JP3387795B2 - Sheet 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 processing apparatus, and more particularly, to one or more sheets for performing sorting, binding, etc. of sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a laser beam printer. The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus having a stacking tray.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, a number of sheet processing apparatuses have been proposed which combine a processing tray for aligning sheets and, if necessary, stapling them with a stack tray for receiving and storing the sheets. An example of this type of device is shown in FIG.
2 shows.

In FIG. 1, an automatic document feeder 31 provided on the upper portion of the image forming apparatus main body 3 includes separating belts 35 and 36 for separating and conveying the originals M one by one, and the originals M on the platen glass 5. Wide belt 42 that conveys to a predetermined position of
And so on. A detailed description of the automatic document feeder 31 will be omitted here. A toner image is formed by irradiating the original M on the platen glass 5 onto the photosensitive drum (image forming means) 914 with an optical system including the illumination lamp 6 and the lens 1 and then developing it. The sheet P fed from any one of the cassettes 12, 13 and the deck 15 has a toner image transferred on the photosensitive drum 914, is fixed by the fixing device 23, and is branched by the flapper 25. In the case of double-sided, multiplex copying, an image is formed again on the photosensitive drum 914 via the intermediate tray 30. The sheet P after single-sided copying and double-sided copying is discharged to a sheet processing device 27 connected to the image forming apparatus main body 3 by a discharging roller pair (discharging means) 399.

In the sheet processing apparatus 27, 501
Is a processing tray, and 502 is a stack tray. A stapler 503 for stapling around the periphery, a jogger 504 for aligning sheets while moving in the front and back directions, and an output paper having a half length in the transport direction are provided. A folding device 508 for folding in a “Z” shape and the like are provided.

Sheets are usually discharged to the processing tray 501 by the roller pair 76 one by one, and are aligned on the processing tray.
The stapled bundle is discharged to the stack tray 502 by the bundle discharge rollers 505 and 506.

On the other hand, since the stack tray 502 sorts the discharged sheet bundles, the stack trays 502 are arranged in the front-back direction for each bundle.
Further, it can be moved in the vertical direction in order to adjust the paper surface to the optimum position with the bundle discharge roller. The processing tray 50
1. Both of the stack tray 502 are inclined with the downstream side (the left side in the drawing) facing upward, and the sheets P on the stack tray 502 are stacked with their rear ends regulated by the rear end wall 507.

Since many folding operations of the sheet by the folding device 508 have been proposed including "Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-59002", a detailed description thereof will be omitted here, but as shown in FIG. The sheets are stacked on the stack tray 502 with the folding opening Sa facing upward.

[0008]

Today, there is a strong demand for miniaturization of the apparatus, and in order to achieve the demand in the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, the length of two trays 501 and 502 arranged in almost the entire area of the apparatus is long. Shortening is effective.

However, if the processing tray 501 is made shorter than the length of the sheet, as shown in FIG. 34, the amount of dripping of the leading edge of the sheet discharged by the pair of discharging rollers 76 increases, and the sheet returns to the stopper 151b. The operation is delayed and the matching processing time becomes long. Especially, in the half size (A4, B5, LTR) having a high processing speed, it is impossible to cope with the high speed. Further, even in the case of the sheets once stacked on the processing tray 501, there is a problem that the rear end portion floats up and the rear end is separated from the stopper 501b because the supporting area at the front end is small (FIG. 35). .

Further, as described above, the sheets folded by the folding device 508 at right angles in the conveying direction are stacked on the stack tray 502 with the folding opening Sa facing upward. In this state, in order to eject the next sheet bundle from the processing tray 501 to the stack tray 502, the stack tray 502 is lowered more than necessary so that the tip of the sheet bundle to be ejected does not enter the folding opening Sa. It is necessary to not only reduce the stackability of sheets on the stack tray 502,
It takes a moving time to lower the stack tray 502,
It took a long time to process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet processing apparatus capable of high-speed processing, which achieves downsizing of the apparatus without affecting the stackability of sheets and improves stackability in the sheet folding mode. It is what

[0012]

The invention according to claim 1 is
A first stacking unit that can stack stacked sheets to be discharged and is inclined upward on the downstream side in the sheet discharge direction, a first discharging unit that discharges sheets to the first stacking unit, and the first stacking unit. Second stacking means disposed downstream in the sheet discharge direction and inclined downward in the sheet discharge direction;
A second discharging unit that discharges the sheets on the first stacking unit to the second stacking unit; and a first stacking unit that is movable along a stacking surface of the first stacking unit. An advancing / retracting tray located at a first position housed inside and a second position projecting above the second stacking unit to form a sheet stacking surface together with the first stacking unit; The first stacking means is equipped with a driving means for driving the advancing / retracting tray, and a locking means for supporting the rear end of the sheet provided on the upstream side in the sheet discharging direction on the first stacking means. The advancing / retreating tray is arranged such that the center of gravity of the sheet is located between the leading end of the advancing / retreating tray in the second position and the locking means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the advancing / retracting tray at the second position is provided with a folding means for folding the sheet in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction on the upstream side of the first discharging means in the sheet discharging direction. However, it is possible to cover the folding opening portion of the folded sheet stacked on the second stacking means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the rear end of the sheet on the second stacking means is restricted, and the rear end restricting member is provided in the vertical direction. The second loading means is vertically movable.

[Operation] Based on the above construction, when the sheets are discharged to the first stacking means by the first discharging means, the advancing / retreating tray is at the second position and forms the sheet stacking surface together with the first stacking means. The center of gravity of the discharged sheet is located between the leading end of the advancing / retracting tray and the locking means of the first stacking means. This prevents the dripped sheets from drooping drastically, improving the stacking surface, and
The shortening of the first loading means and the downsizing of the device can be realized.

Further, when the folded sheets are stacked on the second stacking means, the advancing / retreating tray at the second position is in a state of covering the folding opening of the folded sheets on the second stacking means. The leading edge of the next sheet discharged by the second discharging unit is prevented from entering the folding opening of the folded sheet already stacked on the second stacking unit, and the defective stacking of sheets is prevented.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

<Embodiment 1> Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the reference numerals shown in FIGS. 32 to 35 and the reference numerals according to the present embodiment are not related.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a finisher as a sheet processing apparatus, 300 is an image forming apparatus main body, and 500 is a circulation type automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as RDF). For a detailed description of the image forming apparatus main body 300 and RDF,
It is omitted here.

Reference numeral 399 is a discharge roller (discharge means) of the image forming apparatus main body 300, 2 is a pair of inlet rollers of the finisher 1, 3 is a pair of conveying rollers, 31 is a sheet detection sensor, and 50 is a sheet detection sensor.
Is a punch unit for making a hole in the vicinity of the rear end of the conveyed sheet, and 5 is a large conveyance roller, which presses and conveys the sheet by pressing rollers 12, 13, and 14. A switching flapper 11 switches between the non-sort path 21 and the sort path 22. A switching flapper 10 is a sort path 22.
And the buffer path 23 for temporarily storing sheets.

Reference numeral 6 is a conveying roller, 130 is an intermediate tray (first stacking means) as a processing tray for temporarily accumulating paper, and performing alignment and stapling. 7 is a processing tray 1.
A discharge roller (first discharge means) for discharging a sheet onto the sheet 30, 150 is a swing guide, and 180a is supported by the swing guide 150. When the swing guide 150 reaches the closed position, the processing tray 130 is placed. Bundle discharge roller 18 arranged at
0b, a bundle discharge roller (second discharge means) for conveying the sheets on the processing tray 130 in a bundle and discharging the sheets on the stack tray (second stacking means) 200.

The length of the processing tray 130 is set shorter than the length of sheets to be processed in order to downsize the apparatus.

Reference numeral 400 denotes a folding device (folding means) which folds the sheet at right angles to the conveying direction, for example, in a "Z" or "C" shape to make the sheet into a desired size. Discharge roller 399 of the forming apparatus main body
And the entrance roller 2 of the finisher.

Next, the stapler unit 100 will be described with reference to FIG. 2 (main cross section), FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 (view from a).

The stapler 101 is fixed to a movable table 103 via a holder 102. The shafts 104 and 105 fixed to the moving table 103 have rollers 106 and 1 respectively.
07 is rotatably assembled, and the rollers 106, 107
Is a hole-shaped rail (108 a,
108b, 108c). Roll 106,1
No. 07 has flanges 106a and 107a, both of which are larger than the rail holes of the fixed base 108a, while 3 is provided below the movable base.
A support roller 109 is provided at each place, and the stapler 1
The movable table 103 supporting 01 is movable on the fixed table 108 along the rail hole without coming off.

The rail holes 108a are divided into two rail holes 1 which are branched in the middle at the front and the back.
08b and 108c. Due to the rail shape of the rail hole, when the stapler 101 is positioned in front, the roller 10
6 is the rail hole 108b side, and the roller 107 is the rail hole 108
It is fitted to the side a and is in a tilted state. When the stapler 101 is located at the center, the rollers 106, 107
Both are fitted into the rail holes 108a and become horizontal.

Further, when the stapler 101 is located at the back, the roller 106 moves toward the rail hole 108a.
Is fitted to the side of the rail hole 108c, and is in a state of being tilted, which is the opposite of the state when it is in front.

After the two rollers 106 and 107 are fitted in the two parallel rail holes 108b and 108c, the two rollers 106 and 107 move while maintaining their postures. And stapler 1
The action of starting the turning of 01 is performed by a cam (not shown).

Next, the moving mechanism of the stapler 101 will be described.

One roller 106 of the movable table 103 is
The pinion gear 106b and the belt pulley 106c are integrally formed. The pinion gear 106b is the pulley 10
It is connected to a motor M100 fixed above the moving table via a belt wound around 6c. On the other hand, fixed base 1
On the lower surface of 08, the pinion gear 1 along the rail hole
The rack gear 110 is fixed so as to mesh with 06b, and the movable base 103 is rotated by the forward and reverse rotations of the motor M100.
Are moved back and forth together with the stapler 101.

A rear end stopper tilting roller 112 is provided on a shaft 111 extending in the lower surface direction of the movable table 103. This plays a role of rotating the trailing end stopper 131 in order to escape the collision between the trailing end stopper of the processing tray 130 and the stapler 101, which will be described later.
Details will be described later.

The staple unit 100 is provided with a sensor for detecting the home position of the stapler 101, and the normal stapler 101 is on standby at the home position (the frontmost part 121 in this embodiment).

Next, the trailing edge stopper 131 that supports the trailing edge of the sheets stacked on the processing tray 130 will be described.

The rear end stopper 131 is a processing tray 130.
A supporting surface 131a having a surface perpendicular to the stacking surface for supporting the rear end of the sheet, a pin 131b for fitting and swinging into a round hole provided in the processing tray 130, and a link mechanism described later. It has a pin 131c for fitting.

The link mechanism includes the stapler moving table 10
The main link 132 having a cam surface 132a against which the roller 112 assembled to the third roller abuts and is pressed;
2 and a connecting link 133 that connects the pin 132b arranged at the upper end of the second end and the pin 131c of the rear end stopper.

The main link 132 swings around a shaft 134 fixed to a frame (not shown) as a fulcrum. Further, a tension spring 135 for urging the main link 132 in the clockwise direction is provided at the lower end of the main link 132, and since the main link 132 is positioned by the abutting plate 136, it is usually the rear end stopper 131.
Maintain a vertical posture with respect to the processing tray 130.

When the staple moving table 103 moves, the stopper 13 that interferes with the stapler 101 is formed.
The cam surface 132a of the main link 132 connected to 1 is pushed down by the tilting roller 112 provided on the moving base 103, and the rear end stopper 131 is pulled by the connecting link 133 to a position where it does not interfere with the stapler 101. It is rotated. A plurality of tilting rollers 112 (three in the present configuration) are provided so that the rear end stoppers 131 maintain this avoiding position while the stapler 101 is moving.

Then, on both side surfaces of the holder 102 supporting the staple 101, a staple stopper 113 (two-dot chain line) having a supporting surface having the same shape as the rear end stopper 131.
Is attached. Therefore, the staple stopper 113 can support the trailing edge of the sheet even when the stopper 131 is pushed while the stapler 101 is in the horizontal state (central portion).

Next, the processing tray unit 129 will be described (FIG. 5).

The processing tray unit 129 includes a carrying section for carrying sheets from the image forming apparatus, and the processing tray 130.
The stack tray 200 is arranged in the middle of the stack tray 200 for receiving and containing the sheet bundle processed by the above. The processing tray unit 129 includes the processing tray 130, the rear end stopper (locking means) 131, the aligning means 140, and the swing guide 15.
0, pull-in paddle 160, emergence tray (advance tray)
170, a bundle discharge roller pair 180, and the like.

The processing tray 130 is an inclined tray with the downstream side (left in the drawing) facing upward and the upstream side (right in the drawing) facing downward, and the rear end stopper 131 is disposed at the lower end. Has been done. The sheet discharged by the discharge roller pair 7 of the transport unit is the weight of the sheet and the action of the paddle 160 described later,
The sheet slides on the processing tray 130 until the trailing edge of the sheet contacts the trailing edge stopper 131.

Further, at the upper end of the processing tray 130,
The bundle discharge lower roller 180a has a swing guide 1 which will be described later.
A bundle discharge upper roller 180b that comes into contact with the roller 50 is attached to the roller 50, and is capable of forward and reverse rotation when driven by a motor M180.

Next, the matching means 140 will be described with reference to FIG. 6 which is a c view of FIG.

The aligning means 140 is the aligning member 1 on the front side and the rear side.
41 and 142 are independently movable in the front-rear direction. Front alignment member 141 and back alignment member 1
Alignment surfaces 141a and 142a, both of which are perpendicular to the processing tray 131 and press the sheet-side end surface, are aligned with each other.
a support surface for supporting the lower surface of the sheet bent vertically from a, 142a, gear portions 141b, 142b extending in the front-rear direction in parallel with the processing tray 130 and having a rack gear engraved therein.
Composed of and.

The two aligning members 141 and 142 are supported by guides provided so as to extend in the front-rear direction of the processing tray 130, with the aligning surface on the upper surface of the processing tray 130 and the gear portion on the lower surface of the processing tray 130. It is assembled so that it will come out. Then, each rack gear part 141
Pinions gears 143 and 144 are separately engaged with b and 142b, and the pinion gears 143 and 144 are connected to the motors M141 and M142 via pulley belts, respectively, and are aligned in forward and reverse rotations of the motors 141 and 142. The members 141 and 142 will move in the front-back direction.

The matching members 141 and 142 are
A sensor (not shown) for detecting the home position is attached, and the alignment members 141 and 142 are normally on standby at the home position. In the present embodiment, the home position of the front alignment member 141 is set to the foremost portion, and the home position of the back alignment member 142 is set to the innermost portion.

The swing guide 150 is located on the downstream side (left in FIG. 5).
In the above, the bundle discharge lower roller 180b is supported, and the upstream side (right in FIG. 5) is rotatably supported by the swing support shaft 151. The swing guide 150 is normally in an open state (when the bundle discharge rollers 180 are separated) when the sheets are discharged to the processing tray 130 one by one, and the sheets are discharged to the processing tray 130 and dropped. There is no hindrance to the alignment operation, and when the bundle of sheet bundles is discharged from the processing tray 130 to the stack tray 200, it moves to the closed state (the bundle discharge roller is in contact).

The rotary cam 152 is arranged at a position corresponding to the side surface of the swing guide 150. When the rotary cam 152 rotates and pushes up the guide side surface of the swing guide 150, the swing guide 150 swings. It opens while swinging around the support shaft 151, and the rotary cam 152 is rotated by 180 ° from this state.
When rotated and separated from the side surface of the swing guide, the swing guide 15
0 closes. The rotational drive of the rotary cam 152 is performed by a motor M150 connected via a drive system (not shown). Further, the swing guide 150 has a closed position as a home position, and a sensor (not shown) for detecting this is provided.

Next, the pull-in paddle 160 will be described.

The retracting paddle 160 is a paddle shaft 161.
The paddle shaft 161 is rotatably supported by the front and rear side plates. Paddle shaft 161
Is connected to the motor M160, and the motor M160
When it is driven from, it rotates counterclockwise in FIG. The length of the paddle 160 is set to be slightly longer than the distance to the processing tray 130, and the home position of the paddle 160 is a position where the discharge roller pair 7 does not contact the sheet discharged to the processing tray 130 (see FIG. Solid line).

When the discharge of the sheet is completed in this state and the sheet lands on the processing tray 130, the paddle 160 rotates counterclockwise under the drive of the motor M160 and pulls the sheet until it abuts on the trailing edge stopper 131. . Then, after waiting for a predetermined time, the paddle 160 stops at the home position and prepares for ejection of the next sheet.

Next, the retractable tray 170 will be described with reference to FIG. 5 and FIG. 7 which is a d view of FIG.

The retractable tray 170 is located below the processing tray 130 and the bundle discharging lower roller 180a,
Sheet conveyance direction (X direction) while almost following the inclination of 70
Go back and forth. The retractable tray 170 is movable between two positions, a projecting position (second position) and a retracted position (first position), and at the projecting position, the tip 170a projects over the stack tray 200 side. (Two-dot chain line), and the tip retracts to the right of the bundle discharge roller pair at the retracted position (solid line).

The tip 1 of the retractable tray at the protruding position
The protruding position and the retractable tray length are set so that the center of gravity of the sheets stacked on the processing tray 130 is located between the rear end stopper 131 of the processing tray 130 and 70a.

For the projecting position of the retractable tray 170, the folding mode is selected and the folded sheet is the stack tray 20.
It is configured so as to cover the folding opening portion Sa of the folded sheet when it is stacked on 0.

The retractable tray 170 is supported by the rails 172 fixed to the frame 171, and as described above, the X
Move in the direction. Further, the rotation link 173 rotates about the shaft 174 and is engaged with a groove formed in the lower portion of the retractable tray 170, and one rotation by the rotation link 173 causes the retractable tray 170 to move between the retracted position and the protruding position. Move back and forth between.

The rotation link 173 is driven by a motor (driving means) M170 via a driving mechanism (not shown). The home position of the retractable tray 170 is set to the retracted position (solid line), and that position is detected by a sensor (not shown).

Next, the stack tray 200 and the sample tray 201 will be described with reference to FIGS.

The two trays 200 and 201 are selectively used depending on the situation, and the lower stack tray 200 is selected when receiving copy output, printer output, etc.,
The sample tray 201 on the upper side includes copy sample output, interrupt output, stack tray overflow output, function sorting output, job mixed output,
Will be selected when you receive the etc.

Each of the two trays 200 and 201 has a motor 202 so that both trays can independently move in the vertical direction, and is a rack mounted vertically on the frame 250 of the finisher 1 and also serving as a roller receiver. 210
It is designed to be attached to. Further, the regulation member 215 regulates the play in the front and rear directions of the trays 200 and 201.

Further, the stack tray 200 and the sample tray 201 are wall plates on the tray side of the finisher 1, and move vertically along the rear end regulating member 1a (FIG. 1) arranged vertically. It is possible.

In the tray drive configuration, the staple motor 202 is attached to the tray base plate 211, and the pulley press-fitted onto the motor shaft transmits the drive to the pulley 203 via the timing belt 212.
A shaft 213 connected to the pulley 203 by a parallel pin transmits a drive to a ratchet 205, which is also connected to the shaft 213 by a parallel pin, and the ratchet 205 causes the idler gear 204 to move to the spring 2.
It is urged with 06.

The ratchet 205 is the idler gear 204.
The drive is connected and the idler gear 204 is connected to the gear 20.
Another gear 207 is attached to the rack 210 via the shaft 208 so that the drive can be transmitted to the rack 210 both in the front and the rear of the tray. The gear 207 is
It can be moved along the rack 210 via the gear 209. Two rollers on one side of the tray support 2
14 is housed in a roller receiver that also serves as the rack 210. Further, each tray is attached on the base plate 211 to form a tray unit.

Further, when the tray is lowered, the ratchet 205 pushes away the spring 206 and spins around only in the direction in which the tray is lifted up so as to prevent the tray drive system from being damaged by a foreign substance. This ratchet 205
The sensor S201 for immediately stopping the driving of the motor when the idle rotation is performed detects the slit incorporated in the idler gear 204. This sensor S20
1 is also used as out-of-step detection during normal operation.

Further, when the swing guide 150 is in the closed position, the swing guide 150 is a part of the tray stacking wall so that the processing tray 130 having the opening can be traversed vertically. It is movable only when it is detected (not shown).

Next, the sensor S202 is an area detection sensor, and the upper limit sensor 20 for stopping the tray from rising too much.
The flags in the areas from 3a to the processing tray sheet surface detection sensor S205 are detected. The sensor in S203b for detecting the position of 1000 sample trays is arranged at a position corresponding to 1000 sheets from the non-sorted sheet surface detection sensor S204, and is for limiting the stacking amount of the sample tray 201 by height.

Further, S203c is the sample tray 201.
However, it is for limiting the stacking amount when receiving the sheets from the processing tray 130 by height, and is also arranged at a position equivalent to 1000 sheets from the paper surface detection sensor S205. S
Reference numeral 203d is for limiting the stacking amount when the stack tray 200 receives sheets from the processing tray 130 by height, and is arranged at a position equivalent to 2000 sheets from the paper surface detection sensor S205.

S203e is a lower limit sensor for preventing the stack tray from being lowered too much. Of the above sensors, only the paper surface detection sensors S204 and S205 are front and back transmission sensors. Further, each tray has a sensor S for detecting the presence or absence of paper.
206 is arranged.

As a method of detecting the paper surface, the state in which the tray is raised from below each paper surface detection sensor until the paper covers the optical axis of the paper surface detection sensor is initial, and after the sheets are stacked, the paper surface detection sensor optical axis appears. Then, the process is repeated until the optical axis of the paper surface detection sensor is covered again.

Next, the punch unit 50 will be described with reference to FIGS.

The punch unit 50 has punching means 60 and lateral registration detecting means 80. A punch 61 and a die 62 are axially supported by a casing 63, respectively, in the punching means 60, gears 64 and 65 mesh with each other as shown in FIG. 12, and a punch drive motor 66 is driven to synchronize them in the directions of arrows B and C. And can be rotated. Normally,
The punch 61 and the die 62 are in the home position (HP) position of FIG.

After the sheet detection sensor 31 detects the trailing edge of the sheet, the punch drive motor 66 is driven at a predetermined timing, whereby the punch 61 and the die 62 are moved to the arrow B ,.
It rotates in the C direction, and the punch 61 dies 6 as shown in FIG.
2 is meshed with the die hole 62a provided in No. 2 to punch the sheet being conveyed.

At this time, by making the rotational speeds of the punch 61 and the die 62 the same as the rotational speed of the conveying roller pair 3, it becomes possible to punch the sheet being conveyed. 67
Is a guide portion for moving the punching means 60 at right angles to the sheet conveying direction A, and 68 is a roller that abuts on the guide portion 67 and rotates, and is caulked to the casing 63 by a roller shaft 69.

Reference numeral 63a is a rack gear formed in a part of the casing 63, and meshes with the pinion gear 70 provided in the punching means moving motor M70. Reference numeral 71 denotes a punching means initial position detection sensor having a light receiving portion 7la provided in parallel with the sheet conveying direction A, and is a casing 63.
Is attached to.

Therefore, the punching means moving motor M70 enables the punching means 60 to move in the directions D and E, which are perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction A. By moving the piercing means initial position detection sensor 71 in the direction of arrow E,
Punching means initial position defining portion 52 provided in the main body 1
Can be detected by the light receiving unit 7la. Here, the initial position of the punching means is set to be a few mm before the sheet reference position corresponding to the deviation amount of skew or lateral registration.

The lateral registration detecting means 80 is attached to the punching means 60. The lateral-registration detecting means 80 has a light-receiving portion 8la provided in parallel with the sheet conveying direction A, and a lateral-registration detecting sensor 81 for detecting the side edge of the sheet is attached to the tip of the sensor arm 82. . A rack gear 82a is formed in a part of the sensor arm 82, and meshes with a binion gear 83 provided in a lateral registration movement motor M83 attached to the casing 63. Further, at the rear end of the sensor arm 82, the light receiving portion 8l
A lateral-resin position detecting sensor 84 having a light receiving portion 84a provided in parallel with a is attached.

Therefore, when the lateral registration moving motor 66 is driven, the lateral registration detecting sensor 81 and the lateral registration initial position detecting sensor 84 are moved by the arrow D, which is perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction A.
It is possible to move in the E direction. By moving the lateral-reginal-position detecting sensor 84 in the direction of arrow E, the lateral-reginal-position defining portion 63b provided in the casing 63 is provided.
Can be detected by the light receiving unit 84a. Further, by moving the lateral registration detection sensor 81 in the direction of arrow D, the lateral registration detection sensor 81 can be set at a position corresponding to the selected sheet size.

Here, when detecting the side edge of the sheet,
After the paper detection sensor 31 detects the leading edge of the sheet, the punching means moving motor is driven at a predetermined timing to drive the punching means 6
0 and the lateral registration detection sensor 81 are moved in the direction of arrow D,
When the light receiving portion 81a of the lateral registration detecting sensor 81 is blocked by the side edge portion of the sheet, the sheet edge portion is detected and the sheet is stopped.
Therefore, the punching position can be aligned with the sheet end.

Next, the flow of sheets will be described.

When the user designates the non-sort mode on the operation unit (not shown) of the image forming apparatus main body 300, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the entrance roller 2, the conveyance roller 3, and the large conveyance roller 5 rotate to convey the sheet conveyed from the image forming apparatus main body 300. The flapper 11 rotates to the position shown by the action of a solenoid (not shown), and conveys the sheet to the non-sort path 21. When the sensor 33 detects the leading edge of the sheet, the roller 9 rotates at a speed suitable for stacking and discharges the sheet to the sample tray 200.

Next, the operation when the user specifies staple sort or sort mode will be described.

The user sets a document on the RDF 500 and turns on a start key (not shown). As shown in FIG. 16, the entrance roller 2, the conveyance roller 3, and the conveyance large roller 5 rotate to convey the sheet conveyed from the image forming apparatus 300. The flappers 10 and 11 are stopped at the positions shown in the figure.

The sheet passes through the sort path 22 and is discharged onto the processing tray 130 by the discharge roller 7. At this time, the retractable tray 170 has been moved to the projecting position in advance as described above, and when the sheet is discharged by the discharge roller 7, the leading end of the sheet does not hang down and the return operation is not delayed.

The sheets stacked on the processing tray 130 are also supported by the processing tray 130 and the retractable tray 170 beyond the center of gravity G of the sheets, and the trailing edge stopper 131 is surely attached to the trailing edge of the sheet. Since it can be supported by, the alignment of the sheets is improved.

That is, on the sheet stacking surface formed by the processing tray 130 and the protruding / retracting tray 170 at the protruding position,
When the sheets are stacked, the center of gravity G of the sheets is set to the tip 170a (FIG. 5) of the retractable tray 170 at the protruding position.
And the rear end stopper 131 of the processing tray 130.

The discharged sheet begins to move smoothly to the rear end stopper 131 by its own weight, and the paddle 160 stopped at the home position is rotated counterclockwise by the drive of the motor M160, and the sheet is moved. Are helping to move. When the trailing edge of the sheet comes into contact with the trailing edge stopper 131 and stops, the rotation of the paddle 160 is also stopped.
The aligning members 141 and 142 align the discharged sheets. The matching operation will be described later.

When all the sheets of the first set are discharged onto the processing tray and aligned, the swing guide 150 comes down and the rollers 180b are placed on the sheet bundle, as shown in FIG. Here, if the staple mode is designated, the stapler 101 staples the sheet bundle.

On the other hand, the sheet P1 discharged from the image forming apparatus main body 300 in the meantime is as shown in FIG.
When the flapper 10 is rotated, the flapper 10 is wound around the large conveyance roller 5 and stopped at a position ahead of the sensor 32 by a predetermined distance. When the next sheet P2 advances from the sensor 31 by a predetermined distance,
As shown in FIG. 8, the large roller 5 rotates and the first sheet P
The second sheet P2 is piled up so as to precede the first sheet P2 by a predetermined distance, and is wound around the large conveyance roller 5 and stopped at a predetermined position as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, the sheet bundle on the processing tray 130 is started to be transferred to the stack tray 200 by the rotation of the bundle discharge roller pair 180 as shown in FIG. At this time, the retractable tray 170 is still in the projecting position, but the trailing end of the bundle is moved to the retracted position immediately before passing through the nip of the bundle discharge roller pair 180, and the discharged bundle is dropped onto the stack tray 200 (FIG. 19).

Therefore, when the temporary folding mode is selected and folded sheets are stacked on the stack tray 200, as described above, the retractable tray 170 keeps the folded sheets until just before the next bundle is discharged to the stack tray 200. Since it is stopped at the projecting position while covering the folding opening Sa (see FIG. 5), the leading edge of the next bundle does not enter the opening Sa of the already stacked folded sheets and cause ejection failure.

As shown in FIG. 20, the third sheet P3
When reaches the predetermined position, the large roller 5 rotates, P3 is shifted by a predetermined distance and overlapped with each other, and the flapper 10 rotates to move to 3
The sheet of paper is conveyed to the sort path 22.

As shown in FIG. 21, the rocking guide 150 receives the three sheets of paper by the rollers 180a and 180b while being lowered, and when the trailing edge of the paper leaves the roller 7 as shown in FIG. 22, the rollers 180a and 180b. 23, the swing guide 150 moves up and the roller 180a moves away from the paper surface before the paper edge contacts the stopper 131, as shown in FIG.

The fourth and subsequent sheets are discharged onto the processing tray 130 through the sort path 22 similarly to the operation of the first copy. After the third copy, the same operation as the second copy is performed, the set number of copies are stacked on the stack tray 200, and the job is ended.

Here, the aligning operation of the sheet bundle will be described.

First, when there is no sheet on the processing tray 130, that is, the first sheet P (3
When the sheets are discharged, the front and rear aligning members 141 and 142, which are on standby at the home position, are slightly displaced from the width of the sheets discharged in advance at a position PS1.
1, move to PS21 (Fig. 24).

As described above, when the rear ends of the three sheets are supported by the stopper 131 and the lower surfaces are supported by the supporting surfaces 141c, 142c of the matching members 141, 142, respectively, the matching members 141, 142 move to PS12, PS22. While moving, the sheet is moved to the first alignment position 190 and aligned (FIG. 25).

After that, the aligning member 141 moves to PS11 in preparation for the next sheet to be discharged and waits, and when sheet discharging is completed for two, moves to PS12 again to align the sheet at the first aligning position 190. At this time, the back aligning member 142 continues to stop at PS22 and serves as a reference. The above operation is continued until the final sheet of the bundle. Since the sheet bundle is aligned as described above, the moving sheet end does not collide with the end of the support surface 142c and buckle as shown in FIG.

The sheet bundle of the first copy, which has completed the alignment, is stapled if necessary, discharged as described above, and transferred to the stack tray 200.

Subsequently, the second set of sheets (three sheets) is discharged to the processing tray 130. At this time, the aligning members 141,
142 is put on standby at PS11 and PS12 in the same manner as the first member (FIG. 24), but the alignment position is the second alignment position 191.
Move to. The second alignment position 191 is located a predetermined amount L behind the first alignment position 190 (FIG. 26).

Thereafter, the stacking is performed on the stack tray 200 while changing the alignment position for each sheet bundle, and the sorting and stacking with the offset amount L becomes possible.

The offset amount L may be changed in the sort mode and the staple mode. For example, in the staple mode, the amount L ₁ (about 15 mm) that prevents the needles of the adjacent bundles from overlapping after stacking. In the sort mode, the visibility of bundle identification is improved by L ₂ (about 20 to 30 m
By setting m), the alignment movement distance in the staple mode can be shortened and the processing speed can be improved.

In the staple mode, the stapler 10
The number 1 stands by in advance at the desired clinch position for the aligned sheets, and staples when the discharge of the final sheet of the bundle is completed. The matching walls 141, 142
The alignment position of changes by the offset amount L for each bundle,
The stapler 101 also moves accordingly.

Further, the configuration in which the stapler 101 changes its direction according to the binding mode (oblique binding in front, oblique binding in the back, binding in two places) is as described above. However, in the above configuration, there is a limit to the range in which the same stapling posture (horizontal and inclined states) can be maintained, and since there are a large number of sheet widths for stapling, the same stapling mode is used for the different binding modes. Since stapling may not be possible at the alignment position, the first and second alignment positions may be changed according to each binding mode.

FIG. 28 shows the alignment position in the two-point binding mode, FIG. 29 shows the back diagonal binding mode, and FIG. 30 shows the alignment position in the front diagonal binding mode. The two-dot chain line indicates the first alignment position and the solid line indicates the second alignment position.
It is a matching position.

At this time, if the aligning position is in front of the discharge position, the rear aligning member 142 transfers the sheet to the reference front aligning member 141 side, and there is the aligning position on the rear side of the discharge position. The case is as described above. As described above, by switching the alignment position depending on the binding mode of the stapler 101, the sheet can be moved to a position corresponding to the stapler 101.

Next, the movement of the stack tray 200 and the sample tray 201 will be described (FIGS. 8 and 9).

Before starting the operation, the sample tray 201 and each tray of the stack tray 200 normally wait at each sheet surface detection sensor position which is set a predetermined amount below the non-sort discharge port and the processing tray discharge port.

In the above description, it is the stack tray 200 that normally stacks the copies or printer outputs, and can receive the sheets processed by the above-mentioned stapler 101 or the like, or the unbound stapled bundle discharged in small numbers. (A maximum of 2000 sheets can be stacked), which is detected by the sensor 2S03d.

At this time, when the output of the copy printer is still continuing, the stack tray 200 is lowered by a position corresponding to 1000 sheets from the sensor S203a (position of S203d). Then, the sample tray 201 is connected to the processing tray 13.
It is lowered to the sheet surface detection sensor S205 for 0, and sheet reception is started again. At this time, the sample tray 20
In No. 1, a maximum of 1000 sheets can be loaded, and the sensor 203c detects it.

Next, after the job of 2000 sheets or less is completed, the processing operation cannot be performed when the next job is started without interrupting the sheets on the stack tray 200 or when interrupting the current job. However, it is possible to load the sample tray 201 from the non-sort discharge path.

As a mode in which the sheets are output to the sample tray 201 by using the non-sort discharge path in the normal state, the sample tray output is set when the sample output is performed without processing only one copy or by the function sorting. Such as when you are.

Next, the punch mode will be described with a focus on the operation sequence of the punch unit 50 according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the power of the apparatus is turned on in Sl, the punching means moving motor M70 is driven in S2 to move the punching means 60 in the direction of arrow E,
Light receiving unit 7l of the punching means initial position detection sensor 71
a is blocked by the perforation means initial position defining portion 52 provided in the finisher 1, detects the initial position, and stops.

Similarly, the lateral registration moving motor M83 is also driven to move the sensor arm 82 in the direction of the arrow E, so that the light receiving portion 84a of the lateral registration position detecting sensor 84 is provided in the casing 63. It is selected by the position defining unit 63b, detects the initial position, and stops. At this point, the system waits for input (S
3).

Next, the operator operates the image forming apparatus main body 300.
By selecting a punch use selection button (not shown) and pressing a start button (not shown) (S4), sheet conveyance is started in the image forming apparatus main body 300, and image formation is performed (S6). At the same time, the lateral registration moving motor M83 is driven to move the sensor arm 82 to the arrow D.
Then, the lateral registration detecting sensor 81 is moved to a position corresponding to the selected sheet size (S5).

After that, when the image-formed sheet is conveyed into the finisher 1 and the leading edge of the sheet passes the sheet detecting sensor 31, the sheet detecting sensor 31 detects the leading edge of the sheet, and after a predetermined timing, the punching means moving motor. When M70 is driven and the punching means 60 and the lateral registration detecting sensor 81 are moved in the direction of arrow D, and the light receiving portion 8la of the lateral registration detecting sensor 81 is blocked by the side edge of the sheet, it is detected as the sheet edge. Stop (S8).

After that, when the trailing edge of the sheet passes the sheet detection sensor 31, the sheet detection sensor 31 detects the trailing edge of the sheet (S9), and after a predetermined timing, the punch drive motor 66 is driven to punch the punch 61. The die 62 rotates in the directions of arrows B and C, the punch 61 meshes with the die hole 62a provided in the die 62, and the sheet being conveyed is punched (S10). After that, the sheet is discharged according to each of the above-described discharge processing modes, and the processing is ended.

[0117]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the sheets are discharged to the first stacking means by the first discharging means, the advancing / retreating tray is moved to the second position to assist the sheet stacking, and the advancing / retreating tray and the first stacking means are formed. Since the center of gravity of the sheets on the sheet stacking surface is positioned between the leading end of the advancing / retreating tray at the second position and the locking means of the first stacking means, the stackability of the sheets is improved. In addition, it is possible to shorten the first stacking means, and further reduce the size of the device.

When the folded sheets are discharged to the second stacking means, the advancing / retreating tray at the second position is made to cover the folding opening portion of the folded sheets stacked on the second stacking means. Therefore, when the succeeding sheet is discharged by the second discharging means, it is possible to prevent the leading end portion of this sheet from entering the folded opening portion of the already stacked folded sheet and the occurrence of defective sheet stacking due to this. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional front view of an entire finisher as a sheet processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a stapler and a processing tray rear end stopper pivoting portion.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the stapler moving mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a right side view of the stapler of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional front view of the swing guide portion and the processing tray portion.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the matching wall moving mechanism of the processing tray.

FIG. 7 is likewise a plan view of the retractable tray portion.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the tray moving mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a sensor layout diagram around the tray of the finisher.

FIG. 10 is a side view of the punch unit.

FIG. 11 is likewise an operation diagram of the punch unit.

FIG. 12 is likewise a plan view of the punching unit.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of the lateral registration sensor moving mechanism of the punch unit.

FIG. 14 is a plan view of the lateral registration sensor moving mechanism of the punch unit.

FIG. 15 is a vertical sectional front view of the finisher at the time of non-sorting.

FIG. 16 is an operation diagram of the finisher in the staple mode as well.

FIG. 17 is an operation diagram of the finisher in the staple mode.

FIG. 18 is an operation diagram of the finisher in the staple mode.

FIG. 19 is also an operation diagram of the finisher in the staple mode.

FIG. 20 is also an operation diagram of the finisher in the staple mode.

FIG. 21 is an operation diagram of the processing tray unit in the staple mode.

FIG. 22 is an operation diagram of the processing tray unit in the staple mode.

FIG. 23 is an operation diagram of the processing tray unit in the staple mode.

FIG. 24 is a plan view showing the matching operation of the matching means section.

FIG. 25 is a plan view showing the matching operation of the matching means section.

FIG. 26 is a plan view showing the aligning operation of the aligning means section.

FIG. 27 is a front view showing the matching operation of the matching means section.

FIG. 28 is a plan view showing the aligning means and the stapler.

FIG. 29 is a plan view showing the aligning means and the stapler.

FIG. 30 is a plan view showing an aligning unit and a stapler.

FIG. 31 is a flowchart of the operation of the finisher in the punch mode.

FIG. 32 is a vertical sectional front view of a conventional finisher and an image forming apparatus main body to which the finisher is applied.

FIG. 33 is an operation diagram of sheet discharging of the conventional finisher.

FIG. 34 is an operation diagram of sheet discharging of the conventional finisher.

FIG. 35 is an operation diagram of sheet discharging of the conventional finisher.

[Explanation of symbols]

P sheet Sa folding sheet folding opening M180 motor (drive means) Center of gravity of G seat 1 Finisher (sheet processing device) 1a Rear end regulating member 7 Ejection roller pair (first ejection means) 130 processing tray (first loading means) 131 Rear end stopper (locking means) 170 Haunting tray 170a Tip of emergence tray 180 bundle discharge roller pair (second discharge means) 200 stack tray (second stacking means) 300 Image forming apparatus main body 399 Discharge roller pair (discharging means) 400 Folding device (folding means) 914 Photosensitive drum (image forming means)

Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-63-154578 (JP, A) JP-A-6-239053 (JP, A) JP-A-2-233458 (JP, A) JP-A-62-59002 (JP , A) JP-A-61-217464 (JP, A) JP-A-63-117869 (JP, A) Fukukaihei 4-24558 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB) Name) B65H 31/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A stackable sheet for discharging sheets,
A first stacking unit whose downstream side in the discharging direction is inclined upward, a first discharging unit for discharging sheets to the first stacking unit, and a downstream side of the first stacking unit in the sheet discharging direction. Of the first stacking unit, a second stacking unit whose downstream side in the sheet discharging direction is inclined upward, a second stacking unit configured to discharge the sheets on the first stacking unit to the second stacking unit, and The sheet stacking surface, which is movable along the stacking surface and projects over the first position stored in the first stacking means and above the second stacking means, together with the first stacking means. a retractable tray that is located on the second position, forming a said driving means for driving the reciprocating tray, the rear end of <br/> sheet provided in the sheet discharging direction upstream side on said first stacking means Locking means for supporting the first loading hand, As the center of gravity of the sheet stacked on the stage is located between the tip of the retractable tray in the <br/> second position and said locking means, characterized in that arranged the retractable tray Sheet processing device. To 2. A sheet discharge direction on <br/> downstream of said first discharge means comprises a folding unit folding at right angles to the sheet relative to the conveying direction, said retractable tray in the second position The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the folding opening portion of the folded sheets stacked on the second stacking unit can be covered. 3. A sheet trailing end on the second stacking means is regulated, which has a trailing edge regulating member arranged in a vertical direction, and the second stacking portion is provided along the trailing edge regulating member. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the means is vertically movable. 4. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, image forming means for forming an image on a conveyed sheet, and discharging means for discharging the image-formed sheet to the sheet processing apparatus. An image forming apparatus comprising: