JP5273601B2 - Paper post-processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance alignment accuracy regardless of a size of paper size and the state of folding when alignment is performed relative to the paper, i.e., an object to be treated. <P>SOLUTION: The paper posterior treatment device receives at least the paper, i.e., an object to be treated on a tray, performs alignment in a width direction of the paper and executes predetermined paper posterior treatment. The posterior treatment device is provided with a pair of large jogger movement part 110 and small jogger movement part 120 arranged at a side end side in a conveying direction of the paper respectively and abutted on a side end of the paper on the tray to perform the alignment action; and a control part 101 for controlling the alignment action by the large jogger movement part 110 and the small jogger movement part 120. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a paper post-processing apparatus that is provided on a paper discharge side of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, and that has a paper alignment mechanism that aligns the vertical and horizontal directions of discharged paper. The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus that can perform sheet bundle alignment with high accuracy.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a sheet post-processing apparatus that receives sheets discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer and sorts them in alignment with a bundle of sheets or performs binding processing (staple processing) in alignment is known. ing. For example, in Patent Document 1, as an aligning means for aligning the sheets stacked on the paper discharge tray, after the paper discharged from the discharge means is completely stacked on the paper discharge tray, the paper is parallel to the paper discharge direction. A sheet-like medium processing apparatus is disclosed in which a pair of aligning members are brought into contact with and separated from the end surface to align the position of the sheet end surface. In a normal sheet post-processing apparatus, when stapling is performed, sheets are once loaded on a staple tray and aligned by a jogger, and then a binding process is performed by a stapler. Thus, conventionally, the aligning member is performed by an integral fence.

JP 2006-206332 A

  However, in the conventional sheet post-processing apparatus as described above, when aligning sheets carried from the image forming apparatus, in the case of the conventional pair of alignment members, the alignment members are integrated. Even when a folded sheet or a sheet having a variation in width (a narrow width of the sheet) is received, the side surface of the sheet is pushed with a uniform force and a uniform width. For this reason, the sheet is aligned on the basis of the widest portion of the sheet, and it becomes difficult to control the alignment quality of the narrow sheet portion. Further, when the aligning member is a pair, the aligning members are aligned according to the surface of the parts, so that there is a problem that the influence on the aligning accuracy is increased.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to improve the alignment accuracy when alignment is performed on a sheet to be processed regardless of the size of the sheet or the state of folding.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the invention according to claim 1 accepts at least a sheet to be processed on a tray, performs alignment in the width direction of the sheet, and executes predetermined sheet post-processing. A first and second aligning means which are arranged in pairs on the side end side in the sheet transport direction and operate in contact with the side end of the sheet on the tray; Alignment operation control means for controlling the alignment operation by the first and second alignment means, and one of the first and second alignment means is positioned at a position near the rear end of the sheet. After the alignment means on the paper front end side of the first and second alignment means performs preliminary alignment, the alignment means in the vicinity of the paper front end side performs alignment operation larger in the width direction than the preliminary alignment. , and performs the alignment

The invention according to claim 2, wherein the first and second matching means, on one side is divided into two, the other features a Rukoto such integrally fence without dividing.

The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the first and second aligning means operate corresponding to the size of the paper.

  In the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention, the aligning members are independent of each other as the first and second aligning means, and the Z-folding is performed by aligning the position where the alignment width of the sheet received by the sheet post-processing apparatus is to be aligned. Even when a paper sheet or a paper sheet having a variation in width (a narrow paper width) is received, it is possible to align the desired portions. As a result, there is an effect that the alignment quality of the sheet bundle can be improved.

  Exemplary embodiments of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment)
The present invention solves the following specific problems in the prior art. First, when aligning sheets carried in from the image forming apparatus, in the case of a conventional pair of aligning members, the aligning members are integrated. Even when a paper with a wide and narrow shape is received, the side of the paper is pushed with a uniform force and a uniform width. For this reason, the sheet is aligned on the basis of the widest portion of the sheet, and it becomes difficult to control the alignment quality of the narrow sheet portion. In addition, when the aligning member is a pair, the aligning members are aligned according to the surface of the component of the aligning member, so that the effect on the aligning quality of the component quality is increased.

  Secondly, in the case of a conventional pair of aligning members that align sheets, alignment is performed at the end of the sheet. In order to improve the alignment quality, even when it is desired to press (align) near the base of the paper, the entire paper is pressed (aligned). As a result, paper misalignment occurs and the alignment quality decreases. Third, in the case of the conventional technique, the aligning member is installed at a position far from the position to be aligned, and must wait until the trailing edge of the sheet passes through the discharge roller. Then, the operation starts after the trailing edge of the sheet has passed through the sheet discharge roller. This is to prevent a paper jam or the like when the paper is discharged. With such a prior art configuration, even when it is desired to move the aligning member at a fast timing in order to improve productivity, the waiting time until the paper exits the paper discharge roller cannot be shortened.

  Fourth, in the case of the prior art, a method is adopted in which the end of the paper is brought into contact with each surface of the pair of aligning members, and the sheet bundle is aligned according to the surfaces of the pair of aligning members. Alignment quality is affected by accuracy. Therefore, when aligning sheets with high accuracy, it is necessary to increase the component accuracy of the aligning member. However, increasing the component accuracy leads to an increase in cost and a margin. Fifth, when aligning with a pair of aligning members as in the prior art, the uniform aligning operation is performed with the integrated aligning member, so the sheets may not be aligned with several aligning operations. Furthermore, in the case of a long aligning member of the prior art, alignment is performed on the surface of the aligning member, so that the alignment quality is affected by the surface accuracy of the member. In the case of a short aligning member, there is a problem that the sheet is skewed during the aligning operation depending on the alignment position (position where the sheet is pressed) and the alignment speed (speed where the alignment member is pressed). Sixth, in the case of the prior art, the same alignment member is used regardless of the paper size. However, when paper of different sizes is carried in from the image forming apparatus, the center of gravity of the paper differs depending on the size of the paper, and the position where the paper is easily aligned is also different. Therefore, there is a problem that the sheet is inclined during alignment. Hereinafter, specific examples for solving these problems will be described.

  FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes a sheet post-processing apparatus that performs post-processing on a sheet to be described later, and reference numeral 200 denotes an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet, such as a copying machine or a printer. The sheet post-processing apparatus 100 is configured to branch a sheet to the transport paths A, B, C, and D and perform a predetermined process according to a post-processing mode according to an instruction from the image forming apparatus 200. The transport path A is a proof mode, B1 and B2 are binding processing modes, the transport path C is a shift sorting mode, and the transport path D is a saddle stitching mode.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 is provided at the upper part of the apparatus, and a proof tray for stacking sheets from the image forming apparatus 200, reference numeral 20 is a staple unit for aligning and binding the sheet bundle in the binding processing mode, and reference numeral 40 is in the sheet bundle. The saddle stitching units 60a and 60b that perform the binding are elevating / discharging trays that can stack / shift and stack sheets discharged after processing or through the through path. In this example, the elevating / discharging tray is shown in a two-stage configuration, but the present invention is not limited to this and may be one stage. Reference numerals 80 to 82 are staple discharge sensors, reference numeral 83 is a proof tray discharge sensor, reference numeral 84 is a straight path discharge sensor, and reference numeral 105 is a receiving sensor. In addition, although not shown, each sensor used for conveyance timing and jam detection, a branch claw, a solenoid, and the like are provided. Details of these units will be described later.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the paper post-processing apparatus 100 is provided with various processing units such as shift sorting and stapling. Sub-conveyance paths are provided in five directions (A, B1, B2, C, D) downstream of the sheet receiving unit on the main sheet conveyance path. This sub-transport path is divided into directions for processing the proof tray 10, the straight (through path), the staple unit 20, and the saddle stitching unit 40, and the branch claw is installed in a state where the branch claw can swing. Yes. The proof branching claw (not shown) is “switching between proof conveyance and straight conveyance”, the staple branching claw (not shown) is “switching between straight conveyance and staple conveyance”, and the branching claw toward the saddle stitching unit 40 (not shown). Is swingable so that The shaft end of the proof branch claw and the staple branch claw is connected to a swing means (not shown) for swinging the branch claw (for example, a drive mechanism using a solenoid as a drive source).

  A processing unit is not provided on the downstream side of the proof tray 104 (upper portion in FIG. 1), and only the proof tray 104 that receives discharged paper is provided as a discharge destination. Further, a shift unit that shifts the sheet in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction is attached to the downstream side of the sub-transport path “straight”, and on the downstream side, the lifting / lowering sheet discharge tray 60a that receives the discharged sheet is provided. Is attached. Further, a tray for receiving the stapled bundle of sheets is attached to the downstream side of the staple unit 20. The staple unit 20 is configured to selectively perform end face binding and saddle stitching by sliding the stapler in accordance with an instruction from the operation unit 202.

  As shown in the figure, the sheet conveying apparatus 100 is attached to the sheet discharge side of the image forming apparatus 200, accepts the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus 200, and inputs an instruction from the operation unit 202 of the image forming apparatus 200. Thus, post-processing such as stapling and sorting is performed.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the control system of the sheet post-processing apparatus of FIG. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 101 includes a microcomputer system, and a control unit that controls the entire sheet post-processing apparatus 100. A sensor 106 is provided in the middle of each conveyance path, and a conveyance sensor group for detecting, for example, an optical sensor, a conveyance timing of a sheet and a conveyance jam (paper jam, etc.), and numerals 80 and 81.82 are for a stapled sheet bundle. A staple paper discharge sensor (see FIG. 1) for detecting the paper discharge state by an optical sensor, for example, 110 is a large jogger moving unit, 120 is a small jogger moving unit, 21 is a stapler, and 125A is on the lift paper discharge tray side. The shift unit provided, reference numeral 125B, is a shift unit provided in the staple unit 20. Unit, reference numeral 60a, b are vertically movable delivery tray having a mechanism for shifting the mechanism and transversely to the lifting while the discharge face constant. As the optical sensor, for example, a photo interrupter system that detects reflected light emitted from a sheet by using a combination of a light emitting element and a light receiving element is used.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 201 denotes an operation panel on which various settings by the user, their setting states, device states, etc. are displayed on a liquid crystal panel, and input keys are provided. The operation panel 201 includes an operation unit 202 for performing various settings, and a display panel 203 that displays the state of the apparatus and displays soft keys (touch keys) that can be operated according to a processing mode. Reference numeral 204 denotes a system controller that comprehensively controls the image forming apparatus 200, and reference numeral 205 denotes an image forming unit that forms image information on a sheet by creating image information by, for example, an electrophotographic process. On the operation panel 201 set by the user, a setting button or the like is displayed so that “paper post-processing” such as sorting, stapling processing, folding processing, and a plurality of these processings and “paper output destination” of the processed paper can be selected. Configured. In addition to the configuration in which setting and support for paper post-processing and the like are performed from the operation panel 201 of the image forming apparatus 200, a configuration in which a host computer (not shown) similarly instructs the same may be used.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the staple unit in FIG. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 21 is a stapler for binding a bundle of sheets with staples, reference numeral 22 is a staple tray for temporarily stacking the bundle of sheets, reference numeral 23 is a reference fence for aligning the sheet edges, reference numeral 24 is a jogger fence, reference numeral Reference numeral 25 denotes a leading end stopper, reference numeral 26 denotes a discharge belt, reference numeral 26a denotes a discharge claw, reference numeral 27 denotes a hitting roller, and reference numeral 28 denotes a paper presser. These configurations and operations will be described later.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the front end stopper 25 provided substantially perpendicular to the staple tray 22 is provided on the downstream side of the hitting roller 27. The leading end stopper 25 is configured to be capable of reciprocating along the sheet conveying direction. For this reason, the staple tray is controlled by abutting the leading edge of the sheet discharged from the conveying roller 15 and moving upstream so as to bring the sheet closer to the reference fence 23 side and pressing the leading edge of the sheet in the conveying direction. The conveyance direction of the paper discharged to 22 is aligned.

  Further, the tip stopper 25 is rotated when the sheet bundle is discharged, and is retracted from the conveyance path, thereby enabling the sheet bundle to be discharged. In the staple tray 22, a discharge belt 26 is stretched in the conveyance direction, and a discharge claw 26 a that hooks the stapled sheet and discharges it from the staple tray 22 to the paper discharge tray is attached to the discharge belt 26.

  When the staple mode is selected from the image forming apparatus 200, the branching claws installed in the transport path are switched. As a result, the sheet conveyed from the conveyance unit is guided to the staple unit and discharged to the staple tray 22 by the entrance roller 15. At this time, the tapping roller 27 is in a raised state, and is retracted to a position where it does not become a load of the paper carried into the staple tray 22. The leading edge stopper 25 stands by at a position where the leading edge of the paper carried into the staple tray 22 abuts, and regulates the position of the leading edge of the paper.

  When the sheet is carried into the staple tray 22, the tapping roller 27 is lowered and presses the sheet against the staple tray 22, and a conveying force is obtained by the frictional force so that the sheet is abutted against the reference fence 23. The tapping roller 27 is rotating, and a vertical motor is driven by a stepping motor (not shown).

  Before the paper hits the reference fence 23 by the tapping roller 27, the paper presser 28 is also lowered, and the rear end of the paper is pressed and the rear end of the paper is guided to the opening of the stapler 21. Thereafter, the jogger fence 24 (or jogger fences 115 and 119 in FIG. 7 to be described later) performs horizontal alignment of the paper. Thereafter, the tapping roller 27, the paper presser 28, the leading end stopper 25, and the jogger fence 24 (or jogger fences 115 and 119 in FIG. 7 to be described later) return to a predetermined home position and are ready to receive the next paper. This series of operations is repeated for a specified number of sheets to complete a sheet bundle aligned on the staple tray 22. The aligned sheet bundle is stapled by the stapler 21. The position of the stapler 21 can be moved to a designated position.

  The stapled sheet bundle is discharged by the discharge claw 26a. When a stapling completion signal is sent, the discharge claw 26 a installed around the discharge belt 26 is activated, and the sheet bundle is pushed out of the staple tray 22. The sheet pushed out from the discharge claw 26a is guided by the jogger fence 24 or the like and discharged onto the tray. With this operation, one stapled sheet bundle is completed. This operation is repeated for the designated number of copies, and the designated number of sheet bundles are aligned on the shift tray.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the configuration of the saddle stitching unit in FIG. 4, reference numeral 41 is a guide member, reference numerals 42 and 43 are joggers in the paper feed direction, reference numerals 44 and 45 are jogger fences for alignment in the paper width direction, reference numeral 46 is a stapler, reference numeral 47 is a folding member, reference numerals 48a, Reference numerals 48b, 49a, 49b, 50a, 50b, 51a, 51b denote conveying rollers.

  When the saddle stitching process is performed, the sheet is composed of joggers 42 and 43 that are alignment members in the sheet feeding direction, joggers 44 and 45 that are alignment members in a direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction, a guide member, a stapler 46, and a folding member 47. It is conveyed to the processing unit. The sheets that have been bound or folded here are stacked on a sheet discharge section through a conveyance section including a pair of rollers for conveying the sheet and a guide member.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of the shift unit according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 shows the configuration of main parts of a large jogger moving unit 110 that aligns the large jogger fence 115 in the paper width direction and a small jogger moving unit 120 that aligns the small jogger fence 119 in the paper width direction. ing. Reference numerals 107 and 108 are stepping motors as driving sources for the alignment operation, reference numerals 109 and 111 are timing belts wound around pulleys provided on the output shafts of the respective stepping motors, reference numeral 106 is a paper discharge roller, and reference numeral 121 is an end. It is a fence. The HP sensor that detects the home positions of the jogger fences 115 and 119 is the same as the conventional one and is not shown here.

  In the example of FIG. 5, a shift unit 125A is provided in the parts of the lifting / lowering paper discharge trays 60a and 60b to perform a shift operation. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 115 denotes a jogger fence having a large size, and reference numeral 119 denotes a jogger fence having a size smaller than that of the jogger fence 115. The jogger fence 115 is connected to the timing belt 109 via an arm 115 a and is configured to be moved by driving a stepping motor 107. In this way, the large jogger moving unit 110 is configured. The jogger fence 119 is connected to the timing belt 111 via an arm 119a, and is configured to be moved by driving the stepping motor 108. Thus, the small jogger moving unit 120 is configured. These jogger fences 115 and 119 are respectively provided on both sides in the paper discharge direction.

  Two pairs of jogger fences 115 and 119 are installed on the up-and-down discharge tray 60a that performs a shift operation in a substantially horizontal direction with respect to the conveyance direction of the sheet that has passed through the conveyance path from the image forming apparatus 200 (see FIG. 6). The four jogger fences 115 and 119 align the sheets. Regarding the alignment mechanism in the transport direction, an end fence 121 is disposed downstream of the lifting / lowering paper discharge tray 60a to align the transported sheets. The aligned sheet bundle is a mechanism that performs a sorting operation by shifting the lifting / lowering discharge tray 60a in a direction substantially perpendicular to the transport direction for each designated number of sheets.

  Next, the operation of the jogger part in the shift mode will be described. In the shift mode, the sheet conveyed from the image forming apparatus 200 passes through the conveying path (see FIG. 1) of the sheet post-processing apparatus 100, and is conveyed from the discharge roller 106 near the up / down discharge tray 60a to the up / down discharge tray 60a. Is done. The conveyed paper hits the end fence 121 by the weight of the paper. The jogger fence 115 is narrowed to align the position of the sheet in the vertical direction with respect to the sheet conveyance direction, and the interval of the jogger fence 119 is also narrowed to finely adjust the vertical alignment of the sheet. At this time, the jogger fence 115 and the jogger fence 119 operate a plurality of times to reliably bring the paper to the specified position. The above operation is repeated each time a sheet is carried into the elevating / discharging tray 60a (for each sheet) (see FIG. 6), and the designated number of sheet bundles are aligned on the elevating / discharging tray 60a. Thereafter, the next sheet is ready to be received, and the next sheet is started to be received.

  FIG. 6 is a view of the configuration of the jogger portion as viewed from above. In the jogger portion, a pair of jogger fences 115 and another pair of jogger fences 119 are installed downstream thereof. Although two pairs are configured here, the number of these jogger fences may be increased as appropriate depending on the state of the receiving paper (such as Z-fold paper or special paper).

  Next, an example in which the alignment operation by the jogger fences 115 and 119 is performed during the stapling process will be described. The configuration of the large / small jogger moving units 110 and 120 described above can be similarly applied to the staple unit 20. FIG. 7 shows an example in which the above-described jogger fences 115 and 119 are applied to the staple unit 20, and the configuration is the same, so the main part is shown. In order to align the sheets on the staple tray 22 at a predetermined position with high accuracy and improve the sorting consistency, it is necessary to improve the alignment accuracy in the vicinity of the end fence 121 in the sheet bundle. It is considered to be a good idea to align the paper in a region where the paper width variation is as small as possible. In the present embodiment, the first alignment in the vertical direction of the paper is performed by the jogger fence 115 and the second alignment is performed by the jogger fence 119. For example, the jogger fence 115 performs rough alignment, and the jogger fence 119 performs slight alignment. As described above, since the aligning members are assigned to the pre-alignment by the jogger fence 115 and the main alignment by the jogger fence 119, the sheets can be reliably aligned by several alignment operations. Further, high-precision alignment can be performed regardless of changes in alignment position and alignment speed of the alignment member.

  The number of operations of the jogger fence 119 on one sheet is larger than that of the jogger fence 115, and the alignment accuracy of the sheet edge near the stapler 21 is improved. The length of the jogger fence 119 is set according to the paper state, and if the length is short, the jogger fence 119 may be brought into point contact with the paper. In the present embodiment, each pair of jogger fences 115 and 119 (four in total) is configured, but one side may be integrated to form a structure of three jogger fences. By doing so, since the sheets are aligned at three points, variations in the position of the aligned sheet bundle due to variations in the parts of the jogger itself can be reduced.

  In this way, the jogger fence 115 performs the horizontal alignment of the paper. The jogger fence 115 is driven by the timing belt 109. The paper is carried into the staple tray 22, and the paper hitting the reference fence 23 is pushed and moved from the lateral direction by the tapping roller 27, so that the paper is moved to a predetermined position. Move to.

  The jogger fence 119 has a function of performing additional adjustment of horizontal alignment that cannot be aligned by the jogger fence 115, and is configured to operate separately from the jogger fence 115. In other words, the drive is transmitted by the timing belt 111. At the same time as the jogger fences 115 and 119 perform the aligning operation, the sheet presser 28 is also driven and the leading end of the sheet placed on the staple tray 22 is pressed, and an additional adjustment of the alignment of the sheet transport direction is performed. Thereafter, the tapping roller 27, the paper presser 28, and the jogger fences 115 and 119 return to a predetermined home position, and the next paper is received. This series of operations is repeatedly executed for a specified number of sheets to complete a bundle of sheets aligned on the staple tray 22. The aligned sheet bundle is stapled by the stapler 21. The position of the stapler 21 can be moved to a designated position.

  The stapled sheet bundle is discharged by the discharge claw 26a. When a stapling completion signal is sent, the discharge claw 26 a installed around the staple tray 22 is activated, and the sheet bundle is pushed out of the staple tray 22. The paper pushed out from the discharge claw 26a is guided by the jogger fence 115 or the like and discharged onto the lifting / lowering paper discharge tray 60a which is a shift tray. With this operation, one stapled sheet bundle is completed. This operation is repeatedly executed for the designated number of copies, and the bundle of sheets designated by the operation unit 202 or the external host computer is aligned on the lifting / lowering discharge tray 60a.

  As described above, since the aligning members of the jogger fence 115 and the jogger fence 119 are independent from each other, and the position where the alignment width of the sheets received by the sheet post-processing apparatus 100 is to be aligned can be aligned, Even when a sheet having a variation in width (a wide and narrow sheet width) is received, it is possible to align the desired position. As a result, the sheet bundle alignment quality can be improved.

  Further, when the sheets are aligned on the lifting / lowering discharge tray 60a (shift tray), the vicinity of the rear end of the sheet can be finely aligned by the jogger fence 119 by the small jogger moving unit 120. Therefore, the alignment accuracy at the stapling position of the sheet is possible. Can be improved. An end shift near the stapler 21 does not occur.

  Further, by changing the operating distance of the aligning member between the jogger fence 115 and the jogger fence 119, one aligning member waits at a position far from the aligning position until the trailing edge of the sheet passes through the discharge roller. Since the other aligning member is installed near the aligning position when the sheet is in the state, the aligning operation of the previous sheet bundle can be performed in the waiting time until the aligning member passes through the sheet discharge roller. As a result, the alignment quality is improved.

  Further, the operation timings of the alignment members of the jogger fence 115 and the jogger fence 119 are made different. As a result, when one alignment member is waiting at a position far from the alignment position until the trailing edge of the paper passes through the discharge roller, the other alignment member shifts to the alignment operation. The alignment operation of the previous sheet bundle can be performed in the waiting time until the sheet discharge roller is removed. As a result, the alignment quality is improved.

  Moreover, the structure which integrated one of the alignment members of the jogger fence 115 and the jogger fence 119 may be sufficient. Thus, since the alignment is performed by abutting the integrated parts with two or more alignment members, the sheet bundle is aligned with the surface of one alignment member. Therefore, the alignment quality is less affected by the precision of the parts. As a result, the alignment accuracy is improved.

  Further, the aligning member of the jogger fence 115 and the jogger fence 119 may be operated when discharging to the shift tray or the staple tray. As a result, when one alignment member is waiting at a position far from the alignment position until the trailing edge of the paper passes through the discharge roller, the other alignment member shifts to the alignment operation. Thus, the alignment operation of the previous sheet bundle can be performed in the standby time until the sheet discharge roller is removed. As a result, the alignment quality is improved.

  Further, when one of the jogger fence 115 and the jogger fence 119 is discharged to the alignment tray, the sheet is retracted to a position where it does not get in the way. Thereby, the sheet aligning operation can be performed by the other aligning member, so that the sheet aligning time is shortened and the aligning quality is improved.

  Further, as described above, the jogger fence 115 and the jogger fence 119 are arranged so as to be preliminarily aligned and assigned to the main alignment role. Thereby, the sheets can be reliably aligned by several alignment operations. Further, high-precision alignment can be performed regardless of changes in alignment position and alignment speed of the alignment member.

  Further, the contact position between the aligning member and the paper may be changed depending on the size of the paper to be aligned. As a result, the aligning operation can be performed at the contact position (near the center of gravity of the paper) that matches the paper size. Therefore, the problem that the sheet is inclined at the time of alignment is reduced, and alignment with higher accuracy can be performed.

  In addition, one of the alignment members waits at the alignment position when the sheet is received. Thereby, the alignment time can be shortened, and the productivity of sheet alignment is improved. Since the other alignment member guides the sheet to the alignment position when the sheet is discharged to the shift tray or the staple tray, the apparatus can stand by at the alignment position.

  As described above, the paper post-processing apparatus according to the present invention is installed on the paper discharge side of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, and is useful for a paper post-processing apparatus that performs paper sorting or binding processing. In particular, it is suitable for an apparatus or a system that requires high alignment accuracy of a sheet bundle.

It is explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the paper post-processing apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of a control system of the sheet post-processing apparatus of FIG. 1. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the staple unit in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the saddle stitching unit in FIG. It is a side view which shows the structure of a large / small jogger fence. It is a top view which shows the structure of a large / small jogger fence. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example which applied the large / small jogger fence to the staple unit.

Explanation of symbols

20 Stapling unit 21 Stapler 22 Staple tray 60a, b Lifting / discharging tray 100 Paper post-processing device 101 Control unit 110 Large jogger moving unit 115, 119 Jogger fence 120 Small jogger moving unit 125A, B Shift unit

Claims (3)

A sheet post-processing apparatus that receives at least a sheet to be processed on a tray, performs alignment in the width direction of the sheet, and executes predetermined sheet post-processing;
First and second aligning means that are arranged in pairs on the side end sides in the paper transport direction, and that are in contact with the side edges of the paper on the tray and perform alignment operations;
An alignment operation control means for controlling an alignment operation by the first and second alignment means;
With
One of the first and second aligning means is disposed at a position to be aligned near the rear end of the sheet,
After the alignment means on the front end side of the paper among the first and second alignment means performs preliminary alignment, the alignment means in the vicinity of the front end side of the paper performs alignment operation larger in the width direction than the preliminary alignment, and finally aligns. A sheet post-processing apparatus.   2. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the first and second aligning units is divided into two on one side and is formed as an integral fence without dividing the other. 3. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first and second aligning units operate in accordance with a sheet size.

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