JP4821512B2 - Bookbinding apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a bookbinding apparatus that forms a booklet by covering a bundle of sheets in a U-shape with a cover sheet and forming a booklet, and an image forming apparatus including the bookbinding apparatus.

  An electrophotographic image forming apparatus has high-speed performance, multiple functions, a network function, and the like, and uses as a printing apparatus are expanded by connecting a large-capacity paper feeding apparatus and a large-capacity stacker.

  Further, as a bookbinding process, a bookbinding process is known in which a bundle of printed sheets is covered with a cover sheet (cover sheet) in a U-shape to form a booklet.

  When the image forming apparatus is used as a printing apparatus, it is possible to perform a series of processes from printing to bookbinding in a single system by connecting a bookbinding apparatus that binds printed matter.

The bookbinding apparatus described in Patent Document 1 is a gluing bookbinding apparatus in which a sheet bundle housing unit, a gripping unit, a sheet bundle conveying unit, a glue applying unit, a cover sheet supplying unit, a cover sheet sticking unit, and a cover sheet bending unit are arranged.
JP 2004-209869 A

  In the bookbinding apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, a booklet produced by applying glue to a sheet bundle, attaching a cover, and folding a cover is released from the gripping means and placed at a low predetermined position below the gripping means. The booklet is dropped and received on the booklet discharge means, discharged from the discharge port, and stored in the booklet storage device.

  The distance from the lower surface of the gripping means to the upper surface of the booklet discharging means is set sufficiently long so that the booklet gripped by the gripping means is not interfered when it passes through the gripping means. For this reason, the discharge port of the booklet discharge means is at a low position, and the number of booklets to be stacked on the discharge table of the booklet storage device is reduced.

  The present invention secures a sufficient distance to drop the booklet from the gripping means to the booklet discharge means when dropping the booklet from the gripping means, and raises the booklet discharge means to a high position when the booklet is discharged by the booklet discharge means. It is an object of the present invention to provide a bookbinding apparatus and an image forming apparatus that increase the number of booklets stacked on a paper discharge tray of the apparatus.

  The above object is solved by the following bookbinding apparatus and image forming apparatus of the present invention.

1. A sheet bundle conveying means for holding and stacking a bundle of sheets accommodated and collected by the gripping means, and an adhesive application means for applying an adhesive to the back of the sheet bundle sandwiched by the gripping means; A square back molding means for forming a square back by bending the cover paper by affixing the cover paper to the back of the sheet bundle to which the adhesive is applied, and being positioned below the gripping means; A booklet ejecting means for ejecting a booklet formed by the molding means and a booklet accommodating device for accommodating the ejected booklet, wherein the booklet ejecting means receives a booklet from the gripping means; When a and a second position to pass the received booklet to the booklet accommodating device can lift the lifting means, said second position Ri position der of above said first position, said angle The back molding means and the booklet discharging means are integrated. Become bookbinding apparatus, characterized by the lifting by the lifting means.

  2. 2. An image forming apparatus main body that forms an original toner image based on original data on a recording sheet, and the bookbinding apparatus described in 1 above that collects and binds sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus main body. An image forming apparatus.

  According to the bookbinding apparatus of the present invention, there is provided a bookbinding apparatus that secures a space for dropping from the gripping means to the booklet discharging means and increases the number of booklets loaded on the paper discharge tray of the booklet storage apparatus.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, image forming processing and bookbinding processing are performed by an image forming apparatus in which a bookbinding device for case binding is connected to an image forming apparatus main body that forms a document toner image based on document data on a recording sheet. Are executed continuously, and the efficiency of bookbinding is improved.

  Embodiments of a bookbinding apparatus and an image forming apparatus including the bookbinding apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a bookbinding system including an image forming apparatus main body A, a bookbinding apparatus (post-processing apparatus) B, and a booklet storage apparatus C.

[Image forming apparatus body A]
The image forming apparatus main body A includes an image forming unit in which a charging unit 2, an image exposing unit 3, a developing unit 4, a transfer neutralizing unit 5, and a cleaning unit 6 are arranged around a rotating image carrier 1. The image forming means uniformly charges the surface of the image carrier 1 by the charging means 2 and then performs exposure scanning based on the image data read from the document by the laser beam of the image exposure means 3 to form a latent image. Then, the latent image is reversely developed by the developing means 4 to form a toner image on the surface of the image carrier 1.

  A recording sheet (hereinafter referred to as a sheet) S, which is a sheet fed from the sheet storage means 7A, is sent to the transfer position. After the toner image is transferred onto the sheet S by the transfer neutralization unit 5 at the transfer position, the charge on the sheet S is erased and separated from the image carrier 1 and conveyed by the conveying unit 7B, and then heated and fixed by the fixing unit 8. Then, the paper is discharged from the paper discharge roller 7C.

  When image formation is performed on both sides of the sheet S, the sheet S heated and fixed by the fixing unit 8 is branched from the normal sheet discharge path by the conveyance path switching unit 7D and switched back by the reverse conveyance unit 7E. After the reversal, it passes through the image forming unit again, forms an image on the back surface of the paper S, and is discharged from the paper discharge roller 7C to the outside of the apparatus via the fixing unit 8. The paper S discharged from the paper discharge roller 7C is sent to the bookbinding apparatus B.

  The developer remaining on the surface of the image carrier 1 after image processing is removed by the cleaning unit 6 to prepare for the next image formation.

  On the upper part of the image forming apparatus main body A, an operation means 9 having an input means and a display means is arranged.

  The main control unit 100 of the image forming apparatus main body A and the post-processing control unit 200 of the bookbinding apparatus B are connected by serial communication units 101 and 201.

[Bookbinding device B]
As shown in FIG. 1, the bookbinding apparatus B according to the present invention includes a sheet transport unit 10, a sheet discharge unit 20, a sheet bundle storage unit 30, a sheet bundle transport unit 40, an adhesive application unit 50, a cover sheet supply unit 60, and a cover sheet. Cutting means 70 and square back molding means 80 are provided. Each of these means is arranged in a column in a substantially vertical direction in the bookbinding apparatus B.

  FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the bookbinding apparatus B according to the present invention.

<Paper conveying means 10>
The paper S introduced into the paper transport unit 10 is nipped and transported by the transport rollers 11 and 12, and is branched into either the paper discharge unit 20 or the paper bundle storage unit 30 by the transport path switching unit G1.

  A conveyance path switching unit G2 disposed upstream of the conveyance roller 11 in the sheet conveyance direction branches the sheet S discharged from the image forming apparatus main body A to either the conveyance path of the conveyance roller 11 or the conveyance path of the conveyance roller 12. Let The sheet S conveyed to the conveyance path of the conveyance roller 12 is nipped by the conveyance rollers 13 and 14 and sent to the square back forming unit 80.

<Discharge means 20>
When the sheet conveyance is set, the conveyance path switching unit G1 blocks the conveyance path to the sheet bundle conveyance unit 40 and opens the conveyance path to the paper discharge unit 20.

  The sheet S passing through the conveyance path of the sheet discharge means 20 is nipped by the conveyance roller 21 and conveyed upward, and is discharged and stored on the fixed sheet discharge tray 23 at the top of the apparatus by the sheet discharge roller 22. On the fixed sheet discharge tray 23, the sheets S discharged from the image forming apparatus main body A can be directly received and a maximum of about 200 sheets can be stacked.

<Paper storage means 30>
The sheet S branched to the left in the drawing on the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction by the conveyance path switching unit G1 is sandwiched between the conveyance rollers 31, 32, 33, and 34 and is stored in a predetermined position of the sheet bundle storage unit 30. The sheet bundle accommodating means 30 includes an inclined sheet placing table 35, a movable sheet rear end positioning member 36, a sheet width aligning member 37, a sheet bundle conveying roller 38, and the like.

<Paper bundle conveying means 40>
The paper S placed on the paper placement table 35 of the paper bundle housing means 30 is conveyed obliquely downward by an unillustrated push-out means. Thereafter, the sheet bundle S is gripped by the gripping means 41 of the sheet bundle conveying means 40, and is swung so that the surface (back part) on which the adhesive coating process is performed on the sheet bundle Sa with the sheet bundle Sa held downward. Stopped at a predetermined position.

<Adhesive application means 50>
The adhesive application unit 50 includes an adhesive application roller 51, a drive unit 52 that rotationally drives the adhesive application roller 51, an adhesive container 53 that stores the adhesive, and an adhesive container 53 that supports the adhesive container 53. A moving body 54 that can move from an initial position on the back side to an adhesive application position on the front side, a moving means 55 that reciprocates the moving body 54, and an adhesive (glue) N contained in the adhesive container 53. Heating means 56 for heating.

<Cover Supply Unit 60>
A cover sheet (hereinafter referred to as a cover sheet) K, which is a cover sheet accommodated in the cover stacking means 61 of the cover supplying means 60, is separated and fed by the paper feeding means 62, and is sandwiched between the transport rollers 63, 64, and 65. Then, it is conveyed to the square back molding means 80.

<Cover cutting means 70>
A cover sheet cutting means 70, which is integrally formed on the right side in the figure of a square spine molding means 80, which will be described later, on the upper side of the cover sheet supply means 60 in the figure, is a conveyance direction of the cover sheet K by a rotary cutter comprising a rotary blade 71 and a fixed blade 72. Cut the length to a predetermined length.

  The predetermined length is a length obtained by adding the length of the back portion of the sheet bundle Sa to the length of two sheets in the traveling direction of the sheet S. For example, in the case of the case binding process in which the cover K is pasted on the back of the sheet bundle Sa made of A4 size paper S, the maximum number of the sheet bundle Sa is 300 sheets and the thickness is about 30 mm. The predetermined length is set to 450 mm, which is twice the short side length of 210 mm of A4 size paper and the thickness of the sheet bundle Sa is added to about 30 mm, and the end portion of the cover sheet K is cut. A wide size of 450 mm or more is used for the total length of the cover K before cutting.

  Even when each booklet S of A5 size, B5 size, and 8.5 × 11 inches (1 inch is 25.4 mm) is case-bound to produce a booklet Sb, the short side length of the paper and the bundle of paper The predetermined length is set depending on the thickness.

  When the paper size, the number of paper sheets, and the paper thickness are selected or detected by the operation means 9 of the image forming apparatus main body A, the control means sets a predetermined cutting length of the cover sheet K. The length of the cover sheet K before cutting is determined in advance corresponding to the maximum number of sheets, and is stored in the cover sheet stacking unit 61 of the cover sheet supply unit 60.

<Square back molding means 80>
The square spine forming unit 80 receives and transports the cover sheet K supplied from the cover sheet supply unit 60, and presses the transport rollers 81 and 82 for stopping at a predetermined position and the cover sheet K against the adhesive application surface of the sheet bundle Sa. It has a pressure member 83, a moving casing 84 that supports the conveying rollers 81 and 82 and the pressure member 83, an alignment means 85, an elevating means 86 that enables the moving casing 84 to move vertically and vertically.

  The square back forming means 80 and the booklet discharging means 88 are integrally moved up and down by the lifting means 86.

  When the square back forming means 80 stops at the lowered position and introduces the cover sheet K, the aligning means 85 moves from the initial position according to the size of the cover sheet K and presses both sides in the width direction of the cover sheet K before the cutting process. Width alignment. The cover K whose width is aligned and the curvature is corrected is switched back in the direction opposite to the introduction direction, conveyed to the cover cutting means 70, and cut at a predetermined position.

  Further, before the square spine forming means 80 adheres the cut cover sheet K to the back portion of the sheet bundle Sa in the lowered position, the aligning means 85 moves again from the initial position and both sides of the cover sheet K in the width direction. Is pressed to perform width alignment, and the cover K is placed at a predetermined position. Thereafter, the aligning means 85 returns to the initial position so as not to hinder the joining of the cover sheet K and the sheet bundle Sa, and then the square back forming means 80 is raised. When rising, the cover K is supported at a predetermined position.

  Therefore, the aligning means 85 installed in the up-and-down square back forming means 80 performs the cover width direction positioning before and after the cutting of the cover K by the cover cutting means 70, thereby improving the cover cutting accuracy and the sheet bundle Sa. And the alignment accuracy of the cover K and the simplification of the structure are achieved.

  The elevating means 86 moves the movable casing 84 to the upper position by rotating the left and right belts. At this raised position, the center portion of the cover sheet K placed on the pressure member 83 is pressed and adhered to the adhesive application surface of the sheet bundle Sa. After the adhesive application processing to the sheet bundle Sa is completed, the adhesive application means 50 moves backward and retracts.

<Cover folding>
On the upper part of the square back forming means 80, a cover folding means is provided. The cover folding means has a pair of symmetrical molding members 87. The molding member 87 can be contacted and separated in the thickness direction of the sheet bundle Sa. The molding member 87 bends the cover K along the side edge of the adhesive-coated surface of the sheet bundle Sa, and superimposes the front cover and the back cover on the front and back surfaces of the sheet bundle Sa.

  After the folding process of the cover sheet K, after the square back forming means 80 is lowered and retracted by a predetermined amount by the descending drive of the elevating means 86, the booklet discharge means (discharge belt) 88 is positioned below the booklet Sb, that is, the booklet Sb. It moves from the position corresponding to the outer side of the booklet Sb in the width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction to the position corresponding to the inner side and stops. Thereafter, when the gripping by the gripping means 41 is released, the booklet Sb descends and stops at a position where the lower portion of the booklet Sb contacts the upper surface of the discharge belt 88.

  A booklet Sb having a front cover and a back cover formed by attaching a cover K to the back (opposite side of the small edge) of the sheet bundle Sa coated with an adhesive is provided by a discharge belt 88 disposed above the aligning means 85. It is discharged to an external booklet storage device C.

[Booklet storage device C]
The booklet Sb discharged by the discharge belt 88 is placed on the transportable belt 91 that can be moved up and down of the booklet storage device C shown in FIG. 1, sequentially discharged by the rotation of the transport belt 91, and stacked on the paper discharge tray 92. Be contained.

[Production process for bookbinding with cover]
<Conveying a stack of sheets and a cover>
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the sheet bundle conveying unit 40 and the adhesive applying unit 50.

  A sheet bundle Sa composed of a predetermined number of sheets S stacked and aligned on the sheet placing table 35 of the sheet bundle accommodating means 30 is grasped by the grasping means 41. The sheet rear end positioning member 36 is swung by a driving means (not shown) and retracts below the sheet placing table 35. The gripping means 41 that grips the sheet bundle Sa moves in an obliquely downward direction as indicated by the broken line in the figure and then turns to hold the sheet bundle Sa in an upright state with the surface on which the adhesive coating process is applied on the lower side. , Stop at a predetermined position.

  On the other hand, the cover sheet K accommodated in the cover sheet stacking means 61 of the cover sheet supply means 60 is separated and fed by the paper feed means 62 and is sandwiched between the transport rollers 63, 64, 65, and the transport rollers of the square back molding means 80. 81, 82, and is stopped at a predetermined position.

  The cover sheet cutting means 70 disposed on the right side of the conveyance roller 65 in the drawing cuts the length of the cover sheet K in the conveyance direction to a predetermined length. That is, the length in the conveyance direction of the cover sheet K differs depending on the sheet size and the thickness of the sheet bundle Sa, so that the cover sheet can be obtained by inputting or detecting the sheet size, the number of sheets S, and the thickness of the sheet S in advance. The case length of K is calculated, and the excess portion of the cover sheet K is cut to the optimum length by the cover sheet cutting means 70 prior to the cover sheet sticking.

<Applying adhesive to paper bundle>
The moving body 54 of the adhesive application unit 50 is moved by a driving unit (not shown) in a direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of the lower surface of the sheet bundle Sa held upright by the gripping unit 41.

  The moving body 54 starts moving from the initial position on the back side of the bookbinding apparatus B, is moved along the moving means 55, stops at a predetermined position on the front side of the bookbinding apparatus B, and then reversely drives to return to the initial position. To do.

  4 is a side view of the adhesive applying means 50 and the gripping means 41, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the adhesive applying means 50 and the gripping means 41.

  The adhesive application roller 51 immersed in the adhesive container 53 containing the adhesive N is rotated by the motor M and the driving means 52. The adhesive application roller 51 applies the adhesive N in the longitudinal direction of the lower surface of the sheet bundle Sa held in an upright state by the forward movement or reciprocation of the moving body 54.

  The layer thickness of the adhesive N applied to the outer peripheral surface of the rotating adhesive application roller 51 is regulated and made uniform by a scraping member (adhesive layer regulating member) 57.

<Adhesion between paper bundle and cover>
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the sheet bundle conveying means 40 and the square spine forming means 80 when the sheet bundle Sa and the cover sheet K are bonded.

  After completion of the adhesive application process to the sheet bundle Sa, the lifting / lowering means 86 moves the movable casing 84 to a raised position as a predetermined position by a driving means (not shown). At this raised position, the center portion of the cover sheet K placed on the pressure member 83 is pressed and adhered to the adhesive application surface of the sheet bundle Sa.

<Bending the cover>
7A and 7B are cross-sectional views of the spine forming unit 80 and the sheet bundle Sa showing the folding process of the cover sheet K. FIG. 7A shows the cover sheet folding start time, FIG. 7B shows the cover sheet folding intermediate condition, FIG. FIG. 7C shows the time when the cover folding is completed, and FIG. 7D shows the time when the cover bending pressurization is released.

  FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a production process of a booklet Sb using a sheet bundle Sa and a cover K. FIG. 8A is a perspective view of the cover K and the sheet bundle Sa before the cover sticking process, FIG. 8B is a perspective view of the sheet bundle Sa to which the cover K is attached, and FIG. 8C is a sheet bundle. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a booklet Sb produced by folding a cover K around Sa.

  After the cover sheet K is bonded to the sheet bundle Sa to which the adhesive N is adhered, the pair of molding members 87 are driven by a driving unit (not shown) in the raised state of the square back molding unit 80 shown in FIG. The gripping member 41 that grips the sheet bundle Sa descends. When the sheet bundle Sa is lowered, the cover sheet K is sandwiched and lowered by the pair of molding members 87, and is deformed from the side edge portion of the adhesive application surface of the sheet bundle Sa (see FIG. 7B).

  Thereafter, the pair of molding members 87 moves in the horizontal direction toward the adhesive application surface side of the sheet bundle Sa and presses and shapes both side surfaces of the sheet bundle Sa to form the booklet Sb.

  FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing the process of discharging the booklet Sb.

  FIG. 9A shows a state immediately before the booklet Sb is gripped by the gripping means 41 and the booklet Sb is discharged. At this time, the movable housing 84 that can move up and down while supporting the rotating discharge belt 88 is positioned at the lower first position P1, and the distance between the lower end of the gripping means 41 and the upper surface of the discharge belt 88 is H1. It is.

  FIG. 9B shows an open state in which the movable side of the gripping means 41 has moved in the direction of the outlined arrow. At this time, the movable casing 84 is located at the lower first position P1, and the distance between the lower end of the gripping means 41 and the upper surface of the discharge belt 88 is maintained at H1.

  By releasing the gripping means 41, the booklet Sb whose grip has been released falls, the lower end of the booklet Sb comes into contact with the upper surface of the discharge belt 88, and then slides along the upper surface of the rotating discharge belt 88. Thus, it tilts while moving to the left in the figure, and is tilted in the direction of the white arrow by the weight of the booklet Sb.

  FIG. 9C shows a state where the booklet Sb is placed on the upper surface of the discharge belt 88 and is discharged in the direction of the booklet discharge port 89.

  In the process of dropping, the upper end of the booklet Sb passes through the lower end of the gripping means 41 and comes into contact with the upper surface of the discharge belt 88, the movable casing 84 is raised by the lifting / lowering means 86 shown in FIG. It stops at the position P2. At this time, the distance between the lower end of the gripping means 41 and the upper surface of the discharge belt 88 is H2. Accordingly, the discharge belt 88 is moved from the upper first position P1 to the lower second position P2, and is reduced from the interval H1 to the interval H2, and the difference (H1-H2) in the interval of the discharge belt 88 is, for example, 60 mm.

  The booklet Sb is discharged from the second higher position P2 above and transported to the booklet storage device C from the booklet discharge port 89 shown in FIG. Thereby, since the booklet accommodation apparatus C receives the booklet Sb from a high position, the booklet Sb can be loaded and accommodated by a difference of (interval H1) − (interval H2). For example, when 50 sheets S are bound and bound, the thickness of the booklet Sb is about 5 mm for normal paper. Therefore, when the height difference of the discharge belt 88 is 60 mm, a large number of 12 booklets Sb are loaded and accommodated. I can do it.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus including an image forming apparatus main body, a bookbinding apparatus, and a booklet storage apparatus. Sectional drawing of the bookbinding apparatus which concerns on this invention. Sectional drawing of a sheet | seat bundle conveyance means and an adhesive agent application means. The side view of an adhesive agent application means and a holding means. The perspective view of an adhesive agent application means and a holding means. Sectional drawing of a sheet bundle conveying means and a cover sheet exterior means at the time of adhesion of a sheet bundle and a cover sheet. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a cover cover means and a sheet bundle showing a cover folding process. The perspective view which shows the preparation process of the booklet by a paper bundle and a cover. Sectional drawing which shows the discharge process of a booklet.

Explanation of symbols

40 Sheet bundle conveying means 41 Grip means 50 Adhesive application means 60 Cover sheet supply means 70 Cover sheet cutting means 80 Square back forming means 83 Pressure member 84 Moving casing 85 Alignment means 86 Lifting means 87 Molding member 88 Booklet discharge means (discharge belt) )
89 Booklet discharge port 91 Conveying belt 92 Discharge stand A Image forming apparatus body B Bookbinding apparatus (post-processing apparatus)
C Booklet storage device H1, H2 Height K Cover paper (cover)
N Adhesive (glue)
P1 First position P2 Second position S Recording paper (paper)
Sa Paper bundle Sb Booklet

Claims (2)

A sheet bundle conveying means for holding a sheet to be conveyed and holding the accumulated sheet bundle by a gripping means;
An adhesive application means for applying an adhesive to the back of the sheet bundle held by the gripping means;
A square back molding means for forming a square back by bending the cover paper by bringing the cover paper into contact with the back of the paper bundle to which the adhesive is applied, and attaching the cover paper.
A booklet discharge means located below the gripping means and for discharging the booklet formed by the square spine molding means;
A booklet storage device for storing the discharged booklet,
The booklet discharging means can be moved up and down by a lifting means between a first position for receiving a booklet from the gripping means and a second position for delivering the received booklet to the booklet storage device. position Ri position der of above said first position,
The bookbinding apparatus, wherein the square back molding means and the booklet discharge means are integrally moved up and down by the lifting means . An image forming apparatus main body for forming a document toner image based on document data on a recording sheet;
The bookbinding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bookbinding apparatus stacks and binds sheets discharged from the image forming apparatus main body.
An image forming apparatus comprising:

Images