JP5192322B2 - Paper post-processing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus that is attached to an image forming apparatus and performs predetermined processing on a sheet on which an image has been formed.

  A sheet attached to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, and having a function of stapling the sheet bundle by mixing image-formed sheets of different widths discharged from the image forming apparatus into a sheet bundle A post-processing apparatus is known (see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-306505

  This sheet post-processing apparatus has a processing tray on which sheets having different widths discharged from the image forming apparatus are stacked, and is provided with an offset roller that contacts the surface of the sheet stacked on the processing tray. The offset roller is controlled to move in the paper width direction, which is a direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction. Then, the offset roller is moved in the paper width direction while being in contact with the paper, and the paper is brought into contact with a positioning wall fixed at a predetermined position in the paper width direction so as to be aligned on one side of the paper width. This is a device that performs a stapling process after forming a sheet bundle.

  However, in such a paper post-processing apparatus, the offset roller comes into contact with the surface of the paper, so that the paper becomes dirty, and if the contact state slips, the paper is not moved to a predetermined position. This causes incomplete alignment and a problem that the appearance of the stitches and the sheet bundle deteriorates.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. Even when sheets having different sheet widths are mixed, the alignment state of the stack of sheets on which these sheets are stacked is improved, and problems such as needle omission are eliminated. Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet post-processing apparatus capable of reliably performing stapling.

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention

In order to solve the above-described problems, a sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a sheet stacking unit that stacks sheets to be post-processed. The sheet stacking unit transports and stacks sheets stacked on the sheet stacking unit. A sheet post-processing device that forms a bundle of sheets by abutting and aligning the upstream side with the rear end fence, and performs stapling on the rear end side of the bundle of sheets, the sheets having different sheet widths in the direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction In order to enable the stapling process to be performed on the bundle of sheets, the side edges of both sides in the sheet width direction of the wide sheet having a large sheet width are contacted and separated in the sheet width direction. A pair of first alignment means arranged to be movable and abutting against a side edge of the wide paper to perform an alignment operation, and inside the first alignment means, the paper being larger than the wide paper In the width direction of narrow paper with small width A side edge of the narrow paper is disposed on the side edge of the narrow paper so that the gap in the paper width direction is smaller than the paper width of the wide paper so as to be movable toward and away from each other in the paper width direction. And a pair of second aligning units that perform an aligning operation in contact with each other , and a retracting unit that retracts the second aligning unit from the operation region of the first aligning unit in the sheet thickness direction. Features.

  With the above configuration, even when sheets having different sheet widths are mixed, for example, a wide sheet having a large sheet width can be aligned by the pair of first aligning units that abut on the sheet width end and perform the aligning operation. . In addition, a narrow sheet having a small sheet width can be aligned by a pair of second aligning units that perform an aligning operation by contacting the sheet width end. As a result, it is possible to provide a sheet post-processing device capable of reliably aligning a sheet bundle in which sheets having different sheet widths are mixed without staining the surface of the sheet and capable of performing stapling processing without stapling.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the second aligning unit of the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention includes the narrow sheet stacked on the wide sheet aligned by the first aligning unit. By performing the alignment operation by moving in the sheet width direction, the narrow sheet can be aligned on the wide sheet held in the aligned state by the first aligning means. The alignment state of the wide paper is not incomplete and the appearance can be maintained well.

  In order to solve the above problem, the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the second aligning unit is made to wait in advance at a predetermined position based on the sheet width of the narrow sheet. As a result, when aligning the stacked narrow sheets, the position of the second aligning unit can be set to an appropriate position, thereby moving the second aligning unit when aligning narrow sheets having a small sheet width. Productivity can be improved because the distance is not unnecessarily increased and the alignment processing time can be shortened.

Further, in order to solve the above problems, the second matching means disposed on the inner side of the first matching unit of the sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention, by their respective independently said retreating means The first alignment means is retractable to the retraction position , and the first alignment means is arranged on the same side as one of the first alignment means so that one of the side edges of the narrow sheet can come into contact with one of the first alignment means. One of the two alignment means is retracted to the retracted position, and in this retracted state, the other of the second alignment means is brought into contact with the other side edge opposite to one of the side edges of the narrow paper. The narrow paper is aligned by bringing one of the side edges of the narrow paper into contact with one of the first aligning means, so that one of the narrow paper is aligned. The side edge can be aligned with one side edge of the wide paper and aligned at one corner on the corner of the paper stack. It may enable pull process.

Further, in order to solve the above problems, the second matching means disposed on the inner side of the first matching unit of the sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention, by their respective independently said retreating means When the stapling position in the stapling process is set at one position on the corner side closer to the one side in the paper width direction, the wide paper loaded on the paper stacking means is After alignment by the first alignment means, the same side as one of the first alignment means so that one of the side edges of the narrow paper can come into contact with one of the first alignment means One of the second aligning means is retracted to the retracted position, and the other of the second aligning means is retracted to the retracted position and one of the side edges of the narrow sheet stacked on the wide sheet. Is the narrow paper while abutting against the opposite side edge. One of the side edges is brought into contact with one of the first aligning means to perform the aligning operation of the narrow sheet, whereby one side edge of the narrow sheet is aligned with that of the wide sheet. It is possible to align it with a good appearance according to one side edge.

  In order to solve the above problem, when the stapling position in the stapling process of the paper post-processing apparatus of the present invention is set at two positions in the paper width direction of the paper bundle, the wide paper is on the lower layer side of the paper bundle. In the state of being stacked on the sheet stacking unit so as to form the sheet, the sheet width center of the narrow sheet stacked on the wide sheet is aligned after being aligned by the first aligning unit. By performing the aligning operation by moving the narrow sheet by the second aligning means so as to align with the sheet width center of the wide sheet, the sheet of the wide sheet and the narrow sheet is obtained. The bundle can be nicely aligned.

  In order to solve the above problem, the paper post-processing apparatus of the present invention prohibits the stapling process when the width of the narrow paper is smaller than the interval between the two stapling positions. With this feature, an unnecessary stapling process can be avoided, so that an easy-to-use sheet post-processing apparatus can be provided.

  In order to solve the above problem, when the stapling process stapling position of the paper post-processing apparatus of the present invention is set at two positions in the paper width direction of the paper bundle, the wide paper is on the lower layer side of the paper bundle. In the state of being stacked on the sheet stacking unit so as to form the sheet, the sheet width center of the narrow sheet stacked on the wide sheet is aligned after being aligned by the first aligning unit. By performing the alignment operation so that the narrow sheet is moved by the second aligning unit so as to be displaced by a predetermined width in the sheet width direction with respect to the sheet width center of the wide sheet. The user can set the paper position of the narrow paper in advance, and can provide an easy-to-use paper post-processing device.

  In order to solve the above problem, a warning is issued when the narrow sheet aligned by the second aligning unit of the sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention is out of one of the two stapling positions. With this feature, it is possible to avoid the production of stapling paper bundles that do not look good, and thus it is possible to provide an easy-to-use paper post-processing apparatus.

Further, in order to solve the above problems, the second matching means disposed on the inner side of the first matching unit of the sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention, by their respective independently said retreating means When the staple position can be retracted to the retract position and the stapling position in the stapling process is set at one corner on one side of the sheet bundle in the sheet width direction, the narrow sheet forms the lower layer side of the sheet bundle. One of the first aligning means so that one of the side edges of the narrow sheet can come into contact with one of the first aligning means in a state of being stacked on the sheet stacking means. One of the second aligning units on the same side as the second side is retracted to the retracted position, and in this retracted state, the other side of the second aligning unit is opposite to one of the side edges of the narrow paper. One of the side edges of the narrow paper is brought into contact with the first edge while being in contact with the first edge. And one to abut the engagement means, after alignment of the narrow sheet, the second matching means is retracted to the retracted position, it is stacked on the narrow sheet on which are aligned in this retracted state By aligning the wide sheet by the first aligning means, when aligning a sheet bundle in which wide sheets and narrow sheets are mixed, the narrow sheet can be aligned on the lower layer side, and The alignment state can be a state in which one side edge of a wide sheet aligned on a narrow sheet is aligned, so that the alignment in a state in which one side edge as a sheet bundle is aligned can be seen. .

Further, in order to solve the above problems, the second matching means disposed on the inner side of the first matching unit of the sheet post-processing apparatus of the present invention, by their respective independently said retreating means When the stapling position is set at two positions in the sheet width direction of the sheet bundle, the sheet stacking means is configured so that the narrow sheet forms the lower layer side of the sheet bundle. The second aligning unit is retracted to the retracted position in a state of being stacked on the narrow sheet, and the narrow sheet is aligned by the first aligning unit in the retracted state. The narrow sheet is moved by the first aligning means so as to align the sheet width center of the wide sheet stacked on the sheet with the sheet width center of the aligned narrow sheet. By characterizing When aligning a stack of wide sheets and narrow sheets, wide sheets and narrow sheets can be aligned using only the first aligning unit. For example, even if alignment failure occurs in the second aligning unit, the processing is performed. Since the first alignment means can perform continuous alignment processing without stopping, it is possible to provide a sheet post-processing apparatus that can always maintain productivity.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to examples shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a sheet post-processing apparatus 1 is connected to a sheet discharge port CP1 of an image forming apparatus CP such as a copying machine or a printer, and stacks continuously formed image-formed sheets S to form a sheet bundle SA. A staple processing unit 2 for performing staple (needle binding) processing and discharging is provided.

  The paper S is sequentially carried into the paper post-processing apparatus 1 from the image forming apparatus CP in the direction indicated by the arrow M. The sheet post-processing apparatus 1 has a conveyance path 3 for conveying the sheet S conveyed from the image forming apparatus CP to the staple processing unit 2.

  On the upstream side of the transport path 3, an entrance transport path 3a for receiving the sheet S from the image forming apparatus CP and transporting it to the downstream side is disposed. In the entrance transport path 3a, an entrance sensor 3a1, an entrance roller 3a2, and a transport roller 3a3 are provided. Further, on the downstream side of the entrance conveyance path 3a, branch claws 3b and 3c capable of switching the conveyance path 3 by on / off control of a solenoid (not shown) are provided. A proof conveyance path 3d, a shift conveyance path 3e, and a staple conveyance path 3f corresponding to the proof mode, the shift mode, and the staple mode are selected by the branch claws 3b and 3c.

  The proof conveyance path 3d in the proof mode is connected to the downstream side of the inlet conveyance path 3a via the branch claw 3b. A fixed proof tray 3d1 is disposed on the downstream side of the proof conveyance path 3d. The proof conveyance path 3d is provided with a conveyance roller 3d2 and a paper discharge roller 3d3, and the paper S is discharged onto the proof tray 3d1 and stacked by the conveyance roller 3d2 and the paper discharge roller 3d3.

  Further, the shift transport path 3e in the shift mode is connected to the downstream side of the entrance transport path 3a via the branch claws 3b and 3c. A discharge tray 4 that is controlled to move in the vertical direction is disposed on the downstream side of the shift conveyance path 3e. Further, the shift conveyance path 3e is provided with a conveyance roller 3e1 and a discharge roller 3e2, and the sheet S is discharged onto the discharge tray 4 and stacked by the conveyance roller 3e1 and the discharge roller 3e2.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the discharge tray 4 is controlled to move up and down by a drive mechanism 4a as a drive means. This drive mechanism 4a has a tray lifting / lowering motor 4a1, and the power generated by the tray lifting / lowering motor 4a1 is transmitted from the worm gear 4a2 to the worm wheel 4a3, the relay gear 4a4, and the gear 4a6 fixed to the drive shaft 4a5, The drive shaft 4a5 is controlled to rotate in a predetermined direction. A driven shaft 4a7 is provided below the drive shaft 4a5 so as to be paired with the drive shaft 4a5. A tray drive belt 4a9 is wound between a pulley 4a8 provided at both ends of the driven shaft 4a7 and a pulley 4a8 provided at both ends of the drive shaft 4a5. The tray driving belt 4a9 is connected to the discharge tray 4. The tray driving belt 4a9 moves the discharge tray 4 up and down.

  In addition, a sensor (not shown) that can detect the height position of the discharge tray 4 in the vertical direction is provided. The sensor detects the height of the discharge tray 4 and detects the sheet S stacked on the upper surface of the discharge tray 4. The height is controlled to be constant. The drive mechanism 4a for the discharge tray 4 is provided with a lower limit position detection sensor (full sensor) 5a, an intermediate position detection sensor (intermediate full sensor) 5b, and a tray home position detection sensor (paper out detection sensor) 5c. Each sensor is turned on and off by the detection piece 4b protruding from the discharge tray 4.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the staple conveyance path 3f in the staple mode is connected to the downstream side of the inlet conveyance path 3a via the branch claws 3b and 3c. A staple processing unit 2 is disposed and connected to the downstream side of the staple transport path 3f. The staple conveyance path 3f is provided with a conveyance roller 3f1 and a discharge roller 3f2. The sheet S is carried into the staple processing unit 2 by the conveyance roller 3f1 and the discharge roller 3f2.

  The staple processing unit 2 includes a staple tray 6 as a paper stacking unit, a tapping roller 7, a paper width aligning unit 8, a stapler 9 (needle binding device), a paper discharge mechanism 6c, and the like.

  On the staple tray 6, the sheets S discharged from the discharge roller 3f2 of the staple transport path 3f are stacked. The staple tray 6 is disposed in an inclined manner with the front end side, which is the downstream side in the paper transport direction F, being the upper side and the rear end side, which is the upstream side in the paper transport direction F, is the lower side. A rear end fence 6 a is provided on the rear end side of the staple tray 6. When the rear end fence 6a is fixed to the staple tray 6, a part of the rear end fence 6a is notched so as not to interfere at a position corresponding to the staple position so that the staple processing by the stapler 9 is possible. As shown in FIG. 3, two rear end fences 6 a are formed and controlled to move in the paper width direction F <b> 1, which is a direction orthogonal to the paper transport direction F, at a position corresponding to the staple position by the stapler 9. It is also possible not to interfere. The staple tray 6 is provided with a paper presence sensor 6b that detects the presence or absence of the paper S on the staple tray 6.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the staple tray 6 is provided with a paper discharge mechanism 6c for discharging the sheet bundle SA on the staple tray 6 to the discharge tray 4 side. As shown in FIG. 4, the paper discharge mechanism 6 c is provided with a discharge belt 6 c 1 along the paper width center CL in the staple tray 6. On the outer periphery of the discharge belt 6c1, two discharge claws 6c2 are arranged with a predetermined interval (see FIG. 1). The discharge belt 6c1 is connected to a discharge belt drive motor 6c3, and the discharge claw 6c2 is driven by the operation of the discharge belt drive motor 6c3.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a discharge roller 3f2 of the staple conveyance path 3f is disposed in front of the rear end fence 6a on the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction F. Then, the rear end of the paper S placed on the staple tray 6 is abutted against the rear end fence 6a, and alignment in the paper transport direction F is performed.

  The taki roller 7 used for alignment of the trailing edge of the sheet S is provided so as to be in contact with the surface of the sheet S discharged from the discharge roller 3f2 of the staple conveying path 3f and press the sheet S downward. It is done. Further, the tacho roller 7 is given a pendulum motion by a roller driving solenoid 7c about an axis of rotation 7b via an arm 7a, and is dropped onto the staple tray 6 for each sheet S to be discharged. The rotary roller 7 is rotated around a black arrow by a roller rotation motor (not shown), and the rear end of the paper S abuts against the rear end fence 6a.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the sheet width matching unit 8 includes a wide sheet S1 having a large sheet width W having a different length in the sheet width direction F1 of the sheet S, and a narrow sheet having a sheet width W smaller than the wide sheet S1. In the state where S2 is mixed, a main alignment unit 8a as a first alignment unit for performing width alignment in the paper width direction F1 and a sub-alignment unit 8b as a second alignment unit are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the main aligning portion 8a is discharged onto the staple tray 6 and the rear end of the main aligning portion 8a is abutted against the rear end fence 6a to be aligned in the sheet width direction F1 of the wide sheet S1. A pair of jogger fences 8a1 are disposed on the sides of the side edges S1a on both sides. The jogger fence 8a1 is disposed so as to be able to move in and out of synchronization in synchronism such that the mutual interval in the paper width direction F1 is increased or reduced. Further, the jogger fence 8a1 is connected to a timing belt 8a3 driven by a jogger motor 8a2 capable of forward and reverse rotation, and is controlled to reciprocate in the paper width direction F1 by the operation of the timing belt 8a3. By making contact with the side edge S1a, alignment in the paper width direction F1 becomes possible.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the sub-alignment portion 8b as the second alignment means is inside the jogger fence 8a1 constituting the main alignment portion 8a and is wider than the paper width of the wide paper S1. A pair of sub jogger fences 8b1 is disposed on the side of the side edge S2a on both sides of the sheet width direction F1 of the narrow sheet S2 with a small interval in the sheet width direction. The sub jogger fences 8b1 are arranged so as to be movable toward and away from each other so that the mutual interval in the paper width direction F1 is increased or reduced. Specifically, the timing belt 8b4 is engaged with holders 8b2 that are independently provided on both sides in the paper width direction F1, and the holder 8b2 is driven by a lateral movement drive motor 8b3 that is provided independently. By being connected and reciprocating independently in the paper width direction F1 by the operation of the timing belt 8b4, it is brought into contact with the side edges S2a on both sides of the narrow paper S2, and the alignment in the paper width direction F1 is performed. It becomes possible.

  Further, the sub jogger fence 8b1 can be rotated around the jogger shaft 8b5. In other words, the engaging protrusion 8b6 protruding from the jogger shaft 8b5 is connected to the retracting solenoid 8b8 via the spring 8b7. By the on / off control of the retracting solenoid 8b8, the sub jogger fence 8b1 is positioned on the staple tray 6 or on the wide paper S1, and is aligned with the side edge S2a on both sides of the narrow paper S2, and the jogger fence 8a1. It is possible to move between a retreat position as an outside position (above the staple tray 6) that does not interfere with the jogger fence 8a1.

  The stapler 9 is used for stapling the rear end side of the sheet bundle SA that is brought into contact with the rear end fence 6a of the staple tray 6 and aligned. As shown in FIG. 6, the stapler 9 is driven via a timing belt 9b by a stapler moving motor 9a capable of forward and reverse rotation, and moves in the sheet width direction F1 in order to bind a predetermined position of the sheet bundle SA. A home position sensor 9c for detecting the home position of the stapler 9 is provided at one end of the moving range, and the staple position in the paper width direction F1 is controlled by the amount of movement of the stapler 9 from the home position. . Note that the paper width direction F1 is, for example, the paper short side direction in the case of paper vertical feed, and the paper long side direction in the case of paper horizontal feed.

  The sheet post-processing apparatus 1 includes a control device 10. As shown in FIG. 7, the control device 10 is composed of a microcomputer having a CPU 11, an I / O interface 12, and the like. Each switch and the like of a control panel (not shown) of the image forming apparatus CP main body, an entrance sensor 3a1, a paper presence sensor 6b, signals from various sensors such as a discharge belt home position sensor, a staple moving home position sensor, a jogger fence home position sensor, and a sub jogger fence home position sensor are input to the CPU 11 via the I / O interface 12.

  Further, the CPU 11 performs a transport motor (not shown) that drives each transport roller in the transport path 3 (the entrance transport path 3a, the proof transport path 3d, the shift transport path 3e, and the staple transport path 3e) based on the input signal. A conveyance motor (not shown) for driving the branching claws 3b and 3c for switching the path from the conveyance path 3a to the proof conveyance path 3d, the shift conveyance path 3e, or the staple conveyance path 3e; a roller rotation motor for rotating the tray lifting motor 4a1 and the tapping roller 7; A roller driving solenoid 7c, a conveying motor for driving each conveying roller, a discharging motor for driving each discharging roller, a driving motor 6c3 for driving the discharge belt 6c1, a stapler moving motor 9a for moving the stapler 9, and a jogger fence 8a1. Moving jogger motor 8a2, sub jogger fence 8b Traverse driving motor 8b3 to move, branching claw 3b, branching claw drive motor for operating the 3c, controlling the driving of such rear end fence moving motor for moving the rear end fence 6a. This control is performed by the CPU 11 executing a program written in a ROM (not shown) while using a RAM (not shown) as a work area.

  Next, the operation of the sheet post-processing apparatus 1 according to the present invention will be described. In FIG. 1, when the proof mode is selected for the transport mode of the paper S, the paper transport path of the paper S is switched to the proof transport path 3d by the branching claw 3b and passes through the transport roller 3d2 and the paper discharge roller 3d3. Then, they are sequentially stacked on the probe tray 3d1. When the shift mode is selected, the paper conveyance path is switched to the shift conveyance path 3e by the branch claw 3b, and the paper is sequentially stacked on the discharge tray 4 via the conveyance roller 3e1 and the discharge roller 3e2.

  When the staple mode is selected, the sheet conveyance path is switched to the staple conveyance path 3f by the branching claw 3b, and the sheets are sequentially stacked on the staple tray 6 via the conveyance roller 3f1 and the discharge roller 3f2.

  Various staple processing procedures (see FIG. 18) on the staple tray 6 when this staple mode is selected will be described. First, in the normal stapling mode for stapling the basic paper S having the same width, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the sub jogger fence 8b1 is moved laterally from the inside of the jogger fence 8a1 to the lateral movement drive motor 8b3. , The jogger fence 8a1 is moved from the home position in synchronization with the paper width W of the paper S to be discharged to the staple tray 6, and is separated from the outside by about 7 mm. Wait at the standby position. When the paper S is detected by the staple paper discharge sensor 3f3 in the staple transport path 3f, the jogger fence 8a1 further moves in synchronization. Further, when the paper S is guided to the staple tray 6 by the paper discharge roller 3f2, the staple paper discharge sensor 3f3 detects that when the paper trailing edge passes, and the signal is input to the CPU 11.

  The CPU 11 counts the number of pulses transmitted from a motor (not shown) that drives the paper discharge roller 3f2 from the time this signal is received, and turns on the roller drive solenoid 7c after transmitting a predetermined pulse. As shown in FIG. 3, the takikoro 7 performs a pendulum motion by turning on and off the roller drive solenoid 7c, and when it is on, strikes the paper S to return downward, and abuts against the rear end fence 6a to perform paper alignment. In this case, for each sheet S, alignment of the rear end side on the upstream side in the sheet conveyance direction F is performed by the tapping roller 7. Thereafter, the jogger fence 8a1 as the first aligning means is further moved inward by the jogger motor 8a2 to perform the width alignment in the paper width direction F1. The jogger fence 8a1 then moves outward, returns to the standby position, and waits for the next sheet S. This operation is performed up to the last page. After that, it again moves inward and stops, and both sides of the sheet bundle SA are pressed to prepare for the stapling operation. Further, it is possible to perform alignment by using the sub jogger fence 8b1 as the second alignment means instead of the jogger fence 8a1 as the first alignment means.

  Then, the stapler 9 is driven by the staple signal from the control means 11, and the stapling process is performed. The sheet bundle SA subjected to the stapling process is immediately operated by the control device 11 with the discharge belt 6c1 having the discharge claw 6c2 of the paper discharge mechanism 6c, and the discharge claw 6c2 provided on the discharge belt 6c1 is used to The paper is discharged to the discharge tray 4 while the rear end side is pushed. If two or more bindings are designated at this time, after one binding process is completed, the staple moving motor 9a is driven, the stapler 9 is moved to an appropriate position, and the second stapling process is performed. .

  Next, in the case of aligning with the wide sheet S1 in the sheet bundle SA in the different width size mixed staple mode (see FIG. 18) as the wide sheet S1 and the upper layer side as the narrow sheet S2, as shown in FIG. Similarly, the sub jogger fence 8b1 is moved to an outside position where it does not interfere with the jogger fence 8a1, and the jogger fence 8a1 is moved synchronously from the home position, and is about 7 mm on one side from the paper width W of the wide paper S1 discharged to the staple tray 6. , Wait at the outer standby position. Thereafter, in the same manner as described above, the jogger motor 8a2 performs the width alignment up to the last page of the wide paper S1, and presses both side edges on the lower layer side of the paper bundle SA to prepare for the next narrow paper S2.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 9, when the narrow paper S2 is sequentially fed onto the wide paper S1, the sub jogger fence 8b1 is loaded on the wide paper S1 from the standby position by the operation of the retracting solenoid 8b. The narrow edge sheet S2 is moved to a sheet alignment position opposite to the side edges S2a on both sides of the narrow sheet S2, and then the side edges S2a on both sides of the narrow sheet S2 are aligned by sequentially operating the lateral movement drive motor 8b3. Even at the time of this alignment, the rear end edge on the upstream side in the sheet conveyance direction F is aligned by the tacho roller 7 as described above. In the same manner as described above, stapling processing is performed at a predetermined position by the stapler 9, and finally a sheet bundle SA in which the lower layer side is the wide sheet S1 and the upper layer side is the narrow sheet S2 is discharged by the sheet discharge mechanism 6c. 4 is discharged. At the time of alignment of the narrow paper S2, the sub jogger fence 8b1 can be kept in a predetermined position in advance based on the paper width W of the narrow paper S2 input to the control device 11 in advance.

  Further, the narrow paper S2 can be aligned by the cooperation of the jogger fence 8a1 and the sub jogger fence 8b1. That is, as shown in FIG. 10, the sub jogger fence 8b1 of the second alignment means is independent from the inner position between the jogger fence 8a1 of the first alignment means to the outer position that does not interfere with the jogger fence 8a1. Since one of the side edges S2a of the narrow paper S2 is in contact with one side of the jogger fence 8a1, one of the sub jogger fences 8b1 on the same side as one side of the jogger fence 8a1 is moved to the outside position. The other end of the sub jogger fence 8b1 is brought into contact with the other side edge S2a opposite to one of the side edges S2a of the narrow paper S2, while one of the side edges S2a of the narrow paper S2 is jogged. The narrow sheet S2 can be aligned by contacting the fence 8a1. In the other operation procedures, some of the procedures similar to the above are omitted.

  Further, using the procedure by the cooperation of the jogger fence 8a1 and the sub jogger fence 8b1, the stapling position in the sheet bundle SA composed of the wide sheet S1 and the narrow sheet S2 is set in the sheet width direction F1 of the sheet bundle SA. As shown in FIG. 11, after the alignment of the wide paper S1 on the staple tray 6 is performed by the jogger fence 8a1, The narrow sheet S2 is aligned by the cooperation of the jogger fence 8a1 and the sub jogger fence 8b1, and then the staple 9 is moved to the corner side of the sheet bundle SA to perform the stapling process. In the other operation procedures, some of the procedures similar to the above are omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 12, when the stapling position in the stapling process is set at two positions in the sheet width direction F1 of the sheet bundle SA, the sheet width center CL of the narrow sheet S2 is set to the sheet of the aligned wide sheet S1. The alignment operation can be performed by moving the narrow sheet S2 by the sub jogger fence 8b1 so as to match the width center CL. In the other operation procedures, some of the procedures similar to the above are omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 13, when the stapling position in the stapling process is set at two positions in the sheet width direction F1 of the sheet bundle SA, the narrow sheet S2 may not be stapled. When the paper width W of the narrow paper S2 is smaller than the staple interval X1, the stapling process by the staple 9 can be prohibited. In the other operation procedures, some of the procedures similar to the above are omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 14, when the stapling position in the stapling process is set at two positions in the sheet width direction F1 of the sheet bundle SA, the sheet width of the narrow sheet S2 on the wide sheet S1 aligned by the jogger fence 8a1. The narrow sheet S2 is moved by the sub jogger fence 8b1 so that the center CL is displaced by the predetermined width W1 in the sheet width direction F1 with respect to the sheet width center CL of the aligned wide sheet S1. The action can be performed. In the other operation procedures, some of the procedures similar to the above are omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 15, when the stapling position in the stapling process is set at two positions in the sheet width direction F1 of the sheet bundle SA, the sheet width center CL on the wide sheet S1 aligned by the jogger fence 8a1 is used. Then, after the alignment operation is performed by moving the sub-jogger fence 8b1 so that the paper width center CL of the narrow paper S2 is displaced by the predetermined width W1 in the paper width direction F1, the paper width of the wide paper S1 When the distance L3 from the sheet width center CL of the narrow sheet S2 to the side edge S2a is smaller than the distance L1 from the center CL to the staple position T and the distance L2 to which the narrow sheet S2 is moved. Can send a warning from the control device 11 that the stapling process cannot be bound in one place on the image forming apparatus CP main body. In the other operation procedures, some of the procedures similar to the above are omitted.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 16, the lower layer side of the sheet bundle SA is aligned with the narrow sheet S2, and the upper layer side is aligned with the wide sheet S1, and then the staple position in the stapling process is set to 1 on the corner side of the sheet bundle SA. As an example of the procedure in the case of setting the position, one side of the sub jogger fence 8b1 on the same side as one side of the jogger fence 8a1 is placed so that one side edge S2a of the narrow paper S2 contacts one side of the jogger fence 8a1. The side edge S2a of the narrow paper S2 is retracted to the outside position and the other side edge S2a opposite to one of the side edges S2a of the narrow paper S2 is brought into contact with the other side of the sub jogger fence 8b1. One of them is brought into contact with one of the jogger fences 8a1, the narrow sheet S2 is aligned, and then the pair of sub jogger fences 8b1 are retracted to the outside position. The jogger fence 8a1 is synchronously moved from the home position, and is about 7 mm on one side from the paper width W of the wide paper S2 which is sent on the narrow paper S2 on the lower layer side of the paper bundle SA. stand by. After that, as described above, the jogger motor 8a2 performs the width alignment up to the last page of the wide paper S1, and presses both side edges S1a of the wide paper S1 on the upper layer side of the paper bundle SA to prepare for the next stapling process. . In the other operation procedures, some of the procedures similar to the above are omitted.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 17, the lower layer side of the sheet bundle SA is aligned with the narrow sheet S2, and the upper layer side is aligned with the wide sheet S1, and then the staple position in the stapling process is the sheet width direction F1 of the sheet bundle SA. As an example of the procedure for setting the two positions, the pair of sub jogger fences 8b1 is retracted to the outside position, and then the narrow paper S2 fed to the staple tray 6 is aligned by the pair of jogger fences 8a1, The wide sheet S1 sent on the aligned narrow sheet S2 is aligned by a pair of jogger fences 8a1, and the sheet bundle SA is formed with the narrow sheet S2 on the lower layer side and the wide sheet S1 on the upper layer side. Alignment can be performed. Thereafter, stapling is performed in the same manner as described above. In the other operation procedures, some of the procedures similar to the above are omitted.

  The above configuration is an exemplification, and the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications are possible. The sheet post-processing device 1 can be configured by combining the components of each embodiment, and the control device 11 can also be configured. It is also possible to select and combine the operations of the pair of jogger fences 8a1 serving as the first matching means and the pair of sub jogger fences 8b1 serving as the second matching means.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention. The principal part block diagram of a discharge tray. The schematic block diagram of a staple processing part. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of a staple processing unit. The schematic side view of a staple processing part. FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a stapler of a staple processing unit. The block diagram of a control apparatus. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of alignment by a paper width alignment unit. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of alignment by a paper width alignment unit. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of alignment by the sheet width alignment unit. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of alignment by the sheet width alignment unit. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of alignment by the sheet width alignment unit. The figure which shows the positional relationship of the wide paper of a paper bundle, and a narrow paper. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another example of the positional relationship between a wide sheet and a narrow sheet in a sheet bundle. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another example of the positional relationship between a wide sheet and a narrow sheet in a sheet bundle. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of alignment by the sheet width alignment unit. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of alignment by the sheet width alignment unit. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an alignment procedure by a paper width alignment unit.

Explanation of symbols

1 Paper post-processing device 6 Paper stacking means (staple tray)
8a1 First alignment means (jogger fence)
8b1 Second alignment means (sub jogger fence)
F Paper transport direction F1 Paper width direction S Paper S1 Wide paper SA Paper bundle S1a, S2a Side edge S2 Narrow paper W Paper width

Claims (11)

A sheet stacking unit for stacking sheets to be post-processed; and a sheet bundle formed by abutting and aligning the upstream side in the sheet transport direction of the sheet transported and stacked on the sheet stacking unit against the rear end fence ; A paper post-processing apparatus that performs a stapling process on a rear end side of the paper bundle,
In order to enable the stapling process to be performed on the sheet bundle in which sheets having different sheet widths in the direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction are mixed, side edges on both sides in the sheet width direction of the wide sheet having a large sheet width among the sheets. A pair of first alignment means disposed on the sides of the edge so as to be movable toward and away from each other in the paper width direction and performing an alignment operation by contacting the side edge of the wide paper;
Inside the first aligning means, on the side of the side edge on both sides in the paper width direction of the narrow paper having a paper width smaller than that of the wide paper, in the paper width direction than the paper width of the wide paper A pair of second aligning means that are arranged so as to be movable toward and away from each other in the paper width direction and perform an aligning operation in contact with the side edge of the narrow paper;
A retracting means for retracting the second aligning means from the operating area of the first aligning means in the sheet thickness direction;
A sheet post-processing apparatus comprising:   2. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second aligning unit moves the narrow sheet stacked on the wide sheet aligned by the first aligning unit in the sheet width direction. And a sheet post-processing apparatus characterized by performing a matching operation.   2. The paper post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second aligning unit is made to wait in advance at a predetermined position based on a paper width of the narrow paper. In the sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said second matching means disposed on the inner side of the first matching means, their respective independently are retractable to the retracted position by the retreating means ,
One of the second aligning means on the same side as one of the first aligning means, so that one of the side edges of the narrow paper can come into contact with one of the first aligning means, The side of the narrow sheet is retracted to the retracted position, and in this retracted state, the other side of the second alignment means is brought into contact with the other side edge opposite to one of the side edges of the narrow sheet. A sheet post-processing apparatus, wherein one of the end edges is brought into contact with one of the first aligning means to perform the aligning operation of the narrow sheet. In the sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said second matching means disposed on the inner side of the first matching means, their respective independently are retractable to the retracted position by the retreating means ,
When the stapling position in the stapling process is set at one corner on the corner side of the sheet bundle in the sheet width direction, the wide sheet stacked on the sheet stacking unit is aligned by the first aligning unit. After
One of the second aligning means on the same side as one of the first aligning means, so that one of the side edges of the narrow paper can come into contact with one of the first aligning means, Retreat to the retracted position, and in this retracted state, the other of the second aligning means contacts the other side edge opposite to one of the side edges of the narrow sheet stacked on the wide sheet. The sheet post-processing apparatus is configured to perform the alignment operation of the narrow sheet by causing one of the side edges of the narrow sheet to contact one of the first aligning units. 2. The paper post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the stapling position in the stapling process is set at two positions in the paper width direction of the paper bundle, the wide paper forms the lower layer side of the paper bundle. After being aligned by the first alignment means in a state of being loaded on the loading means,
The narrow sheet is moved by the second aligning means so that the sheet width center of the narrow sheet loaded on the wide sheet is aligned with the sheet width center of the aligned wide sheet. A sheet post-processing apparatus that performs an alignment operation.   7. The paper post-processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein when the paper width of the narrow paper is smaller than the interval between the two stapling positions, the stapling process is prohibited. . 2. The paper post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the stapling position of the stapling process is set at two positions in the paper width direction of the paper bundle, the wide paper forms a lower layer side of the paper bundle. After being aligned by the first alignment means in a state of being loaded on the loading means,
The narrow sheet is moved so that the center of the width of the narrow sheet stacked on the wide sheet is displaced by a predetermined width in the sheet width direction with respect to the center of the width of the aligned wide sheet. A sheet post-processing apparatus that performs an alignment operation so as to be moved by a second alignment means.   9. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a warning is issued when the narrow sheet aligned by the second aligning unit deviates from one of the two stapling positions. apparatus. In the sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said second matching means disposed on the inner side of the first matching means, their respective independently are retractable to the retracted position by the retreating means ,
When the stapling position in the stapling process is set at one corner on the corner side of the sheet bundle in the sheet width direction, the narrow sheet is placed on the sheet stacking unit so as to form the lower layer side of the sheet bundle. In the stacked state, the second edge on the same side as one of the first aligning means is arranged so that one of the side edges of the narrow paper can come into contact with one of the first aligning means. One of the aligning means is retracted to the retracted position, and in this retracted state, the other of the second aligning means is brought into contact with the other side edge opposite to one of the side edges of the narrow paper. After aligning one of the side edges of the narrow paper with one of the first aligning means and aligning the narrow paper,
The second alignment unit is retracted to the retracted position, and the wide sheet stacked on the narrow sheet aligned in the retracted state is aligned by the first alignment unit. Processing equipment. In the sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said second matching means disposed on the inner side of the first matching means, their respective independently are retractable to the retracted position by the retreating means ,
When setting the stapling position of the stapling process at two places in the paper width direction of the paper bundle, the narrow paper is stacked on the paper stacking means so as to form a lower layer side of the paper bundle, The second aligning unit is retracted to the retracted position, and the narrow sheet is aligned by the first aligning unit in the retracted state, and then the wide sheet stacked on the narrow sheet is loaded. A sheet post-processing characterized in that an alignment operation is performed by moving the narrow sheet by the first aligning means so that the sheet width center is aligned with the sheet width center of the aligned narrow sheet. apparatus.

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