JP3363643B2 - Sheet post-processing apparatus and image forming apparatus having the same - 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 and an image forming apparatus having the same, and more particularly to a sheet post-processing apparatus having a post-processing mechanism for sorting sheets on a sheet tray. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 13, a sheet post-processing apparatus having a post-processing mechanism for a sheet material stacked on a bin tray moves the bin tray in a direction perpendicular to the sheet discharging direction. Therefore, a plurality of sheet bundles are stacked at different positions.

In FIG. 13, the same parts as those in the embodiment described later are designated by the same reference numerals.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, since there is no means for detecting the position of each of the plurality of sheet bundles, the second (second copy) sheet bundle is being loaded on the bin tray. When the operator takes out the first (first set) sheet bundle that has already been stacked on the same bin tray, it is difficult to grasp the actual number of stacked sheets on the bin tray.

Therefore, if the number of sheets counted from the time when the operator makes initial settings and presses the start key exceeds the number of sheets allowed in the bin tray, the safety device is activated and the image forming apparatus is temporarily stopped. there were.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is that while the second (second set) sheet bundle is being loaded on the bin tray, the operator can load the first (first set) sheet bundle already loaded on the same bin tray. An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet post-processing device and an image forming apparatus that can grasp the actual number of sheets that can be stacked in the bin tray even when taken out and can avoid unnecessary temporary stop of the image forming apparatus.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances and includes at least one tray on which a sheet to be fed is placed and a first position on the tray. A sheet moving means for moving the placed sheet to a second position that partially protrudes from the tray, a detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of the sheet at the second position, and a sheet to be sent next. When the sheet at the second position is removed while being placed at the first position on the tray,
A sheet post-processing apparatus comprising: a control unit that grasps the actual number of sheets that can be stacked based on a signal from the detection unit and controls so that the sheet discharge to the tray can be continued.

[0008] Further, at least one tray on which the sheet to be sent is placed and a direction substantially parallel to the sheet discharge direction for moving the sheet from the first position on which the sheet is placed to the second position. A sheet moving unit that moves in a direction, a detecting unit that detects the presence or absence of the sheet that has been moved to the second position, and a sheet that is next sent while the sheet is being placed at the first position on the tray. When the sheet at the second position is removed, the actual number of sheets that can be stacked is grasped based on the signal from the detection means, and control means is provided to control so that the sheet discharge to the tray can be continued. The sheet post-processing apparatus is characterized by that.

Furthermore, it is preferable that the second position is a position where the second position partially protrudes from the tray.

Further, the detecting means may be composed of a light emitting means and a light receiving means, and the receiving tray may be provided with a notch portion for allowing light from the light emitting means to penetrate therethrough.

The present invention can be similarly applied to an image forming apparatus provided with an image forming section and a sheet discharging apparatus for discharging the sheet on which the image is formed by the image forming section.

[0012]

According to the present invention, while the second (second set) sheet bundle is being loaded on the bin tray, the first (first set) sheet bundle that has already been loaded on the same bin tray is completed. When the operator takes out the sheet, the detection means detects that the first (first set) sheet bundle does not exist in the bin tray. By the detection, the actual number of stacked sheets can be grasped, and the control means operates so as to discharge as many sheets as possible to the bin tray.

Further, while the second (second set) sheet bundle is being stacked on the bin tray, the stacking has already been completed on the same bin tray and the sheet moving means has moved a part of the sheet to a position where the sheet is protruded from the bin tray. When the operator takes out the first (first set) sheet bundle, the first (first set) sheet bundle is detected by the detection means including the light emitting means and the light receiving means provided above and below the bin tray. Detects that there is no bin tray. Based on the detection, the actual number of stacked sheets can be grasped, and the control means operates so as to discharge as many sheets as possible to the bin tray.

Therefore, the sheet discharge to the bin tray is continued, and the unnecessary temporary stop of the image forming apparatus can be avoided,
Work efficiency is improved.

[0015]

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

FIG. 1 is an overall view of a sheet post-processing apparatus 1 of the present invention and an image forming apparatus 200 equipped with the sheet post-processing apparatus 1. Image forming apparatus 200
An automatic document feeder 3 for automatically circulating the originals on the upper surface of the
00 is installed, and 20 bin trays b are provided downstream.
Sorting device 100 having (b ₁ , b ₂ ... b ₁₉ , b ₂₀ )
Is attached.

The image forming apparatus 200 uses a well-known electrophotographic method, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted here. However, a document positioned on the platen glass 208 is sensed by an optical system (not shown) by the photosensitive drum 201. Image up,
A developing device 202 provided around the photosensitive drum 201,
An image is transferred to a sheet by the transfer electrode 203 and is permanently fixed by the fixing device 204.

The sorting device 100 is a so-called bin-moving sorter, and the bin trays b are vertically stacked.
Is raised or lowered one by one by the spiral cams 4 provided on both sides rotating once.

The sheet on which the image is formed by the image forming apparatus 200 is sent to the sorting apparatus 100 through a pair of discharge rollers 205, and the flapper 2 sorts the sorting path 6a,
The direction to the non-sort path 6b is selected (see FIG. 2). At the time of non-sort without classifying sheets,
All the sheets pass through the non-sort path 6b (the flapper 2 is in the chain line position) and are discharged to the non-sort tray 10.

On the other hand, at the time of sorting the sheets, the flapper 2 moves to the position shown by the solid line, the sheets pass through the sort path 6a, and are placed on any of the bin trays b. At this time, the bin tray b is moved up and down by rotating the spiral cam 4 once in synchronization with the discharge of the sheet.

In FIG. 3, which is a top view of the sorting apparatus 100, reference numeral 7 is an electric stapler for stapling sheets, and is attached at a predetermined position facing the bin tray b.

The stapler 7 advances to a position (solid line position) 7a which stands by outside the area of the bin tray b and a notch portion A formed at a corner of the bin tray b to perform a staple binding operation for sheets. The position 7b (position indicated by the alternate long and short dash line) is moved by a drive system (not shown).

The bin unit 8 for holding the bin tray b has the non-sort tray 10 as shown in detail in FIG.
From the base frame 9 to the base frame 9, a supporting member 50 for guiding the bin tray b is provided on both sides to form a box shape, and the bin tray b is provided with the bin (trunnion) 3 fixed on both sides. It is inserted in the hole 50a of 50 and is arranged so that the upstream side in the discharge direction is inclined downward.

A support plate 11 is attached to the rear side of the base frame 9 at the base end thereof.
On the upper side, a rotation center shaft 14 having an upper end fixed to the upper arm 12 and a lower end fixed to the lower arm 13 is provided on the support plate 11.
Is rotatably supported by a rotary shaft (not shown) provided on the bottom surface of the non-sort tray 8 and a rotary shaft 15 provided on the lower surface of the non-sort tray 8. In addition, the support plate 11 includes a fan-shaped gear 16
Are rotatably arranged around a rotation shaft (not shown) provided on the support plate 11, and the lower arm 13 is fixed to the fan gear 16.

Further, a pulse motor 17 is arranged below the support plate 11, and a gear 18 fixed to the output shaft of the pulse motor 17 meshes with the fan-shaped gear 16. Then, the tip of the lower arm 13 and the upper arm 1
An aligning rod 19 is installed at the tip of 2 through the notch B formed in each bin tray b, and the aligning rod 19 is configured to swing by the rotation of the sector gear 16. Has been done.

The lower arm 13 is provided with a shading plate 20, and the shading plate 20 swings integrally with the lower arm 13 so that the home position sensor arranged at the back side of the base frame 9 is inspected. 21 is turned on and off.

At a position opposite to the alignment rod 19, a reference rod 22 is installed so as to penetrate a notch portion A formed in the bin tray b. The reference rod 22 extends in the sheet discharging direction and is slidably fitted to a guide rail 23 supported below the non-sort tray 10 and a belt 24 stretched at one end in parallel with the guide rail 23. It is fixed to.

One of the belts 24 is a pulley 2 of a pulse motor 25, which is fixedly installed below the non-sort tray 10.
6, the other is hooked on the idler pulley 27, and the forward / reverse rotation of the pulse motor 25 causes the reference rod 22 to retract to the outside of the bin tray area (rear of the stopper b ') (home position), as shown in FIG. It is possible to move to P ₁ and a position P ₂ that acts when aligning and extruding the sheet.

The position detection at P ₁ is performed by a sensor (not shown), and the position detection at P ₂ is performed by inputting a predetermined number of pulses to the pulse motor 25. Further, the guide rail 23 is attached in a substantially diagonal direction so that the position P ₁ and the position P ₂ have a small level difference K in the horizontal direction (the position P ₁ is on the front side), and in the sheet discharging direction, the reference rod 22. In order to improve the transmission efficiency when pressing the sheet on the bin tray b, the reference rod 22 is fixed so that the moving direction thereof is substantially parallel to the inclination angle of the bin tray b (see FIG. 4).

Further, ba shown in FIG. 3 is a notch hole opened in all bin trays, and is for detecting the presence or absence of a sheet by the detecting means 101 and 102 shown in FIGS. The detecting means is preferably a light emitting means and a light receiving type detecting means.

Further, another cutout hole bb is opened in all bin trays downstream of the sheet discharge from the cutout hole ba. The notch hole bb is used by the detecting means 103 and 104 to detect the presence or absence of a sheet.

A control circuit CPU is attached to the image forming apparatus 200 and the sorting apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 to control and communicate each operation.

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

(Step 1) First, the operator sets the original bundle D
FIG. 2 shows a document placing table 30 of the automatic document feeder 200.
Place on 3. Next, after inputting the number of copies n, staple mode (presence / absence), etc. to the operation panel (not shown) of the image forming apparatus, the start key is turned on.

(Step 2) Subsequently, the control of the image forming apparatus 200 is performed by means of the automatic document feeder 300 circulating the number of originals D, or the operator inputting a numerical value if it is known in advance. The circuit is made to recognize the number of originals N ₁ .

(Step 3) Based on the set number of copies n, the control circuit determines the number of copies N ₂ to be accommodated in one bin. For example, since there are 20 bin trays in this embodiment (N ₂ = 1 when n = 0 to 20) {N ₂ = 2 when n = 21 to 40} {n = 41 to 60 N ₂ = 3).

Then, the maximum number of sheets that can be stored in one bin tray is set to N ₃ (experimentally obtained in advance and input to the control circuit), and N ₁ × N ₂ <N ₃ is determined.

If the determinations in (Step 4) and (Step 3) are "No", the number of sheets stored in one bin tray exceeds the number of sheets that can be stored. It is transmitted to the operator by a display message or the like).

If the determinations in (Step 5) and (Step 3) are "Yes", as shown in FIG.
The reference rod 22 waiting at the home position moves to the position P ₂ which is the reference position for alignment, and the alignment rod 19 moves from the home position to the standby position 19a that matches the size of the discharged sheet.

(Steps 6 and 7) When the above preparation is completed, the sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus 200 are sorted. Here, when the set number of copies n is larger than the number of bin trays (20), 20 copies are sorted first, and when the number of bins is 20 or less, n copies are sorted. Automatic document feeder 300
Is fed from the final page onto the platen glass 208 of the image forming apparatus 200 through the path 301 by separating the original bundle D downward (FIG. 1). After the originals are stopped, an optical system (not shown) is activated to start image formation. .

The transferred and fixed sheet passes through the sort path 6a and is discharged to the first bin tray bl (standby at a position facing the discharge roller) (see FIGS. 2 and 6). The sheet discharged to the bin tray bl moves by its own weight toward the stopper b'on the bin tray arranged with the stopper b'inclining downward (one-dot chain line state).

Then, the pulse motor 17 rotating based on the pulse signal corresponding to the sheet size is used to move the pulse motor 19
The aligning rod 19 located at a starts moving by a predetermined amount in the direction of the arrow, and after the sheet side end abuts, the other side end of the sheet abuts the reference rod 22 to the first sheet position (19b). Move (Fig. 6). Subsequently, the alignment rod 19 returns to the standby position 19a in preparation for the ejection of the next sheet.

The above is the flow of stacking one sheet on the bin tray b, and thereafter, by rotating the spiral cam 4, each bin tray b is aligned with the position of the discharge roller pair 5 and the final page of the original is placed on the desired bin tray b. The transfer sheet is aligned with the side end against the reference bar 22 and the rear end against the stopper b'formed at the lower end of the bin tray b.

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

The above operation is repeated for the number of originals to align and stack desired copy sheets. At this time, the automatic document feeder 300 completes the circulation of the document stack D, and the document stack D is returned to 1 again.
The page is on the top.

(Step 8), where (Step 8)
If the setting mode in l) is stapling operation, the process proceeds to (Step 9), and if there is no stapling operation, the process proceeds to (Step 16).

(Steps 9 and 10), as shown in FIG.
The stapler 7 waiting at the home position 7a
When the operation start signal of the control circuit CPU is received, the stapler is moved to the stapler operation position 7b (dashed line position), and when the two-point binding for stapling the trailing edge of the sheet is specified, the stapler is moved to positions 7c and 7d. Bind in two places. At this time, the sheets are held at their side ends by the reference rod 22 and the alignment rod 19, so that the bundle deviation at the time of stapling is prevented. After the stapling is completed, the stapler 7 returns to the home position 7a, and the spiral cam 4 moves to the 1st position.
By the rotation, the bin tray b is moved by one stage, and the staple binding of the sheets on the next bin tray b is performed.

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

(Step 11) Next, as shown in FIG.
The reference rod 22 that was in contact with the side edge of the sheet at the alignment reference position P ₂ is moved to the home position P ₁ by the pulse motor 25.
Move to. As described above, the movement trajectory of the reference rod 22 is in the direction (step K) away from the sheet bundle side end, so that the reference rod 22 and the sheet bundle side end can be prevented from sliding. There is no deviation of the bundle due to movement.

(Stеp12) Subsequently, the alignment rod 19 is moved by the drive of the pulse motor 17 from the alignment position 19b by a predetermined amount L1 (L ₁ > K) (19c). Matching rod 1
Along with the movement of 9, the sheet is pressed at its side edge and pushed out toward the front side L ₁ along the stopper b '(the second sheet position). At this time, the end portion of the sheet is brought into contact with a brush member (not shown).

(Stepl3), the above (Stepl)
At this point, the reference rod 22 retracted to the position P ₁ returns to the position P ₂ again while pushing up the rear end of the sheet (FIG. 8). The rear end of the sheet has a reference rod 22 and a stopper b '.
In addition, the side end is supported by the alignment rod 19, and as shown in FIG.
The position is converted to be inclined on the bin tray (third sheet position).

(Step 14) Further, in this state, FIG.
As shown in, the alignment rod 19 moves in the direction of the arrow by a predetermined amount L ₂ (19d). Front cover 3 of the sort device 100
0 and the inclined surface 30a thereof and the front cover 3l and the inclined surface 3la thereof are provided with a sufficient space for the sheet to pass therethrough, and the movement of L ₂ of the alignment rod 19 causes the sheet side end portion Sa to move. It is completely pushed out of the machine (4th seat position). Since the aligning rod 19 and the reference rod 22 are formed so as to pass through all the bin trays, the above operation causes the sheets on all the bin trays to avoid the spiral cam 4, the stapler 7, the cover, and the like owned by this machine, and the front side. Is pushed to.

(Step 15), where (Step
If the sorting of the set number of copies n in l) has been completed, the operation of the apparatus is terminated. On the other hand, if there are remaining copies to be sorted, the operations up to (Steps 5 to 14) are repeated.

The case where a plurality of sheet bundles are stacked on one bin tray will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 10, in accordance with the same operation as described above, the second set of sheets in the bin is the first set of sheets in the bin which is placed in an inclined shape on the bin tray at the fourth sheet position. The stacks are subjected to a matching operation and loaded. After the end of sorting, if the setting mode is stapling, the fourth sheet position (the 1st part in the bin) and the first sheet position (in the bin 2
Since the stapler 7 staples the non-overlapping portion Sb with the second sheet, only the sheet corresponding to the first sheet position (the second sheet in the bin) is stapled.

Incidentally, in FIG. 10, the control unit is the matching rod 1
9 and the first control means for operating the reference rod, and the detection means 102 and 104 detect the presence or absence of the sheet, and if there is no sheet, control so that the sheet discharge to the tray can be continued. The second control unit sends a command to the image forming apparatus 200.

After that, as in (Stepll), the reference rod 22 moves to the home position Pl, but the rear end corner of the first bundle of sheets in the bin is held by the inclined surface 30a of the front cover 30. , The inclined posture is not broken (see FIG. 11).

Subsequently, the second sheet in the bin is pushed out to the fourth sheet position by the operation of (Steps 2-14). The operation of the third and subsequent copies stored in the bin is also the same as above, and a plurality of sets of sheet bundles are equally overlapped on one bin tray, and are sorted and stacked by staple binding.

If there is no stapling operation in (Step 16) and (Step 8), the detection means 10 is detected here.
1 and 102 activated (ON) or deactivated (OFF)
The presence or absence of a sheet on the cutout hole ba of the bin tray is detected. When the operator removes the first set of sheet bundles, the detection means 101 and 102 are turned off.
Become F. If it is ON, proceed to Step 17 and OFF
In case of, proceed to Step 11.

(Step 17) In this case, a command for temporarily stopping the operation of the image forming apparatus 200 is issued, and Step 7 is executed.
Proceed to 18.

(Step 8) Here, a command for displaying a message such as "Please remove the paper" is displayed on a display device (not shown) provided in the image forming apparatus 200, and then the process returns to Step 6. To do.

With the above-described structure, while the second (second set) sheet bundle is being loaded on the bin tray, the operator can load the first (first set) sheet bundle already loaded on the same bin tray. When it is taken out, it is detected that the first (first copy) bundle of sheets that has been stacked is not present in the bin tray by the detection unit including the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit provided above and below the bin tray.

Therefore, it is possible to grasp the actual number of sheets that can be stacked in the bin tray, and avoid unnecessary stoppage of the image forming apparatus.

[0064]

[0065]

[0066]

[0067]

[0068]

[0069]

[0070]

[0071]

[0072]

[0073]

[0074]

[0075]

[0076]

[0077]

[0078]

[0079]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the operator takes out the first (first set) sheet bundle that has already been stacked on the same bin tray while the second (second set) sheet bundle is being loaded on the bin tray,
The detection means detects that the first (first copy) sheet bundle does not exist in the bin tray. By the detection, the actual number of stacked sheets can be grasped, and the control means operates so as to discharge as many sheets as possible to the bin tray. Therefore, the sheet discharge to the bin tray is continued, the unnecessary temporary stop of the image forming apparatus can be avoided, and the work efficiency is improved.

Further, while the second (second set) sheet bundle is being stacked on the bin tray, the stacking has already been completed on the same bin tray and the sheet moving means has moved a part of the sheets to a position where they are pushed out of the bin tray. When the operator takes out the first (first set) sheet bundle, the first (first set) sheet bundle is detected by the detection means including the light emitting means and the light receiving means provided above and below the bin tray. Detects that there is no bin tray. By the detection, the actual number of stacked sheets can be grasped, and the control means operates so as to discharge as many sheets as possible to the bin tray. Therefore, the sheet discharge to the bin tray is continued, the unnecessary temporary stop of the image forming apparatus can be avoided, and the work efficiency is improved.

Furthermore, the fact that the sheet has been transferred from the first position, which is the sheet discharge position, to the second position, which is the sheet take-out position, is detected by the detection means, and the stapler Even if you do not bundle, the second (second copy) sheet bundle on the bin tray,
Workability is good because it does not confuse with the first (first set) sheet bundle that has already been stacked on the same bin tray.

Further, since a part of the sheet placed at the second position protrudes from the tray, the operator can easily take out the sheet and the working efficiency is improved.

In particular, the light emitting means, the light receiving means, and the cutout portions of the bin trays can detect the sheet bundles stacked on the plurality of bin trays at a time, so that the mechanism of the detecting means can be simplified.

When the sheet post-processing apparatus is applied to the image forming apparatus, the actual number of sheets that can be stacked in the bin tray can be grasped, and the image forming apparatus is unnecessarily stopped due to misidentification as a larger number than the actual number. Can be avoided,
Work efficiency is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing an entire image forming apparatus including a sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front sectional view showing a sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view thereof.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view in which a sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention is partially cut away.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the sheet post-processing apparatus showing sheet moving means.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the sheet post-processing apparatus showing movement of sheets.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the sheet post-processing apparatus showing sheet movement.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the sheet post-processing apparatus showing movement of sheets.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the sheet post-processing apparatus showing movement of sheets.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the sheet ejection device including a control unit including first and second control means.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of the sheet ejection device showing a state in which the first sheet group is in contact with the front cover and is stable.

FIG. 12 is an operation explanatory view of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a sheet post-processing apparatus showing a conventional sheet moving unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 sheet post-processing equipment b saucer (bin tray) ba Notch hole bb Notch hole 10 Non-sort tray 19 Matching Stick 22 Standard rod 101 detecting means (light emitting means) 102 detecting means (light receiving means) 103 detecting means (light emitting means) 104 detecting means (light receiving means) 200 image forming apparatus

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 33/08 B65H 39/11

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. At least one tray on which a sheet to be fed is placed, and for moving a sheet placed at a first position on the tray to a second position which partially protrudes from the tray. A sheet moving means, a detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of the sheet at the second position, and a sheet to be sent next is at the second position while being placed at the first position on the tray. When the sheet is removed, the actual stackable number of sheets based on the signal from the detection means
A sheet post-processing apparatus, comprising: a control unit that keeps track of the number of sheets and controls the sheets to be continuously discharged to the tray. 2. At least one tray on which a sheet to be sent is placed, and in order to move the sheet from a first position where the sheet is placed to a second position, the tray is substantially parallel to the sheet discharge direction. A sheet moving unit that moves in a direction, a detecting unit that detects the presence or absence of the sheet that has been moved to the second position, and a sheet that is next sent while the sheet is being placed at the first position on the tray. When the sheet at the second position is removed, the actual stackable sheets are detected based on the signal from the detection means.
A sheet post-processing apparatus, comprising: a control unit that keeps track of the number of sheets and controls the sheets to be continuously discharged to the tray. 3. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second position is a position that partly protrudes from the tray. 4. The detecting means comprises a light emitting means and a light receiving means, and the receiving tray is provided with a notch portion for allowing light from the light emitting means to penetrate therethrough. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 3. 5. An image forming apparatus comprising an image forming section and a sheet post-processing apparatus for post-processing a sheet on which an image has been formed by the image forming section, wherein the sheet post-processing apparatus comprises: An image forming apparatus comprising the sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 4.