JP3580965B2 - Paper post-processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus including a sheet aligning tray unit that stacks sheets in a state where sheets are aligned, and a staple unit having a stapler for binding sheets stacked on the sheet aligning tray unit.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a sheet post-processing apparatus including a sheet aligning tray unit that stacks sheets in a state where sheets are aligned and a stapler unit having a stapler for binding sheets stacked on the sheet aligning tray unit, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. The thing described in 239171 gazettes is known. The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus including a sheet aligning tray apparatus for aligning sheets, wherein a binding device is disposed at a predetermined position of the sheet aligning tray apparatus, and the sheet is reversed upstream of the sheet aligning tray apparatus. Wherein the reversing means reverses the sheet and transports the sheet to the sheet aligning tray device such that the binding device is located at a position different from the predetermined position of the sheet.
[0003]
On the other hand, in this type of sheet post-processing apparatus, when performing staple binding, the jogger fence for aligning the sheets is moved to a position for guiding the sheets by size before the sheets are conveyed into the staple tray. It is generally known that a function for preventing skew of paper entering the tray is provided.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the case of the staple binding, the paper entering the staple tray has the same size until the paper is ejected after performing the binding operation, so that the jogger is always in the same position when the paper enters the tray. The fence only needs to be on standby, but in the case of reverse discharge, the position of the jogger fence is important because there is a possibility that a different paper size is transported every time. In particular, when a staple tray for performing staple binding when performing reverse discharge is configured to also serve as a paper guide when reversing the paper, the above-described position control is particularly important.
[0005]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object thereof is to provide a sheet post-processing apparatus in which a staple tray for performing staple binding when performing reverse discharge is also used as a paper guide when reversing a sheet. It is an object of the present invention to make it possible to perform a stable inversion operation. Another object of the present invention is to enable the sheet to be inverted without causing skew.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The purpose is to receive sheets ejected from the image forming apparatus, perform stapling for a predetermined number of sheets, and stack sheets on the sheet ejection tray, and stack sheets on the sheet ejection tray without performing staple binding. And a second conveyance path for guiding the received paper directly to the paper discharge tray, a second conveyance path for guiding the received paper to the staple tray, and a second conveyance path. And a jogger fence that aligns the paper in the staple tray when the paper that has entered the paper is switched back and merges with the first transport path, and when the paper is switched back and reversed and discharged. And control means for moving to the guide position.
[0007]
Further, the object is that the control means in the first means moves the jogger fence to a guide position corresponding to each paper size when the paper is conveyed, and finishes the movement of the paper into the staple tray. However, the switchback is also achieved by the second means set to return the jogger fence to the home position.
[0008]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0009]
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to an embodiment.
[0010]
The paper post-processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is attached to a paper discharge unit of the image forming apparatus 1 and sorts and stacks the paper discharged from the image forming apparatus 1 to be directly guided to a paper discharge tray 3 by a switching claw 2. Transport path A, a second transport path B for stapling or reversing, and a third transport path for guiding the paper entering the second transport path B to the first transport path A again by reverse rotation of the transport roller 8. C is provided. 2a is the center of rotation of the switching claw 2.
[0011]
The paper discharge tray 3 arranged on the most downstream side of the third transport path C has a function of stacking both sheets that are not stapled and sheets that are stapled.
[0012]
In the vicinity of the entrance of the sheet post-processing apparatus, there are provided a transport roller 4 and a driven roller 5 for receiving the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus 1, and an entrance sensor S1 is provided immediately before the transport roller 4 and the driven roller 5. The leading edge and the trailing edge of the sheet are detected.
[0013]
The switching claw 2 is disposed downstream of the transport roller 4 so that the transport direction can be changed to any of the first transport path A and the second transport path B by a solenoid and a spring (not shown). Has become.
[0014]
A transport roller 6 and a driven roller 7 driven by the transport roller 6 are disposed in the first transport path A, and guide the paper discharged from the image forming apparatus 1 directly to the discharge tray 3.
[0015]
Also, in the second transport path B for stapling and reversing, the transport roller 8 and the driven roller 9 provided with a brush 8 'described later are arranged. At the time of reversing, it is guided to the third transport path C.
[0016]
The other units shown in FIG. 1 will be described later with reference to FIG.
[0017]
FIG. 2 is a side view of the staple unit D (a side view when FIG. 1 is the front side), and FIG. 3 is a front view thereof.
[0018]
The stapling unit D includes a stapler 10 for stapling, a jogger fence 11 for aligning sheets in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction, a discharge belt 12 for discharging the stapled sheets to the discharge tray 3, And a paper discharge claw 13 fixed thereto, a staple tray 20, a reference fence 21, and the like.
[0019]
Note that S2 is a sensor for detecting the position of the paper discharge claw 13, and the position is adjusted so that the position of the rear end of the paper is always constant even with different paper sizes.
[0020]
Note that, as shown in FIG. 2, a paper reference at the time of staple is arranged outside the maximum width of the paper at the time of paper inversion.
[0021]
FIG. 4 is an enlarged configuration diagram of the sheet discharge unit.
[0022]
A paper discharge roller 14 and a paper discharge driven roller 17 that follows the paper discharge roller 14 are arranged at a paper discharge port to the paper discharge tray 3, and discharge paper that is not stapled, stapled, and inverted paper. The sheet is discharged to the tray 3. The paper discharge driven roller 17 is normally at a position in contact with the paper discharge roller 14, but can be moved to a position indicated by a dashed line together with the paper discharge guide plate 18 around the fulcrum a as required.
[0023]
The paper discharge tray 3 can be moved up and down along the guide plate 22 by the up and down guide rollers 15 and is driven by a drive mechanism (not shown). The paper discharge tray 3 can also be moved by a shift guide roller 16 in a direction perpendicular to the paper discharge direction (vertical direction in the figure), and the shift operation is also performed by a drive mechanism (not shown).
[0024]
S3 is an upper surface detection sensor for detecting the upper surface of the discharged paper. The upper surface detection sensor S3 detects the upper surface of the discharged and stacked paper so that the upper surface of the discharged paper is always at a fixed position with respect to the discharge roller 14. Height is adjusted.
[0025]
1 and 4, reference numeral 23 denotes a reversing guide, and S4 denotes a reversing entrance sensor.
[0026]
The operations include a sort / stack mode in which sheets are discharged directly to the discharge tray 3 one by one without performing stapling, a staple mode in which sheets are stapled and then discharged, and a reverse mode in which sheets are reversed and then discharged. It is divided into three.
[0027]
Hereinafter, each mode will be described separately.
[0028]
(1) The sort / stack mode switching claw 2 is located at the position indicated by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 4, and the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus 1 is sent to the first conveying path A and sent to the sheet discharging port by the conveying roller 6. . At this time, the paper discharge driven roller 17 is always in contact with the paper discharge roller 14 while being pressed by its own weight, and the paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 3 by this.
[0029]
The discharged sheets are successively discharged by a predetermined number to the discharge tray 3, and the sensor S3 detects the upper surface thereof, so that the upper surface of the paper is adjusted so as to be always at a constant height. It is stacked on the paper tray 3. If necessary, the paper discharge tray 3 performs a shift operation in a direction orthogonal to the paper discharge direction to sort the paper.
Also, in a reversing mode, which will be described later, the discharge tray 3 performs the same operation.
[0030]
(2) The staple mode switching claw 2 is at the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 4, and the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus 1 is reversed and guided to the second conveyance path B, and is conveyed to the staple unit D. . At this time, the paper discharge claw 13 is moved on the transport path of the staple tray 20 by the sensor S2 such that the rear end of the paper is always at a fixed position with respect to the transport roller 8.
[0031]
A brush roller 8 ′ having a diameter larger than the diameter of the roller 8 is provided on the same axis as the conveying roller 8. It is stacked in a state pressed against.
[0032]
Next, the jogger fence 11 performs an operation of moving toward the reference fence 21 in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction, and the sheets are stacked in a state where they hit the reference fence 21 and the paper discharge claws 13.
[0033]
Each time the sheet enters the staple tray 20, the same operation is repeated, and the sheets are stacked in an aligned state.
[0034]
Next, a stapling operation is performed by the stapler 10, and the stapled sheet bundle is conveyed in the direction of the discharge roller 14 by the discharge claw 13 serving as a reference in the conveyance direction, and discharged onto the discharge tray 3. Is done. After the paper is ejected, the sheet abuts against the guide plate 22 by its own weight, and is stacked with its rear ends aligned. The sheet bundle stacked for a predetermined number of copies is controlled so that the upper surface of the sheet is always at a constant position, as in the sort / stack mode.
[0035]
(3) The reversing mode switching claw 2 is located at the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 4 similarly to the staple mode, and the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus 1 is reversed and guided to the second conveyance path B. At this time, the leading end of the switching claw 2 is pressurized while overlapping the reversing guide 23, and the sheet is conveyed so as to push it away.
[0036]
Next, when the trailing end passes through the switching claw 2, the transport roller 8 reverses, and the sheet is switched back in an inverted state and sent to the third transport path C. The paper is sent to a paper discharge port by 6.
[0037]
The reverse rotation timing of the transport roller 8 is obtained from the output of the reverse entrance sensor S4. At this time, the paper discharge claw 13 fixed to the paper discharge belt 12 has escaped to a position where it does not hit the leading edge of the paper guided to the second transport path B. This position is set by a sensor S2 that detects the position of the paper discharge claw 13.
[0038]
Subsequently, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described.
[0039]
The staple mode is selected, and the sheets guided to the staple unit D via the second conveying path B by the switching claw 2 are stacked with the trailing end pressed against the staple tray 20 by the brush roller 8 '. You. At this time, the paper discharge claw 13 moves on the conveyance path of the staple tray 20 according to the paper size, and the paper is stacked so that the rear end of the paper is always at a constant position with respect to the brush roller 8 '. Further, at the time of stapling, the paper discharge claw 13 moves in accordance with the stapling position of the fixed stapler 10, and stapling is performed at a predetermined position of the sheet (one or a plurality of positions). After the stapling, the paper is conveyed toward the paper discharge roller 14 by the paper discharge claw 13 and discharged to the paper discharge tray 3.
[0040]
The operation of the jogger fence 11 is performed as follows.
[0041]
As the driving means of the jogger fence 11, it is necessary to improve the accuracy of the movement amount of the jogger fence 11. Therefore, a stepping motor 24 is used as the jogger motor and step control is performed. In addition, as the initial position, in order to secure positional accuracy, the home position sensor S5 of the jogger fence 11 detects the jogger fence 11, that is, waits at a position where the jogger fence 11 is shifted to the leftmost position in the drawing. It is assumed that
[0042]
When performing reverse sheet feeding, the size of the sheet is checked when the sheet is conveyed to the post-processing device, and stepping is performed by the number of pulses necessary to move the jogger fence 11 to the standby position corresponding to each size. The motor 24 is driven. Further, when the sheet switches back, the stepping motor 24 is driven in the reverse direction to return the jogger fence 11 to the original home position. When the home position sensor S5 detects the jogger fence 11, the stepping motor 24 is turned off. To stop.
[0043]
The above operation is repeated each time a sheet is conveyed, thereby preventing skew of the sheet at the time of reversal and performing a stable conveyance operation.
[0044]
The amount of movement of the jogger fences 11 changes the movement amount l ₂ of jogger fences 11 each sized such that the distance l ₁ of the 2 from the end of the paper to the jogger fences 11 becomes about 5mm To do. The setting of the number of pulses of the stepping motor 24 is obtained by l ₂ / the movement amount per one pulse of the motor.
[0045]
The specific contents of such processing are shown in the flowchart of FIG.
[0046]
In this process, when the entrance sensor S1 is turned on (Step 201), it is determined whether or not the mode is the reverse discharge mode (Step 202). If not, the process proceeds to the straight discharge mode or the staple binding mode, and the reverse is performed. In the case of the discharge mode, the paper size is determined (step 203), the jogger fence movement pulse for each paper is determined (step 204), and then the motor 24 is rotated forward to move the jogger fence 11 (step 205). ). When the movement of the jogger fence 11 is completed (Step 206), the motor 24 is stopped (Step 207), the reversing entrance sensor S4 is turned on (Step 208), and the reversing entrance sensor S4 is turned off (Step 209). ), The paper is switched back (step 210), and the motor 24 is reversed to move the jogger fence 11 (step 211). Then, when the jogger home position sensor S5 is turned on (step 212), the motor 24 is turned off (step 213), and the process returns to step 201 to repeat the subsequent processing.
[0047]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the staple tray 20 that performs the staple binding operation also functions as a paper guide in the transport path that performs the paper reversing operation, the paper is stored in the staple tray 20 to reverse the paper. When the paper enters, only the rear end of the paper is pressed by the conveying rollers 4, 6, and 8, and the leading end of the paper enters the tray 20 in a free state. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a guide for preventing the skew of the sheet from a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction so that the leading end side of the sheet does not skew. Operation becomes possible.
[0048]
Also, when the sheet enters the tray and switches back, the jogger fence 11 is returned to the original home position to prepare for the entry of the next sheet, and the next sheet is conveyed into the post-processing device. Sometimes, by repeating the operation of moving the jogger fence 11 to the guide position corresponding to the paper size, even if a different paper size is transported into the post-processing device each time, the paper can be inverted without skew. it can.
[0049]
【The invention's effect】
As apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the first transport path for directly guiding the received paper to the discharge tray and the second transport path for guiding the received paper to the staple tray. A path, a third transport path for switching the paper entering the second transport path to join the first transport path, and a third transport path for switching the paper back and inverting and discharging the paper. Control means for moving the jogger fence for aligning the paper to the paper guide position, so that the jogger fence of the staple tray can also be used as a paper guide, and a paper post-processing device capable of performing a stable reversing operation Can be provided.
[0050]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the paper is conveyed, the jogger fence is moved to the guide position corresponding to each paper size, and the movement of the paper into the staple tray is completed. When the next sheet is conveyed, return the jogger fence to the home position and prepare for the next sheet, and when the next sheet is conveyed, move the jogger fence to the guide position corresponding to the sheet size. Since it can be moved, even if a different paper size is transported each time, the jogger fence of the staple tray is also used as a paper guide, and the paper post-processing device can reverse the paper without causing skew. Can be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view of a staple unit.
FIG. 3 is a front view of the staple unit.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged configuration diagram of a sheet discharge unit.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing operation according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
A first transport path B second transport path C third transport path D staple unit 1 image forming apparatus 2 switching claw 3 paper discharge tray 10 stapler 11 jogger fence 12 paper discharge belt 20 staple tray 21 reference fence 24 stepping motor ( Jogger motor)
S5 sensor

Claims (2)

A mode in which sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus are received and stapled every predetermined number of sheets and stacked on the discharge tray, and a mode in which sheets are stapled and stacked on the discharge tray are performed. In the paper post-processing device provided,
A first transport path that directly guides the received paper to an output tray;
A second transport path for guiding the received paper to the staple tray;
A third transport path that switches back the paper that has entered the second transport path and joins the first transport path;
Control means for moving the jogger fence for aligning the paper in the staple tray to the paper guide position when the paper is switched back and the paper is inverted and discharged;
A sheet post-processing device comprising: The control means moves the jogger fence to a guide position suitable for each paper size when the paper is conveyed, finishes the movement of the paper into the staple tray, and when the switchback is performed, 2. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet is returned to a home position.

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