JP3711314B2 - Paper post-processing device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus that performs binding processing as post-processing on a sheet processed by a sheet processing apparatus such as a printer, a copier, or a printing machine, and stacks the bound sheets. The present invention relates to an apparatus for stacking a large number of folded sheets.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, as a typical example of a method of binding a plurality of sheets using staples, there are edge binding and saddle stitching. In the former, the ends of a plurality of stacked sheets are bound together with staples without folding the sheets. As shown in FIG. 6 (1), when the center of the edge of the paper P is distributed and the two staples S1 are driven, flat binding is performed, and when the staple S2 is driven at the corner as shown in (2), corner binding is performed. is there. The latter saddle stitching is a case where two staples S3 are driven on the center line of the stacked sheets as shown in FIG. 6 (3) and bent along the center line. Since this folding process is performed in saddle stitching, the leading ends of the sheets are not aligned, so the sheets are cut along the two-dot chain line L1 prior to bookbinding. Further, as the stacking means for the saddle stitched and folded sheets, an inclined stacker shown in the following is generally used, and when a large amount of sheets are to be stacked, a conveyor stacker is added between the sheet post-processing device and the inclined stacker.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, the sheet bundle that has been saddle stitched and folded is thicker at the folding end than at the opposite end (cutting end). Therefore, when the stack is stacked, the inclination of the upper surface becomes large and a large number of copies cannot be stacked.
Inclined stackers have a slope that descends in the paper discharge direction in advance so that the paper folding side edge is below the opposite edge, but still edge-bound paper can be stacked in large quantities on a normal stacker. Compared to, the amount of paper that can be loaded is very small.
For this reason, the apparatus operator always needs to stand by the apparatus and take out the sheet before the stacker is full.
Conventionally, there is the conveyor stacker as a method for accumulating a large amount of saddle stitch folding sheets. The conveyor stacker stacks saddle-stitched folded sheets one after another on a flat belt (conveyor) driven at a low speed, and the sheet stacking amount is proportional to the length of the conveyor.
A specialized bookbinding company makes this conveyor length long to enable unattended operation for a long time, but as a matter of course, the apparatus installation area becomes very large.
The present invention solves the above-described problems all at once, and realizes a large-capacity sheet accumulation that enables unattended operation for a long time in a saddle stitch folding apparatus with a minimum apparatus installation area.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
To achieve the above object, the present invention includes a stapling process in which staples are driven onto the center line of a plurality of stacked and aligned sheets, and a half-folding process in which the sheet after the stapling process is folded along the center line. A sheet post-processing device that performs a binding process and a sheet discharge process that discharges a saddle-stitched sheet bundle to the outside of the apparatus, and stack trays that accumulate sheets discharged during the sheet discharge process are arranged vertically. In the sheet post-processing apparatus comprising a plurality of stacked trays, wherein the plurality of stack trays arranged above and below can be separated from each other by moving in parallel up and down,
Another stack tray that is movable up and down is provided above the plurality of stack trays arranged above and below, the other stack tray and the uppermost stack tray among the plurality of stack trays arranged above and below Are connected to each other, and the other stack tray is raised, whereby the plurality of stack trays arranged above and below are sequentially lifted to constitute a sheet post-processing apparatus .
In the plurality of stack trays arranged above and below, it is desirable to secure a sheet stacking amount by having an inclined surface that descends in the sheet discharge direction.
[0005]
[Action]
In the present invention, the stack tray for accumulating the sheets ejected during the paper ejection process is composed of a plurality of stack trays arranged above and below, so that an unattended operation for a long time without increasing the installation area. Can be stored. When another stack tray that is movable up and down is provided above the plurality of stack trays arranged above and below, the other stack tray and the top of the plurality of stack trays arranged above and below are arranged. connecting the upper stack tray, by increasing the the further stack tray Ru can be like plurality of stack tray disposed in the upper and lower are sequentially lifted.
Na us, a plurality of the stack tray disposed in the upper and lower, in order to ensure more the storage amount, it is desirable to have an inclined surface descending towards the discharge direction.
[0006]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments and examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings to provide an understanding of the present invention. The following embodiments and examples are examples embodying the present invention, and do not limit the technical scope of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing an example of the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a connected state of the stack tray shown in FIG.
In the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the post-processing apparatus 10 is connected to an image forming apparatus (not shown) on the right side surface in the drawing. Accordingly, the right side surface of the post-processing device 10 is provided with a paper feed port 11 that receives the image-formed paper discharged from the image forming device. Further, a transport path 12 that transports the paper upward and a transport path 14 that transports the paper downward are connected to the transport path 12 connected to the paper feed port 11. A switching claw 15 for switching the paper transport direction is swingably provided at a branch portion between the transport path 12 and the transport paths 13 and 14. The upper transport path 13 is connected to a discharge unit 16 at an outlet thereof, and a discharge roller 17 is provided at the outlet. Reference numeral 43 denotes a stack tray connected to the discharge unit 16 and is inclined upward in the discharge direction. In the lower conveyance path 14, three switching claws 18a, 18b, and 18c are arranged in order from the upstream side to the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction. Each switching claw 18a, 18b, 18c is swung between a solid line position and a one-dot chain line position, and switches the conveyance direction of the sheet passing through each switching claw 18a, 18b, 18c. By rotating to the switching portion by each switching claw and the center of swinging of the switching claw 18c, the paper is conveyed by its frictional force, and the paper conveyed later by moving the edge of the paper as will be described later Brush rollers 19a, 19b, 19c, and 19d for preventing interference with the previous paper are rotatably attached. Reference numerals 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d are auxiliary rollers that rotate together with the brush roller to feed out the paper. The lower conveying path further includes an inner conveying path 14a that conveys between the brush roller 19a (or 19b, 19c, 19d) and the auxiliary roller 20a (or 20b, 20c, 20d), and the auxiliary roller. Branching into an outer conveyance path 14b formed outside 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d, a switching claw 21 for switching between the two conveyance paths 14a and 14b is swingably provided at the branched portion.
On the opposite side of the auxiliary rollers 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d across the brush rollers 19a, 19b, 19c, and 19d, an intermediate tray 22 is provided in parallel with these brush roller rows. The intermediate tray 22 is separated in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 1, and an endless belt 23 is stretched along the separation portion (vertical direction). The endless belt 23 is stretched between the belt rollers 24a and 24b, and is fed onto the intermediate tray 22 by a paper receiver 26 fixed to the surface of the endless belt 23 by traveling in the direction of arrow X. The partially bound paper is conveyed in the upward direction (arrow X direction). Above the endless belt 23, a guide member 34 and a discharge roller 35 for guiding the sheet to the discharge unit 33 are provided. The discharge tray 33 is connected to a stack tray 38 that is inclined upward in the discharge direction so as to easily receive the sheet bundle bound at the end. The stack tray 38 is fixed to an endless belt 39 that is stretched up and down, and is moved in the vertical direction by the endless belt 39 while being guided by a guide mechanism (not shown). The
[0007]
Reference numeral 25 denotes a pair of cursors provided at both ends of the intermediate tray 22 (left and right when viewed from the front), and reciprocates in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface, whereby the paper supplied on the intermediate tray 22 is conveyed in the paper transport direction. Align in a direction perpendicular to The sheet receiver 26 is in a position indicated by a solid line in a standby state (a state of waiting for the supply of paper), and the lower end of the paper supplied into the intermediate tray 22 abuts to align the paper in the vertical direction. Make.
Further, at the lower end of the intermediate tray 22, a pair of conveying rollers 27 (which are supplied to the intermediate tray 22 and held by sandwiching the sheet set on the sheet receiver 26 and conveyed downward by rotating it) 27a, 27b). As shown in the figure, the pair of conveyance rollers 27 is provided on the upstream side as viewed in the sheet conveyance direction from the press die 29 described later. With this configuration, it is not necessary to place a large apparatus for conveying paper below the pressing die 29, and therefore the height of the apparatus can be reduced.
One roller 27a constituting the conveying roller pair 27 is in an open position indicated by a solid line in the standby state, and after a predetermined number of sheets are supplied, closes to a one-dot chain line position to grip a sheet bundle. Further, a stapler 28 including an upper stapler 28a and a lower stapler 28b separated from each other at the lower end of the intermediate tray 22 is provided at a position where it does not interfere with the conveying roller pair 27. Yes. In this embodiment, the position of the stapler 28 in the sheet conveyance direction is fixed, and the position where the sheet is moved by the conveyance roller pair 27 and the staple is driven is adjusted.
In the middle of a series of sheet guides 39a and 39b provided below the intermediate tray 22 on the downstream side in the sheet conveying direction with respect to the pair of conveying rollers 27, a sheet bundle (positioned by the conveying roller pair 27 and positioned) A pressing die 29 that is bent along the center line (has already been stapled at the saddle stitching position) is provided so as to reciprocate in the arrow Y direction. The lower paper guide 39b of the paper guides 39a and 39b is bent in the middle to form a bent guide, and the lower end of the paper is curved and guided so that the height of the machine does not increase. Has been. The two pairs of folding rollers 30 and 30 are provided at a position facing the pressing tool 29, and bend the paper pushed by the pressing tool 29 by rotating and convey the paper to the subsequent cutting unit 31. The two pairs of folding rollers 30 are used in order to form sharper folds.
[0008]
The cutting unit 31 includes cutters 31a and 31b that cut the ends of the saddle-stitched sheet bundle, a sheet pressing unit 41 that presses the sheet at the time of cutting, a conveyance roller 33 that conveys the sheet before and after the cutting, and a kuzubako that accumulates cutting waste. 42 and a conveyance roller 36 that conveys the cut sheet to the discharge unit 32. Reference numeral 37 denotes a stack tray that receives the discharged sheets, and is inclined so as to descend in the transport direction so as to receive a large amount of saddle-stitched sheets.
The stack tray 37 includes a lowermost fixed stack tray 37a and movable stack trays 37b, 37c, and 37d that are placed in the stack tray 37a. Stack trays adjacent to each other in the vertical direction are slidable with each other by the mechanism shown in FIG. FIG. 2 relates to the stack trays 37d and 37c, but this is only an example, and the relationship between 37c and 37b and 37b and 37a is the same, so the description is omitted here. In the structure shown in FIG. 2, vertical guides are respectively provided on the outer wall plates 50a to 50d facing the conveying rollers 36 of all the stack trays 37a to 37d and the side wall plates 51a to 51d perpendicular to the outer wall plates 50a to 50d. Grooves 52a to 52d and 53a to 53d are opened. The guide pins 54 fixed to the lower ends of the guide grooves 52a to 52d and 53a to 53d are guide grooves 52a to 52d formed in the corresponding outer wall plates 50a to 50d or side wall plates 51a to 51d, respectively. Alternatively, it is slidably fitted in 53a to 53d, and the outer wall plates 50a to 50d or the side wall plates 51a to 51d on the opposite side are supported slidably only in the vertical direction between the flat heads. They are always connected only in the vertical direction, and are connected so as not to be separated by more than the length of the guide grooves 52a to 52d. The upper end of the outer wall plate 50d of the uppermost stack tray 37d and the stack tray 38 that can be raised and lowered are connected by a wire 55.
[0009]
Next, the configuration of the post-processing apparatus 10 will be further described based on the movement of paper in the post-processing apparatus 10.
[When stapling is not performed]
In this case, the switching claw 15 is switched to the position indicated by the one-dot chain line in the drawing, and the paper supplied from the supply port 11 reaches the discharge roller 17 through the upper conveyance path 13 and is discharged from the discharge unit 16 to the stack tray. 43 is discharged.
[When stapling is performed]
In this case, in either case of edge binding or saddle stitching, the switching claw 15 is switched to the upper position indicated by the solid line, and the lower switching claw 21 is switched to the illustrated solid line position. As a result, the paper carried in from the supply port 11 passes between the switching claws 15 and 21 and travels toward the inner conveyance path 14a. At this time, the switching claws 18a to 18b are switched according to the size of the paper to be conveyed. In this example, four types of sizes of paper can be cut and processed. For example, when the largest size paper that can be processed has been conveyed, the switching claw 18a is switched to the one-dot chain line position, and the paper passes between the switching claw 18a and the brush roller 19a from the inner conveyance path 14a. And is supplied onto the intermediate tray 22.
When the second largest size paper is supplied, the switching claw 18a is switched to the one-dot chain line position, while the switching claw 18b is switched to the solid line position. 14a, and the direction is changed by the switching claw 18b to be supplied onto the intermediate tray 22. Similarly, in the case of the next smallest size paper, the switching claws 18a and 18b are in the solid line position, and the switching claw 18c is switched to the alternate long and short dash line position, so that the paper travels along the switching claw 18c. And are supplied to the intermediate tray 22. Further, in the case of the smallest size paper, all the switching claws 18a to 18c are switched to the solid line position, and the paper passes between the lowermost brush roller 19d and the auxiliary roller 20d, and the intermediate tray 22 is passed. To be supplied. The sheet supplied to the intermediate tray 22 comes into contact with a sheet receiver 26 whose lower end is in a predetermined position indicated by a solid line in the drawing and stops. Therefore, the vertical alignment of all the sheets in the intermediate tray is performed by placing the sheets on the sheet receiver 26. The alignment in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction is achieved by the cursor 25 positioning the paper by reciprocating in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface.
A. In the case of end binding including the above-described flat binding and corner binding, the upper and lower staplers 28a and 28b are closed at the position where the conveying direction and the direction perpendicular thereto are aligned as described above, and stapling is performed. Done. When the stapling process is completed, the endless belt 23 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow X, whereby the sheet receiver 26 is raised, and the stapled sheet is pushed upward. The leading edge of the pushed-up sheet is guided by the guide member 34, is further gripped by the rotating discharge roller 35, and is discharged to the stack tray 38.
B. In the case of saddle stitching When performing saddle stitching, the transport roller 27a is pressed against and fixed to the sheet bundle in the above-described aligned state. In this state, the endless belt 23 travels in the direction opposite to the arrow X, and the paper receiver 26 is retracted to a position (26a) indicated by a one-dot chain line. Subsequently, the sheet is fed downward by the rotation of the upper and lower transport rollers 27a and 27b. The fed paper advances through the paper guides 39a and 39b. When the center line of the paper reaches the binding position of the stapler 28, the rotation of the conveying roller pair 27 is stopped, and the staple is driven at that position. It is. When the stapling process is completed, the conveyance roller pairs 27a and 27b start to rotate again and feed the paper further downward. The conveying roller pair 27 stops when the sheet center line on which the staple has been driven comes to the position of the pressing die 29. At this time, since the transport roller pair 27 is located upstream from the press die 29 in the paper transport direction, the mechanical height is lower than that of the conventional apparatus in which the member for transporting the paper is downstream from the press die. What you can do is important. Further, since the leading edge of the sheet sent to the conveying roller pair 27 is guided by being bent laterally by the sheet guide 39b bent in the lateral direction, compared with the case where the leading edge of the sheet is guided linearly, the pressing die 29 It is not necessary to provide a useless space that is used only for guiding the sheet below, and as a result, the machine height can be further reduced.
[0010]
In this state, the paper gripping means 40 moves to the one-dot chain position and grips the paper while the paper is fixed by the transport roller pair 27, and the transport roller pair 27 releases the paper grip. Thereafter, the sheet with the creases formed by the two pairs of folding rollers 30 is sent out by the rotation of the two pairs of folding rollers 30, and is conveyed and stopped at the cutting position by the conveyance rollers 33. The cutting unit 31 is provided with cutters 31a and 31b for pressing the paper from above by the paper crimping means 41 and cutting the edges of the paper, and cutting the edges of the paper to improve the appearance of the edges of the paper bundle. . The cutting waste is stored in the kuzubako 42.
The sheet that has been cut is transferred to the discharge roller 36 by the transport roller 33, and discharged from the discharge unit 32 to the stack tray 37 by the discharge roller 36. The stack tray 37 has an inclined surface that descends in the transport direction so that a large number of bulky sheet bundles subjected to saddle stitching can be placed. In the standby state, the uppermost stack tray 37d and the second and third stack trays 37c and 37b are stacked so that the plates are stacked as shown by a one-dot chain line in FIG. And is placed in the lowermost fixed stack tray 37a.
In this state, as described above, the sheet bundle supplied from the transport roller 36 is supplied into the uppermost stack tray 37d in the stacked stack tray.
When a predetermined amount of paper is supplied to the uppermost stack tray 37 d, the stack tray 38 is raised and the stack tray 37 d storing a predetermined amount of paper is pulled up via the wire 55.
The amount of paper supplied to one stack tray is determined in advance from the paper size, the number of copies, and the destination specification of the apparatus (paper thickness varies depending on the destination).
The rising distance of the stack tray 38 is determined in advance such that the guide pins 54 fixed to the outer wall plate 50d and the side wall plate 51d of the stack tray 37d come into contact with the upper ends of the guide grooves 52c and 53c into which the stack tray 38d is inserted. Yes.
As a result, the second stack tray 37c can receive paper.
Thereafter, when a bundle of sheets is further supplied and a predetermined amount of sheets are accumulated in the second stack tray 37c, the stack tray 38 rises by a predetermined distance, and the third stack tray 37b is placed in a sheet receiving state. In this manner, the stack tray 38 rises in stages until a predetermined amount of paper is accumulated in the stack trays 37b and 37a, and the paper is kept until all of the four stack trays 37a to 37d accumulate a predetermined amount of paper. Supply can be continued.
Further, regarding the paper removal from the stack tray, even if the paper supply to the stack tray is continued, the paper removal from the stack tray to which the paper has been supplied can be easily performed.
As described above, according to this apparatus, in the saddle stitch folding apparatus, it is possible to realize a large-capacity sheet accumulation that enables unattended operation for a long time with a minimum apparatus installation area.
[0011]
【Example】
In the embodiment described above, the stack tray 38 is used as a drive source to pull up the plurality of stack trays 37d to 37a arranged above and below, but as shown in FIGS. and independently of the stacker 60, a plurality of the stack tray 61a which is vertically movably disposed above and below, 61b, 61c, and 61d provided, the top of the stack tray by lifting means 62a, 62b of the wires or the like provided in a separate stacker 60 By pulling up 61d, the stack trays 61c, 61b, 61a sequentially connected to the uppermost stack tray 61d by the link 63 are moved up and down while keeping the distance between the stack trays constant. It may be lifted up. In this case, unlike the above-described embodiment, there is no restriction on the height of the stack tray, and a larger number of trays can be arranged to increase the capacity. Reference numeral 64 denotes a guide roller for guiding the stack trays 61a to 61d up and down.
[0012]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the post-processing apparatus according to the present invention, the stack tray for accumulating sheets discharged during the paper discharge process is composed of a plurality of stack trays arranged above and below. Large volume storage that enables unattended operation for a long time can be realized without imposing an increase.
By configuring the plurality of stack trays so that they can be separated from each other when they are moved up and down in parallel, it is possible to store stack trays on which paper has not yet been accumulated in a compact manner, and a large number of them within the same installation area. It is possible to arrange stack trays.
In this case, when another stack tray that is movable up and down is provided above the plurality of stack trays arranged above and below, the other stack tray and the plurality of stack trays arranged above and below are arranged. It is possible to connect the uppermost stack tray and raise the other stack tray so that the plurality of stack trays arranged above and below can be lifted sequentially, thereby further simplifying the apparatus. with attained, Ru can be a substantially zero footprint increases for installing a plurality of the stack tray.
Also, with respect to the paper taken out from the stack tray, since the stack tray paper storage already pulled upwardly one after another, even in the post-processing apparatus in the sheet discharge continues, the sheet easily from the stack tray of the storage already The work efficiency can be significantly improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a post-processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a stack tray lifting mechanism that can be used in the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a post-processing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a plan view showing a stack tray support structure used in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3; FIG.
5 is a side view showing a connected state of the stack tray shown in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a conventional paper binding state.
[Explanation of symbols]
10. Post-processing device 22 ... Intermediate tray 25 ... Cursor 26 ... Paper receiver 27 (27a, 27b) ... Conveying roller (conveying means)
28a, 28b ... Stapler 29 ... Stamping die 30 ... Bending roller 31 ... Cutting section 32 ... Discharging section 33 ... Discharging section 39b ... Paper guide (bending guide) 37 ... Stack tray 55 ... Wire 60 ... Independent stacker 61 ... Stack tray 62 ... Wire 63 ... Link

Claims (2)

A staple process for driving staples onto the center line of a plurality of stacked and aligned sheets, a saddle stitch process including a center folding process for folding the stapled sheet along the center line, and a saddle-stitched sheet bundle. A paper post-processing device that performs a paper discharge process for discharging to the outside of the apparatus. In the sheet post-processing apparatus in which a plurality of stack trays arranged in the above can be separated from each other by moving in parallel up and down,
Another stack tray that is movable up and down is provided above the plurality of stack trays arranged above and below, the other stack tray and the uppermost stack tray among the plurality of stack trays arranged above and below And a plurality of stack trays arranged above and below are sequentially lifted by raising the other stack tray. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of stack trays arranged above and below have an inclined surface that descends in a sheet discharge direction.

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