JP5402603B2 - Paper post-processing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet post-processing apparatus connected to an image forming apparatus.

  As a peripheral device of an image forming apparatus, a sheet post-processing apparatus that sorts sheets output from the image forming apparatus or binds a plurality of sheets with a stapler is known. Recently, there has been a paper post-processing device installed in the image forming apparatus due to a demand for space saving, and the paper post-processing device is disposed at a position between the image reading unit and the image forming unit to stack a bundle of paper. The trays for alignment are arranged almost horizontally.

  In such a sheet post-processing apparatus, since the stapler tray and the stapler unit are arranged in a limited space between the image reading unit and the image forming unit, particularly in the case of an apparatus having a two-point binding function. The space limited by the stapler unit and its moving space is occupied, the tray length cannot be secured, the sheet bundle alignment accuracy deteriorates, and conversely, the output is made to secure the length. There has been a problem in that the tray on which the paper is stacked protrudes greatly from the image forming apparatus. Therefore, for example, “Patent Document 1” discloses a technique in which a tray is disposed at the lower part of the apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus and the amount of protrusion of the tray from the image forming apparatus is suppressed while ensuring the tray length.

  In the technique disclosed in “Patent Document 1”, a stopper that can be moved in and out is provided at the front end of the tray, and a front end of the paper conveyed by the stopper is aligned to create a paper bundle, and the paper bundle is sandwiched from above and below. A configuration is disclosed in which a sheet bundle is bound and conveyed to a stapler fixed by a conveying means. However, in this configuration, since the sheets are aligned at the leading end and bound by the stapler, a tray having a size equivalent to the paper size that can be stapled is required, and there is a problem that the apparatus cannot be significantly reduced in size.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet post-processing apparatus that solves the above-described problems and can achieve downsizing of the apparatus while maintaining sheet bundle alignment accuracy.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet width that is connected to a sheet discharge unit of an image forming apparatus and that is orthogonal to a sheet conveyance direction for performing binding processing of a sheet bundle in which a plurality of sheets discharged after completion of an image forming operation are stacked. A stapler that is movable in a direction, a stapler tray that is provided with a trailing edge fence on which the sheet bundle is placed and aligns the rear end of the sheet bundle, and the sheet bundle on the stapler tray is contacted and separated from the sheet width direction in the sheet width direction. In the paper post-processing apparatus having a pair of jogger fences for aligning the width direction of the paper bundle, the rear end fence is movable in the same direction as the paper transport direction and is located in the movement path of the stapler. And a second position located outside the movement path, and the rear end fence occupies the first position when the sheet bundle is aligned, and the second position during the binding process by the stapler. Characterized in that it occupies.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the trailing edge fence is further movable in the sheet width direction.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the paper post-processing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the sheet post-processing apparatus further includes an alignment member that aligns the sheet conveyed on the stapler tray against the rear end fence. The member selectively occupies a contact position located in the movement path of the stapler in contact with the paper and a separation position located away from the paper and located outside the movement path, and the alignment member is arranged to align the sheet bundle. It occupies a contact position and occupies a separated position during the binding process by the stapler.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the paper post-processing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the jogger fences are further separated from the contact position and the contact position of the paper bundle, respectively. The jogger fences occupy a contact position when aligning the sheet bundle.

  A fifth aspect of the present invention is an image forming apparatus having the paper post-processing apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the image reading unit further includes an image reading unit at an upper portion of the apparatus main body and an image forming unit below the image reading unit. The sheet post-processing device is provided between the image forming unit and the image forming unit.

  According to the present invention, the paper stacking area of the stapler tray can be increased by moving the rear end fence into the stapler movement path, and the paper alignment can be improved by placing the paper in a stable state. Can be planned.

1 is a schematic front view of a main part of an image forming apparatus provided with a recording paper post-processing apparatus employing an embodiment of the present invention. It is a principal part schematic front view of the recording paper post-processing apparatus which employ | adopted one Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a schematic top view of a main part of a recording paper post-processing apparatus employing an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic perspective view explaining the rear end fence moving mechanism used for one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic bottom view explaining the rear end fence moving mechanism used for one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic top view explaining the binding processing operation in one embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic front view explaining the binding process operation in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic top view explaining the binding processing operation in one embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic front view explaining the binding process operation in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic top view explaining the binding processing operation in one embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic front view explaining the binding process operation in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic top view explaining the binding processing operation in one embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic front view explaining the binding process operation in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic top view explaining the binding processing operation in one embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic top view explaining the binding processing operation in one embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic top view explaining the binding processing operation in one embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic front view explaining the binding process operation in one Embodiment of this invention.

  FIG. 1 shows an image forming apparatus employing one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 has an image reading unit 300 in the upper part of the apparatus main body 2. The image forming unit 100 is provided below the image reading unit 300, and the image forming unit 100 and the image reading unit 300. The sheet post-processing apparatus 200 is provided at each position.

  The image forming unit 100 is an indirect transfer type tandem color image forming unit, and has an image forming unit 110 in which four color image forming stations are arranged at a substantially central portion thereof, below the image forming unit 110. An optical writing unit 111 is disposed adjacent to the image forming unit 110. A paper feeding unit 120 that stores paper is disposed below the optical writing unit 111, and a secondary transfer unit 140 and a fixing unit are provided on the downstream side of the conveyance path 130 of the paper fed from the paper feeding unit 120. 150 is arranged. Disposed above the fixing unit 150 is a paper discharge conveyance path 160 for conveying the fixed paper to the paper post-processing apparatus 200 side. The paper branched from the paper discharge conveyance path 160 is formed on one side. A double-sided conveyance path 170 is provided for performing image formation on the other side by being reversed.

  The image forming unit 110 is provided for each image forming station. The photosensitive drum for each color of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, the charging unit, the developing unit, and the primary transfer arranged along the outer periphery of the photosensitive drum. A unit, a cleaning unit, a charge eliminating unit, and an intermediate transfer belt 112 on which an image formed on each photosensitive drum is intermediately transferred by a primary transfer unit. It is arranged above. The intermediate transfer belt 112 is movably supported by a plurality of support rollers, and one of the support rollers 114 is disposed opposite to the secondary transfer roller 115 via the intermediate transfer belt 112 in the secondary transfer unit 140. In the secondary transfer unit 140, the image on the intermediate transfer belt 112 is secondarily transferred to a sheet. Above the intermediate transfer belt 112, a toner storage container 116 that stores toner of each color is replaceably disposed.

  The paper feeding unit 120 stores the paper on the paper feeding tray 121, the pickup roller 122 that separates and feeds the paper on the paper feeding tray 121, and the paper separated and fed by the pickup roller 122 toward the secondary transfer unit 140. A sheet feeding conveyance roller 123 for feeding is provided, and the sheet fed from the sheet feeding unit 120 is conveyed upward along the conveyance path 130 and is fixed after the image is transferred in the secondary transfer unit 140. To the unit 150. The fixing unit 150 includes a heating roller and a pressure roller, and the toner image on the sheet is fixed to the sheet by the action of heat and pressure by pressing each roller through the sheet.

  On the downstream side of the fixing unit 150 in the paper conveyance direction, a paper discharge conveyance path 160 and a double-sided conveyance path 170 are branched from each other. A branch claw 161 that guides one of the paths 170 is provided. A branch conveyance roller 162 that applies a conveyance force to the paper is disposed in the vicinity of the upstream side of the branch claw 161 in the paper conveyance direction.

  The sheet post-processing device 200 disposed on the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction of the sheet discharge conveyance path 160 performs a predetermined process on the image-formed sheet disposed inside the apparatus main body 2 and conveyed from the image forming unit 100. After being applied, the paper is stacked on the paper discharge tray 203 arranged on the most downstream side, and details thereof will be described later. The image reading unit 300 disposed at the uppermost part of the apparatus main body 2 reads an image on the document surface by optically scanning the document placed on the contact glass, and its configuration and functions are well known. It is the same.

  In the image forming apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration, image data used for writing is generated based on the image data read by the image reading unit 300 or print data transferred from a personal computer or the like as an external device. Based on the above, the optical writing unit 111 performs optical writing on each photosensitive drum, and the images formed for each color in each image forming station are sequentially transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 112 and then onto the intermediate transfer belt 112. A full-color image in which four color images are superimposed is formed.

  On the other hand, the paper is fed from the paper feeding unit 120 in accordance with the image forming operation described above. The paper fed from the paper feed tray 121 is temporarily stopped at the position of a pair of registration rollers (not shown) arranged on the upstream side of the secondary transfer unit 140 in the paper transport direction, and is timed with the image on the intermediate transfer belt 112. The image is transferred by the secondary transfer unit 140 and then transferred to the fixing unit 150. The paper on which the image is fixed in the fixing unit 150 is guided to the paper discharge conveyance path 160 by the branching claw 161 in the case of single-sided printing and after double-sided printing of the double-sided printing, and in the case of double-sided printing, the branching claw 161. Is guided to the double-sided conveyance path 170. The sheet guided to the duplex conveyance path 170 is reversed and sent to the secondary transfer unit 140 to form an image on the other side, and then sent to the paper discharge conveyance path 160 through the fixing unit 150. The sheet guided to the sheet discharge conveyance path 160 is sent to the sheet post-processing apparatus 200, and is discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 203 after being subjected to predetermined sheet post-processing in the sheet post-processing apparatus 200 or without post-processing. Is done.

  As described above, by providing the sheet post-processing apparatus 200 inside the apparatus main body 2 as shown in FIG. 1, the space occupied by the sheet post-processing apparatus 200 can be reduced, so that the sheet stacking space can be reduced. It can be taken large, and the paper discharge tray 203 can be prevented from jumping out of the apparatus body 2. In the present embodiment, an example in which the sheet post-processing device 200 is arranged inside the apparatus main body 2 is shown, but the sheet post-processing apparatus 200 may be arranged on the downstream side of the apparatus main body 2 in the sheet conveyance direction.

  Next, a paper post-processing apparatus 200 that employs an embodiment of the present invention will be described. In FIG. 2, a sheet post-processing apparatus 200 includes an inlet roller pair 201, a discharge conveyance path 202, a shift discharge roller pair 222, a stapler tray 210 having a rear end fence 211, a hitting roller 214, a return roller 217, a jogger fence 213, A stapler unit 212, a paper discharge roller pair 223, a paper discharge tray 203, and the like are included. The hitting roller 214 and the return roller 217 are separated from the sheet on the stapler tray 210 shown by a solid line in FIG. 2 by a positioning means (not shown), and the contact position contacting the sheet on the stapler tray 210 shown by a broken line in FIG. When the contact position is occupied, the sheet rotates on the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 2 to function as an alignment member that abuts the sheet on the stapler tray 210 against the trailing edge fence 211 and aligns the sheet. The shift paper discharge roller pair 222 is configured to be movable in the paper width direction perpendicular to the paper transport direction, and has a function of shifting the sandwiched paper in the paper width direction and discharging it. The paper discharge roller pair 223 includes a driving roller 223b that is rotationally driven at a fixed position and a driven roller 223a that can be brought into contact with and separated from the driving roller 223b.

  The paper receiving unit of the paper post-processing apparatus 200 includes an entrance roller pair 201 that receives paper from the paper discharge transport path 160, a paper discharge transport path 202 that transports the received paper to the shift paper discharge roller pair 222 side, and a shift paper discharge roller. A pair 222 is disposed, and the paper is transported along the paper discharge transport path 202 by rotating the inlet roller pair 201 and the shift paper discharge roller pair 222. When the paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 203 without being shifted in the paper width direction, the driven roller 223a is moved immediately after the paper passes through the paper discharge conveyance path 202 and the rear edge of the paper passes through the shift paper discharge roller pair 222. The sheet is sandwiched by being brought into contact with the driving roller 223b, and the sheet is discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 203 by the pair of sheet discharge rollers 223. When sorting by shifting the paper in the paper width direction, the shift paper discharge roller pair 222 is moved in the paper width direction immediately after the paper passes through the paper discharge conveyance path 202 and the rear edge of the paper passes through the entrance roller pair 201. To shift the paper. Thereafter, the driven roller 223 a is brought into contact with the driving roller 223 b to sandwich the paper, and the paper is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 203 by the paper discharge roller pair 223.

  Next, a configuration for performing stapler processing, which is a feature of the present invention, will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the stapler unit 212 is movable in the paper width direction, and a single stapler unit 212 is configured to be capable of a plurality of types of binding processes such as end binding and two-point binding. The rear end fence 211 provided integrally below the stapler tray 210 has a function of aligning the rear ends of the sheets, but the lower part also serves as a tray for stacking sheets. Below, the structure of this rear end fence 211 is demonstrated.

  As shown in FIG. 5 when FIG. 4 and FIG. 4 are viewed from the bottom surface side, the two rear end fences 211 are on the lower surface thereof and on the end portion opposite to the end portion where the fence-like standing portion is formed. Each of the protrusions 259 is integrally provided, and is provided in a direction perpendicular to each rear end fence 211 of a T-shaped rack member 252 having a tooth portion in a direction parallel to each rear end fence 211 on the lower surface. By fitting the protrusions 259 into the grooves 258, the protrusions 259 are supported so as to be movable in the left-right direction in FIG. A toothed portion of the rack member 252 meshes with a pinion gear 251 that is rotationally driven by a longitudinal movement motor 216. Further, a groove 256 is formed on the bottom surface of each rear end fence 211, and a protrusion 257 provided integrally with rod-shaped rack members 254 and 255 having tooth portions is fitted in each groove 256, respectively. ing. The rack members 254 and 255 are supported by a guide member (not shown) so as to be movable in the left-right direction in FIG. 5 with their teeth facing each other, and each tooth is rotated by a lateral movement motor 215. The pinion gear 253 is engaged. With the above-described configuration, when the vertical movement motor 216 is driven, each rear end fence 211 is moved in the sheet conveying direction which is the vertical direction in FIG. 5, and when the horizontal movement motor 215 is driven, each rear end fence 211 is illustrated. In FIG. 5, the sheet moves in the direction of approaching or separating from each other in the sheet width direction, which is the left-right direction. In the present embodiment, the configuration in which each rear end fence 211 is moved using a motor is shown, but an actuator such as a piston cylinder or a solenoid using compressed air or hydraulic pressure may be used instead of the motor.

Based on the above configuration, the operation of the sheet post-processing apparatus 200 during the stapler process will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 6, the stapler unit 212 is retracted to a position where it does not interfere with the conveyed paper. Although FIG. 6 shows an example of retreating to the left side, it may be retreating to the right side. Next, the longitudinal movement motor 216 is operated to move the respective rear end fences 211 in the direction opposite to the sheet conveying direction. At this time, as shown in FIG. 7, the trailing edge fence 211 is moved into the movement path of the stapler unit 212, so that the sheet stacking area of the stapler tray 210 can be increased, and the sheets are placed in a stable state. Thus, it is possible to improve the sheet alignment.

  Next, by rotating the inlet roller pair 201 and the shift paper discharge roller pair 222, the paper P discharged from the image forming apparatus 1 is transported along the paper discharge transport path 202 as shown in FIGS. . When the trailing edge of the sheet P passes through the shift sheet discharge roller pair 222, the tapping roller 214 and the return roller 217 are displaced to the contact position and rotated as shown in FIGS. P is transported in the direction opposite to the paper transport direction. At this time, the jogger fence 213 is brought into contact with and separated from the side edge of the paper P a plurality of times to align the paper in the width direction, and the rear edge of the paper P in the paper transport direction is adjusted by the rotation of the rollers 214 and 217. Align the paper in the direction of conveyance. When the paper P occupies a predetermined position, the tapping roller 214 is displaced to the separated position in order to receive the next paper P. At this time, in order to prevent the sheet P placed at the fixed position on the stapler tray 210 from being moved by the next sheet P conveyed from the image forming apparatus 1 side, the return roller is placed at the contact position. The rotation continues. Further, the jogger fence 213 is also kept in contact with the side edge of the paper P. The return roller 217 is freely displaceable between a contact position where it comes into contact with the paper P and a spaced position apart from the paper P, and is disposed in the vicinity of the rear end fence 211, so that the rear end of the paper P can be reliably moved rearward. The sheet can be brought into contact with the end fence 211 and the sheet can be prevented from being lifted, and the alignment accuracy can be improved as compared with the sheet alignment by the hitting roller 214 alone.

  When the same operation as described above is repeated and the sheet P is conveyed from the image forming apparatus 1 to the sheet post-processing apparatus 200 and the number of sheets P on the stapler tray 210 reaches the number required to create a sheet bundle, 12 and FIG. 13, the longitudinal movement motor 216 is operated to move each rear end fence 211 in the paper transport direction so as to be located outside the movement path of the stapler unit 212, and a plurality of sheets P are moved in the same direction. Thus, a moving path of the stapler unit 212 is secured. At this time, the driven roller 223a is brought into contact with the driving roller 223b to sandwich the paper P, and the jogger fence 213 is brought into contact with the side edge portion of the paper P to prevent the alignment of the paper bundle.

  When the movement of the sheet bundle to the predetermined position is completed, the driven roller 223a is separated from the driving roller 223b, and the stapler unit 212 starts moving as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, and the sheet bundle is bound. At this time, as the stapler unit 212 moves, the lateral movement motor 215 operates, and each rear end fence 211 occupies a position that does not interfere with the moving stapler unit 212. When the binding process is completed, as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the stapler unit 212 moves to the retracted position, the driven roller 223a contacts the drive roller 223b, and the sheet bundle is sandwiched between the discharge roller pair 223 and stapled. The paper is discharged from the tray 210 to the paper discharge tray 203.

1 Image forming device (electrophotographic copying machine)
2 apparatus main body 100 image forming unit 200 sheet post-processing apparatus 210 stapler tray 211 rear end fence 212 stapler 213 jogger fence 214 alignment member (tapping roller)
217 Alignment member (return roller)
300 Image reader P Paper (sheet bundle)

JP-A-11-236163

Claims (6)

A stapler that is connected to a paper discharge unit of the image forming apparatus and is movable in a paper width direction perpendicular to a paper transport direction for performing a binding process of a paper bundle in which a plurality of sheets discharged after completion of an image forming operation are stacked; A stapler tray provided with a rear end fence for placing the sheet bundle and aligning the rear end of the sheet bundle, and contacting and separating the sheet bundle on the stapler tray from the sheet width direction to align the sheet bundle in the width direction. In a paper post-processing apparatus having a pair of jogger fences to perform,
The rear end fence is movable in the same direction as the paper conveyance direction, and selectively occupies a first position located within the movement path of the stapler and a second position located outside the movement path, An end fence occupies a first position during alignment of the sheet bundle and occupies a second position during binding processing by the stapler. The sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The sheet post-processing apparatus, wherein the trailing edge fence is movable in the sheet width direction. In the paper post-processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
An alignment member that abuts and aligns the sheet conveyed on the stapler tray against the trailing edge fence, and the alignment member is in contact with the sheet and separated from the contact position located in the movement path of the stapler; And a separation position positioned outside the movement path, and the alignment member occupies a contact position during alignment of the sheet bundle and occupies a separation position during binding processing by the stapler. apparatus. In the paper post-processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Each jogger fence selectively occupies a contact position that makes contact with the sheet bundle and a separated position that is separated from the sheet bundle, and each jogger fence occupies a contact position when the sheet bundle is aligned. Paper post-processing device.   An image forming apparatus comprising the sheet post-processing apparatus according to claim 1. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5.
An image reading unit is provided above the apparatus main body, an image forming unit is provided below the image reading unit, and the sheet post-processing device is provided between the image reading unit and the image forming unit. Image forming apparatus.

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