of a finisher of an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a front view of the sheet lifting member.

FIG. 12 is a side view of the sheet lifting member.

FIG. 13 is a top view of the sheet lifting member.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing a series of operations of the finisher.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: sheet alignment tray, 2: discharge port, 3: sheet bundle discharge means, 4: stacking tray, 5: sheet push-back member, 6: control body (push-back control means), 7: sheet push-up member, 8:
Control body (push-up control means), 9: image recording apparatus, P: recording sheet, B: discharge bundle, S: sheet bundle accommodation position.

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Noriyoshi Tsuchiya 2274 Hongo, Ebina City, Kanagawa Prefecture, within Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Suzuki 2274 Hongo, Ebina City, Kanagawa Prefecture, within Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-2-215648 (JP, A) JP-A-57-151560 (JP, A) JP-A-6-56328 (JP, A) JP-A-6-32443 (JP, U) JP-A-63 -67565 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 37/04 B65H 31/30 G03G 15/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sheet aligning tray for forming a discharge bundle by sequentially storing recording sheets conveyed from an image recording apparatus, a sheet bundle discharge means for discharging the discharge bundle from a discharge port, In the finisher of the image recording apparatus, which accommodates the discharge bundle and has a stacking tray that is inclined with the end on the discharge port side downward, the finisher is disposed to face the discharge port with the stacking tray interposed therebetween, and A sheet pushing-back member set at a sheet holding position abutting on an upper end of the sheet bundle accommodating position or a retracting position separated from the upper end of the sheet bundle accommodating position; Push-back control means for moving the sheet push-back member from the retracted position to the sheet holding position at a predetermined timing after the sheet is discharged from the discharge port. A finisher for an image recording apparatus, characterized in that: 2. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the push-back control means sets the sheet push-back member to the sheet holding position at the time of starting the discharge operation of the discharge bundle by the sheet bundle discharge means. Finisher. 3. A sheet alignment tray for sequentially storing recording sheets conveyed from an image recording apparatus in a stacked state to form a discharged bundle, a sheet bundle discharging means for discharging the discharged bundle from a discharge port, and a discharged sheet bundle. In the finisher of the image recording apparatus, which accommodates the discharge bundle and has a stacking tray that is inclined with the end on the discharge port side downward, the finisher is disposed to face the discharge port with the stacking tray interposed therebetween, and The sheet push-up member set at the push-up position above or below the evacuation position above the extension surface of the sheet bundle storage position, and the tip of the discharge bundle discharged from the sheet alignment tray protrudes from the upper end of the sheet bundle storage position. And a push-up control means for moving the sheet push-up member from the retracted position to the push-up position.