JP4300040B2 - Paper processing apparatus and image forming system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is provided integrally or separately in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, or a printing machine, and performs predetermined processing, such as sorting, stacking, binding, and saddle stitching, on an image-formed sheet (recording medium). The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus that performs bookbinding and discharges paper, and an image forming system including the sheet processing apparatus and the image forming apparatus.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, in image forming apparatuses such as copying, faxing, and printers, there has been an increasing demand for post-processing on documents output from them, and in stapling processing, in addition to end binding that binds a predetermined number of sheets along one edge. Thus, there is an increasing demand for saddle stitching at a plurality of locations (generally, two locations) at predetermined intervals along a center line that bisects the paper. In addition, conventionally, functions such as saddle stitching and folding in relatively high-speed machines have been required for low-speed machines, and there is an increasing need to provide them at a lower price and space saving.
[0003]
In that flow, the staple unit is divided into a stitcher side that strikes the needle and a clincher side that folds the needle that penetrates the bundle of paper, and it can move while maintaining its positional relationship in the direction perpendicular to the paper transport direction. A device that is attached to a mechanism and can be stapled at an arbitrary position in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction has become mainstream. In the configuration using the staple unit, a position where the sheet transporting direction side is aligned on the sheet stacking unit (hereinafter referred to as a rear end fence) and the movable staple unit inevitably interfere with each other. In order to avoid interference between the staple unit and the rear end fence, a mechanism for retracting the rear end fence is required. Therefore, for example, Japanese Patent No. 3277805 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-205870 disclose an invention in which the rear end fence is retracted and the rear end fence is retracted along with the movement of the staple unit. .
[0004]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-128383 discloses an invention in which the rear end fence is retracted by using the movement of the staple unit. In the present invention, the rear end fence normally protrudes, and when the staple unit moves and approaches a position where it is likely to interfere with the rear end fence, the rear end fence is retracted by being pushed by the link.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent No. 3277805
[0006]
[Patent Document 2]
JP 2002-205870 A
[0007]
[Patent Document 3]
JP 2002-128383 A
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the inventions described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, it is assumed that the rear end fence is normally in a protruding position, and the rear end fence is retracted to avoid interference with the staple unit. In the invention, the rear end fence is mechanically retracted by the moving force of the staple unit, and whether the rear end fence is retracted or protruded is determined by the position of the staple unit.
[0009]
On the other hand, in order to shorten the time required for the post-processing of the paper, it is desirable that the time for moving the staple unit to the staple binding position is short, and if possible, even if the paper is being stacked, the staple unit Should be able to move. At this time, in consideration of binding various paper sizes, the movement position of the staple unit is restricted in the configuration in which the rear end fence is retracted along with the staple movement.
[0010]
The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances of the prior arts, and the object thereof is to solve the problems of the prior arts. The machine Compact structure To It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet processing apparatus that can perform the processing and an image forming system including the sheet processing apparatus.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the object, the first means includes a stacking means for stacking sheets in a sheet processing apparatus having processing means for performing a predetermined process including a binding process on a sheet after image formation, and the stacking means The end of the sheet bundle stacked on the downstream side in the transport direction is brought into contact with the sheet bundle regulating member. , Paper transport direction for a stack of paper Align Alignment means; A binding unit that binds the sheet bundle, a folding unit that folds the sheet bundle bound by the binding unit at a predetermined position, and the sheet bundle regulating member is retracted from the sheet conveyance path; The sheet bundle aligned by the alignment means Transport to the saddle stitching position downstream in the paper transport direction First conveying means, When the sheet bundle is aligned, the sheet bundle regulating member protrudes into the sheet conveyance path, and when the sheet bundle is conveyed by the first conveyance means, the first driving means is retracted from the sheet conveyance path, and the sheet conveyance is performed more than the folding means. A positioning member that is disposed on the downstream side in the direction and that is saddle-stitched by the binding means at the saddle-stitching position and that positions a leading end portion on the downstream side in the paper conveyance direction of the sheet bundle conveyed by the first conveyance means; and the positioning member After positioning the leading end of the sheet bundle by A second conveying means for conveying the sheet bundle to the center folding position; A second driving means for projecting the positioning member into the paper transport path when positioning the paper bundle, and retracting the positioning member from the paper transport path when transported by the second transport means; With The folding means folds the sheet bundle that has been conveyed to the middle folding position by the second conveying means at the middle folding position. It is characterized by.
[0021]
First 2 Means 1's An image forming system is constituted by the sheet processing apparatus according to the means and the image forming apparatus provided integrally with or separately from the sheet processing apparatus.
[0022]
First 1's According to the means After positioning by the positioning member, the second conveying means conveys the sheet to the half-fold position. At this time, the positioning member is retracted from the sheet conveying path, so that the positioning member can be moved downstream in the sheet conveying direction. There is no need for a compact configuration .
[0028]
According to the second means, the first image is formed on the paper on which the image is formed by the image forming apparatus. 1's Processing related to the means can be performed, and it is possible to perform simple bookbinding by a series of operations by finally printing a copy document or information transmitted from a computer.
[0029]
In the embodiments described later, the stacking means is the staple tray 10, the sheet bundle restricting member is the rear end fence 27, and the aligning means is the rear end fence 27 and the jogger fence 12. The biasing member is the tension spring 71, the drive mechanism is the solenoid 70, the first transport means is the bundle transport rollers 13a and 13b, the second transport means is the bundle transport rollers 26a and 26b, and the transport force applying / releasing means. The elastic biasing member constituting the elastic member is the tension spring 64, the electric drive mechanism is the stepping motor 63, the gear 60, the link 59, the arm 56, the roller for discharging the paper to the stack means is the transport roller 35, and the binding means is The folding unit corresponds to the staple unit 5 and the folding plate 19 and the pair of middle folding rollers 20 respectively.
[0030]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0031]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming system including the sheet post-processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. . The form shown in FIG. 2 shows an outline of a system as a copying machine, and includes an image forming apparatus PR, a paper feeding apparatus PF that supplies paper to the image forming apparatus, a scanner SC for reading an image, and a circulating automatic document. It consists of a feeding device ARDF. The sheet on which the image is formed by the image forming apparatus PR is conveyed to the entrance guide plate of the finisher FR via the relay unit CU. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a printer-type system without the scanner SC and the circulation type automatic document feeder ARDF, and other configurations are the same as those of the copying machine.
[0032]
The sheet post-processing device indicated as the finisher FR is attached to the side portion of the image forming apparatus PR as described above, and the paper discharged from the image forming apparatus PR is guided to the paper post-processing device FR, and the rear of the paper Various post-processing are performed by the function of the processing device FR. The image forming apparatus PR may be any apparatus having a known image forming function, such as an apparatus for an electrophotographic image forming process or an apparatus having an inkjet print head. .
[0033]
In a sheet post-processing apparatus FR (hereinafter referred to as reference numeral 2) as a sheet processing apparatus, a sheet received from the image forming apparatus PR as illustrated in FIG. 1 is a post-processing unit that performs post-processing on one sheet. (In the embodiment, it passes through an entrance conveyance path A having a punch unit 3 as a punching means), to an upper conveyance path B that leads to a proof tray 18, an intermediate conveyance path C that leads to a shift roller 9, and a staple tray 10 that performs alignment, stapling, and the like. The lower conveyance path D is guided by the branching claw 24, the turn guide 36, the branching claw 25, and the turn guide 37. The paper transported onto the staple tray 10 by the transport rollers 33, 34, and 35 is aligned on the staple tray 10 in a direction perpendicular to the paper transport direction by the jogger fence 12. It is matched to the standard.
[0034]
After that, the bundle conveyance roller 13b supported by the bundle conveyance guide plate 28 that rotates about one axis of the staple discharge roller pair 35 is moved toward the bundle conveyance roller 13a by the rotation of the bundle conveyance guide plate 28, The rear end fence 27 is retracted to the position of the broken line while holding the sheet bundle. In the case of end face binding, a stapling process is performed at a predetermined position, conveyed upward by the discharge claw 11, discharged by the discharge roller 15 to the discharge tray 17, and stacked. FIG. 8 shows an outline of the drive portion of the discharge claw 11. A drive shaft 103 is connected to the timing pulley 101 on the drive side of the timing pulleys 101 and 102 around which the discharge belt 14 is wound. The driving force is obtained from the stepping motor 106 through the gear trains 104 and 105 provided on the drive shaft 103.
[0035]
On the other hand, in the case of saddle stitching, the sheet bundle is aligned, and after being bundled by the bundle conveyance guide plate 28 and the bundle conveyance roller pair 13a and 13b, the sheet bundle is conveyed downward and conveyed to the saddle stitching position. It is held and a binding process is performed. When the saddle stitching process is completed, the bundle conveying rollers 26a and 26b carry the sheet to the folding position, the folding plate 19 and the folding roller pair 20 perform the middle folding process, and the middle folding discharge roller 22 performs the middle folding discharge. The paper is discharged onto the paper tray 23 and stacked.
[0036]
A common inlet conveyance path A upstream of the upper conveyance path B, intermediate conveyance path C, and lower conveyance path D has an inlet sensor 301 that detects a sheet received from the image forming apparatus PR, and a conveyance roller 31 downstream thereof. The punching unit 3 and the branching claw 24 and the turn guide 36 are sequentially arranged downstream thereof.
[0037]
The branching claw 24 is held in the state of the solid line in FIG. 1 by a spring (not shown). When the solenoid (not shown) is turned on, the branching claw 24 rotates counterclockwise in the figure and distributes the paper in the lower conveyance path D direction. Then, the sheet is distributed to the upper conveyance path B. The branching claw 25 is held in the state of the solid line in FIG. 1 by a spring (not shown). When the solenoid (not shown) is turned on, the branching claw 25 is rotated clockwise and distributes the paper to the intermediate conveyance path C. If the solenoid is OFF, the sheet is sent to the lower conveyance path D as it is and conveyed by the conveyance rollers 33 and 34. The turn guides 36 and 37 have a function of helping to sort the paper by the branch claws 24 and 25, respectively. The turn guides 36 and 37 have a function of reducing the sheet conveyance resistance at the small-diameter branching portion by being rotated by the sheet bent in the conveyance direction by the branch claws 24 and 25.
[0038]
The intermediate transport path C is provided with a shift roller 9 that can move the paper by a fixed amount in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction. The shift roller 9 exhibits a shift function by being moved in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction by a driving means (not shown). By moving the paper sent to the intermediate transport path C through the transport roller 32 and the turn roller 37 by a fixed amount in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction while being transported by the shift roller 9, the paper is fixed in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction. In this state, the paper is discharged by the discharge roller 15 and stacked on the paper discharge tray 17. The timing is determined based on paper detection information of the roller shift sensor 303, paper size information, and the like.
[0039]
A staple tray paper discharge sensor 305 is provided in the lower transport path D. The paper discharge sensor 305 detects the presence or absence of paper in the transport path and aligns when the paper detection signal discharges the paper to the staple tray 10. Used as a trigger. The sheets sent to the conveyance path D are sequentially conveyed by the conveyance rollers 33, 34, and 35 and are aligned after being stacked on the staple tray 10.
[0040]
The trailing edge of the sheet discharged to the staple tray 10 is aligned with reference to the trailing edge fence 27 as the first sheet bundle regulating means.
[0041]
As shown in FIG. 12, the rear end fence 27 is configured to be rotatable about the central axis of the bundle conveying roller 13a, and is usually retracted from the sheet conveying path by a tension spring 71, and the sheet bundle is When loading, the solenoid 70 drives the solenoid-side end portion 27a of the rear end fence 27, and the front end portion 27b protrudes into the conveyance path. Thereby, a stack of sheets can be stacked.
[0042]
The sheets stacked on the staple tray 10 are dropped down by the hitting roller 8 at any time and the lower ends are aligned. As shown in FIG. 4, which is a perspective view showing the mechanism around the staple tray 10 with the fulcrum 8a as the center, the tapping roller 8 is given a pendulum motion by the tapping solenoid 8s and intermittently applied to the paper fed into the staple tray 10. Acting on the rear end fence 27. The hitting roller 8 is rotated in the direction of moving the counterclockwise sheet to the rear end fence 27 by the timing belt 8t. The jogger fence 12 aligns the sheets stacked on the staple tray 10 in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction. The jogger fence 12 is driven via a timing belt 12b by a jogger motor 12m capable of forward / reverse rotation shown in FIG. 4, and reciprocates in a direction perpendicular to the paper transport direction. By performing an operation of pressing the end face of the paper by this movement, the paper is aligned in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction. This operation is performed at any time during loading of sheets and after loading of the final sheet. A sensor 306 provided in the staple tray 10 is a so-called paper detection sensor that detects the presence or absence of paper on the staple tray 10. The tapping roller 8, the rear end fence 27, and the jogger fence 12 constitute an aligning unit that aligns the sheet bundle in a direction orthogonal to a direction parallel to the sheet conveying direction.
[0043]
The bundle conveying rollers 13a, 13b and 26a, 26b can be pressurized and released by the mechanism shown in FIG. 11, and after passing the sheet bundle in the released state, pressurize and convey the sheet bundle. . The bundle conveying rollers 13a, 13b and 26a, 26b can be freely pressed and separated by a pressure release motor 63. The transport rollers 13a, 13b and 26a, 26b are rotationally driven by a stepping motor 50. By controlling the number of rotations of the stepping motor 50, the transport amount of the sheet bundle is controlled. Both of the bundle conveying rollers 13a, 13b and 26a, 26b are provided independently of each other, so that the pressure contact and separation movement between them can be freely performed.
[0044]
Since the pressure release mechanism of each bundle conveying roller is the same, the bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b will be described in detail.
[0045]
As shown in FIG. 11, the bundle transport rollers 13a and 13b are connected to a drive system so that the rotation directions are opposite and rotate at the same speed. The drive is transmitted to a timing pulley 53 and a gear pulley 54 that are arranged coaxially with the bundle conveying roller 13a using the stepping motor 50 as a drive source. Further, driving is transmitted from the gear pulley 54 to the timing pulley 58 disposed coaxially with the bundle conveying roller 13b via the arm 56 via the idler pulley 55, and the bundle conveying roller 13b rotates. The arm 56 is rotatable about the gear pulley 55 and acts in a direction in which the arm 56 is pressed against the sheet by a tension spring 64 provided on the shaft of the bundle conveying roller 13b. Further, a link 59 is connected to the shaft of the bundle conveying roller 13b, and a long hole 59a is provided on the other side of the link, so that it can freely rotate on a convex portion 60p provided on the circumference of the gear 60. It is fitted. In addition, a sensor 61 is provided at one end of the gear 60 for detecting the open state of the bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b by the filler 60a. By rotating the stepping motor 63 counterclockwise and clockwise, Release pressure. FIG. 11A shows a pressure release state, and FIG. 11B shows a pressure contact state. When the stepping motor 63 is not excited, it returns to the press contact position by the force of the tension spring 64. The bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b perform the above-described pressure contact and pressure releasing operations as needed not only when conveying a bundle of sheets but also when stacking sheets on the staple tray 10, thereby curling the lower end of the sheet. Swelling due to bending can be suppressed, and the alignment accuracy of the lower end of the sheet bundle during stacking can be improved. This operation is executed every time the sheets are stacked or every few sheets, and the stackability can be controlled to be in a good state. Further, when stacking a large number of sheets, the interval between the bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b is kept narrow at the beginning of the stack, and the interval is gradually increased as the number of stacks increases, so that the bottom edge of the sheet is rounded. It is also possible to improve the alignment accuracy while preventing the occurrence of swelling.
[0046]
As shown in FIG. 1, the staple unit 5 is composed of a stitcher portion 5a that strikes the needle and a clincher portion 5b that bends the tip of the needle that is driven into the sheet bundle. In the staple unit 5 in the present embodiment, the stitcher 5a and the clincher 5b are configured separately, and can be moved in a direction perpendicular to the sheet bundle conveyance direction by the stapler moving guide 6, and the stitcher 5a and the clincher 5b are not shown. A relative positioning mechanism and a moving mechanism are provided. The stapling position in the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle is performed by conveying the sheet bundle by the bundle conveyance rollers 13a and 13b. Thus, stapling can be performed at various positions of the sheet bundle.
[0047]
In FIG. 1, the middle folding mechanism portion is located downstream of the staple unit 5 in the sheet conveyance direction (downstream side when folding the sheet, and lower position). This mechanism is composed of a pair of folding rollers 20, a folding plate 19, a stopper 21, and the like. In the upstream stapling unit 5, a sheet bundle stapled at the center in the sheet conveying direction is abutted against the stopper 21 by the bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b. And once the nip pressure of the bundle conveying roller 13b is released, the folding reference position of the sheet bundle is determined. Thereafter, the nip pressure of the bundle conveying rollers 26a and 26b is applied to hold the sheet bundle, the stopper 21 moves backward and comes off from the rear end of the sheet bundle, and the necessary distance is determined by the sheet size signal sent from the image forming apparatus main body. It is conveyed and the folding position is put out. The sheet bundle conveyed to the folding position (usually the center in the sheet bundle conveying direction) is pushed into the nip of the pair of folding rollers 20 by the folding plate 19, and the pair of folding rollers 20 presses and rotates the sheet bundle. It is folded more than that. At this time, if the paper size is large, the paper bundle is sent downstream of the stopper 21 in the paper transport direction. Therefore, in this embodiment, the end of the sheet bundle is guided in the horizontal direction by curving the conveyance path on the downstream side from the position where the stopper 21 is disposed. With this configuration, it is possible to transport a sheet even if it is a large sheet size, and it is possible to make the size of the sheet post-processing device 2 in the height direction compact.
[0048]
As shown in FIG. 13, the stopper 21 as the second sheet bundle regulating means is configured to be rotatable around the central axis of the bundle conveying roller 26a, and the solenoid 72 causes the end 21a on the solenoid side to be moved. Driven, the front end portion 21b is retracted from the conveyance path. The folded sheet bundle is discharged and stacked on the half-fold discharge tray 23 by the half-fold discharge roller 22. The sensors 310 and 311 at the folded portion detect the presence or absence of paper. In addition, the sensor 313 of the half-folded paper discharge tray 23 detects the presence or absence of a paper bundle on the middle-folded paper discharge tray 23, and counts the number of paper bundles discharged from the state where there is no paper bundle. This is used to detect the fullness of the paper discharge tray 23 in a pseudo manner. The folding end stopper position detection sensor 312 detects the operation of the stopper 21 and the end position of the sheet bundle when the stopper is released.
[0049]
FIG. 14 shows a control circuit of the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present embodiment together with the image forming apparatus. The control apparatus 350 is composed of a microcomputer having a CPU 360, an I / O interface 370, etc., and the main body of the image forming apparatus PR. Each switch of the control panel, etc., inlet sensor 301, upper paper discharge sensor 302, roller shift sensor 303, staple paper discharge sensor 305, staple tray paper presence sensor 306, discharge claw position detection sensor 307, paper discharge sensor 308, paper surface detection Signals from sensors such as the sensor 309, the folding unit paper presence / absence detection sensor 310, the folding roller arrangement detection sensor 311, the folding end stopper position detection sensor 312, and the paper presence / absence detection sensor 313 are input to the CPU 360 via the I / O interface 370. Is done. The CPU 360 controls various motors and solenoids based on the input signal. The punch unit 3 also performs punching according to the instruction of the CPU 360 by controlling the clutch and the motor.
[0050]
The sheet post-processing device 2 is controlled by the CPU 360 executing a program written in a ROM (not shown) while using a RAM (not shown) as a work area.
[0051]
Hereinafter, an actual post-processing operation will be described using a specific post-processing mode as an example.
[0052]
(1) No processing mode (proof discharge)
The paper output from the image forming apparatus 1 passes through the entrance conveyance path A, is guided to the upper conveyance path B by the first branching claw 24, is punched if necessary, and is discharged to the proof tray 18 by the paper discharge roller 7. The paper is ejected.
[0053]
(2) Shift loading mode
Even when a bundle of sheets is output in units of copies, when stapling is not performed, the sheets can be shifted and stacked for easy identification of the units. In this mode, the paper output from the image forming apparatus 1 passes through the entrance conveyance path A and is guided in the lower conveyance path D direction by the first branching claw 24. At this time, a punch hole is made at the end of the sheet by the punch unit 3 according to the user's selection. Thereafter, the sheet is guided to the intermediate conveyance path C by the second branch claw 25, conveyed while being shifted in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction by the shift roller 9, guided to the sheet discharge guide plate 16, and discharged to the sheet discharge tray 17 by the discharge roller 15. The paper is discharged and stacked. The punch residue after the punch hole is opened by the punch unit 3 is accommodated in the hopper 4.
[0054]
(3) End face binding mode
The end face binding mode is a mode in which staple binding is performed on the end face of the sheet bundle in units of copies. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure in the end face binding mode.
[0055]
The paper output from the image forming apparatus passes through the entrance conveyance path A and is guided in the lower conveyance path D direction by turning on the first branching claw 24 (step S101), and drives each conveyance roller and the discharge roller 35. (Steps S102 and S103) and move along the transport path D. At this time, the stacking number counter that counts the sheets stacked on the staple tray 10 is cleared (step S104), and a punch hole is opened at the end of the sheet by the punch unit 3 according to the user's selection (step S105). Thereafter, the sheet is stacked on the staple tray 10 through the lower conveyance path D as it is. The sheets discharged to the staple tray 10 are aligned by the tapping roller 8 with the trailing edge fence 27 as a reference (sheet bundle is position in FIG. 4-steps S106 and S107).
[0056]
The alignment in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the sheet bundle is performed by the operation of narrowing the width of the sheet stacking portion of the staple tray 10 by the jogger fence 12 (position of the sheet bundle in FIG. 4-step S108). In combination with this operation, the operation of sandwiching the sheet bundle by the bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b is executed as needed to improve the alignment accuracy of the lower end of the sheet bundle. The roller interval between the bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b is narrow at the initial stage of paper stacking, and can be controlled to increase as the number of stacked sheets increases. It is set by doing. When the aligning operation is completed, the stacking number counter is counted up (step S109), and after the necessary number of sheets are stacked on the staple tray 10 (step S110), the bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b hold the lower end of the sheet bundle. Then, the sheet is held (step S111), and the trailing edge fence 27 is retracted from the sheet stacking surface (step S112).
[0057]
The bundle of sheets is stapled at a binding position by the staple unit 5 (normal edge binding is 5 mm in the sheet conveyance direction) (step S113). The stapler binding position in the end binding mode can be mainly selected from the front, two locations, and the back. The stitcher 5a and the clincher 5b are positioned relative to each other by the stapler moving guide 6 according to the selected binding position. The stapler binding is performed by moving in the direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction while maintaining the above. The staple unit 5 is divided into a stitcher 5a for punching a needle and a clincher 5b for performing a process of bending a needle penetrating the sheet bundle, and the sheet can pass between the stitcher 5a and the clincher 5b. It is a feature.
[0058]
When the end face binding is thus completed, the discharge claw 11 moves in the paper discharge direction (step S114), and simultaneously with the end of the paper, the pressure contact state of the bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b is released (step S115). When the binding process is completed, the paper discharge guide plate 16 is opened by a predetermined angle (step S116), and the bound sheet bundle is lifted upward by the discharge claw 11 that moves together with the discharge belt 14. The discharge claw 11 can lift the sheet bundle to the upper end of the staple tray 10 by the discharge belt 14. When the sheet bundle enters between the sheet discharge guide plates 16, the sheet discharge guide plate 16 is closed, and the sheet bundle is discharged from the discharge roller 15. (Step S117), the sheet is discharged and stacked on the discharge tray 17 (step S118). The discharge guide plate 16 can be adjusted with respect to the discharge roller according to the thickness of the sheet bundle.
[0059]
When the paper discharge is completed, the discharge roller 15 is stopped (step S119), and the discharge belt 14 is driven until the discharge position detection sensor is turned on, that is, until the discharge claw 11 is located at the home position (step S120). Stop when the position is reached (step S121). This operation is repeated from step S104 until the predetermined number of copies is completed.
[0060]
The end face binding operation is shown in FIG. In FIG. 9A, the rear end portion in the paper transport direction and the direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction are aligned (steps S107 and S108), and the required number of sheets of one copy is aligned (step S110). From this state, as shown in FIG. 9 (b), it is caught by the bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b (step S111), and the rear end fence 27 is moved backward as shown in FIG. 9 (c) (step S112). 5 moves to the binding position, and the binding operation is performed at the binding position as shown in FIG. 9D (step S113).
[0061]
(4) Saddle stitching mode
The saddle stitching mode is a mode in which staple binding is performed at the center of the sheet bundle. FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure in the saddle stitching mode. In the following description, the same reference numerals are assigned to operations equivalent to those in the end face binding mode. In this saddle stitching mode, steps S101 to S112 and steps S114 to S121 are the same as those in the end face binding mode, and thus description thereof will be omitted, and only different points will be described.
[0062]
In step S101, the first branch claw 24 is turned on to guide in the lower conveyance path D direction. In step S111, the bundle conveyance rollers 13a and 13b hold the lower end of the sheet bundle, and in step S112, the rear end fence 27 is moved to the sheet stacking surface. The bundle transport rollers 13a and 13b transport the sheet bundle downward (step S122). The sheet bundle is stopped at the binding position by the staple unit 5 (in the center of the length in the conveyance direction of the sheet bundle during saddle stitching) (steps S123 and S124), and stapled by the staple unit 5 (step S125).
[0063]
In the saddle stitching mode, the stapler usually has two binding positions. According to the binding position, the stitcher 5a and the clincher 5b are held in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveyance direction while maintaining the relative position by the stapler moving guide 6. Move to staple the stapler. The bundle of sheets for which the binding process has been completed is conveyed upward by the bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b (step S126), and when returned to the sheet bundle alignment position (step S127), the bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b are stopped (step S128). ), The paper is discharged upward by the discharge claw 11 (step S114). And the process after step S115 is performed.
[0064]
(5) Saddle stitch binding mode
The saddle stitch binding mode is a mode in which the central portion of the sheet bundle is stapled and folded in half at the center to perform simple binding like a so-called weekly magazine. FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure in the saddle stitch binding mode. In the following description, the same reference numerals are assigned to operations equivalent to those in the end face binding mode. In this saddle stitch binding mode, steps S101 to S112 are the same as in the end face binding mode, and thus description thereof will be omitted, and only different points will be described.
[0065]
In step S101, the first branch claw 24 is turned on to guide in the lower conveyance path D direction. In step S111, the bundle conveyance rollers 13a and 13b hold the lower end of the sheet bundle, and in step S112, the rear end fence 27 is moved to the sheet stacking surface. The bundle transport rollers 13a and 13b transport the sheet bundle downward (step S131). The sheet bundle is stopped at the binding position by the staple unit 5 (at the center of the conveyance direction length of the sheet bundle during saddle stitching) (steps S132 and S133), and stapled by the staple unit 5 (step S134).
[0066]
In the saddle stitching mode, the stapler usually has two binding positions. According to the binding position, the stitcher 5a and the clincher 5b are moved by the stapler moving guide 6 in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction while maintaining the relative position of each other. Then staple the stapler.
[0067]
The sheet bundle is once positioned by abutting the rear end position by the stopper 21 (steps S135 and S136), and the center of the sheet bundle in the conveyance direction is again placed on the folding plate 19 by the bundle conveyance rollers 26a and 26b. It is sent to the contact position (step S137-step S143). Thereafter, the folding plate 19 pushes the sheet bundle toward the nip of the middle folding roller pair 20 (steps S144 and S145), and the sheet bundle is pressurized between the nips by the force of a spring (not shown) applied to the middle folding roller pair 20. (Step S146) Folded in half, and discharged and stacked on the half-folded paper discharge tray 23 by the half-fold paper discharge roller 22 immediately after (Step S147). Then, the center folding roller 20 is stopped (step S148), and the rear end fence 27 is returned to the aligned position (step S149). This operation is repeated from step S104 until the predetermined number of copies is completed.
[0068]
The operation of saddle stitching is shown in FIG. In FIG. 10A, the rear end portion in the sheet conveyance direction and the direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction are aligned (steps S107 and S108), and the required number of sheets of one sheet is aligned (step S110). From this state, as shown in FIG. 10B, the sheet is caught by the bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b (step S111), the rear end fence 27 is retracted (step S112), and the sheet bundle is moved toward the folding plate 19 (downward). Transport. Then, the sheet bundle is stopped at the center of the conveyance direction length of the sheet bundle, which is a binding position by the staple unit 5, and is saddle-stitched.
[0069]
As shown in FIG. 10C, the saddle-stitched sheet bundle is further conveyed downward, positioned after being brought into contact with the stopper 21 (steps S135 and S136), and then the binding position is the position of the folding plate 19 (folding). It is further conveyed until it reaches (position). Then, as shown in FIG. 10D, the sheet bundle is stopped at the position, and the folding plate 10 is protruded and pushed into the nip into the folding roller 20 (steps S144 to S146). In this way, it can be folded in half at the binding position. If the front end of the folding plate 19 protrudes to contact the sheet bundle, the staple is brought into contact with the folding plate 19 when the folding position is reached, so that the position accuracy of the folding position can be ensured.
[0070]
(6) No binding and center folding mode
The non-binding / middle folding mode is a mode in which folding processing is performed at the center without performing a binding operation on a sheet bundle. FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure in the no-binding / middle folding mode.
[0071]
This mode is equivalent to a mode in which the saddle stitching operation is deleted from the saddle stitch binding mode. Therefore, the processing from step S131 to step S134 in the saddle stitch binding mode shown in FIG. 17 is omitted, and after the trailing edge fence 27 is retracted from the paper placement surface in step S112, the sheet bundle is immediately transported downward. Once the rear end position is abutted and positioned by the stopper 21 (steps S135 and S136), the folding operation is performed (steps S137 to S149).
[0072]
Other operations that are not particularly described are the same as those in the saddle stitch binding mode.
[0073]
Here, the subroutines of punch control, hitting roller 8 control, staple unit 5 control and folding plate 9 control in each mode will be described.
[0074]
FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of punch control in step S105. In this process, first, when the paper reaches the punch position (step S201), the presence / absence of a punch request is checked (step S202), and the punch is executed only when there is a punch request (step S203).
[0075]
FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for hitting roller 8 control in step S107. In this process, first, when the paper reaches the strike position (step S301), the strike roller 8 is driven for a predetermined time to move the paper to the rear end fence 27 side (steps S302 and S303), and the operation is stopped (step S301). S304).
[0076]
FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for controlling the staple unit 5 in steps S113, S124, and S134. In this process, first, the stapler unit 5 is moved to the binding position (step S401). When the stapler unit 5 is positioned to the designated binding position (step S402), the stapler unit 5 is stopped (step S403), and the stapling operation is performed. Is executed (step S404). When the stapling at the designated place is completed (step S405), the stapler unit 5 is moved to the next stapling position. When the stapling at all the stapling positions is completed, the stapler unit 5 is retracted and the process is terminated.
[0077]
FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the folding plate 19 control in step S144. In this process, first, the folding plate 19 is moved in the nip direction of the folding roller 20 (step S501). When the leading end of the folding plate 19 reaches the nip position of the folding roller 20 (step S502), the folding plate 19 is moved. Is stopped (step S503) and the process is terminated.
[0078]
Here, since the staple is moved in the staple unit 5 control subroutine, the moving operation of the staple unit will be described.
[0079]
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the position of the staple unit 5 before entering the binding operation. The staple unit 5 stands by at a position that does not contact the rear end fence 27 and that is closest to the next binding position. This position is indicated by a solid line or a two-dot chain line.
[0080]
FIG. 6 is a view showing the position of the staple unit 5 that is bound at two end faces. As described above, in the end face binding mode, the sheet bundle is stapled at the binding position by the staple unit 5 (normal end binding is 5 mm in the paper transport direction). The stapler binding position in the end binding mode can be mainly selected from the front, two places, and the back, but depending on the selected binding position, the stitcher 5a and the clincher 5b are positioned relative to each other by the stapler moving guide 6. The stapler binding is performed by moving in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction while maintaining the above. At this time, in the case of the binding position where the staple unit 5 and the rear end fence 27 are in contact (small size binding at one place, binding at two places, saddle stitching), the rear end fence 27 moves backward from the sheet stacking surface, and then Then, the staple unit 5 moves in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction to perform stapler binding. This operation is the same in the case of saddle stitching shown in FIG. When the binding mode is two-point binding (end-face two-point binding and saddle stitching), the printer waits at a standby position opposite to the sheet conveyance direction for each bundle. This standby position is the position of the solid line and the two-dot chain line in FIG. 5, and these positions alternately become standby positions. Thereby, it is possible to move to the standby position at the shortest distance from the second binding operation.
[0081]
23 and 24 are flowcharts showing the operation procedure of the bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b in step S111. The procedure shown in FIG. 23 shows the operation of sandwiching and pressing the paper for every one or several sheets of paper stack, and the procedure shown in FIG. 24 is a gap where the paper bundle enters as the number of paper stacks increases. It shows the action of changing.
[0082]
First, in the flowchart of FIG. 23, in step S601, the sheets on the staple tray 10 are received, and in step S602, it is determined how many sheets are stacked. For example, whether to operate every 1 sheet, every 2 sheets, every 3 sheets, that is, every n sheets (n is a natural number) is given in advance by a program (not shown). When the specified number of sheets, i.e., n, is reached, the bundle conveying roller 13b is pressed in step S603 to hold the sheet bundle between the rollers 13a and 13b and held for a period of time in step S604, and then the pressure is released in step S605. The In step S606, it is determined whether or not the sheet is the final sheet. If the sheet is not final, the sheet is accepted. If the sheet is final, the bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b are pressurized in step S607 and transferred to the next process.
[0083]
In the process shown in FIG. 24, information on the number of sheets of one copy is received in step S701, and in step S702, the initial interval between the bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b is determined based on the received number information. It is moved by the pressurizing mechanism. These mechanisms are as described with reference to FIG. When the bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b are moved to the specified positions in step S702, the sheet is received on the staple tray 10 in step S703, and the next operation is performed for each sheet or every several sheets (n sheets) in step S704. Checking the number to do. This number is set in advance by a program in the same manner as in step S602 described above.
[0084]
In step S705, when the specified number of sheets is reached, the bundle conveying roller 13b is moved for each number to change the interval between the bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b. This change is, for example, that the interval between the bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b is increased as the number of sheets increases. Next, in step S706, it is determined whether or not it is the final sheet. If it is not final, the sheet is accepted. If it is final, in step S707, the bundle conveying roller 13b is pressed toward the bundle conveying roller 13a to proceed to the next process. Passed.
[0085]
These operations in FIGS. 23 and 24 can be performed in combination. For example, the pressing operation can be performed by pressurizing several sheets while changing the interval between the bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b. This is effective for improving the stackability and alignment of paper.
[0086]
As described above, according to this embodiment,
(1) The protruding and retracting operation of the rear end fence is irrelevant to the movement operation of the stipple unit, and there is a high degree of freedom in the standby position of the stipple unit and the movement timing. In addition, since it is retracted when it is not energized, the rear end fence is always retracted when pulling out the staple unit during jam processing, when loading a staple, or when performing maintenance without power supply. And does not interfere with the stipple unit.
[0087]
(2) Since the bundle conveying rollers 13a and 13b are pressurized in the direction of conveying the sheet bundle by a spring when pressure is not released, even if an abnormality occurs during sheet stacking, The sheet bundle is held in a pressurized state. For this reason, the sheet does not fall to the downstream stapler section and the sheet folding section, and the return operation after the abnormality processing is simplified.
[0088]
(3) Since the rotation shaft of the paper bundle pressurizing and pressure releasing mechanism is based on the shaft of a roller for discharging the paper to the stacking means, the number of shafts can be reduced and the configuration is simplified. In addition, the mechanism can be reduced in size.
[0089]
(4) The pivoting shaft of the retracting and projecting mechanism of the rear end fence is based on one roller shaft of the pair of rollers of the first transport means for transporting the bundle of sheets. It is possible to reduce the structure, the structure is simplified, and the mechanism can be miniaturized.
[0090]
There are effects such as.
[0091]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, After positioning by the positioning member, the second conveying means conveys the sheet to the half-fold position. At this time, the positioning member is retracted from the sheet conveying path, so that the positioning member can be moved downstream in the sheet conveying direction. There is no need for a compact configuration be able to.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image forming system (copier mode) including the sheet post-processing apparatus shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image forming system (printer form) including the sheet post-processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a mechanism around a staple tray.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a position of a staple unit before entering a binding operation.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a position of a staple unit for binding two end faces.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the position of a saddle stitch staple unit.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an outline of a drive unit for a discharge belt and a discharge claw.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an end face binding operation.
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a saddle stitching operation.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a contact / separation mechanism and operation of a bundle conveying roller.
FIG. 12 is a view showing a drive mechanism of a rear end fence.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a stopper driving mechanism.
FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a control circuit of the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present embodiment together with the image forming apparatus.
FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure in an end face binding mode.
FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure in a saddle stitching mode.
FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in a saddle stitching / center folding mode;
FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure in a no-binding / half-fold mode.
FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for punch control.
FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for hitting roller control.
FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for stapling unit control.
FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of folding plate control.
FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the step bundle conveying roller.
FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of a step bundle conveying roller.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Image forming device
2 Recording paper post-processing device
5 Stipple unit
5a Stitcher
5b clincher
6 Guide for moving stapler
10 Stipple tray
11 Release claw
12 Jogger fence
13a Bundle conveying roller
13b Bundle conveying roller
14 Release belt
15 Discharge roller
19 Folding plate
20 Folding roller pair
20a Folding roller
20b Folding roller
21 Stopper
22 Folding paper discharge roller
23 Folding tray
26a Bundle conveying roller
26b Bundle conveying roller
27 Rear fence
28 Bundle conveyance guide plate
35 Transport roller
350 Controller
360 CPU

Claims (2)

In a paper processing apparatus having processing means for performing predetermined processing including binding processing on paper after image formation,
Stacking means for stacking paper,
And aligning means for the end of the downstream side in the conveying direction of the stacked sheet bundle is abutted against the sheet bundle regulating member to align the sheet conveyance direction of the sheet bundle to the stack unit,
Binding means for binding the sheet bundle;
Folding means for folding the sheet bundle bound by the binding means at a predetermined position;
After the sheet bundle regulating member is retracted from the sheet conveying path, a first conveying means you convey the paper bundle aligned to the binding position in the sheet conveyance direction downstream side by the alignment means,
A first driving means for causing the paper bundle regulating member to protrude into the paper conveyance path when the paper bundle is aligned, and retracting from the paper conveyance path when the paper bundle is conveyed by the first conveyance means;
Positioned downstream of the folding unit in the sheet conveyance direction, and positioned at the saddle-stitching position, the leading end of the sheet bundle downstream of the sheet conveyance direction of the sheet bundle that is saddle-stitched by the binding unit and conveyed by the first conveyance unit. A positioning member;
A second conveying means for conveying the leading end of the sheet bundle by the positioning member and then conveying the sheet bundle to the middle folding position;
A second driving means for projecting the positioning member into the paper transport path when positioning the paper bundle, and retracting the positioning member from the paper transport path when transported by the second transport means;
Equipped with a,
The sheet processing apparatus, wherein the folding means folds the sheet bundle conveyed to the middle folding position by the second conveying means at the middle folding position . A sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1;
An image forming apparatus provided integrally with or separately from the sheet processing apparatus;
Image forming system characterized by comprising the.

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