JP3472122B2 - Sheet bundle binding device - 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 bundle binding apparatus capable of carrying a sheet bundle while maintaining consistency and performing binding processing at a plurality of positions of the sheet bundle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional sheet bundle binding device, a binding mechanism portion is moved along a sheet bundle aligned on a sheet stacking tray which is a sheet stacking portion to bind an arbitrary position of an end portion of a sheet as a sheet. It is configured as follows. That is, the sheet bundle binding device provided in the image forming apparatus conveys the sheet on which the toner image is recorded by the image forming unit to the sheet stacking tray and aligns a predetermined number of sheets,
The binding mechanism is moved to a predetermined position at the end of the sheet bundle aligned on the sheet stacking tray to perform the binding process.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional sheet bundle binding apparatus, in order to bind an arbitrary position of the end portion of the sheet bundle, the binding mechanism section is moved by a distance corresponding to sheets of various sizes. There is a need.

Therefore, not only the structure of the sheet bundle binding apparatus becomes complicated, but also the binding mechanism is moved, so that the failure rate increases. Further, it is difficult to reduce the size of the device in order to secure a space in which the binding mechanism unit moves.

Therefore, the conventional sheet bundle binding device is
It is difficult to manufacture at a low cost, and there is a problem that a large area is required as a place to install the image forming apparatus equipped with the sheet bundle binding device.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the structure of the binding mechanism is simplified, and the occurrence rate of failure of the binding mechanism is suppressed to be low. The purpose is to provide a device.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a sheet bundle binding apparatus according to the invention of claim 1 is a sheet stacking section for stacking conveyed sheets, and a sheet stacking section for transporting the sheets to the sheet stacking section. And a binding mechanism unit that binds the sheet bundle to form a sheet bundle and binds the sheet bundle to the sheet stacking unit. In addition to aligning, the sheet stopper that projects in and out of the sheet stacking unit, the aligning member that aligns the width direction of the sheet, the width direction of the sheet are aligned, and the end portion of the sheet is aligned by the sheet stopper. In the case of single-point binding, depending on the transporting means for sandwiching and transporting the formed sheet bundle from above and below, and the binding mode.
Binds the sheets without moving the aligned sheet bundle.
The binding process is performed by the mechanical section, and in the case of multiple-point binding,
After retracting the sheet stopper, there is provided control means for performing a binding process by the binding mechanism section by moving the sheet bundle to a binding position by a predetermined distance by the transporting means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided driving means for moving the aligning member, and detection means for detecting that the sheet has been conveyed to the sheet stacking section. When the aligning member is moved to the aligning position each time the detecting unit detects that the sheets are conveyed to the sheet stacking unit, and the sheet bundle after all the sheets are stacked on the sheet stacking unit is conveyed. First, the drive means is controlled to move the alignment member to the transport position.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the aligning member includes an elastic member that elastically presses the sheet.

[Operation] According to the configuration of the above-mentioned invention, the width direction of the sheet conveyed to the sheet stacking section is aligned by the aligning member, and the end portion of the sheet is aligned by the sheet stopper to stack the sheet on the sheet stacking section. Let Then, the aligned sheet bundle is pinched from above and below by the conveying means and moved to the binding position, and the binding mechanism section performs the binding processing on the sheet bundle.

According to another aspect of the invention, the aligning member is moved to the aligning position by the driving means each time the detecting means detects that the sheet is conveyed to the sheet stacking portion. For this reason, the sheets stacked on the sheet stacking unit are reliably aligned. Further, the aligning member is moved to the transport position to transport the sheet bundle aligned on the sheet stacking unit while maintaining the state. Therefore, the binding process can be performed without moving the binding mechanism unit.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. <First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a sheet bundle binding apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the same sheet bundle binding apparatus. Figure 4
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the aligning operation of the sheet bundle binding device, FIG.
FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the sheet bundle binding device.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes a printer apparatus main body. The printer apparatus main body 100 is independently connected to a computer or a network such as a LAN, and based on information transmitted from these. The toner image is recorded on the sheet P as a sheet by a predetermined image forming process.

That is, the printer main body 100 forms a toner image on the photosensitive drum 101 by an image forming process based on a predetermined print signal. This toner image is transferred to the paper P that is selectively fed from a desired paper feed cassette in the transfer unit, and then fixed to the paper P by the fixing unit 120.

At the bottom of the printer body 100, there is a first
The paper feeding device 200 is provided. The first sheet feeding device 200 accommodates a plurality of sheets P and separates a detachable sheet feeding cassette 201 and the sheets P stored in the sheet feeding cassette 201 one by one according to a predetermined sheet feeding signal. And a separation sheet feeding section 202 that conveys the sheet to the printer apparatus main body 100. In addition, the first sheet feeding device 200 includes the second sheet feeding device 300 and the third sheet feeding device 4 which are located below the first sheet feeding device 200.
A sheet guide unit 203 for guiding the paper P from 00 to the printer apparatus main body 100 is provided.

The sheet P on which the toner image is fixed is printed by the flapper 121 by the predetermined signal to the printer body 1.
00 is selectively branched and conveyed to the paper discharge unit 125 provided on the upper side of the paper 00 or the double-sided conveyance unit 500.

The double-sided conveyance unit 500 is provided with a double-sided conveyance sensor 501 which operates by the passage of the branched paper P. When a print signal instructing double-sided printing is output by an operator's operation, the CPU 110, which is a control unit, causes the paper P to pass through the double-sided conveyance sensor 501, so that the paper P is reversed and conveyed.
The double-sided conveying roller 502 on the downstream side is driven at a predetermined timing so as to lead to No. 3. After that, when the CPU 110 detects that the trailing edge of the paper P has passed the double-sided conveyance sensor 501, the double-sided conveyance roller 502 is reversely conveyed at a predetermined timing. As a result, the paper P is conveyed to the double-sided carry-in path 504 and is conveyed again to the printer apparatus main body 100, and the paper P is conveyed.
The remaining surface of will be printed.

When the paper P is moved from the double-sided conveyance unit 500 to the sheet binding device 600, the double-sided conveyance sensor 501 of the paper P operates the downstream conveyance roller 502 at a predetermined timing. Next, the flapper 505 is rotated to form a conveyance path so that the paper P is conveyed from the extension guide unit 800 toward the sheet bundle binding device 600 side via the vertical conveyance unit 700.

After passing through the extension guide section 800, the vertical conveying section 7
The sheet P transported to 00 is guided to the sheet binding apparatus 600 by the vertical transport roller pair 701, and is transported to the sheet aligning unit by the alignment discharge roller pair 1.

Next, the sheet bundle binding device 600 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

Photosensitive drum 10 of printer body 100
The paper P on which the toner image formed on No. 1 is transferred is shown in FIG.
The sheet bundle binding device 600 shown in FIG. The sheet bundle binding device 600 bundles the sheets P transported from the printer body 100 via the vertical transport unit 700 and the extension guide unit 800 in a sheet aligning unit to perform binding processing at one or several places. .

In this sheet bundle binding device 600, as shown in FIG. 2, an alignment carry-in roller pair 1 is arranged at the entrance of the paper P carried in from the vertical carrying section 700. In the vicinity of the pair of aligning and carrying-in rollers 1, an aligning and carrying-in sensor 2 as a detecting means for detecting the paper P entering the sheet bundle binding device 600 is arranged. The alignment carry-in sensor 2 detects the carry-in timing of the paper P, and the CPU 11 shown in FIG.
By 0, the alignment moving wall 12 as an alignment member described later is operated after a predetermined time. Further, the alignment carry-in sensor 2 is provided with an upper guide 14 facing the same and guiding the conveyance of the paper P. The paper P that has passed the alignment carry-in sensor 2 is a paper stack tray 3 that is a sheet stacking unit.
Aligned above. The paper stacking tray 3 is provided with a paper detection sensor 9 as a sheet presence / absence detecting unit for detecting the presence / absence of the paper P, and curls that suppress the floating of the paper P stacked on the paper stacking tray 3 due to curling. A restraining lever 10 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 3, the sheet aligning section is provided on the sheet stacking tray 3 and the aligning and carrying-in sensor 2 for detecting the sheets P carried in the sheet bundle binding device 600, and is orthogonal to the carrying direction of the sheets P. And an alignment reference wall 11 as an alignment member with which one side in the width direction abuts, and an L shape that moves forward and backward with respect to the alignment reference wall 11 and opposes the alignment reference wall 11 with the paper P sandwiched therebetween and aligns the width direction. The alignment moving wall 12 that is formed and has a locking portion 12a on the bottom surface, and the alignment carry-in roller pair 1
The sheet stopper 7 that aligns the leading edge of the sheet P that has been conveyed to the sheet stacking tray 3 and the drive roller 8a that contacts the inner circumference so as to press the leading edge of the sheet P against the sheet stopper 7 are driven to rotate. A plurality of ring-shaped vertical alignment belts 8 are coaxially arranged along the width direction of P. The sheet stopper 7 indicates that the counter 112 has counted the predetermined number of sheets P set by the setting key 111.
When it is identified by, it is configured to be retractable so that it can be rotationally driven by a clutch (not shown) and can be moved to the paper stop position and the retracted position with respect to the paper stack tray 3. Further, a driven roller 8b rotatably supported by a leaf spring (not shown) is in contact with the outer periphery of the vertical alignment belt 8 corresponding to the drive roller 8a, and between the driven roller 8b and the drive roller 8a. The vertical alignment belt 8 is sandwiched between the vertical alignment belt 8 and the vertical alignment belt 8 to rotate.

Further, the sheet stacking tray 3 is formed with a slit 3a for moving the alignment moving wall 12 as shown in FIG. An engaging portion 12a protruding from the bottom surface of the alignment moving wall 12 penetrates through the slit 3a. Then, the locking portion 12a and the drive motor 3 as the drive means.
A spring 34 urged so as to narrow the width of the sheet P is stretched between the driving pinion 32 supported by the first shaft 31a and a rack 33 that receives a driving force. As a result, the alignment moving wall 12 can move along the width direction of the sheet stacking tray 3 because the rack 33 that moves by the rotation of the drive pinion 32 is pulled or pressed by the spring 34. That is, the sheet aligning unit causes the aligning moving wall 12 to align the side of the sheet P with the aligning reference every time the sheets P are stacked on the sheet stacking tray 3 between the aligning reference wall 11 and the aligning moving wall 12. It has a function of pressing the wall 11 a plurality of times with a predetermined pressing force to align the ends of the sheet bundle. The opposite end of the sheet P pressed by the alignment moving wall 12 comes into contact with the alignment reference wall 11 so that the side positions are aligned.

Further, in the sheet bundle binding device 600, the conical roller 4 for suppressing the curl of the paper P in the width direction is provided with the alignment reference wall 1.
1 and the alignment moving wall 12, the plurality of rocking rollers 5 are coaxially supported along the width direction of the paper P. The swing roller 5 is supported by a clutch (not shown) so as to be vertically movable at a predetermined timing. The swing roller 5 is provided with a conveying roller 6 that is exposed from the sheet stacking tray 3 so as to face the swing roller 5. The swing roller 5 and the transport roller 6 are both configured to be rotationally driven in synchronization by a drive motor (not shown). The alignment moving wall 12 has a drive motor 31 and is movable in a direction in which the alignment moving wall 12 moves forward and backward with respect to the alignment reference wall 11 while being kept parallel to the alignment reference wall 11. A cam may be used to position the alignment moving wall 12.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a stapler unit as a sheet bundle binding means for binding a sheet bundle by a binding needle. The stapler unit 13 is fixed to the leading end of the alignment position of the sheets P in parallel with the alignment reference wall 11. The stapler unit 13 is formed with a concave stapler portion 13a for ejecting the binding staple. Stapler unit 1
The sheet bundle 3 is configured to perform a binding process operation while the sheet bundle passes through the stapler unit 13a. Therefore, the stapler unit 13 performs the stapling operation without moving in the paper P transport direction at all. The stapler unit 13 is controlled by the CPU 110 to convey the sheet bundle to a predetermined position by the swing roller 5 and the conveying roller 6 to perform the stapling operation.

The operation of the thus-configured sheet bundle binding device will be described.

Photosensitive drum 10 of printer body 100
The toner image formed on No. 1 is transferred to a sheet at the transfer unit. The sheet P to which the toner image is transferred is guided and conveyed to the entrance of the sheet bundle binding device 600 by a discharge roller, a vertical conveyance roller pair 701, etc., which are not shown.

The paper P carried in the sheet bundle binding device 600 is carried by the aligning carry-in roller pair 1 along the upper guide 14. Then, when the alignment carry-in sensor 2 detects the passage of the paper P, this detection signal is sent to the CPU 110, and the alignment moving wall 12 is sent by the CPU 110 after a predetermined time.
To operate.

The paper P is still carried by the pair of alignment carry-in rollers 1 and is carried to the paper stack tray 3 while passing under the conical roller 4 and curling the paper P in the width direction. The sheet P on the sheet stacking tray 3 is conveyed to the downstream side in the conveying direction by the light conveying force of the vertical alignment belt 8, and is brought into contact with the sheet stopper 7 to align the leading side in the conveying direction. Since the conveyance force of the sheet P by the vertical alignment belt 8 is set to be weak, the sheet P contacting the sheet stopper 7 is buckled or the sheet stopper at the sheet stop position protruding from the sheet stacking tray 3 is located. There is no possibility of rotating 7 to the retracted position where it is retracted from the paper stacking tray 3. Further, since the swing roller 5 is on standby in the upper position and the transport roller 6 is not rotating, the paper P transported by the vertical alignment belt 8 is the paper stack tray 3
It slides on the paper P located on the paper stack tray 3. That is, the leading end of the paper P in the carrying direction is aligned by the carrying force of the vertical alignment belt 8.

Next, alignment in the width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the paper P will be described.

After the alignment carry-in sensor 2 detects that the paper P is loaded into the paper stack tray 3, after a predetermined time has elapsed, the CPU 110 drives the drive motor 31 to move the alignment moving wall 12.

The alignment of the sheets P in the width direction is performed each time the sheets P are stacked on the sheet stacking tray 3. The alignment moving wall 12 can be moved to three positions of a retracted position (a), an alignment position (c), and a transfer position (b). That is, when the distance between the alignment reference wall 11 and the alignment moving wall 12 is larger than the sheet width, the retracted position (a) is set, and the distance between the alignment reference wall 11 and the alignment moving wall 12 is smaller than the sheet width. The position is the alignment position (c), and the difference between the alignment position (c) and the sheet width is smaller than the gap of the slit 3a in which the alignment moving wall 12 can move. In addition, the alignment reference wall 11 and the alignment moving wall 1
The conveyance position (b) is a case where the distance from 2 is almost equal to the paper width. When the paper P is conveyed to the paper stack tray 3, the alignment moving wall 12 in the retracted position (a) moves the paper P
Are sequentially pressed one by one against the alignment reference wall 11 to align the paper P in the width direction. At this time, the alignment moving wall 12 overlaps with the alignment reference wall 11 up to the alignment position (c) where the distance between the alignment reference wall 11 and the alignment width is smaller than the paper width. The paper P will be pressed against.

As described above, the widthwise alignment operation of the sheets P is performed every time the sheets P are conveyed to the sheet stacking tray 3 one by one, and the number of sheets P set by the setting key 111 is set as a sheet bundle. Are counted by the counter 112 and repeatedly carried out until they are stacked on the sheet stacking tray 3. The binding process is performed on the sheet bundle formed by performing all of these steps.

Next, the binding processing operation of the sheet bundle will be described.

Since the staple unit 13 is fixed in the upper right of the sheet conveying direction in parallel with the alignment reference wall 11,
By performing the stapling operation at that position, the paper P
The binding process can be performed at the corners. Therefore, when binding the corners of the sheet P at one location, the binding process is performed at the location where the sheet P is aligned without moving the aligned sheet bundle. After that, the swing roller 5 is lowered to sandwich the sheet bundle between the swing roller 5 and the transport roller 6, and the sheet stopper 7 is retracted to the retracted position in the arrow x direction shown in FIG. As a result, the sheet bundle can be conveyed, the bundle is conveyed by the swing roller 5 and the conveying roller 6, and the sheet bundle is discharged to the outside of the sheet binding apparatus 600.

When binding processing is performed at two or more locations on the sheet bundle, it is necessary to convey the sheet bundle to the position where the binding processing is performed. That is, when the alignment of the sheet bundle is completed, the rocking roller 5 is lowered to sandwich the sheet bundle with the transport roller 6. After that, the sheet stopper 7 is retracted to the retracted position to enable the conveyance of the sheet bundle, and the swing roller 5 and the conveyance roller 6 convey the sheet bundle.

In this case, the sheet bundle is securely sandwiched by the swing roller 5 and the transport roller 6, and the consistency in the transport direction is not disturbed. Further, during the conveyance of the bundle of sheets, the alignment moving wall 12 has a distance substantially equal to the width of the sheet at the conveyance position (b).
Therefore, it is possible to maintain the consistency in the width direction orthogonal to the transport direction. Further, since the alignment moving wall 12 is not located at a position narrower than the width of the sheet P unlike when aligning the sheet bundle, the alignment reference wall 11 and the alignment moving wall 12 when the sheet bundle is conveyed.
The resistance due to can be kept low.

Then, the bundle of sheets conveyed by a predetermined distance is stopped by the rotation of the swing roller 5 and the conveying roller 6 being stopped, and the stapling process is performed without moving the stapler unit 13 at all. . afterwards,
The sheet bundle is conveyed again, moved to the next stapling position, and all stapling processing is performed. After performing the stapling process in this manner, the sheet bundle is bound to the sheet bundle binding device 600.
Discharge from.

As described above, the stapler unit 13
Is capable of binding a plurality of sheets P having high consistency by moving the sheet bundle without losing the consistency without moving at all, and the mechanical portion of the stapler unit 13 and the entire image forming apparatus The configuration can be simplified. <Second Embodiment> Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view for explaining the aligning operation of the sheet bundle binding device. In the sheet bundle binding device according to the present embodiment, the alignment moving wall 41 can take an arbitrary distance from the alignment reference wall 11. That is, the alignment position of the alignment moving wall 41 at the time of alignment, the transport position at the time of transporting the sheet bundle, and the retreat position are stored in a memory (not shown) so that they can be set for each paper type, and the data from this memory is stored by the CPU 110. The data is read out and the rotation of the drive motor 31 is regulated based on this data. As a result, the alignment moving wall 41 and the alignment reference wall 1
The distance from 1 can be arbitrarily obtained according to the set paper type. By doing so, it is not necessary to perform fine adjustment with a spring regardless of the difference in rigidity, thickness, and size depending on the type of paper P. Therefore, a spring is not required, and the number of parts can be reduced by integrating the alignment moving wall 41 with the rack 41a. Further, since there is no play in the alignment moving wall 41, it is possible to more accurately perform bundle alignment / bundle conveyance as compared with one having a spring, so that it is possible to improve the alignment of the sheets. <Third Embodiment> Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

7A and 7B are views for explaining the aligning operation of the sheet bundle binding device, FIG. 7A is a sectional view thereof, and FIG. 7B is an enlarged view of a portion A of FIG. 7A. The aligning movement wall 51 of the present embodiment is provided with a spring mechanism 51a at the end portion that comes into contact with the sheet bundle. Further, the alignment moving wall 51 is
The alignment position, the transport position, and the retreat position of the alignment moving wall 51 are stored in the memory so that they can be set for each paper type, and the drive motor 31 is rotated based on the data from this memory. It is similar to the form. Furthermore, the alignment moving wall 51 is integrated with the rack 51b, and the spring mechanism 51a can be realized by reducing the number of parts.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention,
While aligning the width direction of the sheets conveyed to the sheet stacking unit by the aligning member, aligning the end portion with the sheet stopper, and sandwiching the aligned sheet bundle from the upper and lower sides by the conveying unit, and moving it to the binding position, Since the binding process is performed on the sheet bundle by the binding mechanism unit,
A mechanism for moving the binding mechanism and its space are not needed. Therefore, the entire apparatus can be simplified, and the effects of cost reduction, installation space reduction, and power consumption reduction can be obtained.

According to another aspect of the invention, each time the detection means detects that the sheet has been conveyed to the sheet stacking portion, the drive means moves the alignment member to an alignment position. Further, since the aligning member is moved to the transport position when the sheet bundle is transported, the sheets transported to the sheet stacking unit can be reliably aligned. Further, it is possible to convey the sheet bundle aligned with the sheet stacking unit while maintaining the state. Therefore, it is possible to reliably convey the sheet bundle without disturbing the alignment between the sheet bundle transport direction and the direction orthogonal thereto, and the binding process can be performed without disturbing the alignment.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a sheet bundle binding device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the above-described sheet bundle binding device.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an alignment operation of the above-described sheet bundle binding device.

FIG. 5 is a control block diagram of the above-described sheet bundle binding device.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an alignment operation of the sheet bundle binding device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining an aligning operation of the sheet bundle binding device according to the third embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a sectional view,
(B) is a figure which expands and shows the A section of the same figure (a).

[Explanation of symbols]

3 Sheet stacker (paper stack tray) 5 Transport means (swing roller) 6 Conveying means (conveying rollers) 7 Seat stopper 11 Matching member (matching reference wall) 12 Alignment member (alignment moving wall) 13 Binding mechanism (stapler unit) 41 Alignment moving wall 51 Matching moving wall P sheet (paper)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Teruo Komatsu 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (56) Reference JP-A-6-234457 (JP, A) JP-A-6 -191715 (JP, A) JP-A-4-276495 (JP, A) JP-A-62-288002 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65H 31/38 B65H 31/36 B65H 37/04

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A binding mechanism unit configured to align a sheet stacking unit for stacking conveyed sheets and an end portion of the sheets conveyed to the sheet stacking unit to form a sheet bundle and bind the sheet bundle. In a sheet bundle binding device including the sheet stacking device, the end portions of the sheets conveyed to the sheet stacking unit are aligned, and the width direction of the sheets is aligned with a sheet stopper protruding and retracting with respect to the sheet stacking unit. An aligning member, a conveying unit that aligns the sheet in the width direction and a sheet bundle in which the end portions of the sheets are aligned by the sheet stopper, and that conveys the sheet bundle by sandwiching the sheet bundle from above and below , and one-position binding depending on the binding mode. In case of
Binding by the binding mechanism unit without moving the sheet bundle
In the case of performing binding processing and binding at a plurality of positions, the sheet stopper is retracted, and then the conveyance means moves the sheet bundle to the binding position by a predetermined distance to perform binding processing by the binding mechanism section. A sheet bundle binding device, comprising: 2. A driving unit for moving the aligning member, and a detection unit for detecting that the sheet is conveyed to the sheet stacking unit, wherein the control unit conveys the sheet to the sheet stacking unit. The aligning member is moved to the aligning position each time the detection means detects that the sheet is stacked, and the aligning member is moved when the sheet bundle after all the sheets are stacked on the sheet stacking unit is conveyed. The sheet bundle binding device according to claim 1, wherein the drive unit is controlled so as to be moved to the transport position. 3. The sheet bundle binding device according to claim 1, wherein the aligning member includes an elastic member that elastically presses the sheets.