JP3619684B2 - Sheet processing apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus that staples and discharges a bundle of recording sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, and an image forming apparatus including the sheet post-processing apparatus .
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an apparatus for processing a sheet after image formation, for example, a post-processing apparatus as disclosed in JP-A-7-187478 is known. In this apparatus, when the sheet bundle is discharged to the discharge tray, it is discharged to the discharge tray 12 as shown in FIG. In FIG. 11, the discharge is driven by the discharge belt 10 driven in the vertical direction by the discharge motor 25 and the discharge claw 17 provided on the discharge belt 10. When the stapling is completed, the discharge belt 10 is driven, and the stapled paper bundle P is transported while being locked by the discharge claw 17 and discharged onto the tray 12 by the discharge roller 3. In this case, the discharge belt 10 is driven at a two-stage speed, starts to lift the paper bundle at a low speed, and then is driven at a high speed, stops near the highest position, and then returns to the home position at a low speed. The discharge roller 3 is driven by the discharge motor 22 simultaneously with the discharge belt 10 and stops when the paper bundle is completely discharged onto the tray 12. Reference numeral 40 in the figure denotes a discharge claw HP sensor 40 for detecting the home position of the discharge claw 17.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When the sheet bundle is discharged by the discharge claw 17 as described above, as can be seen from the drawing, the central portion of the rear end of the sheet bundle on the staple tray rising at an acute angle is lifted by the discharge claw 17, and the front end portion of the sheet bundle is discharged by the discharge roller. When the sheet bundle is weak, the rear end of the sheet bundle is buckled near the discharge claw 17 and the leading end of the sheet bundle may not be conveyed to the discharge roller 3. This phenomenon is often seen in large size sheets with low rigidity.
[0004]
In order to prevent such a phenomenon from occurring, conventionally, the speed control of the discharge claw 17 has been used, but it cannot be a perfect measure, and the speed is reduced by the speed control. In other words, there is also a sacrifice of productivity and, in turn, image formation productivity.
[0005]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a situation of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet processing apparatus and an image that can reliably lift and discharge a sheet bundle to a discharge roller position without reducing productivity. An object is to provide a forming apparatus .
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
To achieve the object, the first means includes a staple tray for storing sheets, a discharge means for discharging the sheets to the staple tray, and an end face of the sheet stored in the staple tray on the side opposite to the discharge direction. An end surface regulating member that regulates in a direction and a direction that is movable toward and away from the upper surface of the sheet stored in the staple tray, and abuts against the upper surface of the sheet to press the sheet against the end surface regulating member, A return roller that can be rotated forward and backward, a staple unit that binds a bundle of sheets aligned on the staple tray, and a discharge claw and a discharge for discharging the sheet bundle bound by the staple unit to a discharge tray The return roller is configured to remove the sheet bundle stored on the staple tray by the discharge claw. When fed to La, the release pawl and synchronously driven, it is characterized in that to constitute a sheet processing apparatus so as to convey the sheet bundle in the sheet discharging direction.
[0007]
The second means is characterized in that, in the first means, the installation positions of both are set so that the conveyance locus of the sheet bundle of the discharge claw does not overlap the return roller.
[0008]
According to a third means, in the first means, the discharge claw is provided so that a conveyance locus of the sheet bundle of the discharge claw overlaps with the return roller, and before the discharge claw reaches the return roller position. The return roller is set so as to be retracted from the transport locus of the discharge claw.
A fourth means includes the sheet processing apparatus described in the first to third means.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment Ru engages the present invention, FIG 2 is schematic view of an image forming system including a post-processing apparatus of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a post-processing apparatus of FIG. 2, 4 is a block diagram showing the branching claw in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the tray up-and-down mechanism in FIG. 3, FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the tray shift mechanism in FIG. 3, and FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the stapler moving mechanism of FIG. 3, and FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing various drive mechanisms of FIG.
[0010]
The CPU 100 shown in FIG. 1 controls the post-processing apparatus I. The CPU 100 is connected to the copying machine III shown in FIG. 2 via the photocoupler interface 101. When the print key or staple key (not shown) of the copying machine III is pressed, the CPU 100 is provided in the copying machine III. When a document is set on the document table of the existing automatic circulation feeder (RDF) II, a discharge signal (described later) is output from the copying machine III to the CPU 100 via the interface 101. These controls and the controls described below are executed by the CPU 100 according to a program stored in a ROM (not shown).
[0011]
The CPU 100 controls the motor control circuits 22a of the upper and lower motors 23, the shift motor 24, the branch solenoid 29, the return solenoid 30, the transport motor 21, and the paper discharge motor 22 as shown in detail in FIGS. Furthermore, the motor driver 11a of the staple motor 11b, the servo control circuit 25a of the discharge motor 25, the stapler moving motor 27, and the motor control circuits 27a and 26a of the jogger motor 26 are controlled via the I / O port 102.
[0012]
Further, detection signals of various sensors and switches are taken in by the CPU 100 via the buffer 103 and the I / O port 102. As shown in detail in FIGS. 3 to 9, the various sensors and switches include an upper limit switch 31, a paper surface sensor 32, 33, a lower limit sensor 34, a shift sensor 35, an inlet sensor 36, a paper discharge sensor 37, a discharge sensor 38, a paper presence sensor 39, a discharge claw home position sensor 40, a stapler home position sensor 41, and the like.
[0013]
Next, the configuration of the post-processing apparatus I will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 3, a recording sheet (not shown) is taken in by the entrance roller 1 when detected by the entrance sensor 36, and is then selectively transported to the upper transport path or the lower transport path by the branch claw 8. As shown in detail in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the branching claw 8 is connected to a branching solenoid 29 via an arm 8a. When the solenoid 29 is OFF, recording is performed as shown in FIG. The paper is transported to the upper transport path by the branching claw 8, and then transported by the upper transport roller group 2 and the discharge roller 3, and is detected by the discharge sensor 38 and discharged as it is onto the tray 12. On the other hand, when the solenoid 29 is on, as shown in FIG. 4B, the recording paper is conveyed to the lower conveying path by the branching claw 8 and conveyed by the lower conveying roller group 4, and on the staple unit 51 as described later. After being aligned at, it is stapled.
[0014]
The tray 12 is suspended by a vertical lift belt 48 as shown in FIG. The vertical lift belt 48 is driven by the vertical motor 23 via a gear train and a timing belt, and is lifted or lowered by forward or reverse rotation of the vertical motor 23. The home position (HP) of the tray 12 and the height at the time of movement are detected by a lever 13 that can be rotated in the vertical direction and the paper surface sensors 32 and 33. When the tray 12 is full of recording paper, the lower limit sensor 34 is detected. Is detected. Further, when the moving roller 7 is pushed up by the tray 12 when the tray 12 is raised, the upper limit switch 31 is turned off, and the vertical motor 23 stops rotating to prevent the tray 12 from being damaged due to overrun.
[0015]
As shown in FIG. 6, the tray 12 is configured to be slidable in the width direction of the recording paper, and is configured to slide in synchronization with the back fence 15 being slid by the shift motor 24 and to enter the back fence 15. . A pin 16 is fixed to the back fence 15. When the pin 16 moves along the cam surface of the shift cam 14, the rotational motion of the shift cam 14 is converted into a linear motion, and the back fence 15 is slid. The shape of the shift cam 14 is formed such that the back fence 15 reciprocates once in one rotation, and stops when a counter rotation is detected by the shift sensor 35 during a shift.
[0016]
In FIG. 3, the recording paper conveyed to the lower conveyance path is conveyed to the stapler tray unit 51 and aligned in the width direction by the pair of jog fences 9, and is stapled by the stapler 11 after the vertical direction is aligned. The recording paper in the stapler tray unit 51 is detected by the paper presence sensor 39, and control as described later is performed.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 7, the left and right jog fences 9 are configured to be slidable outwardly or inwardly with respect to the center line by a jogger belt 49 by a jogger motor 26, and a bundle of recording sheets is aligned in the width direction by this sliding motion. . The return roller 5 is configured to perform a pendulum motion when the return solenoid 30 is turned on and off, and when the solenoid 30 is turned on, the recording paper is struck down and returned to the lower direction and abutted against the rear end fence 19 for recording. A stack of paper is aligned vertically.
[0018]
When the staple mode is selected, the jogger fence 9 moves from the home position and stands by at a position 7 mm away from one side of the paper width. When the trailing edge of the recording sheet conveyed to the lower conveyance path passes the sheet discharge sensor 37, the jogger fence 9 moves inward by 5 mm to perform jogging. Further, after passing through the paper discharge sensor 37, the return solenoid 30 is turned on after a predetermined pulse, the return solenoid 30 is turned off when the paper alignment is completed after a predetermined time has elapsed, and then the jog fence 9 is further turned on. Moves inward by 2 mm and stops, and the horizontal alignment ends. Thereafter, the jogger fence 9 returns to a position 7 mm away from the paper width, and this operation is repeated until the last page. Also, when jogging is performed on the last page, the sheet bundle is pressed to prepare for the next stage of stapling.
[0019]
The stapler 11 can be moved in the paper width direction by the stapler moving motor 27 as shown in FIG. 8 according to the paper size and the number of bindings. The stapler 11 waits during paper alignment and moves to an appropriate position when the final page is aligned. And stapling. The home position of the stapler 11 is detected by the sensor 41.
[0020]
The discharge belt 10 is driven by a discharge motor 25 as shown in FIG. The discharge claw 17 is provided on the discharge belt 10, and the home position of the discharge claw 17 is detected by the discharge claw HP sensor 40. When the stapling is completed, the discharge belt 10 is driven, and the stapled paper bundle P is transported while being locked by the discharge claw 17 and discharged onto the tray 12 by the discharge roller 3. In this case, the discharge belt 10 is driven at the second speed, and at a low speed, the discharge belt 10 starts to lift the paper bundle and then is driven at a high speed, stops near the highest position, and then returns to the home position at a low speed. The discharge roller 3 is driven by the discharge motor 22 simultaneously with the discharge belt 10 and stops when the paper bundle is completely discharged onto the tray 12.
[0021]
Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the return solenoid 30 is turned on in synchronization with the paper bundle P being locked to the discharge claw 17. The return roller 5 rotates in the direction opposite to the direction in which it abuts against the rear end fence 19, in other words, in the direction of the discharge roller 3, and carries the paper bundle P together with the discharge claw 17. In this case, since the return roller 5 is located on the movement locus of the discharge claw 17 and the return roller 30 is located on the upstream side of the discharge claw 17 in the transport direction, the discharge claw 17 moves to the position of the return roller 5. Thus, before reaching, the return solenoid 30 is turned off to prevent a collision. Although not shown, if the return roller 5 and the discharge claw 17 are offset so that the return roller 5 is not positioned on the movement trajectory of the discharge claw 17, the return roller reaches the rear end of the paper bundle P. Since it can be pushed up, the conveying force can be reliably transmitted to the end.
[0022]
In addition, as shown in FIG. 9, a main conveyor belt 45, an upper conveyor belt 46, a lower conveyor belt 47, a vertical lift belt 48, a jogger belt 49, a stapler moving belt 50, a paper discharge roller 52, and the like are provided. Detailed description of the configuration and operation of these members is omitted.
[0023]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the sheet bundle stored on the staple tray is fed to the discharge roller by the discharge claw, the return roller is driven in synchronism with the discharge claw so that the sheet bundle is moved to the sheet. Since the paper is conveyed in the discharge direction, it is possible to reliably discharge even large-size paper that is likely to buckle at the rear end of the paper.
[0024]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the installation positions of the both are set so that the conveyance trajectory of the sheet bundle of the discharge claw does not overlap with the return roller. The sheet can be conveyed in the sheet discharge direction, and it is thereby possible to reliably discharge even large-size paper that easily buckles at the rear end of the sheet.
[0025]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, the discharge claw is provided so that the conveyance locus of the sheet bundle of the discharge claw overlaps with the return roller , and the return roller conveys the discharge claw before the discharge claw reaches the return roller position. Since it is set so as to be retracted from the trajectory, the discharge claw does not come into contact with the return roller and cannot be conveyed, thereby reliably discharging even large-size paper that easily buckles at the rear end of the paper. It becomes possible.
According to the invention described in claim 4, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that exhibits the effects of the invention described in claims 1 to 3.
[Brief description of the drawings]
1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment Ru engaged to the present invention.
2 is a configuration diagram illustrating an image forming system including the post-processing apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a post-processing apparatus of FIG. 2;
4 is a configuration diagram showing a branching claw of FIG. 3; FIG.
5 is a configuration diagram showing a tray up-and-down mechanism in FIG. 3. FIG.
6 is a configuration diagram showing the tray shift mechanism of FIG. 3. FIG.
7 is a configuration diagram illustrating the paper alignment mechanism of FIG. 3;
8 is a configuration diagram showing a stapler moving mechanism in FIG. 3;
9 is a configuration diagram showing various drive mechanisms in FIG. 3; FIG.
10 is a configuration diagram illustrating a transport mechanism to the discharge roller by the discharge belt mechanism and the return roller of FIG. 3;
FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram illustrating a discharge belt mechanism that has been conventionally implemented.
[Explanation of symbols]
I Post-processing device II Automatic document circulation feeder (RDH)
III Copying machine (image forming device)
3 discharge roller 5 return roller 10 discharge belt 11 stapler 12 tray 17 discharge claw 22 discharge motor 24 shift motor 25 discharge motor 30 return solenoid 51 stapler tray unit 51a staple tray 100 CPU

Claims (4)

A staple tray for storing sheets;
Discharging means for discharging the sheet to the staple tray;
An end surface regulating member that regulates the end surface of the sheet stored in the staple tray in a direction opposite to the discharge direction;
The sheet can be moved in a direction in which it is in contact with or separated from the upper surface of the sheet stored in the staple tray, presses the sheet against the end surface regulating member in contact with the upper surface of the sheet, and aligns the end surface of the sheet so that the sheet can be reversed Laura,
Stapling means for binding a bundle of sheets aligned on the staple tray;
A discharge claw and a discharge roller for discharging the sheet bundle bound by the stapling means to a discharge tray;
The return roller is driven in synchronization with the discharge claw when the sheet bundle stored on the staple tray is fed to the discharge roller by the discharge claw, and conveys the sheet bundle in the sheet discharge direction. A sheet processing apparatus. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the installation position of both of the sheet bundles of the discharge claw is set so as not to overlap the return roller. The discharge claw is provided so that a conveyance locus of the sheet bundle of the discharge claw overlaps with the return roller, and the return roller is retracted from the conveyance locus of the discharge claw before the discharge claw reaches the return roller position. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet processing apparatus is set so as to. An image forming apparatus comprising the sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1.

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